On October 11, a passenger train collided with a stationary goods train fast enough for 13 bogies to overturn and one to catch fire, in Kavaraipettai near Chennai. No casualties were reported although several people were injured. No deaths and swift post-event action would have rendered this incident less significant if not for the recent spate of railway accidents across zones, spotlighting the oft-precarious conditions of trains, the infrastructure they need to operate, and the people and goods they transport. In the Kavaraipettai incident, officials said the passenger train received a green signal to enter the main line but it passed into the loop line, rear-ending the goods train. ‘Kavach’, the Indian Railways’ train protection system of choice, is designed to avoid such incidents, and the government can install it across its entire network in a decade with as little as 2% of its annual capex. Of course the effects of its implementation will become clear in a similar span of time, not in a few months as some in the political class are demanding. This said, if the seemingly straightforward causes — due to which a naive decision to reroute a train can turn into the reason for a major accident — are a sign of the precarity of the railway infrastructure, ‘Kavach’ coverage plus overhauling existing signalling systems should be a national priority but cannot be considered a silver bullet.
The long-standing delay in improving safety could be symptomatic of shortfalls in multiple areas. For example, the staff of the Railways matter for safety, too. Recent media reports have revealed deplorable working conditions for East Coast, Western, and Central Railways locomotive pilots, including 12-hour shifts, unhygienic resting facilities, and absence of toilets on engines. Even with ‘Kavach’, rail safety will require constant vigilance yet vigil is threatened by access to basic amenities competing for pilots’ attention. Overall, the Railways’ revenue growth has slowed while its dependence on budgetary allocation for capex has increased; its freight basket is dominated by coal (and thus vulnerable to the pressure on multiple sectors to decarbonise); both high-density routes and high-utilisation routes often report more than 100% network utilisation; and there are signs it has still to recover market share it lost during the COVID-19 pandemic to other passenger services. The Railways cannot improve safety in a vacuum but must address all these stressors in consonance. Finally, the government’s response to recent accidents has included counter-terrorism investigators as well. While this is due diligence, their presence and involvement should neither distract India from the Railways’ needs nor allow the government to hide behind a veil of secrecy.