CHENNAI:
R.K.Kulshrestha, General Manager, Southern Railway briefed about the Budgetary outlay for Southern Railway. Highlights of the Zone, Details of Budget grant allotted for Southern Railway and Estimate of budgetary allocation for infrastructure and development works was explained.
Originating earnings:
Southern railway has recorded an originating earnings of rupee 5624 crores during 2017-18 (April-Dec) against rupees 5514 crores during 2016-17(April-Dec). Southern Railways originating Passenger earnings were rupees 3184 crores during 2017-18 ( April-Dec) against rupees 3006 during 2016-17 (April-Dec) .
Southern Railways Originating Freight earnings were rupees 1933 crores during 2017-18 ( April-Dec) against rupees 1881 crores during 2016-17( April-Dec)
Freight Traffic :
Freight of 20.835 million tonnes were loaded during April-Dec 2017-18. New stream of traffic of Pet coke, Iron-ore and Automobile traffic have been started. Bi-weekly timetabled Container have been started in coordination with Concor.
Developed 3 Additional freight Terminals:
POL siding with full rake spur at BPCL / Irumpanam was commissioned on 22.08.2016. Petcoke siding for BPCL-KR/IPN was commissioned on 30.03.2017. Container siding at Ennore Port was commissioned on 31.03.2017.
Projects
Under doubling with electrification, newly electrified double line section between Valadi-Ponmalai (20/Tkm) and Manapparai-Kalpattichatram (22/Tkm) were commissioned for train services with electric traction on 07.06.17. Only 25 kms are left over in this section, which will be completed shortly. Thus entire section between Chennai and Madurai will be doubled this year.
Foundation laid for three important doubling with electrification projects by Shri Rajen Gohain Honble MOSR on 23.01.2018 viz.,
Doubling with Electrification of Madurai-VanchiManiyachi-Tuticorin (160 kms) at an Estimated Cost of Rs.1182.38 cr. Doubling with Electrification of Vanchi Maniyachchi – Tirunelveli -Nagercoil section (102 Kms) at an Estimated Cost of 1003.94 cr.
Doubling with Electrification of Thiruvananthapuram Central – Kanniyakumari section (86.56 Kms) at an Estimated Cost of 1431.90 cr. The completion of these projects will give the much needed boost for development of South Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
In tune with Railways 100 per cent electrification by 2021, All major routes from Chennai – Madurai – Kanniyakumari – Trivandrum – Ernakulam – Mangalore and Shoranur – Coimbatore – Erode – Chennai are already electrified. In addition to these major routes, this year we are targeting to finish Erode – Karur – Tiruchchirappalli section by the end of this year and the remaining routes which are sanctioned now for electrification would soon be complete.
Works are going on swiftly at Omalur – Mettur Dam (29 km) Doubling, Pattukottai – Karaikkudi (70 km) and Pattukottai – Tiruvarur (76 km) Gauge Conversion will also be completed soon. This year, a new Coaching Depot at Tambaram has started functioning from 07.08.2017 which has augmented the Chennai City’s facilities.
CRS inspection in the newly converted Edamann – Punalur BG section (21 km) has been completed and will be commissioned for traffic shortly. With this, the entire stretch of Sengottai – Kollam Gauge converted section will be available for traffic which will serve as the second line connecting the two states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Bi-weekly timetabled container & Tri-weekly automobile freight trains have been started in coordination with Concor & APL Logistics.
Train Services :
·Started Chennai Central – Ahmedabad Humsafar Express. Prime Minister vflagged of Rameswaram-aizabad Weekly ‘ShraddhaSethu’ Express via Ayodya. In order to clear extra rush of traffic, Southern Railway operated 1221 special trains during April-Dec 2017 as compared to 639 specials operated during Apr-Dec 2016. Special trains were run between Chennai Egmore – Tirunelveli, Chennai Central – Kollam, Madurai – Chengalpattu, Coimbatore – Chengalpattu and various other sectors.
During the first quarter of the year 2018 – 19 (April – June, 2018), nearly 500 summer special trains are being planned to be run to clear the extra rush of passengers. Southern Railway added 2060 extra coaches during Apr-Dec 2017 facilitating movement of 1.05 lakh additional passengers.
During the recent Bus strike in TN in Jan 2018, SR reacted swiftly to the situation and came to the rescue of thousands of stranded passengers by running extra / special services. In Chennai Division alone, more than 13.4 lakh passengers travelled additionally.
Starting from 12.01.2018 as Pongal Gift, the Anubhuti coach inducted in Chennai-Mysuru Shatabdi has become popular with good occupation. For Republic Day on 26.01.2018, the Anubhuti Coach will be inducted in Chennai – Coimbatore Shatabdi Express
Passenger amenities Southern Railway :
8 A1, 40 A and 20 B Category Stations have become Divyangjan friendly Railway stations. For Remaining Stations, works are going on and would be complete soon. Southern Railway has commissioned Emergency medical centres at 23 major stations, providing medical care to needy passengers.
