Union Minister of Railways 

Pioneering Reforms as the Union Minister of Railways

KONKAN RAILWAY ACHIEVEMENTS

Work of major capacity augmentation under favorable consideration of the Ministry of Railways. Tendering work of electrification completed.

• Work of 10 new stations and 8 loop lines started.
• Work of doubling started.
• Concession agreement has been signed between Konkan Railway and JDRL. Work started along with land acquisition and related work is in progress.
• A 69% increase in annual turnover from Rs 1277.32 Cr in FY 2013-14 to Rs 2164.34 Cr in FY 2016-17.

New Trains started in the region under Shri Suresh Prabhu’s Ministership:

• Madgaon Rajdhani Express
• NZM- TVC weekly train
• Madgaon Ratnagiri Daily passengers
• LTT- Madgaon Double Decker
• NZM- TVC weekly train
• Kasargod- By Door daily passenger
• LTT- Karmali AC weekly express
• Indore-Kochuveli Express
• CSTM- Karmali Superfast Express

Initiatives for development in Konkan Railway in the State of Maharashtra:

• 16th October 2015 - Bhoomi Poojan for halt station at Soundal, inaugurated on April 4, 2017.
• 4th January 2015 - Inauguration of Konkan Swad at Ratnagiri.
• 8th August 2015 - Foundation stone laid for Kudal Station Renovation.
• 8th November 2015 - Bhoomi Poojan for patch doubling of Roha- Veer section. Estimated cost Rs 340 Cr – Work started.
• 16th October 2015 - Hon'ble MR inaugurated the Solar Park at Ratnagiri. He laid the foundation stone for the same on January 4, 2015.
• 16th October 2015 - Bhoomi Poojan for halt station at Veravali.
• 25th March 2016 - Veravali station and inauguration.
• 8th November 2015 - Bhoomi Poojan for electrification of Konkan route. Estimated cost Rs 900 crore. Work will start soon. Tender under finalization.
• 16th November 2015 – Inauguration of Escalator at Ratnagiri.
• 25th January 2016- Inauguration of Travelator at Ratnagiri.
• 25th March 2016- Inaugurated water filter at Kankavali. Water filters provided at all stations on KRCL under CSR initiative of YES Bank.
• 19th June 2016- Inauguration of Hand Held Device for KRCL for ticketing. And upgrade of Mango Packing house at Jamsande Sindhurdurg.
• 17th June 2016- Foundation stone laying ceremony of Kharepatan station, Tender under finalization.
• 19th June 2016- Sawantwadi Terminus Phase 1- Inaugurated. The foundation stone laid for the same was laid on 27th June 2015.
• 20th August 2016- Foundation stone ceremony of Sawantwadi Terminus Phase -2. Total estimated cost Rs 20 Cr. Work in progress.
• 28th June 2015- Concession Agreement between KRCL & JDRL (Jaigarh post connectivity). The tendering process for this project is in progress.
• 10th July 2016- Foundation stone laying ceremony of Kadwai station, tenders opened on 16th December 2016.
• 14th August 2016- Concession agreement between M/S Shapoorji Palonjee Pvt. Ltd and KRCL for construction for Chiplun- Karad line.
• 20th August 2016- Foundation stone laying ceremony of Achire station. Tender under finalization.
• 21st August 2016- Foundation stone laying ceremony of new Kalbani station. Tender under finalization.
• 21st August 2018- Inaugurated commencement of Railway Research Centre of Mumbai University at Ratnagiri.
• 3rd December 2016- Inauguration of upgraded Kankavali Station. Additional loop line, Escalator, New station building, ticket booking counters, etc.
• 3rd December 2016- Bhoomi Poojan for Rolling Stock Component factory at Lote near Khed.
• 3rd December 2016- Bhoomi Poojan for upgradation of Indapur halt station into crossing station.
• 3rd December 2016- Bhoomi Poojan for upgradation of Sape Wamane halt station into crossing station, Tender under finalization. Bhoomi Poojan for upgradation for Veravali halt station into crossing station. Tender under finalization.
• 3rd December 2016- Inauguration of e-catering at Sawantwadi Station.
• 26th January 2015- Toll free enquiry number of train enquiry started (Toll Free Number 18002331332).
• 25th March 2017- Hon’ble Minister laid foundation stone of Jaigad- Digni Rail link. Also inaugurated Lifeline Express at Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg and PRS facility at Khed, Sangameshwar, Ratnagiri, and Lanja post office.
• 9th April 2017- Inaugurated Integrated Control Office Application (COA) system.

