Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate ‘One Station One Product’ (OSOP) stalls at 205 railway stations across Southern Railway, including 168 in Tamil Nadu, through video conferencing on March 12.
The OSOP scheme which promotes the ‘Local for Vocal’ vision of the Government of India provides a market for local/indigenous products and creates additional income opportunities for the marginalised sections of the society, Southern Railway General Manager R.N. Singh said.
Addressing journalists here, Mr. Singh said as part of the ₹85,000-crore railway projects that would be dedicated to the nation on Tuesday, Mr. Modi would launch another Vande Bharat Express between Dr. MGR Chennai Central and Mysore. While the regular services of Train No. 20663/20664 Mysore-Dr. MGR Chennai Central-Mysore Vande Bharat (except Wednesday) would commence on April 5, the train would run between Chennai Central and SMVT Bengaluru from March 14 to April 4, with stoppages at Katpadi and Krishnarajapuram.
Mr. Modi will also flag off a new Express train on the Kollam-Tirupathi-Kollam route and extension of the Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod Vande Bharat Express up to Mangaluru Central. To ease freight loading/unloading, Goods Sheds with ample warehousing facilities would be launched at Singaperumal Koil, Gangaikondan, Theni, Pattukottai, Thiruthuraipoondi and Valliyur.
Affordable medicines
The Prime Minister will inaugurate Jan Aushadi Kendras at Dindigul, Erode, Tiruchi and Palakkad railway stations where passengers would be able to purchase quality generic medicines at an affordable price. The facility would be extended to all major stations in a phased manner.
Among other projects, a rail coach restaurant would be inaugurated at Chennai Central to provide an unique dining experience to the passengers. The round-the-clock restaurant with a seating capacity of 180 people would offer a variety of cuisines, snacks and beverages.
Asked about the patronage of Vande Bharat Expresses in the zone, Mr. Singh said the occupancy was more than 90% on all routes except in the Chennai Central-Vijayawada sector where it was about 60-70%. He dispelled reports that the speed of other trains had slowed down after Vande Bharat Expresses were introduced.
Air-conditioned EMUs
A senior railway officer who was present in the press conference said two air-conditioned EMUs were allotted for Southern Railway and services would commence in May or June after the rakes are received from the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai.
To a question on jerks experienced by passengers in Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) rakes, he said the issue was taken up with the ICF and some improvement was being made.
On the earnings front, Southern Railway earned a total of ₹10,866.04 crore up to February this fiscal compared to ₹9,942.7 crore last year, which was an increase by 9.3%. On passenger earnings alone, the zone reported an increase of 12.6% during the same period.
Surprise checks
In the run up to the Lok Sabha election, Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel would conduct surprise checks on trains and railway station premises. In case cash or gold of suspicious quantity was found on a passenger who is not able to account for it with proper receipts, he/she would be detained and the authorities concerned alerted, a senior RPF official said.
