Agartala comes up on Indian railway map    AGARTALA, June 29, 2008: Agartala, the capital city of Tripura, on Sunday came up as the newest point on the map of the Indian Railways.  A locomotive of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) chugged into the Agartala railway station, 5 km from the heart of the capital city, on Sunday afternoon with thousands of people cheering and blowing conch shells. Routine rail services to Agartala would start by mid-August after clearance, said P Shivkumar, general manager (construction) of NFR.    Agartala is the second capital city in the northeast to be connected to the country's extensive railway network. Assam's Guwahati was the only norteastern capital on the railway map. After Dispur was constructed as Assam's new capital complex, Guwahati lost its former status but it remains a major city of the state.    "The NFR has so far spent Rs 800 crore ($190 million) to connect Agartala by rail by making three big tunnels through the Longtharai Valley, Baramura and Atharamura Hills in Dhalai and West Tripura districts," said NFR deputy chief engineer F S Meena. The 1,962-metre Longtharai tunnel is the longest railway tunnel in eastern India.    Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said: "After the Indian Railways extends its line up to Sabroom, it would be very easy to connect with the Chittagong international port in southeast Bangladesh, which is just 75 km from there."  A small bridge over river Feni can connect Sabroom and Khagrachari, across the border in Bangladesh, to open a second railway link between the two neighbours after the  Kolkata- Dhaka rail service, which started April 14 this year after a gap of 43 years. Meanwhile, the NFR has already conducted a survey to connect Agartala with Akhaurah railway station in Bangladesh. The distance between the newly constructed Agartala railway station and Akhaurah railway station, an important rail junction in Bangladesh, is just 5 km.  Source:The Economic Times    Railways and Kerala govt signs MoU    New Delhi June 28, 2008: The Ministry of Railways and Department of Industries and Commerce, Government of Kerala has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to form a joint venture (JV) company for fabrication of bogie frames for passenger coaches and side/end walls for the wagons of the Indian Railways. The new JV will utilise the existing land and other assets of Steel Fabrication Unit (SFU) and Autocast located at Kerala.    Indian Railway shall hold 51 per cent equity in the JV and the remaining 49 per cent will be held by the Kerala Government. A joint working group (JWG) will be constituted in the next six months to prepare business plans and work out the modalities for the formation of the JV.  Source: Business Standard    Railways hikes freight charges by 5-7%     New Delhi, June 26, 2008: In what could add further fuel to the inflationary fire, the Indian Railways is hiking freight charges for ores and minerals, petro-products, coke and coal, fertilisers, foodgrains and a host of other commodities by 5-7 per cent.     The rate hike, to be effective from July 1, will be on account of a ‘special supplementary charge’ that Railways has decided to levy for the first time under its dynamic pricing policy — apart from the ‘busy  season’, ‘busy route’, ‘congestion’ and similar surcharges it has been imposing in recent years through circulars issued outside of the rail budget announcements.     Some of the key commodities that have been spared the new charge include iron ore, steel and cement. Coal and coke, which account for almost 40 per cent share of Railways goods traffic, will attract a 5 per cent charge. Ores and minerals such as bauxite, calcite, limestone; and petroleum and lubricant products will attract a 7 per cent supplementary charge.     Moreover, Railways has decided to levy a 7 per cent charge on all commodities that are charged in class 120 and below like fertilisers, foodgrains, flour and pulses, oilcakes and oilseeds, leather, rubber,  plastic, machinery and machine tools and salt.  Source: The Hindu Business Line     India's hill trains vie for World Heritage List     NEW DELHI, June 23, 2008: River island Majuli, in the Brahmaputra in Assam, and the Mountain Railways of India are part of 34 cultural properties, which will be considered for inclusion into the Unesco's World Heritage List. The World Heritage Committee will discuss United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organisation's (Unesco) new list at its 32nd session in Canada July 2-22.     The Mountain Railways of India includes Darjeeling Himalayan Railways, Nilgiri Mountain Railway, Kalka-Shimla Railway and Matheran Hill Railway. The Mountain Railways of India is a collective term for the several railways built in the mountainous regions of the country. Because of their unique cultural and natural heritage, Majuli and the Mountain Railways of India have been considered to be included in Unesco's World Heritage List.  Source: The Economic Times   64 trains cancelled, 41 diverted    BHUBANESWAR, June 22, 2008: As many as 64 trains have been cancelled, 41 trains diverted and many trains short -terminated in east coast railway jurisdiction after the recent flood inundated large portion of railway tracks and yard on the Howrah-Chennei route, said railway sources. “The railway workers are working overtime to restore normalcy of train movement,” said east coast railway general manager Mr AK Goyal and requested the public not to resort to rail roko or any other agitation for the smooth running of the diverted and special trains on the diverted routes at this critical hour.     Railway sources said, keeping in mind the congestion caused due to breaches and other damages in Kharagpur-Bhadrak section, many trains will remain cancelled in east coast railway up to 30 June. Not only will trains be cancelled, some will ply on different routes. Even special trains running between Guwahati and Yeshvantpur, Puri and Howrah, Howrah and Yeshvantpur and Howrah and Hyderabad will remain cancelled. Passengers trains likely to be cancelled are Puri-Howrah-Puri, Kharagpur-Khurda Road-Kharagpur, Kharagpur- Balasore-Bhadrak-Kharagpur MEMU and Howrah-Bhadrak-Howrah. Source:The Statesman    12 trains between Howrah-Bhubaneswar disrupted    Bhubaneswar, June 21, 2008: Several trains including the Howrah-Chennai Coromandel Express, the  Howrah- Secunderabad Falaknuma Express, Bangalore- Guwahati Express and the Howrah-Puri Jagannath Express were all cancelled following breaches caused by flash floods in Orissa and West Bengal.  The flash floods caused several other trains between Orissa and West Bengal to be cancelled or diverted for the fourth straight day leaving hundreds of tourists stranded in Puri, a popular destination in the region.All the Howrah bound trains have been affected and the rail authorities are not quite sure when normal train service would resume there.    ITT to supply rail dampers to Indian Railways    Mumbai June 20, 2008: Engineering and manufacturing company, ITT Corporation, today said its energy absorption business has received a $ 100,0000 order for KONI-branded dampers and shock absorbers from Indian Railways. The order calls for more than 3,000 dampers or shock absorbers for Diesel Locomotive Works Varanasi (DLW), Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) and Rail Coach Factory (RCF) Northern Railway and Bharat Earth Movers (BEML), a press release issued here said.     "The contract to provide four major Indian rail companies with state-of-the-art dampers reinforces ITT's position as a leading supplier to one of the world's fastest growing transportation systems," ITT Energy Absorption Manager (Division Manager), Pieter Zuiddam, said.  ITT runs a technology and engineering centre in Vadodara. It plays an important role in vital markets including water and fluids management, global defense and security, and motion and flow control. It has 40,000 people serving customers in more than 50 countries.  Source: Press Trust of India     Hughes to set up VSAT hub for Indian Railways    Mumbai, June 19, 2008: Hughes, provider of satellite broadband services, and managed network services, bagged the contract to set up the first dedicated VSAT hub for the Indian Railways. The commissioning of the dedicated VSAT hub, will allow Railways to connect 1,000 locations across 19 states as against 200 earlier.    This new system will help Railways to have voice and data connectivity for their services at remotely located stations where fixed and mobile network of telecom operators had not reached even after a massive revolution in telecom industry in recent times. This would also allow Indian railways to offer a host of mission critical applications like disaster communication system, accident relief train (ART), unreserved ticketing system (UTS) and freight operating information system (FOIS) in remote locations. In addition, the railways is also planning to introduce internet access on running trains and is currently undertaking a proof of concept in one of the trains between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.    For disaster management, Railways have already planned trackable Hughes VSAT terminals that will  allow quick tracking and establishment of communication at accident sites in less than 15-20 minutes. These terminals will be installed in one Accident Relief Train (ART) for each of the 67 divisions in the Indian Railways. The wireless and auto line concentrators at such sites will further ensure that a number of Railways'  Administrative phones and DOT phones can immediately be set up at accident sites, resulting in faster communication for stranded passengers and better accident site management. Source: Business Standard    Railway to set up global training centre    New Delhi, Jun 18 (PTI) Gearing up to train railway managers for future challenges, Indian Railways will set up an international management institute here. The institute would provide a kind of rail sector MBA in the country. The International Railway Strategic Management Institute (IRSMI) will come up in collaboration with the International Union of Railways (UIC) on 30,000 sq metre land in Chanakyapuri here. "We have sanctioned Rs 22 crore for the construction of the state-of-the-art building and an architect would be selected soon to design it," said a senior Railways Ministry official.    