Ministry of Railways Agreements have been signed with ALSTOM (France) and General Electric (USA) for manufacturing and maintenance of electric and diesel locomotives. As per contract 800 electric locomotives and 1000 diesel locomotives are to be manufactured and supplied from the factory set up by the companies at Madhepura (Bihar) and Marhowra (Bihar) respectively over a period of 11 years. Two Joint Venture (JV) companies have been set up for this purpose. Ministry of Railways is a 26% stakeholder in these two JV companies. The companies would also undertake maintenance/supervision of the first 500 locomotives by setting up maintenance facilities at Saharanpur, Nagpur, Roza and Ghandhidham.

The project envisages transfer of technology for maintenance to Indian Railway staff in terms of providing benchmarking of maintenance facilities as well as global practices in undertaking maintenance of these locomotives. The maintenance facilities would revert back to the Indian Railways on completion of the maintenance obligations following which the maintenance would be carried out by Indian Railways staff. These projects were approved by the Cabinet in 2010 and subsequently the bidding documents were also approved by the Cabinet in 2014. The companies were selected through an international competitive bidding process. Compliance to the requirement of national security and public interest is a part of the eligibility criteria.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) of Government of India had issued the consolidated Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy which allows FDI in Railway Infrastructure sector on automatic route in the areas namely :-

(i) Suburban corridor projects through PPP;

(ii) High speed train project;

(iii) Dedicated freight lines;

(iv) Rolling stock including train sets and locomotive/coaches manufacturing and maintenance facilities;

(v) Railway Electrification;

(vi) Signalling systems;

(vii) Passenger terminals;

(viii)Infrastructure in industrial part pertaining to railway line/sidings including electrified railway lines and connectivities to main railway line; and

(ix) Mass Rapid Transport Systems.

Further, the Indian Railways undertakes outsourcing of certain facilities like cleaning, pay and use toilets, retiring rooms, parking etc. on need based manner to improve efficiency.

Interest of the railway staff is taken into consideration while outsourcing.

Haryana Women and Child Development Minister Kavita Jain today assured that the services of a special Indian Railways train for women would soon be restarted between Panipat and Delhi for convenience of the female passengers. Jain said that a large number of women commute between Delhi and Panipat every day.The train service was stopped due to some difficulties for some time now which has caused a lot of resentment among women passengers who faced commuting problems.

A large number of women held a protest in the morning today at Indian Railways Sonipat station and even held up a train passing through for a while as they were demanding re-starting of the women special train between Panipat and Delhi.

The minister said that the state government supports the demand of daily passengers and would resolve their problems on priority basis in this regard.

Jain said that she spoke to a senior railway official who gave her assurance to get this Indian Railways train started within next three to four days.

South Central Railway’s Vijayawada Division and Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) jointly inaugurated ‘The Food Street’ – a swanky air-conditioned restaurant food joint near Parcel Office entrance at the city railway station on Thursday.

The restaurant is managed by Devyani International Limited which also operates many food courts at major airports in India. The restaurant is spread in 1500 sq.ft. in two floors.

“The Food Street, located at the centre of Vijayawada is useful not only for railway passengers but also for the general public as well as tourists as it serves delicious south Indian and north Indian food along with local cuisine at a reasonable and affordable price.

The restaurant is open 24 X 7. The ‘Banquet Hall’ on the first floor is a major attraction to handle mini-parties to a capacity of 100 persons,” the release said.

International status

Ministry of Railways has already come up with a proposal to accord international status to four railway stations in Andhra Pradesh. A circular in this regard was issued by the Ministry of Railways recently seeking officials of Vijayawada, Guntur, Kurnool and Guntakal stations to send proposals on or before April 10 for taking up various development works.

Vijayawada station, which is under A1 category, registers over one lakh footfalls a day.

“We have already called for bids to execute the development projects in the station.

“Food courts, shopping malls, pharmacies, budget hotels, ATMs, Internet cafes, executive lounges, cafeterias, multi-level parking, and cinema theatres are likely to come up on the station premises,” said a senior official.

New broadgauge railway line between Chiraidaungri and Nainpur, 20-kms long, was inaugurated by Minister of State for Railways and Communications (Independent charge), Manoj Sinha through video conferencing from Balaghat. Inaugural function of Chiraidaungri –Nainpur railway line was held at Chiraidaungri railway station. Chiraidaungri–Nainpur section is a part of Mandla-Nainpur rail line project, which is 50 kms.

