Central Railway marks milestones with record achievements in 2024

Central Railway won the prestigious Govind Vallabh Pant Shield for Overall excellence among all the Zones of Indian Railways at the 69th Railway Week “Ati Visisht Rail

Representational Pic/File

The Central Railway (CR) has wrapped up an impressive year in 2024, with a host of achievements spanning passenger services, safety, infrastructure development, sustainability, and innovative initiatives, an official statement said on Tuesday.

The year saw a record number of projects, enhancements, and accolades that reflect Central Railway's continuous commitment to improving rail services for millions of passengers across its vast network.

AWARDS

Central Railway won the prestigious Govind Vallabh Pant Shield for Overall excellence among all the Zones of Indian Railways at the 69th Railway Week "Ati Visisht Rail". In addition it also won the Traffic Transportation Shield, Stores Shield, Environment & Cleanliness Shield independently and the Electrical Engineering Shield & Civil Engineering Construction Shield jointly with other Zones.

PASSENGER SERVICE & FREIGHT PERFORMANCE

Central Railway has carried more than 1500 million passengers and registered revenue of more than 7000 crores during the year 2024.
Central Railway registered impressive loading figures of 83.63 metric tonnes in the year 2024.

INAUGURATION & DEDICATION

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated / laid the foundation of / dedicated the following projects on Central Railway in various functions during 2024.

• Dedication of ‘Phase 2 of Uran-Kharkopar railway line' enhancing connectivity to Navi Mumbai by extending suburban services presently running between Nerul/Belapur - Kharkopar, now extended to Uran.

• Dedication of new suburban station ‘Digha Gaon' on the Thane-Vashi/Panvel Trans-harbour line.

• Flagging off of the inaugural run of the EMU train from Uran railway station to Kharkopar

• Foundation Stone laying of Station upgradation work of various stations across the Country including 36 Railway Stations over Central Railway under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme

• Inauguration / dedication of 1500 Road Over Bridges (ROB) and Road Under Bridges (RUB) across the Country

• Inauguration of the Wardha-Kalamb new line of 38.61 kms and Flagging off of train services on the new line.

• Dedication of Coach Factory at Latur. Wagon repair workshop at Badnera and Vande Bharat maintenance cum workshop Depot at Pune,

• Inauguration of 5 Jan Aushadi Kendras at LTT, Manmad, Pimpri, Solapur and Nagbhir(Chandrapur district),

• Inauguration/ Dedication of 4 Rail Coach Restaurants at Nashik Road and Akola Nashik Road, Akol and

• Foundation Stone laying / dedication of 150 One Station One Product(OSOP) stalls, 170 Electronic Interlocking Systems, 130 Solar Panels, 18 New Lines / Doubling of Lines / Gauge Conversion, 12 Goods Sheds, 7 Automatic Signalling Systems, 4 Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals and 3 Electrification Projects.

• Foundation Stone laying for Kalyan Yard Remodelling and Gati Shakti Multi Modal Cargo Terminal at Turbhe

• Dedication of New Platforms at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus and Extended Platform nos. 10 & 11 at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus

VANDE BHARAT TRAINS

The Prime Minister also flagged off the following services:

The Kalaburagi - Bengaluru Vande Bharat Train.

Inaugural run of Vande Bharat Express Trains between Kolhapur-Pune, Pune-Hubballi and Nagpur-Secunderabad.

Central Railway will take up the work of establishing Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras at 4 Stations

• Lokmanya Tilak Terminus station of Mumbai Division

• Manmad station of Bhusaval Division

• Pimpri station of Pune Division

• Solapur station of Solapur Division

SPECIAL TRAINS

Central Railway has run more than 2,158 Special Trains in 2024. The important ones are as below:

• Summer Specials - 948 trips

• Diwali / Chhat Puja Specials -738 trips

• Ganpati Specials - 254 trips

• Winter Specials (running and notified) - 84

• Ashadi Specials - 77 trips

• Kartiki Mela Specials - 57 trips

It is worth mentioning that CR has successfully managed a mammoth footfall of more than 1 lakh devotees during the Kartiki Ekadashi Fair

ADDITIONAL GENERAL COACHES

117 additional General Coaches have been added in 37 pairs of Mail / Express trains running on Central Railway with 79 rakes. These will benefit more than 10,000 additional passengers daily.

Special Suburban train services have also been run during Tata Marathon, Ganpati Festival, Assembly Elections and New Year's Eve.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Completed Projects on Central Railway are as follows:

Multitracking Projects

Multitracking projects for total length of 278.16 route kms has been completed / commissioned including the Ashti-Amalner section of 33.92 kms, Amalner-Eagenwadi section of 33.12 kms, Pimperkhed-Chalisgaon section of 31.79 kms and other various sections.

Road Over Bridges & Road Under Bridges

31 Road Over Bridges(ROBs) and 89 Road Under Bridges(RUBs) have been constructed this year

Presently work on construction of 318 Road Over Bridges (ROBs)/Road Under Bridges (RUBs) all over Maharashtra is in progress at a total cost of Rs.5,615 crores.

These include work in progress at Niphad, Diva, Phulgaon, Nagargaon Kalyan Panvel etc.

Ongoing Projects on Central Railway are as follows:

Dedicated Freight Corridor Project

Presently work is in progress over a route length of 178 kms, covering Thane, Raigad and Palghar districts of Maharashtra at a total cost of Rs.12,697 crores.

The Manmad-Indore New Line project

Work on the Manmad-Indore New Line project spread over a route length of 309 kms at a total cost of Rs.18,036 crores is in progress covering the districts of Nashik and Dhule in Maharashtra.

