ProUI

Ferozepur:
The much-awaited Ferozepur-Delhi Sarai Rohilla Intercity Express was flagged off at the cantonment railway station amid jubilation this morning. Lok Sabha MP from Ferozepur Sher Singh Ghubaya, former MP Jagmeet Brar, legislator Parminder Singh Pinki and NC Goyal, DRM, Ferozepur Division, were among those present on the occasion.
The intercity train (14626) would start from Ferozepur daily at 4.30 am and reach the Delhi Sarai Rohilla station at 11.45 am via Faridkot, Kotkapura, Bhatinda, Mansa, Jakhal, Narwana, Jind and Rohtak. On its return journey, the train would start at 6.45 am and reach Ferozepur at 2.45 pm. The train had 15 coaches, including two AC coaches, five sleepers, and two brake vans.

NEW DELHI: According top priority to passenger safety, Railway Minister Mr.Mallikarjun Kharge has asked his officers to follow a policy of ‘no loss of life’.

However, ensuring that no lives are lost could prove to be a difficult task in view of the mammoth 1.42 lakh vacancies in safety-related posts in the state-run transporter. To stretch the already thin workforce, hundreds of new trains have been added in the last few years.

The Railway Board, the highest decision-making body which is responsible for operations of 11,000 trains every day and handles projects worth lakhs of crores, has been headless for over a month now. Besides, the board doesn’t have a full-time Member (Staff) and Financial Commissioner.

In a message to general managers, heads of zonal railways and divisional railways managers, Kharge said, “Safety should take priority over all other considerations. A policy of ‘no loss of life’ should be our motto.”

Safety-related posts lying vacant include loco running staff, drivers, station masters, guards, technology supervisors, control and yard staff, signal inspectors and maintenance employees who are crucial for railway operations. The shortage of loco pilots alone is around 20%.

The vacancies have put excessive strain on existing staff which is reflected in the increase in train accidents attributed to human error.

While railways maintains that an aggressive recruitment drive is underway to fill up vacancies, incidents of paper leaks in examinations have slowed down the process. The railways, incidentally, is the largest public sector employer in the country.

The recent ‘cash for promotion’ scam involving the nephew of the former railway minister had raised questions on the way senior level posts in railways board were filled.

NEW DELHI: According top priority to passenger safety, Railway Minister Mr.Mallikarjun Kharge has asked his officers to follow a policy of ‘no loss of life’.

However, ensuring that no lives are lost could prove to be a difficult task in view of the mammoth 1.42 lakh vacancies in safety-related posts in the state-run transporter. To stretch the already thin workforce, hundreds of new trains have been added in the last few years.

The Railway Board, the highest decision-making body which is responsible for operations of 11,000 trains every day and handles projects worth lakhs of crores, has been headless for over a month now. Besides, the board doesn’t have a full-time Member (Staff) and Financial Commissioner.

In a message to general managers, heads of zonal railways and divisional railways managers, Kharge said, “Safety should take priority over all other considerations. A policy of ‘no loss of life’ should be our motto.”

Safety-related posts lying vacant include loco running staff, drivers, station masters, guards, technology supervisors, control and yard staff, signal inspectors and maintenance employees who are crucial for railway operations. The shortage of loco pilots alone is around 20%.

The vacancies have put excessive strain on existing staff which is reflected in the increase in train accidents attributed to human error.

While railways maintains that an aggressive recruitment drive is underway to fill up vacancies, incidents of paper leaks in examinations have slowed down the process. The railways, incidentally, is the largest public sector employer in the country.

The recent ‘cash for promotion’ scam involving the nephew of the former railway minister had raised questions on the way senior level posts in railways board were filled.

The Southern Railways’ plan to tear down the more-than-a-century-old Royapuram railway station will not fructify, as the State Heritage Conservation Committee is set to turn down its request to de-list the structure from the list of heritage buildings.

Sources in Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority told Express a decision to this effect would be made later this month when the heritage panel will hold a meeting. “We don’t want to set a precedent,” confided a CMDA source.  Built in 1856 during the colonial era by then Madras Railway Company, Royapuram was the first station that initiated railway services in South India. The list prepared by CMDA has described it as a Grade-1 heritage structure. Southern Railways had planned to raze the Royapuram station and build a passenger terminal, adding two rail lines to connect stations in south Tamil Nadu with the rest of the country.

CMDA sources said the heritage panel would also discuss the first draft list of 79 heritage sites. After going through omissions and corrections, the list is likely to be forwarded to the State government for notification.

