Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, in a written reply, told Rajya Sabha that there has not been a single incident of fatalities due to overcrowding in trains by passengers having unconfirmed tickets during the last three years. Vaishnaw’s statement came in response to questions raised by AAP MP Raghav Chadha regarding an increase in fatalities due to overcrowding of passengers having unconfirmed tickets in trains in the last three years..
Chadha also inquired about the “details of accidents caused by defective train infrastructure since 2019, State -wise” and the “reasons for Railways’ failure to implement foolproof safety mechanisms for berths despite repeated incidents”.
“There is no incident of fatalities due to overcrowding in trains by passengers having unconfirmed tickets during last three years. Further, no incidents of accident caused due to defective train infrastructure reported during last 5 years,” Vaishnaw said.
“In order to cater to the travelling needs of passengers, Indian Railways (IR), operates various types of regular time-tabled trains e.g. Suburban, short distance Passenger trains, long distance/Mail/Express/ Superfast trains with different composition catering to different segments of passengers,” he added.
Vaishnaw said the Indian Railway in its constant endeavour to provide additional accommodation to travelling passengers operates special train services during festivals, holidays, etc. and also augments the load of trains, both on permanent and temporary basis, to meet the additional demand.
(With PTI inputs)
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