Suresh Prabhu meets FM Arun Jaitley to seek adequate funding for rail safety

Aiming to attain zero accident rate, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Friday met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to seek adequate allocation for a special fund for safety upgradation.

"Met @arunjaitley for extra support for safety fund which we launch soon. As always he's fully supportive." Prabhu tweeted.

Met @arunjaitley for extra support for safety fund which we launch soon. As always he's fully supportive.Safety,Capacity add&decongestion

— Suresh Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu) November 6, 2015

A senior Railway Ministry official involved with satefy said, "There is a need to create special safety fund for eliminating unmanned level crossings, track renewal, signal upgradation and installation of train collision avoidance system for attaining zero accident rate in the public transporter."

Giving priority to passenger safety, Prabhu has announced zero accident mission in the railways.

Asked about the amount sought from the Finance Ministry for the special safety fund, the official said, "All departments concerned have been asked to furnish details.

Though the total amount to be sought has not been finalised yet, it is likely to be around Rs one lakh crore." Track renewal and signal upgradation will also help in decongesting the rail network in the busy routes.

Once the amount is finalised, the Railway Minister will submit the proposal to the Finance Ministry seeking the special fund as extra budgetary support for safety enahancement.

Elimination of level crossings through construction of road overbridges and road underbridges, installation of TCAS, signal upgradation are essential for the railways to achieve zero accident rate, officials said.