A day after the tragic incident of a passenger train colliding with a school van at a level crossing in Tamil Nadu’s Cuddalore district, which killed three children, Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reviewed railway safety matters on July 9 and issued directions for the provision of CCTV systems at all level crossings, officials said.

“It has been directed that CCTV systems should be provided at all the level crossing (LC) gates, along with the necessary recording systems. The power supply for the CCTV should also be made available at the LC gate. The power supply can be based on solar panels, battery backup, UPS etc., in addition to a commercial supply. This activity is to be completed in mission mode,” a senior railway official who attended the review said.

Officials said that a 15-day safety inspection drive on the LC gates in block sections has also been launched. At present, there are level crossings where interlocking systems are not available, in which case, at times, after the green signal is given to the train, it may start moving without the gate being closed. “Fast-tracking interlocking of LC gates in mission mode is to be undertaken,” the official added.

A Train Vehicle Unit (TVU) is a measure used in railway operations, specifically at level crossings, to assess the traffic density and prioritise safety measures. It is calculated by multiplying the number of train units by the number of road vehicle units passing through a level crossing within a 24-hour period.

In the review meeting, it was decided to lower the TVU threshold for interlocking operations from 20,000 to 10,000, officials said. TVU is used to evaluate the risk level at level crossings and helps in deciding whether to eliminate, merge or man the crossings. It is also an important threshold to understand the need for building Road Over Bridges (ROB) or Road Under Bridges (RUB) to eliminate the risks of accidents.

Editorial | ​Death by negligence: On the railway gate accident in Cuddalore

Officials said that Railway PSUs may be involved in interlocking works and construction, and that all gates above 10,000 TVU will be interlocked irrespective of ROBs, RUBs or Limited Height Subway (LHS) plans.

Further, for non-interlocked gates, daily random checks of voice recordings will be conducted at least twice per day from each division by Divisional Railway Managers (DRMs) using Voice Logger Systems.

Instructions were also issued in the review meeting to standardise speed breakers and warning boards at all LC gates, accelerate construction of LHS/RUB/ROB to eliminate LC gates and prepare a list of conflict-prone gates (where public pressures or manhandling happens) where Railway Protection Force or Home Guard deployment is to be ensured.

According to 2024 Railway data, there are 17,083 manned level crossings, which are non-interlocking gates and require a person to open and shut gates when a train passes through.