Question : Upgradation of Facilities

(a) the details of new initiatives being taken for quantum jump in the matter of new trains and upgradation of services and facilities; and
(b) the plans in this regard for the next four years?

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY


(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)


(a) and (b) In its constant and continuous endeavour to provide improved facilities and amenities to the travelling passengers, Indian Railways (IR), inter alia, has undertaken the following:-
1. Introduction of 266 new services during 2018-19 and 110 new services during the current financial year upto 30th November, 2019.
2. Proliferation of Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches over IR system, for enhanced safety and better travelling experience. As on
30th November, 2019, 487 pairs of trains are being operated with LHB coaches.
3. Introduction of Train-set Vande Bharat services features like quick acceleration, etc. Presently, Vande Bharat Express are being operated on the New Delhi – Varanasi and New Delhi- Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra sectors.
4. Introduction of various premium train services like Humsafar, Tejas, Antyodaya, Utkrisht Double Decker Air-conditioned Yatri (UDAY), Mahamana and coaches like Deen Dayalu and Anubhuti, which have upgraded interiors/exteriors and improved passenger amenities.
5. Launching of Project Utkrisht in order to improve the condition of Integral Coach Factory (ICF) type coaches running in Mail / Express trains. Up-gradation of 640 rakes of Mail / Express trains has been taken up under Project Utkrisht for improvement in patronized train services. Work in more than 250 rakes has already been completed under Project Utkrisht.
6. Induction of Five smart coaches with ultra modern features like Smart Public address and passenger information system, Smart HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning system), Smart security and surveillance system etc. have also been manufactured by Modern Coach Factory / Rae Bareli in train service.
7. With respect to ticketing, the online and offline ticketing facilities have been continuously diversified, augmented and proliferated to provide services in a transparent, accountable and user –friendly manner. Streamlining of Computerised Passenger Reservation System has been done to improve passenger convenience. Initiatives like SMS based Alerts have been introduced to disseminate timely information to passengers in the event of booking, cancellation, status up gradation, delay etc. At Railway stations, various passenger facilities/ amenities like, lifts, escalators, toilets, battery operated vehicles, wheel chairs, waiting rooms, Foot over Bridge etc. are extended to more and more stations.
8. Up-gradation of passenger amenities at railway stations under the Adarsh Station Scheme. 1253 stations have been identified for development by 2019-20.
In addition to the above, the following initiatives have been taken by Indian Railways to upgrade catering services in trains:-
i) Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has installed CCTV cameras in the kitchens under its management. Live streaming is available in these kitchens on IRCTC’s website and Rail-Drishti portal of Railways (https://www.raildrishti.in). This enables close and live monitoring of the activities in the kitchens both by officials and the public.
ii) IRCTC has enabled Quick Response (QR) codes to be pasted on food casseroles at 27 Kitchens which enable passengers to get the direct link to CCTV images of the kitchen where food is prepared and packed. Details of the contents and quantities of the meals and date of packaging can also be seen by the passenger. This also enables close monitoring of the kitchens.
iii) IRCTC has upgraded 46 existing Kitchen Units during the last 02 years.
iv) Provision of E-Catering services in trains through branded players such as Dominoes, etc is being progressively increased.
v) Hand sanitizers have been introduced on Rajdhani/Shatabdi/Duronto trains.
vi) Certification from Designated Food Safety Officers of each Kitchen Unit has been made mandatory.
vii) Each train provided with pantry car is manned by IRCTC’s supervisors who monitor services and take feedback from passengers and take appropriate corrective action. In premium trains, catering supervisors have been provided with tablets for obtaining feedback from passengers.
viii) Food samples are randomly collected by Food Safety Officers/Supervisors and are sent to the nominated accredited Laboratories under Food Safety & Standard Act for analysis and testing.
ix) Food Safety Supervisors of IRCTC have been deployed at Kitchen Units.
x) Third Party Audits are mandated in the Catering Policy and are being carried out by NABCB (National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies) accredited agencies.
xi) Customer satisfaction surveys are conducted through Third Party Agencies.
xii) Regular and surprise inspections are conducted by Railway officials including Food Safety Officers.
xiii) To prevent overcharging, 5078 hand held Point of sale (POS) machines have been provided on 703 rakes of 420 pairs of trains so as to generate printed bill and invoice reflecting all details of transactions under taken at catering units.
xiv) A robust system for passenger feedback and complaints exists for redressal through dedicated centralized Catering Service Monitoring Cell (CSMC) toll free number 1800-111-321, Rail Madad, Twitter handle, CPGRAMS, E-Mail and SMS based complaints.
xv) Setting up of production units, with adequate facilities, and upgradation of the existing ones.
xvi) Efforts to bring in new service providers from amongst the quality players in the Food and Beverages (F&B) industry.
Furthermore, the major initiatives taken by Indian Railways towards improvement of cleanliness include integrated mechanized cleaning contracts for major stations including cleanliness of toilets, rag picking and garbage disposal contracts, increasing provision of dustbins, mechanized cleaning of coaches at terminals and on-board housekeeping service(OBHs) in important trains. Third party audit cum survey on cleanliness of major stations and trains is also being carried out to get status check feedback and also to instill healthy competition for improvements. With a view to enhance cleanliness, Indian Railways has proliferated bio-toilets on its coaching stocks so that no human waste is discharged from coaches on the track.
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