Indian Railways on a roll

The Indian Railways is not chugging anymore, galloping on a fast track by implementing the promises made in the Railway budget; the behemoth has implemented 39 Railway budget announcements in just 36 days

Embracing technology, infusing funding and setting up committees on safety and to recommend innovative methods and processes for the improvement, betterment and transformation of the Indian Railways has been taken up in earnest. Within five weeks of the announcement of the Railway Budget, 39 announcements have been implemented.

Top priority is given to the Indian Railways, so much so that an online monitoring system has been developed for the railways to oversee the implementation. Only the Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Ministry of Human Resource Development have such an online monitoring mechanism.

Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu and Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha have been personally monitoring the implementation and undertaking periodical review. The monitoring and periodical reviews are also being undertaken at Railway Board level, Zonal Railway level and Railway Division level.

Keeping the passenger in mind, the Railways introduced quite a few passenger friendly features. E-catering has been introduced. A passenger is able to place an order for a meal, to be served at his seat in the train en route, through a phone call or an SMS. Presently this service is available in 134 pairs of trains. Another novel feature is the Operation five minutes wherein one can purchase unreserved tickets within 5 minutes.

It has been launched as pilot project on Chennai suburban railway where passengers can buy paperless unreserved tickets on their mobile. Farmers often lose out and do not get a good price for their goods for want of storage facilities. A perishable cargo centre at Azadpur Mandi was inaugurated.

This perishable cargo centre will help farmers and consumers in a big way and the ripening of fruits and cold storage facilities at this cargo centre will help the farmers get a good price and good market for their product. Cleanliness on Indian trains has always been an issue. A new department for housekeeping has been created. It will address the issue of cleanliness in a more integrated and coordinated manner.

Disposable bags for garbage disposal have been started as a pilot project in Mumbai-Amritsar Punjab mail and three new mechanised laundries have been started at Kochiveli, Malda town and Santragachhi to supply clean linen taking total of such laundries to 33. Twenty nine more locations have been identified.

Infusing life in to the Indian Railways in a path breaking MOU signed with the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), the ailing behemoth would get a 1.5 lakh crore funding from LIC. A taskforce has been constituted for drafting the IT vision for Indian Railways and a committee under Ajay Shankar has been constituted for revamping of the PPP cell.

In an effort to innovate and improve the overall processes, a Kayakalp Council has been formed which would be headed by Ratan Tata. The council would recommend innovative methods and processes for the improvement, betterment and transformation of the Indian Railways.

Latest measures

1. New department for housekeeping created. It will address the issue of cleanliness in a more integrated and coordinated manner.

2. Disposable bags for garbage disposal have been started as a pilot project in Mumbai-Amritsar Punjab mail.

3. New non-AC coaches being manufactured in ICF have dustbins from 1st of May, 2015.

4. NIFT, Delhi, has been engaged for designing of bedroll.

5. 3 new mechanised laundries have been started at Kochiveli, Malda town and Santragachhi to supply clean linen taking total of such laundries to 33. Twenty nine more locations have been identified.

6 Security helpline 182 already functional to report any unsavoury incidents. This service is very important public service and may play an important role in emergencies like crime against women, onboard unlawful activity, train accidents, medical attention required and fire etc.

7. An application and a portal to redress railway related complaints has been developed where online tracking of complaints is also possible.

8. Operation 5 minutes launched i.e. to purchase unreserved tickets within 5 minutes. I

9. Instructions have been issued for differently-abled travelers to purchase concessional E-tickets after one time registration.

10. E-ticketing portal in Hindi is ready for launch.

11. E-catering has been introduced. This is a service where a passenger is able to place an order for a meal, to be served at his seat in the train enroute, through a phone call or an SMS. Presently this service is available in 134 pairs of trains.

12. Online booking of retiring rooms functional.

13. 73 pairs of trains have been identified for introducing hand-held terminals to TTEs. Supply is expected to be received by the end of May, 2015.

14. SMS alert for advance arrival of train at destination functional.

15. Centrally managed railway display network is ready for technology demonstration.

16. Pilot project for providing surveillance cameras has been launched in ICF.

17. On board entertainment has been started on Kalka Shatabdi. It is now being extended to other trains.

18. Instructions have been issued to provide mobile charging facilities in all new general class coaches. Mobile charging facilities will be provided in 3000 existing coaches in 2015-

19. Quota for lower berths for senior citizens increased from 2 to 4 per coach.

20. E-concierge services started in 22 railway stations.

21. 05 trains have been identified for augmentation of capacity from 24 to 26 coaches.

22. Instructions issued for TTEs to help senior citizens/pregnant women to get lower berths.

23. Instructions have been issued for reserving middle bay for women & Senior citizens.

24. Perishable Cargo center as Azadpur Mandi inaugurated. This perishable cargo centre will help farmers and consumers in a big way and the ripening of fruits and cold storage facilities at this cargo centre will help the farmers get a good price and good market for their product.

25. New instructions have been issued on 10th April, 2015 to liberalize the private freight terminal policy.

26. All pending recommendations made by Kakodkar committee on safety have been examined by the Railway Board.

27. Kayakalp Council formed. Noted Industrialist Ratan Tata to head this Council. The purpose of the Council is to recommend innovative methods and processes for the improvement, betterment and transformation of the Indian Railways.

28. Taskforce has been constituted for drafting the IT vision for Indian Railways.

29. A committee under Shri Ajay Shankar has been constituted for revamping of the PPP cell.

30. MoU for creating a SPV signed in between Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Coal and Government of Odisha. It will help expedite Railway connectivity projects for coal transportation in Odisha.

31. MoU with LIC signed. It is a landmark achievement with Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) providing highest ever funding of Rs. 1.5 lakh crore for Railways. This move will ultimately help railways growth through augmentation of its financial resources.

32. Rail connectivity to Dighi Port approved through PPP.

33. Instructions issued for organizing training of frontline staffs on soft skills.

34. Negotiations for financing railway projects through World Bank commenced.

35. The process for putting in place a regulator has been initiated.

36. MoU signed for Railway Research Centre at Mumbai University.

37. MOU with National Institute of Designing signed. Under this, Railway Design Centre will be set up in the campus of National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad. This will help improve customer’s happiness by way of better designed coaches and providing cost effective solutions to problems faced by passengers during train travel.