On the occasion of 77th Republic Day, a grand flag hoisting program was organized at Central Railway Headquarters. On this occasion, General Manager (GM) of Central Railway, Vivek Kumar Gupta hoisted the national flag and wished Republic Day to the railway employees, their families and lakhs of passengers.
GM Vivek Kumar Gupta said that Central Railway started its historic journey on 16 April 1853 with the first rail line of 33 kilometers and today it has transformed into a huge network of 4353 route kilometers, which connects 499 railway stations of five divisions. He said that the Mumbai suburban network is the busiest and most complex network in the country, serving more than 40 lakh passengers every day through 1,820 EMU local trains.
’14 AC local trains will be run’
GM informed that keeping in mind the convenience of passengers, 14 traditional local services on the Harbor Line have been upgraded to AC services, increasing the total number of AC EMU services in Central Railway to 94. Describing it as a moment of pride for Central Railway, Vivek Kumar Gupta said that in the 70th Ati Vishisht Railway Service Award – 2025, Central Railway has been honored with five individual awards and five efficiency shields by the Honorable Railway Minister. These include shields related to civil engineering, bridge maintenance, signaling and material management.
Describing safety as the top priority, he said that due to continuous efforts, there has been a significant decline in railway accidents and there has been no major accident in the Central Railway in the current financial year till December 2025. 109 Railway employees have been awarded “General Manager Safety Award” for better safety measures and exemplary work performance.
He said that to increase the safety and convenience of passengers, 13 foot over bridges, 35 road over bridges and 58 road under bridges have been started in this financial year, while 19 level crossing gates have been completed. Along with this, large-scale repair work has been completed on 210 bridges, which is a major achievement in the last five years.
‘Kavach’ system installed in 171 locomotives’
Speaking on the technological upgradation, the GM said that till date ‘Kavach’ system has been installed in 171 locomotives, which has further strengthened the safety of train operations. To increase section capacity, 86.22 km automatic block signaling and electronic interlocking has been introduced at 28 stations.
He said that a new railway line has been inaugurated between Ahilyanagar-Beed section of Pune division, which will boost local passengers as well as industrial and agricultural transport.
At the conclusion of the program, Vivek Kumar Gupta praised the dedication, discipline and teamwork of all the railway employees and said that with collective efforts, Central Railway will continue to play an important role in taking Indian Railways to new heights in the future. He appealed to the employees to work politely, responsibly and in a service spirit towards the passengers.
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