ProUI

In a step to make travel a pleasant experience for the disabled and the elderly, lifts and an escalator will start operating at the city railway station in the first week of September.The station premises were humming with activity on Sunday with technicians fixing an escalator. Three lifts are already in place on platforms one to three. Safety trials are over and certificates have been obtained.Senior railway officials say the lifts and the escalator cost about Rs. 3.5 crore, and it is another step towards Railways’ ambition to transform the station into a world-class one.“The Kozhikode railway station falls in the A1 category as annual income from passenger footfalls is over Rs. 60 crore. As per the Railway Board guidelines, A1-category stations have to offer passenger amenities for the disabled and the elderly, such as ramps and escalators, necessarily to elevate it to a world-class station,” Mohan Menon, Additional Divisional Railway Manager, told The Hindu on Sunday.He said Railways had decided to extend such passenger amenities to A-category stations and had identified 300 such stations across the country.“We have to take into consideration an ageing population which is continuing to travel. There is a demand on Railways to make travel experience easier and comfortable,” Mr. Menon said.Railway officials said more surveillance cameras and car scanners were required to check vehicles. “This security measure will be implemented shortly,” he said.

Asked about the state of baggage scanners on the railway station premises as part of the integrated security system, Mr. Menon said though multiple entrances and exits made security checking a challenge, the scanners were used whenever there was an alert or in case of any “doubt.”

During a visit here earlier in the month, Rakesh Mishra, General Manager of Southern Railway, had promised that development works at the station would be completed soon.

Several demands have been made to improve the station infrastructure, including canopies for the platforms, footbridges connecting the platforms, a south-side entry to the station and an international shopping complex on its premises.

The important suggestions raised by the public and trader groups include improvement of the stations at West Hill, Vellayil and Kallai in the city, completion of the doubling of the Shoranur-Mangalore line, installing an automatic signalling system, electrification of the line, and reducing the running time of trains between the two stations. The demand for the Kozhikode-Mysore line has been revived.

Other suggestions were adding more compartments to trains, starting work on the coach factory in Kanjikode, new trains to Bokaro and New Delhi, via Vijayawada and Nagpur, another to Chennai, and a Jan Shatabdi Express between Kozhikode and Tiruchirapalli.

देश के व्यस्त रेलवे स्टेशनों में शामिल जम्मू रेलवे स्टेशन पर लोगों को सुविधाएं उपलब्ध करवाने के लिए बैठक का आयोजन किया गया। बैठक में फिरोजपुर डिवीजन के सीनियर डिवीजनल कॉमर्शियल मैनेजर उपजीत सिंह के अलावा डिवीजनल ट्रैफिक मैनेजर, स्टेशन मास्टर जम्मू रेलवे स्टेशन अश्विनी कुमार, जेआरयूसीसी के सदस्य गंभीर सिंहचाढ़क के अलावा डीआरयूसीसी के सदस्य गुरनाम सिंह मौजूद थे।
गंभीर सिंह चाढ़क व गुरनाम सिंह ने स्टेशन पर और बेहतरी लाने के लिए अपने छह सूत्रीय प्रस्ताव बैठक में मौजूद अधिकारियों के समक्ष रखे। इसमें स्टेशन की सफाई के अलावा प्लेटफार्म की संख्या बढ़ाने, नए बुकिंग काउंटर खोलने, रेलवे स्टेशन में लगे स्टालों पर रेट लिस्ट सुनिश्चित करने के सुझाव शामिल थे।
इस मौके पर अधिकारियों ने उन्हें भरोसा दिलाया कि सोमवार को चेयरमैन नॉर्दर्न रेलवे स्टेशन के साथ होने वाली बैठक में यह सुझाव उनके समक्ष रखे जाएंगे और उन पर सोमवार को फैसला लिया जाएगा।

