WR registers increase an earnings, focuses on developing infrastructure & providing more passenger amenities
The dawn of 63rd Republic Day of our nation was marked on Western Railway with flag hoisting by Shri Mahesh Kumar, General Manager, Western Railway. He laid special emphasis on provision of more passenger amenities, safety and infrastructural development. He said that WR is celebrating 150th year of inception of Narrow Gauge which started between Dabhoi – Miyagam in February 1862. Shri Mahesh Kumar said that it is a matter of immense pride that Western Railway received Railway Board's Prestigious Pt. Govind Vallabh Pant Shield for overall efficiency and best Zonal Railway from Hon'ble Minister of Railways, Shri Dinesh Trivedi.He said that in spite of present challenging economic scenario, WR has been able to register one of the highest growth in freight traffic on Indian Railways.Western Railway has achieved sustained outstanding growth in freight, registering a loading of 52.65 million tonnes up to December, 2011 which is 13 percent more than the corresponding period of last year.·The originating freight earnings have also gone up by 21 percent which has been Rs. 5119 crore up to December, 2011. Total earning of Western Railway is approx Rs.7684 crore up to December, 2011, which is 16.3 percent higher than last year.·Shri Mahesh Kumar said that during the current financial year, 15 pairs of new trains have been introduced, which include 8 new Mail/Express & Passenger trains, 6 DEMU and one MEMU train.
·Frequency of 7 pairs of trains has been increased and destinations of 5 pairs of trains have been extended.
·4452 special trains have been run upto December, 2011, which is 52 percent more than the corresponding period of last year.
·For the convenience of passengers, 8480 additional coaches were attached to various trains on temporary basis, which is 48% more than the corresponding period of last year.
Talking about the Mumbai Suburban services, Shri Kumar said that Passenger Amenities and Customer Care are the prime focus of Western Railway.
·In the current financial year, UTS has been commissioned at 5 new locations while UTS cum PRS has been installed at 7 new locations. 8 existing UTS locations have been converted to UTS-cum-PRS.
·Jansadharan Ticketing Booking Sevak (JTBS) system has been commissioned at 15 new locations.
·120 new CVMs have been procured and the existing ones have been replaced.
As railways are the lifeline of the country, so is the Suburban local, the lifeline of Mumbai city.
·Four new 12-car services were introduced recently, thereby taking the total services to 1214 and 12-car services to 1006. In the last one year, 110 services were augmented from 9 to 12 car formation.
·The challenging task of DC to AC conversion between Virar and Churchgate is about to be completed. DC to AC conversion work between Virar and Vile Parle has been completed recently. After completion of conversion between Vile Parle and Churchgate, the suburban system of Western Railway will not only be integrated with rest of the country but will also result in improvement of overall efficiency and reduction of loss in energy transmission.
·Facility of computerised booking of retiring rooms has started at Mumbai Central, Bandra Terminus and Vadodara stations. This facility will be further extended to Ahmedabad station. For the benefit of passengers alighting from long distance trains, pre-paid taxi booths have also been opened at Mumbai Central and Bandra Terminus stations.
·Computerised Passenger Reservation facility on Mobile Van under the 'Mushkil Asaan' scheme has been commissioned at Vapi station.
·Reverse Osmosis drinking water plants have been commissioned at various important stations on Western Railway for providing clean and hygienic drinking water to passengers.
·15 RO plants have been commissioned at various stations of Mumbai Central, Vadodara, Rajkot and Bhavnagar divisions.
·The innovative project of Hand Held Terminals which started off as a pilot project in Shatabdi Express has now been extended to Rajdhani Express and other prestigious trains. 6 trains of Western Railway are covered under this scheme.
·38 stations have been selected to be upgraded to Adarsh stations, while 3 stations have been nominated by the Ministry of Railways to be developed as world class stations.
Shri Kumar said that in the scenario of depleting conventional source of energy, solar energy is being progressively used over Western Railway.
·Divisional hospital at Sabarmati has bagged the Award for Best Hospital in Energy Conservation from the Ministry of Power.
·Solar energy is being progressively used for lighting and heating purposes.
·Our AC coaches' performance has been adjudged 'Best' on Indian Railways during current financial year.
All out efforts are made by Western Railway to ensure safe running of trains as safety is our prime concern. Safety performance of Western Railway has been commendable.
·No collisions or serious accidents have taken place during the current financial year. Vigilance Control Devices are being provided to enhance safety.
·To improve reflexes of the crew, focused training modules related to operations during fog, wheel slip, cattle run over, signal at danger have been started on Loco Simulators.
·In an attempt to prevent accidents at Unmanned Level Crossings, 42,000 road users were educated regarding safety rules and almost 1 lakh pamphlets were distributed. Awareness campaigns through radio jingles, advertisements, posters, SMSes regarding safety at Unmanned Level Crossings are also conducted from time to time.
·In the current financial year, 96 Level Crossings have been manned and 29 gates have been closed.
·Two new RRIs have been commissioned at Bharuch and Viramgam stations and Electronic Interlocking at Surendranagar station.
·Automatic Signalling has been introduced in 19 route kms on Virar-Surat section recently and the entire section of Virar-Ahmedabad will be completed this year.
·24 Level Crossing gates have been interlocked while 18 have been upgraded by providing Electrical Lifting Barriers. 11 gates have been provided with sliding booms and 77 new gates have been provided with telephones.
·State-of-the-Art, Track Management System has been planned over entire Western Railway which shall lead to paperless working and e-monitoring of the condition of track.
Shri Kumar also spoke about the various gauge conversion and doubling projects which have recently been completed in the states of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
Shri Kumar said that staff welfare measures are important to Western Railway. In addition to hostels provided for wards of railway employees at Ahmedabad and Matunga Road, two more hostels, one for girls and one for boys, are proposed to be opened at Indore and Vadodara respectively. Staff Grievance Camps are being organised regularly for prompt redressal of grievances of staff in divisions.
As a result of various drives undertaken by RPF on a regular basis to check crime and unsocial activities, more than 1.55 lakh persons were apprehended under various section of Railway's Act. A fine of Rs.2.4 crore has been recovered. Vigilance department has realised Rs. 3.3 crore from 1003 checks. Material Management Department of Western Railway has got the distinction of receiving ISO 9001 : 2008 Certification for Quality Management System.
Shri Mahesh Kumar said that we have to continue to move in the right direction with full dedication to reach our goals and to fulfill the aspirations of various sections of society. He warned the railwaymen that the task ahead is full of challenges but expressed hope that the challenges will be overcome by working as a team.
