ProUI

The Centre’s ambitious plan to run high-speed bullet trains on dedicated tracks connecting Delhi with its adjoining satellite towns of Meerut, Panipat and Alwar in less than half the time that it takes now, seems to be slowly inching towards reality.  The Union Cabinet on Wednesday is likely to approve the setting up of a company —National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) — to execute the Rapid Rail Transit System (RRTS) with an initial fund of R100 crore. Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan  which are part of the NCR,  will contribute 50% of the R100 crore.As of now, three corridors of the RRTS have been finalised. These include Delhi-Meerut, Delhi-Panipat and Delhi-Alwar. The project will cost R75,000 crore. As part of this, new broad gauge tracks would be laid in Delhi and its three neighbouring states on which the high-speed air -conditioned trains would run. It would cover a distance of 90 km between Delhi and Meerut in 63 minutes, Delhi and Alwar (188 km) in 117 minutes and Delhi and Panipat (109 km) in 61 minutes.

This will be the first phase of the RRTS and is expected to become operational by 2015. In the second phase five other corridors would be connected.   

While a majority of the track in Delhi would be underground, in the other states it would be a mix of elevated, on ground and underground tracks.Initially, each of the trains will have six coaches which will later be upgraded to nine coaches. The project will be funded jointly by the Centre and respective state governments. 

In Delhi, multi-modal stations will be provided which will integrate the RRTS with Delhi Metro and DTC for faster dispersal of passengers. Feeder services will be provided at the respective stations to facilitate passengers.

Railway: New timetable comes into force
Posted on: 02 Jul 2013

Thiruvananthapuram: New railway time schedule came into force in the Thiruvananthapuram railway division from Monday onwards. There are changes in the train timings of Chennai Superfast, Gorakhpur express, Indore Ahalyanagari exp, Intercity, Nagercoil passenger. Railway authorities said that the complete list would be published within two days. The Kochuveli-Nagercoil passenger will leave to Nagercoil from TVM at 12 noon. The new time of Chennai superfast is 5.20 pm instead of 5.10. TVM -Guruvayur will leave at 5.30 pm.

Gorakhpur, Indore Ahalyanagairi express will start journey at 6.15 am. The trains will leave after the Janashathabdi express via Alappuzha at 6 am. They used to depart at 5.30 am. These trains used to halt in Alappuzha to give way to janshathabdi and it created protests. In this railway rescheduled the timings. Gorakhpur express has services on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday. Indore Ahalyanagari runs only on Saturdays.

MUMBAI: After conducting restoration work on war footing, with the help of more than 50 labourers at the affected site between Aravali Road and Sangameshwar stations in Ratnagiri region, Konkan Railway has restored the railway track at 03:15 hrs and the two affected trains - 12449 Goa Sampark Kranti Express and 16345 Netravati Express - which were delayed for 4 hours, have been restarted.

The heavy rains continue to lash the Konkan region.

The Southern Railway has revised the timings of train number 17316 Velankanni – Vasco da Gama (weekly) Express with immediate effect.As per the revised timings, the train will depart from Velankanni at 11.45 p.m. on Tuesdays, instead of the present 2.25 p.m.The train will reach Tiruchi at 3.15 a.m. on Wednesday and will depart at 3.25 a.m.It will reach Vasco da Gama at 6 a.m. on Thursdays instead of the present 7.40 p.m. on Wednesdays, said an official press release.

MANGALORE: Due to heavy rain in Konkan area, the pattern of train services has been modified for Wednesday. The train which will be running late are: Train No 16345, Lokmanya Tilak (T) - Thiruvananthapuram Central Netravathi Express scheduled to arrive at Mangalore Junction at 5.55 am, is expected to arrive only at 4pm; Train No 12619, Lokmanya Tilak - Mangalore Central Matsyagandha Express, scheduled to arrive at Mangalore Central at 10.25 am is expected to arrive only at 4.45 pm; Train No.12133, CST Mumbai - Mangalore Junction Express, scheduled to arrive at Mangalore Junction at 3.15 pm is expected to arrive only at 6pm.

These trains have been rescheduled: Train No 16348 Mangalore Central - Thiruvananthapuram Express scheduled to leave Mangalore Central at 2.20pm is re-scheduled to leave at 6pm; Train No.12134 Mangalore Junction - CST Mumbai Express scheduled to leave Mangalore Junction at 4.45 pm is re-scheduled to leave at 7pm.

Highly-patronised passenger train being cancelled to run Rath Yatra specials

A popular passenger train is being cancelled from July 6 to 22 to facilitate the running of specials for the annual Rath Yatra in Puri. It’s a fact that lakhs of pilgrims from different parts of the country converge on Puri to participate in the annual festival of Lord Jagannath. But, does it warrant the cancellation of a highly-patronised daily passenger train, being operated by the Waltair Division, and inconvenience thousands of daily commuters?East Coast Railway (ECoR) has announced the cancellation of train no. 58538/58537 Visakhapatnam – Koraput Passenger and train no. 58302/58301 Sambalpur – Koraput Passenger from July 6 to 22 to run special trains for the Rath Yatra.The Visakhapatnam – Koraput runs to full capacity everyday up to Rayagada after which the occupancy decreases between Rayagada and Koraput. While train no.58302/58301 has poor patronage and can be withdrawn to run a special, cancellation of a highly-patronised 58538/58537 is drawing flak from passengers.

MANGALORE: Due to heavy rain in Konkan area, the pattern of train services has been modified for Wednesday. The train which will be running late are: Train No 16345, Lokmanya Tilak (T) - Thiruvananthapuram Central Netravathi Express scheduled to arrive at Mangalore Junction at 5.55 am, is expected to arrive only at 4pm; Train No 12619, Lokmanya Tilak - Mangalore Central Matsyagandha Express, scheduled to arrive at Mangalore Central at 10.25 am is expected to arrive only at 4.45 pm; Train No.12133, CST Mumbai - Mangalore Junction Express, scheduled to arrive at Mangalore Junction at 3.15 pm is expected to arrive only at 6pm.

