The Court prioritizes passenger safety and equitable insurance provisions for all ticket purchasing methods by the Railways.

ORDER

Heard Mr. Vikramjit Banerjee, learned Additional Solicitor General(ASG) appearing for the appellant-Railways and Mr. Shikhil SuTri, learned Amicus Curiae

2. Report has been submitted by the appellant-Railways, in which certain issues have been flagged.

3. Mr. Banerjee, learned ASG submits that these issues may not be taken as the priorities of the Railways and are only for the purposes of highlighting the aspects on which the Railways has taken a conscious decision as far as safety issues concerning the system and passengers are concerned.

4. Having gone through the report, we are of the considered opinion that, at the initial stage, the focus should be on the safety of the tracks and the railway crossings, from which other aspects would emerge. As an indication has been given with regard to what the Railways proposes to undertake, no definite timelines have been provided. We, therefore, require the learned ASG to file a better affidavit, focusing, for the present, on the two issues highlighted at items no. 3 and 7 of the said report.

5. In addition, the learned Amicus has pointed out that an insurance cover is provided to passengers purchasing tickets online to cover accidents, which is not available to those who purchase tickets offline. Mr. Banerjee is required to take instructions as to the reason for this distinction between the two modes of procurement of tickets.

6. With regard to the remaining issues, let the Railways continue carrying out its overall plan for the improvement of the system in its entirety.

7. However, for the present, we require the Railways to respond and file further affidavit/report with regard to the two issues, as indicated above, and also respond with regard to the insurance issue.

8. As prayed for by the learned ASG, the matters be listed on 13.01.2026, retaining their position.