Title - SOUTH EASTERN RAILWAY CELEBRATES 58th RAILWAY WEEK

Kolkata, 12th April, 2013:

South Eastern Railway celebrated 58th Railway Week at its headquarters, Garden Reach, this afternoon (12.04.2013) with great enthusiasm and gaiety.

Shri A.K.Verma, General Manager, South Eastern Railway was the Chief Guest on the occasion. Shri Sudhir Mital, Addl. General Manager & Chief Administrative Officer(Con), South Eastern Railway , all Principal Heads of the Departments, Divl. Railway Managers of S. E. Railway and representatives of different Unions and Associations attended the function. Other officers and staff of S.E.Railway with their family members were also present on the occasion.

Railway Week is celebrated all over Indian Railways every year to commemorate the running of the first ever train on Indian soil on 16th April, 1853 .

As many as 170 selected railway staff and officers including group awardees were felicitated with Merit Certificates and Efficiency Badges in recognition of their outstanding services and devotion to work during the year 2012-13. The overall Efficiency Shield was awarded to Kharagpur Division for the best all round performance. Kharagpur Division also received 10 other shields viz. Punctuality Shield, Civil Engineering Efficiency Shield, Business & Passenger Services Shield, Signal & Telecom Engineering Shield, Accounts & Finance Management Shield, Healthcare Shield, Materials Management Shield, Project Management Shield, Olympia Cup for excellence in Sports and Rajbhasa Shield.

Chakradharpur Division received Operations Shield and Electrical Engineering Efficiency Shield. Ranchi Division received shields in the field of Mechanical Engineering Efficiency and Scrap Mobilisation. Adra Division received “Karmik” and Outstanding Recoveries Shields. The Safety Shield was awarded jointly to Ranchi and Chakradharpur Divisions while Security Shield was awarded jointly to Adra and Chakradharpur Division and Terminal Management Shield was awarded jointly to Adra and Ranchi Divisions.



Ranchi Railway Station was adjudged as the Best Kept Station in S.E.Railway.

Addressing the gathering of railwaymen and their family members, Shri A.K.Verma, General Manager said that in the financial year 2012-13 which has just completed, S.E.Railway has done extremely well in freight sector by achieving a loading of 124.60 million tonnes which is the third highest loading by any zonal railway in Indian Railways. This figure of 124.60 million tonnes is 7.59 million tonnes higher than last year’s figure of 117.01 million tonnes. As far as freight earnings are concerned, South Eastern Railway has recorded earnings of Rs. 8683.16 crores as against Rs. 7796.34 crores earned last year which is a jump of 11.37% over the previous year.

General Manager further stated that in the passenger sector the growth has been satisfactory with the total number of passengers carried in the year 2012-13 being 271.12 million as compared to 262.90 million in 2011-12.This is an increase of 8.22 million passengers. Earnings from passenger traffic has been Rs. 1245.25 crores which is a rise of 123.77 crores over last year.

SER has also generated a surplus of Rs.3,834 crores in the current year which is the highest ever surplus generated after its trifurcation in 2003. Due to this earning and surplus, SER has achieved an Operating Ratio of 70.25% in 2012-13.

Shri Verma also mentioned about the improvement in safety and punctuality performanceof SER. He also spoke about the progress achieved in setting up of new factories, construction of new lines and doubling works.
General Manager in his speech complemented the railwaymen for their efforts to achieve this performance. He appealed to the SER employees to make all out efforts to achieve the satisfaction of the customers and advised them to be extremely cautious in matters relating to safety.

General Manager also congratulated all the 20 S.E.Railway employees (including 5 officers) for getting the Railway Board’s Award at the National Level which will be given to them on 16/4/2013 at Mumbai by the Hon’ble Minister for Railways.

A colourful function was also organized by S,E.Railway employees on the occasion.

Later a Light & Sound Show was arranged at the Heritage Steam Engine, “BNR Queen” kept in front of the S. E. Railway Headquarters at Garden Reach. Shri A. K.Verma, General Manager and other senior officers and President, South Eastern Railway Women’s Welfare Organisation (SERWWO) Smt. Asha Verma witnessed the show titled “BNR Queen Comes Alive”. The smoke emitting steam engine in front of the brilliantly illuminated SER Headquarters was appreciated by all.