WR show true spirit of work as worship in Corona lockdown

WR keeps the wheels running to ensure essential commodities available across India

As the country expanded its measures to contain the
deadly Coronavirus, Indian Railways had to stop its services in an iconic
decision to cancel passenger services till 31st March, 2020. The lifeline of
the country has come to a halt but not for long as only passenger carrying
trains have been stopped as a serious measure to fight the spread of
Coronavirus and goods trains are still running. The Railways might not be
running at present for the public, but it continues to work at large. The
operations & maintenance staff, engineering & medical staff and the RPF
are at the forefront delivering their duties with valour and dedication. 

The train never stops even in tough times:
Engineering, Operations & Maintenance

As stated by Shri Alok Kansal – General Manager of
Western Railway, despite the general perception among the people that the
Railways has stopped working, all other activities related to Railways continue
to run. Indian Railways is committed towards to maintain the supply of
essential commodities across all parts of country and is ensuring that the
movement of freight trains takes place so that coal reaches the power houses,
food grains are available in the granaries and all essential commodities are
available across India. Goods train carrying essential commodities are running
as per schedule. 

Indian Railways has also slashed the demurrage and
wharfage rates for goods and parcel at half of the prescribed rates till 31st
March, 2020. The validity of the rate of policies pertaining to goods/container
traffic has also been extended by one month that is up to 30th April, 2020. No
haulage charge shall be levied for movement of empty containers/empty flat
wagons from 24th March to 30th April, 2020. The free time for loading/unloading
of wagons and free time for removal of consignment from railway premises has
been increased to double of the prescribed free time till 31st March,
2020. 

Here are some of the efforts made by Western
Railway to keep the lifeline running even in tough times:

• A total of 130 rakes have been used to supply
essential commodities such as POL (Petroleum, Oil & Lubricants), salt,
cement, coal and containers were loaded amounting to 0.31 million tones. 

• During the lockdown on 22nd & 23rd March,
2020, 376 freight trains were interchanged with other railways including 177
trains handed over and 199 trains had taken over at different interchange
points.

• Despite shortage of labour, all efforts are being
made to unload important stock.

• Our dedicated staff which are attending their
duties are observing all precautions such as maintaining adequate distance and
using sanitizers while on work.

• During this period, 4 Millennium Parcel rakes of
Parcel Vans/Railway Milk Tankers (RMTs) have been sent to different parts of
the country to cope the demands of essential items:

– Ex Dahanu Road to Bhimsen : Dry Grass

– Ex Kakariya to Bhimsen near Jhansi : Amul milk
products

– Ex Palanpur to Hind Terminal (Palwal) – Liquid
milk

– Ex Karambeli to New Guwahati – General goods

Kansal further stated that for running these
trains, Operating and Maintenance staff needs to reach their workplaces.
Railway men have shown exceptional courage in these challenging times when
humanity is fighting COVID -19 and are performing their duties with utmost
sincerity. Approximately, 1200 Loco pilots and Assistant Loco Pilots have
worked various goods trains on 23rd March 2020 across various divisions namely
Mumbai, Vadodara, Ratlam, Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Bhavnagar divisions of Western
Railway. 

Crew booking lobbies, Loco Sheds, Loco Controllers
in various divisions are working tirelessly round the clock to ensure safe and
efficient train operations. More than 3000 gatemen are attending to their
duties at level crossing gates round the clock, approx. 1000 keymen are
checking every inch of the tracks on a daily basis, 50 plus teams are testing
every inch of rails in track for any internal defect and trackmen continue to
ensure safety of these tracks. 

Inspite of workshops being shut, Pratapnagar
workshop continues to repair defective Milk Tankers with skeleton staff to
ensure that there is no hindrance to the supply of milk to various parts of the
country. The emergency staff at various Wagon Depots is ensuring proper and
timely inspection & maintenance of all the freight wagon rakes. The ROH
(Routine Overhaul) activity at various depots are also being continued to
ensure that there never shortage in availability of freight stock. 

Besides their commitment & courage, safety
measures have been taken to ensure that the staff is able to carry out their
work in a safe and healthy environment. Measures such as, frequency of visual
inspections being held have been increased, keeping in mind general safety of
public and  to remove of any shortcoming, entire railway track is being
inspected by key men every day in the morning hours. Ultrasonic testing of
rails is being conducted to ascertain defects in rails that cannot be visually
examined. Welding of free joints, maintenance of points and crossings and
renewal of rails is being undertaken regularly. Gatekeepers have been
instructed to remain alert to ensure smooth passage of rail traffic from level
crossing and to notice defects in rolling stocks. Higher officials have taken
appropriate action and inspecting track regularly to ensure movement of
train. 

The Medical Department of Western Railway is
rigorously working in fighting the deadly pandemic and has taken various the
following measures/steps to counter the transmission of COVID-19:

• All emergency medical services are being
continued.

• All elective surgeries & evaluations have
been deferred.

• Awareness about preventing spread of COVID-19 and
the importance of the curfew is being explained to all general public.

• Isolation wards and quarantine beds have been
kept ready.

• All the Personal Protective Equipment has been
procured. 

• Additional ventilators are being procured and
doctors & staff are being trained for managing patient on ventilators.

• Doctors and staff have been trained for taking
care of COVID-19 infected cases in isolation.

• A mock drill for management of COVID cases has
been conducted.

• Availability of soap and sanitizers has been
ensured in Health Units and Hospitals.

• Sanitization with disinfectants and hypochlorite
solution is being done for High contact areas of hospitals and offices.

• Dedicated fever clinics are being run at
hospitals for triaging suspected cases.

• The Dept. is constantly in touch with public
health authorities for the latest guidelines & practices.

• Hydroxychloroquine prophylaxis will be given to
Doctors, paramedical staff and high risk contacts as per ICMR guidelines.

• Health & wellness of staff coming to render
essential services is being taken care of.

The Railway Protection Force (RPF) is not behind in
its efforts to combat the Coronavirus pandemic while ensuring safety measures
at stations and offices where work never ends. Various steps taken by Western
Railway’s RPF are as under:

• Handling panic/distress call related to COVID-19.

• Ensuring queue formation while maintaining
distance where required.

• Position of checking material for COVID-19 like
thermometer, clops, mask sanitizer, liquid shop collected over Western
Railway/RPF.

• Ensuring the smooth function of Zonal RPF control
room.

• Supplying sanitizers at shops in Headquarter/Division
offices.

• RPF staff has been deployed with proper
precaution and using the mask at railway station over Western Railway. 

• Vehicles ready in position for carrying essential
duties.

• RPF barracks being regularly checked 

• All field staff over Western Railway is updated
of the latest developments and actions to ensure safety and prevention from
Coronavirus. 

Across the nation, in a bid to reduce the hardships
& to protect the interest of contractual and outsourced staff engaged in
providing services such as On Board House Keeping services (OBHS) in trains,
sanitation, pantry cars, stations, offices and other commercial activities,
Ministry of Railways – has decided that such staff will be treated as “on duty”
and be paid accordingly during the period of suspension of Passenger services.
Ministry of Railway also stated that this move will benefit at least 50,000
contractual & outsourced employees involved in providing services all over
the Indian Railways. 

Western Railway displays true spirit of “Work is
Worship” even in the tough times of lockdown due to Coronavirus Pandemic and
continues to serve the nation by lending its hand through essential service, be
it freight traffic or medical facility. From security to engineering, Western
Railway is always geared to face whatever may be the situation.