Rail guard: Indian Railways has formed Rail Rakshak Force for quick relief and rescue operations in rail accidents, which is capable of reaching the site of accident by road before the accident relief train. The team formed as a pilot project by the North Western Railway on the initiative of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav has been trained by the National Relief Force (NDRF) and deployed at four locations in four divisions of the zone – Bandikui, Lalgarh, Udaipur and Merta Road. Railway Minister Vaishnav also inspected the redevelopment work at Gandhinagar station in Jaipur as well as two teams of Railway Guard.
According to sources, the Railway Minister had expressed the need to work on the issue of rapid evacuation of passengers from the damaged coaches in a meeting in November 2023, after which a committee of North Western Railway, East Coast Railway, Indian Railway Emergency Management Institute Bangalore, Integral Coach Factory and Rail Coach Factory was formed by the Railway Board. As per the recommendation of the committee, a team of engineers of Railway Protection Force and Carriage and Wagon Department was given one month training by NDRF.
The Railway Board had approved an expenditure of Rs 3.4 crore for the purpose of enhancing emergency management. On which the North Western Railway formed four teams. Each team consists of five RPF members and one C&W personnel, two reserves. It was decided that the team members will work in pairs. The rescue force works under the control of RPF and will be used for rescue during train accidents and as per the request of the state government. This pilot project has been brought for a period of 3 years.