Some train stops discontinued for track maintenance, not due to Covid: Minister
Railway minister Ashwini Vaishna said the decision to discontinue certain train stops was based on a 2019 study by IIT Bombay to keep railway tracks vacant for maintenance purposes for a few hours
New Delhi: Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday that the discontinuation of certain train halts, implemented post-Covid-19, was not pandemic-related. Instead, it was a decision based on a 2019 study by IIT Bombay, to keep railway tracks vacant for maintenance purposes for a few hours.
The minister was responding to a question from Congress MP K C Venugopal in Lok Sabha regarding the issue.
“This issue has been brought to me by various parliamentarians. It is an issue associated with the public and their sentiments. However, it is imperative to understand the technical aspect behind the matter,” Vaishnaw said.
He explained that railway tracks undergo inevitable wear and tear due to the immense pressure exerted by trains weighing between 5,000 to 6,000 tonnes running at speeds exceeding 70 km/h.
He said IIT-Bombay had formulated a detailed timetable for railways in 2019 keeping a three-hour block period for each railway section to keep the tracks vacant to maintain them. This led to the rationalisation of timetable and removal of several train halts across stations, he added.
“The result of this project has been positive. Cases of rail fractures have been reduced from 2,500 to 250. The decision was hard but at times there is a need to take harsh decisions for people’s safety,” he added
He said the exercise has no links with the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. “All over the world, a few hours out of 24 hours are kept vacant to maintain the tracks,” he said.
Meanwhile, to illustrate his point, Vaishnaw tore a piece of paper, drawing objections from Opposition MPs, who took exception to the display.
Taking a piece of paper, Vaishnaw demonstrated how a normal piece of paper remains intact under regular force but tears easily if it has a microfracture—a metaphor for how railway tracks develop stress fractures over time. He said that there is a continuous need to repair microfractures of those railway tracks by creating maintenance corridor blocks for better safety of passengers.
However, as he tore the paper to support his explanation, Opposition MPs immediately voiced their objections. In response, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla defended the minister’s action, saying “What’s the issue in the exercise? The demonstration is required to explain the technicalities. That’s what the Union minister was doing.”
While the act was not illegal, tearing and hurling papers in the House is often perceived as a breach of parliamentary decorum. Opposition MPs have torn bills and documents as signs of protest. In July 2021, a Trinamool Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha snatched documents from then Union IT minister Vaishnaw, tore them and flung them into the air in protest.