WR Press Release No 2020/11Mumbai, 10^thNovember, 2020

WESTERN RAILWAY CELEBRATED 70th FOUNDATION DAY WITH ELEGANCE & GLORY

Photo Caption : 1st pic is of Shri Alok Kansal- General Manager of WR addressing the Rail Parivar.2^nd pic is of Shri Kansal-GM/WR, Smt Tanuja Kansal-President WRWWO, Shri Alok Kumar-AGM/WR and Smt Vanita Jain - Vice President WRWWO lighting the lamp to mark the opening of 70^thFoundation Day celebration. 3^rd pic is the view of all the dignitaries o­n stage.

Western Railway celebrated its 70th Foundation Day o­n 5th November, 2020, with elegance & glory over entire WR, along with re-iteration of the commitment for best services always for its valued customers. o­n this historical day several railway stations, Headquarter and Divisional buildings and Heritage Locomotives were specially decorated with beautiful lights,planting of saplings at HQ & Divisional offices were carried out as a noble & environment friendly gesture. To commemorate this special event & in order to highlight the rich & glorious past of WR, a special media campaign was also launched. As a part of this campaign, small videos o­n heritage of WR & web cards o­n places of pilgrimage over WR were shared o­n various social media platforms. o­n this glorious occasion, Foundation Day ceremony was organised, which was live streamed o­n YouTube. This ceremony was graced by Shri Alok Kansal- General Manager of Western Railway & Mrs Tanuja Kansal- President of Western Railway Women's Welfare Organisation.

PHOTO CAPTION : A rare view of WR's historical Headquarter building alongwith station building at Churchgate.

According to a press release issued by Shri Sumit Thakur -Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Rly, to mark this historical occasion, 70th Foundation Day function was organised at Rail Nikunj hall of Mumbai Central in the evening of 5th November, 2020.In the beginning of this function, Shri Alok Kansal - General Manager of Western Railway,SmtTanuja Kansal – President ofWestern Railway Women’s Welfare Organisation (WRWWO),Shri Alok Kumar - Additional General Manager of WR &Smt Vanita Jain- Vice President of WRWWO jointly lit the lamp. Shri Alok Kumar - Additional General Manager of Western Railway, in his opening address, elucidated o­n how the officers and staff have kept the wheels of WR moving even during the difficult times of Covid-19 when the world was struggling. This was followed by a short film o­n the remarkable achievements of WR in the year 2020-2021. This short film showcased how WR converted the crisis of Covid 19 into opportunities. It's worth mentioning that during the lockdown period number of infrastructural developments like construction of ROBs / RUBs, Foot Over Bridges etc. were carried out over WR & works to augment the line capacity, as well as increase the speed of freight and passenger trains were also carried out.Another short film o­n glorious heritage & rich past alongwith Evolution & Growth of WR was shown portraying that how starting from the humble beginning of laying of 29 mile broad gauge line from Ankleshwar to Utran in Gujarat in the year 1855, led to the development of the present network 6500 Route Kms of WR. The film also highlighted the evolution of electric locos from steam locos and how WR has kept pace with the growing needs of the people for faster and speedier travel. What started as service with 3 coach train, gradually increased and now even 15 coach services are being operated o­n WR's Mumbai Suburban section. Western Railway's contribution to social as well as economic development of the country,was also highlighted in the films.

On this glorious occasion, several infrastructure works for the benefit of WR's employeeswere inaugurated through digital medium by Shri Alok Kansal General Manager of Western Rly. In this, railway colonies were inaugurated at several locations viz 24 units at Umargam station, 44 units at Udhna station of Mumbai Central Division. Eight units were inaugurated at Ratlam. Eight quarters was inaugurated for Gatekeepers and Trackmen at Aliyawada station of Rajkot Division and Ten quarters for Trackmen at Virpur station of Bhavnagar Division. Six quarters were inaugurated for the benefit of RPF staff at Ankleshwar in Vadodara Division. A Permanent Way office was also inaugurated for Section Engineers at Viramgam station of Ahmedabad Division. In continuation to this, three new wards, a new pathology lab and a new dispensary was also inaugurated at Jagjivan Ram Hospital.

Shri Thakur further stated that Western Railway had organised a slogan competition for the officers and staff of WR. Officers and employees whole heartedly participated in the slogan competition and a very good response was received for the same. The slogans were organised in Hindi and English categories with the theme being ‘Western Railway’. Three prizes were declared for each category and the winners were awarded with cash prizes & merit certificate through virtual means by WR GM Shri Alok Kansal & WRWWO President Smt Tanuja Kansal.

On the occasion of the Foundation Day celebration, Shri Kansal spoke about how we arewitness to the development of Western Railway in the 7 decades. He congratulated all the officers and staff for their dedication towards their work and achievements made by WR. He said that WR's parcel trains ran despite labour constraints faced during the time of the covid pandemic &WR ensureduninterrupted transport of essential commodities and medical supplies through its parcel special trains. He apprised that Shramik special trains were also run for the benefit of migrant labourers and lakhs of food packets were distributed free of cost during the crisis. Shri Kansal said that even now various special trains and festival special trains are being operated by WR for the benefit of passengers, especially to clear the rush during festive season. He stated that Business Development Units have been set up at Headquarters and all the six Divisions of WR and various incentives are offered to the freighttransporters. This is done to increase the transportation by rail and thereby increasing the freight revenue. Shri Kansal said that we have to continue with our fight against Covid 19. He also said that we should adhere to the clarion call of our Hon’ble Prime Minister of being ‘ATMANIRBAR’.Shri Kansal concluded that he was proud to be heading such an exemplary organisation. The function was followed by virtual cultural programme "Bhairav se Bhairavee tak". During the function, special greeting messages of Shri Sharif Pathan- President of Western Railway Mazdoor Sangh and Shri J R Bhosle- General Secretary of Western Railway Employees Union were also displayed digitally in which they both wished WR to scale newer heights. Besides this, Face masks commemorating the Foundation Day were distributed among housekeeping and cleaning staff across Western Railway. Display banners commemorating the 70th Foundation Day were displayed & jingles were played o­n all important stations. In an interesting way to celebrate the day, a caller tune "Dhadak Dhadak" has been made for all WR employees having official mobile numbers. Earlier during the day, Shri Kansal planted saplings at Headquarter premises at Churchgate to boost the initiative of green environment. At the divisional offices too, respective Divisional Railway Managers and railway officials participated in the tree plantation drive.

Shri Thakur stated that Western Railway has been a pioneer in many areas. Right from the introduction of world's 1^st ladies special train, 1^st 15 car suburban train and introduction of 1^st fully air-conditioned suburban train in India, it has earned many firsts in various fields such as Operations, Safety and in adopting state of the art Technology. W. Rly has time and again proved its mettle, through its long journey, ever since its birth in the British era in 1850s. It came into its present form o­n 5^th November, 1951 after independence with the merger of its forerunner, the erstwhile Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway (BB&CI) , with other State Railways viz Saurashtra, Rajputana and Jaipur & o­n the 5^th of November 2020, WR celebrated its 70th Foundation Daywith great pride.

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