Thread for all accidents that are routine to Indian Railways :bash: Also other safety improvement updates.

http://img.allvoices.com/thumbs/event/609/480/83591971-train-accident.jpg

Majority of accidents in wikipedia list is from india :applause:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rail_accidents_%282010%E2%80%932019%29

India January 1, 2011 – Amritsar-Sealdah Akaltakth Express strikes two trucks in Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur district when the truck driver "failed to notice" the red signal at a level crossing at Babura railway crossing, killing a man (a truck driver) and leaving two people (another truck driver and a helper) injured. No passengers are injured in the collision.[59]

India January 3, 2011 – Four wagons of a goods train derail in the Dadri area of Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh. The goods train is going towards Aligarh from Delhi when the mishap occurred. No one is injured in the accident. Train traffic on the Ghaziabad-Aligarh section on the Delhi-Howrah trunk route is disrupted following the derailment.[61]

India July 7, 2011 - A Mathura Chhapra Express train rams into a bus carrying wedding guests around 2 a.m. at an unmanned railway crossing in Thanagaon, Kanshiram Nagar district, Uttar Pradesh, killing 38 and injuring 30.[77]

India July 10, 2011 – Fatehpur derailment - The Kalka Mail train running from Howrah to Delhi derails near the town of Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh, killing 70 people and injuring more than 300.[78][79]

India July 10, 2011 – The engine along with four coaches of the Guwahati Puri Express derails between Rangiya and Ghagrapar, Nalbari district, Assam and capsizes in a rivulet, injuring more than 100 people, 20 critically.[80]

India July 31, 2011 – The engine and some coaches of the Guwahati Bangalore Express derail and are hit by another train in Malda district, West Bengal. At least three people are killed and 200 injured.[85]

India August 31, 2011 - Two goods trains collide near Tangiriapal railway station, about 65 km (40 mi) from Keonjhar on the Jakhapura-Banspani railway line around 1:30 am. Five members of the train crew are killed.[87]

India September 13, 2011 - A passenger train fails to slow at a signal and slams into a stationary cargo train near Chennai, Tamil Nadu, killing 10 and injuring 52.[88]

4 lakh died in accidents in 2010 in India; majority 2 wheeler victims (http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_4-lakh-died-in-accidents-in-2010-in-india-majority-2-wheeler-victims_1604115)
Published: Thursday, Oct 27, 2011, 20:32 IST
Place: New Delhi | Agency: PTI

Nearly four lakh people have lost their lives in different accidents, caused by road and rail mishaps, fire, lightning and other factors, across the country in 2010, say official statistics.

A majority of road mishaps took place between 6 pm and 9pm.

Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, accounting for 6.1 per cent and 5.7 per cent respectively of the country's population, have reported 9.3 per cent and 8.4 per cent respectively of such deaths, the report of the National Crime Control Bureau for 2010, released by Home Minister P Chidambaram said.

Maximum number of road accidental deaths occurred in May (42,546), an increase of 5.5 per cent over 2009.

Maximum road accidents (69,282) were reported during 6 pm to 9 pm and maximum number of these accidental deaths (42,546) occured between 6 pm and 9 pm (73,312).

A total of 6,78,326 cases of 'Un-Natural Accidents' caused 3,59,583 deaths and injured 5,03,932 people during 2010, the report said.

Male:female victim ratio is 78:22.

There was an increase of 7.7 per cent in accidental deaths last year in comparison to the previous year.

14.0 per cent of the increase in deaths is due to causes attributable to nature and 7.4 per cent increase in deaths by un-natural causes.

Males outnumbered females in all kinds of accidental casualties due to unnatural causes at the national level except fire accidents (where 66.6 per cent of those killed were females as compared to 33.4 per cent males).

The major un-natural causes of accidental deaths were (i) road accidents (37.9 per cent), (ii) railway accidents and rail-road accidents (7.8 per cent), (iii) poisoning (7.8 per cent), (iv) drowning (7.7 per cent), (v) sudden deaths (7.6 per cent) and (vi) fire accidents (6.8 per cent).

A total of 4,61,757 traffic accidents were reported during 2010 comprising 4,30,654 road accidents, 2,843 rail-road accidents and 28,260 other railway accidents.

