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Railways takes Measures to Ensure Cleanliness in Trains and Stations
New Delhi, December 16, 2011: Indian Railways always endeavour to improve upon the standards of
cleanliness and hygiene in coaches and stations. For further improving
upon the standards of cleanliness in coaches, schemes like Intensive
mechanized cleaning, On Board House-Keeping Services (OBHS) and cleaning
attention to trains during their stoppage at “Clean Train Stations” etc.
have also been launched. Indian Railways have also planned multi-pronged
action by synergizing technology, education of users and provision of
better mechanized equipments to improve upon the standards of cleanliness at stations.
Regular inspections/checks are carried out at various levels to monitor
the standard of cleanliness and upkeep of coaches and stations and punitive action is taken wherever warranted. Besides, special drives are
also launched from time to time to intensify the level of cleanliness in
coaches and stations and corrective action is taken wherever deficiency
is noticed. This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri
Bharatsinh Solanki in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.
Fuel hike may affect rail fare: Muniyappa
CHITRADURGA, December 12, 2011: The frequent increase in fuel
prices has put the Indian Railways in the dock. It is now planning
on increasing fares in proportion to the fuel price hike. It is also
planning to impose higher fares on busy routes. In an exclusive chat
with Express on Saturday, State Minister of Railways KH Muniyappa
hinted at the price hike. He said: “Due to the wavering trend of
petroleum prices in the international market, railways is reeling
under crisis and there is an urgent need to overcome the burden.
However, in view of our social obligation, the ministry will take a
suitable decision which will not affect the people.” “Since eight railway budgets, the ministry has not increased a
single rupee and has provided maximum satisfaction to the public with its service motto,” he added.
Muniyappa also said that with considerable pressure from a
cross section of the society and MPs, the ministry is thinking of
providing better services and increasing the charges. "We are
keen on implementing this issue and the ministry will shortly take a
decision," he added. Source:The New Indian Express
Indian Railways plan to track trains on your 3G phone
New Delhi, December 05, 2011: Watching your train approach the city railway station on the screen of
your 3G mobile phone is going to become a reality in India soon. The
Northern Railways, which is still not able to provide time updates of trains to
passengers, is testing a technology which will enable passengers to track trains on 3G mobile phones.
The plan is proposed to be implemented in 2012 and is currently undergoing trial runs.
“By just dialing a helpline number, passengers can watch live pictures
of their trains moving towards the station. The technology will provide
live feeds of trains,” said a senior railway officer who did not want to be named.
The technology will be of great help during foggy season when commuters
have to wait for long hours for arrival or departure. “Big screens will also be set up at the railway stations which will give
the actual location of the trains. The technology would also help the
passengers to know the arrival time of their trains at the station,” said the officer.
Government to unveil special train to ferry fruits and flowers
PUNE, November 28, 2011: Having lost fruits and vegetables worth crores to poor infrastructure and transport, India will soon
unveil a special insulated and ventilated train next month that ferries fruits and flowers from Mumbai to New Delhi and hauls
vegetables on its way back. The train is a joint initiative between the National Horticulture Board (NHB) and Container Corporation of
India, or Concor, a Union government enterprise that provides inland transport and cargo-handling facilities.
The train will link the Turbhe yard of Concor near the Vashi market in Mumbai via Nasik- Bhusawal to the New Azadpur market in
New Delhi. On return journey, it touches Agra and Surat.Bananas from Maharashtra and potatoes from Delhi will be the core cargo
throughout the year. Seasonal produce such as pomegranates, grapes, flowers, carrots, peas and mangoes will also be carried by
the train. Most fruits, vegetables and flowers are damaged during
transport on ordinary freight trains, resulting in losses for growers, transporters and buyers alike. The train will have
insulated and ventilated freight containers designed by a company called Transafe and manufactured at its Kharagpur workshop in West
Bengal. The design has been vetted by Central Institute of Postharvest Engineering Technology,
Ludhiana.
20
injured as train derails in Kashmir Valley
Srinagar, November 23, 2011 (PTI): At least 20 people were injured on Wednesday when a train from Qazigund to Srinagar derailed
in Kulgam district, the first such incident since train services were launched in Kashmir Valley in 2008. The engine and two bogies
of the train derailed at Sedura village, 55 km from here, as the driver overshot the intended station stop by nearly 200 metres,
officials said. They said 20 people sustained minor injuries in the
mishap. “All the injured persons were evacuated to a hospital,” a senior police official in Kulgam said.
A team of Railway officials has rushed to the spot to investigate the cause of the mishap. “We are heading to the scene
of the accident. The cause of derailment will be known only after the investigations are complete,” Chief Area Manager, Northern
Railways, Opender Singh said. Official sources said preliminary investigations have found that there was some problem with the
brakes of the train. The first train service was introduced in the Valley in October, 2008. Today’s mishap is the third involving
railways since yesterday. Seven persons were killed when two coaches of the Doon Express caught fire in Jharkhand yesterday. In another
incident on Wednesday, four passengers were injured when the Howrah-bound
Koraput-Howrah Express collided with a goods train at Jharsuguda Station in Odisha.
Howrah-Dehradun express train caught fire- 7 burnt to death
Ranchi, November 22, 2011 (IANS): At least seven people including two children were charred to death when two AC coaches of
the Howrah- Dehradun express train caught fire early on Tuesday in
Giridih district of Jharkhand, police said. "Seven people, including two children, died after two coaches of the
Howrah-Dehradun express caught fire. Four bodies have been identified. The fire has been extinguished," D Parwa
Lakra, deputy commissioner of Giridih, said.
According to railway sources, one of the two deceased was
identified as Archita Kumari who hailed from Asansol in West Bengal.The incident took place between Nimiyaghat and Parasnath
railway stations. Two AC coaches caught fire around 2.30 am. A blast in a gas cylinder of one of the coaches is said to be the reason
behind the incident. AC coach number B1 caught fire first which
spread into the second AC bogey B2. Both coaches were badly burnt. High rising flames could be seen. "The AC of the coach was switched off and someone
switched on the heater. We started feeling suffocated. We informed the TT about it. But no timely action was taken," a passenger
travelling in the train told news channels. Train services have been
partially affected. Some of the routes have been diverted.
Railways minister announces new trains
KOLKATA, November 16, 2011: Railways minister Dinesh Trivedi, on Friday, announced the introduction of 26 new trains,
including a weekly Porbandar- Santragacchi Express within a week or so. These trains will be flagged-off by local public representatives
from various stations. On Sunday, Trivedi will flag-off a Howrah-Bolpur Kavi Guru Express from Kolkata. The routes of eight
trains will also be extended and the frequency of five will be
increased. The extensions and increase in frequency will come into immediate effect, the minister said.
In the 2011-12 Railway Budget, Mamata Banerjee had announced the introduction of 132 new trains, extension of routes for 33 and
increase in frequency for another 22. Of these, 42 new trains have been introduced. In order to cater to the surge of passenger traffic
that is seasonal in nature, Indian Railways has followed a strategy
of running trains on demand. Recognizing the need to bridge the extremely large gap between supply and demand on one hand and
limitations of terminal capacity and line capacity on the railways on the other, a close watch is kept on the wait-list of passengers
as well as on important social and cultural events in the region.
Railways, SAIL intend to set up coach factory at Singur
Kolkata November 1, 2011: Even as the legal battle for the erstwhile Nano site at
Singur is still on, West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, has said that Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and Indian Railways is
looking to set up a metro coach factory at the location. "I had a discussion with the Railways Minister, Dinesh
Trivedi, regarding the setting up of a metro rail coach factory at Singur. Railways has already showed keenness on this, at the same time, SAIL,
too, has given a letter. Singur land is with us. But since a court case
is on, there are some legal bindings. We will be happy if Railways, SAIL
and the state government can form a joint venture. We are committed to returning 400 acres to the unwilling farmers," Banerjee said, as part of
her briefing on an industrial revolution set to engulf West Bengal.
