Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Minister of Railways during a function held at Rail Bhawan Yesterday i.e. 29.09.2016, as a part of fulfilment of Budget Announcements 2016-17, launched and dedicated following services to the nation : –

1. Liberalised station to station special freight rates policy
2. Policy providing sub quota of 33 % to women within reserved categories for the allotment in catering units.
3. Policy giving preference to local domicile holders for commercial licenses at stations.
4. New system of allocating vacant berths after final charting to wayside stations.
5. Launch of the new “Train at a Glance” and new Time Table effective from 1st October 2016.

Shri Rajen Gohain, Minister of State for Railways was especially present on the occasion. Chairman, Railway Board, Shri A.K. Mittal, Member Traffic Mohd. Jamshed and other Railways Board Members and dignitaries were also present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu said that the Indian Railways is striving hard to achieve full passengers’ satisfaction in all respects and today’s initiatives are part of our such endeavours.  He said that the introduction of new policy providing sub-quota of 33% to women in catering units is a step towards women empowerment and their increased participation in Railways.  He said that Railways will continue to introduce such new reformative steps.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Railways Shri Rajen Gohain said that Indian Railways being the biggest organization of the country has lots of complex projects to implement throughout the country. But overcoming the difficulties and complexities, Railways is implementing its budget announcements in a very promised manner which is a landmark in itself.

Salient Features of the initiatives : –

POLICY PROVIDING SUB QUOTA OF 33 % TO WOMEN WITHIN RESERVED CATEGORIES FOR THE ALLOTMENT IN CATERING UNITS

• In compliance of Budget Announcement 2016-17, a Sub Quota of 33% for women in allotment of each of the reserved catering units is being introduced on Indian Railways in order to extend economic empowerment for women.
• Current Status of Reservation at Minor Catering Units (Stalls / Trolleys / Khomchas)
• A1, A, B, and C Category stations – 25% of the Units are reserved for various categories like SC (6%), ST (4%), BPL (3%), OBC (3%), Minorities (3%), Freedom Fighters (4%) and Physically Challenged persons (2%).
• D, E and F Category stations – 49.5% of the Units are reserved for various categories like SC (12%), ST (8%), OBC (20%) and Minorities (9.5%).
• 33% sub quota reservation for women shall ensure allotment of minimum 8% stalls to women at A1, A, B & C category station and minimum 17% at D, E and F category station.
• There are approximately 8000 Minor Catering Units over Indian Railways.
• Under this provision, Railways shall ensure that women participation does not fall below a specific level.
• 

POLICY GIVING PREFERENCE TO LOCAL DOMICILE HOLDERS FOR COMMERCIAL LICENSES AT STATIONS

In compliance of Budget Announcement 2016-17, a process of giving weightage to district Domicile Holders for commercial licenses at stations is being proliferated at all stations over Indian Railways.

• The proliferation would help to build local ownership and rural empowerment along with socio – economic development.
• The weightage to district domicile holders is being proliferated for allotment of Catering Units at all categories of stations.

• The proliferation of weightage to district Domicile Holders at all category of stations will ensure protection of livelihood of the small vendors.
• The allotment of Minor Units over Indian Railways will ensure local ownership and will also promote regional / local cuisine, which is always a preferred choice.
• The weightage parameter would range from 20% to the local District Domicile holders to 12% to the State Domicile holders in techno-commercial scores.

TRANSFER OF VACANT BERTHS FOR OPTIMAL UTILISATION OF BERTHS

 IR is introducing the facility of transfer of berths remaining vacant after second charting at the train originating station to the next and subsequent stations for clearing the waitlisted passengers at such stations.

• The PRS system will automatically allot vacant berths available at the originating stations after preparation of second chart to the subsequent stations where waitlisted passengers are available. The passenger will get SMS on his registered mobile indicating the coach and berth number allotted. This will help passengers boarding at road side stations to get confirmed berths. Presently they get their berths confirmed only if confirmed berths from the pooled quota (PQ) allotted to the station are cancelled.
• The TTEs will be able to allot vacant berths on board after departure of the train only upto the next station where quota is available for the train. In case no person boards the train at the next station he can further allot/extend the same to the next quota station.
• At present about 3 lakh berths per year go unutilised while there may be demand at intermediate stations. This system will help in better utilization of available berths at the time of departure of trains from the originating station and also reduce the discretion available with TTEs in allotting the berths.

LIBERALISED STATION TO STATION SPECIAL FREIGHT RATES POLICY

 Section 32 of the Railways Act, 1989 empowers railway administration to quote Station to Station Rate (STS) in respect of carriage of various commodities.

• Railway Board used to issue guidelines to Zonal Railways for implementation of STS rates. Last guidelines on this subject were issued by Board in 2002, which were in operation till 2006. In November 2015, Zonal Railways were advised to exercise power vested with them to quote STS rates as per the Railways Act, 1989.

• On request from Zonal Railways and to enable them to garner more traffic from road and other modes,   broad guidelines are being issued to Zonal Railways for finalising STS rates.

• Salient features of the proposed policy are as under:

 Existing as well as new traffic shall be eligible.

