Mumbai: Vivek Kumar Gupta takes additional charge as Central Railway GM

Senior railway official Vivek Kumar Gupta currently serving as General Manager GM of Western Railway has been given additional charge of Central Railway following the demise of General Manager Vijay Kumar officials said on TuesdayAn officer of the 1988 batch of the Indian Railway Service of Engineers IRSE Gupta assumed charge of Western Railway in July Before that he served as managing director of the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited NHSRCL which is implementing Indiarsquos first bullet train projectDuring his career Gupta has held several key posts including principal executive director GatiShakti at the railway board where he coordinated multiple departments to streamline planning and execution of major projects under the PM GatiShakti initiativeHe has also served on both western and central railways as chief administrative officer construction chief track engineer chief bridge engineer and divisional railway manager Bhusaval Division As DRM he focused on enhancing safety infrastructure and operational efficiencyAt Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation MRVC Gupta played a key role in implementing the Mumbai Urban Transport Projects MUTP I II and III worth Rs 20000 crore and initiated groundwork for the Rs 34000 crore MUTP 3A He worked closely with agencies such as the World Bank AIIB MMRDA and CIDCOKnown for his expertise in infrastructure development and project execution Gupta is widely respected across the railway network Under his leadership Central Railway is expected to continue its focus on operational excellence and improved passenger experienceWestern Railway collects Rs 12167 crore in fines between April and October in intense ticketchecking driveTo curb the menace of ticketlessirregular passengers and to ensure hasslefree and comfortable travel to all bona fide passengers the WR is carrying out intensive ticketchecking drives frequently on Mumbai suburban MailExpress as well as passenger and holiday special trainsThe ticketchecking teams under the supervision of senior commercial officers of WR organised several drives during the period from April to October and recovered fines worth Rs 12167 crore This amount is 51 per cent higher than the collection made during the corresponding period last year as well as more than 14 per cent more over the target set by the Railway BoardAccording to a press release issued by WR Chief Public Relations Officer Vineet Abhishek in October itself an amount of Rs 2420 crore was recovered in 339 lakh cases from passengers for travelling without tickets and unbooked luggage This is a 100 per cent increase over the previous yearrsquos October figure WR statedTo prevent unauthorised entry on airconditioned AC local trains frequent surprise ticketchecking drives are being carried out As a result around 62000 unauthorised passengers were fined Rs 202 crore between April and October This amount is almost 76 per cent higher than the collection made during the corresponding period last yearWR has appealed to passengers to travel with valid tickets