"It is observed that the rate of deaths per thousand vehicles has decreased from 1.5 in 2006 to 1.3 in 2010," the report said.
7.8 percent of 3.59 lakhs is 28,800 deaths in 2010 are due to the great indian railway :ohno:

Indian Rail coach should have a public address system(with display ) installed in each compartment,
controlled by the Main gaurd n Driver the Train.....whats the forum opinion ...i feel atleast to some extend we can reduce death toll ...

Some 336 people were killed and 437 injured in rail accidents in India between April 2010 and mid-January 2011, according to the latest government figures.

Some 336 people were killed and 437 injured in rail accidents in India between April 2010 and mid-January 2011, according to the latest government figures.

28k is including people killed at railway crossings..


Two Howrah-Dehradun Express coaches catch fire, 7 dead


http://media2.intoday.in/indiatoday/images/stories/train--11_350_112211081739.jpg
The incident took place near the Nimiyaghat railway station.

At least seven persons, including children, were charred to death after a fire broke out in two coaches of Howrah-Dehradun Express in Jharkhand's Giridih district in the wee hours on Tuesday, officials said.

"Seven persons, including two children, were charred to death after fire broke out in an AC coach and then spread to another AC coach," Railway Protection Force Divisional Commandant Sashi Kumar said.

The fire, which broke out around 3 am in B-1 AC coach and then spread to spread to B-2 AC coach, was spotted in the coach between Gomo and Nimiaghat railway stations, he said.

In New Delhi, Railway spokesperson Anil Saxena confirmed that seven people, including a five-year-old girl, have died.

Dhanbad DRM and a railway medical team have reached the site. Catering arrangements have been made for the stranded passengers.

According to railway officials, one of the two deceased was identified as Archita Kumari who hailed from Asansol in West Bengal.

Both the coaches have been detached from the train, which left Howrah station last night.

The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained and an inquiry has been ordered by Commissioner Railway Safety (CRS), a railway spokesman said in Delhi.

Railway has set up a help line for relatives of the passengers. The helpline numbers are: 033-26413660, 033-26402243 and 032-62220518.

Train operation on the route have been restored around 7:50 am, officials said.

Senior Divisional Commercial Manager (Dhanbad Division), Dayanand said the railway inspection team searched the two AC bogies and found seven bodies.

"We have searched both the bogies and found seven bodies," he said.

"We are examining the coaches to determine the cause behind the fire. We are also speaking to train passengers," Dayanand said.

One of the dead has been identified as 25-year-old Anumita.

The train, which left Howrah last night, is standing between Gomo and Parasnath, he said, adding it would leave for Dehradun shortly.

Three senior railway officials have been rushed to the site.

Commissioner Railway safety, eastern circle, has been asked to conduct the inquiry into the accident and submit the report at the earliest.


Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/howrah-dehradun-express-fire/1/160977.html

Women Dead After Trying To Catch(Chamundi Exp) a Running Train in Mysore

eRSBNGGHpl4

they should deploy a security guard in platform 1

Train de-railed near Srinagar

http://www.dailythanthi.com/thanthiepaper/24112011/slm2411pa11fevari2.jpg

xpost

http://www.indiatvnews.com/upload/news/mainnational/_Injured_In_J_K12301.jpg
http://www.indiatvnews.com/news/India/_Injured_In_J_K_As_Train_Derails-12301.html

COMMENT
The burning train (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/The-burning-train/articleshow/10846475.cms)
Nov 24, 2011, 12.00AM IST

Three rail accidents over the last two days serve as yet another reminder of poor rail safety standards. The fire in the Howrah-Dehradun Express, the collision of a goods train with Koraput-Howrah Express and the derailment of the Qazigund-Srinagar-Baramulla train all follow a recurring pattern. Since the start of the year there were fires in both the prestigious Mumbai-Delhi and the Delhi-Patna Rajdhani Express trains. The worst mishaps happened following the derailment of the Kalka Mail, which killed 70 people, and the collision between the Chennai suburban train and the Arakonam-Katpadi passenger train, which left another 10 people dead. While the Railways claims that the number of serious accidents has fallen from 100 in 2009-10 to 93 in 2010-11, the number of people killed in accidents has increased from 68 to 250 in the same period.

