Need to protect railways through intelligence sharing: Minister

The central government on Wednesday called upon the global community to find solutions for protecting railway passengers and property from terror attacks through intelligence sharing and mutual collaborations.

The call was made by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, who inaugurated the 11th edition of 'International Union of Railways (UIC) Global Security Congress' here.

The two-day seminar is being organised by the security directorate of the Indian Railways in collaboration with UIC from December 9-10.

According to Prabhu, railways is a soft target for anti-social elements and that the global community needs to take steps to address such problems through intelligence sharing and mutual collaborations.

He said that training of personnel and sharing of best practices will be very effective in addressing the safety and security issues of the railways.

"Indian Railways is committed to provide security to its passengers in collaborations with the security set up with the state governments," the minister said.

Chairman Railway Board A.K. Mital informed the delegates that the railways has setup an 'Integrated Security System' (ISS) for security management at major identified stations.

"Indian Railways have developed a system of security escorting of trains by sharing the responsibility among RPF (Railway Protection Force) and state police," Mital said.