Lok Sabha Question No. 2133 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-08-03
Subject: Railway Safety
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: DEVJI MANSINGRAM PATEL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2133 TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.08.2015

## RAILWAY SAFETY

†2133.  SHRI DEVJI M.PATEL:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Railways  are  aware  of  various  safety  lapses  in railways;
- (b)  if so, the details of the roadmap to plugging these loopholes;
- (c)  whether  there  is  lack  of  co-ordination  between  the  Railway Safety Commission and the Railways;
- (d)  if so, the efforts taken/being taken to make better co-ordination between them;
- (e) whether the Railways propose to install anti-collision devices in trains; and
- (f)   if so, the time by which these are likely to be installed?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

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

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (f)  OF UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  2133  BY  SHRI  DEVJI  M.  PATEL  TO  BE ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  03.08.2015  REGARDING  RAILWAY SAFETY

(a) & (b): 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.  These include timely replacement of over-aged assets, adoption of suitable technologies for upgradation and maintenance of track, rolling stock, signalling and interlocking systems, safety drives, greater emphasis on training of officials and inspections at regular intervals to monitor and educate staff for observance of safe practices.  Safety  devices/systems  being  used  to  prevent  accidents include  complete  track  circuiting,  provision  of  Block  Proving  Axle Counters (BPAC), Auxiliary Warning System (AWS), LED Signals, Vigilance  Control  Device  (VCD),  usage  of  60kg  rails  and  Pre-stressed Concrete Sleepers, long rail panels, better welding technology, progressively  increased  use  of  Linke  Hofmann  Busch  (LHB)  Coaches, Centre Buffer Couplers with Integral Coach Factory (ICF) Coaches, etc.

(c)  &  (d):    There  is  no  lack  of  coordination  between  Commission  of Railway Safety and Railways. Meetings are convened  between Commission of Railway Safety and Railways for better coordination.

(e)  &  (f):    Anti-Collision  Device  (ACD)  developed  by  Konkan  Railway Corporation  Limited  (KRCL)  has  been  provided  as  a  pilot  project  on

1736 Route kilometers on Katihar-Kumedpur-New Jalpaiguri-GuwahatiLumding-Tinsukia-Dibrugarh-Ledo and Kumedpur-Malda sections of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR). Technical and operational problems have  been  experienced  in  the  functioning  of  ACD  on  NFR.    Major problem is of unwarranted brakings which has adverse impact on train running. Research and Design (R&D) and Engineering efforts in resolving these technical and operational problems have been undertaken  since  its  deployment  on  NFR.    KRCL  developed  improved version  1.1.2  of  ACD  which  was  validated  by  Electronic  Test  & Development Centre (ETDC), Chennai and the same has been implemented on all Divisions of NFR.  However, unwarranted brakings still continue to exist.

Also, a large  number  of  complex  operational  and  technical problems  were  experienced  during  the  trials  on  Southern  Railway which could not be fully resolved by KRCL due to design limitations of ACD and further development of ACD version 2.0 has been put on hold by  KRCL  and  therefore,  further  proliferation  of  ACD  on  other  Zonal Railways  is  not  contemplated.  In  view  of  this,  a  pilot  project  for indigenous  development  of  Train  Collision  Avoidance  System  (TCAS) has  been  taken  up  by  Research  Design  and  Standards  Organization (RDSO).

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