The government will replace its existing fleet of old railway coaches with high-tech German-built ones after nearly 200 people were killed in disasters on the network in the last two months.
Thirty-nine people died when a train derailed on Saturday night in Andhra Pradesh, exactly two months after 146 people died in a similar disaster near Kanpur in November.
The government-run network, one of the world’s largest, has been hit by several smaller incidents in the same period, including another crash near Kanpur on December 28 when two people were killed.
The deadly crashes have renewed concerns about the creaking colonial-era system, which experts say is suffering from chronic underinvestment and poor safety standards despite being a lifeline for millions.
A spokesman for Indian Railways said that the government was now looking to phase out the old and conventional coaches designed by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai by 2018-19.
“There will be zero production of the old ICF-designed coaches. They will be replaced by Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches by 2018-19,” Anil Kumar Saxena said yesterday.
“The problem is not in replacing but about what to do with the existing fleet. We are looking at ways, we will find a solution soon.”
The German-made LHB coaches are equipped with “anti-telescopic” technology which prevents coaches from crumpling and piling on top of each other in case of accidents, thereby cutting down on the number of fatalities.
N Malhotra, a former administrative head of Indian Railways, said an overhaul was long overdue but warned that just relying on new coaches would not solve the myriad issues dogging the network.
“The railways ministry had sent a proposal last year to the government for release of safety funds but the finance ministry has not approved it as yet,” Malhotra said.
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