Lok Sabha Question No. 3574 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-17
Subject: Innovative Policy for Railway Safety
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Sanjay Bhatia

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3574 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.03.2021

## INNOVATIVE POLICY FOR RAILWAY SAFETY

†3574. SHRI SANJAY BHATIA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has formulated any innovative policy to make the railway system more profitable and also to make the rail journey  more  safe  and  comfortable  for  passengers  and  if  so,  the details thereof;
- (b)    whether  the  Indian  Railways  is  also  planning  to  implement token  or  card  purchase/recharge  system  as  prevalent  in  metro trains operating successfully in metropolitan cities of the country so that a practical solution to the problem of huge crowd of travellers/platform ticket takers at the station is possible;
- (c) if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMERCE & INDUSTRY AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

( SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(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.  3574  BY  SHRI  SANJAY  BHATIA  TO  BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 17.03.2021 REGARDING INNOVATIVE POLICY FOR RAILWAY SAFETY

(a):  The  Government  has  formulated  several  innovative  policies  to make  railway system more  profitable. Some  of  such  measures pertaining to various heads are as under:-

## (A). Freight sector:

i.  Scheme  providing  freight  incentives:  Automatic  Freight  Rebate Scheme for traffic loaded in Traditional Empty Flow Direction (TEFD); Long Term Tariff Contract (LTTC); incentive to load Fly Ash; concessions for Short Lead and Long Lead traffic; non-levy of Terminal Charges  at  unloading  point  of  notified  alternate  goods-  sheds  and Private Freight Terminals (PFTs); Premium indent for freight customers; and withdrawal of Busy Season Charge from 01.10.2019.

ii.  Schemes  floated  to  attract  new  traffic  in  container  trains:  Large scale  de-notification  of  commodities  for  container  traffic  and  lower freight charges; 25%  concession on haulage charge for empty containers and empty flat wagons till 30.04.2021; 5% concession on haulage  charges  for  loaded  containers  till  30.04.2021;  50%  terminal access  charge  for  containers  handled  at  Group-III  container  rail terminals; round trip base charging for ultra short lead (up to 50 Kms) till 30.04.2021; introduction of cube container for two wheeler automobile traffic; and stabling charges for containers withdrawn till 31.03.2021.

iii. Modification in transportation product: Minimum number of wagons for availing trainload benefit for BCNHL reduced from 57 wagons to 42; trainload  benefit  for  mini  rake  of  20  wagons  provided  for  booking  of parcel size traffic; and supplementary charges of 5% for mini rake and two point rakes modified into graded form.

iv.  Schemes  to  promote  ease  of  doing  business:  Registration  of demand for wagons electronically; Electronic transmission of Railway Receipts; Electronic payment system for freight charges; development  of  Freight  Business  Development  Portal  for  uploading applications by customers for stacking permission/ diversion/ rebooking/  short  of  destination  delivery/  waiver  of  demurrage  and wharfage/ Station to Station rates, etc.

## B. Parcel sector:

(i). Power delegated to Principal Chief Commercial Managers of Zonal Railways in consultation with Principal Chief Operations manager to decide the composition of Parcel Express for transportation of Fruits, Dairy Products and Vegetables subject to minimum 15 parcel Vans.

(ii).  Power  delegated  to  Principal  Chief  Commercial  Managers  of Zonal Railways to downgrade the scales to next lower scale at a time if occupancy of the Brake van of particular trains is below 50%.

(iii).  Introduction  of  discounted  scheme  up  to  30%  if  utilisation  of parcel vans or Brake van portion of coaching train is below 40%.

(iv). Introduction of discount at the rate of 8% of the applicable parcel rate  if  parcel  van  is  indented  for  24/23  Parcel  vans  plus  one  brake vans.

(v).  Launch  of  Kisan  Rail  services  to  facilitate  transportation  of agricultural produce such as fruits, vegetables and other perishables including  milk  and  fish,  from  production  regions  to  consumption regions.

