When will the devastating train accidents stop?

The collision of the Egarosindhur Express with a freight train at Bhairab Station on Monday has left 17 people dead. 

The accident is one of the most serious ones in the country in recent times. It is still a mystery how a devastating train accident such as this one took place in broad daylight.  

Kishoreganj's Bhairab Railway Station Master Md Yousuf provided a narrative. He claimed that if the freight train's Locomotive Master waited for only 30 seconds, the accident could have been averted. 

"The accident unfolded as a result of the container train driver's reckless attempt to enter the station without waiting for the signal," he told The Business Standard.

He also said that the Egarosindhur Express had set off for Dhaka after receiving a signal from the station. 

To enter the station, a train must pass two signals: the outer signal and the home signal. Md Yousuf said that the container train had been instructed to wait behind the outer signal.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Railways and the Directorate of Fire Service and Civil Defence have formed two different investigation committees to probe the accident. 

Professor Shamsul Hoque, director of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology's (Buet) Accident Research Institute, said the Bhairab accident indicates that we have a weakness in the operational management of railways and it is deteriorating day by day. 

He said that the government is investing in developing infrastructures but the operational side, which is human resource-based, is being overlooked. The railway lacks training of its human resources and there is a lack of accountability too. 

"The problem is, although we are slowing down the speed of the trains to reduce risk, we cannot stop the accidents," said Shamsul Hoque.

"It is not a third-party-caused accident like those occurring at level crossings. Here, railways' own employees lacked sincerity," he added.

He said that he analysed the video footage and found that the Locomotive Master was driving the train like a car driver on the road. "He was blowing the whistle but did not pull the brakes." 

He said that usually, when we drive on the road, we use the whistle/horn to allow people to move aside.

"There is a train. Where will the train move?" asked Shamsul Hoque, adding, "This incident reveals that it is the Locomotive Master's habit. He should have pulled the brake hard." 

He said that this means there is a lack of basic training as well as overall supervision. 

But the nature of the accident looks mysterious to a former director general who led the public transport service. He cannot figure out how it happened.

"I have been reading the news since yesterday but I cannot figure out how the accident took place because there are double tracks," said the former Railway DG on the condition of anonymity. 

"There was no need to use a crossover. And my question is, why will the train go through the crossover.? They have a different line."

"It means that something else happened before the accident took place and for this reason, the station brough the train on a different line instead of the line the train was supposed to come." 

However, one explanation is that being a junction station, trains from Kishoreganj arrive at Bhairab Bazar Station on the north side track (which runs on the west side for most of the route), and they must change track to use the Dhaka-bound track. 

This is exactly where the collision took place. Moments before the passenger train could switch the track, the freight train entered the same track, ramming into the last coaches of the former. 

Overall railway accidents are on the decline 

Train accidents are not rare in Bangladesh. But in most cases, they are caused by derailment of trains due to the dilapidated and under-maintained railway lines. 

However, an accident like a head-on collision and entering into the same line where a train is already standing is low.   

Shipping and Communications Reporters Forum statistics showed that at least 131 people were killed and 110 were injured in 137 railway accidents in the first six months of this year.

The statistics have been prepared based on the information published in 12 Bangla national dailies, five English national dailies, nine online news portals and news agencies, and six regional dailies.

The Forum observed that the indifference of the authorities, defects in the signalling system, dangerous level crossings, addition of extra coaches to the engine capacity, lack of stones in the railway tracks and risky railway bridges are the main causes behind the accidents. 

However, the former director general we spoke to earlier said that this particular accident does not indicate the number of accidents has increased. 

He said that over the last 10 years, the railway lines saw improvements, as a result of which the number of train accidents have come down in comparison with 10 years ago.  

"Unfortunately, a big accident has happened this time," he said.

According to the Bangladesh Railway's Information Book, all types of accidents have come down over the last 10 years. For example; in 2008-2009, the number of collisions was 7, derailments stood at 408 and trains running into obstruction 34, totalling 449 train accidents.   

On the other hand, in 2019-20, the number of collisions was 1. The number of derailments was 72 and trains running into obstruction stood at 7. In total, 80 accidents happened in that fiscal year.

Former director of the Accident Research Institute at Buet, Professor Hadiuzzaman, said that 70 percent of the more than 3,000 kilometres of existing railway tracks in the country have expired their lifetime. 

"I think the railway will have to set up around 30 percent of the 70 percent railway line anew, rehabilitation will not solve the problem," Professor Hadiuzzaman told TBS.

He said that as a result, the most common train accidents are derailments. The second most common type of train accident involves the runover of people. The third type happens on crossings. 

There are many reasons for the recurring derailments of trains in the country. The railway line is not maintained properly, the lines lack blast and the sleepers are weak. 

"Another reason is that the government purchases locomotives without taking into consideration the capacity of the railway track," added Professor Hamiduzzaman.