ProUI

1. Train No.12433 Chennai Central – Nizamuddin (New Delhi) Rajdhani Express scheduled to leave Chennai Central at 06.10 hrs. on 26.07.2013 is rescheduled to leave Chennai Central at 08.10 hrs. on 26.07.2013 due to late running of pairing train.

2. Train No.12269 Chennai Central – Nizamuddin (New Delhi) ‘Duronto’ Express scheduled to leave Chennai Central at 06.40 hrs. on 26.07.2013 is rescheduled to leave Chennai Central at 16.00 hrs. on 26.07.2013 due to late running of pairing train.

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.

Reiterating its warning that it will have to order of stoppage of works on the metro rail project if the authorities fail to ensure welfare of the labourers, the Karnataka High Court on Wednesday set July 29 as the deadline for Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) to submit details on number contractors, subcontractors, and number of labourers working at metro sites.“None of you are interested in safeguarding the interest of labourers. Principal employer [BMRCL] is interested only in execution of work and not labourers’ interest… If you are not serious about welfare of labourers, we will stop the work,” a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice D.H. Waghela and Justice A.S. Bopanna observed orally.It was hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by Samuel Sathyaseelan, a social worker, complaining about the abysmal condition of the workforce.The Bench was unconvinced at BMRCL’s and the Ministry of Labour’s measures taken after its earlier directions to both — orally as well as written order.During a hearing on July 3, the Bench had made it clear to the BMRCL, Union and State governments that it would order work stoppage if authorities failed to protect the workers’ human rights as per the law and had asked the BMRCL to hold meeting with its contractors and subcontractors on compliance of labour laws and submit a report to the court.

Meeting

On Wednesday, BMRCL counsel submitted a statement informing the court that a meeting with the contractors was held on July 15 and spot inspection of labourers’ camps would be made next week for “physical verification” of the claims made by the contractor on complying with the labour laws. The Bench then asked what was the point of meetings if ultimately workers’ interests are not protected and reiterated its earlier warning. It then asked why the details of the contractors and number of labourers were not submitted to the court.

‘Last chance’

At this juncture, BMRCL counsel requested for a “last chance” to submit the report saying he had received the information from BMRCL only the day before. He said he would file the data by Monday.

Mumbai : Life in Mumbai came to a near standstill this morning after the local administration wary of heavy rain coinciding with exceptionally high tides ordered schools to shut down and advised people to stay home.Managements of many schools sent back buses with children after the authorities warned them against beginning classes. Memories of July 26, 2005 when Mumbai received record rainfall flooding the entire city for days revisited most people as the downpour turned heavy early in the day. “We had asked people to stay indoors fearing heavy rainfall coinciding with high tides,” mayor Sunil Prabhu said.With the weather department predicting high tides measuring up to 4.95 metres, the administration did not want to take any chances, Prabhu said.The municipal corporation could not deploy pumps to evacuate floodwater into the sea due to high tides. Rain, however, subsided by afternoon though the sky remained overcast portending heavy rainfall later in the evening.The weather department said the city received 215 mm rainfall in the past 24 hours, one of the highest this season.Traffic was diverted in many parts of the city as low-lying areas remained flooded. The traffic police put out SMS messages advising the closure of important roads. Motorists were also advised against taking out their vehicles unless necessary.Local trains and BEST buses plied behind schedule. Train services on both the Western and Central railways were affected temporarily.The Mumbra bypass on the national highway connecting Mumbai to Delhi and Ahmedabad was shut after some cracks were noticed, officials said.

Reiterating its warning that it will have to order of stoppage of works on the metro rail project if the authorities fail to ensure welfare of the labourers, the Karnataka High Court on Wednesday set July 29 as the deadline for Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) to submit details on number contractors, subcontractors, and number of labourers working at metro sites.“None of you are interested in safeguarding the interest of labourers. Principal employer [BMRCL] is interested only in execution of work and not labourers’ interest… If you are not serious about welfare of labourers, we will stop the work,” a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice D.H. Waghela and Justice A.S. Bopanna observed orally.It was hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by Samuel Sathyaseelan, a social worker, complaining about the abysmal condition of the workforce.The Bench was unconvinced at BMRCL’s and the Ministry of Labour’s measures taken after its earlier directions to both — orally as well as written order.During a hearing on July 3, the Bench had made it clear to the BMRCL, Union and State governments that it would order work stoppage if authorities failed to protect the workers’ human rights as per the law and had asked the BMRCL to hold meeting with its contractors and subcontractors on compliance of labour laws and submit a report to the court.

