Rail passengers can now give ‘ ratings’ to stations
Prabhu tells GMs to respond to queries swiftly
In a bid to unleash competition and instil accountability, railway minister Suresh Prabhu will soon unveil a plan to allow passengers to rate railway stations to help prepare their ranking. The passengers could rate railway stations on various parameters, like cleanliness and amenities.
“The idea is to allow passengers as railway users to rate stations based on their satisfaction levels. The ratings will decide the ranking of railway stations. The passengers can rate stations on the scale of cleanliness, comfort levels in waiting and retiring rooms, and lounges, among others,” a senior Railway Board member said. This initiative is likely to find mention in the coming Rail Budget, to be presented on February 25, with Mr Prabhu keen to lay greater emphasis on passenger amenities.
“Passengers have been sharing their feedback on Mr Prabhu’s Twitter handle, but this exercise is quite informal. Since there is now consumer friendly technology available and an appropriate app could be developed, the idea is put in place a mechanism for passengers to rate stations and other services,” the official added.
Mr Prabhu has instructed all zonal general managers and divisional railway managers to make their Twitter handles public and respond to passenger queries on a real- time basis. Senior Railway Board officials feel the ratings could also help assess the performance of the zonal and divisional heads.
A senior Railway Board official added: “With the help of the passenger ratings and the rankings developed thereby, that can keep changing on a dynamic basis through real- time feedback, the initiative can allow people to rate the performance of the officials under whose jurisdiction the railway stations come.” This exercise will also be the part of the Railways’ move to modernise railway stations through the publicprivate- partnership ( PPP). While the Railways hope to rope in private players for various functions at railway stations, the initiative to rate them could also become an effective check on the performance of private players, the official added.