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Mahesh

21/10/24 09:18 AM IST

Stress factors for Indian Railways

In News
  • The number of railway accidents dropped from 1,390 per year in the 1960s to 80 per year in the last decade.
  • There were still 34 consequential accidents in 2021-2022, 48 in 2022-23, and 40 in 2023-2024. 
About Kavach
  • The ‘Kavach’ automatic train protection system is designed to prevent collisions using devices that allow pilots to track the relative location of their vehicles and which can actuate alarms and automated braking protocols. 
  • By February 2024, the Railways had installed ‘Kavach’ on 1,465 route km, or 2% of its total route length.
  • It costs ₹50 lakh per kilometre and ₹70 lakh per locomotive.
  • The all-inclusive cost of implementation over a decade to be less than 2% of the Railways’ annual capex.
  • When faced with criticism of the slow implementation, officials have deferred to declines in accident incidence and mortality over the years.
  • But experts have said comparing current and past accident rates is misguided because advanced safety technologies didn’t exist earlier and that the government has the means today to eliminate collisions.
  • Since 1990-1991, the Railways has classified nearly 70% of all major accidents as derailments, but only 2% of them were due to collisions.
  • ‘Kavach’ also may not have prevented the Kavaraipettai accident because the relevant error happened beyond the minimum margins ‘Kavach’ requires to assist.
Operating ratio
  • The operating ratio (OR) — the amount the Railways spends to earn ₹100 — in 2024-2025 is estimated to be ₹98.2, a small improvement from 2023-2024 (₹98.7) but a decline from ₹97.8 in 2016.
  • A higher OR leaves less for capex and the Railways more dependent on budgetary support and Extra-Budgetary Resources (EBRs).
  • In 2016-2017, the BJP government brought the railway budget under the regular budget after nine decades of separation.
  • One outcome was easier access for the Railways to gross budgetary support.
  • As for EBRs: the Railways’ dues have ballooned to 17% of its revenue receipts today from 10% in 2015-2016.
National rail plan
  • According to the draft National Rail Plan, nearly 30% of the railway network is utilised to more than 100% capacity.
  • This has translated to slow freight movement — around 26 km/hr in 2016 — and slower revenue growth.
  • Of the Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) the government mooted in 2005, only the eastern DFC is fully operational.
  • The western DFC is partly ready; the east coast, east-west sub-corridor, and north-south sub-corridor DFCs, amounting to 3,958 km, are still in planning.
  • Freight revenue also depends on the freight basket. Coal accounted for half of the freight revenue and 45% of volume in the 2024-2025 budget estimate.
  • However, the government has been adding more renewable energy sources while pushing industries to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels, including coal. 
  • The Railways also needs to keep up existing equipment, including replacing tracks and wagons and maintaining trackside infrastructure.
  • But in the 2023-2024 budget, capital outlay for track renewal dropped to 7.2%.
  • Appropriations to the Depreciation Reserve Fund also fell 96% in the BJP’s first term; the government had moved these resources to the Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh safety fund created in 2017-2018.
  • The Standing Committee on Railways said then the latter wouldn’t be able to pay to repair or replace depreciating assets.
Source- The Hindu

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