ADRM Nagpur/South East Central Railway, Rathore gave the necessary information on this occasion. He said narrow guage railway line was closed nearly two and half years ago and nearly 200 kms guage conversion is completed.

Member of Parliament, Sampatia Uike said it was joyful moment for all of us, nearly 45 villages will be benefited by the new railway line. Member of Parliament, Faggan Singh Kulaste said that the work was started for guage conversion in year 1996. Nearly 121 kms guage conversion between Nainpur and Jabalpur was completed on November 28, 2017. Today 20 kms between Chiraidaungri and Nainpur, 18 kms between Balaghat and Samnapur is completed and train services has been started. He said it was great pleasure for all of us that Minister of State for Railways and Communications (Independent charge) Manoj Sinha was personally present in Balaghat on this moment.

“We are expecting that guage conversion between Chiraidaungri and Mandla, length of which is 30 kms, will be completed by March 2019.Sanjeev Uike, MLA Mandla-Nainpur, Shailesh Mishra, Vice President, Jila Panchayat Mandla, District President of BJP, Ratan Singh Thakur, Former President of Bar Association Nainpur, G P. Mudgal were present on this auspicious occasion. Passenger train from Chiraidaungri was inaugurated by MoS for Railways and communication Manoj Sinha through video conferencing. After inaugural function, Passenger train was started from Chiraidaungri at 16:55 hrs and arrived at Nainpur at 17:20 hrs on April 1. People of Chiraidaugri, Rampuri, Jamgaon, Alipur and Nainpur welcomed the train with joy and cheers.

Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai has created a new manufacturing record by making over 2,500 coaches in the financial year 2017-18. Not only that, the factory has crossed another milestone in the production history of Indian Railways. ICF Chennai surpassed the target of 2,464 coaches, which was fixed by Railway Board and made a record out-turn of 2,503 coaches. Moreover, 73 per cent of the total production were stainless steel coaches.

According to a press release by ICF, the product mix consists of electric multiple units (EMU) for Mumbai as well as for Chennai, diesel-electric multiple units (DEMU) for Jammu and Kashmir, SPART, DETC, Kolkata Metro, Vistadome tourist coaches for IRCTC, Military Langer etc. Last year, the factory had turned out 2,277 coaches. Few days ago, the 2500th coach was flagged off at Furnishing Division by two senior most employees C. Bakthavatchalam and Shri V. Rajagopal, in presence of General Manager, S. Mani along with other officials of ICF.

In order to make Indian Railways, the safest mode of transport, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal recently said that ICF has almost tripled the production of Linke-Hoffman-Busch (LHB) coaches. He also said that the LHB coaches are comparatively safer and withstand accidents better with minimum calamities. The number of LHB coaches has surpassed to 1,100 in 2017-18 from 400 in 2016-17.

In addition to LHB coaches, the ICF will also manufacture ‘Make in India’ train sets- Train 18 and Train 20. With the manufacturing of Train 18 and Train 20, there will be a boost in the coach factory, according to ICF, Chennai. The development of Train 18 has started and the new self-propelled semi-high speed train set will be rolled out in June 2018.. It will have 16 coaches and will be fully air-conditioned. The train will run at a speed of 160 kmph and will consist of modular toilets, plush interiors, diffused lighting, automatic plug doors along with other modern features.

According to Piyush Goyal, last year, Rae Bareli’s modern coach factory has sent a proposal to the Railway Ministry to manufacture 5,000 LHB coaches per year, up from 1,000 coaches. The national transporter had the capacity to manufacture 4,000 LHB coaches each year. So far, there are 20,000 LHB coaches in use and it would take around 5 years to replace all ICF coaches with LHB coaches, the railway minister has said.

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was on Wednesday apprised of an agreement between India and United Arab Emirates (UAE) on technical cooperation in rail sector on Wednesday.

“The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed on February 10, 2018, will provide a platform to Indian Railways to interact and share the latest developments and knowledge in the railway sector,” said an official statement.

The MoU will enable technical cooperation in regulation, safety and technical investigation of accidents; station redevelopment; locomotives, coaches and wagons; and any other area jointly identified by the participants, it said.

