Western Railway to have food plazas at seven stations for a start

As envisaged by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, and in order to generate revenues from non-tariff sources, Western Railway plans to have food plazas at seven stations for a start - the stations selected for the first phase are Churchgate, Dadar, Andheri, Bhayender, Vasai Road, Vapi and Valsad.
These plazas will be operational 24 hours a day, and will offer wide variety of Indian, Continental, Chinese, and fast food.
This has been reported in thehindu.com dated 21 February 2017.

Indian Railways (IR) enjoy the highest captive eyeballs in a railway system internationally but it earns less than 5% of its revenue through non-tariff sources while many railway systems in the world are able to generate 10 to 20% of their revenues from non-tariff sources. Therefore, within next five years, the Railways wants to monetise its assets and undertake other revenue-yielding activities.
Hence, the Western Railway' scheme of establishing food plazas at railway stations within the next six months. The first batch of sensations have been identified and the viability of four more at Palghar, Borivali, Bandra Terminus and Boisar is being studied.


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Howrah Station selected for revamp and get a new look

Howrah Station has been elected for revamp by the railway ministry. Rail minister Suresh Prabhu has launched the program and 23 stations have been selected in the first phase - Howrah is the only station from Bengal on the list. It will get separate arrival and departure areas, a lounge, a parking lot and other passenger amenities. IT isa part of redevelopment of 400 stations across the country in three phases.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 9 February 2017.

There would be separate arrival and departure areas in the redeveloped station and it is expected to eliminate the chaos that is usually seen at all terminal stations. The Howrah station occupies an area of 69,000sq m and sees a daily average footfall of nine lakh. Trains often arrives and leaves from the same platform, thereby there are two sets of passengers.
There would be separate platforms for arrival and departure with separate entry and exit to streamline this aspect. Moreover, the flooring and ceiling would undergo changes to impart a new look and there would be aalkalators and escalators.


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Revamp of Secunderabad and Vijayawada railway stations on the cards

Secunderabad and Vijayawada railway stations have been chosen for upgrade under the under the first phase of the Station Redevelopment Project. It will be launched on February 8 from New Delhi by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu will launch it officially from New Delhi.
This ambitious project of the Indian Railways will be applicable to a total of over 400 stations out of about 8,000 stations in the country and will start with Secunderabad and Vijayawada.
This has been reported in thehindu.com dated 6 February 2017.

The upgrade will be in the form of facilities such as malls, multiplexes and restaurants apart from upgrading the level of passenger amenities by new constructions/ renovations and include redevelopment of station buildings, platform surfaces and circulating area to better serve the needs of passengers.
Commercial establishments like hotels, multiplexes and shopping malls could come up in the land earmarked for railways for the use of the developers. A total of 23 railways stations across the country have been selected for the first phase of the project.


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Shooting films on South Eastern railway stations profitable

Indian railways are becoming innovative. Railway minister Suresh Prabhu had declared last year that his department was loking for a 'non-fare revenue generation' model and the South Eastern Zone (SEZ) of the railways has come up with one such model. It has genersted revenue of more than 60 lakh from film shoots.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 15 May 2016.

Trains and railway stations have always gone hand in hand and been an intrinsic part of cinema from Bollywood or Hollywood or Tollywood and when such scenes are shot on location in railway stations, the railways earn quite a bit. In fact, South Eastern Railway earned substantial revenue from film shoots in the last fiscal - the earnings were more than 60 lakh from film shoots, while it was only 19 lakh the earlier fiscal and hardly 6.74 lakh in 2013-14.
Of course, Central Railway , which hosts a majority of Bollywood shoots has earned approximately 80 lakh last fiscal and the earnings of SER considered a major achievement. As rvealed by SER officials, Shalimar, Kharagpur and Santragachi stations were among the favorite shooting destinations throughout the year.
Shalimar station has generated maximum revenue because it is a terminal station, which caters to both passenger and goods train movement. But the crowd is less, therefore a large yard and wide passenger platforms are easily available and there is reduced security concerns for celebrities. That makes it easier for production teams to shoot at the station. The shooting fee is also lower compared to other larger and busier stations.


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Soon home cooked food by self help groups would be available for train travelers

Food available on trains has always been a sore point of the Indian Railways and the new Railway Minister is leaving no stone unturned to offer the best available food service to train travelers. After e-catering, he has now decided to rope in self-help groups to serve home coked food to train travelers. A pilot project has been launched in the Konkan region of Maharashtra for supply of local cuisine by SHGs to train travelers.
This has been reported in ibnlive.com dated 14 April 2016.

As per the arrangement, two stations in the Konkan region - Kudal and Sawantwadi - have been identified for the pilot project.
It seems the Indian Railways have entered into a partnership with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to facilitate SHGs of farmers to supply local meals to train passengers. For this, two stations in the Konkan region - Kudal and Sawantwadi - have been identified for the pilot project.
In order to avail of this facility, passengers will have to order the meal online through IRCTC website during their journey. A similar initiative has been launched in Kerala also and plans are there are plans to gradually extend it to other stations and cover the whole country.
The pilot project is a part of the railway budget 2016-17 that had been announced by Minister Suresh Prabhu to explore the possibility of giving the choice of local cuisine to passengers. Indian Railways has already launched the e-catering facility that offers options to the passengers to book their meals online instead of depending on food supplied by contractors or pantry cars.


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Gatimaan Express takes off - covers Delhi to Agra in just 100 minutes

Gatimaan Express is today India's fastest train and it completed its maiden journey from Delhi to Agra in 100 minutes - this is a major improvement when compared to about 2-3 hours by other trains. Obviously, this is the forerunner to the Bullet train that is set to change the concept of travel by trains in India.
Gatimaan Express was flagged off by Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu - he flagged it off from Delhi's Hazrat Nizamuddin station.
This has been reported in ibnlive.com dated 5 April 2016.

