Rlys to eliminate manned level crossings in 4 years

New Delhi, Sep 9 (IANS) Focussing on safety of passengers, the Indian Railways is looking to eliminate all manned level crossings (MLCs) in the next four years, officials said on Monday.Speaking to reporters here, Railway Board Chairman V.K. Yadav said: "We are focussing on eliminating all the manned level crossings across the country in the coming years".He said 2,565 manned level crossings would be removed on the busiest routes (Golden Quadrilateral and Triangle) of the national transporter. He said, a draft Cabinet note circulated by the Indian Railways mentions the giant leap forward in rail safety.He said for eliminating the manned level crossing from its busiest routes, the railway has deviated from its normal policy and has asked the government for Rs 50,000 crore in the next four years. Emphasising the safety of passengers, the Chairman said the railways will no more manufacture the ICF (Integral Coach Factory) coaches and will go for more safer LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch) coaches. He said since April to August this year, 65 trains with the LHB coaches have been manufactured by the railway coach units. The Chairman also said that to provide real time position of the train, the railways will install all its locomotives with the Real Time Information System (RTIS) which has been developed along with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). "At this time we have around 530 locomotives with RTIS system, but by the ned of this financial year, all the train ill be connected through this system," he said. He also said that the punctuality of the trains have increased to 73 per cent. He said now the railways gets the real data due to the data loggers fitted at 362 terminating or originating stations of the train.
--IANS aks/rs