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Derailments, Poor Infrastructure: Let’s Get Indian Railways Back on Track Before Getting Bullet Trains
Two train derailments have been reported in a matter of just one week. Are we seeing as much action on ground as we are on the Ministry of Railways Twitter handles?
By Pragati Ratti Sharma
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The Puri-Haridwar Utkal Express derailed on Saturday evening (image: PTI)
Another derailment, more injuries, and the saga of being off-track continues. Days after the Utkal Express tragedy in Uttar Pradesh’s Khatauli that left 23 people dead, the Kaifiyat Express got derailed in Auraiya, leaving over 70 people injured. Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu expressed grief on the accident and tweeted about the mishap, saying that he is personally monitoring the situation. Here are the helpline numbers.
India has lost over 250 lives to train derailments between November 2016 and today. At a time when we are aiming for bullet trains, the derailments are only taking the target off track. Whether it is staff negligence, poor infrastructure or even what the government calls a ‘terror angle’, the onus is on the Ministry of Railways.
The Kaifiyat Express derailment is the fifth major train derailment reported this year. Here is a look at some of the major ones before this.
On August 19, fourteen coaches of the high- speed Utkal Express jumped the rails, with one of them crashing into a house adjacent to the track near Khatauli. While over 23 people were reported to have dies in the accident, over 60 were injured. The Mahakaushal Express and the Hirakhand Express derailments earlier this year were also among the major train derailments reported in the recent past. Here is a timeline of accidents this year. Even as Prabhu continues to give assurances on his Twitter timeline, not much is being seen to be translated into action on ground.
Not just accidents, Indian Railways has also been in the news in the recent past for the quality of food served on board and beddings too. A CAG report earlier this year said that the food served on board trains in India was not suited for human consumption. That finding, it seems, has been no lesson, with cockroaches and lizards having been found in railway food thereafter. The solution that the railways could find to bad beddings was finish off providing them in coaches and increasing the temperature of the air conditioner in coaches.
The Narendra Modi government this year clubbed the rail budget into the General Budget. The Rail Budget, that had been a separate entity for years, is now part of the General Budget. The Rail Minister has been tweeting of high speed trains, improved coaches and more special trains to be introduced in India soon. But are we ready for this? With accidents and poor infrastructure staring the Indian Railways in its face, shouldn’t the government first be thinking of getting the basics on track and then going on to bullet trains? India’s normal speed trains are running off track. In such a situation, the priority should be to get them on track and then think of super speed bullet trains.
And once again, like we said a few months ago, while Suresh Prabhu has been an excellent minister on the social media, we hope we see the tweets turn into actions on the tracks too before more lives are lost to these accidents.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the above opinion piece are solely of the author and not India.com
Published Date: August 23, 2017 10:32 AM IST
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Derailments, Poor Infrastructure: Let’s Get Indian Railways Back on Track Before Getting Bullet Trains
Two train derailments have been reported in a matter of just one week. Are we seeing as much action on ground as we are on the Ministry of Railways Twitter handles?
By Pragati Ratti Sharma
Comments
The Puri-Haridwar Utkal Express derailed on Saturday evening (image: PTI)
Another derailment, more injuries, and the saga of being off-track continues. Days after the Utkal Express tragedy in Uttar Pradesh’s Khatauli that left 23 people dead, the Kaifiyat Express got derailed in Auraiya, leaving over 70 people injured. Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu expressed grief on the accident and tweeted about the mishap, saying that he is personally monitoring the situation. Here are the helpline numbers.
India has lost over 250 lives to train derailments between November 2016 and today. At a time when we are aiming for bullet trains, the derailments are only taking the target off track. Whether it is staff negligence, poor infrastructure or even what the government calls a ‘terror angle’, the onus is on the Ministry of Railways.
The Kaifiyat Express derailment is the fifth major train derailment reported this year. Here is a look at some of the major ones before this.
On August 19, fourteen coaches of the high- speed Utkal Express jumped the rails, with one of them crashing into a house adjacent to the track near Khatauli. While over 23 people were reported to have dies in the accident, over 60 were injured. The Mahakaushal Express and the Hirakhand Express derailments earlier this year were also among the major train derailments reported in the recent past. Here is a timeline of accidents this year. Even as Prabhu continues to give assurances on his Twitter timeline, not much is being seen to be translated into action on ground.
Not just accidents, Indian Railways has also been in the news in the recent past for the quality of food served on board and beddings too. A CAG report earlier this year said that the food served on board trains in India was not suited for human consumption. That finding, it seems, has been no lesson, with cockroaches and lizards having been found in railway food thereafter. The solution that the railways could find to bad beddings was finish off providing them in coaches and increasing the temperature of the air conditioner in coaches.
The Narendra Modi government this year clubbed the rail budget into the General Budget. The Rail Budget, that had been a separate entity for years, is now part of the General Budget. The Rail Minister has been tweeting of high speed trains, improved coaches and more special trains to be introduced in India soon. But are we ready for this? With accidents and poor infrastructure staring the Indian Railways in its face, shouldn’t the government first be thinking of getting the basics on track and then going on to bullet trains? India’s normal speed trains are running off track. In such a situation, the priority should be to get them on track and then think of super speed bullet trains.
And once again, like we said a few months ago, while Suresh Prabhu has been an excellent minister on the social media, we hope we see the tweets turn into actions on the tracks too before more lives are lost to these accidents.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the above opinion piece are solely of the author and not India.com
Published Date: August 23, 2017 10:32 AM IST
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