Safety in Rail Travel

Indian Railways is committed to provide secure, safe and comfortable journey to all its passengers. Provision of security and other facilities to passengers is a continuous process and every endeavour is made to ensure these to railway passengers. Steps taken by Indian Railways to make rail travel more secure and comfortable for passengers, are listed below:-

• On vulnerable and identified routes/sections, trains are escorted by Railway Protection Force in addition to trains escorted by Government Railway Police of different States daily.
• Surveillance is kept through Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras provided at 686 railway stations and in 2931 coaches. Integrated Security System (ISS) has been provided to improve surveillance mechanism over 164 railway stations.
• Station Security Plan is being implemented at major stations in a phased manner to enhance access control, improve surveillance and achieve synergy between deployment of various security agencies on the station.
• Regular liaisoning with the State Police/GRP authorities, Central and State Intelligence agencies and Civil authorities at all levels for prevention and detection of crime is in place.
• To facilitate faster redressal of all types of grievances, a single railway helpline number 139 for inquiry, complaints and assistance, is operational over Indian Railways. Ministry of Railways has rolled out RailMadad also.
• Emergency Talk Back System and Closed Circuit Television Surveillance Cameras have been provided in ladies compartments/coaches of all newly manufactured Electrical Multiple Unit (EMU) and Air-conditioned rakes of Kolkata Metro.
• Customer services are facilitated by issuing of reserved/unreserved tickets through Passenger Reservation System (PRS), Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS), Automatic Ticket Vending Machine (ATVM) through website of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) & RAILCONNECT Mobile App, UTSONMOBILE app, Yatri Ticket Suvidha Kendras (YTSK), Jan Sadharan Ticket Booking Sewaks (JTBS). Waiting list of the trains is monitored on regular basis and to meet the additional demand during peak rush periods, special trains are run, load of existing trains is augmented subject to operational feasibility.
• It has been decided to proliferate/induct modern Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches and convert trains operating with conventional coaches by LHB coaches, in a phased manner. Production Units of Indian Railways are producing only LHB coaches from 2018-19 onwards. Presently, 647 pairs of trains on Indian Railways System are being operated with LHB coaches.
• State-of-the-Art Vande Bharat services have been introduced between New Delhi – Varanasi and New Delhi- Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra. These trains have ultra modern features like quick acceleration, on board infotainment and Global Positioning System (GPS) based passenger information system, automatic sliding doors, retractable footsteps and Zero discharge vacuum bio toilets etc.
• Various premium train services like Humsafar, Tejas, Antyodaya, Utkrisht Double Decker Air-conditioned Yatri (UDAY), Mahamana and coaches like Deen Dayalu and Anubhuti, which have upgraded interiors / exteriors and improved passenger amenities, have been introduced in service in various train services over Indian Railways.
• Recently, Vistadome coaches on LHB platform providing panoramic view to enjoy the scenic beauty of the places by passengers have been manufactured with several modern features/amenities.
• Indian Railway had also launched Project Utkrisht in April 2018 in order to improve the condition of ICF type coaches running in Mail / Express trains. Upgradation of 447 rakes of Mail / Express trains has been completed till December 2020 under Project Utkrisht.
• Under Project Swarn, 65 rakes of Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains have been upgraded across multiple dimensions, which include coach interiors, toilets, onboard cleanliness, staff behaviour, linen, etc.
• 63 smart coaches with ultra modern features like Smart Public address and passenger information system, Smart HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning system), Smart security and surveillance system etc. have been manufactured and introduced in service.
• Conversion of End-On-Generation (EOG) trains into Head-On-Generation (HOG) trains has been done to reduce noise and air pollution at stations and in trains. This is expected to significantly reduce the consumption of fossil fuels.
• Conventional lighting in coaches is being replaced with modern and energy efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights.

Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs) and Cash-Coin & Smart Card operated (Versatile) Ticket Vending Machines (CoTVMs) of Indian Railways are available at Railway stations through which unreserved tickets can be sourced using smart card or cash. In addition, the passengers can also book the unreserved tickets through UTSONMOBILE App and reserved tickets through the IRCTC website as well as the Rail Connect App.

This information was given by the Minister of Railways, Commerce & Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Shri Piyush Goyal in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.