India: Train runs over passengers, more than 37 killed

[Texan Eagle]

There was a bizarre and unfortunate incident yesterday in India where an express train ran over passengers (trespassers if you'd call them) walking on the tracks, killing more than 35 people. In retaliation, the mob gathered pulled out the engineers from the train and bet them up badly, some reports even suggesting one engineer was beaten to death, not confirmed.

37 Killed as Train Runs Over Pilgrims in India

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My opinion and explanation

1) This happened at a typical rural station with a single main line and one siding line branching off on each side, so total three tracks but only the two loop siding have platforms on the outer side, main line passes through without a platform.

2) From what I read, there were two trains already stopped on both the siding lines and the Express had a clearance to pass non-stop through the middle track that does not have any platform

3) Due to the huge crowd, passengers were getting off and/or waiting to board trains not just on the platform, but also on the middle track (wrong side). This is very common when there is a big crowd trying to get off or get on from small stations

4) When the Express came in at 80 km/hr, the engineer must have seen the crowd and started honking continuously, as is the common practice, hoping the crowd will disperse, but in the chaos and sudden realization that a train is approaching, not everyone could move out of the way, especially since there were two trains stopped on either sides leaving very little room for safety, or as some reports suggest, some passengers even decided to stay put on the mainline hoping that will stop the train for them and in the process got run over by the train.

(This is not impossible scenario, on one of my travels in India, I have personally seen passengers in a small station trying to "flag down" an express train like you flag down an taxi cab on the road with hands stretched in front, and moved away from the tracks only two seconds before the express blasted past them at 110 km/hr.. many people do not realize that trains cannot stop on a whim as and when someone asks for it)

Based on this, I would say in this case the fault lies probably 20% with Indian Railways, 80% with passengers who got killed

Railway's fault:
1) Not providing a bridge or gated crossing at the station for passengers to cross to the other side
2) Knowing there is no bridge but there is a big religious event, not deploying some staff to allow passengers to cross tracks safely

Passenger's fault
1) Getting off/standing/walking on the wrong side, on a live mainline track
2) Beating up the train drivers - totally unpardonable

 

[jis]

This sort of thing unfortunately appears to happen in India more often than one gets to learn about them from afar. Another one is electrocution of people pointlessly sitting atop trains playing hide and seek with 25kV catenary. If you think folks in the US do bizarre things along railroad tracks, until you have seen what goes on India, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

Of course beating up the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident is the norm. So no surprise there. Some of the utter lawlessness in India has to be seen first hand to be believed.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I've seen the same thing in Latin Countries also, mostly in Mexico! In fact, in the old days if Buses or Trains were involved in accidents most of the time the Driver and/or Engineer would run off so as to avoid the Police (which no-one trusts) or an angry mob as happened in India! Hopefully the Vigilante days are over in this Country but a riled up crowd can quickly become a Mob, just check out the so called "Town Hall" Meetings that our politicians are having to face now a days! :help:

 

[DET63]

A means of population control in an overcrowded country, I suppose.

Railway's fault:
1) Not providing a bridge or gated crossing at the station for passengers to cross to the other side
2) Knowing there is no bridge but there is a big religious event, not deploying some staff to allow passengers to cross tracks safely

It seems like a little common sense would have gone a long way here. And I cannot believe the railroad doesn't do enough business to make enough money in order to do one or the other.

 

[Texan Eagle]

Railway's fault:1) Not providing a bridge or gated crossing at the station for passengers to cross to the other side

2) Knowing there is no bridge but there is a big religious event, not deploying some staff to allow passengers to cross tracks safely

It seems like a little common sense would have gone a long way here. And I cannot believe the railroad doesn't do enough business to make enough money in order to do one or the other.

The thing is, Indian Railways network is just too vast, several thousand stations.. and a lot of small stations don't get enough traffic to warrant constructing an overpass or a controlled crossing, in fact even here on Amtrak network, you will find lots of stations where its just "open-to-all" access across tracks. This was one of such tiny little stations (AmShack if you'd call it) with a disproportionately huge crowd coming just one day for a religious event.

 

[fairviewroad]

A means of population control in an overcrowded country, I suppose.

:angry2:

You can call it "population control" but each one of these people were someone's husband, wife, father, mother, child, etc. Just

because India has a billion+ people does not make any given life expendable. Should they have exercised more caution?

