Rail Budget: All-woman force likely in Railway Protection Force
Ladies’ coaches on trains could get a “panic button” to alert Police
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-02-25 09:15 GMT
New Delhi: Railway minister Suresh Prabhu may unveil a proposal to lay a new rail line linking Delhi and Agra, exclusively for passenger trains catering to tourists and commuters of the extended NCR region, sources said.
The Rail Budget may propose the import of 10 EMU train sets from Japan, to be deployed for faster passenger services on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai, Chennai-Bengaluru and New Delhi-Chandigarh sectors, the sources said. These trains will be able to clock up speeds of upto 150 kmph, and the railways hope to run trains on these three routes at around 135 kmph without any major track changes, the sources added.
The Prime Minister’s Lok Sabha constituency, Varanasi, is likely to get a major manufacturing unit for safety equipment, that could give direct employment to 1,000 people and indirect work for 10,000 more, sources said.
On safety, Mr Prabhu is likely to unveil a dedicated all-woman security force within the Railway Protection Force to ensure better protection for women on trains. Ladies’ coaches on trains could get a “panic button”, which if pressed would send alerts to loco-pilots, guards and the police.
With train mishaps increasing in recent years, suggesting errors by loco-pilots, Mr Prabhu is considering a plan to make train engines airconditioned. Also, Mr Prabhu may announce a proposal to decongest Mumbai by shifting the Western Railway and Central Railway headquarters to Ahmedabad and Pune respectively.