8733 deaths on railway tracks in 2020 despite the closure of most passenger trains

- Most of the dead were foreign laborers going home on foot

- As the train route is shorter than the highway, workers may choose to walk on the track to get home earlier.

New Delhi: Despite the closure of most passenger trains following the Corona lockdown in 2020, more than 200 people have been killed on railway tracks, most of them foreign workers, the authorities said in a statement.

In response to a query from an acquisition in Madhya Pradesh under the Right to Information Act (RTI), the Railway Board had released the death toll on the railway tracks from January, 2020 to December, 2020.

The Railway Board said in a statement that according to the data provided by the state police, between January 2020 and December 2020, nine people were killed and 206 injured on the railway tracks. Most of those killed on the railway tracks were foreign workers, according to officials. These laborers chose the railway track to walk home because the train's route is shorter than the road and highway.

Another reason to walk on the railway tracks was that they escaped police action for violating the lockdown and they could easily reach home without forgetting the route.

Secondly, these workers understood that all the trains were closed due to the lockdown. Although the passenger train was closed in the lockdown, the goods trains were on. Railway spokesperson DJ Narayan said the death was not due to an accident but due to violation of rules. Between 2013 and 2014, a total of 21 people were killed and eight injured on railway tracks.