Railway Board Chairman Arunendra Kumar has called upon all railwaymen to give 'Service with a smile' in order to provide customers a pleasant experience in their interaction with the Railways in both passenger and freight segments.
"The 'efficiency' in work must go hand in hand with effectiveness'. Often, we are caught up in routine schedules and as a result, ignore the larger picture. It is important to keep the vision in mind," he told railway employees in a customary New Year's message Wednesday.
"Our focus and mission is clear: the earnings of Indian Railways have to go up. Expenses need to be contained. We need to prioritise. Our passengers should get value for money," the chairman added.
He said that in the year 2013 the opening of the Pir Panjal tunnel has provided the long awaited rail connectivity to the Kashmir valley. "A new Rail Coach Factory at Raebareli has come on stream. We have joined the select billion-tonne freight club and we continue to be the single largest passenger carrier in the world."
"During 2013, we have seen a growth of 8.8 percent in freight earnings and 18 percent in passenger earnings over the corresponding period of the previous year. Yet the pace needs to pick up further. At the same time our customer segments cut across all strata of society. The challenge before us is to meet the rising passenger expectations in the face of financial constraints. More is expected of us," Kumar said.
He said that resources are limited and hence the need for judicious allocation of resources is important. "We need to deliver quality and on time. We need innovative financing models. We need to bring in investments by demonstrating success in our PPP (public-private-partnership) initiatives and in our flagship Dedicated Freight Corridor Project.
"We ought to demonstrate transparency in our dealings. We need to earnestly endeavour to meet our motto communicated by the Hon'ble Minister of Railways - 'No loss of life' in train operations. While striving to achieve this we have to maintain a human face," he added.