The actual reasons for the recent accidents will be known - hopefully - after the reports of the Commissioner of Railway Safety are filed. But the Railways can only blame itself for its lack of investment in safety. The fire and smoke detection system was introduced in 20 trains just a year back as a pilot project. Similarly, anti-collision devices, introduced more than a decade back, are still only available in about eight railway zones. A recent CAG audit noted that the number of safety personnel was well below required norms in all 16 zones. This has almost certainly contributed to the frequency of accidents. The Railways needs to take the safety and security of its passengers far more seriously than it does now.

they should deploy a security guard in platform 1

they should deploy basic common sense in people like her.

they should deploy a security guard in platform 1
I beg to differ...why they should appoint a security gaurd....do you think people dont know what is dangerous and what is not....its just their carelessness and negligence....

they should deploy basic common sense in people like her.

+1 hahahha ...lol....very true.....

^^ Why not deploy one platform guard in big stations? Better safe than sorry, most metro stations have a security guard each. There is a big vacancy left in safety posts in Indian railway :ohno:

Boy rescued by train driver loses his legs (http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIBG/2011/11/28&PageLabel=6&EntityId=Ar00601&ViewMode=HTML)
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mysore: A day after Pavan Kumar, 15, lost both his legs in a train accident, he is crestfallen and perplexed as to what has happened to him. Pavan is undergoing treatment at a private hospital here.
Pavan consoled his parents, Krishna and Gauri, and told them not to worry about him. Leelavathi, his maternal grandmother, quoted Pavan as saying that he had no idea how the tragedy happened. The boy was surprised that his parents were allowed to meet him, she added.
Since Saturday noon, when Pavan was wheeled into the hospital, family members and relatives have been at the hospital, waiting to meet the injured boy. Leelavathi claimed they have not received any help from the railway authorities towards her grandson’s treatment so far.
The injured boy was operated upon on Saturday evening, and both his legs were amputated. He is now under observation, but his condition continues to be critical, Dr H V Sathish, the surgeon, told TOI. They have also sewed up wounds on his head and administered four bottles of blood. However, there are no serious internal head injuries, the surgeon added.
Meanwhile, railway police recorded the statements of Pavan’s father and locomotive pilot Anthony Daniel, who saved the boy. It appears that Pavan was near the track and jumped in front of the Mysore-bound train as it rushed towards him at Metagalli, 7km away from the Mysore city railway station, police added.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=TOIBG/2011/11/28/6/Img/Pc0062500.jpg
Pavan Kumar

15,000 die each year crossing rail tracks in India (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/15000-die-each-year-crossing-rail-tracks-in-India/articleshow/11978800.cms)
AP | Feb 21, 2012, 06.50PM IST

NEW DELHI - About 15,000 people die every year trying to cross the tracks of India's mammoth rail network, a "massacre" that a government committee said was being ignored by railway authorities.

The safety panel said new bridges and overpasses were urgently needed, but it noted previous recommendations to make the world's fourth largest railway system safer had been ignored. Its report noted that railway authorities were unwilling to view the deaths of people hit by trains while crossing the tracks as train accidents.

Most of the deaths occur at unmanned railroad crossings, said the report released over the weekend. About 6,000 people die on Mumbai's crowded suburban rail network alone.

Another 1,000 people die when they fall from crowded coaches, when trains collide or coaches derail, it said.

India's 40,000 miles (64,000 kilometers) of railway track cut through some of the most densely populated cities, flanked by shanty towns, in the nation of 1.2 billion people.

Railway experts say stopping pedestrians from crossing the tracks in congested areas would be virtually impossible.

"The situation is exceptionally dangerous in Mumbai where four or five tracks, or more, lie parallel and people living in slums on either side have no choice but to walk across the tracks," said I.M.S. Rana, a railway expert.

The High Level Safety Review Committee was set up by the government in September after a spate of train accidents. Around 20 million people in India travel by train each day.

The report called on the government to urgently replace all railroad crossings with bridges or overpasses at an estimated cost of 500 billion rupees ($10 billion) over the next five years.

"No civilized society can accept such a massacre on their railway system," the report said, referring to the crossing deaths.

"Reluctance of the Indian railways to own up to the casualties, which do not fall under the purview of accidents, but are nevertheless accidents on account of trains, can by no means be ignored," the report said.

The panel was especially scathing about the large number of deaths in Mumbai and recommended that the "grim situation on Mumbai's suburban system has to be tackled on a war-footing."

"Trespassing occurs because of lack of barricading, fencing, lack of adequate number of pedestrian overbridges and lack of facilities such as sufficient number of platforms, escalators, elevators for the disabled apart from insufficient train services. These are the main reasons for the heavy human death toll," the report said.

