Minister
of Railways and Coal, Shri Piyush Goyal today held a marathon meeting with
members of full Railway Board & Safety Directorate of Railway Board to
comprehensively review Safety measures for train operations. A detailed presentation
on Safety was made at the meeting. There was threadbare discussion on the
subject and the root cause of repeated cases of Train accidents in recent past
was thoroughly analysed. In the meeting, the Minister eMphasised that the
safety is paramount and there cannot & should not be any compromise on this
front.
Two
major causes leading to accidents were identified as :
a) Unmanned
Level Crossings
b) Derailments
due to defects in tracks
The
special focus of the meeting was to identify measures to reduce accidents due
to derailments which has emerged as one of the major causes of Train accidents.
Minister of Railways gave following directions to the Railway Board to ensure
Safety in train operations:
1) All
unmanned level crossings should be eliminated expeditiously on the entire
Indian Railway network in a year’s time from now.
2) Track
Replacement/renewal should be accorded Priority & the tracks (rails)
earmarked for use for constructing new lines should be diverted to places/
stretches which are prone to accidents & where replacement is due.
3) The
procurement of new rails should be expedited on a large scale with a view to
complete construction of new lines in time.
4) The
manufacturing of conventional ICF design coaches should be stopped forthwith
& new design LHB coaches only should be manufactured.
5) Anti-Fog
LED lights should be installed in Locomotives so that unhindered safe train
operations can be ensured during fog season.
The
Minister directed the Railway Board to monitor implementations of this action
plan on a regular basis.
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AKS/MKV/ENS
