Railway officials at the site where the engine of the Ranchi-Delhi Rajdhani Express derailed near Minto Bridge, close to New Delhi railway station. (Photo: G.N. Jha)

New Delhi: Just days after he assumed office, new railway minister Piyush Goyal got his first jolt on Thursday when a total of three trains derailed across the country. With this, the number of derailments has touched 13 this month alone. The reason why former railway minister Suresh Prabhu was replaced was his apparent inability to control the spate of accidents that hit the Indian Railways over the past year and more.

Shortly before the Cabinet reshuffle, Mr Prabhu had offered to quit following the derailment on August 20 of 14 coaches of the Kalinga-Utkal Puri Hardwar Express in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district which killed at least 23 people. Only three days after that, around 100 passengers were injured after an unauthorised dumper crossed the railway fence and hit the Delhi-bound Kaifiyat Express in Auraiya district of Uttar Pradesh,

While one of the trains which derailed on Thursday was the Ranchi-Delhi Rajdhani Express, which went off the tracks close to New Delhi railway station, the other two were Shaktikunj Express in Uttar Pradesh and a goods train in Khandala, Maharashtra.

The engine and power car of the Ranchi-Delhi Rajdhani Express derailed near Minto Bridge in New Delhi just before noon. One person was injured in the incident.

Hours earlier, seven coaches of the Jabalpur-bound Shaktipunj Express derailed near the Obra Dam station in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh. This was the third mishap in UP in a month. In the evening, two wagons of a goods train derailed at Khandala in Maharashtra.

Following the derailments on Thursday, Mr Goyal chaired a meeting of the Railway Board, the focus of which was to identify measures to reduce accidents due to derailments which has emerged as one of the major causes of train accidents.

At the meeting, the minister directed that all unmanned level crossings should be removed expeditiously on the entire railway network in a year’s time from now, track replacement or renewal should be accorded priority and tracks earmarked for use to construct new lines should be diverted to places that are prone to accidents and where replacements are due.

He also said that the procurement of new rails should be expedited on a large-scale basis, with a view to complete construction of new lines in time. Anti-fog LED lights should be installed in locomotives so unhindered safe train operations can be ensured during the fog season.

In 2016-17, according to official data. the proportion of derailments to total train accidents rose to around 77 per cent, up from 61 per cent in the previous year, even as total serious accidents declined from 107 to 104.