Indians are now much safer on the railways than ever before, with the significant results of the systematic initiatives taken in the last decade. This is especially commendable because every other country every year 1 Lakh crore passenger kilometers (PKM) And almost 685 India, which has carried a record crore of passengers by rail, does not carry more people by rail.
This achievement is unique, as even neighboring country China, despite its vast railway network and comparable population size, has half the passengers at Mahaparana. (Annually approx 300 Crore) Only transports. Safer tracks and smart trains: “Safer rail journeys in the future”
Significantly improved security – Key signs of serious events – The number of major railway accidents has been drastically reduced, the number of which in the year 2000-01 in 473 year to fall from 2023-24 Only in 40 left This improvement has been made possible through concentrated efforts towards improving tracks, ending unmanned level crossings, regularly monitoring the condition of bridges and making stations digital.
Considering the number of passengers and the length of the tracks, this achievement becomes even more impressive. On any given day, the average 2 More than a crore people 70,000 Route Kilometers (RKM) Travels over long networks. This number per day in peak season 3 crore, which is another world record.
In fact, the intention is that India is almost its own every day 2 percent of its population is transported safely by rail, compared to China's only 0.58 percent And America 0.09 percent of people are transported by train.
Despite an almost flawless safety record, railway accidents are a grim reality worldwide. Although the ideal condition for any railway system is to have no accidents from the outset, none of the major networks have been able to achieve this condition. A financial year in Australian Railways accounts for only a quarter of the Indian Railway (IR) network 2022-23 Derailment of trains in 52 Incidents were reported. Thus, almost twice the size of the Indian Railways 2,60,000 Derailment of trains in the same year on the American railway network by track kilometers (TKM). 1,300 Incidents were reported. 2,00,000 European Union network with TKM (of Indian Railways 1.5 count) in 2022 in 1568 Mishaps happened.
Like its counterparts, years in Indian Railways also 2022-23 Incidents of train derailments were also reported, but very few 137 remained at the level of
This number is a testament to the tremendous safety performance of the Indian Railways as compared to developed countries and has been possible despite being dormant for several years due to less than desirable levels of capital expenditure, bureaucracy, politicization and corruption. But the filth of misdeeds spread over the past few decades cannot be washed away in one or two terms of good governance.
Although IR uses a mixed transportation model, several railways in foreign countries use separate tracks for goods and freight trains. This sums up that for every accident in India there is a high probability of a serious threat to railway passenger safety.
It is extremely important to immediately address the root cause of accidents and achieve a derailment free railway network. This will require significant technical initiatives to reduce the human interface and improve systemic globality.
Year with emphasis on prioritizing passenger safety 2023-24 Meanwhile in security related projects 1 More than lakh crores of rupees have been invested and there are plans to spend more than that in the current financial year. The aim is to provide better road safety near the tracks through the construction of overbridges and underbridges along with excellent maintenance of trains, bridges, tracks and signaling systems.
An index of railway safety performance – Number of accidents per million train kilometers (APMTK) year 2000-01 in 0.65 decreasing from 2023-24 in 0.03 is done This is a commendable result of modern, sophisticated track maintenance and better track maintenance using latest machines. Apart from this, some additional measures have been taken including improved track fault detection, control of rail weld related errors and upgraded techniques to reduce human errors.
A combination of technical intervention and targeted training has been adopted to maintain and improve these results.
Presence of modern machines for maintenance of tracks 2013-14 Meanwhile 700 increased from this year 1,667 has been done, which has improved the maintenance of tracks. Railway grinding has also been implemented across the entire network to increase asset reliability.
Tracks are now continuously monitored to prevent mischievous activities that pose a serious security risk to railway operations and to address problems such as vandalism, track tampering, and placing of unrelated objects on the tracks.
One of the mainstays of the safety initiative has been to increase the number of GPS-based FogPass devices to assist public pilots in navigating through green areas with poor visibility. year 2014-15 Only in 90 Now compared to GPS-based FogPass devices, the number of such 21,742 is done
Vigilance Control Devices (VCDs) are installed in all engines to increase pilot alertness. year 2013-14 Number of such in 10,000 Even less than, which is increasing today 16,021 is done On broad gauge routes 6,637 from the stations 99 Upgraded signaling systems like panel interlocking, route relay interlocking and electronic interlocking are provided on more than percent.
Apart from this, loco-pilots now undergo a simulator-based (simulating field experience) to improve driving skills and reaction time, while front-line staff receive firefighting training. In sum, year 2023-24 Meanwhile 6 More than one lakh railway employees received various types of training, initial, promotional, refresher and specialized training.
Apart from human security, year by Indian Railways 2024-25 At the end of the tracks 6,433 Attention is also being paid to the protection of wildlife and livestock by erecting kilometers (km) of fencing. August 2024 From this till 1,396 Km of work has been completed, which will reduce the incidence of cattle collisions on these roads.
Complementing these measures, safer Linke-Hoffmann-Busch (LHB) coaches have also been introduced, which have excellent features to protect passengers in the event of an accident. They are designed in such a way that in the event of a collision, these coaches No other coaches are boarded, thereby reducing the risk of train derailment and injury to passengers. LHB coach 160 Designed for safe operation at speeds up to kilometers per hour. year 2023-24 in 4,977 The production of LHB coaches increased significantly with the introduction of them, which year 2013-14 Manufactured in 2,467 is more than two times.
While these steps are laudable, the government will have to ensure that there is no let-up in their efforts to make Yatra safe. Indian Railways is already the safest mode of transport, but it will become even safer in the future.
