ProUI

Imagine a railway court functioning in a moving train! In an initiative to speed up disposal of criminal and petty cases which are pending at the Railway Magistrate Court in Kollam, the Thiruvananthapuram division of railways will start ‘Court on Wheels’ in the coming months.

The coach of the ‘court’ will be attached to a train plying in the Thiruvananthapuram division. Any case, ranging from ticketless travel, irregularities in train travel, abuse of woman travellers and thefts caught by the RPF, will be brought before the railway magistrate who will travel in the coach. The cases will be settled immediately. T

he court will function akin to any other court with the magistrate in chair. However, if the passenger demands that he would like to appoint a lawyer to contend the case, it will then be referred to the Railways’ Kollam Second Class Magistrate. Currently, all cases under the Thiruvananthapuram division are settled in Kollam. Occasional sittings by the railway magistrate are held at major stations once or twice in a month.

“However, the ‘Court on Wheels’ will function almost everyday and will be attached to different trains throughout the month. If on one day the coach is attached to the Guruvayur-Ernakulam- Trivandrum Intercity Express, it will be linked to Venad Express the other day. Crimes related to that particular train will be settled in the train itself,” said Thiruvananthapuram Divisional Security Commissioner R K Tripathi. The idea is to bring down the rate of crimes taking place within trains. “The number of ticket-less travel has increased over the months. People who are not willing to pay the fine can settle their case with the railway magistrate. However, if the passenger realises that a magistrate is onboard, he would think twice about travelling without a ticket,” the official said.

More Railway Protection Force and Government Railway police will be deputed onboard the train. They will be given the responsibility of bringing the offenders to the magistrate. RPF officials said even though the initiative is on their agenda, they were yet to make a full-fledged plan. A special coach for the purpose has to be set up and a date fixed for the launch. Recently, the Palakkad division had started the mobile railway court, a first in the state. It settled over 60 cases last week, collecting fine of up to Rs 20,000.

‘Operation Octopus’, a drive launched by the railways in Thiruvananthapuram division to book ticketless travellers, was carried out at Ernakulam junction and town stations on Saturday. The drive began at 6 am and continued till 11.30 am. It was first carried out at Ernakulam town station. Passengers who deboarded trains at the two railway stations were asked to show their tickets. Those who could not re-furbish their tickets were booked. Thiruvananthapuram Divisional Security Commissioner R K Tripathi led the drive which fined 350 ticketless travellers. According to railway officials, they collected up to Rs 1,04,880 as part of the drive. Those found travelling with irregular or expired season tickets were also booked. The drive was intensified as the railways got complaints that the number of ticketless travellers had shot up. Since there is an acute shortage of TTEs, ticket checks on trains have become a difficult process. Railway officials allege that this has given travellers an excuse to commute without tickets. RPF, government railway police and commercial department officials were roped in for the drive. The officials said they were planning to continue the drive in the days to come.

LUCKNOW: The Government Railway Police (GRP) Uttar Pradesh has decided to videograph passengers of reserved compartments at the junction from where their train originates in order to maintain an identification directory for reference in case of a crime during the journey. The decision was taken by the DGP GRP Rizwan Ahmed at a meeting of the GRP officials on Sunday.

Addressing the meeting, Ahmed said a pilot project has been launched for close-circuit television coverage of platforms in Lucknow and Moradabad divisions and the results have been encouraging. Hence the department is now in consultation with the railway authorities to extend the project in other divisions in the state. He said the GRP has already been instructed to paste stickers inside the compartments which have the cell phone numbers of the in charge of all the GRP stations that fall on the route of the particular train. The stickers also contain phone numbers of the GRP control at the GRP headquarters in Lucknow which can be contacted by passengers in time of distress.

Karnataka will have the first monument in the country that will be shifted it its entirety as one piece.

By obtaining all the necessary clearances, South Western Railways has initiated the process of inviting tenders to shift the 225-year-old Tipu’s armoury.

SWR chief administrative officer Adesh Sharma said: “Tenders will be invited to shift the armoury in a week’s time. We will process them as soon as possible and shift the armoury as it will help us in laying the second line of the Bangalore-Mysore Doubling Project at the earliest.”

Sharma says the railways is planning to invite national tenders to avoid paying international construction companies in foreign currency. Indian construction companies that have partnership with foreign construction companies are allowed to participate in the tender process.

Indian construction companies currently do not have the expertise to shift the armoury in one piece, officials said. “They will have to either engage the services of foreign professionals or collaborate with international construction companies,” an official added.

The Story So Far

The armoury, one of eight constructed by Tipu Sultan, is within the alignment of the proposed second railway line under the Bangalore-Mysore Doubling Project. As the armoury is a protected monument and comes under the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, the Government of Karnataka and, the railways had to obtain clearances to shift it.

The armoury falls within 300 metres of the Srirangapatna Fort, which is a national monument. Railways had also obtained clearance from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to shift the armoury.

