Passenger service with a smile: Lalu

Declaring 2006 as the "year of passenger service with a smile", Railway Minister Lalu Prasad announced a series of measures for better passenger amenities including steps to shrink queues at booking counters and providing modern facilities in trains.

As part of the modern facilities, newly designed passenger coaches have been proposed in Patna and Sealdah Rajdhanis besides equipping four popular trains with world-class passenger amenities and interiors.

IRCTC would award licence after open bidding for providing all on-board services, and these services will also be made available on the mail and express trains without pantry cars.

Regarding passenger amenities, all "A" and "B" category stations have been proposed to be made model and architects would be involved in all divisions to make station buildings look more beautiful, comfortable and modern.

Modern facilities like ATMs and cyber cafes would be provided at all major stations, and a pilot project has been undertaken for giving the publicity rights for an entire division to a single agency through open tender.

Pilot projects have been started to upgrade retiring rooms, waiting rooms and station buildings under private-public partnership schemes at a few stations.