Cabinet approves cooperation between India and Japan on railway safety

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave ex-post facto approval to the signing the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with Japan on Railway Safety. The MoC had already been signed in February, 2017.

The signing of MoC will enable cooperation in the following areas:

i. Track Safety (e.g. rail welding, rail inspection, track circuit etc.) ii. Latest technology related to railway track safety (automatic inspection technology etc.)

iii. Rolling stock safety (e.g. maintenance etc.)

iv. Any other relevant railway safety matter jointly determined by both the sides within the scope of this MoC with consideration for major railway accident preventions based on the analysis of accident causes.

The MoC would provide a platform for Indian Railways to interact and share the latest development and knowledge in the railway sector. The cooperation under this MoC will involve:

a. Dispatch of experts

b. Training of core staff in Japan

c. Sharing of information and best practices

d. Facilitating the participation of other institutions, organization and ministries, including contribution of National Traffic Safety and Environmental Laboratory of Japan to Research Design and Standards Organisation, Ministry of Railway, Government of India (RDSO), subject to their respective national laws and regulations where appropriate and possible.