Piyal Adhikary/European Pressphoto AgencyA railway station in Kolkata, West Bengal, March 14, 2012.Two trains hurtled toward each other at 60 kilometers per hour in Andhra Pradesh last week, as railway officials waited on the sidelines, watching.
About two hundred meters from what would have been a massive collision, the trains screeched to a halt, and the officials heaved a sigh of relief. The latest test of the Train Collision Avoidance System was declared a success.
The system is designed to prevent collisions by automatically applying a train's brakes when it detects another moving or stationary locomotive on the same track.
It is a much- needed step toward improving the safety of a network that is called the lifeline of India but has claimed many lives. Â In 2010, nearly 28, 000 people died in railways and rail-road accidents.
“The railway system is going on and on without any improvement,†a former railway minister, Dinesh Trivedi, said this month at a launch party for “Around India in 80 Trains,†a book by Monisha Rajesh, at the Blue Frog Club in Delhi. “It was only because of the people†that the railways still managed to function, he added.
By “people,†Mr. Trivedi might have been referring to the 21 million riders who use the Indian rail system daily, on 108,706 kilometers, or about 68, 000 miles, of track, making it the largest railway network in Asia. But at the Blue Frog, he talked about the 1.3 million people the system employs, one of the largest work forces in the world.
Courtesy of Roli BooksFormer railway minister Dinesh Trivedi, left, author Monisha Rajesh, center, and journalist Vrinda Gopinath at the terrace of Blue Frog Club in New Delhi, Oct. 4, 2012.During a conversation with Ms. Rajesh, moderated by the journalist Vrinda Gopinath, Mr. Trivedi spoke at length about the problems ordinary rail employees face and how they soldier on. “While corruption is a huge issue, people are very good at the ground level,†he said. He recounted incidents of sweepers returning large amounts of money left behind on trains, and of track maintenance workers losing their lives trying to prevent accidents.
Ms. Rajesh agreed with Mr. Trivedi's focus on “the people.â€Â But for her, she said, it was “the porters and the chai wallahs,†or tea sellers, “and the passengers who make it their business to ensure you are always taken care of†who made traveling on Indian trains memorable.
Ms. Rajesh's book chronicles her 2010 mission to rediscover India, a country she had become estranged from, and one that had left her with some bitter childhood memories. Her parents were first-generation migrants to Britain who returned to Chennai 20 years ago, in the hope of settling down. Two years later they were back in Britain, having endured “soap-eating rats, stolen human hearts and the creepy colonel across the road,†Ms. Rajesh said.
For her trip, she traveled around India on 80 different trains over four months, riding everything from luxury and high-speed trains to Mumbai's famous locals and a Lifeline Express, which is literall y a hospital on wheels.
Kevin Frayer/Associated PressVillagers after undergoing eye surgery inside the Lifeline Express train in Jagdalpur, Chattisgarh, in this July 18, 2011, file photo.Both the former minister and the now-seasoned train traveler said safety was a primary issue on the rails. Though nearly 40 percent of accidents last year were caused by staff errors, Mr. Trivedi said his sympathies lay with them, especially with the so-called loco pilots, or drivers.  A trained air pilot himself, Mr. Trivedi reflected on a system that is not modernized and requires the loco pilots to be “100 percent alert at all times.â€
“I traveled in 80 trains and lived to tell the tale,†was Ms. Rajesh's one-line reply to a question about her safety. In an interview later, she said that while planning her journey she made sure to take newer trains for overnight trips, “as the stats show that most accidents happen at night on older mail trains.â€
She decided to travel with a male companion, a Norwegian photographer, because traveling alone did not sound like a good idea, she said.  But that invited an inconvenience of its own: questions like “Are you two married?â€
“Initially we tried explaining that we were not romantically involved, but later we realized it was just so much simpler to say we were married,†she explained. Her approach to securing her personal belongings was equally pragmatic: “I never traveled with expensive stuff and kept my important things in a cloth purse around my neck when I slept.â€
The safety of one's stomach is another concern when traveling by rail in India. Mr. Trivedi said he “could never understand or accept that all the food that you are supposed to be eating is stacked near the toilet,†at the rear of the train coaches. “It looks so unhygienic,†he said. During his tenure, he said, he talked to suppliers (and to Eurostar) about how to improve food service.  Ideas included a trolley system, a move towards packaged food and more variety on the menus.
Mr. Trivedi was critical of the heavy subsidization of rail travel, which results in fares that don't reflect the system's true costs. “This is unreal, it cannot work,†he said.
Earlier this year Mr. Trivedi clashed with Mamata Banerjee, the fiery chieftain of his own party, the Trinamool National Congress, who sacked him unceremoniously after he proposed raising fares. Though he continues to be associated with Ms. Banerjee's party, Mr. Trivedi said at this event he was spe aking in a personal capacity only.
Concerns about the rail system's financial health continue to haunt the ministry. “We need money†to ensure the viability of rail services, the Railway Board chairman, Vinay Mittal, argued at a presentation recently. The current minister has initiated the “controversial process†of revising fares with the establishment of the Rail Tariff Authority, The Deccan Herald reported last week. The setting up of such a body had been proposed by Mr. Trivedi in his budget, before he stepped down as Railways Minister.
