ProUI

Anonymous call kept security personnel on tenterhooks

An anonymous call claiming that a bomb had been planted in the Chennai-bound Vaigai Express from Madurai kept security personnel on tenterhooks on Wednesday.The call, which turned out to be a hoax, delayed the departure of the train from Tiruchi Junction more than an hour and a half. The prank call caused hardship to travellers who alighted from the train upon being alerted by the security personnel to enable them to carry out thorough checks.Police sources said moments after the train arrived Tiruchi, an anonymous caller rang up the Government Railway Police (GRP) Helpline number 9962 500500 at Chennai from a mobile phone around 9.10 a.m. threatening that a bomb had been planted in the super fast express train.The message was immediately conveyed to the GRP at Tiruhi railway station from the master control room at Chennai. The train was stopped and the security personnel at the station asked passengers to get down from the coaches. Personnel of the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) of the city police also descended on the station.The BDDS of the RPF and city police, besides GRP personnel, jointly checked the entire train with equipment utilised for anti-sabotage missions. Sniffer dogs were also deployed.

After it was clear that there was no explosive substance in any compartment, the passengers were allowed to board the train.

The sources said as a precautionary measure, three detective dogs of the RPF were sent along with the escort parties in the train up to Chengalpattu Junction.

Tiruchirapalli Junction railway station will have a footbridge in due course with the railways sanctioning funds.

The Ministry of Railways has granted Rs. 2 crore out of the project cost of Rs. 4 crore for the establishment of the footbridge. The construction wing of the Southern Railway has been entrusted with the task of executing the project.

Railway sources here told The Hindu that the drawings for the bridge were in the finishing stage. The works were expected to commence in two or three months and would take a year for completion.

The end–to–end footbridge to be made of steel will be 150 metres long connecting all the seven platforms besides the Kallukuzhi side which is the second entry for Tiruchi Junction. The facility will come up near the parcel office a few metres from the station’s main entrance close to which an additional entry with a bus stop is to come up soon.

The footbridge will cross over 12 broad gauge electrified tracks, including stabling lines. Tiruchi Junction has only a subway connecting all the seven platforms at present. The footbridge will be an additional facility for the commuters, say the sources.

The bridge will be designed in such a way that an escalator can be fitted with it without making any modifications.Handling 50 passenger trains every day, the Tiruchirapalli Junction railway station has been witness to steady rise in passenger traffic over the years. The density of passengers in the station is at its highest at night causing congestion in the subway.

The bridge is being built to solve this problem.

The bridge will be an alternative to the subway for travellers to enter or exit the station either to the main entrance side or towards the Kallukuzhi entry from the platforms.

Anonymous call kept security personnel on tenterhooks

An anonymous call claiming that a bomb had been planted in the Chennai-bound Vaigai Express from Madurai kept security personnel on tenterhooks on Wednesday.The call, which turned out to be a hoax, delayed the departure of the train from Tiruchi Junction more than an hour and a half. The prank call caused hardship to travellers who alighted from the train upon being alerted by the security personnel to enable them to carry out thorough checks.Police sources said moments after the train arrived Tiruchi, an anonymous caller rang up the Government Railway Police (GRP) Helpline number 9962 500500 at Chennai from a mobile phone around 9.10 a.m. threatening that a bomb had been planted in the super fast express train.The message was immediately conveyed to the GRP at Tiruhi railway station from the master control room at Chennai. The train was stopped and the security personnel at the station asked passengers to get down from the coaches. Personnel of the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) of the city police also descended on the station.The BDDS of the RPF and city police, besides GRP personnel, jointly checked the entire train with equipment utilised for anti-sabotage missions. Sniffer dogs were also deployed.

After it was clear that there was no explosive substance in any compartment, the passengers were allowed to board the train.

The sources said as a precautionary measure, three detective dogs of the RPF were sent along with the escort parties in the train up to Chengalpattu Junction.

Vaigai Express, the latest target

Anonymous threat messages, whether communicated over phone or conveyed through letter, keeps security agencies on their feet.

Wednesday’s threat call from a prankster claiming that a bomb had been planted in the Chennai-bound Vaigai Express saw security personnel swing into action at Tiruchi Junction.

Armed with necessary paraphernalia, anti-sabotage teams of the City Police and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) did not leave anything to chance, thoroughly scanning every coach of the express train and utilising detective dogs in their bomb check mission that lasted over 90 minutes.

As is the case every time, security personnel treated the latest threat call as a “live call” before plunging into action. For the men in uniform, this is not the first occasion that they had come across threat messages.

