Konkan Railway to go fully electric by 2021

Madgaon-Mangalore passenger train crossing km .539/7 near Gokarna Road station. Pics/Rajendra B Aklekar

Konkan Railway will turn into an electric railway by March 2021 with doubling between the 46-km stretch of Roha and Veer, an additional ten new stations and eight additional loop lines to ease pressure on the line expected to be completed by March 2020.

Releasing a statement on the occasion of the 29th Foundation Day of Konkan Railway on Tuesday, a note by the Konkan Railway said the electrification of the entire route also is in progress and will be completed by the year March 2021 with the estimated cost of Rs 1100 crores.

"15th October marks a significant date as Konkan Railway celebrates its 29th Foundation Day this year, the day that bought to reality of the most challenging project to connect amazing Konkan with the rest of India," it stated, adding, Konkan Railway has always been at the forefront in attaining aims and objectives of Customer Satisfaction, apart from ensuring comfort, safety, and security to its passengers.

Cleanliness

Elaborating further, the note also mentioned that the Minister of Railways is focusing on enhancing the Railway services to achieve high-quality passenger satisfaction. Konkan Railway in its continued efforts and dedicated approach to community has now taken various initiatives by providing better facilities/amenities to the passengers. Infrastructure and quality passenger service is necessary for improved passenger satisfaction.

An action plan was formulated to bring the quantum improvement in the cleanliness at the stations, trains, toilet blocks, and railway premises. Konkan Railway has observed the Swachhata Pakhwara Campaign from September 16 to October 2 to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Special emphasis was given towards creating a plastic-free India and shunning single use of plastic. Konkan Railway has been appealing to all its passengers to give their active support in maintaining the stations, trains and railway premises neat and clean.

Diva-Sawantwadi passenger train crossing Nivasar station

Operating Surplus

Konkan Railway has generated an operating surplus from the start of its operational phase. During the financial year 2018-19, Konkan Railway has achieved a net profit of Rs 102 crores. The turnover of the company during the financial year 2018-19 was Rs 2898 crores, which includes project turnover of Rs 1561 crores and operating turnover of Rs 1264 crores.

Konkan Railway always strives to provide better passenger amenities to its passengers for a safe and pleasant journey. Konkan Railway is taking various initiatives to facilitate its passengers for making their journey more comfortable. Capital expenditure of Rs 85.35 crores was spent during the last five years on Passenger Amenities. Various passenger amenities works of Rs 11.80 crores has also been completed under the MPLAD scheme on Konkan Railway route in Goa. Under Tourism Development 3 stations viz. Madgaon, Karmali and Thivim stations will be upgraded for which Rs 25 crores have been sanctioned. In June 2019, the most popular trains of Konkan Railway i.e Konkankanya and Mandovi Express were converted into LHB coaches which were a major step towards improved passenger amenities.

All- Wi-Fi Line, more stations and doubling

All stations of Konkan Railway are now provided with Free WiFi services. Water vending machines are also being installed at stations of Konkan Railway. Konkan Railway has upgraded its existing computerized ticketing system to Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) on January 25, 2019.

The doubling of the 46 Km stretch between Roha - Veer section is in progress and will be completed by March 2020. The work of construction of 10 new stations namely Indapur, Goregoan Road, Sape Wamane, Kalbani, Kadwai, Verawali, Kharepatan, Achirne, Mirjan, Innanje, and 08 loop lines is also in progress and likely to be completed by March 2020. Out of which 5 additional loop lines at Anjani, Sawarda, Rajapur Road, Vaibhavwadi Road & Murdeshwar station are already commissioned.

Also Read: Mumbai: Andheri station among the top cleanest stations in India

Konkan Railway building Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link

The work of 53.6 Km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project is in progress. During the last year excavation work for the 10.26 km tunnel was completed. The work of the iconic bridges over Anji and Chenab rivers are in progress.

This year Konkan Railway constructed an 11 km long new railway line at NTPC Gadarwara project in record time. This railway line also includes a 366m long bridge on the Shakkar river.

Konkan Railway is known for having expertise in Engineering for which Konkan Railway bagged the contract for conducting engineering survey of the new proposed transnational railway line between Raxaul in Bihar, India and Kathmandu in Nepal which has been completed successfully and submitted to Nepal through Foreign Ministry of India. A Memorandum of Understanding has also been signed with Nepal Railway on May 10, 2019, for the provision of two Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) train sets. These DEMU rakes will be handed over to Nepal by January 2020.

The innovative Automatic Train Examination System (ATES) which is developed by Konkan Railway has been installed on various zones of Indian Railways. Moreover, the RPF/Konkan Railway rescued 85 children from stations along with 2257 offenders were fined and 1622 unauthorized vendors and 25 thieves being arrested.

The progress and growth of the organization cannot be achieved without the contribution of its employees. Awards & commendation Certificates were presented to the officials and staff of the Konkan Railway for their meritorious works by the hands of Sanjay Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director and Directors of Konkan Railway, during the 29th Foundation Day function held on Tuesday at Ravindra Bhavan, Fatorda, Madgaon, Goa.

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