 "Indore-Patna train derailes near Kanpur")
The derailment of 14 coaches of the Patna-Indore Express near Pukhrayan in Kanpur Dehat district on Sunday was the biggest railway accident in at least five years in terms of death toll, with over 100 people dead according to the latest figures.
According to statistics taken from the Indian Railways, of the total accidents that occur on Indian Railways annually, 87 per cent are due to human failure — 44 per cent due to the failure of the railway staff and 43 per cent due to the failure of people other than members of the railway staff. While two per cent accidents are due to failure of equipment, two per cent are caused due to sabotage, six per cent accidents are due to incidental factors, and the causes for three per cent accidents could not be established or the cases are still under investigation. (See chart below)
Accidents by death toll:
In terms of death toll, the largest accident in this decade was the Gyaneshwari Express train derailment on May 28, 2010, in West Bengal, when a suspected Communist Party of India (Maoist) attack killed 170 people. Here are the major train accidents in the past five years, in order of the magnitude of casualties.
1) 10 July, 2011: Kalka Mail derails near Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh killing 70 people and injuring more than 300.
2) 30 July, 2012: One of the coaches of the Chennai-bound Tamil Nadu Express (New Delhi-Chennai) caught fire early in the morning, near Nellore in Andhra Pradesh. As a result, 47 people were killed and 25 others were injured.
3) 20 March, 2015: Thirty nine people were killed and 150 people injured when the Dehradun-Varanasi Janta Express derailed in Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli.
4) 19 August, 2013: At least 35 people were killed when the 12567 Saharsa-Patna Rajya Rani SF Express ran over people at the Dhamara station near Saharsa in Bihar.
5) 28 December, 2013: Twenty six people lost their lives and 12 were injured when Bangalore City-Hazur Sahib Nanded express caught fire near Kothacheruvu in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.
6) 26 May, 2014: At least 25 people lost their lives and over 50 were injured when the Gorakhpur-bound Gorakhdham Express rammed into a stationary goods train near Khalilabad station in Uttar Pradesh.
7) 4 May, 2014: About 20 were killed and 100 were injured when the Diva Junction-Sawantvadi Passenger train derailed between the Nagothane and Roha stations.
8) 23 July, 2014: Eighteen people, including 16 students, lost their lives when a school bus was hit by the Nanded Passenger train at an unmanned railway level crossing in Masaipet village of Medak district.
9) 20 March, 2012: About 15 people were killed in a train collision with an overcrowded taxi minivan at an unmanned railroad crossing at Mahamaya Nagar in Uttar Pradesh.
10) 22 May, 2012: At least 14 people were killed and 35 injured when the Hubli-Bangalore, Hampi Express collided with a goods train near Penukonda in Andhra Pradesh.
11) 2 November, 2013: Ten people were run over by the 13352 Alapuzha-Dhanbad express, near Gotlam in Vizianagaram.
Number of accidents have actually gone down:
According to the railways, there has been a continuous reduction in the number of train accidents per million train kilometre, which has fallen from 5.5 in 1960-61 to 0.11* in 2014-15. This, according to the railways, is indicative of sustained improvement in safety performance. On the other hand, the number of causalities per million passengers has also dropped from 0.24 in 1965-66 to 0.05 during the last financial year.
*Figures till January 2014-15