In early January, the station master of Vriddhachalam received a postcard that contained a message threatening that bombs would explode in trains if the arrested leaders of certain outfits were not released.

Security agencies were put on alert and many trains passing through that station were checked for few days.

A month later came a threat call over phone to the city police at night hour threatening that a bomb would explode at Tiruchi Junction prompting security personnel to carry out thorough checks.

On one occasion, anti-sabotage team of the city police were taken by surprise upon receipt of an anonymous call that a girl wearing a particular dress and strapped with bombs was on the prowl at Chathram bus stand in the city.

The anti-sabotage team rushed to the bus stand to accomplish their mission. It came to light upon reaching the spot that it was a prank call made by a frustrated youth after the girl spurned him.

We don’t take any anonymous call lightly and always treat them as a “live call”, says a senior city police officer.

In the Wednesday’s incident, anti-sabotage teams not only checked the coaches of the express train but also the parcel office to be doubly sure that there were no explosive substances on the station premises , he said.

The bomb check strategy is quickly devised as we go as a team to the spot, says the officer.

Evacuation of people from the spot is done at first without causing any panic among public and the area is sanitised completely to enable the team members conduct the checks, the officer said.

“We don’t leave the place even if the bomb check mission takes a long time unless we are fully convinced that the spot does not have any explosive substance,” the officer said.

यूटीएस काउंटर पर मंगलवार को टिकट कटाने को यात्रियों की भीड़ उमड़ पड़ी। एक काउंटर पर दो से तीन सौ यात्रियों की लंबी कतार रही। सात काउंटर से टिकट की बिक्री हुई। कर्मियों की कमी के कारण तीन काउंटर बंद रहे। इससे यात्रियों को टिकट लेने के लिए मारामारी करनी पड़ी। धक्का मुक्की में टिकट लेकर भी दर्जन भर यात्रियों की ट्रेनें छूट गई। इसके बाद वापसी के लिए यात्री लाइन में लग गए। लाइन में तीन घंटे रहने पर काउंटर पर पहुंचे, तो किराया भी गया।यात्रियों का कहना है कि ट्रेन छूटने से किराया भी चला गया। दोनों तरफ से घाटा हो गया। इस तरह की व्यवस्था से गरीब लोगों की जेब खाली हो रही है।

A 33-year-old woman, travelling by the Chennai-Rameswaram Express made a valiant attempt to save her eleven-and-a-half sovereign gold chain when a miscreant tried to snatch it, but could save only a part.Railway police said R.Chithra Devi from Nemilicheri, near Chennai was on a pilgrimage to Rameswaram with 16 other family members, when the incident happened at Nellikuppam Railway station, near Villupuram, at the wee hours of Tuesday. She was sleeping on the side lower berth, keeping the window open when the train halted at Nellikuppam station at 1. 30 a.m. for operating reasons. It became all the more convenient for the miscreant to snatch her chain and flee, as the S8 coach, she was travelling in, was at the end of the platform, police said.Raising an alarm, she held on to the gold chain, but could retain only a part of it, which weighed around four-and-a-half sovereign, while the thief ran away with seven sovereigns, police said. Her family members, two women constables, travelling in the train and the Travelling Ticket Examiner rushed to her rescue, but it was too late as the train had started moving and the miscreant escaped under the cover of darkness.

On reaching Rameswaram, she lodged a complaint with the Railway police. A case has been registered and transferred to the Villupuram Railway police for further investigation, police added.

