Green signaling the ideal railway safety

The unfortunate Hirakhand rail disaster has left over 32 dead and many seriously injured. This happened as the train was passing through the Kuneru station by the main line, with a Goods train stationed in the loop line.

Normally, in such a situation, no one would have expected the derailment and that too at 11.30pm. This tragedy coming close on the heels of the Kanpur mishap has once again flagged the issue of rail safety.

Causalities due to rail accidents are miniscule compared to lakhs of fatal incidents on roads. Nevertheless, rail safety remains paramount and should be addressed on a priority basis. Prior to going into further details, one needs to first understand about the functioning of the railway system.

Railways are next only to the army, as far as hazardous working conditions are concerned. Operating, signaling, engineering, traction, running staff, mechanical and electrical departments of the Railways form part of the safety wing and work in tandem and keep the trains moving.

For instance, East Coast Railway, where the latest accident has incurred, has an astonishing 24% vacancies, which translates to one-and-a-half lakh vacancies in safety categories alone! This gives an idea about how the existing employees are compelled to cope up with additional workload and the pressure they have to bear day in and day out.

One can well imagine the adverse impact such constraints can have on the workforce. For example, when a new railway station comes up, technical aspects like signaling and track, among others, are approved by the Commissioner of Rail Safety (CRS) working under the administrative control of Ministry of Civil Aviation. The station is then opened even before station masters and pointsmen posts are filled.

The procedure evolved over the last two decades has imposed the restriction of surrendering an equal value of the post that has to be created. Thus, the new station would get a station master and points men only if matching surrender of some other posts are done. For over two decades, the Union Finance Ministry has tightened its grip over the Railway Ministry’s working. Obviously, this is the result of the post-liberalization era. As a consequence, safety takes a backseat.

Trains have increased but without adequate manpower to maintain the fleet. Another odd concept is its age-old duty-hours stipulations. Several staff, including station masters and pointsmen, gatemen are allotted r 12 hours work time schedule.

A high-level committee was constituted to review the Hours of Employment Regulations. Alas, no worthwhile result has emerges, much to dismay of the Unions. This indicates that economy, and not safety, seems to be the determining factor.

The running staff is forced to work for over 18-20 hours in one go. At times, it stretches to 28 hours! The goods crew returns home after 72 hours. The running staff are allowed rest of up to16 hours only.

The running staff are working under severe stress and strains. Reports show that a pilot delayed reporting for work if he is not in sound health and state of mind. But the loco pilots do not enjoy such a luxury due to which safety becomes a causality.

The engineering patrolman, meant to check conditions in the monsoon and winter seasons at night time, are thrust with a 20-kilometre work on track schedule with some 15 kilograms of tools.

It is such a risk that around 300-500 are run over by trains every year. The keyman again is entrusted with such work in a day. This category of staff has thousands of vacancies. East Coast Railway has an estimated 1600 vacancies. Track safety gets dented further as hundreds of junior engineer posts remain vacant. Their job responsibility is to monitor and supervise the track.

If this is the situation of the frontline safety staff, that of the back-end staff is no better. Staff shortages are reported in loco sheds, maintenance yards and the likes. Human failure is generally blamed as the cause of accidents. However, what is behind the so-called human failure needs to be comprehended.

The high-level safety review committee headed by Anil Kakodkar had recommended several measures to be taken for rail safety way back in 2012. It had recommended allocation of Rs one lakh crore exclusively for undertaking safety measures over a five-year period.

It had strongly pitched for filling up of all vacancies in the safety categories immediately. The recommendations included strengthening of the near-obsolete infrastructure, empowerment at functional levels, up-gradation of signaling system, elimination of all level crossing gates and replacing all ICF coaches with LHB coaches.

The replacement of LC gates and putting in place Road Under Bridges or Road Over Bridges entails Rs 50,000 crore. The Linke Hoffman Busch Coaches require Rs 10,000 crore and these are very much safer with advanced technology and do not pile up on one another in case of accidents.

The Rail administration always strives to ensure safety. But there are lot of limitations imposed by the system, which needs to be tackled in right earnest. The recommendations of several safety committees will have to be implemented in their totality.

What is equally important to remember is that Railways are crying for funds. The Trade Unions have been always proposing that the Rail Safety should be treated like a natural disaster and the Government should be forthcoming to provide the money for this national transport carrier.

Upgrading infrastructure along with expansion and increased manpower based on scientific criterion and right work ambience should be the ideal climate. The author is Divisional Secretary of South Central Railway Mazdoor Union (SCRMU)

By K Sivakumar