ProUI

The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for the extension of the period of the validity of the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation Ltd. (MRVC) by another five years, that is up to July 11, 2019, to match the completion of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) Phase II and facilitate integration of the suburban rail capacity enhancement plans with the urban development plan.A large number of people residing in and around the MUTP Phase II will be benefited by the extension.The extension of the validity period will not entail any additional financial burden.The MRVC is a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the Ministry of Railways, in a partnership with the Government of Maharashtra with the equity of the company shared in the ratio of 51:49.The MRVC was incorporated on July 12, 1999 and primarily carries out capacity augmentation works for the sub-urban railway system in the Greater Mumbai area.For this purpose, two projects:- MUTP-I and MUTP-II costing Rs. 4,174 crore and Rs. 5,300 crore respectively, were sanctioned and assigned to MRVC. The cost of the projects will be shared equally between the Government of Maharashtra and the Ministry of Railways. MUTP-I works are already completed.

MUTP II works are in progress and are targeted to be completed by 2016-17.

Passengers complain of rat and cockroach menace on trains

Packed trains, better passenger amenities and a struggle to maintain cleanliness and punctuality could be the challenges facing South Central Railway (SCR). Another major issue they are confronted with are the pests in the form of rats and cockroaches.

The problem has reached gargantuan proportions and is causing enough headaches to the senior railway officials as practically every train is infested with them as passengers complaints are piling up every day.

Just to give a glimpse of the magnitude of the problem, on an average 92 rats are caught each month and over 3,300 cockroaches per month were being eliminated from different trains at the Secunderabad Coaching depot alone. And, there are eight other coaching depots within SCR limits.

Last year, SCR authorities had received 20 written complaints about rodents in different trains. Of these, three were lodged from the Bangalore Express and two from Narayanadri Express. Similarly, 16 written complaints were lodged about cockroaches and maximum were from the marquee trains of Godavari and A.P. Express.

This excludes complaints lodged through SMS to the central compliant system, reveal railway authorities. Since April this year, authorities claimed to have received just three written complaints due to the pest control measures taken up in trains.

Two rat glue pads in AC coaches are being placed all through the journey and in non-AC coaches, they are placed at night times when the possibility of catching the rats is high. The SCR has also launched an ‘On Board House Keeping Service (OBHS)’ in 16 trains, which have a journey time extending more than 16 hours under Secunderabad division for ensuring better cleanliness during the journey.

Workers are supposed to clean the coach from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. and again from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. during the journey. This apart, a supervisor is deployed in every train and one janitor for every three coaches. Disinfestations are also carried out on platforms in all the coaches to eradicate cockroaches, bed bugs, mosquitoes etc, said an SCR spokesperson.

Himachal Pradesh MP Pratibha Singh Tuesday met Railways Minister Mallikarjun Kharge and requested him to expand the railway network in the state, besides ordering a fresh inspection of the century-old Kalka-Shimla rail line to check its traffic worthiness.Contending that the state remains neglected as far as expansion of railway network is concerned, she requested Kharge to accord top priority to sanctioning future projects to the state.The newly-elected Lok Sabha member, who is the wife of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, asked Kharge to undertake a survey of bridges located on the century-old Kalka-Shimla rail line, a 96-km-long narrow gauge railroad built to ferry Europeans to and from Shimla - then the summer capital of British India."A fresh survey of bridges and tunnels on the Shimla-Kalka line needs to be undertaken to assess their strength as they have gone in bad shape," she said.The Kalka-Shimla rail line has been chosen by Unesco as a world heritage site in 2008.Pratibha Singh also demanded that the Bilaspur-Bhanupali-Manali-Leh railways line, which will link Himachal Pradesh with neighboring Jammu and Kashmir through rail, should be declared as project of national importance.She said the project should be fully funded by the union government keeping in view its strategic importance.She also demanded adequate budgetary allocation for early and timely completion of the Nangal-Talwara rail line, the work on which has been going on at a snail's pace for many years.To link the state's industrial town Baddi with Chandigarh, she requested for laying broad gauge railway line from Kalka to Baddi.

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Due to construction of ROB (Road Over Bridge) in lieu of Level Crossing Gate No. 21-C, there will be six no. of traffic blocks of 3.00 hrs. each from 00.40 midnight to 03.40 a.m. from 23.07.2013 to 28.07.2013 for launching of PSC girders at Bijwasan yard over Delhi Division. During the period of traffic blocks upto 28.07.2013, the following trains scheduled to run o­n the section will temporarily be regulated as under:-

·The 19609 Ajmer- Haridwar express train will be regulated at Gurgaon for 75 minutes o­n 23, 26 & 28.07.2013.

·The 19610 Haridwar- Ajmer express train will be regulated at Delhi Jn. for 85 minutes o­n 24 & 27.07.2013.

Due to operational reasons, the 12387 Rajender Nagar- Anand Vihar T. Jan Sa dharan Express train scheduled to leave Rajender Nagar at 04.20 p.m. today i.e. 17.07.2013 has been cancelled. Consequently, its return service, the 12388 Anand Vihar T.- Rajender Nagar Jan Sadharan Express train scheduled to depart from Anand Vihar T.. at 03.20 p.m. o­n 18.07.2013 will remain cancelled.

Bengali news of providing more & more LHB rakes in Indian trains....HWH-JU Exp & HWH-CSTM Mail are soon getting LHB.

