Bhubaneswar: East Coast Railway has recorded a growth in freight movement compared to the pevious year besides being the "lone zone" in Indian Railways to register a positive growth in passenger traffic.
From April to September of the current fiscal, the zone has carried 47.49 million passengers by registering a growth of 5 per cent, Rajiv Vishnoi, general manager of ECoR, said.
The zone carried 83.77 MT originating freight from April to September 2015 against 77.82 MT in the corresponding period last year, recording a growth of 7.13 per cent more than the previous year.
ECoR also decided to install wi-fi facility at Bhubaneswar railway station in January, 2016. The facility would be extended to 28 railway stations under ECoR in a phased manner covering all the stations by 2016 end.
Cuttack, Sambalpur, Balasore, Bhadrak, Rayagada, Jajpur-Keonjhar Road and Khurda Road will be among the major stations to provide Wi-Fi services to the passengers, a ECoR release said.
The facility would provide high-speed connectivity to passengers on the existing model as a free service for the first 30 minutes after which it would be chargeable.
This apart, the ECoR has set a target to complete Rajsunakhala to Bolagarh line by June, 2016, Bolagarh to Nayagarh by March, 2017 and work from Balangir side till Bhanisapalli would begin this year.
Bhubaneswar- Rameswar express will run with 100 per cent bio-toilets by November, 2015.
The ECoR has provided e-catering service in 70 trains and 24x7 help line number 138 (for queries/complaints related coach maintenance & linen); toll-free number 182 for passenger security related complaints, they said.
As many as 57 Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs) with smart card and currency options have been installed over this railway and are functional.
Besides, the ECoR has Water Vending Machine in 104 locations in 24 stations.