Railways to adopt ‘IGBT’ technology to regenerate electrical energy    MUMBAI, June 30, 2009 (PIB) : Indian Railways is reaching a new milestone of approving green energy project in Mumbai. The Ministry of railways has decided to replace the existing Electrical Multiple Units (EMUs) with the new ones fitted with regenerative brakes by adopting three phase technology with Insulated Gate Bi-polar Transistor (IGBT) based system which are capable of regenerating 25 to 30 per cent of the energy used. Forty seven (12 car) rakes have been commissioned with regenerative braking system so far and 48 rakes are expected to be commissioned during 2009-10. The Designated National Authority (DNA) which is under Ministry of Environment & Forests has accorded host country approval for this project under Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) on 12th Jan, 2009. World Bank is working for registration of this project with United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).    The purpose of the project is to adopt 3 phase IGBT technology in Indian Railways for three phase EMUs in Mumbai suburban area of Western & Central Railways. The regenerated electrical energy reduces the consumption of equivalent grid electrical energy required by the powering train, thereby conserving electrical energy and subsequently leading to reductions in Green House Gases (GHG).

Railways  plans for wind power and thermal power generation   New Delhi June 27, 2009, The railways also have mega plans for wind power generation, for which they are looking for suitable locations in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. The railways plan to have another thermal power plant even as their Nabinagar project, to come up in a joint venture with country’s largest power producer NTPC Ltd, has remained a non-starter.   The railways are in the process of hiring consultants for chalking out a captive power generation plan, which is likely to include thermal power generation for running trains and power from non-conventional sources for railway stations, sources said. The Indian Railways consumes about 14 million units of electricity every year, at a cost of Rs 6,000 crore. The plan will also aim at reducing this cost.    A railway official said the department was putting in equity of only Rs 417 crore in the Nabinagar project, while it would  save Rs 400 crore annually when the plant became operational. The total project cost is Rs 1,605 crore.  On the non-conventional energy front, the railways’ foray has been more successful with its 10-Mw wind farm in Chennai becoming operational last March. Suzlon had helped the railways put up the plant.

Mamata's budget to push PPP projects    New Delhi June 25, 2009 : With the present economic conditions not providing much scope  for either large-scale fare concessions or an across-the-board  increase in freight rates, the highlight of the Railway Budget for 2009-10 is likely to be a big push to public-private partnership (PPP) initiatives to enhance the Indian Railways’  capacity to earn higher revenues on a sustainable basis.    Even though Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee will like to present a populist budget on July 3 with more amenities for passengers, another fare cut is unlikely because Lalu Prasad’s Interim Railway Budget in February has already strained the Indian Railways’ finances. Prasad had announced a 2 per cent reduction in passenger fares. Similarly, any increase in freight rates looks unfeasible because of the current economic downturn. With the fare cut already in place, achieving the projected 12 per cent growth in passenger revenue in the current year will be a challenging task, admit railway ministry officials. Moreover, if the freight rates remain unchanged, growing freight revenues by 8 per cent will again prove to be a  difficult target. Source: Business Standard    New Railways' time table to be out in October    New Delhi June 23, 2009 (PTI): Indian Railways' new time table for 2009-10, containing revised timings of passenger trains, will be released in October instead of July as scheduled. "The new time table will come into effect from October one," a source in the Railway Ministry said. "This decision was taken to include trains which are expected to be announced in the upcoming Railway Budget on July 3 in  the time table, apart from those announced in the interim Rail Budget," the source added.     As per convention, Railways releases the new time table — Trains at a glance — every year on July 1 across the country. Sources said this year the Railway Time Table committee, comprising senior officials from various zones, will sit after the Railway Budget is tabled in Parliament.    The committee prepares the timings of the new trains announced and carries out revision in timings of the existing trains. According to Railway officials, several trains are likely to be speeded up after the new timings comes into effect. Revised passenger reservation schemes, fare rate slab and new  premium services announced by Railways during the course of the year would also find a place in the time table, the sources added. The zonal time tables would also be released simultaneously.    Indian Railway operates over 7,000 trains daily across the country. Recently, Central Railway came out with a summer special time table. This followed after Railways announced to run over 4,500 special services across the country till July to meet the summer rush. Taking a cue, Northern Railways also published its own summer special time table. - PTI    Rlys to manufacture stainless steel coaches    PATNA, June 19, 2009: The railways have decided to manufacture low-cost stainless steel coaches to improve the riding comforts of passengers. The Rail Coach Factory (RCF) at Kapurthala in Punjab has recently rolled out 28 such coaches, which would be first introduced on the Amritsar-Jaynagar route for the Shaheed Express train.     According to sources, these newly designed coaches are similar in looks to the LHB German coaches which are being currently used in the Rajdhani Express and Shatabdi Express trains across the country. The salient features of these coaches are that they have superior aesthetics, better riding comforts and low maintenance cost as well, the sources said.     A Railway Board official said that the newly designed coaches are all set to herald an era of stainless steel coaches in the Indian Railways which would be used in all mail and express trains. The railways have, so far, introduced stainless steel coaches in the Rajdhani Express and Shatabdi Express trains only, he said. He informed that the coach factory has decided to replace the flat bogies currently being used in LHB coaches to indigenously manufactured bogies to bring down the manufacturing cost of  stainless steel coaches. Use of German-based LHB technology in manufacturing each air-conditioned coach has been too expensive now. However, the use of new indigenous technology in manufacturing stainless steel coaches with a modified ICF-type bogie is likely to reduce about 40 per cent manufacturing cost being incurred on production of each LHB coach, he said, adding that the railways would, thus, save a huge sum of money in manufacturing such coaches for mail and express trains.  Source: The Times of India   Railways plan 4 luxury trains    New Delhi, June 17, 2009 : The Indian railways are introducing four luxury train tours in January with an eye on the high-end foreign tourist. The new train tours -- two each for Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata -- are along the lines of the palace-on-wheels, and was planned after a joint venture by railways and the travel company Cox and Kings. The tours will wind their leisurely way across the country for eight days and seven nights for a princely tariff of $1,000 a night. Stopovers will include such places as Gaya and Varanasi on the Kolkata route, and Bandhavgarh and Khajuraho on the Mumbai route. However, with railway minister Mamata Banerjee keen on appeasing the aam aadmi more than anything else, there's a doubt whether the project will be given enough rope. - DNA

State vs the rest: Mamata puts Bengal on track   Kolkata, June 14, 2009: The new Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has been accused of neglecting the Ministry at the cost of Bengal politics. Reportedly, the Minister is preparing the Rail Budget without taking any advice from her Ministers of State  – KH Muniyappa and E Ahmed – and hasn’t allotted any work to them. Muniyappa who was a MoS under the former railway minister Lalu Prasad refused to specify the work that has been allotted to him. Mamata has decided that Railways will send a medical team, comprising of doctors from railway hospitals, to cyclone-ravaged areas of West Bengal. A number of medical camps would be set up by the Railways in the affected areas. - CNN-IBN

Rlys to set up modern wagon trolley factory in Bengal    NEW DELHI, June 10, 2009: Indian Railways is planning to set up a Rs 100 crore high-axle load wagon trolley factory in collaboration with the US in West Bengal. “Steps are being undertaken to set up a modern wagon bogey factory with US technology in West Bengal. An MoU will be signed with the US for setting up the 25-tonne axle load wagon soon,'' said a senior Railway Ministry  official. There has been a growing demand for high axle load wagon trolley and the proposed factory is expected to cater to the demand. Asked why West Bengal was selected for setting up the factory, the official said “majority of wagon manufacturing units are in the State. It is in the interest of the system that wagon trolley factory is also set up near these units so that the transport ation cost for assembling a wagon is minimum.'' Once the factory with the state-of-the-art technology is set up, it will be first of its kind in the country. The factory is expected to produce 5,000 wagon bogies in a year. Besides, the modern factory, Railways is also planning to acquire the wagon manufacturing factory in Burnpur in West Bengal. - PTI    Indian Railways enquiry service New No- Call 138   Jun 08, 2009: Call 138 for Indian Railway enquiry by the Indian Railways (IR) anytime soon? Not only will you be greeted by 'Rail-hostesses' on some trains, but you will also be able to make railway related enquiry using IR's upcoming new call center number - 138.   Currently, the 139 railway enquiry service is active 24 hours which serves the purpose of over seven lakh people everyday for information about PNR status, arrival/departure of trains, seat availability, fares as well as accommodation. To cope up with the increasing number of calls received on 139 everyday, IR has decided to introduce the 138 service.    Railways to develop over 500 model stations    NEW DELHI, June 4, 2009 (PTI): With an aim to attract more passengers and improve basic amenities, the Indian Railways has decided to give a facelift to over 500 stations across the country incorporating state-of-the-art facilities. Altogether 528 railway stations spread over 16 Zonal Railways will be developed into two categories -- Model and Modern.     "Among the selected stations, 271 will be developed as model and 257 as modern which will provide additional passengers amenities, safety and security system," a senior home ministry official said.  While the stress on developing model stations will be to ensure basic amenities like rest rooms, retiring rooms, refreshment rooms and cloak rooms, the modern stations will have state-of-the-art waiting rooms, signages, personal address system and improved cleanliness.     An additional feature in both the model and modern railway stations will be to have adequate security and safety measures to deal with any eventuality like terror and Naxal attacks, the official said. "There are about 7,000 railway stations across the country and it is necessary to develop them all in a phased manner. That is why we have decided to start with the project of model and modern railway stations and taken at least five stations in each division of the zonal railways," he said.    Two trains torched in Bihar as trains skip stops   PATNA, June 1, 2009: Coaches of two passenger trains were set ablaze and the Khusrupur railway station in Bihar's Patna district was ransacked by a mob Monday to protest the East Central Railway's decision to not halt any express train at the station.    Police said hundreds of people set fire to three coaches of the Danapur-Jainagar Intercity Express and one bogie of Rajgir Danapur Express in Khusrupur, about 35 km from here. However, no casualty was reported. The protesters also uprooted rail tracks, disrupting traffic on the Patna-Mokama route.    Mamata gives wagon industry feel-good factor    KOLKATA, May 25, 2009: With 80 per cent of the wagon industry based in the eastern region, chief executives of companies in this industry were first to react to the news of Mamata Banerjee being allocated the railway portfolio. Ramesh Maheshwari, President and Chief Executive Officer of K. K. Birla group company Texmaco said, “The appointment of a minister in the Cabinet rank from West Bengal for the railways portfolio augurs well for this  industry — 80 per cent of which gravitates around West Bengal and the eastern region. Pawan Ruia, Chairman of another major wagon manufacturing company, Jessop, an erstwhile public sector unit, said this was good news indeed for the wagon manufacturing industry.

