Accidents at Railway Level Crossings have claimed many lives over the years. According to the latest data provided by the Ministry of Railways, more than 10000 level crossings in the country are still unmanned and only 156 of them were manned in the last six months. The Supreme Court is currently hearing a PIL filed by one Mr. Ajay Gautam after 26 school children were killed in an accident at a Railway Level Crossing in Telangana in 2014. Accidents at unmanned railway level crossings (LCs) have claimed many lives over the years. While successive railway ministers have spoken about eliminating the unmanned railway crossings, not much progress is visible. According to data provided by the Ministry of Railways, more than 35% (more than 10000) of the railway level crossings are still unmanned.

An Empty Promise?

Despite assurances to the Supreme Court, the Railways seem to have done very little to address this issue. In Feb, 2015 the counsel for the Railways told the Supreme Court that remedial measures will be taken up at 3500 railway crossings during 2015-16. But the current data indicates that this promise was not kept.

In fact, the Supreme Court has recently imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on the Ministry of Railways for failing to file the progress report about the status of unmanned railway crossings. One only hopes that this year’s budget goes beyond the empty promise.