Why are railway accidents being passed off as sabotage?

Lack of attention to planning and efficient functioning has affected the revenue growth of the railways which has slowed down

- RASHME SEHGAL

The Indian Railways is facing a major existential crisis. In the last five years, three consequential train accidents are taking place every month with 18 accidents having been reported in the first five months of this year. Shockingly, both freight and passenger trains are involved in these accidents. This raises serious questions about poor track maintenance and outdated infrastructure, inefficient signalling and lack of upkeep of bridges and tunnels.

The latest accident took place on October 11, when train No12578 Mysuru - Darbhanga Bagmati Express collided with a stationary goods train at around 8.30 pm at Kavaraippettai Railway Station in Chennai Rail Division, Tamil Nadu, causing injuries to nine passengers.

The railways have been trying to present this accident as a case of sabotage claiming some miscreants interfered with the interlocking safety system resulting in the accident.

But a senior railway official pointed out that this accident was a repeat of the Balasore rail accident on June 2023 when three trains collided in Odisha, killing 296 people and injuring over 1000 people. Following the October 11 accident, the leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi tweeted on how this Kavaraippettai accident seemed to bear an uncanny similarity to the accident at Balsaore.

Said the official, "The signal was given for the main line but the interlocking was done for the loop line due to which the passenger train entered the loop line and rammed into the stationary freight train. Fortunately, the empty wagon of the freight train bore the brunt of the accident otherwise there would have been a very high number of casualties."