Chennai & tambaram railway stations – Need for escalators, lifts at total cost of around 1 crore recover from ads, UTS app remove GPS logic, Add all payment options to UTS like IRCTC app, Reduce platform ticket to Rs.5, Change name of Tirusulam station to Tirusulam – Chennai Airport, LED display in express and suburban platforms of tambaram with train no, name, coach, destination

•Need for escalators and lifts to all platforms in Egmore and Tambaram station. The cost of each escalator is around 10 lakhs totally. Stations needs escalators and lifts since it is not possible to take luggage and go to the platforms it is very difficult and for senior citizens who get problems with knee find it even more difficult. Even if you provide the wheelchair it cannot be useful since they have to get down and walk since no lifts. Escalators for both ways needed. Some platforms have one way in Egmore but in Tambaram none of the platforms have escalator just one at the entrance that too one way. There is heavy rush for the suburban trains but no intention has been shown by Railway to put up escalators. Railways must understand we need stairs also because during no electricity period and very old cannot use escalators also. They can use lifts. So the model stations will be having escalators both upwards and downwards, lifts and steps. In future travellators for entire platform length to travel horizontally for long trains.
•In tambaram list of escalators a) Tambaram(east) exit need downward escalator. The steps are too much and senior citizens and ladies are suffering a lot b) Suburban trains platforms – 4 escalators (2 for downward in one platform and 2 for upward in another) in 2 common platforms c) 1 escalator for downward motion for express train departure d) 1 escalator for upward motion for arrival platform trains. Temporarily you can put only downward in one and upward in another platform. Totally 7 escalators. Cost 7 * 10 lakhs = 70 lakhs with lifts. Total estimate at around 1 crore. Request for approval by PMO and Railway ministry. Even once the tambaram railway stations which is going to be announced as terminus the facilities will be added value and in long run will go in history books that tambaram station was completely developed by current Govt and Railway staff. 1 crore is a very small amount compared to the lakhs of people who are going to be benefited. In Tambaram west also escalator can be considered but lack of space is a concern. Since there is 1 FOB and exit for Tambaram the need for new escalators will not increase in future. The number of steps and the luggage carried make it a bad experience when returning to tambaram and Chennai it is impossible to carry in steps and see the fate of old people. Ask vendors to give broader width for escalators crowd in our stations are huge and it will become queue
•There is lot of vacant area near tambaram railway station. It could be better if Railways builds a yard like facility with under carriage checking facility and overhauling workshop there opposite side of EMU workshop. The space if put to best use will lead to more yard space and the congestions can be avoided. b) Also in the open space the Railways can build more tracks so that trains can be parked. Currently there is high congestion at Egmore station and due to this railway is not running new trains. C) In future if yard is there more trains can depart from Tambaram itself. The cost of laying tracks will be there but will benefit a lot as there is no land acquisition problem. Usually a reason given by Govt authorities for delayed work or lack of funds. Hence the project significance must be understood and completed sooner.
•Need for pre-paid taxi stand at Tambaram station both sides separately by inviting vendors like OLA, UBER and all to participate in e-auction highest bidder gets space to park cabs others enter and exit.
•I requested many times, need for proper LED display in tambaram and Egmore for both express and suburban platforms with train no, destination & route, time, coach formation, train name in multi language
•In Chennai Egmore the railway stations lacks several facilities. There are several platforms but there is lack of escalators to platforms. A) For the suburban platform both way escalator and lifts are needed as more than 5 lakh people use this services. One common platform for suburban if escalator completed with lift it will be a help b) Escalator needed for other platform in Egmore which currently have in one way only. I don’t know from where Railway authorities learnt to put escalator in one way only and ignore other. Needed for only 3 platforms of express train departures with lifts so that old people can go safely as many have slipped when using escalators. The total cost of 5 escalators with lifts will come less than 40 lakhs. The cost is meagre compared to the amount.
•The total cost of escalators for both Egmore and tambaram will come less than 1 crore 50 lakhs. Railway can recover the money by putting ads in sides of the escalator inner walls and the top ceiling to get ad revenue by e auction as the advertiser will only stick and no staff involved. The cost can be recovered in 3 years if properly marketed and the e auction is successful. Put a TV in the space exactly above the path of escalator so when it moves up or down it will help cover the audience and easily is an ad space. None of the currently installed escalators clear marking or notification on how to stop the escalator in case of emergency and how to restart. Since many people fall off the escalators as they lack the methods. Many old people and rural area public tend to use out of interest but fall off as they don’t even know that they need to stand between yellow lines.
