New Delhi: The railways has stepped up track patrolling after the Sabarmati Express derailed near Kanpur after hitting pieces of rail tracks lying on the tracks. But experts say night patrolling of railway tracks should be made mandatory.

Railway Board officials say that the RPF as well as track maintainers patrol the track at regular intervals throughout the year during the day and night and have become more vigilant after the Sabarmati Express accident. But a ground report prepared on the basis of feedback received from track maintainers and divisional railway officials shows that night patrolling of tracks is not done throughout the year as there is no provision for it in the Indian Railway Permanent Way Manual and there is also a lack of adequate staff to maintain the track.

Railway tracks must be kept safe from anti-social activities

An official of the North Central Zone said that before the Sabarmati Express accident, night patrolling was not done on a regular basis as night patrolling was provided for the purpose of maintenance of railway tracks during extremely bad weather and not to protect them from anti-social activities.

A senior official of the railway zone said that the safety and security of railway property is the responsibility of the RPF, but they do not carry out surprise or regular patrolling of the tracks during day or night. On the question of safety of tracks from miscreants, a section of experts believe that night patrolling by the RPF along with track maintainers should be made compulsory on the entire rail network throughout the year even in normal weather conditions, until the Railway Board finds a technology-based solution.

Track maintainers may be deployed for night patrolling

Chand Mohammad, working president of All India Track Maintainers Union (AIRTU), alleged that 15 to 30 percent of track maintainers have been engaged by railway officials in their personal work, due to which the workload of the remaining track maintainers has increased. Those track maintainers can be deployed in night patrolling. M. Raghavaiya, general secretary of National Federation of Indian Railwaymen, said that new railway tracks are being laid, but new posts are not being created due to the restrictions imposed by the Finance Ministry.

India is the country with the highest electrification to expand rail routes: Railways

Mukul Saran Mathur, Additional Member (Commerce), Ministry of Railways, on Friday said that India is the country with the highest electrification for expansion of railway tracks. Mathur was delivering the inaugural address at the national conference of ASSOCHAM held in New Delhi. The conference deliberated upon various issues of modernization of railways and transformational technological solutions for developed India.

More than 5,000 special trains were run for migrants

Focusing on the achievements of the railways, Mathur said that at present the rail network has increased to 68,000 km and its capacity should be increased soon as two crore people travel by train every day in the country. He said that more than 5,000 special trains have been run recently for migrants. He also gave the example of Vande Bharat trains as one of the major products in India.

85,000 crores given for expansion of railways

According to Mathur, Rs 85,000 crore was provided for the expansion of railways in 2023-24. He also said that the refund process of railway tickets has become efficient and has reduced by one or two days. Deepak Sharma, senior member of ASSOCHAM and CEO of River Engineering Private Limited, described the modernization of railways as a key component in India's vision of a developed India.