Indian Railways Move to Prevent Accidents
The new Minister of the Indian Railways announced that safety will be his top priority as he presented his budget for the next fiscal year. Dinesh Trivedi assumed the position of Minister of Railways last year following a rail disaster in Uttar Pradesh. That accident left at least 69 people dead and 250 injured after a dozen cars of the Kalka Mail passenger train left the rails.
"My focus will be safety, safety, safety, safety," said Trivedi.
The Indian Railways controls the third largest railroad network in the world, with 12,000 passenger trains and 7,000 freight trains operating daily. They carry more than 23 million passengers and 2.8 million tons of freight every day.
In his speech Trivedi emphasized that he was not satisfied with the current safety standards, stating that he would increase safety measures by raising fares and enacting plans such as eliminating all unmanned crossings in the next five years.
Trivedi also proposed setting up an independent railway safety authority, which had been suggested by Anil Kakodkar, the former chairmen of the Atomic Energy Commission. Trivedi said he hopes that Indian Railways safety standards will be comparable to that of European railroads in the future.
Source: The Economic Times
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