The Hindu Business Line : East Coast Railway: Marching ahead

Heralding a ‘silent revolution’, the East Coast Railway (ECoR), the Bhubaneswar –headquartered zonal railway having its network spread all over Orissa and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh – is steadily making silent strides in all aspects of working and the progress is being achieved in both the freight and passenger segments, with equal focus on transport planning, safety and security.

Systems Improvement

ECoR has resolved to bring out at least one system improvement a day. This implies that there is a daily addition of input to systemic development. The thrust has been on developing centres of excellence. Considering the quality of manpower and other infrastructure at its disposal, there is no reason why those employed in ECoR cannot develop such centres.

Even the smallest unit is now striving to bring out one marked area of excellence, be it a coach repair unit or an engine overhauling workshop, a small garden at a railway station or the operation theatre at our railway hospital. Each unit is to be developed in a unique manner so as to reflect its excellence.

The priorities of the zone namely safety, security and punctuality, are in sync with the vision document and larger growth map charted by the Indian Railways. It is all geared to accomplish the mission set out by the Railway Minister, i.e., improved operational output to meet the target of 101 million tonnes loading in 2008-09.

Achievements of the Target

Till now this year, ECoR posted 8.5 per cent growth in originating loading over the same period last year.

However, the drop in iron ore exports somewhat affected the loading for the ports in November. ECoR, therefore, is tapping new traffic and trying to identify new loading centres.

On the passenger front, the cumulative traffic growth has been more that 10 per cent in volume and almost the same in terms of earnings. There has been an all-round growth in other areas also which have hitherto been called the sundry and miscellaneous areas of earnings, the non-traditional sources such as land licence fees, commercial publicity, parcel earnings, etc.

Iron Ore

The iron ore loading for export has shown a downward trend due to the slump in international demand for it. The steel industry is adversely affected due to global recession.

The ECoR officials have held many rounds of meetings with key players in the iron ore sector, including steel plants and exporters. Graded concession for iron ore traffic for export has been proposed. Also, there have been suggestions for some internal operational mechanisms so as not to lose the traffic. It is hoped that the efforts would bear fruit soon.

Other concerns in loading

Methodical analysis of the loading pattern has helped ECoR identify the areas of concern. During a recent visit to Visakhapatnam, the Railway Board Chairman, Mr K.C. Jena, saw the detailed analysis and noted the steps taken to enhance the operational efficiency on Kottavalasa-Kirandul Line, a critical section.

The zone is also giving priority to coal loading from Talcher coalfields, accounting for a major share of total freight loading. A new development which rings a positive tone is the start of train operations and loading in Gangavaram port near Visakhapatnam. A total of 80 N-Box rakes of imported coking coal were loaded in October 2008 and the plan is to load 95 in November.

The loading is for power plants in Raichur, Kondaplli and Ramagundam. New traffic, mostly finished steel products, to North India was recently added to the traffic portfolio.

People’s Expectations

The people of the areas served by ECoR and their elected representatives have high expectations of the Railways. ECoR has been able to build itself a brand equity in this short period of about five years.

So, the tasks are all the more important and sensitive in view of the tremendous public expectations. ECoR cannot afford to fail the aspirations of the people here.

Accent On Use of IT

Information Technology on ECoR has been put to efficient use. The e-payment system has been implemented at 10 locations for major customers. Passenger complaints are now registered on the Net and status of the same can be seen online. Provident Fund passbook computerised system for Railway employeeshas been introduced. The FOIS (freight operations information system) terminals are now available at 36 locations, giving great benefit to our customers. Rajbhasha version of the Web site has just been launched. Also, the material management information system (MMIS) to cater to stores matters has won acclaim. Personal review is done by the General Manager of IT-related projects now under way. Computerised ticketing of unreserved tickets will be available at all stations very soon.

System Improvement

ECoR lays emphasis on several aspects of its operation to achieve system improvement and these include emphasis on in-situ repairs to wagons on train itself instead of detaching them, leading to savings in time, removal of speed restrictions in a systemic manner to ensure seamless traffic (eight permanent speed restrictions removed through better input to track maintenance till October this year and closure of unmanned level crossing gates to ensure safety of road users so much so as many as 22 unmanned level crossings have been removed in the current year so far. Unused lines and small sidings are developed to goods loading/unloading lines for better traffic handling.

New Impetus To Passenger Marketing

Making efficient use of a software called Passenger Profile Management, ECoR is attaching extra coaches in trains in demand. Not only is the Railway benefited through extra revenues but also has it endeared itself to a huge number of people who would have had to forsake their journeys on account of remaining waitlisted. It is resolved not to keep any coach idle or under repair for long. Attachment of coaches does not lead to any extra cost. In the last 10 months, ECoR earned more than Rs12 crore through these extra attachments. And, the ultimate beneficiaries have been about three lakh passengers.

Major Development and Innovations

The construction of the second bridge over the river Mahanadi and the doubling of the track between Kendrapada Road and Cuttack have led to greater operational efficiency removing bottlenecks in seamless movement.

Bhubaneswar has been identified by the Railway Board as one of the handful few stations for being world class. A team of Chinese experts visited Bhubaneswar recently and examined in detail the steps to be taken for further action.

Electric locomotive trials for double-stack containers weresuccessfully conducted on the Jakhapura-Tomka section from July 7-9 by a team of experts from RDSO (Research, Development and Standards Organisation of the Indian Railways) and some experts from Japan.

Special trials with electric loco operations have been conducted for working empty rakes by keeping one or two locos in shutdown condition out of the total of three locos in the formation.

There has been no compromise on the sectional running time and has led to substantial energy savings of about 6 lakh KWH a month. These trials would now be broadbased considering the huge savings in monetary terms.

Priority To Passengers

The measures adopted in this regard include better amenities at stations and trains, renovation of retiring rooms and dormitories, waiting halls at important stations, clearance of wait-listed passengers by attachment of extra coaches in trains in demand, extension of services of UTS (unreserved computerised ticketing system) to smaller stations, introduction of on-board housekeeping service for two trains – Prashanti Express (Bhubaneswar-Bangalore Central) and Purushottam Express (Puri to New Delhi) on trial basis and upgradation of one rake of Hirakud express (Visakhapatnam – Nizamuddin) consisting of 17 coaches with upgraded features involving use of aesthetically appealing fittings in the interior and toilets of the coaches on trial basis.

Impediments

Yet, it will be wrong to presume everything is hunky-dory. Recent floods in north Bengal led to devastating consequences - washing away of a bridge between Kharagpur and Balasore, paralysing traffic for a long period.

The floods in coastal Orissa in September were very alarming. Fortunately, track and bridge engineers were able to restore normal train services within 24 hours when the road services were cut off for a week. The Railway’s role in flood relief was greatly appreciated.

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