Science and Engineering Technology: Railway Engineers’ Moral Responsibilities for Passenger’s Safety Travel
Abstract
In India, majority of people prefer rail transportation service to travel a short distance (i.e., within a city) and a long distance (i.e., from one state to another). India has the fourth largest railway network in the world, with a total length of 92,952 kilometers. A triple-train accident occurred on June 03, 2023 in India. In this dreadful accident, two superfast express trains’ bogies and a freight train’s wagons collided. Nearly 290 passengers were declared dead, while about 1300 suffered severe injuries. In this context, the paper critically examines Indian railway signaling and interlocking operating system and finds out the possible reasons for the train accident. It analyses how the train accident could have been avoided if signal and telecommunication engineers had incorporated their professional codes of ethics into their decision-making and actions. It analyses safety and reliability conditions of railway transportation. In the end, the paper suggests some important technological measures and ethical guidelines to avoid train accidents in future and thereby safeguard passengers’ lives.
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Introduction
In India, majority of people prefer rail transportation service to travel a short distance (i.e., within a city) and a long distance (i.e., from one state to another). India has the fourth largest railway network in the world, with a total length of 92,952 kilometers. On June 03, 2023, a train accident occurred in India. Two express trains (i.e., the Coromandel Express and the Yeshwantpur-Howrah Express) and a freight train collided. The Coromandel Express train veered to the loop line and crashed into the parked freight train. Consequently, its engine jumped onto the parked freight train, derailed its bogies, and threw some of its bogies to the opposite track where the Yeshwantpur-Howrah Express train passed by with a 128-kilometre-per-hour speed limit. Nearly sixteen bogies of the two express trains collided with each other. This accident led many members of the public to question rail safety in India. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team arrived at the spot to rescue the survivors.
The honourable Railway Minister of India, Mr. Ashwini Vaishnaw, visited the accident spot and, by examining the accident’s prima facie reports, said that “there is no error found from trains’ loco pilots’ side. The accident happened due to deliberate interface with the electronic interlocking system” (The Times of India, June 04, 2023). Three pictures are places below for the tragic train accident.
Conclusion
The Indian railway system is the fourth-largest railway system in the world. It is divided into eighteen zones. People in India mostly prefer to travel by train to reach their workplace and return home from the office. People mainly depend on the railway to travel to other states and destinations. Since people trust train travel, the signal and telecommunication railway engineer’s moral duty is to act professionally and take all measures for passengers’ safety in train travel.
In the triple-train mishap case, it is found that the signal and telecommunication railway engineer is morally and professionally responsible for his/her actions. The reason is that the Coromandel Express train was running on the track as per the signaling system and within its prescribed speed limit. Due to deliberate interference with the computer-based interlocking system, the tragedy occurred. The top-level railway officials and investigating team also found similar findings. That is, tampering with the interlocking system caused the triple-train disaster. The investigating report says that at Bahanaga Bazar station, close to the accident site, the signal and telecommunication railway engineer oversaw signaling on the stretch and violated the professional codes of ethics.
To prevent this kind of train accident in the future, signal and telecommunications railway engineers should act promptly, ethically, and professionally. The signal and telecommunications railway engineers should take responsibility for providing safe train movement on track and for passengers' well-being. They should follow the code of ethics and be vigilant in the signaling and interlocking systems to rebuild people’s trust in the Indian railway system.