Railways to construct 12,000 overbridges: Manoj Sinha

Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha today said unmanned railway crossing were the main reason behind accidents and said more than 12,000 overbridges would be constructed to check the problem.
After laying foundation stone of railway bridge on Jaunpur-Mirzapur route, Sinha said that 40 per cent accidents took place while crossing unmanned crossing and 60 per cent lives were lost due to such incident.
He said that to check the problem the ministry would construct 12,330 overbridges across the country.
The minister said the cost would be shared by railway ministry and National Highway Authority of India in fifty-fifty ratio.

Emphasising on increasing investment in railway, Sinha said that number of passengers has increased 16 times since independence.
He said that railway safety and passenger facilities could be improved by increasing investment.
The minister said that instead of approving new projects, railway was completing old ones.