•There needs to be recorded announcement of UTS app in all platforms once the train details are told. Also since just saying download UTS app to install no one will understand. After saying download UTS, ask them to give missed call to a number or call railway IVRS and give option for this created for UTS with sub options on type of mobile os they need which in turn will send SMS containing links of all versions of the app to download and install. For Example: android, windows, apple in 1st SMS. b) Then another option of send SMS in particular code like UTS to a mobile no of railways. Which will send the links of popular OS c) This will help track how many installed the app d) After sending SMS if a person doesn’t register send a reminder SMS after 24 hours with details of support contact number and email address to ask queries. So it will help you know what issues people are facing. Currently there is proper support team details provided in app to understand. Announcement with quick details will help.
•In UTS app I once went to ticket counter and then remembered I had app to book. I tried but error came that the you need to be away from the station by few metres then only can book. How stupid concept? Will anyone go out for booking ticket back. It actually said be away by 42 metres from railway station and at times 16 metres. So I had to buy ticket by standing in queue only because of the stupid app. Pls remove this logic in the app it looks really stupid I don’t why you put this concept but it is really bad. You should allow if the person is booking from the station or platform or inside train as long he is willing to take ticket. Please remove GPS logic to allow ticket booking. You people are going to earn revenue and we want to travel then why this stupid concept of going away by some metres to book ticket. Many don’t buy ticket at least we want to buy then why are you stopping us. Because of all this issues there has not been support from public. B) The recharge options of wallet are very little. Why you have integrated all options like available in IRCTC app. Why stick to paytm only C) Try to remove unwanted Rs.10 charge per transactions. The app to popularise you must not do all these things of looting public in the name of transaction. If paytm wantedly takes Rs.10 then you bring in payment options like IRCTC and remove all unwanted charges. Rs. 10 is high for wallet a suburban ticket starts at Rs.5.
•Reduce platform ticket to Rs.5 immediately. It should be equal or less than cheapest ticket. The suburban ticket lowest is Rs.5 but your platform ticket is Rs.10 is not justified.
•Change name of Tirusulam station near tambaram to Tirusulam – Chennai airport as it is exactly opposite to airport but many outsiders who come to Chennai Central or Egmore and catch suburban train don’t know exact station and suffer. Don’t remove the name Tirusulam completely as it might offend localities but add the text Chennai airport after hyphen to signify it is airport stop. Thanks discuss with public

Railways – Hi – Tech Reforms – Robotic arms to increase coach manufacturing, TGV of France trial in India it used ordinary tracks, Removing punching cards in Railway workshops to id card swipe, Laser equipment to monitor tracks fitted under engine, Big data analytics to get new insight, Installing Anti-Collision device in all engines

•Automation leads to increased production. Robotic arms if used in coach manufacturing will lead to increase output compared to existing values. Make one shop floor of Ponamalai Railway workshop, Trichy entirely robotic for making compartments. They are good in diesel engine maintenance and goods cabins making. But automation with robotics will lead to faster output and supplement the ICF & Kapurthala and existing space can be used.
•Currently in Railway workshops lathe is used for crafting metal objects to get parts for maintenance and creating engines and compartments. But if the major high utilised lathe is replaced in all workshops with CNC machines the productivity will increase more than 500% as the speed and quality of output is fast. The Railway engineers must feed the data through CAD in computer and the CNC will enable cutting the metals to give perfect objects. Lathe are very outdated technology and should be avoided in future as modernisation of the workshops
•All Railway workshops employees must be given smart ID cards with fingerprint to swipe on entry to office and the shop floor to track time worked in office. The swipe must be done once in every 3 hours and those going out of workshop must compulsorily swipe. Currently many workshops don’t verify ID card with smart features. All railway offices must move to ID card swiping mode with finger print scanner.
