Are Trains Actually That Safe? India’s Derailment Incident Is a Harsh Reminder of Reality

Note from the author: The following article may contain information that would not remain relevant as the story develops.

At least 280 people have died, and more than 900 were injured after a passenger train derailed in eastern India on June 2nd. It’s sad news and even more heartbreaking for family members as they discover what happened to their loved ones. Today, we’re digging into this and other derailments, why such tragedies happen, and what steps could get taken to lower the risk of future accidents.

This recent derailment happened in the Indian city of Balasore and is considered one of the deadliest train crashes in recent decades. It involved two passenger trains and a freight train. The exact timeline of events and why the derailment happened is still unclear, though an investigation is underway. Authorities say that a passenger train derailed after smashing head-on into a stationary freight train and fell onto the second passenger train’s tracks. Then the second train crashed into the derailed carriages, and the second train also derailed. A signalling light issue is suspected to have caused this accident. The error may have been a technical malfunction or mishandling by railway personnel.

However, it isn’t that much of a surprise that the trains derailed, as hundreds of derailments happen every year on Indian train lines. India is known for its vast and long networks of tracks, but track quality issues have also caused many accidents on these railways. A plausible reason for this is that by rushing to build a lot of railways to meet demand, there is not enough attention to safety regulations and not enough professional experts to ensure that those lines could operate as safely as possible. Although not all accidents are fatal, it would be best to eliminate the risk of severe incidents like the recent Balasore derailment.

Many experts believe a substantial percentage of train derailments should be avoidable. However, it would require a lot of money. Countries like India have failed to prevent those “avoidable incidents” as their infrastructure is too old and aged. It will arguably cost a lot to modernize those decades-old railways.

So what can cause train accidents or derailments? We can classify them into about four broad categories. Those are track quality issues, equipment malfunction, misleading signals and human error. And according to the Wall Street Journal, track issues are the leading cause of train derailment in the United States, with more than 5000 incidents ranging from 2012-2022 caused by them.[1] That’s a lot of accidents every year. These track quality issues usually involve warped or bent tracks, which would derail trains travelling at high speeds. Although there should be timed maintenance and checks on these tracks, including connection points, failure to recognize a cracked or misshaped rail or a lack of regular checks could raise the risk of accidents. These accidents, which come as derailments, would occur when the bent rail section snaps after constant pressure from trains passing over. The dangers of derailed cars escalate if hazardous materials are aboard, which could cause fires, further complicating rescue and clean-up efforts.

However, besides track problems, there are also issues like human error and misleading signals that also result in many accidents. In some cases, a track-switching could have caused the train to crash head-on against another train. Although some aren’t avoidable, we can implement precautions against such accidents. For example, the Indian government has rolled out a safety measure to prevent head-on train collisions: Kavach, an automatic engine-shutdown system. This system has triggered a debate following the June 2nd tragedy, and many are calling for the government to implement the system nationwide. Previously, it has only been implemented in a small percentage of India’s vast train networks, as it is very costly. But whether that system will get used widely is up to India’s government to decide.

The impact of this train tragedy is quite loud, and its echoes get heard worldwide. Locally, it has also triggered a lot of anger from citizens against the Indian government, calling for an upgraded safety system and regulations. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences after the accident and said that whoever is found guilty of causing the accident will be punished. On the world stage, this incident is a harsh reminder of the importance of rail safety and the need to meet safety and quality regulations.

In the end, we can only mourn for those hundreds of people who lost their lives in this disaster. The incident is a wake-up call and comes at a high toll. But I can reassure you that, even though hundreds of train accidents and derailments seem very dangerous, trains are still much safer than car travel by a substantial margin. However, it would be ideal to decrease such incidents even more so that people can safely ride trains without fear. And there isn’t much to do to prevent future accidents unless the Indian government decides to finally be on the right track and improve its railway safety. That’s the end of this production from the New News Newsminute. Thank you for reading, and may those who lost their lives rest in peace.