Excerpts from http://eastcoastrailway.gov.in/custom/press_release/index.php.
INDIAN RAILWAYS PLAY VITAL ROLE IN SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY : KHURANA
Bhubaneswar, August 16, 2007
“Indian Railways since its beginning in 1853, has always played a pivotal role in the socio-economic development of the country and has been truly the life line of the nation” stated Shri Surendra Singh Khurana, General Manager, East Coast Railway, …
… East Coast Railway is no exception and since its inception in 2003, has been a major factor in the socio-economic development of the three states which it serves. We have 2521.30 route kms. of track that criss-cross the three states of the country on which more than 245 trains ply daily, carrying more than 1.5 lakh passengers and hauling nearly 0.23 million tones of freight. With only 4% of the track of Indian Railways, we cater for about 12% of total loading of Indian railway and about 7% of total earning of IR.
Appreciating the encouraging performance of East Coast Railway, Shri Khurana said “As far as revenue loading is concerned, we have loaded 29.49 MT upto July ’07 as compared to 26.87 MT done last year with a growth of 9.75%. In originating passengers, we have carried 19.46 million passengers as compared to 17.01 millions carried last year with an improvement of 14.42 %. Our originating passenger earnings to the end of July’07 have been Rs. 17.91 crores which is 20.17% higher than last year’s achievement. Similarly our originating goods earnings to the end of July ’07 has been Rs. 1524.92 crores which is 17.96% more as compared the last year’s achievement. The year 2007-08 has been declared as the Cleanliness Year by the Hon’ble MR. For proper maintenance of stations, a detailed procedure with pinpointed responsibility of the various officials has already been formulated. Adequate powers have been delegated to the DRMs, PHoDs and other officials connected with various cleanliness activities. Special campaigns are being launched to ensure cleanliness and hygiene at station premises, in passenger trains, railway lines, waiting rooms etc”.
Highlighting the various Passenger Amenity works in ECoR General Manager Shri Khurana told “Total 58 PRS locations are already functioning on East Coast Railway. One more PRS will be commissioned shortly at Jajpur town. UTSs have already been commissioned at 23 stations. Further, UTSs at 187 stations have been sanctioned during 2007-08. MoU with various banks have been signed for setting up of 47 ATMs at various stations over East Coast Railway. IVRS facilities are already available at 13 locations and are at various stages of progress at 09 locations.
Shri Khurana also stated that “During 2007-08, new project of doubling between Titlagarh-Raipur has been sanctioned. Similarly survey for Sambalpur-Talcher doubling and Khurda Road doubling has been sanctioned in 2007-08 budget. Railway Electrification works on branch lines of Cuttack-Paradeep and Talcher Colliery sidings will be commissioned during this year”.
INDEPENDENCE DAY MESSAGE
Bhubaneswar, August 15, 2007
On the occasion of our 61st Independence Day, I extend my hearty wishes to all Railway men & women and their families.Independence Day is an occasion to rejoice in our freedom and to pay collective homage to all those great heroes who sacrificed their lives to help us achieve independence. Let me first of all salute those great champions of Indian War of Independence, who for the sake of freeing our motherland from slavery, sacrificed their lives. Since then India has marched ahead in all fields and is one of the fastest growing economies in the world in the last decade.
Indian Railways since its humble beginning in 1853, has always played a significant role in the social and economic development of the country and has been truly the life line of the nation. East Coast Railway is no exception and since its inception in 2003, has been a major factor in the socio economic development of the 3 states which it serves. We have 2521.63 route kms of track that criss-cross the three states of the union on which more than 245 trains ply daily, carrying more than 15 lakh passengers and hauling nearly 0.23 Million tonnes of freight. With only 4% of track of Indian Railway, we cater for about 12% of total loading of Indian Railway and about 7% of total earning of Indian Railway.
The performance for the first 4 months of this year has been quite encouraging with respect to last year’s actuals and we have achieved more than the previous year’s actual both in passenger as well as freight. I congratulate all Officers & staff of East Coast Railway for achieving an upward trend in all important parameters of Railway’s working.
As far as revenue loading is concerned, we have loaded 29.49 MT up to July’07 as compared to 26.87 MT done last year with a growth of 9.75%. In originating passengers, we have carried 19.46 million passengers as compared to 17.01 millions carried last year with an improvement of 14.42%. Our originating passenger earning to end of July’07 has been Rs.170.91 crores which is 20.17% higher than last year’s achievement. Similarly, our originating goods earnings to end of July’07 has been Rs.1524.92 crores which is 17.96% more as compared the last year’s achievement. This achievement is quite significant considering that in May loading was affected in KK line for 10 days due to disruption in power supply by CSEB. There are number of instances, during April to June, where extremists have removed rail from track, blasting of track, blasting of power supply towers, blasting of engine, removal of fish plate, etc. However, most of these performances fall short when we compare with the budget proportion till July’07. All these indicate that we have to really work very hard and find out alternative sources and innovative ideas to optimize the loading potential and transportation to achieve the high targets fixed. At the same time we need to focus on capacity creation by completing the ongoing traffic facility and throughput enhancement works on a war footing.
