Western Railway celebrates 69th Foundation Day on 5th November, 2019

Plays a vital role in steering ahead the economic growth of Western India

Western
Railway celebrates 69th Foundation Day on 5th November, 2019 organising various
activities at every division and stations. It Plays a vital role in steering
ahead the economic growth of Western India and holds various records in its
kitty of being a PIONEER. 

Right
from the introduction of world’s 1st ladies special train in May, 1992 to
introduction of India’s 1st fully air-conditioned suburban train in December
2017. From India’s first railway station with Green Building Certification from
the date of inception coming up at Kevadiya – the railhead connecting Statue of
Unity to setting up India’s first National Rail and Transportation Institute
(NRTI) at Vadodara. 

W. Rly
has time and again proved its mettle, through its long journey, ever since its
birth in the British era in 1850s. After making its mark, both nationally and
internationally through various important achievements, Western Railway is all
geared to celebrate its 69th Foundation Day on 5th November, 2019. Serving the
financial capital of the country i.e. Mumbai  along with western parts of
the country, as a strong medium of public transport, Western Railway has
benefited the Nation not only in its financial and industrial development but
also has played a vital role in national integration. 

Through
Western Railway’s rail services and facilities, it has connected many places
and hearts which has brought people closer in social togetherness and created a
sense of national integrity among all. On its 69th Foundation Day, it becomes
pertinent to look in retrospect the many achievements and milestones Western
Railway has achieved in all these years in boosting the country’s economy.

According
to a press release issued by WR CPRO Ravinder Bhakar, W. Rly has achieved many
milestones, since its humble beginning. Western Railway in its present form
came into existence on 5th November, 1951 by the merger of its forerunner, the
erstwhile Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway (BB&CI), with other
State Railways viz, Saurashtra, Rajputana and Jaipur. The BB&CI Railway was
inaugurated in 1855, starting with the construction of a 29 mile broad gauge
track from Ankleshwar to Utran in Gujarat state on the West Coast with Surat as
its headquarters then. In the year 1863, it was shifted to Bombay. 

Earlier,
the proposal to lay a new line upto Bombay was considered unnecessary
initially. It was Mount Stuart Elphinstone, the Governor of Bombay who put
forward this case as beneficial to the Empire. He pointed out that the new line
would connect Bombay with the rich Gujarat province and it was found worthwhile
to ship cotton from Bombay. WR has made a valuable contribution in the fast
socio-economic and overall development of Bombay (Mumbai), Gujarat and the
western regions of the country. 

Various
projects to improve the connectivity and to provide faster services to the
passengers such as the work of introducing semi high speed and high speed
trains are in the pipeline. Some of the prestigious trains including Mahamana
Express, Humsafar Express, Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express, Duronto Express
and AC Double Decker Express trains are run from Western Railway. Presently, W.
Rly operates 324 Mail / Express trains, 310 Passengers and one of the largest
suburban networks in the world, serving 37 stations carrying 3.5 million
commuters (approx.) every day with 1367 train services in Mumbai alone. Hence,
it is aptly called the lifeline of Mumbai Metropolis. 

Western
Railway has grown with the city of Mumbai and Mumbai city has grown with Western
Railway and has been the cynosure of the development of the city of Mumbai. The
Mumbai Suburban System of Western Railway extends from Churchgate to Dahanu
Road. The present jurisdiction of Western Railway is in 6 divisions of Mumbai
Central, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Ratlam with a total rail
network of 6519.36 route kms.

Bhakar
further stated that Western Railway is always enroute towards progress and
development to facilitate passengers in fresh new ways. It is leaving no stone
unturned to ensure a pleasant travelling experience its valuable passengers
while at station and also in train. Under the leadership of A. K. Gupta –
General Manager of W. Rly, many infrastructural works like New lines, Doubling,
Gauge Conversion, Station redevelopment, Dedicated Freight Corridor,
electrification work were accorded priority and has been completed on war
footing as well as are in progress across all divisions. 

The
ambitious project and dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of running the
Bullet train in India is taking shape step by step and will be a reality in the
next couple of years. The Mumbai – Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor (MAHSRC)
project will take travelling experience altogether to another level. The
opening of 307 km electrified double line linking Udhna in Surat district of
Gujarat to Jalgaon district in North Maharashtra was commissioned on 22nd July,
2018 has provided a fillip to growth in areas falling under this rail section
which was neglected since years. This newly opened line has adding a new
chapter in the series of accomplishments, thereby contributing to the basic
infrastructure of Western Railway. 

The
commissioning of the doubling and electrification of Udhna – Jalgaon section
has benefitted passengers, as well as freight at a large scale. A new Broad
gauge line between Chhota Udepur in Gujarat and Dhar in Madhya Pradesh is under
progress wherein a section of 48.55 kms of new line upto Alirajpur has been
completed and has been opened for movement of passenger and goods trains. With
this, areas upto Alirajpur on this line will get connected with Vadodara
thereby with Mumbai – Ahmedabad/Delhi main line. It will provide impetus to the
socio economic development of the tribal areas around Alirajpur. Also, Mahesana
– Vadnagar (33.43 kms) work has been completed and passenger trains services
commenced over these sections. People from this area will get access to better
job and education opportunities due to fast & convenient mode of transport
upto Vadodara and further. 

