For the benefit of passengers, the reserved tickets will also be issued from Post Offices in near future for which the modalities have already been finalised and agreement is likely to be signed shortly. This was stated by the Minister of Railways Shri Lalu Prasad while addressing the meeting of the Consultative Committee of Members of Parliament attached to the Ministry of Railways on the agenda “Marketing Strategies on Indian Railways’ here last evening. He said that it will also be possible to buy reserved and unreserved tickets through ATMs to be installed by Public Sector Banks at 6,000 railway stations. The Minister said that Railways have increased the length of all trains upto 24 coaches and length of platforms is also being increased to accommodate 24 coaches. He said that, in addition, Railways have taken a number of initiatives to increase the freight loading which include construction of logistic park through Public Private Partnership (PPP), liberalization of container policy, wagon investment scheme, liberalization of the policy of siding construction and concession upto 40 per cent in empty flow direction. The Minister also informed the Members that Railways have taken several historic steps for the overall development of Indian Railways network in the near future that include construction of Dedicated Freight Corridor project on western and eastern sector routes with an estimated cost of Rs. 30,000 crore, opening of agricultural outlets at 7000 stations for helping the farmers to get reasonable price for their products, upgradation of 21 railway stations upto world class level through PPP. The Members brought to the notice of the Railway Minister some areas of concern, especially regarding passenger amenities where progress is yet to be made to the utmost satisfaction of passengers. The Minister assured the Members that Railways are committed to take all possible steps to make it consumer friendly. Members appreciated the efforts made by the Ministry of Railways for the excellent performance of the Indian Railways and also praised the Minister and his work force for taking measures, which have yielded remarkable results and have led to a ‘turn around’ in the Railways’ financial position. The Members who attended the meeting included among others S/Shri Sartaj Singh Chhatwal, Girdhari Lal Bhargav, Dr. Sebastian Paul, Amitava Nandy, Anil Basu, Prabodh Panda, Devidas A. Pingale, Rabindra Rana, R.K.Dhawan, Motiur Rahman, S.K.Khabuddin Ahmed, Shri T.S.Bajwa, , Smt. Susmita Bauri, P.G.Narayanan, D.C.Srikantappa, Abdul Munnan Hossain and Nizamuddin. However, due to some unavoidable circumstances, the meeting could not be concluded and was adjourned for some other day, the date for which will be announced shortly.