Hirakhand Express, Kanpur train accident: Time to get Railways off Twitter, on track?

In the past three months, India has seen almost 200 deaths in train accidents.

In the past three months, India has seen almost 200 deaths in train accidents. Trains getting derailed, it seems, is becoming a routine now. Our Rail Minister Suresh Prabhu is expressing shock, announcing relief and updating the world about his visits to the accident sites one after the other on Twitter.

On November 20, 2016, 14 coaches of the Indore-Rajendra Nagar Express 19321 derailed at Pukhrajan, near Kanpur. In what was seen as one of the most disastrous train accidents in the recent past, over 150 passengers lost their lives and over 260 were injured, Rail Minister Suresh Prabhu tweeted, “Thorough investigation will be carried out to ascertain the cause.”

On December 8, 2016, two passengers died and over 65 were injured when 15 coaches of Sealdah-Ajmer Express derailed near Rura, 50 km from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. The Rail Minister again tweeted ‘probe ordered’.

On January 1, 2017, it was found that fish plates and elastic clips had been removed on a railway track near Kanpur on the Farrukhabad Kanpur section. The CBI was immediately brought in to probe a sabotage angle.

On January 21, 2017, at least 39 people died as the engine and nine coaches of Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express got derailed in Vizianagaram, and there was again ‘probe ordered’.

In two of these three accidents now, a terror angle is being probed. The National Investigation Agency has taken over the probe and is trying to find out if any terror outfit has anything to do in two of these three derailment. However, can the Rail Minister escape responsibility by blaming these accidents on terror outfits? Are we learning from these accidents and taking any steps to make our railways safer? Also, why are the casualties huge in these accidents? These are questions that need more than just Twitter interations.

If we compare the magnitude of loss that was seen in 2013-2014 under the UPA government with 2014-2015 under the NDA government, the numbers are dismal. While 54 persons lost their lives in 71 accidents between 2013 and 2014, 123 people died in over 80 accidents in 2014-2015, according to railway data.

Prabhu has been hailed as one of the most active ministers in the Narendra Modi government. You have any inconvenience during your journey, just tweet to the Rail Minister and your query will be answered on Twitter and the problem will be solved. He tweets back to the passengers seeking help, gets their issues sorted and is a social media hit among fans.

However, is the larger picture as rosy as what’s visible on Twitter? The sudden spate of accidents, unfortunately, doesn’t say so. One after the other, there are derailments, people are dying. While minor inconveniences are finding a solution on Twitter , what is the minister doing on ground?

How many more accidents before our Rail Ministry gets on track? How many more lives before our Rail Minister realises this is much more than a cockroach in food? Isn’t it time that we see the Twitter enthusiasm actually turn to something substantial on ground too? While the talk of getting high speed trains and bullet trains, do we still have the infrastructure to make these a reality and make it sustain?

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author.