Piyush Goyal, speaking at a programme said "We want to provide safe, swift, punctual, and cost-effective solutions to our customers. For that, I am open to ideas from the partners. Atmanirbhar Railway needs Atmanirbhar partners."

 

The Minister said we are looking at the mindset of the Railways, we are looking at what needs to change. Railways have embarked on engaging more with technology, trying and leveraging public-private partnerships to make the overall effort to invest over half a trillion dollars in making Indian Railways truly world-class, truly safe to travel with, comfortable and efficient, said Goyal.

 

Hailing the work done by the railways in the past one year, he said that nearly 4,000 unmanned level crossings have been eliminated in one year. In August, freight trains ran about 94 per cent faster than in August 2019.

 

In August 2020, the freight trains ran at an average speed of about 46.81 km per hour.

 

" Railways are well on the path to achieving our investment target which continuously from the last six years has been growing year on year," said Goyal.

 

During the Covid period, railways served the people of India through freight trains and Shramik Express. "We also used this period to reinvigorate our own processes to make policy changes on a variety of fronts," he said.

 

The Railways is making a serious effort to bring back a larger freight share so that it becomes self-sufficient in its finances.

 

The Minister said that over the last 50 to 60 years, freight traffic and the number of passengers have increased by nearly 15 to 16 times. As they say, "If nothing ever changed, there would be no such things as butterflies," Goyal added.

 

The Railways have set up a business development unit in every division and now have the timetabled parcel trains and the Kisan Rail.

 

The Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has very rightly identified the Indian Railways as an engine of growth for India.