Trains get GPS-aided fog safety devices to tackle delays in winter (Jan 2018)
In order to avoid delay due to dense fog and zero visibility during winters, the Indian Railways has now installed a fog-safety device in all the trains to ensure that they complete the journey in time.
''A fog safety device is being installed in trains in Northern India by the Indian Railways to increase speed and reduce delay caused by fog,'' a senior official was quoted as saying by ANI on Thursday.
''We have used GPS technology in the device with a map of tracks, signals, stations & level crossing of Northern Railway in it,'' Nitin Chowdhary, Northern Railway CPRO, said.
Giving more details about the technology being used and the advantages it brings, Chowdhary said, ''It alerts loco pilot about level crossings and signal. When drivers know there are no hurdles, they can increase speed.''
India has launched its "fastest train" capable of running at a maximum speed of 160km (100 miles) an hour. (Apr 2016)
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off the Gatimaan Express on Tuesday morning, which connects Nizamuddin station in the capital, Delhi, with the northern town of Agra.
The train covered the 200km distance in 100 minutes, railways officials said.
Until now, India's fastest train was the Rajdhani Express which could travel at a maximum speed of 130km/hr.
Gatimaan Express will run six days a week, except on Fridays, the railway ministry said in a statement.
Click here for Highlights of Railway Budget 2015-16
Alstom to supply 800 electric engines to Indian Railways (Nov 2015)
Alstom said it has received letter of award for 3 billion euro contract from Indian Railways to supply 800 electric locomotives with a long-term associated maintenance.
"Alstom has received a Letter of Award from the Ministry of Railways to supply Indian Railways with 800 double section freight electric locomotives with associated long-term maintenance," the company said in a statement here.
According to the statement, total contract is worth above 3 billion euro. This project includes the set-up of a plant at Madhepura (Bihar) and two maintenance depots at Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh) and Nagpur (Maharashtra).
GE lands $2.6 billion deal to supply Indian railway (Oct 2015 )
General Electric Co. has won a $2.6 billion contract to supply India's railways with 1000 diesel locomotives, as the state-owned network looks to foreign capital to help it modernize.The U.S. company will also invest $200 million to build local manufacturing and service facilities, GE said in a statement on Monday.
Under the deal, the largest ever for the U.S. company in India, GE will build a manufacturing facility in the eastern state of Bihar, and two maintenance sheds elsewhere in the country, to service the locomotives over an 11-year period.
GE won against competition from rival manufacturers such as Canada's Bombardier and Germany's Siemens. India is also set to announce the winner of another multi-billion dollar contract to supply electric locomotives.
Indian Railways to come out with goods train time table (July 2015)
Indian Railway will come out with a Time Table for goods train movement, a first for the public transporter, to attract more loading and improve the delivery schedule.
Currently passenger trains get preference over the movement of freight trains on the busy tracks across the country which causes delay and uncertainty over the time schedule for delivery of goods. Goods trains are kept in loop lines to allow passenger trains to pass as most of the trunk lines face congestion
In an environment friendly move, railway minister Suresh Prabhu has just flagged off the very first CNG train in India.( Jan 2015)
The route selected for this landmark move is the Rewari-Rohtak section of the Northern zone. Currently, the fuels in use by the Railways are diesel and electricity. With the frequent fluctuations in the prices of both, natural gas emerges as the ideal alternative. Also, it is extremely eco-friendly in comparison. It helps cut down carbon monoxide emissions by 90%, carbon dioxide by 25%, nitrogen oxide by 35% and non-methane hydrocarbon emissions by 50%. In addition to this, the use of CNG can bring down the operating cost of the locomotive by a whopping 50%.
Indian Railways join hands with Czech for semi high-speed Train
With an aim to get expertise in running semi high-speed Trains and modernising signalling system of Railways, India Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Czech Republic.
The MoU was signed between Indian Railways and Czech Railway for technical cooperation in the field of railway sector, said a senior Railway Ministry official.
Indian Railways, which has plans to run semi high-speed Train, will benefit from the technical expertise of Czech on the project.
Currently, Railways is on a project to increase Train speed to 160 km per hour between Delhi and Agra. Once the Delhi-Agra project is successful, it plans to explore possibilities of increasing the speed to 200 km per hour.
Highlights of Railway Budget 2014-15
Click here to view the Highlights.
Indian Railways launches new mobile app to track train schedules.(Apr 2014) (Economics Times)
Now rail users can get information on expected arrival and departure timings of a particular train on their mobile phones besides tracking its its position on a real time basis.
Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), the information and technology arm of railways, has launched a new mobile application which can be used for various enquiries including train timings, a senior Railway official said.
CRIS has enhanced the train enquiry system by developing the mobile app and a desktop application on Windows 8 platform for train enquiries with support from Microsoft, he added.
