New Delhi, Jan 30 (IANS): Railway Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu Friday said there was a need to benchmark best domestic and international engineering practices, so as to adopt them to suite country's requirements.

The minister spoke at a seminar organised by the Institution of Permanent Way Engineers (IPWE India) to deliberate on issues of maintenance, weld management, increase of speed on existing routes and Metro system design.

On rail weld management, the minister said: "We have to work towards minimising cases of rail fractures and weld fractures as far as possible to ensure safety in railway operation."

On other issues, the minister said that skill upgradation should be a continuous process and effort should be made to lower the cost of projects.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State (MoS) for Railways Manoj Sinha highlighted the need for introducing faster inter-city trains by upgrading the existing tracks.

Sinha also called for the need for rail-based urban transport systems, which are more efficient and environment friendly.