Mamata Banerjee new Railways Minister   Delhi, May 23 (PTI) Mamata Banerjee given Railways in partial allocation of portfolios by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has retained veterans Pranab Mukherjee and P Chidambaram in Finance and Home Ministries respectively. A K Antony stays in Defence and Sharad Pawar Agriculture Food, Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, portfolios they had handled in the previous UPA government.   Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had taken 19 ministers in his new Cabinet, had told reporters at the Rashtrapati Bhawan yesterday that portfolio distribution would take two-three days. However, surprisingly the limited allocation of portfolios was announced by the Rashtrapati Bhawan today on the advice of the Prime Minister, who preferred to get down to business and distributed ministries on which there are apparently no no differences.

Now, get PNR status of rail ticket via SMS   LUCKNOW, May 15, 2009: Hung up on the line to enquire about your PNR status? Do not crib. 139 has an SMS-way out. The call centre service of railways that came into existence about two years back has become a little more friendlier.    Sources in Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) confirmed that sms service on 139 has become functional. Currently, it can be used only for enquiry of PNR status of passenger's ticket. Write -- PNR (give space)(type PNR number) -- and SMS to 139. The message will be delivered within no time. Since it is not a toll free service you might have to pay Rs 3 per SMS. "The service has just been started," said sources.    The plan to transfer array of services provided by IRCTC on mobile phones through wide network of service providers had been in the offing since long. This time around, sms can be sent from any of the service providers except two. And most probably, it is BSNL and Reliance that are not providing the facility to its users.    The all Indian enquiry 139 already provides information about PNR status, arrival/departure of trains, seat availability and fare/ accommodation when passengers call on it. For further queries, passenger can press a star and talk to the customer care executive as well.    Though BSNL, MTNL, Vodafone and Airtel users can connect to this number for information, sources added that sms service might not be available on all of them. Just as calling up on 139 is not free of cost service similarly sms service is also not a toll-free one. Passengers can use it to confirm the PNR status after the information has been fed into the reservation chart which is usually an hour before the train departure. Since the service is a new one it might make passengers face some initial hiccups like time taken in providing PNR information.  Source: The Times of India

Railways to carry out survey work for running bullet trains  PATNA, May 12, 2009: A high level team of the Railway Board officials held a meeting with Bihar chief secretary R J M Pillai recently in connection with the survey work of the proposed running of bullet train between Patna and Delhi. The railways intend to carry out survey work soon so that its feasibility could be  assessed.    According to sources, the total cost of the survey work on Patna-Delhi route is likely to cost about Rs 11 crore. This route falls under Bihar, UP and Delhi. Accordingly, the cost of survey is to be shared with the railways by these states. Of about 1,000 km stretching from Patna to Delhi, about 200 km falls in Bihar. The Bihar government is to share half of the cost to be incurred on the survey work of about 200 km, sources said.    According to sources, the railways are conducting survey on the Pune- Mumbai- Ahmedabad, Delhi-Chandigarh, Patna-Delhi, Bangalore-Chennai and Chennai- Hyderabad routes. The survey work and feasibility report are being prepared by a reputed company of France. If everything goes well, the railways would complete the survey work in a couple of months, the board official said.      The railways will require at least Rs 10,000 crore to build up the infrastructure to run bullet trains. Though maintenance of bullet trains, particularly locomotives, is very costly, the Indian Railways are capable of maintaining bullet train coaches with the help of advanced technology, sources said.  Source: The Times of India

Bullet trains are specially designed to run at the maximum speed of 250 km to 300 kmph per hour in foreign countries. In fact, separate tracks are required to run bullet trains which are substitute to air traffic in foreign countries. Besides, no goods trains would run on the special tracks of bullet trains for safety reasons, a technical expert said, adding the railways have been running the fastest Shatabdi Express on Delhi-Gwalior route at 140 kmph

New brakes in suburban trains will save energy    Mumbai, May 11, 2009: In a bid to reduce electricity consumption in trains, Railways have decided to incorporate new generation regenerative brakes in new suburban trains, a move that will help in reusing 25 to 30% of the energy spent. This technology would be incorporated in new EMU rakes that are likely to be operated on the Mumbai suburban section. A project design document has already been prepared in this regard and made public to elicit views of the stakeholders, a senior railway ministry official said.    Regenerative brakes make use of the energy that is lost when a train running on electrified tracks applies brakes and converts it into reusable energy, thus saving on the energy input required to operate."In this way, it is capable of regenerating 25 to 30% of the energy used," the official said.   - DNA   Railway panel to review training system   NEW DELHI, May 9, 2009: The Railways recent turnaround in earnings and proposed expansion plans like dedicated freight corridor (DFC), speed trains, world class stations require more skilled manpower. This realisation has forced the Railway Board to constitute a committee which will "revisit the specialised training needs of the Railways in the changed scenario". In this context, the board has decided to constitute four special posts, including that of a chairman for the Railway Training Committee.    The chairman of this committee will be the adviser of the Railway Board A K Nigam, a senior Rail Bhavan official said here on Friday. Apart from the chairman, the three members will be: Executive Director, Enterprise Resource Planning ED/ERP, Railway Board; Executive Director, Transport and Training (Marketing), Railway Board; and Executive Director (Finance), Railway Board. The committee "will revisit the training needs of probationers of Indian Railways in view of the changing environment in the transportation sector and initiation of vibrant new culture in governance", the official said.

Holiday special on Kalka-Shimla track   New Delhi/ Shimla May 5, 2009: The Indian railways has started a holiday special train on Kalka-Shimla track. There are already five toy trains operating on this 96-km narrow gauge heritage track. The holiday special is now the sixth on this mountain route. It arrives in Shimla at noon.    The first holiday special left Kalka on Saturday. Railway officials say the new train is running full. Besides tourists from across the country, foreign tourists also head to the hills of Himachal Pradesh to escape the intense heat of the plains. Even though trains on the Kalka-Shimla heritage track take much longer than a car or bus journey, the toy train is still preferred by many, particularly by foreigners, as it offers scenic views.   The narrow winding track was built during the colonial British  rule. Lord Curzon, British viceroy, started the first train in 1903. The track rises from 650 m in Kalka to almost 2,100 m above sea level in Shimla. It passes through 103 tunnels, 969 bridges, 919 curves and 18 railway stations. Unesco accorded the world heritage status to this century-old-route a year ago.

