BENGALURU: THE last unmanned level crossing gate in the Bengaluru-Dharmavaram section of the Bangalore Railway Division was removed last week. This 177.5-km stretch is the busiest single line railway track in the Division.
Overall, 53 level crossing gates across this section were removed during the 2016-2017 financial year, out of which 12 were unmanned. They were replaced by Railway Over Bridges and Under Bridges.
Speaking to Express, Lakshman Singh, Senior Divisional Engineer, Co-ordination, Bangalore Railways, said, “On an average, 60 trains pass through this section daily. This includes 23 pairs of passenger and express trains and seven pairs of goods trains.”
Long-distance trains bound to Northern, Western and Central India pass through this section including the Rajdhani Express, Duronto Express, Garib Rath and Karnataka Express.
“There are 10 more unmanned level crossings and 275 manned level crossings across the Division. The stretch covers 21 railway stations,” Singh said.
All the unmanned crossings here and the 25 manned crossings will be eliminated by March 2018, he added.
Stressing on the safety aspect due to elimination of gates, a top railway official recalled one of the worst mishaps in the Division that occurred when a granite-laden truck collided into the Bangalore-Nanded Express at a level crossing gate near Penekonda railway station.
Five people, including an MLA, were killed in the accident.
Doubling work and electrification along the Bengaluru-Dharmavaram line has begun and is expected to be completed next year.