Even if the venture materializes at Singur, it will not happen in the
near term, and Banerjee realizes it as well. Banerjee won the first round of the court battle against Tata Motors, as the Calcutta High
Court upheld the validity of the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act that revoked the agreement between Tata Motors and the
West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation for the Singur land. But
the judgment has been stayed till November 2, giving the company time
to file an appeal. Source: Business Standard
Indian
Railways launched a real-time train information system
NEW DELHI, October 20, 2011 : The Indian Railways on Wednesday launched a real-time train information system (RTIS) for a
dozen important trains through which passengers can access the accurate train running information.
Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi launched the facility at the
Economic Editors' Conference here. The facility will not only be
available to passengers on these trains but also to the public who
are accessing the website “http:/www.simran.in”, and through SMS from railway enquiry number 139.
Passengers will be provided with the information about the
location of the train, its running position — on time or late,
next stop, nearest approaching/crossed station and the speed. This
facility has been provided for 12301 Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani
Express, 12302 New Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani Express, 12305 Howrah-New
Delhi Rajdhani Express, 12306 New Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani Express,
12313 Sealdah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, 12314 New Delhi-Sealdah
Rajdhani Express, 12951 Mumbai Central-New Delhi Rajdhani Express,
12952 New Delhi-Mumbai Central Rajdhani Express, 12953 Mumbai
Central-Nizamuddin A K Rajdhani Express, 12954 Nizamuddin
A.K.-Mumbai Central Rajdhani Express, 12003 Lucknow-Delhi Shatabdi
Express and 12004 New Delhi-Lucknow Shatabdi Express. The Railways
intends to provide this facility in all passenger and freight trains
by December 2012.
The Royal Rajasthan on Wheels started commercial tour
Jaipur, October 5, 2011: The Royal Rajasthan on Wheels (RROW), the super luxury
train, started its first commercial tour for this year from New Delhi on Sunday.
Tourists on this train will visit various destinations in Rajasthan,
including other places like Khajuraho, Varanasi and Agra. The train has
been introduced by Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation Ltd. in association with Indian Railways.
The train was launched considering the immense pressure of tourists on
Palace on Wheels. RROW has the capacity of carrying 82 passengers at one
time. More than 50 passengers boarded the train. RROW is scheduled to run on every Sunday from September to April from
Delhi on a seven day-trip. Source: DNA
Indian Railways to get its most powerful diesel locomotive
NEW DELHI, September 26, 2011 (ET): Locomotive major
Electro-Motive Diesel Monday said it has completed the design for a
high-horsepower locomotive for the Indian Railways. According to the
company, the new design - WDG5 - would be developed into the most
powerful diesel locomotive in the country with a power output of
5,500 bhp. "This diesel locomotive has an output of 5,500 bhp,
which will make it the strongest diesel locomotive ever to run on
the Indian rail network," the company said in a statement. The
company further said that the locomotive has a tractive effort of
560 kn and can pull more load at higher speeds with less emissions
than engines which are currently in use.
Railways
most corrupt government organisation, says cvc annual report
Delhi, Septeber18, 2011: The CVC's annual report for the year
2010 reveals that every third official penalised for corruption in
the country belongs to the railways. Surprisingly, public sector
banks like the Canara Bank, Vijaya Bank, State Bank of India and the
Punjab National Bank, besides the Delhi Development Authority (DDA)
and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), which have high public
interface, follow the railways in the CVC's roll call of dishonor.
The excise and customs department, which is perceived
to be more corrupt than a bank, comes behind the DDA and MCD in the
CVC's corruption index. Out of the 2,982 officers who faced action
last year, as many as 911 belong to the railways. In fact, the
corruption index in railways literally doubled from 2009 when 509
railway officers had faced the heat for corruption on CVC's advice.
Canara Bank, Vijaya Bank, SBI and PNB together saw 406 of their
corrupt officials punished in some way in 2010, the CVC report says.
Indian Railways leads the chart here too, with 321 of its officers
not seeing any action against them despite the CVC's advice given
over six months ago. Railways is followed by 305 officers of the
Central Board of Excise & Customs and 174 officers of the
Central Board of Direct Taxes - both under the Finance Ministry -
who have also not been acted against by their respective
organisations for over six months despite the CVC's advice.
Train mishap near Chennai, 10 dead, 72 injured
New Delhi, September 14, 2011: In the third major rail mishap in a span of two
months, 10 persons were killed and 72 others injured when a passenger train rammed
into a stationary train near Arakkonam, derailing five coaches on Tuesday night.
Rescue operations are over and work is on to restore the rail track.
However, bad weather is slowing down the process.
The accident took place at about 9.30 last evening, when the Chennai
Beach-Vellore local rammed into the Arakkonam-Katpadi train - which was
stationary at that time. A compensation of Rs 5 lakh for familes of the
dead and Rs 1 lakh for the injured has been announced. Union Railways
Minister Dinesh Trivedi will be reaching the site later on Wednesday morning.
"Initial reports suggest that the driver may have jumped the signal, but
this is not confirmed yet. Our officials have reached the site. Compensation of RS 5 lakh will be given to victims' families and RS 1
lakh to the injured. The state Chief Secretary is looking into it. We
will confirm the casualty figures only after looking into detailed probe reports," said
Trivedi.
Railways
mulling over passenger fare hike
New Delhi, September 5, 2011 (IANS): The Indian
railways considering an 8-12% hike in passenger fares. The move
comes as a desperate bid by the railways to pull itself out of the
red and the hike could be across the board. "We are actively
considering an increase in passenger fares for all classes,"
Railway Board chairman Vinay Mittal told IANS. "The hike should
happen at the earliest. We have already lost five months this financial year."
Indian Railways, which runs 10,500 trains and ferries
2.2 crore passengers each day, last hiked passenger fares in
2002-03. As part of fare rationalisation in 2002-03, minimum fare
for second class mail and express trains went up from Rs15 to Rs16.
For long distance trains up to 341 km, the hike ranged from Re1 to
Rs6. Explaining his point, the railway board chairman said the
"investible surplus" of Rs13,000 crore this year was
expected to drop to Rs.4,000 crore after the government revised its
economic growth target from 8% to 7.5%. He felt that this would
affect the railways' development plans. Railways Minister Dinesh
Trivedi, sources said, is seized of the matter. Once he approves the
fare hike, the proposal will be put up before the cabinet.
Railways to remove slums from near tracks
New Delhi, September 2, 2011 (IANS):
The railways want to remove slums from its property 'in a humane
manner' and are taking steps to prevent more slums from coming up,
parliament was informed Friday. Minister of State for Railways
Bharatsinh Solanki said the rehabilitation and resettlement of such
slum dwellers would be done through railways' Sukh Griha Scheme or
other such schemes. The issue had been taken up with ministry of
housing and urban poverty alleviation 'to arrive at a policy
solution to relocate these slums', the minister told the Rajya Sabha.
'Railways are also engaged in a continuing exercise to prevent fresh
encroachment by protecting railway land and property by providing
boundary wall, fencing and tree plantation,' he said.
Wi-Fi fittings for Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani Express
New Delhi, August 28, 2011: The Indian Railways is planning to make the New
Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani Express the first Wi-Fi-enabled train in the country.
"Internet browsing using the Wi-Fi technology is planned to be introduced in the
Howrah- Rajdhani Express as a pilot project by December-end," a member of the Railway Board said.
The Wi-Fi facility, available at the international airports in the country, enables laptop users to access the Net without plugging into a
regular connection, or having to use a data card. "Both business travelers and commuters will be interested in using
wireless services on trains as it will enable them to productively use
the nearly 24 hour travel and share their experiences in real time," the official said.
They said the facility would be initially available in three rakes of
the train and extended to other trains depending on the success of the
project. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 6.30 crore, and the railways
have awarded the contract for the equipment and their installation. The officials said browsing of the Net would be through a
satellite- based system using Wi-Fi for the distribution of Internet bandwidth.
Salman Khan to become Indian Railways brand ambassador
Mumbai, August 25, 2011: Given Salman Khan’s love for /rail gaadi/, the Indian
Railways are planning to rope in the megastar to bring about a much needed face
lift to one of the biggest transportation system in India.
