RailEnquiry

  Indian Railways News  / Summer special trains to clear rush

ALLAHABAD: In wake of heavy rush during summer, railways will run summer special trains on different routes. These trains will ply to New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Gorakhpur, Udhampur and Pune. NCR public relations officer Manzar Karrar said, "During summer many passengers fail to get berths due to rush in the trains. Therefore, we are plying various summer specials to cater to large number of passengers."

  Indian Railways News  / Can this project help reuse water on trains?

CHENNAI: “About 1,080 litres of water is wasted each day in each compartment through wash basin usage on trains. But when we implement the new osmosis tank, 75 per cent of the water will be saved,” said Rizwan and Arunchalam of Sathyabama University on Saturday. The Research and Development unit of Indian Railways is already working on the implementation of the bio-toilet system, where the bio-gas exhaust gets stored and used for cooking purposes in the pantries of Indian trains. Rizwan Jamal M I and Arunchalam S, final year Mechanical Engineering, Sathyabama University, came up with a new project to re-engineer� the discharge system in Indian Railways coaches. Rizwan said, “The major portion of water is wasted when people use the washbasins in each compartment. In order to reduce the wastage, particularly during this season of water scarcity, we� developed the osmosis tank. It has three chambers of 25-litre capacity and is fixed above the bio-toilet system, connected by centrifugal pipes. The used water from the washbasins is purified in this osmosis tank and sent to the bio-toilet system for flushing purposes. The flushed water with human waste is then converted into biogas and used for cooking purposes on the trains. The first chamber in the osmosis system separates the hard particles of the water, the next chamber purifies the water and the final chamber checks the quality.” Adds Arunchalam, “With this system 75 percent of the used water is saved in each compartment. And the power required is generated through a centrifugal pipe connected to the wheels of the train. This system can work without power due to the water gravity that exists in the osmosis tank.” The addition of the reverse osmosis tank to the bio-toilet system is beneficial and can make this system more effective than with the present duct line system. Stations will be more eco-friendly and passengers can walk on tracks and platforms with ease as they will be clean. This system is very economical, with only `20,000 to `25,000 required for the implementation, said Arunachalam. This innovative project, conceptualized by the two students of Sathyabama University, has been recognised and accepted by the Integral Coach Factory, Perambur, Chennai.

  Indian Railways News  / Eastern Rlys seeks ban on sedatives

With the increase in incidents where passengers have been sedated and looted , Eastern Railway authorities have recently sent a letter to the state drug control department to ban and restrict the sale of such sedative drugs. Eastern Railway authorities instructed officials of the state drug control department to restrict /ban the sale of sedative drugs which are being used by criminals for drugging passengers in railways. The letter mentions that almost in all incidents the passengers became unconscious after they were administered such sedatives and were looted thereafter. Questioning of some of the victims has revealed the modus operandi of the criminals, which is to develop friendship with the passengers , and in course of time they offer beverage and eatables laced with sedatives. Since these drugs are easily available across chemist stores without any prescription from registered doctors, and at very cheap rates, most of the criminals take such drugs from chemist shops and use them for this purpose. The Eastern Railway authorities have been asked to make a survey on how many chemist stores are selling these drugs in the state. Senior officials of the state health department said they had intimated the matter to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, Delhi, for banning the use of such sedatives.

  Indian Railways News  / Indian Railways to sign MoU with German Railways

NEW DELHI: Indian Railways is likely to sign an MoU with German Railways soon to pave the way for participation of companies based in that country in rail infrastructure development.

"Indian Railways and DBAG, German Railways had a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation from 2006 to 2009. A fresh MoU between the two Railways is presently also under finalization," Railway Minister Mukul Roy said at a meeting with a visiting German delegation here today.

The delegation was headed by Peter Ramsauer, German Federal Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Development.

Roy said India and Germany have strong cooperation and friendship in the field of Railway transport.

Referring to the past association, he said the German companies have earlier been involved in the procurement of LHB coaches and signalling equipment among others.

Highlighting the focus areas as enshrined in the Railways Vision-2020 document prepared during former Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee regime, Roy pointed out that the document has an ambitious plan on safety improvement, modernisation and capacity augmentation.

Roy hoped for active participation by German companies in Indian Railways' endeavours to achieve the goals of Vision-2020.

The major activities to be undertaken by railways include safety, Train Protection and Warning System, high speed, speed upgradation on existing network, station development, dedicated freight corridors, logistics parks and Public Private Partnership.

  Indian Railways News  / State seeks Rs 2,000-cr package

Shimla : Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has urged the Centre to provide a special package of Rs 2,000 crore to the state to meet its committed liabilities.Raising the demand with Union Minister of State for Planning Ashwani Kumar here today, he said the state had plunged into a deep financial crisis due to faulty recommendations of the 13th Finance Commission which grossly under-assessed its committed liabilities on account of salaries and pensions of employees. The state was provided a hike of just 50 per cent, the minimum, while devolution to some other states was increased by as much as 150 per cent.He underlined the need for the expeditious construction of the Bhanupalli-Barmana-Mandi-Manali-Keylong-Leh railway line, which was not only important for tourism promotion but also from the defence point of view. It would help save transportation costs incurred on carrying men and material to the Ladakh region. He said the infrastructure being developed by neighbouring country should be taken as a warning and taken seriously by the Centre. The project must be taken up immediately and completed in a time-bound manner.He drew attention to the fact that a number of hydro-electric projects were held up for want of clearances to be granted by the Government of India. Such an attitude was hampering the hydropower development in the state and also increasing the cost of the projects.He also raised the issue of the premature withdrawal of the special industrial package, granted by the NDA regime up to March 2013, by the UPA government. He said it showed a bias against Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand, both of which were deprived of the full benefit as the duration of the package was curtailed by three years.He also sought subsidy on heli-taxi service to attract high-end tourists and also called for expeditious payment of arrears of the state’s claim in the BBMB projects as the Supreme Court had already dismissed the review petition filed by Haryana and Punjab.