ProUI

LUDHIANA: A day after Union railway minister Mallikarjun Kharge increased the frequency of the Ludhiana Shatabdi, he raised the hopes of city residents who now expect him to get the Ludhiana Jan Shatabdi started from the industrial city.As of now, there is no Shatabdi exclusively from the city to Delhi in the morning and residents hope the railway minister will make the announcement soon, bringing about a marked improvement in rail connectivity in the morning hours.Upkar Singh, joint secretary, Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Understandings, said, "We are happy the railway minister has increased the frequency of the Ludhiana Shatabdi train, which will help the business community. Aerial connectivity is not adequate with the lone flight from the city not very reliable and we depend on rail. If we go to Delhi in the morning, we don't have a Shatabdi, except for the Amritsar Shatabdi which is mostly booked from the source station. As the railway minister Mallikarjun Kharge has been generous enough to increase the frequency of the Ludhiana Shatabdi, he must get a Jan Shatabdi train started from the city. This will help residents in general and the business community in particulara."

Apart from the business community, residents, as a whole have been raising the demand for the Shatabdi train in the morning from the city to Delhi. Dr Rajnish Garg, an orthopaedician from Tagore Nagar, said, "As of now, if we have to go to Delhi, we have two options, either we have to go to Chandigarh from where we can take a flight or we can board a Shatabdi. If we go to Delhi via Chandigarh by air it takes around four to five hours from here. If we wish to go by the Amritsar Shatabdi train, there is hardly any ticket available as it is mostly booked from Amritsar. In such a scenario, we don't have any option in the morning. So if the government announces the Shatabdi train, we can go to Delhi in the morning and return in the other Shatabdi in the evening."

GARHWA: The decade-old Garhwa railway station, which sees more than 1000 commuters every day, has been crying for passenger amenities for years. Situated on the Garhwa-Chopan rail section, the station lacks basic amenities such as drinking water, a waiting room, overbridge and an enquiry counter. President of the railway user association Krishna Kumar Agrawal and secretary S P Verma have demanded better facilities for passengers."There is no arrangement of cold water for passengers who brave the sweltering heat to come here. There is only one hand pump for the 1000-odd passengers who come here every day. Toilets too are in a bad state. They are hardly cleaned, the taps often run dry. There aren't enough lights, making it unsafe for travelers to commute through the station at night. In case of a power cut, the entire station plunges into darkness as there is no generator here. Passengers feel insecure waiting for a train in the dark. This greatly inconveniences the old and ailing passengers," said Verma.

According to sources, Garhwa railway station garners Rs 2.5 crore revenue per annum, besides crore of rupees earned through the transportation of raw materials. Garhwa residents and commuters have long been demanding the doubling of Garhwa-Chopan railway section. This section has direct links with two metro cities - Delhi and Kolkata. On an average, twenty trains, including eight express trains, pass through the station every day.

Garhwa district, with a big market in Palamu division, has become the commercial hub of the region. Many businessmen from Garhwa travel to cities like Delhi, Kolkata and Kanpur every day.

To add to the passengers' woes, the Swarnajyanti Express and other trains halt for only two minutes at Garhwa station. President of Garhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry Bablu Patwa has demanded that express and other trains stop here for at least five minutes.

Former GCCI president Santosh Kesri too had handed over a memorandum to the divisional railway manager last year demanding the construction of platform no. 2, an overbridge, drinking water facility and an enquiry counter. "No action has been taken in this regard so far," rued local residents and businessmen.

Palampur:
Train services between Pathankot and Jogindernagar remained disrupted for the seventh day today following landslides and damage caused by heavy rains last week on the Ranital and Jogindernagar track, causing inconvenience to hundreds of passengers.At present, there are no direct train services on the120-km railway track between Pathankot and Jogindernagar. However, the Northern Railway has partially restored services between Koparlahar and Paprola. Train services between Paprola and Jogindernagar are still suspended as a small culvert at Bhatehar village in Mandi district is yet to be repaired which was washed away last week.The Railways today cancelled four trains between the Koparlahar and Paprola track for technical reasons. Divisional Manager Railways, Freozpur, NC Goel said all efforts were being made to restore the train services between Pathankot and Jogindernagar at the earliest. He said a team of engineers and field staff was working round the clock to repair the track.It may be recalled that the British had laid down this railway track in 1932, passing through 33 stations linking all important and religious towns of Kangra and parts of Mandi district.The condition of the rail track between Pathankot and Jogindernagar has gone from bad to worse in the past 10 years, as the Railways has no funds to repair the same. Several small and big bridges are in a bad shape. The retaining walls on the tracks have developed major cracks can result in a tragedy anytime.