Action superstar Salman Khan is often seen running, romancing or beating
the pulp out of baddies against the backdrop of our very own Indian Railways, so the top officials of the department are reportedly
contemplating to ask the star become their brand ambassador. A source close to Salman revealed, "The Indian Railways is used as a
mode of transport by a very large number of population. And, as a star,
Salman has a huge appeal among the masses. So it`s a perfect brand fit.” "His movies like ‘Tere
Naam,’ ‘Wanted,’ ‘Dabangg’ - all have important
scenes in trains or railway platforms," the source added. However, Salman’s business
representative was very evasive about the deal. On contacting the rep said,
"It`s too premature to talk anything about it right now." Source: Zeenews
Railways offering live television services on-board next year
New Delhi August 22, 2011: Indian Railways will redefine the travelling experience
of passengers on premium trains by offering live television services on-board next year.
The country's largest Direct-to-Home (DTH) service provider, Dish TV,
which has recently executed a pilot project on the Kalka Shatabdi, is in
the fray to bag the contract. Reliance Big TV, too, has evinced interest.
Sanjay Behl, chief executive officer, Reliance DTH & IPTV, said,
"Reliance Digital TV has capability to provide services in cars, buses
and trains. We are keen to evaluate all tenders in this regard, including that of the Indian Railways."
To begin with, the services would be introduced on eight Delhi-bound
Shatabdi trains and then in Rajdhanis and Durontos. Passengers would be
able to surf through as many as 70 channels covering genres such as entertainment, cricket and news.
"The service will be provided free of cost. The contractor would have to
pay a stipulated licence fee to the railways and in lieu would get airtime for advertising content on trains," said a senior Northern
Railways official.
Live television services are already offered by DTH operators on premium
inter-city buses, luxury trains and ships. But this would be the first
time the service would be rolled out on a mass scale on trains.
Railways Propose to Set up Mechanized Laundries at Important Locations
Ministry of Railways 18-August, 2011: Indian Railways always endeavour to provide good quality linen to the
passengers in trains. Bedrolls/linen sets are washed after every use.
However, some complaints and references /suggestions have been received
on the Railways regarding quality of washing of bedrolls. The number of
complaints received in 2009-10 was 1382; in 2010-11, 961 and in the year
2011-12 (till June) it was 207. Such complaints/ suggestions, whenever received, are acted upon
appropriately and suitable penal action is initiated against the concerned contractor/staff responsible for the lapses on their account.
Regular inspections/checks are carried out at various levels to monitor
the quality of linen provided to the passengers. Railways are also in
the process to set up mechanized laundries at important locations to
further improve upon the quality of washing of linen.This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri K.
H. Muniyappa in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
Railways to have electronic security system soon
NEW DELHI, August 12, 2011 (PTI): The railways on Friday said it is in the process of having an
integrated security system for electronic surveillance at vulnerable
stations to ensure security and safety to passengers. "We are implementing an electronic security system. This is going to be
implemented soon," railway minister Dinesh Trivedi said in Rajya Sabha during Question Hour.
He was answering questions on measures taken by the Railways to provide security and safety to passengers.
The integrated security system will consist of electronic surveillance
of vulnerable stations through close-circuit television camera network,
access control and anti- sabotage checks, he said. "The system has been approved to strengthen surveillance mechanism at
202 sensitive and vulnerable railway stations and it is under implementation," Trivedi said.
He also said that his ministry was committed to doing "anything and everything" to see that vacant positions related to security were filled
up. "Efforts are on to augment the Railway Protection Force cadres for which employment notifications have been issued for
recruitment of 11,952 vacancies of constables and 511 sub- inspectors,"
he said.
Indian Railways will soon be introducing double-decker trains
Bhopal, August 08, 2011: The Indian Railways will soon be introducing double-decker
trains between Bhopal and Beena. The department is likely to start a
feasibility survey next month. The decision to introduce the high capacity rail double-decker trains
was taken due to the huge rush of passengers on this route. If the railways get a positive response in the survey, the double-decker
service is likely to begin by the end of this year.
According to an estimate over 25 thousand people commute on the
Bhopal-Beena route daily. From businessmen to students and vendors a
large number of people are dependent on the rail services to travel on
this route. People coming from Beena to Bhopal usually depend upon trains like Malwa, Vindhyachal, Amritsar-Dadar and Kushinagar Express.
Double-decker trains are already in operation between Howrah and
Dhanbad. The Eastern Railways had introduced double-decker AC coaches to cater to
the heavy rush of travelers on this popular route.
Three killed in train crash in West Bengal
Kolkata, July 02, 2011: At least three people have been killed and 200 injured in a train
collision in the Malda district of West Bengal. Officials said the accident happened when the engine and some coaches of
the Guwahati to Bangalore express derailed and were then hit by another train.
The crash took place in Malda district about 350km (210 miles) north of
Kolkata. This is the third serious rail accident in northern India this month.
The express train "suffered the derailment of one engine and six coaches," said Amil Saxena, a spokesman for the railways ministry.
"After derailing, the coaches were thrown into the path of the oncoming
Azimgarh-Malda express. It came after about four to five minutes. It
seems the driver was alert and he tried to put on the emergency brakes."
Some passengers are reported to be trapped in the wreckage.
Accidents are common on the state-owned Indian railway, an immense
network connecting every corner of the vast country. It operates 9,000 passenger trains and carries some 18
million passengers every day.
Delhi HC directs Railways to introduce bio-toilets, rehabilitate
New Delhi, July 29,
2011 (UNI) : The Delhi High Court On July 27 directed the Indian
Railways to introduce bio-toilets in the trains and rehabilitate
thousands of scavengers engaged for doing the menial job. A bench
comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjive Khanna, who
were hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Safai
Karamchari Andolan, a federation of state-level
organisations of manual scavengers across the country said
‘Railways should seriously think of the rehabilitation of these
manual scavengers.’ Taking note of the status report filed by
advocate Rajiv Nanda, who is appointed as amicus curie by the court
to assist it, the court expressed its displeasure at the slow pace
of roll out of the bio-toilets, which retain human waste and treat
it with bacteria, converting it into gas and water. The report said
the railways were slow to implement the Bio-Toilets as an extra
burden of Rs 1,600 crore will have to bear by the Railways Ministry.
'Presently there are about 50,000 coaches in the trains run
by Indian Railways, of which 43,000 coaches are engaged in the
passengers service, this means that there are a total of 1,72, 000
toilets which are functioning today using technology which is
completely unacceptable, in that it requires the use of manual
scavengers to clean the human excrete which is directly discharged
on to the railway tracks,' the report. The Court said the Railways
should install the bio-toilets as fast as they can and fixed
September 21 as next hearing.
Indian Railways introducing hi-tech information facilities in sleeper coaches.
Bhopal, July 24, 2011: Inorder to provide its passengers a world class service, the
Indian Railways will soon be introducing hi-tech information and entertainment facilities in sleeper coaches. This is for the first time
that the Railways will provide such services to passengers travelling by the sleeper class.
The Indian Railways has invited proposals from private companies for the
On-Board Train Information Display and Entertainment System for putting
up electronic display and sound systems inside the sleeper coaches of
trains originating from Bhopal. While the display system will provide information about the train’s
speed, next station and famous tourist spots on the route, the sound system will be used to play music.
Railway officials said that the West-Central Railway and Bhopal division
is the first zone and division of the Indian Rail to provide such passenger friendly services in sleeper coaches.
“The Indian Railways has been consistently working to provide better
services to the passengers. The facility will be managed by the commercial department of the railways,” KK Dubey, Public Relations
Officer (PRO), Bhopal Rail Division, said. Railway officials said that the cost of the service will be covered
through advertisements.
New Delhi-Mumbai travel time will be reduced to 6 to 7 hours.
MUMBAI, July 21, 2011: According to railway officials,
the infrastructure for the Golden Rail Corridor, which will have
trains running at semihigh speed (160-200 kmph) between New Delhi
and Mumbai , is likely to cost around Rs 5,000 crore. The cost, they
say, is relatively low as the railways will not have to acquire land for the project.
