The Ministry of Railways organized a two-day Chintan Shivir on June 1st and 2nd, 2023, at Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi. The event was presided over by the Minister of Railways, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw. Ministers of State for Railways, Shri Raosaheb Patil Danve and Smt Darshana Jardosh, were also present at the event. The Chairman & CEO of the Railway Board, Shri Anil Kumar Lahoti, members of the Railway Board, and other officers, including young professionals from the Railway Board and all Zonal Railways, participated in the event. Around 400 participants from Zonal Railways, Production Units (PUs), Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), Central Training Institutes (CTIs), Research Design and Standards Organization (RDSO), etc., took part in this mega event.
The objective of the Chintan Shivir was to brainstorm and explore new ways, methods, and innovative ideas to achieve various goals in the railway sector. These goals included commissioning of more track per year (new line, gauge conversion, and multi-tracking), higher loading per day, achieving a speed of 160 kmph on 50% of the routes, and ensuring zero consequential accidents while reducing consequential train accidents (CRO) and mishap risk occurrences (MRO) by 90%.
During his address, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Minister of Railways, emphasized the importance of rail safety and the adoption of new technologies. He urged the officers to explore methods to increase train speeds to 160 kmph for 30,000 route kilometers. He also highlighted the role of railways in India’s economic growth.
Shri Vaishnaw urged the officers to devise strategies to cater to the 1.1 billion passengers annually and address issues of congestion. He stressed the need to adopt new technologies and learn from the ongoing Bullet Train project. He mentioned that the design for the Vande Metro has been finalized. The Minister emphasized that action points from the deliberations should be identified, and timely action will be taken on them.
During the event, four to five teams, led by General Managers of different zonal Railways, presented new ideas and strategies on each topic. Each team comprised members from PUs, PSUs, RDSO, and CTIs. A nominated Board Member/Director General finalized the topic-wise presentations and roadmap for implementation. The final presentations took place in the Zorawar Auditorium of Manekshaw Centre during the last session.
The objective of the Chintan Shivir was to review the work of the Ministry of Railways and develop an action plan to implement Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s “Vision 2047.” The Railways is committed to providing the best services with utmost safety, security, and affordability for every citizen of the country, in line with the ethos of “Pai Pai Se Gareeb Ki Bhalai.” The two-day event witnessed discussions on various issues and aimed to accelerate the pace of progress in the railway sector towards building a New India.