4 Passenger- Friendly updates announced by the Indian Railways

Indian Railways is the most preferred mode of travel in India for every section of society. There are classes of seats available like the general class, chair car, sleeper coach, air condition coach, and saloon coaches recently opened for passengers to book. It caters to the need of every citizen who needs to travel at cost- friendly rates. On festive occasions, Indian Railways introduces special trains from all the zones to travel throughout India. The tickets for special trains are easily available online or over the counter on railway stations. They help in managing the extra crowd at every platform. Since ages, Indian Railways has also served foreign tourists through its luxury trains like “Palace of Wheels” or “Maharaja Express” which covers specific tourist routes of India. These trains are embedded with all the luxuries one can dream of. Indian Railways also respects the spiritual bent of the Indians and has successfully introduced many trains like Bharat Darshan Trains, Chaar Dhaam Yatra train, and a recently introduced Ramayana Express which will take the tourists to a tour to the holy places where Lord Rama, Devi Sita, and Lakshaman stayed during their exile from Ayodhya. Currently, it has launched many applications like RAIL MADAD and UTS making the journey safe and hassle-free. Indian Railways, the apex authority of the transport in India will always be the pride to the nation. The operational system is divided into 4 major zones and further divided into various sub- zones catering to all the directions of India, thus facilitating the journey of passengers.

Also Read: 20 Interesting facts about Indian Railways

However, every month Indian Railways announce many update and revisions in its policies. Currently, Railways have announced four such updates which are passenger-friendly and one of them is a tribute to our nation.

Installation of 100-ft tricolors at 75 stations:The Indian Railways has decided and issued the order to install a 100 fit Indian flag (tricolor) on top 75 busiest railway stations. The order has been forwarded to zonal offices.  The authorities have to complete the task by the end of the next month. Vivek Saxena, the Railway Board executive director (station development), said, “The Board has decided to provide monumental flag (of at least 100-ft height) at all the erstwhile ‘A1’ class railway stations. The work should be completed by December 2018.” The order further conveys “The flag should be provided in circulating area of the stations and at suitable place. It should be provided with focused lights. The security and safety of the flag shall rest with Railway Protection Force (RPF)”. The flags will display the patriotism and the immense respect towards nation and its history.

Pantry Cars of International Standards: With a view to improve the quality of food in train, the IRCTC has decided to upgrade the current scenario of the pantry cars especially in the long run trains. Railways have decided to revamp the condition of the present pantry cars and convert the entire set up into international standards level. An IRCTC official said; “With the maintenance of pantry cars being handed over to us, we will be able to ensure hygiene standards etc”. The IRCTC will take up the task to upgrade pantry cars and maintain them subsequently for better quality of food served to the passengers. The circulars are out to every zone which has stated “IRCTC shall redesign, upgrade and maintain the interior of all the redesigned and upgraded pantry cars at their own cost from all perspective including fire safety and overall safety. They shall execute an agreement to this effect with Mechanical Coaching Directorate and shall also take approval of the designed electrical load from the coaching directorate. ”. There are 350 trains with pantry cars providing food to the passengers traveling in train. The number will increase in the coming future which will demand for good and hygienic food while traveling via train. In addition, the pantry car will have an AI based high-definition CCTV camera installed, to track on how food is prepared and packed in train.  IRCTC will be completely responsible to maintain the hygiene standard of food.

Refurbishing of Old Coaches:Mr. Piyush Goyal with his announcement to refurbishing the old coaches is all set up to complete this mission the next year. Tray tables, new fans, better seat covers, charging points, new taps in the toilets and photographs in the passages are some of the components of his plan. The total cost incurred in the process would be around Rs.600 crore.  In the coming years, around 40,000 coaches will be refurbished and maintained throughout. Rajesh Agarwal the member of Railway board said “Indian Railways has taken several initiatives to change the interiors and exteriors of trains and also to improve the standards of railway coaches. He further said that while other initiatives are for selected trains, for express trains like Shatabdi and Rajdhani, an umbrella project has been taken up to refurbish their coaches on the basis of requirement. In the coming years, he said that more than 40,000 coaches will be refurbished. This would be done when the railway coaches go for their annual maintenance. This is to avoid any disruption in operations”.

Passenger Train Service between India-Nepal:  The first passenger train between India and Nepal will hit the tracks by December’18. The project has been divided into three phases. The first phase includes the building of a 34-km long segment between Jayanagar and Kurtha, the second phase includes construction of an 18-km long segment from Kurtha to Bhangaha in Mahottari district, and the third one includes the building of a 17-km segment from Bhangaha to Bardibas. The project cost will be worth Rs. 5.5-billion. The passengers can book their tickets through UTS application. Further, the Nepal Government has shown interest in running the passenger trains as well as freight trains on the route.

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