Railway officials asked to travel in general class, take passengers feedback

Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi Tuesday asked officials to travel in all classes, including the general class coaches, and take passenger feedback with an aim to improve cleanliness, hygiene and other services.

The direction came during a review meeting chaired by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and attended by General Managers (GMs) of Zonal Railways/Production Units, Divisional Railway Managers (DRMs) through video-conference.

During the meeting, Angadi asked the officials to ensure that the Railways reaches to the poorest of the poor.

"Most of the trains have vestibules, so travel in all classes, including the general class. See if the toilets and coaches are clean. Speak with the passengers, get feedback. Submit reports so that corrective measures can be taken. Safety, cleanliness and hygiene in railways should continue to be key focus areas," the MoS told them.

His suggestion follows Chairman Railway Board Vinod Kumar Yadav's instructions to officials Monday to travel by trains on official trips.

Goyal also called upon the Zonal Railway officials to work as a team to achieve ambitious targets set by Railway Board.

Yadav asked the GMs to closely monitor projects related to safety in train operations.

He emphasized on elimination of Manned Level crossings and construction of Road over Bridge (RoBs)/Road Under Bridges (RuBs) at a swift pace in each zone. In the last two months, 229 MLCs have been eliminated as compared to 65 in 2018-19, according to official data.

Yadav also directed GMs to enhance their efforts to further improve punctuality.

He stressed that Zonal Railways should plan safety and infrastructure works in a coordinated manner so that contiguous works are taken up together on a particular date or period so that the adverse impact on punctuality be mitigated.