Delhi division mobilised Railway Protection Force (RPF) to catch hold of the culprits. The indigenously-built train was virtually flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month, which connects Dehradun with New Delhi.

Earlier, in May, a similar incident was reported from Kerala where stones were pelted at Kerala’s first Vande Bharat Express. Earlier, on April 6, a fresh incident of stone pelting was reported at the Vande Bharat Express from Visakhapatnam, informed officials

Again, in January, stones were pelted at the Vande Bharat train in Visakhapatnam during maintenance. The glass pane of a coach was damaged near Kancharapalem in Visakhapatnam. According to Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Anup Kumar Sethupati said, “Some unknown persons pelted stones at Vande Bharat train as it reached Visakhapatnam for maintenance and train run.”

Earlier, on March 12, an incident of stone pelting on Vande Bharat Express train was reported from West Bengal in which window panes of a coach of the high-speed train were damaged, Eastern Railway said in a statement. The incident was reported near Farrakka in the Murshidabad district of West Bengal.

In January 2023, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) informed that two window panes of the Vande Bharat Express train were left damaged after stones were allegedly pelted at the two coaches near the Phansidewa area of the Darjeeling district. 

This was the second time in the same month that window panes of the Vande Bharat Express were broken as stones were thrown at the train connecting Howrah to New Jalpaiguri near Malda.

Source: ANI

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Cyclone Biparjoy – Cancelled Trains In Gujarat

Train No. 19568 Okha – Tuticorin Vivek Weekly Express will be partially cancelled between Okha – Ahmedabad o­n June 16, 2023.

Train No. 16505 Gandhidham – KSR Bengaluru Weekly Express will be partially cancelled between Gandhidham and Ahmedabad o­n June 13, 2023.

14321 Bareilly – Bhuj Ala Hazrat Express commencing on 12.06.2023, 14.06.2023 will be terminated at Palanpur station. This train will remain partially cancelled between Palanpur – Bhuj.

14311 Bareilly – Bhuj Ala Hazrat Express commencing on 13.06.2023 will be terminated at Palanpur station. This train will remain partially cancelled between Palanpur – Bhuj.

12476 Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra – Hapa Superfast Express commencing on 12.06.2023 will be terminated at Rajkot. This train will remain partially cancelled between Rajkot – Hapa.

Cyclone Biparjoy – Trains starting before destination

14312 Bhuj – Bareilly Ala Hazrat Express commencing on 13.06.2023 will start its journey from Chandlodia station. This train will remain partially cancelled between Chandlodia – Bhuj.

14312 Bhuj – Bareilly Ala Hazrat Express commencing journey on 15.06.2023 will start its journey from Palanpur station. This train will remain partially cancelled between Palanpur – Bhuj.

14322 Bhuj – Bareilly Ala Hazrat Express commencing on 14.06.2023 will start its journey from Palanpur station. This train will remain partially cancelled between Palanpur – Bhuj.

Commencing journey on 14.06.2023, 12477 Hapa – Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Superfast Express will begin its journey from Rajkot station. This train will remain partially cancelled between Rajkot – Hapa.

Commencing journey on 13.06.2023, 12475 Hapa – Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Superfast Express will begin its journey from Rajkot station. This train will remain partially cancelled between Rajkot – Hapa

Also, if the wind speed exceeds beyond 60 kmph, the running trains will stop at the nearest station and will not be operational for the journey ahead until further notice.

Source: Bureau

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“We have deployed sufficient manpower and machinery. Our teams have also been alerted. We have sufficient locomotives ready in case of any power failure, and we are also ready with preparation to evacuate people if a train gets stuck anywhere,” he added.

Earlier, Relief Commissioner Alok Kumar Pandey informed about both central and state governments being on the alert mode in view of the cyclone.

