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Railways has decided to equip some of its premier trains with automatic fire detection system involving activation of emergency brake followed by hooter sound in case of a blaze. "The automatic fire and smoke detection system is being installed on Ranchi Rajdhani," a senior Railway Ministry official said, adding, "as per the plan, more such trains will be equipped with the system in future." LHB coaches of Ranchi Rajdhani now have fire safety device manufactured by an Australian company. The installation was done at a rail coach factory in Kapurthala at approximately Rs 1.75 lakh per coach. The air brake system will be automatically activated if there is a fire in the coach and the hooter sound will follow 45 seconds after the emergency brake, the official said. The hooter will alert the Railway staff in case of fire, enabling them to shift or evacuate the passengers from the train, he said. Earlier, the fire detection system was installed in Bhubaneswar Rajdhani on a trial basis. "Two fire incidents were detected by the system in two coaches of Bhubaneswar Rajdhani during the trial period and timely warning saved loss of life and property," the official said.

Based on the feedback from the trial, Research Design and Standards Organisation, Railways' research wing, has improved on the specification and also made provision of interfacing the system with the air brake system of the coaches so that in the event of fire, train stops before the hooter is sounded.

This will ensure that passengers get out safely without panicking, he said, adding that this arrangement was tried on the Bhubaneswar Rajdhani.

Currently, the fire safety system can be installed only in air conditioned coaches - AC First, AC Second, AC Three Tier, AC Chair Car and AC pantry car. The general compartments and sleeper coaches have been left out.

A different system will be developed for sleeper and general compartments as this technology is suitable for AC coaches only, the official said.

Hyderabad: Hyderabad Metro Rail authorities are finding the going tough in Secunderabad Cantonment. While work on the project is progressing at a brisk pace in the city, not a single pillar has been laid in the Cantonment limits so far.The HMR requires nearly 3 acres of land belonging to the Cantonment Board, defence estate office and the Army from Jubilee bus station to Ganesh temple. Though the defence authorities agreed to give the land, providing right of way to metro rail, they wanted an equivalent amount of land (around 3 acres) in Secunderabad.Even as the government is in the process of identifying about 25 acres of land near Vikarabad or some other place close to defence establishments, the metro rail authorities have been given another jolt by the Cantonment authorities.The Cantonment officials have refused to take up the job of shifting the streetlights from central medians to provide right of way for the Metro Rail. It may be mentioned that HMR has stated that it will bear the entire expenditure involved in shifting of the streetlights and installation of new ones on either side of the road.However, Cantonment authorities are in no mood to take up the job. “If Metro Rail officials want right of way, let them do the streetlight shifting by engaging their own staff and labour. “However, the Cantonment officials will monitor and supervise the shifting and re-installation of the streetlights project,” a senior official in Cantonment said.

It may be mentioned that in other parts of the city, the streetlights located in the central medians (road divider) are being shifted on either side of the road to make way for HMR by GHMC. The expenditure for shifting of streetlights is being borne by the metro rail authorities.

When contacted, HMR managing director N.V.S Reddy said there was absolutely no problem with the Cantonment and defence authorities.

“Shifting of streetlights is a small issue which will be settled amicably. Even the alternative land (in lieu of 3 acres) is in the final stages of being identified,” he added.

Weekly special trains between Yeshwantpur and Mangalore Central will be introduced via Palakkad from August 18 to September 2. Train No.06565 will leave Yeshwantpur on Sundays at 11.55 p.m.Train No. 06566 will leave Mangalore Central on Mondays at 1.30 p.m.The service of the weekly special trains leaving Yeshwantpur on Sundays will be available from August 18 to September 1 and that of trains leaving Mangalore Central on Mondays from August 19 to September 2, a press release from Palakkad railway division here said on Saturday.These special trains will have one 2 tier AC coach, one 3 tier AC coach, seven sleeper coaches, and six unreserved general coaches, the release said.

Southern Railway is on course to complete the gauge conversion of the Pollachi – Palakkad and Pollachi – Podanur sections in the current financial year, Rakesh Misra, Southern Railway General Manager said on Thursday.

The railway electrification of Villupuram – Vellore section, Dindigul – Virudhunagar – Tirunelveli section, Vanchimaniyachi – Tuticorin section and Shoranur – Kozhikode sections are expected to be completed this fiscal, Mr. Misra said in his Independence Day address after unfurling the national flag and inspecting a guard of honour by the Railway Protection Force.

