Safety: Railways better under Mamata

It may come as a surprise to many, but Indian Railways under Mamata Banerjee has witnessed a marked improvement in its safety performance than what was recorded during the tenure of her predecessor, Lalu Prasad.

In the April-January period in 2009-10, railways reported 120 train accidents, 20 per cent less than the 148 mishaps recorded during the same time last financial year when Prasad was the railway minister.

"We are making efforts to improve the running of trains under low-visibility conditions. Measures have been put in place to enhance the safety parameters. There has been four accidents this month (January) as compared to 14 last January. Number of casualties, too, has shown a decline," a senior official at the ministry said.

Data from the ministry show that between April 1 and November 10 last year, 278 (123 killed and 155 injured) casualties have been reported in rail accidents, against the 652 (209 killed and 443 injured) recorded in the whole of 2008-09.

The railways have come under a lot of flak recently for accidents resulting from collisions under foggy conditions. A near zero-visibility condition on January 16 had led to a collision between the Kalindi Express and the Shram Shakti Express near Agra, killing three people and injuring 14.

"To prevent accidents, the railways have issued a directive to drivers to run at a speed of less than eight km a hour at level crossings. Trains are getting delayed, but safety is of prime importance," said another railway official.

The railways also reported operational losses worth Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million) since the first week of January as nearly 40 trains were getting cancelled daily due to foggy conditions.