रेलवे ने रुड़की को एक और ट्रेन की सौगात दी है जो सप्ताह में एक दिन चलेगी। गुरुवार को चलने वाली यह ट्रेन (नंबर 22917) बांद्रा से हरिद्वार तक चलेगी। इस ट्रेन के चलने से केंद्रीय संस्थानों से जुड़े लोगों को काफी राहत मिलेगी।
रेलवे ने एक जुलाई से जारी नई योजनाओं के तहत कई रेलवे स्टेशनों को नई सौगात दी है। इसके तहत रेलवे ने रुड़की को भी चार ट्रेन दी हैं, जिससे रुड़की व आसपास के क्षेत्रों में रह रहे लोगों को यात्रा का लाभ मिलेगा। रेलवे की इस नई शुरुआत से कानपुर,अमृतसर, लालकुंआ, बांद्रा, पाटलीपुत्र, चंडीगढ़ आदि जगहों की यात्रा करने में यात्रियों को और आसानी हो जाएगी। रेलवे ने 18514 अमृतसर कानपुर एक्सप्रेस दी है। अमृतसर से कानपुर के लिए चलने वाली यह साप्ताहिक ट्रेन गुरुवार को 19:02 मिनट पर रुड़की पहुंचेगी। तथा 19:04 मिनट पर यहां से वाया कासगंज होते हुए कानपुर जाएगी। वापसी में ट्रेन का रुड़की में स्टापेज नहीं दिया गया है। बुधवार को सप्ताहिक ट्रेन नंबर 14606 अमृतसर लालकुंआ एक्सप्रेस चलेगी, जो 14:07 मिनट पर रुड़की पहुंचेगी। ट्रेन यहां से 14:15 मिनट पर लालकुंआ के लिए रवाना हो जाएगी। वापसी में यह ट्रेन 14605 बनकर आएगी। गुरुवार को यह ट्रेन 5:27 मिनट पर रुड़की पहुंचेगी तथा 5:30 मिनट पर यहां से अमृतसर के लिए रवाना हो जाएगी। रेलवे सप्ताह में दो दिन पाटलीपुत्र से चंडीगढ़ के लिए ट्रेन चलाएगी। ट्रेन नंबर 13255 पाटलीपुत्र चंडीगढ़ एक्सप्रेस सोमवार व गुरुवार को 14:10 मिनट पर रुड़की पहुंचेगी तथा दो मिनट बाद यहां से चंडीगढ़ के लिए रवाना हो जाएगी। वापसी में यह ट्रेन नंबर 13256 बनकर मंगलवार व शुक्रवार को 1:10 मिनट पर रुड़की पहुंचेगी व तीन मिनट बाद यहां से पाटलीपुत्र के लिए रवाना हो जाएगी। इन तीन ट्रेनों के अलावा रेलवे ने रुड़की रेलवे स्टेशन को एक और साप्ताहिक ट्रेन की सौगात दी है। ट्रेन नंबर 22917 बांद्रा हरिद्वार एक्सप्रेस गुरुवार को 14:48 मिनट पर रुड़की पहुंचेगी व दो मिनट बाद यहां से हरिद्वार के लिए रवाना हो जाएगी।वापसी में यह ट्रेन 22918 बनकर उसी दिन 19:40 मिनट पर रुड़की पहुंचेगी व दो मिनट बाद यहां से बांद्रा के लिए रवाना हो जाएगी।

रेल टिकट रद कराना अब महंगा हो गया है। रेलवे ने मंगलवार से किराया वापसी के नियमों में व्यापक फेरबदल किया है। अब यात्रियों को 24 घटे के बजाय यात्रा शुरू करने के कम से कम 48 घटे पहले टिकट रद कराना होगा। रेलवे ने वेटिंग लिस्ट वाले यात्रियों के टिकट जल्दी कंफर्म करने के उद्देश्य से नए नियम लागू किए हैं।

नए नियम के अनुसार यात्रियों को अब कंफर्म टिकट रद कराने पर 25 फीसद राशि की कटौती होगी। शेष राशि के लिए टिकट को ट्रेन के समय से 48 घटे के भीतर और छह घटे पहले तक रद कराना होगा। यात्रा शुरू होने से कम से कम चार घटे पहले तक टिकट रद कराना होगा। रेलवे ने प्रति यात्री न्यूनतम कैंसिलेशन शुल्क में भी बदलाव किया है। आरएसी व वेटिंग टिकट की पूरी राशि रदीकरण चार्ज काटकर यात्रियों को दी जाएगी। इसके लिए ट्रेन खुलने से तीन घटे पहले टिकट कैंसिल कराना होगा।

जनरल टिकट का पूरा रिफंड 20 रुपये काटकर टिकट जारी होने के तीन घटे के अंदर किसी भी काउंटर से लिया जा सकता है। अगर जनरल टिकट काफी पहले खरीद लिया गया है तो ट्रेन रवानगी के 24 घटे पहले तक कैंसिल कराने पर चार्ज काटकर बाकी किराया वापस मिल जाएगा।

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प्रति यात्री न्यूनतम कैंसिल शुल्क में भी बदलाव

