PAKISTAN RAILWYS WALTON ACADEMY

32nd MID-CAREER MANAGEMENT COURSE (MCMC)

CURRENT ISSUE PRESENTATION

(WRITE-UP)

“Analysis of safety and security in Pakistan Railways with

focus on Rail accidents”

Submitted by : Muhammad Ismail

(SMO/F)
Sponsor DS : Muhammad Nawaz Farooq
Dated : 31st December 202

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 Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
SAFETY AND SECURITY IN P.R................................................................................................4
ISSUES AND CHALLENGES.......................................................................................................6
Obsolete Technology and Poor Infrastructure.............................................................................6
Railway Track..........................................................................................................................6
Un-manned Level Crossings....................................................................................................7
Over aged Railway Bridges.....................................................................................................7
Obsolete Signal System...........................................................................................................7
Insufficient and Inefficient Telecommunication System.........................................................7
Outdated and Unreliable Rolling Stock...................................................................................7
Weak Security System in Pakistan Railways..............................................................................8
Initiatives taken................................................................................................................................8
ANALYSIS......................................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
RECOMMENDATIONS...............................................................................................................11
BIBLIOGRAPHY..........................................................................................................................13

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 INTRODUCTION

Historical Background

The idea of a rail network was first brought in 1847 by the then commissioner of Sindh
Sir Henry Edward Frere, with the possibility of Karachi becoming a major seaport. On May 13,
1861, the first railway line was opened to the public, between Karachi (city) and Kotri, with a
total distance of 105 miles (169 km) which was later on extended and expanded which
eventually became Pakistan Railways in 1947.

Present Pakistan Railways

Pakistan Railways (PR) the state owned rail transport service is "lifeline of the country", as it
provides large-scale movement of people and freight throughout Pakistan. Its network has 11,881
KMs of track and 7,791 KMs of route and 454 railway stations. PR has 460 imported
locomotives in its stock, 1743 coaching vehicles for passengers and 16,159 freight wagons. It

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carries at an average 39 million passengers and 5 million tones freight cargo a year. 1 Railways
used to be the predominant mode of transportation in Pakistan. At its peak between 1955 and
1960, railways handled 73 percent of freight traffic, compared to 4 percent now2.

SAFETY AND SECURITY IN P.R.

Safety is defined as freedom from harm resulting from unintentional acts or

circumstances where as security may be defined as freedom from harm resulting from
intentional acts or circumstances.3

Railway is considered safest mode of transportation worldwide. Whenever performance

of any railway system is evaluated, safety is given paramount importance. Safety is a necessary
mandate for running trains. Unfortunately in Pakistan Railways safety and security has never
been given much importance; it is revenue generation which has always been given top priority.
Following discussion tell us how safety and security is ignored in Pakistan Railways and how
does it affect.

IMPACT OF IGNORANCE OF SAFETY & SECURITY

Ignorance of safety and security cause serious damages and heavy loss of precious lives
and railway assets. Besides these losses it also becomes a cause of bad reputation. Following
data of last 5 years in table form helps to understand the impacts of ignoring safety and security;

ACCIDENTS FROM 2015 TO 2019

CATEGORY 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 TOTAL

Road users 81 84 40 53 52 310

Human failure 40 28 21 26 37 152

Track defect 26 23 24 24 35 132

1
Pakistan Railways Year Book 2019-20
2
Greening Growth in Pakistan through Transport Sector Reforms, World Bank Study Report
3
HART Safety and Security Solutions

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Rolling Stock 14 10 07 08 11 50

Signal & Interlocking - - 01 01 07 09

Sabotage Activity 05 03 - 01 02 11

Electrical 01 - 03 - 02 06

Averted collision - - - - 01 01

Material failure - - 02 01 - 03

Natural calamity - - 01 01 - 02

Loco defect - - 01 03 02 06

Others 8 5 9 13 10 45

Total 175 153 109 131 159 727

In 5 years 341 lives were lost and 746 people were injured.

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*These figures are up to November 2021.

ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Obsolete Technology and Poor Infrastructure

PR possesses timeworn infrastructure and machinery, which include track, level

crossings, bridges, signal system, communication system, buildings, passenger coaches, freight
wagons, locomotives and other auxiliary machinery & equipment. Such state of affairs endangers
safety and invites accidents.

Railway Track

Railway track length of PR network is 11,881 km 4, out of which only 4771 km (40%) is
of category “A” which is fit for maximum allowable speed 110 km/hr. Railway track is
strengthened by sleepers, ballast, fasting & fittings. The quality and quantity of these items is
very poor. 5

Un-manned Level Crossings

There are 3389 level crossings in total; out of which 1875 level crossings are un-manned
and remaining 1514 are manned level crossings. The un-manned level crossings cause frequent
4
Ibid
5
Pakistan Transport Plan Study in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (PTPS)

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collisions of trains with road vehicles. However accidents do occur at manned level crossings
also due to one or the other reason.

