The Hindu : Front Page : Move to prevent accidents at unmanned level crossings

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 21, 2006

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Move to prevent accidents at unmanned level crossings

Staff Reporter

Government Railway Police plans awareness campaigns

TIRUCHI: The Government Railway Police (GRP) here has been compiling information on the number of accidents at unmanned level crossings as well as the crossings where accidents have been frequently reported in the last five years.

The data would be compiled within a week, said G. Karthikeyan, Superintendent of Police, GRP, Tiruchi.

Thereafter, the railway authorities would be requested to install the `train actuated warning device' (TAWD) at unmanned level crossings where accidents take place repeatedly.

Negligence and the fault of road users have led to accidents at unmanned level crossings. The recent one at an unmanned level crossing at Kambarasampettai near here, which claimed the lives of four persons, was yet another accident caused due to the fault of the road user.

A few days before the accident, another accident was reported at an unmanned level crossing at Thalayooth near Tuticorin, where two people were killed when a mini van hit the Tuticorin-Tirunelveli Passenger.

In Tiruchi railway division, two accidents at unmanned level crossings have been reported so far in the current year with one at Subramaniapuram near Cuddalore and another at Venkatesapuram near Villupuram. In Tiruchi Division, which has 504 unmanned level crossings out of 910, TAWD have been installed at 10 places on a pilot basis. Close on the heels of the Kambarasampettai incident, the authorities have been requested to install a TAWD at the unmanned level crossing where the incident occurred.

The device would raise an alarm to alert motorists about approaching trains. The GRP plans to organise campaigns to create awareness of the hazards of trespassing on tracks.

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