Railway Disasters in India: Causes, Effects and Management

Satish Bhagwatrao Aher^1*, Deepak Raj Tiwari²

¹Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal 462 038 India

²Indira Gandhi National Open University Study Centre, Govt. Motilal Vigyan Mahavidyalaya, Bhopal 462 008 India

*Corresponding Author E-mail: satihbaher@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT:

Present study was conducted to study the causes, impacts and management of disasters in Indian Railway. In order to fulfill the objectives of the study, the secondary data with respect to number of railway accidents, financial losses, deaths, injuries, the causes of railway accidents etc. for last 16 years (2000-2016) was obtained, compiled and statistically analyzed. The disaster management system in Indian Railway was studied with respect to railway disasters. The Ministry of Railways (MoR) has the disaster management plan for management of the Railway Disaster at national, zonal and divisional level which provides the framework for prevention, mitigation, preparedness, rescue, relief and rehabilitation through risk identification, hazard mapping, preventive and anti-sabotage security system, crowd management plans, 'Golden Hour' response, hospital disaster plan, training, technology up gradation, periodic mock drills etc. The results revealed that there are four major categories of accidents viz. derailment, level crossing accidents, collisions and fire in trains which are caused by three major factors viz. human error, equipment failure, and sabotage. Out of total accidents occurred in Indian Railway derailments, level crossing accidents, collisions and fire accidents were 58%, 32%, 5% and 3%, respectively. 85% accidents were caused due to human error, whereas failure of equipments and sabotage contributed to 5% and 4% accidents, respectively. During 2000-2016, 2297 people lost their life in railway accidents and 6088 people got injured affecting total 8385 people in the country. Indian Railway faced a total loss of Rs. 86486 Cr. due to accidents.

KEYWORDS: Disaster Management, Railway Disaster, Railway Accident, Derailment, Collision

INTRODUCTION:

Railway Disaster is a serious train accident or an untoward event of grave nature, either on railway premises or arising out of railway activity, due to natural or man-made causes, that may lead to loss of many lives and/or grievous injuries to a large number of people, and/or severe disruption of traffic etc, necessitating large scale help from other Government/Non-government and Private Organizations [1].

According to Indian Railway Disaster Management Plan, 2009

“Railway Disaster is a serious train accident or an untoward event of grave nature, either on railway premises or arising out of railway activity, due to natural or man-made causes, that may lead to loss of many lives and/or grievous injuries to a large number of people, and/or severe disruption of traffic etc, necessitating large scale help from other Government / Non-government and Private Organizations.”

Railways are one of the most prominent modes of transportation in the world. The world Railway networks continuously handling massive numbers of passengers and quantities of goods daily[3]. Indian Railways is one of the largest railway systems in the world which plays a significant role in driving economic growth of the country, offering highly affordable, environment-friendly transportation to passengers and freight[4,5], especially bulk commodities, across the country along with safety to property and life[6]. Indian railway also has its own disaster management plan to manage the railway accidents in all the phases viz. pre, during and after the disaster. But the safety on the Railways is the end product of the coordination among all the factors. The consequential train accidents results in loss of human life or injury, damage to railway property or interruption to rail traffic in excess of laid down threshold levels and values[7].

The increasing population demanding the number of trains and frequency of the existing trains which resulted in unbalanced rise in rail traffic over several years leading to tremendous pressure or over-saturation of rail tracks which exceeded the `safe' limit[8]. The immediate causes for accidents are numerous but unbalanced rise in traffic is one of the primary contributing factors. Thus, considering the above mentioned facts, an investigation was carried out to study on Railway disasters with respect to causes, effects and management in Indian Railway.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Data collection, compilation and analysis:

In order to fulfill the objectives of the study, the secondary data with respect to number of railway accidents, financial losses, deaths, injuries, the causes of railway accidents etc. for last 16 years (2000-2016) was obtained from different sources such as Indian railway website, publications, newspapers, Govt. of India websites, disaster management authorities, management institutions, libraries and railway authorities. The collected data was compiled and categorized as per the need and to achieve the objectives of the study. The compiled data was arranged and analyzed for different statistical parameters in MS-Excel. The final data has been presented in subsequent pages in the form of Tables and Figures.

