ProUI

LUCKNOW: The first phase of North-South (N-S) corridor of Lucknow metro rail from Amausi airport to Munshipulia would commence over the next six months and its completion is estimated by March 2018, announced the high level committee headed by chief secretary, Jawed Usmani in a meeting held on Thursday with the principal secretaries of finance, housing and urban development, transport, home and planning department.Though each corridor would take about 5-6 years to complete, senior officials predicted that the first train may start plying anytime after 2016, essentially on the N-S corridor which is proposed to be completed by 2018.Likewise, the East-West (E-W) corridor from Lucknow railway station at Charbagh to Vasantkunj on Hardoi Road would start after a gap of about one year and be complete by March 2019. The North-South Corridor would run on 22.878 kms with three underground and 19 elevated stations while the East-West Corridor will cover 11.098 kms with seven underground and five elevated stations.An official said, "Normally, about 5-6 kms of metro stretch is taken in every phase which takes about 3-4 years to complete as it involves a lot of formalities." Officials said till the time next phase starts, metro feeder services would be given to passengers of the left out areas on that route and their feeder fare would be inbuilt in the metro fair.The committee revealed a comprehensive blueprint of the mass rapid transit project which is planned keeping in mind 28 years of traffic forecast up till 2041. It is estimated that both corridors extending up to 42 kms including the loop links (alternative routes) would easily help about 4 lakh passengers commute daily.

A significant move in the direction was that Delhi Metro Rail Corporation submitted the revised DPR (detailed project report) to the committee which would now discuss it in detail and forward it for cabinet approval. The committee gave a green signal to the construction of the North-South Corridor.The metro tracks would be designed to sustain a maximum speed of up to 80 kmph. However, the scheduled speed for metro on N-S Corridor would be 34 kmph and for E-W Corridor would be 32 kmph. Total estimated completion cost (including cost escalation factor and Central taxes) for N-S Corridor would be Rs 6,757 crore and for E-W Corridor would be Rs 5,396 crore. Hence, the total estimated project cost is Rs 12,153 crore.The fare collection system would be automatic through smart cards and POM. Metro rail would have two maintenance facilities-at Transport Nagar for N-S Corridor and at Vasnat Kunj Depot for E-W Corridor.

To execute the project, an SPV (special purpose vehicle) - 'Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation' is to be formed regarding which a proposal of memorandum of association and article of association was floated. A committee has been formed under the chairmanship of principal secretary of finance to review the proposal and submit its report to the high level committee over next 15 days.

The committee also approved conducting a techno-feasibility study of about 42 kms of the first phase of the project including the loop links (alternative corridors) namely Gomtinagar link, Tulsidas Marg, Subhash Marg, Mill Road and Ring Metro line by DMRC based on its terms of reference.It has formed a high-level committee comprising principal secretaries of all related departments to inspect a proposed site at 32 battalion of PAC to create the depot for N-S corridor and give its approval in the next 15 days.Also, the options of financial assistance through alternative resources presented by the sub-committee formed under the chairmanship of housing secretary and chairman of metro cell Rajiv Agarwal were discussed at the meeting. It was decided that approval would be sought from the departments concerned and submitted to the high-level committee.The sub-committee proposed that the stamp duty of all properties lying within 500 metre of metro track on both sides shall be increased by 1% to avail necessary funding for metro's operation. Also, UP Bridge corporation has been deployed to carry out geo-tech exploration of the project at a later stage.

The ‘Science Express- Biodiversity Special’ (SEBS), an innovative mobile exhibition mounted on a specially-designed 16-coach AC train which has been on the move since April, will chug into the state on August 12. A unique collaborative initiative by the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Department of Science & Technology and Indian Railways, the Science Express has contributed largely in creating awareness among the public on the rich biodiversity found in different geographical belts on the Indian sub-continent. Railway officials say the initiative gained prominence with the United Nations declaring the 2011-20 decade as the UN Decade on Biodiversity and UN Decade for Deserts and Fight against Desertification. “Eight coaches focus exclusively on exhibiting myriad biodiversity across the bio-geographical zones of the country through a variety of interactive exhibits, short films and videos displayed on plasma and LED TV screens, large format displays, kiosks and backlit panels,” a railway release has said.