Railway  ticket booking through cellphone    PATNA, May 3, 2009: : Railway ticket booking through cellphones is picking up fast with 1,000-odd tickets being booked through cellphones every day all over the country. Cellphone-savvy people, particularly in metropolitan cities, have been using this new system quite frequently. The new system has spared the cellphone users the travails of waiting in queues to procure railways' computerised journey tickets.    The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Ltd has taken the lead in introducing this ultra-modern system after an old system, introduced by it in 2003, could not click due to some technical reasons. The earlier system operated through voice mail and SMS only. However, the new system operates through Java-enabled handsets as well as those sets having internet facilities, sources said.    The new system is very similar to e-ticketing, a Railway Board official said and added people wishing to book rail tickets through cellphones need to have Java- enabled handsets so as to access internet services. This facility will enable the traveller to book his ticket in advance, and get the ticket delivered by couriers. Those having own mail IDs can book the tickets online also. Since the use of cellphone has become quite common, people would find it convenient to book railway tickets well in advance even from remote places. Besides, they could also seek information related to berth availability and journey plan through cellphones. "Railways is keen to ensure availability of railway tickets at doorsteps of travellers without charging any additional cost," the Railway Board official said. - The Times of India   Singapore model for Metro in Chandigarh   CHANDIGARH, May 01, 2009:: To make the Metro project a commercially viable venture, RITES is studying the Singapore model so that it could be replicated in Chandigarh by finalizing the financial plan accordingly. During a recent presentation given by consultancy firm RITES, certain UT officials had said the project must be a profitable venture. Working on this, the company suggested the Singapore model. Under this, income from parking fee and taxes charged on tickets would be utilized to break even the annual investment of Rs 3,000 crore.  Both Punjab and Haryana governments have already agreed to share the project cost on basis of Comprehensive Mobility Plan and Detailed Project Report. Both documents would be prepared by RITES.  Source: The Times of India   France's top railway operator in India for comparative study   KOLKATA, April 25, 2009: : A team of top officials from Société Nationale des Chemins de fer français (SNCF), France’s top railway operator which also runs the TGV, are now in the country to undertake a comparative study of engineering and maintenance of rolling stock.    The French delegation will hold meetings with the Railway Board and in various zonal railway headquarters to discuss and exchange notes on maintenance methods and practices in the two countries. The French team is also likely to visit facilities of Indian Railways’ Research Design and Standards Organisation  in Lucknow   Maoists rule India's 'Red Corridor'   BANGALORE , April 23, 2009: Indian Maoists hijacked a train with 800 passengers in the eastern state of Jharkhand on Wednesday morning. Although the crisis was defused within five hours, when the Maoists released the train and its passengers, the incident has sparked grave concern throughout the security establishment. The ease with which the Maoists were able to stage an operation of this magnitude - and at a time when security has been tightened for general elections - has laid bare yet again that it is the Maoists' writ, not that of the government that runs through this part of the country.    The train was on its way from Barkakana in Jharkhand to Mugalsarai in the neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh when it was hijacked near Hehegarha railway station in Latehar  district. Around 200 Maoists are said to have carried out the operation. A railway station in Palamu was bombed as well.  Source: Asia Times    IIM Calcutta launches programme for Indian Railway service officers   KOLKATA, April 21, 2009 : IIM Calcutta has been commissioned by the Railway Board of  India to conduct a 12-week executive general management programme for 60 officers, as a part of the regular 18-month training program for Indian Railway service probationer officers. In this connection, Indian Railways and IIM Calcutta have signed an MoU for training of Indian railway service officers for the next  five years starting this year.    Railways to run 4500 train services this summer   NEW DELHI, April 13, 2009: Gearing up for the anticipated summer rush, Railways have pooled together its vast resources to run more than 4,500 train services during the season after getting a nod from the Election Commission. A senior railway ministry official said, as many as 90 pairs of summer special trains would be put into operation between April and June in 13 out of the 16 railway zones, providing more than 4,500 services to passengers, up from 3,600 run last year. The special trains would also include full "AC trains", he said.   Central Railways would be offering the highest number of 1170 services and it would be followed by Northern Railways which would run over 1040 services. South Western Railway would provide 392  services, the official said.     Three-day mega Railway Fair-2009 starts on April 18    VARANASI, April 06, 2009: A three-day mega Railway Fair-2009, to be held in the divisional office of North East Railway (NER) in the city starting on April 18. The three-day event would mark efforts to raise funds for various welfare programs carried by NER Women Welfare Association  (NERWWA) in the region. The fair would include display of history and development of Indian Railways  through photographs and models apart from other entertaining programs for children including stunts and adventure shows.       Some of the special features of the region including handicrafts, Banarasi Saree, wooden toys and stone carved idols of Chunar region would be also exhibited on the occasion. The fair would also include display of various dishes, some of them being specialties of the region like Banarasi Paan and Thandai apart from South Indian dishes like Dosa, Uttapam, Dhokla and Idli.    Special summer trains to Goa introduced    PANAJI, April 4, 2009: Goa seems to be in great demand this summer with the Central and South Western railways commencing summer special trains to the state. Observing the success of its weekend special trains to Goa which were running on a trial basis, the Central Railway has decided to extend this service citing heavy demand.    "The train to Margao which leaves on Friday night and takes around 9 hours to reach Goa, has made 20 trips adding Rs 40 lakh to the Indian Railways kitty," a Central Railway official said. Meanwhile, the South Western Railway will run weekly special trains to clear the extra rush of passengers during summer. The Yeshwantpur-Vasco-Da-Gama Garib Rath Weekly Express Special (0695) will depart from Yeshwantpur at 9 pm on Saturdays from April 4 and arrive at Vasco-Da-Gama at 11.40 am, the next day. The last service from Yeshwantpur is on May 30. In the return direction, Vasco-Da-GamaYeshwantpur Garib Rath Weekly Express Special (0696) will depart from Vasco-Da-Gama on Sundays at 2.30 pm commencing from April 5 and arrive at Yeshwantpur at 5 am, the next day. The last service from Vasco-Da-Gama is on May 31.  Source:The Times of India    Indian Railway Finance sells bonds at 8.49 pct  MUMBAI, March 26, 2009 (Reuters) - Indian Railway Finance has sold 2 billion rupees of bonds at a cut-off yield of 8.49 percent, two sources with knowledge of the deal said on Thursday. The coupon will be payable half-yearly, they added. The funding arm of the Indian Railways had invited bids for the five-year bonds on Wednesday and bidding closed at noon on Thursday.    Reshuffle effected in 19 divisions of Indian Railways     New Delhi, March 23, 2009: Indian Railways have effected a reshuffle in the top posts of 19 divisions across the country by appointing new Divisional Railway Managers (DRMs). DRMs of Delhi, Danapur, Muradabd, Ijjatnagar, Bilaspur, Jhansi, Nanded Division are among those included in the reshuffle, officials said. Danapur Division DRM B D Garg has been transferred as new DRM of Delhi replacing Rakesh Saxena, who has been transferred to Secundarabad as Chief Operational Manager.    Garg took over the charge from Saxena on Monday. Arvind Kumar, Executive Director Vigilance (Traffic) has been transferred as DRM Nanded in South Central Railway. Most of those transferred officials have completed their tenure of two years and reshuffle was a routine process, the officials said. -Bureau Report   British Wi-Fi technology to Indian Railways   London, march 19, 2009: British Wi-Fi technology major Nomad Digital has entered into a joint venture with Indian company Zylog Systems to provide wireless internet access to India’s massive railway network. Newcastle-based Nomad Digital is a market leader in the provision of mobile wireless services for transportation, while Zylog supplies a range of IT products and solutions to its customers across multiple sectors such as banking, insurance and telecom.   “We have identified India as a market that has huge potential for us. India’s rail network is one of the fastest growing in the world and will help us to continue to add more jobs over the course of the year,” Nomad chief executive Graeme Lowdon said.   EC nod to Railways plan to start summer specials    New Delhi, March 17, 2009 (PTI): The Election Commission has given its nod to the Indian Railways, which plan to announce the start of a series of summer special trains originating from Delhi. After the model code of conduct came into effect, the Northern Railways had sought permission from the EC to start 32 special trains and publish them for general public information. "The permission was granted recently," a senior Railway Ministry official said.    These special trains — mostly Uttar Pradesh- and Bihar-bound — will cover hundreds of trips during the season to ease the passenger rush. Destinations of the trains, which would start operations from April onwards, will include Lucknow, Chandigarh, Udhampur, Jammu Tawi, Patna, Darbhanga, Varanasi and Gaya. Summer special trains will also run to places including Howrah, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (Mumbai), Ahmedabad and Guwahati.    IISc to study safety of railway bridges   Bangalore, March 15, 2009: It is now the Railways which is turning to the 100-year-old Indian Institute of Science for its civil engineering capacities, in understanding structural engineering and safety. The premier institute is undertaking an intensive study on the condition of railway bridges in the South Western division to help the Railways decide whether bridges can take additional load. South Western Railways are receiving heavy and additional freight loads from other parts of the country, and plan to carry additional loads to different regions. Given that bridges in the division are used to taking a certain load, Railways was keen to have IISc study the bridges and tell them whether they could take additional load. IISc researchers will look at five bridges in the first study, and an additional five in the second study, covering Hubli-Arasikere, Tumkur and Mangalore region.  Source: The Times of India    Railways pledges to put new suburban rakes on right track   MUMBAI, March 14, 2009: Even as Siemens has a  ccepted that the traction motors in its swanky trains are faulty and agreed to replace them by the first week of April, the railway authorities have started damage control. The main reasons for failure have been identified as malfunctioning of traction motors, faulty software, pneumatic trouble and auxiliary warning system inconsistency. Traction motor and software failure contribute to 90% of the breakdowns.    