Every day there are new revelations through news paper reporting the statements of concerned IR officials regarding this accident!.
Earlier report hinted at over speeding by the train, although quite vaguely.
/blog/post/2070073-3
Re# 2070073-3
Now...
more... the it is reported that Loco inspector who was travelling in the loco, pressurised the driver to increase the speed. Again an indigestible thing, if any body says the loco driver to run a train which is already taking high load (i.e. with some defects) at 110kmph instead of 30kmph, should he agree. Had I been the loco driver, I would have refused even if RM had ordered to do so. This report is clearly pointing out that the defective points lie between Malasa & Bhimsen outer cabin which does not include Pokhrayan, the accident site. So most probably there was no speed restriction of 30kmph at accident site.
There is no doubt that complacencies galore in IR working, and reason is the persons found guilty are often not punished.
/blog/post/2070477-1
Re# 2070477-1
Dear Friend, I very much appreciate your ultimate concern for the safety of paxs which is genuine. The lackadaisical attitude of IR since independence is a matter of concern. Many good RMs made themselves a escape goat by resigning on moral ground (I don't like that), but the necessary steps were seldom taken in right earnest. We have to take a holistic view over the matter and take steps accordingly.
I would like to put forth some thing regarding this matter before the intelligent IRI brethren and at last I have a question with a hope that good solutions shall come out on this lively issue.
The guilty person/deptt point many system deficiencies as argument in their favour, which are often true to an extent. With large number of trains running on a track without modern signalling, usually much beyond the maximum capacity of track (150-160% capacity utilisation) and over that too with many speed restrictions, make the job of train operation very difficult and prone to accident. Then how can one expect the IR staff to operate the trains safely?
Reason for the problems-
a) Signals not modernised making large number of train operation on the same track more difficult,
b) tracks not doubled to take care of increased traffic so large number of unscheduled stopping making train operation very voluminous and tough job
c) tracks not fully maintained so
All the above are due to a single factor, not enough investment done (or money spent) on IR capacity augmentation/modernisation which was absolutely necessary to ensure safety.
Then comes the question,
Q-1-don't IR have any revenue surplus to invest in the absolutely essential safety??
A-1-Answer is yes, but funds are very limited.
Q-2-Then why fund was not spent on passenger safety, don't the IR officials have any common sense??
A-2-Answer- IR officials have common sense as well as expertise. The problem is they have little or no say where the fund shall be spent, they can only advise their boss about that
Q-3- Then who decides how to spend scarce surplus revenue?
A-3- Mostly RM/MOS-R, & Govt (Ruling Party) IR officials can only advise/propose.
Q-4-Where the surplus revenue has been actually spent ?
A-4- Mostly spent on following (unwanted heads)
A-4-1-Running new trains without proper demand study (often the loss making trains with lesser number of coaches & poor patronage mostly in VIP area/ to serve div/zonal HQs.
A-4-2-Giving more passenger subsidies like IZZAT passes(biggest beizzati to full fare paying passengers), new concessions to already swelling list
A-4-3-No passenger fare increase or increasing the subsidy given to passenger business
A-4-4-New rail lines (mostly loss making with very low returns) to serve political interests of masters
A-5-5-Spending in projects/institutions which is not a business of IR, but are related to vested interests/ vote banks of political masters like matters like spending several thousand crore Rs per annum in Kolkata Metro Expansion and operation, on schools, colleges, establisment of unwanted Rly-workshops, Rly-factories, Rly-divisions, Rly-zones etc.
All of the above expenditures can never assume higher priority the passenger safety. Then comes question
Q-5-What should be done to change the things/ reduce accidents
A-5-1- Increase the investment to strengthen, augment and modernize IR so that the over saturation is eased out, operations become more automatic with lesser dependence on humans.
A-5-2-Eliminate all the pending maintenance jobs which compromise with safety (& speed) like rail, points, ballast, bridges, signalling, rolling stock etc so that the chance of break down/failure in minimised.
A-5-3-Spend every penny of IR for financially rewarding projects (with an exception of safety related projects) so that the financial position of IR is sound and there is enough surplus to invest in A-5-1 & A-5-2.
A-5-4-Conduct extensive/relevant studies/surveys etc and then invest in making the IR system intrinsically safer. For. example elevate the track/rolling-stock standards to higher level so it is safer keeping in view the enhanced loading which was implemented about 10 years ago without strengthening the IR infrastructure, thereby compromising the IR safety
A-5-5- Change the work culture of IR employees. This is of ultimate importance, especially in matter of promoting safety or accident prevention. Little could be done here as IR being a govt organisation often bows before Labour Unions who are seen as vote banks and are pampered by their political masters, more over there are other issues like recruitment, promotion policies of govt which does not promote good work culture or promote efficiency or appreciate good jobs. If a labour has absolute job security and backing of unions, any positive change in working which means taking them out of their comfort zone, is very difficult to achieve. This is the area where even the most dynamic RM (like present) have very less chances of getting success. Enforcing discipline is very difficult in such circumstances.
After the above discussions the million dollar question is-Practically How to accomplish the above tasks in order to achieve safety and efficiency in IR?? What steps should be taken at grass root/ working level?
