(FE)
Tightening the reins on the railway administration, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal here on Saturday announced a series of measures according topmost priority to passenger safety in the wake of Friday’s stampede which killed 23 Mumbai commuters.Chairing a high-level meeting comprising officials of the Railway Board, top officials of Western Railway and Central Railway for the second day on Saturday, Goyal carried out a comprehensive review of the safety measures not only for the Mumbai suburban railways, but the entire Indian Railway network.
Among the decisions taken were to term foot overbridges (FOB), platforms and pathways on platforms as ‘Safety Items’ having highest priority with no budgetary restrictions. This overturns a 150-year old edict in which the first FOB was counted as ‘essential’ and the subsequent one/s as ‘passenger amenity’.For the next 18 months, the General Managers of all Railway Zones have been vested with unlimited powers for safety related issues, Goyal said.
The GMs shall intimate the Financial Commissioner (FC) within a week of sanction for provision and the latter would confirm it within 15 days, and in case of disagreements, the Railway Board would intervene and decide within the same 15 days. While 200 officers from the headquarters would be deployed in the field to strengthen ground operations and project implementation, 75 bright and dynamic Station Directors shall be posted at key stations all over the country to bring vibrancy to the operations, he added.
