ProUI

The Hubli Division of South Western Railway has recorded a growth of 14.73 per cent in earnings from carrying passengers in the first four months of the current financial year.Speaking at the Independence Day celebrations organised by the Hubli Division of SWR here on Thursday, divisional railway manager of Hubli Division Sanjeev Mittal said that during the first four months of the current financial year, 2013-14, the division had carried 133.82 lakh passengers and earned an amount of Rs. 82.11 crore.The division could lift freight of 8.949 million tones during the first four months of the current fiscal achieving 7.56 per cent more than the target, registering earnings of Rs. 754.08 crore.He said that Gokak Road railway station had been identified as adarsh station and passenger amenity works like improvement the platform surface and lighting arrangements had been done.The development of Koppal, Almatti and Badami railways stations as adarsh stations on Hubli Division was under progress, he said.

Mr. Mittal said the division had taken initiatives for the welfare of railway personnel.

He said the division was committed to provide hygienic environment at stations and on trains and the Nizamuddin-Vasco-Nizamuddin (Train nos.12779/12780) Goa Express have been chosen to be developed as model trains.

Senior Divisional Personnel Officer of Hubli Division Chalapathi Rao welcomed the gathering.

GURGAON: Long after they took over the roads in the vicinity of Cyber City for construction, the Rapid Metro authorities have failed to maintain these roads and bring them back to their original shape. Some stretches of roads in particular are in a very bad condition. The road between Sikanderpur and Bristol Hotel crossing not only has several potholes but it also is very narrow, leading to a traffic jam. The area near the Metro station in Moulsari Avenue and some parts of Phase-II are also crying out for attention. Despite repeated attempts, the Rapid Metro officials refused to offer any explanation for the pathetic condition of this road. However, the HUDA administrator said he was worried about HUDA's name being unnecessarily tarnished. Rapid Metro is a joint venture by IL&FS Engineering Services and HUDA. "What you are saying is absolutely correct since I myself saw the Sikanderpur area a couple of days ago. The road is indeed in a bad condition and it is true that because of Rapid Metro we are getting a bad name as it is a joint venture in which the construction and upkeep of the road is being done by them. The road at this spot needs to be repaired immediately and should also be widened," HUDA Administrator Praveen Kumar told TOI.

"I will call for a meeting with the Rapid Metro authorities and direct them to repair all the roads that they had taken over from us in order to construct the Metro. The problem of traffic jam will get resolved to quite an extent once the roads are repaired. I am hoping that the repair work is carried out soon," he said.

The residents and motorists are also complaining of their vehicles getting damaged because of the condition of the roads where the Metro construction is going on.

"Travelling on the Sikanderpur stretch is a nightmare and the horrible state of the road does damage vehicles. There is a perennial traffic jam because the road is narrow and potholed. The authorities, in this case HUDA, should ensure that the private developer is penalized if he doesn't repair the roads despite being asked to do so," said Rajat Aggarwal, a DLF Phase-III resident.

GUWAHATI  – Noted artist and quiz master RN Kalita recently assumed charge as Director (Catering Services) of the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).
Prior to this appointment, Kalita was working as Executive Director (Marketing) in Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL), an official statement said.Kalita joined Indian Railway Traffic Service in 1982 (Civil Services 1981 exam batch) and had training in multifarious subjects ranging from Multimodal Transport Management in Brugge, Belgium, to Consultant Selection Procedure for ADB-funded projects.He worked in the Commercial, Operations and Safety Departments of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), Central Railway and North Central Railway in various capacities before joining the RVNL.Kalita has a flair for music, acting and anchoring shows and has been a popular quiz master on TV, radio and circuit.He has acted in films, TV and performed on radio and stage. Kalita has won several accolades in his career, including President of India’s ‘Silver Star’ and ‘Silver Elephant’ medals for his contribution to scouting in India, Railway Minister’s ‘Award of Merit’ and ‘Best Quiz Master of Assam,’ an award from Assam Sports Association.

