In a bid to enhance security, an integrated security system has been planned by the Railways at a cost of about Rs 30 crore, said Southern Railway’s additional general manager G. Narayanan after hosting the national flag at the railway headquarters here on Wednesday.
He also added that the crime rate on railway premises had decreased by 7.3 per cent in 2011-12 from last year.
Southern Railway has also come a long way in reducing the number of level crossings and in providing more over-bridges, under-bridges and subways. In all, 15 unmanned level crossings have been eliminated in 2011-12 as against 29 in 2010-11, Mr Narayanan added.
Talking about the growth of railways, the AGM said as many as 18 pairs of new mail and express trains, three pairs of passenger trains, two pairs of MEMU trains and 10 suburban services were introduced in 2011-12.
During the same period, Railways transported 39.398 million tonnes of originating loading as compared to 35.107 million tonnes in 2010-11, registering a growth of 12.2 per cent.
Southern Railway earned `5,608.25 crore in 2011-12 as against `4,790.27 crore in 2010-11, registering a growth of 17.07 per cent.
About 6000 recruitments have been made in the “safety” category in 2011-12 and in the infrastructure front, Southern Railway completed 262 km of new lines, gauge conversion and doubling in 2011-12 as compared to 208 km in 2010-11, a growth of 26 per cent, he added.
Accolades for Olympian Sushil Kumar, who works for the Indian Railways, also poured in on the occasion of Independence Day.
Chief security commissioner V.K. Dhaka and other Railway officials were present on the occasion.