Lok Sabha Question No. 4084 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-12-23
Subject: Reduction in Frequency of Trains
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: SUPRIYA SADANAND SULE, DHANANJAY BHIMRAO MAHADIK, HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT, RAJEEV SHANKARRAO SATAV, JAYAKUMAR JAYAVARDHAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4084 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.12.2015

## REDUCTION IN  FREQUENCY OF TRAINS

## 4084.  SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE:

SHRI DHANANJAY MAHADIK:

DR. HEENA VIJAY KUMAR GAVIT:

SHRI SATAV RAJEEV:

DR. J. JAYAVARDHAN:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether the Government has decided to reduce the frequency of more than 450 trains  including  Rajdhani  and  Duronto  express  during  the  January-February  period next year due to foggy weather which is expected to hit North India and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the estimated loss that Railways will suffer on account of this move;
- (c) the number of reserved and unreserved passengers to be affected due to reduced frequency and the steps taken by the Government in this regard; and
- (d) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to gear up for foggy conditions during the winter?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

( SHRI MANOJ SINHA )

- (a)  Fog  severely  reduces  mobility  of  trains  owing  to  reduced  visibility  and  safety protocol  (speed  restriction)  put  in  place.  This  reduces  the  capacity  of  already saturated rail corridors running through fog affected areas. Abnormal late running of trains  result  into  unmanageable  rake  imbalances,  heavy  crew  shortage  due  to increased working hours of drivers and guards and complete disorientation of time table,  train  berthing  plans,  maintenance  slot  at  washing  line  complexes  catering difficulties etc. due to late arrival of trains during fog.

To  handle  the  above  situation,  Railways  have  resorted  to  cancellation  and reduction of frequency of trains during foggy season from 08.01.2016 to 29.02.2016.

Frequency  of  the  470  Mail/Express  trains  (235  pairs)  including  Rajdhani  and Duronto express traversing through dense fog affected area have been reduced by 1 to  2  trips  in  a  week  and  frequency  of  12  (6  pairs)  Mail/Express  trains  have  been reduced by 3 trips in a week   from 08.01.2016 to 29.02.2016. (b)  Train  wise  figures  of  profitability,  earnings  and  expenditure  are  not  separately maintained.  Therefore,  estimated  loss  that  Railways  will  suffer  on  account  of reduction in frequency of trains are not available. (c) It is not feasible to accurately assess the total number of passengers likely to be affected  due  to  reduced  frequency  of  trains  as  all  the  services  have  not  been cancelled and it is possible for the passengers to travel by alternate trains/services. (d) Steps taken by Indian Railways to gear up for foggy condition during winter are as under: (i) To enhance the level of safety during fog in Automatic Block Signaling territories, Modified  Automatic  Signaling  has  been  introduced  which  restricts  the  number  of trains to two between two stations. (ii) Reduce the speed of trains. (iii) Deputing additional staff to alert the loco Pilot through placement of detonators before the First Stop signal. (iv) Improving the visibility of signals. (v) Loco Pilot to take precautions, be vigilant and alert and to observe Special Rules and instructions regarding speed limit under foggy conditions. Technology  options  are  being  pursued  by  Indian  Railways  for  prevention  of accidents during conditions of poor visibility by installing notably Fog Safe Device, which is a Global Positioning System (GPS) based device installed to assist the Loco Pilot during poor visibility condition. Currently, a total of 1381 Fog Safe Devices are under  trial  on  Northern,  North  Eastern  and  North  Western  Railways  in  fog  prone areas.  In  addition,  Train  Collision  Avoidance  System  (TCAS),  Train  Protection  and

Warning System (TPWS) are also under various stages of trial.

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