Death on rail tracks can’t be tolerated: Trivedi

Making as many as 41 references to safety in his budget speech, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi Wednesday said he would endeavour to eliminate deaths on the world’s third largest rail network.

“Death on rail tracks just can never be tolerated and it is not acceptable,” Trivedi told the Lok Sabha while presenting the budget for the next fiscal in the Lok Sabha.

“I am not at all satisfied with the safety standards at the present moment. The commitment made in 2001 to reduce accidents per million train km from 0.55 to 0.17 has been achieved. However, our target should be zero death,” he added.

As per the recommendations of a committee headed by Anil Kakodkar on improving the safety aspects, the minister said an independent Railway Safety Authority would be set up as a statutory regulatory body.

The Kakodkar committee had estimated that implementations of its recommendations would require an outlay of Rs.100,000 crore in the next five years.

Trivdei has increased the annual plan outlay for 2012-13 to Rs.60,100 crore — the highest ever plan investment.

Also being created is a Railway Research and Development Council to develop solutions and bridge the gap in the massive network.

The Indian Railways is spread over some 64,000 km, with 12,000 passenger and 7,000 freight trains each day. It has 7,083 stations and ferries 23 million people and 2.65 million tonnes of goods daily.