Railways striving to improve fire safety: Minister

Indian Railways are working on improving fire safety in trains by providing fire extinguishers on the fleet, Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain said on Friday.

In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Gohain said since safety was the highest priority of the railways, constant efforts were made to prevent accidents and to enhance safety in train operations

"Coaches are being provided with fire retardant furnishing materials. The specifications of these materials are being upgraded from time to time.

"Dry chemical powder-type fire extinguishers are being provided in all mainline trains. Besides, automatic fire and smoke detection system have been provided in about 200 coaches," the minister said.

Gohain said CCTV cameras were being provided in coaches on a pilot basis for improving passenger safety without compromising on their privacy.

"An integrated security system consisting of surveillance of vulnerable stations through CCTV network and access control has been sanctioned to improve surveillance mechanism over 202 railway stations," he added.

--IANS

vv/ahm/dg