ProUI

There is something about this music bug in Chennai that tends to drag perfectly normal people to their deaths on railway tracks. The Government Railway Police (GRP) sees in the frequent visits of the Grim Reaper the captivation power of the ubiquitous mobile phones.

Smart phones that let you listen to music using snazzy headsets have a particularly dangerous track record, claim GRP sources. For, the music flowing into your head and veins through the headset is so overpowering, you could get lost in your own world and become a potential danger at critical traffic points like railway tracks while on foot.

If the music theory doesn’t sound convincing, sample this: According to a new study at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University, teens listening to their favourite music tend to commit errors and make miscalculations while driving. Researchers found male novice drivers in particular making more frequent and serious mistakes listening to their preferred music than their female counterparts. The key words are “favourite music”. What applies to driving should surely apply to people on foot as well, isn’t it?

According to available data, around 25 people came under the wheels of trains in the State, while they were hooked to their cell phones, till July 31 this year. That works out to one death every eight days.

“Curiously, runover cases involving victims speaking on mobile phones and trespassing onto the tracks are reported more in Chennai and its suburbs when compared with the rural pockets of Tamil Nadu,” a GRP officer says.

“A majority of the victims were under the age of 30 years, largely comprising office-goers, college and school students. Speaking over the phone or listening to music on railway tracks distracts the attention of trespassers,” another senior officer adds.

The Israeli study assessed distraction by measuring driver deficiencies (miscalculation, inaccuracy, aggressiveness, and violations) as well as decreased vehicle performance. When teen drivers listened to their preferred music, almost all (98 per cent) demonstrated an average of three deficient driving behaviours, including speeding, tailgating, careless lane switching, passing vehicles and one-handed driving.

“Drivers in general are not aware that as they get drawn-in by a song, they move from an extra-personal space involving driving tasks, to a more personal space of active music listening,” researcher Brodsky says.

An officer in suburban Tambaram says youngsters often watch video clippings on their cell phones while taking strolls on the tracks, which multiplies the danger.

Last year, around 100 people came under the wheels of trains in the State while jaywalking because of their cell phone fixation. Around 50 such cases were recorded in Tamil Nadu in 2011, when the cell phone market had already started exploding.

In the last few weeks alone, two accident cases involving college students were reported at Nungambakkam and St Thomas Mount railway stations. Both students were using their cell phones at the time of the accident, an officer with railway security says.

For their part, GRP sources say campaigns are being organised to create awareness about the ill effects of mobile phone conversation which crossing railway tracks. They have borne fruit with the number of such accidents drastically reducing this year in the northern parts of Chennai, sources say.

Unprecedented event in State’s rail history, says Dharam Singh

On Sunday, the residents of the district had a dream six decades old fulfilled, with the inauguration of the direct train to Bangalore.People who had thronged the railway station cheered endlessly as Railway Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge pulled a lever to signal loco pilots to speed away.The train’s whistle was drowned out by the crowd’s joyous outburst. Some raised slogans in favour of Mr. Kharge while others distributed sweets.Ashok Kheny, MLA, said he was so happy that he wanted to name the train after Mr. Kharge.N. Dharam Singh, MP, said it was an “unprecedented event in the State’s railway history.”“I feel as if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had asked Mr. Kharge to take charge of the railways only to make sure that this train was started. If not for Mr. Kharge, this would not have happened,” Mr. Singh said.This train will not only attract industrial investment to Bidar, but also promote tourism in the city, he felt.“What is more, the governance of the district would improve, as Ministers and senior officials can now make frequent visits to Bidar to monitor the progress of departments,” the MP said.He urged railway officials to start the Bidar-Hyderabad intercity express train from Nampalli rather than Secunderabad, as it would help petty traders and labourers.

‘Extend this line’

Gurupadappa Nagamarapalli and Prabhu Chauhan, MLAs, sought a line between Bidar-Aurad-Deglur-Nanded. Mr. Chauhan sought extension of the Mumbai-Latur train to Bidar.

Ishwar Khandre, MLA, said it was “a gift to the district” by Mr. Kharge who was born in Waravatti in Bhalki, though he built his political career in Gulbarga. Mr. Khandre sought a train from Bhalki and Bidar to Tirupati, by linking it with trains on the Parli Vaijanath-Bangalore line. Raghunath Malkapure, MLC, urged Mr. Kharge and Mr. Singh to see that Bidar was selected for establishment of the centrally funded scheme of National Investment Manufacturing Zone, to help setting up of industries.

A.K. Mittal, General Manager, South Western Railway, said work on the Bidar-Gulbarga rail line was 42 per cent complete. Work is in progress on the Raichur-Gadwal line, he said. The Bidar- Yeshwanthpur train would be maintained in Yeshwanthpur initially.

