JOIN USCity rly stations to have ATVMs soon
Commuters who have to wait in long queues to procure tickets will soon have some reprieve, owing to the installation of Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs) in the city.
Railway authorities of Mysore division of South Western Railway are confident that installation of these machines will be completed by the end of November, or latest by December.
Speaking at the Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee meeting held here on Wednesday, Divisional Railway Manager of South Western Railway, Rajkumar Lal, said that a total of 13 ATMVs had been sanctioned for the Division, out of which five will be installed at the Mysore city railway station.
Apart from the city, ATVMs will come up in Davangere, Shimoga, Arsikere, Hassan, Birur, Harihar and Bhadravathi, Lal said.
Mysore-Madikeri
Lal said that there had been some opposition for the survey works taken up for a railway line between Mysore-Kushalnagar-Madikeri. “However, we have overcome the problem. Following the completion of the survey, a report will be submitted to the Railway Board by March,” he said.
On demands for a first class compartment in Mysore-Dharwad express, he said that the Railways would look into these demands and introduce the same, if necessary.
He said that the Railways was working towards maintaining cleanliness in the railway stations. The recent cleanliness campaign had received a good response, he said.
New trains
Mysore division had already commenced services of two of the four new trains announced in Railway Budget 2014-15; Chamarajanagar to Bangalore (daily) and Chikkamagalur to Yeshwantpur (daily). The services of Mysore – Varanasi bi-weekly express and Bangalore – Shimoga town bi-weekly express train would be started soon. A new tri-weekly express train from Harihar to Yeshwantpur will be introduced from November 7, he said.
Financial performance
Speaking on the financial performance, Lal said that Mysore Division had earned Rs 298.02 crore, during the seven months of the current fiscal year, registering a growth of 15.24 per cent in comparison to the corresponding period of last year.
Freight earnings of the Division, he said, despite the Central government imposed ban on transportation of export quality iron ore, had grown from Rs 127.14 crore to Rs 151.31 crore. The passenger earnings also grew from Rs 130.09 crore, up by 14.95 per cent from last year.
The division, Lal added had done well in the drive against ticketless travel, generating a penalty revenue of Rs 2.86 crore. Over 1,10,000 cases having been registered against offenders, he said.