दानापुर रेल मंडल अंतर्गत किऊल-मोकामा रेलखंड के बड़हिया रेलवे स्टेशन पर टिकट बिक्री की राशि में फर्जीवाड़े का भंडाफोड़ हुआ है। गुप्त सूचना पर पूर्व मध्य रेल की निगरानी टीम ने 23 अगस्त को बड़हिया स्टेशन पर छापेमारी कर इस खेल का राज खोला है। छह सदस्यीय निगरानी टीम ने बड़हिया स्टेशन स्थित अनारक्षित टिकट काउंटर की जांच की। वे हकीकत देख हैरान रह गए। इसकी पुष्टि बुकिंग सुपरवाइजर वीरेन्द्र कुमार सिंह ने की है। जानकारी के अनुसार बड़हिया स्टेशन के बुकिंग क्लर्क ने बैंक की फर्जी मुहर बनवाकर करीब 16 लाख रुपये का चूना रेलवे को लगाया। निगरानी टीम ने जब इसकी पड़ताल की तो कर्मचारी ने अपनी संलिप्तता स्वीकार करते हुए बताया कि उसने सभी राशि निजी काम में खर्च कर दी है। बुकिंग क्लर्क जालसाजी कर टिकट बिक्री के रुपये को बैंक में जमा नहीं करता था। वह स्वयं फर्जी मुहर मारकर जमा पर्ची दानापुर मंडल मुख्यालय भेजता था। बुकिंग क्लर्क द्वारा फर्जीवाड़े की सूचना निगरानी विभाग को मिली। तत्काल टीम गठित कर छापेमारी की गई। टीम में आरपीएफ व वाणिज्य विभाग के अधिकारी थे। अधिकारियों ने जब गहनता से जांच की तो पाया कि बुकिंग क्लर्क फर्जी मुहर बनाकर बैंक की जमा पर्ची मुख्यालय को भेज रहा था। जांच टीम ने यह भी पाया कि अगस्त माह में 22 दिनों की टिकट बिक्री की 16 लाख रुपये क्लर्क ने बैंक में नहीं जमा कराये व फर्जी रसीद जमा कर दी। अगर मामला नहीं खुलता तो माह के अंत तक वह पूरी राशि गायब कर देता। जांच में यह भी तथ्य सामने आया कि रेलवे के वाणिज्य विभाग के पर्यवेक्षक निरीक्षण के दौरान बड़हिया स्टेशन की जांच कर रजिस्टर एवं रिपोर्ट पर हस्ताक्षर भी दर्ज करते थे। ऐसे में इतनी बड़ी राशि की हेराफेरी का नहीं पकड़ा जाना कई सवाल खड़ा करता है। निगरानी टीम ने बुकिंग सुपरवाइजर वीरेन्द्र कुमार सिंह एवं बुकिंग क्लर्क मनमोहन कुमार से भी गहन पूछताछ कर बुकिंग रजिस्टर व अन्य महत्वपूर्ण कागजात जब्त कर लिया।

Guwahati, Aug. 25:Defending champions NF Railway Sports Club(NFR SC) continued with their winning streak in the Abhishek Motors RG Baruah Trophy Guwahati Super Division football League defeating former champions Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) SC by a solitary goal at Nehru Stadium here today.
A brilliant header by striker Jelendra Brahma in the 82nd minute ensured the defending champions their fifth consecutive victory.
With the kickoff, ASEB nearly broke the deadlock in third minute. However, the seasoned NFR custodian K. Bijen Singh managed a spectacular save. Sagaar Hang Limbu’s powerful strike from inside the box was well saved by Singh.
ASEB continued with their desperate attempts in the initial stages.
The second half failed to produce much of a difference except for the goal, which made the difference.
Jelendra’s fine cross from the left flank saw Chayaram Basumatary failing to head the ball inches away from the target in the 55th minute.
The same saga continued with both the sides missing out on a few opportunities. Chayaram, having received a short pass fromJelendra, attempted one goal, which went way wide of target inthe 61st minute. The powermen failed to build up attacks and were mostly struggling to keep possession. In the 81st minute, NF Railway player Sibra Narzary took the aerial route only to find the ball back in his feet after ASEB defenders could not clear the ball. Narzary’s fine cross was well set for Jelendra, who was on the prowl, to find the back of the net through a header in the 82nd minute. Navajyoti Club and SunriseAthletic Club shared a point each playing a 1-1 draw in Saturday's match. Ishak Sangma put Navajyoti ahead in the 32nd minute while Camara drew the parity in the 80th minute of the match.
Green Valley SC will clash with Assam Police Blues on Monday.
A Division League:In the Jibeswar Goswami Guwahati first division league, Maharana AC were awarded a walkover as opponents Abutani FC failed to turn up for the scheduled match at the second turf of the same venue.
City Police gained three valuable points with a 3-2 goal victory against Sports Authority of India Sports Club yesterday. Substitute Pranab Das netted two goals in the 48th and 80th minutes, including a penalty kick conversion for the latter, while Manoj Ahmed opened the account in the second minute of the match.
For SAI, Irakdau Khaklary scored both the goals in the 27th and 31st minutes respectively.

