India’s new Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw is keeping his ear to the ground literally. And what better place to begin hearing out the masses about the country’s largest public transporter than his ‘karmabhoomi’ Odisha, where he trained himself as a career bureaucrat and which he represents in the Rajya Sabha.

Handpicked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring in visible constructive changes in the Railways, Communications and IT sectors, Vaishnaw shunned his VIP protocol to mingle freely with co-passengers as he undertook the overnight journey from Bhubaneswar to Rayagada in the Hirakhand Express on Thursday.

He also interacted with railway men, vendors, hawkers and commuters during his first trip to Odisha since donning the Railway Minister’s mantle.

He is in Odisha, though, spearheading the BJP’s Jan Ashrivad Yatra.

Vaishnaw spent time in non-AC sleeper coaches, second class general coaches and also in a couple of AC coaches in the train. Railways officials could not recall when a Rail Minister last travelled in a general or second class coach.

During his interaction with the passengers onboard Hirakhand Express on Thursday night, he narrated Modi’s vision for a world class Indian Railways in what a passenger said was a “Chai Pe Charcha”. Officials accompanying him said the Minister desired to take feedback on railway services from people.

Vaishnaw surprised Railway officials and organisers of the tour when he expressed his desire to undertake a train journey sans any protocol available to the Railway Minister.

Before boarding the train, Vaishnaw moved around the Bhubaneshwar junction and spent time with food and book vendors. At the Geeta Press stall, he even purchased the Gita and Ramayana.

“Despite the stall owner’s reluctance in accepting money for the holy books, the Minister insisted on paying and paid from his own pocket,” an official accompanying him said.

The Minister also had one-on-one interactions with the ground rail staff like TTEs, Station Managers and Superintendents and Train Guards without the presence of any other rail officers around.             

He interacted with passengers, who were taken by surprise to see the Railway Minister in their midst. “We were surprised and also happy when we came to know that the Rail Minister is on board. We take pride that his karmabhoomi has always been Odisha,” said Badri Mohanty, who travelled in the train.

The conversation with passengers ranged from talking about the amenities on Indian Railways and whether or not the protocols of Swachh Bharat are being followed. Vaishnaw also conversed with youth to understand their views for a “New India” and AtmaNirbhar Bharat as espoused by the PM.

“I have come back to travel on trains possibly after a gap of about five years, but it has been my lifelong mode of transport,” Vaishnaw conveyed to a youth passenger, whom he also patted for his views on the country’s heritage railways.

“It is a different feeling altogether, and it feels so good to be on India’s lifeline where you are working on a Mission. It brings a bigger sense of responsibility and tells you how important the Rail feedback is,” Vaishnaw told the media persons later.  

He said passengers have seen and appreciated the improvements in the Railway system since the Modi Government came into power.

“What the consumers told me is that they are happy to see the Railways cleaner and efforts being made to make it an ‘experience mode of travel’. This has happened because of the vision of the Prime Minister, but we have miles to go before we can rest; the potential of the Indian Railways in nation-building is immense,” he said.

Last week, in a meeting with all top officials, HODs, DRMs, GMs, Vaishnaw conveyed the “perform or perish” mantra to them to fast track projects. He has even warned that there will be no space for the corrupt in the system for the next three years, inferring his remaining tenure in office.

The Minister has often reiterated the need for Indian Railways to work on a “Mission mode” to achieve the dreams of a “new India”. Among others, Vaishnaw has an ambitious challenge on hand: 75 Vande Bharat semi-speed rail trains across the country (for which he just has a year or so) as announced by Modi during his Independence Day speech.