ALLAHABAD: North Central Railway organized a review meeting of various projects on Friday. Speaking on the occasion, NCR general manager AlokJohri stressed that the proposed work on important stations of the zone including Allahabad junction, Chheoki, Subedarganj, Kanpur Central, AgraCantt, Jhansi junction, Gwalior junction and Mathura junction should be completed on priority basis. The work related to circulating area, passenger amenities and cleanliness work at all these stations should be completed in a time-bound manner, he said. Work of construction of about 25 railway overbridges and 75 railway underbridges/limited height subways should be expeditiously completed in the current financial year, he instructed.

In the meeting, various heads of department, divisional railway managers of Allahabad, Agra and Jhansi were present.

ALLAHABAD: North Central Railway organized a review meeting of various projects on Friday. Speaking on the occasion, NCR general manager AlokJohri stressed that the proposed work on important stations of the zone including Allahabad junction, Chheoki, Subedarganj, Kanpur Central, AgraCantt, Jhansi junction, Gwalior junction and Mathura junction should be completed on priority basis. The work related to circulating area, passenger amenities and cleanliness work at all these stations should be completed in a time-bound manner, he said. Work of construction of about 25 railway overbridges and 75 railway underbridges/limited height subways should be expeditiously completed in the current financial year, he instructed.

In the meeting, various heads of department, divisional railway managers of Allahabad, Agra and Jhansi were present.

SIRSA: Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday announced that the state government would give 50% of Rs 2,515 crore for implementation of three railway line projects of Delhi-Sohna-Nuh-Ferozpur Jhirka-Alwar, Hisar-Agroha-Fatehabad-Sirsa and Yamunanagar-Sadhora-Naraingarh-Chandigarh thus paving the way for their early construction. The length of these rail lines would be 104km, 93km and 91km respectively. CM Hooda who addressing a massive rail-road rally at Hansi, was responding to the suggestion made by Union railway minister Mallikarjun Kharge, at the same venue that railway ministry would take up the three important rail lines on priority basis provided the state government bear half of the expenditure. The rally was organized to mark the occasion of foundation stone laying ceremony of Hansi-Meham-Rohtak rail line and four lanning of Hisar-Hansi-Meham-Rohtak section of National Highway No-10. The Union railway minister appreciated the state government's initiative of contributing 50 per cent share in the railway projects of the state. He said that he would personally take up the three new projects with the Planning Department and fully support the early completion of these rail projects for the districts of Yamunanagar, Mewat and Fatehabad. He also announced that Delhi-Ludhiana Shatabdi would run on all seven days of the week and would also halt at Jind. This demand was raised by Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda and Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar. Earlier, this train used to run four days in a week. On the request of Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar, Union surface transport minister Oscar Fernandes announced to sanction Railway over Bridge (ROB) at Dabwali which would cost more than Rs 37 crore. CM Hooda has also announced to give Rs 10 crore each to all seven assembly segments of district Hisar for development works. These segments are Hisar, Hansi, Narnaund, Barwala, Uklana, Adampur and Nalwa.

NEW DELHI : 
Waiting for a train to arrive will no longer be boring as Railways is equipping India’s busiest station with free Wi-Fi connectivity, a first in the country, to ensure value-added amenity for passengers.New Delhi railway station, which handles about 300 trains and five lakh passengers a day, will be the first Wi-Fi enabled station in the country to have such a modern facility like major international airports.“A Mumbai-based company has been given the job to make the New Delhi station a Wi-Fi enabled station,” a senior Railway Ministry official said, adding “the company was selected through tender.”Wi-Fi is a popular networking technology which uses radio waves to provide wireless high-speed Internet and network connections.Once operational, passengers on all 16 platforms of the station will be able to access Wi-Fi from their laptops of mobile phones, the official said.

The New Delhi station was chosen on a pilot basis to introduce the facility at an estimated cost of Rs 80 lakh. “The system is expected to be operational in 3/4 months,” the official said.

The company will install towers at strategic locations to provide the facility, which will be extended to other stations in due course, he said.

Railways has already made Howrah Rajdhani trains Wi-Fi enabled.

There are also plans to replace information kiosks with tablet computers at New Delhi station.

“We are exploring to mount tablets on walls at certain places in the station for the benefit of passengers. The tablets will be equipped to disseminate information about the train position, expected arrival time and other relevant data required by the passenger,” the official said.