“State government and Central government are on alert view of Cyclone Biparjoy. We have 12 NDRF teams and they have been deployed in Kutch, PorbanderJunagadh, Jamnagar, Dwarka, Gir Somnath, Morbi and Rajkot districts. Three teams were requested from the Centre and they have arrived they will be kept in reserve in Rajkot, Gandhidham and Kutch,” the Relief Commissioner told ANI.

Earlier in the day, PM Modi also chaired a high-level meeting to review the preparedness of ministries/agencies of the Centre as well as Gujarat to deal with the situation.

According to the official statement, Prime Minister directed senior officers to take every possible measure to ensure that the State Government safely evacuates people living in vulnerable locations and to ensure maintenance of all essential services such as power, telecommunications, health, drinking water etc and are restored immediately in the event of damage caused to them.

During the meeting, India Meteorological Department (IMD) informed that Cyclone Biparjoy is expected to cross Saurashtra and Kutch between Mandvi (Gujarat) and Karachi (Pakistan) near Jakhau Port (Gujarat) by noon of June 15 as a very severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 125-135 kmph gusting to 145 kmph.

Later in the day, India Meteorological Department said that impending Cyclone Biparjoy will cross near Gujarat’s Jakhau Port on June 15 as a ‘Very Severe Cyclonic Storm’.

“ESCS (extremely severe cyclonic storm) #Biparjoy weakened into VSCS (very severe cyclonic storm) and lay at 23.30 IST, about 310km SW of Porbandar, 320km SW of Devbhumi Dwarka, 380km SSW of Jakhau Port. To cross near Jakhau Port (Gujarat) by the evening of 15th June as VSCS,” IMD said in a tweet.

Union Home Ministry also released an advisory and advised total suspension of fishing operations over the east-central and adjoining west-central Arabian Sea and northeast Arabian Sea till June 15 in the wake of extremely severe cyclonic storm ‘Biparjoy’.

In an advisory on Monday, the ministry asked Kerala, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra governments to keep a close watch on the situation in the wake of the severe cyclonic storm and take appropriate precautionary measures. It called for judicious regulation of offshore and onshore activities.

The advisory, which has also been sent to the Chief Secretaries of Lakshadweep and Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, said that district authorities should be asked to monitor the situation in their areas.

Notably, a total of 67 trains have been cancelled in view of cyclone Biparjoy which is set to make landfall on Thursday in Gujarat, said CPRO Western Railway on Monday.

Source: ANI

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As per the initial indications, only a small number of passengers of the two passenger trains have opted for the travel accident insurance cover while booking through the IRCTC portal.

Replying to a list of questions sent to SBI General Insurance’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kishore Kumar Poludasu, a company spokesperson told IANS: “As per data available, SBI General has covered 351 passengers.”

According to the SBI General Insurance official, a few claims for injury have been lodged with the company by the passengers of the two trains.

On the other hand, Roopam Asthana, Wholetime Director and CEO of Liberty General Insurance did not respond to the questions sent to him by IANS.

In that tragic accident, 288 passengers were killed and more than 1,000 others injured.

The IRCTC has selected SBI General Insurance and Liberty General Insurance to offer the travel accident insurance cover.

Those who reserveed tickets through IRCTC booking portal can opt for accident insurance for Rs 10 lakhs by paying a paltry premium of Re 0.35 paise.

The policy covers death/disabilities/medical expenses due to a train accident during the travel.

Both the companies declined to answer as to how the number of policies are divided between the two insurers when the tickets are booked.

Similarly the top officials of the two companies remained silent when queried about covering all the passengers which in turn would bring down the premium amount.

An industry official said the two insurers get an equal number of policies while the passengers book their tickets through the IRCTC portal. However, the number of passengers covered under a policy/ticket would differ.

“Even though they would like to have an insurance cover, not many passengers while booking a Tatkal train ticket on the IRCTC portal will be inclined to click on the insurance cover box as their main goal to reserve a ticket as every second counts during that time,” the insurance official said.