Obviously. But it's still a tragedy.

 

[jis]

Sometimes the insensitivity that goes around here as humor appalls me, but I have given up on complaining about it. People will be whatever they are.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

The passengers should have just ducked to the side when the train got close. It couldn't be that hard for the frequent train riders in India to just stand in front of an Express to get killed. Getting on and off on one side would have been safer. A solution could be to make double island platforms between the tracks.

The engineer could have slowed down instead of just blowing the horn. He must have expected the trespassers to just duck away. Unfortunately, if he's already beaten to death, then the investigation will get even worse.

Excatly which trains were involved here?

 

[Texan Eagle]

The passengers should have just ducked to the side when the train got close. It couldn't be that hard for the frequent train riders in India to just stand in front of an Express to get killed. Getting on and off on one side would have been safer. A solution could be to make double island platforms between the tracks.
The engineer could have slowed down instead of just blowing the horn. He must have expected the trespassers to just duck away. Unfortunately, if he's already beaten to death, then the investigation will get even worse.

Excatly which trains were involved here?

I am not sure if my earlier description was clear enough, so here is a rough diagram I made showing what happened-

There were two trains already occupying two siding (loop lines) where the two platforms were. Due to huge crowds going to a religious festival, passengers were embarking/disembarking on both the platforms and also on the "wrong side" onto the mainline which does not have any platform. The non-stop train had a clear signal on the center mainline and literally ploughed through the crowd that found itself stuck between two trains on either sides. I am sure many of them would have jumped aside and/or clambered back onto one of the two trains at the sides, whoever got left behind in the chaos were the ones who got run over by the train.

@Swadian: If you are really interested in the details, the two trains that were stationary were local "passenger trains" (sort of commuter trains, fully unreserved, stops at all stations) while the non-stop train that ran over the people is called Rajya Rani Express and was an intercity train, more like Amtrak's corridor trains.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

TE your OP was clear to me.

 

[jis]

Karan, what are the origin and destination of Rajya Rani Express?

 

[Texan Eagle]

what are the origin and destination of Rajya Rani Express?

If I am guessing right based on location of accident, it was train #12567 Saharsa-Patna Rajya Rani Express or its counterpart 12568, not sure which one.

 

[Texan Eagle]

Jis, I believe you can read Bengali, can you please translate and explain us what this photo says? I found it on a local news website and looks like it has more details about the incident-

 

[jis]

Jis, I believe you can read Bengali, can you please translate and explain us what this photo says? I found it on a local news website and looks like it has more details about the incident-

Sure. Bengali is my Mother tongue.... so here goes....

Left to right first above the diagram and then below....

Title big font L to R Purplish : "Dead 37", Blue: "Injured 40",says, In left Brown arrow: Patna, Purplish: "Dhamaraghat Station", In right Brown arrow: Saharsa

Above the track diagram: L to R: Grey "Samastipur - Saharsa Passenger", Blue: "Over a hundred passengers from this train were walking down the line".

Below the tracks L to R: Purplish (below square) "Katyayani Temple", Grey: "Stopped Banamukhi - Samastipur Passenger", Blue (below Grey line indicating the platform): "Rajyarani Express came through at a high speed right upon the blessing seekers", Next Blue block with an arrow pointing to the first circle: "The driver saw the crowd from about this location about 700m away and tried to stop the train but was unable to do so even using emergency brakes", last Blue block "There are these three curves approaching the station"

___________________________________________________________________________

So yes indeed, it was the Saharsa Patna Rajyarani Express. Interestingly in the Bengali rendition Rajyarani is presented as a single word whereas in many English transliterations it is presented as two separate words. This is not uncommon because in most Sanskrit derived languages, as are all the North Indian languages, you can arbitrarily join adjacent words together to make single longer words, following precise rules that are specified in the grammar. The only requirement supposedly is that they have to be words derived from Sanskrit (which is true in this case), though even that is not followed too carefully. I have seen Persian (as from Urdu) derived words freely joined together too.

Anyway, here is a satellite view of Dhamarghat station courtesy Google. The left of the diagram is near the bottom of the picture. The right is near the top showing the last curve entering the station. The station is in the middle. The temple is at the bottom.

 

[cirdan]

Would the local / stopping trains have had conductors? Would there be door locking? If so, it might be that the conductor cut corners in allowing the doors on the wrong side to be opened.

