RailEnquiry

LUCKNOW: The railway budget to be presented by Union railway minister Pawan Bansal in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday is first by any Congressman in almost 17 years. Hopes in UP, which is being viewed as "politically crucial" by Rahul Gandhi for his Mission 2014 to retain power at the Centre, run high.While the need for overall improvement is pressing, the call for safety is crucial and urgent as UP has the highest number of unmanned crossing in the country, leading to several accidents every year that cause a heavy loss of life and property.The concern needs to be addressed immediately as UP has 2,808 manned railway crossings and 2,606 unmanned railway crossings, the highest in the country. There are indications that a plan is underway to make these unmanned crossings safe.A roadmap prepared for this purpose envisages elimination of level crossings. They are proposed to be replaced either by road under-bridges or over-bridges. Eleven crossings would be closed down permanently by diverting traffic on those roads.

The break-up of the figure is: under-bridges at 538 places, over-bridges at 320 sites, while the decision about the rest has so far been kept pending.

According to the latest plan, a standard modular design for all the road over-bridges and under-bridges is being contemplated, with the work to be executed by a single agency. However, the plan formulated so far seems to be inadequate, as the number of unmanned crossings in UP is the highest in the country.

Nationwide figures put the total number of level crossings at about 32,649 on about 65,000- km-long railway tracks. Of these, 14,853 are unmanned, where accidents occur primarily due to inadequate precautions by road users like failing to observe mandatory sign boards, signals and basic traffic safety rules, etc. Reports of trucks, tractor trolleys or even buses and school vans getting hit by a passing trains are common.

However, against the magnitude of the problem, sources in the railways confide that the plan prepared for this purpose is earmarked to eliminate 902 level crossings at an estimated cost of Rs 15,000 crore. The task would be accomplished on cost sharing basis with nine states -- Gujarat, Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal. The plan is likely to be part of the Rail Budget 2013-14. The railways, it is said, is also exploring the possibility of signing agreements with the state governments concerned in this regard. But then this depends much on the willingness of the concerned states to become a signatory to the railways plan of action.