New Delhi: Railway Minister Mukul Roy on Wednesday asked the Railway Board to prepare a detailed roadmap to prevent train mishaps like the one in Andhra Pradesh which claimed the lives of 25 passengers.
"I have asked the Chairman Railway Board to prepare a detailed plan on safety and it has to be submitted by June 30. Because accident and loss of lives are not acceptable," Roy said PTI after the Railway Board meeting here.
The possible reasons of the accident, immediate steps required to prevent such mishap in future and difficulties being faced to implement preventive steps were discussed threadbare in the meeting.
"It was a full board meeting and we discussed everything in details," he said, adding, "I will approach Prime Minister, if required, for funds to implement safety devices for making train journey accident-free."
The Bangalore-bound Hampi Express rammed into a stationary goods train at Penukonda station in Andhra Pradesh killing 25 passengers and injuring 46 at the wee hours yesterday.
According to reports, there were many motorcycles kept at the parcel wing of the SLR coach which caught fire in the accident.
Asked whether the yesterday`s accident was due to a human error, Roy said, "Commissioner Railway Safety is inquiring into the incident to ascertain the reasons."
The minister said there will be an interim report and a final report. "The basic aim is to prevent accidents and how with the technology support, human errors can be minimised."
On the installation of Train Protection Warning System (TPWS), he said, "TPWS will cost about Rs 60,000 crore for installing it in the entire 64,000 km route of Railways. However, work for installing the safety device is going on in certain stretches."
Railways will also launch a massive safety awareness drive, involving railway staff and passengers, to create awareness about the safety needs in train operation, he said.
PTI