The agreement signed between the UAE’s Federal Transport Authority – Land and Maritime and India’s Railway Ministry will facilitate exchange of information, expert meetings, seminars, technical visits and implementation of jointly agreed cooperation projects.

The Ministry of Railways have signed MoUs for technical cooperation in the rail sector with various foreign governments and national railways. The areas of cooperation include high speed corridors, speed raising of existing routes, development of world class stations, heavy haul operations and modernization of rail infrastructure.

The cooperation is achieved through exchange of information on developments in areas of railways technology and operations, knowledge sharing, technical visits, training and seminars, and workshops in areas of mutual interest.

The railways have decided to construct an underground railway station at Teesta along the Sevoke-Rangpo rail link to Sikkim, 86 per cent of which will run through tunnels.

The railways and Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) officials on Wednesday held a meeting in Darjeeling where it was decided that the hill body would grant within this week a no-objection certificate (NOC) to start the project pending since 2009.

“Keeping in mind national interest and security concerns, the GTA has decided to grant a no-objection certificate to the railways within this week. Our demand for three railway stations on our side has not only been accepted but the railways have also decided to add one more station. All our concerns, like launching social welfare schemes for the population, along the route has also been agreed,” GTA chairman Binay Tamang said after the meeting on Wednesday.

Of the 44.98km link, 41.45km will fall within the GTA area and 3.51km in Sikkim.

The four railway stations in GTA area will be set up at Sevok, Riyang, Teesta and Malli. “While the three stations will be overground, the station at Teesta will be underground,” said Tamang. Another station will come up at Rangpo in Sikkim.

This would be the first underground railway station in north Bengal. “Of the 44.98km, 38.64km, or 86 per cent of the route, will pass through 14 tunnels, the longest of which will be 5.13km,” said A. Prakash, chief administrative officer, Northeast Frontier Railway. The tunnels will be dug at a depth of 1000 metres in certain places.

Prakash said New Austrian Tunnelling (NATM) technology would be used. “NATM technology has been successfully used in Kashmir, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and Meghalaya among others,” said Prakash. More than 37 tunnels have been dug using this technology in Manipur.

Tamang said that villagers would not have to be resettled as the railway link was mostly underground.

“The villagers are raising the issue of granting land rights but this is not related with the project. Forest villagers in Jalpaiguri have been granted land rights. Things are now getting normal in the hills and we will take up the issue of granting forest rights to the villagers with the state government soon,” said Tamang.

Work on the project is likely to start within six months and is scheduled to be completed within a period of four years.

In 2009, the project cost was estimated at Rs 1339.48 crore but the figure had escalated to Rs 4084.64 crore six years later in 2015.

Railway officials said that a survey to extend the rail link between Rangpo and Gangtok has been completed.

State-run Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML) will set up a centre of excellence for the Indian Railways here to test its equipment and coaches, a top official has said.

“The centre of excellence is being set up in Bengaluru with Rs 300-crore investment with a testing facility for railway equipment and coaches,” said BEML Chairman D.K. Hota at an industry seminar here on Wednesday.

The state-run Railways and the Science and Technology department are partnering with the company in the project to build the centre.

The defence behemoth, which provides the Indian armed forces logistics solutions, also makes metro coaches, accounting for 47 per cent of the needs of corporations operating the metro rail service in cities across the country.

“As India is at the cusp of rapid economic growth, the government has to focus on developing skill sets in the youth with right policies to catalyse the industry,” asserted Hota at a seminar, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) with Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM).

Committing to indigenous making of defence equipment, state-run Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) Chairman M.V. Gowtama said 60 per cent of materials for defence and civilian use was sourced from the local industry.

“The company has 1,289 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as vendors to outsource 30 per cent of our equipment needs for defence and civilian use,” said Gowtama at the seminar on ‘Opportunities in Defence for Industry’.

Karnataka’s industrial development Commission Darpan Jain said the state government was keen to develop a defence industrial corridor in the state.

“The state industrial policy envisages Rs 1 lakh crore investment to generate 3 lakh jobs annually over the next five years. To achieve the target, we are focusing on developing infrastructure, promoting industry with incentives, technology, SMEs and ease of doing business in the country,” said Jain.