GM/SCR to inaugurate a Photo Exhibition on “ 160 Years of Indian Railways” at Salar Jung Museum


Shri D.P. Pande, General Manager, South Central Railway will inaugurate a  “Photo Exhibition o­n 160 years of Indian Railways” at 11 00 hrs o­n 20th July, 2013 (Saturday) at  Eastern Block, Ground Floor, Salar  Jung Museum,  Hyderabad. Senior Railway officials will also be present o­n the occasion.

The Exhibition will be o­n display from 20th to 26thJuly, 2013. Entry for the Exhibition is free and the Exhibition will be open for viewers from 10 00 am to 05 00 pm o­n these days. Salar Jung Museumis the space provider for the Exhibition.

A Brief o­n the Photo Exhibition

to Commemorate “160 Years of Indian Railways”

Born in the year 1853, Indian Railways has entered into its 160th year of its existence in 2013. The journey is quite long, but not tiresome. Indian Railways has crossed many mile stones during the last 160 yearsand has become a more vibrant transport organisation. It is the largest railway net work under o­ne management, possesses the largest Passenger Reservation System, carried out the largest gauge conversion from meter gauge to broad gauge and the largest transport sector employer in the world. As a part of its celebrations to commemorate 160 years of its existence, the Ministry of Railways is organising a Photo Exhibition at important Cities in our Country.

The first such exhibition was inaugurated by Shri Vinay Mittal, Chairman, Railway Board, at Twin Art Gallery, Indira Gandhi Kala Kendra, Janpath, New Delhi which was organised from 24th May to 2nd June, 2013. Subsequently, the exhibition, with the same exhibits, was conducted at Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai before it is opened at Hyderabad. After Hyderabad, this exhibition will move to Bhubaneshwar, Kolkata, Allahabad, Jaipur and Patna. Entry for the Exhibition is free.

The Exhibition o­n “160 Years of Indian Railways” showcasesselected photographs from the archives of Indian Railways. History is witness to the fact that Indian Railways formed the Nation that is India today and it cannot be separated from its social fabric. Indian Railways has grown with India and has not o­nly bequeathed the country its vast architectural heritage in the form of station buildings and other infrastructures but is also the pivot of the Nation’s economy today. It is impossible to imagine an India without its Railways. The railways in their own powerful way have paved the way for the growth of the nation and thus is a lasting symbol of India’s unity.

While the Railways is marching steadily towards the future, it is imperative to remember the very foundations o­n which it was built. It is time to reclaim the past which may be getting lost in the annals of time. Moreover, it has always been theobjective of Indian Railways to preserve the past as its rich history is undeniably o­ne of the most compelling tales in the story of India. This photo exhibition culls out the interesting moments of the life of this organisation concentrating primarily o­n the first 100 years of it existence which was a period of great turbulence for the Railways as well as the world.

It seeks to bring the railways back into the forefront of public consciousness. It takes the narrative of the railways back in time from its current point, revisit memories in sepia and black and white tones to understand the transitional, exciting, tumultuous phases that this organization has gone through. The railways in India as elsewhere in the world, revolutionized traditional concept of space and time and led to new geographies being formed.

The photo exhibition does not trace the history of Indian Railways sequentially from 1853 to the present. It is a thematic portrayal of the many facets of this organisation. Through many are photographs sourced from railway archives, Press Information Bureau, Railway Museums, the importance of the railways in the lives of the people, its role as an integrating force, as a catalyst of history and as a mute spectator to the unfolding historical events have been showcased.

The photographs, encompassing all the fundamental aspects of the railways are evocative of an era long gone but which has shaped the present. The ‘Personalities’ section’ is of special interest as it reveals the view of some eminent leaders o­n the Railways. Simi8larly, the sections o­n ‘Station Architecture’ are of immense interest as they more than anything else speak of the time in history of their construction. Their interiors are reflections of the society, the social stratification, while their exteriors present a larger picture of the developmental stage of the town and city. It has been dedicated to the workmen, who are solely responsible for the running of the trains. The photographs reflects the hard labour which is put in to transport millions of people across thousands of kilometers, marking the practices most of which are still fundamental to railway working today.

MANGALORE: Due to the track maintenance works between Kulithalai and Pettavaithalai in the Trichy-Erode sector, modifications have been made in operation of passenger trains from July 18 to 24.Train 56847 P Dn (Tiruchy - Palghat Town Passenger) is partially cancelled between Tirchy and Karur during the block days. In lieu of the above train, a passenger special with the same rake and loco will be operated from Trichy at 12 noon which will have stoppage at the stations where train 56847 was having stoppages and will arrive Karur at 1.45 pm. This train will operate to the scheduled timings.Train 76834 P Up (Karur - Trichy Passenger) is rescheduled to leave Karur at 4.15 pm, 45 minutes behind schedule and will arrive at Trichy at 6.25 pm, 55 minutes behind schedule.Train 76835 P Dn (Trichy-Karur Passenger), is rescheduled to leave Trichy at 7 pm, 50 minutes behind schedule, and will arrive at Karur at 9.05 pm, 40 minutes behind schedule.

The Chief Engineer – Track Planning, Southern Railway Latheef Khan inspected the Thanjavur railway junction on Wednesday to get a first hand account of the standard of cleanliness and general maintenance of the station.Accompanied by railway officials, Mr. Latheef Khan inspected the platforms, retiring room, waiting hall and concourse area of the station.The inspection that lasted four hours was carried out the on the instruction of the Southern Railway General Manager Rakesh Misra. Railway sources said Mr. Khan will submit the inspection report to the General Manager.