‘Design defects in N-E rail projects pose a threat to passenger lives’

DANGER Six projects have been under various stages of survey and construction since 1993-94

NEW DELHI: Officials have cautioned the Railway Board that the 210km Lumding-Silchar line in Assam and five other tracks being built in the unstable hilly terrain of the Northeast have alignment and design defects that could trigger a tragedy.

The commissioner of railway safety (CRS) and the chief bridge engineer (CBE) of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) flagged these concerns in reports to the board over the past two years, reveal documents accessed by HT. “This poses threats to passenger lives and could even lead to a major catastrophe,” a report warned.

The designs were based on recommendations of several committees and experts, but “some issues might be there as the Northeast is a challenging terrain”, board member (engineering) AK Mittal said in response to the safety warning.

The projects, with a budget of `50,000 crore to lay 403km of tracks in the Northeast, have been under various stages of survey and construction since 1993.

The Lumding-Silchar line — which links Assam with neighbours Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur — was hurriedly opened a month ahead of the Assam assembly elections in April.

But within months, about 20 major landslides along the route led to two derailments and train services were suspended on several occasions, including one for two months. Since July 2015, trains have been running at 10 to 20kmph against the design speed of 70kmph in the critical 52km mountainous section.

Then chief bridge engineer, Alok Kumar Verma, had accurately warned about such debacles nine months before the line opened, informing the board about the danger shale or fragile rock formations on the hilly terrain pose to three-fourth of line.

Shale compromises stability of tunnels and bridges during heavy rainfall and earthquakes, a frequent occurrence in the region as it sits on a high seismic zone. “The arbitrary decision of the board to start commercial operations on the line violates the Railways Act as the observations of the CRS were ignored,” Verma said.

Then safety commissioner, S Nayak, held a similar view. In his July 2015 report, he said he was “not satisfied that the newly opened line could be opened for passenger traffic without danger to the travelling public, as the stability of formation and structures was suspect”.

Engineer Verma alleged that vital geological risk factors were ignored during route surveys and when designs were made for new railway tracks in the Northeast.

A point in question is the tall bridges being built on pile foundations along the ImphalAizawl route.