Lok Sabha Question No. 579 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-02-06
Subject: R-upgradation of Safety Norms
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: UDAY PRATAP SINGH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 579 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.02.2019

## R-UPGRADATION OF SAFETY NORMS

+579.  SHRI UDAY PRATAP SINGH:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the special steps taken by the Government to upgrade the various safety norms of Indian Railways during the last three years; (b) whether the Government has set any mechanism or taken any steps to  ensure passenger safety and to check the recurrence of accidents
- keeping in view the accidents occurred in the past years; and

(c) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

(a) to (c):  A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. ***

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (c)  OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 579 BY SHRI UDAY PRATAP SINGH TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 06.02.2019 REGARDING RUPGRADATION OF SAFETY NORMS

(a) to (c) : Safety is accorded the highest priority by Indian Railways and all  possible  steps  are  undertaken  on  a  continual  basis  to  prevent accidents and to enhance safety of passengers. Following steps/measures    have  been  taken  to  prevent  accidents  in  the  past years:-

1. To prevent accidents due to human error, all electric locomotives are  equipped  with  Vigilance  Control  Device  (VCD)  to  ensure alertness of Loco Pilots.
2. Simulator  based  training  for  improving  the  driving  skills  and  the reaction time of Loco Pilots.
3. Special  drives  to  check  the  alertness  of  Loco  Pilots  and  other safety parameters.
4. Retro-reflective  sigma  boards  on  the  mast  which  is  located  two OHE masts prior to the signals in electrified territories to warn the crew  about  signal  ahead  when  visibility  is  low  due  to  foggy weather.
5. Provision  of  GPS  based  Fog  Pass  device    to  loco  pilots  in  fog affected  areas  which  enables  loco  pilots  to  know  the  exact distance of the approaching landmarks like signals, level crossing gates etc.
6. Indian Railways has already adopted the technological upgradation in safety aspects of coaches and wagons by way of introducing  Modified  Centre  Buffer  couplers,  Bogie  Mounted  Air Brake System (BMBS), improved suspension design and provision of Automatic fire & smoke detection system in coaches.

- 7.
- Use of Long Rail panels  on track to minimize welded joints.
- Ultrasonic Flaw Detection (USFD) testing of rails to detect flaws
8. and timely removal of defective rails.
9. Procurement of Thick Web Switches and Weldable CMS Crossing for use on track.
- 10.
- Mechanization of track maintenance  to reduce human errors.
11. Security  Helpline  182  has  been  provided  to  help  passengers especially women passengers travelling the train passengers can contact the concerned Security Control to register any complaint.
12. Emergency  phones  have  been  provided  along  railway  track  at  a span  of  one  Km.  each  for  emergency  communication  by  Driver with Railway control, in case of any emergency.
13. Provision of Electrical/Electronic Interlocking System with centralized  operation  of  points  and  signals  to  eliminate  human failure  and  to  replace  old  mechanical  systems.  These  systems have been provided at 5866 stations upto 31.12.2018.
14. Track  Circuiting  of  stations  to  enhance  safety  for  verification  of track  occupancy  by  electrical  means  instead  of  human  element has been completed at about 6046 stations upto 31.12.2018.
15. Axle Counter for Automatic clearance of Block Section (BPAC) to ensure  complete  arrival  of  train  without  manual  intervention before granting line clear to the next train and to reduce human element  have  been  provided  on  5318    block sections upto 31.12.2018.

- Interlocking of Level Crossing (LC) Gates to protect L.C Gate with signals  to  avoid  accidents  has  been  done  at  11245    gates  upto
16. 31.12.2018.
17. Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS) based on European Technology  ETCS  Level-1,  a  proven  Automatic  Train  Protection (ATP)  System  to  avoid  train  accident/collision  on  account  of human error of Signal Passing at Danger (SPAD) or over speeding, has  been  provided  on  Noapara-Kavi  Subhash  section  of  Kolkata Metro (28 RKMs), Chennai-Gumidipundi suburban section of Southern Railway (50 RKMs), Basin Bridge  - Arrakkonam section of  Southern  Railway  (67  RKMs)  and  Hazrat  Nizamuddin-Agra section of Northern/North Central Railway (200 RKMs)
18. Auxiliary  Warning  System  (AWS)  is  presently  functional  on  413 RKMs  in  the  Mumbai  suburban  section  of  Central  Railway  (289 RKMs) and Western Railway (124 RKMs)
19. Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS): It is an Automatic Train Protection  (ATP)  System  being  developed  in  association  with  3 Indian manufacturers. The system has been installed on Lingampalli-Vikarabad-Wadi,  Vikarabad-Bidar  section  (250  RKMs) on South Central Railway.

***