RESULTS:

Accidents in Indian Railway

The study of railway accidents occurred during last 16 years (2000-2016) revealed that, there are four major categories of accidents. These are i) Derailment ii) Level crossing accidents iii) Collisions and iv) Fire in trains. The rest were categorized under miscellaneous accidents.

Total rail accidents:

The data pertaining to the year wise accidents occurred in Indian Railways are presented in Table 1. The data deals with the total accidents occurred as well as types of accidents occurred during last 16 years i.e. 2000-2016. The total 3515 accidents were occurred during the study period in which the major accident type was train derailment followed by level crossing accidents. The accident type occurred in Indian Railways over the years followed the trend

Derailment > Level crossing accidents > Collisions > Fire in trains > Miscellaneous accidents

The data revealed that the accidents were occurred with an average of 220 accidents per year.

Derailments:

The derailments are the most common and major contributing accident type in Indian Railways. The data revealed that total 2045 derailments were occurred in Indian Railways during 2000-2016 (Table 2.1). The derailments occurred in Indian Railway with an average of 128 accidents per year.

Level crossing accidents:

The level crossing accidents in Indian Railway both manned and unmanned crossing) has been presented in Table 1. The data revealed that it was the major accident type in Indian Railway after derailments. The average level crossing accidents occurred at a rate of 70 accidents per year (2000-2016). During the 16 year period, total 1125 level crossing accidents was recorded in Indian Railway[9].

The cause other than human error, sabotage, equipment failure also contributed for 168 railway accidents out of 3515 during the 16 year data analysis. The cause of 39 accidents were either not identified or under investigation. Thus, human error, failure of equipments and sabotage were the major causes of accidents in Indian Railways. Indian Railway successfully overcome these causes but needs further improvements to eliminate the railway disasters completely or avoiding the loss of life during the accidents.

Impact of Railway Accidents:

Casualties and victims:

The data pertaining to the casualties, person injured and a total affected person in railway accidents during 2000-2016 has been presented in Table 3. In last 16 years (2000-2016), 2297 people lost their life in railway accidents and 6088 people got injured affecting a total of 8385 people in the country. The annual mean data showed that524 people was affected each year during 2000-2016, out of which, 144 lost their life and 381 left injured.

Table 3. Year wise casualties in Indian railway accidents (2000-2016)

Duration	Killed	Injured	Total affected
2000-2016	2297	6088	8385
Mean	144	381	524
SD (±)	83.6	172.0	234.0

Economic loss:

The data pertaining to the economic loss due to accidents in Indian Railways in terms of rolling stock loss, permanent way loss and compensation paid to victims has been presented in Table 4. In last 16 year Indian Railway faced a total loss of Rs. 86486 Cr. due to accidents. Thus, Indian Railway lost Rs. 5405 Cr. per year due to accidents. Out of total loss of Rs. 86486 Cr. during 2000-2016, Indian Railway paid Rs. 6412 Cr. towards the compensation to the incident victims and rest Rs. 80073 Cr. faced for permanent plus rolling stock. The Indian Railway faced a total loss of Rs. 61620 Cr. during the 16 year under study as loss due to rolling stock.

Table 4. Year wise economic loss to Indian railway due to accidents (2000-2016)

Duration	Rolling Stock	Permanent Way	Total	Compensation Paid	Grand total
2000-2016	61620	18453	80073	6412	86486
Mean	3851	1153	5005	401	5405
SD (±)	1647	427	1602	227	1634

(Value in Crore Rupees)

Similarly, the Indian Railway lost Rs. 18453 Cr. as loss in permanent way due to accidents during the period under study. The permanent loss to Indian Railway averaged as Rs. 1153 Cr. per year in last 16 years. Indian Railway paid Rs. 6412 Cr. towards compensation to incident victims in last 16 years under study which averaged Rs. 401 Cr. per year. Thus, a huge amount of Rs. 86486 Cr. lost by Indian Railway due to accidents.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT IN INDIAN RAILWAYS:

Disasters can cause injuries, fatalities and widespread infrastructure and property destruction. The associated economic and environmental costs can be devastating but it can be contained if the management systems in place to plan for, respond to or recover from them fail[10]. The Ministry of Railways (MoR) has the disaster management plan for management of the Railway Disaster. The disaster management plan of the Indian Railway has following components[11]:

Disaster Management Plan:

The four major categories of accidents viz. derailment [Fig. 1(b)], level crossing accidents [Fig. 1(d)], Collisions [Fig. 1(a)] and fire in trains [Fig. 1(c)] are common disasters in Indian Railways (Fig. 1). However, the Indian Railways is having an organized system of relief for managing accidents with its own resources. Details of procedures and systems have been laid down in the Accident Manuals of the respective Zonal Railways. The Indian Railway has a focus on a) Faster response b) Better facilities and equipments d) Better customer focus e) Training and preparedness and f) Accident relief train (ART) management for managing disasters (Fig. 2). Indian Railways prepared Disaster Management Plans at Zonal Headquarter and Divisional level. These plans encompassed all types of disaster that can occur on the Railway system.

Disaster Preparedness:

Institutional Framework:

The Disaster Management Plans of the Zonal Headquarters, Divisions and other units provide the framework at the field level for prevention, mitigation, preparedness, rescue, relief and rehabilitation. Apart from this, Indian Railways also addressed its safety concerns in Corporate Safety Plan of Indian Railways.

Safety Audit and Safety Drive:

Safety Audit is conducted periodically by Indian Railways to identify system failures and generic shortcomings. As per the Corporate Safety Plan (CSP), periodic Safety Audit is undertaken at various levels for an in depth assessment of Safety Systems. The Safety Audits are conducted by a Multi-Disciplinary team from Railway Board, Inter-Railway, Multidisciplinary Headquarters Team, Inter Divisional etc. to ensure the safety in railway. The Corporate Safety Plan of Indian Railway made a provision of safety drive. In Safety Drives, certain activities, which are seasonal in nature, are neither required to be performed by staff nor required to be checked by supervisors during the course of normal working for most of the part of the year. For such activities, Safety Drives are launched in order to correct a system failure, whenever detected.

Rescue and Relief Equipments:

The Indian Railway has relief and rescue equipment such as Self-Propelled Accident Relief Trains (SPARTs), Accident Relief Trains (ARTs) and Accident Relief Medical Vans (ARMVs) in addition to breakdown cranes to fight against the disaster. At present Indian Railway have 241 Accident Relief Trains (ARTs) and 161 Accident Relief Medical Vans (ARMVs) which are positioned at strategic locations covering the entire rail network of Indian Railways for pushing to accident sites on top priority. Out of 241 ARTs, 97 have Diesel Hydraulic cranes attached to them. These trains equipped with all essential tools, has been assigned to a team of trained doctors, para medical staff, rescue workers and engineers. Target time for dispatch of ARMVs and ARTs are maximum 20 minutes and 60 minutes, respectively from their ordering. The other rescue and relief equipment with Indian Railway are 140 tonnes break down cranes, emergency rail cum road vehicles and video transmission facility [Fig. 2(c, d)].

Risk Analysis and Vulnerability Profiles:

The Ministry of Railways have evaluated security and identified different threat perceptions relating to train stations, tracks, bridges etc. and a comprehensive security plan was formulated towards adequate preventive and anti-sabotage security system. Indian Railway identified 202 vulnerable railway stations for implementing ‘Integrated Security System’ (ISS), consisting of four broad areas such as Internet Protocol (IP) based Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) surveillance system, Access control, Personal and baggage screening system and Bomb detection/ disposal system to strengthen surveillance mechanism[12].

Crowd Management:

Crowd management assumes importance in view of casualties due to stampedes at mass gatherings. Indian Railway included specific plans for crowd management in their five Zones and 20 Division including Merto Railway with copies of Divisional Disaster Management Plan at almost all zones and stations. Emergency exit points are available for crowd management including standard operating procedure for crowd management at disaster site with well-defined role of Railway Protection Force in the Disaster Management Plan. Both electronic and print media plays an important role in management of the disaster situation[13].