Siemens and Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation Ltd (MRVC)-the coordinating body-have come under criticism that the rakes failed less than a few months after they were introduced. Motors are usually built to last at least 25 years-which, incidentally, is the lifespan of a train. Officials said the rakes were tested before they were commissioned. Obviously, the lab tests didn't take into account the super-dense loads Mumbai's suburban locals are subjected to.    "There has been chaos at the divisional and the zonal levels. Carshed resources are pooled in and this has overburdened the staff. One technician escorts every train. The staff work under immense pressure. Indian Railways has put pressure on Siemens to sort out the issue,'' said S S Gupta, chief public relations officer, Western Railway (WR).  Source: The Times of India   Power Ministry to back NTPC's fuel related issues    New Delhi, March 12, 2009 (PTI): The Power Ministry will take up the issues of state-run power producer NTPC with other ministries, such as Shipping and Railways, to expedite the delivery of fuel to the PSU, which is reeling under coal shortage. "Under a recent agreement signed between the Ministry of Power and NTPC, the former would coordinate with other ministries like Railways, Shipping, Coal and Petroleum for amicably resolving issues which are hindering fuel supplies," a power ministry official said.  The official said, "The Ministry of Power may take up various issues to expedite delivery of coal, especially imported one."    As far as imported coal is concerned, the Power Ministry may ask the Ministry of Shipping for getting priority in berthing of import coal vessels. The ministry would talk to Indian Railways for creating additional infrastructure to augment coal supply to pithead stations of NTPC power plants at Kahalgaon and Farakka where development of linked mines is delayed.    More facilities on offer as Rajdhani completes 40 yrs   KOLKATA, March 4, 2009: Very soon, those travelling to New Delhi by the Rajdhani Express will no longer need to take the trouble of booking a hotel room separately. They will have the option of booking a hotel room while procuring their train tickets.   "Hotel bookings will be linked to the computerised passenger reservation system. Initially, bookings will be offered in Ginger, retiring rooms and other economy hotels. Ginger runs the Yatri Niwas at New Delhi station. Depending on passenger demand, we may offer bookings for deluxe or luxury hotels as well. The service will be extended for other trains as well at a later stage," said Eastern Railway general manager Deepak Krishan on Tuesday. He was attending a programme to mark the 40th year of the Kolkata Rajdhani Express the country's first fully air-conditioned high-speed train.    Revealing that the Indian Railways has plans for more luxury trains like the Rajdhanis to connect state capitals to New Delhi, he said experiments are on to serve more hygienic and filling food to passengers.  "By the end of 2009, we hope to have Wi-Fi connectivity between Mughalsarai and New Delhi," Krishan added. According to him, high-speed corridors for bullet' trains can be possible in five years with help from the state governments.  Source:The Times of India    Lure of tourists: World's oldest steam engine ride    New Delhi, March 1, 2009 (PTI): Travel by the world's oldest working steam locomotive on the Delhi- Ajmer route has gained momentum with the heritage train running to full capacity. Plying only eight times a year during the first and the last quarters, the 'Guinness Book of World Records' recognised train christened "Fairy Queen" ran with its full capacity of 60 passengers yesterday when it left the Delhi Cantt station. Among the passengers of the 154-year-old train, 30 were foreigners.    The official said passengers can now book a ticket of the train through Internet on the Railways website. "Fairy Queen" train was rolled out for the first time by the East Indian Railway in 1855. The locomotive of the heritage train is the oldest working engine in the world. On January 13, 1998 it was recognised by the 'Guinness Book of World Records' as the world's oldest working engine. A journey on "Fairy Queen" costs Rs 8,600 for one person for both ways while the one way fare is Rs 6,000.    Railways harnessing solar energy for electrification   NEW DELHI, February 27, 2009: Indian Railways is harnessing solar energy for electrification of railway assets and introducing better technologies to reduce emissions from locomotives in its bid to check environmental pollution and conserve energy, the Lok Sabha was informed.    A consultancy for reduction of exhaust emissions from diesel locomotives has already been sanctioned and the work is in progress, said Minister of State for Railway R Velu. Besides, various technology improvements are being taken up on diesel locos to improve performance capabilities and reduce unburnt  fuels to check global warming, he said a written reply. The Minister also said solar energy is being harnessed for electrification of manned level crossings, administrative buildings, training institutes, canteens and hospitals and for water heating purposes.    Central Railways summer gift: 1,512 special services   MUMBAI, February 25, 2009: This summer, escaping the Mumbai heat will be a little easier. Central Railway (CR) will run as many as 1,512 summer special services-an unprecedented 85% rise over last year's number. The summer specials will be run between April and June. The first train will leave on April 2. These specials will be in addition to the regular long-distance services and are expected to benefit close to 4 million passengers. This is not all. CR will also run a number of intra-state trains to Nagpur, Solapur, Usmanabad and Pandharpur. Having introduced 11 new destinations, CR has taken the total number of special train routes to 27 this summer.    "The demand during the summer vacation is always high with waiting lists running up to 800. It is impossible to accommodate all the passengers. In keeping with the demand, Indian Railways (IR) has decided to pool in resources from other zones to run additional services,'' said S C Mudgerikar, chief public relations officer of  CR. "This year, there will be trains running in all directions,'' he added. Each train will have 18 coaches. In order to tackle the rush, special arrangements have been made at booking offices. Extra booking windows will be opened as part of the arrangements. CR will start taking bookings from February 27.  Source: The Times of India    Railway has huge potential for job creation despite recession     New Delhi, February 21, 2009 (ANI): Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Saturday underlined the need for infrastructure development and modernization of Railways, and said, Indian Railways has a huge potential for growth and job creation, despite the global meltdown.   Despite lay offs in some sectors and a freeze on employment, the Railways is moving ahead with new recruitments, and has a huge potential of growth, Lalu told reporters on the sidelines of a function to mark the foundation day of the All India Management Association (AIMA) here.Yadav also underlined the need for infrastructure development, expansion and modernization in the Railways.   Vacant Posts is around 1.7 lakh in Railways    Lok Sabha, February 19, 2009 (PIB): The number of vacant posts on Indian Railways as on date is around 1.7 lakh including 32646 posts reserved for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. Filling up the vacancies of reserved as well as unreserved posts is continuous process. Some vacancies always remain due to non-availability of eligible empanelled candidates in the recruitment and promotional grades. Indents have been placed to Railway Recruitment Boards to fill up Group ‘C’ vacancies and Railway Recruitment Cells to fill up Group ‘D’ vacancies. Wherever eligible candidates to filll up promotional vacancies are not there, the posts are diverted to the recruitment grades and filled up by direct recruitment from open market.   Germany keen on PPP projects with Indian railways   NEW DELHI, February 18, 2009: Germnay and India could co-operate in automobile and transport sectors, German minister for transport, building and urban affairs Wolfgang Tiefensee said. “We have met the Railways and discussed public-private-partnership projects for upgrading the infrastructure of Indian Railways,” Mr Tiefensee told ET during his recent visit to New Delhi. Representative of the German government had visited India last year to meet officials of the Indian Railway Board regarding technology transfer for various railway infrastructure projects, including wagons and bogies.  Source: Economics Times    Railways Budget 2009-10   New Delhi, February 13, 2009: The estimated 14 million passengers who travel by trains in India daily had reasons to cheer on Friday, as Railway Minister Lalu Prasad cut fares by 2 percent, introduced 43 new routes and hiked the planned expenditure for expansion, in spite of the economic downturn that saw lower freight revenues last quarter.    Presenting the interim rail budget for 2009-10 in parliament in his inimitable style, punctuated by light-hearted digs at members of the opposition, Lalu Prasad also announced the extension of 14 routes, an increase in the frequency of 14 trains and additional spending on safety.    He also earmarked a higher plan expenditure of Rs.37,905 crore (Rs.379.05 billion/$7.58 billion) towards expansion next fiscal, against revised estimates of Rs.36,773 crore (Rs.367.73 billion/$7.35 billion) for 2008-09, hoping for higher passenger and freight earnings since January.   Railways to equip AC coaches with eco-friendly technology    New Delhi, February 11, 2009 (PTI): As part of its green initiative, Indian Railway plans to equip its entire fleet of over 1000 AC coaches with eco-friendly refrigerant technology by March. So far, Railways have been using CFC-based refrigerant technology which leads to depletion of ozone layer. India, which is a joint signatory to the Montreal Protocol, had set a deadline of December 2010 for phasing out this technology.    The new refrigerant technology which is being retrofitted in place of the existing one is R-134 A, considered environment-friendly. Railways zeroed in on this refrigerant in December 2006. "So far, 650 AC coaches have been converted to R-134 A refrigerant with the efforts put in by various railway zones. Indian Railways has a fleet of over 1000 AC coaches at present. East Coast Railways has already converted all AC coaches handled by it.  The conversion was carried out in a manner that the regular service was not affected.   Railways keen to get Chinese help on high-speed trains   CHENNAI, February 10, 2009: Indian Railways is planning to get technical support from China to operate high-speed trains along the four high-speed corridors identified across the country, said Union minister of state for Railways R Velu. "Chinese Railways has evinced interest in assisting Indian Railways to operate high-speed trains and also to set up world class railway stations," said the minister who recently led a high-level technical delegation to China.   He was speaking to reporters after flagging off a nine-car electric multiple unit (EMU) rake fitted with a regenerative braking system that saves power by 30% and a forced ventilation system that will pump in 16,000 cubic metre into the coaches, at Integral Coach Factory. The delegation studied the way China operated their high-speed trains and also constructed and designed their world class railway stations. Even their EMU trains run at 350 km per hour and are faster than trains in Japan, which run only at 270 km per hour.    