Lok Sabha Question No. 5461 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-28
Subject: Modernisation of Railways
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: RAJIV PRATAP RUDY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5461 TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.03.2018

## MODERNISATION OF RAILWAYS

5461.     SHRI RAJIV PRATAP RUDY :

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state :

- (a) whether the Government has developed time bound action plan for the  next  five  years  in  the  field  of  modernisation  of  Railways  i.e. speed, safety, security at railway stations along with passengers and catering facilities;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has assessed the long term requirement of coaches and additional coaches required by the Indian Railways and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) the  details  regarding  the  rail  factories  producing  the  railway wagons and cast wheels for railway wagons in the country?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

- (a) to (d)  A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5461 BY SHRI RAJIV PRATAP RUDY TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 28.03.2018 REGARDING MODERNISATION OF RAILWAYS

(a) & (b) : Yes, Madam.  With a view to increasing speed of trains in Indian  Railways,  'Mission  Raftaar'  has  been  announced  in  the Railway  Budget  2016-17.    The  mission  envisages  a  target  of doubling  of  average  speed  of  freight  trains  and  increasing  the average speed of all non-suburban passenger trains by 25 kmph.

Action  plan  for  improving  mobility  and  increasing  average  speed includes  removal  of  speed  restrictions,  construction  of  road  over bridges  (ROBs)  and  road  under  bridges  (RUBs),  right  powering  of trains,  introduction  of  twin-pipe  in  wagons  and  replacement  of conventional trains by Main Line Electric Multiple unit(MEMU) trains and Diesel Electric Multiple Unit(DEMU) trains.

All technologies, maintenance procedure & processes in connection with safe running of train are introduced after thorough examination from safety point of view.  Maintenance procedures are constantly being  upgraded/modified  with  the  change  in  technologies.    Indian Railways have adopted or are continuously introducing new technologies such as electronic interlocking at all interlocked Broad Gauge stations, Automatic Train Protection(ATP) system based on European  Train  Control  System  Level  2  (ETCS-L2)  in  the  entire  G route,  Train  Management  System  covering  all  4  Metros,  Remote

Diagnostics and Predictive Maintenance, Track Circuiting at station, Use of 60 Kg rails and Pre Stressed Concrete Sleepers(PSC), Long Welded  Rail  Panels(LWR),  Thick  Web  Switches  in  turnouts,  Digital Ultrasonic  Flaw  Detection  Machines  for  rail  defects.    A  policy decision has  been  taken to manufacture  only Linke  Hoffman Bushce(LHB)  type  coaches  from  2018-19  onwards.    All  electric locomotives have been provided with Vigilance Control Devices(VCD) which  helps in checking the alertness of Loco Pilots(LPs).    Training  to  the  Loco  Pilots  is  being  imparted  on Simulators for improving reaction time and driving skills.

Security has been identified as one of the priority areas by Railways for  strengthening  and  upgradation.    Measures  initiated  by  the Railways, through the Railway Protection Force(RPF), to strengthen security  of  passengers  include  escorting  of  about  2500  important Mail/Express trains daily (in addition to escorting of 2200 important Mail/Express trains by the Government Railway Police(GRP)], surveillance through close circuit television(CCTV) cameras provided  at  about  394  railway  stations,  rendering  assistance  to passengers through 182 Security Helpline, prosecution of offenders(unauthorized vendors/hawkers, touts, trespassers, nuisance, entering ladies reserved compartments, etc.) under relevant provisions of the Railways Act, etc.

It  is  proposed to install Close Circuit Television(CCTV) Cameras to strengthen surveillance mechanism  and  to  ensure safety and security  of  passengers  at  railway  stations  and  trains  over  entire network of Indian Railways.  Funding is contemplated from Nirbhaya Fund of Government of India.

To further augment security of passengers with due emphasis upon security  of  women  passengers,  upgradation  of  All  India  Security Helpline  182  has  been  envisaged  at  an  approved  cost  of ` 5.59 crore.    Operationalisation  of  single  Security  App  has  also  been envisaged to provide round the clock  security related assistance to women passengers.

State  Level  Security  Committee  for  Railways  (SLSCR)  have  been constituted for all State / Union Territories(UTs) under the Chairmanship of respective Director General of Police/Commissioner of States /UTs for regular monitoring and  review of security arrangement for the Railway.

All out efforts are being made by the Railways, through the RPF, to provide security to passengers  in coordination with GRPs  of respective  States,  who  are  primarily  responsible  for  registering  of cases,  their  investigation  and  maintenance  of  law  and  order  in Railway premises as well as on running trains.

To  provide  pure  and  healthy  food  to  passengers,  a  new  Catering Policy  has  been  issued  on  27th  February,  2017.    As  per  Catering Policy  2017,  Indian  Railway  Catering  and  Tourism  Corporation Limited (IRCTC) has been mandated to carry out the unbundling by creating    distinction  primarily  between  food  preparation  and  food distribution on trains. In order to upgrade quality of food preparation, IRCTC is to set up new kitchens and upgrade existing ones.  Further, detailed instructions/guidelines have been issued to the  Zonal  Railways  for  conducting  joint  inspections  by  Medical, Commercial and concerned infrastructure maintenance departments to inspect each and every catering unit(mobile and static) including base  kitchens/cell  kitchens  on  all  Railway  Divisions/Zones.    Apart from this, regular and surprise inspections are done by Food Safety Officers, Designated Officers and Joint Food Safety Commissioners. Further steps being taken to ensure that good quality and hygienic food  is  served  to  the  passengers  inter-alia  includes  (i)  Optional Catering  Service  has  been  introduced  as  a  pilot  project,  on  32 Rajdhani/Shatabdi/Duronto  trains  under  the  management  of  IRCTC, (ii) Introduction of station based E-catering for widening the range of options available to passengers for ordering food of their choice, (iii) Pilot for introduction of precooked food('ready to eat' meals) in the range of options available to passengers, (iv) Operation of Centralized Catering Service Monitoring Cell(CSMC) (toll free number 1800-111-321) for prompt redressal of passenger grievances relating to  the  catering  activities  and  real  time  assistance  to  travelling public,  (v)  Operation  of  all  India  Helpline(No.  138)  for  rail  users  to lodge complaints/suggestions regarding food and catering services, (vi) A Twitter handle @ IRCATERING has also been made operational to  cater  to  the  complaints/suggestions  with  regard  to  catering

services.

- (c) : Assessment of long-term requirement of coaches is an ongoing exercise.
- (d) :  The Rail Factories producing the Railway wagons and the type of wagons that are being produced are as under :-
- 1 Braithwaite & Company Limited : BOXNHL, BOXNS, BOSTHSM2, BCNHL, BRN 22.9, BOBRNHSM1
- 2 Burn Standard Company Limited : BOXNHLSM1, BOXNS, BOSTHSM2, BCNHL, BRN 22.9,  BOBRNHSM1, BOBSN
- 3 Golden Rock Workshop, Southern Railway :  BOXNHL, BVCM, BLC
- 4 Samastipur Workshop, East Central Railway : BOXNHL
- 5 Amritsar Workshop, Northern Railway :  BOXNHL, BVCM
- 6 Hubli Workshop, South Western Railway :  BVZI, BVCM
- 7 Jamalpur Workshop, Eastern Railway : BOXNHL, BVCM, BLC

The  production  units  manufacturing  wagon  cast  wheels  under Ministry of Railways are  :-

- 1 Rail Wheel Factory(RWF) Yelahanka, Bangalore, Karnataka.
- 2 Rail Wheel Plant(RWP)/Bela District - Saran, Bihar

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