Once the project takes off, the New Delhi-Mumbai travel time
will be reduced to six to seven hours. At present, Rajdhani Express
, the fastest train on the Indian railway , runs at 120-130 kmph and
takes at least 16 hours to cover a distance of 1,400 km between the
two cities. Sharat Chandrayan, chief public relations officer, WR,
said, "A delegation from the Japanese government that visited
India last week is satisfied as far as the commercial viability of
the project is concerned. Another team will soon visit the country to study the
technical aspects of the project."
A high-speed train runs above 250 km/hour, for which separate
infrastructure , including the tracks, is required. For this, land
acquisition is necessary. "These semi-high speed trains will
run on existing tracks, so land need not be acquired . No major
changes need to be made in the existing track design. The loop
design (at points and crossings ), however, will have to be modified
to ensure that the train is able to change the track at a speed of
100 kmph or above. As of now, trains are not allowed to go beyond 30
kmph while changing tracks," he said.
Japan team studies feasibility of semi high-speed Indian rail in Gujarat
AHMEDABAD, July 15, 2011: A delegation from Japan was in Vadodara on Wednesday to
explore the feasibility of semi high-speed Indian rail development in
the country. The delegation's visit to the Vadodara railway division
comes on the background of the decision of Indian Railways to consider
increasing the speed of trains from the existing 160 kilometres per hour (Kmph) to 200 Kmph on Delhi-Mumbai route.
Vadodara railway division is set to become the hub of all the studies
that will be carried out by Japan government's delegation as the Ratlam-Surat zone is being taken as a sample zone to conduct feasibility
study of semi high speed rail development in the country. The feasibility study will cover the existing 1,400-km
Delhi-Mumbai corridor via Mathura, Kota, Ratlam, Vadodara and Surat. The three-member
delegation that visited Vadodara railway division included experts from
Mitsubishi Research Institute.
Train
crash in Uttar Pradesh kills more than 60 people
Fatehpur, July 11, 2011 (BBC): At least 69 people have
been killed and almost 250 injured in a train derailment in near
Fatehpur. A dozen coaches of the Kalka Mail passenger train left the
rails near the town of Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh. Rescue workers and
locals have been working through the night to try to free trapped
passengers from the badly damaged carriages.
The train was travelling from Howrah near Kolkata to the
capital Delhi and derailed at more than 100kmph (62mph). Among the
bodies removed from the damaged coaches were those of two Swedish
passengers. A third Swede is among scores of injured receiving
treatment in hospital in the local town of Kanpur.
Some coaches mounted each other and others were badly crushed
in the accident, making it difficult for rescuers to reach victims.
Specialist medical and engineering teams along with cutting
equipment and cranes have been sent to the crash site, local reports
said. The cause of the derailment, about 120km (75 miles) south-east
of Uttar Pradesh's capital, Lucknow, was not immediately clear.
Indian Railways to roll out new e-ticketing service
NEW DELHI, July 05, 2011: Indian Railways is all set to roll out its own e-ticketing
service, which will have no room for travel agents and will be reserved
for individual users. "Unlike the e-ticketing service of IRCTC, the new service by Indian
Railway will have no role of travel agents and commercial
organisations. Only individual users will be allowed to book on the portal," said a
Railway official. Travel agents in the IRCTC service have been accused of blocking tickets
to sell them at a premium. Public resentment has also led the railways to bar travel agents from
booking tatkal tickets during peak hours on the IRCTC portal.
Under the new railway e-ticketing service, individual customers would
need to register themselves for the first time for availing the services. The registration will be free of charge.
A maximum of eight transaction per user ID per month will be allowed in
the beginning, the official said, adding, the service charges levied
will be Rs five per ticket for sleeper class and Rs 10 per ticket for
all other classes. IRCTS charges Rs 10 per ticket for sleeper class and Rs 20 per ticket
for all other classes. The new service will be available on its web portal
www.indianrailways.gov.in. Its launch will be announced after necessary clearance for payment
gateway transaction, the official said.
On offer is also a service for booking tickets on the mobile platform.
Customers desirous of utilising the facility and having Internet facilities will have to download mobile ticketing
application on mobile phones from Indian Railway's website, the official said.
Tracking facility for freight trains running and parcel status by customers would be among a host of other features that the portal is
expected to introduce shortly.
India
Railways new train time table announced
New Delhi, April 01, 2011: Indian Railways new train time
table will come into effect from Friday (July 1). With the new time
table coming into effect, the arrival/departure timings of some
trains have been altered. The train numbers too stand changed.
Information regarding new train time table and the number of trains
that have been changed can be obtained from railway enquiry number 139 or the various railway websites.
Trains whose departure timings have been changed are Dehradun
Jan Shatabdi (12055), New Delhi-Sealdah Rajdhani (12314),
Lucknow-Barauni (15204), Howrah-Kathgodam Bagh express(13019), Avadh
express (19038) and Muzaffarpur-Bandra T. express (19040) from
Lucknow junction station. The number of Varanasi-Anand Vihar Garib
Rath has been changed from 12551/12552 to 22407/22408. Now the
Pune-Maduadih express will run as a superfast train with a new
number - 22131/22132. Lucknow-Allahabad Intercity Express has been
extended upto Vindhyachal, while Lokmanya Tilak (Terminus)-Allahabad Express has been extended upto Faizabad.
About 11 new trains would be introduced that would pass
through the North Central Railway region. The timings of the trains
have been changed but the dates when these trains strart will be
declared later. These trains include 12293/12294 allabhad lokmanya
tilak terminus ac duranto express;22029/22210 mumbai central new
delhi ac duranto express;12035/12036
Railways blocks 4.6L user IDs for e-ticket fraud
MUMBAI, June 27, 2011: The Indian Railway Catering and
Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which looks after online booking of
tickets, has blocked over 4.6 lakh user IDs and 71,484 e-mail IDs since March to curb malpractices
in train reservations. In a bid to prevent touts from cornering
reserved tickets, the IRCTC has enhanced its cyber surveillance and
has been disabling IDs, which are found to be violating laws. Public
relations officer of the IRCTC, PC Bihari, said, "Users of
these IDs will no longer be able to book tickets through our website."
An IRCTC user ID can be created only if a person has an
e-mail ID. Once users complete the registration formalities on the
IRCTC website, they receive a password on their personal e-mail IDs.
Authorized agents have been provided separate user IDs by the IRCTC
for online booking on a commission basis. In March, the IRCTC barred
its authorized agents from booking tatkal tickets online between 8
am and 9 am after many citizens complained that they were finding it
difficult to book tickets on the railway website. The agents,
however, found their way around the system by creating multiple user
IDs so that they could book tickets during the restricted slot.
An IRCTC official said, "The agents were able to corner
a large chunk of tickets which they sold at exorbitant rates to the
customers." Many agents had procured software which let
them to book tickets within seconds. The fraud was detected and the
main distributor was arrested by the cyber crime cell on June 7.
Indian Railways will Start a 100 Bln-Rupee Bond Sale by September
New Delhi, June 21, 2011: India’s Ministry of Railways will
start a 100 billion-rupee ($2.2 billion) domestic sale of tax- free
bonds by September to help upgrade and expand Indian train network.
The offering will be divided between a private placement and a later
tranche for retail investors, Rajendra Kashyap, managing director of
finance arm Indian Railway Finance Corp., said in a June 17 interview in New Delhi.
Plans for the money include spending as much as 53 billion
rupees on laying additional rail lines, 21 billion rupees for
widening tracks and 8.5 billion rupees for electrification, he said.
About 1,300 kilometers of (808 miles) of new lines are due to be
laid this year to meet rising travel and freight demand in the
world’s second-fastest growing major economy.
Maoists strike Bihar railway station
Patna, June 16 (IANS) Maoists Thursday set ablaze a portion of a railway
station and blew up four mobile phone towers during a 24-hour shut down
called by them to protest the arrest of one of their top leaders in Bihar, police said.