The committee, headed by leading scientist Anil Kakodkar, blamed railway authorities for the "grim picture," saying there were lax safety standards and poor management. Kakodkar headed India's Department of Atomic Energy before he retired last year.

It said local managers are not given adequate power to make crucial decisions and that safety regulations are also breached because of severe manpower shortages.

The panel noted that in the past few decades several new passenger trains had been introduced without any attention paid to enhancing infrastructure required for additional trains, or the financial viability of some trains.

In India, railway ministers resort to populism by introducing new trains, often to gain votes in upcoming elections in their constituencies.

"Political leaders decide on such issues as introducing new trains or increasing train fares. Railway fares have not been increased for nearly a decade," said Rana.

The panel suggested a high-level task force be set up to implement its recommendations relating to safety and that a fee be added to every ticket to form a safety fund.
There are uncivilized forummers in ssc itself who blame people instead of murderer railways. they should fence the tracks in city limits, instead populism fare stagnation prevails. and railways should be made to pay 5 lakh to each railway crossing death then they will learn

5 Rajdhani passengers robbed (http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIBG/2012/04/12&PageLabel=3&EntityId=Ar00301&ViewMode=HTML)
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: They were fast asleep, comforted by the thought that they and their belongings were perfectly safe in the II AC compartment of Rajdhani Express on their way from Delhi to Bangalore in the wee hours of Wednesday.
But five passengers had a rude jolt when they woke up to find that their vanity bags and purses containing gold jewellery, ATM cards and cash, besides mobile phones worth around Rs 50,000, that was kept beside them, vanished after the train passed Guntur, Andhra Pradesh.
“According to the victim-passengers, the incident must have happened between 2am and 4am. As the train’s destination was Bangalore, we are liable to take up the case. The passengers have already filed their formal complaint with the train ticket examiner in charge of their II AC compartment,” said superintendent of police (railways) M Nanjundaswamy.
DSP (railways) Mir Arif Ali said railway police had already informed their counterparts in Guntakal of Andhra Pradesh to cooperate with the investigations.
“We suspect it’s the handiwork of someone who was inside the bogey as things like vanity bags vanished while passengers were fast asleep. There was no chance that someone from outside could easily identify the valuables and meticulously knock them off,” an officer incharge of investigation said.
Passengers who filed the complaint include Sinu George of BEML Layout in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Sumitra V Guttal and GS Shankar on behalf of his wife Radha Bai, both from the city and Ashish Nair and Parminder Kaur, both from Delhi.
While Kaur lost only her identity card, Radha Bai lost her vanity bag containing debit cards, cash and a mobile. Sinu lost his gold jewellery, Rs 10,000 and a mobile phone, while Sumitra lost her gold jewellery worth Rs 33,000 and Ashish lost his ATM card and some cash.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=TOIBG/2012/04/12/3/Img/Pc0031300.jpg

flagship train..

Drivers Killed in Train-lorry Collision near Bangalore (http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=132330)

Bangalore, Mar 26 (PTI): Two persons died today when a goods train collided with a lorry at a railway gate in Devanahalli taluk in the district, police said today.

http://www.tvmangalore.com/images1/train_260312-1.jpg

http://www.tvmangalore.com/images1/train_260312-5.jpg

The drivers of the goods train and lorry died on the spot after the train engine crashed into the front portion of a lorry while crossing the unmanned railway gate at Yaradaganahalli, Inspector R Govindaraju said.

The train driver has been identified as Somashekhar (34) and the other deceased is yet to be identified, Govindaraju said. Somashekar was a resident of Chennai, he added. A case has been registered.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-27/bangalore/31244442_1_truck-driver-train-rams-unmanned-level

split glasses in front of train are safer..

I feel sorry for the train driver. Lorry driver was most probably an idiot, bribed by Yamraaj to bring the train driver with him when he comes. Very sad.

^^ rare incident when a train driver dies.. if not stones and anything else on that truck then train driver would have been safe :ohno: Split front windshield glass is safer in such situations, or they can fix a steel road in the middle behind the glass

LED signals to enhance visibility at level crossings (http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article3308492.ece)

Southern Railway will provide LED signals at level crossing gates and yards to ensure better visibility in all mainline signals and prevent mishaps, Southern Railway General Manager Deepak Krishan said on Thursday.