The Heritage Conservation Committee has identified 500 sites and so far details have been collected on only about 79 sites.

The Royapuram station, noted for its architecture, was the second to be built in India and it remained the main railway terminus in Chennai until 1907. However, due to lack of maintenance, the station is in a dilapidated condition and if the government does not notify it soon, the building would be consigned to the pages of history books.

About 16 trains pass through Royapuram railway station but none of the express trains stop here. However, the station serves local commuters from Arakonam, Gummidipoondi and Ponneri with 42 up and down train halts a day.

PUNE: The Pune railway division has initiated a special drive against illegal travelling. During June and July the division booked as many as 1,418 people for various offences such as ticket less travelling, invalid tickets and unbooked luggage. The administration has said that action will continue at all prominent stations in the division in coming days. The action was initiated jointly by the railway officials and the staff of railway protection force (RPF). The officials took action on the platforms as well as in the long distance trains passing through Pune division and local trains that run between Pune-Lonavla and Pune-Talegaon. Offenders were given strict warnings to travel with legal tickets. The officials said that most offenders were caught on the Pune station, Shivajinagar and Miraj. As many as 584 people were booked in June and 834 booked in July. A total fine of Rs. 3.60 lakh was imposed in the cases. The railway administration said that additional ticket windows have been started at prominent stations. The administration was also in the process of appointing ticket agents by opening additional ticket counters near the stations under the Jansadharan Ticket Booking Sevak scheme. About 10 JTBS are being made operational in Pune, most are located in nearby Pune station area, said officials.

In view of yard remodelling at Podanur Junction as part of gauge conversion between Pollachi and Podanur from August 10 to 26, the Railways has regulated, cancelled, or diverted some trains. Train No.16107/ 16108 Egmore – Mangalore – Egmore Express has been cancelled between Coimbatore and Mangalore from August 20 to 25. Train No.16107 Chennai Egmore – Mangalore Central Express will be regulated for 60 minutes at Coimbatore on August 11, 13, 14, 17,18, 19; for 70 minutes on August 12, 15, 26; for 120 minutes at Coimbatore on August 16.Train No.16318 Jammutawi –Kanniyakumari Express will be regulated for 105 minutes at Coimbatore on August 15 and 22.

GUWAHATI  – Displaying perfect teamwork, defending champions NF Railway Sports Club trounced Food Corporation of India (FCI) Sports Club 4-0 in today’s match of the Abhishek Motors GSA Super Division Football League for the RG Baruah Trophy at the Nehru Stadium here.The FCI boys were totally outplayed in all departments and virtually danced to the tunes of the well-combined Railway players. The defenders in particular were toothless and they could not prevent the nimble-footed Railway frontliners from entering their territory. FCI defender, Sachin Basumatary, who was in sound form in the previous match, was totally off-colour today and as a result, the whole defence line could not match the opponent’s striking force.The Railway boys, who were not in their best form in the last encounter against Navajyoti, bounced back and forged ahead in the 22nd minute through Sibra Narzary. Sibra got the ball when FCI custodian Govinda Boro could not grip it off a set piece taken by Shashanka Chanda and gently pushed home (1-0).

Leading 1-0 at the breather, the NFR players romped into attack mode with a series of moves using both the flanks. Veteran Duleswar Rabha enhanced the margin in the 54th minute capitalising on a pass from Shashanka (2-0).

After the second goal it became a totally one-sided affair and Sibra scored two more goals outwitting the FCI defence. Sibra netted the third goal in the 58th minute with a header reading a floater sent by Bapa Biswas (3-0). Skilful Sibra completed the tally in the 77th minute with a feeble left footer from top of the box (4-0). The ball deflected into the net kissing David Gayari’s legs.

The FCI attackers were totally outsmarted by the well balanced Railway defenders throughout the course and as a result the Railway goalkeeper K Bijen Singh had a relaxed time under the bar.

Rajbari down Abutani 6-1: In the A Division Football League for the Jibeswar Goswami Trophy, Rajbari Athletic Club fired 6 against Abutani’s 1.

In the totally one-sided match on the second ground, Thoiba scored four goals, including a hattrick, while Ng Santosh and Shaolin Singh added one each.

Thoiba scored in the 12th, 40th, 47th and 73rd minutes while Santosh netted in the 56th minute. Shaolin’s goal came in the 81st minute. For Abutani, Abhinash Talukdar scored the lone goal in the 23rd minute.

