PANKI/ETAWAH, UP, India, 2 Jan 2010: At least 10 people were killed and 39 injured in 3 accidents in UP on Saturday early morning. 15 of the 39 injured are in serious condition. The accidents have taken place at two different locations and involves 5 trains. One being near Panki, in Kanpur district, involved Gorakhpur Express and Prayagraj Express, while the other took place near Etawah between Magadh and Licchawi express. Inquiry has been ordered for the accidents.

Our View: The accident rate for the Indian Railways is low 0.55 accidents per million train kilometres but the absolute value is still very high. Important to note that about 83% of these are due to manual/human errors. Thus the solution to bring this under control is to automate the signaling system. The work to make railways safe is under progress but it will take sometime before it finally happens but the railway employees can do their bit by being careful and more vigilant.

Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Railways
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Thick-fog-causes-three-train-accidents-in-Uttar-Pradesh-10-killed-39-injure/articleshow/5404385.cms