Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said that his ministry was working on a thorough strategy to make travelling in train safe and comfortable. He said track renewal and track maintenance activities were being undertaken with greater vigour. Said Prabhu to THE WEEK, "Track renewal is planned in advance and execution is prioritised according to the condition of the track and the overall availability of funds. In case any stretch of track is not renewed on time, suitable speed restrictions shall be imposed."
Prabhu said that a rail safety fund has been created in the Union Budget with a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore over a period of five years. "The safety aspect in railways shall be accorded topmost priority," said Prabhu. Indian Railways is planning to commission 3,500km of rail lines this year.
The railway is planning to install a new kind of toilet for trains. Said Anil Kumar Saxena, additional director general (PR), railways, to THE WEEK, “It will be like the toilets in flights. In fact, it will be a combination of vacuum and bio-toilets. It uses less water and could be effective in cleansing waste. It is in development stage and initial trials are going on."
It was announced in the budget that by 2019 all coaches in trains will be fitted with bio-toilets. But bio-toilets, which were conceived as an environment-friendly step, have not been that effective because of lack of awareness among passengers and the railway staff. A bio-toilet, which once fitted, can run for more than two years with very little maintenance. But the regular method of cleaning these toilets with chemical liquids or disinfectants spoils it. Also, some passengers throw plastic bottles into the toilet, making the system totally ineffective. “I disagree. By and large I feel bio-toilets are successful. Let’s wait for some time before taking a final call on whether to continue with bio-toilets or not,” said Saxena.