SIDM Director-General Lt General (retd.) Subrata Saha said as India was the world’s largest arms importer for the fifth consecutive year, the need for greater indigenisation was imperative.

Shri R.K. Kulshrestha, General Manager, Southern Railway has conducted a Press Meet to brief the performance of Southern Railway during 2017-18 in various areas of Zonal Railway working, its targets, and the milestones achieved YTD (2017-18):

PROJECTS:

This year Southern Railway completed 2 major projects of doubling with electrification in Tamil Nadu i.e. Villupuram – Dindigul Doubling 270 Km at a total cost of 1600 Cr.

This year the following sections were commissioned:-

• Manaparai- Kalpattichatram section ( 23 Kms) commissioned on 08.06.2017.
• Kalpattichatram – Tamaraipadi doubling 25 kms on 30.03.2018.

With this entire Chennai to Madurai 495 Km is doubled in SR.

1. Tiruchchirapalli –Thanjavur Doubling 47 Km at a total cost of 350 Cr.
2. Works are also in progress for doubling of Madurai – Tuticorin 160 Km for total cost of 1200 Cr. And Vanchi Maniyachi – Nagercoil 102 Km at a total cost of 1000 Cr. This will boost railway infrastructure greatly for SR.
3. Pollachi- Podanur section (40 Kms)Gauge Conversion was completed and commissioned on 15.07.2017 as a part of Dindigul-PollachiPalakkad/Podanur&Podanur-Coimbatore at a total cost of Rs.300 crores.
4. Rly also completed Karaikudi – Pattukottai Gauge conversion 73 kmscompleted at a total cost of 548 Cr. has been commissioned for traffic.
5. Rly also completed New Aryankavu – Edamann stretch (21 km)at a cost of 185 Cr., the last stretch of Sengottai – Punalur GC project on 12^th and 13^thJanaury, 2018. With this the entirestretch of Sengottai – Punalur gauge conversion has been completed at to total cost of 358 Cr.
6. Southern Railway has completed a total of 134 Gauge conversion Kms and 113 Kms of doubling Kms i.e. 247 Kms of Doubling cum Gauge Conversion works during 2017-18, highest in recent past years and this year alone, SR has spent 296 Crores on Gauge Conversion, Rs.545 Crores on Doubling.
7. 33 Railway portion of ROB/RUBs were completed at a total cost of Rs. 318 Cr.and 19 ROB/RUBs were commissioned.
8. A new Coaching terminal at Tambaram has started functioning ad more trains are planned to run down South.

Railway Electrification:

• Electrification of 2 important sections i.e. Erode – Karur – Tiruchchirappalli (141Kms) and Karur – Dindigul (72 Kms) were commissioned at total cost of 171 Cr.
• Electrification of Salem – Karur 85 RKM (120 Cr.) and Tiruchy-Thanjavur-Nagapattinam-Karaikal 153 RKM,( 226 Cr.) are also going on and are expected to commission this year.
• Electrification of Villupuram-Cuddalore-Mayavaram-Thiruvarur/Thanjavur 228 RKM (320 Cr.) and Villupuram – Cuddalore Port 46 RKm(75 Cr.) are also sanctioned and works have been started.
• As of now 3004 RKM out of 5079 RKm in SR have been electrified,14 % is electrified as on 31.3.18.

Financial Indices:

• Southern Railway has earned 7670 crores (approx) during 2017-18 as gross earnings registering a growth of 2.1% over last year.
• The apportioned passenger earnings of 2017-18 were 4262 crores withan increase of 6.21% over last year.
• Freight earnings of 2017-18 were Rs.2739crores (approx.) during 2017-18 with an increase of 4.7% compared to last year.
• Southern Railway has spent an amount of 100 crores for provision of passenger amenities as against 71crores during 2016-17.
• Against Railway Board target of Rs. 220 Crs. (2017-18), Southern Railway has acccrued Rs.230.06 Crs. From sales of scrap as against Rs. 200 Cr. Last year.

