How safe is a train journey?

There are several reasons why train travel has become a hazardous undertaking these days, most of all because of the inherent lack of safety of the passengers, many of whom have no option but to take the train as the mode of travel.

The recent incident of dacoity in an express train brings into true perspective the perils of travelling by train. And it is not as if there are no appropriate agencies specifically for the purpose of ensuring the safety of the passengers. There was once the Watch and Ward and now the GRP, for this task. But the irony is that those that are entrusted with the safety of passengers are very seldom visible, if at all, and hardly at the service of the passengers in distress.

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Lack of security in the trains is a common concern. The pervasive presence of pickpockets, the common occurrence of mugging and robbery, along with the unchecked movement of people of all definitions throughout the length of the train, many without tickets, and encroachment of the upper class compartments, are disincentives to train travel. It is not understood how the robbers could enter a first class compartment when there were members of the railway authority who were supposed to be on duty to prevent this sort of breach. That is why some feel that there may be some sort of collusion between the robbers and the train officials in such incidents.

It is also not a secret that the trains are common means of carriage of contraband goods that are taken on board, not without the knowledge of the officials, and jettisoned at pre-designated places in collusion of these very officials in the train.

It was time the railway authority girded up the safety of the trains. Would it be asking too much of the authority to make train travel an experience to savour once again?