The zonal railway has already commissioned the Salem – Karur new line and completed gauge conversion in the Manamadurai – Virudhunagar section. According to Mr. Misra, the state-of-the-art Integrated Security Systems (ISS), currently in place at 10 major railway stations, would be installed in four more stations during the current financial year, he said. The OP unit at the new railway hospital in Perambur was also on track for commissioning the fiscal. According to Mr. Misra, the overall earnings of Southern Railway have grown from Rs.2065 crores to Rs.2272 crores. During the first quarter of the current year, Southern Railway carried 274 million originating passengers, yielding an originating passenger earnings of Rs.1150 crores. Southern Railway also introduced 15 pairs of new trains, extended seven pairs of trains and raised the frequency of two trains. During the first three months of this year, Southern Railway has operated 1,040 more mail/express trains compared to last year.

The general manager announced a cash award of Rs.5000 each to G.Yuvaraj, Inspector, RPF, Chennai Egmore, A. Sridhar, Inspector, RPF Training Centre, Tiruchi and B. Karthikeyan, Head Constable, Crime Intelligence Branch, Chennai. V.K. Dhaka, IG-cum-Chief Security Commissioner, led railwaymen in paying respects to the martyrs of the freedom struggle at the Southern Railway headquarters.

In a separate function at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Mr. Misra, who is also holding charge as general manager, accepted the Guard of Honour by the RPF contingents.

At Ezhilagam on the Marina which houses various offices of the State government, Additional Chief Secretary and Commissioner of Revenue Administration, T.S. Sridhar, unfurled the flag in the presence of other senior officials.

Hoisting the national flag at the function organised by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC), G.Karuppuswamy, Basin Manager Krishna Godavari-Pranhita Godavari said one well has been planned for shale gas exploration during 2014-15 in KG onland. At Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd, managing director A.S.Basu unfurled the tricolour at the Manali refinery.

In Indian Oil Corporation, Executive Director (Regional Services) K.R.Suresh Kumar and ED (Tamil Nadu and Puducherry) V.K.Jaychandran participated in the function.

New Delhi: A goods train carrying coal derailed near Ulna Bhari station in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, disrupting movement of trains on Delhi-Howrah main rail route.The Ayodhya-bound goods train derailed at 12.37 PM this afternoon between Ulna Bhari-Bilhar Ghat stations on Barabanki-Zafarabad section of Lucknow Division, said a senior Northern Railway official. Eight coal wagons derailed and as a result movement of rail traffic has been suspended temporarily as the mainline section has been blocked. The official said Accident Relief Trains (ART) from Faizabad, Lucknow and Mughalsarai stations have already been pressed into service to restore the blocked section. Senior railway officials are supervising the restoration work for an early start of normal train movement on the affected section, he said. While Varanasi-Ayodhya-Gonda Intercity Express was cancelled, several trains have been diverted due to the derailment. The train which are being diverted from their usual routes include Howrah-Kotdwar Doon Express, Delhi-Malda Town Farrakha Express, Ferozpur Cantt-Dhanbad Ganga Sutlej Express, Surat-Muzaffarpur Express, Jammu Tawi-Kolkata Sealdah Express, Farrukhabad-Chhapra Express, Darbhanga-Ahmedabad Sabarmati Express, Patna-Kota Express, Faizabad-Delhi Kaifiyat Express and Varanasi-Jodhpur Marudhar Express.

HISAR
: Local MP and HJC (BL) supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi raised the demand for widening the railway overbridge (RoB) on Dabra Chowk here in the Lok Sabha. In a statement here, the MP said the proposal for four-laning the RoB on the Hisar-Sadalpur railway line had been pending with the Railway Ministry for a long time. He said the RoB was an important link on the Delhi-Sirsa road which was constructed in 1994. It had now become a major bottleneck due to increased traffic over the years.

कानपुर, हमारे संवाददाता: शनिवार को कालका मेल के द्वितीय श्रेणी के एसी कोच में पानी न होने के चलते यात्रियों ने हंगामा किया। जिसके बाद रेलवे अधिकारियों ने पानी की व्यवस्था कराई। उधर, जनरल कोच में पंखा न चलने को लेकर भी यात्रियों ने शिकायत की जिसे रेलवे के इलेक्ट्रीशियन ठीक करने में जुटे रहे। इसके चलते ट्रेन ढाई घंटा देर से चली। 1कानपुर, हमारे संवाददाता: शनिवार को कालका मेल के द्वितीय श्रेणी के एसी कोच में पानी न होने के चलते यात्रियों ने हंगामा किया। जिसके बाद रेलवे अधिकारियों ने पानी की व्यवस्था कराई। उधर, जनरल कोच में पंखा न चलने को लेकर भी यात्रियों ने शिकायत की जिसे रेलवे के इलेक्ट्रीशियन ठीक करने में जुटे रहे। इसके चलते ट्रेन ढाई घंटा देर से चली।

