Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: There has been a steep decline in accidents on Indian Railways, with the number of “consequential train accidents” coming down from 135 in 2013-14 to 31 in 2024-25 and further to 10 in 2025-16 till November this year, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed Parliament on December 10. He highlighted that the number of consequential train accidents during the period 2004-14 was 1711 (average 171 per annum), which has declined to 31 in 2024-25 and further to 10 in 2025-26 (up to November 2025).
In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Vaishnaw further stated that another important index showing improved safety in train operations is Accidents Per Million Train Kilometre (APMTKM), which has reduced from 0.11 in 2014-15 to 0.03 in 2024-25, indicating an improvement of approximately 73 per cent during this period. Vaishnaw highlighted various safety measures taken by the Indian Railways to enhance safety in train operations. He said that the budgetary outlay for safety-related activities had been enhanced nearly 3-fold from Rs 39,463 crore in 2014-15 to over Rs 1.16 lakh crore in 2025-26 in order to reduce the risk of accidents on the rail network.
Electrical and electronic Interlocking Systems with centralised operation of points and signals have been provided at 6,656 stations up to October 31, 2025, to reduce the risk of accidents that occur due to human failure. Besides, interlocking of level crossing (LC) gates has been provided at 10,098 Level Crossing Gates up to October 31 this year for enhancing safety at LC gates. Complete Track Circuiting of stations to enhance safety by verification of track occupancy by electrical means has also been provided at 6,661 stations up to October-end, the minister said.
