Ailing Railways, mishaps
The train mishap in Jalgaon, Maharashtra, that killed 13 persons and injured over 15 more came as another shock on the rails. Considering the abrupt manner and sequence of events, this was perhaps a fait accompli. Yet, this is symptomatic of the chaos that reigns Indian Railways on several counts. Successive governments have neglected the railways and even the basic amenities are not being provided on the trains. For instance, in this age of electronics revolution, communication between the loco pilot, TTEs and even passengers in their seats/berths should be possible without any expense other than the little that is needed for installation of the sound/video system inside every compartment. The result is, when a station approaches, there is no internal announcement. When an abrupt stop takes place in between the journey and a train is halted for minutes or even hours, the actual reason for the halt is one of conjecture. The sudden halt of the Lucknow-Mumbai Pushpak Express in Jalgaon apparently caused confusion among the passengers, who might have alighted not only because of the now-publicised “false rumour by a tea-seller,” but also as they thought the train would halt for a longer time. This happens in the case of every abrupt or prolonged halt. The tea-seller story in itself might be a motivated plant by the railway authorities. Had there been a system for instant communication between TTEs, loco pilot and the passengers, this tragedy could have been avoided or the number of deaths due to over-run by another train in the adjoining track reduced.
When Narendra Modi took charge of the central government in 2014, he had raised the expectations of the people. He promised bullet trains and more. These are yet to materialize. Then, word came that the government would be concentrating on safety aspects. Yet, major rail mishaps occurred due to human or system error, as in the case of the horrendous collision between three trains in Odisha’s Balasore district in 2023, which killed around 300 passengers. Those who travel by trains know full well that there has been only marginal improvement in the railway services in the past 10 years; and so with speed. The ticket reservation system, including the online mode, is subjected to massive manipulations. While this had been the case in the past too, the point to stress is that the Modi dispensation has not changed the scenario for the better. Outdated tracks, rusted rakes, slow speed, poor pantry services etc continue to be the curse of India’s railway system. The abolition of the system of having a separate budget for the railways by Modi since 2014 perhaps worsened the scenario. There is no clarity about the number of new trains introduced every year, the fund allotments for each sector etc., due to a lack of dissemination of information since 2014. The plight of the passengers remains worse.