Railways set to do away with level crossings in all upcoming new lines

To prevent accidents and increase the average speed of trains, the Indian Railways has decided to have no ‘manned or unmanned’ level crossings in all the upcoming new lines, and gauge conversion projects. These projects will, instead, replace road-over-bridges and under bridges.

The Railways is currently working on around 223 new lines, which are under various stages of execution. “The move to have no level crossings in future is to increase the speed of trains on those lines and also to address safety aspects,” said a government official.

The decision comes close on the heels of Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani announcing that the Railways will eliminate all unmanned level-crossings (UMLCs) by March 31, 2020. This followed the death of 13 children in Uttar Pradesh on April 26, after a train rammed into their school van. 

As of April, the Railways had around 5,792 unmanned level crossings, covering various broad gauge (3,479), meter gauge (1,135) and narrow gauge (1,178) networks. This is around 20 per cent of the total 29,487 level crossings in India.

The number of accidents at unmanned level crossings owing to the negligence of road vehicle users has decreased from 135 in 2014-15, to 107 in 2015-16 and 104 in 2016-17. In 2017-18, it reduced to 73.

In a notification dated May 18, the Railways stated that “no new manned level crossings will be permitted in new line and gauge conversion projects”. 

Currently, road-over-bridges and under bridges are constructed by the Railways on a cost-sharing basis with state governments. The move is also part of the Railways’ effort to increase the average speed of freight and coaching trains through “Mission Raftaar”. The project aims at doubling the average speed of freight trains and increasing the average speed of coaching trains by 25 km per hour over a period of five years. The average speed of freight trains, at present, is around 24 kmph, while that of passenger trains (excluding suburban trains) is 44 kmph. Increasing the average speed of trains is considered essential for reducing travel time for passengers, transit time for cargo, operational cost, improving revenues and the Railways’ market share. 

“The decision to have no level crossings would mean there will be no cross traffic or intersection of roads and rails, thereby increasing the speed naturally. It is the highest contributor of accidents for railways,” said S K Vij, former Railways Board member (engineering).

Among the projects under execution, Bihar is set to get the maximum of 34 new lines, followed by Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, with 18 lines each.