Bridges won’t take heavy wagons, ministry told

‘‘Also, bypassing the Commission…while taking such a decision is a serious matter,’’ the report said, adding a word of advice to the Railway Ministry ‘‘to exercise caution and avoid such violation of time tested rules and procedures’’.

The CCRS said the zonal railways were certifying bridges safe ‘‘without any rationale or calculations while approaching the Commissioners of Railway Safety for sanction of running of this rolling stock’’. It added: ‘‘it is a fact that the foundation details and completion drawings of a vast majority of railway bridges are not available with zonal railways.

‘‘The foundation and substructure of a large number of bridges remains underwater round the year and their integrity is suspect as no satisfactory means are available for their inspection. Heavier locomotives and wagons are being introduced in the system and 100 kmph freight trains are already running.’’

The report further said that the old bridges, originally designed for much lighter loadings, have become all the more vulnerable because of the Railway Ministry permitting overloading of wagons over and above their carrying capacity. This has been done without following a laid down procedure and without a speed certificate from the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO). As per Railway Ministry figures, there are about 1.2 lakh bridges on the Indian Railways network out of which 44 per cent are more than 100 years old and 74 per cent are more than 60 years old. Around Rs 1,530 crore had been set aside from the Special Railway Safety Fund for rebuilding of bridges.

Beginning 2002-3, the Commission of Railway Safety suggested rebuilding of old bridges where the substructure was not available for visual inspection or whose completion drawings were missing.