Lok Sabha Question No. 5367 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-28
Subject: Safety of Passengers
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: G. HARI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5367 TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.03.2018

## SAFETY OF PASSENGERS

5367.      SHRI G. HARI:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether it is true that 27 major railway accidents took place in the past three years and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  it  is  also  true  that  the  Government  has  increased railway fares by 70 per cent during the last three years, but no concrete blueprint has been laid down to secure lives of passengers and if so, the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether  it is also a fact that the Railways has compromised the  safety  protocols  and  there  were  criminal  negligence  on its part which led to these major rail accidents; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## (SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

(a) to (d): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  5367  BY  SHRI  G. HARI TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 28.03.2018 REGARDING SAFETY OF PASSENGERS

(a):  During the past three years i.e. 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17 and the current year 2017-18 (upto 15 th  March, 2018), there have been 14 major consequential train accidents over Indian Railways, where 10 or more persons lost their lives. Details are given below:

|   S. No. | Date       | Type of Accident                        | Zonal Railway   | Division   |   No. of persons killed |
|----------|------------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------|------------|-------------------------|
|        1 | 20.11.2016 | Derailment                              | North Central   | Jhansi     |                     152 |
|        2 | 20.03.2015 | Derailment                              | Northern        | Lucknow    |                      39 |
|        3 | 21.01.2017 | Derailment                              | East Coast      | Waltair    |                      39 |
|        4 | 26.05.2014 | Derailment                              | North Eastern   | Lucknow Jn |                      29 |
|        5 | 04.08.2015 | Derailment                              | West Central    | Bhopal     |                      29 |
|        6 | 19.08.2017 | Derailment                              | Northern        | Delhi      |                      24 |
|        7 | 04.05.2014 | Derailment                              | Central         | Mumbai     |                      23 |
|        8 | 18.08.2014 | Manned Level Crossing accident          | East Central    | Samastipur |                      19 |
|        9 | 24.07.2014 | Unmanned Level Crossing (UMLC) accident | South Central   | Hyderabad  |                      18 |
|       10 | 09.05.2014 | UMLC accident                           | North Eastern   | Varanasi   |                      14 |
|       11 | 07.12.2015 | Misc. accident                          | East Central    | Dhanbad    |                      14 |

|   12. | 30.09.2014   | Collision     | North Eastern   | Lucknow JN   |   13 |
|-------|--------------|---------------|-----------------|--------------|------|
|    13 | 26.01.2015   | UMLC accident | Northern        | Ambala       |   12 |
|    14 | 07.06.2014   | UMLC accident | East Central    | Samastipur   |   10 |

(b)  to  (d):  No,  Madam.    There  has  been  no  increase  in  passenger fares  in  the  last  three  years  since  25.06.2014.    However,  the minimum chargeable passenger fare for Second Class Non-suburban services has been increased from ₹ 5 to ₹ 10 to bring it at par with the rate of platform tickets from 22.11.2015.

Safety is accorded the highest priority by Indian Railways and all  possible  steps  are  undertaken  on  a  continual  basis  to  prevent accidents and to enhance safety.  These include timely replacement of over-aged assets, adoption of suitable technologies for upgradation and maintenance of track, rolling stock, signalling and interlocking systems, safety drives, greater emphasis on training of officials and safety inspections at regular intervals to monitor and educate  staff  for  observance  of  safe  practices.  Preventive  and predictive  maintenance  of  the  Railway  assets  is  undertaken  to ensure safe train operation.  Safety devices/systems being used to prevent accidents include Electronic Interlocking, track circuiting, provision of Block Proving Axle Counters, Colour Light LED Signals, Train Protection and Warning System, Vigilance Control Device, Fog Pass Device, usage of 52 kg/60 kg, 90 or higher UTS rails and Prestressed  Concrete  Sleepers,  use  of  Ultrasonic  Flaw  Detection  of rails and welds at predefined periodicity to detect internal flaws in rails/welds.  Electronic monitoring of track geometry is carried out to detect defects and plan maintenance.  Steel Channel Sleepers on girder  bridges  is  being  used  while  carrying  out  primary  track renewals.  Further, it has been decided to lay Thick webs switches, Weldable  Cast  Maganese  Steel  crossings  on  identified  routes. Progressive  use  of  Linke  Hofmann  Busch  Coaches,  use  of  Centre Buffer Couplers with Integral Coach Factory Coaches, etc.  Railway tracks  are  replaced  on  age  cum  condition  basis  through  track renewal  works  which  is  an  ongoing  process.  Other  measures include  training  of  loco  pilots  and  other  safety  category  staff, improvement of their working conditions including proper rest and periodic  medical  examination  etc.  Besides,  patrolling  of  tracks, footplate inspections and safety reviews at various levels, etc. are regularly  conducted  to  continuously  monitor  and  improve  safety aspects of the Indian Railways.

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