For a cost-benefit evaluation the question is, how much Safety on Indian Railways is wanted by the Indian Government and how much money the Government is willing to spend for it.

In a cost-benefit evaluation the question is, how much counts the value of train-passenger`s freedom from injury and bodily harm compared to the incurred losses of assets in a train-accident.

One can have the impression that in a cost-benefit evaluation, where the value of a killed or injured train-passenger does not much count, it comes overall cheaper to tolerate and bear the annual losses of assets incurred by nasty and fatal Train-Accidents rather than to spend more money on pro- active Safety related rectifying works, infrastructure and logistics.

To smash old ICF passenger coaches in Train Accidents is not much costly, since those less track-friendly running rolling stocks will be anyway replaced in future by the more track-friendly running LHB coaches. After a nasty  Accident the tracks are usually cleared and repaired within two days. The compensation granted to the next relations of killed train-passengers and spend for the injured ones are marginal low.

HIGH TRACK AND ROLLING STOCK QUALITY FOR ALL INDIAN RAILWAY ROUTES are prerequisites to bring down the number of killed and injured train-passengers in unwanted and nasty Derailment-Disasters.

To guarantee the required long-term HIGH TRACK QUALITY – the prerequisite for ZERO FATAL DERAILMENT – a modern Railway needs for track rectifying works a funding-certainty for a period of at least 15 years; best under a so-called “CAPACITY AND FUNDING AGREEMENT”; see Prof. Dr. Jürgen Siegmann, Technical University Berlin, Department of Track and Railway Operation, in RTR Special Maintenance & Renewal, p.7, July 2007, ISBN: 978-3- 7771-0367- 9, eurailpress, Hamburg, Germany.

Funding-certainty for a period of at least 15 years is a prerequisite to make the Technical Organization INDIAN RAILWAYS more resistant against DERAILMENT-DISASTERS killing and injuring train-passengers.

The costs of improving TRACK QUALITY all arise immediately, but the benefits in form of less unwanted Derailment-Disasters, where train- passengers are killed and injured, emerge only in long term.

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INR ON RISKY COURSE

More trains and higher speed means more stress on the tracks. A low quality track deteriorates faster than a high quality track. Many routes are of low track-quality.

The most of the network is saturated. And 40% of the routes running at over 100% of line capacity are already over strained. There is a shortage of funds to meet track maintenance and track renewal. Under such circumstances several routes deteriorate faster than they can be maintained or repaired.

In 2014-15 the number of causalities increased with the number of Train-Derailments. This speaks for an increasing backlog in spending for maintenance and renewal.

Tracks have to match the Traffic load they have to carry. If not, they deteriorate under the strain of the traffic load, and it comes to derailments killing and injuring train-passengers.

Increased strain on the track by more trains and higher train-speed has to be counterbalanced by TRACK QUALITY. A low quality track deteriorates faster than a high quality track under given traffic load.

A Railway Track behaves like an elephant. It can tolerate for a longer period ill-treatment and negligence. But suddenly, like an elephant, the track takes revenge and runs berserk throwing trains off the track. In Derailment-Disasters Train-Passengers get killed or injured.

However, the picture is not bright. For either a lack of adequate working capital and manpower, or on account of procedural and administrative bottlenecks and deficiencies, work schedules are lagging behind.

The technical knowledge, competence, designs, specifications an working procedures/manuals/schedules for less derailment prone high quality tracks are at hand in order to bring down the number of killed or injured train-passengers in Derailment-Accidents. However, it lacks in implementations due to unsatisfactory investment-schemes, underfunding, lack of well trained manpower, not enough appropriated heavy track machinery and organisational deficiencies.

Safety will not only be achieved by appeals and circulars of Safety Commissioners or by those strong words after a bad unwanted event of politicians or ministers, who only want to demonstrate their strength.

To bring down the number of killed and injured train-passengers India needs investment-schemes resulting in high CAPITAL INVESTMENT for safety related works. By sweeping structural reforms efficiency has to be improved. More well trained manpower has to be recruited and more modern heavy track machinery for track renewal and track maintenance has to be acquired.

