Section 7 in The Railway (Notices of and Inquiries Into Accidents) Rules, 1998
7. Railway Administration to report serious accidents.
(1)Whenever a serious accident as defined in sub-rule (2) of rule 2 of the Statutory Investigation into Railway Accidents Rules, 1998, occurs, the railway administration concerned shall, as soon after the accident as possible, by telegraph, supply to the Press such particulars as are mentioned in rule 2 and as are till then available, and by supplementary telegrams if necessary, immediately after further information is available. A copy shall be sent simultaneously by express telegram to the Railway Board, the Commissioner of Railway Safety of the circle concerned and the Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety. In addition, the Commissioner of Railway Safety shall be informed, telephonically, of any serious accident, by the control of the division in which the accident has occurred.(2)For the purpose of sub-rule (1), an accident shall be a serious railway accident where-(i)accident to a train carrying passengers which is attended with loss of life or with grievous hurt to a passenger or passengers in the train, or with serious damage to railway property of the value exceeding Rs. 25,00,000 and any other accident which in the opinion of the Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety or Commissioner of Railway Safety requires the holding of an inquiry by the Commissioner of Railway Safety, shall be deemed to be a serious accident. A workmen's train or a ballast train carrying workmen or cattle special train or a tower wagon or such other train carrying workmen or cattle special, military special carrying authorised escorts or similar such train shall be treated as a passenger train.(ii)an accident involving a train carrying passengers leads to loss of life or grievous injury to any railway servant irrespective of whether he was travelling in that passenger train or not, it shall come under the purview of inquiry by the Commission of Railway Safety and shall be treated as a "serious railway accident":Provided that-(a)cases of trespassers run over and injured or killed through their own carelessness or of passengers injured or killed through their own carelessness, and(b)cases involving persons being railway servants or holding valid passes/tickets or otherwise who are killed or grievously injured while travelling outside the rolling-stock of a passenger train such as on footboard or roof or buffer but excluding the inside of vestibules between coaches, or run over at a level crossing or elsewhere on the Railway track by a passenger train, and(c)collusion, between a Road Vehicle and a passenger train at a Level Crossing where no passenger or Railway Servant is killed or grievously hurt shall not be treated as a "Serious Railway Accident" even if those travelling in the road vehicle are killed or grievously hurt shall not be treated as serious railway accident, unless the Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety or Commissioner of Railway Safety is of the opinion that the accident requires the holding of an inquiry by the Commissioner of Railway Safety.
