Our focus should rather be on strengthening security measures to prevent Kollam-like tragedies, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
Thirty-nine passengers had a miraculous escape when a Delhi Metro train jumped tracks in the national capital on Wednesday afternoon.
Data reveals that only 25 of total 774 deaths in the period between January 2015 and September 2016 were battle casualties.
Barclays' assessment of 35 major cities on various socio-economic parameters suggests that mass transit rail systems should be a high priority in 12 cities with bus rapid transit systems acting as feeder services.
9 passengers were killed and 16 seriously injured when 9 bogies derailed.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on wednesday said that track washout due to a swollen Machak river led to the derailment of Kamayani Express and Janata Express at Harda in Madhya Pradesh.
The mishap took place at Martur village station, about 20 kilometres from Kalburgi.
No one was injured in the incident that triggered panic among road users, even as police cordoned off the area and diverted traffic.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu faces a stiff dilemma on whether to raise fares and freight rates in his second Rail Budget.
Railways Ministry spokesperson Anil Saxena said several people have been rushed to nearby hospitals with injuries, and the casualties may go up.
LHB coaches are safer. Two high-level railway safety commissions came down heavily on ICF coaches, recommending their replacement by LHB, says Bibek Debroy.
Prabhu said he was 'extremely pained by the unfortunate accidents, injuries to passengers and loss of precious lives'.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who on Tuesday met those injured in the Kalka Mail accident at a hospital in Kanpur, pulled up railway officials after the victims complained that they had not received the promised compensation.During his nearly 40-minute visit to Hallett Hospital, Rahul, who was accompanied by Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal and senior rail officials, inquired about the condition of those undergoing treatment in the Burns, Emergency and ICU wards.
An eyewitness said some people in a minibus and private cars were trapped.
"The accident took place around 1.30 pm when the train was on its way from Howrah and heading towards Dehradun. According to some eye-witnesses, there was a sudden thud after which 11 coaches of the train jumped off the tracks. Luckily, no damage was caused to the six coaches, which remained on the ground; but five of the coaches went crashing on the sides, leaving five dead and 36 injured," Additional Director General of Police (Railways) Gurdarshan Singh told scribes.
Some eyewitnesses said the driver, who is among the injured, tried to speed across the level crossing even when onlookers tried to draw his attention to the approaching train.
Modi invoked Lord Shiva on Mahashivratri and said people, with their third eye, can see what is good for them and what is bad.
The railway minister said the demand for his resignation was based on flawed statistics.
The experts said that climate change is not only raising temperatures and making India's heatwaves hotter, but also changing weather patterns that further drive dangerous weather extremes.
Corrosion is a big menace for anything with steel application from rebars in construction, oil and water pipelines, railway track, power distribution poles to automobiles, says Kunal Bose.
LHB (Linke Holfmann Bush) coaches made of stainless steel have more inbuilt safety features as they can absorb shock and impact of derailment more effectively and as a result do not topple, thus reducing the loss of lives in case of accident, said a senior Rail Ministry official.
Punjab chief minister Capt.Amarinder Singh has announced Rs 5 lakh to kin of each deceased and free treatment to injured in government and private hospitals.
Passengers on board the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express had a miraculous escape when ten of its coaches and the engine derailed near Gaya station following an explosion triggered by the Maoists, police said.
National Disaster Response Force personnel left the spot, while State Disaster Management Department personnel continued their rescue work at the accident site with cranes, earth movers and drilling machines.
The recent accident at the Delhi Metro site in South Delhi that claimed six lives was caused by 'serious deficiency' in design and inadequate concrete strength, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
The Delhi Metro chief E Sreedharan on Monday withdrew his resignation from the post, a day after he put in his papers owning moral responsibility for an accident at a construction site in which six people were killed.
Incessant rains apparently caused cracks in the bridge, resulting in its collapse, an official said.
Prabhu said the Ministry was preparing a plan till 2030.
No casualties were reported though some passengers received minor injuries, an official said.
Heavy rains lashed Mumbai and its suburbs on Wednesday, causing flooding on roads and rail tracks and disrupting suburban train services as the south-west monsoon arrived in the city with a bang, while the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an alert for more downpour.
He accused the previous governments of being sluggish on implementing railway projects and said the work of ambitious eastern and western dedicated freight corridors expedited only in the last six-seven years.
UP police said that a three-foot portion of the track where the train derailed was missing.
The Comptroller and Auditor General has indicted the way the DMRC is run and points to the novel 50:50 management structure that neither of the governments is in charge, so the company is pretty much run by the management, namely Sreedharan.
Just 20 years old, Inderlal Kamalsingh Dhurve is a migrant labourer, a part-time farmer, a sole breadwinner and one of four survivors from the group that was mowed down by a goods train near Aurangabad, Maharashtra, 10 days ago, claiming 16 lives.
Construction of one kilometre of high speed railway track will cost Rs 100-140 crore.
Auxiliary warning system, cab-signalling device, centralised traffic control system are some of the state-of-the-art measures that are being considered to enhance safety measures in India
Railways has decided to introduce semi high-speed trains in nine sectors which would run at speeds of up to 160 kmph.
Over 250 passengers have been rescued, a railway official said.
Mumbaikars, especially the office-goers, heaved a sigh of relief as the train services were restored.
Derailment is not very common. Last year less than 1 per cent of train accidents were due to derailments and mere 0.23 per cent of death on tracks occurred due to it.
