Railway ministry will spend Rs 2300 crore (Rs 23 billion) in fiscal 2003-04 for enhancing safety and security of passengers, Minister of State for Railways Bandaru Dattatreya said on Wednesday.
The minister told reporters in Kolkata that the money would be spent from the special railway safety fund, which had been created in 2001-02 with an initial corpus of Rs 17,000 crore (Rs 170 billion) to be spent over five years.
He said that the ministry has laid stress on renewal of tracks and strengthening of 'distressed' bridges, besides modernising the existing signaling system. In 2003-04, 327 'distressed' bridges would be repaired, he said.
The minister, who was on a day's visit to the city, inspected various passenger amenities facilities at Sealdah railway station in northern part of Kolkata.
Dattatreya said that the ministry has identified 56,000 bridges which were more than 100 years old, adding that the total number of railway bridges in the country was more than 116,000.
He said that safety and security were being accorded utmost priority, particularly after the Rajdhani Express accident at Rafiganj last year.
Following the Rajdhani accident, speed of fast moving trains had actually reduced, he said.
