9,784 railway bridges sanctioned for repairs, rebuilding as on April 1: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed Lok Sabha in a written reply on Wednesday that the Indian Railways sanctioned 9,784 railway bridges for repairs, strengthening, rehabilitation or rebuilding.

Vaishnaw responded to questions raised by nine MPs on whether the government has identified old railway bridges in Maharashtra which are in dilapidated conditions and the details of the repair work undertaken in the last three years.

These members were concerned about the status of collapse of railway bridges in the last three years and the number of persons killed and injured as a result of that.
They also wanted to know the steps taken by the government to repair all the old railway bridges across the country.

"There is a well established system of inspection of railway bridges on Indian Railways. All the railway bridges are inspected twice a year, one before the onset of monsoon and one detailed inspection after the monsoon," Vaishnaw said.

"In addition, certain railway bridges are also inspected more frequently depending upon their condition. Repair, strengthening, rehabilitation, rebuilding of railway bridges is a continuous process and is undertaken whenever so warranted by their physical condition as ascertained during these inspections and not on the basis of age," he added.

The railway minister clarified that no railway bridge has collapsed in Maharashtra during the last three years and all railway bridges are safe for train movement at permitted speed.

"The information on railway bridges is maintained zone-wise and not state–wise. Maharashtra is covered under Central Railway, South Central Railway, South East Central Railway, South Western Railway and Western Railway," Vaishnaw said.

"During last three years, 5,405 numbers of railway bridges were repaired, rehabilitated, strengthened or rebuilt in the Indian Railways, which include 1,323 numbers of railway bridges in the above mentioned five zonal railways. As on April 1, 2024, 9,784 numbers of railway bridges are sanctioned for repairs, strengthening, rehabilitation or rebuilding on the Indian Railways," he added.