Train Services:

• During April-March 2017-18, a total of 2323 Specials were run to clear extra rush of passengers during Summer/Winter months, festival season and long weekends compared to 1610 Specials in 2016-17.
• A Total of 1696 Suvidha and Special Fare specials carried 14.48Lakhs passengers during 2017-18 compared to 1298 specials carrying 9.27Lakhs passengers during 2016-17, generating a revenue of Rs.106.16 crores. Optimum utilization of assets was done when planning for specials which resulted in 39.3% increase in earnings. The occupancy of Suvidha specials were 95% on this Railway compared with all Railway average of 75%.
• 53 coaches werepermanently augmented in 56 M/E trains and 12 passenger trains in 2017-18.
• 3242 coaches were temporarily augmented creating additional capacity of 2,19,640 berths/seats, generating a revenue of Rs.13.28 crores during 2017-18.
• 6 new Express trains were introduced including 2 long destination trains during 2017.
  • Train No.16576 MAJN-YPR Express from 12.04.2017
  • Train No 22919 MAS-ADI (Humsafar) from 10.05.2017
  • Train No 16793 RMM-FD Express    from 06.08.2017
  • Train No 20601 MAS-MDU Express from 03.11.2017
  • Train No 20602 MDU-MAS Express from 05.11.2017
  • Train No 16512 CAN-SBC Express  from 11.02.2018
  • (Hamsafar Express and ShraddhaSethu Express (Rameswaram-Faizabad via Ayodya) flagged-off by Hon’ble PM).

• Antyodaya rakes will be introduced in Tambaram-Sengottai, Tambaram-Thirunelveli and Mangalore-Kochuveli sections.
• Two pairs of Shatabdi Express trains, Chennai-Mysuru-Chennai & Chennai-Coimbatore-Chennai Shatabdi rakes were refurbished under ‘Swarn Scheme’. of Govt. of India.
• Anubhuthi coaches run by Chennai-Mysore (from 12.01.2018) and Chennai-Coimbatore Shatabdi expresses (from 26.01.18)are highly popular.Model rake with modern facilities have been inducted in Venad express and has been appreciated by public.
• Double Decker Coaches (11 Nos.) were refurbished/upgraded with provision of Poly Vinyl Wrapping on Coach Interiors/Exteriors, Wi-Fi enabled Infotainment System with LCD Display, Pantry with Coffee and Snacks Vending Units etc. The above Coaches are planned to ply between Coimbatore and Bengaluru shortly.
• LHB Coaches were introduced in 12673/74 Cheran Express from 10/11/2017. As on date, so far a total of 12 trains with 451 coaches have been provided with LHB coaches in SR.
• For the first time, Southern Railway has brought out a proper Time Table of Summer Specials in a soft version.The time table has all sector wise summer specials proposed during April – June 2018, with detailed timings.The QR code has been put on display at major stations and at the reservation counters. Passengers can scan the code and download the timetable into their smartphones.

Freight Traffic Developments:

• There was 29 % increase in the inwards Freight trains to SR.
• Following are the new traffic captured by SR.
• 202 rakes of Pet Coke loaded during 2017-18 , with a Revenue ofRs. 87.5 crores.
• Automobile traffic has increased from 195 rakes(2016-17) with a revenue of 43.4 crores to 235 rakes (2017-18) with a revenue of 55 crores. Automobile loading on Southern Railway has been growing continuously in the last 5 years, with this year registering a 20% growth in earnings.
• Cement traffic has increased from 440 rakes (2016-17) with a revenue of 74 croresto 519 rakes (2017-18) with a revenue of 91.5 crores.
• On introduction of Station To Station rates (STS) ,cement earnings have increased by 32%. Copper slag which was hitherto moving by road was captured by rail for the first time. Gypsum movement which had ceased to move by rail 2 years back resumed with the grant of this concession.
• As a result of STS scheme, the Rail Co-efficient has increased by 4%.

Energy Conservation:

• All 714 stations opened for traffic have been provided with 100 % LED LIGHTINGas on March 2018. This would result in savings in energy to the tune of 7.98 million units and would reduce the energy bill by Rs.6.048 crores. Besides, 603 service buildings are provided with 100% LED lighting.
• Golden Rock Workshop has been awarded the FIRST prize in the ‘National energy Conservation award 2017’ by BEE. GOC has also won the prestigious 5-Star Label for Energy Efficiency from BEE.GOC also bagged the National Excellent Energy Efficient Unit Award from Confederation of Indian Industry in 2017.
• 207 KwpSolar panels have been commissioned during 2017-18. With this, Southern Railway has installed 402.45 Kwp Solar Panels so far.
• EMU Workshop Tambaram has received 5-S Work Place Management Certificate. The unit has already bagged ISO 9001, 4001, 18001 and 50001 accreditations.