MUMBAI: A woman constable was suspended after the Railway Protection Force (RPF) control room failed to respond to a call from a woman commuter who wanted to alert the cops about a man who was flashing on a running train on Western Railway on Friday morning. The Government Railway Police finally arrested the accused Vinaykumar Singh (30), who is employed with WR as peon. The incident took place around 8am in a Churchgate-bound fast train. Inspector general of police , Western Railway, Mahim Swami said, "I decided to suspend the constable concerned after a report in TOI alleged that the complainant's call to the RPF control room on the day of the incident failed to elicit any response." Based on preliminary inquiry , WR has identified head constable Rekha Namdeo for alleged dereliction of duty. She was posted in the control room when the incident occurred. Swami said, "The inquiry will be wrapped up in a couple of days. We have also requested the complainant to record her statement. If found guilty, the constable will be given exemplary punishment so that there is no repeat of such lapse in future."

It is yet to be established whether the constable did not pick up the call at all or she failed to pass on the information after receiving the complaint . Swami said, "The inquiry is being conducted to find out the reasons."

Railway activist Samir Zaveri said, "The RPF should dismiss the constable if she is found guilty. Stern action will ensure that others do not take their job lightly. Top officials should also regularly call up the control room to check the preparedness of the system."

Security for woman commuters has been found lacking over the past few months on the suburban railway. On July 27, a nurse travelling alone was molested by a man in the compartment. The onduty GRP constable was suspended after he overslept and missed the train at Churchgate stion.

On August 13, an attempt was made by stunt-boys—all minors—to rob a journalist in a running train at 4pm.

Mira Road resident Shreya P said, "Railway authorities should consider installing CCTV cameras in ladies compartments like in the Delhi Metro and BEST buses."

The incident

The complainant, employed with a private firm in Lower Parel, had boarded the first class compartment of a Churchgatebound local at 7.58am at Mira Road. She noticed that the accused, travelling in the adjacent first class general compartment, was flashing while travelling on the train's footboard. The complainant, who was also travelling on the footboard of the ladies first class, called the RPF control room. As there was no response, the complainant called up the GRP helpline. GRP personnel then nabbed the flasher at Dadar and took him to Mumbai Central. He was later transferred to the Borivli GRP, which has registered a case under Section 509 of IPC.

The action taken

Head constable Rekha Namdeo has been placed under suspension pending completion of inquiry

Dial for help

GRP Helpline | 9833331111 RPF | 1311

GURGAON: Long after they took over the roads in the vicinity of Cyber City for construction, the Rapid Metro authorities have failed to maintain these roads and bring them back to their original shape. Some stretches of roads in particular are in a very bad condition. The road between Sikanderpur and Bristol Hotel crossing not only has several potholes but it also is very narrow, leading to a traffic jam. The area near the Metro station in Moulsari Avenue and some parts of Phase-II are also crying out for attention. Despite repeated attempts, the Rapid Metro officials refused to offer any explanation for the pathetic condition of this road. However, the HUDA administrator said he was worried about HUDA's name being unnecessarily tarnished. Rapid Metro is a joint venture by IL&FS Engineering Services and HUDA. "What you are saying is absolutely correct since I myself saw the Sikanderpur area a couple of days ago. The road is indeed in a bad condition and it is true that because of Rapid Metro we are getting a bad name as it is a joint venture in which the construction and upkeep of the road is being done by them. The road at this spot needs to be repaired immediately and should also be widened," HUDA Administrator Praveen Kumar told TOI.

"I will call for a meeting with the Rapid Metro authorities and direct them to repair all the roads that they had taken over from us in order to construct the Metro. The problem of traffic jam will get resolved to quite an extent once the roads are repaired. I am hoping that the repair work is carried out soon," he said.

The residents and motorists are also complaining of their vehicles getting damaged because of the condition of the roads where the Metro construction is going on.

"Travelling on the Sikanderpur stretch is a nightmare and the horrible state of the road does damage vehicles. There is a perennial traffic jam because the road is narrow and potholed. The authorities, in this case HUDA, should ensure that the private developer is penalized if he doesn't repair the roads despite being asked to do so," said Rajat Aggarwal, a DLF Phase-III resident.