National Train Enquiry System (NTES) is railways' back-end system which provides information to the public about train schedules on a near real time basis through various interfaces like nationwide unique rail enquiry number 139, website (trainenquiry.com), mobile interfaces, touch screens, enquiry counters and display boards at stations.
Rail budget 2014: List of New Trains (Business Line)
Railway Minister, Mallikarjun Kharge has announced 72 new trains which includes 17 Premium trains, 38 Express trains, 10 Passenger trains, 4 MEMU and 3 DEMU in this year’s Interim Railway Budget. Three trains will be extended and frequency of same number of trains will be increased.
Click Here to see the List of New Trains
Rail budget 2014: Passenger fares, freight rates left untouched; 72 new trains announced (Feb 2014)
Passenger fares and freight rates were left untouched on Wednesday in the interim rail budget, which talks about plans about involvement of private sector and FDI as part of efforts to modernize the largest transport network in the country.
Presenting the interim budget for four months in the Lok Sabha, railway minister Mallikarjun Kharge said an independent Rail Tariff Authority is being set up to rationalize fares and there was a proposal to expand dynamic pricing of tickets in line with the airline industry.
He announced the launch of 17 new premium trains, 39 express trains and ten passenger trains in the coming year and providing rail connectivity to Katra and Vaishnodevi in Jammu and Kashmir, and Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh in the Northeast.
Railways to try dynamic fares like airlines to mop up extra revenue ( Dec 2013 )
The cash-strapped railways seems to be moving towards dynamic fare pricing similar to the practice followed by airlines to mop up extra revenue.
In a first, special AC trains on the Delhi-Mumbai route from Tuesday to cater to increased demand during the festive season of Christmas and New Year will have dynamic pricing.
Advance reservation period for these special trains would be 15 days and the fare shall be equal to or higher than the Rajdhani Tatkal fare to begin with. "The fare is likely to increase depending on the demand intensity," a railway statement said.
Launched on an experimental basis, the premium AC train would take four trips between December 24 to January 2 on the busy Delhi-Mumbai route. The special trains will have only AC-2 and AC-3 classes with Rajdhani like facilities including catering.
"The fares would be higher than the existing Tatkal fare of Rs 2,175 for AC-3 and Rs 2,910 for AC-2 travel. It could go up keeping into account the demands," said an official. Though an upper cap has not been fixed, the official said, "We will fix it after seeing the response to ensure that the fare does not become unaffordable."
SC Rly completes major electrification works ( Nov 2013 )
Travel time for railway passengers and cargoes on the Chennai-Mumbai and Secunderabad-Mumbai routes will now get reduced, with the South Central Railway completing major electrification works on two major sections on these routes.
The electrification works were completed on the 310-km-long Renigunta to Guntakal section on the Chennai-Mumbai route and 161 km stretch between Lingampalli and Wadi on the Secunderabad-Mumbai route.
The electrification of the last legs in these section marks a major milestone in the electrification of all major routes under the South Central railway zone.
With this, the zone has achieved electrification for 41 per cent of its total route km — in absolute numbers, the electrification is now complete over 2,375 route km, out of the total of 5,810 route km under it.
Running trains on electric traction yields several operational and economic benefits. An extended network of electrified railway lines will enable seamless running of trains over long distances without the need for loco change from electric to diesel and vice-versa.
More importantly, it reduces travel time benefiting the passengers and freight customers. Due to lesser detentions, average speed of the goods and passenger trains increases, which in turn improves availability of crew.
The 180-km long track between Renigunta and Muddanur was gradually electrified in various phases during 2008-12. Subsequently, works have been taken up in the remaining stretch from Muddanur to Guntakal, covering 130 km. The last leg on this route, a 30 km stretch between Gooty and Guntakal was completed last week, which will now enable running of goods trains on electric traction from Chennai and Krishnapatnam ports to Guntakal.
Currently about 50 goods trains are being run on an average per day on this section, carrying commodities such as coal, iron ore and cement.
Railways form corporation for high speed train
New Delhi: Going ahead with the ambitious high speed rail project, railways on Tuesday announced formation of High Speed Rail Corporation even as Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge said care should be exercised in adopting new technology.
The High Speed Rail Corporation (HSRC) is being constituted as a subsidiary of Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd to undertake study and other related work for proposed high speed rail corridors in the country.
"Today we started the process. Later on its terms and condition, appointment of members, other things will be decided," Kharge said after launching the HSRC at the two-day global conference on high speed rail travel here.
However, striking a cautionary note, Railway Minister said, "One should not buy horses because horse shoes are freely available."
Hinting at the easy availability of high speed technology and equipment, Kharge said, "We should not get even if it is available free. Some time they sell it to buyers saying it is cheap. We should think whether it suits or not even if it is free or cheap."
Many advanced countries are in the race to provide technology and expertise to railways in the proposed high speed train project.
