5 train accidents in two years due to stray cattle on tracks: Railway Minister Vaishnaw

New Delhi: Five train accidents took place in the country in 2021-22 and 2022-23 due to stray cattle on the tracks, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has informed the Lok Sabha.

Vaishnaw provided the information in a written reply on Wednesday to BJP MP Pratap Chandra Sarangi's query on rail accidents involving stray cattle in the country.

Sarangi also wanted to know if the government had fenced railway tracks in the country and whether it had plans to provide fencing to tracks in Odisha's Balasore.

"Existing provisions stipulate fencing at vulnerable locations for speed above 110 kmph to 130 kmph, and all along the track for speed above 130 kmph," Vaishnaw said.

"Safety fencing has been planned on the Kharagpur-Bhadrak section, covering Balasore district," he added.

The zone-wise details of fencing of railway track show that the North Central Railway Zone has provided the maximum fencing length of 949 km, followed by the West Central Zone with 726 km and the Western Zone with 720 km. The total fencing in all the zones combined is 4,469 km.