आतंकी संगठनों द्वारा आए दिन दिल्ली मेट्रो को निशाना बनाने की धमकी, प्रदर्शनकारियों व आपराधिक घटनाओं को देखते हुए मेट्रो की सुरक्षा में तैनात केंद्रीय औद्योगिक सुरक्षा बल (सीआइएसएफ) के बेड़े में चार हजार अतिरिक्त जवान शामिल किए जाएंगे। इस संबंध में मई में सीआइएसएफ द्वारा भेजे गए प्रस्ताव पर विचार करने के बाद गृह मंत्रालय ने यह फैसला लिया है।
मेट्रो में सफर करने वालों की संख्या लगातार बढ़ रही है। ऐसे उनकी सुरक्षा की पुख्ता व्यवस्था के लिए जल्द ही सभी 134 स्टेशनों पर कंट्रोल रूम स्थापित किए जाएंगे। वर्तमान में दो मुख्य स्टेशन सहित 90 मेट्रो स्टेशनों पर सीआइएसएफ कंट्रोल रूम हैं।
सीआइएसएफ के प्रवक्ता हेमेंद्र सिंह के अनुसार, मेट्रो स्टेशनों पर मुख्य तौर पर सीआइएसएफ की तीन तरह की टीम काम करती है। किसी तरह की घटना होने पर क्विक रिएक्शन टीम को लगाया जाता है। अल्फा टीम भीड़भाड़ सहित मेट्रो में कार्रवाई करती है। वहीं बल का सबसे महत्वपूर्ण अंग इंटेलीजेंस विंग है। सादे कपड़े में स्टेशनों पर मौजूद जवान सभी यात्रियों पर पैनी नजर रखते हैं। उन्हें प्रोफाइल ट्रेनिंग दी गई है। वे चेहरे के हाव-भाव, पहनावे या बोलचाल से संदिग्ध की पहचान करने में सक्ष्म हैं। वर्तमान में मेट्रो में इस विंग में 100 जवान तैनात हैं। इसमें 25 महिला जवान हैं। इस विंग की चार टीमें हमेशा मेट्रो स्टेशन पर कार्यरत रहती हैं। मालूम हो कि लंदन मेट्रो में बम विस्फोट के बाद सन 2007 में दिल्ली मेट्रो में सीआइएसएफ के जवानों की तैनाती की गई थी। 1633 जवानों से शुरू हुए सीआइएसएफ के बेड़े में वर्तमान संख्या 4869 पहुंच गई है।

NAGPUR: Taking swift action after complaints of harassment by women passengers on a train, Itwari railway police nabbed a group of 15 youths from Shivnath Express as soon as it reached Itwari Railway station early on Thursday morning.The group of youths hailing from Bilaspur and Raipur were employees of a private company and were coming to Nagpur to attend an official meeting.Police have booked the youths on a complaint lodged by Khaperkheda resident Aarti Trivedi, 48, and Narendra Agrawal from Korba.Trivedi was travelling with her two young daughters and Agrawal was with his wife. They claimed that during the journey, the youths first sang indecent songs and passed abusive comments towards Trivedi's daughters and Agrawal's wife.The duo informed the TTE and even alerted railway police control room. The youths were produced in the court on Thursday afternoon and released on bail with Rs 500 fine each.

ALLAHABAD: Sleuths of Government Railway Police (GRP) were successful in nabbing a gang of six criminals involved in the theft of passengers' luggage on trains. The miscreants were arrested from platform number 7 of Allahabad railway junction on Saturday. Many tools used for committing the thefts were also recovered from their possession.The six arrested persons have been identified as NazarHaider, resident of Kareli, Anand Kumar of Shahganj, Sunil Kumar, resident of Shahganj, SonuGaur of Kotwali, Saddam alias Badka of Mohtashimganj and MohdHaroon of Shahganj.