• Concession shall be granted up to a maximum of 30% on the incremental traffic over and above the benchmark NTKM. Benchmark NTKM is defined as average NTKMs of corresponding periods of previous 24 months.
• Concession shall be in the form of percentage discount over the Normal Tariff Rate (NTR). It should be ensured that the concessional freight should not be less than the NTR of Class 100.
• Concession shall be admissible to Block rake, two/multi point rake, Mini Rake etc.
• Concession may be granted for retention of traffic also up to maximum of 15%. In case of container traffic, STS discount upto maximum of 15% shall be given to commodities charged at Container Class Rate (CCR).
• STS scheme will be applicable for all terminals namely goods sheds, sidings, ports, CRTs, PFTOs etc.
• To avail STS, Rail users shall be required to apply to the DRM with details, who shall forward the same for approval of GM through CCM, COM and FA&CAO.  If Railway administration approves grant of concession under STS, an agreement shall be executed between Railway and customer.
• The agreement shall be done for a maximum period of three years at a time and for not less than one year.  Any change in freight rate (excluding imposition of any surcharge) shall not be applicable on the customer during the currency of the agreement or for one year, whichever is less.
• Commodities excluded from STS are –

o   All commodities with classification below Class-100.

o   All commodities under Main Commodity Head “Coal & Coke”

o   Iron ore (all types)

o   Military traffic, POL and RMC

• Targeted customer:  Food grain, Cement, Clinker, Dolomite, Limestone, Steel companies, Fly ash, etc.
• Expected additional loading: 10 million tonne per annum.

LAUNCH OF NEW TAG             The launch of  Trains at a Glance 2016– the new Time Table effective from the 1^st October has also been launched.

A BRIEF OVERVIEW

With over 66 thousand kilometres of route ( 1/3 rd of which is electrified), more than 7000 stations, above 10,000 locomotives and more than 60 thousand coaches, Indian Railways runs above 13000 passenger carrying trains  – to take about 23 million passengers to their destinations –  everyday.

The journey in Passenger Operations in the last two years has been one of sustained efforts to provide additional capacities, improve the quality of travel experienceand to reach out to all types of passengers including those in far flung areas. As can be seen, funds to the tune of 8.56 Lakh crore are already tied up for these purposes for 2-15-19 and have started bringing results.

Additional  services provided in last 2 years include 308 new trains, 99 extensions, 118 trains whose frequency was increased and permanent addition of 1610 additional coaches.

We have also met additional demand by running more than 70 thousand special trains  including those to meet extra rush, election movements, military and para-military movements, and tourist trains. Besides, more than 2.5 lakh extra coach trips have also been provided – as per need.

We have been migrating to better coaches – with more comfort and speed.  38 trains have been provided the modern LHB coaches and 40 trains converted to the faster and superior MEMU coaches.

We have also added trains to new areas including  Sri Mata VaishnodeviKatra, Arunachal Pradesh , Barak Valley and many more.

In the current Year, the efforts to improve service levels in passenger operations have gained further momentum. What has already been done in the current year includes premium trains like Mahamana and Gatimaan express,aneven more accelerated transition to superior coaches including the new DeenDayalu coaches started from August,  More Permanent augmentations, and further efforts to meet additional demands.

The current year has seen several large religious and other congregations of people which have been managed effectively,  to the comfort of our passengers , with record running of special trains and extra coaches and effective overall bandobast,. This includes the SimhasthaMela in Ujjain, the krishnapushkaram on the Krishna Basin and so on. The arrangements for the ensuing Durga Puja rush are also completely in place.

The highlights of the improvements planned in the new Time table that will come into effect from the 1^st October, 2016, include most importantly, the specifics of the 4 new brands of train products.

Further, in this timetable, we have also reduced the journey times in 350  existing trains, 75 of which have made it to the superfast category.

We have converted 240 operational halts into commercial stoppages and have for the first time, provided in the time table, train connectivities to the North Eastern states of Tripura, Manipur and Mizoram.

Also incorporated in this  Time Table – are  36 pairs of new services, some of which have been introduced in this financial year and some that will be coming soon- like the  10 pairs of Humsafar trains, 7 Antyodaya, 3 Tejas and 3 UDAY trains besides a number of other mail express trains, extensions, increase in frequency, diversions etc.

Infact, the  4 diversions mentioned at the end of the last slide shall become effective from the 1 st October. These will cater to a long pending demand of the people of Cuttack who will now get a direct connectivity instead of the detour these trains were earlier taking.

The contours of the new train products incorporated in the New Time Table are brought out here. The Humsafar as you are aware would be the fully AC service with optional catering,Antyodayathe long distance unreserved superfast train for common man, Tejas will have all modern on board features like entertainment , wifi and local cuisines, etc and UDAY will be an AC  doublecker train on the busiest routes.

Coming to the specific routes and schedules of the new train products,

The 10 Humsafar Express trains will run between……

1. Sealdah- Jammu Tawi via Lucknow, Varanasi
2. Bhubaneshwar – rishnarajapuram via Vijaywada
3. Gorakhpur – Anandvihar via Lucknow
4. Howra – Yeshwantpur via vijaywada
5. Durg- Nizamuddin via Jhansi
6. Ahmedabad- Chennai via Pune
7. Tirupati- Jammutawi via Jhansi
8. Bandra- Patna via Jabalpur
9. Sriganganagar-Trichurapalli via Ahmedabad
10. Kamakhya-Bangalore via Cuttack

The  7 Antyodaya express trains will run between…

1. Darbhanga – Jallandhar via Gorakhpur
2. Tatanagar- LomanyaTilak  Terminus via Bilaspur
3. Santragachi – Chennai via Vijaywada
4. Bilaspur – Ferozepur via Jhansi
5. Bandra – Gorakhpur via Vadodra
6. Howrah – Ernakulam via Vajaywada
7. Jaynagar _ Udhna via Patna

The 3 Tejas trains will run between….

1. New Delhi – Chandigarh
2. Lucknow – AnandVihar
3. Mumbai CST – Madgaon

And The three UDAY Trains will run between…..

1. Coimbatore – Bangaluru  via Salem
2. Bandra – Jamnagar via Surat
3. Vishakhapatnam – Vijaywada