Now Wifi facility provided at 6108 railway stations

Posted On: 29 March 2023 at 4:29 PM by PIB Delhi

151 Railway Stations of Punjab also included

New Delhi: 29th March 2023: (PIB//The Rail Screen)::

Indian Railways have decided to provide free Wi-Fi at all railway stations except halt. So far, Wi-Fi facility has been provided at 6108 stations. State-wise list is appended. The provision of Wi-Fi at stations depends upon the availability of Infrastructure like Optical Fiber Cable & Other resources.

Indian Railways is committed to make all its railway stations and trains accessible for Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) as part of “Sugamya Bharat Mission”. Improvement/ augmentation of customer amenities including those for differently abled passengers (Divyangjan) at Railway stations is a continuous process.

Expenditure incurred for customer Amenities during each of the last three years & current year is as under:

APPENDIX

State-wise list of stations where Wi-Fi facility provided till date: -

This information was given by the Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronic & Information Technology, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

**** YB/DNS//(Release ID: 1911792) 

Indian Railways completes 100% electrification of Odisha

Posted On: 22 MAR 2023 4:26 PM by PIB Delhi

 Electrification will reduce line haul cost by 2.5 times

The existing Broad Gauge network of Odisha (2,822 Route kms) is now 100% electrified

New Delhi//Bhubaneswar: 22nd March 2023: (PIB//The Rail Screen)::

On the lines of setting the target of achieving Net Zero Carbon Emitter by 2030, the Indian Railways has 100% electrified existing Broad Gauge network of Odisha. The existing Broad Gauge network of Odisha is 2,822 Route kilometre, which is 100% electrified, resulting in saving on account of reduced line haul cost (about 2.5 times lower), heavier haulage capacity, increased sectional capacity, reduced operating & maintenance cost of electric loco, energy efficient and eco-friendly mode of transportation with reduced dependence on imported crude oil, saving of foreign exchange.  Further, new Broad Gauge network shall be sanctioned along with electrification, in sync with Railways’ policy of 100% electrified network. 

Odisha state’s territory falls in the jurisdiction of East Coast, South Eastern & South East Central Railways. Some of the major railway stations in Odisha are: Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Sambalpur, Bhadrak, Rourkela, and Jharsuguda. The railway network plays an important role in the transportation of minerals, agricultural products, and other goods from Odisha to other parts of the country.

First railway line in Odisha was constructed between Cuttack - Khurda Road - Puri in 1897.

Some of the prestigious trains of Odisha state are: Howrah-Puri Express, Konark Express, Coromandel Express, Hirakud Express, Visakha Express, and Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express. These trains provide convenient connectivity to various parts of the state and other major cities in India.

***YB/DNS//(Release ID: 1909547

Shri Anil Kumar Lahoti takes charge as new Chairman

 Posted on: 01st January 2023 at 12:10 PM by PIB Delhi

He is also new CEO of Railway Board

New Delhi: 01st January 2023: (PIB//The Rail Screen):: 

Shri Anil Kumar Lahoti has taken over the charge of new Chairman & Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Railway Board (Ministry of Railways). The appointments committee of the Cabinet approved the appointment of Shri Anil Kumar Lahoti as Chairman & CEO of Railway Board. Prior to this, Shri Anil Kumar Lahoti has worked as Member (Infrastructure), Railway Board.

Sh. Lahoti belongs to Indian Railway Service of Engineers, 1984 batch and has been empanelled in the first panel of Indian Railways Management Service for Level-17. He has graduated in Civil Engineering with Gold Medal from Madhav Institute of Technology and Science, Gwalior and did his Master of Engineering (Structures) from University of Roorkee (IIT, Roorkee). During his more than 36 years of career in railways, he has worked in various capacities over Central, Northern, North Central, Western and West Central Railways and in Railway Board.

Shri Lahoti has earlier worked as General Manager, Central Railway and also looked after the charge of GM, Western Railway for several months. His stint as General Manager is credited with achieving highest ever freight and parcel traffic in terms of tonnage carried and revenue earned including running of the highest number of Kissan Rails. He also brought about record improvement in revenue by non-fare opportunities, sale of scrap and extensive ticket checking drives. He successfully steered and resolved the vexed issue of expansion of air conditioned sub-urban services in Mumbai. During his tenure, Central Railway recorded a quantum jump in execution and commissioning of infrastructure projects and commissioned the long awaited 5th & 6th line between Diva and Thane in Mumbai.

He had worked as Divisional Railway Manager, Lucknow, Northern Railway, where he took several initiatives to improve freight movement on the Lucknow-Varanasi-DDU route as an alternative to the congested Ghaziabad-Prayagraj-DDU route. His stint saw a substantial improvement in passenger amenities and cleanliness standards at stations on Lucknow division.

As Chief Administrative Officer (Construction) and Chief Engineer (Construction) on Northern Railway, he executed a large number of infrastructure projects of New Lines, Doubling and multi-tracking of track, yard remodelling, important bridges, station construction, etc. The Anand Vihar Terminal in Delhi and the iconic Ajmeri Gate side station building of New Delhi station were planned and constructed by him. He was also closely associated with planning for redevelopment of New Delhi station as a World Class station including commercial development of land and air space.

Shri Lahoti has taken training in Strategic Management and Leadership programs at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA; Bocconi School of Management, Milan, Italy; and Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. He has carried out studies of development of stations in Hong Kong, Japan, UK, Germany and Switzerland including commercial development on railway land. He has also visited several countries in connection with developments in track technology and track maintenance machines.

***