Addressing the 57 Railway Week Celebrations of Southern Railway, Mr. Krishan said LED installations had been completed at 296 stations so far, of which 90 LED signals were provided in 2011-12.

Southern Railway, conferred the national-level shield for safety-related works and train punctuality, also expects to shortly complete the installation of the Integrated Security System at 14 select stations, including Chennai Central. The integrated system was expected to bring about improvements in passenger safety and security through state-of-the-art surveillance, he said.

According to Mr. Krishan, while the tragedy at Arakkonam, where ten lives were lost when an EMU rammed a stationary train, was most unfortunate, what equally raises concern was the loss of lives and injuries due to negligence of road users, especially while crossing unmanned level crossings. Of the seven consequential accidents last year, four occurred at unmanned level crossings, he said.

Apart from awareness campaigns that involved sending 85 lakh SMSes, issue of pamphlets and screening of short films at railway terminals, the Railways is phasing out unmanned level crossings from the system, he said. In addition to the closure of 78 unmanned level crossings by providing alternate limited height subways or diversion of road, 37 such crossings had been upgraded to manned crossings.

So far, the achievement of eliminating 115 of the 1,127 unmanned level crossings was a record and had earned a shield from the Railway Board, he said.

Mr. Krishan said the punctuality of performance had improved to 93.8 per cent last fiscal and number of mail/express trains losing punctuality reduced by 12 per cent inspite of running 8,127 additional mail and express trains during 2011-12.

Southern Railway netted earnings of Rs. 5,568 crore during the fiscal 2011-12 that included Rs. 2,560 crore from passenger traffic, marking an increase by Rs. 242 crore over the previous year. This year was also special for the sundry earnings with the all-time high accrual of Rs. 512 crore through licensing of land to Chennai Metro, he said.

The operating ratio has touched an all-time low of 119.87, the best-ever performance after the VI Pay Commission recommendations were implemented, Mr. Krishan said.

As many as 219 individual awards and 18 group awards were distributed at the function. .K Prasad, Chief Personnel Officer, Southern Railway and G. Narayanan, Additional General Manager, Southern Railway, Principal Heads of Southern Railway and other officials participated.

Earlier, addressing the celebrations organised by the Chennai Railway Division, DRM S. Anantharaman said the division had netted a record earnings of Rs. 2487 crore, which was an increase by 26 per cent over the previous year. The punctuality performance of 93.6 per cent was also higher than the 81 per cent in 2009-10, he said.

India | Updated Apr 19, 2012 at 12:31pm IST
Mumbai: 2 dead, 15 injured after falling from local train (http://ibnlive.in.com/news/mumbai-2-dead-after-falling-from-local-train/250192-3.html)
CNN-IBN

Mumbai: The turbulence in local trains in Mumbai has taken a toll. Two people died after they fell from a local train between Nahur and Bhandup stations (central line) during heavy rush. Fifteen people were injured.

The Nahur station is just ahead of the Mulund station. Central Railway chief PRO Vidyadhar Malegaonkar said the primary reason of the incident was overcrowding.

http://static.ibnlive.in.com/ibnlive/pix/sitepix/01_2012/mumbailocal630.jpg

Fifteen per cent of the trains on the central line were not yet running. The Central Railway announced that it has restored over 85 per cent of the services on Thursday.

Alternate arrangements were made on Wednesday like allowing passengers in express trains, allowing them to use parts of Western line.

Millions of commuters and students in the city faced a harrowing time on Wednesday as local trains were running late by around 40 minutes following a fire in a signal cabin on the Central Railway (CR).

Around 12.15 am early Wednesday, fire gutted the main signal cabin at Kurla station and sent the entire electric and signal cabling network on the blink.

The fire was brought under control in a short time and there were no casualties reported.

Mumbai's suburban train services, comprising Western Railway, Central Railway and Harbour lines, which ferry nearly eight million people to and from their homes and offices in Mumbai, Thane and Raigad, are the lifeline of the country's commercial capital.

805 Mumbai train commuters dead in 3 months

A national spotlight isn’t enough to reverse a trend. Case in point: deaths on the Mumbai suburban railway. The latest data released by the city’s railway police commissionerate reveal that 805 commuters died and 867 others were injured in the first three months this year.