To help passengers to book unreserved/season/Platform tickets quickly, UTS on mobile with print out facility at ATVMs/Booking counters has been enabled at 128 stations over Southern Railway. A new paperless ticketing system called ‘Book, Activate and Travel’ (BAAT) has been introduced for the convenience of passengers.
While all the 735 stations have been provided with toilets (MEA) ,Deluxe pay & Use Rest Rooms have been provided at 6 stations. A total of 115 Water vending Machines have been installed over Southern Railway.Chennai Division-86, Madurai Division-12, Tiruchchirappalli Division-9 and Trivandurm Division-8.
Battery-Operated Cars are available at 9 Stations: Chernnai Central, Chennai Egmore,MaduraiJn, Kozhikkode, Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Tiruchchirapalli, Coimbatore and Salem. On-Board Housekeeping Services (OBHS) are available in 85 trains over Southern Railway.
To supply quality linen, BOOT laundries are functioning at Basin Bridge and Kochuveli supplying 23.92 Tonnes of linen. 65 Stations are having outsourced Sanitation Contracts. Cleaning of Approach Roads, Circulating Areas and Station Premises are ensured by Mechanized cleaning at frequent intervals using heavy duty scrubber and driers and kept neat and tidy.
A total of 3470 coaches in Southern Railway have been provided with bio-toilets as on 1.1.2018 and all coaches would have bio toilets by the end of this year. 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’.
The concept of “Train Captain” service was introduced in six Divisions over this Railway during January -2017, for improving onboard passenger service and better co-ordination. Under this scheme, difficulties / grievances of the travelling public are being attended then and there and a complaint free journey is ensured.
All Women Facilitation Centres arefunctional at Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Trichy, Coimbatore, Madurai, Calicut and Trivandrum Railway stations to help lone women passengers with adequate privacy and facility for women passengers to feed their infants. The centre is manned by Women staff of Commercial and RPF round the clock.
So far, 23 major stations over Southern Railway viz., Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Nungambakkam, Tambaram, Chengalpattu,Arakkonam, Katpadi , Villupuram, Kumbakonam, Tanjavur, Tiruchchirappalli, Ernakulam ,Kollam, Trivandrum Central, Mangalore, Coimbatore,Thrissur,Kozhikkode, Madurai, Rameswaram, Coonoor, Udagamandalam and Mettupalayamhave been provided with free Wi-Fi facilities.
Public Grievances : Southern Railway stood first in reduction of public complaints upto October 17 this year.
Green Initiatives: Southern Railway has taken several noteworthy initiatives to conserve energy as under:
Agreement with Energy Efficiency Services Ltd.(EESL) for implementing Energy efficiency programme at A1,A and C category stations. BLDC fans and energy efficient 5 star rated inverted based air conditioners to be provided in place of conventional equipments.
SR has an ambitious plan to provide LED lightings at all 735 stations by March 2018 of which 558 small stations already have LED lighting. Golden Rock Work Shop was the first repair workshop to obtain ISO 9001 certification in Indian Railway. The workshop also received Certification for Energy Management system ISO 50001.
Focusing on conservation of water in coaching depots of Chennai, Water Recycling Plant has been commissioned at Basin Bridge and Gopalsamy Nagar in Chennai. On an average, 160 million litres of water is saved, saving Rs.96 lakhs annually on procurement from metro water.
Rain water harvesting facility has been provided at Thalassery, Kozhikode and Palakkad.
Safety: All Unmanned LCs of all routes will be eliminated by September 2018. 52 LCs have been eliminated so far. All Unmanned LCs on A, B, and C routes of Southern Railway will be eliminated by March 2018.
To provide additional layers of safety in fully automatic signalling sections, Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS) has been facilitated in Chennai –Gummidipoondi and Chennai – Arakkonam sections. 82 EMU trains operated in these sections have been fitted with this enhanced safety system.
Security: All India RPF Security Helpline No.182 is functional in Southern Railway from December 2014 onwards. During the year 2017-18 (upto September), 404 complaints were received from the passengers and the same were redressed on real time basis.
An All Women Facilitation Centre is functional at Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Trichy, Coimbatore, Madurai, Calicut and Trivandrum Railway stations to help lone women passengers with adequate privacy and facility for women passengers to feed their infants. The centre is manned by Women staff of Commercial and RPF round the clock.
Twitter complaint redressal: Passenger complaints received through twitter are being redressed by RPF/S.Rly. On an average,370 Mail/ExpressTrains including Suburban Trains are escorted daily with 956 RPF staff. Maximum night trains are escorted by RPF/GRP personnel.
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.
Enhancement of security to Suburban Rail passengers: 306 new digital cameras were installed in 7 stations viz. Chennai Central (98 nos.), Chennai Egmore (80 nos), Tambaram (48 nos.), Basin Bridge (28 nos.), Tiruvallur (16 nos.), Chennai Beach (16 nos.), Mambalam (8 Nos.) and Moore Market Complex (12 nos.), thus covering the entire platform and concourse area of these stations for the first time. In addition, 42 new digital CC TV cameras were introduced at KPD, thus ensuring full coverage of KPD station for the first time.
