In recent times India is facing numerous serious rail accidents. The unending series of rail accidents has become nightmare for Indian citizens. According to a report by the Railway Safety Commission , rail accidents in India increased to 48 in 2022- 2023 from 35 in 2021-2022 , with life threatening accidents doubling in successive years. The report also highlighted that derailments were the primary causes of accidents besides collisions and fire.
Opposition parties like Trinamool Congress, Congress and Samajwadi party are accusing the leading government of these accidents by mentioning a lack of accountability.
List of major rail accidents in India
30th July , 2024 : 22 coaches of Howrah-Mumbai Mail derailed near Brabamboo in Jharkhand which caused two deaths and twenty injuries ( according to sources) . “ The dead bodies of two passengers were recovered from bathrooms after a coach was cut with gas cutters.” ( According to Hindustan Times) This incident caused severe security concerns in public.
18th July, 2024 : Four people died and twenty were injured after the Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express derailed in Uttar Pradesh. The congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Hon’ble Prime Minister and advised the leading government to take the responsibilities on that serious issue. The spokesperson of Trinamool Congress also mentioned that the railways which serve as the primary mode of travel for the middle class are no longer safe.
17th June , 2024 : Nine people were found dead and forty ones were injured the due to derailment of Sealdah-Kanchanjunga Express . This incident happened when a goods train collided with a passenger train. In that matter the Ministry of Railway said that nine passengers were severely injured and thirty two were mildly injured. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in this matter told that “The Railways have become totally parentless”. She claimed that government is only concentrating on beautification but not on the safety of passengers.
13th December, 2023 : Three persons died and several became injured after an overhead tank collapsed in Bardhaman station of West Bengal. The train movement was stopped immediately for safety measures.
15th November,2023 : Due to a short circuit, a fire broke out on Darbhanga Express near Etawah, Uttar Pradesh. According to sources, the fire started from the a spark in an electric board. Then the fire spread from one coach to another and destroyed the luggage of many passengers.
29th October, 2023 : A derailment between two passenger trains from Visakhapatnam to Palsa and Ragada caused fourteen deaths and several injuries . In that matter Congress leader Ranjan Chowdhury raised the question for the government about the use of security devices “ Where are your anti-collision devices?”. He also stated that the rail accidents one after another disprove the promises of the government.
11th October, 2023 : Four people died and seventy were injured due to derailment near Raghunathpur station in Bihar. The North-East Express train was on its way to Kamakhya, at least six coaches were derailed . Severely injured patients were admitted to AIMS, Patna.
26th September 2023 : An EMU (ELECTRIC MULTIPLE TRAIN) derailed and climbed onto the platform of Mathura station. That accident caused significant damage to the platform and electricity pole.
2 nd June 2023, : One of the most deadly train accidents happened in Balasore. The accident happened when three trains , a goods train, Howrah superfast train and Chennai Central Coromandel Express crashed. Approximately 292 passengers died and 1175 passengers were injured. The Indian Rail Authority stated that they warned authorities twice that anti-collision system was not deployed where the accident was happened.
According to an Indian Railways report train accidents are not common in India. The number of train accidents has decreased over the last few decades. Here is a list of train accidents from 1960’s to 2022 published by The Quint .
Year
Train Accidents
1960 -1971
14,796
1971 -1982
9968
1982 -1993
7013
1993 -2004
4620
2004 - 2015
1853
2015 -2022
449
On the other hand , the National Crime Records Bureau stated that almost1 lakh deaths occurred due to train accidents and 2,017 train accidents (India’s Comptroller and Auditor General) happened from 2017 to 2021 in India.
It was also mentioned in the Comptroller and Auditor General report (Quoted by IndiaSpend) that almost seven out of ten railway accidents in India occurred due to derailment from 2018 to 2021. The report pointed out several reasons for these rail accidents such as defects in tracks, outdated equipment, poor maintenance, and human error.
