Hyderabad: Around 50 per cent of the deaths due to railway accidents occur when people cross tracks. Accidentally falling from a running train and falling down while trying to alight from a running train are other causes. Suicide on tracks is another major cause of death. Walking alongside the tracks talking on phones or listening to music have also ended in death. In July, an engineering student was hit by a train in Kurnool while trying to take a selfie with his friend. Idrus Basha was killed on the spot, while his friend Govinda Dinne had a narrow escape.

People cross railway tracks to relieve themselves or to take a shortcut. When crossing tracks, people underestimate the train’s speed. Railway officials say that in most incidents where victims were crossing tracks to relieve themselves, they were wearing headphones and listening to music. Sometimes they talk on the phone while walking beside the track and are pulled on to the track by the force of the passing train. Drunks wandering alongside the tracks also do not notice the trains and may be hit and killed.

Committing suicide under the wheels of a train is not unusual and occurs mostly on the outskirts and in the late evening to early morning hours, when public movement is comparatively less. Early on July 30 morning, a housewife and her three children committed suicide by jumping in front of a running train in Ghatkesar. She was depressed after the sudden death of the head of the family due to ill health.

About five per cent of railway related deaths occur when passengers fall off running trains. “This is because people sit on the footboard and fall asleep or stand carelessly near the doors. Sometimes, they try to have some fun and end up falling from the running train,” a railway official said.

Laws prove ineffective:

Despite awareness campaigns by the Railways cautioning about accidents, there is no change in public attitude. The Railways Act says that any person crossing the tracks is trespassing on railway premises and under Section 147 of the Act can be fined up to `1,000, or imprisoned for up to a month. This does not seem to act as a deterrent. As part of the regular campaigns on safe train travel, announcements are made at Railway stations, posters put up displaying safety precautions, pamphlets distributed and special drives launched during Railway Safety Week to create awareness among passengers and also among people staying in areas adjoining railway tracks.

Penalties for transgressions need to be stricter, and fencing along the tracks on both sides must be put in place to reduce accidents. However, even when the track is barricaded, people have been known to jump over the barricade. Accident victims are eligible for compensation up to Rs 5 lakh. Those who commit suicide and those who die after falling from a running train or are hit by a moving train and those who don’t have a ticket are not eligible for compensation.

“If the person falls from a train and has no ticket, his family is not eligible for compensation. Sometimes families of suicide victims try to make it an accident, but based on the scene, it can be established whether it is a suicide or an accident,” said an official.