With questions being raised over the viability of the ambitious high speed rail corridor project, the Congress-led United Democratic Front government in Kerala has grabbed a proposal for setting up a suburban corridor in the state.
The state cabinet has asked Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation, which operates the suburban services in Mumbai, to study the feasibility of the proposal mooted by the Trivandrum Railway Division for introducing suburban train services from the state capital of Trivandrum to Chengannur and Harippad.The project is proposed to be taken up as a joint venture between the Indian Railways and the state government. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the government had taken the proposal seriously as it would cost an investment of only Rs200 million for a kilometre.This is much lower than the high speed north-south corridor and road development projects being considered by the government. Chandy said the officials who studied the suburban service in Mumbai were of the opinion that it could be introduced in the state by upgrading platforms and other facilities.

He said there was no need for separate lines for running Mainline Electrical Multiple Units (Memu). The Memu services would be scheduled in such a way as not to affect the passenger and express train services along the routes.

However, railway officials are sceptic about running the service by using the existing infrastructure. They have pointed out that the existing double lines in Kerala were highly saturated and they would not be able to sustain the suburban services. A third line is unthinkable in the state as it is still not able to complete the line doubling due to difficulties in acquiring land. Moreover, the railways have not been able to operate even short distance suburban services with the current infrastructure.

The railway officials say the investment estimated for upgrading infrastructure to facilitate suburban services was not realistic. They say the track circuiting, automatic signalling system, raising the height of the platforms and others needed for suburban services would need huge funds. Many feel the suburban project may languish as the high speed rail corridor project. The government has not been showing interest in the latter with experts saying that it will end up as a white elephant.

Experts say the high speed corridor project which will incur an interest of Rs59 billion a year can become viable only if the tickets are priced higher than air fares. This will make the high speed rail corridor a travel option for the super rich. Experts say such a travel will be unaffordable to the public and would make the project nonviable to the state.

CTS Nair, a former chief economist with the Food and Agriculture Organisation, said Japan had disbanded its high speed service due to accumulating debts. He said several other countries pursuing similar projects were reconsidering them. -news@khaleejtimes.com

With questions being raised over the viability of the ambitious high speed rail corridor project, the Congress-led United Democratic Front government in Kerala has grabbed a proposal for setting up a suburban corridor in the state.
The state cabinet has asked Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation, which operates the suburban services in Mumbai, to study the feasibility of the proposal mooted by the Trivandrum Railway Division for introducing suburban train services from the state capital of Trivandrum to Chengannur and Harippad.The project is proposed to be taken up as a joint venture between the Indian Railways and the state government. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the government had taken the proposal seriously as it would cost an investment of only Rs200 million for a kilometre.This is much lower than the high speed north-south corridor and road development projects being considered by the government. Chandy said the officials who studied the suburban service in Mumbai were of the opinion that it could be introduced in the state by upgrading platforms and other facilities.

He said there was no need for separate lines for running Mainline Electrical Multiple Units (Memu). The Memu services would be scheduled in such a way as not to affect the passenger and express train services along the routes.

However, railway officials are sceptic about running the service by using the existing infrastructure. They have pointed out that the existing double lines in Kerala were highly saturated and they would not be able to sustain the suburban services. A third line is unthinkable in the state as it is still not able to complete the line doubling due to difficulties in acquiring land. Moreover, the railways have not been able to operate even short distance suburban services with the current infrastructure.

The railway officials say the investment estimated for upgrading infrastructure to facilitate suburban services was not realistic. They say the track circuiting, automatic signalling system, raising the height of the platforms and others needed for suburban services would need huge funds. Many feel the suburban project may languish as the high speed rail corridor project. The government has not been showing interest in the latter with experts saying that it will end up as a white elephant.

Experts say the high speed corridor project which will incur an interest of Rs59 billion a year can become viable only if the tickets are priced higher than air fares. This will make the high speed rail corridor a travel option for the super rich. Experts say such a travel will be unaffordable to the public and would make the project nonviable to the state.

CTS Nair, a former chief economist with the Food and Agriculture Organisation, said Japan had disbanded its high speed service due to accumulating debts. He said several other countries pursuing similar projects were reconsidering them. -news@khaleejtimes.com

Railways will run special trains between Chennai Central and Mangalore Junction from September 14 to clear the rush of passengers during Onam.A press release issued by Palakkad Railway Division said reservation for these trains started on Sunday.Train No.06003 Chennai Central – Mangalore Junction Special will leave Chennai at 9 p.m. on September 14 and September 21 and arrive at Mangalore at 12.45 p.m. the following day.Train No.06004 Mangalore Junction – Chennai Central will leave Mangalore at 2.45 p.m. on September 15 and 22 and reach Chennai at 7.45 a.m.