I didn’t realize the extent of the problem in India, as reported in the Guardian:
About 15,000 people are killed each year while crossing the tracks on India’s mammoth railway network, according to a government safety panel that recommended more bridges and overpasses should be built as a matter of urgency.
Most of the deaths occur at unmanned railroad crossings, the panel said in a report. About 6,000 people die on Mumbai’s crowded suburban rail network alone, it said.
Another 1,000 people die when they fall from crowded coaches, when trains collide or coaches derail.
[. . .]
The committee blamed railway authorities for the “grim picture”, saying there were lax safety standards and poor management.
It said local managers were not given adequate power to make crucial decisions and that safety regulations were also breached because of severe manpower shortages.
It does seem odd that one of the world’s most populous countries — once known for chronic over-staffing of government and government-owned organizations — has “manpower shortages” in this critical area.