The increasing traffic on the city roads has compelled the UT Administration to mull over alternative routes to reduce congestion. To improve connectivity between the Chandigarh Railway Station and the Airport, the UT Administration has proposed a new road connecting the two destinations.For construction of the road that would stretch around 2.5 kilometre, some land will be acquired from the Railways. Apart from this stretch, several other proposals have also been mooted for enhancing connectivity between various destinations.At present, there is no direct connectivity between the Railway Station and the Airport. Those who have to commute between the two destinations have to take a longer route. The new road is expected to shorten the distance. The road will be from in front of Daria village and connect to another road that leads to the Airport.Chief Engineer S K Chadha said that once land was acquired from the Railways, the road would be constructed. He added that the road would facilitate those commuting between these two destinations and ease traffic congestion.Apart from this, there are certain other proposals that have been mooted for increasing connectivity with the Airport. These are part of the draft Master Plan 2031 for the city. With the new terminal being under construction on Mohali side, it is desired that this should be accessible from Chandigarh. An underground tunnel connecting the old and new terminal is proposed to be constructed.

Another option being mulled over is connectivity from Purv Marg near Sector 48. Connectivity from Zirakpur side is also in the pipeline to enable easy accessibility from all sides. The Chandigarh Administration has already raised the issue with High-Powered Inter-State Coordination Committee constituted by the Centre.

The increasing vehicular population in Chandigarh is raising the necessity for providing alternative roads to different destinations. The total daily traffic studies at outer cordon points indicate that about 1,52,650 vehicles enter or leave Chandigarh Urban Complex on a typical working day. There is also high through passenger and freight traffic across the city.Madhya Marg is thought to be the worst affected of the roads since it provides the shortest and direct connection between the towns of Punjab, including Mullanpur, Kharar and Anandpur Sahib on the west. On the eastern side, Manimajra, Panchkula, Pinjore, Kalka and Chandimandir Cantonment in Haryana as well as some towns of Himachal Pradesh are connected through this. The through traffic across the city had added to the congestion on the road.

The Master Plan points out that the well-defined hierarchy of roads has been disturbed due to the inter-city traffic and the increased traffic within the city. It is said that at some places, the roads are approaching their capacity while at others these are serving more than their capacity. Alternative roads to Panchkula have already been planned. An overbridge to remove traffic bottleneck at level crossing at Mauli Jagran is under construction while another has been approved for the crossing at Manimajra. This would provide additional routes to Panchkula.

Train No.56710/56709 Madurai-Dindigul-Madurai Passenger will be extended to Palani from August 2, according to a press release issued by the Southern Railway here on Tuesday.Regular service of Train No.56710 Madurai-Palani Passenger and Train No.56709 Palani–Madurai Passenger will commence from that day itself, the release from the Southern Railway added.Train No.56710 Madurai-Palani Passenger will leave Madurai at 7.35 a.m., arrive at Dindigul at 8.55 a.m.After a five-minute halt, the Madurai-Palani Passenger will leave Dindigul and reach Palani at 10.45 a.m.Train No.56709 Palani-Madurai Passenger will leave Palani at 5.05 p.m., arrive at Dindigul at 6.10 p.m.It will leave Dindigul at 6.15 p.m. and reach Madurai at 8.15 p.m.

Stoppages

The extended trains will stop at Kudalnagar, Samayanallur, Sholavandan, Vadipatti, Kodaikkanal Road, Ambaturai, Dindigul, Akkaraippatti, Oddanchatram and Chatrapatti.

The increasing traffic on the city roads has compelled the UT Administration to mull over alternative routes to reduce congestion. To improve connectivity between the Chandigarh Railway Station and the Airport, the UT Administration has proposed a new road connecting the two destinations.For construction of the road that would stretch around 2.5 kilometre, some land will be acquired from the Railways. Apart from this stretch, several other proposals have also been mooted for enhancing connectivity between various destinations.At present, there is no direct connectivity between the Railway Station and the Airport. Those who have to commute between the two destinations have to take a longer route. The new road is expected to shorten the distance. The road will be from in front of Daria village and connect to another road that leads to the Airport.Chief Engineer S K Chadha said that once land was acquired from the Railways, the road would be constructed. He added that the road would facilitate those commuting between these two destinations and ease traffic congestion.Apart from this, there are certain other proposals that have been mooted for increasing connectivity with the Airport. These are part of the draft Master Plan 2031 for the city. With the new terminal being under construction on Mohali side, it is desired that this should be accessible from Chandigarh. An underground tunnel connecting the old and new terminal is proposed to be constructed.

Another option being mulled over is connectivity from Purv Marg near Sector 48. Connectivity from Zirakpur side is also in the pipeline to enable easy accessibility from all sides. The Chandigarh Administration has already raised the issue with High-Powered Inter-State Coordination Committee constituted by the Centre.

