An inventive concept of conveyor belt used in loading and unload goods from wagon and saving time in freight train operations has earned a Lucknow woman Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) officer ‘Ati Vishisht Rail Seva award’— the highest award of the Indian Railways.
Prashasti Srivastava, 30, an IRTS officer of 2017 batch posted as divisional commercial manager of Agra division, North Central Railway, shared this information herself on Thursday. She said she will receive the award from the railway minister on December 15.
Granddaughter of former railway man Nanak Sahay who served in Gorakhpur, Lucknow’s Sushant Golf city resident said, “As part of earning model from innovative non-fare revenue scheme, back in 2021-2022 as pilot project we introduced third party owned mechanised conveyor belt system in Yamuna Bridge and Kuberpur goods shed of Agra. The owner of system would pay ₹5 lakh annually to the railway and charge conveyor service from the customer whose goods were transported to Yamuna bridge goods shed via railway’s freight train.”
Conveyor belt systems increased the speed of loading and unloading of goods from the wagon, minimising workplace risks and reduced labour cost, she said. “I’m glad that I got this award at the very beginning of my career,” she said. The IRTS further said her schooling took place across U.P. as his father was in the civil service. “My family still lives in Lucknow”’ Srivastava said.
{{/usCountry}}Conveyor belt systems increased the speed of loading and unloading of goods from the wagon, minimising workplace risks and reduced labour cost, she said. “I’m glad that I got this award at the very beginning of my career,” she said. The IRTS further said her schooling took place across U.P. as his father was in the civil service. “My family still lives in Lucknow”’ Srivastava said.
{{/usCountry}}“With two conveyor belt systems, one wagon is unloaded in 45 minutes and in maximum six hours the entire rake of 42 wagons is unloaded, which earlier took nine hours or more. This time saving is a cash minting opportunity for railways,” she said, adding the Railway Board has decided to introduce the system across all goods sheds in its network.
“This will ensure the system operator keeps the rate competitive and will also ensure faster loading and unloading to attract freight customers. The freight customers are free to choose the handling service between the old manual method and the new semi-mechanised conveyor belt system,” the officer said. She said her next plan was to make Arga station a differently-abled friendly zone.