ProUI

Southern Railway has re-scheduled train services on the Chennai-Gudur section to facilitate works from August 6 to August 17.According to a press release, trains no.42011 MMC – Gummidipoondi EMU scheduled to leave at 8.50 hours and no.42013 MMC-Gummidipoondi EMU scheduled to leave at 09.22 hours stand cancelled. On the Gummidipoondi-Ennore line, the trains no.42020 Gummidipoondi-MMC EMU scheduled to leave at 10.50 hours and no.42022 scheduled to leave at 11.20 hours stand cancelled. On the MMC-Sulurpeta line, trains number 42411 MMC-Sulurpeta EMU scheduled to leave at 9.55 hours and 42406 scheduled to leave at 9.45 hours have been cancelled. The train Bitragunta-Chennai Central passenger will be regulated at Ponneri for an hour and 40 minutes.

Members of the Mysore Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Wayanad Chamber of Commerce have constituted a Mysore–Wayanad Joint Railway Connectivity Committee for seeking rail link between the two regions. At a meeting held here on Tuesday, MCCI president Sudhakar Shetty said if the railway line was approved, it would boost industrialisation, trade, tourism, and commerce. A.S. Satish, vice-president of MCCI; M.C. Bhansali, secretary; Shreeshaila Ramannavar, member, Ashok, vice-president, Travel Agents Association, and members of Wayanad Chamber of Commerce were present.

The arrival and departure of 10 trains were delayed for more than 2 hours at Nagercoil railway station after the railway workers could not inter-lock the railway lines on Tuesday. According to sources, there was a fault in point number 105 of railway track signal at Ottuvazmadam near Nagercoil.Owing to this as many as 10 trains coming to Nagercoil railway station was stopped mid-way. The services were restored after the fault was rectified.According to Southern Railway officials (Thiruvananthapuram Division), a team would be constituted to identify why the fault was not checked in time.

Communist Party of India activists opposed the eviction of Bhanu Nagar residents from the railway land, here on Tuesday. CPI leader Navaneetham Sambasiva Rao said the railway officials, however, issued notices asking the residents to vacate the land.The issue was brought to the notice of officials some time ago, and they assured to do justice to the people, he recalled.

Ludhiana:
It may sound surprising but the fact is that the Ludhiana railway station, one of the most revenue generating railway stations of North India, is finding itself helpless in controlling pests on the station premises and rail tracks.The population of rats and cockroaches has been increasing rapidly at the station. The railway authorities used to hire a private firm to control the pest at the railway station. But, for past year and a half the officials have failed to arrange any of the pest management company.It often happens when rats and cockroaches entered the trains and passengers created drama with their surprise entry. Even the offices of the railway authorities at the railway station are not safe. Moreover, rats damage the luggage of passengers.Number of rats is quite less at platform no. 1, 2 and 3 as the cleaners clean the tracks properly. Besides these tracks, all other tracks are filthy and haven for the rats.“Rats are common at railway stations across the country. The number of rats is quite more at the Ludhiana Railway Station. I don't know the reason behind their large population. But, the railway authorities should control the rats and other pests as this can cause various diseases and health hazards to the visitors,” a passengersaid.Ravinder Sharma, station superintendent, said, “It is true that population of rats has been increasing. Even my office is not safe from them. We are trying to manage the things individually and soon tenders for hiring a pest management company will be invited again.”

Yamunanagar/Ambala:
Scheduled to start its first journey on August 9 from Ambala, the Ambala-Yamunanagar-Delhi Express train has been put on hold for an indefinite period after Union Minister Kumari Selja and the railway authorities locked horns over its timings.The minister in a formal statement had recently announced that the train would leave Delhi at 5 pm, but the railway authorities claimed the departure timing to be 1.30 pm.This led to some friction between the railway authorities and Selja, who had been instrumental in getting the train started for Ambala and Yamunanagar which are part of her parliamentary constituency. With the Lok Sabha elections approaching fast, it was being perceived as a major poll issue by the minister, sources said. Recently, the Union Minister had announced that the train would start plying on the Ambala-Yamunanagar-Delhi section from August 9. The minister had also asked the Ambala railway authorities to organise a function on August 9, where she was to flag off the train.

