New Delhi, June 8: In a major development, the Indian Railways has registered its best-ever safety record during April 2019-March 2020 period. Including this financial year so far (from March 1, 2020, to June 8, 2020), there have been no deaths of any passenger in any train accident, the national transporter said on Monday, adding that this is a milestone in its 166-year history. Indian Railways Introduces Touch-Free Wash Basin At Guwahati Railway Station to Help Passengers Wash Hands Without Touching Tap or Soap Dispenser Amid COVID-19 Pandemic; Watch Video.

"The zero passenger fatalities in the last 15 months is a result of continuous efforts by Indian Railways to improve safety performance in all respects. Safety being the topmost priority always, the measures undertaken for safety improvement include the elimination of manned level crossings, construction of Road over Bridges (ROBs)/ Road under Bridges (RUBs), rehabilitation of bridges and highest ever renewal of rail tracks, switching over to modern and safer LHB coaches in phases from the conventional ICF coaches etc," the railways said in a statement.

During 2019-2020, railways eliminated 1,274 Manned Levels Crossing and constructed 1,309 Road over Bridges (ROBs)/ Road under Bridges (RUBs) to enhance safety. The national transporter also replaced mechanical signalling at 84 stations with electronic signalling. Train Coaches Turned Into Isolation Wards by Indian Railways Ready For COVID-19 Patients at Delhi's Shakurbasti Railway Station, View Pics.

"All the above could become possible with inputs in the system in the form of Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) introduced in the year 2017-18 with a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore to be spent in next five years, having an annual outlay of Rs 20,000 crore. With this fund, it has been possible to undertake very critical safety works of urgent nature and results are evident," the statement said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 08, 2020 07:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).