Lok Sabha Question No. 150 (STARRED), answered on 2021-12-08
Subject: Performance of Railway Zones
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Ajay Nishad

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.150 TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.12.2021

## PERFORMANCE OF RAILWAY ZONES

†* 150. SHRI AJAY NISHAD:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  the details of the railway zones operating in the country;
- (b)  whether  the  Railway  Board  has  evaluated  components  like  structure, workload, transportation system, operation and administrative requirements of existing railway zones;
- (c)  if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government proposes to sanction more railway zones on the basis of requirements and demands of the State Governments;
- (e)  if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) the steps taken by  the Government to  improve  the performance of all the railway zones to increase profit of the Railways?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND

ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

[

(a) to (f): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  To  (f)  OF  STARRED QUESTION NO.150 BY SHRI AJAY NISHAD TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 08.12.2021 REGARDING PERFORMANCE OF RAILWAY ZONES

## (a): There are 17 Railway Zones in the country. Details are as under:

| S.No.   | Zonal Railway              | Headquarter   | Year of Creation   | Number of Divisions   |
|---------|----------------------------|---------------|--------------------|-----------------------|
| 1.      | Central Railway            | Mumbai        | 1951               | 5                     |
| 2.      | Eastern Railway            | Kolkata       | 1952               | 4                     |
| 3.      | East Central Railway       | Hajipur       | 2002               | 5                     |
| 4.      | East Coast Railway         | Bhubaneswar   | 2003               | 3                     |
| 5.      | Northern Railway           | New Delhi     | 1952               | 5                     |
| 6.      | North Central Railway      | Prayagraj     | 2003               | 3                     |
| 7.      | North Eastern Railway      | Gorakhpur     | 1952               | 3                     |
| 8.      | Northeast Frontier Railway | Guwahati      | 1958               | 5                     |
| 9.      | North Western Railway      | Jaipur        | 2002               | 4                     |
| 10.     | Southern Railway           | Chennai       | 1951               | 6                     |
| 11.     | South Central Railway      | Secunderabad  | 1966               | 6                     |
| 12.     | South Eastern Railway      | Kolkata       | 1955               | 4                     |
| 13.     | South East Central Railway | Bilaspur      | 2003               | 3                     |
| 14.     | South Western Railway      | Hubli         | 2003               | 3                     |
| 15.     | Western Railway            | Mumbai        | 1951               | 6                     |
| 16.     | West Central Railway       | Jabalpur      | 2003               | 3                     |
| 17.     | Metro Railway              | Kolkata       | 2010               | -                     |
|         | Total                      |               |                    | 68                    |

- (b) & (c): Assessment of Railway Zones workload, traffic patterns, administrative requirements and other factors affecting operation, is a continuous  process.  Based  on  these  assessments  and  keeping  in  view  the operational requirements,  change  in  jurisdictions of existing  Zones  and Divisions are carried out from time to time.

(d): No, Sir.

(e): Does not arise.

(f):  To  improve  overall  performance  of  all  Railway  zones  and  profitability  of Railways,  thrust  is  on  setting  targets  for  all  zones  in  the  beginning  of  the Financial  Year  for  freight  loading,  passenger  traffic,  earnings,  expenditure, punctuality and infrastructure creation, and reviewing the performance regularly.  Further,  annual  targets  are  also  being  set  for  improving  asset utilization  and  productivity.    The  performance  is  evaluated  and  monitored regularly through monthly review meetings. Furthermore, periodic reviews are conducted  for  various  performance  indices  and  performance  monitoring  is done through integrated dashboard of Indian Railways. Issues and constraints faced by zones regarding performance are also addressed regularly.

Further,  to  assign  greater  accountability  to  the  Zonal  Railways  and  also  to ensure  that  decision  making  at  field  level  gets  expedited,  Memorandum  of Understanding (MOU) is signed between Secretary, Railway Board and General Managers of each Zonal Railway. Under these MOUs, all the Zonal Railways, undertake to achieve the targets for Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) given in the MOU. These KPIs inter-alia cover operational and financial performance, infrastructure  creation  works,  capacity  utilization,  asset  maintenance  and reliability. To further encourage competition amongst Railway Zones, the best overall performing Zone is awarded every year. Awards are also given to Zones for excellence in performance in specific areas also.

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