Representative image showing trains.
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: The Ministry of Civil Aviation has shifted the office of Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety from Lucknow to New Delhi, an official memorandum said.
“The undersigned is directed to state that the Headquarter office of Commission of Railway Safety i.e. O/o Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety has been shifted from Lucknow to New Delhi,” the memorandum, dated August 22 and signed by the Dy. Commissioner of Railway Safety, said.
According to sources, the decision has been taken to have better and efficient coordination with the various government departments and agencies.
The Commission comes under the authority of the MoCA under the principle of separation of the functions of investigation from the Railway Board. The CRS deals with the safety aspects of rail travel and train operations while playing statutory inspectorial, investigatory and advisory functions.
According to CRS website, “The principle of separation of the Railway Inspectorate from the Railway Board was endorsed in 1940 by the Central Legislature who recommended that 'Senior Government Inspectors of Railways should be placed under the Administrative control of some authority of the Govt. of India other than the Railway Board'." “Accordingly, the Railway Inspectorate was placed under the administrative control of the Department of “Posts and Air” in May 1941 and continuously thereafter under whichever Ministry that held the portfolio of Civil Aviation. The erstwhile Railway Inspectorate was re-designated as the Commission of Railway Safety on 1.11.1961,” it added.