Inauguration of Construction work on eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor    Ministry of Railways, February 09, 2009: Construction work of eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) will be inaugurated by Chairperson, United Progressive Alliance, Smt. Sonia Gandhi at Rohtas in Bihar tomorrow.  The construction of the Eastern corridor will commence on the Sonnagar-Mughalsarai (127 kms.) portion and will be taken up initially on a 105 kms. portion from New Ganjkhwaja near Mughalsarai to New Karwandia near Sonnagar. This portion will be funded by equity from the Indian Railways.     The Dedicated Freight Corridor project on the Western and Eastern routes is one of the most ambitious projects that Indian Railways has ever taken up and once completed would meet the transport requirements of the two busy truck routes. The Eastern corridor from Ludhiana to Dankuni (1801 kms.) will pass via Saharanpur, Khurja, Kanpur, Mughalsarai and Sonnagar and will be single line on the Ludhiana-Khurja portion (426 kms.) and double line on the remaining portion. The Western corridor from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) to Tughlakabad/Dadri (1483 kms.) will pass via Surat. Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Palanpur, Ajmer and Rewari and will be a double-line corridor, except a 32 kms. single line  link from the main corridor to Tughlakabad.    Government okays setting up of railway locomotive factories   February 5, 2009 : The government Thursday approved a proposal to set up two greenfield electric and diesel locomotive factories in Bihar at an estimated investment of Rs.20 billion (Rs.2,000 crore). The factories will be set up in Madhepura and Saran districts as a joint venture between Indian Railways and an international manufacturer. The companies short-listed for the joint venture include Alstom of France, Germany’s Bombardier and Siemens, General Electric’s Indian subsidiary and EMD of the US.    The railways ministry will procure 800 electric locomotives of 12,000-horse power (HP) each and 1,000 diesel locomotives of 4,500/6,000 HP each from these factories over a period of 10 years. These locomotives will also be maintained by the joint venture company over the next 26 years.  - Indo-Asian News Service   Indian Railway’s Technical delegation to visit China    Ministry of Railways, February 03, 2009: A high level technical delegation headed by Minister of State for Railways Dr. R. Velu will be visiting China from 4th to 8th February, 2009 to have an exchange of ideas on the issues of high speed railway network, world class railway stations, logistics parks, etc. The delegation includes three technical officers from Ministry of Railways (Works Planning, Signalling and Finance Divisions). It is in the context of Indian Railway’s planning large investments in these areas and exchange of ideas with Chinese Railway officials, who had executed these projects successfully and at a very fast pace. This visit would help in delivering such schemes in India in a more cost-effective and timely manner.   This visit is in pursuance of the Memorandum of Understanding on technical cooperation signed between the Chinese and Indian Railways in the presence of the Prime Ministers of the two countries in China in January 2008. -PIB   Indian Railways may shelve high-capacity coach project   NEW DELHI, February 2, 2009: It seems long-distance railway passengers can breathe easy. Bowing to public demand and pressure from within the railways, especially the TTEs who face passengers' ire every day, Indian Railways is ''actively reconsidering its decision'' to add high-capacity coaches with extra side berths to long-distance trains and restrict their use to overnight-journey trains.    The worst sufferers have been the elderly who want to relax even during day time, and families with small kids, who face extreme inconvenience during day time when almost five passengers squeeze  into one berth.  Source: The Times of India    Sonia Gandhi launches rail coach factory in Rae Bareli   Rae Bareli, January 28, 2009: UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi Tuesday launched a Rs.20 billion ($408 million) rail coach factory in her parliamentary constituency, Rae Bareli. 'The rail coach factory will serve the nation's biggest need - creating jobs. As many as 8,000 to 10,000 youths across the country will get jobs once the factory comes up,' said Gandhi, who earlier arrived in Rae Bareli to launch the rail coach factory that will come up in Lalganj area.   The upcoming factory will have state-of-art infrastructure that will be at par with any other rail coach factory in the world, she added. According to officials, the rail coach factory that was jointly launched by Gandhi,   Rahul Gandhi and Railways Minister Lalu Prasad will produce nearly 840 rail coaches annually.   Ticket machines at major rly stations soon   LUDHIANA, January 25, 2009 Automatic ticket vending machines are likely to be installed shortly at the busiest principal train stations like Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Jammu in the Indian Railways' Ferozepur division. A proposal in this regard sent to the New Delhi headquarters is at the final stages before being approved.    The move comes follows the ever-increasing number of passengers visiting stations every day. Initially the railway department suggested it could at least provide station platform tickets through these machines, which would greatly reduce the pressure on ticketing clerks. The machines would be similar to weighing machines that are ubiquitous on platforms.    Passengers very much want automatic ticket machines to be installed to avoid waiting interminably at  ticket counters. Railway divisional traffic manager Parminder Singh said: "The railway authorities wanted to install such machines at major stations so they had sent the proposal. He asserted that the authorities also tried the machines at Delhi railway station and the success of the trial would decide its implementation.  Source: The Times of India    Railways commission computerised passenger reservation facilities    January 14, 2009 (PIB): In its endeavor to improve passenger amenities, Indian Railways have commissioned computerized passenger reservation facilities at 186 locations during the year 2008. Passenger Reservation System (PRS) are now available at 1665 locations on entire Indian Railways.  These include Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS)-cum-PRS locations also. In the beginning of 2008, i.e. on 1st January 2008, PRS facilities were available at 1479 locations. On an average, 3.5 crore passengers per month are being booked in PRS with average Passenger Earnings of Rs. 1350 crore per month. On 14th February, 2008 all time high 1.9 million transactions were done in PRS.   Presently Computerized Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) is available at 1630 locations with approximately 4735 counters as against 950 UTS locations with approximately 3,000 counters as on 1st January 2008. In Railway Budget 2007-08, UTS have been sanctioned to cover all ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’ and certain ‘E’ category stations on entire Indian Railways. This will cover more than 94 per cent of the passenger earnings. In addition, Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATMV) have been installed at 338 locations. Further machines will be installed on Public Private Partnership model.    The Royal Rajasthan on Wheels   NEW DELHI, January 12, 2008: The Royal Rajasthan on Wheels, India's latest and most luxurious train aimed at foreign tourists, left Delhi's Safdarjung station on Sunday. On board were 23 awestruck passengers from US, UK, Belgium and India, along with 29 lucky media persons. The train was on its maiden eight-day tour of Rajasthan and Agra. The new train follows the stupendous success of the `Palace on Wheels'. It is yet again a joint collaboration between the Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC) and the Indian Railway.   With a total capacity of 82 persons, the train will have 13 deluxe coaches, one super deluxe salon, four service cars and two restro bars. As per the train's itinerary, it will leave leave Delhi every Sunday at 6.30pm and will touch Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Sawai Madhopur, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Bharatpur and Agra before returning to Delhi, but will not touch Bikaner. According to railway sources, an investment of Rs 40 crore has been made for the train. The tariff, put sources has been fixed at 2000 USD per suite per person per night. The deluxe room tariff is 800 USD.   Luxury Tourist Train ‘Royal Rajasthan on Wheels’ to be flagged off    New Delhi, January 09, 2009 (PIB): Indian Railways and Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC) will be jointly launching a new luxury tourist train named ‘Royal Rajasthan on Wheels’. This new luxury train will be flagged off from Safdarjung Railway Station, New Delhi on 11th January 2009 in the presence of Union Minister for Tourism Smt. Ambika Soni, the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Shri Ashok  Gehlot, the Minister of State for Railways, Shri Naranbhai J. Rathwa and other dignitaries. The Indian Railways in association with RTDC has already been jointly operating the Palace on Wheels Luxury Tourist Train since 1982. The manufacturing of bare shell of the train as well fitment of various accessories including AC system was carried out by Integral Coach Factory (Chennai), a production unit of Indian Railways.    The new luxury tourist train will follow the same itinerary as that of Palace on Wheels i.e. Delhi- japiur- Jaisalmer- Jodhpur-Sawai-Madhopur-Chiitogarh-Udaipur-Bharatpur-Agra-Delhi. However, the new luxury tourist train will be an advanced version of Palace on Wheels as huge efforts has been made to take care of many of the suggestions made by the tourists over the years as well as by making use of the experience gained over the years.   IRCTC launches Toll Free 24x7 Helpline    January 07, 2009 (PIB): Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC), a public sector undertaking of the Ministry of Railways, has launched a centralised Toll Free telephone No. 1800-111-139 for the convenience of railway users to suggest/ grievances relating to catering services on Indian Railways. The facility is available 24x7 on this number and railway passengers can register their complaints/suggestions regarding food and catering services. Wherever possible, action is taken on real time basis for redressal of their grievances.    Railway users may also lodge their complaints on IRCTC’s official website  www.irctc.com  OR may contact IRCTC 24X7 Control Offices phone numbers i.e. 011-23345300 (Central Control), 011-23221147 (North Zone), 033-266601743 (East Zone), 040-27716145 (South Central Zone), 022-22618067 (West Zone) and 044-25353341 (South Zone).  Train services remain affected for eighth day running  New Delhi, January 05, 2009: Train services remained affected for the eighth day running on Monday despite partial improvement in visibility as more than 20 Delhi-bound trains arrived several hours behind schedule and Northern Railway cancelled a Hatia-bound train till January 31 to handle the situation, taking the total number of cancellations for the period up to 14.  As the delays kept piling and several were rescheduled for the day, Chandigarh-Allahabad Unchahar Express was also cancelled today, said a Northern Railway spokesperson. The Varanasi-Ranchi Express has been cancelled for tomorrow only. Northern Railway has already announced cancellation of about 13 trains till January 31 to cope with the situation.