“We have started work on water supply systems and maintenance centres in Bidar. They will be completed in six months. The maintenance operations will shift to Bidar then,” he said.

PIMPRI: Commuters who travel daily to Mumbai from Chinchwad have demanded that the Sinhgad Express should have an additional coach while the Deccan Queen should halt at Chinchwad station.
Nikhil Mahajan, who travels daily to Mumbai by the Sinhgad Express said, “The number of commuters who travel daily to Mumbai from Chinchwad has risen. Sinhgad Express is a convenient train for the people who travel daily to Mumbai.
The train has a reserved coach, half of which is available from Pimpri and the remaining half from Chinchwad. General commuters can’t travel in this reserved coach. The people who travel with a general ticket cannot get space on the train as the general coach is already occupied from Pune.
Another commuter Mahesh Jarad said that Deccan Queen and Pragati Expressed leave after Sinhgad express. But both trains do not halt at Pimpri and Chinchwad.
If these trains halt at Chinchwad, crowding on the Sinhgad Express can be avoided. The Sinhgad Express that leaves from Mumbai at 2:30 pm, reaches Pune at 6:00 pm. After this there is no train from Mumbai that stops in Chinchwad. Pragati and Deccan Queen leave Mumbai at 4:00 pm and 5:00 pm respectively. These trains are of no use of the commuters whose working hours continue till 6:30 pm .
Ranjit Bhosale said, “Latur, Chalukya, Husainsagar or Siddheshwar express that leave Mumbai in the evening should halt at Chinchwad. Commuters should get space these trains. These trains are allowed to cross trains at Talegaon or Malavali hence people boarding a Chinchwad bound train reached their homes late.”
“There is huge rush to board the train as space is limited, Due to this rush, accidents have taken place frequently. To seek respite commuters are going to submit memorandum to the railway administration,” informed Shailendra Chitnis and Milind Khairnar.
THE ISSUE
- Commuters who travel daily to Mumbai from Chinchwad have demanded that the Sinhgad Express should have an additional coach while the Deccan Queen should halt at Chinchwad station.
- The people who travel with a general ticket cannot get space on the train as the general coach is already occupied from Pune.

Unprecedented event in State’s rail history, says Dharam Singh

On Sunday, the residents of the district had a dream six decades old fulfilled, with the inauguration of the direct train to Bangalore.People who had thronged the railway station cheered endlessly as Railway Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge pulled a lever to signal loco pilots to speed away.The train’s whistle was drowned out by the crowd’s joyous outburst. Some raised slogans in favour of Mr. Kharge while others distributed sweets.Ashok Kheny, MLA, said he was so happy that he wanted to name the train after Mr. Kharge.N. Dharam Singh, MP, said it was an “unprecedented event in the State’s railway history.”“I feel as if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had asked Mr. Kharge to take charge of the railways only to make sure that this train was started. If not for Mr. Kharge, this would not have happened,” Mr. Singh said.This train will not only attract industrial investment to Bidar, but also promote tourism in the city, he felt.“What is more, the governance of the district would improve, as Ministers and senior officials can now make frequent visits to Bidar to monitor the progress of departments,” the MP said.He urged railway officials to start the Bidar-Hyderabad intercity express train from Nampalli rather than Secunderabad, as it would help petty traders and labourers.

‘Extend this line’

Gurupadappa Nagamarapalli and Prabhu Chauhan, MLAs, sought a line between Bidar-Aurad-Deglur-Nanded. Mr. Chauhan sought extension of the Mumbai-Latur train to Bidar.

Ishwar Khandre, MLA, said it was “a gift to the district” by Mr. Kharge who was born in Waravatti in Bhalki, though he built his political career in Gulbarga. Mr. Khandre sought a train from Bhalki and Bidar to Tirupati, by linking it with trains on the Parli Vaijanath-Bangalore line. Raghunath Malkapure, MLC, urged Mr. Kharge and Mr. Singh to see that Bidar was selected for establishment of the centrally funded scheme of National Investment Manufacturing Zone, to help setting up of industries.

A.K. Mittal, General Manager, South Western Railway, said work on the Bidar-Gulbarga rail line was 42 per cent complete. Work is in progress on the Raichur-Gadwal line, he said. The Bidar- Yeshwanthpur train would be maintained in Yeshwanthpur initially.

“We have started work on water supply systems and maintenance centres in Bidar. They will be completed in six months. The maintenance operations will shift to Bidar then,” he said.

The rail board has proposed Rs. 3,280 crore strategic rail line plan to built 181 km broad gauge electric traction rail line on Pathankot-Baijnath-Jogindernagar which is to be extended to Ladakh later. This was disclosed by the Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh while replying to a query of Yadvinder Goma member of Congress from Jaysingpur of Kangra district. He said that board also proposed Rs. 2,888 crore on the same line on diesel traction. The union government was insisting upon the state to bear 33 percent of above proposed budget, however, state had offered free land for this railway project. Keeping the limited economic resources of the state and national importance of this railway project in mind, Himachal has been taken up this matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh twice in January and February 2013 as state had asked the center to bear the entire expense. Mr. Singh denied that state had no plant to link Jogindernagar-Mandi and Bilaspur with railway line.