Faster Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhanis, Shatabdis (Oct 2013)
The travel time between Delhi and Mumbai could soon be cut by three hours as the railways is working to run the elite Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains at speeds of 160-200 km per hour. This means the 17-hour journey between the two metros will be down to 14 hours while travel time between Delhi and Chandigarh will be reduced by an hour.
With the railways unable to fund capital-intensive bullet trains, the state-owned transporter is working on operating semi-high speed trains with marginal improvisation to existing infrastructure.
Further hike in fares of premier trains (Oct 2013)
Close on the heels of a fresh rise in passenger fares, Railways have decided to further hike the fares of premier trains such as Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto effective from October 17.
The ticket rates of Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains will go up further by about Rs 25 to Rs 27 with an upward revision in food tariff, a senior Railway Ministry official said. This is the second increase in passenger fares applicable in a few selected trains in a month as Railways had increased the fares by 2 per cent in all trains on October 7.
Railway official maintained that the base fare of premier trains has not been increased and only food prices have been revised, which will result in overall hike in ticket rates.
The official said charges paid per meal to caterers have not been increased in the last 14 years. The Railways serve about 3.3 crore meals a year in these trains. As per the decision, the ticket rates of AC-II, AC-III and Chair Car in premier trains will go up by about Rs 25 per ticket.
Gorakhpur gets world's largest railway platform (Oct 2013)
GORAKHPUR: The Gorakhpur railway station became the proud owner world's longest home platform on Sunday after GM, NER, KK Atal inaugurated the remodelled Gorakhpur Yard.
The remodelling work was completed on war-footing within the scheduled time. With the inauguration of the remodelled yard, Gorakhpur now has a platform measuring 1366.33 metres with ramp and 11355.40 metres without it. With this achievement, the NER has also secured a place in the Limca Book of Records. The certificate for the same would be issued soon. The achievement of the Gorakhpur station would also be incorporated in the Guinness Book of World Records. The postal department too is likely to release a special cover to mark the achievement.
After inaugurating the newly installed route relay interlocking system, the GM also flagged off 12555 Gorakhdham Express (Gorakhpur to Hisar). Later, talking to reporters, Atal, said, "I congratulate the people of Gorakhpur on getting the privilege of world's longest railway platform in the city. I also appreciate the cooperation of the people of Gorakhpur as more than half of the work was completed within 11 days. I also appreciate the dedication of rail employees and officers who worked day and night for to ensure completion of work within the time limit."
At last, toilets in train engines to help drivers relieve stress
That its train engine drivers, or loco-pilots as it calls them now, work under extremely stressful conditions has been Indian Railways' worst kept secret.
In fact, the stress levels of loco-pilots have often been blamed for many rail accidents in recent years. And now, a panel looking into the matter has zeroed in on a very basic facility, the lack of which has added substantially to stress levels of these men: toilets inside locomotives.
The committee "to review the duty hours of running and other safety related categories of staff" has recommended "a suitable waterless type urinal" on "every locomotive as an immediate measure" to take care of the problem.
L&TMRH to hire 2,750 persons (Sep 2013)
French organisation and management firm Keolis starts recruiting staff Good news for job seekers in engineering, technical and human resource segments of top notch electric railway system. The French O&M (organisation and management) firm Keolis has started recruitment of staff needed for L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad infrastructure.The company will be hiring over 2,750 persons, according to V. B. Gadgil, Managing Director of L&TMRH. Global company Keolis is the largest private sector French transport and consulting company having major presence in world class railway projects across the globe. L&T has partnered with Keolis for the management of the Rs. 16,500 crore Metro Rail project in Hyderabad.
Railways setting up Electric Locomotive Factory at Madhepura, Bihar and Diesel Locomotive factory at Marhowra, Bihar. (Sep 2013)
The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Railways for setting up of an Electric Locomotive Factory at Madhepura, Bihar and a Diesel Locomotive Factory at Marhowra, Bihar, to start afresh the bidding processes for these projects.
Estimated costs for setting up the Electric Locomotive Factory and Diesel Locomotive Factory, as approved by CCEA and included in the Railway Budget are Rs. 1293.57 crore and Rs. 2052.58 crore respectively, with limited equity contribution by Ministry of Railways.
Railways adds more bio-toilets for clean and hygienic journey
To fulfill its commitment of providing a hygienic environment to passengers, the Indian Railways have expedited the work of fitting bio-toilets in train coaches. In the first four months of the current year, the railways have fitted 2,285 bio-toilets, which is much more than the entire number of bio-toilets fitted in the past three years. At present, the Indian railways are running 1,400 coaches with 3,800 bio-toilets in its various trains. The railways have fitted 2,285 bio-toilets in passenger coaches from April'13 to July'13 while only 1,337 bio-toilets were fitted in 2012-13, 169 in 2011-12 and only 57 in 2010-11. The first train, Gwalior-Varanasi Bundelkhand Express, fitted with bio-toilets is running since January 2011.