The Ajanta Caves Rail Connectivity project is a proposed rail line, extending 174 kilometers from Jalna to Jalgaon, to be developed at a cost of ₹7,106 crores.

Central Railway embarks on Vital Infrastructure Upgrades with widening of Platforms 5&6 at Thane and extension of Platforms 10&11 at CSMT.

Central Railway team successfully carried out two important infrastructure works- rehabilitation of 70 years old Bridge between Khadavli to Vasind and construction of RUB by Pushing method eliminating Level Crossing Gate no 64

ENHANCING SPEED OF TRAINS

Maximum Permissible Speed (MPS) of trains have been increased from 90kmph to 110kmph at several sections on Central Railway.

PROVISION OF HALTS

Halts have been provided at various stations to 32 pairs of trains during the year 2024.

PRECAUTIONERY MEASURES

Monsoon Precautions

Central Railway has taken adequate measures for safe train operations on the ghat section during monsoon

• Boulder netting to prevent boulder fall-

• Canadian fencing to arrest boulders/muck slide while allowing the water flow-

• New catch water drains to guide the rain water flow-

• Extension of tunnel portal to prevent boulder fall/muck near tunnel face-

• Dynamic rock fall barrier to catch the detached rock mass from hills-

• Other measures include Boulder catching sumps at 13 locations and Tunnel sounding at 18 locations.

Central Railway provides Traction Distribution staff with Dielectric Shoes as safety measure to avoid incidents of electric shocks during work.

This is the first of its kind to be introduced on Indian Railways

138 railway employees have been presented with the General Manager' Safety Award for their alertness and promptness in preventing potential mishaps.

ENERGY CONSERVATION & RECOGNITION

• Central Railway have been given 'Shunya / Shunya Plus" label by Bureau of Energy Efficiency- a labeling programme called Shunya for Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) and Shunya Plus for Net Positive Energy Buildings (NPEB).

• 2800 energy efficient inverter based air-conditioners have been provided over Central Railway

• More than 16 Mega Watts rooftop solar panels have been provided at 249 locations over Central Railway to harness the power of solar energy.

• For traction purposes, long term tie up has been done with NTPC, IRCON and other entities, for procuring green power for using Railway traction. Around 14% power procurement is through green sources as of now.

KAVACH

Tendering process for implementation of KAVACH in all divisions is complete and work on the same will start soon.

INNOVATIONS

Electric Loco Shed, Ajni has secured Runner up position in all India Cab Up-Gradation Competition which was held at Patiala Locomotive Works.

Electric Loco Shed, Kalyan has secured its place among top 3 best performing sheds for homing conventional Locomotives over Indian Railways

Central Railway has revived the glorious past of this Narrow Gauge Railway by giving a Heritage Steam Engine look to the present Diesel run Engine on the Neral-Matheran section.

A special team of Engineers and Technicians at Parel Workshop of Central Railway have worked 24x7 to make the necessary modifications so as to ensure smooth running of the Engine and maintaining the Heritage look as well.

CR adopts unique system of fueling Tower wagons- saving time and enhancing efficiency

Central Railway' Mumbai Division has adopted a unique system of fueling Tower wagons directly at their stabling location through Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) owned Road bowsers. which has not only saved revenue but has also ensured 100% availability of Tower wagons.

Central Railway's Mumbai Division has taken another innovative step in cleanliness-

Introduced Battery Operated Portable Backpack type Vacuum garbage litter collector

Central Railway's Mumbai Division has taken another innovative step in cleaning of railway tracks, stations and railway premises.

The Mechanical branch has developed an inhouse Battery Operated Portable Backpack type Vacuum garbage litter collector which is highly productive, cost-effective and maintenance free.

PASSENGER COMFORT

Central Railway's Restaurant on Wheels

Dadar Darbar" at Central Railway's Dadar station is an innovative concept and a unique dining experience, spacious enough to accommodate 72 patrons and is one of its kind with maximum capacity on Central Railway.

Central Railway has launched AC Task Force - a unique initiative to curb irregular travelling in AC and First Class coaches of Suburban trains empowering passengers with Whatsapp complaint number 7208819987'

This initiative aims to offer immediate support and resolve issues related to irregular travel in AC locals / First class coaches.

SPORTS ACHIEVEMENTS

Central Railway's Swapnil Kusale earned Laurels for India

By bagging a bronze medal in the Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions at the Paris 2024 Olympics. This remarkable achievement marks India's first-ever Olympic medal in 50m Rifle 3 Positions event and the country's third medal in shooting at Paris Olympics Games.

CR mountaineers successfully scaled Mt.Tololing peak in commemoration of Operation Vijay '- It is the 'First Ever Civilian Expedition to scale Tololing Peak in the Drass-Kargil sector.

Central Railway emerged victorious in the 10th Women's All India Railway Weightlifting Championship held from August 24th to 28th, 2024. The women weightlifters of Central Railway delivered outstanding performances, securing multiple medals and breaking national records, leading the team to a grand victory

PASSENGERS PROTECTION AND WELFARE

Under Operation "Nanhe Farishte" Central Railway RPF has rescued 1204 children (of which 820 are boys and 384 are girls) and has handed them over to their families or Child Welfare Centres.

Under Operation "Jeevan Rakshak" Central Railway RPF has also saved lives of 24 persons from fatal or grievous injury on railway premises.

Central Railway remains committed to further enhancing passenger safety, improving infrastructure, embracing digitisation, promoting green energy, and providing exemplary services. The installation of CCTV cameras with face recognition capabilities, the introduction of panic switches at stations, and continuous initiatives to prevent trespassing are among the forthcoming strategies.