NEW DELHI: It was a year of gruelling performance for the Indian Railways in 2022 that saw changes and challenges in every sector after it moved out of the previous two years of Covid-19. The 2021-22 financial years saw losses in services and earnings.
Continuing freight service operations in 2021, the railways remained focused on passenger services and infrastructure development in 2022 by making the year’s first announcement on January 1, allowing the passengers to travel without reservation in general train coaches. Then came an era of modernisation: stations were refurbished, new trains and technology were introduced, and after sustained efforts, Vande Bharat trains were rolled out.
As the year moved on, the railways worked on the station redevelopment as the main focus area to enhance customer satisfaction. As many as 572 outlets were set up under the first-of-its-kind ‘One Station One Product’ scheme at 535 stations.
In 2022, the railway took a giant step in the safety sector and installed an indigenously developed anti-collision device called ‘Kavach.’ The watershed moment in 2022 was the induction of the country’s first indigenously developed semi-high speed Vande Bharat train on a mission mode with a resolve to roll out 400 such trains by 2023-24, and 75 until August 2023. Six Vande Bharat trains are currently in service and the 7th is to be flagged off by PM Modi on December 30 in West Bengal.
In the freight sector, the year 2022 remained more supportive of the railways than ever before. It earned Rs 1,05,905 crore against Rs 91,127 crore over the last year, registering an increase of 16% compared to the earnings in the same period last year.
Upgrading 80,000 supervisors’ ranks were brought into effect in 2022 after years of demand. It introduced the Human Resource Management System to ensure transparency and accountability in the entire process relating to inter-railway transfers on all grounds.
Amid efforts to fill vacant posts, the railways also surrendered 27,043 posts in 2022. However, it notified 103769 vacancies for Level 1 posts (erstwhile Group ‘D’ posts) in 2022. As it persists with India’s first high-speed bullet train, the railways completed more than 80% of the basic work in Gujarat and cleared the hurdles for land acquisition in Maharashtra, setting a tentative target of running the Bullet Train by 2027.
As it works on the country’s first high-speed bullet train, the railways has completed more than 80% of basic works in Gujarat and cleared the hurdles for land acquisition in Maharashtra, setting a tentative target of running the bullet train by 2027.
A watershed moment
In 2022, the railway took a giant step in the safety sector and installed an indigenously developed anti-collision device called ‘Kavach.’ The watershed moment in 2022 was the induction of the country’s first indigenously developed semi-high speed Vande Bharat train on a mission mode with a resolve to roll out 400 such trains by 2023-24, and 75 until August 2023