RailEnquiry

VIJAYAWADA:
>Focus on improving safety and amenities at stations: Union Minister of State for Railways<
Union Minister of State for Railways Kotla Jaya Suryaprakash Reddy justified the hike in train fares, which came into force from Monday. Reservation and air-conditioned ticket fares, reservation/cancellation/Tatkal charges have been increased.Talking to the reporters here on Monday, Mr. Suryaprakash Reddy said that Indian Railways was providing employment to about 14.5 lakh people across the country. Despite losses, it was providing quality services to passengers. For improving the amenities further by filling 1.5 lakh vacant posts, the fares were increased, he observed.

Pending projects>On pending projects, the Minister said that there were about 30 new and incomplete projects in Andhra Pradesh and about Rs.40,000 crore was required to complete these. Due to financial crunch, only Rs.1,023 crore was allocated to the State in the current fiscal, which was quite high, compared to previous budgets, he added.

The Minister, along with Lagadapati Rajagopal, MP, and MLAs held discussions with the South Central Railway (SCR), Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) and the district officials here on Monday.The government is launching measures to improve facilities at all the stations and the projects in the State will be completed in a phased manner, said Mr. Reddy.There was a demand for Level Crossing (LC) gates, but the Railway Board, keeping in mind the safety of the public, had decided not to give permission for LC gates but construct road overbridges (RoBs), said the Minister.

‘Use and Pay’ system:SCR proposes to introduce ‘Use and Pay’ system, like the one being implemented at Hyderabad railway station.To maintain hygienic conditions, the railways has begun supplying towels and shampoo to the passengers by collecting Rs.5 and the response is good, Mr. Suryaprakash Reddy said.
Focus on improving safety and amenities at stations: Union Minister of State for Railways