Rail accidents: Italian railway to conduct safety audit of Indian railways

Indian Railways has inked a pact with Italian Railways for improving the safety level of the Indian carrier through a review of the infrastructure and transport management system.

Mail Today | Posted by Shraddha Jandial

New Delhi, February 3, 2017 |

HIGHLIGHTS

1 Italian railway has come to the assistance of Indian railways in improving the rail safety

2 Italian railway will conduct a safety audit of the Indian Railways

3 The development comes in wake of recent rail accidents in India

The Italian railway has come to the assistance of Indian railways in improving the rail safety in India. The Italian railway will conduct a safety audit of the Indian Railways besides supervising the passenger safety measures to be undertaken by the railway ministry.

Indian Railways has inked a pact with Italian Railways for improving the safety level of the Indian carrier through a review of the infrastructure and transport management system. The pact was signed by Renato Mazzoncini, CEO and managing director of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (Italian Railways) and A K Mittal, chairman of Indian Railway Board.

The Memorandum of Understanding that Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane signed with Indian Railways represents the beginning of a close cooperation between two of the most prominent railway companies in the world. "We will provide all the knowhow we developed with large-scale infrastructure and technological projects that have modernised Italy by connecting the country's most important cities - Rome and Milan - in just three hours," said Mazzoncini in an official press statement.

RAIL ACCIDENTS

The development comes in wake of recent rail accidents in India that claimed at least 200 lives. Following the incident, the railway ministry had called experts from Japan, South Korea and Italy to examine the cause of accidents and the overall safety parameters on Indian Railways.

A railway ministry official said as part of the exercise, track conditions, signaling systems and compatibility of existing coaches will be examined.

Emphasis will be on upgrading the track conditions so that they can support the movement of high-speed trains.

The tie-up between the two entities will also enable cooperation on certification of technologies based on SIL 4 (Safety Integrity Level 4) and staff safety training.

Another MoU was also signed between Italferr, the engineering company of FS Italiane and RITES, an engineering consultancy company of the Indian Railways.

According to a statement released by the Italian behemoth, Italferr, the FS Italiane engineering company, and Italcertifer, the FS Italiane railway certification company, are working on six projects in India.

The most important is the design and supervision of works for constructing the Anji Khad Bridge, a 750-metre-long bridge with a central span of over 260, suspended over a 200-metre gorge between Katra and Reasi.

The FS Italiane Group is a major international engineering, infrastructure and transport player and operates in more than 60 countries in over five continents.