Bihar train tragedy: Railway suffers Rs 90 cr loss, cancels several trains (20th Aug 2013)
Railways suffered an estimated loss of over Rs 90 crore as a furious mob set ablaze 15 coaches, including an AC coach and locomotive of the Saharsa-Patna Rajyarani Express (12567) and five coaches and the locomotive of Samastipur-Saharsa passenger train at Dhamara Ghat on Saharsa-Mansi section under Samastipur division of East Central Railway (ECR) after 37 passengers were killed by the running train around 9am on Monday morning. Railways, however, put the death toll at 28. The railway communication system was totally paralysed as an irate mob also ransacked the railway station, cabin and tracks. It was difficult for railways to rush the rescue team to the site soon after the mishap, said ECR CPRO Amitbah Prabhakar. According to him, most of the officials, including railway doctors of the rescue team, were unable to reach the accident site because of lack of direct road link. He said the railways rescue team could reach the spot at 2.45pm only. The CPRO said ECR GM Madhuresh Kumar, along with senior officials of the ECR headquarters, rushed to the site by a special train soon after receiving the information about the incident. However, Samastipur DRM Arun Mallik and other senior officials of the division were already camping at the site and supervising the rescue and relief works, he said. Though railways was yet to announce an inquiry to probe the exact cause behind the incident, prima facie it appeared that the mishap took place while the victims were crossing the tracks when Rajyarani Express was coming from Saharsa end. The CPRO said railways started its rescue operation after getting clearance from the local police.
He said the mob assaulted the train driver and made several staff of Dhamara Ghat hostage for a few hours. They were released after police intervention. Traffic system would remain suspended on Saharsa-Mansi section till normalcy returned, he said.
Railway expo displays rare photographs (2nd Aug 2013)
Seeing is believing. Collection of over 200 rare photographs depicting the Indian Railway’s journey from scratch to becoming the world’s largest railway network are on the display at Railway Stadium here. Bullock train was operational in the first narrow gauge railway from Dabhoi to Miyagam in Gujarat in 1860. Similarly, Patiala Monorail powered by oxen and army mules on Sirhind — Morinda section was opened in 1907. Even Indian Railways had occasionally used elephants for pushing odd wagons in small goods sheds. All these unique events have found place in the exhibition.
In absence of modern technologies, impressive railway structures were erected by the Indian Railways across the country in pre and post independence era. The historic photograph of the first passenger train which was run from Boribunder to Thane covering a distance of 34 kms carrying 400 passengers is catching attention of visitors. The photograph, the lone photograph that captured the historic moment, was taken by Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy about 160 years ago on April 16, 1853.
The photo exhibition showcasing the evolution and rare moments of the railway journey was inaugurated by Indra Ghosh, General Manager, East Coast Railway at Railway Stadium, Mancheswar on Tuesday. To commemorate 160 years of Indian Railways, the photo exhibition is put up across the country. The exhibition would move to Kolkata in its next halt.
New rail tunnel linking the troubled Kashmir Valley and Jammu region ( 28th June 2013)
The new rail tunnel linking the troubled Kashmir Valley and Jammu region will help develop Jammu and Kashmir. The section between Banihal in Jammu and Qazigund in Kashmir is 18 kilometres long.The Banihal-Qazigund section includes an 11-km-long tunnel – India’s longest, 2nd longest in Asia.The opening of the section marks the start of the rail service to the Kashmir Valley. Eight coach trains will run between Banihal and Baramulla from June 27 after the inaugural run on June 26. The section will reduce the distance from 35 km (by road) to 18 km. The rail link has been constructed at a cost of Rs 1,691 crore
High Speed Bullet Trains in India ( 6th July 2013 )
The first bullet train in India is likely tocome up between these two stations. Though pre-feasibility studies were done onthe entire 650-km long Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad section, the government may placeMumbai-Ahmedabad stretch on a priority. It will reduce travel time between the two commercial cities from current 8 hours to just 2 hours.
Science expo on wheels enthrals children ( 18th July 2013)
A record 12,384 students of 120 schools visited the Science Express on Wednesday and the general visitors were 14,017.A total of 42 children, including 22 girls, studying in 4 and 5 classes at the Fishery Primary School at Vasavanipalem, Lawson’s Bay Colony, visited the Science Express Biodiversity exhibition at the Railway Station here on Wednesday.The students were thrilled on going through the exhibits on display at the expo. They spent about two hours going through all the coaches as the volunteers explained to them about the various aspects of the models and charts on display and the need to conserve biodiversity.The teachers also explained to their students quoting from the relevant chapters in their EVS (Environmental Science) subject. The students had a gala time in the 12th coach where they answered questions and played some puzzles.
