Railways has enhanced the patrolling of tracks after the Ahmedabad-bound Sabarmati Express derailed between Kanpur and Bhimsen Junction in the Jhansi Rail Division on August 17 after hitting a rail chunk allegedly placed on the track by some miscreants.
According to reports, the ministry is also looking at various Artificial Intelligence-based solutions to enhance track security round the clock.
Officials from the Railway Board said that both the RPF as well as track maintainers conduct patrolling during day and night at regular intervals throughout the year and after the Sabarmati Express derailment, they are on a more vigilant mode.
“The Railway Board is also issuing instructions time to time to the zones and divisions to carry out round-the-clock patrolling of the tracks throughout the year,” a railway official said.
However, ground reports based on the feedback of track maintainers and divisional railway officials suggest that night patrolling is not done throughout the year because of the provisions of the Indian Railway Permanent Way Manual as well as a lack of adequate strength of track maintainers.
Talking about the Sabarmati Express derailment, a railway official from the North Central Zone said that night patrolling was not done before this incident, however, it has now been started.
An investigation is underway to find out if the rail piece was deliberately placed on the track with an intent to sabotage the train operation.
The official added, “Prior to this incident, night patrolling was not done on a regular basis because the provision of night patrolling has been made under special circumstances during extreme weather conditions for the purpose of maintenance of rail track and not from the point of securing it from anti-social activities.”
The track maintainers and senior field officials dealing with track upkeep say that the Indian Railway Permanent Way Manual makes provision for night patrolling of tracks in special circumstances only and has left it to the jurisdiction of Permanent Way Inspector (PWI) under whom track maintainers work.
Section 1103 of the manual says, “In the event of abnormal rainfall or storm during day or night, the mate should, on his own initiative, organise patrolling over the length affected, independently of other patrolling, if any, being done.
“This patrol should, in case of heavy rainfall, confine its inspection to known points of danger, such as cutting or culverts likely to scour, banks affected by tanks likely to breach and bridge approaches. In case of high winds, the patrolman should inspect the length of track likely to be fouled by falling of tree etc,” the manual added.
Kanta Raju, general secretary, All India Track Maintainers Union (AIRTU) said, “If the PWI or his senior assistant divisional engineer (ADEN) thinks that excessive rain or extreme heat or cold conditions necessitate track inspection at night also, then they depute a track maintainer for night patrolling. During normal weather conditions, night patrolling is not done.”
He added, “Newly laid tracks don’t require night patrolling but if the PWI thinks that there are vulnerable spots along the way, he can take a call on it.”
According to some railway officials, the track maintainers come under the engineering department whose job is to ensure the sound health of the track for the purpose of safe train operations.
“The safety and security of rail property is the duty of Railway Protection Force (RPF) but they don’t conduct random or regular patrolling along the track during the day or night. They go to the track side between sections only when they get some intelligence input regarding some mischief or any incident happens,” a senior official from a railway zone said.
On the question of ensuring safety of tracks from miscreants, a section of experts feel night patrolling by track maintainers as well as the RPF should be made a mandatory exercise throughout the year across all rail networks even in normal weather conditions till the time the Railway Board comes up with any technology-based solution.
“Besides amendment in the existing norm, shortage of track maintainers is another issue which the Indian Railways have to deal with,” Satish Yadav, the general secretary of AIRTU, Western Railway, said.
AIRTU office bearers also alleged that 15 to 30 per cent track maintainers are being utilised by the senior railway officials for their personal work due to which the current workforce in the field is overstretched.
“There is a substantial number of track maintainers who are not working on the track but are being utilised by the senior railway officials for their personal work. If they can be brought on the track, they can be employed in the night patrolling job,” Chand Mohammad, national working president, All India Railway Track Maintainers’ Union, said.
National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR) general secretary M Raghavaiah demanded an increase in the strength of track maintainers.
“New tracks are being laid but new posts are not being created because of a ban of the finance ministry on the sanctioning of new posts from 2020. It is the duty of the railway to provide safety and security of the rail tracks by deploying both the RPF as well as track maintainers,” Raghavaiah said.