Disaster response

Response during Golden Hour:

The first hour after the accident is termed as ‘The Golden Hour’. Ministry of Railways (MoR) has a mechanism to reach the accident site within the 'Golden Hour' to respond disaster through well equipped ARTs and ARMVs [Fig. 2(a,b)].

Railway Hospitals:

Indian Railway provided a Hospital Disaster Plan for prompt and effective medical care to affected peoples. The plan is based on National disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Guidelines on Medical Preparedness and Mass Casualty Management. The hospitals conduct periodic mock drills for disaster preparedness. The doctors, medical staff, para medical staff are trained in Disaster Management[14]. These hospitals are equipped with essential life saving services such as blood bank, ambulance etc. [Fig. 2(e)].

Modernization and Strengthening of Railway Protection Force:

Indian Railway reformed, modernized and expanded Railway Protection Force (RPF) through providing modern fire arms, legal empowerment of RPF, new recruitment, dog squad, commando training, infrastructure creation and expansion etc. to provide the required level of manpower and security [Fig. 2(f)].

Capacity building to face disasters:

Indian Railway build capacity through staff training, infrastructure development, expansion, resource procurement etc. to handle different types of Disasters based on the guidelines issued by the National Disaster Management Authority. The Indian Railway also introduced new technologies such as Mobile Flash Butt Welding, Integrated maintenance blocks, Control Office Application (COA) software, Track circuiting, colour light signaling, standard interlocking, token less blocks, centralized on-line monitoring system, train management system (TMS), train protection warning system (TPWS), train collision avoidance system (TCAS), mobile train radio communication (MTRC), rail fracture detection system, wheel impact load detector (WILD), vigilance control device (VCD), modern coaches etc. to ensure the disaster prevention and management.

Training on Disaster Management:

Railway Board instructed all Railway Training Institutes and the Zonal Railways to revamp training on disaster management. As per Railway Board instructions, training has been continuously imparted to different categories of officials from top management to on-board staff in different frequencies to avoid the disasters caused by human errors, especially due to the failure of Railway staff[15,16].

Mock Drills:

The mock drills are organized regularly in coordination with the Sr. DOMs in the Division, and the COMs in Headquarters for checking the preparedness of ARMVs/ARTs as well as concerned staff. Indian Railway developed skills of staff to deal with emergency during disasters through periodic mock drills.

The disaster management plan of Indian Railways was formulated in line with the National Disaster Management Policy and the provisions contained in the Disaster Management Act 2005 which is integrated, comprehensive to deal with the event of train accidents or other disasters. Zonal Railways and their Divisions also have their respective DMPs with a mechanism for Disaster Management. Also, the Zonal Railways and Divisions have the action plan for efficient crowd management.

DISCUSSION:

Out of these five accident type, the most common and major accident type is derailment. The analysis of 16 year (2000-2016) data of accidents in Indian Railway showed that out of total 3515 accidents, 2045 accidents were derailments which is about 58% of total (Fig. 3). The level crossing accidents contributed 32% to the total accidents occurred during 2000-2016 in Indian Railway. The level crossing accidents included both manned and unmanned crossing. Thus, derailment and level crossing accidents together contributed 90% of total rail accidents in India. The collision in Indian Railway also the frequent occurring accident type and it contributed 5% to the total train accidents. The fire in train and miscellaneous accidents constituted 3% and 2% of total railway accidents in Indian Railway, respectively.

The 16 year (2000-2016) study of railway accidents revealed three major causes of railway accidents in India viz. human error, failure of equipment and sabotage. Out of 3515 railway accidents occurred during 2000-2016, the causes of 3476 accidents were identified whereas cause of 39 accidents is either not identified or these are still under investigation. The data revealed the fact that, 85% accidents were caused due to human error (Fig. 4). The number may increase as 1% accidents are still under unidentified / under investigation. Failure of equipments or mechanical reason contributed for 5% of total accidents occurred in Indian Railways.

Sabotage was again the important cause of railway accidents which contributed 4% of total railway incidents. The rest 5% railway accidents were occurred due to other reasons like natural & other factors. The huge contribution of human error in the railway accidents showed the lack of management, training, coordination etc. among the railway staff and Indian Railway. The year wise decrease in all the causes and accidents showed the necessary actions taken by Indian Railways to tackle with these cheap causes of accidents (Fig. 4).