Further if all the train passengers are offered the travel insurance cover then the premium amount will further come down from 35 paise.

According to IRCTC’s regulatory filing of investor call transcript, during the last quarter of FY23, a total number of 10.44 crore tickets have been booked and 14.54 crores passengers have been booked on these tickets.

For the entire FY23, IRCTC had earned Rs.802 crore revenue from the internet ticketing service.

A total of 43 crore tickets were booked on IRCTC portal, the company said.

And in the last quarter of FY23, the convenience fee that IRCTC had earned was nearly Rs197 crore.

When the insurance scheme was started in 2016, the premium was 0.92 paise per passenger with Shriram General Insurance Company Ltd, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd, and Royal Sundaram General Insurance Co. Ltd being the insurers.

Source: IANS

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However, the driver of the train applied the brakes and the train stopped, averting any major accident. This resulted in a delay of 45 minutes in the train’s schedule. “A tractor crashed the railway gate when it was closing at the Santhaldih railway crossing of the Bhojudih station in Bokaro district. However, the driver of the train applied the brakes and the train stopped, averting any major accident,” Manish Kumar, DRM, Adra Division, South Eastern Railway, told PTI.

Had the train driver not slammed brake, it could have been a major train mishap, similar to the Odisha Train Accident in the Balasore, where 278 passengers were killed. Kumar said the incident occurred around 5 pm and the train was delayed by about 45 minutes.

He said the tractor has been seized and an FIR lodged at the police station concerned, while the gate man has been suspended. The driver of the tractor had fled the spot.

The incident occurred barely days after one of the worst train tragedies in the country at the Bahanaga Bazar station in Odisha’s Balasore district, which claimed 278 lives and left more than 1,100 people injured after a crash involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train.

Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw, said the Odisha train accident occurred due to a “change in electronic interlocking”. Electronic interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements between trains through an arrangement of tracks.

It is basically a safety measure to prevent signals from being changed in improper sequence. The aim of this system is that no train gets the signal to proceed unless the route is proven safe.

Source: Bureau

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Around 10-12 coaches of Coromandel Express derailed near Bahanaga Railway station and ‘infringed’ into the opposite track. Subsequently, the Howrah Express, travelling from Yesvantpur to Howrah, collided with the affected carriages at high speed, resulting in further derailment. Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw, on Sunday, said the accident occurred due to a “change in electronic interlocking”.

Electronic interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements between trains through an arrangement of tracks. It is basically a safety measure to prevent signals from being changed in improper sequence. The aim of this system is that no train gets the signal to proceed unless the route is proven safe.

On Monday, the Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat Express train crossed the restored railway track in Odisha’s Balasore hours after the passenger train services were resumed in the district. The train services were affected in Balasore after the Odisha triple train accident.

Meanwhile, Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday evening waved at the crew of a goods train and prayed for a safe journey, as services resumed after 51 hours of a train accident in Balasore.

“Services on both tracks have been restored. Normal train services on both lines have now been restored, 51 hours after the accident,” said Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Source: ANI

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He also said there is serious concern among people about the deterioration in safety of railways. In his letter, Kharge had pointed out that the 2022 CAG report “Derailment in Indian Railways” highlights that funding for the Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) has been reduced by a massive 79 per cent. It was claimed during the budget presentation that about Rs 20,000 crore would be available annually, but this was not done, he had claimed and asked why were the required funds not allocated for track renewal work.

However, data in the document showed that from 2017-18 to 2021-22, the railways spent more than Rs 1 lakh crore on RRSK works. In February 2022, the government extended the validity of RRSK by another five years, starting 2022-23. The data on track renewal shows that expenditure on it, during 2017-18 to 2021-22, has reflected a steady growth. From Rs 8,884 crore in 2017-18, the expenditure on track renewal increased to Rs 13,522 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 16,558 crore in 2021-22, the document stated.

