Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw today said that train accidents have declined sharply with improved rail safety, infrastructure maintenance and use of modern technologies. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha today, Mr Vaishnaw said the number of consequential train accidents has reduced from 135 in 2014-15 to just two accidents in this financial year so far. He said that the expenditure on safety-related activities has increased from around 39 thousand crore rupees in 2013-14 to over one lakh 20 thousand crore rupees in 2026-27.
Mr Vaishnaw said that all locomotives are equipped with Vigilance Control Devices to improve the alertness of Loco Pilots. In a major step towards strengthening railway safety through indigenous technology, Mr Vaishnaw said Kavach 4.0 has been successfully commissioned on around two thousand 500 route kilometres covering high-density Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah Routes.
