Rangapani tragedy unveils Railways ‘safety gaps’ ‘Unfilled vacancies, manpower shortage, long duty hours, bad working conditions took the toll’

Amitava Banerjee & Sanchita Aich Bag, MP, 20 June 2024, Siliguri: The Rangapani train accident, which claimed about 10 lives, in Bengal’s Darjeeling district has highlighted several deficiencies within the Indian Railways. 

Employees cite manpower shortages leading to overworked staff, inadequate training and poor working conditions; making the world’s fourth-largest railway network highly susceptible to accidents. Soon after the tragic incident, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) called for the resignation of Indian Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and dubbed the Railways as ‘death trap’. 

TMC Rajya Sabha MP Susmita Dev highlighted that Railway safety was prioritised during the separate Railway Budget era but since its integration into the general Budget in 2016, accountability in Parliament waned. 

TMC MP from Rajya Sabha Sagarika Ghose in a post on X said: “Yet ANOTHER train accident. Citizens are paying with their lives for the failures of Modi’s ministers. Still promising Bullet Trains and other fantasies while failing to ensure basic safety for rail passengers. Too many are losing their lives, enough is enough. Rail minister @AshwiniVaishnaw needs to put in his papers.” 

TMC leader Debangshu Bhattacharya said that passenger safety in Railways has gone for a toss with trains on which the poor and lower-middle-class people heavily depend “have turned into a death trap”. Meanwhile, on the heels of the accident, the Indian Railways has decided to hire more than 18,000 assistant loco pilots (ALPs), thrice the number of postings than what was announced earlier.

The Railway Board has issued a circular to general managers stating that 18,799 assistant loco pilots (ALP) should be hired across zones, instead of the 6,696 planned earlier. After recruitment the ALPs will have to undergo training before being deployed, stated the circular. 

Loco pilot associations claim that an RTI has revealed that out of 127,644 sanctioned posts of LPs and ALPs, 18766- nearly 15 per cent were lying vacant as of March 1, 2024. 

Railway employees requesting anonymity have claimed that initially the local running staff of Northeast Frontier (NF) Railway were not properly trained on the new Automatic Block (Signaling) System. 

On February 1, 2023, the All India Loco Running Staff Association, New Jalpaiguri branch submitted a memorandum to the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of the Katihar division of N.F. Railway, demanding proper training. Despite submitting the memorandum, staff were not accorded proper training, a reason for regular lapses, claimed a railway source. Also Read - Spl Metro services at 11 pm to be preponed by 20 min 

The memorandum (A copy of which is in possession of the Millennium Post) with Reference Number- AILRSA/NJP/02/01.02.2023 dated 01.02.2023 stated “At present, we are forced to work under the Automatic Block (Signaling) system. Neither any Pre-training nor any competences certificate for which we may have to be victimized at no fault of ours. So, we request that without any proper training and competences certificate no loco running staff be engaged to work in the above system.” 

The letter also complained of Deplorable condition of Running room - where the amenities are very poor. The subsidized food supplied is of very low quality and not edible. Crews reaching by night are not getting food from the cook/ staff. 

There are no separate bedrooms. A portion of the kitchen is used as bedrooms which is most humiliating and unhygienic. 

The employee alleged that owing to shortage of staff and non-filling up of vacancies, long hours of work, lack of sleep are contributory factors for accidents. “When the new Automatic Block (Signaling) System was introduced, we requested the DRM, Kathihar, NFR, to provide us with proper training. 

However, they failed to deliver the training in a workshop or any formal setting. Instead, they only provided verbal instructions. The loco pilot of the goods train was also on continuous night duty for a few days, whereas, as per rule, a pilot should take rest after two days of night duty back to back. 

There is a shortage of staff and we are forced to work long hours,” alleged a railway employee, requesting anonymity. Reportedly, India’s Comptroller and Auditor General noted that Indian Railways recorded 2,017 accidents from 2017 to 2021. 

Derailments accounted for 69 per cent of the accidents, resulting in 293 deaths. Based on information given by the former minister of Railways Piyush Goyal in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha in 2020, 397 people lost their lives in train accidents between 2014 to 2019. In 2023, 293 people died in the Balasore triple train collision. 

Hours after the accident the Railways had announced that the Pilots were dead. Though the Loco pilot of the freight train died in the accident, the co-pilot is undergoing treatment in a nursing home in Siliguri. GRP officials visited a private nursing home in Siliguri to speak with Mannu Kumar, the Co-Pilot who was grievously injured in the accident. 

However, Mannu could not talk to them as he is still not stable and is in the ICU. On Wednesday, Janak Kumar Garg, the Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) as part of the inquiry, cross-examined 20 Railway staff members, including Railway guards of Rangapani; the Station Master; the Railway staff who had monitored Kanchanjungha Express and the freight train, along with linemen. 

Surendra Kumar, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of N F Railway, held a press conference at the ADRM office in New Jalpaiguri on Wednesday evening, where he said that the Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) is recording the statements of railway staff. 

“The freight train was at high speed. The loco pilot was instructed to slow down. The gateman of Rangapani was informed about the speeding train over the phone. His statement was also recorded. These aspects are all being investigated. Why the train was moving at such high speed will also be checked. 

The CRS will question more people and will prepare a final report. No transfers or suspensions have been made so far,” said DRM. 

On being asked about the issues in the signalling system, he said: “Signal issues happen sometimes. Paper signals are provided as an alternative, with several instructions, including speed limits. Loco pilots should follow the instructions. Instructions were given to both the loco pilots. 

The loco pilot of the goods train did not follow the instructions when the Kanchanjungha Express train was standing in the area following instructions. We are also investigating whether any other train was there in front of Kanchanjungha.” 

On the training issue where loco staff complaint that they were not given training properly, the DRM said: “All the staff were given training. After the incident, everyone is trying to save themselves by making such baseless allegations.” 

Regarding the fabricated complaint filed with GRP, he said: “GRP is not involved in the investigation. CRS, however, is examining all points.” Only Railways staff were questioned. Questioning will continue until the report is prepared, it was stated. 

Courtesy & source- Millennium Post

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/rangapani-tragedy-unveils-railways-safety-gaps-568685