Facilities for Patients in Trains

Facilities for Patients in Trains 

All passenger carrying trains are provided with First Aid Boxes containing essential drugs and dressing materials. In addition, Augmented First Aid Boxes with wide range of medicines, disposable medical material, etc. have been provided with the Train Superintendents of Rajdhani/ Shatabdi Express trains and Guards of other nominated trains. The front line staff deployed on trains is trained in rendering First Aid. Trains can also make unscheduled halts, if necessary, at the stations en-route in emergencies. The Station Masters have details of doctors, clinics & hospitals, both Government and Private, in the vicinity of the station, so that their services could also be availed, in emergencies. 


Railway grants 50 to 100 % fare concession to Cancer, Thalassemia, Heart, Kidney, Haemophilia and T.B/Lupas Vulgaris patients alongwith their escort in reserved coaches of trains. Further, 50 to 75 % fare concession is granted to patients suffering from Non-infectious Leprosy, Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), Sickle Cell Anemia and Aplastic Anemia for self travelling in reserved coaches of trains. 50% fare concession in monthly season ticket (MST) and Quarterly Season Ticket is also granted to Ostomy patients. 

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

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Facilities for Disabled/Senior Citizens at Railway Stations 

There are facilities exist for disabled/senior citizens at railway stations. Instructions already exist for provision of Wheel Chair at stations including B category stations. This facility is provided, duly escorted by coolies (on payment) as per present practice. Moreover, Zonal Railways have also been advised to provide free of cost ‘Battery Operated Vehicles for Disabled and Old Aged Passengers’ at major Railway Stations. 

Instructions already exist for provision of escalators/elevator at ‘A-1’ category and escalators at ‘A’ category, ‘C’ category and stations of tourist importance under desirable amenities. The provision of escalators/lifts on a particular location is based on above guidelines & techno commercial feasibility. So far, 244 no. of escalators at 96 Railway stations & 101 no. of lifts at 44 Railway stations have been provided over the Indian Railways. In addition, 400 escalators at 171 Railway stations & 400 no. of lifts at 168 Railway stations have been sanctioned across Indian Railways, which will be provided progressively as per availability of fund. 

Almost all Mail/Express trains (except special type of trains like Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Janshatabdi, AC Special, Duronto) including Garib Rath trains have been provided with one disabled friendly coach. Besides, attachment of such coaches is an on-going process and efforts are on to provide such coaches in all Mail/Express trains as also in short distance passenger trains. 

Provision/augmentation of amenities at stations, including those for disabled passengers is a continuous process. Short term facilities like standard ramp for barrier free entry, earmarking at least two parking lots, non-slippery walk-way from parking lot to building, signages of appropriate visibility, at least one toilet on the ground floor & at least one drinking water tap suitable for use by disabled persons and ‘May I help You’ Booth, have been planned at all stations beginning with ‘A1’, ‘A’ and ‘B’ category stations. Long term facilities viz. Provision of facility for inter-platform transfer and engraving on edges of platform, are planned after provision of short term facilities. 

At New Delhi railway station, wheel chairs have been provided by a NGO. However, wheel chairs are not provided by Rotary Club of Delhi at railway stations in Delhi. 

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

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Prepaid Taxi/Auto Service at Railway Stations 

Prepaid taxi and auto services at railway stations are arranged by the local authorities in consultation with the Railways. Railway PSU, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has started online booking of cabs at 26 stations, as a Pilot Project. The stations are New Delhi, Howrah, Patnal, Bhubaneshwar, Mysore, Guwahati, Secunderabad, Jaipur, Tirupati, Madurai, Ernakulam, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Mumbai CST, Mumbai Central, Lucknow Jn., Delhi, Hazrat Nizmuddin, Delhi Safdarjang, Anand Vihar Terminal, Delhi Cantt., Delhi Sari Rohilla, Vijaywada, Guntur, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati Jn. 

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

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Rail Connectivity Projects 

Based on demands raised by State Governments, Central Ministries, Members of Parliament, other public representatives & Railways’ own requirement, the proposals for new line projects are considered. They are taken up on the basis of remunerativeness, last mile connectivity, missing links and alternate routes, augmentation of congested/saturated lines, socio-economic considerations etc. depending upon throwforward of ongoing projects, overall availability of funds and competing demands which covers connectivity in backward & Rural areas also. The projects are not sanctioned State-wise, area-wise and region-wise. Since new lines generally straddle over more than one State, details of ongoing projects are maintained Zone-wise. Railways have taken up 151 number of New Line projects. Zone-wise details of the funds allocated during last three years and the current year is appended. 

For encouraging PPP(Public Private Partnership) on Railways, a Policy on Participative models for rail connectivity and capacity augmentation was issued in December, 2012. Model Concession Agreements for Non-Government line model, Joint Venture, Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) and Customer funded models have been issued. Till now under different PPP models, 9 projects have been implemented, 14 projects have been approved for implementation, besides 6 projects which have been given ‘ in principle’ approval. 

Ministry of Railways in November 2014 has also issued Sectoral guidelines for Domestic and Foreign Direct Investment(FDI). 

