Lesley Foster, a young railway buff, says an overworked system and an apathetic minister make a deadly cocktail for railway passengers’ safety. His views:
Indian Railways has been in service for the people since the British era. The first train ran between Bombay and Thane covering a distance of 34 km, which was pulled by steam locomotives. This was on April 16, 1853. From then on this was the only means of transport that had been established in the Indian system, or among the Indian people, very rapidly. India has been vastly dependent on one of the the railways as a trusted means of transport.
Railways developed through its time, or, by the years it went by. First, we saw steam engines, then diesel engines, now, we are seeing electric engines. These are the three main changes in the Indian railways in the system of engines. Same goes with the compartments. We used to see wooden coaches earlier, now we see modern seating with rakes inside the compartments, plus, perhaps, cleaner toilets, a bit more emphasis on hygiene, some trains running on time, more safety standards for the passengers with the Railway Protection Force taking rounds etc, especially in high-end trains. This is the story of change in around 150 years.
Ordinary passengers and local trains remain more or less the same, packed and over-crowded, but serving as a crucial nervous system for the working class around the peripheries of metros, with cheap tickets. Perhaps, a look this side could help the thousands who travel on these trains. The recent unfortunate stampede incident at New Delhi Railway Station, where precious lives were lost, is a grim reminder that little care was given to the cattle class over all these years.
While the reason behind the stampede is still being investigated, reports point out to a sudden announcement about change in platform for the arrival of a much awaited train. However, already 1500 tickets were reportedly issued in one go, whereby the station was already crowded with passengers and pilgrims. Undoubtedly, Delhi being the national capital, should have been prioritized and the overcrowding should not have been allowed. The panic, confusion and the chaos led to the melee, it seems. Clearly, the authorities need to take the blame.
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New Delhi is a station from where all trains are connected to destinations all over India, even to remote areas. So overwhelming is the passenger traffic that the city has five stations to ease the pressure. Hence, the management in the railways should have been extra alert, considering millions had collected at Pryagraj for the Mahakumbh, and a deadly stampede had already happened there, killing many.
But our railway minister has better things to attend to: such as uploading reels of Vande Bharat trains from his smartphones. He cannot get to think, it seems, about local trains, or ordinary passengers. Local, overcrowded trains, with cheap tickets, as in Kolkata and its neighbourhood, would definitely be a tangible solution. Instead, AC coaches are being increased, and sleeper coaches are being eliminated. Pray, how will the masses travel!
Accidents happen frequently due to various factors including non- maintenance of tracks, expired rolling stock, staff working overtime, poor safety measures, signal system failures (manual signalling still present in the railways which causes human errors), mechanical defects, tired loco pilots – that is, for instance, working, instead of six hours, for 11-12 hours, or more.
Railways plays an integral part in the life of Indian people as it is cost efficient and trustworthy. But, due to obvious reasons, our trust is being betrayed. The possible solutions for the future could be in increasing fully general compartment trains and local trains, Antodya superfast trains (these superfast trains operate once a week) at least thrice a week, and giving priority to the passengers who cannot always opt to ride on Vande Bharat, Rajdhani or Duronto trains.
(The narrator is studying sociology in St Xavier’s College in Burdaman, West Bengal.)
As told to Amit Sengupta
