Mumbai: Central and Western Railway authorities have asked their staff to clear rail pieces kept near tracks taking into consideration cases of sabotage registered. So far 14,400 sq. mt. tonne of unused rail pieces lying beside tracks has been cleared.
Railway officials said the first such incident took place on January 24 when a seven-metre-long rail piece weighing more than 400 kg was found on the tracks near Diva railway station.
A senior Central Railway official said, “When there is an emergency after a derailment, we need these pieces. But after senior railway officials’ direction, we have been removing all such pieces from the tracks.”
Central Railway officials have removed 9000 sq mt tonne and Western Railway have removed 5400 sq metric tonne of rail pieces. Last year, 11, 300 sq mt tonne of rail pieces were removed from the tracks.
Storage depots
The railways have asked its staff to remove rail pieces smaller than 13 metres. An official said, “We are also making a small depot at places to store the smaller rail pieces. Such pieces are required in day to day maintenance.”
There are unwanted rail pieces on tracks on both the Central and Western Railway. The rail pieces are checked and if found in proper condition it is kept and if not, it is sold as scrap.
