The 24th meeting of the Zonal Railway Users Consultative Committee on South Western Railway was held recently at Rail Soudha Hubballi. The meeting was chaired by General Manager, Arvind Srivastava.

The meeting is convened for better representation and consultation with all Railway stakeholders. In the meeting, issues and concerns pertaining to passenger amenities, train service and infrastructure development were discussed in detail.

General Manager Arvind Srivastava welcomed all the members and highlighted several achievements such as Safety remains a top priority for SWR, with no SPAD cases recorded this year. Initiatives included SWR achieved 86.46% punctuality in mail/express trains, ranking 4th in Indian Railways, During the current financial year we have loaded 28.34 million tonnes upto November 2024. During 2024-25, we registered a Gross Apportioned Revenue of ₹4720.46 crore. In Passenger Revenue, we achieved 1629.45 crore, a 2% increase compared to the same period last year. In July 2024, we recorded the best-ever monthly Passenger Revenue of 286.3 crore, the highest since the inception of SWR. We set a record by loading 4,174 Freight units in a single day in March 2024, representing a 17.5% increase over the previous record. The zone also achieved its best monthly automobile loading with 63 rakes in Nov 2024 and the cement loading of 29 rakes in May 2024 during this Financial year.

He highlighted that under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, SWR has made significant plans to enhance station facilities. As part of the Digital India initiative, dynamic QR codes have been introduced at 47 UTS terminals, ensuring greater convenience for passengers. He also noted that SWR has extended nine express trains, operated 404 special trains, and added 1,429 additional coaches to cater to passenger needs during festivals and holiday seasons. Additionally, he emphasized SWR's commitment to infrastructure development, assuring that all efforts are being made to improve connectivity and passenger amenities.

Members were also briefed about various issues related to passenger amenities, infrastructure development, train services like additional stoppage, increase in frequency of trains and construction of ROBs/RUBs.

Nilesh Cabral, MLA; Curchorem Goa and other ZRUCC members were present.

ZRUCC Members who attended the meeting:

G. K. Adappagoudar, Siddramayya P Saunshimath, K B Lingaraju, P Srinivas Murthy, Devanand S. Naik Bhandari, Sushil Noval, Mahendra H. Singhi, Babulal G Jain, Dr Laxman H, Capt. Himanshu Shekhar,

K S Jain, Additional General Manager, Principal Heads of departments, senior officers of South Western Railway were present during the meeting.

Shri. Arvind Srivastava assured that earnest efforts would be made by SWR in fulfilling the various demands and suggestions put forth by ZRUCC members which represent the needs of various railway stakeholders.