The training modules would be prepared in consultation with the leading global business schools including HEC Paris and also with the UIC. "The training facility would be extended to all UIC member  countries. The fee structure for different training modules, workshops and seminar on specific areas would be finalised after the completion of the building," said the official. The setting up of the IRSMI was approved by the UIC which felt there was a need for an international railway management institute exclusively for rail sector management. PTI    Heritage trains to be equipped with high-tech coaches    New Delhi, Jun 15 (PTI) A ride on a narrow gauge train will never be the same again, with Indian Railways planning an overhaul of its existing structure. While ultra modern coaches equipped with improved facilities would replace the old and worn-out ones, the Railway Ministry is also planning take steps to increase the speed of these trains.   As part of the upgradation plan of the narrow gauge rolling stock, the Ministry would induct high-tech coaches to provide better comfort to passengers of the "heritage trains". The global tendering for the state-of-the-art coaches would be issued soon, a senior Railway Ministry official said. "It is for the first time the ministry has decided to induct high-tech coaches for these trains as till date we were using indigenous coaches based on century old technology," he said.   Technology has changed drastically in the last 100 years and existing coaches are in dire need of replacement. However, while going for modern coaches their basic character will not be changed. "There will be better panoramic view and sitting arrangement, more luggage and leg space provided in the new coaches, while not changing the heritage ambience," he said.  Narrow gauge trains are running at many places across the country including in Nagpur, Kalka, Shimla, Baroda, Gwalior, Matheran, Kangra and Matheran. PTI   Train to Kashmir valley by month-end   New Delhi, June 10, 2008: The long wait for a train to ply in militancy-hit Kashmir may end soon as Railways is all set to start its service linking the northern and southern part in the valley. Though connecting the valley with rest of the country was still a distant dream, Northern Railways today said "We will soon approach Prime Minister to get a date, hopefully in this month itself, for inaugurating the train services on Anantnag-Budgam section."    The official said a trial run would be conducted on the route to check whether all safety measures are in place. The Commissioner Railway Safety will carry out a four-day statutory inspection of the 30-km-long Anantnag-Kakpora section from tomorrow. The train to be introduced on the route will have air-conditioned coaches with heating system and push-back seats. This is for the first time in the history of Indian Railways that a train with all these facilities will cover short distances, the official added.    The tedious task of connecting Kashmir valley with the rest of the country, however, still remains a distant dream as tunnels on the 300-km Kashmir-Jammu route are yet to be dug.  Source: PTI   Agartala to be on Indian railway map soon    Agartala, June 09, 2008:  "The first ever train service to Agartala is all set to begin June 30 as the Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) is working on war-footing to meet the deadline," NFR chief engineer FS Meena told IANS. Prime minister Manmohan Singh had earlier declared the railway project in Tripura a national project.   "It took more than four decades to connect the capital city after northern Tripura's business hub Dharmanagar, 200 km from here, came under the railway map in 1964," said Tripura Transport Minister Manik Dey. "The NFR has so far spent Rs.8 billion to connect Agartala by rail by making three big tunnels through the Longtharai valley, Baramura and Atharamura hills in Dhalai and west Tripura districts," said Meena.   The 1,962-metre Longtharai tunnel is the longest railway tunnel in eastern India.  According to B. Chowdhury, a railway engineer, the NFR would also start work to lay a new track in the 110 km Agartala-Sabroom line by January next year after completing the final location survey. Approximately 1,200 acres of land would be required for the Rs.8.13 billion project to connect Tripura's southernmost border town Sabroom by rail.   Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said: "After the Indian Railways extends its line up to Sabroom, it would be very easy to connect with the Chittagong international port in southeast Bangladesh, which is just 75 km from there." A small bridge over river Feni can connect Sabroom and Khagrachari, across the border in Bangladesh, to open a second railway link between the two neighbours after the Kolkata- Dhaka rail service, which resumed April 14 this year after a gap of 43 years. "After extending the railway line to Sabroom, Tripura and the entire northeast would be linked with Southeast Asia very easily," the chief minister told IANS. Source: Indo-Asian News Service    Railways suffer Rs 20 cr loss  JAIPUR, June 8, 2008: The railways in the region is badly hit by the two-week long agitation of the Gujjar community. The North Western Railway (NWR) has already born a loss of around Rs 20 crore since the agitation began on May 23. The loss includes money paid back to thousands of passengers against the cancellation their tickets.    "Due to Gujjar agitation, 70 mail express and 62 passenger trains connecting New Delhi and other places via Rajasthan have either been cancelled or diverted to different routes," an NWR spokesman said. The freight corridor between Mumbai and Delhi via Rajasthan was worst affected due to the blockade of rail routes by agitators. "The movement of container trains have dropped down to less then a half due to complete obstruction of rail route between Jaipur and Delhi," added the railway official.    Largely, goods traffic comes from the industrial units and the port towns of Maharashtra and Gujarat, which too goes via Rajasthan especially through Jaipur and Kota route, he added.    The railways have diverted the container train route to via Bhopal while dozens of container trains have been stranded at Jaipur causing the NWR in huge loss of Rs 1.5 crore a day.  "Even in such circumstances, we have to give priority to the passenger trains," he said. However, it has been estimated that movement of 50,000 passengers and goods worth 12 crore have been stranded due to the agitation.    The NWR generates revenue of Rs 6 crore a day in normal days from both freight and the passenger services. But the revenue has now been chopped down to Rs 4 crore a day from both freight and passengers services. The estimate of damage caused to the railway property is yet to be calculated, he added.  Source: Times of India  Railways to hold freight rate, truckers to charge more  New Delhi, June 05, 2008: Road transporter are considering a freight rate increase of up to 15% to offset the diesel price hike, but the Indian Railways - the single largest consumer of diesel in the country - is likely to hold freight rate. The Rs. 3 a litre increase will put an additional burden of Rs. 500 crore on the public sector.    58 trains were cancelled from Jaipur railway  station  Jaipur, June 2, 2008: North-Westren Railways on Sunday cancelled 58  trains and diverted  others in the wake of violent agitation by the Gujjar community starting from Jaipur raiway station. The rail traffic passing through Rajasthan was badly affected on Monday with 58 trains, including both Express and passengers, being cancelled in the interest of passengers safety, a Railway official said.    The train services have been stopped due to the agitation by Gujjar Samaj. Train movement in other zones were also badly affected by the agitation with several trains being diverted and rescheduled.     Railways sees growth on steel platform   NEW DELHI, May 30, 2008: Large steel makers such as Tata Steel, Jindal, RINL and SAIL would soon get 'favoured customer' treatment from Indian Railways. In an attempt to promote bulk freight movement on its network, the Railways is introducing a new "freight load preference policy" for steel players fighting inflationary pressures due to spurt in iron ore prices. According to the policy, companies providing round- the- year-business (to and fro) to the Railways would be given preference in grant of increased quantity of rakes and offered discounts on freight.    The Railways has taken many steps to help steel makers in recent days. It brought down iron ore from class 180 to class 170, thus effecting a freight cut by 5%. It also removed the port congestion surcharge of 30% levied on domestic movement of iron ore. The Railways transported 53.59 million tonnes of iron ore for exports in 2007-08, according to provisional data collated by the railway board, 37.9% more than the 38.84 million tonnes transported in the previous year.   Source: The Economic Times   Ten trains cancelled due to Gujjar stir in Rajasthan state    NEW DELHI, May 28 (APP): The Indian Railways on Wednesday cancelled ten trains due to continuing agitation by Gujjar community in Rajasthan state. Over thirty people have been killed in clashes between the police and Gujjars during the last five days. The trains passing through Rajasthan were cancelled for the fifth consecutive day on Wednesday.    Meanwhile, the Indian government alerted some other states including Uttar Pradesh against the possible stir by the continuity. The Gujjars also held demonstrations in Delhi and occupied Kashmir.   Railways sets target of Rs 31,000 cr earnings this fiscal   NEW DELHI, May 27, 2008: Buoyed by a record Rs 25,000 crore earnings in the last fiscal, Railways has set a target of Rs 1,00,000 crore in the five years of UPA rule. "Indian Railways will create 'new history' by earning Rs 1,00,000 crore during the five years of the UPA government," Railways Minister Lalu Prasad said here on Monday.    Addressing a meeting of general managers and production units, he congatulated the 14 lakh Railways employees for earning cash surplus of Rs 25,000 crore and carrying the highest ever loading of 795 milion tonnes during 2007-08. He said Railways had set targets of Rs 31,000 crore as a cash surplus and 87.5 crore tonnes of freight loading for the current fiscal.    Referring to incremental loading, Prasad said Railways had already created a record by achieving the highest ever incremental loading of 67 million tonnes in 2007-08 and would strive for another record of 8.6 crore tonnes of incremental loading in the current financial year.    Source:Economic Times

