100 days Action Program of Railways.

No.2019/E&R/10(10)/12

Sub: 100 Days Action Plan of Ministry of Railways

Please find enclosed a copy of the proposed 100 Days Action Plan of Ministry of Railways approved by Hon'ble Minister of Railways.

Immediate action may be taken to implement the items in the Action Plan by 31^stAugust, 2019.

DA: as above.

(V.K. Yadav)

CRB

18.06.2019

ME, MMM, MRS, MST, MS, MTR, MT & FC

DG/Pers., DG/RPF, DG/RHS

Secy.

Annexure

Ministry of Railways

Proposed 100 days’ Action Plan

1.          Wi-Fi for passengers:

Proposal - Within 100 days, to provide Wi-Fi at all 6,485 Railway Stations, excluding halt stations.

•            Currently, Wi-Fi facility exists at 1,603 stations.

•            At balance 4,882 stations, Wi-Fi works is being executed through various private andgovernment agencies.

2.          Rationalize Passenger Fares - reduce passenger subsidy:

Proposal - Within 100 days, launch massive awareness campaign - “Give it Up”, to reduce passenger subsidy on IR. While booking/ purchasing the Railway Tickets, the passengers would have the option to choose from the following options:

a)          Purchase ticket without subsidy

b)         Purchase ticket with subsidy

·         IR recovers only 53% of the cost incurred from passenger transport business.

·         Losses in the passenger segment will be reduced using subsidy to be received under ‘Give it Up’ scheme.

·         A massive awareness campaign for “Give it up” would be run by IR on Digital, TV, Print, Radio, Social media platforms and at Railway stations/Inside trains

3.          Eliminate all Manned Level crossings on Golden Quadrilateral and Diagonals of IR - 100% funding of ROB/RUBs by IR:

Proposal - Within 100 days, obtain approval for elimination of 2,568 Level Crossings on Golden Quadrilateral and Diagonals with assured 100% funding of Rs 50,000 crore from Government of India (Gol). To be implemented in the next 4 years i.e. by 2023 by Indian Railways.

·         In order to expedite the elimination of all level crossingson Golden Quadrilateraland Diagonals by constructing ROBs/RUBs, a framework for provision of ROB/RUB is proposed as under:

o   Sanction of ROBs/RUBs in single stage at the Central Government Level, treating the ROBs/RUBs preferably as National Projects, advising State Governments to ensure acquisition of 100% land for this purpose.

o    RUB with water drainage system will be preferred as it is shorter in route, lower in investments and can be implemented faster.

o   No funding is proposed from State Govt., with – 100% of the cost being borne by IR.

o   Required assured 100 % funding of Rs. 50,000 crore from GoI over the next 4 years.

o   In parallel, Railways to work on plan to eliminate level crossings at other traffic heavy sections also.

4.          Speed raising in New Delhi – Howrah and New Delhi – Mumbai routes to 160 kmph to reduce travel time to 12 hours:

Proposal- Within 100 days, obtain approval for projects for raising speed of New Delhi – Howrah route (1525 km) (Rs. 6684 crore) and New Delhi – Mumbai route (1483 km) (Rs. 6806 crore) to 160 kmph.

·         Enhancing the existing track infrastructure for Delhi – Mumbai and Delhi – Howrah routes which account for ~30% of passenger traffic & ~20% of freight traffic. The proposal is being sent for consideration by the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs for approval.

·         This will reduce journey time from existing 17 hours (New Delhi-Howrah) and 15.5hours (New Delhi-Mumbai) to 12 hours and 10 Hrs.

·         Implementation will be undertaken under a fixed time fixed cost EPC contract which shall reduce delays and cost overrun while also ensuring better coordination andeconomies of scale.

·         The Project is proposed to be implemented within 4 years from the date of approval and shall entail expenditure amounting to Rs 6,684 crore for Delhi-Howrah route and Rs 6,806 crore for Delhi-Mumbai route.

