PARLIAMENT QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS BY MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND
ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)
08.08.2024
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RAPID RAIL IN WEST BENGAL
QUESTION:
- The details regarding commencement of the rapid rail operations;
- The details of proposed routes being built for the rapid rail system particularly in West Bengal;
- The details of the number of Freight Corridors being built in the country and the routes being covered particularly in West Bengal; and
- The details of the benefits of Freight Corridors to the economy?
ANSWER
(a) to (d): The Railway projects are surveyed/sanctioned/executed Zonal Railway-wise and not State-wise/Constituency-wise as the Railway projects may span across State boundaries. However, as on 01.04.2024, 43 projects (13 New Lines, 04 Gauge Conversions and 26 Doubling) comprising of total length of 4479 Km, costing Rs.60,168 crore are falling fully/partly in the State of West Bengal including those which are in planning/approval/construction stage, out of which, 1655 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs.20,434 crore has been incurred upto March, 2024.
Railway Infrastructure Projects falling fully/partly in the State of West Bengal are covered under East Central Railway (ECR), Eastern Railway (ER), South Eastern Railway (SER) and Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) Zones of IndianRailways.
Average annual Budget allocation for Infrastructure and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of West Bengal is as under:-
| Year | Budget Outlay | % change w.r.t. avg. annual
allocation of 2009-14 |
| 2009-14 | ¥4380 Cr./Yr | – |
| 2023-24 | ¥11790 Cr. | 169% more |
Though fund allocation has increased manifold (more than 2.6 times) but pace of execution of important infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the State of West Bengal is held up due to delay in land acquisition and only about 580 Ha land has been acquired out of total requirement of about 1981 Ha. Railway had initiated efforts for acquisition of land and has paid ¥283 Crore to Government of West Bengal for land acquisition but could not succeed in acquiring land for projects.
- Further, New Delhi-Howrah route is planned for 160 kmph which includes about 230 km from Barakar to Howrah in WestBengal.
Ministry of Railways is executing the work of construction of two dedicated freight corridors namely Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) consisting of 1337 km from Ludhiana to Sonnagar and Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) consisting of 1506 km from JNPT to Dadri. Out of 2843 km, 2741 km has been commissioned. Further, 3rd and 4th line is sanctioned from Sonnagar to Andal of 374 km route length (including 39.75 km from Andal to Barakar in West Bengal).
The construction of Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) will facilitate faster access to Northern hinterland from Western Ports and will also lead to development of new industrial hubs and Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals. DFC will offer higher transport output in the country with reduced transit time. This would also improve the supply chain for the industries/logistics players located in DFC’s catchment areas of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal leading to growth of Export and Import (EXIM) traffic as well and are also expected to help in reducing the carbon emissions in the country.
ONE STATION ONE PRODUCT
QUESTION
- The details on the progress of the ‘One Station One Product’ initiative in Indian railways and the impact it has had on local artisans and small- scale industries;
- The measures taken to promote and market the unique products associated with each railway station under the ‘One Station One Product’ scheme, thereby boosting local economies and if so, the details thereof; and
- The details of the average monthly income of ‘One station One product’ outlets?
ANSWER
(a) to (c): The ‘One Station One Product’ scheme of Indian Railways aims to provide enhanced opportunities to local artisans, potters, weavers, craftsmen etc., for showcasing and selling indigenous /local products through provision of sales outlets at Railway Stations across the country.
The scheme was launched on 25.03.2022. Salient features of the scheme are as under:
Indian Railways provides uniquely designed sales outlets for showcasing, selling and giving high visibility to indigenous /local products.
The product categories are indigenous/ local to that place and include artefacts; handicrafts; textiles and handlooms; toys; leather products; traditional appliances /instruments; garments; gems and jewellery; processed, semi processed and other food products indigenously made/ grown in the area.
Individuals at the bottom of the pyramid/marginalised and weaker sections, self help groups, etc. are encouraged.
There is a nominal registration fee for participation in the scheme.
There is no financial eligibility. Allotment is done to all applicants, who meet objectives of the scheme, on rotation basis.
Various public outreach measures, including advertising in newspapers, social media, public announcements, press notifications, etc., have been undertaken by Railway Authorities to promote the scheme.
As on 31.07.2024, a total of 1936 OSOP outlets were operational at 1702 stations and a total of 67,979 direct beneficiaries have availed the opportunities under this scheme. It is the continuous endeavour of Indian Railways to further proliferate the scheme.
Total sales of f 79.18 crores have been registered over OSOP outlets across the period 25.03.2022 to 31.07.2024. The average sale for the month of July 2024 is Rs. 18,521 per outlet.
FREE Wi-Fi CONNECTIONS IN RAILWAY STATIONS
QUESTION
- Whether the Government is providing free Wi-Fi connection in all major railway stations in the Country and if so, the details of the Stations in Tamil Nadu where it is being provided;
- Whether a number of free Wi-Fi connection installed in major railway stations are not working thereby putting the train passengers in difficulty and if so, the corrective steps taken in this regard;
- Whether the Government is taking steps to extend this free Wi-Fi facility in all other railway stations of the country;
- Whether the Government is also planning to provide Wi-Fi service inside trains in the next four to four-and-a-half years and if so, the details thereof;
e.The number of towers and equipments which are required to make this facility possible; and
- Whether the Wi-Fi service inside the trains would help in maintaining security inside the train compartments, if so , the details thereof?
ANSWER
(a) to (f): Upgradation / improvement of passenger amenities in trains and at Railway stations is a continuous and ongoing process on Indian Railways. Accordingly, in order to improve passenger experience, free Wi-Fi connection have been provided at 6112 railway stations including 415 stations situated in Tamil Nadu. Appropriate action is taken promptly by Railway administration whenever there is any issue with regard to working of Wi-Fi facility at stations.
AI IN RAILWAY SERVICES
QUESTION
- Whether the Government is using Artificial Intelligence to improve the efficiency of Railway services;
- If so, the details of the technology being used and the manner in which it has improved efficiency;
- If not, whether the Government has plans to adopt artificial intelligence in Railways;
- If so, the details of the timeline for the implementation of AI into the railway system; and
- If not, the reasons therefor?
ANSWER
(a) to (e) : Indian Railways has deployed Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve the efficiency of railway services. The Artificial Intelligence(AI), Machine Learning (ML) algorithms, Natural Language
Translation (NLT) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) models have automated routine tasks such as booking tickets, checking PNR status, finding train schedules and complaint management in ‘Rail Madad’, etc. Generative AI technologies are used to assist software coding for development of Railway IT applications. The introduction of artificial intelligence has expedited the processes, reduced the manual efforts and improved the response time of Railways.
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