Promotion of Self-Help Groups

To supplement the income of local Self-Help Groups in the region, food / Beverage items like Kokan syrup, Mango wadi, Mango Squash, Shengana Ladu, Boondi Ladu, Poha Ladu, Rice Papad, etc. produced by SHGs associated with Cottage Industries can sell their products through Konkan Meva stalls at Railway Stations.

• 14 Konkan Meva stalls were installed in stations on Konkan Route in Maharashtra (Khed, Chiplun, Aravali Road, Sangameshwar, Ratnagiri, Nivsar, Vilavade, Vaibhavwadi Road, Nandgaon, Kankavali, Sindhudurg, Kudal & Sawantwadi.) (Kamathe, Savarde, Adavali, Rajapur Road – Closed).
• E-catering by IRCTC/NABARD/Self-Help Groups – started at Sawantwadi station from 3rd December 2016.

Training of Auto & Taxi Drivers

Auto and Taxi Drivers were imparted training in coordination with the Tourism Department to work as Tourist Guide in workshops organized at Khed, Chiplun, Ratnagiri, Kankavali, Kudal, and Sawantwadi stations in Maharashtra. Till now, more than 2000 drivers have been trained.

Ethnic Stall

As part of an initiative to reach the richness of local cuisine to the tourists traveling / visiting the Konkan region, Ethnic stalls have been provided at Khed, Ratnagiri, Kankavali, and Sawantwadi Road Stations in Maharashtra State. (Total 9 stations, 4 in Maharashtra and 5 in Karnataka)

Capacity Augmentation Works

Proposal for 147 km patch doubling of critical portion and 21 new crossing stations on Konkan Railway at an estimated cost of 4980 Cr is under progress.

• 11 crossing stations and 8 additional loop lines at a cost of ₹230 Cr.
• Other Works in Progress – Total Cost 6220 Crore
• Electrification – 900 Cr
• Roha- Veer Doubling 340 Cr
• Capacity Augmentation Work 4980 Cr
• New Trains started in Konkan Railway in Goa State

New Trains in Goa State

• 31st March 2015- Flagging off of Madgoan Ratnagiri Passenger (Daily)
• 8th August 2015- Flagging off of Extension of Karwar – Madgaon DEMU services to Pernem (6 days a week)
• 15th November 2015- Flagging off of Goa Rajdhani (bi-weekly)
• 6th December 2015- Flagging off of Madgoan – L&T (T) Double Decker (Tri-weekly)

Other services

Ethnic food stall at station and E- Catering facility for local cuisine. Passenger amenities and their improvement include:

• Escalators
• Travelator
• Lift
• Modular design covered shelters at platforms
• Upgraded waiting rooms with new benches
• Video wall
• Free Wi-Fi at new and improved platforms

Tenure as Union Railway Minister

On 9 November 2014, he was sworn in as Cabinet minister in the Narendra Modi government. He was the Union Railway Minister of India from November 2014 to September 2017.

• Introduced one of the world's cheapest travel insurance plans for passengers, which has now been made free of cost.
• The Indian railways were deployed for sending disaster relief supplies at an unprecedented scale. Jaldoot water trains were sent to drought-hit areas of Maharashtra. Roll on Roll off was used to address fuel crises in the North East. Food grains were supplied in the form of ready to eat food packets to major parts of North East and most parts of Assam.
• ‘VIKALP’, Alternative Train Accommodation System (ATAS) launched with a view to provide confirmed accommodation to waitlisted passengers.
• Launched an integrated mobile app for all Railway related services.
• High speed free Wi-Fi launched at 140+ stations.
• Launched a new catering policy.
• 155,949 additional berths made available in the last 3 years through coach augmentation.
• Took many initiatives for Divyangs: Braille signage, toilets, E-wheelchair, battery-operated cars, policy allowing Divyangs to avail concession even while traveling without escort. Janani Sewa launched to provide services to mothers of infants.
• Introduced Single person accountability for all facilities on trains.
• Launched Mission Retrofit to revamp 40,000 coaches.
• In a bid to enhance consumer experience, initiated the installation of elevators and escalators at stations along with the widening of foot over bridges. Initiated the process of installing CCTV cameras in ladies compartments to boost security.
• 100% FDI allowed in identified areas of the railway sector.
• Initiated the merger of rail budget with general budget as part of the reform agenda.
• Chaired various Roundtable discussions to reach out to Railways’ stakeholders, seek and incorporate their feedback.