KOCHI: City corporation has expressed its displeasure over Roads and Bridges Development Corporation's-Kerala (RBDC-K) inability to complete the construction of Ponnurunni railway overbridge (ROB) on time. Though the agency had informed that they would complete the work by June 30, the firm has not begun construction works over the track and approach road near Vyttila."As RBDC-K is not in favour of using pre-fabricated girders for construction activities above the track, there would be further delays. We are not sure whether Southern railway would be willing to provide line block to facilitate work at the site," said a senior official with Kochi corporation.RBDC-K proceeded with the work of 624.466m-long ROB in April 2011 and Cherian Varkey Construction Company Pvt Ltd was awarded the tender to execute the work. Corporation said the delay would lead to cost escalation.Civic body officials visited the site recently to evaluate the progress of work. The speedy completion of the ROB has become an immediate concern as Metro works are progressing quickly. The ROB is expected to decongest the busy Palarivattom circle and Pipeline Junction on national highway by opening a route linking Palarivattom and Vyttila through Thammanam.

Meanwhile, RBDC-K has stated that they would be able to complete the work by December.

"Work on approach road at Vyttila and a portion above train track is progressing," said project manager Moshim Backer.

He said RBDC-K has obtained all required sanctions and the commissioner of railway safety (CRS) has given permission to carry out construction works. The agency said that though they wanted to fall in line with the accepted practice of using pre-fabricated girders for construction of ROBs, the option was ruled out as there was no adequate space at the site to launch the steel girders above the track.

Silchar: Hundreds of protesters on Saturday staged a demonstration in front of the residence of Assam minister for excise and sports Ajit Singh in the Itkhola locality of Silchar.The demonstration was organized by the Lumding-Silchar Broad-gauge Project Demand Implementation Action Committee, an umbrella organization of different NGOs of the Barak Valley. They were seeking immediate completion of the much-delayed 201-km broad gauge project connecting Lumding with Silchar under Northeast Frontier Railway.The members with placards and festoons in their hands raised slogans criticizing the ministers, MLAs and MPs from the Barak Valley for their alleged reluctance in timely implementation of the mega project, which is considered as the lifeline of the Barak Valley, Tripura, Mizoram and parts of Manipur.The sports minister was, however, was not at home when the demonstration took place. "We will not rest until the broad gauge and East-West corridor projects are commissioned. The projects are victims of negligence and reluctance of the government and local representatives", said Haridas Dutta, a member of the committee.

The demonstration passed off peacefully and no one was arrested, said a police officer.

This is the part of a series of agitations chalked out by the committee. On Friday, they staged a similar demonstration in front of the house of Assam public health engineering minister Gautom Roy in Hailakandi. Police arrested160 people for breaking Section 144 of CrPc.

On Sunday, the members of the committee will organize a similar programme in front of the house of minister for border area development Siddeq Ahmed in Karimganj.

Silchar: Hundreds of protesters on Saturday staged a demonstration in front of the residence of Assam minister for excise and sports Ajit Singh in the Itkhola locality of Silchar.The demonstration was organized by the Lumding-Silchar Broad-gauge Project Demand Implementation Action Committee, an umbrella organization of different NGOs of the Barak Valley. They were seeking immediate completion of the much-delayed 201-km broad gauge project connecting Lumding with Silchar under Northeast Frontier Railway.The members with placards and festoons in their hands raised slogans criticizing the ministers, MLAs and MPs from the Barak Valley for their alleged reluctance in timely implementation of the mega project, which is considered as the lifeline of the Barak Valley, Tripura, Mizoram and parts of Manipur.The sports minister was, however, was not at home when the demonstration took place. "We will not rest until the broad gauge and East-West corridor projects are commissioned. The projects are victims of negligence and reluctance of the government and local representatives", said Haridas Dutta, a member of the committee.

The demonstration passed off peacefully and no one was arrested, said a police officer.

This is the part of a series of agitations chalked out by the committee. On Friday, they staged a similar demonstration in front of the house of Assam public health engineering minister Gautom Roy in Hailakandi. Police arrested160 people for breaking Section 144 of CrPc.

On Sunday, the members of the committee will organize a similar programme in front of the house of minister for border area development Siddeq Ahmed in Karimganj.