The Coromandel Express has resumed operations. It passed through Balasore smoothly, though the memory of the tragic and bizarre collision involving three trains will haunt us for a long time.There are two separate investigations underway to find out how the accident happened and discover the reasons for the failure of the signalling mechanism.However, the systemic issues remain. The resumption of the Coromandel Express operations on the main trunk route between Kolkata and Chennai cannot provide much comfort because the key systemic flaws which create risks in the Indian Railways have not gone away. No one knows when they will manifest again in the form of another accident or derailment.What is at the core of the systemic safety problem? The nub of the issue was recently brought forth by Alok Verma, a retired officer from the engineering services of Indian Railways, in the Indian Express. He argued that in about 10,000 km of the trunk routes ― quadrilaterals and diagonals between the four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai), traffic congestion is most acute and 125% capacity is used. Verma further told Scroll that a limit of 90% capacity utilisation may be considered appropriate for safety considerations. Most modern rail systems follow this principle. The problem is limited to 10,000 km of trunk routes, though India’s total route length is about 70,000 km.Such heavy excess capacity utilisation concentrated on these trunk routes (the Coromandel Express is on such a trunk route) seriously compromises regular maintenance of track, electrical and signal infrastructure, says Verma. The Modi government must answer for it.Also read: Need for Speed Has Taken Focus off Rail SafetyIf trains are constantly on the tracks, there is almost no time available for fault diagnosis and maintenance. This common sense issue has been ignored and massive growth in capacity utilisation on the trunk routes has been encouraged. Directly linked to this big increase in capacity utilisation is the Modi government’s unprecedented push to capital investments in the railways, creating more fast trains, rolling stock and new tracks in remote sectors. Capital outlay in the Railways in 2023-24 is nine times what it was in 2013-14, said finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament, as she tried to emphasise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to investments in Railways.But despite the big investment boost, safety has suffered acutely. CAG reports have pointed out that safety budgets have been either inadequate, or underutilised, or both. Expenditure on safety as a proportion of the overall increase in railway expenditure is clearly in decline.The fundamental problem remains in the heavily used trunk routes, like the one where the Balasore accident occurred. A similar accident involving the Sampoorna Kranti Express in Karnataka on February 8, which should have served as a warning, was averted. The alert driver in Karnataka saw his train wrongly turning to the loop line, down which a goods train was coming. His train was probably running much slower than the Coromandel Express, and he could apply the brakes in time. The issue did come up to the Railway board.But what can the Railway Board do about the 125% capacity utilisation, which leaves little time to look at safety? Alok Verma says that China had the same problem a few decades ago. In 1997, China had 66,000 km of rail route, which had increased to 155,000 km by 2022. China is creating more parallel trunk routes to run ultra high speed trains at 300-350 km per hour. But over the years, it has also upgraded its older trunk route networks connecting the big cities. This allows China to operate trains at varying high speeds in different segments.Also read: Odisha Train Crash: Dissent Note By Probe Panel Member Hints at CoverupIndia seems to be still struggling with speeds of 120-130 kmph, even as track renewal and maintenance leaves are neglected, especially on trunk routes. Unless these routes are adequately decongested, safety will remain compromised and accidents will occur with the frequency seen the last 10-15 years. The government argues that such accidents are in marginal decline, but their incidence is very rare in modern rail systems, whether in the West or China and Japan.Modi’s slogan of “speed and scale” needs to be drastically reviewed in the context of railway modernisation and safety should be prioritised forthwith.This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire & Galileo Ideas – and has been republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.
