Security
Active consultations are on with the concerned Ministries to give a final shape to the
proposal to amend the RPF Act and Railway Act in order to provide enhanced powers to the
RPF.
To strengthen the Railway Protection Force and the Railway Protection Special Force,
recruitment of over 3500 constables will be done through Railway Recruitment Board in the
year 2003-2004.
Punctuality
For further improving the punctuality of passenger services, it is proposed to streamline
and strengthen the monitoring mechanism so as to control the factors, barring force
majeure, that affect punctuality. To this end, it is proposed to introduce a new
computerized Coaching Operations Information System (COIS).
Operation
Cleanliness
On the occasion of Independence Day, the Honble Prime Minister announced the launching of
`Operation Cleanliness` to ensure cleanliness in trains and on railway premises. A task
force has been constituted to frame an action plan for this. The responsibility of
ensuring cleanliness in Railways rests with many departments.
To cleanse the cleaning operations in Railways there is a need to establish a unified
control. Apart from optimal utilisation of men and material resources available with
Railways, it will also be necessary to induct costly equipment, in which the private
sector will also be associated.
Passenger
Amenities
Encouraged by the response to the pilot project of the Unreserved Ticketing System in
Delhi, it is proposed to implement this in other areas of Northern Railway and on North
Eastern, East Central, Eastern and Northeast Frontier Railways.
To obtain a refund against a reserved ticket after the departure of a train is still a
problem for the passengers. Hence, in addition to the existing facilities, it is proposed
to permit refunds of the amount due from any PRS centre, three hours after the train has
reached its destination.
In case a confirmed or RAC ticket is lost by a passenger, a duplicate ticket can be
issued, before preparation of Reservation Chart, on payment of 10 percent or 25 percent of
full fare based on the distance of journey or type of train.
As a customer friendly measure, it is proposed that charges for issuing such a duplicate
ticket would be refundable at a PRS Centre at the destination on completion of the journey
performed on such a ticket.
Measures To
Improve Rail Share
Encouraged by the utilization of the integrated warehousing facility at Whitefield
terminal at Bangalore, Railways intend to enter into an MOU with the Central Warehousing
Corporation as its strategic partner for development of similar integrated rail-side
warehouse complexes at 22 locations.
Greater flexibility has been given to the General Managers to improve the rail share of
freight, through delegated powers to offer concessions ranging from 10 percent to 24
percent on Station to Station rates and also bringing the consignees as well as the
consignors within the scope of the scheme.
Five weekly Parcel Express trains are being run by railways, which include three trains
connecting Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai to Guwahati. One train each is running from Delhi to
Kolkata and to Bangalore. More such trains would be introduced between Amritsar and Mumbai
via Delhi; from Delhi to Guwahati routed through Moradabad, Lucknow and Gorakhpur and
between Mumbai and Kolkata.
Refrigerated
Vans
As announced in last year's Railway Budget, a prototype Refrigerated Van has been
developed by Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala. It is proposed to induct during 2003-2004 ten
refrigerated vans in popular long distance passenger trains for moving perishable
commodities. |