Over aged Railway Bridges

At present, there are 13,959 bridges on Pakistan Railways network, out which 3001 are
on closed sections and remaining are on operational sections. Most of the bridges over Pakistan
Railways network are more than 100 years old. In 2006 “Ran Pathani” bridge collapsed and
crippled all the train operation. In 2015 a bridge near Gujranwala collapsed and 19 people were
killed. (Year Book 2017-18)

Obsolete Signal System

Signaling systems are essentially required for efficient and safe train operation. At
present most of the stations are equipped with mechanical type signaling while modern signaling
system such as all relay interlocking, automatic block signaling & centralized traffic control are
also provided at few stations. Following tabulated facts prove that we have few decades old
signaling system, which is very vulnerable to any type of failure at any time.6

Type of Signal No. of Stations Year of Installation

Non Interlocked 123 1947
Standard-I 185 1947-1995
Standard-II 20 1947
Standard-III 214 1947-1999
All Relay 40 1962-1969
Computer Based Interlocking (CBI) 41 Latest technology

Insufficient and Inefficient Telecommunication System

Telecommunication plays pivotal role in ensuring safe train operation. This facilitates
communication between driver & station master, station master & station master and all of them
with control office. At present train radio system is operational on main corridor only.

Outdated and Unreliable Rolling Stock

The rolling stock comprises of Locomotives, Coaches/Carriages and Wagons/Freight

Wagons. There are 460 diesel locomotives, out of which 142 locomotives are lying defective and
rest are running on deferred maintenance. P.R. faced over 3,700 incidents of engine/locomotive
failure in almost four and a half years (January 2015 to May 2019). 7 There are 1743 passenger
coaches for conveyance of passengers, out which 377 (202 & 175 bought through two different
projects) are Chinese coaches bought some years back, where as rest 1083 are very old (German)
and have completed their designed life. There are 16,159 freight wagons in total out of which
6
Pakistan Railways Head Quarter Office
7
Dawn News Paper 15th June 2019 Accessed on 22 December 2021

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9158 (56%) four wheeled vacuum brake obsolete system. All these factors can cause any mishap
at any time.

Human Factors

Besides obsolete technology and old-age infrastructure, following human factors heavily
contribute in accidents and put safety and security of public as well as property in danger;

• Lack of awareness
• Lack of priority for safety and security
• Human dependency and human intervention in the system
• No capacity building or training
• Lack of proper conduction of inspections
• Non adherence to recommendations made in Inquiry Reports

Weak Security System in Pakistan Railways

With high increase in population and number of passenger and expanding railway stations and
stoppages, PRP is currently operating with 7,074 personnel, which is insufficient to protect
167,690 acres of land, 460 stations and 11881 km of track.

• Shortage of police staff

• Lack of proper trained staff
• Openness and vastness of infrastructure
• High volume of passengers
• Encroachment on railway land
• Lack resources

Initiatives taken

1. Strict and constant monitoring of inspections conducted by the officers and officials of
Pakistan Railways to maintain safety standards.

2. Steps have been under taken for up-gradation of 550 vulnerable unmanned level crossings
throughout the Pakistan Railways network in collaboration with the respective Provincial
Governments. So far 75 numbers of unmanned level crossings have been upgraded to manned
level crossings. Efforts are underway to upgrade 150 unmanned level crossings.8

3. Inspections of all manned or unmanned level crossings are being carried out by all concerned
in accordance with laid down schedule regularly.
8
Minister for Railways’ response to a question in NA Secretariat 14th Session September,2019

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4. Warning signs in Urdu language have already been clearly displayed to sensitize the road
users at unmanned/manned level crossings.

5. The Directorate of Public Relations has circulated different video messages over Social Media
for the awareness and information of general public regarding crossing the railway crossings in a
safe way.

6. Conversion of old age kerosene oil based signals into LED type signals on main line, which
have better visibility.

7. Training and refresher courses are conducted regularly at the Pakistan Railway Academy,
Walton. Special attention is being given to the training of the locomotive crews, guards, station
masters and other staff concerned with train operations..

8. Special Bulletins/instructions are issued regularly for guidance of staff.

9. Inquiries into accidents are held, responsibility fixed and remedial measures on the basis of
their findings are promptly taken.

10. One new post of Chief Operating Superintendent Safety has been created to monitor safety
related issues exclusively.

(NA Secretariat 14th Session September,2019)

ANALYSIS

Analysis of accidents of last five years shows that 310 out 727 total accidents occurred at
level crossings which means issues of level crossings be addressed on top priority. There are
1875 un-manned level crossings out of 3389 in total. Un-manned level crossings are more
vulnerable to accidents than manned level crossings. Up-gradation project of 550 un-manned
level crossings is a good step but its pace is slow. Display of warning signs at level crossings and
circulation of awareness messages through social media is also a good step.