Infrastructure Creation

• Gave traction to speedy creation of infrastructure in Railways. Substantially increased the average km of broad gauge lines commissioned to 7.7 km/day against past average of 4.3 km/day.
• Commissioned the highest ever 45 freight terminals in 2016–17 with a total of 109 in the last three years.
• Commissioned the highest ever 1306 Road Over Bridges and subways in 2016–17, a total of 3,486 in the last 3 years.
• Leading Station Redevelopment Program: Largest transit-oriented development program across the world worth ₹1,00,000 crores to redevelop 400 stations.
• Launched Final Location survey for BG line rail connectivity for the Chardham Pilgrimage.
• Final Location survey for BG line rail connectivity between Manali and Leh.
• Piloted Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) - Phase III project to augment infra in Mumbai suburban rail.
• Effected direct procurement of about 750 MW of power by Ministry of Railways under Open Access, reduction in Traction power bill of ₹1400 crores.
• Provided 69,200 bio-toilets in trains in the last three years, a record number of 34078 Bio Toilets provided in 2016-17.
• New Water policy launched for restoration of water bodies, establishing water recycling plants, rain water harvesting, efficient water usage, automatic coach washing plants, etc.
• Launched Mission 41K to achieve savings of ₹41k crores through energy efficiency.
• 10 MW Solar Plants installed. Massive solarisation (1000 MW Solar Power Plants) planned.
• Expanded the scope and expedited the implementation of accounting reforms in Indian Railways.
• Process of transfers and postings in key positions made absolutely transparent.
• Effected monitoring of zonal railways through MoUs based on quantifiable performance parameters.
• Launched "Nivaran", an online platform for employees to lodge their grievances.
• Eliminated Interviews for all recruitments for Staff at Group C & D level.

CUSTOMER ORIENTATION

• Known to be less responsive towards customers, he has changed the approach of Indian Railways towards people from "Passengers" to "Customers".
• He successfully implemented, now widely acclaimed, a real-time customer complaint resolution mechanism through Twitter, which has given voice to the passengers of Indian Railways.
• Various success stories of complaints heard and resolved on a war footing basis reported in media as well as social media by satisfied customers. Known to be accessible through social media, he responded on a real-time basis to people. Stories abound of people getting help in distress by his intervention.
• He has been instrumental in reuniting children with their families, protecting women from hooligans, providing medical urgency support, among others.
• He introduced a host of innovative customer-friendly measures ranging from E-catering, water vending machines, Clean my Coach Service, ticket vending machines, and significantly improved coach designs.
• Partnered with Google to provide high-speed Wi-Fi at railway stations, which was a part of a strategy to enhance the traveling experience.
• With a target of providing Wi-Fi facility at 400 stations, Indian Railways is on the way to becoming the world's largest public Wi-Fi system.
• He led a major cleanliness drive Swachh Bharat, Swachh Rail to enhance cleanliness and aesthetics at trains, railway stations, and tracks. First time, third party ranking of cleanliness of stations was conducted.
• Improved cleanliness at Railway stations and trains was widely appreciated by people and pictures of clean stations, trains are shared frequently by people on social media.
• Various specialized product offerings are on their way for passengers catering to their specific needs such as Tejas trains, Antyodya express, UDAY, and Humsafar trains.

PLANNING AND INVESTMENT

• Working on a long-term plan to transform Indian Railways, while solving short-term issues. Effected a paradigm shift in Railways project financing by leveraging Extra Budgetary Resources including various innovative measures.
• It was unprecedented in IR’s history, when Extra Budgetary funding was leveraged to fuel investment growth.
• Negotiated a very attractive loan from Life Insurance Corporation of India for Rs 1.5 lakh Cr.
• For the ambitious first–of-its-kind project of High-Speed Rail between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, secured a soft loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency to the tune of $12 Billion with 15 years moratorium, 50-year repayment period, and 0.1% interest rate.
• Achieved a record of over Rs. 10,000 Cr of cost savings in 2015-16 by adopting various measures like direct sourcing of power and driving rigorous cost optimization programs.
• Executing his firm belief in participatory development, he led the formation of Joint Ventures with States to support rail infrastructure creation.

