CRS questions safety aspects of Shatabdi

New Delhi, Jun 17: The Railways may be toying with the idea of introducing Bullet trains cruising at a speed of 300 kmph, but the Commission of Railway Safety(CRS) is worried over the running of Delhi-Bhopal Shatabdi Express at 150 kmph, the fastest train at present without eliminating safety hazards.

In its annual report for 2005-06, the CRS pointed out that the Railway Board had taken a decision about ten years ago, not to go beyond a speed of 140 kmph for passenger trains, keeping in view constraints such as availability of fencing, cattle menace and need for speed differential between express and freight trains.

However, the Railways went ahead with its plan to allow running of the train despite the Commission's reservations about inadequate safety measures available to prevent trespassing on the track and non-availability of Train Protection and Warning System(TPWS) a device that prevents signal overshooting by drivers.

The Delhi-Bhopal Shatabdi gathers a maximum speed of 150 kmph on the New Delhi-Palwal-Agra Cantt section of the North Central Railway.

The CRS said the conditions laid down by the Railways before allowing the the train to run at 150 kmph ''are very general in nature and not binding on the Railways or the officials who are supposed to take action.'' Defending its decision, the Railways pointed out that TPWS was not considered essential for operating a solitary train at 150 kmph in the wake of other existing safety measures. It further sought to justify its decision by saying that TPWS would be operational on this section by June this year.

Advancing the rationale for its decision, the Railways stated that it had conducted an extensive study to identify likely trespass points and had provided fencing at vulnerable locations.

Since trains were already running 130 kmph on the system, raising the speed of one train to 150 kmph would not be safe on this account, the Railways argued.

In support of its argument against the need for a complete fencing, the Railways pointed out that this train had been running for almost a year without any adverse report.

An unimpressed CRS countered these arguments by emphasising that ''the issue of running high speed trains needs to be looked in a holistic manner and requires a thorough review of infrastructural and operational features involved.'' ''This should not be treated as mere increase in speed of only one train from 130 kmph to 150 kmph,'' it added.

The CRS said the general view of the Railway Board that availability of TPWS was not considered essential in the wake of other existing safety measures, did not seem to be ''very appropriate''.

The report said it was imperative that the Railway Ministry gave the required attention to the safety matter and framed necessary guidelines for running the passenger trains at a speed higher than 140 kmph.

Stating that Railway Board's contention on successfully running a solitary Shatabdi Express at a maximum speed of 150 km was not acceptable, the report said the Railways, in future, would be tempted to run many more such trains without taking adequate safety measures.

The Commission held that it was essential to provide technical aid to the driver of the train against passing signal inadvertently, particularly in a high-speed environment.

''After all, the driver is a human being and is likely to commit errors, which may seriously jeopardise the safety of the passengers'' it said, adding that providing fencing at sporadic locations that too at the boundary of railway land, far away from the track cannot be considered an effective means of preventing trespassing.

About the Railway Board's decision taken a decade ago that passenger trains would not run beyond a speed of 140 kmph, the CRS reminded the Board that it had then taken a decision to develop high speed corridors for trains moving at a speed of 250/300 kmph.

''There has not been much progress in eliminating the factors considered at that time except that the speed of some of the freight trains has been raised'', it added.

UNI