India has heaped a large sum of money into growing its vital railroad network and purchasing new trains but has failed miserably at increasing the safety of its network. Between 2017 and 2021, 100K people died in train-related accidents and in June of 2023, India saw its worst accident in decades. The Indian government must be held responsible for these safety failures.
It is within India's grasp to make vital safety upgrades to parallel important modernization efforts for rail infrastructure. New Delhi's new model — to begin contracting out maintenance and construction as well as privatizing the rail network like in the US and the UK — will be a major help. These new practices will lead to significant improvements in infrastructure and safety for rail passengers.