Recent Initiatives of Indian Railways
Ministry of Railways took steps for introduction of High Speed Bullet Trains in the country on Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor. It is the part of the Ministry’s ambitious plan to have Diamond Quadrilateral network of High Speed Rail connecting major metros and growth centers of the country. One new route between New Delhi and Chennai has been identified for introducing bullet train and China has been entrusted with the task of undertaking feasibility study of this line.
Next Generation e-ticketing system
In a move to provide more hassle-free services to railway users, Indian Railways launched new IT initiatives/applications developed by its autonomous organization, Central Railway Information Centre (CRIS). It has developed NGet system which can book 7200 online tickets instead of 2000 tickets per minute and now to attend 2,00,000 enquiries instead of 50000 per minute. The revamped website is expected to raise IRCTC’s daily revenue by 67 per cent.
RAILSAVER
In a move to further improve energy efficiency on Indian Railways, a web based Electrical Energy Management System, RAILSAVER, developed by CRIS inaugurated. The portal RAILSAVER will provide a perfect IT based platform for energy consumption data which will pave the way for systematic collection, assimilation, interpretation and analysis of data in evolving future strategies for conceiving, implementing and further intensifying energy conservation efforts on Indian Railways. This portal will further facilitate in saving energy upto 15% by the year 2020 through improved energy efficiency measures as laid down in Railways vision document.
Yatri Ticket Sewa Kendra (YTSK)
Under this scheme, agents of Indian Railways can operate ticketing terminals at various locations in the cities and towns for issuing reserved tickets and unreserved tickets. The scheme is aimed at expanding the reach of the ticketing systems of Indian Railways and evokes the principles of PPP and provides for revenue sharing between the private operators and Indian Railway.
Project Nilgiri
Google and Indian Railways have partnered together to create ‘Project Nilgiri’ that will deliver Wi-fi access to around 400 railway stations across India. Google has collaborated with RailTel for the platform and infrastructure to get started with the project. The project that uses Google’s Fiber technology is still in its pilot stage.
Other Initiatives
In a bid to make things easier for passengers, IRCTC has launched a pilot project of ticket booking through non-internet based mobile phones. If the pilot goes well, the new development will enable people using non-internet based mobile phones to easily access Railway ticketing services through SMS/IVRS/USSD. The facility is user-friendly, secure and also eco-friendly, as no print-out is required.
