Maligaon: Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) announced on Tuesday that it is improving safety aspects by replacing worn-out assets with upgraded ones. An allocation of Rs 336 crores has been set aside in the financial year 2023-24 from the Indian Railways’ Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) fund to support safety-related modernisation projects within the NFR.
Indian Railways’ dedicated safety fund RRSK, established during the fiscal year 2017-18 with a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore for five years, has achieved significant milestones in enhancing safety within the railway network. Until the financial year 2021-22, the RRSK initiatives have incurred a total expenditure of Rs 1.08 lakh crore.
According to an official statement from NFR, funds from RRSK have been utilised for the replacement, renewal, and upgradation of critical safety assets, resulting in improvement throughout the railway system. 6,427 stations now benefit from Electrical/Electronic Interlocking Systems, eliminating accidents caused by human error, as points and signals are centrally operated, the statement informed. Additionally, 11,093 level crossing gates have been interlocked, enhancing safety at these crossings, it stated.
To further improve track safety, 6,377 stations have been equipped with complete Track Circuiting. All locomotives have been equipped with Vigilance Control Devices (VCD) to ensure the alertness of Loco Pilots during train operations.
To address visibility challenges during foggy weather, retro-reflective sigma boards have been installed in electrified territories, warning the crew about signals ahead. A GPS-based Fog Safety Device (FSD) has also been introduced to mitigate risks during adverse weather conditions.
The adoption of modern track structures, including 60 kg, 90 Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) rails, and Prestressed Concrete Sleepers (PSC) during primary track renewals, has bolstered safety measures. Mechanised track laying activities using track machines like PQRS, TRT, and T-28 have significantly reduced human errors.
The Indian Railways has emphasised regular preventive maintenance of railway assets such as coaches and wagons across the country to ensure safe train operations and minimize accidents.
In a bid to improve passenger safety, the conventional ICF design coaches have been systematically replaced with safer LHB design coaches.
NFR has witnessed the replacement of 31 trains (52 rakes) with LHB coaches between 2014 and 2023, sources said.
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Fire safety measures have been a priority, with Power Cars, Pantry Cars, and AC coaches being equipped with suitable fire safety measures. Additionally, newly manufactured Power Cars and Pantry Cars have been upgraded with fire detection and suppression systems, while AC coaches are equipped with fire and smoke detection systems.
In its commitment to improve safety and prevent hazards, Indian Railways is implementing advanced safety technologies, including Wheel Impact Load Detectors (WILD), Hot Box Detectors (HBD), and the indigenous automatic train protection system ‘KAVACH’, stated the release.
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