NEW DELHI: Waiting for a train to arrive will no longer be boring as railways is equipping India's busiest station with free Wi-Fi connectivity, a first in the country, to ensure value-added amenity for passengers.New Delhi railway station, which handles about 300 trains and five lakh passengers a day, will be the first Wi-Fi enabled station in the country to have such a modern facility like major international airports."A Mumbai-based company has been given the job to make the New Delhi station a Wi-Fi enabled station," a senior railway ministry official said, adding "the company was selected through tender."Wi-Fi is a popular networking technology which uses radio waves to provide wireless high-speed internet and network connections.Once operational, passengers on all 16 platforms of the station will be able to access Wi-Fi from their laptops of mobile phones, the official said.The New Delhi station was chosen on a pilot basis to introduce the facility at an estimated cost of Rs 80 lakh. "The system is expected to be operational in 3/4 months," the official said.The company will install towers at strategic locations to provide the facility, which will be extended to other stations in due course, he said.Railways has already made Howrah Rajdhani trains Wi-Fi enabled.There are also plans to replace information kiosks with tablet computers at New Delhi station.

"We are exploring to mount tablets on walls at certain places in the station for the benefit of passengers. The tablets will be equipped to disseminate information about the train position, expected arrival time and other relevant data required by the passenger," the official said.

Two new rail and road projects involving a total investment of Rs.1,500 crore will be launched in Haryana on Sunday.

The projects include 68 kilometre long Hansi-Meham-Rohtak railway line costing Rs.500 crore and four lane of 99 km long Hisar-Rohtak section of National Highway to be constructed at a cost of Rs.1,000 crore. The rail route would have eight railway stations, four crossing stations and four halt stations. This road project will have two ROBs, underpass and 29-bus bays on both sides.

Union Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge would lay the foundation stone of the railway line while Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Oscar Fernandes would lay the foundation stone of   highway project in the presence of Haryana Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda at Hansi.

A rally would also be organised on the occasion. MP from Rohtak Deepender Singh Hooda visited Anaj Mandi, Hansi on Saturday to see the preparations being made for the rally and issued necessary directions. Also, workers’ conferences were organised at Adampur, Mudhal, Narnaund, Barwala and Hisar for the success of the rally.

SIRSA: Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday announced that the state government would give 50% of Rs 2,515 crore for implementation of three railway line projects of Delhi-Sohna-Nuh-Ferozpur Jhirka-Alwar, Hisar-Agroha-Fatehabad-Sirsa and Yamunanagar-Sadhora-Naraingarh-Chandigarh thus paving the way for their early construction. The length of these rail lines would be 104km, 93km and 91km respectively. CM Hooda who addressing a massive rail-road rally at Hansi, was responding to the suggestion made by Union railway minister Mallikarjun Kharge, at the same venue that railway ministry would take up the three important rail lines on priority basis provided the state government bear half of the expenditure. The rally was organized to mark the occasion of foundation stone laying ceremony of Hansi-Meham-Rohtak rail line and four lanning of Hisar-Hansi-Meham-Rohtak section of National Highway No-10. The Union railway minister appreciated the state government's initiative of contributing 50 per cent share in the railway projects of the state. He said that he would personally take up the three new projects with the Planning Department and fully support the early completion of these rail projects for the districts of Yamunanagar, Mewat and Fatehabad. He also announced that Delhi-Ludhiana Shatabdi would run on all seven days of the week and would also halt at Jind. This demand was raised by Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda and Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar. Earlier, this train used to run four days in a week. On the request of Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar, Union surface transport minister Oscar Fernandes announced to sanction Railway over Bridge (ROB) at Dabwali which would cost more than Rs 37 crore. CM Hooda has also announced to give Rs 10 crore each to all seven assembly segments of district Hisar for development works. These segments are Hisar, Hansi, Narnaund, Barwala, Uklana, Adampur and Nalwa.

Ludhiana :
In the absence of any boundary wall on the railway station premises and ample space, the station has become a safe haven for stray dogs. The stray dogs can be seen roaming on the station premises.During a visit to the railway station, a number of stray dogs were seen roaming on the platform. Some of the dogs were seen sleeping inside the offices at the railway station. Tables of officials at various offices seem the favourite place of dogs for sleeping.The dogs were also spotted under the benches installed for passengers on various platforms. Though no passenger or visitor at platforms complained against stray dogs, a vendor said a dog tried to bite a girl last Sunday at platform No 1.“With the increase in the number of dogs at the railway station, we can see them roaming everywhere. The government should control the population of dogs in the state. The railway authorities are helpless in keeping the dogs away from the station as they can enter the station through railway tracks,” said Sukhdev, a Railway employee.The stray dogs are also seen sleeping inside cloak room, goods godown and parcel office in the railway station.A worker of the railway station said: “It is too hot outside and the dogs find the surfaces of offices and platforms comfortable. However, no case of dog bite has been reported yet".