Moving away from fares to track renewals, rescue ops, amenities

If Railway Budgets down the years were mostly about passenger and freight fare hikes and new trains, minister for railways Laloo Prasad Yadavâ€™s 2004-05 proposals takes the exercise onto a totally different track. He is betting on modernisation through IT measures, training in neglected areas like rescue, medical relief and overall management, maintenance programmes like track renewals and improvement in passenger amenities to give you and me that joy-ride. Announcing many small measures ranging from train protection and warning systems, concessions for the sick, unemployed and widowed, through welfare schemes for Railway employees, increased frequency of trains, 15 additional Express trains, to a â€˜tourist train for the common manâ€™, Laloo hopes to complete the journey successfully by controlling expenditure and preventing revenue leakage. While attention to smaller details such as environment-friendly coach toilet discharge system, milk products sources from the co-operative sector for catering and handloom or khadi linen and upholstery would help him patronise these sectors. The measures to improve passenger amenities get a budgeted outlay of Rs 215 crore. Those travelling by sleeper class are likely to feel more human with the provision of snack tables, magazine holder, bottle and tumbler holders and a mirror in each bay of the compartment (for 8 passengers), in GSCN type of coaches. For the safety of women travelling alone, â€˜lady ticket checking squadsâ€™ â€” now operating in certain zones â€” would be introduced across all the zones. Also, unauthorised vendors would not have access to womenâ€™s compartments in suburban trains and the phone number of the security helpline would be displayed prominently in such compartments. If Laloo comes, can reservations be far behind? In a bid to end the monopoly of A H Wheeler book stalls in railway stations, a fresh policy has been formulated which makes room for a 25% reservation for allotment of bookstalls. This can be availed by SC/ST/OBC, minorities, war widows, those below the poverty line, physically challenged individuals, Railway employeesâ€™ widows to open stalls in â€˜Bâ€™, â€˜Câ€™ and â€˜Dâ€™ class stations. Unemployed graduates and their associations and philanthropic organizations only can get allotment on â€˜Bâ€™, â€˜Câ€™ and â€˜Dâ€™ class stations. At â€˜Aâ€™ class stations, a two packet tender system has been introduced. The old practice of sole selling rights has thus been replaced by a uniform tenure of five years. Cocking a snook at the elitist Palace-On-Wheels, Laloo has come up with his own Village-On-Wheels â€” special trains of ordinary sleeper class coaches for tourists which will run to a pre-determined schedule to places of religious and historical importance at an affordable cost. An Institute of Rescue and Medical Relief at Bangalore and an International Railway Strategic Management Institute are proposed. Introduction of computer based traffic control system, a pilot project on e-procurement is also on the anvil. In a bid to prevent coaches from climbing over each other during accidents, tightlock centre buffer couplers would be progressively introduced in superfast trains. In a swadeshi effort, Laloo wants to start production of rail wheels at Chhapra in addition to the Rail Wheel Factory, Bangalore and Durgapur Steel Plant, Durgapur. Wagon production is to be started at the Jamalpur workshop. Some schemes to improve freight management have been introduced. A pilot project for setting up Electronic Payment Gateway has been proposed.

Moving away from fares to track renewals, rescue ops, amenities

If Railway Budgets down the years were mostly about passenger and freight fare hikes and new trains, minister for railways Laloo Prasad Yadav's 2004-05 proposals takes the exercise onto a totally different track.

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