Western Railway freight transport up 22 per cent
WESTERN RAILWAYS notched up a record by carrying 30.72 million tonne of freight during the first nine months of current financial year.
WESTERN RAILWAYS notched up a record by carrying 30.72 million tonne of freight during the first nine months of current financial year.
The volume of goods carried was 22.9 per cent more than the corresponding period in previous year. Also, Western Railways earned revenue of Rs 3757.53 crore in the same period exceeding the proposed collections by Rs 87.55 crore.
On the eve of Republic Day, Western Railways General Manager V K Kaul issued a release stating that Western Railway was a major contributor to the progress of Indian Railways. WR opened four new computerised reservation centres in this financial year. Also 272 UTS counters were opened at 54 railway stations by December 2006.
WR facilitated complete information about local trains in Mumbai through SMS for the passengers. Apart from this, two new rail services (Indore-Bhopal Intercity Express and Porbandar-Motihari weekly express) were launched this year.
WR increased the speed of 79 trains and converted three trains to superfast status in the new timetable. Kaul said that 1,215 special trains and 6,640 extra bogies were provided for the convenience of passengers in the current year by now. The gauge conversion work at Ratlam-Neemuch Rail block has reached the final stage. Rail traffic would soon begin on this track.
This year WR carried out 21 awareness campaigns at various places. Numerous publicity mediums were used for this purpose. The one signal system was changed by route relay interlocking at two stations and panel interlocking at nine stations. Replacing 3,144 bridge timbers with steel channel slippers further strengthened many rail bridges. The lighting arrangements at 49 model stations including Indore, Ujjain, Ratlam, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Dadar and Churchgate were improved .
Mobile and laptop charging facilities was introduced in 161 AC coaches this year. The Dahod Rail Factory won ISO-9001-2000 certification for quality maintenance. WR also distributed compensation worth Rs 12.27 crore to the victims of Mumbai bomb blasts.
