Railway accidents decreased from 85 in 2016 to 49 this year: Govt

The number of train accidents in which there were casualties has decreased from 85 in 2016-2017 to 49 in the first eight months of the current financial year, the government said on Wednesday.

Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain said in Lok Sabha that out of the 49 such accidents, 30 accidents were caused due to the failure of the railway staff and 12 due to failure on the part of others.

Other accidents occurred due to incidental factors or as a result of a combination of factors while inquiry report was awaited in one case.

"Out of the 30 accidents in which railway staff was found responsible, disciplinary action has been initiated against 76 railway employees," the minister said.

In an answer to another query on rail accidents, Gohain said that the unmanned level crossings led to 16.33 per cent accidents which led to deaths between April 1-November 30.

The minister also said that the national transporter was developing a suitable and viable vandal proof advance warning system, which is radio frequency identification based, to pre-warn road users against approaching trains at unmanned level crossings.

This technology, Gohain said is now under trial at 10 unmanned crossing gates to check the efficiency of the system.