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Travel by train, get passenger feedback, DVS tells rly managers

Minister lays stress on better passenger grievance redress system
Last Updated 10 October 2014, 20:16 IST

Railway Minister D V Sadananda Gowda on Friday asked the general managers (GMs) and the divisional railway managers (DRMs) of the railways to travel at least once a month by train to interact with passengers and send him their feedback.

At the 59th National Awards for Outstanding Services in Railways - 2014, he posed these questions: “Have you spoken to passengers, understood their needs, and thought of serving them under given constraints? Do you have a written record of what you have gathered from the interactions? The GMs and DRMs should send me a monthly note on what they feel was the passengers’ impression and what they expect from us. Let me remind you that when you travel, please travel with passengers seated in different classes, and not by saloons which will isolate you.”

Gowda said people want the Railways to cut down their travel time on all routes. They also want punctuality – not end to end, but en route so that they can plan for their day. To further Swachch Bharat campaign, he asked the officials to keep the stations and trains clean and provide better amenities.

He stressed better passenger grievance redress system by setting up integrated call centres. “I want a system wherein passengers can click a picture on their mobile and send us, so that we can act on cleanliness, drawbacks or illegalities like ticketless travel, etc.

He also highlighted modernisation plans which include new designs for efficient wagons, anti-collision devices like TCAS and GPWS on new methods for ultrasonic inspection of rail fracture to avoid derailments, next generation e-ticketing, Freight e-Demand System, Freight e-Diversion System, Go India Smart Card and Train Enquiry Mobile App. Hefty penalties were imposed on 12 contractors for providing substandard food in trains.

A total of 132 employees received awards for their services, including late Vimal Kumar Choudhary, a senior section engineer of Northeast Frontier Rail at Katihar in Bihar, who lost his life while dousing fire on a locomotive.

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(Published 10 October 2014, 20:16 IST)

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