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

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Measures to Prevent Menace of Rats in Trains 

Railways is taking measures to prevent menace of rats. For this, coaches are subjected to rodent treatment in coaching depots under comprehensive pest & rodent control treatment as per scheduled periodicity. Besides, pantry cars are completely vacated before undertaking rodent treatment of coaches and cleaning in primary maintenance depot. Pantry car staff are being counseled for proper upkeep and maintenance of cleanliness in pantry cars. Suitable penalties are also imposed on the agency undertaking rodent treatment of coaches against performance deficiency as per terms and conditions of contract. Complaints/suggestions, whenever received, are acted upon appropriately by Railways and suitable corrective action is initiated to prevent its recurrence. 

Besides, inspections/checks are also carried out at various levels to monitor the quality of rodent control treatment in coaches. 

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

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High Speed Rail Corridor 

A joint feasibility study for Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (Bullet Train) Corridor co-financed by India and Japan, which started in December 2013, has been completed in July, 2015. Government has initiated a feasibility study for Diamond Quadrilateral Network of High Speed Trains comprising of four sides i.e. (i) Delhi-Mumbai, (ii) Mumbai-Chennai, (iii) Chennai-Kolkata, (iv) Kolkata-Delhi; and both diagonals i.e. (v) Delhi-Chennai and (iv) Mumbai-Kolkata. 

No project of High Speed Rail Corridor has been sanctioned. As such, no standards for infrastructure, rolling stock and operating conditions have been adopted. 

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

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Wi-Fi at Railway Stations 


            Railway proposes to provide Wi-Fi in all A1, A & B category stations on Indian Railways. There are total 709 such stations on Indian Railways (A1-75, A-332 and B-302) including 34 stations in Gujarat and 45 stations in Maharashtra.
            Trials for provision of Wi-Fi at stations with no Capital investment from Railways have been conducted. These trials were conducted to find a suitable business model to sustain the system.
            At present, the Wi-Fi facility has been provided at 11 stations on Indian Railways as detailed below:-
(1) CST Mumbai, Central Railway
(2) Howrah, Eastern Railway
(3) New Delhi, Northern Railway
(4) Varanasi, Northern Railway
(5) Ghazipur, North Eastern Railway
(6) Chennai, Southern Railway
(7) Secunderabad, South Central Railway
(8) Ahmedabad, Western Railway
(9) Agra Cantt., North Central Railway
(10) Bengaluru, South Western Railway
(11) Madgaon, Konkan Railway.
             ‘A1’ & ‘A’ category stations are likely to be completed in next two years and ‘B’ Category stations would take another one year.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

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Setting up of Railway Design Centre in Railways 

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed on 10.04.2015 between the Ministry of Railways and the National Institute of Design (N.I.D.), Ahmedabad for setting up of a Railway Design Centre at N.I.D. campus, Ahmedabad. 

The MOU aims at collaboration between Ministry of Railways and N.I.D. in various fields of design, relevant to rail transport and allied activities. 

Railway Design Centre at N.I.D. has become operational since May 2015. 

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

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No Plan of Privatisation of Railways 

There is no plan to privatise Railways. However, private participation for building/ strengthening rail infrastructure is permissible. As per the sectoral guidelines for Domestic/ Foreign Direct Investment issued in November, 2014, private participation is permissible in suburban corridor projects through Public Private Participation, high speed train projects, dedicated freight lines, rolling stock manufacturing and maintenance facilities, railway electrification, signaling system, freight terminals/ logistics parks, passenger terminals, railway technical training institutes, testing facilities, concessioning of standalone passenger corridors, non- conventional sources of energy, mechanized laundry, bio toilets, technological solutions for level crossings and to improve safety. 

Apart from private participation for building/ strengthening rail infrastructure, no plan has been chalked out for mobilisation of private funds for Railways. For development of Railway projects, Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with Life Insurance Corporation of India for 1.5 lakh crore to be made available over a period of five years. 

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

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No Plans of Privatisation of Rail Services 

There are no plans to privatise the railway services. However, outsourcing of certain facilities like cleaning, pay and use toilets, retiring rooms, parking, ticketing etc. is done on need based manner to improve efficiency. As per the sectoral guidelines for Domestic/Foreign Direct Investment issued in November, 2014, private participation is permissible in suburban corridor projects through Public Private Partnership (PPP), high speed train projects, dedicated freight lines, rolling stock manufacturing and maintenance facilities, railway electrification, signalling system, freight terminals/logistics parks, passenger terminals, railway technical training institutes, testing facilities, concessioning of standalone passenger corridors, non-conventional sources of energy, mechanized laundry, bio toilets, technological solutions for level crossings and to improve safety. 

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

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Kundan Sinha Assumes Charge as the New Member Traffic in Railway Board 

Shri Kundan Sinha has assumed additional charge of the post of Member Traffic, Railway Board w.e.f. 01/08/2015.  Shri Kundan Sinha is presently Additional Member (Traffic Transportation) in Railway Board.

An Officer of 1979 Exam Batch of the Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS), Shri Kundan Sinha has served in various capacities in Indian Railways. After serving on Dhanbad, Asansol and Danapur Divisions of Eastern Railway initially, he moved to the Railway Board in 1990 and on to the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers on Central Deputation in 1995. He has thereafter, handled a whole gamut of assignments in RITES (1998-2000) and on Eastern Railway (2001-04), South East Central Railway (2007-09, as Divisional Railway Manager, Bilaspur), South Eastern Railway (2010-11, as Chief Operations Manager) and in the offices of the Railway Board (2004-06 and then again since 2012 in various capacities)