Sending teams abroad for safety tech, money no constraint: Goyal

New Delhi, Sept 28: Terming passenger safety as his highest priority, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal today said India will soon be sending teams abroad to study modern technology and said money constraint will never be a hurdle when it comes to safety and security of passengers. Addressing a press conference here, Mr Goyal said these teams would be going worldwide to study modern safety technologies being practiced there for passenger safety and the same could be brought to the country. Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha, Chairman, Railway Board, Ashwani Lohani and other senior officials were also present on the occasion. The Minister said field inspection would be carried out and maintenance block would be given priority which would require change in time table. Besides, the remaining 5,000 odd unmanned level crossings would be eliminated in one year. The Railways would be using technology like ultra sonic frequency detection and cameras to find out defects and other faults, besides, revamping the electronic interlocking systems in place of manual system, Mr Goyal said. The Minister added that Railways would soon shift to LHB coaches from the ICF coaches by next year. He said Railways had proposed to increase speed of around 700 trains with effect from November 1, while 48 trains were being converted from Mail Express to the Superfast category. On enhancing the revenue of Railways, Mr Goyal said monetisation of railway assets would improve the finances and the operating ratio while freeing up resources for critical railway projects. This would be done by making land monetisation attractive by changing various rules and regulations. UNI