मंधना बिठूर आमान परिवर्तन पर फैसला इसी माह
 
कानपुर, एक प्रतिनिधि : मंधना से बिठूर तक आमान परिवर्तन पर फैसला सितंबर में हो जाएगा। इस संदर्भ में बिठूर के विधायक मुनींद्र शुक्ला ने 26 अगस्त को रेलमंत्री से दिल्ली में मुलाकात कर उन्हें ज्ञापन भी सौंपा था। इसका सकारात्मक परिणाम मिलने की उम्मीद है।

इससे पूर्व भी पूर्वोत्तर रेलवे के जीएम को अनवरगंज स्टेशन पर मुनींद्र शुक्ला, अखिल भारतीय उद्योग व्यापार मंडल के महामंत्री ज्ञानेश मिश्र ने ज्ञापन सौंपते हुए आंदोलन की धमकी भी दी थी। रेलवे सलाहकार समिति के सदस्य संजय वर्मा ने बताया कि उन्होंने शुक्रवार को पूर्वोत्तर रेलवे इज्जतनगर मंडल के रेल मंडल प्रबंधक उमेश सिंह से मुलाकात की। डीआरएम ने सदस्य को बताया कि रेलवे बोर्ड को प्रस्ताव भेजा गया है और सितंबर में आमान परिवर्तन पर फैसला हो जाएगा कि कब से काम शुरू होना है। गौरतलब है कि अनवरगंज से फर्रुखाबाद तक वर्ष 2005 में जब आमान परिवर्तन किया गया तो उसी दौरान मंधना से बिठूर तक रेलवे लाइन को नक्शे से ही हटा दिया गया। क्षेत्रीय लोगों ने अधिक दबाव बनाया तो तत्कालीन रेलमंत्री लालू प्रसाद यादव ने इस आमान परिवर्तन का शिलान्यास फर्रुखाबाद में कर दिया। लेकिन तबसे ये योजना ठंडे बस्ते में है।

Protest is mounting among the residents of Mahe against the high-speed rail corridor proposed by Kerala that apparently will pass through the Union Territory.The Anti High-Speed Rail Corridor committee carried out protests recently against the project which they said would in no way benefit their region and would prove adverse to the territory which had very high population density.Speaking to The Hindu , Mahe MLA E. Valsaraj said the move to encroach upon the Union Territory for the rail project would be opposed at any cost.“The move may not be deliberate, and the region may have got included while mapping the area for the rail route through satellite. However, since around nine square kilometre of land in the territory with nearly 43,000 residents have been included, the project is bound to affect the development and socio economic activities of the region. Moreover, it carries no benefit to Mahe. The protest may seem premature, but none should take our silence to be consent for the project,” he said.“Mahe cannot even afford to give land for the elevated paths as envisaged in the project, as it required building pillars with a width of 15-20 metres. Moreover, it is an inter-State issue. Also, as per the sketch put up by the Kerala High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited, it is not a straight path and follows a zigzag route. That shows that an alternative route excluding Mahe can be considered,” Mr. Valsaraj said.

The administration and members of the action committee have decided to meet the Chief Minister of Kerala Oommen Chandy to apprise him of the issue.

The Union Territory has a very high population density

Project will not benefit Mahe anyway, says MLA

The new Thanjavur-Chennai Egmore Uzhavan Express was flagged off from Thanjavur Railway Junction on Sunday amidst high drama as cadre of the AIADMK and the DMK turned up in large numbers with their party flags and raised slogans to claim credit for the introduction of the train.

As R. Vaithilingam, Minister for Housing and Urban Development, reached the stage, the AIADMK cadre surged forward and some of them climbed over the loco. Some cadre of the DMK too followed suit.

The AIADMK cadre even placed a portrait of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in front of the loco. Soon S.S.Palani Manickam, Thanjavur MP, came to the stage and the train left at the scheduled time.

The train that fulfils the long-pending demand of the people of Thanjavur for a direct night train chugged out of the platform at 8.45 p.m.

The train will reach Chennai Egmore at 4.55 a.m. on Monday. “The train is running full with 750 reservations,” said railway officials.

The train has 17 coaches out of which nine are sleeper class, one AC two tier, one AC three tier, four general second class, and two second class-cum-luggage.

The train will stop at Papanasam, Kumbakonam, Aduthurai, Kuttalam, Mayiladuthurai, Sirkali, Chidambaram, Cuddalore Fort Junction, Panruti, Villupuram, Tindivanam, Melmaruvathur, Chingleput, Tambaram, and Mambalam. Manjula Rangarajan, Divisional Railway Manager, Tiruchi, participated in the function.