Other
projects commissioned includes the Patan – Bhildi new line which provides
shortest route to various destinations of North West Rly and Northern Rly, the
Ahmedabad and Himmatnagar  section (87.5 kms),  which is part of
Ahmedabad – Himmatnagar – Udaipur Gauge conversion work has been successfully
completed. The agricultural production will also be benefitted with faster
movement of produce to the markets all over India. The production of world
famous mango Noor Jahan of Alirajpur will also get a boost due to better reach
to markets and consumers. These projects will provide better connectivity to
the isolated places of the region but it will also improve the local economy
and socio-economic development of the surrounding areas.

Bhakar
informed that India is home to the world’s tallest statue – the Statue of Unity
and it is already garnering a huge fan base with thousands of tourists
thronging this iconic monument and enjoy the scenic and panaromic beauty of the
Narmada Valley, not only from India but across the world. Indian Railways has
taken one step ahead to put this engineering marvel on the railmap of India by
constructing a new world class and ultra modern railway station at Kevadiya.
The proposed Kevadiya railway station is located just 5 Km from the ‘Statue of
Unity’ and will cater as an easy access railhead point for the tourists
visiting this iconic statue. 

Continuing
with several projects at hand, Western Railway developed Chhayapuri station
which was a flag station near Vadodara Junction as a new satellite station to
serve as an additional station for Vadodara city for trains running on
Ahmedabad – Ratlam route and ease the congestion of Vadodara station.
Chhayapuri station will become fully operational from 17th December, 2019
onwards and to begin with Western Railway has decided to divert 13 important
trains which will be given stoppage at Chhayapuri station. 

Other
major infrastructural project in the pipeline is the work of complete
overhauling and re-development of Surat station into a Multi – Modal
Transportation Hub (MMTH) and the redevelopment of Gandhinagar Capital station
as a world class station along with development of a 300 room hotel in the air
space of the station.  Western Railway also boasts of the “National Rail
and Transportation Institute” – India’s first Deemed to be Rail University
under the de novo category. 

The idea
of setting up the Rail and Transportation University was conceptualized by PM
Narendra Modi and spearheaded by Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal. This vision
became a reality on 5th of September, 2018 on the auspicious occasion of
Teacher’s Day, when the National Rail and Transportation Institute (NRTI)
opened its doors to the first batch of 103 students from across 20 states of
India, in two fully-residential undergraduate courses. This institution focuses
on imparting transport related education, multi-disciplinary research and
training and to create a resource pool of best-in-class professionals for the
railway and transportation sector. 

Bhakar
stated that Western Railway is aligning itself to the Railway Board directives
for transparency, efficiency and ease of doing business. UTS App has been
launched for the convenience of passengers of not having to visit the Ticket
booking counter and also a major thrust to Digital India initiatives. “RAIL
MADAD” a new portal has been introduced for redressal of Complaints. ‘NO BILL
NO PAYMENT’ campaign has been undertaken on a massive scale to ensure issuance
of bills to passengers by all entities in Railways thereby promoting
transparency. 

Inorder
to provide an enhanced travelling experience to our valued passengers, W. Rly
has turned out 19 UTKRISHT rakes which is the highest number in Indian Railways
during the year 2018-19. Under Project “SWARN”, 8 Rakes of Rajdhani
Express and Shatabdi Express were upgraded. Also, one “ANUBHUTI COACH” with
aircraft like features has been attached to Shatabdi Express. 

Western
Railway takes pride in its rich legacy and takes every step to conserve this
treasure trove through its various rail heritage museums, be it, heritage
buildings, yesteryear locomotives, artifacts and others. In this direction, W.
Rly declared the 150 year old meter gauge line between Patalpani & Kalakund
as Heritage section and introduced a special heritage train between Patalpani
and Kalakund stations. This heritage train has become an instant hit amongst
both, the national as well as international tourists.

Similarly,
W. Rly is pursuing various measures for promotion of green energy and cleaner
enviornment. Various measures have been adopted in this direction to contribute
for a cleaner and sustainable public transportation without any adverse impact
on environment. Solar Panels, Bottle Crushing Machines, Solid Waste Management
Plants, Provision of LED lights have been set up across W. Rly in
accomplishment of this initiative. The Swachh Rail, Swachh Bharat Mission also
goes hand in hand with the above intiative. 374 stations are being cleaned on
contract basis, out of which, 128 stations are under mechanized cleaning and
246 stations are under semi mechanised/manual cleaning and rest are cleaned
departmentally. Beautification of 64 stations of W. Rly has been done through
participation of local artist, volunteers or private groups. 

On its
foundation day Western Railway always believed in “Serving Customers with a
Smile” and will always stay true to its motto by putting into practice the
three fundamental principles of Safety, Service and Speed in all its endeavours
in the future years to come.