TRAIN ACCIDENTS IN , Part I

SPATE OF FATAL DERAILMENT-DISASTERS ROLLING ON

By Dr. Frank Wingler, Germany, September 2017

Utkal Express Derailment-Disaster at Khatauli/Muzaffarnagar, , 19th August 2017

There is no other country around the globe than India, from where so many nasty and fatal Train Derailment-Disasters can be reported. On 19 August 2017, around 5:45 pm (IST), 14 of the 23 coaches of the Kalinga Utkal Express derailed near Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, India. The train was headed from in to in . Twenty-three people were killed and at least 123 others injured, in the the country's fourth major fatal Derailment-Disaster over the past 10 month. An underlying factor of the causeway to Derailment-Disasters of high mortality rates is the insufficient track quality of many routes, not matching the traffic load, due to insufficient track maintenance and renewal.

The fatal Utkal Express Derailment-Disaster reveals again the need of long-term massive capital investment schemes with long-term certainty for safety related track maintenance and renewal works on all routes of the network. The recent datal Derailment-Disasters also reveal the need for reshuffle and restructuring the Track Maintenance works in order to eliminate the mismatch between Quality Standards as laid down and as achieved on the tracks.

The responsibility has to be fixed at the Indian Government for not allocating sufficient funds with long-term certainty to bring the quality of the tracks in line with the stress and strain exerted by the increased traffic load, as well at the Organisation of for failing in eliminating the organisational shortcomings to bring the prescribed Quality Standards on all tracks of the network. 1 HIGH RAILWAY TRACK QUALITY is a paramount factor in reducing the likelihood of unwanted and nasty DERAILMENT-DISASTERS; see technical railway paper RISK BALLANCE MODEL; Category: SAFETY & RISK MANAGEMENT. Track quality has to match with the traffic load, which the tracks have to carry; if not matching, it comes to the nasty, unwanted and fatal Derailment-Disasters killing and injuring train-passengers. Global Trends in Track Technologies for HIGH-QUALITY RAILWAY TRACKS are elucidated in the technical railway paper GLOBAL TRENDS IN TRACK TECHNOLOGIES, submitted for the International Technical Seminar of I.P.W.E. (India) held on 20th July 2017 at New-; Category: RAIL TRACK ENGINEERING. On a High Quality Rail-Track the likelihood for a Derailment will be nearly ZERO. To tolerate a low quality track or to let the tracks run down, just to keep the trains running on the lowest possible track-quality level, next to the threshold of a Derailment, is not only risky but also very costly. The maintenance expenditures for a poor-quality track can be about 10 fold higher than for a high-quality track. It is not only risky but highly uneconomical to render a railway service on poor-quality tracks not matching the traffic load. India has to invest and organize far more in Track Quality on all of its routes, not only on prestigious routes for Semi-High Speed. Before going for dedicated High-Speed Trains, the routes for the daily travelling train-passengers have to be made safe. In order to reduce the risk of unwanted fatal Derailment-Disasters, killing and injuring train- passengers, a MASSIVE Capital Investment DRIVE is of paramount importance to bring HIGH QUALITY on all tracks of the routes! The costs of improving SAFETY all arise immediately, but the benefits emerge only in long-term.

Synopsis: For the metamorphosis of Poor-Quality Rail-Tracks with high Train-Derailment Risks to High-Quality Rail-Tracks with low Train-Derailment Risks, massive Capital Investment Schemes of long-term certainty in conjunction with organizational Reshuffles are required.

Images of the 19th August 2017 fatal Utkal Express Derailment-Disaster near Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar District of Uttar Pradesh, India

2 3 4 Utkal Express Derailment-Disaster at Khatauli/Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, 19th August 2017

5 POST SCRIPTUM:

Images of the 29th August 2017 Nagpur Duronto Express Derailment between Asangaon and Vasind, Distr. Thane:

6 Image of the Merut-Lucknow Rojya Rani Express Derailment near Rampur, UP, at 15th April 2017:

Images of the Derailment-Site in the Howrah-Jabalpur Shaktipunji Express Derailment near Obra Dam, at 7th September 2017:

7 8 Massive Capital-Investment in Track Quality is no Luxury. It not only cuts overall Life- Cycle Costs but also prevents that Train- Passengers are killed or injured in Derailment-Disasters!

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