LUCKNOW: Railway minister
Piyush Goyal had in September last year said that all unmanned level crossings (ULCs) will be phased out within a year. The minister said the removal of ULCs will reduce accidents by about 30%. But it was easier said than done for railways.
UP still has about 1,000 ULCs. Railway board chairman Ashwani Lohani on Thursday said that railways aims to eliminate all ULCs by March 2020.
The
North Eastern Railway (NER) where the accident took place on Thursday has the highest number of ULCs, 633. Not only this, the Thursday accident took place in Varanasi division of NER, which has the highest ULCs in the state, about 315. Sources said the division aims to phase out 100 ULCs this year.
The
Bhadohi accident involving a school van in 2016 in which seven schoolchildren were killed and the Mau accident that took place in 2014 killing six schoolchildren had both taken place in Varanasi division.
According to railway board chairman, at least 109 accidents have taken place at ULCs in the country since 2014-15. Zonal railways, on the other hand, said that fund crunch and opposition by locals has been hampering the process of removing all ULCs. “Where we can not instantly close down a crossing, we have deputed ‘Gate Mitras’ who educate people on safe movement through ULCs,” said CPRO, ECR,
Rajesh Kumar. A level crossing is where a rail track and the road or two railway lines cross at the same level. It could be manned or unmanned.
“We will close down all 79 ULCs by September this year,” said public relations officer, North Central Railway, Amit Malviya.
North Central Railway (NCR) has closed down 75 ULCs against the target of 73 out of 154 ULCs in 2017-18.
Railway minister Piyush Goyal (File Photo)