Kushinagar accident

One cannot forget what Piyush Goyal said in Kolkata in September 2017, soon after he was appointed the new Railway Minister. He said the removal of nearly 5,000 unmanned level crossings would reduce the total number of rail accidents by up to 35%, a goal that would be achieved in a year. Our priorities have to be redefined in the context of such serious and avoidable accidents (“13 children die as train rams school van”, April 27). Bullet train projects that cost several crores can wait.

V. Rama Rao,

Chennai

The priority now should be to construct road overbridges, underbridges, diversion roads and subways at such crossings and the Union Railway Minister should set senior officials in each Railway division a deadline of a year to achieve this. Posting of railway personnel and having a siren facility should be thought of at all unmanned crossings. As for the alleged fault of the van driver who is believed to have been using his mobile phone while driving, it is a lesson for all.

K.M.K. Murthy,

Secunderabad

The words of the schoolchild who survived the terrible accident will ring in our ears: “We kept shouting urging uncle [driver] to stop, but he did not do so as he was busy on phone and unable to hear us.” (“‘Driver was busy on phone’,” April 27). The Indian Railways must come up with a sustained campaign for railway staff, passengers and road users to highlight the dangers of mobile phone use at crucial moments.

Vasantha Srinivasan,

Hyderabad

‘Safety first’ is the last concern of Indian road users who think they are like the proverbial cat with nine lives. In order to minimise accidents, it should be made mandatory to have rumble strips or speed bumps on either side of such crossings. Powerful blink lights and loud hooters that can be activated just before a train crosses should be thought of. Perhaps our numerous engineering colleges and technical institutes can think of such projects.

D.B.N. Murthy,

Bengaluru