Heavy human dependency and human intervention in the P.R. system is the 2 nd major
factor responsible for disasters in train operation, 152 accidents out 727 in total have occurred on
this account. In this regard smart technological solutions e.g. Automatic Train Protection, Train
Collision Avoidance System, etc. are practiced worldwide which we need to adopt. Refresher
courses do not serve the purpose of capacity building, in this regard up-graded and target
oriented courses should be designed and imparted.

Third major contributing factor is defective track which causes derailments. P.R. has
11881 km track out of which only 40% is fit to support speed of 105 km/h. P.R. is seeing ML-1
project under CPEC to rescue, but it will take years.

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 Issue of obsolete technology and deferred maintenance is not addressed as rolling stock
and locomotives also cause accidents. Only inspections without addressing root causes are
useless. Circulation of special bulletins and instructions time to time is a good step but it should
be target oriented exercise and compliance in the light of instructions issued should be followed
up. There is lack of implementation of recommendations made in accident inquiries.
Up-gradation of signaling system has remained ignored which is directly linked with
safety.9 Similarly there is no proper efficient and sufficient communication system in entire P.R.
system.

Creation of separate post of Chief Operating Superintendent Safety is an excellent step.

Yet there is a lot to be done in this regard to reduce if not eliminate railway accidents. There is
need to establish separate safety regulatory authority to improve both the details on safety
standards in railways, and also the level of implementation of these standards.

Fishbone diagram highlights various cause and effects responsible for occurrence of accidents.

CONCLUSION

Priority and focus play vital role in achieving any goal. Revenue generation is no doubt
important for survival of the department but ignorance of safety & security is also equally
important. Outlived infrastructure, obsolete technology and under-capacity staff demands urgent

9
A timeline of neglect: Train incidents in Pakistan; By News Desk Published: October 31, 2019 Accessed on 22 December 2021

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attention to make P.R. safe mode of transportation and save losses incurred due to accidents and
unwanted incidents.

RECOMMENDATIONS

SHORT TERM MEASURES

1. Safety and security must be given top most priority and importance.
2. Conversion of unmanned level crossings into manned level crossings by involving all
provincial governments must be given top most priority as maximum number of
accidents occurs at level crossings. The already under taken project of 550 vulnerable
level crossings may be expedited.
3. There are smart technological solutions for addressing the issues at level crossings e.g.
vibration signal & alarm system, Level Crossing Box by Siemens, etc. which should
adopted.
4. Capacity building of the employees be given utmost priority to avoid accidents on
account of human error. Employees specially train drivers, assistant drivers, train guards,
station masters, controlling staff working in control rooms.
5. Purposeful monitored inspections at every level must be regularized.
6. Provision of walk through gates and luggage scanners at every station must be ensured.
At present only big stations are provided with walk through gates and scanners.
7. Installation of CCTV cameras at all stations and limitation of entry & exit point to single
only must be ensured.

LONG TERM MEASURES

1. Some of the critical areas which need investment are replacement of overage tracks and
repairs of bridges and modernization of signaling system and purchase of locomotives &
rolling stock. Such investments will reduce if not eliminate accidents happening because
of age-old infrastructure and technology.10
2. In order to minimize human intervention latest world technologies now offer solutions
like Automatic Train Protection, Train Collision Avoidance System, European Train
Control System (ETCS-L1) Technology, Auxiliary Warning System (AWS), Integrated
Track Monitoring Systems (ITMS), etc.
3. Provision of underpasses and flyovers at level crossings to collisions with road vehicles.
4. It is highly desirable to fulfill shortage of railway police and enhance its capacity to
tackle any bad situation.

10
The causes of train wrecks and how to prevent them; https://www.sidgilreath.com/learn/railroad-accidents-causes.html
accessed on 22 December 2021

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 5. It is essential to establish a separate safety regulatory authority to introduce and improve
safety standards and check their implementation.
6. Modernizing PR’s colonial infrastructure by availing opportunity of CPEC.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gilreath & Associates . Railroad Accidents: Common Causes, Statistics and Prevention. n.d.
https://www.sidgilreath.com/learn/railroad-accidents-causes.html (accessed December
22, 2021).

Dawn. Pakistan Railways accidents. Lahore, June 15, 2019.

Department, Statistical. Pakistan Railways Yearbook. Lahore: Pakistan Railways Printing Press,
2019-20.

Desk, News. A timeline of neglect: Train incidents in Pakistan. Lahore, October 31, 2019.

HART. n.d. https://hartinternational.com/ (accessed December 26, 2021).

"NA Secretariat 14th Session September,2019." 2019.

Nippon koei co., Ltd. Pakistan transport plan study in the Islamic republic of Pakistan . Report,
Islamabad: Japan International Cooperation Agency , 2006.

Safety, COPS. Annual Statistics. Lahore: Pakistan Railways Headqurter, 2021.

Sánchez-Triana, Ernesto,Afzal, Javaid,Biller, Dan,Malik and Sohail. Greening Growth in

Pakistan through Transport Sector Reforms. Washington: World Bank Study Report ,
2013.

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