Visakhapatnam: There are about 290 level crossings both manned and unmanned in the Waltair Railway Division. Of which, 90 are Unmanned Level Crossings (ULC) and need to be eliminated within one year as per the recent direction of the railway minister.
Level crossings are vulnerable locations for accidents, particularly unmanned level crossings and when the road traffic at manned level crossings increase it may lead to delay in running of train traffic or public passage.
Unmanned Level Crossings accounted for 34 per cent of accidents in 2016-17 and most of the derailments due to defects in tracks. The ULC can be closed by constructing limited height subways or normal height subways/ Road under bridges.
A senior official from the Waltair Railway Division said, “Construction of limited height subways are being taken into the consideration of the vehicular traffic in that particular level crossing. 22 LHS constructed in 2016 and 17 in 2017 so far in the division. Mainly, the ULCs on K-K and KR routes are being given emphasis.
In a high-level meeting on Safety, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal with Railway Board officials emphasised on ULCs and tracks. He asked the officials to eliminate all unmanned level crossing.
