Death on wheels: Rangapani tragedy unveils Railways 'safety gaps'

The Rangapani train accident, which claimed about 10 lives, in Bengal’s Darjeeling district has highlighted several deficiencies within the Indian Railways.

- AMITAVA BANERJEE , SANCHITA AICH BAG

• 'LOCO PILOT OF GOODS TRAIN WAS ON CONTINUOUS NIGHT DUTY'

DEATH TRAP

• On February 1, 2023, the All India Loco Running Staff Association, New Jalpaiguri branch submitted a memorandum to the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of the Katihar division of N.F. Railway, demanding proper training

• 'Crews reaching by night are not getting food from the cook/staff. There are no separate bedrooms. A portion of the kitchen is used as bedrooms which is most humiliating and unhygienic

OUT OF 127,644 SANCTIONED POSTS OF LPS AND ALPS, 18766- NEARLY 15 PER CENT WERE LYING VACANT AS OF MARCH 1, 2024

Employees cite manpower shortages leading to overworked staff, inadequate training and poor working conditions; making the world’s fourth-largest railway network highly susceptible to accidents.

Soon after the tragic incident, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) called for the resignation of Indian Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and dubbed the Railways as ‘death trap’.

TMC Rajya Sabha MP Susmita Dev highlighted that Railway safety was prioritised during the separate Railway Budget era but since its integration into the general Budget in 2016, accountability in Parliament waned.

TMC MP from Rajya Sabha Sagarika Ghose in a post on X said: “Yet ANOTHER train accident. Citizens are paying with their lives for the failures of Modi’s ministers. Still promising Bullet Trains and other fantasies while failing to ensure basic safety for rail passengers. Too many are losing their lives, enough is enough. Rail minister @ AshwiniVaishnaw needs to put in his papers.”

TMC leader Debangshu Bhattacharya said that passenger safety in Railways has gone for a toss with trains on which the poor and lowermiddle-class people heavily depend “have turned into a death trap”.