INFRASTRUCTURE CREATION

• Underinvestment in infrastructure creation was one of the biggest bottlenecks in taking Indian Railways to the next level. He successfully led Railways to achieve a quantum jump in infrastructure creation spending and improving connectivity.
• The average kms of broad-gauge lines commissioned was substantially increased to over 7km/day against the past six year’s average of 4.3 km/day.
• Achieved record performance in broad gauge line commissioning, electrification, capital investment, and contracts awarded.
• Massive connectivity projects executed to connect difficult terrain and uncertain geology like J&K and northeast.
• Increased annual line commissioning from an average of 100 kms to over 500 kms. Worked on increasing the average speed of trains, he successfully launched India’s fastest train Gatiman Express.
• He worked with a vision of improving quality of connectivity by having a separate category of semi-high-speed rail under Mission Raftaar.

SUSTAINABILITY

• With his natural interest in sustainability and environment protection, he has successfully made sustainability an integral part of Indian Railways’ strategy, not an allied activity.
• By integrating sustainable practices with cost optimization, he has successfully made sustainability an organizational imperative.
• He diversified Railways’ energy consumption basket to include renewable energy sources and energy-efficient equipment with a vision to source at least 25% energy use from renewable energy sources by 2020.
• With a production capacity of over 1000 MW, his vision is to make IR, the country’s largest solar power producer.
• Strategy to use unutilized real estate with Railways for solar power generation already underway. Trial run of train partially powered by solar energy already underway.
• Under his leadership, Railways is also focusing on harnessing wind power and other non-conventional energy sources.
• Record number of 15542 bio toilets commissioned against last five year average of 1917.

GOVERNANCE AND TRANSPARENCY

• A staunch advocate for transparency, leveraged technology and delegation to improve governance in Railways. Spearheaded the largest ever online recruitment in the world.
• Delegated powers to functional levels and achieved 75% reduction in project approval duration.
• To improve efficiency and transparency in procurement, successfully established 100% E-procurement in Indian Railways.

Safety Improvements

• Launched the Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) fund to enhance railway safety by eliminating unmanned level crossings and implementing modern signaling systems.
• Introduced new safety measures and technology upgrades to reduce accidents and improve passenger security.

High-Speed Rail Development

• Advocated for the development of high-speed rail corridors in India to bring world-class train travel to the country.
• Initiated feasibility studies and partnerships for high-speed rail projects, including the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor.
• Introduced new train services, including Train 18, Tejas Express, and Humsafar Express.

Station Redevelopment

• Launched the ambitious "Station Redevelopment" program to modernize and upgrade railway stations across India.
• Attracted private sector investment for station redevelopment through public-private partnerships (PPPs).

Cleanliness and Hygiene

• Launched the "Swachh Rail Swachh Bharat Abhiyan" to improve cleanliness and sanitation on trains and at railway stations.
• Introduced the "Clean My Coach" initiative to enable passengers to request clean coaches through SMS or a mobile app.

Digital Initiatives

• Promoted digitalization of railway services and introduced various mobile apps for ticket booking, inquiry, and passenger information.
• High-speed free Wi-Fi launched at 140+ stations to provide internet connectivity to passengers.

Bio-Toilets

• Accelerated the installation of bio-toilets in trains to improve sanitation and reduce environmental impact.

New Railway Lines and Connectivity

• Worked on expanding railway network connectivity, including the development of new rail lines and connecting remote areas.

Freight Corridor Projects

• Advanced the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) projects to improve the efficiency of freight transportation and decongest existing rail routes.

Financial Reforms

• Introduced innovative financing mechanisms to fund railway projects, including leveraging funds through partnerships and non-budgetary resources.

Green Initiatives

• Promoted eco-friendly initiatives, such as the use of solar energy in railway operations and LED lighting at stations.

Customer-Centric Approach

• Prioritized passenger feedback and actively engaged with the public through social media to address concerns and improve services.
• Introduced VIKALP, Alternative Train Accommodation System (ATAS) to provide confirmed accommodation to waitlisted passengers.
• Focused on enhancing passenger amenities, including better catering services, waiting rooms, and accessibility for differently-abled passengers.
• Introduced Janani Sewa to provide services to mothers of infants.
• Launched a new catering policy.

Budgetary Management

• Managed the railway budget efficiently and focused on fiscal discipline to ensure the financial health of Indian Railways.
• Launched innovative financing mechanisms and leveraged non-fare revenue sources like advertising and commercialization.

International Engagement

• Engaged in diplomatic efforts to strengthen international cooperation in the field of railways, exploring collaborations with countries like Japan for high-speed rail projects.