(vi). Introduction of the concept of advance booking of Parcel space in SLRs and Parcel Vans attached to passenger carrying trains.

## C. Passenger sector:

(i).  Introduction  of  Flexi  fare  Scheme  in  Rajdhani,  Duronto  and Shatabdi trains  since  09.09.2016.  Based  on  feedback  from  different quarters rationalisation of Flexi fare scheme  of Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi  Express  since  15.03.2019  with  new  additional  features  of graded discount scheme.

(ii).  Introduction of discounted fare schemes in Shatabdi trains over Bengaluru-Mysuru-Bengaluru, New Jalpaiguri-Malda Town and Ahmedabad-Vadodara sections.

(iii). Introduction of 10% discount during current bookings on vacant berths after preparation of first reservation chart in all trains including Rajdhani, Duronto & Shatabdi trains.

(iv).  Introduction  of  trains  like  Gatimaan,  Humsafar,  Tejas,  Vande Bharat, Tejas-Rajdhani etc., on higher fare based on higher facilities.

(v). Power has been delegated to General Managers of Zonal Railways under certain condition to declare AC-3tier in identified trains as AC chair Car during day time over sections where AC-3-tier coaches are running either underutilised or in locked condition.

(vi). Power  has  been delegated to Principal Chief  Commercial Managers  of  Zonal  Railways  to  introduce  discounted  fare  in  trains with sitting accommodation of AC Chair Car and Executive Chair Car subject to certain conditions.

## D. Non Fare Revenue:

To  enhance  earnings  from  Non  Fare  Revenue  sources,  Non  Fare Revenue Directorate was carved out in 2016. Indian Railways earned ` 351.49  crores  from  non  fare  revenue  pertaining  to  aforementioned policies in the year 2019-20. A range of innovative ideas have been

employed  to  generate  more  revenue,  prominent  ones  including upgradation  of  waiting  rooms  at  stations  for  enhanced  passenger comfort,  health  kiosks  and  massage  chairs  at  stations,  repair maintenance  and  operation  of  railway  owned  godowns,  digital charging and smart phone lockers at stations, self ticketing zones, E-mobility, Electronic Vehicle charging and battery swapping stations  in  circulating  areas  and  cab  rental  services.  Ideas  like luggage wrapping and sanitising, kiosks for distribution of bedrolls and Covid preventive gears, vending of disposable spittoons, automated ticket checking and managing access system for touch less  ticket  checking  as  well  as  temperature  check  of  passengers were rolled out specifically for effective Covid management.

As  regards  safe  and  comfortable  journey  for  passengers,  up gradation of infrastructure to make rail journey safe is a continuous ongoing process. Various inputs have been continuously given like introduction of Linke Hofmann Busch Coaches, introduction of Train Collision  Avoidance  System  technology  in  Signalling,  enhanced Track  Renewals,  Electronic  Interlocking  of  Stations  and  Level Crossing Gates and elimination of unmanned Level Crossing Gates.

Creation  of  dedicated  fund  to  finance  critical  safety  related  work, Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK), have led to major improvement of safety in train operations.

Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) has been introduced in 201718 to finance critical safety related works of renewal, replacement & augmentation of assets. The Fund has been created with a corpus of

` 1 lakh crore with annual outlay of Rs. 20000 crore. Contribution of ` 15000 crore towards RRSK is received from Gross Budgetary

Support and Railways contribute ` 5000 crore towards to the Fund annually. Accordingly, sufficient funds are being provided to identified safety works.

(b)  &  (c):  Automatic  Ticket  Vending  Machines(ATVMs)  and  CashCoin & Smart Card operated (Versatile) Ticket Vending Machines(CoTVMs) of Indian Railways are available at large number of  Railway  stations  through  which  unreserved  tickets  can  be sourced using Smart card or cash. Moreover, passengers can also utilise the UTSONMOBILE app of Indian Railways to book unreserved tickets.

(d): Does not arise.

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