Friday, December 2 2005 15:27 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: In order to improve the occupancy of higher classes, a Scheme of Frequent Travellers (SOFT) is being launched which would be applicable to First AC, Second AC, and AC chair car classes, Minister of state for Railways R Velu informed the Rajya Sabha today (Dec 02, 2005).

A frequent traveller would get a complimentary train trip after certain number of reward points are accumulated, he said in a written reply.

The scheme would be managed by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).

To another question whether Indian Railways proposes to launch more luxury trains like "Palace on Wheels", Velu said MOU has been executed between Railways and the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation for introducing a luxury tourist train in Karnataka Sector.

However, he said, there was no other proposal for launching such trains in other states.

Vacancies: There are about 20,000 vacancies in Group "D" in safety category of the Railways, he said and added no time frame can be fixed when they were likely to be filled, Velu said.

Accidents: There were 559 train accidents during 2003-04 and 2004-05, out of which 465 consequential accidents have been attributed to human failure, Velu said and clarified that 280 of them have been on account of failure of Railway staff and 185 on account of failure of other than them.