THE SQUIZ

Preliminary investigations blame a signal failure for India’s 3-way train crash that killed at least 288 people and injured 700 more. According to an early official report, a passenger train travelling at full speed was diverted onto a track where it collided with an idling goods train. The passenger train derailed and spilled onto adjacent tracks, which derailed a second passenger train travelling in the opposite direction. The rising death toll makes this crash the biggest train disaster in decades for a country that relies heavily on rail transport, with 25 million train passengers per day. More than 2,200 people were on the derailed passenger trains.

IT SOUNDS HORRIBLE…

Survivors have described blood on the tracks, and families are being brought to a nearby school to identify loved ones from the many victims. Compensation has been promised, with Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announcing 1 million rupees (about $18,400) for the families of the dead and 200,000 rupees (about $3,675) for those seriously injured. India’s PM Narendra Modi has also promised consequences for those responsible for the tragedy. “We have given directions for all lines of inquiry and whoever is found responsible will be given the strongest punishment. They will not be spared,” Modi said.

WHAT’S MODI GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

On Saturday, he attended the crash scene instead of his scheduled commitment, which was to launch a high-speed train. There’s a national election in India next year, and Modi has been campaigning on better rail infrastructure after pouring 2.4 trillion rupees into the network (AU$44 billion). Now, local industry analysts are advocating for a greater focus on rail safety. “The safety record has been improving over the years but there is more work to do,” said engineering professor/train derailment expert Prakash Kumar Sen. According to a 2018 study, almost all of India’s rail lines – 98% – were built between 1870-1930 and a lot of maintenance work is required across the network.