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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.

अलीगढ़ : रेलकर्मी न केवल रेलवे का सामान चुरा रहा था वरन एक ऐसे हादसे की पटकथा लिख रहा था जिसमें कई जानें जा सकती थीं। शुक्र है, समय रहते सुरक्षा में सेंध लगाने वाले रेलवे ट्रैक मैन को दबोच लिया गया। शनिवार तड़के आरपीएफ ने नगला पटवारी में उसे कबाड़ी के साथ गिरफ्तार कर लिया।
गुरुवार को रेलवे अफसर हैरान रह गए जब उन्हें महरावल-अलीगढ़ के बीच रेलवे ट्रैक को जोड़ने वाली जोगल प्लेट चोरी होने की सूचना मिली। वहां आरपीएफ पहुंची तो छह जोगल प्लेट गायब मिलीं। वहां तुरंत दूसरी जोगल प्लेटें लगवायी गई।
आरपीएफ इंस्पेक्टर के अनुसार महरावल में गश्त करते जवान को एक व्यक्ति ने अपना नाम राजेंद्र बताया जबकि इस नाम का कोई रेलवे कर्मचारी वहां नहीं है। शनिवार तड़के आरपीएफ एसआई हीराचंद्र मीणा और हेड कांस्टेबल परमाल सिंह ने नगला पटवारी के साबिद अली को पकड़ लिया, उसकी नियुक्ति मृतक आश्रित कोटे से ट्रैक मैन के पद पर हुई है। उसकी निशानदेही पर नगला पटवारी में छापा मारकर कबाड़ी अमरुद्दीन को गिरफ्तार किया गया और जोगल प्लेट बरामद की गई।
जोगल प्लेट है अहम
अधिकारियों का कहना है कि जोगल प्लेटों से ही दो लाइनों को जोड़ा जाता है। अगर ये प्लेट न हो तो रेलवे लाइन खुल सकती है जिससे वहां ट्रेन पलटने की आशंका हो जाती है।
दो लाइनों को जोड़ने के लिए अब बैल्डिंग की जाती है। अल्ट्रा सोनिक मशीन ट्रैक पर बाल बराबर दरार को पहचाने का काम करती है। दरार होने पर उस हिस्से को जोगल प्लेट से कस दिया जाता है। महरावल में भी इन्हीं प्लेटों से उस हिस्से को जोड़ा गया था।

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.

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.

With a view to keep crime on trains in check, Uttar Pradesh police plans to install CCTV cameras in special trains passing through the state.“There is a proposal to install CCTV cameras in AC as well as general coaches of special trains for video recording,” Director General of Police (Railway) Rizwan Ahmad said.He said the purpose was to go through the footage in case of any incident so that the criminals could be identified easily.“I have written to the railway authorities in this regard. For now, the proposal has been made for some special trains,” he said.According to him, there were also plans to install CCTV cameras at important and crowded railway stations in the state.“All the SPs of the Government Railway Police (GRP) in the state have been directed to take assistance of authorities concerned in this regard,” he added.The DG said under the ‘vision scheme’, CCTV cameras have been installed in Moradabad and Lucknow divisions, monitoring of which was being done through section headquarters.

“SPs of GRP in other places have been directed to chalk out a similar scheme,” he said.

He said directives had been issued to ensure the proper functioning of the already-installed CCTV cameras.

Mr. Ahmad said a scheme had also been chalked out to paste stickers of phone numbers of GRP railway stations on the route in all coaches of trains passing through UP.

“This has been planned so that the victim can call GRP and get required assistance. Similarly, it has been planned to paste numbers of railway control room,” he said.

The DG said at times when platform was not vacant, incoming trains were halted at the outer signal during late hours, which increased the possibility of crime. He said high-mast lights should be installed and GRP and Railway Protection Force jawans should be deployed.

Mr. Ahmad said a police assistance centre would be constructed for such jawans.

“It has been directed that if rail traffic is disrupted due to accident or other reason and a train stops at a small station, the GRP should coordinate with the local police and deploy adequate force so that incidents of crime, including misbehaviour with women, do not take place,” he said.

The DG also added that the GRP officials have been directed to carry out verification of all vendors and attendants, and take action against unauthorised ones.

Its unclean premises and the apathetic attitude of railway authorities is robbing Old Delhi Railway Station of its heritage character

If you ask me, I would give two on a ten-point scale to this station considering the unhygienic condition here, said Chirag, who had just arrived by the Jammutavi-Delhi-Jaisalmer Express at the Old Delhi Railway Station. This one-and-a-half-century-old station, a part of the Delhi’s cultural heritage, is fast losing its attraction among travellers due to its deplorable condition.

The oldest station in Delhi, it was established in 1864 when trains from Howrah started operating up to Delhi. The station is also known as Delhi Junction. The colonial government constructed the present station building in red stone to give it the effect of the nearby Red Fort. The station was opened to public in 1903.

