Sansad TV Perspective: Regulations for Dedicated Freight Corridor

In the series Sansad TV Perspective, we bring you an analysis of the discussion featured on the insightful programme ‘Perspective’ on Sansad TV, on various important topics affecting India and also the world. This analysis will help you immensely for the IAS exam, especially the mains exam, where a well-rounded understanding of topics is a prerequisite for writing answers that fetch good marks.

In this article, we feature the discussion on the topic: Regulations for Dedicated Freight Corridor.

Anchor: Teena Jha

Guests:

1. Anurag Sachan, Former MD, Dedicated Freight Corridor
2. Sachin Bhanushali, CEO & Director, Gateway Rail Freight Limited
3. Sudhendu Jyoti Sinha, Advisor, Electric Mobility, NITI Aayog, GoI
4. Ganapathy Subramaniam, Senior Journalist

Context: A parliamentary panel has raised concerns over inadequate safety rules for the goods-only network.

Highlights of the discussion:

• Introduction.
• Associated concerns.
• Counter Arguments.
• Way Ahead.

Introduction:

• With over 80% of the dedicated freight corridor running parallel to passenger lines, a parliamentary panel has raised concerns over the lack of safety rules for the goods-only network.
• The Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism, and Culture, in its 323rd report, points out that while rules and regulations are defined for passenger trains, no such regulation exists for the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) or goods trains. 
• The report further states that the Commission of Railway Safety pointed out many instances where rules were amended by the Ministry of Railways without consulting the commission, even when provisions to such consultations exist. 
• The Commission of Railway Safety falls under the administrative control of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and deals with matters pertaining to the safety of rail travel and train operations. 
• The panel recommended that to ensure the impartial working of the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS), it was essential that it worked outside the control of both the ministries of Railways and Civil Aviation. It also suggested that the Railways should avoid unilateral changes in rules, codes, and manuals that affect railway safety without consulting the CRS.

For more information on the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), read here: Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC)

Background Details:

• There are two types of accidents:
  • Indicative accidents: An accident-like situation is created but the actual accident doesn’t occur.
  • Consequential accidents: The accidents which result in loss of property or life. These accidents are investigated by the CRS in detail.

Concerns raised by the Committee:

• Indian Railways is an organization that is very safety conscious and appropriate rules are made, where the CRS enquires about the accidents where passenger trains are involved. However, when it comes to goods movement, a lot of flexibility is given, as analysis of each and every case would be extremely difficult on the part of CRS.
• Indian Railways prescribed rules state that only those accidents should be enquired by CRS that involve serious damage or loss of life of passengers.
• The Standing Committee report points to the lack of coordination among the two railway departments – Railway Board and CRS. The Railway Board is under the ambit of the Ministry of Railways whereas the CRS falls under the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
  • CRS is deliberately kept under the Ministry of Civil Aviation in order to ensure transparency, equity, and fairness in the investigation.
  • Coordination between the two is also required because the role of CRS is not only confined to the investigation but is also required for establishing new tracks.
  • New changes in the railway need to be validated by CRS as they are a third party involving experts and members from outside the organization of Railways.
• It has been reported by the Standing Committee that the purpose of the Commission of Railway Safety is defeated as there there are accidents where the damages go up to the level of Rs 2 crore that is not reported to the commission. Moreover, amendments to the rules are not precisely communicated to the commission.
• Parliamentary panel’s concern that the alignment of DFC parallel to passenger lines of railways up to an extent of 80% poses a serious risk to the safety of passengers in case of accidents.
• If concerns are raised related to the safety of passengers from one of the highest authorities (Parliamentary committee) then the matter needs serious scrutiny and redressal.

Counter Arguments:

• If a larger perspective is considered, then the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) is a new concept like the Metro train, whereas the passenger train has had its own share of experiences in terms of dealing with accidents.
• Passenger safety is of paramount importance to Indian Railways. According to statistics, the number of railway accidents (excluding DFC) has considerably reduced both in terms of severity and frequency. This can be attributed to a number of factors. For instance:
  • Indian Railways has invested a huge amount of money in improving the tracks and the Signalling and Telecom facilities which ensures safety.
  • Over a period of time, Railways have moved from the classical standard one interlocking to Standard two and Standard 3. Furthermore, Route interlocking, panel interlocking, solid state interlocking, and electrical interlocking have been established.
• DFC has its own set of rules called General Rules, which are similar to Indian Railways. Moreover, there is a central control at Prayagraj and Ahmedabad to take care of the external system of DFC where automatic signal operation of trains in these routes would be monitored.
• The DFCCIL is aware of passenger safety and has in principle agreed that it can be used for the transportation of passengers in case of emergency.
• The quality of infrastructure created by DFC is a high-density and very safe network so that the number of accidents is reduced.
• The documents/guidelines related to railway security are very elaborate consisting of safety manuals, operating manuals, station working rules, a set of circulars to guide it, etc.
• The railway system has been designed to be fail-safe. For instance, if the driver is unable to observe the signal then it is presumed to be red.

Way Ahead:

• There should be clarity in terms of the cases that should be referred to the CRS for inquiry. 
• Closer coordination is required between the Railway Board and CRS to yield better results in terms of the safety and efficiency of Railways.
• As DFC is relatively new, it should have a different set of safety guidelines and investigation procedures. It should be noted that DFC is crucial for the growth of the Indian economy in the future and thus should be adequately and efficiently planned.
• There should be a specialized organization dealing only with investigations of accidents. The organization should not only investigate but also provide detailed suggestions for preventing future accidents similar to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
• International best practices and benchmarks should be adopted by the railway system, but the solution should be customized considering the diversity, demography, and terrain of India. 

Read all the previous Sansad TV Perspective articles in the link.

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