Meeting

On Wednesday, BMRCL counsel submitted a statement informing the court that a meeting with the contractors was held on July 15 and spot inspection of labourers’ camps would be made next week for “physical verification” of the claims made by the contractor on complying with the labour laws. The Bench then asked what was the point of meetings if ultimately workers’ interests are not protected and reiterated its earlier warning. It then asked why the details of the contractors and number of labourers were not submitted to the court.

‘Last chance’

At this juncture, BMRCL counsel requested for a “last chance” to submit the report saying he had received the information from BMRCL only the day before. He said he would file the data by Monday.

Mumbai : Life in Mumbai came to a near standstill this morning after the local administration wary of heavy rain coinciding with exceptionally high tides ordered schools to shut down and advised people to stay home.Managements of many schools sent back buses with children after the authorities warned them against beginning classes. Memories of July 26, 2005 when Mumbai received record rainfall flooding the entire city for days revisited most people as the downpour turned heavy early in the day. “We had asked people to stay indoors fearing heavy rainfall coinciding with high tides,” mayor Sunil Prabhu said.With the weather department predicting high tides measuring up to 4.95 metres, the administration did not want to take any chances, Prabhu said.The municipal corporation could not deploy pumps to evacuate floodwater into the sea due to high tides. Rain, however, subsided by afternoon though the sky remained overcast portending heavy rainfall later in the evening.The weather department said the city received 215 mm rainfall in the past 24 hours, one of the highest this season.Traffic was diverted in many parts of the city as low-lying areas remained flooded. The traffic police put out SMS messages advising the closure of important roads. Motorists were also advised against taking out their vehicles unless necessary.Local trains and BEST buses plied behind schedule. Train services on both the Western and Central railways were affected temporarily.The Mumbra bypass on the national highway connecting Mumbai to Delhi and Ahmedabad was shut after some cracks were noticed, officials said.

GUWAHATI: Differences in opinion among senior officials of the Northeast Frontier Railway came to the fore over shifting of 10 unreserved ticketing system (UTS) counters from inside the Guwahati railway station to outside the building.

The divisional railway manager (DRM) of Lumding division, R K Goel, under whose jurisdiction the Guwahati railway station falls, is in favour of shifting the UTS ticket counters to the place where the passenger reservation system (PRS) counters are located, 50 metres away from the station, in order to provide more passenger amenities in the space where these counters are now located.

But, some senior officials are of the opinion that the move will make crowd management difficult on the station premises, which sees thousands of passengers depart and arrive every day.

In a recent letter to the DRM, the chief commercial manager of NF Railway wrote that his proposal of shifting the UTS counters from inside the station building to outside where the PRS counters are located is inappropriate.

"Passengers without reservations prefer to purchase tickets after ascertaining the availability and running schedule of the trains through the enquiry counter. The present arrangement enables the general public, including ladies, to purchase unreserved tickets on the station premises without going to any isolated area, particularly at night," said the chief commercial manager in his letter.

The manager also wrote that the proposed shift of the counters would be inconvenient for passengers who get off at the station from one train and buy tickets to catch another train to reach their desired destinations.

"The operation of reserved and unreserved ticket counters in one row will confuse many passengers," the letter said. The manager noted that in major cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Patna, the PRS counters are kept separate from UTS counters for better crowd management.

However, the DRM informed that the shifting of the counters is underway. "We have planned to shift out the UTS ticket counters from the station building to provide passenger amenities like ATMs, internet cafe etc for the passengers in that space," Goel said.

A senior official of NF Railway said 13,000 to 14,000 tickets are issued to passengers from the UTS counters every day.

