Travelling by train was never safer as chances of your facing an accident have considerably lowered. Railways have created a new record in the rate accidents, which has dipped to 0.23 accidents per million kilometre.
Speaking to FE, Railway board chairman Ramesh Chandra said, ?Indian Railways has now become one of the safest railway networks in the world.?
The drop in accident rates came despite a huge increase in traffic, he pointed out. The number of train accidents has come down from 464 in 2000-01 to 234 in 2005-06. In 2006-07, there were 195 accidents, the lowest since 1960?s. The drop in accident rates has also earned the railway ministry some brownie points with the Commission of Railway Safety, which has noted this in its latest report.
However, passenger train accidents remain a cause of concern and the ministry is planning to enhance safety measures in trains. High on its agenda for safety of passengers was to introduce anti collision devices (ACD) all over the country, Chandra said. The device helps prevent head-on collision of trains, and will be especially useful at unmanned railway crossings.
It is already being used in the North East and the railways plan to expand its use all over the country by 2013. Konkan railways had indigenously developed the ACD and, in fact, many other international railway companies had shown interest in using it, Chandra said. Railways have also designed crash-worthy coaches and tight lock couplers, through which it hopes to enhance its safety measures. All coaches in the future would be made according to the new design, a railway ministry official said.
The ministry had set up a railway safety fund and accumulated about Rs 17,000 crore in it. It had used about 60% of the funds in designing such measures, the official added.