Indian Railways to relax movement of food grain   New Delhi May 23, 2008: Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has instructed Ministry of Railways for the relaxation of the restriction on movement of food grain on private trade account. The move for relaxing the restriction comes after taking in to account the record wheat procurement that is estimated to have exceeded 20 million tonne during the current Kharif season by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and other government agencies, which the Indian railways had facilitated by regulating movement of wheat by rail on private trade account.    Earlier Indian Railways had regulated the movement of food grains by rail on private trade account to prevent hoardings, thereby ensuring the availability of food grains throughout the country and to stabilize the food grain prices.  Source: Business Standard

Record wheat procurement by FCI

Railways earnings at Rs 2157.90 cr   New Delhi May 23, 2008: The total approximate earnings of Indian Railways on originating basis during the period May 1 – May 10, 2008 were Rs 2157.90 crore compared to Rs 1784.09 crore during the same period last year, registering an increase of 20.95 per cent. The total goods earnings have gone up by 27.22 per cent to Rs 1476.94 crore during the first 10 days of May 2008 from Rs 1160.92 crore during the corresponding period last year.    The total passenger revenue earnings during the period witnessed a growth of 9.14 per cent to Rs 610.51 crore compared to Rs 559.39 crore during the same period last year.   Alstom offers locomotives at cheaper rates to Indian railways   Belfort (France), May 21, 2008 (PTI): European transport major Alstom today said it can offer advanced locomotives at cheaper rates without compromising on quality. "We are targeting India. We will participate in the tender to be floated soon by the Indian Railways for 1,000 electric locomotives. We will offer 10 per cent cheaper price than other companies," Alstom's director Jean-Marc Tessier told PTI here.     The company today unveiled the design of Prime II locomotives, the advanced version locomotives with high speed. He said that the company would strike a balance between performance and cost so that it could offer the rebate without "affecting the quality", he said.  Tessier said Alstom, a leading producer of locomotives, will develop dedicated platforms in India if it gets the contract.   Tessier's comments comes days after France's Minister of State for Transport Dominique Bussereau said during his visit to New Delhi that both France and India are exploring more scope for technical and business partnerships. Recently, the France Railways and the Indian Railways have signed an agreement for technical cooperation maintenance and upgrading the facilities. - PTI    Shooting in trains...     NEW DELHI, May 20, 2008: The Indian Railways now wants to piggy-ride on Bollywood to make some quick bucks. The Railways has decided to increase shooting charge for a film to Rs 1 lakh per day from Rs 10,000 per day. A majority of Bollywood movies shoot some of the scenes on rail platforms. From Devdas (1954) to Pakeezah (1970) to Johnny Gaddar(2007), the Railways have contributed a significant role in  our movies.   “For nearly three decades, the Railways did not hike the charge for Bollywood shooting in trains and railway platforms. Actually, this avenue of revenue generation completely missed our attention for long. Now, we have learnt that it’s an option to explore and earn a substantive moolah,” a Rail Bhawan official said. The Railway officials are of the view that the move would not hit movie producers’ pockets, but it would surely swell railway coffers significantly. The revenue thus generated would be spent on improving infrastructure on the stations.  Source: The Economic Times    Railway to launch 'Dial-a-ticket' service   New Delhi, May 18 (PTI) : Soon, you would be able to get railway tickets at your doorsteps by just dialling a number.Aptly named as "Dial-a-ticket", the soon-to-be launched service of Railways is currently on trial. "A trial is going on experimental basis as we want to make it a fool-proof arrangement by addressing the loopholes, if any, before launching the service finally," said a senior Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) official.   "The aim is to shorten the queue at the ticket windows. Once operational, this will be a big step towards providing tickets at door steps as value-added facilities to railway passengers across the country," the official said.  About the mode of payment, the official said initially a caller has to make payment through cash card and later, credit card payment facilities are likely to be added.   On the date of launching the service, he said "we are trying to get a separate number closer to 139 to make it as a dedicated 'Dial-a-ticket' service number. "We have already written to the Department of  Telecommunication seeking a dedicated three or four digit number," he said. PTI   Lalu charms audience with 'bovineconomics'    Kuala Lumpur, May 16, 2008 (PTI): Riding high on the successful turnaround of Railways, Lalu Prasad won more fans here with his brand of economics as he likened the mammoth Indian Railways to a Jersey cow, saying unless the bovine is well looked after it cannot be profitable to its owners. "When I took over the Indian Railways as the minister it was just like a Jersey cow. If you don't look after it how can it serve you," the Railways Minister told more than 400 Indian expatriates who had come to hear him in the Malaysian capital late Thursday evening.    Lalu, who is here on a three-day visit to witness the signing of the USD one billion contract between IRCON and the Malaysian government, also noted that even the "earning horse"- referring to the freight trains - "too had many faults." The minister's observations came as he talked at length about the transformation he has brought to the Indian Railways making it a profit making entity.    "Earlier, we used to go out and learn from others, now people come and learn from us. I have become a professor of the world," the minister, who has lectured students from IIMs, Oxford and Wharton on managerial skills, told the cheering audience.  Acknowledging that there was a huge congestion in the railways, the minister quipped "roti does not come from 'inkalab' (revolution), roti comes as a result of infrastructure and power in a country", prompting thunderous applause from the audience. Speaking in Hindi, he promised that "Indian Railways was going to be the top railways network in the world."  - PTI    Indian Railways to invest 2 lakh crore for modernization   NEW DELHI, May 15, 2008: Indian railways will invest Rs 2,00,000 crore for the modernization, capacity increase and completion of new projects during the 11th Five Year Plan, informed Railway Minister, Lalu  Prasad Yadav in Singapore this week. Indian Railways have decided to invite Public Private Partnership  (PPP) in the non - core sector for setting up of logistic parks, wagon investment schemes, wagon leasing schemes and also to participate in the setting up of more than 7000 agricultural outlets throughout the country, Lalu said.    The Minister asserted that Indian Railways is going to upgrade 26 major railways stations as world class stations throughout the country including four metropolitan cities. He also informed that there will be separate departure and arrival facilities for passenger to decongest existing crowds at station complex besides other modernized passenger amenities like world class waiting/rest-rooms, multi-level parking, malls etc.    He stated that for 'turnaround of Indian Railway', the credit goes to its 14 lakh employees who worked with full dedication and made Indian Railways to earn billions despite reduction in passenger fares. -PTI   India is engaging China in the railways sector   SINGAPORE, May 14, 2008: India is engaging China in the railways sector, and Japan has reaffirmed its commitment to “contribute” to the construction of the Delhi-Mumbai western corridor of the planned national network of dedicated freight lines.    Railway Minister Lalu Prasad said on Monday in  an address on the Singapore campus of the INSEAD business school that the ongoing track electrification project might also benefit from the U.S.-India nuclear energy deal, work in respect of which “is on.”  While “no major project” had so far been agreed upon between India and China, Mr. Prasad said the bilateral engagement was under way. “We need to learn from China” in the railways sector, he noted.    Indian Railways to sign MoU with French counterpart   New Delhi, May 11, 2008 (PTI):  France, which is known for its expertise in high speed trains, will soon be helping India in the creation of such a network in the country.Indian Railways will be signing an MoU with French Railway here on Wednesday to expand the area of cooperation between the two railways.   Besides high speed rail corridor, French expertise may be sought on maintenance and upgrading of tracks and signalling system as per the provision of the MoU. On the safety aspect, there is also a possibility of cooperation between the two railways, said a senior railway official. Dominique Bussereau, the French Minister of State for Transport, Energy and Ecology, accompanied by a high level delegation is coming to India on May 12.   BEML plans foray into Indonesian, Australian markets   SHANGHAI, May 7, 2008: Earth moving equipment major BEML is planning to foray into Indonesian and Australian markets while it expects rail and metro business to be its next engine of growth, propelled by massive spending by Indian Railways. "In addition to Brazil, Malaysia and Shanghai, we have plans to look at Indonesia," Bangalore-based BEML Chairman and Managing Director V R S Natarajan, who was here for the opening of the company's full fledged office in China's economic hub last week, said in an interview.    During the 11th five year plan and beyond, the Railways is going in for diversification and modernisation of its existing fleet. In modernisation, the railways is planning additional seat capacity and that is an opportunity we are trying to seize. BEML already has orders worth Rs 100 crore in this regard for the current year. Upgradation of Electric Multiple Units used intra-city and large size EMUs to inter-connect cities with higher speed of 120 to 130 km an hour also offered opportunities, he said.  Source: PTI   Planned, a 50-minute train ride to Chandigarh  New Delhi, April 22, 2008 The Indian Railways has started giving shape to an ambitious high-speed train project that would cut your journey time from Delhi to Chandigarh or Amritsar by many times. The journey to Chandigarh from New Delhi will take 50 minutes. That's less than what it takes to cover the 5.8 km BRT stretch, and around the same travel time on the Metro from Mandi House to Dwarka. Work on the nuts and bolts of the proposal has been started. The first pre-bid conference to construct the High Speed Passenger Railway corridor on the Delhi-Chandigarh- Amritsar route will be held on Thursday, officials said.    They added that the speed or Bullet trains would travel at 300-350 kmph, and the fares could even be cheaper than those of budget airlines. Sample surveys on the proposed corridor have indicated people have shown a willingness to pay, the officials said. Possibly, it comes from the frustration of delays at the airport due to air traffic congestion among other reasons. The railways, which plans to develop the project with private partnership, has identified four other routes to run these high speed trains. The routes are Pune- Mumbai- Ahmedabad, Haldia-Howrah, Hyderabad-Dornakal-Vijaywada-Chennai and Chennai- Bangalore- Coimbatore-Ernakulam.   For the Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar corridor, the proposal due date for bidders has been fixed on May 6. Contractors will be selected through an international competitive bidding process. For the other corridors, the railways will invite global tenders separately. Source: Hindustan Times

Maitree Express from Kolkata to Dhaka    Kolkata, April 15, 2008: After 43 years the seven cars of the Maitree Express from Kolkata to Daca (Bangladesh) are carrying only 65 passengers today on Poila Boisakh. They are meant to carry about 400. The express train from Dhaka to Kolkata called friendship train is the first Indian passenger train to Bangladesh and to Dhaka a distance of 372km. Bangladesh was not born at the time of the last passenger service to this side of Bengal. In 1965, it was still East Pakistan and war was just breaking out.

