Mumbai: State-of-art 'Uttam Rake' introduced by Western Railways

The Western Railway has introduced 'Uttam' coaches for the local trains in Mumbai, Maharashtra on Wednesday, November 7. The state-of-art 'Uttam Rake' has improved interiors and features, including installing a CCTV surveillance system, electrically operated Passenger Alarm System, etc. The train will ply from Churchgate to Virar 10 times in a day. The new coaches are fitted with all the advanced amenities needed by the passengers. Instead of a pulling chain, it has a red coloured push-button for emergency. All the coaches are installed with CCTV cameras.

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'We have started Uttam coaches to provide advanced services to the customers'

Western Railway Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Ravindra Bhakar said, "We have started Uttam coaches to provide better exterior and advanced services to the customers. Further, we will take the feedbacks of passengers to make future plans." Bhakar also stated that till now two Uttam coaches were manufactured at Chennai's Integral Coach Factory and has been given to South Central Railway and Western Railway respectively.

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The Indian Railways is eyeing to provide WiFi services

The Indian Railways is eyeing to provide WiFi services onboard trains for its next milestone. Union Minister Piyush Goyal, who was on a visit to Stockholm, on October 23, said that the railways will provide the new services in the next four to four-and-a-half years. According to Piyush Goyal, as of now, over 5150 railway stations across India are enabled with WiFi services. However, the railways aim to cover all 6500 stations by 2020-end and provide WiFi services.

Goyal also said that the government is planning to segregate the station modernisation with the monetisation of land. "There are lots of possibilities to involve the private sector in these activities. There are several locations across the country where there will be a huge demand of Railway land. We have planned to use the Railway land for solar installation in a big way. Under the leadership of our Prime Minister, we want to make Railways the world's first zero-emission Railway," he said.

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Piyush Goyal: Railways going 100% electric

The minister also mentioned the railways going 100% electric in the next four to five years. "We are also planning for industrial parks on Railway lands. It's a new area and we are trying to locate certain parcels of land that the Railways owns, but does not need requirement which can be at some stage become industrial parks and become generators of a number of jobs and working opportunities while adding to the economic activity of India," he said.

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(With inputs from ANI)