Railway Minister Piyush Goyal today called upon railwaymen to work hard to make the Indian Railways a world class entity in terms of technology, service and safety. "I call upon railwaymen to work hard to make Indian Railways world class in terms of technology, services and safety. I am fully confident that you can do this," Goyal said while addressing the 63rd Railway Week National Awards Function-2018 here today. "The railways' safety record has improved in a major way last year. You have to come up with more ideas to improve it further," he said.

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He said that the Indian Railways needed to be made a world class organisation in terms of punctuality and quality of service, which included food and toilets. "Punctuality of trains should be like that in Switzerland where clocks are set to the arrival of trains," he said. Turning nostalgic, Goyal said he wished that cutlets, tea and toast served now in the railways had the same taste as those that were served when he travelled in trains as a child.

Addressing the function, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, praised the ministry for allocating Rs 6,000 to the state to develop rail infrastructure, adding that previous allotments were in the region of Rs 400 crore.

He said that he was able to run "Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana", a service that facilitated train travel for the elderly visiting religious places, due to the help of the railways.

Minister of State for Railways and Communication (independent charge), Manoj Sinha, stressed on using Information Technology in a major way to improve Indian Railways services.

"India's strength in the IT sector has been recognised world over, but Indian Railways is lacking in it. It should use this expertise in a major way to improve its performance," Sinha said on the occasion.

Goyal and Sinha later handed over Indian Railways awards to 160 railwaymen and women for their performance.