Railways gearing up to tackle crimes against women, says Suresh Prabhu

Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Saturday said his ministry was taking several steps to prevent crime against women in trains.

"We have a real challenge before us. Security of women during their train journey is of great concern to us and the Railway Ministry is taking various measures to curb crime against women," Prabhu told reporters in Mumbai. "We are developing mobile applications to be used in cases of emergency and installing CCTV cameras wherever it is feasible and necessary. The Railway Protection Force (RPF), too, is being trained and sensitised to deal with crime against women," he added.

The Minister was speaking on the sidelines of the release of an autobiography titled 'The Guardian' written by J G Mahurkar, Vice President of National Federation of Indian Railwaymen. Prabhu said the Japanese government is willing to fund the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project and that the Railway ministry is holding talks with Chief Ministers of both states to work out a feasible plan.

"We have been speaking to the CMs of both states to ensure better co-ordination in the implementation of this project. We are now awaiting the feasibility report, based on which we will take our plan to the next level. But this project has reached an advanced stage now," Prabhu said. Prabhu said that work for air conditioned local trains in Mumbai is in full-swing and they will start running from October next year.