Improvement in Rail
safety is a continuous process and constant endeavour is made to improve the
same. Safety Audits/inspections are undertaken at regular intervals on all
railway infrastructures with a view to identify weak areas in asset
maintenance, safety procedure and systemic defects and to provide ways and
means to prevent accidents. Besides, periodical safety drives are launched
from time to time to indicate safety consciousness amongst staff and to
streamline safety aspects including maintenance of assets. As a result of
safety measures, Number of train accidents have been continuously decreasing
from 135 in 2014-15 to 107 in 2015-16 and down to 104 in 2016-17. During the current year i.e. 2017-18 (from 1st April
to 30th November 2017), a total of 49 consequential train accidents
took place over Indian Railways in comparison to the 85 accidents in the
corresponding period of the previous year, which is an improvement of 42
percent over last year. Apart from this following safety measures are
undertaken:-
Steps for improving Tracks:
Railway tracks are replaced through
track renewal works which is an ongoing process. Track renewal works are
undertaken as and when stretch of track becomes due for renewal on the basis of
criteria laid down in Indian Railway Permanent Way Manual on age cum condition
basis viz. traffic carried in terms of gross million tonnes & incidence of
rail fracture/failure, wear of rails, and maintainability of track as per
standards etc. In case any stretch of track is not renewed in time due to
various reasons including scarcity of funds, material etc. suitable speed
restrictions, if required, are imposed to ensure safe running of trains.
Additional funds are being provided through Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh
(RRSK) and Mega Traffic Blocks are being arranged for executing these works.
For the year 2017-18, 3600 km target has
been kept for track renewal.
Digital type of machines for
Ultrasonic Flaw Detection (USFD) testing of rails is being used which are
more reliable. This technology is being extensively used in Indian Railways to
detect flaws in rails and weld failures in advance and take remedial steps to
avert train accidents.
Electronic monitoring of track geometry
is carried out with Track Recording Cars (TRC) and Portable Oscillation
Monitoring Systems (OMS) to detect track
geometry defects for planning maintenance. Maintenance inputs are given to
track and bridges as per requirement noticed during manual inspections, TRC
& OMS runs and USFD testing to keep track in safe condition.
Steps for improving Signaling:
Electrical/Electronic Interlocking
System with centralized operation of points and signals are being
provided to eliminate human failure and to replace old mechanical systems.
These systems have been provided at 5661 stations upto 31.10.2017.
Complete Track Circuiting of
stations to enhance safety for verification of track occupancy by electrical
means instead of human element has been completed at about 5889 stations upto
31.10.2017.
Axle Counter for Automatic clearance of
Block Section (BPAC) to ensure complete
arrival of train before granting line clear and to reduce human element have
been provided on 4935 block sections upto 31.10.2017.
Interlocking of Level Crossing Gates to
protect Level Crossing Gate with signals to avoid accidents has been done at
10921 gates upto 31.10.2017.
Further Railways have been introducing
following new safety technology for smooth and safe running of trains:
Train Protection
& Warning System (TPWS) - Train
Protection & Warning System (TPWS) mitigates safety risk of
accidents/collisions due to loco pilot’s error of Signal Passing at Danger or
over speeding. It is a proven European train protection technology and deployed extensively on
World Railways.
Train Protection &
Warning System (TPWS) based on this proven
technology has been operationalized on 342 RKMs in following sections of Indian
Railways:
(a)
Chennai - Gummidipundi Suburban Section
of Southern Railway (50 RKMs).
(b)
Dum Dum – Kavi Subhash section of Metro
Railway, Kolkata (25 RKMs).
(c)
Hazrat Nizamuddin – Agra Section of
Northern/North Central Railway 200 RKMs).
(d)
Basin Bridge - Arrakkonam Section of
Southern Railway (67 RKMs).
Train Collision
Avoidance System (TCAS) - TCAS is a
developmental project being taken on a limited section of Lingamapalli –
Vikarabad – Wadi - Bidar section (250 km) on South Central Railway. Operational
deployment of TCAS on Railways on Absolute Block Signalling sections will be
taken-up after successful conclusion of the extended field trials and safety
certification of system by Independent Safety Assessor (ISA).
Extended field trials and
safety validation of system to Safety Integrity Level-4 (SIL-4) by an
Independent Safety Assessor (ISA) is in progress.
All Diesel locomotives
are turned out from maintenance sheds with proper checking and super checking
by Senior Supervisors and Officers. It is also ensured that all safety
devices and equipment are functioning properly on all locomotives.
Fog PASS devices are
provided to Crew working in fog affected areas.
It
is ensured that no Crew is overdue for PME, Safety training, Refresher course
and any other mandatory courses.
Preventive and predictive
maintenance of the Railway assets is being undertaken to ensure safe train
operation. Time to time special safety drives are undertaken involving
officers and supervisors.
Proliferation of LHB
coaches that have better safety features. It has been decided to completely
switch over to the manufacture of LHB coaches from 1st April 2018
onwards and stop the manufacture of ICF coaches. Around 3,000 LHB coaches shall
be manufactured every year from 1st April 2018 onwards as against
average of 1000 LHB coaches in last 5 yrs. It has also been planned to retrofit
around 32,000 existing ICF coaches having a life of upto 15 years and having
Screw Coupling with (Centre Buffer Coupler) CBC in the next 5 years.
UMLC
(unmanned level crossings): Topmost priority for
eliminating UMLC gates in a time bound manner up to December 2018 and
deployment of Gate Mitra for the interim period.
This
Press Release is based on the information given by the Minister of State for
Railways Shri Rajen Gohain in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on 15.12.2017
(Friday).
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AKS/MKV/DK