RAILWAY SAFETY

RECENT MEASURES TAKEN BY GOVT ON RAILWAY SAFETY
In order to have communication and to deal with the situation arising out of foggy weather, Walkie Talkie VHF sets have been provided to guards and drivers of trains. Additionally, decision has been taken to provide Closed User Group (CUG) mobile phones to guards and drivers. A dedicated Mobile Train Radio Communication (MTRC) is also being progressively provided on important busy routes to start with for providing communication in running trains for drivers, guards, station masters, controls etc. to enhance safety in train operations.

LED signals have been provided at about 3400 stations on Indian Railways to improve visibility of signals. Flashing LED Tail Lamps on last vehicle of trains are provided in foggy weather.

Recent incidents indicated that the accidents occurred in high traffic density Automatic Signaling Territories due to human errors. Train Protection System, as a technical aid to drivers, is proposed to be progressively provided, to begin with in automatic signaling territories to mitigate this problem.

A pilot project for development of fog vision instrumentation was taken up by Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO) Lucknow in association with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur under Technology Mission for Railway Safety (TMRS). Under this project, several experiments in the laboratory were carried out at IIT, Kanpur with technologies employing radar, thermal imager & CO2 laser in ‘Fog Chamber’. Project was closed due to its not being successful. Experiments have been conducted on Electric, Diesel locomotives and EMUs on Northern Railway for instance to the drivers but none of these have proven to be foolproof.

SECURITY FOR PASSENGERS
To provide better security to the traveling passengers, Indian Railways has taken various measures for enhancing the security of passengers. On an average, 1275 trains are escorted by Railway Protection Force (RPF) daily, in addition to escorting of about 2200 trains by Government Railway Police (GRP). Integrated Security scheme consisting of CCTV Surveillance system, access control system, personal and baggage screening system and bomb detection and disposal system has been finalized and the same is under implementation at 202 sensitive stations. Dog squads in Divisions and Zones are being augmented. Commando Training is being imparted to selected RPF staff. Steps have been taken to enhance the quality and content of the training of RPF. Under modernization scheme security gadgets are being procured and the weaponry is being upgraded for enhancing the striking capability of RPF. Regular coordination meetings are held with GRP and State Police at all levels to ensure proper registration and investigation of crime.

The number of crimes including theft of passengers’ belongings reported in running trains was, 7860 in the year 2007, 7946 in 2008, 8739 in 2009 and 146 in the month of January 2010.

Augmentation of strength and filling up of vacancies is a continuous exercise. The total existing strength of RPF is 69303. Additional strength of 973 has been created for which recruitment is completed. In addition, steps have been taken to fill up existing vacancies.