All electric and diesel locomotives are provided with cattle guards for protecting locomotives from the cattle hits. Hence, the quantum of financial loss i.e. amount spent on related damage/repair of such incidents is nominal.
More Details:
- A number of preventive measures have been taken by Zonal Railways to reduce animal fatalities on Railway track, which include the following:
- Cleaning of garbage and removal of wild vegetation along the track.
- Sensitization of Train Crew on a regular basis for frequent whistling at locations prone for cattle/animal run over.
- Construction of fencing/boundary wall at identified locations of trespass by cattle/animal and approaches of major towns.
- Counselling of villagers for taking necessary steps to avoid cattle coming near track through safety seminars/propagandas in villages.
- Avoid dumping of food waste along railway track to avoid unnecessary congregation of animals near railway track.
The number of trains affected by cattle run overs since 2019 is as under:
| Financial Year | Number of instances of Cattle Run Over on Indian Railways | Number of Trains lost punctuality due to Cattle Run Over |
| 2019-2020 | 27057 | 37067 |
| 2020-2021 | 19960 | 23164 |
| 2021-2022 | 28727 | 36060 |
| 2022-2023 (Up to 23.01.2023) | 26180 | 35734 |
- The number of cases registered under section 154 and 147 of the Railway Act, 1989 against persons whose cattle are found moving in railway land and number of persons arrested since 2019, are as under:
| Year | Number of cases registered | Number of persons arrested | ||
| Under section 147 | Under section 154 | Under section 147 | Under section 154 | |
| 2019 | 35 | 16 | 35 | 16 |
| 2020 | 196 | 30 | 191 | 14 |
| 2021 | 225 | 108 | 217 | 55 |
| 2022 | 356 | 72 | 348 | 58 |
- This information was given by the Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronic & Information Technology, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.
Source: PIB- Press Release | Image Credit: MoR
