Dhananjay Naik

I am the Chief Operations and Maintenance Expert, of Pune Metro Third Line project for AECOM.
AECOM are Concessionaires Engineer for Pune Metro Line-3, PPP Project. I
look after all Train running activities including Trial runs, Staffing, Depot and
Mainline Operations. I am the interface between the Owners, EPC Contractors and the OM
Contractor. I have drawn up the Testing and Commissioning Manual for PML-3
which has 750 V, DC Traction.

I was transferred as Principal Head of Department (PHOD) of the
Commercial Department of Central Railway on March 31, 2023. PCCM is
responsible for the generation of revenue of Rs. 17800, 00, 00, 000
(seventeen thousand eight hundred crore) from freight, parcel and
passenger business of Central Railway.
Maximizing non-fare revenue: PCCM is also responsible for non-fare
revenues, claims, complaints, passenger amenities, cleanliness, catering,
passenger interface and ticket checking, amongst others. A major initiative
we undertook was to modernize the railway stations under the Amrit
Bharat scheme. These works are sponsored, planned and monitored by the
Commercial Department. A special focus has been given to promoting the
sale of local products by craftsmen under the one station-one product
scheme. CR is the leader on IR for non-fare revenue generation, ticket
checking and handling record no. of passengers. There has been an
improvement in revenue generation of 15% over last year, most of which
could be attributed to technological innovation in these areas.

Investigation into another fire: I was then promoted and posted as
Principal Chief Safety Officer, Central Railway. PCSO is in-charge of safety
of train operations on a zonal railway. He has wide range of powers and is
supposed to maintain a strict vigil to ensure that safety is not
compromised. During my tenure the generator car of one mail express train
running from Coimbatore to Bikaner caught fire on Central Railway
territory. Fortunately, it was discovered in time the train was stopped at
Kalamboli near Panvel and the fire was doused with help of assistance
provided by private staff of a railway siding close by and by the fire brigade
which arrived at the spot. Enquiry into this fire incident reveals that the
fire was caused by melting of wires in the roof panel of the parcel van.
Combined with the fact that the staff (private) manning the power car had
tampered with the fire safety system and were not trained to use the
firefighting system when required

I was then posted as CTPM (Chief Traffic Planning Manager) on
Central Railway in the Operations Department. CTPM deals with
planning railway lines, railway yards and railway facilities for
running the trains. He is also responsible for the safety functioning
of the Operations Department.
Inquiry into fires: As CTPM I was assisted with the enquiry of a
train that caught fire at Nasik railway station. A mail express train
running from Shalimar to LTT had one VPU (parcel van) attached
to it. This parcel van was marshalled next to locomotive. After the
train had reached Nasik, the Assistant Loco Pilot of the train was
doing a round of locomotive and inspecting of wellbeing of the
train. He noticed that there was smoke emitting from the parcel
van attached behind locomotive. In a short span of time the fire
spread and the VPU was totally gutted. Fortunately, Loco Pilot and
the station staff reacted in time the isolate-the burning coach from
the rest of the train by drawing it ahead. It transpired that the
Parcel Van was leased to licensee for loading of parcels. It was
thus loaded at Shalimar (Kolkata) and sealed only to be unloaded
at the terminating station i.e. LTT(Mumbai).The detailed enquiry
revealed that some lithium-ion batteries and some inflammable
material, marine fuel oils for testing purpose; garments, nail
polish; and beauty items were being carried in this Parcel van.
There was also one camera with external battery attached to it all
full connected mode that was found burned in the VP. It was
deduced that this led to the spark that then ignited the
inflammable materials that were kept in the VP. It clearly brought
to light that though rules preventing loading of batteries and
inflammables exist, it is still the duty of railway administration to
ensure that these rules are followed by private parties so that
danger to public safety can be avoided.

I was posted as Chief Passenger Transportation Manager in the Operations
department on Central Railway. The office of CPTM is responsible for
planning, timetabling and running of all passenger trains carrying on the
Central Railway system. It maintains close liaison with the office of
CCM(PM).
(a) Planning for conversion to and adoption of new train rakes
(coaches): The new kind of coaches, namely LHB coaches were
being inducted into the railway. Since the carrying capacity and
physical length of the coaches is different from the traditional ICF
coaches, conversion of the trains has to be carefully planned. The
new stock cannot be kept idling for long. Central Railway was the
pioneer in the conversion of trains to LHB.
(b) Crisis Management and Shramik Special Trains: During Covid
there was a restriction on movement was placed that affected railway
staff equally. There was a huge movement of migrant labour from
Mumbai to trains
Teams involving officials of administration, and department run trains during staff officers CPTM ensure dispatch
of Zero Time Tables: During Covid, average Essential

operate ATVMs facilitators for the public and thus dispense tickets.
This scheme of additional ATVM machines along with facilitators
enabled Central Railway to overcome the problem of queue lines
during peak hours. Appropriate technology can solve problems of the
Masses.
(b) Passenger profile management resulting in higher revenues:
The revenue generated by the train depends on its occupancy. For
long distance trains, if one changes the distribution of seat quotas of
the train it can have a significant impact on the revenue stream.
Thus, a review of the distribution of quotas on all long-distance
Central Railway trains was undertaken and changes made in
distribution of quotas. This led to an increase in revenues. Active
inputs from CCM(PM) office often help the claims office to process
refunds of passenger tickets quickly.
(c) Modernization of IT infrastructure: The infrastructure of
CCM(PM) office, especially the UPS system and backup generator
had outlived their codal and these were got replaced. Thus, after
a period of 4 years, the entire infrastructure of CCM(PM) office was
upgraded.

