General Manager, Northern Railway Shri S.K. Budhalakoti today released the new train time-table of Northern Railway effective from 1st July 2011 at a simple ceremony held at Northern Railway’s Officers Club, State Entry Road, New Delhi. Speaking to the press on the occasion, Shri Budhalakoti stated that Northern Railway is continuously using the latest technology to make traveling more comfortable for rail passengers. NR has provided TV monitors in Kalka Shatabdi as a pilot project, also ATVMs, Touch Screen Kiosk have been provided at the stations. New Luggage Trolley and Battery Operated Vehicles for senior citizens, women and children have been introduced at New Delhi station. Arrangements have been made to provide clean & hygienic bed rolls to the passengers in the trains. He drew attention to the focused measures taken in the area of passengers grievances and stated that a centralized SMS based Complaint Monitoring System has been implemented, wherein immediate action is taken to rectify the deficiencies. This has resulted in sharp decline in complaints being received. In addition , True LED Boards, Display of reservation charts on LCDs and Centralized Enquiry System have been started at important stations .
The salient features of the New Time Table include the introduction of 24 new trains which include 2 Duronto, 1 Double Decker, 1 Shatabdi, 1 Vivek Express, 1 Kavi Guru Express, 1 Rajya Rani Express, 13 Express and 4 Passenger Trains. Increase in frequency of 5 trains and the route of 15 trains have been extended for greater connectivity.
Speaking on the occasion, the General Manager lauded the various achievements of the zone in core functional areas. He added that with total originating earnings of Rs.10997.02 crore, Northern Railway ended 2010-11 on a buoyant note, registering nearly 12% increase. It has been able to load 46.85 MT, recording 3.5% increase over the previous year’s record. Northern Railway is putting all out efforts to improve its infrastructure. Last year 94.22 Kms of railway lines were completed which include Abohar-Fazilka, Taran Taran – Goindwal and Jhajhar – Rohtak sections.
