2014 saw Prabhu's push to put Railways back on track

New Delhi Reeling under cash and staff crunch Railways saw reformoriented Suresh Prabhu taking over charge of the ministry at the fag end of the year and seeking innovate ideas and futuristic vision to bail out the ailing PSU behemothRising number of deaths on railway tracks fall in passenger bookings unhygienic platforms and tracks and poor standard of food are some other issues which kept railways in the newsThe national transporter is also mulling a hike in passenger fares in the Rail Budget next year to tide over the loss in passenger sectorDuring the year Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the inaugural train from Katra in Jammu the base camp for Vaishnodevi shrineExpressing serious concern over the Railways financial health Prabhu said it is too close for comfort and highlighted the urgent need for massive investment to the tune of Rs 68 lakh crore to complete ongoing projects for meeting the safety requirement and upgrade in the overburdened rail infrastructureFormer Karnataka Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda who had assumed charge as Modi governments first Railway Minister however failed to make the right start though remaining at the seat for six months necessitating a replacement at the crucial ministryWhile the crosssubsidisation in passenger sector is hovering around Rs 26000 crore there is a fall in passenger bookings causing concern for railway financial managementPassenger bookings came down during AprilNovember by 143 per cent as compared to the corresponding period last yearThe fuel adjustment componentlinked tariff revision due in December will be now effected in the Rail Budget in February and there is a need for upward revision as energy cost has gone up by over 4 per cent in the recent monthsHinting at the possibility of raising train fares to meet the growing expenses Prabhu has maintained passenger service should be improved before increasing the fares Safety cannot be compromised There is a need for big investmentSome burden has to be shared by people Right from the word go Prabhu set the ball rolling for bringing transparency in the system and decided that no tenderingrelated files will come to him and delegated those powers to general managers and officers below them He also announced reward for railway officers for showing resultsAiming at attracting investment Prabhu called for investors meet and decided for holding rail roadshows in the US Japan Singapore South Korea France and Belgium a first in the railway sector These events will be showcasing opportunities for investment in the rail sector hereWith the death of five children this month at an unmanned level crossing in Mau in Uttar Pradesh the number of such deaths this year across the country rose to 94 raising question mark over the slow pace of work of putting an effective mechanism to prevent these mishapsAccording to data prepared by safety wing of the national transporter railway tracks have claimed 18735 lives till October At present Railways have 11563 unmanned level crossingsThough Railways have decided to eliminate all unmanned level crossing in a phased manner by constructing rail overbridges and underbridges the process of closure is not as fast as expectedCurrently the posts of Member Electrical Member Mechanical and also four General Managers at zonal railways are vacant Since these posts are cutting edge positions in Railways vacancy at these levels are considered as not a good sign for the public behemothRailways is awaiting the recommendation of Debroy Committee constituted for suggesting restructuring in Railway BoardBesides Sreedharan Committee and Mittal Committee have been formed to suggest transparency in tendering process and to recommend ways to improve finances in Railways Continuing with the dream of running bullet trains prefeasibility study is being undertaken between Mumbai and Ahmedabad section by Japan while China is being given to study the DelhiChennai routeThe semihigh speed train between DelhiAgra is likely to be launched next monthRailways earned Rs 100622 crore during AprilNovember as compared to Rs 8934126 crore during the same period last year registering an increase of 1263 per centIt carried 71311 million tonnes MT of freight traffic during AprilNovember registering an increase of 524 per cent from last yearBeginning October 2 cleanliness drive was launched by Railways across the country The Railways selected 50 stations to be outsourced for cleanliness drive These include New Delhi Varanasi Howrah Sealdah Mumbai Central Bhubaneswar and Patna Integrated cleaning contract will be awarded through tendering processStepping up efforts to improve passenger amenities Railways will set up about 70 base kitchens to provide better catering service at rail premises As many as 5670 complaints were received by Railways from passengers regarding unhygienic conditions cockroaches nonfunctioning of lights fans and other electrical equipment and catering services including substandard food during April 2012October 2014In order to prevent malpractices in Railway examinations Prabhu decided that railway recruitment exams will henceforth will be online The government has opened up 100 per cent FDI in more areas in rail sector to woo investment Besides high speed trains dedicated freight corridors and suburban trains FDI was opened in trail cleanliness setting up laundry service and installing biotoilets alsoBiotoilets remain a focused area for Railways with more and more coaches having this environmentfriendly toilets Railways recently introduced WiFi service at New Delhi station to provide hassle free connectivity The facility is to be launched on a trial basis at Agra Ahmedabad and Varanasi soon and also at Howrah Mumbais Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Secunderabad