Date:11/10/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/10/11/stories/2006101122280400.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

SCR focus on customer care

Staff Reporter

Officials told to face competition from low-cost airlines

SHARING VIEWS: D. N. Mathur, General Manager, South Central Railway, with Ghosh Dastidar, Member-Traffic of Railway Board, at a seminar on Tuesday -Photo: G. Krishnaswamy

HYDERABAD: The Member-Traffic of the Railway Board, Ghosh Dastidar, asked South Central Railway officials to focus on improving customer care and services to face competition from low-cost airlines.

At a seminar on "Customer Care of 2016 - Golden Jubilee Year of SCR" here on Saturday, he said e-ticketing was picking up with over 50,000 tickets being bought per day while the passenger upgradation scheme introduced last year was well-received. Among focus areas for Indian Railways were the Frequent Traveller Scheme and design and development of new coaches, a first class air-conditioned 3-tier, he said.

Cleanliness, hygiene

On the turnaround of Indian Railways, Mr. Dastidar said it was primarily because of efforts in increasing the volume of passengers and freight than by hiking freight rates and fares and reducing unit cost of transportation. He said they were looking at improving passenger amenities in stations and on cleanliness and hygiene. Managing Director, Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation, P.K. Goyal, said concentrated efforts were required on using Information Technology to improve services. Earlier, welcoming the gathering, SCR General Manager D.N. Mathur presented a profile of the zone's operations. He said it was imperative to usher in a change in service culture and in training, recruitment processes.