New Delhi: Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said a detailed inquiry was being carried out on each and every train derailment incidents.
In an apparent attack on the Congress and other parties of the INDIA bloc over its criticism of the Railways, the Minister urged not to politicise the railways stating that it is the lifeline of the nation.
Notably, since the beginning of the third tenure of the BJP-led government at the Centre, the Railway has been facing the Opposition’s ire over train derailment issues.
Responding to a question on this issue, the Minister, during the Cabinet briefing, said, "It is a very sensitive issue so the Railway is doing a detailed investigation of each and every incident. In some incidents, some disturbing trends have been found."
Describing the Railways' importance in society, Vaishnaw said, "The railway should be above politics as it is not the subject of political blame game. It is the lifeline of the nation so we all should make sure to run the railway in an efficient manner."
The Railways recently said that in the Sabarmati Express derailment incident, prima facie a bolder hit the engine and the engine’s cattle guard was badly damaged.
After the incident, Vaishnaw said the Intelligence Bureau and Uttar Pradesh police were working on it. He said on X, "The engine of Sabarmati Express hit an object placed on the track and derailed. Sharp hit marks are observed. Evidence is protected. IB and UP police are also working on it."
In the last month four train derailments happened, two wagons of a goods train derailed near Rangapani Railway Station, the Howrah-Mumbai train derailed in Jharkhand, the Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express derailed in Uttar Pradesh, and the Sabarmati Express derailment.
Responding to Congress’s social media post on the derailment issue, the Railway Ministry on Tuesday posted on X, “Don’t mislead the Nation. Neither the engine nor the driver is of Indian Railways. Please stop demoralising the railway family."
According to the Lok Sabha data, there has been a steep decline in the number of accidents. Consequential train accidents have reduced from 473 in 2000-01 to 40 in 2023-24.
It may be noted that the consequential train accidents during the period 2004-14 were 1711 (average 171 per annum), which declined to 678 during the period 2014-24 (average 68 per annum). Another important improvement of safety in train operations is Accidents Per Million Train Kilometer (APMTKM) which has reduced from 0.65 in 2000-01 to 0.03 in 2023-24, indicating an improvement of more than 95 per cent during the said period.