The year 2007-08 has been declared as the Cleanliness Year by the Hon’ble MR. For proper maintenance of stations, a detailed procedure with pinpointed responsibility of the various officials has already been formulated. Adequate powers have been delegated to the DRMs, PHoDs and other officials connected with various cleanliness activities. Special campaigns are being launched to ensure cleanliness and hygiene at station premises, in passenger trains, railway lines, waiting rooms, etc. In order to supplement our efforts, display advertisements are being given in leading newspapers to create awareness in cleanliness and social hygiene amongst traveling public. At the same time, local FM radio channels and local TV channels have been used to transmit cleanliness advertisements to sensitize the Rail users. Contracts for clean train station, mechanized cleaning and rag picking relating to cleanliness activities are already in operation at some stations and at some other stations, these are under progress. I would urge all of you to put in sustained efforts so that needed improvement in the cleanliness of our stations as desired by the Hon’ble MR is achieved and we set up such standards in cleanliness worth emulating by other railways
Last year face lift for 15 stations were sanctioned under “touch & feel” items and most of the works have been completed barring a few which are targeted to be completed by Dec’07. Similarly, for 2007-08, we have identified 15 more stations for a complete face lift including passenger amenity items under touch & feel scheme. These stations are Khurda Road, Jajpur-Keonjhar Road, Palasa, Balugaon, Talcher (Khurda Road division). Koraput, Parvathipuram, Bobbili, Simhachalam, Chipurpalli(Waltair Division), Mahasamund, Bargarh Road, Khariar Road, Muniguda & Bagbahara (Sambalpur Division).
A number of modern passenger amenity items have been completed and some more have been initiated to meet the needs of the passengers and public. A total of 58 PRS locations are already functioning on East Coast Railway. One more PRS will be commissioned shortly at Jajpur-Keonjhar Road. At 23 stations UTSs have already been commissioned. Further, UTSs at 187 stations have been sanctioned during 2007-08. MoU with various banks have been signed for setting up of 47 ATMs at various stations over East Coast Railway. IVRS facility is already available at 13 locations and are at various stages of progress at 09 locations. Auto-announcement-cum-Answering system are existing at 19 locations and are in progress at 9 other locations. Internet booking is existing at Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar & Cuttack. Computerization of complaints is existing at six locations and one at Sambalpur is in progress. National train enquiry system is functioning at 10 locations and four more at Parvatipuram, Duvvadda, Simhachalam & Koraput are in progress. Similarly, touch screen terminals have been provided at two locations and at 11 locations the work is in progress.
This year East Coast Railway has been assigned to run two new trains viz. Bhubaneswar-Rameswaram Exp. (Weekly) & Bhubaneswar-Ranchi (Garib Rath Exp)- (3 days in a week). At the same time there is increase in frequency of Puri-Ahmedabad Exp. from three days to four days in a week and Hatia-Yaswantpur from weekly to two days in a week. We have already included these changes in the new time table and would be able to run as soon as the rakes arrive.
Safety & security of passengers should be one of our prime focus. In recent past, the threat from anti-social elements, have alarmed us to be more careful in handling the transportation of passengers and goods, so that public will feel safe to travel by train. Action is on hand to provide suitable measures at important stations to avoid such menace.
East Coast region of India is witnessing an industrial upsurge with many industries being set up or proposed to be set up in the near future. It is understood about 46 MoUs have been signed by Govt. of Orissa with various companies/industries/Agencies for setting up of a number of industries. A number of new ports are likely to be made functional within East Coast territory. To meet the burgeoning demand for transportation of people & freight in the region, ECoR has geared up its machinery for the early completion of many of the new lines, doubling, gauge conversion and traffic facility works. RRI at Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar Yard remodelling, Talcher-Modification of station yard, Cuttack-Improvement to goods terminal facilities, Mandira Hasaud-Development of goods terminal facilities, Lakholi-2nd loop along with simultaneous reception and despatch facility, Deogaon-3rd running line with universal mode of simultaneous reception and despatch facilities, Visakhapatnam-Gopalapatnam Route relay interlocking & automatic signalling and Hindol Road-Development of ballast siding as standard common siding have been commissioned and a number of works are in various stages of progress.
During 2007-08, new project of doubling between Titlagarh-Raipur has been sanctioned. Similarly survey for Sambalpur-Talcher doubling and Khurda Road-Puri doubling has been sanctioned in 2007-08 budget. Railway Electrification works on branch lines of Cuttack-Paradeep and Talcher Colliery sidings will be commissioned during this year. The work of electrification between Daitari-Banspani and Haridaspur-Paradeep has been mentioned in the 2007-08 budget speech. All this will not only increase the much needed line capacity for East Coast Railway but also will help in the economic development of the region.
The Carriage Repair workshop, the only workshop in East Coast Railway, has been performing excellently over the years. Up to June’07, the workshop has turned out 106 coaches as compared to 96 coaches achieved during the corresponding period of last year.
Since productivity is directly linked to a satisfied and motivated workforce, we are committed to win the hearts of our employees by carrying out several staff amenity works. Community halls are being be built at Brahmapur, Bhubaneswar, Bhadrak, Vizianagaram, Araku, Sambalpur & Titlagarh. Zonal Central Hospital at Mancheswar has been made functional and specialized Doctors of various disciplines have been in position. Proposal has been sent to Railway Board to make three important hospitals at Bhubneswar as referral hospitals for East Coast Railway. 15 costly medical equipments have been provided in various health units/hospitals. Major surgery ward has been made functional at Central Hospital.
Our organized labour unions are also part & parcel of Railway’s functioning. Their responsibility is directly reflected in the performance of the Railway. I am sure this harmonious relation between management and labour unions will continue to make East Coast Railway progress fast in its aim to be the best zonal railway in terms of productivity.
We should not be content with our present laurels. Action should be initiated to achieve future goals. Lots of investments in various projects are going on for increasing our loading and consequential earnings thereof. All out efforts should be made to divert road traffic to rail by offering them attractive discount schemes.
Whatever we have achieved is not sufficient; let us not rest. We should move further to achieve excellence in our field of activities. Let us dedicate ourselves for the overall growth of East Coast Railway.
I once again convey my best wishes to all Railway men & women and their families and join you all in saluting those men & women who sacrificed their present for the comfort of future young generation.
JAI HIND.
( S. S. KHURANA)
GENERAL MANAGER
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