Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that 21st century is technology driven era and innovation is essential for progress of Railways, adding that with the change in time, the system in the Indian Railways must change. <br/><br/>Addressing the inaugural session of the Rail Vikas Shivir through video conferencing, Mr Modi said, each official is doing his individual work but now everyone has to work together. <br/><br/>The Prime Minister said, the Railways have to be developed and made financially strong for benefit of the country and particularly those working with the Railways. <br/><br/>Mr Modi said, core focus of the Rail Budget in the past has been accommodating the concerns of MPs. Mr Modi said, his links with the Railways is strong as he spent his childhood on rail platforms and it is one of the reasons he wants to transform Railways.<br/><br/>The three-day Railway Shivir is being held at Surajkund. The aim of the progrmme is to generate innovative ideas across most critical areas of Railway Operations for substantial progress in this sector. <br/><br/>The Vikas Shivir will focus on eight themes which include making Railways the preferred freight carrier in India, using best-in-class technology, moving towards near zero fatalities. <br/><br/>It will also focus on reducing operational cost by 10 percent in 5 years, increasing non-fare revenues to at least 15 percent in 5 years from advertising. <br/><br/>An official release said, this is for the first time in the 163 year of Indian Railways that such a brainstorming and planning exercise at large scale is taking place involving all railway employees from gangman to Railway Board Chairman.