Central Railway Improving Passenger Amenities – Year end review 2019

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27 December 2019, Pune- Central Railway has taken several initiatives, strengthened infrastructure and executed various measures for making the journey of its customers and passengers comfortable. The focus this year was more on improving the suburban services which sees the maximum footfalls, maximum load in terms of number of passengers travelling and the sheer size of our operations and services.

VISION 2020

· AC local services

· Resuming services on Neral –Matheran Light Railway

· More FOBs, Lifts, Escalators, Wi-Fi

· Opening sections of New lines, Doubling, Electrification in a phased manner

· Deccan Queen express new LHB rake.

Some of the initiatives and results achieved by this Railway during the year 2019 are highlighted:

SUBURBAN SERVICES

· 15-car services increased from 16 to 22 daily thereby creating 25% more accommodation

· Commissioning of Parel Terminus

· Extension of 38 Dadar services upto Parel

· Total services on Harbour line 614 daily

· Total services on Trans-harbour line 262 daily

· Total services on Main line increased from 856 to 858 daily

· Total suburban services on Central Railway increased from 1772 to 1774 daily.

NON-SUBURBAN SERVICES

Mail/Express Trains –

· Provided Daund chord line so that approximately 20-30 minutes saved in running time of trains from Pune towards Daund-Manmad

· Introduced CSMT-Nizamuddin Bi-weekly Rajdhani Express on 19.1.2019 and frequency increased to Four days a week from 14.9.2019

· Introduced Pune – Ajni Weekly Humsafar Express from 23.2.2019.

· Introduced LTT – Madgaon AC Double Decker weekly Express from 15.6.2019.

· Introduced Pune – Nagpur Weekly Humsafar Express from 7.3.2019.

· Extended the run of Pune-Karjat Passenger train up to Panvel

· MEMU services on Diva-Panvel-Roha section 19.1.2019

· DEMU services on Lonand – Phaltan new line section.

· 51 trains converted to LHB rake till December 2019.

· 21 trains which are LHB run with Head on Generation (HOG) till December 2019

· Attached additional coaches (AC-3 Tier, Sleeper and General Second class) to various trains for 223 Trips.

· Attached 29 coaches on permanent basis to 5 trains.

· Ran 2262 special trains on various occasions like summer holidays, festival holidays etc.

· Aman Lodge-Matheran shuttle services commenced from 27.12.2019 (Total 8 pairs during week days and 10 pairs in weekends)

· Increased sectional speed to 110 kmph in Daund-Solapur, Daund-Manmad, Kurduwadi-Latur, Kurduwadi-Miraj, Mohol-Vakav and Tiali-Akkalkot Road sections in 2019

TICKETING FACILITIES

Purchasing of ticket, especially at crowded stations on Mumbai suburban area was always a cause of concern during peak hours and several initiatives have been introduced from time to time like provision of ATVMs, CoTVMs, and now Mobile ticketing, in addition to provision of JTBS etc. wherever possible.

· One Touch ATVMs – This year 92 one-touch ATVMS installed at 42 suburban stations on Mumbai suburban to facilitate fast ticketing in just 5 seconds.

· ATVMs- 719 new ATVMs are installed besides providing self-ticketing zones till now.

· CoTVMs – 110 Coin operated ticket vending machines (CoTVMs) installed till now.

· UTS Mobile App – Mumbai Division of Central Railway records Highest Sale of Mobile Tickets using UTS App on 16.12.2019.

Central Railway’s Mumbai Division has set a new record with 8.33 lakh passengers booked tickets using UTS Mobile App on 16.12.2019. This is almost 11.86% of its total passengers booked on Mumbai Division on 16.12.2019. Earnings realised from Mobile ticket sale also works out to Rs 67.93 lakh.

The Commercial Department of Central Railway, Mumbai division at the forefront in initiating several campaigns to popularise the UTS Mobile app. In addition to this UTS app promotion is also being done by advertising on ticket rolls, animated videos and radio jingles. Besides, the bonus of 5% and the ease of booking season tickets through the UTS app has been widely appreciated.

PASSENGER AMENITIES

· Foot Over Bridges (FOBs) – 14 FOBs were provided during the year 2019 on CR and FOBs on CR is 102. Further 56 are planned on CR

· Escalators – 9 Escalators were installed during the year 2019. Total escalators in Mumbai Division is 67 – 106 in CR and 123 escalators are planned on CR.

· Lifts- With provision of one lift at Parel, the total lifts in Mumbai Division is 41 – 62 in CR and 127 are further planned on CR.

· Wi-Fi – Provided at 348 stations and work in progress at 35 stations.

· Platform height raising – All 273 platforms raised to 900 mm

· Mechanised Laundry – Ghorpuri (Pune), Ajni (Nagpur) and Solapur in progress

· Emergency Medical Rooms – Provided at 19 stations and planned at 7 stations

Security

· 4139 CCTV provided at stations including 3141 in Mumbai Division till now.

· Central Railway RPF launches “Operation Thunder” against Touts.

Central Railway RPF launched “ Operation Thunder” to counter the menace of touting of Railway reservation tickets. This was a part of the campaign against touts launched on an All India Level.

· Awareness Campaign – “MY LEFT IS MY RIGHT”

Central Railway RPF Mumbai Division has launched the biggest ever Public Awareness Campaign “My Left is My Right – Please Keep Left” from 24.07.2019 to create awareness among railway commuters about maintaining the lane discipline of “Keep Left” and travel safely.

