Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has announced a slew of measures for safety of commuters with a focus on foot-over bridges (FOBs) in the country. Mr Goyal chaired a nine-hour meeting with top railway officials in Mumbai yesterday to review passenger safety measures. <br/><br/>The meeting was held a day after 23 people died in a stampede at a crowded station in Mumbai. The Railway Minister said, FOBs would now be mandatory at all stations and they will be treated as safety items having highest priority with no restriction of budget. <br/><br/>Previously, only the first FOB at a railway station was considered essential and the subsequent a passenger amenity. Mr Goyal said, 20 more FOBs have been sanctioned for Central Railway and 10 for Western Railway, while 13 projects were sanctioned to widen FOBs. He said, all of them will be completed within a time period of one year. <br/><br/>Besides, decisions regarding sanctioning FOBs, culverts, underpasses at all the stations across the country would be taken within 30 to 35 days. Mr Goyal said, for the next 18 months, General Managers of the Railway zones have been delegated powers without limit for safety related issues. <br/><br/>They will intimate Financial Commissioner within a week of sanction for provision, and the Commissioner will confirm the same within 15 days. In case of disagreement, the matter will be put up to the Railway Board for final decision within the same 15 days. <br/><br/>In order to enhance its monitoring mechanism, CCTV cameras would be installed in all the suburban trains in Mumbai within 15 months and subsequently, across the country. <br/><br/>Railways have also decided to relocate 200 officers from the headquarters into the field to strengthen ground operations and project implementation.<br/><br/>The Railway Minister also said, eight to nine multidisciplinary teams including officials of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Thane Municipal Corporation and police will visit all 126 stations in Mumbai – including terminuses in the next seven days, and submit a detailed report to work on it proactively.<br/><br/>The Minister said, they have sanctioned a total of 92 more escalators, of which 61 would be installed on Central Railway stations, while 31 would be installed on Western Railway stations. He said, if the report of the multidisciplinary teams demands then more escalators would be built.<br/><br/>On the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train project, Mr Goyal said, the bullet train is sustainable and safe. He said, those who are opposing the project should answer people why they are coming in the way of Indians getting benefit of the latest technology.