ACCIDENTS in level crossings, whether gated or unattended, with trains bumping against vehicles plying the road trying to hurriedly cross the railway, have become commonplace. Such accidents continue to take place, with several authorities trading blame to steer clear of any responsibility. The railway authorities say that they cannot shoulder the responsibility for the level crossings that other authorities such as the local government or roads and highways authorities create, noting that they have shortage of human resources. The other authorities that create such level crossings have almost always thought that it is for them to create the crossings, even without official notification, and the railway authorities would automatically take charge of the crossings, which has hardly happened. Train accidents during shunting are also no rare incidents. But the May 3 accident at Joydevpur in Gazipur appears to be something that does not happen quite often. The Tangail commuter train, headed for Dhaka, collided with a tanker train, headed for Rangpur, which stopped for a while on the up line after leaving Dhaka and then started moving again, an hour before the noon. Ten carriages in all, of both the trains, derailed, suspending communications between Dhaka and the north-west. Train communications resumed using the down line in about three hours, but the wrecked trains could not be salvaged in 24 hours.
The commuter train was almost empty and the accident left drivers of both the trains and their assistants injured. The Gazipur district administration set up a three-member investigation committee to submit the report in two working days and the railway authorities set up a five-member investigation committee to submit the report in five working days. The Dhaka railway division manager, on a preliminary investigation, seeks put the reason for the accident down to either human failure or technical problems. The situation, however, suggests that in all likelihood, it could be human failure, or the wrong signalling for that matter. The authorities have so far suspended a station master and two pointsmen, who have gone into hiding. While it is important for the committees to conduct investigation rising above any vested interest and submit the reports in time, what is more important for the authorities is to make the reports public and act on the recommendations. It is pertinent that the people or quarters responsible for the accident should be adequately held to account. It is also equally pertinent that the authorities should look into the issues in a holistic manner. Unless the authorities mind these two tasks, it would be difficult for them to stop the recurrence of such train accidents. If negligence or human failures are the reason 鈥� two trains from opposite directions cannot face on the same railway outside stations 鈥� the authorities should also look into why such a situation arises, as the railway has often been reported to be faced with the shortage of human resources.
Train accidents must stop. And the authorities who are responsible must wake up and open their eyes wide enough to stop such train accidents.
