Question : Unmanned Level Crossings

(a) whether the Government proposes to construct Rail Over Bridges on all the unmanned and manned railway crossings in the country;

(b) if so, the time by which the construction of these Rail Over Bridges would be completed and the details thereof with respect to Uttar Pradesh;

(c) the number of such over bridges to be constructed in the country, especially in Bihar and Bikaner Division along with the locations thereof;

(d) whether the Government is aware of the fact that Railway crossing are kept closed unnecessarily and as a result diesel worth crores of rupees is wasted; and

(e) the time limit for crossing the railway crossings prior to arrival and after departure of the trains as per rule?

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)
(a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
*****
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.548 BY SHRI CHANDESHWAR PRASAD, SHRIMATI NUSRAT JAHAN RUHI AND SHRI RAHUL KASWAN TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 20.11.2019 REGARDING UNMANNED LEVEL CROSSINGS

(a) to (c): All unmanned Level Crossings (LCs) on Broad gauge have been eliminated by January 2019.
However, on manned LCs, Road over Bridge (ROB) in lieu of these LCs are being constructed on cost-sharing basis if traffic density is more than one lakh Train Vehicle Unit (TVU) subject to consent of State Government for closure of the LC and sharing of cost.
Division-wise data of ROBs is not maintained. State-wise details of ROBs including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan sanctioned on cost sharing basis as per Pink Book 2019-20 is appended.
Normally, Railway undertakes construction of ROBs in Railway portion whereas approaches are being constructed by State Government. Generally, there is no problem of construction of ROBs in Railway portion. However, it is difficult to fix the time schedule as construction of ROBs on approaches depends upon many factors such as availability of land, removal of encroachments, fixing the alignment of approaches, allocation of requisite funds etc.
(d): Level Crossings are not closed unnecessarily. These are closed against road traffic for the safe passage of train or trains or any other Railway operations. These are required to ensure safety of both rail and road users.
(e): There is no time limit stipulated for crossing the railway crossings.
*****