Thread by @shantanunandan2

1. After #AmritsarTragedy , I heard a TV anchor shouting how come the train driver didn’t apply brakes?
Am writing this to defend the driver I don’t know as there are chances that everyone —rail officers to event organisers —would be proved innocent making the driver a culprit..

2. Unlike truck drivers on highways or late night partygoers on metro cities, all train drivers need to mandatorily undertake a no-alcohol test —fully computerised & under CCTVs, before being allowed to drive. So, it’s impossible that the train driver was drunk...

3. I have in the past witnessed and photographed loco drivers taking no-alcohol tests in atleast 2 rly stations — Ferozepur & Secundarabad. It’s a very stringent process. So, I am assuming with confidence that it’s impossible that the train driver was in an inebriated state

4. Let’s now come to the TV anchor’s question: Why no brake?
Look, a train is not a BMW. It needs about 1.2 km gap to stop it.
Can an aircraft land from 36,000 feet altitude in a minute or two? No, right? (Cont...)

5. What if the train driver applied emergency brakes? There were chances of the train getting turtled, in which case the number of casualties would have been double!
Video footage of the accident clearly shows huge crowds in both sides of the track...
#AmritsarTrainTragedy

6. Also, most of the coaches used in non-Rajdhani, non-Shatabdi trains are ordinary ICF coaches, and not high-tech LHB coaches. Meaning, in case the brake being applied hard, there are high chances that one coach will get mounted over another, resulting in massive casualties...

7. The #AmritsarTrainMishap happened near a manned crossing, and not in an unmanned crossing as some senior journalists had initially claimed. In fact, the gate was closed; signal was on. My concern is, investigations may still find some excuses to put all blames on the driver...

8. So, what’s the way out? First, access control of railway tracks is a must. Yes, it will be hugely expensive exercise, but that’s the way forward. This incident would not have happened if it had been a bullet train or a metro rail system...

9. Secondly, a GSP-enabled pathway map on the driver’s deskboard is a must. Had she been an Uber driver, she would have possibly been alerted by seeing “red” all over on the path ahead. The key point is, Indian Railways is still highly technology-challenged...

10. Only recently, I walked with some railway gangmen for a story. I was shocked 😮 that in case a fault is detected, the gangman takes out round-shaped bombs from pockets & runs 600 metres to burst those. An archaic system to alert drivers!
I thanked God that I survived so long.