Railways will help put Asia-Europe link on track    New Delhi, April 11, 2008: The Indian Railways is taking forward an initiative for constructing an 81,000-kilometre-long Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) network between Asia and Europe. A high level delegation of the Indian Railways led by Railway Board Chairman K.C. Jena is leaving for Tehran on a three-day visit beginning April 12 in this connection. The team will hold discussions with Iranian counterparts on port connectivity between northern Iran and Russia (as envisaged in the TAR proposal).    Officials indicated that Iran is also keen to seek the Indian Railways' assistance in its port connectivity plan. It might accept the Iranian offer after examining the financial viability of the proposed projects. The two sides are also likely to work on the draft of a possible agreement for modernising Iran's expanding 6,000-km-long rail network.   Both India and Iran are members of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific sponsored project that aims to link the Pacific seaboard of Asia with Europe. The project aims to build a rail network linking countries including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, Russia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.    At the request of the Iran government, the Indian delegation is expected to work on a draft MoU. Comprising Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) Managing Director V.K. Agarwal and General Manager A.K.M. Sharma, the Indian delegation will inspect the Iranian railway system and Esfahan and hold discussions with senior railway officials, including Hassan Ziari, Deputy Minister for Roads and Transportation and President of the Islamic Republic of Iranian Railway. RITES has already done a feasibility study for the Iranian Railway. Indian Railways has signed MoUs with Italy, Germany, Russia, South Africa and China. Source: Hindustan Times    Chinese team  to develop Bhubaneswar, Bangalore railway stations     New Delhi, April 06, 2008 (PTI): India will utilise Chinese expertise to reconstruct Bhubaneswar and Bangalore railway stations to world class level. Recently a railway team from China had visited India and had gone to these two stations to have a first-hand knowledge. The Chinese team will soon submit a report suggesting the ways to go about the proposal. Based on their suggestions, railways would decide the future course of action. Besides China, railways have also sought the expertise of German Railway for developing Chandigarh and Jaipur stations.    "We have sought to use the expertise of Chinese railway and German railway with whom we have MoUs to develop four stations," K C Jena, Chairman Railway Board, told PTI. Germany railway team had also come to India as part of the MoU and visited these stations. "They will suggest us the ways after doing a complete study of these stations," said Jena.     Railways have identified 24 stations at metropolitan cities and major tourist centres across the country for development as world class station through public private partnership. About the possible shape and expectations from the world class stations, Jena said, "besides modern infrastructure, the latest in passenger amenities, the facilities of shopping and restaurants and excellent ambiance would give a pleasant feeling to the public".     Iron ore, coal power one-third of Railways' income    New Delhi, April 01, 2008: Freight earnings from coal and iron ore have played a major role in the turnaround of the Indian Railways, which gets 37.4  per cent of total earnings from the transportation of these two minerals.     Railways earns 65.2 per cent of its revenue from transportation of goods, a study by industry body Assocham has said.  According to the Assocham Eco Pulse (AEP) study, coal and iron  ore have been the major drivers of goods earnings, which are  expected to register turnover of Rs 17,876.29 crore and Rs 7,004.41 crore respectively in 2007-08, contributing more than half of the total freight income of Rs 47,743 crore.  The railway industry needs to diversify its freight commodity basket in order to insulate itself from the sectoral risks and maintain its growth momentum, Assocham President Venugopal  Dhoot said.    The performance from the goods revenue has been mainly on account of the increase in the volume of goods traffic with coal taking a major share of 338.35 million tonnes followed by the transportation of 136.17 million tonnes of iron ore while the total carriage is estimated to be 790 million tonnes for 2007-08, the study said.     Soaring foodgrain prices have affected the volume of traffic,  which declined from 41.8 million tonnes in 2006-07 to 35.4 million tonnes in 2007-08, it added. However, the segment witnessed an 8.1 per cent increase in earnings from Rs 3,071.46 crore in 2006-07 to Rs 3,319.26 crore in 2007-08, it said.   Source: Economic Times    Indian Railways to set up high speed rail corridors in South    March 29, 2008: Mr KC Jena chairman of railway board recently said that Indian Railways is exploring the possibility of setting up a high speed rail corridor connecting Chennai, Bangalore, Coimbatore and Kochi. He added that six high speed passenger corridors have been planned as a public private partnership.   Mr Jena said that Kerala has been allotted INR 349 crore for the next financial year against INR 283 crore sanctioned in the previous year with an objective to develop infrastructure. He added that the rail connectivity to the proposed  Vallarpadam international container transshipment terminal project would be completed by 2009. On the proposed Angamaly Sabarimala rail link, Mr Jena said that Indian Railway is keen to carryout the work, which has at present been held up due to land acquisition issues. He added that Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation and the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation have joined hands to start a few package tours connecting different tourism destinations in the state.   Cheaper Titagarh Wagons IPO a good investment option   March 24, 2008: Titagarh wagons is one of the few wagon manufacturers in the private sector and its growth story is getting a boost from increasing investment by the Indian Railways (IR) and entry of  private players in the rail freight business. The company is coming out with an IPO of around 24 lakh equity shares with a face value of Rs 10 per share. The issue is being made via a 100% book-building route and represents 12.9% of the post-IPO paid-up equity capital of the company.    Titagarh is raising money to set up an electric multiple unit (EMU) manufacturing facility and expand its existing wagon facilities. At the offer price, the stock looks cheaper compared to its closest peer, Texmaco, which is trading at 27 times its trailing four quarter earnings. Along with reasonable valuations, the company offers good growth prospects, as IR’s freight capacity is estimated to grow at over 10% per annum till FY12.    This makes it imperative for IR to invest in buying more wagons to maintain its freight share vis-à-vis roads Investors can subscribe to the IPO at the cut-off price.   Source: The Economic Time   Indian Railways with PPP to set up cinema halls     NEW DELHI, March 21m 2008: Indian Railways’ public-private-partnership (PPP) now extends to entertainment business. The public sector behemoth has chalked out an ambitious plan to set up about a dozen cinema halls at various railway stations in metros. The development would be part of Railways’ larger plan to utilise its surplus land and existing prime space at stations. It also plans to privatise 44 yatri niwas and the National Rail Museum cafeteria.    It has also identified 100 sites for setting up food plazas, integrated parks, budget hotels, laundries and base kitchens at various railways stations along with private players. Industry experts say the project could be a profitable for the Railways if managed properly. According to KSA Technopak’s MD Harminder Sahni: “Stations attract traffic which is several times more than airports.    It is also learnt that major food retail players such as McDonald’s, Yum! Foods (which owns Pizza Hut and KFC) and Haldiram’s are keen on the food plaza project. Railways plan to set up about 40 food plazas at select railway stations. The project would be implemented by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation.     In Delhi, the Railways expects to unlock around 50 acres of land for modernisation of railway stations. In Mumbai, around 10 acres of land would be unlocked for commercial exploitation. The Railways has similarly firmed up its plans for commercial utilisation of around 500 acres of land in Jaipur, Kolkata, Patna, Jaipur, Chandigarh and Indore.  Source: Economic Times    The Railways are running 400 special trains on Holi rush   New Delhi, March 18, 2008: The Railways are running more 400 special trains to deal with the Holi rush.  