Lok Sabha Question No. 3895 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-08-09
Subject: Upgradation of Services and Facilities
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Kunhalikutty, P.K., RAJESH PANDEY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3895 TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.08.2017

## UPGRADATION OF SERVICES AND FACILITIES

3895.  SHRI P.K. KUNHALIKUTTY: SHRI RAJESH PANDEY:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of new initiatives which are being taken for quantum jump in the matter of new trains and upgradation of services and facilities;
- (b) whether it is a fact that there is not much improvement in facilities in trains despite charging high fare from the passengers;
- (c) if so, the reasons therefor; and
- (d) the  details  of  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  provide  facilities  to passengers in trains including catering services?

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.  3895  BY  SHRI  P.K.  KUNHALIKUTTY  AND  SHRI  RAJESH PANDEY  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  09.08.2017  REGARDING UPGRADATION OF SERVICES AND FACILITIES

- (a)  to  (d):  Introduction  of  new  trains  is  an  ongoing  process  over  Indian Railways subject to traffic justification, operational feasibility, availability of resources. In Railway Budget 2016-17, introduction of Antyodaya, Humsafar, UDAY,  Tejas  brand  of  train  services  have  been  announced.    As  of  now,  2 Antyodaya  Express,  9  Humsafar  Express  and  1  Tejas  Express  have  been introduced.

Improvement  to  Passenger  amenities  on  Indian  Railways  (IR)  is  a continuous process. Present day passengers expect visible and qualitative improvement in public utilities and amenities provided at the Stations. With a view  to  meeting  the  expectations  of  the  passengers,  Indian  Railways  is making all out effort to provide improved facilities at the stations including those  located  in  small  cities/towns.  Indian  Railways  has  more  than  8000 Stations.  It  has  always  been  the  endeavour  of  the  Railways  to  provide adequate amenities to the passengers at the stations. Certain amenities are provided  at  the  time  of  construction  of  new  stations  based  on  anticipated volume of  traffic.  Amenities  are  further  augmented  from  time  to  time  with growth  in  passenger  traffic  handled  at  stations,  based  on  the  felt  need, expectations of the travelling public and availability of funds.

In the recent past Indian Railways have taken various steps to improve the services and facilitate the passengers, some of which are given below.

## At stations:

- (i) Lifts  and  Escalators  at  the  stations  for  facilitating  movement  across platforms.
- (ii) Battery Operated Vehicles for carrying passengers before/after the train journey, especially senior citizens and persons with disabilities.
- (iii) Yatri Mitra Sewa for passengers requiring wheel-chair assistance.
- (iv) Well appointed Retiring Rooms, Waiting Halls and Executive Lounges to relax for passengers during transit.
- (v) Wi-fi facility at 127 important stations on IR.

## In Reservations and travel:

- (i) Introduction of the Alternate Train Accommodation Scheme known as 'VIKALP'  to  give  option  to  waitlisted  passengers  to  shift  to  alternate train having vacant accommodation.
- (ii) Provision of facility to physically handicapped persons to book reserved tickets online.
- (iii) Introduction  of  paperless  unreserved  ticket  booking  through  mobile phone.
- (iv) Automatic refund of confirmed/ Reservation Against Cancellation (RAC)/e-tickets on cancellation of trains.
- (v) Enhancement of Senior Citizen Quota as well as quota earmarked for physically handicapped persons.
- (vi) Making provision in the system for automatic preparation of reservation charts at least four hours before the scheduled departure of train.
- (vii) Provision of facility to book available accommodation after preparation of  first  reservation  chart  through  internet  as  well  as  across  any computerized Passenger Reservation System (PRS) counter upto preparation of second reservation chart.
- (viii) Acceptance  of  all  International  Credit/Debit  cards  for  booking  of  etickets  through  Indian  Railway  Catering  and  Tourism  Corporation (IRCTC) website.
- (ix) The  passengers  having  confirmed/RAC/Waitlisted  PRS  counter  tickets may  cancel  the  same  through  IRCTC  website  (www.irctc.co.in)  or through  139  within  the  prescribed  time  limit  and  the  refund  amount maybe collected across PRS counter on surrendering the original ticket.
- In  order  to  facilitate  cancellation  of  PRS  counter  tickets  at  relatively smaller  stations,  one  of  the  Unreserved  Ticketing  System(  UTS)  cum PRS  counters  (wherever  PRS  booking  facility  is  available)  has  been earmarked  for  granting  refund  beyond  the  working  hours  of  PRS counters/Current  counters.  This  facility  is  available  in  respect  of  PRS counter  tickets  for  those  trains  whose  scheduled  departure  time  is
- (x) within the next 24 hours.
- (xi) Establishment  of  Yatri  Ticket  Suvidha  Kendras  for  issuing  of  tickets through  public  private  partnership  for  establishment  and  operation  of computerised  Passenger  Reservation  System  (PRS)-cum  Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) terminals.

- (xii) Facility  for  booking  unreserved  ticket  including  platforms  tickets  and Season Tickets through mobile phone in the 6 suburban sections of IR in Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Secunderabad and in Delhi - Palwal and Delhi-Ghaziabad sections of Northern Railway.
- (xiii) Commencement of concierge services with facility for online booking of wheelchairs through IRCTC website at New Delhi and 23 other stations.
- (xiv) Provision of Automatic Ticket Vending Machines to facilitate purchase of unreserved journey tickets.
- Extension of e-ticketing facility to foreign debit/credit cards for foreign
- (xv) tourists and NRIs.
- (xvi) Commissioning of online booking of retiring room at over 488 Railway stations.

