Amid efforts to strengthen safety in train operations after the train collision in Odisha on 2 June, Indian Railways has witnessed a higher number of equipment failures.
These include train parting, signalling failures, wagon detachment, malfunctioning of Overhead Equipment (OHE) in June 2023 as compared the corresponding period last year.
According to the Integrated Coaching Management System (ICMS), the Railways has reported 7,216 instances of signal equipment failures during June 2023, as compared to of nearly 4,833 cases in June last year, an increase of over 49 per cent.
The Integrated Coaching Management System application was developed by Indian Railways with the objective of monitoring punctuality of Mail Express/Passenger trains, monitoring status of coaching stock in real time and online, facilitating augmentation of train composition and planning and running of special service.
Incidentally, after the Odisha tragedy which claimed nearly 300 lives, an alert was given to all zones to strengthen safety features to prevent such mishaps.
Ironically, the month of June witnessed 1,354 failures in Electric locomotives as against 1,250 in June 2022.
In OHE, the there were 251 failures in June 2023 as against 199 in June 2022.
There were 113 cases of Train parting as against 54 in June 2022 and seven time Coach detachment in June 2023 as compared to three cases in June 2022.
In June 2023, wagon detachment cases were reported 53 time as against 49 times in June 2022.
The steep rise in equipment failures witnessed during April-June 2023 as the number of failures is 16,458 as against 15,129 in the same period last year, an increase of 8.8 per cent.
According to the Railways, it is a cause of worry and several corrective measures have been undertaken to prevent such failures.
Indian Railways recorded a number of breakdowns in overhead equipment (OHE) and signalling equipment, as well as instances of wagon and coach detachments, train parting and hot axle were higher during the April-June quarter compared with a year earlier.
Train parting, coach and wagon detachment are all caused by what is called a ‘coupling break’, a serious safety concern for railway.
Besides, track renewal is being carried out in almost all sections to prevent rail and weld fractures, the official added. However, repeated equipment failures have caused a serious setback in the railways’ safety drive.