Page 24 - NIS English 01-15 February, 2025

COVER STORY
RAILWAYS' TRANSFORMATION

of tax, in the form of a ticket, every penny of it is NEW RAIL TRACKS ARE BEING
being spent in the interest of railway passengers LAID AT TWICE THE SPEED
today. The Government of India gives a discount
of almost 50 percent on every railway ticket. 2009-14 2014-24
7,599 31,180
PASSENGER COMFORT AND SAFETY
PRIORITISING
Indian Railways is the most trusted companion
of the poor and middle class of the country. The KM KM
number of people who travel by train in India
in a day is more than the population of many A Comparison between 2004-14 and 2014-24
countries. But, it was unfortunate that earlier, 2004-14 2014-24 Comparison
not much attention was paid to modernizing the
Indian Railways. Now the central government Expenditure
is engaged in the transformation of Indian on railway 47,038 1,09,577 2.33 times
track renewal
Railways. The government has made an
unprecedented increase in the railway budget. Newly added
The railway budget has now been increased railway tracks 14,985 31,180 2.08 times
(km)
eight times compared to 2014. Whether it is
doubling of railway lines, electrification, running Unmanned 8,948
new trains, construction of new routes, work is gates (2014) 0 (2019) 100%
reduction
being done on all these at a fast pace.
Indian Railways is actually the vehicle of Manned
the common Indian family. If parents, children, gates 1137 7075 6.21 times
abolished
grandparents, everyone has to travel together,
then the railway has been the biggest means Fog pass 90 19,742 219 times
of transport for people for decades. Should this safety device (2014)
vehicle of the common Indian family not have Recruitment
been modernized with time? Was it right to made in 4.11 lakh 5.02 lakh 20% More
leave the railways in such a bad state? But in the railways
last decade, keeping in mind the convenience
and safety of passengers, railways are being 14 times more lifts installed at railway stations
developed with a holistic approach. As a result 2004-14 2014-24 Comparison
of this, today when someone returns from
another city or a faraway place, the first thing 143 9
he is asked is how his journey was. That person Escalator times 1307
does not only tell about his travel experience, 14
he talks about the entire journey from leaving Lift 97 times 1357
home to reaching the destination. He tells how
much the railway stations have changed, he
tells how systematic the operation of trains has NEW IDENTITY OF RAILWAYS IN AMRIT KAAL
become. His experiences include the behavior of There are thousands of railway stations in the country that are
the TTE, the tablet in his hand instead of paper, from the era of slavery, in which there was not much change
security arrangements, quality of food, all kinds even after 75 years of independence. Developing India will
of things. Therefore, every railway employee has now have to modernize its railway stations as well. With this
to constantly remain sensitive for ease of travel, thought, for the first time, a campaign for the development and
to give a good experience to the passengers. modernization of railway stations has been started in India.

22 NEW INDIA SAMACHAR | February 1-15, 2025