On 19 August, fourteen coaches of the Puri-Haridwar Utkal Express derailed in Khatauli, Muzaffarnagar. 23 people were killed and over 200 injured in an accident that could have been averted. This was the eighth major accident for the Indian Railways this year.
Shortly after taking office, Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu launched a 'Zero Accident Mission', where he said:
New advances in command, control and communication systems can play a very vital role in evolving safe and secure operation environment on Indian Railways where there should be no scope for accidents even in case of human errors.
Clearly, this list of railway accidents, since 2015, depict an alternate, a more horrific reality.
2017
2016
2015
(This article was first published on 21 August 2017. It is being republished from The Quint’s archives in light of the Kaifiyat Express derailment in UP.)
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