Smt. Darshana Jardosh, Hon'ble Minister of State for Railways & Textiles, Government of India thanked the people of West Bengal for availing the Howrah - New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express & Howrah - Puri Vande Bharat Express for their regular visit to Darjeeling & Puri, in a review meeting held at Fairlie Place, Eastern Railway Headquarters on 6.1.2024 with the senior officials of Eastern Railway & South Eastern Railway. She expressed her happiness that both the Vande Bharat Express trains are running with approximately 100% occupancy.

While addressing the senior officials of Eastern Railway & South Eastern Railway, she said that all the ongoing infrastructure projects should be completed within stipulated time period and expressed her happiness about the last mile connectivity for which the people West Bengal are very satisfied. She also advised to keep the Railway operations environmentally sustainable to minimize the carbon footprint and to remain more vigilant to stop infiltration of drugs & girl trafficking to stop the crime rate in West Bengal. One Station one Product (OSOP) stalls are playing a pivotal role in providing global market to the local products which to be given more thrust by the Railways for socio-economic development of the local entrepreneurs & artisans and bringing them to a comfortable earning level.

She reviewed in depth the progress of work under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme and also assured that requisite funds will be handed over to all the Members of Parliament for bringing impetus of development in Railways as well as for passenger amenities. Reviewing the procedure for Vande Bharat Coach Maintenance Depot especially at Howrah Vande Bharat Coach Maintenance Depot, she expressed her satisfaction on the standard of maintenance followed by Eastern Railway. While enquiring about the OSOP stalls, she expressed that these stalls in Eastern Railway are emerging as a centre for staging local products in global markets.

In the meeting, Shri Sumit Sarkar, Additional General Manager, Eastern Railway appraised Hon'ble Minister regarding various key statistics on performance, safety initiatives, traffic pattern, loading, originating revenue, environment conservation initiatives, passenger amenities etc. In a presentation by Eastern Railway in the meeting, it was revealed that the originating revenue of Eastern Railway increased by 12.57% up to December in this financial year in comparison to the previous year's performance. The capacity utilization of 72.32%, Eastern Railway has already finalized contract for development of a total of 62 stations in Amrit Bharat Station Scheme with a proposed cost of ₹454.53 crore and the progress of work is in rocketing speed. The Vande Bharat Coach maintenance facility at Jheel Siding of Eastern Railway has developed with three tier Inspection Bat with cover shed, heavy repair shed, Design Inspection cum Washing Apron has come up as a pioneering coach maintenance depot in Eastern region. 13 lifts & 12 new escalators have been installed in Eastern Railway for easy movement of elderly & divyangjan passengers in 2022-23. Moreover, 20 lifts & 8 escalators will be provided in Eastern Railway during 2023-24. For improved passenger experience, new executive lounges and new waiting rooms have come up at different stations viz. Sealdah & Kolkata. 

In a presentation by Shri Anil Kumar Mishra, General Manager, South Eastern Railway, in the review meeting it was revealed that 19 new trains have been introduced in this fiscal. The gross originating earnings of South Eastern Railway increased by 6.31% upto November 2023. In the field of freight loading, South Eastern Railway loaded 154.36 MT which is 3.44% higher than the corresponding period of the last year. It is also revealed that UTS facility provided at 260 locations, ATVM facility provided at 49 locations, WiFi facility provided at 247 stations over South Eastern Railway,

Smt. Darshana expressed her satisfaction on the allround performance of Eastern Railway & South Eastern Railway.

Source- ER