Forgetting Roles: Reels at the Cost of Rules!

The Chairman, Railway Board, is a government officer, not a politician. The Chairman must ensure that officers focus on rules and their roles, not on reels and open self-promotion

Railway officers are busy making Instagram reels and are forgetting basic rules. The Kolkata-Sairang Express derailment should be a warning to everyone in the organisation

On 11 November 2026, train 13125 Kolkata-Sairang Express derailed at Digaru station near Guwahati, Assam. A video from the locomotive cab went viral. It shows the Loco Pilot (LP) trying desperately to stop the train. The video alarmed officers and staff across the railway.

#Ep276: लगातार रेल हादसे: जिम्मेदार कौन? नैतिक जिम्मेदारी किसकी?

The cause appears to be worse than a brake failure. The train reportedly entered the block section with no air brakes on its coaches. This train once had a change of traction en-route. After electrification, the electric locomotive now works it throughout. Station staff reportedly followed the old practice out of habit. They cut the brake pipe and feed pipe between the locomotive and the coaches, expecting a locomotive change that no longer happens.

The LP then reportedly did the brake feel test and the brake power test with the locomotive’s own brake. The locomotive slowed as expected. The tests therefore could not show that the coaches were isolated pneumatically. Every coach was un-braked, and only the locomotive could brake the train.

This also explains why the Assistant Loco Pilot’s (ALP) emergency brake did not stop the train. The emergency brake bypasses every other control and vents the brake pipe directly. With the pipe cut behind the locomotive, it vented only the locomotive’s brake pipe. The application never reached the coaches.

Two posts on X show the contrast:

and

In a structured organisation like Indian Railways, every person has a defined role. Officers must equip the staff who face the public to do their jobs. An accident is not an occasion for an officer to appear as a hero. Another video shows a division presenting its war room, built at a cost of crores of rupees. Meanwhile, the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) is on the platform with a cavalcade.

The Chairman, Railway Board, is a government officer, not a politician. The Chairman must ensure that officers focus on rules and their roles, not on reels and open self-promotion. We urge the Prime Minister to advise his ministries that citizens thank a government that serves them quietly.