“It is a shame. Despite much noise over them, deaths on tracks show no signs of a decline. This is an emergency situation and the authorities — both local and national — need to look into this urgently. We cannot accept so many deaths taking place during travel,” said Madhu Kotian, member, Zonal Railway Users’ Consultative Committee, the official railway-passenger grievances body.

Data collated from January to March this year show that, 512 commuters died and 518 others were injured on the Central Railway (CR) line, and 293 died and 349 were injured on the Western Railway line. Most of those who died were trespassers crossing tracks, closely followed by those who fell off trains. Last year, 3,458 commuters died and 4,164 were injured in train accidents in the city.

A Right to Information query filed earlier this year had revealed that nearly 40,000 commuters had died and an equal number were injured over the last decade.

A transport upgrade project to improve and increase the number of trains in the city was recently launched to deal with overcrowding. Recent figures show that crowds in locals have thinned down — but just marginally.

Railway officials said they are doing everything possible to cut down death rates — from increasing the height of platforms to putting up fences. Taking cognisance of the large number of deaths caused by trespassing, the CR has promised a network of skywalks to criss-cross rail lines to provide a permanent solution to the issue.

After activist Samir Zaveri, who lost his legs in a train accident near Borivli about two decades ago, approached the court in 2008 demanding better medical facilities at stations, the railways were forced to provide ambulances outside stations and to upgrade medical facilities there. The railways have also set up a first-aid room at Dadar.

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_805-mumbai-train-commuters-dead-in-3-months_1686325

They should have built lot of skywalks for crossing rail lines already as people living on slums on either side of tracks have no option but to cross the tracks rather than walking to nearest station and then cross the tracks.

x post

Need a joint effort to curb railway mishaps: Activist (http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_need-a-joint-effort-to-curb-railway-mishaps-activist_1686328)
Published: Wednesday, May 9, 2012, 8:18 IST
By Rajendra Aklekar | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA

Is saving lives on Mumbai’s railway rocket science? Suggestions made in February this year by a railway safety committee, led by nuclear scientist Dr Anil Kakodkar, to curb deaths on city’s rails have been gathering dust. The ministry of railways is yet to accept the report and has therefore, not issued guidelines to the local railways on the issue.

“There have been scattered attempts to save commuters’ lives, but there has not been a consolidated effort. Railway deaths and accidents are always a grey area, as the core job of the railways is to run trains. But with so many deaths, the railways should be giving priority to safety, especially when there is a safety surcharge added to the suburban rail ticket fare,” said Subhash Gupta, member of the National Railway Users’ Consultative Committee.

The Kakodkar rail safety panel, which has on board railway expert E Sreedharan as an advisor, had asked the ministry to form a high-level task force involving the state government, the zonal passengers’ body and NGOs to recommend constructive measures to do away with the problem soon.

“There are several committees already in place. A monitoring committee comprising railway officers was appointed in 2004 by the Bombay high court which was mandated to meet up once every two months, and to monitor compliance with the court’s directions to prevent accidents and to provide immediate medical help to accident victims,” said commuter activist Samir Zaveri, who had been a victim of a rail accident almost 20 years ago.

Thereafter, the state government formed a committee this January to submit a report on measures that would prevent accidents in the Mumbai suburban railway and to provide immediate medical aid to victims. This panel blamed trespassing in the absence of barricades/fences, inadequate foot overbridges, platforms and train services, and the lack of facilities like escalators and elevators for the physically-challenged for the high death toll on city’s railway tracks.

Couple tries suicide on MRTS tracks, man dead (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Couple-tries-suicide-on-MRTS-tracks-man-dead/articleshow/17644760.cms)
TNN | Dec 17, 2012, 05.07 AM IST

CHENNAI: Renuka Devi, 21, lay bleeding for more than seven hours on the MRTS track at Perungudi next to the body of the man she loved and dreamt of marrying. They had jumped under a passing train on Saturday to end their lives after their parents allegedly opposed their plans.

Anand Kumar, 23, from Teynampet, died on the spot while Renuka was rescued by a motorman of the morning train that reached the station from Velachery around 6am. Shocked to see the mangled body of the boy and the injured girl on the tracks, he called an ambulance and the police. Renuka has been admitted to the government general hospital with severe injuries.

The motorman of the Beach-Velachery MRTS train, on its last trip of the day, did not know what happened because the couple jumped under the train after it started to move from the station at 10.45pm, police said. There was no one at the station because MRTS stations are usually deserted after 9pm and the lone railway employee who sells tickets leaves soon after the last train departs.