I was posted as Additional DRM Solapur for a brief period. The
incumbent DRM was sent on Training. The responsibility of
running the Division fell on my shoulders. It was a challenging
assignment involving train operations, maintenance blocks,
managing unusuals and dealing with labour unions.

On return to India, I was posted to South Eastern Railway, Kolkata
as Chief Commercial Manager (Passenger Service and Catering).
(a) Navigating vendor litigation and protecting Railways interests
in an acrimonious litigation: A bizarre incident occurred on SER
when passengers and pantry car staff of Gitanjali Express got into an
altercation and physically assaulted each other. We immediately
suspended the catering contract of Gitanjali Express and imposed &
collected a huge fine from the licensee. It threw up a new challenge
of how to manage the pantry car services on Gitanjali at such short
notice. Railways were in the process of winding up departmental
catering. SE Railway did not have catering staff. Equipment to
manage pantry car was available. I contacted Central Railway as
Gitanjali Express terminates at Mumbai. They had some surplus staff.
The catering staff of Central Railway with supervisors and equipment
from SER were used to run catering services on Gitanjali. No
complaints were received from passengers. Contract Management
for Public Services is not without its risks. The licensee dragged
Railways to court. Since Contract was awarded by IRCTC the Honble
Delhi High Court had jurisdiction in the matter. SER fought the case
in Delhi High Court later it was transferred to Kolkata High Court. I
made sure that SER was able to (with the assistance of CR) manage
catering services despite the incident caused by licensee staff.

I was later posted to a RITES (a PSU under Ministry of Railways),
for their PPP project at Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Trains of
Tanzania Railways Ltd. (TRL) ran from the Port city of Dar es
Salaam to Uganda and towards Congo.
(a) Introducing passenger allowance in case of delay: Often our
trains were very late due to breaches & failures etc. Many
passengers were poor and could not afford to buy food. I decided that
passengers should be paid a meal allowance in case trains are
inordinately delayed.
(b) Restoration of trains from Dar es Salaam to Kigoma and Mwanza:
Passenger train services from Dar es Salaam to Kigoma and Mwanza
were restored. Goods services to Uganda via Lake Victoria Ferry were
restored.
(c) Coordination with Stakeholders: Running of TRL involved close
coordination with Tanzania Government Officials, World Bank, RITES
management, TRL officials and the Customers. The smooth
functioning of TRL was incumbent on all stakeholders being on the
same page, considerable effort was made to achieve this.

Worked as AGM (in Privatization
and Concessions Department)
assigned to Tanzania Railway
project. Undertook field trips to
Tanzania and liaised with host
Government, potential partners,
Tanzania Railway Corporation
and other stakeholders of
Tanzania Railways PPP Project. Secretary to the General
Manager and Deputy General
Manager, I was responsible for
all workflow, decisions and
actions from and to the General
Manager of North Western
Railway. I was also in charge of
administration and logistics of
offices, custodian of SOPs etc.

Executive Secretary to the General Manager. Responsibilities included administration of General Department, Stakeholder Management, Protocol, liaison with State Government and Ministry of Railways

Dy. CCM, I was responsible
for the freight business of North
Western Railway.

I was transferred to the Operations Department at Baroda (Western
Railway) thereafter and soon promoted and posted as Sr. Divisional
Commercial Manager at Jaipur (Western Railway). During my tenure
there achieved the following
(a) Transparency and open access to Sr. DCM: Access to Sr. DCMs
chamber was traditionally regulated to specific times. However,
questions began to be raised, especially by the Unions that junior staff
were exploiting the situation. Thus, I took a decision to keep the
access open to all (customers, passengers, staff, union members&
journalists) always. This single step gave a salutary message of
transparency down the line.
(b) Introducing integrated transport and revamping logistics at
the Jaipur Railway Station: New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur from the
golden triangle of Indian tourism. Over time, we had heard many
critiques of the Jaipur Railway Station-stating that it was not
passenger friendly. Taxis & autos had surrounded the station
entrance. Most auto rickshaw drivers would refuse to take local
passengers, claiming the auto rickshaw had broken down. They were
waiting for that one foreign tourist whom they could take around the
city for the commission that they received from every shop & eatery
that the foreign tourist visited. To resolve the situation, I decided to
restrict the number of auto rickshaws to two lanes at the Railway
station. I set up a uniflow pattern of traffic movement. A second entry
on the other side of the Railway station was established & Auto
parking lane was earmarked there also. Naturally the auto drivers
disliked these developments. They resorted to a strike as they started
leaving & collecting passengers one km away from the station. This
resulted in passengers getting stranded. I liaised with senior officers
of Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation (RSRTC). In less than
an hour RSRTC buses rolled into Jaipur Railway Station, to evacuate
stranded passengers. Auto Rickshaw drivers gradually fell in line with
the discipline enforced by the Railways. Similarly, the taxi stand was
also shifted out of the Railway station. Soon, Jaipur became a Railway
Station, offering its passengers first-class access to all modes of
transport, including public buses from close to the exit door of the
railway station.

Responsible for ordering, running and monitoring Trains

Responsible for Defense Logistics and coordination between Army HQ and Ministry of Railways

I was responsible for
ordering running and monitoring
of trains (Operations)

I was responsible for
the sale of tickets, cleanliness,
linen and punctuality of trains.
(Revenue/Administration)