Indian Railways Safety

Why in the News?

Recently, several incidents of train derailment/collision in last six months raised concern over railways safety.

Causes of Railway Accidents

• Derailment: Factors could be inadequate maintenance of locomotives, rolling stock, track, signals etc.; and other operational irregularities.
• Human Error: The error caused due to human failure, comprising both Railway Staff as well as other than Railway Staff such as road users, passengers, miscreants etc.
  • As per Indian Railways, Around 75% of derailments occur due to `railway staff failure’, and another 10 % derailments are caused by `equipment failures’.
• Signal Failure: Defective or damaged track circuits and axle counters are leading causes of signal failures.
  • For example- Faulty signal circuit modifications resulted in incorrect signaling, leading to the Balasore train collision in 2023.
• Fire accidents in coaches: Factors like inflammable material carried by passengers, Short circuit, Negligence by pantry car staff, lease contractor, etc.
• Human Resources: Vacancy of around 20,000 in safety-critical categories workforce of Indian railways.
  • Safety-critical categories include loco crew, train manager, station master etc.

Steps taken for Railway Safety

• KAVACH System: KAVACH an Indigenous Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system which has Cab Signalling features-useful for high speeds as well as foggy weather.
  • In technical terms it is known as Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) or Automatic Train Protection System (ATP) system. 
  • As of February 2024, Kavach has so far been deployed on 1465 Route km and 139 locomotives (including Electric Multiple Unit rakes) on South Central Railway.

Working Mechanism of KAVACH system KAVACH uses a network of devices mounted on two trains moving towards each other to avoid a collision.  The devices work with the help of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags and Global positioning systems (GPS). This system avoids the risk of collision by precisely assessing the course of two trains at “collision risk” and automatically initiating the braking system.

• Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK): Launched in 2017-18, RRSK is a Rs. 1 lakh crore five-year fund dedicated to upgrading critical railway safety infrastructure.
• Infrastructure Up gradation: Steps such as Electrical/Electronic Interlocking Systems with centralized operation of points and signals have been provided at stations; interlocking of Level Crossing (LC) Gates, etc. 
• Use of New Technology: Such as GPS-based Fog Safety Devices alert locomotive pilots to upcoming signals and crossings in fog-prone areas, improving safety during low visibility.
• Eliminated Unmanned level crossing: All unmanned level crossings (UMLCs) on Broad Gauge (BG) route have been eliminated by January 2019. 
• Safety Information Management System (SIMS): In order to put in place a faster and efficient system for accident reporting, analysis and sharing of information between Zonal Railways (ZRs) and Railway Board (RB), a web based application SIMS was developed (2016) by the Safety Directorate of RB.
• Use of fire retardant materials: The Indian Railways have adopted fire retardant interior furnishing including, wall panelling, flooring, roof panelling etc. to minimize the risk of fire accidents.

Way Forward

• Railway Safety Authority: As recommended by Kakodkar Committee, need to create a statutory Railway Safety Authority with enough powers to have a safety oversight on the operational mode of Railways.
  • Currently, three vital functions (rule-making, operations and the regulation) are all vested in the Railway Board. 
• Detailed Outcome Framework: CAG’s 2021 report on ‘Derailment in Indian Railways’ recommends creating a ‘Detailed Outcome Framework’ for safety works funded by RRSK.
  • This framework would assess each safety initiative’s results, ensuring RRSK funds meet their intended objectives and improve railway safety effectively.
• Developing AI-enabled applications: AI can analyze extensive digital data from stations and trains, flagging critical irregularities and promptly alerting top railway management for enhanced safety monitoring.
• Track Safety Tolerances: As recommended by the Khanna Committee, efforts will be made by Research Design & Standards Organisation ( RDSO) to draw out safety tolerances for different speeds and categories of track, on the basis of practices followed in various countries and after studying the whole gamut of rail-wheel interaction.
• Implementing best practices: Mumbai Suburban’s long-standing Automatic Train Protection Systems serve as successful models, which can be replicated nationwide for train safety.