A group of armed rebels attacked Nadaul railway station in Jehanabad
district, about 50 km from here, on the Patna-Gaya route. Besides ransacking the station, they set afire a portion of the booking counter
and the panel room, police said. They also blew up four mobile towers in Gaya district, about 100 km from
here. The rebels are protesting the arrest of Jagdish Yadav alias Jagdish
Master, politburo member of the outlawed Communist Party of India
(Maoist).
Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani a money-spinner
Mumbai, June 12, 2011: The Mumbai-Delhi route of the Rajdhani
Express earned the most revenue for the Western Railway (WR) in
2010-11 according to their list of the top 10 revenue-generating
trains. All the revenue data is for one-way journeys. The WR earned
around Rs 63 crore from the Rajdhani’s Mumbai-Delhi route. The`Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani ` provide the best of
services in terms of coaches, quality of seats and air-conditioning.
The WR’s monthly earning of the Rajdhani’s Mumbai-Delhi
route is around Rs 5.24 crore while its daily earning is around
Rs17.2 lakh. Looking at the Rajdhani’s popularity, the research
and design wing of the Indian Railways has proposed air conditioning
facilities inside each cabin apart from other amenities like ovens,
LED lights, laptop charges and water coolers. “Passengers inside
every cabin will be able to regulate the AC,” said a senior WR
official, on condition of anonymity. The railways are also looking
at improving the body of the train after a Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani Express caught fire recently.
Railways
hikes capacity of Rail Neer plant at Khagaul
PATNA, june 7, 2011: The Rail Neer (mineral water)
plant at Khagaul has proved to be a good revenue earner for the
railways. The railways has increased its production capacity to one
lakh bottles daily to cope with the growing demand in other zones.
According to Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Danapur
division, L M Jha, the Khagaul Rail Neer plant, which is the second
plant of the Indian Railways, maintains a world- class standard. The
plant is quite nvironment-friendly too. It has been supplying Rail
Neer to Ranchi, Dhanbad, Bhubneshwar, Kolkata and Guwahati in the
eastern region, he said. Lauding the functioning of the plant, the
DRM said it has been fulfilling the needs of all five divisions of
East Central Railway (ECR). The maximum consumption is under Danapur
division as a large number of mail and express trains either
originate or pass through Patna Junction, he said.
Indian Railways to launch new web portal soon
New Delhi, June 4, 2011: The Indian Railways will soon launch a new web portal, which
would contain information related to passenger services , for the convenience of
travellers. The information will primarily include journey planners, E-ticketing,
retiring room booking and train arrival/departure information and PNR status.
"The new web portal will provide a web-based complaint management and
SMS complaint management," said a senior Northern Railway official. The telephone number 132 has been taken over by Northern Railway for the
purpose of web facilitation. It is to be an all-India number with accessibility from all mobiles and landlines across the country.
After the launching of the portal, passengers can dial 132 for lodging
complaints against railway services, the official said. All complaints which are presently being received on SMS either on
9717630982 or on 57886 shall be received later on at the three digit
number. "It will be ensured by the Railways that this number is integrated with the web portal," he said.
The portal will offer services to the rail users for freight services
which includes information to the customer about the rakes. "This will
also provide tracking facility of the rakes on the portal," the official
said. On the parcel services front, the portal will provide information about
the parcel rules, parcel charges calculator, parcel rates and parcel tracking information also.
All the earlier 35 railway websites have been linked to the portal and
made online,.
Railways
all set to introduce green toilets
PATNA, May 31, 2011: The Indian Railways recently signed an
MoU with the Defense Research and Development Organization ( DRDO)
to develop environ-ment-friendly toilet system to improve further
hygienic condition in toilets on running trains across the country.
According to a Railway Board official, the design of the proposed
new toilet system has been developed by the DRDO. The railways has
decided to manufacture two rakes fitted with eco-friendly toilet
system. The rail-ways would first put these rakes on
trial and then the newly developed technology would be gradually
introduced in super fast trains, he said. The Board official said
that the objective behind introducing the new system is to maintain
zero discharge toilet system ( ZDTS on running trains. The
Research Design and Standard Organization (RSDO) and IIT, Kanpur,
have jointly developed its design. The concept of providing green toilets on running trains has
been the pilot project of the railways. It will be introduced
gradually in most of mail and express trains in different zones of
the railways, he said. During the trial of the new system, it was
observed that the response of passengers travelling by Bundlekhand-Varanasi Express was good. The
railways would manufacture more such new bogies fitted with
eco-friendly toilets soon, the sources said.
Railways to invite Rs 10,000-cr bids for Delhi-Mumbai freight corridor
New Delhi May 26, 2011: Work on the much-delayed dedicated railway freight corridor is expected
to begin with contracts worth Rs 10,000 crore to be awarded before the
end of the current financial year. The contracts would be for the western arm of the Rs 77,000-crore Dedicated Freight Corridor project.
The western arm includes the 1,500-kilometre-long Delhi- Mumbai stretch
that is expected to ease and ramp up Indian Railways freight traffic
between Dadri near Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Mumbai traversing through Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
"Overall, Rs 10,000-crore bids would be invited by us this year for
awarding civil engineering contracts for package I & II of the first
phase of the western corridor. This will be followed by bids for awarding electrification and signaling works in six
months," said a senior executive of Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd
(DFCCIL), a company set up in 2006 under the aegis of the railway ministry.
Freight traffic on the Golden Quadrilateral linking Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Howrah" and its two diagonals Delhi-Chennai and
Mumbai- Howrah carries more than 55 per cent of revenue earning freight
traffic of Indian Railways. The existing routes of Howrah-Delhi on the
eastern corridor and Mumbai-Delhi on the western are highly saturated
creating the need for dedicated routes.
Indo-Bangla rail-link an outlay of Rs 251 crore
AGARTALA, May 22,2011 : The Northeastern Frontier
Railway (NFR) contemplating to undertake works for laying rail
tracks connecting Agartala with Bangladesh's Gangasagar by October
next year. The Centre has already earmarked an outlay of Rs 251
crore to implement the dream rail link, Kishore Ambuly, Special
Secretary, Transport department said here on Saturday.
Taking to reporters at the Civil Secretariat here, Ambuly
said that while the DoNER would pump in an amount of Rs 105 crore
for construction of rail link in the Indian side, the Ministry of
External Affairs (MEA) will provide Rs 146 crore to carry out the
project in the Bangladesh side. He said that another round of joint
survey would be conducted next month to officially notify the
proposed alignment. Earlier, a joint team comprising representatives
from both sides had conducted survey in November last year. Sources
in the NFR said, the Detailed Project Report (DPR) is almost ready
and will be submitted to the Ministry of Railways and Railways Board
for final approval. ?We are hoping to start the work by October this
year, said an official of NFR.
US firm ARI to develop high axleload wagons for Indian Railways
Chandigarh, May 12, 2011: A joint venture of US firm ARI and Amtek Auto are building a wagon plant near
Chandigarh. ARI will work with RDSO to assess Indian operating conditions, and will
train IR staff in design, testing and manufacturing methods, quality
assurance and maintenance. The US firm said the contract will run for
‘several years’ with ‘almost half of the steps’ completed within two years.
Train derails in Madhya Pradesh, villagers save lives
Bhopal, May 9, 2011 (IANS) Timely help of local
villagers saved several lives as five coaches of Mumbai-bound Udyog
Nagri Express derailed in Madhya Pradesh's Vidhisha district early
Monday, police said. Thirty passengers were injured, seven of them
critically, in the accident. The train (No. 12173) was coming from
Lucknow when it derailed near Sorai station, over 70 km from here,
around 6.30 a.m. Monday.
Coal India Ltd proposes to build three new rail links
New Delhi, May 4, 2011: Coal India Ltd proposes to build three new rail links having a total
length of 350 km to connect its coal fields in the interiors. This could
require an investment of Rs 2,000-Rs 3000 crore depending on the terrain.