Today’s matches: (Super Div) ASEB vs Navajyoti; (A Div) City Police vs Maharana.

PATNA: New divisional railway manager (DRM) N K Gupta of the Danapur division of East Central Railway (ECR) has said that safety of passengers and punctuality of trains would be his top priority. The division is facing several problems, posing a serious challenge to the DRM.The division lacks proper infrastructure to maintain smooth run of about 200 and odd pairs of passenger trains either originating or passing through the division. It has Up and Down lines on the main line only, particularly between Mughalsarai and Jhajha. The proposal for the third line between Ara and Fatuha is still pending with railway ministry for sanction, sources said.Though the third line is the need of the hour, railways has maintained silence on the issue for long causing unnecessary detention of mail and express trains at outer stations or signals. That apart, the division has no contingency plan to cope with heavy traffic. Patna Junction is a hub of passenger trains. About one lakh passengers move here everyday. Yet there is no proper planning to cope with passengers' rush during peak hours. The entire concourse area is full of unauthorized people and vendors. As a result, it is very difficult to move freely with luggage.

The division transports a large number of daily passengers on the Buxar-Patna, Patna-Mokama, Patna-Gaya, Kiul-Gaya and Bakhtiarpur-Rajgir sections of the division. For them, the division has provided several pairs of local trains including MEMUs. But, barring MEMUs, none of the local trains is running on time causing hardship to passengers, mostly office-goers.

Illegal stoppage of trains, rampant alarm chain pulling, frequent attacks on railway property by miscreants, drugging menace and luggage lifting are some of the other problems faced by the Danapur division which have badly affected the normal movement of trains. The new DRM will have to work hard to ensure that all safety rules are strictly followed.

Cleanliness on railway platforms, not only at Patna Junction but at all major stations of the division, is another challenge for the new DRM. Punctuality of trains, at least for those trains originating from the division, would be another uphill task.

Railway Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge will flag off the inaugural special of the Bangalore city-Marikuppam-Bangalore passenger train at 11.30 a.m. at Marikuppam railway station in Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) on Saturday.K.H. Muniyappa, Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, will be the chief guest. Minister for Health and Family Welfare and district in-charge U.T. Khader and legislators will participate, a release from the Indian Railways said.Train No. 66519 /66520 Bangalore city-Marikuppam-Bangalore city passenger will run six days a week. The train will have no service on Saturdays from Bangalore and on Sundays from Marikupppam.The inaugural special from Marikuppam to Bangalore city will run with open timings and existing halts of Train no. 66519 Marikuppam-Bangalore city passenger.The regular services of Train no. 66520 will start from Bangalore on Sunday (11 August, 2013) and that of Train no. 66519 starts from Marikuppam on Monday (12 August, 2013).

Train no. 66519 Marikuppam-Bangalore city passenger will leave Marikuppam at 4.45 a.m. and arrive at Bangalore city at 7.40 a.m. In the return direction, Train no. 66520 Bangalore city-Marikuppam passenger will leave Bangalore city at 8.15 p.m. and reach Marikuppam at 10.30 p.m. The train will halt at Champion, Oorgam, Coromandel, BEML Nagar, Bangarpet, Malur, White Field, Krishnarajapuram and Bangalore Cantonment railway stations.

YSRC party will support the residents of Bhanunagar in a legal battle against South Central Railway (SCR), if required. Disclosing this at a press meet here on Friday, YSRC Central constituency in-charge P. Gowtham Reddy said that SCR had served notices to about 400 families living in over 100 houses in Bhanunagar, alleging that the residents had occupied railway land.

The residents were asked to respond by August 19, and since they hail from BPL segment they are not in a position to give a strong legal reply. Hence we will be supporting them by providing the required legal help, said Mr. Gowtham.

“If the SCR served eviction notice, YSRC will go to court on behalf of the residents,” he said.According to the YSRC leader, the residents of Bhanunagar had been living in the area for the last four decades and about 10 years ago they were given pattas (documents) for the land occupied, by the then district Collector and MRO. The SCR had been asking them to vacate claiming that the land belonged to them. “Already 30 residents had earlier brought a stay against an earlier order from SCR,” said Mr. Gowtham.On the ongoing agitation on Samaikyandhra and CM Kiran Kumar Reddy’s press conference on Thursday, he said, “The CM should be given this press conference much before when the CWC was still contemplating on the bifurcation issue. The press conference was a game plan to misguide the public.” He also pointed out that the CWC and the UPA had totally ignored the state intelligence report that any thought on the bifurcation would create state-wide unrest.