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INDIAN
RAILWAYS ANNOUNCES 10 YEARS CORPORATE SAFETY PLAN
(2003-2013)
New Delhi, Sravana 28, 1925
August 19, 2003
In
his foreword to the Corporate Plan, the Minister said a
technology mission on rail safety would be set up in
collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology,
Ministry of Human Resource Development, IIT, Kanpur and a
consortium of industries for developing technology for achieving
higher level of safety in train operations.
In the Corporate Plan, Rs.31,835 crores have been envisaged for
safety enhancement which include funds already available under
the non-lapsable Special Railway Safety Fund (SRSF) and the
Railway Safety Fund (RSF). The Plan also envisages stepping up
non-budgetary initiatives to meet additional requirements for
money. A special safety scheme may also be resorted to with
assistance of the Planning Commission and the Ministry of
Finance.
The need for the Corporate Plan, the Minister said, has been
felt for quite some time so as to have a safety blue-print based
on technological inputs, work culture, managerial focus and
required investments. The Corporate Plan has been prepared as
recommended by the Khanna Railway Safety Review Committee.
While presenting the White Paper on safety on Indian Railways in
April this year to Parliament, Shri Nitish Kumar had offered to
review the safety performance of the railways in terms of
accidents occurred during the last 40 years with special
reference to the last decade.
The foreword to the Corporate Plan says investment policy and
norms for the Indian Railways are being refocused. Creation of
SRSF was the first bold step. To give more and more safety
shelter, it is necessary to reorient investment policies and
sustain the system by not permitting accumulation of areas of
replacement at any stage. Further, safety-related projects have
to be clearly defined, planned, funded and executed, the
Minister added.
Following are the highlights of the Corporate Plan:
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Collisions
constitute 7% of total accidents but account for 38% of
total fatalities. Collisions will be totally eliminated by
extensive use of Anti-Collision Device (ACD).
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Derailments
constitute 75% of total accidents but account for only 14%
of total fatalities.
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Derailments will
be reduced by 60% by following measures.
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Replacement of
overaged tracks, bridges, S&T gears and rolling stock under
SRSF and current arisings under DRF.
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Elimination of
four-wheeler tank wagons, which are accident - prone.
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Reduction of
thermit welded joints which are weak areas.
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Improved training facilities
– enhancement of human skills.
Rail/weld failures cannot be
totally eliminated due to inherent weak nature of thermit
weld and inherent infirmities in rail, although measures
like “Continuous Track Circuiting” and use of
‘State-of-the-art SPURT Cars’ for rail flaw detection are
going to be adopted.Fire accidents constitute 2% of total
accidents and account for 2% of total fatalities. Fire
accidents and consequent fatalities will be reduced by 80%
by adoption of fireproof coaches and fire retardant material
in the existing coaches. Fire accidents cannot be totally
eliminated as some of them occur because of unidentified
elements on which Railways have little control.Level
Crossing Accidents constitute 16% of total accidents but
account for 46% of total fatalities. These fatalities
comprise of road users on which Railways have little
control. There has been a rising trend in level crossing
accidents in the last decade (+23%), which will, at least,
be arrested by following measures.
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Social awareness programmes.
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Construction of ROBs/RUBs at level crossings with TVUs > 1
Lakh.
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Manning of
unmanned level crossings.
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Provision
of phones and interlocking of level crossing gates.
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Use of
Train Actuated Warning Device (TAWD) and Anti Collision
Device (ACD).
-
Overall
consequential train accidents per million train kilometers
will be reduced from 0.44 in 2002-03 to 0.17 in 2012-13.
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Fatalities
in case of serious accidents will be appreciably reduced by
use of Crash worthy Coaches and tight lock couplers with
anti-climbing features.
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Bridges
–Following measures are being adopted:
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Under Water Inspection;
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Integrity testing of foundations;
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Non-destructive testing techniques
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Bridge
Management System
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Fatigue life and residual life assessment techniques
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Replacement/rehabilitation of identified overaged and
distressed bridges.
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Filling up of all Safety
Category posts on urgency basis.
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Safety
Related Retirement Scheme (SRRS) for gangmen/drivers in age
group of 50 to 57 years.
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Disaster
Management measures for ensuring quick relief and rescue
operation Funds requirement for safety enhancement works,
including SRSF, outlined in the Corporate Safety Plan Rs. 31, 835 crores
.
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http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/
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