Lalu Prasad to lecture on Indian Railways' success in Japan    Patna, January 4, 2009 (PTI): After enlightening students of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and Harvard University, Railway minister Lalu Prasad will give his mantra on the turnaround of Indian Railways to students in Japan.    Prasad will leave on January 11 on a 10-day trip on an invitation from the Japan government, RJD national spokesman and a close associate of the minister, Shyam Rajak said. "Apart from studying the functioning of the railways there, Lalu Prasad will also deliver a few lectures at universities in Japan, including one in Tokyo, on the turnaround of Indian Railways," he said.

Railway minister Lalu Prasad

Railways Introduce ‘Mobile Helpline’    MUMBAI, January 02, 2009: Indian Railways have taken an initiative to introduce ‘Mobile Helpline’ for the convenience of railway users. Vigilance officials of Indian Railways are always available 24x7 on the Mobile Helpline No. 155210 on which railway passengers can lodge their complaints of bribery/corruption against railwaymen. Wherever possible, action is taken on real time basis for redressal of their grievances. From the feed-back received so far, the facility of Mobile Helpline can be considered to be a success. -PIB   Longer trains, shorter waits   MUMBAI, Decmber 28, 2008: In an attempt to find a solution to overcrowding on the city's suburban trains, Indian Railways is conducting trial runs of 15-coach rakes. The railways had last altered the suburban train length in 1986 when nine-coach rakes were first made 12 cars long. Two decades on, both Western and Central railways are getting new trains under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP). The target is to get 129 new 12-coach trains by June 2010, and an equal number under MUTP-II  later. As of now, the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai has sent 34 new-generation 12-car trains to Mumbai. Another 50 are expected in 2009.   Railways profit would touch Rs one lakh crores    KHAJURAHO, December 26, 2008: Describing Indian Railways as the lifeline of the nation, Railway Minister, Lalu Prasad Yadav on Friday said that its profits during the current five-year plan were expected to touch Rs 1 lakh crores. Speaking at a function after showing the green flag for the Mahoba-Khajuraho train, he described the railways as the biggest zamindar of the country and said that the land owned by it was next only to that in the army's possession.   Gaya train robbery   Gaya, Decembe 23, 2008: Passengers of the 5510 Buddha Purnima Express running between Sarnath and Rajgir were robbed this morning. Nearly 50 people travelling in the general coach of the unescorted train were robbed. Fifteen lost their mobile phones in what may be called an operation conducted in a leisurely pace between Aurangabad and Guraru stations of the grand chord section of the Indian Railways.    According to eyewitness account, more than 12 men boarded the train at Aurangabad around 3 AM. The deputy superintendent of railway police Rajindra Singh, however, put the number at six. When one passenger tried to resist, the robbers fired from a country made pipe gun injuring businessman Ashok Kesri of Saharsa on the temple. Kesri was admitted to the Gaya Railway Hospital and is said to be out of danger.  This is the second train robbery in the section within a week. Earlier, passengers of Palamau Express were looted near Guraru station.  Source: The Telegraph   Disaster management finally a priority for Railways    New Delhi, December 21, 2008 (PTI): The much-needed mechanism to handle disaster-like situations on the Indian Railways network swiftly and promptly and thereby limiting the casualty level will be shortly in place, officials in the Railway Ministry said. The move will not only see setting up of a disaster management institute for train staff but also strive for increasing the efficiency of the fleet involved in emergency operations, introducing self-propelled accident relief train and engaging senior officials in relief train movement, the officials told PTI.    Railways have seen no less than 3300 people losing their lives in train accidents during the last ten years and over 2500 cases of grievous injuries. The casualty list also includes railway staff. The disaster management institute, for which plans have been drawn for long, will impart training to railway employees on best international practices on disaster management.   Strengthening of Security on Indian Railways    RAJYA SABHA, December 19, 2008: Ministry of Railways is taking several steps to strengthen its security set up. An integrated Security System is being implemented over stations (including sub-urban stations) of Metro cities of Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai and other 140 vulnerable/sensitive stations of Indian Railways. This system comprises of the following broad areas:-  1. Internet protocol based CCTV system with video analytics. 2. Access control.  3. Personal and baggage screening system.  4. Explosive detection and disposal system.  On the recommendations of Norms Committee, which had been formed for fixing scales/norms for procurement of modern security related equipment, Ministry of Railways have allocated Rs. 60.76 crore for procurement of security equipment to be used by the Railways Protection Force (RPF).  - PIB   Indian Rail Fin Corp to sell 15 bln rupees of bonds    MUMBAI, Decembe 18, 2008 (Reuters) - State-run Indian Railways Finance Corp (IRFC) will sell a 15-billion-rupee bond issue next week, two sources, including a company official, said on Thursday. "IRFC has invited bids on Dec. 23 and the pay-in will be the next day," one market source said, adding that the bond would be sold through the book-building method.  The company will offer five and 10-year fixed and floating rate bonds, and 15-year fixed rate bonds, the sources said.   Railways mull Rs 30,000-cr spend to upgrade infra   New Delhi, December 15, 2008: The Indian Railways has planned a Rs 30,000-crore infrastructure spend, which envisages upgrade and procurement of new assets of rolling stock during the current financial year. Focusing on the steel sector, the railways have set a target of rail renewal over 2,941 km, which will require 3,39,288mt of rail steel. A target of renewal of 44.5 lakh sleepers has been fixed, which requires 88,200mt of steel. In addition, 5,000mt steel is likely to be used towards the manufacture of steel channel sleepers during the current financial year.    Railway electrification target for the Eleventh Plan has been enhanced to 3,500Kms. Similarly, the electrification target for the current year has been increased from 700km to 1,000 km next year, electrification is likely to be undertaken over 1,200kms with Rs 1,000 crore, between Ghaziabad-Moradabad, Shoranur-Mangalore and Gondia-Ballarshah.    “The high-density network of the railways in Mumbai is being strengthened for carrying heavier trains and the requirement of fund for these works in 2009-10 is Rs 500 crore,” the statement said. The railways is also setting up a Rs 5,352 crore 1,000mw thermal power plant through a joint venture with NTPC at Nabi Nagar, Bihar. Also, it is seeking allocation of a coal block of 300mt, which is proposed to be utilised for setting up a 2000mw power plant.  Source: The Financial Express    Indian Railways sign long-term coal transportation agreement   New Delhi December 12, 2008: Aiming to beat the economic slowdown, the railway ministry today signed a long-term coal transportation agreement with GVK Power (Goindwal Sahib) Ltd, for transportation of coal for the 540-Mw power plant in Punjab. The railways will get a committed coal traffic of 2.528 million tonnes per year for a period of 25 years, according to the agreement, Railway Board Chairman KC Jena said. The agreement assures the supply of coal to the Rs 3,000-crore Goindwal Sahib power plant according to the monthly and annual scheduled quantity. The plant is slated to be commissioned in mid 2011.     Indian Railways will supply open-type wagons for handling this traffic. The monthly requirement of rakes is expected to be between 50 and 55 to transport coal from Tokisud coal mine in Jharkhand to the plant, a distance of about 1,600 km. Coal is the single largest commodity transported by the railways, accounting for over 42 per cent of its freight traffic.    A revolving restaurant on railway tracks   NAGPUR, November 23, 2008: Revolving restaurants are rare in India but the one which will come up at the turntable in the city at South East Central Railway's (SECR) narrow gauge railway museum at Motibagh on Kamptee Road.  Moreover, the coaches that are being renovated are from a nostalgic era, one from 1908 and the other from 1964. Both were built at the Motibagh workshop. The turntable was a device used at some railroad facilities to change the direction of locomotives around or onto one of several radially arranged rail tracks. After modernisation, the system has been phased out from the Indian Railways completely.    The unique project is part of the upgradation of narrow gauge (NG) museum which includes two furnished NG vestibule coaches stationed on the turntable. Food will be served from a cafeteria planned near the site, revealed K V Rao, additional divisional railway manager (ADRM) SECR, Nagpur.

Kalka-Shimla rail line dedicated as World Heritage site    Shimla-Kalka, November 10, 2008 (PTI): Accepting inscription certificate from the UNESCO for Kalka-Shimla rail section, Minister of State for Railways R Velu and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal on Sunday jointly dedicated the track as world heritage site to the nation. The century-old rail route was accorded the World Heritage status by the UNESCO in July this year.    Velu unveiled the inscription plaque at Kalka railway station today and a postal cover was also released on the occasion. The minister laid the foundation stone of a rail museum to be built in the memory of Baba Bhalku who guided the then British engineer to survey the rail route which became operational in 1903. The World Heritage status to the KSR and releasing of postal cover in this regard will give fillip to the tourism and the railways, Velu said.    The 96-km-long rail line passes through 102 tunnels, 988 bridges and 917 curves, many of them are as sharp as 48 degrees. The longest tunnel near Barog is 1143 metre. The four storey stone arch Gallery Bridge No 541 near Kanoh is an engineering marvel and a photographer's delight. Talking about other rail projects in the state, the minister said that Rs 700 crore has already been approved for the 33-km-long Chandigarh-Baddi rail line.

Kalka-Shimla rail line dedicated as World Heritage site on Nov.10, 2008. The 96-km-long rail line passes through 102 tunnels, 988 bridges and 917 curves. The longest tunnel near Barog is 1143 metre.

