How dangerous are indian trains?

nick · Jun 21st, 2007, 20:52

Hi
From time to time here in Europe there are articles in magazines about how extremely dangerous trains are in India. I know that quite a lot of accidents do happen, but then Indian Railway is transporting ~15 millions passengers daily!
So is there a statistic (link?) which compares the railway accidents in India to those in other countries per km / per passenger / per passengerkilometer?

Thank you in advance
Nick

BTW last winter my missis & me were on a 90 days Indrailpass trip and we both very much enjoyed Indian trains.

shashank.aggarwal · Jun 21st, 2007, 20:57

well, I am sure about the number, nor am I aware of any site that would have them..

but do feel that if calculated on accidents on per passenger basis..we wont do that bad..

Indian railway transports the highest number of the passenger and is the second largest network in the world..

Bhaswaran · Jun 21st, 2007, 21:03

Yes......if you compare with the ratio..it is not so bad.....in fact ...pretty good than many developed countries

we are proud of our railways. No other country has such a dense railway network in the world. It is also the largest employer and the largest system under a single management.

shashank.aggarwal · Jun 21st, 2007, 21:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bhaswaran

It is also the largest employer and the largest system under a single management.

Just to clarify Bhaswaran...he meant the Largest Employer and the Largest system under single Management in the entire WORLD !!

nick · Jun 21st, 2007, 21:16

Thank you for the answers.

I also suppose that on a per km or per passenger basis IR won't look too bad.
Yes Bhaswaran, you can be proud of your railways, but India has by far not the *densest* network (km of railway line per km2 of country area).

Statisticly the densest railway network is in the State of Vatican

Only one railway line (or rather a siding), but an extremely small area. Of course, this is a very trivial result

ba9rn · Jun 21st, 2007, 21:18

I'm going to be pedantic here (so what's new?), but they are allegedly the second largest employer in the world (worryingly, IndiaRail is second to the Chinese Army!).

shashank.aggarwal · Jun 21st, 2007, 21:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by ba9rn

I'm going to be pedantic here (so what's new?), but they are allegedly the second largest employer in the world (worryingly, IndiaRail is second to the Chinese Army!).

Chinese army is not a commercial entity !!

steven_ber · Jun 21st, 2007, 21:21

I've read Indian newspapers for a few years now and have to say that things are really starting to improve.

Improvements to the Konkan railway and the slower monsoon timetable have made a difference.

Bhaswaran · Jun 21st, 2007, 22:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by nick

Statisticly the densest railway network is in the State of Vatican

Only one railway line (or rather a siding), but an extremely small area. Of course, this is a very trivial result

Practically......Vatican should be excluded of any statistics because it is just a City that is a separate country. Many things within this tiny country will beat the world......but there is easy to develop things within such a small area.......but thinking of India or any COUNTRY......you have to think big.

Indian Railways is the largest employer and the largest system under a single managment in the entire World. ...

Nick-H · Jun 21st, 2007, 22:08

Just going by impressions, I'd say it compares pretty well with the UK railways!

Someone will probably be along in a minute with numbers to prove me wrong...

Maybe one difference (just my theory) is that the relatively slower speed of Indian trains results in fewer deaths when something does go wrong?

I don't know why Europe should be full of stories of Indian railway danger.

My first thought when I saw your thread title was....

very dangerous --- if you stand in front of them.

I really do not think you need to give any more thought to the safety aspects of travelling on an Indian train than you did to the flight getting here.

Now, all sorts of things go on aboard the Indian train.... Biscuit Bandits, anyone?

nick · Jun 21st, 2007, 22:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick-H

I don't know why Europe should be full of stories of Indian railway danger.

very dangerous --- if you stand in front of them.

Well, last year, when I told my friends I was going to travel India on trains, everybody had shown me horrible reports.

It's not dangerous to stand in front of a train as long as the train is not moving

Nick-H · Jun 21st, 2007, 23:07

...

!

You'll find that there is very little time for the sort of safety regulations (or even common-sense safety) that Europeans have become used to. You'll find that people do not bother to use subways, bridges, etc to get to their platform if they can just jump off the platform and cross the line.

I drove, for the first time, over a busy, main-line, gated crossing the other day. The cars have no choice but to stop and wait at the barrier. The pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists just duck underneath it, unless they can see the train coming.

This was a busy place, for trains and traffic. The proceedings were aided by crossing staff blowing their whistles damned loud when a train was actually coming --- but people still make last-minute dashes.

Accidents in situations such as this do happen. But this is a factor of how the railways are used, and the Indian response to danger.

nick · Jun 21st, 2007, 23:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bhaswaran

Practically......Vatican should be excluded of any statistics because it is just a City that is a separate country [...]

