Indian Railways recorded a dramatic improvement in safety over the past decade, with train accidents falling 88% to just 16 incidents in 2025–26 from 135 in 2014–15. Only two accidents have been reported in the current year up to June 2025, Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw informed Lok Sabha on Wednesday, 29 July.

Key Safety Metrics

The Consequential Accident Index — which measures accidents per million train-kilometres — fell to 0.01 in 2025–26 from 0.11 in 2014–15, a reduction of approximately 91%. The index is regarded as the most reliable benchmark for network-wide safety performance, as it normalises for the sheer scale of train operations across the country.

Expenditure on safety-related activities has more than tripled over this period, rising from ₹39,200 crore in 2013–14 to ₹1,20,389 crore in 2026–27, according to the Ministry of Railways statement placed before Parliament.

Infrastructure and Technology Upgrades

Electrical and electronic interlocking systems with centralised operation have been installed at 6,671 stations, with complete track circuiting provided at all these locations. Interlocking of Level Crossing (LC) Gates has been extended to 10,395 LC Gates to prevent unmanned crossing accidents — historically one of the leading causes of fatalities on the network.

All locomotives are now equipped with vigilance control devices. In fog-prone regions, loco pilots have been provided GPS-based fog safety devices, while retro-reflective sigma boards placed two overhead equipment masts prior to signals help crew identify signals ahead under low-visibility conditions.

Rail integrity is being maintained through Ultrasonic Flaw Detection (USFD) testing, timely replacement of defective rails, laying of longer rails, and the adoption of superior welding technology — all aimed at reducing track-related failures.

Kavach: The Indigenously Developed Safety Net

Minister Vaishnaw also highlighted the rollout of Kavach, an indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system. Kavach assists loco pilots in maintaining prescribed speed limits by automatically applying brakes when a breach is detected, providing a critical last line of defence against collisions and overspeeding incidents.

This comes amid sustained public and parliamentary scrutiny of railway safety following high-profile accidents in recent years, making the government's data on declining incident rates politically significant as well as operationally important.

What This Means Going Forward

Regular staff inspections and safety-practice audits continue to complement the technological investments. With safety expenditure at an all-time high and incident counts at a historic low, the focus is expected to shift toward accelerating Kavach coverage across the broader network and eliminating remaining unmanned level crossings. The pace of that rollout will determine whether the downward trend in accidents is sustained through the next decade.