“The new rail links would connect coal fields in the Ib Valley, North
Karanpura and Mand-Raigarh coal fields,” Mr N.C.Jha, Chairman, Coal
India, said. These coal mines are in Orissa, Jharkhand and
Chattisgarh. Sources in the Indian Railways said construction cost for a new rail
line, excluding the land cost, ranges between Rs 5-7 crore a km in a
flat terrain. However, in a difficult, hilly terrain the costs could
shoot up to as high as Rs 20 crore a km.
Railway introduces non-stop goods trains
PATNA, April 22, 2011: Indian Railways has introduced non-stop goods trains
for the first time across the country. The special feature of these goods trains is that the load combination of two goods trains is
amalgamated to carry more freight from one major station to another.
According to a Railway Board official, Railway Board chairman Vivek Sahai has taken the decision to run non-stop goods trains with their
load increased from the normal 58 wagons to 116 or 80 wagons.
According to ECR CPRO Dilip Kumar, the ECR has been successfully running
five such goods trains from Dhanbad division on an experimental basis.
Three such non-stop goods trains are originating from Barwadih and one
each from Gomoh and Asansol stations. The ECR has a major share in freight loading, particularly coal loading from the Dhanbad
division. The CPRO said that normally a goods train runs with a load combination
of about 40 to 58 wagons. But in the amalgamated system, it is having
the maximum load of about 116 wagons now. Besides, two locomotives (electric and diesel) are being used to haul such a goods train from
Dhanbad division to far-off places in the country, he said.
Railways to have Master Kitchens to provide onboard food
Mumbai, April 17 (PTI) In a bid to serve better-quality food on board, the
Indian Railways plans to set up its own Master kitchens in Delhi and
Mumbai within two years. "1.5 lakh meals are provided on trains every
day on outstation trains at Mumbai and Delhi. We have base kitchens with
a capacity of 15,000 meals only, which is less than the requirement. So
we intend to set up Master kitchens. We expect the project to be completed in two years," Chairman of Railway Board, Vivek
Sahai, told reporters here. Admitting that cleanliness and quality of food had been
below par, Sahai said, "Complaints about the quality of food served in
trains were increasing and IRCTC was not addressing them properly.
Now Railways will take care. With such kitchens, we would be able to
maintain quality. Food will be prepared under strict monitoring of the
Railway Board and meals will be served on trolleys." Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd
(IRCTC), a PSU, is currently responsible for serving food on trains. Sahai further said, "For Delhi
we intend to use the equipment including utensils that were meant for
the Common Wealth Games.
Indian
Railways completes 158 years of journey
PATNA, April 12, 2011: The Indian Railways will complete 158th year of its journey on
April 16. The wheels of railways moved for the first time on April 16,
1853 from Mumbai to Thane, covering a distance of about 34km. The then East Indian
Railway Company introduced another train between Howrah and Hooghly on
August 15, 1854. The British government took over the railways from private companies in 1869.
By 1879, railway tracks were laid in a stretch of 12,455km, and railways
became the most popular mode of communication. The track between Lakhisarai and Mughalsarai was laid by the Britishers in 1862 while the
Howrah-Kiul route, known as Sahibganj loop line, was thrown open to people in 1860. A direct link between Howrah and Delhi was provided in the
early 1860s. The railways first released its postal stamp in 1907. The
railway budget was separated from the general budget in 1925.
It was a historic year for railways also because it introduced an
electric locomotive hauled-passenger train between Victoria Terminal and
Kurla this year. The automatic signal system was introduced in 1928 by
the Central Railway. The Burma Railway was also a part
of Indian Railways till 1937 when these two countries separated from
each other. About 3,200-km-long tracks were then gifted to Burma by the
Indian Railways. Railways had about 65,217km of tracks on August 15, 1947 of which about
10,523km fell in Pakistan. To run the railways smoothly, the Railway Board was constituted on February 18, 1905
Indian
Railways to get mobile train radio communication soon
ALLAHABAD, April 9, 2011: In
order to ensure safety of the passengers, North Central Railway has
taken the initiative of implementing Mobile Train Radio
Communication which would provide better communication between the
driver and the control room. The work is already in progress and is
expected to bring a sea change in the history of communication
technology in the Indian Railways.
Mobile Train Radio Communication System would use GSM/R
technology is proposed to be provided on Rajdhani route New Delhi-Mughalsarai
and Palwal-Jhansi section coming under the jurisdiction of North
Central Railway. This will facilitate instant communication of train
crew with control centre and station master, thus enhancing
safety and confidence in the train operating staff. This will also
enable maintenance of staff and officers deputed at different
locations to communicate instantly with each other, thereby
enhancing the system efficiency manifold.
Calcutta High Court okays Railways recruitment
Kolkata, March 25, 2011: The Calcutta High Court today gave its nod to the
Indian Railways to proceed with the recruitment process of 16,000 people in Group D level.
The Eastern Railway notification of December 14 last year for recruitment of Group D staff was challenged in the High Court. The
Railways has received more than 15 lakh applications for the posts for
which the last date of receiving the applications was March 25. Labour group Liluah-Belur Co-operative Contract and Construction Limited
Society challenged the notification in the High Court seeking a stay order.
Gujarat
trains affected due to Jat agitation
Mumbai, March 22, 2011: Indian Railways has cancelled seven
down trains to north India and six up trains from that region,
slated to depart on Tuesday, in view of the ongoing Jat agitation.
Besides, two trains have been short- terminated. The up trains
cancelled for Tuesday are: 19023 Mumbai Central-Firozpur, 19105
Ahmedabad-Haridwar Mail, 19257 Rajdhani Express, 12915 Ashram
Express, 14322 Bhuj-Bareilly Express, 19263 Porbandar-Delhi Express, and 09562 Okha-Bandra Holiday Special.
The down trains cancelled for Tuesday are: 19024
Firozpur-Mumbai Central, 19106 Ahmedabad- Haridwar Mail, 12958
Rajdhani Express, 12916 Rajdhani Express, 14311 Bareilly-Bhuj
Express and 09561 Bandra-Okha. Train 12216 Bandra-Delhi will be
terminated at Jaipur on Tuesday and 19270 Muzaffarpur-Porbandar will
be terminated at Delhi on Tuesday. Train 12969 will run between
Delhi and Muzaffarpur only on March 25.
Indian Railways to build world-class stations
New Delhi/ Bhopal March 18, 2011: Indian Railways said it would rope in home-grown talent to develop
world-class stations as foreign consultants were charging exorbitant
fees. Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee had in her Budget speech in
2009 promised to convert as many as 50 railway stations into world-class stations.
"Hiring a foreign consultant is a costly affair," Central Railway Board
chairman Vivek Sahay said here without naming any consultant . Habibganj Railway station of Bhopal is also included in the project.
However, the railways has yet not moved on it since its announcement in Parliament.
Sahay also said, creation of a world class design was not a tough task
for any Indian architects who design world class malls everywhere these
days. On issues of conversion of narrow gauge lines into broad gauge
that falls on tiger reserves and national parks, Sahay said,
New magazine "Rail Bandhu" on April 16 to spice up rail travel
PATNA, March 14, 2011: Railway minister Mamata Banerjee has
taken a decision to launch a new railway magazine "Rail Bandhu"
on April 16 to mark the celebraion of Railway Week across the
country. The proposed magazine will be brought out by the railways
on the pattern of magazines of the Air India and Indian Airlines. It
will be the first of its kind in the railways. According to a
Railway Board official, "Rail Bandhu" will be
distributed to passengers free of cost while undertaking train
journey. The magazines will be made available in all premier trains,
including the Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express and other
mail and express trains, to provide entertainment to elite class
passengers, he said. The official said about one lakh copies of
the magazine would be brought out initially. The railways intends to
increase its number to 10 lakh in future so that it could be
distributed in each zone of the railways. "The magazine will
have 60 pages, of which 30 pages will have news items and articles
while the remaining pages will cover other topics ," he said,
adding the railways has planned to publish interesting articles
about Rabindranath Tagore's famous work "Geetanjali",
vignettes of the saloon car travel during the British period and
stories by Ruskin Bond in the inaugural issue.
