Railways working to ensure safety on entire rail network: Goyal

Indian Railways is embarking on a massive programme to ensure safety of the entire network, and there is no budget constraint when it comes to passenger safety, railway minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday.

Speaking at the International Conference on Technological Advancements in Railway and Metro Projects, Goyal also called for innovation in making the railways safer.

''Personally, I believe a budget is a limitation, it holds you back. Allocation of a budget doesn't allow scientists to flourish as he wants to. Budgets restrict innovation,'' said Goyal as he called for out-of-the-box thinking to improve rail safety features like as signaling systems and fog vision for locomotive pilots.

Goyal said the Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani and his team were working on some futuristic ideas even as he urged researchers to come up with new ideas and innovations to make the passenger experience ''delightful and satisfactory.''

''Time has come to go in for new technology. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO) can work in combination to see what can be done in a smarter and faster way and we need to fast track the measures to make passenger travel comfortable,'' Goyal said.

The Minister was speaking at the International Conference on Technological Advancements in Railway & Metro Technologies inaugurated by Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu here.

Stressing on the importance of R&D, the minister said one has to think of new ideas and go beyond the ordinary to find solutions, but added there will not be any budget constraints for those who are willing.

Citing the example of Japan that has developed so fast, the minister said the growth was due to nee-based research, innovations and new ideas. However, he said, there should be an eco-system that encourages researchers and scientists to think out of the box.

The minister said the Railways has a duty to plan and carry forward the commitment the government has made to the people of the country to make ''Indian Rail safe, secure, punctual and improve the amenities and facilities for passengers''.

Chairman Railway Board Ashwani Lohani in his address said there was a need to bring in new technology in several areas in the railways that would improve the national transport.

Lohani said, the outcome from the deliberations would give new ideas and innovations that would be implacable.

Niti Aayog member V K Saraswat said this conference holds importance as railways world over was galloping and Indian Railways was also moving with a moto of ''speed, scale and safety''.

He also called for a big push in R&D in the Railways and rigorous implementation of the R&D programes.

The International Conference on Technological Advancements in Railway and Metro Projects (IC-TRAM 2017) has been organised by the Defence Infrastructure Planning & Management Council (India) and IMR Media.

The conference will bring up new technological ideas and innovations at a time the Railways has embarked on building Dedicated Freight Corridors, extending rail network to difficult and inaccessible terrains of the North-East, using alternative fuels to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and so on.