BISHESHWAR MISHRA / NEW DELHI
Railway Ministry has identified 1275 railway stations under the Amrit Bharat Station scheme for development of Railway stations. Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said this in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha yesterday. He said, this scheme envisages development of stations on a continuous basis with a long-term approach.
It involves preparation of Master Plans and their implementation in phases to improve the amenities at the stations like improvement of station access, waiting halls, toilets, free Wi-Fi, better passenger information systems and executive lounges. The scheme also envisages improvement of building, integrating the station with both sides of the city, multimodal integration, amenities for Divyangjans and creation of city centres at the station in the long term.
2364 Kisan Rail services operated on 167 routes across country
Indian Railways have operated approximately two thousand 364 Kisan Rail services on 167 routes across the country since its launch on 7th August, 2020.
This information was given by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply in Lok Sabha today. He said Kisan Rail services have been operated by Railways as scheduled services as well as on a demand basis. Fifty per cent subsidy in freight was granted by Food Processing Industries Ministry during 2020-21 and 2021-22 for the transportation of fruits and vegetables by Kisan Rail.
Mr. Vaishnaw said the Ministry discontinued the subsidy with effect from 1st April last year. However, Railways have disbursed around four crore rupees as freight subsidy at the rate of 45 per cent during the current fiscal till the 1st of this month.