Discipline derailed in the railway
There are persons employed by the railway just to check that every inch of the railway track is all right. And there are also people to check the engine and coaches before each trip.
But despite that, train accidents continue to occur and there are losses of lives. In most cases, the trains are derailed.
Generally speaking, trains are considered a safe mode of transport. The Awami League government, over the past 11 years, has invested about Tk 640 billion in the railway sector. Around 13,000 more people have been employed.
Yet the accidents continue unabated.
Over the past decade, several large railway projects have been taken up, mostly concerning new railway lines. There are allegations or huge funds being pilfered in these projects and the old railway lines remain in a dilapidated condition.
New appointments have been made but these persons are not being utilised properly. Passenger service has not improved nor has the safety factor.
When 6 bogies of the train Upaban Express derailed on 23 June at Kulaura, five passengers were killed and over 100 injured. Trains were stopped for 22 hours after the accident. Six bogies, the railway line at that stretch, and a bridge were seriously damaged.
A railway committee formed to look into the matter said that the accident occurred due to faults in the railway track. Just two days before this incident, a wheel of the train Rangpur Express was derailed at Gazipur and train communication was held up for around four hours.
According to the railway authorities, during the five and a half years from 2014 till June this year, 868 accidents took place, killing 111 persons and injuring 298. People falling under trains and dying or dead bodies found by the railway tracks have not been included in the account of these deaths.
Most of the train accidents are caused by derailing. And most deaths in train accidents occur at unguarded railway crossings when the train collides with vehicles crossing the tracks.
Over the last five and a half years, 639 instances of train derailing took place, making up 73.62 per cent of the accidents.
An official of the railway, on condition of anonymity, told Prothom Alo, it is hard to accept that even after the expansion of manpower and huge investment, there are so many accidents. Either the investment is not being made correctly or there are serious deficiencies in the management.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has also highlighted corruption and irregularities in the railway sector. In a report the commission handed over to the railways minister on Tuesday, it was said a large part of the railway’s corruption lay in procurement.
This included the purchase of wagons, coaches, engines and demo trains. There has been corruption also in the recent project for the construction of double lines and mixed gage lines as well as in other areas.
Secretary of the railway ministry Mofazzel Hossain told Prothom Alo that the safety system for the railways was very scientific. If everyone carried out their duties duly, there was no chance of trains being derailed or accidents occurring.
He said a large amount of the investment was going into development projects and more attention was being paid to maintenance. He said they had been tackling corruption in the sector and would look into the allegations brought about by ACC.
Dysfunctional safety system
A group of employees work on the railway lines at 2 to 2.5 km intervals. Each of these ‘gangs’ comprise a key man, way man, gang man and others. The key man walks down stretches of the railway track and back, checking the nuts and bolts, clips and fishplates. If these are faulty, he fixes them or reports to the higher authorities.
The way man checks whether there are adequate stones and pebbles on the railway lines. He also checks if the lines are properly aligned. The gang man supervises the work of the key man and the way man. There is someone in charge of the gangs, and above that is the permanent way inspector as well as other officials and engineers. Even the senior officials have to travel down the lines in trolleys to check the tracks.
This safety system is not entirely functional, according to sources in the railway. The civil engineering department complains that they do not have adequate staff or maintenance equipment. But other officials say that lack of investment or manpower is just an excuse.
In recent times, even key men, way men and other relatively lower ranking employees are being appointed on political consideration. Some of them are even graduates and so are not eager to work on the lines. Some are said to even hire others to do their job. If these employees actually carried out their duties, every inch of the railway track should remain safe and secure.
Glitches in engine, coach maintenance
Meetings are held every few months regarding the train operations. These are called operational review meetings. At such a meeting held on 27 June with the railway director general in the chair, the neglect in maintenance of the engines and coaches came to light. It was said that 20 per cent of the bogies in the eastern zones were running without any annual checks or repairs. It was said that this was because of the lack of manpower and inadequate number of bogies. Bogies in the western zone were not repaired timely either.
Professor Shamsul Huq of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET)’s civil engineering department, told Prothom Alo it was imperative that every nut, bolt, fishplate, clip and such should remain exactly the same as the day the railway line was laid down. Unless this is maintained, accidents are bound to take place. Bangladesh’s train speed is much less than international standards, even of those in neighbouring countries. That means there certainly is a lack of maintenance that caused these frequent accidents.
Shamsul Huq said that the money in the sector should not simply be spent on procurement. It should be used for proper maintenance too.
*The report, published in print edition of Prothom Alo, has been rewritten in English by Ayesha Kabir