On the occasion of Railway Week, celebrating the commemoration of the running of the first train in the country between Boribunder and Thane, AK Puthia, general manager lauded the efforts and achievements of officers and staff of various zones
To commemorate the running of the first train in the country between Boribunder and Thane, Indian Railways celebrate the Railway Week every year during April. This year Northern Railway celebrates its 61st Railway Week from April 16 to 22. AK Puthia, general manager, Northern Railway presided over the valedictory ceremony held recently at Northern Railway Headquarters Office, Baroda House, New Delhi. Ved Pal, additional general manager, all the principal heads of the various departments, other senior railway officials and railway employees of Northern Railway, members of unions associations and federations, president, Northern Railway Women Welfare Organisation. (NRWWO) Madhuri Puthia and other Members of NRWWO were present on the occasion.
The ceremony started with facilitation of 220 railway employees (officers and staff) for their meritorious services by AK Puthia, general manager, Northern Railway. Three Group awards and 15 running shields were presented by general manager, based on performance-oriented parameters. Delhi Division has been awarded with General Manager Excellence Shield, Ambala Division was declared the best overall performance in all fields, hence was awarded the shield for its overall performance. lucknow Division has been awarded for its Most Econamical Functioning. During Railway Week function award ceremony at Bhubaneshwar, at the All-Zonal level, Northern Railway had won the level-Crossing and Road-over/ Road-Under Bridge Safety Works Shield and Construction Work Shield and 12 individual awards.
Speaking on the occasion, the general manager lauded officers and staff for various achievements of the zone in core functional areas. Pointing out to the running of the first semi-high-speed train on Indian Railways, the Gatimaan Express, he stated that this was symbolic of future of high speed travel in the country. Taking a rear-view of the year 2015-16, he stated that it had been one of the most eventful years. New trends in rail travel through enhanced coach comfort and new measures to ensure coach cleanliness were commenced as part of the Railways’ endeavour to deliver better travel experience. The highlight of the year was the flagging-off of the Mahamana Express by Prime Minister Narendra Modi featuring enhanced coach comfort and state-of-the-art facilities for rail passengers. The zone was able to enhance punctuality through increase in section speed to 130 on New Delhi-ludhiana section over 310 kms and 160 km/h on Tughlakabad-Palwal over 40 kms between Nizamuddin-Agra Cantt. sections. Through this focussed measure, a saving of around 259 minutes was achieved, which is best ever and a benchmark on Indian Railway in any single year. Inauguration of pilot project of hand held terminals for TTEs on Northern Railway, E-booking of disposable linen on trains at New Delhi and Nizamuddin Railway Stations and paperless unreserved ticketing through mobile phone in suburban section of South Central Railway were done remotely through video conferencing by Minister for Railways recently. In this regard, all the required video/audio arrangements were done by the railway. The planning and feasibility study of New Delhi-Chandigarh semi high speed (200kmph) corridor of 244kms by the National French Railway (SCNF) besides pilot studies of renovation of Ambala and ludhiana stations is underway. Safety at level-crossing is a principal subject. During the year 2016-17, Northern Railway has a target of elimination of 200 level-crossings through suitable construction of ROB/RUB/lHS.
As a mass transportation organisation, Northern Railway has brought in hassle-free procedures in ticketing through leveraging technology. Facilitative measures for ease of ticket purchase through new generation E-ticketing, Go-India Smart Cards, automatic cash-cum-coin operated ticketing systems followed by pilot initiatives viz paperless ticketing systems of unreserved ticketing system and platform tickets on select locations. Many people-centric initiatives were also taken to afford quality and quick response in public services like dedicated help lines, response to suggestions/ help on social media et al. edge in streamlining our modes of services, making train related information more accessible as well as in enabling us to extend new conveniences to rail travellers.
Swacch Bharat-Swacch Rail Abhiyaan is one of the relentless pursuits. As a significant step in thus direction, the system of calling on the on-board house-keeping Service (OBHS) was automated to provide speedier cleaning services and clean my coach SMS complaint system launched as a pilot scheme on Kalka-Shatabdi Express. Thus besides, the scheduled cleaning of coaches twice a day and unscheduled cleaning any time on demand of the passenger.
For greater convenience for the travelling public, Northern Railway has introduced several train services from important stations. The introduction Double-Decker Weekly Express train between Anand Vihar Terminal and lucknow, the Suhail Dev Express between Anand Vihar T-Ghazipur City, extension of 13 pairs of trains to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi are all part of this endeavour. The addition of two more platforms at Anand Vihar during the year enable enhancement of passenger fleet through MEMU services between Meerut-Saharanpur and Moradabadad-Ghiazabad thus fulfilling a long pending demand. To cater to the peak demand traffic through Holi, summer, Puja, winter, special occasions et al. Northern Railway ran 6,000 Special trains. General manager, Northern Railway exhorted railway staff to express their solidarity and dynamism through team spirit to propel the zone to achieve still greater heights in the financial year ahead.
Prior to the Railway Week Award distribution, Puthia declared open the first ever three days inter divisional railway officers meet this morning as a part of Railway Week Celebrations.