Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Good job done by Railway Minister' that was published in Newsband

Good job done by Railway Minister

Railways is the lifeline of the nation. Nowhere is this as true as in Mumbai. At a total length of 459 km, the network has more than 3,000 services of local trains carrying around 80 lakh commuters on a daily basis.

To ensure that Mumbai has world class infrastructure in keeping with its metropolitan status, the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a number of initiatives

Foot overbridges (FOBs), platforms and pathways at the end of platforms, are now treated as safety items having highest priority with no budget restriction. There is also a new innovation in the form of a blue light signal on the door of the coach to signal that the train is starting, has been introduced.

A number of works have been started, including the Airoli-Kalwa elevated link, Panvel-Karjat new suburban double line corridor, and the introduction of 47 new air conditioned suburban trains. These will help decongest the network and improve services. Long-pending projects are also being fast-tracked and completed. The long-awaited Nerul-Seawood/Belapur-Uran line’s first phase is finally complete.

There has been introduction of the UTS mobile app to buy unreserved tickets on the spot. The stations are being improve by providint them with increased lifts, escalators, Swachhata and security through cameras. In fact, importance has also been given to security of women passengers. Taking feedback, a number of CCTV cameras have been relocated at stations to ensure better focus on ladies’ coaches.

Over the last four and a half years, the Railways has become cleaner, safer, faster and more convenient. But still Railways have to go from strength to strength and lots of reforms are still needed to be undertaken.

Hats off to Union railway minister Piyush Goyal! There has been significant improvement in functioning of Railways, Electricity during his tenure. Congress had corrupted the railways and made only Railway budget as a election gimmick, but he really transformed it. He is a great asset to this nation.

No doubt visible progress has been made to solve the problems of the commuters who are dependent on this essential service. The number of indicators on the platforms has to be increased for better direction especially to the people who visit the financial capital.

Local trains must be fitted with automatic doors. If that is done people falling on tracks can be prevented. Why can't Mumbai be decongested decimated by moving out some industries and government offices?