Rail accidents witness decline in the past two decades

Reportedly, the number of consequential train derailments has witnessed steep decline in the last two decades. A number of measures have been undertaken by Indian Railways (IR) to avoid derailments and collisions of trains. The number of consequential train derailments has declined from 350 in 2000-01 to 36 in 2022-23. During 2004-14, the average train derailments stood at 86.7 per annum which has reduced by almost 80 per cent to reach 47.3 during 2014-23. Meanwhile, from 473 train accidents in 2000-01, the number has significantly come down to just 48 in 2022-23. The average number of consequential train accidents during the period, 2004-14 was 171.1 per annum, while the average number of consequential train accidents during the period, 2014-23 is 70.9 per annum.