V.Jeevakumar, adviser to Train Passengers Association of Thanjavur to Tiruchi, said that the train would be of much use to the people of Thanjavur.

“It has been rightly named - Uzhavan Express - signifying the importance of the Cauvery delta and its farmers,” Mr. Jeevakumar said.

A.Giri, vice president, Thanjavur District Railway Users Association, suggested that the train’s departure from Chennai could be advanced.

It leaves Chennai Egmore at 11.30 p.m. and reaches Thanjavur at 7 a.m. “This could be advanced so that the train may reach Thanjavur early,” Mr. Giri said. Thanjavur now has three night trains to Chennai - Mannai Express, Rameswaram Express, and Uzhavan express- and Cholan and Thiruchendur express trains in the day.

Rockfort Express that had been providing the link to Chennai for Thanjavur and Kumbakonam people for 11 years is being run from Tiruchi from Sunday.

Palakkad: Ahead of the 2014 polls, the UPA government is moving ahead with another big-ticket rail project: A rail coach factory at Palakkad in Kerala.

“The request for qualification (RFQ) for the Rs.600 crore project will shortly be invited. We also expect to begin the process of shortlisting the bidders within this fiscal,” Railway Board chairman (CRB) Arunendra Kumar told.

The Pallakad factory has long been mired in political controversies despite the Kerala government — nearly four years ago — having offered land free of cost to set up the factory.

“All the issues have been sorted. An inter-ministerial group comprising officers of the ministries of finance, law and railways – as well as the planning commission – approved the draft RFQ for the project earlier this week,” Kumar said.

The factory, to be set up in three years, will have a capacity to manufacture 400 state-of-the-art aluminium coaches annually. It is planned as a joint venture with the railways contributing 26% of the equity.

The LDF government led by VS Achutanandan had acquired 430 acres for the project in 2009, which it had offered to the railways — provided the facility was built as a public fund and not as a PPP project.

As the railways plans to build the factory under the PPP mode, it has now purchased 239 acres from the Kerala government. “The state government had initially offered 430 acres free of charge,” Pallakad MP MB Rajesh said.

There is something about this music bug in Chennai that tends to drag perfectly normal people to their deaths on railway tracks. The Government Railway Police (GRP) sees in the frequent visits of the Grim Reaper the captivation power of the ubiquitous mobile phones.

Smart phones that let you listen to music using snazzy headsets have a particularly dangerous track record, claim GRP sources. For, the music flowing into your head and veins through the headset is so overpowering, you could get lost in your own world and become a potential danger at critical traffic points like railway tracks while on foot.

If the music theory doesn’t sound convincing, sample this: According to a new study at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University, teens listening to their favourite music tend to commit errors and make miscalculations while driving. Researchers found male novice drivers in particular making more frequent and serious mistakes listening to their preferred music than their female counterparts. The key words are “favourite music”. What applies to driving should surely apply to people on foot as well, isn’t it?

According to available data, around 25 people came under the wheels of trains in the State, while they were hooked to their cell phones, till July 31 this year. That works out to one death every eight days.

“Curiously, runover cases involving victims speaking on mobile phones and trespassing onto the tracks are reported more in Chennai and its suburbs when compared with the rural pockets of Tamil Nadu,” a GRP officer says.

“A majority of the victims were under the age of 30 years, largely comprising office-goers, college and school students. Speaking over the phone or listening to music on railway tracks distracts the attention of trespassers,” another senior officer adds.

The Israeli study assessed distraction by measuring driver deficiencies (miscalculation, inaccuracy, aggressiveness, and violations) as well as decreased vehicle performance. When teen drivers listened to their preferred music, almost all (98 per cent) demonstrated an average of three deficient driving behaviours, including speeding, tailgating, careless lane switching, passing vehicles and one-handed driving.

“Drivers in general are not aware that as they get drawn-in by a song, they move from an extra-personal space involving driving tasks, to a more personal space of active music listening,” researcher Brodsky says.

An officer in suburban Tambaram says youngsters often watch video clippings on their cell phones while taking strolls on the tracks, which multiplies the danger.

Last year, around 100 people came under the wheels of trains in the State while jaywalking because of their cell phone fixation. Around 50 such cases were recorded in Tamil Nadu in 2011, when the cell phone market had already started exploding.

In the last few weeks alone, two accident cases involving college students were reported at Nungambakkam and St Thomas Mount railway stations. Both students were using their cell phones at the time of the accident, an officer with railway security says.

For their part, GRP sources say campaigns are being organised to create awareness about the ill effects of mobile phone conversation which crossing railway tracks. They have borne fruit with the number of such accidents drastically reducing this year in the northern parts of Chennai, sources say.