Near Zero Accidents Regime: Can Indian Railways do it?
Safety on Indian Railways (IR) comes to the fore with frenetic TV and media debates, narratives, and counter-narratives every time there is a major mishap. But as the national attention span rivals that of a goldfish, the issue fades as soon as the headlines move on. Fortunately, barring the unfortunate stampede at New Delhi Railway Station on February 15, there has been a respite for months. This, therefore, is the time to rise above the din and take a hard look at railway safety—before another disaster rudely reminds us. Whenever railway safety becomes a hot topic, critics claim that IR prioritizes optics over safety, leading to a rise in accidents, while the government alleges nefarious activities of sabotage by external enemies. Both narratives miss the mark. The number of accidents has actually declined, but the sabotage theory, fuelled by cases of occasional track obstructions, was never convincing as most cases were rather trivial, even childish, to cause a derailment. I have al...