Starting out with two platforms and a handful of passengers, the station now handles lakhs of passengers and nearly 200 trains daily. The station was re-modelled in 1934-35 after the opening of the New Delhi Railway Station in 1926 and the inauguration of New Delhi in 1931. Since 1935, the station building was renovated again only last year.

But the scenes at the station, even after renovation, hardly evoke positive feelings. Even before one enters the station, the stench of urine punches ones senses. The boundary wall has become a public lavatory with the authorities turning a blind eye to the situation.

Vehicles can be seen entering the no-entry zone. The main entrance gate stands in a mess with sewer water and waste being collected there. Passengers themselves have added to the woes by littering the area — heightening the fear of spread of diseases. Again, the accumulated stagnant water is a perfect breeding ground for malaria and dengue causing mosquitoes.

According to rules, one has to buy a platform ticket to enter the station and luggage is allowed inside only after a thorough check by security personnel. Here, however, there are many loopholes through which people can enter the station premises unchecked, thus raising a question on the security system.

On the way to platforms, one has to cross the over-bridge which is overcrowded with people sitting and some even sleeping there. The information boards on the over-bridge calls it a offence where one can be fined Rs. 200. But it seems that both the lawmakers and breakers are on equal ground as neither of them bother about this mismanagement.

On the steps descending to the platforms from the over-bridge, people with huge luggage occupy most of the space — leaving little space for others to negotiate the crowd. Same is the case on platforms, too. The situation becomes even more chaotic when a train arrives and passengers are in a hurry to either board it or get down.

The open sewer by the railway tracks in another eyesore; it appears that the sewers have not been cleaned for ages. These, again, serve as public lavatories for ignorant passengers. With this amount of littering and dirt, the number of railway cleaning staff appears insufficient to keep the premises clean.

Even the roof of the platform shade has not been spared. Plastic bottles, chips packets, broken biscuits and beverage cans are found thrown here and there, dirtying it and giving out a foul smell.

The only question that comes in mind after surveying the scenario is, what are the authorities doing?

For most Delhiites, Sarai Rohilla is a name synonymous with a railway station on the narrow gauge line towards Rewari, Jaipur and Ajmer. On the western part of ridge, this ‘Sarai’ — as the roadside inns were called — was a busy stop on the Delhi-Ajmer road in the old times. Most people also associate ‘Rohilla’ with Rohillas of the Rohilkhand during the Mughal reign. But very few know that it was one Ruhullah Khan — later corrupted to Rohilla — after whom the settlement takes its name.Interestingly, nothing much is known about Ruhullah Khan except for the fact that he was one of the three sons of Khalil Ullah Khan, a distant relative of Mumtaz Mahal. Khalil Ullah Khan was the Governor of Delhi province during Shahjahan’s reign.The railway station was set up way back in 1872, even before New Delhi was built. It was the first station from Delhi in those days on the Rajputana-Malwa railway, the route of which cut through Alwar and Jaipur towards Ahmedabad.Today, the station has Ahata Thakur Dass on southwestern side and a railway colony on its opposite side. A small area, which can still be called ‘Sarai Rohilla’, is actually half a km to its northeast of the station.“When I came here after marriage, there were merely 60 houses,” said Chandrawati Devi, 62, ruing the changes that had taken place. Today, Sarai Rohilla is a congested colony with rows of shanties turned into low-roofed pucca houses on one side and cubbyhole workshops and factories operating from haphazard buildings on the other.

LUCKNOW: With a view to checking crime on trains, Uttar Pradesh police plans to install CCTV cameras in special trains passing through the state. "There is a proposal to install CCTV cameras in AC as well as general coaches of special trains for video recording," director general of police (railway) Rizwan Ahmad said. He said the purpose was to go through the footage in case of any incident so that the criminals could be identified easily. "I have written to the railway authorities in this regard. For now, the proposal has been made for some special trains," he said. There were also plans to install CCTV cameras at important and crowded railway stations in the state, he said. "All the SPs of the government railway police in the state have been directed to take assistance of authorities concerned in this regard," he said. The DG said under the 'vision scheme', CCTV cameras have been installed in Moradabad and Lucknow divisions, monitoring of which was being done through section headquarters.

"SPs of GRP in other places have been directed to chalk out similar scheme," he said.

He said directives have been issued to ensure that wherever CCTV cameras were installed, they were operational.

Ahmad said a scheme had also been chalked out to paste stickers of phone numbers of GRP railway stations on the route in all coaches of trains passing through UP.

"This has been planned so that the victim can call GRP and get required assistance. Similarly, it has been planned to paste numbers of railway control room," he said.

The DG said at times when platform was not vacant, incoming trains were halted at outer signal during late hours, which increases possibility of crime. He said high-mast lights should be installed and GRP and Railway Protection Force jawans should be deployed.

Ahmad said a police assistance centre would be constructed for such jawans.

He said it has been directed that if rail traffic was disrupted due to accident or other reason and a train stops at a small station, GRP should coordinate with local police and deploy adequate force so that incidents of crime, including misbehaviour with women, do not take place.

The DG said the GRP officials have been directed to carry out verification of all vendors and attendants and take action against unauthorised ones.