Indian Railways off the rails? Seventh accident of July

The urgency of improving — or, indeed, implementing even — the Indian Railways anti-collision signalling system was reinforced again on the morning of 20 July, as the Mumbai Mail en route from Howrah collided with a derailed goods train early on Tuesday morning.

As details and updates trickle in, we do not yet know when the goods train was derailed and why the loco pilots of the Howrah–Mumbai Mail could not be warned in time.

The ‘Kavach’ anti-collision signalling system, by the Railway’s own admission, is available only on 3 per cent of the nation's routes, and mostly only on trains operated by the South Central Railway.

Today, at least 2 people have been killed and 20 injured, as 18 coaches of the Howrah–Mumbai passenger train derailed at 3:45 a.m. near Jharkhand's Charadharpur division. All injured passengers have been rushed to the Tata Main Hospital in Jamshedpur.

This is the seventh train accident or derailment reported in July.

The South Eastern Railway has suspended several trains on the route, including:

• the 22861 Howrah–Titlagarh–Kantabanji Express

• the 08015/18019 Kharagpur–Jhargram–Dhanbad Express

• the 12021/12022 Howrah–Barbil–Howrah Jan Shatabdi Express

• the 18109 Tatanagar–Itwari Express

• and the 18030 Shalimar–LTT Express 

Just a day earlier, on Monday, 29 July, a major tragedy was averted after the engine and two bogies of the Bihar Sampark Kranti Express got detached from the other coaches in Samastipur district of Bihar. Nobody was injured as the train’s speed was slow.

In June this year, a 12-year-old boy averted another potentially serious accident in Samastipur, when he spotted a break in the railway track. Mohammad Shahbaz warned the approaching train using a red towel.

On 18 July, at least 2 passengers were killed and 30 injured when eight coaches of the Chandigarh–Dibrugarh Express derailed near Gonda in Uttar Pradesh.

Accidents and derailments were also reported on 19 July from Valsad in Gujarat, from Amroha in UP on 20 July, from Alwar in Rajasthan on 21 July as well as from Bengal on the same day. 

Earlier, on 17 June, the Kanchanjungha Express collided with a freight train in northern West Bengal, killing 10 and injuring 43.

Reacting to the series of train accidents, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee took to social media and asked, 'I seriously ask: Is this governance? This series of nightmares almost every week, this unending procession of deaths and injuries on railway tracks.

'For how long shall we tolerate this? Will there be no end to the callousness of the Government of India? My heart goes out to the bereaved families, condolences to the next of kin.'

Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose alleged that rail accidents have become a “new normal” under this latest BJP-led government and there is zero accountability from the railway minister. 'How many more train accidents shall it take for the Modi government to wake up from its slumber?' she tweeted. 'People are suffering, people are being put through hardships and misery while the Modi government continues to escape accountability and responsibility for rail safety.'

Angry citizens too gave vent to their frustration and demanded the resignation of the railway minister.