India: railway services, incidents and rules (merged posts)

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From 3 News New Zealand:

About 15,000 people die every year trying to cross the tracks of India's mammoth rail network, a "massacre" that a government committee said was being ignored by railway authorities.
The safety panel said new bridges and overpasses were urgently needed, but it noted previous recommendations to make the world's fourth largest railway system safer had been ignored. Its report noted that railway authorities were unwilling to view the deaths of people hit by trains while crossing the tracks as train accidents.
Most of the deaths occur at unmanned railroad crossings, said the report released over the weekend. About 6,000 people die on Mumbai's crowded suburban rail network alone.
Another 1,000 people die when they fall from crowded coaches, when trains collide or coaches derail, it said.
India's 64,000km of railway track cut through some of the most densely populated cities, flanked by shanty towns, in the nation of 1.2 billion people.
Railway experts say stopping pedestrians from crossing the tracks in congested areas would be virtually impossible.
"The situation is exceptionally dangerous in Mumbai where four or five tracks, or more, lie parallel and people living in slums on either side have no choice but to walk across the tracks," said I.M.S. Rana, a railway expert.
The High Level Safety Review Committee was set up by the government in September after a spate of train accidents. Around 20 million people in India travel by train each day.
The report called on the government to urgently replace all railroad crossings with bridges or overpasses at an estimated cost of 500 billion rupees (NZ$12 billion) over the next five years.
"No civilised society can accept such a massacre on their railway system," the report said, referring to the crossing deaths.
"Reluctance of the Indian railways to own up to the casualties, which do not fall under the purview of accidents, but are nevertheless accidents on account of trains, can by no means be ignored," the report said.
The panel was especially scathing about the large number of deaths in Mumbai and recommended that the "grim situation on Mumbai's suburban system has to be tackled on a war-footing".
"Trespassing occurs because of lack of barricading, fencing, lack of adequate number of pedestrian overbridges and lack of facilities such as sufficient number of platforms, escalators, elevators for the disabled apart from insufficient train services. These are the main reasons for the heavy human death toll," the report said.
The committee, headed by leading scientist Anil Kakodkar, blamed railway authorities for the "grim picture," saying there were lax safety standards and poor management. Kakodkar headed India's Department of Atomic Energy before he retired last year.
It said local managers are not given adequate power to make crucial decisions and that safety regulations are also breached because of severe manpower shortages.
The panel noted that in the past few decades several new passenger trains had been introduced without any attention paid to enhancing infrastructure required for additional trains, or the financial viability of some trains.
In India, railway ministers resort to populism by introducing new trains, often to gain votes in upcoming elections in their constituencies.
"Political leaders decide on such issues as introducing new trains or increasing train fares. Railway fares have not been increased for nearly a decade," said Rana.
The panel suggested a high-level task force be set up to implement its recommendations relating to safety and that a fee be added to every ticket to form a safety fund.

[Lee]

The report called on the government to urgently replace all railroad crossings with bridges or overpasses at an estimated cost of 500 billion rupees (NZ$12 billion) over the next five years.

Bloody hell. That's seen as an impossible dream in this country, let alone India.

[JayMac]

Was that report compiled by Bob Crow's Indian cousin?

[jessicafoxton]

Are you suprised??

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Telegraph:

Indian rail bosses order train drivers to clear bodies off tracks

Railway bosses in India have ordered train drivers to clear thousands of bodies found on its tracks every year because they causing serious delays.

An estimated 6,000 bodies are found on India's vital rail tracks every year, and 12 are found in every day on Mumbai's celebrated commuter lines alone.

Most of them are believed to be passengers who have fallen from overcrowded trains or local residents taking shortcuts across the tracks. Officials believe several thousand bodies are dumped on railway tracks by relatives seeking compensation.

Railway managers are now concerned at delays caused because the bodies are left on the tracks for so long.

They have issued new rules for train drivers and their guards to load the bodies onto brake carriages and deliver them to the next station, the Hindustan Times reported.

The new rules however could bring train drivers into conflict with the police and amount to tampering with a crime scene.

"Removal of dead bodies from the tracks by guards and drivers will amount to removal of primary evidence from the site of the crime," Sanjay Pandhi of the Indian Railways Loco Running Organisation told the paper.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

At least 37 people have died after being hit by an express train while crossing the tracks at a remote train station in the Indian state of Bihar, local officials say.

The passengers, mostly Hindu pilgrims, had just alighted from a local train at Dhamara Ghat station and were on their way to a temple in Saharsa district.

An angry crowd is said to have beaten the driver and set two coaches on fire.

Rescue operations are under way and police reinforcements have been sent.

Senior state police officer SK Bhardwaj said it was difficult to say how many people had died as many bodies had been dismembered.

The incident took place at 08:40 India time [03:10GMT]. The pilgrims were hit by the Rajya Rani Express travelling on the opposite track.

Railway officials said the express train was travelling at high speed as it was not expected to stop at Dhamara Ghat station.

But after the accident, it stopped a few hundred metres away. An angry mob then pulled out the driver and severely assaulted him.

