OKHLA

             दक्षिण पश्चिम रेलवे / SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY               प्रेस विज्ञप्ति / Press Release No. 516 Dt: 26.01.2022

SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY HEADQUARTERS CELEBRATES 73^RD REPUBLIC DAY

Shri Sanjeev Kishore, General Manager, SWR unfurled the tricolor at Rail Soudha, the Head Quarters Office of South Western Railway, today (26.01.2022) o­n the occasion of the 73^rdRepublic Day Celebration.

Delivering address of the Republic day, he said that   due to  remarkable resilience and  unwavering  commitment displayed by  Railway even in year marked  by  pandemic, gross originating revenue in this financial year has increased 65% from the last year, to Rs. 4,385 Crore. SWR has carried 31.64 Million Tonnes of Freight - 20% more than corresponding period last year, during this financial year up to December 2021. 6 Newly manufactured BFNV rakes have been inducted for loading of Steel.  Two parcel cargo Express trains have commenced operations between Yesvantpur - Okhla (NR) and Vasco-da-gama - Azara (NFR).

He mentioned that SWR accords highest priority to Safety and is meticulously working o­n it.  Security, improved services to Passengers, enhanced Freight loading and Infrastructure development are the other key thrust areas of the zone.   Punctuality performance of SWR has been impressive during this year and SWR is currently placed 3rd in Indian Railways o­n punctuality front.  Two Vistadome coaches by Express trains between Yesvantpur - Karwar Tri - Weekly and Yesvantpur - Mangaluru Weekly and o­ne Vistadome Coach by Yesvantpur - Shivamogga Town daily Intercity Express have been introduced this year. He also mentioned that under the Digital India initiative of Hon’ble PM, 450 nos. of Point of Sale machines are being used to improve ease of transactions and facilitate cashless, contactless transactions. 83 new Automatic Ticket Vending Machines have been commissioned over South Western Railway.

He informed that SWR has been able to usher in an extraordinary growth in development of infrastructure, during the year 2021, 169 Km of doubling has been commissioned. Major works of new coaching terminal at Sir M Visvesvaraya, Bengaluru with Airport type of facilities and yard remodelling at SSS Hubballi have been completed.  SWR has electrified 232 Route Kilometres o­n its network in this financial year and is aiming to complete electrification of another 200 + Route Kilometres in next two months.  Electronic Interlocking has been commissioned at 10 stations to improve the reliability of signalling. Capital Expenditure of the zone in this year is 57% more than that of last year indicating the thrust o­n strengthening of our Network.

He further said that towards Mission Raftaar, sectional speed has been raised for over a length of 317 Km in this year, resulting in saving of running time of nearly 40 minutes.  To improve safety, 147 Km of Complete Track Renewal has been completed.  Permanent Speed Restrictions have been removed / relaxed at 18 locations.  5 Road Over Bridges and 12 Road Under Bridge / Subways have been constructed during this financial year.  11 manned LC gates have been closed so far this year.  As a result of all these inputs, 32 Express/Passenger trains have been speeded up. Average speed of Goods trains over SWR has nearly doubled in last two years and SWR presently is o­ne of the few zones that is consistently crossing average speed of 50 Kmph for freight trains. He told further that the augmentation of passenger amenities has been a mission area - 14 foot over bridges and 21 high level platforms have been completed. Lifts have been commissioned at 4 stations and Digital Passenger Announcement systems have been provided at 24 stations. Video Surveillance System has been commissioned at 5 stations with a view to improve Passenger security over the zone.

He praised the utmost dedication displayed by medical fraternity of SWR with whose efforts all the 300 beds of Railway hospitals have been converted to piped oxygenated beds, PSA Oxygen Generator plants of 500 LPM capacity have been commissioned in all the Railway hospitals.  All ICU beds have been provided with Ventilator support. He also praised the Railway Protection Force of SWR who is actively working towards not o­nly curbing illegal activities of touting, transportation of drugs etc.  but also, in rescuing children and passengers under the Operation Nanhe Farishte and Jeevan Rakshak respectively.

Shri Kishore re-committed himself and his team to ensure very high quality of service to passengers and in implementing infrastructure projects of SWR at a quick pace. He said Periodic Overhauling of LHB coaches has commenced in Hubballi workshop, Hubballi & Mysuru workshops have developed o­ne each prototype coach of NMGHS and have also turned out total 37 coaches of ICF design for utilization in Kisan specials. Skill development training has been imparted to 264 candidates under Rail Kaushal Vikas Yojana. Highest ever o­ne day scrap sale of Rs.6.68 Cr in the history of SWR has been achieved o­n 29th December 2021, zone is meticulously working to achieve highest annual scrap sale of Rs.150 Cr. in this year.  Procurement through Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has almost tripled in the current financial year due to the special efforts put in and is likely to cross Rs.100 Cr He added.

He re-affirmed the commitment of SWR towards environmental conservation, He said that the Massive plantation drive especially of fruit bearing varieties has been taken up in monsoon season and nearly 70 thousand trees have been planted across SWR. South Western Railway has received National Energy Conservation Award from Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Ministry of Power, in the Zonal Railways sector, for the Year 2021. Solid Waste Management facility has been set up in Mysuru. Segregation of waste for sustainable Environment is being taken up in colonies at Hubballi by SWRWWO. Our prime asset is motivated and committed workforce. Human Resource Management System has been implemented in units over SWR. 96.64% of our staff are covered with two doses of vaccination and 99.58% with o­ne dose of vaccination for COVID.

Shri Prashant Kumar Mishra, Additional General Manager / SWR; Shri Arvind Malkhede, Divisional Railway Manager, Hubballi; Shri Alok Kumar, Inspector General Cum – Principal Chief Security Commissioner/SWR; Shri Alok Kumar, Principal Chief Personnel Officer/SWR,  Principal head of departments of South Western Railway, other officers and staffs were present.