In order to avoid delay due to dense fog and zero visibility during winters, the Indian Railways has now installed a fog-safety device in all the trains to ensure that they complete the journey in time.
''A fog safety device is being installed in trains in Northern India by the Indian Railways to increase speed and reduce delay caused by fog,'' a senior official was quoted as saying by ANI on Thursday.
''We have used GPS technology in the device with a map of tracks, signals, stations & level crossing of Northern Railway in it,'' Nitin Chowdhary, Northern Railway CPRO, said.
Giving more details about the technology being used and the advantages it brings, Chowdhary said, ''It alerts loco pilot about level crossings and signal. When drivers know there are no hurdles, they can increase speed.''
India has launched its "fastest train" capable of running at a maximum speed of 160km (100 miles) an hour. (Apr 2016)
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off the Gatimaan Express on Tuesday morning, which connects Nizamuddin station in the capital, Delhi, with the northern town of Agra.
The train covered the 200km distance in 100 minutes, railways officials said.
Until now, India's fastest train was the Rajdhani Express which could travel at a maximum speed of 130km/hr.
Gatimaan Express will run six days a week, except on Fridays, the railway ministry said in a statement.
Click here for Highlights of Railway Budget 2015-16
Alstom to supply 800 electric engines to Indian Railways (Nov 2015)
Alstom said it has received letter of award for 3 billion euro contract from Indian Railways to supply 800 electric locomotives with a long-term associated maintenance.
"Alstom has received a Letter of Award from the Ministry of Railways to supply Indian Railways with 800 double section freight electric locomotives with associated long-term maintenance," the company said in a statement here.
According to the statement, total contract is worth above 3 billion euro. This project includes the set-up of a plant at Madhepura (Bihar) and two maintenance depots at Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh) and Nagpur (Maharashtra).
GE lands $2.6 billion deal to supply Indian railway (Oct 2015 )
General Electric Co. has won a $2.6 billion contract to supply India's railways with 1000 diesel locomotives, as the state-owned network looks to foreign capital to help it modernize.The U.S. company will also invest $200 million to build local manufacturing and service facilities, GE said in a statement on Monday.
Under the deal, the largest ever for the U.S. company in India, GE will build a manufacturing facility in the eastern state of Bihar, and two maintenance sheds elsewhere in the country, to service the locomotives over an 11-year period.
GE won against competition from rival manufacturers such as Canada's Bombardier and Germany's Siemens. India is also set to announce the winner of another multi-billion dollar contract to supply electric locomotives.
Indian Railways to come out with goods train time table (July 2015)
Indian Railway will come out with a Time Table for goods train movement, a first for the public transporter, to attract more loading and improve the delivery schedule.
Currently passenger trains get preference over the movement of freight trains on the busy tracks across the country which causes delay and uncertainty over the time schedule for delivery of goods. Goods trains are kept in loop lines to allow passenger trains to pass as most of the trunk lines face congestion
In an environment friendly move, railway minister Suresh Prabhu has just flagged off the very first CNG train in India.( Jan 2015)
The route selected for this landmark move is the Rewari-Rohtak section of the Northern zone. Currently, the fuels in use by the Railways are diesel and electricity. With the frequent fluctuations in the prices of both, natural gas emerges as the ideal alternative. Also, it is extremely eco-friendly in comparison. It helps cut down carbon monoxide emissions by 90%, carbon dioxide by 25%, nitrogen oxide by 35% and non-methane hydrocarbon emissions by 50%. In addition to this, the use of CNG can bring down the operating cost of the locomotive by a whopping 50%.
Indian Railways join hands with Czech for semi high-speed Train
With an aim to get expertise in running semi high-speed Trains and modernising signalling system of Railways, India Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Czech Republic.
The MoU was signed between Indian Railways and Czech Railway for technical cooperation in the field of railway sector, said a senior Railway Ministry official.
Indian Railways, which has plans to run semi high-speed Train, will benefit from the technical expertise of Czech on the project.
Currently, Railways is on a project to increase Train speed to 160 km per hour between Delhi and Agra. Once the Delhi-Agra project is successful, it plans to explore possibilities of increasing the speed to 200 km per hour.
Highlights of Railway Budget 2014-15
Click here to view the Highlights.
Indian Railways launches new mobile app to track train schedules.(Apr 2014) (Economics Times)
Now rail users can get information on expected arrival and departure timings of a particular train on their mobile phones besides tracking its its position on a real time basis.
Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), the information and technology arm of railways, has launched a new mobile application which can be used for various enquiries including train timings, a senior Railway official said.
CRIS has enhanced the train enquiry system by developing the mobile app and a desktop application on Windows 8 platform for train enquiries with support from Microsoft, he added.
