Lok Sabha Question No. 851 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-02-07
Subject: Rail Accidents
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: KULAMANI SAMAL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 851

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.02.2018

## RAIL ACCIDENTS

851.   DR. KULAMANI SAMAL: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:
2. ( a)  whether it is a fact that the rail accidents that are taking place are mostly because of the fault of Railway staff and if so, the details thereof;
3. (b)  whether it is also a fact that the technological support to loco pilots  for  avoiding  Signal  Pass  at  Danger  (SPAD)  and  collisions  is lacking and also the same is not upto the mark and if so, the details thereof;
4. (c)  whether it is a fact that  the vacancies in various posts in the Railways are extremely high and it is one of the major reasons of occurrence of accidents;
5. (d) if so, the details thereof; and
6. (e) whether the Government is taking any comprehensive measures to fill up the vacancies in the Railways to curb accidents and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

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

STATEMENT  REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  851  BY  DR.  KULAMANI  SAMAL  TO  BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 07.02.2018 REGARDING RAIL ACCIDENTS.

- (a)    In  the  current  financial  year  2017-18  (from  April  2017  to  January, 2018),  there  have  been  65  consequential  train  accidents  including  the accidents  at  unmanned  level  crossings  over  Indian  Railways.    Out  of these,    33  consequential  train  accidents  were  attributed  to  failure  of railway staff.
- (b)  Following technological supports are being provided/provided to loco pilots for avoiding Signal Passing at Danger (SPAD):-

Automatic Train Protection (ATP) System:-

1.  A proposal to provide Automatic Train Protection (ATP) conforming to ETCS level-2 standards on the entire Indian Railway BG network has been made.    This  will  provide  technological  aid  to  Loco  Pilots  for  avoiding signal passed at danger (SPAD).
2. Automatic Train Protection (ATP) conforming to ETCS level-1 standard is  presently  functional  at  342  RKMs  (200  RKMs  Delhi-Agra  Section,  117 RKMs Chennai Suburban section and 25 RKMs of Metro Railway, Kolkata.
3.  An  older  version  of  ATP  calling  Auxiliary  Warning  System  (AWS)  is presently  functional  on  364  RKMs  in  the  Mumbai  suburban  section  of Central Railway (240 RKMs) and Western Railway (124RKMs).

(c)&(d): All consequential train accidents on Indian Railways are investigated  by  Commission  for  Railway  Safety  (CRS)  under  Ministry  of Civil Aviation, or   by   Departmental   Inquiry Committees.  None of the accident inquiry reports available with Safety Directorate have indicated that vacancies on Railways are the main cause of accidents.

The total number of vacancy over the Zonal Railways  of Group 'C' and erstwhile Group 'D' staff as on 01.04.2017 is 220137.

(e)    Arising  and  filling  up  of  vacancies  is  a  continuous  process.    The requirement for  various  Group  'C'  posts  under  Direct  Recruitment  Quota (DR-Quota)  is  assessed  by  Zonal  Railway(s)/Production  Unit(s),  which accordingly  place  indents  on  concerned  Railway  Recruitment  Boards (RRBs).  RRBs, in turn, make recruitment on the basis of these indents.

RRBs  are  regularly  providing  panels  of  successful  candidates  to Railway/Production  Units  concerned.    The  year-wise  break-up  of  total number of  candidates  empanelled  for  various  Group  'C'  posts  under  DRQuota including safety categories through RRBs during last five and a half years is as under:-

| S.No.   | Year                               | Candidates empanelled   | Candidates empanelled    | Percentage     |
|---------|------------------------------------|-------------------------|--------------------------|----------------|
|         |                                    | Total                   | Only for Safety category | (Safety/total) |
| 1.      | 2012-13                            | 28467                   | 23593                    | 83%            |
| 2.      | 2013-14                            | 31805                   | 23168                    | 73%            |
| 3.      | 2014-15                            | 15191                   | 8134                     | 53%            |
| 4.      | 2015-16                            | 27995                   | 22965                    | 82%            |
| 5.      | 2016-17                            | 19587                   | 17874                    | 91%            |
| 6       | 2017-18* (upto 31st December,2017) | 16827                   | 15000                    | 89%            |
| Total   | Total                              | 1,39,872                | 1,10,734                 | 79%            |

Further,  two  fresh  notifications  for  safety  categories  in  Group  'C' posts  viz.  Assistant  Loco  Pilots  &  Technicians  and  Senior  Section Engineers & Junior Engineers respectively are scheduled in 2017-18.

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