At least four people were killed and over 70 injured after six coaches of the Delhi-Kamakhya North East Express derailed near the Raghunathpur station in Bihar’s Buxar on Wednesday night. It derailed in Bihar at 9.35pm on Wednesday near Raghunathpur station of the Danapur division of the East Central Railway.

The 23-coach 12506 North East Express had departed from Delhi’s Anand Vihar terminal at 7.40am on Wednesday towards Kamakhya.

It may be recalled that on June 2, at least 275 people were killed and over a 1,000 were injured in three-train collision in Odisha’s Balasore district, involving the 12841 Coromandel SF Express running between Shalimar station and MGR Chennai Central, 12864 SMVT Bengaluru–Howrah SF Express running between SMVT Bengaluru and Howrah, and a goods train laden with iron ore.

Amid such horrific incidents, the significance of safety and financial protection for railway passengers comes into question.

Indian Railways’ insurance plan

The Indian Railways offers a travel insurance programme for its passengers that can be opted at the time of booking tickets itself.

To make it an easy-to-go practice for the passengers while booking, it has put it at a cost of 35 paise per passenger.

For online booking, IRCTC provides travel insurance on e-tickets as an optional service. Travellers must select the service at the time of booking.

However, it is not mandatory to buy travel insurance while booking a ticket through IRCTC.

For the insured passengers, the maximum cover is up to Rs 10 lakh for death or permanent total disability.

A coverage of Rs 7.5 lakh is available for permanent partial disability while Rs 2 lakh coverage for hospitalization expenses for injury is over and above the death or disability coverage. And Rs 10,000 is given for the transportation of mortal remains of dead passengers.

Travel insurance is not provided for children below 5 years of age. IRCTC has kept the travel insurance scheme uniform for all classes.

How to claim the policy?

To claim the benefits, a detailed statement about the claims needs to be sent to the nearest office of the insurance company within four months of incident by insured passenger or their legal heir.

“The insured or his nominee or legal heir shall tender to the insurance company all reasonable information, assistance and proofs in connection with any claim here under,” the IRCTC said.

It is to be noted that the policy is optional, and a passenger needs to opt for it while booking a ticket at the IRCTC portal. They cannot opt for it after making a reservation.