'...If it is found that it is deliberate act of commission or ommission, if we see any railway employee is involved, stringent action will be taken,' said the minister of state for railways.
Stringent action would be taken against those responsible for the ghastly mishap involving the Uttarbanga and Vananchal express trains that left 66 dead, minister of state for railways E Ahamed today said.
"Safety of passengers is our top consideration. If it is found that it is deliberate act of commission or ommission, if we see any railway employee is involved, stringent action will be taken," he told reporters in Kochi.
Describing the accident as "unfortunate", he said the enquiry report is being awaited.
The two drivers of Uttarbanga express were experienced and qualified. They had stopped the train at the previous station and it was a puzzle why they did not stop at Sainthia station, he said replying to a question.
For railways, safety was of prime importance. "We are taking efforts to check at odd hours the functioning of the railway employees to see their alertness," he said.
On the recent tampering of brake system of a passenger train at Nilambur in Kerala, he said the incident was being investigated. "The investigation is in right direction. Only after we get report we will be able to take further action."
Ahamed said a new rail alignement for the Sabari rail project had been suggested at a recent meeting convened by the state chief minister. The survey would soon be conducted, he said. There were lot of misgiving regarding the previous alignement, he said.
Two new satellite reservation centres would be opened at Pangode Military cantonment at Thiruvananthapuram and at Kumily post office.
As soon as railways gets new bogies, new trains announced in the budget would be launched, Ahamed said.
Mumbai-Ernakulam Duranto Express, Mangalore-Thiruchirapalli superfast weekly, Kozhikode-Thiruvananthapuram five days a week Janashatabdi, Pune-Ernakulam bi-weekly trains would be introduced, the minister said.
Due to the monsoon, the rail doubling work was going at a slow pace, he said.
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