The ASI recently gave this clearance. Railways also engaged the services of the Institution of Engineers to suggest ways and means of shifting the armoury and finalised on the move to shift the entire armoury in one piece.

MANGALORE: After Puttur Railway Yatri Sangha, the Kanyakumari District Railway User's Association (KKDRUA) has also joined the chorus urging Union Railway Minister to propose Mangalore railway division under South Western Railway (SWR), headquartered in Hubli.

The association wants sections of Konkan railway like Karwar up to Madgaon included in Mangalore division. P Edward Jeni, Secretary of association said Mangalore central one of the primary revenue earner for Southern Railway has got its divisional head quarters in the neighbouring Kerala state as it comes under Palakkad division of Southern Railway.

The Zonal Headquarters is located at Chennai in yet another neighbouring state of Karnataka. It's quite natural that however bigger may be the contribution of Mangalore, revenue wise, due to its administrative control located in other states, raw deal has been meted out to Mangalore,'' he said.

He alleged that Palakkad division has been eyeing Mangalore just for its revenue especially from the NMPT ( New Mangalore Port Trust) and also the Mangalore Junction, which is used as mere dump yard for the trains which used to primarily serve the Malabar region of Kerala. The number of from Mangalore towards Kerala side is a clear indication of the fact that Palakkad division is hardly interested in linking Mangalore with other interior parts of Karnataka,'' he further alleged.

As a case in point, he cited the example of Yesvantpur - Mangalore - Kannur express (via Mysore) is being operated to help Malabar region to have more train links with Bangalore. After lot of struggle a portion of that train was made to run in the opposite direction from Mangalore to Karwar, the district HQ of Uttara Kannada district which has been languishing for direct train connectivity with the state HQ. Even now one can see a weekly train from Mangalore to Yesvantpur being announced as to be operated via Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh (Kuppam) to Yesvantpur.

Thus, this train would be getting a unique identity in Indian railways of originating from the same state (Karnataka) and ending up in the same state (Karnataka) but being operated through three other different states,'' he rued indicating how Palakkad division proposes trains from Mangalore with the sole motive of catering to the Malabar region of Kerala as there are limited facilities like pit line, maintenance facilities in major railway stations in Malabar like Kozhikkode, Kannur etc. Jeni pointed out that due to this route from Mangalore- Hassan is hardly utilized, adding the reason cited for operating few passenger trains via Subrahmanya Road, Hassan section is that line is used mainly for freight traffic. This is not at all an acceptable reason as Mangalore is not at all connected with places in Karnataka like Hubli, the HQ of SWR, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Bidar, Raichur etc.

‘Operation Octopus’, a drive launched by the railways in Thiruvananthapuram division to book ticketless travellers, was carried out at Ernakulam junction and town stations on Saturday. The drive began at 6 am and continued till 11.30 am. It was first carried out at Ernakulam town station. Passengers who deboarded trains at the two railway stations were asked to show their tickets. Those who could not re-furbish their tickets were booked. Thiruvananthapuram Divisional Security Commissioner R K Tripathi led the drive which fined 350 ticketless travellers. According to railway officials, they collected up to Rs 1,04,880 as part of the drive. Those found travelling with irregular or expired season tickets were also booked. The drive was intensified as the railways got complaints that the number of ticketless travellers had shot up. Since there is an acute shortage of TTEs, ticket checks on trains have become a difficult process. Railway officials allege that this has given travellers an excuse to commute without tickets. RPF, government railway police and commercial department officials were roped in for the drive. The officials said they were planning to continue the drive in the days to come.

नागपूर, म.टा.प्रतिनिधी

प्रकृती बिघडलेल्या सहका-याला उपचारासाठी नागपुरात आणताना लोको पायलटचा (रेल्वे चालक) रविवारी मृत्यू झाला. प्रकाश बोडखे (वय ४२ , नरेंद्रनगर) असे मृतकाचे नाव आहे. बोडखे दक्षिण पूर्व मध्य रेल्वेत लोको पायलट , तर संजय भगत हे सहायक पायलट आहेत. दोघेही आज सकाळी ६ वाजता कामावर हजर झाले. त्यानंतर मेटपांजरा येथे लाइट इंजिन घेऊन ते निघाले. मार्गात भगत यांनी आपल्याला अस्वस्थ वाटत असल्याचे सांगितले. त्यामुळे भगत यांना घेऊन बोडखे २२१११ भुसावळ-खंडवा एक्स्प्रेसने नागपूरकडे निघाले. मात्र , त्यावेळी बोडखे यांच्याही छातीत दुखत होते. काही दूर गेल्यावर त्यांना उलटी झाली व ते बेशुद्ध पडले. भगत यांनी अधिकारी तसेच रेल्वे इस्पितळात याबाबत कळविले. गाडी नागपूरला येताच बोडखे यांना रेल्वे इस्पितळात नेण्यात आले. मात्र , तेथे डॉक्टरांनी त्यांना मृत घोषित केले. दरम्यान , या घटनेमुळे रेल्वे प्रशासन वर्तुळात हळहळ व्यक्त करण्यात येत आहे.

