New Delhi: A White Paper on rail safety would be presented in Parliament during the current Budget session for a threadbare debate taking into consideration all aspects of passengers' protection, Railway Minister Nitish Kumar told the Lok Sabha on March 6.

"We are preparing a White Paper on safety and this should be fully debated here," Kumar said replying to a marathon debate on the Railway Budget for 2003-04 in the House in which 120 members participated.

Rejecting the Opposition charge that there had been a shortfall in passenger travel due to safety reasons, Kumar said anti-collision device was being introduced and Railway Protection Force strengthened to enhance security.

Kumar announced increase in frequency of Delhi-Guwahati Rajdhani Express to all days in a week with the train going via Patna on five days and via Lucknow on two days.

The Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani would now ply via Gaya on all the seven days instead of going via Patna on two days, he said.

The House passed the vote on account for Railways for a four-month period till July of over Rs 14,000 crore as also supplementary demand for grant for 2002-03 and relevant appropriation bills.

The Railway Budget with a total outlay of Rs 43,000 crore would be taken up by Parliament next month after the three-week Budget session recess beginning March 14.

"Collision will soon be a thing of the past," Kumar said observing that 10,000-route km would be surveyed this year for anti-collision device to prevent accidents.

PTI