More police have been sent to the area but the region is extremely remote and inaccessible by road.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has expressed grief over the incident and ordered district officials to the scene.

India's state-owned railway network is vast - it operates 9,000 passenger trains and carries some 18 million passengers every day.

A government-appointed safety panel in its report last year said about 15,000 people were killed each year crossing train tracks in what officials describe as "unlawful trespassing".

[broadgage]

Another report elswhere stated that the driver had been killed by the mob.
It does sound like mass trespass, when the risks should have been clear to all.
Such accidents are regretably common in India.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

British tourists killed as India train derails

Two British tourists were killed and a number of others left injured after a train derailed in northern India.

The chartered four-carriage train was carrying a group of 37 Britons on the picturesque Kalka to Shimla mountain railway line, which is a Unesco world heritage site and tourist attraction.

Two carriages derailed after leaving Kalka railway station at 13:20 local time, a rail official told the BBC.

Local police said the two Britons who died were both women in their 60s.

The 36 passengers and a tour manager were on day three of a 13-day trip organised by York-based company Great Rail Journeys, which takes about 2,500 people to India annually.

Chief executive Peter Liney said: "Tragically, we can confirm that two passengers died in the accident. We are working with Foreign and Commonwealth Office to assist their relatives in travelling to India as soon as possible."

He said a number of others were injured. Two passengers and the tour manager would stay in hospital overnight, but he added that their injuries were not believed to be life threatening. All other passengers had been taken to a hotel.

The train had been rounding a curve when the coaches derailed, Neeraj Sharma, a railway official, told the AP news agency.

One passenger, Peter Lloyd, 69, from Ormskirk, Lancashire, was with his wife in a carriage when the train derailed. "The journey had just got going and was about 3km along," he told the BBC. "It went around a really sharp left bend, going too fast. I got thrown across the carriage... when the derailment happened. There was no panic, but stunned silence until we realised how bad things were. We were stuck in a wooded area for many hours. A lady had fallen out of the door to the grass embankment. Our tour guide was in a bad way. We are now safe in a hotel in Chandigarh [nearby city]. We are still awaiting contact from Great Rail Journeys. I'm very disappointed. The locals were fantastic including the local guide Raj, who was on the train. I am still in shock but happy to be alive."

Dinesh Kumar, divisional railway manager of Northern Railways, told the Times of India the cause of the incident was not immediately clear and an inquiry had been ordered.

The 96km narrow-gauge Kalka-Shimla Railway, often called the toy train line, was opened in 1903 to connect Shimla, the summer capital of British India, with the northern plains.
The railway climbs more than 4,000ft through the Himalayan foothills, and is famous for its many bridges, tunnels and panoramic views.

[grahame]

From The Economic Times

MUMBAI: The first all-women station in India, Matunga on Central Railway (CR), manned by a staff of 41 women, has entered the Limca Book of Records, an official spokesperson said on Monday.

The unique initiative was taken by CR General Manager D.K. Sharma in July 2017 with the aim of empowering women, said CR spokesperson Sunil Udasi.

Accordingly, women staffers were posted across all departments, like 17 ladies for operations and commercial, six Railway Protection Force, eight for ticket checking, two announcers and two conservancy staffers, and five point persons, totalling 41, under the charge of Station Manager Mamta Kulkarni.

Incidentally, Kulkarni holds the distinction of becoming the first woman assistant station manager to be recruited on the CR's Mumbai Division in 1992.

Now, she and her all women staff handle the overall operations of the busy Matunga station with positive and encouraging results, said Udasi.

[Bmblbzzz]

Limca, in case anyone was wondering, is a soft drink. It is not the home of Paddington's Great Aunt!

[Chris from Nailsea]

MUMBAI: The first all-women station in India, Matunga on Central Railway (CR), manned by a staff of 41 women, has entered the Limca Book of Records, an official spokesperson said on Monday....

Oh, the irony ... 

[broadgage]

Very sad, but also entirely foreseeable I am afraid.
A large crowd for a religious festival gathered on a railway line and were killed by a train.

To gather on the line was unwise, but then to set of fireworks, the noise of which prevented the approach of the train from being heard, was foolhardy.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-45913793

[grahame]

Not sure I would consider Metro's headline in good taste

Indian town picks up pieces after speeding train kills 60 people watching fireworks

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2018/10/20/indian-town-picks-up-pieces-after-speeding-train-kills-60-people-watching-fireworks-8058575/

especially when the "more" includes

Police have said that many of the victims were dismembered beyond recognition, and it will take several days to identify the dead.

I suspect that we are only being shown very limited pictures because of the brutal nature of the horror that's likely to have been at the scene.

Don't play with trains ...

[broadgage]

Reported as a collision, but the video appears to show only one train.

It looks to me as though the second vehicle de-rails, but stays more or less upright and in line. The rapid deceleration then leads to other vehicles derailing. One vehicle that is presumably still on the track crumples as it strikes a nearly stopped vehicle.

Early reports suggest no loss of life nor serious injuries.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-asia-india-50386665/india-train-collision-lucky-escape-for-passengers-in-hyderabad

[Bmblbzzz]

Looks like a head on collision at points to me. Lucky it was low speed.