Rising derailments also due to excreta
corroding rail foot: Railways
NEW DELHI, March 15, 2015
Updated: March 15, 2015 19:10 IST
Vinay Kumar
Reuters
A man performs his morning ablutions on the a
railway track in Kolkata.
The Hindu
In this file photo, workers undertake cleaning
efforts near railway tracks in Tamil Nadu. — Photo: G. Krishnaswamy
In a recent Action Taken Report, government had
called for zero-discharge toilets on all passenger trains
Dirty railway tracks and piles of garbage alongside the tracks have not
only presented an ugly side to the travelling public but also posed serious
safety problem to the Indian Railways. But it turns out that the excreta
falling directly on the rails from the coaches is a major cause of corrosion of
rail foot, leading to rail fractures and derailments.
While admitting that the number of derailments have increased on account
of rail or weld fractures, the Railways have pointed out that the major cause
of rail fractures is corrosion of rail foot due to dropping of excreta from the
coaches directly on the rails.
In the Action Taken Report (ATR) on the recommendations of the 21st
report of the Standing Committee on Railways on "Major Railway Accidents
during the last five years — Causes and Remedial Measures" which was
tabled recently in Parliament, the government said that all passenger train
coaches need to be fixed with zero-discharge toilets to get rid of the problem
of corrosion of rails.
Other measures, listed by the government, to protect the rails from
corrosion include developing corrosion-resistant Nickel-Chromium-Copper rails
and Copper-Molybdenum rails which are still under trial in different zonal
railways; anti-corrosive bituminous painting of rails, greasing and sealing of
liner contact area on corrosion prone areas. The Railways have also
commissioned a study on rail corrosion due to micro-organisms and remedial
measures to the Centre of Elecro-Chemical Research Institute (CECRI).
The ATR said complete mechanisation of track maintenance and
construction had been planned. It said that increase in speed, axle loads and
volume of traffic required greater maintenance efforts and superior quality of
maintenance.
The report noted the Standing Committee's concern that poor maintenance
of track was the major cause of derailment. It wanted the Railway Ministry to
take proactive steps, including introducing technological innovations to
improve tracks and regular inspection to ensure rail-worthiness of tracks. In
2013-14, the total number of consequential accidents due to track defects were
19 and out of these eight were due to poor maintenance of tracks.
While presenting this year's Rail Budget in the Lok Sabha last month,
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had kept the focus on cleanliness of trains and
stations and augmenting existing facilities for the passengers. The budget
proposed to replace existing toilets with 17,388 bio toilets and bring out
design for vacuum toilets in six months.