National Train Enquiry System (NTES) is railways' back-end system which provides information to the public about train schedules on a near real time basis through various interfaces like nationwide unique rail enquiry number 139, website (trainenquiry.com), mobile interfaces, touch screens, enquiry counters and display boards at stations.
Rail budget 2014: List of New Trains (Business Line)
Railway Minister, Mallikarjun Kharge has announced 72 new trains which includes 17 Premium trains, 38 Express trains, 10 Passenger trains, 4 MEMU and 3 DEMU in this year’s Interim Railway Budget. Three trains will be extended and frequency of same number of trains will be increased.
Click Here to see the List of New Trains
Rail budget 2014: Passenger fares, freight rates left untouched; 72 new trains announced (Feb 2014)
Passenger fares and freight rates were left untouched on Wednesday in the interim rail budget, which talks about plans about involvement of private sector and FDI as part of efforts to modernize the largest transport network in the country.
Presenting the interim budget for four months in the Lok Sabha, railway minister Mallikarjun Kharge said an independent Rail Tariff Authority is being set up to rationalize fares and there was a proposal to expand dynamic pricing of tickets in line with the airline industry.
He announced the launch of 17 new premium trains, 39 express trains and ten passenger trains in the coming year and providing rail connectivity to Katra and Vaishnodevi in Jammu and Kashmir, and Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh in the Northeast.
Railways to try dynamic fares like airlines to mop up extra revenue ( Dec 2013 )
The cash-strapped railways seems to be moving towards dynamic fare pricing similar to the practice followed by airlines to mop up extra revenue.
In a first, special AC trains on the Delhi-Mumbai route from Tuesday to cater to increased demand during the festive season of Christmas and New Year will have dynamic pricing.
Advance reservation period for these special trains would be 15 days and the fare shall be equal to or higher than the Rajdhani Tatkal fare to begin with. "The fare is likely to increase depending on the demand intensity," a railway statement said.
Launched on an experimental basis, the premium AC train would take four trips between December 24 to January 2 on the busy Delhi-Mumbai route. The special trains will have only AC-2 and AC-3 classes with Rajdhani like facilities including catering.
"The fares would be higher than the existing Tatkal fare of Rs 2,175 for AC-3 and Rs 2,910 for AC-2 travel. It could go up keeping into account the demands," said an official. Though an upper cap has not been fixed, the official said, "We will fix it after seeing the response to ensure that the fare does not become unaffordable."
SC Rly completes major electrification works ( Nov 2013 )
Travel time for railway passengers and cargoes on the Chennai-Mumbai and Secunderabad-Mumbai routes will now get reduced, with the South Central Railway completing major electrification works on two major sections on these routes.
The electrification works were completed on the 310-km-long Renigunta to Guntakal section on the Chennai-Mumbai route and 161 km stretch between Lingampalli and Wadi on the Secunderabad-Mumbai route.
The electrification of the last legs in these section marks a major milestone in the electrification of all major routes under the South Central railway zone.
With this, the zone has achieved electrification for 41 per cent of its total route km — in absolute numbers, the electrification is now complete over 2,375 route km, out of the total of 5,810 route km under it.
Running trains on electric traction yields several operational and economic benefits. An extended network of electrified railway lines will enable seamless running of trains over long distances without the need for loco change from electric to diesel and vice-versa.
More importantly, it reduces travel time benefiting the passengers and freight customers. Due to lesser detentions, average speed of the goods and passenger trains increases, which in turn improves availability of crew.
The 180-km long track between Renigunta and Muddanur was gradually electrified in various phases during 2008-12. Subsequently, works have been taken up in the remaining stretch from Muddanur to Guntakal, covering 130 km. The last leg on this route, a 30 km stretch between Gooty and Guntakal was completed last week, which will now enable running of goods trains on electric traction from Chennai and Krishnapatnam ports to Guntakal.
Currently about 50 goods trains are being run on an average per day on this section, carrying commodities such as coal, iron ore and cement.
Railways form corporation for high speed train
New Delhi: Going ahead with the ambitious high speed rail project, railways on Tuesday announced formation of High Speed Rail Corporation even as Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge said care should be exercised in adopting new technology.
The High Speed Rail Corporation (HSRC) is being constituted as a subsidiary of Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd to undertake study and other related work for proposed high speed rail corridors in the country.
"Today we started the process. Later on its terms and condition, appointment of members, other things will be decided," Kharge said after launching the HSRC at the two-day global conference on high speed rail travel here.
However, striking a cautionary note, Railway Minister said, "One should not buy horses because horse shoes are freely available."
Hinting at the easy availability of high speed technology and equipment, Kharge said, "We should not get even if it is available free. Some time they sell it to buyers saying it is cheap. We should think whether it suits or not even if it is free or cheap."
Many advanced countries are in the race to provide technology and expertise to railways in the proposed high speed train project.
