ECoR general manager Rajiv Vishnoi said wi-fi service will be made available at Puri railway station before the car festival (June) and at Cuttack by December this year
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: The Union railway ministry has decided to introduce wi-fi facilities at Puri railway station prior to the ensuing Ratha Yatra.
Speaking to the media here Wednesday, East Coast Railway (ECoR) general manager Rajiv Vishnoi said wi-fi service will be made available at Puri railway station before the car festival (June) and at Cuttack by December this year.
In April, Railways has launched high-speed free wi-fi service at Bhubaneswar railway station in partnership with Google. Besides, 105 unmanned level crossings will be withdrawn before Rath Yatra, he said.
Altogether 134-kilometre track was laid in 2015 and ECoR has set a target of laying 150-km this year. Similarly, 200-km track was electrified and the zone has set a target of electrifying 277-km track this year. Nearly 159 unmanned level-crossings (ULC) were eliminated last year. Of the remaining 313 ULCs 150 will be eliminated this year and the rest during 2017, Vishnoi stated.
Indian railway station development corporation (IRSDC) will take up modernisation of stations at Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur, Khurda Road, Palasa, Vishakhapatnam and Vizianagaram.
Passengers travelling in six trains originating in ECoR region will not be penalised if they occupy a sleeper class compartment in case general class bogey is overcrowded. The system will be extended to other trains soon. Tenders have been floated for installation of nine lifts and 12 escalators at important railway stations in the zone, he pointed out.
Bhubaneswar railway station stood seventh in cleanliness across India during a third party audit conducted by Indian Railways.
ECoR is gearing up for foolproof security arrangements at Puri, Bhubaneswar and other important railway stations during Rath Yatra. Installation and monitoring of additional CCTVs and deployment of plain-clothes RPF personnel will be done on priority. The move has come in the wake of train arson case at Puri station in November 2015, sources said.
Besides, the ECoR is taking steps to run 85 special trains from neighbouring states during Rath Yatra this year, they added.