Railway Budget's 110 commitments fulfilled: Suresh Prabhu

Harping on the railways' commitment towards better passenger services, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Friday said that 110 Railway Budget commitments have been fulfilled by the ministry.

Prabhu, who flagged off several new trains from the Howrah station, also said the much delayed East-West Metro Railway project would be completed in the next two and a half years.

"As a part of offering better customer service, we have been working on a few initiatives. There were many initiatives taken and I am very happy to say that at least 110 of Budget commitments have been fulfilled," Prabhu told the media persons.

The minister said one of the areas where the railways made progress was ticketing by improving the website of the IRCTC for online bookings, including for daily and monthly tickets.

He also also stressed on the cleanliness drive in the trains and added that mechanised laundries have helped immensely.

"With collaboration, we can make railways more clean. We have also started mechanised laundries wherever possible. It has helped us immensely in the cleaning process. And our idea is to have more of such laundries," the minister said.

"We have also started on-board cleanliness services. If you feel your place is unclean, you have to send us a SMS and the railway staff will be there in sometime to clean it up," he added.

Prabhu also said new coaches are being brought in to replace the old ones and it would change the travelling experience.

"Other issues that people face are about the train's interiors. It has not undergone change for some time. The new coaches that have come are really far superior to the ones we have. You will feel like air travel while travelling in a train," he said.

"I know, it is a small beginning as there are thousands of coaches and changing all of them would need some time and money," the minister said.

"If someone wants to have rasogolla in Delhi, it will be delivered to him from the counter. Customers have been, therefore, given a choice about the type of food they want," he added.