Pune Railway Division to remove all Level Crossings

 Pune: With the view to eliminate accidents at railway crossings, the Pune Railway Division has decided to remove all level crossings in the district in this financial year.

The railway officials said the plan is to build underpass and road overbridges (ROB) at railway crossings, which witness heavy traffic flow.

Divisional Railway Manager Suneet Sharma confirmed the development and said, “There is a plan to gradually eliminate all level crossings in Pune district for safety of commuters.”

He added that railway crossings will be replaced with the construction of ROBs, RUBs (Railway Under Bridge) and LHB (Limited Height Subway) in the current financial year.

The Pune Railway Division functioning under the Central Railway stretches for around 500 km. There are presently 186 railway crossings, of which, 142 are manned by railway staffers. There are also 44 unmanned railway crossings in Pune-Kolhapur and Daund-Baramati sections of the division.

Railway officials said that 40 per cent of rail accidents occur near railway crossings. They claimed that constructing ROBs and RUBs could help reduce accidents.

Last month, three people were killed and eight injured when a tractor crossing the open railway gate was hit by the Secunderabad-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Duronto Express.

“To avoid accidents at railway crossings, we have also been conducting special awareness drives. The Railway administration has always tried to reach out to the citizens, school and college students and educate them on not to cross when the railway gate is closed,” added the railway officials.