There was an unexpected rush of Vaishno Devi-bound passengers at the New Delhi railway station this time. Most of these special trains will run to destinations in Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh, but this time an unusual number of them will run to Jammu. Three special trains were started initially for Jammu Tawi. On Friday, a day before the railways’ Holi week commenced, Northern Railway introduced one more special train to Jammu. The rush is such that the regular Jammu-bound trains originating from Delhi - two from New Delhi and one from Old Delhi - are packed for the weekend. The specials, too, are almost full already. A great majority of the rush is for the Vaishno Devi shrine.  IIT-Kanpur to soon launch course in railway engineering   Varanasi, March 16, 2008: Perhaps for the first time, the Indian Railways will start a full-time course in Railway Engineering at IIT-Kanpur. “Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) of the Indian Railways has tied up with IIT-Kanpur to start a Masters Degree (MTech) programme in Railway Engineering from the coming session,” said K C Jena, Railway Board Chairman, at a press conference in Varanasi on Sunday.    According a Railway official: “With this, the Railways will have full-fledged railway engineers taught and trained by the best engineering minds of the country.”  Currently, the Indian Railway sources its engineering manpower requirements from its six centralised training institutes, including the Indian Railways Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (IRIMEE) in Jamalpur.    RAILWAYS TAKE ALL POSSIBLE STEPS TO PREVENT ACCIDENTS    Raya Sabha, March 14,2008: Safety is the prime concern of Indian Railways and all possible steps are undertaken on a continuing basis to prevent accidents which include timely replacement of over-aged assets, adoption of suitable technologies for up-gradation and maintenance of track, rolling stock, signaling and interlocking systems, safety drives and inspections at regular intervals to monitor and educate staff for observance of safe practices. As a result, there has been a declining trend in the number of accidents from 473 in 2000-01 to 234 in 2005-06 and further to 195 in 2006-07.    Though the definition of accident varies in different railway systems of different countries, on Indian Railways, the number of accidents per million train kilometer which is an important universally  accepted safety indicator, have shown continuous reduction from 0.55 in 2001-02 to 0.44 in 2002-03, 0.41 in 2003-04, 0.29 in 2004-05, 0.28 in 2005-06 and 0.23 in 2006-07.   During the last ten years from 1997-98 to 2006-07, 3450 persons including 1539 passengers lost their lives in 3483 consequential train accidents on Indian Railways and 58.25 per cent of these accidents were attributed to railway staff failure. Of the 3483 consequential train accidents, 1959 were involving passenger trains. This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways, Shri R. Velu in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today. (PIB)  The Indian Railways are renting out over 1,000 hectares of land  New Delhi,March 12, 2008: The Indian Railways are renting out over 1,000 hectares of land across the country for commercial activities like constructing malls, hotels and motels, said Minister of State for Railways R. Velu. A Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) has been constituted to identify and commercially exploit the vast expanses of railway land all over the country, Velu said while replying to a starred question in the Rajya Sabha from member Shahid Siddiqui Monday.   The minister said: 'The RLDA, an authority under the control of the ministry of railways, has been constituted to take up commercial development of railway land. 'So far 110 sites have been entrusted to the authority,' he informed the house.The minister said that the total land given away to the RLDA was 1,075.269 hectares. A railway official said most of this land was near the railway tracks and had  been lying unutilised for decades.   LS members pitch for better rail facilities   New Dlhi, March 10, 2008 : Cutting across party lines, members of the Lok Sabha, on Monday, demanded more facilties and adequate safety for rail passengers. Describing the 2008-09 Railway Budget as ''eyewash'', senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Sumitra Mahajan said it has neither paid any attention to maintenance of bridges nor talked about improving cleanliness in trains and platforms.   Pointing out that railways was earning revenue by overloading of wagons, she said about 80 per cent of the bridges are 100 years old and pose a serious risk for the trains. Rewati Raman Singh of Samajwadi Party (SP) said that railways should improve facilities for passengers, even if it meant charging a little more.   Congress leader Rameshwar Oraon demanded that efforts should be made to expedite implementation of rail projects by fixing time period for the completion of important schemes. He also suggested that Indian Railways needed to take steps to introduce newer technologies to ensure smooth running of trains during fog. Source: Press Trust of India   Railways committed to NE development   GUWAHATI, March 8, 2008: The Chairman of the Railway Board KC Jena today reiterated the commitment of the Indian Railways towards the development of the North East region. He said that although insurgency was a deterrent to some railway projects, the Union and State Governments had responded positively to the needs of the Railways. In the case of Assam, the Government had given the  assurance of providing extra security by recruiting 1,000 ex-servicemen to protect sensitive areas. He said that the Railways and the Union and State Governments are aware of the security scenario and meetings are taking place at the highest levels.   Jena mentioned that all the major projects in Assam were on track, and the preliminary work of gauge conversion from Rangia to Murkongselek was underway. It would be functional near the same time that the Bogibeel bridge is opened thus creating a new Railway route between upper Assam and Guwahati. He appeared satisfied with the funds being made available for the NFR projects, which in 2008-09 year was Rs 1,269 crore. In 2007-08 the total outlay was Rs 902 crore. He said that the creation of the new non-lapsable pool meant for the North East would also prove to be a boon for the Railways. Source: The Assam Tribune    Railways to utilise technology to increase efficiency   New Delhi, March 4 (ANI): Indian Railways has started a drive to utilise technology to increase its efficiency. They are planning to give instructions to its drivers and guards through SMS. A senior railway official said, “As part of the Crew Management System all drivers and guards will be communicated through SMS about their duties.”  He further added that the main motto is to involve technology in place of existing manual system is to increase the efficiency.   “Crew booking is being computerised now as part of the new system. Drivers, assistant drivers and guards of all passengers and goods trains will be covered under the system,” he said. “We have finalised the SMS modules and it will be applicable to all categories of drivers,” the official added. (ANI)  Centre okays UNO's dream project  PATNA, March 03, 2008: The Union Cabinet has finally approved the UNO's dream project - Trans Asian Railway Network (TARN) - which envisages to link 27 countries through railway network. The Indian Railways are playing an important role in the execution of this project. Railway Minister Lalu Prasad showed a keen interest in the project while presenting the railway budget in Lok Sabha on February 26. He expressed hope that TARN would fulfil the cherished dream of people who wish to travel by trains across these countries.    According to the Chairman of Railway Board (CRB) K C Jena, he would be visiting Iran soon to hold a meeting there with the representatives of other countries. The mega project will benefit people in a major way as it will enable them to visit these 27 countries by trains at moderate charges, Jena said, adding that the project would be completed in 15 to 20 years. The countries to be linked under the TARN project include India, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Bulgaria, Russia, South Korea, Cambodia, Vietnam, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. Patna, which is all set to become a world-class station, has been selected as one of the routes for running TARN special trains.    According to a senior Railway Board official (planning), about 18 countries have, so far, signed the agreement at the UNO's initiative. The basic aim behind this is to promote tourism, art and culture among these Asian countries. However, India will have to build about 350-km-long railway route for being connected to Myanmar at an estimated cost of Rs 3,000 crore, of which, India is likely to spend about Rs 1,800 crore, the sources said. The proposed international rail route is likely to originate from Myanmar and pass through Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal and Bihar en route UP, Delhi, Punjab and Pakistan, he said, adding that the TARN officials are eager to establish a direct rail link with Bhutan through West Bengal.   Source: The Times of India

