In 2013-14, the Indian Railways reported 118 consequential or serious train accidents, which dropped by almost three times to just 40 in 2023-24, official data analysed by News18 shows. As against around two serious accidents per week, the number of consequential mishaps has dropped to almost one, analysis reveals.
Train accidents can be broadly divided into two categories: consequential and non-consequential. Consequential are those with serious repercussions in terms of loss of human life or injury, damage to railway property or interruption to rail traffic of laid down threshold levels and values. These include collisions, fire, derailment and accidents at level crossings.
In a statement in Rajya Sabha, Union minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw said as a consequence of various safety measures taken over the years, there has been a steep decline in the number of accidents.
“Consequential Train Accidents, which include consequential train derailments also, have reduced from 473 in 2000-01 to 40 in 2023-24… The causes of these accidents broadly include track defects, loco/coach defects, equipment failures, human errors,” he said.
He also said the consequential train accidents during the period 2004-14 were 1,711 — average 171 per annum — which have declined to 678 during the period 2014-24 — average 68 per annum.
While the ministry managed to control the number of consequential train accidents, the total number of deaths in these mishaps did not drop as much. In the period 2004-14, 904 people were killed in these accidents as against 748 in 2014-24.
“Total cost of damages to railway property such as rolling stock/tracks in consequential train accidents during the past five years have been assessed as about Rs 313 crore,” he added.
Maharashtra MP Imran Pratapgarhi and Kerala MP Jebi Mather Hisham had asked the minister a number of questions around train accidents and related deaths, damage to railway property, and compensation given to the injured and relatives of the deceased.
“The total amount of compensation paid by the Railways to the victims/next of kin of deceased in train accidents (as defined under Section 124 of the Railway Act, 1989) during the last five years — since 2019-20 to 2023-24 — is approximately Rs 26.83 crore in case of deaths and Rs 7 crore in case of injuries,” the minister added.
The compensation amount is awarded on the basis of claim application filed and as decreed by the Railway Claims Tribunal (RCT), he said, adding that at present, 52 cases under Section 124 of the Railways Act, 1989, are pending in different benches of RCT.
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