5.          Private passenger train operators to provide world class passenger services:

Proposal - Within 100 days, offer 2 trains to IRCTC for operation on haulage concepts with ticketing and on board services to be provided by IRCTC. Also, other routes which have low congestion and connect important tourist spots can be identified. Also, Expression of Interest (Eol) to identify private operators and finalize RFQ/RFP documents.

·         Within 100 days, IR will offer 2 trains to IRCTC to operate on haulage concept, with ticketing and on board services to be provided IRCTC. The trains will run on the important routes like Golden Quadrilateral and Diagonals and connecting major cities.

•            Custody of rakes would be transferred to IRCTC and it would in turn pay annual lease charges to IRFC.

•            For engaging private operators:

o   Trade Unions will be consulted.

o    IR would float the expression of interest document in the next 100 days for identifying Operators willing to participate in the bidding process for rights to run private passenger day / overnight train sets connecting important cities.

o   The routes/circuits where the willing parties would like to run the trains would also be explored in the process.

o   IR would also float RFQ/RFP in the next 100 days to initiate bidding.

6.          Corporatization of Production Units (PUs) ofRolling Stock

Proposal - Within 100 days, conduct a detailed study for corporatizing the Production Units.

·         There are 7 Production Units on Indian Railways Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW), Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW), Diesel Modernization Works (DMW, Patiala), Wheel & Axle Plant (Bangalore), Rail Coach Factory (RCF, Kapurthala) and Modern Coach Factory (MCF) Rae Bareli.

·         Hive off PUs including associated workshops into government owned new entity, “Indian Railway Rolling Stock Company” under the Ministry of Railways and drive technology partnership and modernization. Each PU with a CEO will function as an individual profit centre, reporting to the Board/ CMD of the new entity. This will enable wider market access including state-of-the-art technology (modern railway coaches), promote exports, and superior operational efficiency.

·         Railways to immediately start consultations with unions and come up with a Cabinet note for approval for at least one PU to begin with which can be MCF, Rai Bareli as it is a new PU. Subsequently, all other PUs can be taken over by the IR Rolling StockCompany in phased manner.

7.          Digital rail corridors along the network (10 MHz spectrum in the 700 MHz band for safety,security and passenger services)

Proposal - Within 100 days, obtain cabinet approval for provision of 10MHz spectrum in the 700 MHz frequency band for Indian Railways.

·         Availability of a frequent spectrum will enable Railways to adopt:

o   Mission Critical Passenger Safety Services.

o   Augment trains carrying capacity due to increase speed potential with less fixed distance between the trains. (Greater number of trains could be operated on the same network).

o   Improved operation during fog.

o   Improved security.

·         MOR has submitted a proposal for provision of 10 MHz spectrum in 700 MHzfrequency band at no cost to MOR

o   Approval is pending from Ministry of Communications. Currently, TRAI isexamining this issue.

8.          Advanced Signaling System:

Proposal - Within 100 days, start work on pilot projects for advance signaling system for safety and higher throughput.

·         Enhancing Safety: Advance signaling system will enhance safety by ensuring that technological aid to the loco pilot is provided to eliminate/considerably reduce accidents due to over shooting of signals and over speedingby Loco Pilot

·         Increase in line capacity: It will help in increasing line capacity on the IR network by 46 - 48% on absolute block system.

·         Improving Punctuality: The technological input will improve punctuality of trains by providing information to the loco pilots of the signals in advance, even in adverse conditions, like fog, sharp curves, tunnels etc.

9.          Station Redevelopment:

Proposal - In 100 days, process to be initiated for redevelopment of 50 stations.

10.      Restructuring of Indian Railways:

Proposal – Within 100 days, to prepare a blueprint for restructuring in Indian Railways at all levels including Railway Board.

·         Selection of DRMs, GMs and Board Members based on strong delivery performance and leadership qualities.

·         Rightsizing the Ministry of Railways.

11.      Technological revamp of IR Working:

Proposal – Within 100 days, to start a process of complete technological revamp of IR including process to roll out paperless Railways.

·         Initiate digitization of railway works.

·         Re-organize Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS).

·         Start the process for upgrading Passenger Reservation System to next-gen software.

·         Start the process for e-office for Railway Board, Zonal Railways and Divisions, to be implemented in 2 years.