Unmanned level crossings have always been a sore spot for the Indian Railways. These areas attract ‘enthusiastic, adventurist’ teenagers who’re fond of taking selfies near the crossing trains. Occasionally, a few cyclists try to cross the rail line, despite red signs flashing at the toll gate. All of this results in unfortunate train accidents, where countless people and cattle lose their lives. In a bid to ensure the safety of road commuters, North Western Railway or NWR’s Ajmer division decided to remove all level crossings in the district by the end of September 2018. This information was given by Railway manager Mr. Puneet Chawla yesterday.
For those who don’t know, level crossings, also known as grade crossings are railroads. These are the areas where the roads and railway lines meet each other on the same level. In simpler words, the roads aren’t distinguished from rail lines.
In last three years, the NWR has constructed several RUBs (rail under bridges) and ROBs (road over bridges) to ensure the safety of commuters. Last year, the railway engineers constructed 21 bridges over unmanned crossings to prevent accidents. Total 61 unmanned crossings were shut down, seeing the increasing death tolls around railway line. This year, they’re working on 22 ROB/RUB bridges.
Nevertheless, accidents kept happening in the place. To minimize deaths and accidents, the division will try to spread awareness on railway crossing safety through level crossing safety awareness program. They’ll use communication models to spread the word. Concurrently, the railway department will make attempt to get rid of all the existing level crossings in and around Ajmer.
Friday, June 2 was the international level crossing day. The main objective behind observing this day was to promote safety of public while crossing the railway gates. Local officers took this opportunity to interact with the drivers. They organized camps on major routes to train drivers of school bus, taxi, jeeps and trucks. They were barred from using mobile phones and playing loud music when crossing the railroads.
Simultaneously, the police will keep check on drunk drivers to prevent accidents. Hopefully these steps will produce positive outcomes for the public in future and we won’t hear about tragic rail accidents anymore.