Of course you are right, but this is how statistics are working

Meanwhile I have the numbers (based on cia factbook) about network length [km] and densities [km railway line / km2 area] - though they may not be totally up to date and may include disused lines:

Length
1. United States 212433
2. Russia 87157
3. China 67524
4. India 63693
5. Germany 44471
6. Canada 36114
7. Australia 33819

Density
1 Vatican 0.86 / 1 = 860

3. Belgium 13422 / 30510 = 440
8. Germany 44471 / 357021 = 125
10. Czech Rep. 9444 / 78866 = 120
12. Switzerland 4406 / 41290 = 107
[…]
18. United Kingdom 16878 / 244820 = 69
[…]
55. United States 212433 / 9629091 = 22
[…]
59. India 63693 / 3287590 = 19
[…]
102. Australia 33819 / 7686850 = 4.4
[…]
110. Canada 36114 / 9976140 = 3.6

(ranks 1, 2, 4-7, 9 and 11 are trivial again)

crvlvr · Jun 22nd, 2007, 01:17

Here is as much as I could find on accident stats:

http://newswww.bbc.net.uk/1/hi/world...ia/1931229.stm

Quote:

The accident average compares with some of the world's best rail networks in terms of the number of accidents per kilometre - the Indian average is one accident per 0.57 million km.

http://www.railwaypeople.com/rail-ne...-over-649.html

Quote:

They quote their train accident statistics in accidents per million train kilometres. A few years ago their rate was 0.44, but this has now reduced to 0.35. Indian Railways draw comfort from comparing their record with a world figure of between 0.32 and 0.31, but are now setting themselves the objective of reducing to 0.17 by 2012!

nick · Jun 22nd, 2007, 01:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by crvlvr

Here is as much as I could find on accident stats:

Thank you crvlvr!

Jun 21st, 2007, 20:52	#1
nick Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Zurich,Switzerland Posts: 36	How dangerous are indian trains? Hi From time to time here in Europe there are articles in magazines about how extremely dangerous trains are in India. I know that quite a lot of accidents do happen, but then Indian Railway is transporting ~15 millions passengers daily! So is there a statistic (link?) which compares the railway accidents in India to those in other countries per km / per passenger / per passengerkilometer? Thank you in advance Nick BTW last winter my missis & me were on a 90 days Indrailpass trip and we both very much enjoyed Indian trains.

Jun 21st, 2007, 20:57	#2
shashank.aggarwal Mr. Badboy :D Join Date: May 2007 Location: ~ Dilli ~ Posts: 5,724	well, I am sure about the number, nor am I aware of any site that would have them.. but do feel that if calculated on accidents on per passenger basis..we wont do that bad.. Indian railway transports the highest number of the passenger and is the second largest network in the world.. __________________ Travelogue - Around India Random Reviews

Jun 21st, 2007, 21:18	#6
ba9rn Macha Doabout Nothing Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Pompey fan in exile Posts: 578	I'm going to be pedantic here (so what's new?), but they are allegedly the second largest employer in the world (worryingly, IndiaRail is second to the Chinese Army!). __________________ "After the battle, many new ghosts cry. The solitary old man murmurs in his grief." Du Fu

Jun 21st, 2007, 21:21	#8
steven_ber Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: London, England. Posts: 9,571	I've read Indian newspapers for a few years now and have to say that things are really starting to improve. Improvements to the Konkan railway and the slower monsoon timetable have made a difference. __________________ . How to get helpful replies to your transport/Itinerary questions. Train information.

Jun 21st, 2007, 22:08	#10
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 27,692	Just going by impressions, I'd say it compares pretty well with the UK railways! Someone will probably be along in a minute with numbers to prove me wrong... Maybe one difference (just my theory) is that the relatively slower speed of Indian trains results in fewer deaths when something does go wrong? I don't know why Europe should be full of stories of Indian railway danger. My first thought when I saw your thread title was.... very dangerous --- if you stand in front of them. I really do not think you need to give any more thought to the safety aspects of travelling on an Indian train than you did to the flight getting here. Now, all sorts of things go on aboard the Indian train.... Biscuit Bandits, anyone? __________________ . Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

Jun 21st, 2007, 21:03	#3
Bhaswaran Landscape Photographer Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Kolkata. INDIA bhaswaran@redifmail.com Posts: 992	Yes......if you compare with the ratio..it is not so bad.....in fact ...pretty good than many developed countries we are proud of our railways. No other country has such a dense railway network in the world. It is also the largest employer and the largest system under a single management.

Jun 21st, 2007, 21:16	#5
nick Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Zurich,Switzerland Posts: 36	Thank you for the answers. I also suppose that on a per km or per passenger basis IR won't look too bad. Yes Bhaswaran, you can be proud of your railways, but India has by far not the densest network (km of railway line per km2 of country area). Statisticly the densest railway network is in the State of Vatican Only one railway line (or rather a siding), but an extremely small area. Of course, this is a very trivial result

Jun 21st, 2007, 23:07	#12
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 27,692	... ! You'll find that there is very little time for the sort of safety regulations (or even common-sense safety) that Europeans have become used to. You'll find that people do not bother to use subways, bridges, etc to get to their platform if they can just jump off the platform and cross the line. I drove, for the first time, over a busy, main-line, gated crossing the other day. The cars have no choice but to stop and wait at the barrier. The pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists just duck underneath it, unless they can see the train coming. This was a busy place, for trains and traffic. The proceedings were aided by crossing staff blowing their whistles damned loud when a train was actually coming --- but people still make last-minute dashes. Accidents in situations such as this do happen. But this is a factor of how the railways are used, and the Indian response to danger.

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