Indian Railways Sees Significant Decline in Accidents, Safety Measures Paying Off

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): The Central Government said in the Rajya Sabha on Friday that Indian Railways gives top priority to safety and as a result, there has been a significant decline in train accidents in the past years. Giving information to the House, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that while the annual average of accidents was 171 a decade ago, now it has come down to a record low.

In a written reply to a question, the Railway Minister presented the figures and said that there were 135 railway accidents in the year 2014-15, while this number will come down to only 31 in 2024-25. He also said that only three accidents have been recorded in the current financial year till June 2025. Comparing with the decade from 2004 to 2014, he said that during that period a total of 1,711 train accidents took place.

The Railway Minister attributed the reduction in accidents to several technical and infrastructural improvements undertaken by the Railways. He informed that electrical/electronic interlocking system has been installed at 6,635 stations in the country, which has reduced the scope of human errors. The National Automatic Train Protection System 'Kavach' is being implemented in a phased manner. At present, the work of installing it is going on on Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah routes. Interlocking facility has been provided at 11,096 level crossing gates, which has increased security at the gates. Track circuiting has been arranged at 6,640 stations, which confirms the presence of the train on the track electronically.

Ashwini Vaishnav said that 'Vigilance Control Devices' have been installed in all engines to ensure the alertness of the loco pilots. Apart from this, GPS based 'Fog Safety Devices' and retro-reflective sigma boards indicating important points have also been installed to help the drivers during fog season.