PRC to replace wooden sleepers on tracks

LUDHIANA: In an attempt to ensure the safety of the passengers, the railway authorities have sent a proposal to chief safety officer (Delhi headquarters) Rampyare for the replacement of wooden sleepers with press rest concrete (PRC) on the tracks.
Sources said the sleepers were a little weak and therefore had become a hurdle in the way of smooth arrival of the trains, further their unstable alignment disturbed the trains’ route resulting in the disturbance of the schedule causing a lot of inconvenience to the passengers.
Therefore, the railway authorities keeping in mind the safety and convenience of the passengers had taken a step to propose the installation of press rest concrete (PRC), which used iron. These would be more damage-resistant and efficient enough to enable the proper and safe arrival of the trains at the station, which would definitely curb the inconvenience being caused to the thousands of passengers.
However, the step was taken by the railway authorities a week after the inspection was held by chief safety officer Rampyare at the city railway station on June 8 during which over 100 wooden sleepers were found in a pathetic and accident-prone condition.
According to station superintendent RK Sharma, the work to rectify the lapses had begun immediately after the inspection. He further said that after a detailed discussion, the proposal of replacing the wooden sleepers with PRC had been sent to the chief safety officer, which was still awaiting approval.
According to a few visitors at the railway station, a lot of officers held inspections and promised to rectify the faults, they however failed to execute any such plans causing inconvenience to the passengers.
‘‘It takes a really long time for the authorities to wake up to the needs of the public, but hopefully this time the authorities will soon take an action as it concerns the safety of a large number of people,’’ said Sunil, a passenger.