Railways defer examinations    NEW DELHI, November 09, 2008: The Railways have put on hold their recruitment process across the country till after “normalisation of the situation,” as tension prevails in the wake of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s attack on north Indian job aspirants in Mumbai last month. The Patna and Muzaffarpur railway recruitment boards deferred the examinations scheduled to be held in Patna centres on Friday (November 7). There 5,586 candidates were expected to take examinations to fill 113 vacancies in the grade of junior engineers, pharmacists and staff nurse.    The Ranchi board, covering Jharkhand and Orissa, also cancelled the examinations planned to be held in Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Bhubaneswar, Rourkela and Cuttack on Friday. As many as 93,682 candidates had applied for 263 posts of assistant station master.   Pointing to the prevailing anger against what happened in Mumbai, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad feared retribution by locals, by halting trains and attacking job aspirants coming from Maharashtra. He said the examinations would not be held until the situation calmed down and proper security arrangement was made in all States. The Railways have written to all State governments to provide security to trains carrying candidates and at examination centres. Mr. Prasad said a re-examination for the candidates affected by MNS vandalism would be conducted in due course. It could be held in Maharashtra itself if the State government ensured safety of all the candidates.   Disco train from Kolkata to Goa   Kolkata, November 7, 2008: A train with a discotheque, cabin crew and live music will roll out from the city on January 2 for a 10-day trip to Goa and Mumbai. A city-based private travel operator is organising the trip in collaboration with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC).    The Rs 35,000 package per passenger will include journey in an air-conditioned three-tier coach, a three-night, four-day stay at beach resorts in Goa and a day in Mumbai. The 16-coach rake, booked by i-nova from Indian Railways, will take about 36 hours to reach Goa. “This is the first time a private operator has booked a train for retail tourism,” said Vivek Srivastav, the general manager (eastern zone) of IRCTC. “We will be responsible for the on-board services, including food, hospitality, housekeeping, public address system and security. A multi-cuisine menu will be served on board,” he added.    Passengers will stay in beach resorts in north Goa. “In Goa, beaches are the most attractive places. Beach volleyball, water sports and rain dance will be organised. The route has been planned in such a way that passengers can enjoy the natural beauty,” added Mukherjee.  The first Village on Wheel will set out from Howrah station for north India on November 15. It will return after seven days. Each passenger will be charged Rs 500 daily for food and sightseeing, said an official.  Source: The Telegraph    Royal Rajasthan on Wheels to roll in January    New Delhi November 05, 2008: Riding on the stupendous success of Palace on Wheels, one of  the top ten luxury trains in the world, Rajasthan will be launching a second super luxury train in January.  The tourist train -- Royal Rajasthan on Wheels -- will be operated jointly by Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC) and Railways.    The train will be run from January 11.  The itinerary of the train is almost the same as Palace on Wheels except that it will go to Bikaner instead of Sawai Madhopur. The train starting from New Delhi will travel to Jaipur, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Bharatpur and Agra before coming back to the capital during its eight-day long journey.     This train is more luxurious than Palace on Wheels as it has facilities like spa, retro lounges, wi-fi connectivity and spacious super deluxe saloon. However, unlike Palace on Wheels, RTDC has to pay haulage charges about Rs 30 lakhs per trip to Railways as  per the new policy formulated by Railways for tourist trains. While Railways get 56 % of the revenue, Rajasthan's share is 44 % in Palace on Wheels. - PTI    CNG will soon power Indian Railways    MUMBAI, November 4, 2008: Indian Railways has now started attempts to convert the conventional diesel engine into a dual fuel engine using Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). With consumption of two million kilolitres of diesel every year, Railways is banking heavily on the experiment with CNG, a proven pollution-free fuel. The Railways has already started using bio-diesel to cut down on the spiralling fuel bill. In fact, it has decided to set up four bio-diesel plants across the country on its surplus land to manufacture and supply bio-diesel to trains. Now, in its pursuit to control consumption of diesel, it is experimenting with CNG. CNG is used a fuel by trains in many countries, including the US, Japan and Malaysia.    Source: The Times of India   Indian Bank inaugurates e-ticketing kiosk in Vijayawada    Vijayawada, November 1, 2008: Indian Bank’s Chairman and Managing Director M S Sundara Rajan on Friday inaugurated an e-ticketing kiosk at the railway station in Vijayawada.  Indian Railways has allowed the Indian Bank to install 34 ATM cum e-ticketing kiosks and 17 ATMs at railway stations across the country out of which the bank has already installed 27 ATM cum e-ticketing kiosks and 9 ATMs at various railway stations across the country, Rajan told reporters in Vijayawada. The remaining machines would be installed in the next two or three months, he said. Divisional Railway Manager, V Johari said that apart from Vijayawada, Indian Bank would install ATM cum e-ticketing kiosks at Rajahmundry and Naraspur.  Source: The Financial Express

Thousands take joyride in Kashmir's first train   Jammu, October 31, 2008 (PTI): Over 74,000 people took joy rides in less than three weeks after inauguration of the train service in Kashmir valley which has earned about Rs 7.5 lakhs for Indian Railways. "In just 19 days after inauguration of the train service in Kashmir valley on October 11, over 74,000 people took a joy ride in DMU in valley," a senior railway official said here.    "Not only this, railways have fetched Rs 7.5 Lakh from sale of tickets at several railway stations in Kashmir valley," he added. Most of the travellers boarded trains from Rajwansher to Anantnag railway stations — a distance of over 70 km. The encouraging response from the travellers has made railways speed up its effort to complete work in remaining rail section from Qazigund to Baramulla, the official said.

Lalu Prasad threatens to cancel train operation after Maha killing   New Delhi, October 29, 2008 (PTI): Against the backdrop of killing of a north Indian youth on a train in a Mumbai suburb, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad today threatened to suspend train movement in states where rail passengers and properties are repeatedly attacked.   "Railways are becoming soft target in many states these days. If railway properties and passengers continued to be attacked we may think of cancelling train operations in those areas,"  Prasad told reporters here. The Minister, however, clarified that he did not mean any particular state.    Indian Railways looks to bio-diesel in a bid to cut its diesel bill    MUMBAI, October 24, 2008: In a bid to cut its mounting diesel bill, the Indian Railways has decided to set up four bio-diesel plants across the country with the help of private companies. It plans to mix 5% bio-diesel with the conventional diesel, aiming to increase the blend up to 20% in coming years. The railways, on an average, consumes 2 million kilolitre of diesel every year. Given the spiralling fuel rates globally, the bio-diesel effort can substantially reduce the railways' bill.     The railways has proposed to set up the bio-diesel plants at Tughlakhabad under Northern Railway, Raipur under South-East Central Railway, Itarsi in West-Central Railway and Erode under Southern Railway. For the uninitiated, bio-diesel is made out of seeds of Jatropha plant. Jatropha seeds are not rare as the plant grows very fast and do not even need much nurturing.    Garib Rath between Secunderabad and Visakhapatnam    HYDERABAD, October 23, 2008: The South Central Railway (SCR) will introduce Garib Rath between Secunderabad and Visakhapatnam from October 24. Garib Rath is fully air-conditioned trains introduced by the Indian Railways in 2005.   The train provides fully air-conditioned rail travel at a cost of Rs 499. Minister of State for Railways R Velu will flag off the inaugural run of the train on Friday at Secunderabad railway station. The train will run thrice a week (Monday, Wednesday and Saturday) from Secunderabad and Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday from Visakhapatnam.    Rajasthan to launch one more super luxury train    Jaipur, October 22, 2008: Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation has teamed up with the country’s Ministry of Railways to offer a new super-luxury train service to visitors. The train will be called the Royal Rajasthan on Wheels, and the service will be inaugurated in December. India’s popular train, the Palace on Wheels, is fully-booked into 2010. The new luxury train will feature carriages built in India, along with state-of- the-art facilities such as Internet access and a spa of international standards.   The Royal Rajasthan on Wheels will comprise two super-deluxe suites, 13 deluxe saloons and two bar and eatery combinations known as ‘restrobars.’ Designed to be the ‘world’s most luxurious train,’ it will run on a route that incorporates the major attractions of interest in the state, and also Agra, so that its passengers will be able to visit the Taj Mahal.   Every Sunday at 18.00, the train will depart New Delhi’s Safdarjung station, and return to Delhi on the morning of the following Sunday. The super-deluxe suite tariff will be US$2000 per person for each night of the journey, and deluxe saloon occupancy will cost US$800 per person per night. Included in the fare is an extensive sightseeing programme. Service will actually begin during the first week of January, and will operate a seven-night itinerary until season ends the first week of May.   Shri Lalu Prasad inaugurates International Seminar on Railways   New Delhi, October 21, 2008: The Minister of Railways Shri Lalu Prasad said that Indian Railways is the lifeline of the nation and pointed out that it is, therefore, necessary to run fast moving trains in view of ever increasing passenger and freight traffic.     Addressing a gathering at the inauguration of an International Seminar on “Emerging Technologies & Strategies for Energy Management in Railways’ here today, Shri Lalu Prasad said that energy accounts for 25 per cent of working expenses on the Indian Railways out of which 15 per cent is spent on diesel and 10 per cent on electricity.    At present 28 per cent of route on Indian Railways is electrified which further needs to be expanded. He congratulated all electrical engineers for their contribution in containing prices of electricity for the last five years and improving bottom line of Railways to the extent of about Rs. 4000 crore per annum in gross profits of Railways. He said that EMUs and MEMUs which runs on electricity are becoming more and more popular among the people of both urban and non-urban and there is a need to run these trains on more routes.  Source: PIB Press Release   Railways to redesign pantry car with modular facility    NEW DELHI, October 19, 2008: In a bid to provide quality food and improved hygienic conditions, Indian Railways is considering to redesign the pantry cars with modular facilities. “The proposed new designed modular pantry cars will be equipped with modern facilities for storage, distribution service, cleaning and heat treatment to the food stock,” said a senior Railway Ministry official.    Our aim is to completely do away with cooking system in trains. The entire cooking for passengers will be done in base kitchens across the country and pantry cars will be used for storage and distribution of cooked food only, the official said.    At present only empty space is given in a pantry car to set up a kitchen and prepare food. “It has been found that this makeshift arrangement is neither adequate nor conducive for preparing quality food. The prevailing cooking system in train is also becoming a safety hazard,” he said. So we are planning to redesign the pantry car which will help improving hygienic condition of food, he added. A professional agency will be hired to suggest the new design of pantry car equipped with modern facilities, said the official. Source: Business Line    Railways step up bio-diesel plan, call tenders for setting up plants     New Delhi, October 16, 2008: The Indian railways, which has been testing the compatibility of bio-diesel in its locomotives for the last five years, has invited tenders for setting up of four bio-diesel esterification plants at an investment of Rs 78.5 crore to supply bio diesel to the railways. Esterification is the chemical process of converting the oil extracted from oilseeds, or say jatropha, to bio- diesel compatible for use in diesel engines. The plants will come up at Tughlakabad, Raipur, Itarsi and Erode. However, the locations are tentative and may be changed on logistical considerations.     “We are targeting a capacity of 50,000 litres of bio diesel from each unit per day, totaling 2,00,000 litres a day. Initially we will blend five per cent bio-diesel with the high-speed diesel used in locomotives, and take it up to 20% in the future,” said Pradeep Kumar, chief administrative officer, Indian Railways Organisation for Alternative fuels. “We have been testing the blending process over the last five years in our locomotives. We have completed the tests and found that bio- diesel can be blended with high-speed diesel (HSD) with least modifications in the engine,” added Kumar.     While the railways will provide land for the projects, the companies will have to meet the establishment as well as the operational cost and provide bio-diesel to the railways at a pre-determined and competitive price. The operational cost per plant per annum is Rs 60 crore.  Source: The Financial Express    Railways to organise study tours     New Delhi,October 13, 2008: The Delhi government will organise all outstation study tours for students through the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). The Delhi government runs 900 schools in the city.   IRCTC has already taken more than 100 schools for trips to places like Mount Abu, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Pushkar, Nainital, Mussorie and Dehradun after the circular was brought out in August. "We are also in touch with nearly 400 schools for organising trips," Shashank Shekhar, deputy general manager (tourism), IRCTC, said. The students would be taken free of charge. A fund of Rs 100,000 per year has been provided to the schools by the department for these outstation trips. - NDTV

