Today, Hon’ble Minister of Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal, launched 3 projects which will enhance passenger experience and modernise Indian Railways.Speaking on the occasion, Piyush Goyal announced that all Mountain Railways of Indian Railways will now have Vistadome Coaches. Latest addition of Vistadome coach is in Nilgiri Mountain Railway. The Minister added that given the positive feedback to this initiative of Indian Railways, order for hundred Vistadome coaches has been given to the concerned production unit of Indian Railways.Speaking about Station illumination project, Shri Goyal said that to impart airport like look to the station, 190 stations have been illuminated with LED lighting. This will also ensure better security of the passengers. He also informed that 500 Railway stations have been identified for illumination at par with Airport standard.Shri Goyal also congratulated the officers of Indian Railways for implementing the e-office project in a time-bound manner.
1. Station Illumination
As part of its endeavour to provide facilities at Railway Stations at par with ‘Airport standards’, Indian Railways has taken initiative to improve illumination at its Railway Stations at par with ‘Airport standards’. Out of 190 Stations (which were either State Capitals or Million Cities or cities of strategic/religious/tourist importance) selected for improvement in illumination level at par with ‘Airport standards’, till date 100 stations have already been upgraded and work at other Stations is going on at a rapid pace. They are also likely to be completed by April, 2019.Further, due to overwhelming response received from public, it has now been decided to improve illumination levels at 500 additional Stations.
2. Vistadome Coaches
Indian Railways has a number of scenically beautiful routes. Vistadome coaches have been designed to provide panoramic view to the passengers while enhancing their travelling comfort on these routes. These coaches have large windows on the sides and glass panels on the roof to provide better viewing experience.Three vistadome coaches are running between Dadar and Madgoan, in Araku Valley and in Kashmir Valley. Four hill railways have already been provided with vistadome coaches as well. In total 13 vistadome coaches are presently available:
Darjeeling Railway – 4 coaches
Kalka Shimla Railway – 2 coaches
Kangra Valley Railway – 1 coach
Matheran Hill Railway – 1 coach
Now, 2 MG coaches have been modified to vistadome coach by Golden Rock Workshop, Tiruchirappalli for Nilgiri Mountain Railway. With this addition, now all 5 hill railways will have vistadome coaches.These projects together will provide better experience to passengers, enhance digital connectivity and will help Indian Railways become the growth engine of New India.
3. e-office project
E-Office project is a Mission Mode Project (MMP) under the National e-Governance Programme of the Government of India. The project aims to usher in more efficient, effective and transparent inter-government and intra-government transactions and processes. Indian Railways will now shift from manual filing system to E-office for its day to day activities to bring transparency and efficiency in functioning. RailTel, a Miniratna PSU under Ministry of Railways, has taken up the work of implementing e-Office system for Indian Railways.E-office will benefit millions of employees of Indian Railways. It will enhance transparency, increase accountability, and promotes innovation.