When it comes to rail networks, our country has one of the world’s largest rail networks.
It has its own pros and cons as there have been several disasters over the years.
Train Crash Killed 14 Distracted By Watching Cricket
The worst happened in 1981 when a train derailed while crossing a bridge in Bihar state, killing an estimated 800 people.
After that the train network has gone through a lot of improvements.
But, in a recent development, the drivers of a train that missed a signal and plowed into another train, killing 14 people.
He was distracted because they were watching cricket on a phone, said the India’s railways minister.
Prior to this, a fatal collision in Andhra Pradesh state in October took place during that time hosts India played England during the one-day World Cup.
According to the Union Minister of Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, “The recent case in Andhra Pradesh happened because both the loco-pilot and co-pilot were distracted by the cricket match.”
How To Avoid This Kind Of Incident?
In a press release, the Railway Minister added, “Now we are installing systems which can detect any such distraction and make sure that the pilots [train drivers] and the assistant pilots are fully focused on running the train.”
Earlier media reported an incident where the railway officials sacked the station master and three other employees as a runaway freight train traveled 40 miles (70km) without a driver last month.
Basically, they were removed from their posts for negligence after about 50 carriages barrelled on solo for almost two hours.
A three-train collision killed nearly 300 people in Odisha state during June 2023.
After that hundreds of ambulances, doctors, nurses and rescue personnel were sent to the scene to rescue passengers and pull out bodies.
It appears that the country has been investing huge sums of money in upgrading the network with modern stations and electronic signaling systems.
After a preliminary investigation by the railway authorities immediately after the incident, they found that the train had overshot a signal.
Although, an official report by the Commissioners of Railway Safety is yet to be released, as per the media report.
New safety systems would be installed following the incident to “detect any such distraction and make sure that the pilots and the assistant pilots are fully focussed on running the train” said the Railways minister Vaishnaw.
It appears that derailments and distraction are a problem for the Indian Railways.
