When will Railways act on preventing accidents?

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Tuesday’s accident has brought the unconscionable delay in the introduction of the much needed Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS) to the fore, with Railway Minister Mukul Roy unable to set a date for the introduction of the anti-collision system.

The European system, which ensures emergency brakes are automatically applied if a locomotive driver jumps a red signal, may have saved lives Tuesday, when train driver M.Y. Ratnam, despite resting over 24 hours, hit a stationary train.

The scale of the tragedy could have been bigger, officials said, as the Hampi Express was to follow Line 1, on which Nanded Express was moving out slowly, but because 'the point' set for the ill-fated train to go on Line 2 was later where a goods train was stationary, the loss of lives was minimal.

The official said the tender process for TPWS — at a cost of Rs 50 lakh per kilometer - was yet to be finalised.

In the 12th Five-Year-Plan, Railways will install TPWS on a 3,200 km route at an estimated cost of Rs 3,200 crore. Of 2,763 train accidents in 2000- 2010, human error was behind 50 per cent of them.

Failure at multiple levels

The accident that claimed 26 lives on Tuesday points to failures at multiple levels, not just of one person.

The accident occurred at 3.09 a.m. when the Bengaluru-bound Hampi Express crashed into the rear of a goods train at Penukonda Railway Station on Dharmavaram-Bangalore section in Anantapur District of Andhra Pradesh.

Railway Minister Mukul Roy has ordered an inquiry and directed Commissioner of Railway Safety, Mr S.K. Mittal to complete investigation by May 24 and 25. There are some lingering questions regarding the cause of the accident.

“If the driver of the train failed to notice the signal, what was the co-driver doing? How did he fail to notice it too? The signal has to be given by the station master; what was he doing when he saw the train miss the signal?” said a senior official from South Western Railways.

There are a slew of other safety protocols supposed to be in place, but it is yet to be ascertained whether they were in place. “We will know the whole truth only once the report is out,” the official added.