Unmanned railway crossings eliminated : President

The Railways has eliminated almost all unmanned railway crossings and this will help to reduce the accidents at level crossings, said President Ram Nath Kovind said on Thursday.

Addressing the joint sitting of Parliament at the start of the Budget Session, he said, “Tragic accidents at unmanned railway crossings have for years been a subject of discussion in our country. This subject has also been raised many times in the Parliament. In 2014, unmanned crossings in the country numbered 8,300. My Government undertook a mission to eliminate unmanned railway crossings, which have now almost been done away with.”

He said almost all the railway lines of the North-East have been converted to broadgauge. Efforts are underway to provide rail connectivity to the capital cities of all the 8 States. For this, the work on 15 new rail lines is under progress at a cost of approximately Rs.50,000 crores.

Be it the country’s fastest train, the highest bridge, the longest sea-link, the longest tunnel, construction of highways at double the speed or gauge conversion of railway tracks, modern facelift of railway stations or metro projects in cities, air connectivity among small towns or construction of a new waterway, the government developing modern infrastructure in all these areas. Even the government is moving forward on the electric mobility front, he said.