Indian Railways: Over 22 trains affected daily by cattle exodus, shows data

in the first nine days of october, 200 trains have been affected, taking the number so far this year to 4,433.

Cattle run overs can cause serious damage to trains, delay them and even cause derailment.

Notably, the worst affected among them all is the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express train that was launched on October 1. The ‘nose’ of the train was damaged due to three run-ins with cattle in the first nine days of October.

To avoid such accidentsIndian Railways Officials had said that they had barricaded several areas around the tracks. However, officials also mentioned that due to residential areas and farms, it becomes impossible to cover for a long time.

Indian Railways has also identified areas where these accidents are more frequent and work is underway to close those areas completely. As per their latest update about 40% work has been completed.

accident prone area

According to the information received by PTIThe North Central Railway zone, which saw over 6,500 out of 26,000 cases of cattle run-over in 2020-21, is one of the worst affected railway zones. It covers 3,000 km of track and hosts portions of the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah corridors.

This includes divisions like Agra, Jhansi and Prayagraj, And is the gateway for trains from the east to reach the northern parts of India.

The identified stretches include sections of North Central Railway and Northern Railway –

– Between Veerangana Laxmibai in Jhansi Division

-Gwalior Division, Prayagraj Division between Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay

– Prayagraj section, Moradabad division between Alam Nagar and Shahjahanpur

-Lucknow division between Alam Nagar and Lucknow

Officials said the Northern Railway zone recorded the highest number of cattle-walking cases – around 6,800 – in the divisions of Moradabad and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab’s Ferozepur, Haryana’s Ambala and Delhi.

Vande Bharat trains

Three out of five Vande Bharat trains pass through routes in the North Central Railway zone

“Vande Bharat trains were designed to ensure that they do not suffer any serious damage due to CRO. This is the reason why these premium trains have replaceable cone-shaped cover at the front which prevents the impact of a Made of fiber reinforced plastic to absorb collisions with cattle,” said an official.

The cost of this cover falls on the railways 10,000 to 15,000 per piece and they are replaced within a few hours of the collision.

The national transporter has a basket of around 10 spares for these trains.

As per the data provided by the Railways, the trains affected by cattle run-overs increased from 360 in January to 635 in September, affecting more than 22 trains daily.