In total, the railways spent Rs 58,045 crore on track renewal during this period, it stated. Report number 22 of 2022 of the CAG on “Derailment in Indian Railways” was tabled in Parliament on December 21 last year.

A government source said, “The coverage of RRSK utilisation in the (CAG) report is limited to three years — 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20. Hence, it gives a partial picture on actual expenditure that has been undertaken on both track renewal as well as safety related works by the Indian Railways. As is the practice, a detailed reply on all issues raised in this report is being sent shortly.”

“The factual position on expenditure, therefore, is completely contrary to the figures being quoted. The actual trend of expenditure on track renewal on the Indian Railways has increased from Rs 47,039 crore during 2004-05 to 2013-14 to Rs 1,09,023 crore during 2014-15 to 2023-24 (BE or Budget Estimate), reflecting an increase of more than double,” the source said.

The sources also said similarly, expenditure on safety related works, which include track renewal, bridges, level crossing, railway over and under bridges and signalling works, has increased from Rs 70,274 crore during 2004-05 to 2013-14 to Rs 1,78,012 crore during 2014-15 to 2023-24 (BE), reflecting an increase of more than two and a half times.

Source: PTI

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Normal Traffic By June 7

According to reports, while the track is expected to be repaired by June 5, normal traffic will be completely restored by June 7. Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnav took stock of the restoration work at the site. More than one thousand labourers worked overnight at the Balasore site to remove the debris and 7 Poclain Machines, 2 Accident Relief Trains, and 3-4 Railway and Road Cranes, and 5 JCBs were deployed at the site. 

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“Capsized bogies of express trains have been removed…Two bogies of goods train also have been removed…Work of connecting track is going on from one side,” said Aditya Kumar Chaudhary, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), South Eastern Railway.

Indian Railways’ restoration trains carrying new track sleepers, track rails and other machinery have already been stationed at the site. Efforts are being made to normalize train services as soon as possible.

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Balasore Train Accident Reason

According to reports, the 12841 Coromandel Express while passing through the Up main line shifted to a loop line due to a signal issue and collided with a stationary goods train in a loop line at Bahanaga Bazar station. A loop line is a railway track used to divert or give a pass to another train. The impact of the collision was such that 21 coaches of the train were derailed, with three coaches falling on a neighbouring track, through which the 12864 Bengaluru-Howrah Express was passing in the opposite direction. The Bengaluru-Howrah train collided with the three fallen coaches of the Coromandel Express and its rearmost two coaches derailed. According to the preliminary investigation report, a signal was given to Coromandel Express to enter the main line but it was taken off and the train entered the loop line and thus collided into the goods train parked there.

90 Trains Cancelled; 46 Diverted

Meanwhile, around 90 trains have been cancelled and at least 46 were diverted and 11 short-terminated due to the accident. The South Eastern Railway has cancelled trains such as the Chennai-Howrah Mail, the Darbhanga-Kanniyakumari Expres, the Kamakhya-LTT Express and the Patna-Puri Special train. The Southern Railway cancelled trains such as the Mangalore-Santragachi Vivek Superfast Express, Dr MGR Chennai Central-Shalimar Coromandel Express, Dr MGR Chennai Central-Santragachi AC Superfast train, Rangapara North-Erode Superfast Special, the Guwahati-Sri M.Visveswaraya Bengaluru Tri Weekly Superfast Express, and Kamakhya-Sir M.Visveswaraya Bengaluru AC Superfast Express. 

Compensation Announced

The railways announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs 10 lakh to the next of kin of those who died, Rs 2 lakh to the grievously injured and Rs 50,000 for passengers with simple injury. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also announced additional ex-gratia compensation. “An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased in the train mishap in Odisha. The injured would be given Rs 50,000,” Modi tweeted.

Source: Bureau

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Speaking to the media, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the accident happened due to a change in the electronic interlocking system. “The commissioner of railway safety has investigated the matter and let the investigation report come but we have identified the cause of the incident and the people responsible for it… It happened due to a change in electronic interlocking,” Vaishnaw told the media.

