Piyush Goyal puts off rail expansion on day of three derailments

Piyush Goyal ordered that rails earmarked for construction of new lines during the year will be diverted towards strengthening tracks in accident-prone sections.

Following reports of three trains derailing on Thursday, newly-appointed railways minister Piyush Goyal ordered that rails earmarked for construction of new lines during the year will be diverted towards strengthening tracks in accident-prone sections.

Seven coaches of Jabalpur-bound Shaktipunj Express jumped the tracks in UP, in third such mishap in the state within a month. (ANI Photo)

Seven coaches of Jabalpur-bound Shaktipunj Express jumped the tracks in UP, in third such mishap in the state within a month. The engine and power car of the Ranchi- Delhi Rajdhani Express derailed near Minto Bridge, injuring one person. In the third incident, six wagons of a goods train derailed in Maharashtra hampering rail services.

The railways minister has also set a one-year target for eliminating all Unmanned Level Crossings (ULCs) existing on the 67,000-kilometre rail network.

At Thursday’s meeting, which also saw participation from officials of the Safety Directorate , the minister instructed officials to take steps to procure rails for constructing new lines. Goyal also asked officials to replace the Integral Coach Factory (ICF)-design coaches with the German-design Linke-Hoffman-Busch (LHB) coaches.

Ahead of the approaching winter months, Goyal has also asked officials to make provisions for adequate numbers of fog lights.