22 Jan :Konkan Railway will be completing 11 years of the commencement of its through line train operations on 26th Jan, 2009. It was on this day in 1998 that the trains directly connected Mumbai with Mangalore in shortest possible time, reducing the travel between these places from 36 to 16 hours. In the 11 years, it is the first time that Konkan Railway has not reported any consequential accident on its route in 2008. Konkan Railway has achieved this feat by taking extra efforts to increase safety on its route by executing massive earthworks, widening the slopes, planting lakhs of Vetiver grass as soil erosion control measure, and various other geo-tech works to arrest boulder falls and soil slippage during the monsoon. The efforts have borne fruit. There has not been any major traffic disruption on the route in the past 3 years since the time these massive safety works were executed and a special Monsoon Time Table implemented on the route.
In these 11 years, Konkan Railway has also made significant strides in train operations and innovations. The innovative Anti-Collision Device (ACD), a patented technology of Konkan Railway, is being implemented in phases over various zonal railways in India. KRCL has now formed a special ‘ACD Task Force’ to tap the immense potential that ACD has in the domestic and the international market.
Konkan Railway has also brought a financial turnaround in the last 4 years, displaying a significant increase in its earnings, total surplus, and achieving the lowest net loss and highest Operating index so far. In the past, the World Bank has appreciated KRCL’s practices to bring down the cost of operation and maintenance and termed it a benchmark for others to follow. Further on, Konkan Railway aims at fostering marketing strategies for commercial implementation of its innovative technologies far and wide, and nurture efforts to make the Corporation a profit making unit.
Further on, Konkan Railway aims at fostering marketing strategies for commercial implementation of its innovative technologies far and wide, and nurture efforts to make the Corporation a profit making unit.