Ashwini Vaishnaw says Railways should be above politics, probing 'disturbing trends' in some accidents

New Delhi: Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday said that the railway is probing the incidents of derailment of trains due to placing of boulders and rods on the railway tracks.

"There are some disturbing trends in some incidents, which should be taken seriously," Vaishnaw told reporters here.

He also said that the national transporter should not be a subject of political blame game as it is the lifeline of the nation.

Vaishnaw said the railways was the lifeline of the country and if anything negative happens, every effort should be made to ensure that trains run in a very efficient manner.

He also said that railways have added 5,300 km of railway lines to the existing network during the last one year.

"Ten years ago, the average construction pace in Railways was four km per day. Today, it is 14.5 km per day," Vaishnaw said, adding that all the sanctioned railway projects will be completed in the next five years.

On recruitment in the railways, the minister said the government has prepared a recruitment calendar for filling up vacancies in the national transporter.

"Four quarters have been linked to a particular category of employment. The first quarter – January to March – has been earmarked for recruiting loco pilots, the second quarter to hire technicians and junior engineers, the third quarter has been reserved for recruitment of non-technical staff and the fourth quarter for Level-1 officers," he said.

Vaishnaw said the annual plan of employment has been prepared and 45,000 vacancies have been advertised for the current recruitment cycle.