Tag Archives: Indian Railways

Starting December, Indian Railways plans to test-run three luxury coaches with glass ceilings, one on a route in the Kashmir valley and the other two in the Araku Valley in South India. In a bid to attract wealthy tourists, the coaches will have chairs that can rotate, have extra leg space and high-tech infotainment systems, informed A.K. Manocha, Chairman and Managing Director, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). “There are some trains with glass ceiling(s) in foreign countries like Switzerland, which enjoy the patronage of tourists. We believe such coaches would also give a fillip to rail tourism in India,” Manocha said. The move is a part of the government’s attempt to revamp the massive transport system. Dham Ghaj Prasad, Group General Manager, IRCTC explained the coaches with glass top ceiling would be the first of its type in India. “Work on the project started in 2015 with a series of meetings on the specification of the coach design. The first such coach is all set to roll out this month (October) itself. The coaches will be ultra luxurious with rotatable chairs to provide the passengers an aerial view through partly glass ceiling,” he elaborated. Estimated at Rs 4 crore per glass-topped coach, the project spending is estimated around $17 billion (Rs1.21 lakh crore) this fiscal towards this revamp. The Indian Railways this year also announced plans to offer wi-fi hotspots at 100 stations and improve its services via smartphone apps.

In view of the recent passenger trains derailments, Railways Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu has directed railway administration to launch a massive safety drive across entire Indian Railways network focusing on the strong measures for preventing derailments. Derailment of trains is one of the major causes of railway accidents constituting on an average 50 per cent of the total railway accidents. The fortnight long safety drive is beginning from September 1, 2016. The Minister reviewed the safety measures with the Railway Board. Zonal Railways and Railway Divisions have been directed to gear up their machinery to carry out this drive effectively. Senior officers including Divisional Railway Managers have been asked to be actively associated with the safety drive. Safety drive will be constantly monitored in the railway board by the safety directorate. Suitable follow up action will be taken on all deficiencies and irregularities noticed during the drive. The corrective measures wherever required should immediately be taken to ensure safety in railway operations. The result and report of the drive will also be used for long term measures. It has been reemphasized that safety in railway operations should continue to be the top most priority at all levels.

Starting July 1, Indian Railways will implement new passenger-friendly rules. One of the rules is that passengers will get a 50 per cent refund of the amount paid for a tatkal ticket. The tatkal window for AC coach will be open between 10-11 AM and fir sleeper coach, the timing would be 11-12 PM. In case of Suvidha trains, tickets will only be issued for confirmed and RAC passengers. Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains will have more coaches. In fact, Rajdhani and Shatabdi will go paperless and only mobile tickets will be valid on these trains. IRCTC will start ticket bookings in various languages. Passengers will get a wake up call in the trains. The waiting list system on trains will now come to an end and tickets will be issued only for confirmed and RAC bookings.