New Delhi: The Indian Railways' Signalling and Telecommunication department staff have raised serious concerns regarding safety of train operations and passengers, citing absence of painting work on gears, boxes, and circuits, which often lead to minor accidents.
Highlighting the concerns, Railway S&T Maintainers’ Union General Secretary, Alok Chandra Prakash told ETV Bharat, “In absence of painting work, the S&T staff have to deal with several operational issues including finding specific points, wires, and gears which take additional time to rectify technical glitches. The Railways recently surrendered the specialized painter posts. These painters were very helpful and useful for S&T department for maintaining indications by painting any change in point or circuit after the work.”
“Now, S&T staff have to either write any indication by using marker or pen which often vaporizes or fades. In such a situation, we struggle to find the right wire or point. This situation often leads to minor incidents,” Alok Chandra said.
Maintainers' Union Cites Bahanaga Tragedy
“After the major accident at Bahanaga Bazar (in Odisha's Balasore), we have understood the importance of painting work at site. Similarly there are many other important works which only carpenter(s) can do. It looks simple but is related to safety. Recreation of the post of painter and carpenter in at least one SSE/Unit throughout Railways in S&T department is necessary,” the Indian Railways' S&T Maintainers’ Union said.
This year, the railway has increased its focus on safety because of which Rs 1.16 lakh crore has been allocated towards expenditure for augmentation of the safety of Indian Railways through various projects, Union Minister of Railway Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
Prabodh Kumar Srivastava, National Treasurer, IRSTMU said to ETV Bharat, “Painter’s post is essential in the railway, which has been surrendered by the railways. These painters maintain nomenclature in Circuit box, Cable terminal box, and Route Relay Interlocking (RRI) which help in identifying the system.”
Navin Kumar, National President of IRSTMU stated, “Apart from painters, Diesel mechanics and carpenters are helping hands of S&T department but railway has surrendered these posts too.”
Decline In Train Accidents
As a result of various safety measures taken over the years, there has been a significant decline in the number of railway accidents. The consequential train accidents during the period 2004-14 was 1711 (average 171 per year), while it has declined to 678 during the period 2014-24 (average 68 per year), the Railways informed in 2024.
Safety Measures
As part of safety measure, Electrical/Electronic Interlocking Systems with centralized operation of points and signals have been installed at 6,589 stations up to June 30, 2024, to eliminate accidents caused by human error. Interlocking of Level Crossing (LC) Gates has been provided at 11,048 level crossing gates for increased safety. The Complete Track Circuiting of stations, which enhances safety by verifying track occupancy through electrical means, has been implemented at 6,609 stations as of June 30, 2024.
