The Balasore train tragedy at Bahanaga Bazar station in Odisha involving three trains, the Coromandel Express, SMVT Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, and a freight train left 291 people dead and over 1,000 injured. The initial assessment of an alleged criminal neglect of standard operating procedures (SOPs) was corroborated at the highest levels of the Indian Railways
Now, a Commission of Rail Safety (CRS) report states that an undetected fault in the wiring in the location box near Bahanaga Bazaar Railway Station that had not been noticed by Signal and Telecom (S&T) staff in the past five years led to the deadly triple train collision. Installed at a distance of two to five kilometres usually, a location box houses cables which control signalling functions, including points, signals and track circuits
The CRS report pins the fault on the S&T Department, which was conducting the repair work on the day of the accident, June 2. Railway officials who are studying the collision said that the accident could have been averted if due procedures had been followed by running checks on the circuit which sets points on rail tracks, connecting the location box with the relay or control room
According to an international rail safety expert, transportation-related accidents in India have a pattern with roots in systemic failure and the railways is also suffering with this problem. “Ultimately, it is about both a lack of robust safety design-install-test process, enforcement, staff competency management and accountability," the official told Business Today Magazine.
Safety experts told BT that filling up vacancies for engineering roles and putting technology adoption on the fast track are some ways to prevent a recurrence, say experts. “There has been no fresh induction of engineers through engineering services exams in the past few years. There needs to be enhanced focus on field inspections even while limiting time spent on meetings," they said
Railway experts urge a six-step process to prevent the recurrence of Balasore-like accidents in the future. It includes:
LEVEL 1: Design-stage check by the contractor
LEVEL 2: Provision for independent checking by a competent person
LEVEL 3: Integration check of systems like signalling, telecom, track, power, etc., by all personnel/contractors
LEVEL 4: Client (Indian Railways) check by a senior engineer
LEVEL 5: Installation check must be done by a different firm or set of people to ensure work has been done as per the approved design
LEVEL 6: Final testing to be, done by an independent agency
This must be carried out by staff who are checked for their competency at least once yearly and issued requisite licence, as per BT Research
Railways experts also cite the slow adoption of cutting-edge technologies and a lack of structured R&D activities. “The multiple attempts at introducing technology in the railways haven’t progressed to satisfactory levels yet. That needs to be addressed on a war footing now as there is a lot to be done, especially with regard to Kavach and other proven technologies,” a senior executive at a leading railway original equipment manufacturer told BT Magazine
Over the years, the railways has been losing traffic to road transport for short distances and to airlines in the premium long-haul segment. But one of rail’s USPs is safety and convenience, especially for the elderly. “Accidents of this nature severely dent this perception. Apart from the obvious impact of the loss of lives, injuries, economic disruptions, etc., the impact of diversion of traffic to roads especially will have a higher longer-term impact on the Railways,” said Jagannarayan Padmanabhan, Senior Director at CRISIL Market Intelligence
As per experts, the railways can arrest negative perception from taking hold by maintaining the highest safety standards. Perhaps it can learn a thing or two from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, which since FY15 has aggressively added air traffic controllers in the Airports Authority of India and additional personnel in regulatory bodies