A railway police official said, "We spoke to the victims' relatives. Renuka and Anand Kumar were working in a shop as sales staff and fell in love. Their parents opposed the relationship. They seem to have come to the railway station on Saturday evening."

He said it was the first suicide at an MRTS station. "Nobody has jumped in the path of an MRTS train before. The motorman may have noticed if they jumped in the path of the train, but they jumped under the train when it was moving," he said.

"It is a miracle that the girl survived though she lay on the tracks the whole night. Nobody goes to the platform after the last train leaves," said a police officer.

In spite of repeated cases of vandalism and theft, railways have not posted round-the-clock security at MRTS stations. Railway Protection Force personnel are posted only at major stations and not at stations like Perungudi located between Taramani and Velachery.

Trains mow down techie, medico (http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIBG/2013/01/03&PageLabel=5&EntityId=Ar00500&ViewMode=HTML)
Deaths Within 12 Hrs And 15 Metres Apart
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: A 26-year-old software engineer and a 20-year-old girl have been run over by trains near the Kadugodi flyover in Whitefield since Tuesday evening.
The deaths occurred within a span of 12 hours and 15 metres apart.
The victims were identified as Vipin Kumar Goutam, and Winsanki Bamon of Meghalaya.
A Delhi native, Vipin was TCS employee. Winsanki was a III MBBS student of MVJ Medical College, Hoskote. The man and the medico were both residents of Whitefield.
Railway police said Winsanki met with the accident around 8pm on Tuesday.
“She was walking back to her hostel with friends when a Tamil Nadu-bound train knocked her down,” they said. A classmate of Winsanki told police that she saw her being knocked down.
“I had just crossed the track and for some reason I looked back. I saw Winsanki crossing the track and she was looking down even as the engine mowed her down,” the unidentified classmate was quoted as saying.
The second accident occurred around 7.30am on Wednesday. Vipin was returning home with a colleague after night shift and came under the speeding Chennaibound Lalbagh Express.
Vipin was allegedly listening to music through earphones at the time of the accident, reports said. But police denied it.
Vipin’s colleague Vishnu told police that he fell on the track and the railway engine crushed him before he could stand up. “First, I crossed the track and saw the train. I shouted at Vipin and waved my hands. He realized he was in danger. But he suddenly slipped on the railway track,” police quoted Vishnu as saying.

50 TRAINS RUN ON THESE LINES DAILY
Six railways lines run under the Kadugodi flyover between a goods terminal, off Hoodi main road and Whitefield station. The railway lines are along the Bangalore-Chennai corridor. About 50 trains run on these lines every day.
Pedestrians near the Kadugodi flyover have no option as there are no foot overbridges or skywalks in the area. They have to cross the track on foot. The crowd crossing the track on foot swells on Sunday as thousands of devotees drop in at the nearby Saibaba ashram.
Seventeen people have died on these tracks in Whitefield in 2012, government railway police said.

PEDESTRIANS HAVE LITTLE SPACE HERE
The Kadugodi flyover was built a few years ago. This complicated the problem as pedestrians have little space on the flyover. They are forced to cross the six railway tracks on foot. There are elders, schoolchildren and physically challenged among the pedestrians crossing the tracks. It is really risky as there are no police or guards to help pedestrians."
Raghavendra Prasad | WHITEFIELD RESIDENT

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=TOIBG/2013/01/03/5/Img/Pc0051400.jpg
AN IRKED LOT: Demonstrators block railway tracks as train mows down software engineer Vipin Kumar Goutam (inset) near the Kadugodi flyover, Whitefield
a CCTV camera should be installed in front of the train... and recordings saved in a blackbox which doesnt damage in case of collision. it will be useful for future investigation

^^ This is a result of an idiotic decision by the railways. There was a manned railway gate earlier at that place till a couple of years back. Then they constructed a flyover for vehicles (thats perfectly fine) but on the other hand removed the manned gate. The majority of population of the area live on one side of the tracks and the bus depot is on the other side.

Breaking news: More than 20 feared dead in stampede at Allahabad railway station after railing of an over bridge collapsed.

