Journey’s end

Every other day, a person loses his or her life on the railway tracks in and around the city. According to the railway police, at least 183 persons have lost their lives on the tracks from January to November this year. A vast majority of them i.e. 160 out of the 183 victims are men. Among the victims, a total of 46 men and 9 women are yet to be identified, say the Egmore railway police officials. 

According to them, a majority of these cases of being run over by trains passing through the heart of the city, take place between Saidapet, Mambalam, Nungambakkam and Park Station. Railway police claim that most victims of rail mishaps are train passengers or persons who trespass or people who use the railway track areas to attend to nature’s call.

There are several reasons for the staggering number of deaths taking place along the tracks. “The Saidapet and Mambalam stations have a curve along the rail tracks and most people fail to notice the train coming and cross the tracks unaware of the approaching train,” says Government Railway Police Inspector Saravanakumar. Besides, several victims are deceived by the express trains that move at very high speed but appear to be slow. The express trains, Saravanakumar says, maintain a speed of 80 kilometers, which makes it difficult for those on the track to make a safe crossing. 

While most victims are in the age group of 40 to 50 years, these accidents appear to routinely occur between 1 am and 4 am, as these are the hours during which a majority of the cases are reported. 

Police cite public lethargy to use footover-bridge or reluctance to wait at closed railway crossing as some of the key reasons. “Even though the foot-over bridge is erected in all stations people do not use them, they find it easy to cut across the tracks,” railway police say. 

Speaking to DTNext, Railway Superintendent of Police P Vijayakumar said the police are taking efforts to bring down the death rate. He says that it has also drastically dipped over the years. For example, in 2012, the number was at a staggering 1,500. “Each month and year, we keep targets to bring down the number of mishaps. We have roped in universities to carry out surveys to find out the reasons for the deaths,” Vijayakumar says.

The number of accidents would reduce if the level crossings are not trespassed. “Every Tuesday, we have an enforcement drive where fines are imposed on violators. Sometime people jump the lines simply to reach an autorickshaw stand outside the station premises. So we ask the drivers to shift from there. On every Friday, we hold awareness campaigns. The passengers even scale walls to avoid taking the foot-over bridge,” says Vijayakumar. 

Senior Divisional Security Commissioner, RPF (Railway Protection Force) KK Ashraf says that the RPF is taking all efforts to reduce trespassing, footboard travelling and suicides by running campaigns along with NGO’s. 

Last Monday, the RPF prevented a boy and a girl from committing suicide on the railway tracks at Vyasarpadi. “We handed them to a Sneha Suicide Prevention centre for counselling. We have also written to the Tasmac authorities to shut down the outlets close to railway tracks as it causes people to walk on the tracks in an inebriated condition,” he says. 

The police also claim that they have a tedious time once a run over by train case is reported. From filing a police case to sending the body for a post mortem and getting the identity of the deceased established, they have to deal with a lot of paperwork. “Since it happens in the railway station premises, chances are that the deceased could have come from someplace else,” he says.

The GRP had started a WhatsApp group to identify those killed on railway tracks. The group have GRP personnel from seven states—Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Odisha and they spread the word around. 

The unidentified bodies are registered under Medico Legal Cases (MLC) after which a post mortem is conducted. The unclaimed body is kept for three days and then cremated, as per procedure. The DNA samples and photographs are preserved and the team of police continue to confirm the identity and search for the family. Other ways such as creating a pamphlet, posters and awareness among passengers are other ways in which they try to identify the dead. But this sees only 70 per cent success rate, police say.