Indian Railways reports no passenger deaths in 11 months, 2019-20 becomes safest year

Since its inception, the Indian Railways has registered the best ever safety record in the current financial year 2019-20. From April 2019 to February 2020, there has been no fatality of any railway passenger in any consequential railway accident, Indian Railways said in a press statement on Tuesday.

The zero passenger fatalities in the last 11 months is a result of continuous efforts by Indian Railways to improve safety performance in all respects.

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A written statement released by the Indian Railways stated the various measures undertaken for safety improvement. 

These include the vast renewal of railway tracks, effective maintenance of train tracks, strict checking of safety aspects, improved training of railway staff, improvements in signaling system, use of modern technology for safety works, switching over to modern and safer LHB coaches in phases from the conventional ICF coaches.

Additionally, the total elimination of Unmanned Level Crossings Gates on broad gauge has helped in curbing accidents, which has boosted the safety of train operations.

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Contribution of the RRSK to the Indian Railways

The remarkable record was achievable due to the inputs in the system in the form of Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) introduced in the year 2017-18. The RRSK provided a hefty sum of Rs 1 lakh crore to be spent in five years, adding to the annual expense of Rs 20,000 crore. This fund has helped in undertaking very critical safety measures and the results are evident in the record, the statement of the Indian Railways said.

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Railways earned Rs 9,000 Cr from ticket cancellation charges

The Indian Railways earned over Rs 9,000 crore from ticket cancellation charges and non-cancellation of wait-listed tickets between 2017 and 2020, the national transporter said in response to an RTI application on Tuesday, February 25.

The Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), in response to the RTI application filed by Kota-based activist Sujeet Swami, said that in the three-year period from January 1, 2017, to January 31, 2020, there were over nine-and-a-half crore passengers whose wait-listed tickets were not cancelled. Such passengers brought the Indian Railways revenue of over Rs 4,335 crore.

In the same period, the railways earned over Rs 4,684 crore from cancellation fees of confirmed tickets.

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(With inputs from ANI)