Chak De Railway   NEW DELHI, February 26, 2008: Indian Railways, once on track for bankruptcy, posted a record 6.3-billion-dollar surplus, announced in Railways Budget 200-09. "The world today acknowledges I've done a tremendous job," said the Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, presenting his fifth railway budget since the Congress-led coalition government took office in 2004. The railway budget for the fiscal year to March 2009 is seen as a harbinger of the national budget, which comes on Friday and is the last expected to be presented before the next general elections due within 12 to 15 months.   The railway minister said that the railway would post a record cash surplus of 250 billion rupees or 6.3 billion dollars this year, up from a 4.4 billion dollar surplus the previous year. The budget contained planned record spending of 370 billion rupees (9.27 billion dollars), up 21 percent from the previous year, on new dedicated high density freight routes, network expansion, safety and other improvements.  Priority "has been given to modernization," Yadav said. Easing transport bottlenecks are regarded as vital to spurring economic growth.   The fare cuts were seen as aimed at curbing inflation, running at a six-month high of 4.35 percent, that has hit hardest India's poor masses credited with giving the government its 2004 upset win. He compared Tuesday the "historic" turnaround of the railway, still India's main form of long-distance travel despite fierce competition from new private airlines, to the latest Bollywood hit movie "Chak De India" or "Go India." "Every child in the country will now say 'Chak De Railway,'" Yadav told parliament. "We're scoring goal after goal."