Figure 3. Type and contribution of accident in Indian Railway

Figure 4. Causes and their contribution to railway accidents in India

In last 16 years (2000-2016), 2297 people lost their in railway accidents and 6088 people got injured affecting total 8385 people in the country. Among the total people affected by railway accidents, 27% lost their life while 73% got injured. It means every fourth person affected by railway accident lost his life (Fig. 5). The ratio is very high and needs to be considered seriously while planning for management of disaster in Indian Railway.

In last 16 years, Indian Railway faced a total loss of Rs. 86486 Cr. due to accidents. The economic loss faced by Indian Railway has been classified in three categories viz. rolling stock loss, loss in permanent way and compensation paid to the accident victims. Out of Rs. 86486 Cr. loss faced by Indian Railway in last 16 years, 71% loss was in terms of rolling stock loss (Fig. 6) whereas the loss in terms of permanent way loss was 21% (Rs. 18453 Cr.) of total loss. The rest amount was spent towards the compensation to accident victims. The compensation paid to incident victims involved in railway accidents is only 8% of total loss to Indian Railway.

An unbalanced rise in rail traffic over several years leading to tremendous pressure or over saturation of rail tracks which exceeded the `safe' limit considering the available resources which results in railway disasters[3]. Railway accidents, especially derailment commonly caused due to broken rails and welds. The adaptation of new technology[17] gradually decreased the railway accidents[18,19]. The consequential train accidents over the years has been showing declining trend despite phenomenal growth of traffic but emphasis on improvement of infrastructure, resources and functional empowerment is essential to tackle the worst disasters[6].

Figure 5. Impact of Railway accidents on life in India

Figure 6. Economic losses due to railway accidents in India

CONCLUSIONS:

In Indian Railway, four major categories of accidents viz. derailment, level crossing accidents, collisions and fire in trains caused due to three major factors viz. human error, equipment failure, and sabotage. Out of total accidents occurred in Indian Railway derailments, level crossing accidents, collisions and fire accidents were 58%, 32%, 5% and 3%, respectively. 85% accidents were caused due to human error, whereas failure of equipments and sabotage contributed to 5% and 4% accidents, respectively. During 2000-2016, 2297 people lost their life in railway accidents and 6088 people got injured affecting total 8385 people in the country. Indian Railway faced a total loss of Rs. 86486 Cr. due to accidents. The Ministry of Railways (MoR) has the disaster management plan for management of the Railway Disaster at national, zonal and divisional level. Indian Railway has been continuously making efforts towards prevention, mitigation, preparedness, rescue, relief and rehabilitation of disaster through modernization, planning, capacity building, trainings, mock drills, adaptation of new technologies, reformation, expansion etc. These efforts reflected in terms of reduction in railway incidents over the years.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

Present study is the part of Dissertation of Post Graduate Diploma in Disaster Management (PGDDM) completed by corresponding author under Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi 110068, INDIA. Authors greatly acknowledge the coordination and support received from IGNOU Regional Centre, Bhopal and IGNOU Head Office, New Delhi, INDIA.

CONFLICTS OF INTERESTS:

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

REFERENCES:

1. Ministry of Railways (2014a) Disaster Management Plan, September 2014, p. 6

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Received on 23.04.2018 Modified on 19.05.2018

Int. J. Rev. and Res. Social Sci. 2018; 6(2): 125-132.

DOI: 10.5958/2454-2687.2018.00011.4

Duration	Collisions	Derailments	Level crossing accidents	Fire in trains	Misc.	Total
2000-2016	167	2045	1125	120	67	3515
Mean	10	128	70	8	4	220
SD (±)	6.9	89.3	16.4	5.2	2.4	112.9

Duration	Human Error	Failure of Equipments	Sabotage	Other	Unidentified/under investigation	Total
2000-2016	2989	164	155	168	39	3515
Mean	187	10	10	11	2	220
SD (±)	95.5	9.0	6.1	5.4	1.8	112.9