{"id":31153,"date":"2024-10-21T18:08:47","date_gmt":"2024-10-21T12:38:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=31153"},"modified":"2025-07-12T13:30:06","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T08:00:06","slug":"stress-factors-for-indian-railways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/21-10-2024\/stress-factors-for-indian-railways","title":{"rendered":"Stress Factors for Indian Railways"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Syllabus: GS3\/Economy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • The recent series of train accidents in India has highlighted the urgent need for a series of reforms in Indian railways.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    About<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • The number of railway accidents dropped from 1,390 per year in the 1960s to 80 per year <\/strong>in the last decade. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • However there were still 48 consequential accidents<\/strong> in 2022-23, and 40 in 2023-2024.\n
        \n
      • A consequential accident injures and\/or kills people, damages railway infrastructure, and disrupts rail traffic.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Stress factors for Indian Railways<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
          \n
        • High Operating Ratio (OR): <\/strong>The OR for 2024-2025 estimated at \u20b998.2, meaning the Railways spends \u20b998.2 for every \u20b9100 earned, leaving little for capital expenditure (capex).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Accidents and Safety Issues: <\/strong>Despite a drop in accidents from 1,390 per year in the 1960s to 80 per year recently, there were around 40 consequential accidents in 2023-2024.\n
            \n
          • Human error is a major cause, with 55.8% of accidents due to Railway staff failures, 28.4% due to non-staff errors, and 6.2% due to equipment failures.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Delays in Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs): <\/strong>Only the eastern DFC is fully operational; the western DFC is partly ready.\n
              \n
            • East coast, east-west, and north-south corridors are still in the planning stage, limiting freight capacity expansion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Financial Losses in Passenger Services: <\/strong>In 2019-2020, passenger services earned \u20b950,000 crore but faced a loss of \u20b963,364 crore.<\/strong>\n
                \n
              • The challenge of balancing affordable travel with profitability persists, especially with growing costs from wages, pensions, and fuel.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              • Stressful Working Conditions: <\/strong>Locomotive pilots face 12-hour shifts, especially in high-freight zones, leading to stressful conditions.\n
                  \n
                • Increased congestion and operational pressures add to the difficulties in maintaining physical capacity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                • Reliance on Freight Services:<\/strong> According to NITI Aayog<\/strong>, the rates for freight service which accounts for 65%<\/strong> of total revenue has increased more than three times as fast as passenger rates between 2009 and 2019.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

                  Steps Taken by the Government<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
                    \n
                  • Integration of Railway and Union Budget:<\/strong> In 2016-2017, the government merged the Railway budget with the Union budget, providing easier access to gross budgetary support.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  • Improved Safety Measures:<\/strong> Investments in modern signaling systems, better track maintenance, and upgraded safety protocols.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  • Introduction of New Trains: <\/strong>Introduction of high-speed Vande Bharat trains to increase passenger revenue and improve service on high-traffic routes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  • Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system <\/strong>to help a vehicle steer clear of another vehicle or obstacles. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                    What is a collision avoidance system?<\/strong>
                    – It is a collection of technologies to help a vehicle steer clear of another vehicle<\/strong> or obstacles. 
                    1. For example, a CAS device fit on a train will be designed to help that train avoid colliding with another train.
                    – Most CAS devices require two types of information<\/strong>, preferably in real-time: the locations of all the other vehicles and the location of this vehicle relative to those vehicles.
                    What is \u2018Kavach\u2019?<\/strong>
                    – Kavach is an indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system<\/strong>.
                    – It is a set of electronic devices and Radio Frequency Identification devices <\/strong>installed in locomotives, in the signaling system as well the tracks, that talk to each other using ultra high radio frequencies<\/strong> to control the brakes of trains and also alert drivers, all based on the logic programmed into them.
                    – It activates the train braking system automatically <\/strong>if the driver fails to control the train as per the speed restrictions.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

                    Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
                      \n
                    • Infrastructure Investments:<\/strong> Increase capital expenditure for track renewal and maintenance, as the current outlay of 7.2% is insufficient.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    • Lowering Operating Ratio:<\/strong> Enhance internal revenue generation through better pricing models for both passenger and freight services.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    • Improved Working Conditions:<\/strong> Ensure better scheduling and training for staff to minimize human error and prevent accidents.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    • Reduce fuel costs<\/strong> by increasing electrification and exploring alternative energy sources to lower operational costs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

                      Source: TH<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                      The recent series of train accidents in India has highlighted the urgent need for a series of reforms in Indian railways.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31153"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31157,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31153\/revisions\/31157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}