There is good news as Indian Railways have ended this financial year, with reportedly, the best safety record for the first time in 35 years. The number of accidents are in two digits, as of March 30, the number of accidents recorded in 2017-18 stood at 73, which is 29 per cent fewer than the 104 in 2016-17.

As per reports, around this time last year, some of the worst accidents had dealt a severe blow to the image of the Railway. According to The Indian Express report, in 1968-69, the number of railway accidents fell to three digits for the first time — to 908 from the 1,111 in the previous year. Three figures have remained the norm ever since — except in 1980-81, when the Railways recorded 1,013 accidents. But it was back to 797 accidents in the following year.

Reportedly, the casualty figures, too, have been much lower than 2016-17, when the Indore-Patna Express derailment near Kanpur in November 2016 alone killed over 150 passengers. Some of the other statistics pointed out in the report are, as opposed to 68 derailments by this time the last fiscal, there have been only 39 so far this year. And accidents at unmanned level crossings have come down from 15 to just eight.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 02, 2018 12:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).