Railways  Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav

President lauds Railways' turnaround Delhi, February 25, 2008: The impressive turnaround in the Indian Railways came in for special mention from President Pratibha Patil as she addressed the Parliament on Monday. "My government has achieved a major turnaround in the financial and technical performance of the Indian Railways," Patil said, addressing the Joint Sitting of Parliament on the opening day of the Budget Session.   To further improve rail connectivity and infrastructure development, 22 stations located at metropolitan centres and major tourist centres will be developed through public-private partnership, the President said. Noting that the proposed Mumbai-Delhi-Kolkata Dedicated Freight Corridor will be a landmark in railway infrastructure, she said it will support  massive industrialisation alongside.

Assocham urges Railways to modernise stations on PPP model  NEW DELHI, February 22, 2008: Industry body Assocham urged the Railway Ministry to modernise and upgrade 100 railway stations in metros and pilgrimage sites on public-private partnership basis in the next fiscal. The move is aimed to make Indian railways at par with international level, on the line of airports, the chamber said in a statement.    "Conditions of most of railway stations in Northern and Western zone need immediate modernisation... so that these are made of world-class standard," Assocham President Venugopal Dhoot said in a communication to Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav. The move would also act as a revenue earning resource, he added. He said the ministry could also set up multi-storeyed complexes with shopping and entertainment facilities at the existing railway stations across the country.   Source: Economic Times   RAILWAY REVENUE EARNINGS UP BY 24.19 PER CENT  Ministry of Railways : February 21, 2008 : The total approximate earnings of Indian Railways on originating basis during the period 1st February – 10th February 2008 were Rs. 2156.16 crore compared to Rs. 1736.15 crore during the same period last year, registering an increase of 24.19 per cent. The total goods earnings have gone up from Rs. 1194.47 crore during 1st February – 10th February 2007 to Rs. 1465.47 crore during 1st February – 10th February 2008, showing an increase of 22.69 per cent. The total passenger revenue earnings during the period 1st to 10th February 2008 were Rs. 624.16 crore compared to Rs. 474.98 crore during the same period last year, reflecting an increase of 31.41 per cent. The revenue earnings from other coaching amounted to Rs. 47.92 crore during this period compared to Rs. 47.18 crore during the same period last year, showing an increase of 1.57 per cent.     The total approximate number of passengers booked during the period 1st to 10th February 2008 were 180.40 million compared to 182.66 million during the same period last year, showing a decrease of 1.24 per cent. In the suburban and non-suburban sectors, the number of passengers booked during 1–10 February 2008 were 102.06 million and 78.34 million compared to 105.49 million and 77.17 million during the same period last year, registering a decrease of 3.25 per cent and an increase of 1.52 per cent respectively. (PIB)

Toy train caught in political crossfire  SILIGURI, February 19, 2008: The world heritage Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) is incurring a loss of about Rs 30,000 per day, as the service remains off the track due to the ongoing political agitation in the Darjeeling hills .The toy train service remains suspended since 12 February, following the forcible closure of government establishments in the Darjeeling hills by the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) in opposition to the proposed Sixth Schedule status for the DGHC and removal of the DGHC caretaker administrator Mr Subash Ghising.   Due to the ongoing agitation, the fund-stripped DHR has so far registered a loss of Rs 2.10 lakh and the financial losses are mounting by the day. The DHR runs four pairs of toy trains between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling every day. “We are losing Rs 30,000 a day, which is quite an amount considering the DHR is a highly subsidised wing of the Indian Railways. If the toy trains do not get back on the tracks soon, it would damage the world heritage service in the long run,” said Mr Subrata Nath, director, DHR.   Apart from the financial loss, the DHR authorities are worried at the damage that the agitation was causing to the Darjeeling toy train's reputation.“ It is really depressing to find foreign and domestic tourists returning disheartened without taking a joy ride in the toy train.   Source: The Statesman

The world heritage Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR).  The DHR runs four pairs of toy trains between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling every day.

Nagpur to get model railway station   NAGPUR, February 13, 2008: The Indian Railways has identified 22 such stations in India which can be upgraded to international standard and Nagpur is one of those. Making this announcement at a ‘meet the press’ programme at the divisional railway manager’s office on Tuesday, Sowmya Raghavan, general manager, Central Railway, said: “I’d see to it that the city gets the best of passenger amenities.” Raghvan, who was on her first official to city as general manager CR, asserted that central railway has even identified priority areas like security, safety and cleanliness. “We plan to install CCTVs and metal detectors on all sensitive stations in the entire zone. My commitment is that passengers should have a feel of the facilities when they enter the station. We’ll instil a sense of behaviour among the front-line staff too as to how to behave with the commuters,” said Raghvan.    The general manager, who inspected the 140-km stretch between Ballarshah and Nagpur, further said: “There’s great demand to start new trains but I’ve no powers to start those. I can only forward such proposals to the railway board — the one which we did to make triweekly Nagpur-Pune Express into a daily train. The decision is expected in this railway budget.”

Railway Minister Lalu Yadav opens AC dormitory  HAJIPUR, February 11, 2008: After Garib Rath, this is yet another pre-budget gift to train passengers, particularly belonging to middle and low income groups, from railway minister Lalu Prasad. Shri Lalu Yadav on Sunday inaugurated first fully air-conditioned dormitory, Sudama Kutir, at Hajipur railway station in Vaishali district, first of its kind in the Indian Railways in the country. Anyone travelling by trains can avail the services of this dormitory by paying Rs 75 per bed, said the railway minister, who also inaugurated the upgraded Hajipur railway station and modernised concourse and second class waiting room on the occasion.    The railway minister gave the credit of opening of fully AC dormitory to his colleague and Union minister for rural development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, who was also present on the occasion.     Source: The Times of India

