There has been a 33 per cent rise in the number of train derailments this fiscal compared to the previous year.
“We have been able to reduce unmanned level crossing accidents to an extent. However, accidents due to derailment have gone up to 68 this year from 51 in the previous year,” Railway Board Member Traffic Mohd. Jamshed told a press conference here on Wednesday.
He, however, said the total number of train accidents went down from 121 in 2014-15 to 107 in 2015-16 and 87 till December 27 this year.
‘Various factors’
“We are putting our best efforts to improve the wheel-rail interaction which is important in cases of derailment,” the Railway Board Member said, adding derailments happen due to various reasons, including rail fractures and because of issues related to rolling stock and track maintenance.
However, he maintained that the cause for derailment of the Sealdah-Ajmer Express is still unknown.
The Express got derailed on the Kanpur-Tundla-Delhi section that is one of the busiest railway lines in the network, the official said.
Around 100 trains run on this section on a daily basis one way, Mr. Jamshed said. Train services were impacted on Wednesday but were expected to be fully restored by Thursday night.
“The down track will be restored by 6 a.m. and the up track functional by 10 p.m. on Thursday,” Mr. Jamshed said.
