The Minister of Railways, Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the modern luggage trolley service at Howrah station to assist senior citizens and women passengers in boarding and alighting from coaches along with their luggage comfortably, today i.e. 12th January 2011. The service has been launched as a pilot project for a period of one year and will be handled by uniformed attendants called ‘Rail Yatri Sevaks’. The service will be run in collaboration with State Bank of India and passengers will be charged only Rs 35/- for this unique passenger friendly facility. The trolley can be booked in advance over a telephone number to be specified by the Railways. This service marks the fulfillment of the one of the Budget announcements made by the Railway Minister in her Railway Budget 2010-11.
The Minister of Railways, Mamata Banerjee also flagged off a special exhibition train “Vivekananda Express” showcasing the life and philosophy of the great spiritual leader Swami Vivekananda from Howrah station today. This train is a tribute from Railways on the occasion of 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekanand. This exhibition train will cover important stations of the country, taking the message of religious harmony and unity to the masses.
The train “Vivekananda Express” consists of two Air-Conditioned coaches in which photographs, write-ups etc. are exhibited to project the life, work and message of Swamiji. The train will also include one Air-Conditioned 3-tier coach, one power car and one second class-cum- luggage van. The coaches have been refurbished at Liluah Workshop of Eastern Railway.
Swami Vivekananda (January 12, 1863 – July 4, 1902), was the chief disciple of 19th century mystic Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of Ramakrishna Mission. He is considered a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta philosophy and Yoga in Europe and America and is also credited with raising interfaith awareness. He is known for his inspiring speech beginning with "Sisters and Brothers of America", through which he introduced Indian philosophy in the Parliament of the World's Religions at Chicago in 1893.
Also on the occasion, the Minister of Railways laid the foundation stone for Archery & Table Tennis Academy. This comes as a sequel to her earlier announcement for setting up of such academy with a view to provide appropriate facilities for the sportspersons of different disciplines. By establishing an Archery academy in Kolkata, Indian Railways will achieve the twin objectives of providing world class training facilities to our existing sportspersons as well as tapping into the vast talent resources available in the eastern region of India
In addition, Mamata Banerjee, also flagged off three new express trains, namely Sealdah - Rampurhat Intercity Express, Howrah – Suri Express and Shalimar – Baripada Intercity Express, on the occasion