After the train derailment disaster in India’s Odisha state which cost the lives of at least 275 people and injured around 1,200 more, the issue of the safety and maintenance of the countries vast rail network has come into stark focus. The preliminary findings of an investigation into the crash suggest signal failure as the cause.

As a report released by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in December 2022 reveals, of the 1,129 derailments analyzed from 2017 to 2021, the responsibility was attributed most often to the Engineering Department, with the most common factor being related to track maintenance. As our chart shows, of the total target for complete track renewals – an essential and continuing task for any rail network – only 82 percent were carried out between 2017 and 2021.

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