Rail ways

Of late, we've been having quite a few rail accidents. I don't know why! All I know is that the thought of a rail travel in my home country terrifies me. Rail accidents are not new to us. Neither can we completely eliminate them. However what worries one is the frequency of the accidents and our inability to learn lessons from our past mistakes.
I would not compare the Indian Railways to that of UK. Our railway network is too vast and extensive to be compared with the small setup here, in-spite of being quite cheap. However what lacks back in India is the intent to improve and excel. One shouldn't be blaming the ministers and government for one (or rather two) accidents. However questions are surely to be raised on what did the corresponding minister(s) do all these years to enhance the experience of train travel, except for cheap and populist political gimmicks and internal bickering? Also look at the way the current minister and his party behaved. Agreed, that VIP visits tend to disrupt regular activities, as Rahul Gandhi's visit to the hospital in Kanpur proved (read article in TOI here), it is still expected from the person in command to be there with the public to boost their morale. Instead the minister was brooding over his shattered dreams of becoming a full fledged minister and didn't bother to go to the scene of the tragedy.This really hurts the morale of rescue team, the effected people and also of the common public. That aside, just try to recollect what the current government, especially the railway ministry has done over the years to improve the quality of train travel in the nation. Practically nothing. That is why the government and the ministry is being blamed. Actually all these years no government took much care about the safety and security of train travel. With the number of people depending on the Indian railways every day, this should have been the top priority of the railway ministry. With one of the fastest growing economy, we can no longer hide behind the excuse of being a poor nation. It is high time the government wakes up to this and takes some concrete steps towards a safer journey instead of just re-jigging the cabinet . .