New Delhi: The Railways today annoucned a number of safety measures too keep a watch on tracks and surroundings of trains on their route in the wake of rising number of incidents in which attempts were made to derail trains.
The decision has been made to improve passenger safety. Cameras will be installed at the front, rear, and sides of the engine, as well as in the guard coach of the trains. Additionally, cameras will be placed on cattle guards and bogies, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.
Following are the safety measures to be implemented on trains:
- A total of 8 cameras to installed on a train — at the front and sides of engines, and on coaches. One camera will also be put in the guward room.
- These cameras will help monitor the tracks and its surroundings on a train’s route and will helo in thwarting any sabotage attempts by miscreants.
- The installation process of cameras will begin in three months and be fully implemented in one year. The project is expected to cost around Rs 1,200 crore.
- The Railways has has spoken to chief secretaries and DGPs of all states about objects being placed on railway tracks and urged them to take action and avoid such incident in future.
- A tender for the installation of cameras will be issued within three months, Vaishnaw said, noting that all trains will be included in the project.
- In addition to the cameras, a central data center will be established to store and manage all the footage captured by these cameras.
The decision comes following a series of incidents where attempts were made to derail trains in three states across the country in a span of three days. Two such incidents took place on Sunday night in Rajasthan Ajmer and Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur.
In Kanpur, the Kalindi Express train came to a screeching halt after the engine hit an LPG cylinder kept on the tracks. Other dangerous substances such as a petrol bottle, a bag filled with gunpowder and matchsticks was also found near the incident site. Authorities believe it was planned conspiracy by miscreants to derail the train.
On the same day, a goods train also suffered damages to the engine after it hit large concrete blocks kept on tracks in Ajmer. A similar incident came to light from Maharashtra’s Solapur having taken place last week.