The sources said it was after the residents of her constituency demanded that the departure time from Delhi railway station be changed to 5 pm for the convenience of working passengers, whereas railway board fixed the time as 1:30 pm. As the matter could not be resolved, the launch of the train has been deferred.

NAGPUR: Derailment of 25 coal-laden wagons, 7km from Pendhra Road in Raipur division under the South East Central Railway ( SECR), has led to diversion of six trains from Nagpur. According to senior divisional commercial manager ( SrDCM) Pradeep Kumar, the mishap occurred in Sarbhera yard following which at least six trains have been diverted via Nagpur.

The trains include 12853 & 12854 Amarkantak Express between Durg and Bhopal, 18477 and 18478 Utkal Express between Puri and Hardwar, 14710 Puria and Bikaner Express, and 15159 Sarnath Express between Chhapra and Durg.

Indian Railways planning to introduce Solar Energy on Trains ....

The weather remained overcast, the track water-logged and the standards average. No wonder, day two of the 79th Railways athletics championships was a dull affair.The fact that the first session of the day consisted mainly of decathlon events also meant that there was hardly any interest among those witnessing the action.For the record, Manikandan was the fastest man of the tournament with a timing of 10.59 seconds in the 100m. Merlyn K Joseph was the fastestwoman, setting a time of 11.84 seconds in the 100m.The inclement weather meant organisers rushed to complete as many events as possible every time there was a break in the rain.It was a sight to see the men and women competing simultaneously in the 20km walk across the track.

Poor conditions

In between, pouring rain meant the walkers had to walk around and splash through puddles of water on the track — which legendary runner Bahadur Prasad said was a tell-tale sign of the track being laid incorrectly.After a point, most athletes appeared resigned to performing in constant rain but were clearly more concerned about their safety than a good performance.

“What bad conditions to compete in, but what can we do. I have to run tomorrow also but it’s just ok, most of us are simply performing for participation. How can anyone be motivated to give their best,” said Preeja Sreedharan, the National record holder and women’s 10,000m winner.

The hammer throw, javelin throw and shot put events were shifted out to the warm-up area and the long jump and triple jump events delayed because of the rains.

Officials professed helplessness but the fact remains that the weather at this time of the year is always expected to be a wet in the city.

The results: Women: 100m: 1. Merlyn K. Joseph 11.84s, 2. M. Sharda 12.03, 3. Asha Roy 12.14; 10,000m: 1. Preeja Sreedharan 34:51.05s, 2. L. Surya 35:03.35, 3. Sanakki Thippava 37:24.85; 3000m steeplechase: 1. Lalita Babar 10:45.07s, 2. Priyanka Patel 11:01.39, 3. M.V. Neethu 11:36.98; 100m hurdles: 1. K.V. Sajitha 14.20s, 2. M.M. Anshu 14.31, 3. P.M. Manju 14.69; High jump: 1. Sahana Kumari 1.76m, 2. Mallika Mondal 1.70, 3. N.K. Siji 1.65; Triple jump: 1. M.A. Prajusha 13.29m, 2. Amita Baby 12.46, 3. V. Neena 12.05; Shot put: 1. Manpreet Kaur 14.28m, 2. Pinki Dey 12.80, 3. Saraswathi 11.95.

Hammer: 1. Manju Bala 57.13m, 2. Gunjan Singh 54.49, 3. Sarita Singh 54.32; 4x100m relay: 1. Southern Railway (K.A. Sonia, Chavi Sherawat, P.K. Priya, N. Shardha) 47.03s, 2. Western Railway (Akicha Gazi, P.M. Manju, K.V. Sajitha, Merlyn Joseph) 47.41, 3. Eastern Railway (Arjina Khatun, Tanjila Khatun, Priyanka Mondal, Asha Roy) 47.4.

4x400m relay: 1. Southern Railway (Diana Clinton, K.A. Sonia, Sini Jose, Chavi Sherawat) 3:51.95s, 2. Central Railway (Liksy Joseph, Aparna, Niksy Joseph, Sushma Devi) 3:52.21,3. Western Railway (Manisha Devi, Merlyn K. Joseph, N Anitha, Sarita) 3:54.84; 20km walk: 1. Rani Yadav 1:49:27.28s, 2. Shanti Kumari 1:54:29.68, 3. Anita Mahala 2:03:05.61.