Later Dr. Vandana Srivastava, President South Western Railway Women’s Welfare Organization unfurled the tricolor at Railway High School.

85 numbers of grocery kits consisting rice dal oil, aata etc. have been distributed by SWRWWO to the housekeeping staff involved in cleaning, security and gardening in Rail Soudha & Railway colonies.

A water purifier donated by SWRWWO, has been provided at Railway Hospital, Hubballi. Tiffin boxes to all the patients in Railway Hospital were also given by SWRWWO.

Smt. Bharti Mishra Vice -President South Western Railway Women’s Welfare Organization & other members of SWRWWO were present.

Number of participants in the Republic day Programme has been restricted in backdrop of   COVID. COVID appropriate behaviour was followed by the participants

                                              E. Vijaya

                                                                                    Chief Public Relations Officer                                                                                                 South Western Railway, Hubballi 

Oxygen Expresses deliver nearly 20500 MT of LMO to the southern states of the country

477 Oxygen Expresses complete Oxygen deliveries across the country

Oxygen Expresses transported 1990 tankers of LMO so far and bring relief to 15 States

Oxygen Expresses deliver more than 3900, 4700, 4800 and 6500 MT of LMO in the state of Telangana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu respectively

614 MT of Oxygen has been offloaded in Maharashtra, nearly 3797 MT in Uttar Pradesh, 656 MT in Madhya Pradesh, 5863 MT in Delhi, 2354 MT in Haryana, 98 MT in Rajasthan, 4697 MT in Karnataka, 320 MT in Uttarakhand, 6551 MT in Tamil Nadu, 4824 MT in Andhra Pradesh, 225 MT in Punjab, 513 MT in Kerala, 3909 MT in Telangana, 38 MT in Jharkhand and 560 MT in Assam

Overcoming all hurdles and finding new solutions, Indian Railways is continuing its journey of bringing relief by delivering Liquid Medical Oxygen(LMO) to various states across the country.

Oxygen Expresses crossed the milestone of 35000 MT of LMO delivery in service to the Nation.

So far, Indian Railways has delivered more than 35018 MT of LMO in more than 1990 tankers to various states across the country.

It may be noted that 477 Oxygen Expresses have completed their journey so far and brought relief to various States.

Oxygen Expresses delivered nearly 20500 MT of LMO to the southern states of the country.

Till now, Oxygen Expresses delivered more than 3900, 4700, 4800 and 6500 MT of LMO in the state of Telangana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu respectively

Till the time of this release, 6 loaded Oxygen Express o­n run with more than 522 MT of LMO in 28 tankers.

It is worth mentioning that Oxygen Expresses started their deliveries 67 days back o­n 24th April in Maharashtra with a load of 126 MT.

It is Indian Railways endeavour to deliver as much LMO as possible in the shortest time possible to the requesting states.

Oxygen relief by Oxygen Expresses reached out to 15 states namely Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Telangana, Punjab, Kerala, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Assam.

Till the time of this release, 614 MT of Oxygen has been offloaded in Maharashtra, nearly 3797 MT in Uttar Pradesh, 656 MT in Madhya Pradesh, 5863 MT in Delhi, 2354 MT in Haryana, 98 MT in Rajasthan, 4697 MT in Karnataka, 320 MT in Uttarakhand, 6551 MT in Tamil Nadu, 4824 MT in

Andhra Pradesh, 225 MT in Punjab, 513 MT in Kerala, 3909 MT in Telangana, 38 MT in Jharkhand and 560 MT in Assam.

Till now Oxygen Expresses offloaded LMO in around 39 cities/towns in 15 states across the country namely Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur, Bareilly, Gorakhpur & Agra in Uttar Pradesh, Sagar, Jabalpur, Katni & Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, Nagpur, Nashik, Pune, Mumbai & Solapur in Maharashtra, Hyderabad in Telangana, Faridabad & Gurugram in Haryana, Tuglakabad, Delhi Cantt & Okhla in Delhi, Kota & Kanakpara in Rajasthan, Bengaluru in Karnataka, Dehradun in Uttarakhand, Nellore, Guntur, Tadipatri & Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Ernakulam in Kerala, Tiruvallur, Chennai, Tuticorin, Coimbatore & Madurai in Tamil Nadu, Bhatinda & Phillaur in Punjab, Kamrup in Assam and Ranchi in Jharkhand.

Indian Railways has mapped different routes with Oxygen supply locations and keeps itself ready with any emerging need of the States. States provide tankers to the Indian Railways for bringing LMO.

Criss crossing the country, Indian Railways is picking up oxygen from places like Hapa , Baroda, Mundra in the West and Rourkela, Durgapur, Tatanagar, Angul in the East and then delivering it to States of Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Telangana, Punjab, Kerala, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh & Assam in complex operational route planning scenarios.

In order to ensure that Oxygen relief reaches in the fastest time possible, Railways is creating new standards and unprecedented benchmarks in running of Oxygen Express Freight Trains. The average speed of these critical Freight trains is way above 55 in most cases over long distances. Running o­n high priority Green Corridor, with a highest sense of urgency, operational teams of various zones are working round the clock in most challenging circumstances to ensure that Oxygen reaches in fastest possible time frame. Technical stoppages have been reduced to 1 minute for crew changes over different sections.

Tracks are kept open and high alertness is maintained to ensure that Oxygen Express keeps zipping through.

All this is done in a manner that speed of other Freight Operation doesn't get reduced as well.

Running of new Oxygen is a very dynamic exercise and figures keep getting updated all the time. More loaded Oxygen Expresses are expected to start their journeys later in the night.