Railway safety in India needs drastic improvement. The 10 lives lost in the crash in Rangapani, West Bengal, early on Monday are a tragic reminder of how railway safety continues to challenge the Indian Railways (IR). Just over a year after the worst rail accident in three decades – the Coromandel Express crash in Odisha on 2 June, 2023, that claimed 296 lives – a freight train rammed the Kanchanjunga Express. Early reports suggest that a combination of signal failure and human error caused the accident.
There should be a proper investigation into the accident, so that those responsible for it are punished. The railways are the most preferred mode of communication for the Indians as it is way cheaper than air service. Despite this, successive governments have failed to improve the service. Also, on Tuesday, a 16-year-old boy identified as Taw Agung, was hit by a train near Alphabet School in Amba, Doimukh. He immediately died. This was the third death allegedly caused by a speeding train this year, reported to the Doimukh police station. The railway authorities need to take steps to improve the safety of people living along the railway track. The rising deaths of people living near the railway tracks in the Doimukh area are a matter of deep concern.