The train runs at a speed of 160 km per hour and covered the 184-Km distance in 105-110 minutes. Incidentally, speed is not the only highlight of Gatimaan Express which is India's first semi-high speed train. Its coaches have been built at Kapurthala Railway Coach Factory in the Punjab and bio-toilets are developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
The cost of train is around Rs 50 crore.
The composition of coaches is - two executive chair car plus eight AC chair car coaches. There is a provision for hotspot infotainment and the railways has prepared special menu too for its passengers. Apart from cakes and wafers, the passenger can choose vegetarian menu consisting of South Indian and Punjabi food and in the non-vegetarian category, he can go in for continental dishes and sausages.


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Cleanliness drive of Indian Railways - Surat, Rajkot and Bilaspur cleanest

Indian Railways is determined to remain in the good books of those who matter and railway minister Suresh Prabhu is leaving no stone unturned to remain in the news to prove his worth. The latest in this venture is the naming of the cleanliest railway stations - needless to say that two of the top three are Surat and Rajkot. Both are in the state of Gujarat and no one should read too much into this.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 18 March 2016.

The latest results are - Surat, Rajkot and Bilaspur are among the cleanest while Solapur, Mumbai Central and Chandigarh follow - this is as per a preliminary survey commissioned by the Railways for 75 A1-category stations. Next comes Bhubaneswar and Vadodara.
At the other extreme are Pune, the dirtiest station, followed by Mughalsarai, Guwahati, Nizamuddin (Delhi), Sealdah and Kanpur Central alongwith Bhopal, Muzaffarpur, Thrisur, Raipur, Varanasi and Delhi.
Among the top 10 cleanest stations in 'A' category (332 stations) are Beas (Punjab), Jamnagar, Gandhidham and Vasco-Da-Gama (Goa) while least cleanest stations in Category 'A' stations are Shahganj, Ballia and Janghai (Uttar Pradesh), Madhubani and Bakhtiyarpur (Bihar) and Raichur (Karnataka).
All the 75 A-1 and 332 A category stations across 16 zonal railways were surveyed based on passenger perception on cleanliness at the stations. As the railway minister has said - the basic idea is to make the entire rail network clean and a beginning has been made. The objective is to bring all stations on par with a particular standard. The move is aimed at improving cleanliness at 8,000 stations across the country and take forward the 'Swachh Rail, Swachh Bharat' mission.


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Madhya Pradesh to promote tiger tourism

Madhya Pradesh is determined to to promote tiger tourism in a big way by linking up with the Indian Railways. In order to spread awareness about the national animal, Indian Railways will offer complete packages including train journey, safaris and accommodation to cover the wildlife circuit consisting the tiger reserves of Kanha, Pench and Bandhavgarh.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 26 February 2016.

Railway minister Suresh Prabhu while presenting the Railway Budget 2016-17 in Parliament has indicated that tourism holds great potential for economic development and job creation in the state and Indian Railways will link up with the state governments and operate tourist circuit trains. They will also explore the possibility of a revenue sharing model.
Railway minister added that India's rich bio diversity and wildlife is one of the mainstays of Incredible India campaign.
But, an wildlife activist has expressed his reservations because, introducing a dedicated tiger circuit could pose a major threat to the animals that move around freely in the reserves. The possibilities of them being hit by trains could increase.
Four big cats have died this year in the state. Last year, the state had recorded the third highest tiger mortality in the country with 11 tiger deaths - this is as per information of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). The first big cat death in the country this year was also reported from MP's Pench Tiger Reserve on January 2.


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Indian Railways to introduce Gatiman Express where hostesses will welcome the passengers

Indian Railways is not only going hi-tech but is also on a new trail of offering unheard-of luxuries in its trains to make it compatible to air travel. The latest offering on the cards is the introduction of train hostesses (in line with air hostesses) who will welcome the traveler with a rose and take him to his seat. This facility will soon be available on the soon to be launched Delhi-Agra Gatiman Express - this would be the first train in India to run at a speed of 160 kmph.
This has been reported in ibnlive.com dated 21 February 2016.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu will make necessary announcements about the special features of the first semi-high speed train in the country while presenting the Rail Budget on February 25.
In brief - the train will have a high-power emergency braking system, automatic fire alarm, GPS-based passenger information system and sliding doors in the coaches apart from live TV service as part of infotainment. The catering will also match the standard of airliners. The fare will be 25 per cent higher than Shatabdi Express, and both Indian and continental cuisine will be served - the range will be from wholewheat upma, mini dosa, Kanjeevaram idli, fresh cut fruits, aloo kulcha with swiss roll to roasted dry fruit and chicken roll. Chicken sausages with Spanish egg white omelette and date walnut slice cakes will also be served in bone china crockery.
AS to the fare - chair car in fully air-conditioned Gatiman Express has been fixed at Rs 690, while a passenger will be required to spend Rs 1,365 for traveling Executive Class. In comparison, the Delhi-Agra Shatabadi Express chair car fare is Rs 540 and Rs 1,040 for Executive Class.
The Gatiman Express will have 12 coaches and, while Shatabdi takes 120 minutes to cover the 200 km distance, Gatiman will do it in 105 minutes. Such trains will subsequently be introduced in 9 more routes including Kanpur-Delhi, Chandigarh-Delhi, Hyderabad-Chennai, Nagpur-Bilaspur, Goa-Mumbai and Nagpur-Secunderabad.



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