The passenger earnings of Salem Railway Division has gone up by four per cent – from Rs. 459 crore to Rs. 477 crore - during last fiscal despite the tight economic trend witnessed across the country, said Shubhranshu, Divisional Railway Manager, here on Monday.
The ticket checking earnings have seen a rise of 10.5 per cent from Rs.4.49 crore to Rs.4.96 crore, other coaching earnings by 11.04 per cent from Rs.36.3 crore to Rs.40.3 crore, publicity earnings by 24 per cent from Rs.4.63 crore to Rs.5.77 crore, Mr. Shubhranshu said while speaking at the Railway Week celebrations here.
The catering earnings have gone up by 34 per cent and the parking fees by 21 per cent.
Due to tight control on expenditures, Salem division was able to bring down the expenses by 10 per cent i.e. from Rs.990 crore to Rs.890 crore.
A new modern station building is coming up at Periyanaickenpalayam Railway Station near Coimbatore, In the near future, 40 drinking water vending plants will be installed in six major stations, he said.
Mr. Shubhranshu said that Salem division has effectively redressed the passenger grievances through multi-modal contacts such as telephone, Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp, e-mail, grievance web portal. The commuters from all over the country have expressed their satisfaction in the swift redress of their grievances by Salem division authorities.
With the cooperation of passengers and campaign under Swachch Bharat Mission with the assistance from, NGOs, students, three A category stations have found place in the top 20 cleanest stations in the nation viz. Salem, Erode, and Mettupalayam. Salem ranked the 7{+t}{+h}cleanest ‘A’ category station and Coimbatore the 13{+t}{+h}cleanest ‘A1’ category station all over India, he added.
On the safety front, Mr. Shubhranshu, said that five unmanned level crossings were closed last year, 10 are awaiting sanction from Commissioner for Railway Safety for their elimination. As many as 20 more unmanned level crossings will be eliminated shortly, he said.
Due to the efficient functioning of personnel branch, Salem division bagged both ‘personnel efficiency shield’ and the ‘manpower planning shield’ in the Southern Railway, he added.
A total of 14 shields were presented to various railway stations and branches in Salem division for the best maintenance and safest section.
Salem Railway Junction received the shield for the best maintained major station and Mohanur was adjudged as the best maintained minor station.
K. Murugesan, Station Manager, Salem, and Vijayakumar, Station Master, Mohanur, received the shields from Mr. Shubhranshu.
In addition, the DRM also presented merit certificates, medals and cash awards to 240 employees including four officers in recognition of their outstanding service.
