Railway Board chairman calls on Railways to provide service with a smile

Railway Board Chairman Arunendra Kumar has called upon all railwaymen to focus on providing railway customers a pleasant experience in both passenger and freight segments.

In a New Year greeting message sent to all fellow railway colleagues, Kumar pointed out that service with a smile was never so relevant as it is today.

Kumar also said that there is a need to earnestly endeavour to meet the Railways motto of "No loss of life" in train operations.

He said that the railways has seen a growth of 8.8 per cent in freight earnings and 18 per cent in passenger earnings over the corresponding period of the previous year.

"Our customer segments cut across al strata of society. The challenge before us is to meet the rising passenger expectations in the face of financial constraints. More is expected of us. The efficiency in work must go hand in hand with effectiveness. Often, we are caught up in routine schedules and as a result, ignore the larger picture. It is important to keep the vision in mind," Kumar said.

"Our focus and mission is clear: the earnings of Indian Railways have to go up. Expenses need to be contained. We need to prioritise. Our passengers should get value for money. Our resources are limited and hence the need for judicious allocation of resources. We need to deliver quality and on time," he added.

"We need innovative financing models. We need to bring in investments by demonstrating success in our PPP initiatives and in our flagship Dedicated Freight Corridor Project. We ought to demonstrate transparency in our dealings," Kumar said further.