What happened: Safety fencing coverage along Indian Railways tracks
The Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting and Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, informed the Lok Sabha that Indian Railways gives top priority to safety of train operations. The government stated that pedestrian subways are also being provided with safety fencing to help cattle, pedestrians, and smaller vehicles cross the railway alignment more safely.
The government reported the following coverage of safety fencing:
19,700 km of safety fencing has been provided along railway tracks in Indian Railways (as per the Lok Sabha reply).The fencing includes railway sections situated in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh.
Background and earlier position: Pedestrian movement and trespassing risk
Railway safety measures often aim to prevent unsafe crossings that can lead to collisions between trains and people/animals/vehicles. In this government approach, pedestrian subways (underground or grade-separated passages meant for safe crossing) are paired with safety fencing along railway alignments so that movement is guided to safer crossing points rather than allowing uncontrolled crossing at tracks.
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