Analysis of rail accidents due to collision and their preventive measures in Bangladesh

Abstract

Now a days, Rail transportation is internationally considered as the safest and cheapest mode of transport. But in our country, railway is not recognized as an alternative option to other modes of transport because of intolerable delays due to old train operation system as well as frequent rail accidents. Among all types of rail accidents, collisions are the most dreaded accidents. Therefore, the overall objective of the present research was to understand the causes of rail accidents due to collision and find out relevant remedial measures. At first this research has examined the overall safety status of Bangladesh Railway by analyzing the present signalling and interlocking system, train control and operation system, safety performance at level crossing, accident data preservation system, and accident investigation system. It was observed with great sorrow that in this 21st century, Bangladesh Railway has been using the signalling and operation technology of 19th century. It is found that in Bangladesh, there are 1184 (80%) numbers of authorized level crossings without any gatekeeper. At present Level crossing density is 0.88 per route km. Shortage of required man power in Bangladesh Railway is one of the major impediments to provide safe and efficient train operation. In Bangladesh railway, there is no specific format of accident investigation form and specific authorized investigation team to inquire any accident. In order to comprehend the severities of rail accident due to collision, the analysis has been characterized according to collision frequency, fatalities and injuries and causes of collisions. Six years of accident data, from 2005-06 to 2010-11, has been used to perform the analyses. During the study periods total 344 Numbers of collision were occurred in Bangladesh Railway resulting 200 people dead and 443 people injured. Collision at level crossing was the major type of train collisions in our country. Analysis revealed that 73% of total collisions and 90% of total deaths occurred at level crossings. The tendency of violating road traffic rules at level crossings by road users as well as the passing rail signal at danger by loco master was the main cause for train collisions. Human errors were responsible for 99 % collisions.During the study periods the Collision rate per million Train-km was 3.69 and collision fatality rate was 3.15 which is defined as the number of accidental death per 10,000 trains run. Besides, the collision severity index was 58.42 which is defined as the number of persons killed per 100 accidents. The rate of collision per million Train-Km in West zone was 3.07 and in East Zone 4.18. Field observation was performed at one location, Nandalalpur, Narayanganj. Such investigation results confirm with the causes of collision mentioned above. To minimize train collision in the future, some preventive measures are needed to be taken, such as possible grade separation, use of GPS based vehicle tracking system to control train movements, introduce anti collision devices or automatic train stop devices, safety awareness of road users at level crossings. Psychological disability and physical fitness of all staff related to train operation, especially loco master, should be checked regularly.