The Government Railway Police (GRP) has said there was a 57% drop in railway accidents and associated deaths in the State in 2020.
According to statistics provided by the GRP, 2,517 deaths were reported in 2018, and of these, 2,173 were men and 344 were women. In 2019, the number of casualties was 2,619, including 2,292 men and 327 women.
However, in 2020, 1,137 deaths were reported — 957 men and 180 women.
“Due to the efforts of our officers from the GRP, the railway accident deaths reduced by 57% in 2020,” said C. Sylendra Babu, DGP, Railways.
Awareness programmes
The GRP conducted 14,845 awareness programmes on railway station platforms, level-crossings, adjacent villages, colleges and accident-prone areas. Four short films on safety were released on social media platforms, senior GRP officers said.
“We have identified 116 accident zones across the State. The highest number is in Chennai and suburban areas, followed by Coimbatore, Madurai and Jolarpet,” Mr. Babu said.
He said the COVID-19 lockdown may have been one of the reasons for the reduction in deaths, but that alone could not account for the 57% drop in deaths.
“Goods, workmen, medicine and trial run trains were plying even during the lockdown period. Hence, the reduction was due to the enforcement efforts of GRP and the awareness programmes,” Mr. Babu said.
Preventive work
He said utmost importance and priority was accorded to the prevention of accidents due to trespassing on railway tracks.
“This preventive work, which paid rich dividends, will continue in the coming months,” he added.