These trains have been rescheduled: Train No 16348 Mangalore Central - Thiruvananthapuram Express scheduled to leave Mangalore Central at 2.20pm is re-scheduled to leave at 6pm; Train No.12134 Mangalore Junction - CST Mumbai Express scheduled to leave Mangalore Junction at 4.45 pm is re-scheduled to leave at 7pm.

Chennai: Twenty express trains and two new air-conditioned express trains besides four passenger trains would be introduced shortly.Three new MEMUs and extension of five express trains have also been proposed in the Southern Railway zone Time Table-July 2013 released here recently. The new MEMU service would include daily Chennai-Tirupati connectivity. Train no: 66011 will leave Central at 9.30am and reach Tirupati at 1.10pm. Train no: 66012 will leave Tirupati at 9.10 pm and reach Central at 5.20pm.Also, Chennai Egmore- Madurai portion of Train No.16127/16128 (Chennai Egmore - Guruvayur Daily Express) would be extended to Tuticorin as Train No.16129/16130. Likewise, Chennai Egmore-Tiruchy (train No.12605/12606 ) 'Pallavan' Exp has been extended to Karaikudi.Mangalore Central- Tiruchchirappalli (Train No.12653/12654 Weekly express) would be extended up to Puducherry via Vriddhachalam, Villupuram as Train No.16857/16858.Rly

Cops’ presence of mind helps Passenger get back her gold bag

H. Zakeer Hussain | DC

Salem: Showing great presence of mind, the Erode Railway police sprang into action and recovered a bag containing gold jewellery worth lakhs from a moving train on Tuesday after a woman passenger complained she had left it behind while alighting.

The woman, Easwari from Thirumangalam in Madurai district had boarded the Thoothukudi- Madurai Express on a one-way ticket to Erode and was  travelling in the unreserved general compartment with gold jewels weighing 10.5 sovereigns in a bag, besides her other luggage.

When the train reached Erode junction at 12.30 am, the woman, who was still sleepy,  left the bag containing the jewellery behind while alighting and before she could realise what she had done, the train left. Easwari then immediately filed a complaint with the Erode Railway police, who in turn alerted the police at the Salem Railway junction , the train’s next destination.

“As soon as we got the message, we knew that the bag would be stolen if the train stopped at the next station and so got ready to get it back before  passengers got off  at Salem. We realised that if we missed that opportunity, it would be extremely difficult to recover the gold,” said a railway police official.

A well instructed head constable, R. Sivasakthivelan of the Salem Railway police, who was assigned the task of recovering the bag, waited for the train at the platform where it was expected to arrive and jumped into its unreserved compartment before it could come to a halt.

He quickly located the bag containing  the valuables and it was later handed over to Easwari at the Erode Railway junction. The greatly relieved woman was grateful to the constable and his team who received more than one pat on their backs for their prompt action. 

Customs officer among 10 held for gambling on train

Chennai: Ten gamblers were arrested Tuesday between Beach and Tambaram for gambling aboard trains.

Interestingly, the background of gamblers amazed even RPF personnel involved in the crackdown. It was not just casual labourers and ordinary office goers, but also a customs officer was involved in the group of gambling passengers who travel between Beach and far off Kan­ch­ee­puram, Tirumalpur and Chengalpet for work daily.

The gamblers, who travel between Beach and far off stations regularly, occupy the footboard and play cards. They hide the cards every time the train reaches a station. Though senior divisional safety commissioner received complaints of on board gambling.

A special team was formed to follow the gamblers. Late Monday, two plain clothed RPF personnel boarded a Beach-Tirumalpur EMU at 8.25 pm at Beach station and travelled till Guindy, taken videos of the gamblers on their mobile phones.

An RPF team led by Mambalam sub inspector Maharajan boarded the train at Guindy station and arrested the 10 gamblers who were let out on bail. The gamblers were slapped a fine of Rs 600 each. They also arrested a dozen beggars causing nuisance to travellers at the station.

ARANASI: The Varanasi division of North Eastern Railway (NER) organised a pension adalat in New Loco Colony at Lehartara on Tuesday.As many as 39 grievances out of 104 of retired railway employees were solved. A sum of Rs 2,29,654 was paid through cheques on the occasion.The pension adalat was organised to disposed of matters related to pension and other issues of retired railway employees and their wards in NER Varanasi division.

Bathinda:
Three unidentified youngsters were found lying in an unconscious state today in the morning. They were said to have been looted by a gang of robbers who offered them eatables laced with intoxicants and then took away their belongings and money.Volunteers of the NGO Sahara Jan Sewa shifted the three victims to the Civil Hospital after someone informed them that the youths were lying unconscious.President of Sahara Jan Sewa Vijay Goyal said a phone call was received at around 7 am and volunteers Sandeep, Anil, Vicky, Om Parkash and other workers picked up the passengers who were lying on a platform of the railway station. The unconscious persons were rushed to the Civil Hospital in an ambulance of the NGO where they are being treated.Sahara volunteers said the matter has been brought to the notice of the Government Railway Police (GRP).

Goyal said that earlier too, similar incidents have been reported at the railway station which underlines the need for security at the railway station.

He said that a bag containing edibles and tickets of a train was found lying beside these youths whose condition is said to be critical.

The amount of money or details of belongings taken away by the looters will be ascertained only when the youths regain consciousness, the volunteers of the Sahara Jan Sewa said, and added that the unconscious youths may take 48 hours to recover in view of their medical condition.