In addition to this, provision of enhanced passenger amenities in train coaches is a continual endeavor of the Indian Railways. Some of the policy decisions taken in this regard are:

- 1.
- Provision of cushioned seats in General Second class coaches.
2. Provision  of  bottle  holders  and  snack  tables  in  Non-AC  Sleeper  Class coaches.
- 3.
- 4.
- Provision of dust bins in Non-AC coaches.
- Provision of mugs with chain in Non-AC coaches.
- Provision  of  Health  Faucets  in  AC  as  well  as  Non-AC  Sleeper  class
5. coaches, etc.

Besides, new trains having better passenger amenities, such as Tejas, Humsafar and Antyodaya have already been introduced.

It has also been decided to carry out the work of upgradation of coach interiors  and  exteriors  and  to  provide  additional  amenities  in  the  identified coaches  that  have  a  certain  balance  residual  life.  The  upgradation  of coaches  would  result  in  an  improvement  in  the  overall  ambience  and furnishing and enhanced passenger comfort. It has been decided to carry out the work in a phased manner depending upon the availability of capacities and funds.

With  the  objective  to  provide  quality  food  to  rail  passengers,  new Catering Policy 2017 has been issued on 27.02.2017 wherein Indian Railway Catering  and  Tourism  Corporation  Limited  (IRCTC)  has  been  mandated  to carry  out  the  unbundling  of  catering  services  by  creating  a  distinction primarily between food preparation and food distribution.  The new catering policy,  inter-alia,  includes  the  following  features  for  unbundling  of  catering services  (i)  IRCTC  shall  manage  catering  services  on  all  mobile  units.  (ii) Meals  for  all  mobile  units  will  be  picked  up  from  the  nominated  kitchens owned,  operated  and  managed  by  IRCTC.  (iii)  IRCTC  will  engage  service providers for hospitality industry for service of food in trains. (iv) IRCTC shall not outrightly outsource or issue licenses for provision of catering services to private licensees. (v) IRCTC shall retain the ownership and shall be fully accountable for all the issues pertaining to setting up and operation of the Base Kitchens and quality of food.  (vi) IRCTC shall ensure compliance of all statutory guidelines viz. FSSAI norms of food safety in Base Kitchens/kitchen units  and  mobile  catering  units,  pollution  control,  Green  Tribunal  etc.  (the statutory  bodies  mentioned  are  indicative  in  nature,  not  exhaustive).  (vii) Third Party Audit of mobile units and base kitchens shall be done by Zonal Railways periodically by an independent agency.

Other steps   taken  to  ensure   good  quality  and hygienic food served to the passengers inter-alia include:- (i) Phased introduction of station based e-catering at all A1 and A category stations for widening the range of options available to passengers for ordering food of their choice. (ii) Introduction of precooked food ('ready to eat' meals). (iii) 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.  (iv)  Imposition  of  penalties  in  case  of deficiencies detected in services. (v) Operation of All India Helpline (No.138) for  rail-users  to  lodge  complaints/suggestions  regarding  food  and  catering services (vi) A Twitter handle with the address @IRCATERING has also been made  operational  to  cater  to  the  complaints/suggestions  with  regard  to catering  services.  (vii)  To  effectively  check  and  control  unfair  practices  of overcharging, issues of quality as well as quantity, the following measures are being taken:

-  In  prepaid  trains,  optional  catering  has  been  introduced  as  a  pilot project so that passenger has the option to 'not eat' if he does not want the food supplied onboard. This scheme has been introduced on 31 Rajdhani/Shatabdi/Duronto  trains  under  the  management  of  Indian  Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) w.e.f.  01/08/2017 for an initial period of 180 days, subject to mid-term review after 3 months.
-  It  has  also  been  decided  to  introduce  optional  catering,  as  a  pilot project, in  mail/express trains so that passengers can pay for the meals and packaged Drinking Water  (PDW) in advance at the time of booking of journey tickets.
-  Empanelment of Self Help Groups (SHGs) to provide healthy, wholesome  regional  cuisine  at  an  affordable  cost  to  the  travelling  public through  e-catering  has  initiated  and  9  SHGs  have  been  empanelled  at  10 stations.
-  As  announced  in  the  Rail  Budget  2016-17,  Tejas  Train  has  been introduced  on  22/05/2017.    Management  of  on-board  catering  services  on Tejas  Express  is  done  by  IRCTC.    Service-wise  Catering  services  on  Tejas Express  are  optional  and  for  the  passengers  who  do  not  opt  for  catering services at the time of booking, catering charges will not be included in the ticket fare.  However, if the passenger asks for catering services at a later stage,  an  extra  amount  of ₹ 50/-  per  service,  in  addition  to  the  cost  of catering charges.
-  Instructions  have  been  issued  stipulating  that  Humsafar  trains  may have the facility of Automatic Vending Machines (AVMs) for dispensation of beverages including Tea/Coffee/soup etc.

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