Indian Railway minister Lalu Prasad

PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE INVITES SUGGESTIONS    February 07, 2008:The Parliamentary Committee have invited memoranda containing suggestions /views /comments from the interested organisations/institutions/individuals on the cleanliness and sanitation in Indian Railways with a view to improve systems for maintenance of sanitation and related infrastructure in the Railways.   The Committee on Public Accounts headed by Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra, M.P. has taken up the subject “Cleanliness and Sanitation on Indian Railways” as a subject of study for detailed examination and submitting a report to Parliament. The subject is primarily based on Chapter II of the Report of  the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) of India for the year ended March 2006, No. 6 of 2007 (Performance Audit), Union Government (Railways) related to “Cleanliness and Sanitation on Indian Railways”. The contents of the C&AG Report are available on the website: www.cag.nic.in.      Those desirous of submitting memoranda to the Committee may send their written memoranda, either in English or Hindi on the above subject to Shri Brahm Dutt, Director, Lok Sabha Secretariat, Room No. 403, Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi-110001 (Tel. NO. 23034403 and Fax 23010756) or can e-mail at E-mails: compac@sansad.nic.in or bdutt@sansad.nic.in within fifteen days of publication of this advertisement. (PIB)  Railways aim to provide world class facilities  MUMBAI, February 5,2008:  Minister of State for Railways Naranbhai Rathwa said today that Indian Railways is working on providing world class services to its commuters including food plazas at all major stations. Attending a function prior to the inauguration of a train service, Rathwa said multiple stations were being upgraded to world class standards and in Maharashtra, the railway termini of Maharashtra and Pune have been chosen. "We will also aim to provide food plazas at all major stations to provide clean and healthy food for passengers," the minister said.    Rathwa flagged off the innaugural Mumbai-Aurangabad 'Janshatabdi Express' today at the heritage Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in south Mumbai. The minister later flagged off Mumbai- Jaipur `Garib Rath Express' at the Bandra Terminus in suburban Bandra, where he also innaugurated the the installation of 530 Closed Circuit Cameras and Televisions (CCTVs) on the suburban line of the Western Railways. He also said there was some work pending on the additional railway lines set up between suburban Borivali and Virar after which additional services could be introduced on the line.  Railways to go ahead with e-payment plan for freight service NEW DELHI, February 03, 2008: Aiming to reduce delays and bring transparency in the payment system, Railways are going ahead with the plan for e-payment for freight service. "We had launched a pilot project last year and this year, we are expanding it to the entire railway system," a senior official in the Ministry of Railways said.    Freight, one of the major sources of income for Indian Railways, is collected at station where a customer books goods for transporting to another station through train. At present, freight collected from the customer is deposited to the local branch of the bank by Railways. As a result, there are delays in making payment because of the long procedures involved in the current transaction system, the official said, adding the e-payment system will reduce the delay to a large extent.     Under the e-payment scheme, the required amount for freight is transferred from consignee's bank account within few seconds. The customer's account gets debited and railways account with bank gets credited online.

Indian Railways is likely to go for reputed brands for quality food   New Delhi, January 31, 2008: Due to complaints of unhygienic and unhealthy food being served to passengers, the Indian Railways will introduce reputed brands  in the existing menus to ensure better quality. According to a new plan formed up by the Railways, its drinking water 'Rail Neer' will be replaced by branded mineral water for AC first class passengers in Rajdhani and Shatabadi, and there would also be a provision for sugar and salt free diet for passengers in the premier trains. Since 'Rail Neer' does not manufacture small bottles, the Railways may procure it from outside. "The current practice of providing water in pouches in Mail and Express trains is also going to be stopped as we are planning to provide 300 ML water bottles to passengers," the official said.   While the branded curd from 'Amul' or 'Mother Diary' might replace the locally manufactured curd, and cakes and pastries may also be served in select trains. "There were many complaints against the quality of the curd supplied in trains. So it has been decided to replace it by a popular brand. Some popular brands like Amul or Mother Diary are to be selected shortly," he said.     Apart from upgrading the quality of the eatables, the focus is also on increasing the options for the passengers with a special consideration of their preferences. As a result, the Railways is also looking to provide salt and sugar free diet to the passengers. "Besides those who are diabetic, there are many who prefer to have less salt and boiled food. So we want to cater to that category of passengers too," he said. The responsibility of catering is entirely given to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism (IRCTC) in trains. The IRCTC, which has an annual turnover of Rs 500 crore, has initiated massive infrastructure development drive at its kitchens to cater to the demand. Russian Railways keen to explore Indian market  New Delhi, January 30, 2008: Russia has offered latest technologies in railway automation, safety system and energy saving equipment among other railway products to Indian Railways. "Indian market is growing fast and we are keen to do business with Indian Railways," Anatoly Volodin, Director General of Russian Railways told PTI here today.   "Indian Railway could leverage on technical expertise of Russian Railways in view of the the similarities in terms of large network of operations in India and Russia," a member of the 20-member Russian delegation, said.  Russian Railways made a presentation of its latest services and technologies to senior Indian Railways officials at the Rail Bhawan here. (PTI)

Konkan Railway will complete ten years on January 26.  January 25, 2008: Konkan Railway will complete ten glorious years of train operations on January 26. It has given some remarkable innovations to the world, namely Anti-Collision Device (ACD) and Sky Bus Metro in the decade and also made a complete financial turnaround in he last two years and is today proud of becoming a financial success story. The operating surplus of the corporation increased by 74 per cent in 2005-06 and is steadily increasing by 25-30 percent per year. The freight earnings have shown a significant quantum jump in last two years, increasing by a record 71 per cent in 2005-06 and surging by almost 25 to 30 per cent per annum, for the first time surpassing the coaching earnings.    In these ten years, KRCL has also invented Anti Collision Device (ACD), which can prevent midsection head-on collisions,side collisions, and rear-end collisions of trains, in addition to having many other safety features. No other technology in the world offers these features. Konkan Railway holds patent for the product.     The first pilot project of the ACD on Northeast Frontier Railway covering 1736 kilometres was commissioned this financial year. Following this and the live demonstration of ACD to the delegates of International Railway Safety Conference held at Madgaon recently, KRCL has started receiving enquiries from various countries for implementation of ACD. KRCL has earned more than Rs.90 crore from RORO service in nine years.    Konkan Railway transports food grains, iron ore, fertilizers, cement, LPG, bauxite, vegetable oil, coal and containers via its route, and has enabled prompt and fast delivery of goods being the shortest physical route connecting Mumbai to Mangalore. Konkan Railway is also implementing Telemedicine project in other zonal railways. (ANI)

Konkan Railway has been transporting millions of passengers and millions of tonnes of freight along the West Coast of India over last ten years. On an average, about 35 million passengers travel by Konkan Railway route every year.

Indian Railways will introduce green toilets system  NEW DELHI, January 20,2008: In an attempt to do away with the prevalent open discharge system, the Indian Railways will introduce green toilet system in all its passenger coaches. "Our aim is to do away with the conventional toilets that are operational in passenger coaches in the interest of environment protection, cleanliness and sanitation," said a senior railway official.    Railway authorities are exploring three kinds of system; controlled discharge, biodegradable and vacuum retention toilet. "To begin with we have introduced the controlled discharge toilet system in some coaches. The system ensures that waste from the toilets are discharged onto the track beyond a predetermined speed of the train. Which means waste is discharged beyond stations and not within the premises of the stations," said the official.  See also  A School girl invented new train toilet Source: PTI

Matheran Light Railway may included in World  Heritage Site list  MUMBAI, January 07, 2008: Indian Railways is busy preparing the citations to get 100-year-old Matheran Light Railway (MLR) in the elite World  Heritage Site list established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).   On October 21, 2005, the ministry of railways had written to Unesco, asking MLR to be listed as an extension to the Mountain Railways of India. “MLR was included in the tentative list, but this inclusion does not get it inscribed on the Unesco’s list. We are preparing a detailed application with the necessary documentation,” said Rajesh Agrawal, executive director (heritage), Indian Railways. Officials have also prepared unique points to be documented and submitted to Unesco.

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