The national transporter has risen to the occasion for more than 100 years, the minister asserted.
"Railways is the sole organization, known for multidimensional excellence, from technology to efficiency, for meeting the expectations of the nation," he said.
"In the Railways, individual excellence, domain knowledge and competence is amazing," Vaishnaw said. "But collectively, we fall backwards somewhere and cannot reach our full potential."
"If we want to make the organization strong collectively, selection of top leadership should be purely performance-based and on the basis of suitability," he added.
The Minister said the Railways needed to move forward with a clear vision, absorb technology with an open mind, work with a cordial atmosphere and break hierarchies.
"We have to raise our aspiration level very high and set big goals," he said. "It won't work by just construction or whitewashing a station or building a good lounge."
At the event, 156 railway employees from various zonal railways across the country received the outstanding certificates and awards from Whishaw.
Twenty-one shields were presented to various production units and railway PSU for their outstanding performance and efficiency.
Metro operators asked to issue interoperable cards to users: Secretary
Of The Urban Development Ministry has asked Metro train operators to issue National Common Mobility Cards (NCM Cs) which can be used for travelling in all forms of urban transport. "Some Metro operators have gone for closed loop card with specific banks."
" So we are asking all those to reverse that. In case if they need to pay back to banks, they should do it. They should have cards open loop, NCMC compliant card," Urban Development Secretary Manoj Joshi said at an event organized by CEA,
For example, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has issued co-branded cards with SBI and ICICI Bank.
Metro operators have been asked to issue NCM Cs with minimal Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements so that people can use those cards not just for Metro rides, but other urban transports which accept it as well.
Adaptation of NCMC in buses is slightly difficult at this point, he said, adding it will happen in due course of time.
Joshi further said new buses under the scheme of augmentation of public transport in urban areas would be fitted with NCMC card readers.
In the last year's Budget, the government had announced innovative public private partnership (PPP) models to enable private sector players to finance, acquire, operate and maintain over 20,000 buses.
“The Railways has been unable to absorb technology during our journey of more than 70 years. Even today, we have locomotives running that were designed in the 1950s and 1970s. There are operational coaches that have been phased out in other parts of the world in the 1970s and 1975s,” Whishaw said while addressing the Investiture Ceremony of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) in New Delhi.
“So we need to rapidly absorb technology, be it for rolling stock, construction, safety, cybersecurity, or in situations where there is a human interface,” he added.
Commenting on the investment required to upgrade the Indian Railways, Whishaw said that nations which are similarly sized to India have spent an average of Rs 9 lakh crores to Rs 10 lakh crores annually only on the railways.
“The capital investment in railway security, whether it is for equipment, accommodation, vehicle movement or other miscellaneous requirements will be met out of a captive budget for upgrading railway security infrastructure,” he said.
Explaining how this would improve deployment of safety related infrastructure, Whishaw said that the RPF needs to have the freedom to undertake capital investments.
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