Railways grapples with ‘sabotage’ attempts

Probes by railway officials have revealed suspected sabotages to cause derailments. In most cases, objects have been placed on railway tracks.

On October 11, Mysuru-Darbhanga Bagmati Express collided with a stationary goods train at Kavaraippettai station in Chennai rail division, causing injuries to nine passengers. A three-member of senior railway officials raised serious apprehension of sabotage after inspecting the accident site, sources said.

An NIA team also visited the spot for investigation. On Sunday,13 Oct  an alert loco pilot spotted a gas cylinder on Roorkee-Luxor railway tracks in Uttarakhand and prevented a possible derailment. “The gas cylinder was empty but it could have caused problem to a running train,” an railway official said. Two coaches of an empty local train derailed on in Mumbai on Sunday also, affecting suburban services.

On September 19, a seven-foot-long iron rod was spotted on tracks between Bilaspur road and Rudrapur before the Doon Express was to ply. An alert loco pilot spotted it and applied an emergency break to halt the train, which prevented derailment, officials said.

On September 21, the fish-plates, which keep the tracks connected with ground supports, were found removed near Surat in Gujarat before Bandra Garib Rath was to passing there. Its timely detection prevented an accident, officials said. On September 22, the loco pilot of a goods train spotted a gas cylinder placed on the tracks near Prempur railway station in Kanpur and prevented a possible derailment.

On September 28, a big boulder was found placed on the tracks near Balia in UP ahead of the movement of Lucknow-Chhapra Express. On the same day, a big stone was placed on the tracks on Jhansi-Manikpur section near Mahoba in UP before the movement of Jhansi-Prayagraj passenger train. The railway and local police arrested a youth in connection with the case, officials said.

According to railway sources, nearly 24 attempts of causing derailments by placing objects, including a cement bag and a bicycle, on tracks were reported in the last few months. However, alert loco pilots spotting the objects prevented derailments in most cases.

In a reply sought by MP-based RTI activist Chandrashekhar Gaur, the railways has furnished figures about 200 accidents from 2019-20 to 2023-24. The RTI reply stated that 55 train accidents were reported in 2019-20; 22 in 2020-21; 35 in 2021-22; 48 in 2022-23; 40 in 2023-24 and 18 this year up to August. The railways have provided details about derailments -- 40 in 2019-20; by 17 in 2020-21; 27 in 2021-22; 36 in 2022-23 and 25 this year up to August.