Faster Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhanis, Shatabdis (Oct 2013)
The travel time between Delhi and Mumbai could soon be cut by three hours as the railways is working to run the elite Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains at speeds of 160-200 km per hour. This means the 17-hour journey between the two metros will be down to 14 hours while travel time between Delhi and Chandigarh will be reduced by an hour.
With the railways unable to fund capital-intensive bullet trains, the state-owned transporter is working on operating semi-high speed trains with marginal improvisation to existing infrastructure.
Further hike in fares of premier trains (Oct 2013)
Close on the heels of a fresh rise in passenger fares, Railways have decided to further hike the fares of premier trains such as Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto effective from October 17.
The ticket rates of Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains will go up further by about Rs 25 to Rs 27 with an upward revision in food tariff, a senior Railway Ministry official said. This is the second increase in passenger fares applicable in a few selected trains in a month as Railways had increased the fares by 2 per cent in all trains on October 7.
Railway official maintained that the base fare of premier trains has not been increased and only food prices have been revised, which will result in overall hike in ticket rates.
The official said charges paid per meal to caterers have not been increased in the last 14 years. The Railways serve about 3.3 crore meals a year in these trains. As per the decision, the ticket rates of AC-II, AC-III and Chair Car in premier trains will go up by about Rs 25 per ticket.
Gorakhpur gets world's largest railway platform (Oct 2013)
GORAKHPUR: The Gorakhpur railway station became the proud owner world's longest home platform on Sunday after GM, NER, KK Atal inaugurated the remodelled Gorakhpur Yard.
The remodelling work was completed on war-footing within the scheduled time. With the inauguration of the remodelled yard, Gorakhpur now has a platform measuring 1366.33 metres with ramp and 11355.40 metres without it. With this achievement, the NER has also secured a place in the Limca Book of Records. The certificate for the same would be issued soon. The achievement of the Gorakhpur station would also be incorporated in the Guinness Book of World Records. The postal department too is likely to release a special cover to mark the achievement.
After inaugurating the newly installed route relay interlocking system, the GM also flagged off 12555 Gorakhdham Express (Gorakhpur to Hisar). Later, talking to reporters, Atal, said, "I congratulate the people of Gorakhpur on getting the privilege of world's longest railway platform in the city. I also appreciate the cooperation of the people of Gorakhpur as more than half of the work was completed within 11 days. I also appreciate the dedication of rail employees and officers who worked day and night for to ensure completion of work within the time limit."
At last, toilets in train engines to help drivers relieve stress
That its train engine drivers, or loco-pilots as it calls them now, work under extremely stressful conditions has been Indian Railways' worst kept secret.
In fact, the stress levels of loco-pilots have often been blamed for many rail accidents in recent years. And now, a panel looking into the matter has zeroed in on a very basic facility, the lack of which has added substantially to stress levels of these men: toilets inside locomotives.
The committee "to review the duty hours of running and other safety related categories of staff" has recommended "a suitable waterless type urinal" on "every locomotive as an immediate measure" to take care of the problem.
L&TMRH to hire 2,750 persons (Sep 2013)
French organisation and management firm Keolis starts recruiting staff Good news for job seekers in engineering, technical and human resource segments of top notch electric railway system. The French O&M (organisation and management) firm Keolis has started recruitment of staff needed for L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad infrastructure.The company will be hiring over 2,750 persons, according to V. B. Gadgil, Managing Director of L&TMRH. Global company Keolis is the largest private sector French transport and consulting company having major presence in world class railway projects across the globe. L&T has partnered with Keolis for the management of the Rs. 16,500 crore Metro Rail project in Hyderabad.
Railways setting up Electric Locomotive Factory at Madhepura, Bihar and Diesel Locomotive factory at Marhowra, Bihar. (Sep 2013)
The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Railways for setting up of an Electric Locomotive Factory at Madhepura, Bihar and a Diesel Locomotive Factory at Marhowra, Bihar, to start afresh the bidding processes for these projects.
Estimated costs for setting up the Electric Locomotive Factory and Diesel Locomotive Factory, as approved by CCEA and included in the Railway Budget are Rs. 1293.57 crore and Rs. 2052.58 crore respectively, with limited equity contribution by Ministry of Railways.
Railways adds more bio-toilets for clean and hygienic journey
To fulfill its commitment of providing a hygienic environment to passengers, the Indian Railways have expedited the work of fitting bio-toilets in train coaches. In the first four months of the current year, the railways have fitted 2,285 bio-toilets, which is much more than the entire number of bio-toilets fitted in the past three years. At present, the Indian railways are running 1,400 coaches with 3,800 bio-toilets in its various trains. The railways have fitted 2,285 bio-toilets in passenger coaches from April'13 to July'13 while only 1,337 bio-toilets were fitted in 2012-13, 169 in 2011-12 and only 57 in 2010-11. The first train, Gwalior-Varanasi Bundelkhand Express, fitted with bio-toilets is running since January 2011.
