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Integrated security plan for railway stations soon

— Photo: T.Singaravelou

NEW SERVICE: Minister of State for Railways R. Velu and Puducherry Chief Minister V. Vaithilingam jointly inaugurating Garib Rath between Puducherry and Yesvantpur in Puducherry on Saturday.

PUDUCHERRY: Indian Railways is in the process of preparing an integrated security plan for select railway stations at an estimated outlay of Rs. 600 crore, Union Minister of State for Railways R. Velu said on Saturday.

“After the Mumbai terror attack Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has directed the Railway Ministry to prepare a master plan. We are in the process of preparing the plan,” he told reporters after inaugurating Garib Rath between Puducherry and Yesvantpur on Saturday.

The Railway Ministry had already sanctioned Rs 60 crore towards augmenting security in vulnerable railway stations.

The Ministry has identified 144 sensitive railway stations in the country to provide a security blanket.

The integrated security plan include providing commando training to around 2,000 personnel from the Railway Protection Special Force, installation of Closed Circuit Television Cameras, bomb detection equipment and x-ray machines, Mr. Velu said.

The aim would be to provide fool-proof security to the stations that are vulnerable to terrorist attack, he added.

On the performance of the Indian Railways, he said it had achieved an annual growth of 12 per cent in revenue collection from passenger service.

There was a huge demand for starting new trains but it could not be met due to shortage of coaches, he added.

More trains could be launched once the newly announced coach manufacturing units become operational, Mr. Velu said.

He said the Railways would actively consider the demand to start train service between Puducherry and New Delhi.

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