Indian Railway raises iron ore freight rates
New Delhi, March 04, 2011: Indian Railways raised freight
rates on iron ore meant for exports by INR 100 per tonne to INR
1,600 effective Thursday. An official said “The railways have
increased the existing distance based charge further by INR 100 per
tonne on the booking of iron ore traffic meant for other than
domestic consumption for all distance slabs.” According to
Mr RK Sharma secretary general of the Federation of Indian Mineral
Industries “The hike in freight is very high. It is yet another
blow to our industry. We don’t have much to say.”
For the railways, iron ore is the second highest source of
freight income. The railways had earned INR 8,345.27 crore from iron
ore and aims to generate INR 8,423.83 crore in the current fiscal.
The decision, coming on the heels of India hiking export duty on
fines and lumps to 20% in the 2011/12 federal budget, is seen as a
blow to exports in a country where demand for banning iron ore
exports has grown over the last year. Source: telegraphindia.com
Rail Budget 2011: No increase in train fares this year
NEW DELHI, February 25, 2011 : For the third successive year,
the Railway Budget for 2011-12 spared the passengers of any increase
in fares and proposed no hike in freight rates while introducing 56
new trains, including nine non-stop Duronto trains and three
Shatabdis. Regretting the two incidents of sabotage that led
to a large number of deaths last year, Mamata said to avoid
such incidents in future, anti-collision devices will be
commissioned in three more divisions and all unmanned crossings will be done away with in the next fiscal.
Mamata, however, said rail accident rate has declined from 0.29 per
cent. last year to 0.17 per cent at present. The states with
lowest number of rail accidents will get two new projects and two
new trains as an incentive, she said. The booking charges for
A/C as well as non A/C seats have been slashed by 50 per cent
and online ticketing is all set to get cheaper. The minister also
extended concession for physically-challenged persons and Kirti and
Shaurya Chakra awardees to travel in Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains,
besides extending facility of card passes to parents of unmarried
posthumous Paramvir Chakra and Ashok Chakra gallantry award winners.
Also, the lower age limit for female senior citizens
will be reduced from 60 to 58. Concession for male senior
citizens has been increased by 10% to 40%. One of the highlights of
the budget was the introduction of over 200 new routes, especially
for the North-East. Another special addition is the introduction of
double-decker air-conditioned train service on the Jaipur-Delhi and
Ahmedabad-Mumbai routes. Three new Shatabdi trains will be
introduced on Pune- Secunderabad, Jaipur- Agra and Ludhiana-Delhi
routes, she said. New Duronto trains will be introduced on Allahabad-
Mumbai, Pune-Ahmedabad, Sealdah-Puri, Madurai-Chennai, Chennai-
Thiruvananthapuram and Mumbai Central-New Delhi outes. As many as 47
additional trains will be introduced for the Mumbai suburban section
and nine for Chennai, Banerjeee said. Also, trolleys will be
introduced at railway stations, said the minister. The 'Go India'
smart card ticket project will be launched this year.
The railways is planning to invest Rs 57630 cr in the
2011-12 fiscal and railway earnings, she said, are set to exceed the
Rs 1 lakh crore mark. As many as 442 stations are to be completed
and 584 upgraded by 2012 and new railway line capacities are to be
increased to 700 km, she said. Banerjee announced that the first
coach from the new rail factory at Rae Bareli will roll out in the
next three months. Also, there is a plan to set up a rail industrial
park in Nandigram and a metro coach factory in Kolkata. A coach
factory is also planned to come up at Singur as is a track-machine
industry in Uluberia. A locomotive centre is to come up in Manipur's Imphal.
Railways is to set up a bridge factory in J&K considering need
for large number of bridges on railway projects in the state,
Banerjee said. Enthused by the high number of medals in
international sports competitions won by the Railways, a
Sports Cadre will be set up in the department. As many as
16,000 ex-servicemen will be inducted by March in the Railways for
the first time. A 700 MW gas-based power plant will be set up at
Thakurli in Maharashtra, she said.
BSNL 3G Branded Rajdhani Express Service
Delhi, February 23, 2011: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL)
has launched BSNL 3G Branded Rajdhani Express in association with
the Indian Railways through the vendor who has direct agreement with
the Indian Railways. BSNL has done advertisement with the objective
of branding and promotion of 3G products & value Added Services
including 3G theme “Faster than your thoughts” on two rakes of
Rajdhani Express, one each on South & East routes. BSNL has
allocated Rs. 1.93 Crore for this purpose. This information was
given by the Minister of State for Communications & Information
Technology, Shri Sachin Pilot in written reply to a question in Lok
Sabha today.
Railways to set
up own bottling plant
Mumbai, February 20, 2011: The Indian Railway Catering and
Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) are planning to set up their own bottled
water plant in Ambarnath. The site where the plant is expected to
come up is called GIP (Great Indian Peninsula) railway tank in the
MIDC area. ‘Rail Neer’ is the brand name under which the
railways sell purified bottled water across the country.
The IRCTC is expecting to produce 1 lakh bottles from the
plant on a daily basis that would be sold at a subsidised rate.
“Tenders have been called but the plan is in a very initial
stage,” said an official from IRCTC on condition of anonymity as
he is not authorised to speak to the media. The Great Indian
Peninsula Railway had acquired the Kakole lake in Jhambivali village
at Ambernath for the purpose.
Railways come up with HHT to tackle graft
ALLAHABAD, February 15, 2011: In a bid to bring transparency in issuing tickets and to
check corruption among the ticket checking staff, the Indian Railways
is planning to provide Hand Held Terminals (HHT) to them, so that availability of vacant positions can be instantly
provided to the passengers. The information about the availability of berths would be feeded and
updated regularly through different cities spread across the whole country.
The Hand Held Terminals provided to the Travelling Ticket Examiners
(TTEs) helps to download information through GPRS, updating the chart
while checking the tickets in the coach, informing the status of vacancy
to central server periodically through GPRS, collecting excess fare,
penalty and other charges, issuing the receipt for the same and report
for the cash collected by TTE giving a printed receipt to the passenger.
The HHTs would be linked to PRS (Passenger Reservation System) which
would have the details about the reservation status. Pointedly, PRS provides reservation services to nearly 1 million passengers a day on
over 3500 trains running throughout the country. The PRS is available at
over 6,000 counters in more than 1,800 locations throughout the country,
including all major stations.
Mamata Banerjee moots health cover for railway porters
New Delhi, February 9, 2011 (DNA): Riding on the back
of the Indian railways, minister Mamata Banerjee has come out with
yet another pre-election goodie for the lowest-rung staffers like
porters, vendors, and hawkers aiming at creating a vote bank for the
upcoming state assembly elections in West Bengal.
After doling out free AC three-tier travel with family
once in a year to the Grade D employees (gangmen, train cleaners
etc), the railway ministry has proposed to extend the Rashtriya
Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) worth Rs30,000 annually to licenced
porters, vendors and hawkers. RSBY yojana provides financial
security to the unorganised sector workers belonging to the below
poverty line category and their families in case of hospitalisation
as well as for overall access to quality health care.
The scheme provides for smart card based health insurance
cover of Rs30,000 per annum in case of hospitalisation.
A railway ministry documentsaid, ?Premium payable to be shared
between the railways and the beneficiaries would be in the ratio of
75:25. Railways? contribution would be to a maximum of Rs 565 per
family per annum, or 75% of the annual premium whichever is less?
Indian Railways to introduce a new scheme in Tatkal ticket
New Delhi, February 5, 2010: Indian Railways decided to introduce a new scheme in Tatkal ticket process. From Feburay 11,
2011 a new scheme is going to be introduced in the Tatkal ticket process.
From Friday, Feb 11, passengers have to produce an identity proof for
tickets booked under Tatkal Scheme.
* Voter Photo Identity Card issued by Election Commission of India
* Passport
* PAN Card issued by Income Tax Department
* Driving license issued by RTO
* Photo Identity Card issued by Central/State Government
* Student identity card with photograph issued by recognized
School/College for their students
* Nationalised Bank Passbook with photograph
* Credit Cards issued by Banks with laminated photograph.
