Indian Railways to spend Rs 10,000 crore for track renewal, tech adoption

NEW DELHI: The Railways will spend about Rs 10,000 crore for renewal of tracks and adopt latest technology to detect rail fracture to reduce the accident rate to zero level, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said today.

He also said that the Railways will install train protection warning system and eliminate all unmanned level crossings across the country by using Rs 1 lakh crore 'Railways Suraksha Kosh'.

Replying to a debate on Appropriation (Railways) Bill in the Rajya Sabha, Prabhu said, "the accident rates have come down but I am not happy. We have to achieve zero accident (level)."

Referring to the recent train mishap in Kanpur which is being probed by the NIA, he expressed concern about the "cause of the accident".

In his almost 90-minute reply, the minister talked about a slew of initiatives planned for safety and passenger amenities.

In order to improve the profitabilty of railways, Prabhu said the government is trying to maximise revenues from fares as well as non-fare methods besides reducing the cost of operations.

The government plans to save Rs 41,000 crore in energy bill in the next 10 years. It is targeting generation of 1000 MWs of and 200 MWs of wind power besides energy mix, use of LED bulbs, waste to energy plant.

He emphasised that railways problem is not linked with the railway budget.