Central Railway marks milestones with record achievements in 2024

The Central Railway CR has wrapped up an impressive year in 2024 with a host of achievements spanning passenger services safety infrastructure development sustainability and innovative initiatives an official statement said on TuesdayThe year saw a record number of projects enhancements and accolades that reflect Central Railwayrsquos continuous commitment to improving rail services for millions of passengers across its vast networkAWARDSCentral Railway won the prestigious Govind Vallabh Pant Shield for Overall excellence among all the Zones of Indian Railways at the 69th Railway Week ldquoAti Visisht Rail In addition it also won the Traffic Transportation Shield Stores Shield Environment amp Cleanliness Shield independently and the Electrical Engineering Shield amp Civil Engineering Construction Shield jointly with other ZonesPASSENGER SERVICE amp FREIGHT PERFORMANCECentral Railway has carried more than 1500 million passengers and registered revenue of more than 7000 crores during the year 2024Central Railway registered impressive loading figures of 8363 metric tonnes in the year 2024INAUGURATION amp DEDICATIONPrime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated laid the foundation of dedicated the following projects on Central Railway in various functions during 2024bull Dedication of lsquoPhase 2 of UranKharkopar railway linersquo enhancing connectivity to Navi Mumbai by extending suburban services presently running between NerulBelapur ndash Kharkopar now extended to Uranbull Dedication of new suburban station lsquoDigha Gaonrsquo on the ThaneVashiPanvel Transharbour linebull Flagging off of the inaugural run of the EMU train from Uran railway station to Kharkoparbull Foundation Stone laying of Station upgradation work of various stations across the Country including 36 Railway Stations over Central Railway under the Amrit Bharat Station Schemebull Inauguration dedication of 1500 Road Over Bridges ROB and Road Under Bridges RUB across the Countrybull Inauguration of the WardhaKalamb new line of 3861 kms and Flagging off of train services on the new linebull Dedication of Coach Factory at Latur Wagon repair workshop at Badnera and Vande Bharat maintenance cum workshop Depot at Punebull Inauguration of 5 Jan Aushadi Kendras at LTT Manmad Pimpri Solapur and NagbhirChandrapur districtbull Inauguration Dedication of 4 Rail Coach Restaurants at Nashik Road and Akola Nashik Road Akol andbull Foundation Stone laying dedication of 150 One Station One ProductOSOP stalls 170 Electronic Interlocking Systems 130 Solar Panels 18 New Lines Doubling of Lines Gauge Conversion 12 Goods Sheds 7 Automatic Signalling Systems 4 Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals and 3 Electrification Projectsbull Foundation Stone laying for Kalyan Yard Remodelling and Gati Shakti Multi Modal Cargo Terminal at Turbhebull Dedication of New Platforms at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus and Extended Platform nos 10 amp 11 at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj TerminusVANDE BHARAT TRAINSThe Prime Minister also flagged off the following servicesThe Kalaburagi ndash Bengaluru Vande Bharat TrainInaugural run of Vande Bharat Express Trains between KolhapurPune PuneHubballi and NagpurSecunderabadCentral Railway will take up the work of establishing Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras at 4 Stationsbull Lokmanya Tilak Terminus station of Mumbai Divisionbull Manmad station of Bhusaval Divisionbull Pimpri station of Pune Divisionbull Solapur station of Solapur DivisionSPECIAL TRAINSCentral Railway has run more than 2158 Special Trains in 2024 The important ones are as belowbull Summer Specials ndash 948 tripsbull Diwali Chhat Puja Specials 738 tripsbull Ganpati Specials ndash 254 tripsbull Winter Specials running and notified ndash 84bull Ashadi Specials ndash 77 tripsbull Kartiki Mela Specials ndash 57 tripsIt is worth mentioning that CR has successfully managed a mammoth footfall of more than 1 lakh devotees during the Kartiki Ekadashi FairADDITIONAL GENERAL COACHES117 additional General Coaches have been added in 37 pairs of Mail Express trains running on Central Railway with 79 rakes These will benefit more than 10000 additional passengers dailySpecial Suburban train services have also been run during Tata Marathon Ganpati Festival Assembly Elections and New Yearrsquos EveINFRASTRUCTURECompleted Projects on Central Railway are as followsMultitracking ProjectsMultitracking projects for total length of 27816 route kms has been completed commissioned including the AshtiAmalner section of 3392 kms AmalnerEagenwadi section of 3312 kms PimperkhedChalisgaon section of 3179 kms and other various sectionsRoad Over Bridges amp Road Under Bridges31 Road Over BridgesROBs and 89 Road Under BridgesRUBs have been constructed this yearPresently work on construction of 318 Road Over Bridges ROBsRoad Under Bridges RUBs all over Maharashtra is in progress at a total cost of Rs5615 croresThese include work in progress at Niphad Diva Phulgaon Nagargaon Kalyan Panvel etcOngoing Projects on Central Railway are as followsDedicated Freight Corridor ProjectPresently work is in progress over a route length of 178 kms covering Thane Raigad and Palghar districts of Maharashtra at a total cost of Rs12697 croresThe ManmadIndore New Line projectWork on the ManmadIndore New Line project spread over a route length of 309 kms at a total cost of Rs18036 crores is in progress covering the districts of Nashik and Dhule in MaharashtraThe Ajanta Caves Rail Connectivity project is a proposed rail line extending 174 kilometers from Jalna to Jalgaon to be developed at a cost of 7106 croresCentral Railway embarks on Vital Infrastructure Upgrades with widening of Platforms 5amp6 at Thane and extension of Platforms 10amp11 at CSMTCentral Railway