Cabinet approves creation of one circle office of Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the creation of one circle office of Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety (CMRS), along-with all supporting officers and staffs for carrying out the functions of Commission of Metro Railway Safety as envisaged in the "Metro Railways (Operations and Maintenance) Act, 2002", in the Commission of Railway Safety under the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

The Cabinet also allowed assigning of additional charge of two circles to two existing Commissioners of Railway safety (CRSs) who will exercise their powers within their existing jurisdiction. These circles will not be under the jurisdiction of CMRS, New Delhi.

Creation of these posts will ensure focused attention on the passenger safety and metro rail operation related issues, in respect of existing, as well as upcoming various metro rail projects, as envisaged in the "Metro Railways (Operations and Maintenance) Act, 2002", in the Commission of Railway Safety under the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Implementation strategy and targets:

The post of Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety shall be filled from the cadre of Indian Railway Engineering Services (IRSE, IRSEE, IRSSE, RSME) & IRTS by the Ministry of Civil Aviation through nomination from willing officers from Ministry of Railways in consultation with UPSC, initially according to Recruitment Rules for Commissioner of Railway Safety in the Commission of Railway Safety. The process to fill up the posts shall be initiated within two months.

The proposal for creation of the posts of Dy. Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety (Dy.CMRS) and supporting staff will be taken up with the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance. On receipt of their approval, orders for creation of the post shall be released immediately.

Background:

The Commission of Railway Safety working under the administrative control of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (Govt. of India), deals with the matters pertaining to safety of rail travel and train operation and is charged with certain statutory functions laid down in the Railway Act'1989. These functions are inspectorial, investigatory and advisory in nature. The Commission functions according to certain rules framed under the railways Act and executive instructions issued from time to time. The most important duty of the Commission is to ensure that any new railway line to be opened for passenger traffic should conform to the standard and specifications prescribed by the Ministry of Railways and the new line is safe in all respects for carrying the passenger traffic. This is also applicable to other works such as gauge conversion, doubling of lines and electrification of existing lines etc. The Commission also conducts statutory inquiries into serious train accidents and makes recommendations for improving safety on the railways in India.

With a view to accord priority to passenger safety and also to ensure uniformity in safety certification, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs while enacting the "Metro railways (Operations and Maintenance) Act, 2002", has assigned similar functions to Commissioner of Metro Railway safety (CMRS) in respect of Metro Railways. The CMRS will be administratively under the control of Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety under Ministry of Civil Aviation.

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