Men: 100m: 1. Manikandan 10.59, 2. Ganesh Satpute 10.76, 3. Manikanda Arumugam 10.76; 10,000m: 1. Rati Ram Saini 30:34.41s, 2. Soji Mathew 30:40.81, 3. Ajay Veer Singh 30:52.41; 3000m steeplechase: 1. Sachin Patil 9:19.17s, 2. S. Mahendra 9:20.71, 3. Jiya Lal Bind 9:21.08; 110m hurdles: 1. A Suresh 14.23s, 2. M. Pinto 14.56, 3. Muthuswamy 15.05; Triple jump: 1. Amarjeet Singh 15.18m, 2. Baskar 14.29, 3. Maha Singh 14.48; Shot Put: 1. Ashwani Solanki 17.10m, 2. Satyender Kumar 16.92, 3. Sunil Kumar 16.10.

Hammer: 1. Talwinder Singh 62.49m, 2. Azad Ahmed 61.86, 3. Sukhdev Singh 58.87; Javelin: 1. Rajender Singh 71m, 2. Sharath Raj 66.99, 3. K.N. Tripathi 65.31; Decathlon: 1. V.V. Raneeszh 6463 points, 2. Omveer Singh 5879, 3. Rambir Singh 5823; 4x100m relay: 1. Southern Railway (M. Prakash, Manikandan Arumugam, Arunjith, Balamurugan) 41.09s, 2. Western Railway (Manjesh Kumar Yadav, Raja Oommen, A. Pinto Mathew, B.G. Nagaraj) 43.00, 3. South Eastern Railway (Chandan Mahto, Ajay Naik, Rabi Das, Sukendu Mondal) 43.13.

4x400m relay: 1. Southern Railway (P.S. Srijith, Joseph Abraham, V.B. Binish, Bibin Mathew) 3:19.90s, 2. South Western Railway (R. Deepak, Prashanth, S. Bharath, Vishamber Kolekar) 3:23.53, 3. Western Railway (Avin Thomas, Sanjay, A. Pinto Mathew, Jithin Paul) 3:27.38; 20km walk: 1. Maniram Patel 1:32:20.5s, 2. Romit 1:38:52.42, 3. Ashok Patel 1:45.55.17.

Chandigarh:
Members of the Indian Institute of Architects, Chandigarh, Punjab Chapter, have prepared a report highlighting anomalies in the Metro project. The report is now forwarded to the Union Ministry of Urban Development because the Chandigarh Administration has sent the proposal of Metro project to the Ministry for clearance.Surinder Bahga, former chairman of the chapter and nominated councillor, said they sent this report to Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Urban Development because the ministry could consider these points before finalising the project so as to ensure optimum utilisation of public money and resources.In the report it was mentioned that the technology being proposed for the Chandigarh metro would be outdated by the time Chandigarh Metro Project would be commissioned. It would be about 45 years old. The technology was changing very fast and the public money would not be put to optimum use. It was also pointed out that Chandigarh was a world class city, therefore, if any metro project had to be commissioned, it should be of the latest technology.

On the proposed metro stations, it was highlighted that the metro stations were opening into residential areas, which would cause a lot of inconvenience to the residents of that area.

It was also mentioned that for the Chandigarh Metro Project, cross system of network being proposed by the DMRC report was not suitable for the region of Chandigarh. Moreover, this is one of the most inefficient MRTS systems in the world. (barring geographical limitations). This type of network has hardly been used in any major cities of the world.

The report also mentioned that as per the study of RITES, the major inflow of traffic was from the neighboring areas. Over 4 lakh daily commuters enter Chandigarh from Panchkula, Mohali, Zirakpur, Kharar, Pinjore, Rajpura etc. Therefore, there was a need to integrate these areas by an efficient transport system so that they were well connected with the city also.

Technology would become outdated

In the report it was mentioned that the technology being proposed for the Chandigarh metro would be outdated by the time Chandigarh Metro Project would be commissioned. It would be about 45 years old. The technology was changing very fast and the public money would not be put to optimum use. It was also pointed out that Chandigarh was a world-class city, therefore, if any metro project had to be commissioned, it should be of the latest technology.