A passenger or anyone of a group of passengers would be required to produce one of the eight listed proofs in original during the journey for checking by Railway staff, failing which, all the passengers traveling on the said ticket would be treated as ‘without tickets' and penalized.
Nagpur to manufacture Indian Railways green toilets
NAGPUR, February
4, 2011: The Indian Railways is finalising a proposal to manufacture
new design eco-friendly toilets in Nagpur in a step towards its
commitment for cleaner environment and to prevent damage to rail
tracks. "Efforts are on for installation of green toilets in
trains and field trials are on for the purpose. These newly designed eco-friendly
lavatories are likely to be manufactured in Nagpur," a senior railway ministry official said.
The proposal for manufacturing green toilets in Nagpur is
likely to find a mention in the railway budget on February 25.
However, local railway officials say they have no communication
about it. Central Railway divisional railway manager (DRM) D K
Sharma said, "It's true that railways is carrying out field
trials for various types of green toilets and some work is going on
in this direction, but I don't have exact knowledge about it."
Indian Railways gets Rs 28 Crore for Development of
MFC through Private Investment
Mumbai, January 31, 2011 (PIB): Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA), a statutory authority
established by Ministry of Railways for generating non-tariff revenue
from railway land, today announced appointment of private developers for
development of Multi Functional Complexes (MFCs) at five stations namely,
Cuttack, Dehradun, Jhansi, Katra and Nanded. This is the first time that MFCs are being developed through private investment. Indian
Railways operates more than 7000 stations across the country.
RLDA had appointed Knight Frank India as marketing consultant for the
first six MFCs to be developed through private parties. Out of the six
MFCs, five MFCs were awarded to M/s Keshari Estates Pvt. Ltd (Cuttack),
M/s Janak Holdings (Dehradun and Nanded), M/s Bhagwati Infraestate Pvt.
Ltd. (Jhansi) and M/s MGC Estates (Katra). RLDA did not accept the bid
for Ujjain being below expectation due to certain existing constraints
in the approach road to the site. A total of 15 bidders submitted 28
financial bids. The total present value of the Lease Premium and Annual
Lease Rent received for 5 stations in response to the open competitive
bidding is Rs 27.61 crore which is much higher than the pre-bid expectations. Ujjain MFC will be put to re-bidding after getting the
constraints removed.
Multi Functional Complexe is a win-win model for Indian Railways, rail
users and developers. Indian Railways get passenger facilities developed
at no cost to Government and further gets additional present and future
revenues, rail users get better facilities in the shortest period of
time and developers get assured market and opportunity for developing
such project at large number of railway stations across India.
Indian Railways gets Rs. 280mn for development of MFCs
New Delhi, January 28, 2011: Rail Land Development Authority, a statutory authority established by
Ministry of Railways for generating non-tariff revenue from railway land, today announced appointment of private developers for development
of Multi Functional Complexes (MFCs) at five stations namely,
Cuttack, Dehradun, Jhansi, Katra and Nanded. This is the first time that MFCs are
being developed through private investment. Indian Railways operates
more than 7000 stations across the country.
Indian Railways have introduced the concept of MFC at Railway stations
beginning year 2009-10 for developing facilities for rail users at one
centralised complex. This is to improve and upgrade the existing amenities for the rail users in cities having tourist and religious
importance by way of developing the land/air space at railway stations.
MFCs will be developed to provide rail users with facilities such as
shopping, food stalls/ restaurants, book stalls, ATMs, medicines and
variety stores, budget hotels, parking etc.
Safety of Passengers to be given top Priority : Mamata
Kolkata, January 22, 2010 (PIB): The Minister of Railways,
Mamata Banerjee has said that Indian Railways work round the clock
just like an army where every moment matters and every operation
needs to be done in a disciplined manner. She said that safety of
passengers cannot be compromised. It is always to be given top
priority. There should be periodical review and inspection to ensure
that all safety related activities are done as per the rules. The
Minister stated this while addressing the two-day conference of
General Managers of all Zonal Railways and Production Units which
began here today. She said that maintenance of rolling stock
especially coaches, wagons and engines is quite important and no
laxity on this should be tolerated as it is related to safety.
She said that steps must be initiated to finally
install safety devices like TPWS, ACD, Fog Safe Devices etc. in a
fixed time frame manner. Expressing concern over the recent increase
in the cases of derailment, she said that engineering department
needs to look into this aspect more intensely and carefully and
ensure that all their activities like track maintenance, equipment
maintenance, rolling stock maintenance is done effectively and timely.
Emphasizing the need to maintain best punctuality in running
of the trains, the Minister said that monitoring of punctuality
should continue to be undertaken vigorously at all levels which
include Railway Board level, Zonal Railway level and Divisional
Railway level. She said that a core group must be set up by
General Managers to monitor punctuality to review it on daily basis.
Rail Bandhu the first magazine by the Indian Railways
New Delhi, January 19, 2011: Rail Day on April 16 will bring
about the fulfilment of one of Railways minister Mamataa
Banerjee’s pet projects; the launch of “Rail Bandhu”, the
first magazine by the Indian Railways. To be distributed for free to
passengers in premier trains, including the Rajdhanis and Shatabdis,
the editorial content of the inaugural issue is at an advanced stage of planning.
“A write up on how Rabindranath Tagore lost and found the
manuscript of the “Geetanjali’ in a London tube; vignettes of
the saloon car travel during the British Raj, a story by famous
novelist Ruskin Bond, these would be among the subjects that will be
featured in the first issue”, magazine project head Derek O’Brian said.
The inaugural issue will also feature stories on the
struggles of the Commonwealth and Asian Games gold medallists from
the railway family. According to the parameters set out, the
publication will need to devote a minimum of 30 pages to news,
events or features concerning the railways, while a total of another
30 pages of advertisements can be published.
RINL and Indian Railways to set up axle plant at at New Jalpaiguri
Kolkata, January 13, 2011: Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited of
Visakhapatnam Steel Plant has signed MOU with the Indian Railways
for setting up a AXLE PLANT named as Uttarbanga RINL RAIL Karkahana
Limited at New Jalpaiguri, West Bengal at an estimated cost of INR
278 crores for manufacturing and supplying Rail Axels for BOX N
wagons and others to meet the growing requirement of Indian Railways.
The project shall be effected through RINL by forming a 100%
subsidiary company of RINL or a JV. MECON has been appointed as a
consultant for this project. Railways have selected RINL to set up
the state of the art Axle Plant considering its technological
strengths in special grades of steel for decades. RINL is known for
having modern technology and now also adopting latest technology
like RH process, LHF, EMS etc., for production of high quality
cleaner steel in its on going expansion.
Indian
Railways facility of AC-3 tier travel for families of Group D employees
Kolkata, January 07, 2011: The Indian Railways has extended
the facility of AC-3 tier travel pass for the family of the lowest
grade employees of the Indian Railways like the gangmen, khalashis,
etc. Employees of Group D in the railways were earlier not entitled
for travel pass in AC compartments. Revised entitlement of travel on
railway passes has also been extended to all Junior Engineers and
their supervisors working in the grade pay of Rs 4200, and they have been provided entitlements to travel in AC 2 tier coaches.
Goods train service resumed between India, Pakistan
Attari (Amritsar), January 01, 2011: The goods train service between India and Pakistan resumed today after a gap of nine days with the export of red chillies
which are on high demand on the other side of the border. The train had come to a sudden halt on December 22 at Attari
railway station after the Pakistani authorities did not renew the visas of 11 Indian Railways drivers. The train is expected to return with dry fruits and cement,
authorities said.
Three Indian railway staff -- driver Kuldip Singh, assistant driver Sandip Kumar and guard Deepak Kumar -- have taken the
train to Pakistan, they said. Earlier, the Pakistan high commission granted six months visas to seven Indian railway
officials, who would take the train to Pakistan on alternate days. General secretary of Amritsar Chamber of Commerce Rajesh Sethia said due to the halt in trade between two nations, the
delivery of cement bags, worth Rs100 crore, to India remained suspended. Sethia said India imports cement in large quantities from Pakistan as it is available at lesser cost there.
(Source:DNA) |
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