Senior officials of the South Eastern Railway (SER) today said that the work on Tori-lohardaga track was in final stages and with State government’s support it should be completed in by March 2016. They said that the Railways was trying to complete the ongoing projects speedily with help from the State Government.
“The lohardaga-Tori project will be commissioned by end of March. The Railway Over Bridge (ROB) construction work for Namkum, Aragate and Taisilwai has already begun. The Rs1,666 crore budget that was allocated for the Ranchi-Rourkela line will also be soon ready,” said Ratan Kumar, Circle Officer, Constructions, SER.
Incidentally, the issue was raised during the GM’s interaction with media persons where questions were raised about the work on the track being stalled for about a week. lohardaga SP Kartik S had also visited the site in the district today where the work was stalled due to fear of extortionists.
Upgradation of the launched apps, services, maintaining safety and cleanliness seems to be the top priority for the railways in the capital city. The new facility of the air-conditioned waiting hall was inaugurated by the General Manager of South Eastern Railway.
“We are delighted to have the facility of air-conditioned paid waiting hall at nominal charges here for the passengers travelling in the upper class. We will ensure the cleanliness and security is well maintained here,” said AK Goyal, GM, South Eastern Railways.
The waiting hall has got modern amenities like air-conditioning, clean and hygienic toilets and modern furniture. Passengers having AC or first class tickets can now rest here in the 16-bedded facility at a price of Rs250 for 12 hours starting either 08:00 – 20:00 or 20:00—08:00.
Goyal also talked about how the look and feel of the railway station is gearing up to change because the newly launched and announced services such as the On Board Housekeeping Service (OBHS) and Integrated Cleaning Services are going to keep the station premises, platforms, toilets and the compartments all shining.
“This visit is also a part of the Annual General Inspection and we have arrived with our technical, operational and commercial teams to check every department minutely in order to put safety and cleanliness in place. Till now, we have understood that the acute water shortage at the station here is a big issue and have been also amounting to making the premises and toilets dirty. But, we are going to take put a proper plan in place very soon to fix this problem,” said Goyal.
DRM Ranchi Deepak Kashyap also reiterated the fact that the water crisis needs to be addressed at the earliest while talking about the recent rodent attack in the passenger trains.
“The rodent issue is another menace that has to be curbed at the earliest. Though, we are trying our best to keep a check on that before the train arrives at the starting platform but we cannot spray the chemicals while running as the chemicals used are quite harsh. We also have to keep that in mind, so the rodent control is being carried out and sooner there’ll be no such complaints,” said Kashyap.