South Central Railway announced Twelve Special Trains between Secunderabad and Guwahati and Eight Special Trains between Kacheguda and Mangalore...................

New Delhi:  As a part of its social commitment to make railways more friendly towards specially-abled passengers, the Indian Railways has decided to provide Braille stickers in coaches to facilitate visually-impaired passengers.

Presently, coaches are provided with signage, instructions, seat numbers, etc, which are mostly in the form of vinyl stickers/metallic plates and have no braille characters and cannot be read by visually-impaired passengers.

Now it is planned to use stickers with metallic base with printed characters embedded into it. Integral Coach Factory (ICF), a production unit of the Indian Railways has developed the specification for integrated braille signages in coaches in consultations with blind associations and input received from Research Design & Standards Organisation (RDSO) and issued to railways.

The first prototype coach is expected to be turned out from ICF in October 2013 for feedback. This is expected to be a major step for facilitation of visually-impaired passengers during journey in trains.

Braille printing will be superimposed on these stickers and same can be used by both a person with normal vision and visually impaired person.

With embedded picture/characters, there would not be any defacing even on repeated contacts/rubbing.

Flexible metal foil base and adhesive backing on these stickers make them easy to install on flat as well as on curved surfaces of the coach.

MANGALORE: Indian Railways will introduce special train in Yesvantpur - Mangalore section (via Palakkad) in order to clear extra rush of passengers. A weekly special train 06565/06566 will run between Yesvantpur and Mangalore Central. The service of this weekly special train leaving Yesvantpur on Sunday, will be available from August 18 to September 1. Similarly, service of train leaving Mangalore Central on Monday will be available from August 19 to September 2.

Train 06566 will leave Mangalore Central at 8pm and arrive at Yesvantpur at 1.30pm. Likewise, train 06565 will leave Yesvantpur at 11.55pm and arrive at Mangalore Central at 5.40pm. The above trains that will touch Banaswadi, Krishnarajapuram, Bangarpet, Kuppam, Salem, Erode Junction, Tiruppur, Coimbatore, Palakkad and Shoranur junctions, Tirur, Kozhikode, Vadakara, Thalassery, Kannur and Kasargod will have one two tier AC-coach, one 3 tier AC-coach, seven sleeper coaches and six unreserved general coaches.

South Central Railway announced Twelve Special Trains between Secunderabad and Guwahati and Eight Special Trains between Kacheguda and Mangalore...................

MUMBAI : Passengers could be inconvenienced as Central Railway will operate a megablock on its suburban sections for carrying out maintenance work on Sunday.

The first block will be carried out on the Down fast line between Thane and Kalyan stations from 10 am to 3.30 pm on Sunday. The Dn fast line services leaving Mumbai CST from 9.04 am to 2.51 pm will be diverted on Dn slow line between Thane and Kalyan stations halting at all stations between Thane and Kalyan stations. All these Dn fast locals will halt at Ghatkopar, Vikhroli, Bhandup & Mulund stations in addition to their respective scheduled halts and will arrive destination 20 minutes behind schedule.

All Up fast line services leaving Thane from 10.50 am to 3.43 pm will halt at Mulund, Bhandup, Vikhroli, Ghatkopar and Kurla stations in addition to their scheduled halts and arrive their destination15 minutes behind schedule.

All Dn slow suburban services leaving CST between 10 am and 4 pm and the Up slow suburban services arriving CST between 11 am and 5 pm will arrive their destination ten minutes behind schedule, officials stated.

Another megablock will be carried out on the Up and Down lines between Kalyan and Ambernath stations from 2 pm to 3.30 pm

The Dn line services leaving Kalyan from 1.32 pm to 3.17 pm and Up line services leaving Badlapur from 1.49 pm to 3.22 pm will remain suspended. However, shuttle services will run between Badlapur and Karjat during the block period, officials added.