“My Left is My Right – Please Keep Left” campaign aims to educate railway passengers to always:-

Keep Left during boarding & deboarding trains,

Keep Left while using a Level Crossing Gate,

Keep Left while using the Stairs and Escalators

Keep Left while using Foot Over Bridges

This Campaign aims to urge the passengers to follow the sign “Please Keep Left” and be in line to avoid stampede, pick-pocketing, theft etc. It will also help discourage passengers from boarding / deboarding running trains thereby minimizing accidental injuries and deaths .

Advance Suburban Trains Indicators

Central Railway has installed big screen indicators at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus suburban station and is going to install big screen indicators on prominent suburban stations which will give departure time of 30 upcoming local trains. Earlier advance train indicator for showing information of next five suburban trains for main line and harbour line were provided separately in suburban area at CSMT. New Suburban train indicator installed at entrance of star chamber booking office, having facility of current and advance suburban train information in same display board.

No Bill No Pay

Central Railway’s Mumbai division has the distinction of being the pioneering division on Indian Railways to have initiated the installation of electronic billing machines at all catering stalls on stations. Incidentally, it also has the credit of being the first division on Indian Railways to install the electronic system of payments or digital payments.

INFRASTRUCTURE ENHANCEMENT

Electrification Pen –Roha 94 km; Pune-Shindavane 32 km and Miraj-Kolhapur 47 km are commissioned in 2019.

Doubling Sonegaon -Chindoda 13 km; Shenoli-Bhavaninagar-Takari 14 km and Kopargaon – Yeola 14 km are commissioned in 2019

Conducted Tour of Media to Southeast ghat (Bhor Ghat)

Central Railway conducted a media tour to Lonavala to show the infrastructure work between Monkey Hill and Nagnath on Lonavala-Karjat southeast ghat section. About 45 media persons including print and electronic media from Mumbai area and about 15 media persons from Pune area were taken to the site where the work was shown on first hand. The area is inaccessible by road as the nearest road is 4 km away.

Green stations Roha, Pen and Apta

Roha, Pen and Apta stations on CR turn “Green” to save Energy. Energy conservation is a “Mission Area” on Indian Railways. As a part of this mission, Central Railway has already changed to energy efficient LED lights 100% at its stations and service buildings, etc. Asangaon station of Central Railway has the distinction of being the 2nd station on Indian Railways to become Green Station.

Elimination of Manned level crossing

25 manned level crossings have been eliminated by way of providing Road over Bridge / Road under Bridge / Limited Height Subways.

Indian Railways induct First High Output Ballast Cleaning Machine on CR

Indian Railways is inducting high output integrated ballast cleaning machine in the existing fleet of 919 machines over its system. The first machine imported as prototype with transfer of technology and subsequent machines will be manufactures in India under “Make in India” programme. The output of this state-of-the-art machine will be almost double, compared to available machines in the same duration of traffic block.

Green energy for railway traction in central railway:

Central Railway is pioneer in procurement of Traction Energy through open access, thereby saving approx. Rs 50 Cr / month in Traction Energy bills. The traction energy procured by Central Railway was being generated using fossil fuels i.e. gas, coal etc. In line with national policy and IR’s commitment for clean environment, with assistance from REMCL (Railway Energy Management Company Limited), Central Railway has executed an agreement with M/s NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd for supply of wind energy, which has commenced from 22.06.2019 from Wind Energy Plant of 50.4 MW of National Aluminium Company (NALCO) at Jath Sangli, Maharashtra. Central Railway will be able to save approx Rs. 35 Cr. annually with this, towards difference in tariff and cost of Renewable Energy Certificates partially. Use of wind energy will also reduce IR’s and consequently Nation’s carbon foot-print by 0.082 Million Tonnes of Carbon Dioxide (CO 2).

CR & CONCOR start new ultra, short-haul round trip

Central Railway started the new ultra, short-haul round trip rail service between Jawaharlal Nehru Port and Dronagiri Rail Terminal. This service started by Central Railway and CONCOR (Container Corporation) will not only help in decongest the ports but also shall increase rail share in container traffic thus reducing carbon emissions too.

CSMT station conferred “Eat Right Station” with five-star rating by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)

Eat Right Station is a part of the ‘Eat Right India’ movement launched by FSSAI and Hindustan Uniliver Limited (HUL) aimed at promoting food safety and hygiene at the static catering units at Railway Stations.

The food quality regulator of FSSAI and HUL along with Officers of Central Railways (CR) and Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), and food auditors inspected Food Plaza, Jan – Ahaar, Base Kitchen, Retail Catering stalls and other catering establishments at the CSMT station and certified & rated the standard of food. CSMT has been judged on the basis of compliance of food safety and hygiene, availability of healthy diet, food handling at preparation, transhipment and retail/ serving point, food waste management, promotion of local & seasonal food and creating awareness on food safety and healthy diet.

After the final audit the FSSAI awarded five-star rating with 88% scope to CSMT Station. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) is the first station on Central Railway to have been given this certification.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus is awarded as the best Swachh Iconic place in India.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus is the best swachh iconic place in India as adjudged by Ministry of Jal Shakti, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. The Juries are from the Guardian Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation, JAL Shakti. Swachh Iconic Places is in collaborative with three other central Ministries: (i) Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, (ii) M/o Culture, and (iii) M/o Tourism and (iv) UNESCO.