The increasing vehicular population in Chandigarh is raising the necessity for providing alternative roads to different destinations. The total daily traffic studies at outer cordon points indicate that about 1,52,650 vehicles enter or leave Chandigarh Urban Complex on a typical working day. There is also high through passenger and freight traffic across the city.Madhya Marg is thought to be the worst affected of the roads since it provides the shortest and direct connection between the towns of Punjab, including Mullanpur, Kharar and Anandpur Sahib on the west. On the eastern side, Manimajra, Panchkula, Pinjore, Kalka and Chandimandir Cantonment in Haryana as well as some towns of Himachal Pradesh are connected through this. The through traffic across the city had added to the congestion on the road.

The Master Plan points out that the well-defined hierarchy of roads has been disturbed due to the inter-city traffic and the increased traffic within the city. It is said that at some places, the roads are approaching their capacity while at others these are serving more than their capacity. Alternative roads to Panchkula have already been planned. An overbridge to remove traffic bottleneck at level crossing at Mauli Jagran is under construction while another has been approved for the crossing at Manimajra. This would provide additional routes to Panchkula.

Train No.56710/56709 Madurai-Dindigul-Madurai Passenger will be extended to Palani from August 2, according to a press release issued by the Southern Railway here on Tuesday.Regular service of Train No.56710 Madurai-Palani Passenger and Train No.56709 Palani–Madurai Passenger will commence from that day itself, the release from the Southern Railway added.Train No.56710 Madurai-Palani Passenger will leave Madurai at 7.35 a.m., arrive at Dindigul at 8.55 a.m.After a five-minute halt, the Madurai-Palani Passenger will leave Dindigul and reach Palani at 10.45 a.m.Train No.56709 Palani-Madurai Passenger will leave Palani at 5.05 p.m., arrive at Dindigul at 6.10 p.m.It will leave Dindigul at 6.15 p.m. and reach Madurai at 8.15 p.m.

Stoppages

The extended trains will stop at Kudalnagar, Samayanallur, Sholavandan, Vadipatti, Kodaikkanal Road, Ambaturai, Dindigul, Akkaraippatti, Oddanchatram and Chatrapatti.

NEW DELHI: Delhi Metro has recorded highest ridership at 24.09 lakhs, almost one lakh increase in a month.The ridership recorded yesterday was 24.09 lakhs as against previous highest ridership recorded at 23.79 lakhs on July 1, 2013.

नई दिल्ली (ब्यूरो)। एयरपोर्ट मेट्रो अब देर रात अमृतसर से दिल्ली आने वाली शताब्दी ट्रेन के पहुंचने के बाद ही रवाना होगी।
अमृतसर से दिल्ली आने वाली शताब्दी का समय रात 11 बजकर 5 मिनट है। अगर ट्रेन दिल्ली पहुंचने में थोड़ा लेट हो गई तो एयरपोर्ट मेट्रो भी 11 बजकर 45 मिनट तक यात्रियों का इंतजार करेगी। वैसे नई दिल्ली से आखिरी एयरपोर्ट मेट्रो का वक्त 11 बजकर 30 मिनट है। इस रूट पर सुबह की सेवा के वक्त और ट्रेन की रफ्तार में भी बदलाव किया जा रहा है।
•मेट्रो भी अब दिल्ली दर्शन में
मेट्रो को अब दिल्ली दर्शन (टूर पैकेज) में शामिल कर लिया गया है। दिल्ली दर्शन की जो बस चलती है वो अब सैलानियों को आईएनए स्टेशन से पटेल चौक की यात्रा के लिए मेट्रो स्टेशन पर छोड़ देगी। इसके लिए उनके महज 12 रुपये एक्स्ट्रा लिए जाएंगे। पटेल चौक के बाहर से सैलानियों को लेकर बस फिर आगे के सफर पर चल देगी।
रिकॉर्ड लोगों ने किया सफर
सोमवार को मेट्रो की सेवा तीन घंटे प्रभावित रहने के बावजूद मेट्रो ने इस दिन रिकॉर्ड सवारियां ढोईं। कुल 24.09 लाख लोगों ने सवारी की।

MADRID: A Spanish court says "black box" data recorders show that a train conductor was on the phone and traveling at 95 mph (153 kph), almost twice the speed limit, when the vehicle derailed, killing 79 people.Investigators say the train had been going as fast as 119 mph (192 kph) shortly before the derailment and that the conductor activated the brakes "seconds before the crash."In a statement, the court said Tuesday that the conductor was talking on the phone to an official of national rail company Renfe when the crash happened and apparently was consulting a paper document at the time.The conductor, Francisco Jose Garzon Amo, has been provisionally charged with multiple counts of negligent homicide.