New Delhi: Union minister PiyushGoyal has said that the railway ministry is planning to build a modern signalling system on the lines of European Train Control System with a view to mitigate safety risk.

He said the development, once in place, would also help control crime and make train travel safer in the country.

"To make Indian railways safe, I am planning to build the most modern signalling system through the entire railways network in India which will mean over 1.18 lakh kms of railways on the line of European Train Control System (ETCS)," he said.

The minister was speaking at a Mahindra Group event here.Goyal said that today only 20,000 kilometre of railways line in the world has such an advanced safety mechanism in place.

"And we are embarking on a plan to do six times that in the next six years," he said, adding that the entire network would be connected with wifi.

Through the wifi-enabled stations, the local population would also benefit "from the connected world".