TRAIN-PASSENGER`s FREEDOM FROM INJURY and BODILY HARM oder|orshould rank with highest priority in Investment-Schemes. In cost-benefit evaluations for Capital Investment in Safety related works not only the losses of assets incurred by Railway Accidents, but also the socio-economical losses incurred by killed and injured train-passengers have to be considered.

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On 20 th Nov. 2016 over 150 passengers got killed at a Derailment-Disaster on the Jhansi-Kanpur Link at Pukhrayan. It is the deadliest train accident in India since 1999, when the Gaisal Train Disaster claimed 290 lives. In the 6-year period between 2009-10 and 2014-15, there were a total of 803 accidents in Indian Railways killing 620 people and injuring 1855 people. 46.5% of these accidents were due to derailment of trains. The number of train accidents per million kilometres run has continuously decreased from 2009-10 to 2013-14. It again increased in 2014-15. The number of causalities also increased in 2014-15.

The Technical Knowledge, Competence, Standards and Designs are present and at hand, how to make Tracks and Rolling Stocks safe. The challenge is to realise things. Organizational Failures as
well Underfunding hamper implementing Knowledge and Competence throughout on all Tracks and Rolling Stocks. The war against hazards cannot be won only by preparing a short section between Nizzamudin and Agra for the Gatimaan Express to run with maximal speed of 160 kmph.

If there is a fatal Railway Accident, Ministers are quick to shift their responsibility for the well-being of the Technical Organisation to so-called “Frontliners” as the “Culprits for the bad unwanted event declaring “Strictest possible action will be taken against those who could be responsible for the accident”.

In modern Safety and Risk Management every unwanted bad event has to be regarded as the outcome of ORGANIZATIONAL FAILURES. A Railway Minister has to be regarded being responsible that the Technical Organisation will be navigated within the Safety Space to become increasing resistant against Human Fallibility, prevailing latent unsafe Conditions and Failures in the System. He has to be regarded being responsible that the recourses are allocated in the everlasting war for more Safety in order to achieve the ULTIMAT GOAL TO PREVENT RAILWAY ACCIDENTS by a good management and practice. Upper echelons want to see more and faster trains running and revenues coming at the lowest possible expense-level rather to spend too much money in upgrading the infrastructure and maintenance for safety. It is only after a bad accident that protection comes for a short period.

The costs for fatalities are for INR relatively low. The granted compensations often even do not cover the funeral costs or the treatment-costs of injured people in private hospitals. Over the decades INR got used to live with the Railway Accidents killing and injuring people.

The technical paper delineates DEFENCE LAYERS against culminating hazards bursting into Track-Defect related Train Accident /Disaster.

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how-much-safety-on-indian-railways-part-i

MODERN CRASH-WORTHY FRONT DESIGN-ENGINEERING FOR RAIL- CARS, POWER-SETS AND MULTIPLE UNITES IN COMPLIANCE WITH  US AND EUROPEAN NORMS FOR THE PASSIVE DRIVER`S  PROTECTION ON COLLISION WITH A HEAVY OBJECT

In Sri Lanka there had been two collisions of the Indian build Class S11 Diesel Multiple Unit, DMU, with the rear of stationary trains. In both events the glass-fibre/polyester- resin laminate front parts shattered into pieces leaving no survival zone for the train driver. Prior to the collisions there had been doubts about the CRASH WORTHINESS of this glass-fibre/polyester- resin laminate front construct without any sturdy crash-energy absorbing or dissipating elements or skeletons and without any anti-climber modules. But the early warnings have not been taken serious by the competent authorities. Part II of this feature article deals with international crash-norms for rail-cars, power-sets and multiple unites for the driver`s passive protection in case of a collision with a heavy object. The article informs about crash-worthy design-engineering concepts and about crash-tests and simulations.

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Crash-Energy Management