Title - SWR to set up modern catering outlets, base kitchens at stations

General Manager of South Western Railway Ashok Kumar Mital has said the zone is in the process of setting up modern catering outlets and base kitchens at major railway stations.

Chairing the 15th Zonal Railway Users’ Consultative Committee (ZRUCC) of the SWR here on Thursday, Mr. Mital said the customer continued to be the prime focus of all railway activities and steps were being taken to make railway services more passenger friendly and comfortable.

He said that mechanised cleaning of stations and coaches, on-board housekeeping services (OBHS), induction of eco-friendly bio-toilets and other steps had been taken by the zone. Mr. Mital said that during the last financial year, SWR had loaded 33.52 million tonnes in freight and carried 193 million originating passengers with gross earnings of Rs. 4,185 crore. During the first five months of the current financial year (till August-end) the zone had carried 13.25 million tonnes in freight and 81.01 million originating passengers with gross earnings of Rs. 1,798.2 crore, he said.

Of the 43 ZRUCC members, 26, including Ganesh Gaonkar, MLA from Goa, participated in the meeting.

Mr. Mital requested Mr. Gaonkar to raise the issue of permission for land acquisition for the track-doubling project in Goa, to which the MLA responded positively.

To a request by Mahendra H. Singhi, member, to extend one of the three trains running between Mumbai and Kolhapur to Hubli, Mr. Mital said that it had to be decided by the Central Railway and Railway Board. However, the Hubli–Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (Kurla) Tri-Weekly Express via Miraj and Pune had been announced in the Railway Budget 2013 and it would be introduced shortly, he said.