team successfully carried out two important infrastructure works rehabilitation of 70 years old Bridge between Khadavli to Vasind and construction of RUB by Pushing method eliminating Level Crossing Gate no 64ENHANCING SPEED OF TRAINSMaximum Permissible Speed MPS of trains have been increased from 90kmph to 110kmph at several sections on Central RailwayPROVISION OF HALTSHalts have been provided at various stations to 32 pairs of trains during the year 2024PRECAUTIONERY MEASURESMonsoon PrecautionsCentral Railway has taken adequate measures for safe train operations on the ghat section during monsoonbull Boulder netting to prevent boulder fallbull Canadian fencing to arrest bouldersmuck slide while allowing the water flowbull New catch water drains to guide the rain water flowbull Extension of tunnel portal to prevent boulder fallmuck near tunnel facebull Dynamic rock fall barrier to catch the detached rock mass from hillsbull Other measures include Boulder catching sumps at 13 locations and Tunnel sounding at 18 locationsCentral Railway provides Traction Distribution staff with Dielectric Shoes as safety measure to avoid incidents of electric shocks during workThis is the first of its kind to be introduced on Indian Railways138 railway employees have been presented with the General Managerrsquo Safety Award for their alertness and promptness in preventing potential mishapsENERGY CONSERVATION amp RECOGNITIONbull Central Railway have been given Shunya Shunya Plus label by Bureau of Energy Efficiency a labeling programme called Shunya for Net Zero Energy Buildings NZEB and Shunya Plus for Net Positive Energy Buildings NPEBbull 2800 energy efficient inverter based airconditioners have been provided over Central Railwaybull More than 16 Mega Watts rooftop solar panels have been provided at 249 locations over Central Railway to harness the power of solar energybull For traction purposes long term tie up has been done with NTPC IRCON and other entities for procuring green power for using Railway traction Around 1437 power procurement is through green sources as of now KAVACHTendering process for implementation of KAVACH in all divisions is complete and work on the same will start soonINNOVATIONSElectric Loco Shed Ajni has secured Runner up position in all India Cab UpGradation Competition which was held at Patiala Locomotive WorksElectric Loco Shed Kalyan has secured its place among top 3 best performing sheds for homing conventional Locomotives over Indian RailwaysCentral Railway has revived the glorious past of this Narrow Gauge Railway by giving a Heritage Steam Engine look to the present Diesel run Engine on the NeralMatheran sectionA special team of Engineers and Technicians at Parel Workshop of Central Railway have worked 24x7 to make the necessary modifications so as to ensure smooth running of the Engine and maintaining the Heritage look as wellCR adopts unique system of fueling Tower wagons saving time and enhancing efficiencyCentral Railwayrsquo Mumbai Division has adopted a unique system of fueling Tower wagons directly at their stabling location through Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd HPCL owned Road bowsers which has not only saved revenue but has also ensured 10037 availability of Tower wagons Central Railwayrsquos Mumbai Division has taken another innovative step in cleanlinessIntroduced Battery Operated Portable Backpack type Vacuum garbage litter collectorCentral Railways Mumbai Division has taken another innovative step in cleaning of railway tracks stations and railway premisesThe Mechanical branch has developed an inhouse Battery Operated Portable Backpack type Vacuum garbage litter collector which is highly productive costeffective and maintenance freePASSENGER COMFORTCentral Railwayrsquos Restaurant on WheelsDadar Darbarrdquo at Central Railwayrsquos Dadar station is an innovative concept and a unique dining experience spacious enough to accommodate 72 patrons and is one of its kind with maximum capacity on Central RailwayCentral Railway has launched AC Task Force a unique initiative to curb irregular travelling in AC and First Class coaches of Suburban trains empowering passengers with Whatsapp complaint number 7208819987This initiative aims to offer immediate support and resolve issues related to irregular travel in AC locals First class coachesSPORTS ACHIEVEMENTSCentral Railwayrsquos Swapnil Kusale earned Laurels for IndiaBy bagging a bronze medal in the Mens 50m Rifle 3 Positions at the Paris 2024 Olympics This remarkable achievement marks Indias firstever Olympic medal in 50m Rifle 3 Positions event and the countrys third medal in shooting at Paris Olympics GamesCR mountaineers successfully scaled MtTololing peak in commemoration of Operation Vijay It is the First Ever Civilian Expedition to scale Tololing Peak in the DrassKargil sectorCentral Railway emerged victorious in the 10th Womenrsquos All India Railway Weightlifting Championship held from August 24th to 28th 2024 The women weightlifters of Central Railway delivered outstanding performances securing multiple medals and breaking national records leading the team to a grand victoryPASSENGERS PROTECTION AND WELFAREUnder Operation ldquoNanhe Farishterdquo Central Railway RPF has rescued 1204 children of which 820 are boys and 384 are girls and has handed them over to their families or Child Welfare CentresUnder Operation ldquoJeevan Rakshakrdquo Central Railway RPF has also saved lives of 24 persons from fatal or grievous injury on railway premisesCentral Railway remains committed to further enhancing passenger safety improving infrastructure embracing digitisation promoting green energy and providing exemplary services The installation of CCTV cameras with face recognition capabilities the introduction of panic switches at stations and continuous initiatives to prevent trespassing are among the forthcoming strategies