Hours later, Congress leader Pawan Khera addressed a press conference where he claimed that the Railway Ministry was informed about the signal interlocking issue in February. “If you go to the Twitter timeline of the Railway Minister, you will see the reality of the Railways. There are 3.12 lakh posts vacant in the Railway Department. An internal report circulated in the Railway Ministry on February 9 stated that there was a defect in the signal interlocking system. If this is not done properly, accidents will keep happening. We want to know what action was taken on this report?” asked Khera.

He also said that according to the CAG report, there have been 1,127 incidents of train derailments between 2017 and 2021. “The budget for repair/renovation of the track is decreasing every year in the Modi government. Not only this… the budget that is there is not being used. We are not against the high-speed train, but by showing 10-15 shining trains, they will make the whole structure hollow, this is not acceptable,” alleged Khera.

The Congress leader also asked whether PM Narendra Modi will take responsibility of the worst train accident of the century. He also said that Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw should resign.

The restoration work of the damaged track is underway at the Balasore site. The Railway minister informed that the down main line was made fit at 12:05 pm today. The fatal accident involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train occurred around 7 pm on Friday near the Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore.

Source: Bureau

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Long-considered the lifeline of the world’s most populous country, the 170-year-old system has seen rapid expansion and modernisation under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push to boost infrastructure and connectivity in the fast-growing economy. This year, the government made a record 2.4-trillion-rupee ($30 billion) capital outlay for the railways, a 50% increase over the previous fiscal year, to upgrade tracks, ease congestion and add new trains.

A new, semi-high-speed train built in India and called the “Vande Bharat Express”, or “Salute to India Express”, is showcased as evidence of this modernisation, with Modi himself flagging off the first journeys of many of the trains around the country. But Friday’s crash has come as a jolt to this makeover, experts said.

“The safety record has been improving over the years but there is more work to do,” said Prakash Kumar Sen, head of the department of mechanical engineering at Kirodimal Institute of Technology in central India and lead author of a 2020 study on “Causes of Rail Derailment in India and Corrective Measures”.

“Human error or poor track maintenance are generally to blame in such crashes,” Sen said. The railways have been introducing more and more trains to cope with soaring demand but the workforce to maintain them has not kept pace, he said. Workers are not trained adequately or their workload is too high, and they don’t get enough rest, Sen said.

The east coast route on which Friday’s crash occurred, is one of the country’s oldest and busiest, as it also carries much of India’s coal and oil freight, he said. “These tracks are very old … the load on them is very high, if maintenance is not good, failures will happen,” Sen said.

Good Safety Record

Indian Railways maintains that safety has always been a key focus, and points to its low accident rate over the years. “This question (on safety) is arising because there has been one incident now. But if you see the data, you will see that there have been no major accidents for years,” a railways ministry spokesperson said. The number of accidents per million train kilometres, a gauge of safety, had fallen to 0.03 in fiscal 2021-22 from 0.10 in 2013-14, the spokesperson said.

A 1-trillion-rupee, five-year safety fund created in 2017-18 has been extended for another five years from 2022-23, with a further 450 billion rupees of funding, after the first plan led to an “overall improvement in safety indicators”, he added. “Some malfunction has happened and that the inquiry will reveal,” he said, referring to Friday’s crash. “We will find out why it happened and how it happened.”

Srinand Jha, an independent transport expert and author at the International Railway Journal, said the railways have been working on safety mechanisms such as anti-collision devices and emergency warning systems but have been slow to install them across the network.

“They will always tell you that accidents are at a very manageable level because they talk about them in terms of percentages,” Jha said, adding that in recent years the focus has been more on new trains and modern stations and not as much on tracks, signalling systems and asset management. “This accident brings out the need to focus more on these aspects,” he said.

Source: Reuters

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