A team of Railway Protection Force consists of around 25 types of equipment in one ISUZU vehicle, they include hydraulic cutter, driller, rope, walkie-talkie, torch, rod, chain, LED light, stretcher, ladder, fire fighting equipment, first aid box, etc.
Indian Railways has formed Rail Rakshak Dal 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. Formed as a pilot project by North Western Railway on the initiative of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, this team has been trained by the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) and deployed at four locations in the four divisions of the zone – Bandikui, Lalgarh, Udaipur and Merta Road. Railway Minister Vaishnav inspected the redevelopment work at Gandhinagar station in Jaipur and also saw two teams of Rail Rakshak Dal.
According to sources, the Railway Minister had expressed the need to work on the issue of rapid evacuation of passengers from the accident train in a meeting in November 2023, after which a committee of North Western Railway, East Coast Railway, Indian Railway Disaster Management Institute (IRIDM) Bangalore, Integral Coach Factory (ICF) and Rail Coach Factory (RCF) was constituted by the Railway Board. In accordance with the recommendations of the committee, a team of engineers from Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Carriage and Wagon Department was formed and given a month’s training by NDRF.
The Railway Board had sanctioned work costing Rs. 3.4 crore for enhancing disaster management. On this, North Western Railway formed four teams. Each team comprises five RPF members and one C&W personnel, two reserves (one RPF and one C&W). It was decided that the team members (6 in number) will work in pairs. The rescue team 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 03 years.
A team of Railway Protection Force consists of around 25 types of equipment in one ISUZU vehicle, they include hydraulic cutter, driller, rope, walkie-talkie, torch, rod, chain, LED light, stretcher, ladder, fire fighting equipment, first aid box, etc.
Sources said that the teams of RPF have to leave within 10 minutes of getting the information of the accident and reach the accident site within 60 minutes and start relief and rescue work before the arrival of the accident relief train of the railway. The accident relief train has a team of 52 people who join the relief and rescue work along with the RPF. According to sources, 21 people of RPF and C&W are being trained at IRIDM Bangalore.