Source: ibnlive.com

Mumbai's lifeline is unsafe for commuters
Nitin Yeshwantrao, TNN (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Mumbais-lifeline-is-unsafe-for-commuters/articleshow/20264449.cms)| May 25, 2013, 09.47 PM IST

THANE: Mumbai's most valued lifeline, the suburban railway network, has earned the reputation as most unsafe mode of travel, considering that 10,413 commuters died and another 12,227 suffered near-fatal injuries during the last four years (2009-2012), according to information sourced from the central and western railway authorities.

More than sixty years after the formation of the suburban railways, CR, one of the busiest rail network covering a distance of over 150km from CST-Kasara-Khopoli and up to Panvel, has the highest accident rate leaving behind a death toll of 7,876 and injuring 5,942 from 2009 up to 2012.

While commuter traffic on this sector has multiplied from a daily average of 30 lakh-plus in 2005-06 to a stunning 40-lakh-plus during 2012-13 fetching handsome returns for the CR authorities, the safety standards and quality of commute remains much to be desired, according to Thane resident Omprakash Sharma.

The initiatives required for reducing deaths and near-fatal injuries for commuters do not appear to be adequate. In fact, the death tally on the CR stations reflects an upward climb in the last four years. From 1,917 persons who died on the CR tracks due to overcrowded compartments or incidents of pole hit during 2009, the toll has increased to 2,009 in 200. The injured tally has also swelled from 1,446 in 2009-10 to 1,480,'' the secretary of the Thane district railway passengers association told TOI.

He claimed that it was definitely deplorable on part of the CR administration that in this age and time an average of seven commuters should die in everyday commute, while the average number of eight persons is left injured.

On most stations, senior citizens and women commuters have a great difficulty in boarding and alighting from the trains because of the low height of the platforms. This is the first accident-prone step. Clinging on footboards in crowded trains is again inviting trouble but commuters are prepared to risk that, as boarding the next train is going to be equally tough. "People have been travelling like this for decades and nothing has changed,'' Sharma told TOI.

Questioning the railway's rehabilitation policy for the next of kin of those who have died or rendered handicapped due to the poor safety standards of the railway, he said, "In most cases, the family's bread-winner is the casualty. The compartments are packed like sardines in a tin and deaths and accidents are common occurrences. Often families have to suffer a long legal ordeal to get the compensations as the rail authorities contest the claim creating hurdles for the family," he claimed.

In comparison, the high-density western corridor seems less dangerous as the fatalities here totalled up to 2,547 and the number of injured commuters during these four years is up to 4325.

The figures also reveal that accident -prone stations on the WR track have remained much the same during this period with Bandra and Andheri stations having the highest injured tally. As many as 394 persons suffered from rail-related injuries at Bandra station, while 384 commuters are said to have had a near-miraculous escape at Andheri station area.

The Goregaon, Kandivli and Virar stations have suffered the highest casualties consistently as records show that 168 persons died at Goregaon station, followed by 162 at Kandivli and 128 at Virar.


Something to be ashamed of
23-473-killed-by-Mumbai-suburban-trains-in-11-yrs


http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/mumbai/23-473-killed-by-Mumbai-suburban-trains-in-11-yrs/Article1-1064867.aspx

Train accidents on suburban Mumbai local routes have claimed 23,473 lives in the past 11 years, information sought under an RTI has revealed.


"As per information given by Central Railways, in the last 11 years (till 2012) a total of 23,473 people lost their lives in various train accidents on suburban Mumbai routes," RTI activist and president of Thane District Railway Passengers Association, Om Prakash Sharma, who sought this information from Central Railway, told reporters here on Thursday.

"Out of the total number of victims, 14,554 were killed while they were crossing the tracks," Sharma said.

The Mumbai Central Railway suburban locals run on various routes between the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Karjat, Kasara, Panvel, among others.

Sharma said that 4,561 commuters died after they fell from speeding trains; 253 died after being hit by poles located along the tracks, while 90 people died by falling in the gap between the train and the platform.

The death toll on account of other accidents involving the local trains was 4,015, he added.

The number of persons injured in the suburban train accidents during this period was 11,981, he said According to him, the information also revealed that 2,536 people died on the Western Railway's suburban route between Churchgate and Virar in 2009-2012.

"Almost 70% of those injured in the train accidents succumb to injuries later. The deaths and injuries on the Mumbai suburban routes is a matter of concern and we have urged the railway authorities to take corrective steps in this regard," Sharma said, adding that many times it is the mistake of people, who despite appeals, cross the tracks.
RIP