After UP accident, Railways says will remove unmanned-crossings in 2-years.
Hours after 13 children were killed in UP after their vehicle was hit by a train, the Railways has said that it plans to “completely eliminate” unmanned level crossings by March 31, 2020.
“In unmanned rail crossings, the responsibility is of road users. But because it happens on our premises, we are concerned about it,” said Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani.
Unmanned crossings on high-speed and suburban corridors to go first.
Elaborating on the department’s plans, Lohani said unmanned crossings on high-speed and suburban corridors will go by June’18.
“We have eliminated 1,565 rail crossings in 2017-18 while this year the target is to eliminate 1,500 more.”
“After March 31, 2020, about 400 crossings where one or two trains pass in a day will be left which we will cover later,” he added.
Railways takes ISRO help in the mission
a Manned railway crossing . Credits : Pixabay
To check accidents at unmanned crossings, ISRO has installed its ICs on five engines and hooters at such crossings.
The hooter, linked to NaVIC, will be activated as soon as an IC reaches within 500m-4km of it. It will keep getting louder as the train nears, thus warning people on road.
If the project is successful, it will be implemented across the country.
Not all crossings will be removed, some will be modified.
Accidents at Railway crossings
Among crossings on broad gauge, “40% will be converted into manned crossings, while at other places, road over-bridge or under-bridge will be constructed,” Lohani said.
“At 2,514 crossings, ‘gate mitras’ have been deployed in single-shifts while at 1,869 locations, they have been deployed in double-shifts,” Lohani added.
‘Gate mitras’ are local residents who are posted at unmanned crossings to warn people about approaching trains.
Accidents at unmanned level crossings decreasing yearly.So do you like to read such articles , consider liking our page on Facebook here , following us on Twitter here ,or if you love some visual treatment , we make some high quality videos on YouTube as well which you can view here . have a great day :). Visit our homepage HERE for the LATEST SCIENCE NEWS.
