Maligaon, September 6 (MExN): Eleven Members of Parliament (MPs) from six Northeastern states today held a meeting with a team of senior railway officials led by General Manager of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) Sanjive Roy at NFR Headquarters, Maligaon.
The meeting was held as part of the efforts by Indian Railways to reach out to people through their elected representatives, stated a press release from Subhanan Chanda, Chief Public Relations Officer.
The senior officials from NFR included the Divisional Railway Manager of Lumding Division RB Rai and other Principal Head of Departments.
The MPs were from the constituencies served by Lumding Division in the six NE states. The meeting was organized to showcase and apprise the MPs of the developmental activities undertaken by Railways and to solicit their opinion and suggestions on future course of action to make railway more user-friendly.
The meeting was attended by MP (Rajya Sabha) from Mizoram Ronald Sapa Tlau, MP (Rajya Sabha) from Nagaland KG Kenye, MP (Rajya Sabha) from Meghalaya Wansuk Syiem, MP (Rajya Sabha) from Assam Ripun Bora, MP (Rajya Sabha) from Assam Birendra Prasad Baishya, MP (Lok Sabha) from Mizoram C Lalrosanga, MP (Lok Sabha) from Assam Pradyut Bordoloi, MP (Lok Sabha) from Assam Smt Queen Ojha, MP (Lok Sabha) from Tripura Rebati Tripura, MP (Lok Sabha) from Tripura Pratima Bhoumik and MP (Lok Sabha) from Manipur Dr Ranjan Singh Rajkumar. MP of Silchar Lok Sabha constituency Dr R Roy sent his representative, the release added.
Detailing on the developmental activities of railways in Northeast, General Manager Roy said that the NFR was continuously thriving to fulfill aspirations of the people.
He said punctuality of passenger carrying trains has greatly improved and 92% of the trains in NFR ran on time during the last month which is highest among all zonal railways in India.
Roy also said that all stations in NF Railway would be provided with free WiFi facility by the end of this month.
For convenience of travelers, 8 lifts and 5 escalators have been installed in three stations in the last financial year, the GM said adding that this year 35 more lifts and 16 more escalators are targeted to be installed in other stations.
The GM also informed the MPs that electrification of railway lines up to Guwahati was targeted for completion by March 2020.
The Divisional Railway Manager RB Rai elaborated on the achievements of the Lumding Division in providing better passenger amenities and cleanliness of stations.
He said that Guwahati station has achieved ISO certification for waste management as stipulated by National Green Tribunal.
During the meeting, the MPs appreciated the efforts of Railways in providing better passenger experience and improving performance in many areas. They acknowledged the Railway Minister Piyush Goyal for massive developmental works being under taken by the Indian Railways in the Northeast.
The MPs also put forward various suggestions for improving connectivity in the Northeast, introduction of new trains, additional stoppages of existing trains and improving other passenger amenities including cleanliness in trains in general which the GM assured to implement wherever feasible.
