Why in the news?
In recent months, Indian Railways has faced several train accidents, raising concerns about safety. Among the incidents were the derailment of eight coaches of the Agartala-Lokmanya Tilak Express in Assam on October 17, 2023, and a collision between a passenger and a goods train near Chennai on October 11, 2023. While these incidents resulted in no casualties, the Balasore accident on June 2, 2023, was a significant tragedy, claiming over 275 lives and underscoring critical safety lapses.
As the pressure on Indian Railways increases to enhance safety protocols, the organization faces additional financial and operational challenges that strain its ability to balance safety with performance.
What’s in today’s article?
- Accidents in Indian Railways – Statistics
- Kavach
- Operating Ratio of Indian Railways
- Revenue Stream of Indian Railways
- Challenges
Accidents in Indian Railways – Key Statistics:
- Railway accidents have significantly decreased from 1,390 annually in the 1960s to around 80 per year in the last decade.
- In recent years, the trend is mixed, with 34 consequential accidents in 2021-2022, 48 in 2022-2023, and 40 in 2023-2024.
- These accidents not only lead to injuries and fatalities but also damage infrastructure and disrupt rail traffic.
- Public data reveals that 55.8% of train accidents stem from railway staff failures, 28.4% result from non-staff errors, and 6.2% are due to equipment failures.
- High-profile accidents like Balasore and Kavaraipettai were attributed to faulty signaling systems.
Kavach: The Train Protection System
Kavach is India’s indigenous automatic train protection system, developed under the name Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) since 2012 and later renamed.
Its goal is to help Indian Railways achieve Zero Accidents by preventing collisions through advanced electronic systems.
The system was designed by the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO), in collaboration with Indian industries.
Deployment and Costs:
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- By February 2024, Kavach had been installed on just 2% of the Indian Railways’ route.
- After the Balasore accident, calls for faster deployment increased. However, the system’s installation cost is high: ₹50 lakh per kilometer and ₹70 lakh per locomotive.
- Despite these costs, full implementation would account for less than 2% of Indian Railways’ annual capital expenditure, prompting criticism over the slow rollout.
Effectiveness:
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- Kavach primarily prevents collisions, which make up only 2% of accidents, while 70% of major incidents are derailments.
- For example, the Kavaraipettai accident could not have been prevented by Kavach due to errors occurring beyond the system’s operational margins.
Operating Ratio of Indian Railways
- The Operating Ratio (OR) measures the Railways’ expenditure for every ₹100 earned. For 2024-2025, the OR is projected at ₹98.2, showing a slight improvement from ₹98.7 in 2023-2024, but worse than ₹97.8 in 2016.
- A higher OR limits funds available for capital expenditures, making Indian Railways increasingly dependent on Budgetary Support and Extra-Budgetary Resources (EBRs).
- Since the railway budget was merged with the general budget in 2016, access to gross budgetary support has improved, but EBR-related dues have surged, rising from 10% of revenue receipts in 2015-2016 to 17% this year.
Revenue Generation by Indian Railways
- Freight Services:
- Freight services are critical, accounting for 65% of Indian Railways’ internal revenue.
- Freight rates have increased three times faster than passenger fares from 2009 to 2019.
- However, 30% of the railway network is overutilized, causing freight speeds to drop to 26 km/h in 2016, which negatively affects revenue growth.
Challenges:
Although Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) have been promoted since 2005, only the eastern DFC is fully operational, while others remain incomplete. Freight revenue heavily depends on coal, contributing to 45% of volume and 50% of revenue in 2024-2025 estimates. However, the government’s push toward renewable energy could reduce future coal demand.
Maintenance challenges persist as capital outlay for track renewal has dropped to 7.2% in 2023-2024, and appropriations to the Depreciation Reserve Fund have fallen 96%, reducing funds for asset maintenance and replacement.
- Passenger Services:
- While freight services generate profits, passenger services are a significant loss-making sector.
- In 2019-2020, passenger revenue exceeded ₹50,000 crore, but losses amounted to ₹63,364 crore. These losses grew to ₹68,269 crore in 2021-2022, exacerbated by the pandemic.
- Despite revenue projections of ₹80,000 crore in 2024-2025, driven by new high-demand routes like Vande Bharat, the Railways has struggled to maintain profitability in passenger services. Fare rationalization has not occurred since 2020.
Challenges Faced by Indian Railways
- Balancing Affordability and Profitability:
Indian Railways is tasked with offering affordable travel while maintaining financial sustainability, a difficult balance worsened by rising wages, pensions, and fuel costs.
- Stressful Working Conditions:
Locomotive pilots face demanding working conditions, such as 12-hour shifts, particularly in high-traffic freight zones.
Frequent changes to operational procedures add to stress, contributing to safety risks.
- Network Congestion and Safety Limitations:
High congestion reduces the efficiency of safety systems like Kavach and other warning systems.
Close train spacing, with signals just 1 km apart, limits the functionality of these safety measures in heavily trafficked zones.
- Revenue Shortfalls Affecting Safety:
Insufficient revenue generation hampers the Railways’ ability to fund essential safety upgrades, particularly as budgetary pressures increase and congestion worsens.
In conclusion, Indian Railways faces a complex set of operational, financial, and safety challenges, and while efforts like Kavach aim to reduce accidents, broader issues such as network congestion, high operating ratios, and revenue shortfalls continue to exert significant stress on the system.
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