South Central Railway General Manager Vinod Kumar Yadav said that safety was a priority and topmost on his list of focus areas, going forward.
“There cannot be a sphere of activity for the railways than safety, considering that it is such a large mover of men and material. All out efforts are in the direction of achieving zero accidents,” he said, at his first press conference after assuming charge of the Zone on January 10.
Addressing press persons under a tent erected at Cherlapalli railway station on Tuesday, he said next on his list came punctuality, improving average speeds of passenger and goods trains by removing bottlenecks on the SCR system, better maintenance of assets that include tracks, rolling stock (wagons and coaches) and overhead equipment.
Staff welfare too was a core area and Mr. Yadav said he had devised a system where a staff member could directly approach him if his grievance was not looked into, for over a “It is important for us to keep the interests of our staff in mind, take care of them and keep their morale high,” he said.
Passenger amenities was an area that needed constant monitoring. It is important for us to maintain high levels of comfort and hygiene on our coaches, apart from facilities at railway stations, he explained, adding that it was something that also saw constant improvement.
Other priorities included taking the work of developing Cherlapalli as a terminal to decongest Secunderabad by having six new platforms and other related works, including a maintenance set-up, all at a cost of ₹ 80 crore. “We have 50 acres of land and have asked the State government for 150 acres more. Three days ago, I met Chief Secretary S.P. Singh and he promised to consider our request,” he said.
Another important area for SCR, he said, was infrastructure and in particular, completing the last-mile projects that include new lines on the Nizamabad-Murthed, Mettampalli-Janpahad sections, apart from doubling on Parbhani-Mirthal (Maharashtra) and tripling of Mancherial-Peddampet sections. All of these would be commissioned one by one, he said.