A public interest writ petition has been filed in the Madras High Court to restrain the authorities concerned from deleting Royapuram railway station from the list of heritage buildings in phase-I, prepared by the CMDA and the Heritage Conservation panel.

The second bench comprising Justices R Banumathi and T S Sivagnanam before which the PIL from advocate S Sathia Chandran came up for hearing on Wednesday, ordered notice returnable in two weeks.

The PIL’s interim prayer was to restrain the Southern Railway GM from carrying out any repair or renovation work, including painting of the building.

According to the petitioner, he came to know through a newspaper that the Southern Railway officials had approached the Heritage Conservation Committee for removal of the Royapuram railway station building from the list of the heritage buildings so as to enable them to demolish it and undertake some other projects.

It was most unfortunate that the Railways had mooted this extreme, destructive and disastrous step of wiping out the history from its precincts and at the same time, claiming heritage of various kinds.

The building is of historic importance, remaining the oldest station in the entire sub-continent from 1856. On the 72-acre station premises, the heritage building did not even occupy a quarter ground of 2,400 sq.ft.

Hence the insensitivity of the railways to the history and heritage of the station building was highly condemnable, the petitioner contended.

The train number, days of Service and timings of  Visakhapatnam-Mumbai LTT Bi-weeklyExpress train will be  revised as detailed below:
Train No. 22819 / 22820 of Visakhapatnam-Mumbai LTT-Visakhapatnam bi-weekly Express will be revised as 18519 / 18520 Visakhapatnam-Mumbai LTT-Visakhapatnam Express with effect from 10th September, 2013 ex. Visakhapatnam  and  from 12th September,  2013 ex. Mumbai  LTT.

Train No. 18519 Visakhapatnam-Mumbai LTT bi-weekly Express will depart Visakhapatnam at 23 30 hrs instead of 08 45 hrs and arrive Mumbai LTT at 04 40 hrs o­n the  next day  instead of 11 05 hrs with effect from 10thSeptember, 2013.

In the return direction, Train No. 18520 Mumbai LTT-Visakhapatnam by-weekly Express will depart Mumbai LTT at 06 55 hrs instead of 12 25 hrs and arrive Visakhapatnam at 11 15 hrs. o­n the next day instead of 14 45 hrs with effect from 12th September 2013.

Similarly, the days of service will be also changed.  Train No. 18519 Visakhapatnam-Mumbai LTT bi-weekly Express will depart Visakhapatnam  o­n Wednesdays and Saturdays as existing whereas Train No. 18520 Mumbai LTT-Visakhapatnam by-weekly Express will depart Mumbai LTT o­n Fridays and Mondays instead of Thursdays and Sundays.

The train number, days of Service and timings of  Visakhapatnam-Mumbai LTT Bi-weeklyExpress train will be  revised as detailed below:
Train No. 22819 / 22820 of Visakhapatnam-Mumbai LTT-Visakhapatnam bi-weekly Express will be revised as 18519 / 18520 Visakhapatnam-Mumbai LTT-Visakhapatnam Express with effect from 10th September, 2013 ex. Visakhapatnam  and  from 12th September,  2013 ex. Mumbai  LTT.

Train No. 18519 Visakhapatnam-Mumbai LTT bi-weekly Express will depart Visakhapatnam at 23 30 hrs instead of 08 45 hrs and arrive Mumbai LTT at 04 40 hrs o­n the  next day  instead of 11 05 hrs with effect from 10thSeptember, 2013.

In the return direction, Train No. 18520 Mumbai LTT-Visakhapatnam by-weekly Express will depart Mumbai LTT at 06 55 hrs instead of 12 25 hrs and arrive Visakhapatnam at 11 15 hrs. o­n the next day instead of 14 45 hrs with effect from 12th September 2013.

Similarly, the days of service will be also changed.  Train No. 18519 Visakhapatnam-Mumbai LTT bi-weekly Express will depart Visakhapatnam  o­n Wednesdays and Saturdays as existing whereas Train No. 18520 Mumbai LTT-Visakhapatnam by-weekly Express will depart Mumbai LTT o­n Fridays and Mondays instead of Thursdays and Sundays.