Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday told the Lok Sabha that the Indian Railways will have safety fencing at vulnerable locations for Vande Bharat trains to run at a speed between 110 kmph and 130 kmph.
BJP MP Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi had inquired about “the manner in which the safety of railway tracks is being ensured in view of the high speed of Vande Bharat trains”. In a written response, Vaishnaw said that safety is of “highest priority” for Indian Railways. He added that the Railways has a set system in place for inspection, maintenance and repair of tracks. He even provided a list of steps such as modern track structure, patrolling of railway tracks, ultrasonic flaw detection testing of rails to detect flaws and mechanisation of track maintenance among others.
“Safety fencing has been stipulated at vulnerable locations for speed above 110 kmph to 130 kmph and all along the track for speed above 130 kmph, as a minimum standard,” he said.
Obstruction on Vande Bharat tracks
In his query, Lodhi had also asked about anti-social elements reportedly obstructing railway tracks on which Vande Bharat trains run.
Replying to this, Vaishnaw said that from January to November this year, four incidents of obstruction were reported where an obstrction was caused by putting foreign elements on railway tracks by “anti-social elements” on the tracks of Vande Bharat trains. He added that action was taken against the arrested people in these cases. The Railway Protection Force (RPF) takes several initiatives to ensure safe train operations in coordination with GRP/district police and civil administration, he further said.
In response to another question, the minister said, “Introduction of new train services and provision of stoppage of existing train services, including Vande Bharat services, are ongoing processes…subject to traffic justification, operational feasibility, resource availability, etc.”
(With PTI inputs)