Safety Performance:

Elimination of Unmanned and Manned Level crossings:

• In this regard, Southern Railway has eliminated 158 Unmanned LCs during the year 2017-18.
• In addition, 45 Manned LCs have also been eliminated by provision of Road Over Bridge, Subway, Diversion etc.
• As on date no Unmanned LCs exist in state of Kerala.
• Also there are no Unmanned LCs in Chennai, Palakkad & Thiruvananthapuram Divisions of Southern Railway.
• There are no unmanned LC s in A, B, C routes of SR covering 1375 km out of total 5079 RKM.
• Unmanned LCs in D, E routes also will be eliminated by September 2018.
• The number of consequential accidents decreased to 3 during the year 2017-18 compared to 8 during the year 2016-17. There was no loss of life or injury to any passengers in these accidents.
• 59 LC gates were interlocked during the year 2017-18 to improve the safety.
• Southern Railway achieved highest ever Track Renewal (TRR) of 367.66 TKMs, Sleeper Renewal with new Sleepers for 256 Kms, and Turnout renewal of 252 sets during the year 2017-18. This is the Highest ever progress of Complete Track Renewals (CTR(P)) / Through Sleeper Renewals (TSR (P)) by Machines by SR.
• SR has rehabilitated/rebuilt 53 Nos. of bridges at a cost of Rs.40 crores.
• SR has introduced Under water inspection with remote operated robotic vehicle for the first time in IR for enhancing safety of bridges.
• SR has also carried out drone surey of 3 mega bridges of Nethravathi, Cauvery and Pamban bridges.
• Centre of Excellence for ‘LHB Air Brake’ has been established at Carriage Works, Perambur. This will help in improving quality of Overhaul in Workshops for Coaching stock.
• 5 Kms of Automatic Signalling, Electronic Interlocking system in 21 stations, and Datalogger/RTU facilities at 159 stations have been commissioned this year as steps to enhance safety.

Passenger Amenities:

• Southern Railway has spent an amount of 100 crores for provision of passenger amenities as against. 71crores during 2016-17.
• Divyang friendlyfacilities are available at 8 A1, 41 A and 22 B category and many other stations additonally.

Lifts and Escalators:

• 61 Nos. of Lifts have been provided at 30 stations.11 Eleven Lifts (Tamil Nadu – 3 Stations & Kerala – 4 Stations) at the following stations have been commissioned in the year 2017-18. Chennai Central – 1 No., Tiruppur – 2 Nos. &Katpadi – 1 No.Kannur – 2 Nos., Vadakara – 2 Nos., Trissur – 2 Nos. &Ernakulam Town – 1 No.
• 84 Nos. of Escalators have been provided at 34 stations.9 Nine Escalators (Tamil Nadu – 3 Stations & Kerala – 5 Stations) at the following stations have been commissioned in the year 2017-18 Coimbatore – 2 Nos., Katpadi – 1 No. &Nagercoil – 1 No..Ernakulam Town – 1 No., Kayankulam – 1 No. , Alappuzha – 1 No., Trivandrum Central – 1 No. &Chengannur – 1 No.

• App based Cab Services provided at 12 stations during 2017-18

Tiruchchirappalli, Erode, Coimbatore (Main Entry), Coimbatore (Second Entry), Coimbatore North, Mettupalaiyam, Thiruvananthapuram Central, Ernakulam Jn., Ernakulam North, Aluva, Thrissur, Mangalore Central, Mangalore Jn.

