Also corrosion resistant and lighter wagons with capability to carry extra pay-load and higher speed potential up to 100 kmph have been developed; and xi. Railways have been promoting sports since 1928. In the year 2012-13, we recruited about 500 sports persons. I take pride in stating that Railways’ sportspersons have a dominating presence in the national teams in various disciplines and won titles in 23 disciplines and were runners up in 9 disciplines in various national events. Our sportspersons have also represented the country in various International Championships and won a total of 2 Gold, 4 Silver and 3 Bronze Medals.
8. Madam, Indian Railways had formulated Policy Unigauge in the year 1992 to convert selected Metre/Narrow Gauge routes to...
more... Broad Gauge to avoid transhipment, improve rolling stock utilisation, achieve higher throughput and to foster development in various parts of the country. I am happy to report that a total of 19,214 km of non-Broad Gauge lines have been converted to Broad Gauge. People in several States including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Tamil Nadu have been the major beneficiaries.
9. Madam, this august House has in the past expressed deep concern over some unfortunate accidents and I painfully acknowledge my anguish and grief at the loss of lives. However, I must assure the House that safety is never compromised on the system and several measures have been and are being taken for its further strengthening. Some of these are :
i. Manning or elimination of all unmanned level crossings and provision of ROBs/RUBs in lieu of manned level crossings with heavy traffic density in a time bound manner is a commitment of Railways. Towards this end, a total of 5,400 unmanned level crossings were eliminated – 2,310 by manning and 3,090 by closure / merger / construction of ROBs/RUBs during the last five years;
ii. Planning for induction of indigenously developed Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) over Indian Railways after successfully completing field trials;
iii. Provision of improved safety systems with audio visual warning to road users in advance of approaching trains;
iv. Development of ‘crashworthy’ structural design capable of absorbing high impact loads in unfortunate case of collision/accidents;
v. Offering employment to over 1 lakh persons against existing vacancies in Group C categories in the last five years, and to 1.6 lakh persons in erstwhile Group D categories; vi. Provision of Vigilance Control Device (VCD) in all electric and diesel locomotives to monitor and judge the alertness of driver to ensure safety of the train; vii. A few unfortunate accidents involving fire in trains have occurred in the recent past, leading to loss of precious lives. Even though some of these incidents were caused due to inadvertent acts of negligence on the part of passengers, Railways have initiated action to ensure that such incidents are averted at all costs and loss of lives eliminated. A Comprehensive Fire and Smoke Detection System is on trial on two rakes of Rajdhani Express trains. Based on the success of these trials, this will be extended to all major passenger trains; and
viii. Besides, various measures undertaken to prevent fire incidents on trains are as under:
