New thrust and directions are visible in the working of the East Coast Railway (ECoR) with a number of positive developments having been taken place recently. ECoR General Manager Rajiv Vishnoi has highlighted a few important developmental works on Tuesday.
He said the work of laying of the double line between Sakhigopal and Puri is complete and the Commissioner, Railway Safety has been invited to inspect the new line for his certification before a passenger train is run on the section.
The Brundamal-lapanga single line stretch has also been doubled, thereby the entire stretch between Sambalpur-Jharsuguda Road is now working on double line. All formalities in this connection are over and trains are being run since last week of May.
Vishnoi said a number of activities are under progress for the coming Nabakalebar. A large tourist complex to accommodate pilgrims would be ready by June-end. New platforms at Puri and two new platforms at Bhubaneswar are also expected to be ready by this time.
The Khurda Road-Begunia new line is ready for opening on any day from now onwards. The work between Begunia-Sunakhala is also likely to be over by September.
Vishnoi said the ECoR undertook a massive Customer and Passenger Facilitation Fortnight between May 26 and June 9. High-level railway officers including the GM interacted with passengers of general, sleeper & AC classes during their journey to get feedback and constructive suggestions for improvement of rail services.
Railway officials have also interacted with public representatives (MPs, MlAs, etc.) and State Government officials on development of railways as well as local areas.
Art Camps and Nukkad Natak were organised to make rail users aware about the importance of cleanliness and safety. Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu himself came to the ECoR at Visakhapatnam to encourage railwaymen and rail users about “Swachch Rail, Swachch Bharat”.
A massive tree plantation was undertaken all over railway premises, near stations and in railway colonies as part of the Railyatri Upbhokta Pakhwada. Four yoga camps were organised on a daily basis. An Ayurveda camp was also held.
To promote skill development activities, hundreds of local unemployed youths were trained over different workshops of the ECoR. An intensive ticket checking drive was organised in which many officers and supervisors participated to curb ticketless travelling.
During the period, interactions were held with over 5,000 passengers directly by senior railway officers including the GM, whereby constructive suggestions were received to improve passenger amenities, Vishnoi said.