• Battery Operated cars for the use of Divyang, sick and senior citizen passengers are provided at 11 stations during 2017-18 on payment basis – Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Tiruchchirappalli Junction, Nagapatinam, Madurai, Salem, Erode, Coimbatore Junction, Thiruvananthapurma Central and Kozhikkode stations.
• Emergency medical centre at 23stationshave been provided so far. (Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Jolarpettai, Tambaram, Katpadi, Tiruchirapalli, Karaikudi, Madurai, Dindigul, Salem, Karur, Erode, Coimbatore, ,Kumbakonnam, Tanjore, Mayavaram, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Tiruvanthapuram, Ernakulam, Cannanore, Calicut, Qilon).Emergency Medical Assistance booths are provided at 8 stations during 2017-18.Kumbakonam, Thanjavur, Mayiladuthurai, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Nagercoil Jn., Kannur, Kozhikode.
• A/C paid waiting hall were provided at 16 stations so far. (Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Coimbatore, Salem, Erode, Madurai, Thirupur, Katpdi, Tiruchirapalli, Calicut, Mangalore, Ernakulam, Ernakulam Town, Tirchur, Quilon, Thiruvanthapuram). AC Paid Waiting halls are provided at 5 stations during 2017-18.Tiruppur, Katpadi, Thrisur, Quilon, Thiruvananthapuram Central.
• Deluxe Rest rooms were providedat 6 stations so far. (Salem, Erode, Tirupur, Coimbatore, Tiruchirapalli, Chennai Central).
• Provision of Wi-fi at all A1, A and B category stations: M/s RCIL has carried out the work in collaboration with Google to provide Wi-fi at 37 stationsso far. (Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, , Madurai, Coimbatore, Calicut, Tambaram, Arakkonam, Tiruchirappali, Mangalore, Quilon, Mettupalayam, Coonur, Uathagamandalam, Chengalpet, Katpadi, Jolarpettai, VillupuramKumbakonnam, Tanjore, Rameshwaram, Salem, Karur, Erode, Nagarcoil, Dindigul, TirunelveliThiruvanthapuram, Ernakulam, Thrissur). 21 stations were provided with Wifi during the year 2017-18.
• All women facilitation centres at 7 stationswere provided this year (Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Tiruchirappalli, Coimbatore, Madurai, Calicut, Thriuvanthapuram ) to assist lady passengers.
• 31 UTS/PRS locations were converted as IUTS (UTS cumPRS) locations during the year 2017 -18 over Southern Railway.
• Online booking of Retiring Rooms commissioned at 7 stations during 2017-18. As on date, out of 66 stations, 41 stations have been provided with online facility for advance booking of retiring rooms by the passengers. Further this facility will be extended to 10 more stations in the near future.
• 6 Food Plazas have been commissioned during 2017-18 at Madurai, Tambaram,Chennai Beach, Ernakulam North, Erode, Thrisur, with these 17 Food Plazas are available at 16 stations.
• 4 Fast Food units have been commissioned during 2017-18 at Arakkonam, Varkala, Thiruvanmiyur and Chennai Egmore (second entry). With these this facility is available at 8 stations.
• 98 Water Vending Machines have been provided during 2017-18. So far 155 nos are provided over this Railway and more are in process.

Security:

• Integrated Security System has been implemented at 14 important Railway stations viz,. Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Chennai Beach, Basin Bridge, Tiruvallur, Mambalam, Tambaram, Trivandrum Central, Ernakulam, Coimbatore, Mangalore, Calicut, Madurai &Trichy over Southern Railway. Separate CCTV control rooms are functioning at above 14 stations to ensure safety and security of passengers.
• Under Nirbhaya fund, Rs.72 Crores has been sanctioned for the provision of CCTVs in the 136 Railway stations classified as A1, A, B & C including Suburban Railway stations over Southern Railway.
• On an average,331 Mail/ExpressTrains including Suburban Trains are escorted daily with 873 RPF staff. Maximum night trains are escorted by RPF/GRP personnel.
• Child Help Desk provided at 2 stations (Chennai Central & Chennai Egmore)
• Tourism Help Desk is functional at 2 stations viz.,Rameswaram and Madurai and manned by RPF Personnel
• During the year, 2623 missing baggages of passengers were retrieved and safely handed over to the rightful owners.
• 979 runaway/missing children rescued by RPF personnel in association with Child Helpline during 2017-18.
• RPF personnel provided medical assistance was provided to 1320 passengers during the year.
• 919 calls were received in RPF Security Helpline 182 during the year and the complaints so registered were resolved in a time-bound manner.
• Women Security: The year 2018 has been declared as “Year of Women’s Safety” on Railways by Hon’ble MR. In this regard, “Women Safety Fortnight” conducted from 26.03.18 to 09.04.18 in Southern Railway during which all-out efforts were made to ensure fool proof security to women travelling on Railways.
• 04 Ladies special EMUs are escorted by Women RPF staff called “Sakthi Padai’ and ladies coaches of 08 Express trains are escorted by Women RPSF personnel. Further, ladies coaches of 137 EMU trains running between 18.00 hrs and 06.00 hrs are also escorted by men RPF personnel.
• Three platoons including one “Mahila Platoon of RPSF”is being deployed for strengthening of passenger security especially for Women passengers.