Guna: The heavy rain in Madhya pradesh is wreaking havoc on denizens and in same the railway track between Mungwali and Ruthiyai has got drowned in Guna district.

 

According to information the soil erosion below this 400-500 meter track has effected the railway traffic in area. After this the route of many trains has been diverted to Beena. Meanwhile the board has also started repairing work of track.

ROHTAK: The bi-weekly Shatabdi train between Ludhiana and Delhi will run seven days a week, Railway minister Mallikarjun Kharge said here today.

The express train will also have a stoppage at Jind in Haryana, the Union minister told reporters here.

Kharge was here to lay foundation for Rs 181 crore Rohtak Railway bypass line.

The bypass would replace the old Rohtak-Gohana rail track starting from the railway station upto Makrauli Kalan village in the district.

The bypass would ease the traffic jams in the city. The minister said that with the shifting of this line, a third Rohtak-Samargopalpur line will be available which will facilitate straight route to Panipat.

"This will help the development of Rohtak city, because the earlier Rohtak-Makrauli line will be eliminated," Kharge said.

He appreciated the progress made by Haryana and said the state is producing sufficient foodgrains and "adequate railway network is required for its transporting."

He also thanked UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for entrusting him with the responsibility of Railway ministry and said that efforts are being made to improve the facilities for commuters.

Road minister Oscar Fernandes, Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Rajya Sabha MP Shadilal Batra, Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda and Railway Board Chairman Arunendra Kumar were present at the occasion.

Hooda said, "in 1957, Rohtak-Panipat railway line was provided with the efforts of his father late Ranbir Singh and at that time Hanumantaya was the Railway Minister".

"34 years back, Rohtak-Bhiwani railway line was constructed when Bansi Lal was the Chief Minister and after that no other rail project was considered for Haryana," the Chief Minister said.

"Rohtak-Jhajjar-Rewari railway line was sanctioned in 1997, when I was MP. This railway line is operational now. The work of Sonipat-Gohana-Jind railway line is in progress," he said.

Arunendra Kumar gave details about the new project. The alternative route Rohtak-Samargopalpur will provide a third line between the two stations along the main line and a new platform at Rohtak.

This will also eliminate a blind curve of 2 km and 8 existing level crossing gates.

A road will be developed in place of the old railway line from Rohtak to Makrauli. This will benefit about a dozen colonies, an official release said.

MANGALORE: After Puttur Railway Yatri Sangha, the Kanyakumari District Railway User's Association (KKDRUA) has also joined the chorus urging Union Railway Minister to propose Mangalore railway division under South Western Railway (SWR), headquartered in Hubli.

The association wants sections of Konkan railway like Karwar up to Madgaon included in Mangalore division. P Edward Jeni, Secretary of association said Mangalore central one of the primary revenue earner for Southern Railway has got its divisional head quarters in the neighbouring Kerala state as it comes under Palakkad division of Southern Railway.

The Zonal Headquarters is located at Chennai in yet another neighbouring state of Karnataka. It's quite natural that however bigger may be the contribution of Mangalore, revenue wise, due to its administrative control located in other states, raw deal has been meted out to Mangalore,'' he said.

He alleged that Palakkad division has been eyeing Mangalore just for its revenue especially from the NMPT ( New Mangalore Port Trust) and also the Mangalore Junction, which is used as mere dump yard for the trains which used to primarily serve the Malabar region of Kerala. The number of from Mangalore towards Kerala side is a clear indication of the fact that Palakkad division is hardly interested in linking Mangalore with other interior parts of Karnataka,'' he further alleged.

As a case in point, he cited the example of Yesvantpur - Mangalore - Kannur express (via Mysore) is being operated to help Malabar region to have more train links with Bangalore. After lot of struggle a portion of that train was made to run in the opposite direction from Mangalore to Karwar, the district HQ of Uttara Kannada district which has been languishing for direct train connectivity with the state HQ. Even now one can see a weekly train from Mangalore to Yesvantpur being announced as to be operated via Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh (Kuppam) to Yesvantpur.

Thus, this train would be getting a unique identity in Indian railways of originating from the same state (Karnataka) and ending up in the same state (Karnataka) but being operated through three other different states,'' he rued indicating how Palakkad division proposes trains from Mangalore with the sole motive of catering to the Malabar region of Kerala as there are limited facilities like pit line, maintenance facilities in major railway stations in Malabar like Kozhikkode, Kannur etc. Jeni pointed out that due to this route from Mangalore- Hassan is hardly utilized, adding the reason cited for operating few passenger trains via Subrahmanya Road, Hassan section is that line is used mainly for freight traffic. This is not at all an acceptable reason as Mangalore is not at all connected with places in Karnataka like Hubli, the HQ of SWR, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Bidar, Raichur etc.