Bihar train tragedy: Railway suffers Rs 90 cr loss, cancels several trains (20th Aug 2013)
Railways suffered an estimated loss of over Rs 90 crore as a furious mob set ablaze 15 coaches, including an AC coach and locomotive of the Saharsa-Patna Rajyarani Express (12567) and five coaches and the locomotive of Samastipur-Saharsa passenger train at Dhamara Ghat on Saharsa-Mansi section under Samastipur division of East Central Railway (ECR) after 37 passengers were killed by the running train around 9am on Monday morning. Railways, however, put the death toll at 28. The railway communication system was totally paralysed as an irate mob also ransacked the railway station, cabin and tracks. It was difficult for railways to rush the rescue team to the site soon after the mishap, said ECR CPRO Amitbah Prabhakar. According to him, most of the officials, including railway doctors of the rescue team, were unable to reach the accident site because of lack of direct road link. He said the railways rescue team could reach the spot at 2.45pm only. The CPRO said ECR GM Madhuresh Kumar, along with senior officials of the ECR headquarters, rushed to the site by a special train soon after receiving the information about the incident. However, Samastipur DRM Arun Mallik and other senior officials of the division were already camping at the site and supervising the rescue and relief works, he said. Though railways was yet to announce an inquiry to probe the exact cause behind the incident, prima facie it appeared that the mishap took place while the victims were crossing the tracks when Rajyarani Express was coming from Saharsa end. The CPRO said railways started its rescue operation after getting clearance from the local police.
He said the mob assaulted the train driver and made several staff of Dhamara Ghat hostage for a few hours. They were released after police intervention. Traffic system would remain suspended on Saharsa-Mansi section till normalcy returned, he said.
Railway expo displays rare photographs (2nd Aug 2013)
Seeing is believing. Collection of over 200 rare photographs depicting the Indian Railway’s journey from scratch to becoming the world’s largest railway network are on the display at Railway Stadium here. Bullock train was operational in the first narrow gauge railway from Dabhoi to Miyagam in Gujarat in 1860. Similarly, Patiala Monorail powered by oxen and army mules on Sirhind — Morinda section was opened in 1907. Even Indian Railways had occasionally used elephants for pushing odd wagons in small goods sheds. All these unique events have found place in the exhibition.
In absence of modern technologies, impressive railway structures were erected by the Indian Railways across the country in pre and post independence era. The historic photograph of the first passenger train which was run from Boribunder to Thane covering a distance of 34 kms carrying 400 passengers is catching attention of visitors. The photograph, the lone photograph that captured the historic moment, was taken by Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy about 160 years ago on April 16, 1853.
The photo exhibition showcasing the evolution and rare moments of the railway journey was inaugurated by Indra Ghosh, General Manager, East Coast Railway at Railway Stadium, Mancheswar on Tuesday. To commemorate 160 years of Indian Railways, the photo exhibition is put up across the country. The exhibition would move to Kolkata in its next halt.
New rail tunnel linking the troubled Kashmir Valley and Jammu region ( 28th June 2013)
The new rail tunnel linking the troubled Kashmir Valley and Jammu region will help develop Jammu and Kashmir. The section between Banihal in Jammu and Qazigund in Kashmir is 18 kilometres long.The Banihal-Qazigund section includes an 11-km-long tunnel – India’s longest, 2nd longest in Asia.The opening of the section marks the start of the rail service to the Kashmir Valley. Eight coach trains will run between Banihal and Baramulla from June 27 after the inaugural run on June 26. The section will reduce the distance from 35 km (by road) to 18 km. The rail link has been constructed at a cost of Rs 1,691 crore
High Speed Bullet Trains in India ( 6th July 2013 )
The first bullet train in India is likely tocome up between these two stations. Though pre-feasibility studies were done onthe entire 650-km long Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad section, the government may placeMumbai-Ahmedabad stretch on a priority. It will reduce travel time between the two commercial cities from current 8 hours to just 2 hours.
Science expo on wheels enthrals children ( 18th July 2013)
A record 12,384 students of 120 schools visited the Science Express on Wednesday and the general visitors were 14,017.A total of 42 children, including 22 girls, studying in 4 and 5 classes at the Fishery Primary School at Vasavanipalem, Lawson’s Bay Colony, visited the Science Express Biodiversity exhibition at the Railway Station here on Wednesday.The students were thrilled on going through the exhibits on display at the expo. They spent about two hours going through all the coaches as the volunteers explained to them about the various aspects of the models and charts on display and the need to conserve biodiversity.The teachers also explained to their students quoting from the relevant chapters in their EVS (Environmental Science) subject. The students had a gala time in the 12th coach where they answered questions and played some puzzles.