•Automatic braking and power cut of overhead lines must be done if an engine driver skips a signal. Many places it has not been implemented. It wont be much difficult to cut power when a driver skips a signal. The cost of skipping signal is too costly and if drivers miss also the signalling system must be super efficient to cut power and start braking. Even over-speeding can be avoided by marking speed at which trains cross certain points by having speed cams installed in electric poles and if a driver crosses at more than speed limit if not approved for that train. The driver must be informed to reduce speed.
•Laser equipment fitted underneath all engines to monitor strength and quality of tracks. A small current voltage passed across all tracks to detect any cracks or breaks and automatically reported to headquarters and station masters. The flood time it will be much helpful. The current flow must be implemented especially in flood/snow prone areas like Cuddalore, TamilNadu, entire North East, J&K, hilly areas like ooty. The current must not cause electric shock to anyone but must be minimum voltage between each station enough to pick by stations and pinged to headquarters. The data must be stored in hardisk and handed over at destination station of train and loaded to centralised system for analysis. The system must have advanced systems to ping data over internet if identifies any issues other general data can be loaded at destination station. IIT & NIT can be used for same. Many companies with knowledge of MTLAB and CAD can help in this R&D initiative. Will help reduce derailment & over-speeding by drivers.
•Totally removing overtime concept to reduce unwanted costs for Railways. Railway employees must be tracked for work output during normal working hours. If any shop floor is going to work extra hours or any employee it must be approved by Chief engineer of the floor and chief engineer must explain to railway board if too much over work is charged but work output is only normal. Many workshop employees sleep after lunch hours as less work is assigned to them. Those staff must be moved to new departments and put to work based on age and skillsets. All managers must start making workshop employees to swipe once every 2 hours in device and message to their mobile if they have not swiped to ensure more work output in give time. But initially the basic steps will be issue of smart cards to swipe on entry to work area and exit, and also swipe at gate entrance and exit. Currently in some workshops the card punching concept is present and one staff comes and punches for entire floor. Please give butter milk to railway staff in workshops as the heat is unbearable and also water coolers in all shop floors with service done.
•Big data and analytics if implemented with data available with IRCTC over years will help a lot. 1. Finding which is the 1st choice of train for passengers which they click 2. Which is the first choice of passengers for any train choice available 3. What is the seat choice of passengers 4. Lean period when train can be diverted to other demand routes for example a long distance train like Jammu to Kanyakumari may have lean period that time the train can be operated in the lean period in alternate days and then instead be used in different routes 5. Mapping the holiday calendar of the states, offices and nation to find out the peak demand period over years and forecasting future needs. 6. Asking the powerful analytics companies in the world like a) Hadoop based b) Microsoft based SSAS c) Informatica d) IBM Watson analytics to give sessions to top Railway board and IRCTC staff and GM of all divisions to understand power of analytics and places to use in the website. The data in what way can be used and later IRCTC can setup in-house team to use best features and they should use in house team to take up old data of several years to make improvement in operations of Railways. Analytics can be implemented by NTES to analyse time taken by train to cross certain regions. This will help find the clogged routes easily and then decide what facilities and which portions of tracks need to be doubled or quadrupled. The stations before which trains have to stop and wait for platforms can be identified. Stations at which trains unwantedly stop for long time leading to wastage of resources. Stations at which trains need to stop for more time for passengers to get on-board easily. Analytics is very powerful tool to analyse mistakes and correct them and improve efficiency. Those which knowledge of statistics if hired in this team will help frame logics and data which will be useful.
•The Konkan railway developed Anti-Collision device has not been installed in all trains and engines and EMU in spite of number of accidents happening. Trial are going for more than decades
•TGV of France is capable of going at high speed in normal tracks but why has Railways not invited TGV to do trial runs. No new cost involved as they use existing tracks. Just because PM is close to Japan PM he invited Japanese bullet train but TGV is also very good that too the cost is low since existing tracks can be used. Only the train compartments they need to design and ship to India. I sincerely recommend Railways to work with France and TGV technical team to start trial and at least once set of compartments into train for usage. The TGV concept has very low derailment chance since the wheels of 2 compartments are common at the joining point so that the movement is very easy and wobbling/shaking of coaches is avoided at high speed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGV_track_construction and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGV for your understanding. Please work and discuss with TGV technical team and French Government you are not going to lose anything by discussing & learning new things