Railways’ safety data shows the number of accidents has been on a downward trend from 2001. This is primarily because of the massive exercise undertaken to replace overaged assets like tracks, bridges, rolling stock and signalling gear using the non-lapsable Special Railway Safety Fund worth Rs 17,000 crore.

Around 16,000 km of track, 2,700 bridges and 1,500 signalling installations would have been replaced, renewed or rehabilitated by the end of this fiscal. Which perhaps explains why the number of accidents involving passenger trains has gone down from 261 in 2000-1 to 144 in 2006-7.

Officials said some of the most vulnerable areas identified during gap analysis include receiving or dispatching trains during interlocking failures, trains jumping signals, negligence of road users at level crossings, lack of onboard fire detection and fire-fighting equipment, lack of predictive maintenance of track and signalling and infringement to track while undertaking construction activities.