Manmohan Singh flags off first train in Kashmir Valley    Srinagar, October 11, 2008 (ANI): Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today flagged off the first train service in Kashmir valley. Dr Singh, accompanied by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra, flagged off the flower-decked train from Srinagar railway station at Nowgam.   According to sources, the train, which was flagged off 10 years after the project was started by the then Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral, carried school children. Initially, the train will run from Rajwansher in Budgam district to Anantnag, covering a distance of 66 kms. The fare for the travel will be 15 rupees.The regular service of the train will commence from Sunday. There will be an eight-coach DEMU rake in the train.   The train, which is expected to cover the 66-km in about 1 hour and 35 minutes including stoppage time at various stations, will be run twice a day from either side. The stoppages will be at Budgam, Srinagar, Pampore, Kakapora, Awantipora, Panjgam, Bijbehara, Rajwansher and Anantnag.   The coaches will have a seating capacity for 90 passengers and the compartment  meant for physically challenged persons will have wider doors. In view of the climate of the valley, 1400 horse power diesel engine for the train has been provided with heating system for quick and trouble free starting in winters.   The driver's cab has heating and defogging unit keeping in view the cold climate. Snow cutting type cattle guard is attached at the driver's end of the train for snow clearance from tracks during winter. (ANI)

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today flagged off the first train service in Kashmir valley. The train will run from Rajwansher in Budgam district to Anantnag, covering a distance of 66 kms.    The train, which is expected to cover the 66-km in about 1 hour and 35 minutes  including stoppage time at various stations.

Steel prices to go up as Railways increases iron ore freight rates   NEW DELHI, October 9, 2008: In a move that may increase input cost for steel cos like Tata Steel, Essar, Jindal and Ispat Industries, Indian Railways has decided to increase the freight rate of iron ore by around 5%. It has decided to re-classify iron ore (meant for domestic consumption) to a higher tariff class of 180 from existing classification of 170 thereby increasing its transportation charge by 5%.    The decision would push up freight rates by about Rs 100-200 per tonne depending on the distance. “The new rates would be levied from the next week,” an official in the Rail Bhawan said. In June this year, the Railways had shifted iron ore from class 180 to 170 to reduce the price of the commodity by 4-5%. The decision was taken to soothe the inflationary pressure. The move comes at a time when the country is having a high inflation rate.   The price of the ore comprises between 30% to 45% (depending on the kind of iron and steel) of the total price of steel. Currently, the price of steel is around $750-900 per tonne in the global market. The government has been fighting inflation due to rise in prices of various raw materials, iron ore being one of them. The Railways transported 53.59 million tonne of iron ore for exports in 2007-08.  Source: The Economic Times   Lalu Prasad asks for service tax exemption on food  NEW DELHI, October 07, 2008(PTI): Railways Minister Lalu Prasad has sought service tax exemption on food from Finance Minister P Chidambaram to improve quality of food being served in the trains and encourage air passengers to travel by rail. Lalu's plea did evoke a response from Chidambaram, who quipped in lighter vein, "we will look into your demand in 2009-10 Budget". The regular Budget for the 2009-10 will be presented by the new government after the general elections.   Lalu, who became the first minister to win the Inspiring Leader of the Year Award last evening for turning around the Indian Railways, also promised to improve sanitation within trains and platform in the next three years. Sitting next to Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Mittal, in an evening for corporate honchos, Lalu showed no lack of business acumen. Lalu asked for exemption of sales tax on food as he took the competition to the skies in order to lure air travellers.   Earlier, he reminded Chidambaram of how the railways has been stuffing the coffers of the finance ministry. Chidambaram expressed his concern over the state of toilets in Indian trains. "The best thing to do is to find a permanent solution to the toilets in Indian railways...the biggest contribution you can make is to get rid of this massive pollution," he said. Lalu replied, "We are already on our way. Within three years, the face of the Indian railways would change as proper disposal of human waste would be taken care of. Not a single drop of human waste will fall on the platform."  -PTI

Railways seeks DDA nod for Rs 6K-crore New Delhi station plan   New Delhi, October 5, 208 (PTI): Indian Railways has sought approval of the Delhi Development Authority for its ambitious Rs 6,000-crore world-class New Delhi station project. The DDA approval is crucial for developing 86 hectares of land and for determining the height and the built-up area of the  New Delhi railway station as a world-class station, a senior Railways Ministry official said.   The world-class railway station project is to be executed with public private partnership by leveraging the real estate development potential in the air space above the station and on rail land around the station. As per the plan there will be retail outlets, restaurants, currency, exchange counters, cyber  cafes, banking with ATM facilities and car rentals at the proposed New Delhi railway station. PTI   Railway upgrades enquiry number ahead of Pujas   BHUBANESWAR, October 4, 2008: The East Coast Railway today urged passengers to avail of the modern and upgraded enquiry system of Indian Railways by dialing only “139” from any landline/mobile from anywhere in the country.    In view of the puja rush and the number of incoming calls to railway inquiry , the railways requests passengers to avail the 139 call service, said a release issued here. The services offered by 139 include PNR status, updated running train position, accommodation availability and train fare enquiry. Ticket booking over phone is also being introduced through this number stated the release. The East Coast Railway informed that it has decided to add one extra sleeper class coach to the Bhubaneswar~Raipur Express in view of the festive season rush.  Source: The Statesman   Luxury train for northern India    NEW DELHI, Oct. 03, 2008: To promote luxury tourism in northern India, the Ministry of Tourism has joined hands with Indian Railways and Punjab government to launch a “Palace on Wheels” tourist train With an assistance of Rs. 7.25 crore from the Ministry , the train will cover popular destinations like Amritsar, Dharamshala, Anandpur Sahib, Patiala, Kurukshetra, Jaipur, Agra and Delhi in a week-long itinerary. The train is likely to take two years to take to the tracks.    A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed here on Wednesday between the Railways and Punjab government in the presence of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, Tourism Minister Ambika Soni and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Solar, wind energy to light up railway premises   New Delhi October 01, 2008: Aiming at reduction of carbon emission by using clean energy, Indian Railways has embarked upon a renewable energy action plan as part of the national policy to address the impact of climate change. According to the action plan, all zonal railway offices, divisional headquarters and Railways Ministry headquarters will now have solar power systems to light up the premises. "The lights at the corridors and control rooms of these offices will draw power from solar panel," a senior Railway Ministry official said. Solar panels will be installed at 44 divisional railway manager offices, he said.    Railways is also installing a 10-Mw wind-power project near Kanyakumari at an estimated cost of Rs 60 crores. An average wind speed of 14 miles per hour is required to convert wind energy into electricity. One wind turbine can produce enough electricity to power up to 300 homes. According to the Kyoto protocol, all governments are required to initiate concrete action to reduce carbon emission to save the climate.    The national action plan on climate change also focuses on renewable energy to mitigate global warming and reduce greenhouse gas emission. Railways, which consumes about 2,500 Mw electricity per day, spends about Rs 5,500 crores annually for electricity. It has earmarked Rs 28 crores for the solar project, which aims at generating 440 kw per day. Source: Press Trust Of India

Power from solar panel. Such Solar panels will be installed at 44 divisional railway manager offices.

                                      more...  Indian Railways news: January 2008 to June 2008

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