Lok Sabha Question No. 2319 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-26
Subject: Beautification of Railway Stations and Trains
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: P.K.SREEMATHI TEACHER

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2319 TO BE ANSWERED ON 26.12.2018

## BEAUTIFICATION OF RAILWAY STATIONS AND TRAINS

2319. SHRIMATI P.K. SREEMATHI TEACHER:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  beautify  and  modernize  the  railway stations and trains in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the details of trains and railway stations beautified and modernized till date?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

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

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (c)  OF  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2319 BY SHRIMATI P.K. SREEMATHI TEACHER TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 26.12.2018 REGARDING BEAUTIFICATION OF RAILWAY STATIONS AND TRAINS (a) to (c) : Indian Railways has more than 8700 stations and it has always been the endeavour of the Railways to provide adequate amenities to the passengers at the stations. While certain amenities are provided at the time of construction of new stations based on anticipated traffic, amenities are further augmented from time to time  with  the  growth  in  passenger  traffic  at  stations,  based  on  the  needs  of travelling public and availability of funds. Upgradation of stations on Indian Railways is a continuous and on-going process. Works  for  improvement  of  passenger  amenities  are  undertaken  depending  upon need,  volume  of  passenger  traffic  and  inter-se  priority,  subject  to  availability  of funds.  Presently, Railway stations are beautified/modernized under 'Adarsh' Station Scheme based on identified need of providing better enhanced passenger amenities at stations.  Various passenger amenities which, inter-alia, include improvement to façade of the station building, retiring room, waiting room (with bathing facilities), separate  waiting  room  for  ladies,  landscaping  of  circulating  area,  earmarked parking, signages, Pay & Use toilets, Foot Over Bridge, ramps at entry to station, separate parking for Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), non-slippery walkway, 'May  I  help  you'  booth,  trolley  path  etc.  are  proposed  to  be  provided  at  Railway stations  which  are  identified  for  development  under  this  scheme  as  per  the respective category of the station and the works for which are funded under Plan Head 'Passenger Amenities'. Out of 1253 stations identified under this scheme, 1065 stations so far have been developed under 'Adarsh Station Scheme.' and remaining stations are targeted to be developed by 2018-19.  Besides this, in a unique attempt to combine cleanliness and creativity, Indian Railways has decided to beautify Railway Stations with wall art  of  paintings  and  graffiti  or  local  arts.  Beautification  has  been  done  through participation  of  local  artists,  volunteers  and  private  groups  etc.    So  far,  station walls  of  62  stations  in  11  Zonal  Railways  have  been  painted  with  Mithila  art painting depicting old mythology.

Concurrently,  improvement  of  train  coaches  is  a  continuous  process  on  Indian Railways. Several steps have been taken by Indian Railways in this regard, such as:

- (i) Indian  Railways  has  planned  to  improve  the  interior  of  the  Integral  Coach Factory (ICF) coaches. New interiors with more pleasing colours, aesthetically  designed  fittings,  paneling,  improved  toilets,  etc.  are  being provided  in  select  existing  coaches  by  refurbishing  them  during  Mid-Life Rehabilitation (MLR).
- (ii) Various premium services like Humsafar, Tejas, Antyodaya, UDAY, Mahamana,  Gatimaan  and  coaches  like  Deen  Dayalu  and  Anubhuti,  which have improved coach interiors / exteriors, have been introduced in service.
- (iii) Under Project Swarn, 14 Rajdhani and 15 Shatabdi train services have been upgraded across multiple dimensions, which include coach interiors, toilets, onboard cleanliness, staff behavior, linen, etc.
- (iv) Upgradation of 640 rakes of Mail / Express trains in divisions has also been taken up from 2018-19 onwards under Project Utkrisht.
- (v) With  a  view  to  providing  comfortable  journey  to  passengers,  it  has  been decided  to  run  more  trains  with  technologically  superior  Linke  Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches. Trains operating with conventional ICF coaches are getting replaced by LHB coaches in a phased manner.  308 pairs of trains are being operated with LHB coaches as on November, 2018.

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