एसी प्रथम श्रेणी-120 रुपये

एसी द्वितीय श्रेणी-100 रुपये

एसी तृतीय श्रेणी व चेयरकार- 90 रुपये

-स्लीपर श्रेणी-60 रुपये

-द्वितीय श्रेणी- 30 रुपये

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खास बातें :-

-अब यात्रा शुरू करने के 48 घटे पहले रद कराना होगा टिकट।

-कंफर्म टिकट रद कराने पर 25 फीसद राशि की कटौती होगी।

-ट्रेन छूटने के तीन घटे बाद आरएसी व वेटिंग टिकटों की राशि वापस नहीं होगी।

-टिकट खोने या खराब होने पर स्लीपर क्लास के लिए प्रति टिकट 50 व इससे ऊपर वाले दर्जे के लिए 100 रुपये देने होंगे।

-लेट ट्रेन का टिकट रद कराने पर पूरा किराया वापस होगा, रवानगी से पहले कराना होगा कैंसिल।

-ट्रेन रवाना होने के निर्धारित समय से छह घटे पहले व वास्तविक प्रस्थान समय से दो घटे बाद तक टिकट रद कराने पर 50 फीसद राशि की कटौती होगी।

-यात्रा की दूरी 500 किमी. या अधिक होने पर ट्रेन प्रस्थान करने के 12 घटे बाद तक टिकट कैंसिल कराने की अनुमति होगी।

-आरक्षित टिकट रद कराने के लिए ट्रेन के नियत समय से दो घटे बाद लौटाने पर यात्रियों को कुछ भी नहीं मिलेगा।

-बंद, धरना प्रदर्शन या आपदा जैसी स्थिति में ट्रेन छूटने पर 90 दिनों के बजाय 10 दिनों के भीतर चीफ कॉमर्शियल मैनेजर के पास राशि वापसी के लिए करनी होगी अपील।

LUCKNOW: The leisurely entry at Charbagh station would be restricted in the coming months as the place would be equipped with a multiple security check system.Railways has given its nod to Integrated Security System (ISS), a hi-tech security infrastructure, for Charbagh. It would ensure airport like security at the railway station. "Funds have been sanctioned and tendering will start soon," said senior DCM, Northern Railway, Lucknow, Ashwini Srivastava. ISS will be installed at the main Charbagh station as well as Lucknow Junction.The Integrated Security System will cover entry/exit points, circulating area, concourse, all platforms, parcel area, PRS (reservation buildings), foot-over-bridges, yard pit shed, washing line, station limit (home signal to home signal) and vehicle entry point (to record vehicle number plate and vehicle details).ISS has to be implemented at 140 railway stations identified as "sensitive" across the country. Charbagh, too, falls under this category. ISS is a multi-pronged security system which will be least intrusive. In 2010, Railway Board had announced implementing ISS at railway stations but it failed to take off due to shortage of funds. But, now that funds have been sanctioned, the process would begin soon. Railways will start floating tenders to put the needed paraphernalia in place. ISS will take the level of security several notches higher from the existing one. The concept is to have multiple checking system -- starting from entry to station premises and continuing till boarding of the train.

Being a comprehensive set-up, Railways had to float an integrated contract for the system. Since the cost of installing the system was high, it was felt initially that it could not be done at the divisional level. But now tenders will be floated at the divisional level.

The site security plan for each identified station has been prepared by zonal railways. This is to assess the exact requirement of equipment as well as civil and other associated works before finalising the proposal.

नागपूर

संत्रानगरीत मेट्रो आणा ही खासदार विलास मुत्तेमवारांची मागणी लवकर पूर्ण करा , अशी मागणी हैदर अली दोसानी यांनी नगरविकास मंत्री कलमनाथ यांच्याकडे केली . काही दिवसांपूर्वीच हैदर अली यांनी कलमनाथ यांची भेट घेऊन त्यांना याबाबत निवेदन दिले .

नागपूर देशाच्या मध्यभागी आहे . महाराष्ट्राखेरीज मध्य प्रदेश , आंध्र प्रदेश , छत्तीसगड राज्यांमधील ज ‍ वळपास ४८ जिल्ह्यांशी व्यापारिकदृष्ट्या नागपूरचा संबंध येतो . त्यामुळे येथे विविध घडामोडी घडत असतात . दिवसेंदिवस शहराचा व्याप वाढत आहे . त्यामुळे भविष्यात वाहतुकीचा मोठा प्रश्न निर्माण होणार आहे . भविष्याच्या दृष्टिकोनातून शहरात मेट्रो अत्यंत आवश्यक आहे . त्यामुळे नागपुरात मेट्रो प्रकल्पाला मंजुरी देण्यात यावी , अशी मागणी हतकरघा महामंडळाचे माजी अध्यक्ष हैदर अली यांनी केली आहे .