Major transformation in Indian Railways! The year 2021 has been a ‘Year of Major Transformation’ for the national transporter, according to the Railway Ministry. Last year Indian Railways witnessed unprecedented growth in the development of infra, innovation, freight diversification, capacity expansion of the network, etc. Moreover, freight operations across the Indian Railways network contributed to the national economic recovery. Apart from these milestones, Indian Railways also announced the Bharat Gaurav scheme, introduced redeveloped world-class railway stations, 3-AC Economy class coaches, among others. Following are some of the major steps taken by railway in 2021 to enhance passenger experience:
Enhanced Safety: Indian Railways recorded zero passenger fatalities since April 2019
Punctuality: Mail/Express trains were punctual 92.55% during fiscal 2021-22 (up to 31 December 2021)
Infrastructure Progress: Highest Capital allocation of 2.15 Lakh Crore has been made for infra development during 2021-22, 1924 Rkm electrified up to 30 December 2021, 120.5 km new line, 242.3 km gauge conversion and 967.61 km doubling, construction of 83 ROBs, 338 RUBs up to November 2021, commissioning of 172 FoBs, 48 Lifts and 50 escalators up to November 21
CCTV and Wi-Fi: Commissioned CCTV at 840 railway stations (47 during the year) and Wi-Fi facility at 6089 railway stations (120 during the year)
Tejas Rajdhani Train: Tejas rakes introduced to four Rajdhanis including, Aanand Vihar- Agartala, Mumbai-New Delhi (two) and Rajendra Nagar Terminal (Patna)-New Delhi Rajdhani Express trains
High capacity 3-AC Economy Class: Indian Railways had inducted a new high capacity 3-AC Economy coach and produced as many as 33 such coaches in the last two months. With these, total of 54 3-AC Economy coaches have been made available over Indian Railways.
Bharat Gaurav: To boost tourism, Indian Railways had announced theme-based tourist circuit trains ‘Bharat Gaurav’, which will showcase historically significant rich treasures of India
Redeveloped world-class stations: PM Modi had inaugurated redeveloped Gandhinagar Capital station on 16 July 2021 and redeveloped Rani Kamalapati station on 15 November 2021
Rolling Stock Production: 570 electric locomotives, 3790 LHB coaches, 13 Vista dome coaches produced till November 2021
Oxygen trains and isolation coaches: Till now, over 899 Oxygen Express trains have delivered more than 36,840 Tonnes of liquid oxygen to 15 states. Also, 4,176 coaches were converted to serve as quarantine/isolation facilities for Covid patients
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