Ensuring Safety in Railways

F. Y. 2017 - 18 was best for Indian Railways in terms of safety in last 35 years. Indian Railways recorded 73 accidents in F. Y. 2018 in comparison to 104 in F. Y. 2017. This was 1st time in years that accidents did not cross 100.

Best Ever Safety Record in 2017 - 18
  • Safety is accorded highest priority by Indian Railways & all possible steps are undertaken on continual basis to prevent accidents & to enhance safety.

Steps to Increase Railway Safety

Key Decisions for Transformation of Indian Railways

Steps are taken by Railways to provide security to passengers:

  • On vulnerable & identified routes⟋sections, 2,500 trains are escorted by Railway Protection Force (RPF) daily, in addition to 2,200 trains escorted by Government Railway Police (GRP) of diff. states daily.
  • Security helpline number 182 is made operational over Indian Railways for security related assistance to passengers in distress.
  • Surveillance is kept thru CCTV cameras, provided at about 394 stations over Indian Railways, to ensure safety.
  • An Integrated Security System (ISS) consisting of surveillance of vulnerable stations thru Close Circuit Television Camera Network, Access Control is sanctioned to improve surveillance mechanism over 202 railway stations.
  • Thru various social media platforms - Twitter, Facebook - Railways are in regular touch w⟋passengers to enhance security of passengers & to address their security concern.
  • Drives are conducted from time to time against entry of unauthorized persons in trains & railway premises.
  • Regular coordination is made w⟋State Police⟋GRP authorities at all levels for prevention of crime, registration of cases, their investigation & maintenance of law & order in Railway premises as well as on running trains.
  • In Budget 2017 - 18, setting up of Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) is announced w⟋corpus of ₹ 1 lakh cr. over period of 5 years. A provision of ₹ 20,000 cr. is made in Budget 2017 - 18 towards RRSK to fund essential safety works.
  • Railways have introduced new technologies such as Train Protection Warning System (TPWS) ⟋ Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) as means of Automatic Train Protection on pilot section to prevent accident due to over speeding & passing signal at danger.
  • TPWS System is under implementation at 3330 RKMs section on Suburban⟋High-density Route.
  • During 2017 - 18, work of TCAS System at 1427 RKM is sanctioned.
  • Vigilance Control Device (VCD) to check alertness of Loco Pilot,
  • Electrical⟋Electronic Interlocking System w⟋Centralized operations of points to eliminate human failure,
  • Complete Track Circuiting, Axle Counter for Automatic Clearance of Block Section (BPAC)
  • Interlocking of manned Level Crossing gates & replacement of filament type signal w⟋Light Emitting Diode (LED) Signals.
  • Safety measures taken to improve safety of Railway Track include usage of restressed concrete sleepers, 60 Kg, 90 or higher Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) Rails, Long Rail Panels of 260m⟋130m length, provision of Thick Web Switches (TWS) for all imp. routes & Track Management System.
  • It is decided to gradually phase out ICF Coaches & replace them by new design light weight modern technology Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) Coaches, introduce high capacity Centre Buffer Couplers (CBC) & Bogie Mounted Brake System (BMBS) .
  • Indian Railways is gradually moving towards automatic condition monitoring of Rolling Assets.
  • Railways are installing Wheel Impact Load Detectors WILD, Online Monitoring of Rolling Stock System (OMRS) & Centralized Bearing Monitoring System (CBMS) in phased manner.

Examrace Team at Aug 21, 2021