Focus on Heritage:

• Heritage Special Voyage in NMR – Weekend Summer special service with steam locos has been introduced between Mettupalayam and Coonoor from 31.3.2018. One Heritage Summer Special Train no: 06170/71 with 3 Coaches refurbished by GOC was introduced and will run upto 24.06.2018.The service is a premium service to cater domestic, foreign tourists with a special fare along with value added services.There are two types of coaches, two first class and one second class coach, the total capacity of the train is 132 seats. The occupancy of the special train on the last run is above 80%.
• 7^th Heritage Train Run of EIR 21 was organised by SR on 26.01.2018 – as part of the Republic Day celebrations. EIR 21 is the oldest working steam locomotive in the world hauling a single coach was operated between Egmore and Kodambakkam. Loco works/Perambur took the challenge of reviving the 163 year old world’s oldest running steam loco EXPRESS EIR 21 in the year 2010. Another running oldest steam loco Fairy Queen EIR 22 has also been refurbished by Loco Works/Perambur of Southern Railway.

Complaints Redressal:

Passenger complaints received through Twitter/Social Media/Helpline are being redressed by Southern Railway and there is 21% reduction in Public complaints during the last quarter of the year 2017-18.

Swachhata:

• On-Board Housekeeping Services (OBHS) are available in 85 trains over Southern Railway. Services on 25 more trains planned shortly.
• The Kozhikode railway station in Kerala was ranked the best in India by travellers in terms of cleanliness in a survey by a app-based travel portal ‘Travel app ixigo’.
• 2 Boot laundries are operational in Southern Railway at Basin Bridge and Kochuveli. 4 more would be established at Madruai, Coimbatore , Mangalore and Ernakulam to take care 100% linen of Southern Railway and will eliminate passenger complaints.
• 64 railway stations have outsourced Sanitation Contracts.
• Southern Railway has surpassed the target in fitment of Bio toilets in Coaches for the current year 2017-18. 65% of coaches over SR are fitted with Biotoilets. All 6229 coaches of Southern Railway would have biotoilets by Dec.2018.

Focus of 2018-19:

• Land acquisition for the following projects has been completed :
• Chengannur – Chingavanam and Ambalappuzha – Harippad doubling
• Kuruppanthara – Ettumannur Doubling project except one plot. Hence the work of doubling at Chengannur – Chingavanam, Ambalapuzha – Haripad and Kuruppanthara – Ettumanur sections are expected to complete this Year.
• Final location survey for Angamali – Erumeli section has recommenced.
• Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL) a joint venture company between Ministry of Railways and Government of Kerala with equity participation 49:51 ratio started functioning. They are in the process of finalizing Detailed Project Report (DPR) for Major Railway Projects.
• Third line project from Ernakulam to Shoranur 100 KMs , Coaching facility at Nemam are newly sanctioned projects this year and Preparation of DPR are in progress.
• Doubling works of Omalur-Mettur dam 29 km. will be completed in 2019.
• The Work on doubling of track between Thiruvananthapuram – Kanniyakumari section (86.56 Kms) at an Estimated Cost of 1431.90 cr.has commenced at the locations,wherever land is available.
• 3^rd and 4^th Line between Chennai Beach and Korukkupet 8 KM and 4^th line between Korukkupet – Tiruvottiyur 5 KM would be commissioned this year.
• Singaperumalkoil – Guduvancherry section 11 KM is also targeted to commission this year as part of 3^rd line between Tambaram and Chengalpattu.
• Pattukottai – Tiruturaipoondi – Tiruvarur 76 KM Gauge conversion is also expected commission this year.
• Madurai – Udumalpet 37 KM gauge conversion is also targeted to complete this year.
• Milavittan – Melamarudur 18 KM New Line is targeted to complete also this year.