Ashok Singh Salaria is the station superintendent of the one of the busiest railways stations across the state — Ludhiana railway station. The station see flow of about 120 passenger trains every day. He shares his views with Sameer Kumar Sharma on the recent rail budget.

The rail budget has announced slashing of passenger fares. How do you react to the budget as an employee of the biggest public sector employer in the world?

It is an excellent budget. Great care has been taken in addressing various concerns of the people with regard to betterment of the Indian Railways.

Security must be of a prime concern here as the city railway station is one of the busiest stations in the state. What safety measures do you take?

Safety of passengers is our main concern. The budget has also taken care of it by announcing filling the vacant posts of as many as 5,700 constables and 993 sub-inspectors of the Railway Protection Force. This will improve the safety at the stations, as the vigil will be strengthening by more deployment at every station.

What are the main features of the budget that you have impressed you personally?

The addition to the possible launch of steel coaches which will have more capacity for both passengers as well as freight, enhancement of the platforms are a couple of the positive steps proposed in the budget. Besides, mechanised cleaning of the station will also solve the problem of lack of cleanliness at the stations. The city railway station will also have such mechanised system of cleaning soon.

Lately there has been addition of different kinds of services at the station. Any new plans on the anvil?

The projects that are in the pipeline include installing automated ticket vending machines which will happen in the middle of this year. A proposal to install a condom vending machine at the station is also expected to be cleared by the railway officials.

And what proposals of the rail budget will help in smoothening the traffic to and from the station?