New Delhi Indian Railways has been asked to expedite the installation of black-box-type devices across its locomotives – a retrofitment that it has been carrying out in select routes so far.
The devices allow for voice and video recording of crew – typically pilots and assistant pilots – in locomotives and will allow recording of the conversation of the loco-pilot with train managers and station masters.
In its report after the Kanchanjunga Express collision, seen by the businessline, the Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety said, the Railways is in the process of “retro-fitting of Crew Voice and Video Recording (CVVRS).” “It shall be implemented on priority,” the recommendations stated.
In 2018, the then Minister of State for Railways, in response to the Parliament, said CVVRS was being installed in diesel and electric locomotives. At the time, 26 locomotives (23 Diesel and 3 Electric) had such an option. Around ₹100.40 crore was sanctioned in Budget 2018-19 for acquiring 3,500 LCVRs/ CVVRS.
The Railways yearbook for 2021-22 said that CVVRs - similar to black boxes in aeroplanes - “are being tried on electric locomotives for recording of cab voice and video, and track-side through microphones and cameras”. Recording crew communications and interactions that occurred immediately prior to the accident will help identify and address the operational and human factors issues, it said.
“Procurement of 5,000 and 500 CVVRs are underway through CLW (Chittaranjan Locomotive Works) and DMW (now called Patiala Locomotive Works) respectively. Subsequently it will be provided in all locomotives as a regular measure,” the Railways Yearbook mentioned.
A Railways official told businessline that work on CVVRs is “currently ongoing” and that all stakeholders are being brought on board.
Incidentally, there have been objections to the installation of CVVRS. An official said that in a previous meeting regarding the installation, loco pilots were of the view that such steps hurt pride (who feel that their work is suspected).
Over 200 automatic signal failures
Interestingly, the Railways saw 208 instances of “signal passing at danger” from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2024 (five years), and of these, 12 “resulted in collision,” as per the report of the Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety. In fact, the June collision – a goods train colliding with Kanchanjunga Express leaving ten dead – was also caused primarily due to automatic signal failure.
In its report, it was noted, the introduction of new auto signalling sections should be consummate with the provision of Automatic Train Protection (Kavach).
“The large number of signalling failures... is a cause of concern and should be taken up with the RDSO (Research Design and Standards Organisation) and OEMs to improve reliability of the system,” the report said.
Crash worthiness of passenger coaches also needs to reviewed, the report mentioned. “On priority at least the last two coaches of every passenger carrying train should have crash worthiness feature...,” the report said.
According to the Railways official, “to increase the reliability of signalling equipment, an action plan is being prepared with the zones under the chairmanship of RDSO.”