It also seems to me to be a question of safety sense. Why would anybody get off the train on the wrong side and onto another track when getting off on the right side might mean a slightly longer walk and¨maybe arriving in the temple a minute or so later. The risk does not at all balance the time saving. Does Indian Railways do safety awareness campaigns? Are trespassers prosecuted? As long as you have people who believe railway lines are a free for all area, and you don't do anything about said people, you are going to have accidents.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Ive never been in India but based on what I've seen in Third World Countries (not saying India is!)it's everyone for themselves @ Train and Bus stations and we've all seen the Videos of how close to the Tracks and Trains lots of People get including here @ our Amtrak and Commuter Stations! I have no doubt that if Security wasnt so Tight @ Airports that people would be out on the Ramps around th Planes, even crossing Taxi and Runways! The Best job of controlling Heavy Traffic Loads @ Passenger Stations Ive seen is in Japan! YMMV

 

[Texan Eagle]

Would the local / stopping trains have had conductors?

Unlikely. Unreserved passenger trains in India rarely have a dedicated conductor onboard. There are engineers in the locomotive and a single 'guard' (equivalent of conductor) in the last car.

Would there be door locking? If so, it might be that the conductor cut corners in allowing the doors on the wrong side to be opened.

Nope. Doors are always open on unreserved cars, especially on a day like this when there was a big religious event and the train would be packed to capacity with some passengers possibly hanging by the doors. As mentioned above, there would be no conductors to open/close doors.

It also seems to me to be a question of safety sense. Why would anybody get off the train on the wrong side and onto another track when getting off on the right side might mean a slightly longer walk and¨maybe arriving in the temple a minute or so later. The risk does not at all balance the time saving.

When poverty and illiteracy meets religion, there is very little hope. I do not mean to be demeaning to anyone, but having traveled in India in similar situation, I can imagine what the scene was like, though its difficult to describe it here in few sentences. There were two trains at the station already, full of excited pilgrims wanting to go to the temple ASAP, most of them coming from poor households with little or no formal education in safety or knowledge of physics (that trains cannot stop on a whim), it does not surprise me that they were merrily walking on a mainline.

Does Indian Railways do safety awareness campaigns? Are trespassers prosecuted? As long as you have people who believe railway lines are a free for all area, and you don't do anything about said people, you are going to have accidents.

They do in urban areas, but the sheer vastness of the network means not everyone can be reached out. As mentioned, this happened at a small rural station that would have at best 2 or 3 official staff, and two trains worth of pilgrims (several hundred by my guess), it is virtually impossible to police the crowd into discipline, it is hoped that everyone will self-discipline and move out of the way, but as was seen here, that did not happen.

 

[jis]

Would the local / stopping trains have had conductors?

Yes. One Conductor who is called "Guard".

Would there be door locking?

No

If so, it might be that the conductor cut corners in allowing the doors on the wrong side to be opened.

No

It also seems to me to be a question of safety sense. Why would anybody get off the train on the wrong side and onto another track when getting off on the right side might mean a slightly longer walk and¨maybe arriving in the temple a minute or so later. The risk does not at all balance the time saving.

Yes. And world peace would also be a good thing Afterall it just takes some people to lower their expectations of a luxurious life a bit Juuust kidding!

Does Indian Railways do safety awareness campaigns?

Not in the sticks.

Are trespassers prosecuted?

No.

As long as you have people who believe railway lines are a free for all area, and you don't do anything about said people, you are going to have accidents.

Yes.

India is in this respect a truly free country. There is no big brother around to save anyone from any misfortune or even themselves. Everyone lives or dies according to ones own abilities, fate and connections. It would be considered to be a true paradise by some extreme libertarians, who are attempting to lead certain other countries in the world to slowly devolve to this mode of operation.

 

[fairviewroad]

Does the "guard" collect tickets? Or are those trains basically on the honor system?

 

[Texan Eagle]

Does the "guard" collect tickets? Or are those trains basically on the honor system?

The guard is in-charge of the train. He does not go around checking tickets. It is basically a proof-of-payment system, buy a ticket before boarding, sometimes randomly a Travelling Ticket Examiner (also called Ticket Checker) will board and check tickets, but in all-stop unreserved passenger trains that are very crowded, it is basically a free-for-all.