The Indian Railways will review every aspect of safety in the operation of trains to ensure foolproof working of the system.
Expressing grave concern over the tragic train accident at Bahanaga Bazar railway station in Odisha which left 288 passengers dead and over 900 injured, Chairman Railway Board/Chief Executive Officer (CRB/CEO) A. K. Lahoti directed top railway officers, including General Managers of all Zonal Railways, to review safety in the entire system for foolproof working against external and internal issues.
“The recent serious accident at Bahanaga Bazar in South Eastern Railway with high loss of life and injury is a matter of grave concern… While the cause of this accident is under investigation, it needs to be re-emphasized that safety has a large number of dimensions and each and every aspect is required to be reviewed and ensured for zero compromise,” he said while addressing the top railway officials at a safety review meeting convened this week.
Mr. Lahoti said every railway employee was responsible for safety irrespective of the department. While maintenance of infrastructure was very important, it should to be ensured that maintenance works are carried out only under block/disconnection (temporary stoppage of trains to facilitate repair/maintenance works).
No shortcuts
“Employees must not resort to shortcuts at all. It is necessary for senior officers to bring about a change in the mindset of field employees that getting block/ disconnection is not an issue. Field employees must not feel constrained in asking for blocks for maintenance of infrastructure,” he said.
For this purpose, Divisional Railway Managers should interact with field staff personally, and assure them that block or disconnection would be given as a matter of safe working culture. “Before clearing the block/disconnection it must be ensured that the attended asset has been restored properly - where required, testing should be carried out. The asset should be functioning correctly.”
He said that the punctual running of trains and maintenance were both equally important. It was the role of the General Manager and the DRM to maintain a balance between the two objectives.
Stop train when in doubt
Mr. Lahoti said even lowest level employees in the Railways should not feel hesitant to stop a train if they found that there were unsafe conditions for its movement. Some error of judgment in this regard should be allowed.
Instructing officers to assess the working of the staff and train them on the spot, the CRB said the purpose of inspections should not be to find faults. Employees should be counselled against “chalta hai” attitude.
Senior railway officers were told to make best use of the Integrated Coach Management System, which records unusual incidents on a daily basis, to identify the trends and major problems so that corrective measures could be initiated. Emphasis on statistical reduction of failures should be avoided. Railway investigators should go into full details of “near-miss” cases, he said adding that reporting of all failures should be encouraged.
