ProUI

नरकटियागंज-मुजफ्फरपुर रेलखंड पर चलनेवाली एक ट्रेन ऐसी भी है, जिसमें सुविधा तो सवारी गाड़ी जैसी मिलती है, लेकिन यात्रियों को किराया एक्सप्रेस का देना पड़ता है। जी हां, यह ट्रेन है नरकटियागंज से मुजफ्फरपुर जाने वाली 15215 व 15216 एक्सप्रेस गाड़ी। यहां बता दें कि नरकटियागंज से मुजफ्फरपुर तक इस एक्सप्रेस गाड़ी का गमनागमन होता है। वह सभी स्टेशनों पर रूकती है। मगर उसका किराया रेलवे एक्सप्रेस की वसूल करती है। जिससे यात्रा करने वाले यात्री आर्थिक क्षति महसूस करते है। यह एक्सप्रेस ट्रेन लगभग एक दशक पूर्व से इस खंड में परिचालित होती है। मगर अब तक किराया एक्सप्रेस का ही लगता है। कुछ ऐसे यात्री जो इस ट्रेन को सवारी गाड़ी समक्ष कर यात्रा करने के एवज में पकड़े भी जाते है। यात्री रामेश्वर कुशवाहा का कहना है कि इस ट्रेन का किराया एक्सप्रेस का वसूल कर रेलवे यात्रियों के साथ न्याय नही करता है। इस पर रेल प्रशासन को सोचना चाहिए। शिवकुमार सिंह का कहना है कि एक्सप्रेस का मतलब एक्सप्रेस होता है। ये तो सभी जगह रूकती है। रेल प्रशासन को इसका किराया कम करना चाहिए। अवधेश शरण का कहना है कि पहले बेतिया का किराया 20 रुपये था मगर अब इसका किराया 30 रुपये कर दिया गया है। इस ट्रेन का किराया कम करना चाहिए ताकि सवारी गाड़ी के अनुकूल यात्री महसूस कर सके। प्रमोद राजभर का कहना है कि सवारी गाड़ी की तरह रूकती है अधिक समय लगता है। इस पर विचार करना चाहिए। यात्रियों को रेल प्रशासन से इसका भाड़ा कम करने की मांग की है।

MANGALORE: The accident involving a coal-laden goods train and mini-bus at an unauthorized and unmanned level crossing at Kemajur on the Adyar-Neermarga Road on Sunday evoked strong public protest here on Monday. Residents of villages in and around the accident site staged a sit-in on the railway track when Nalin Kumar Kateel, Dakshina Kannada MP, and Rakesh Gupta, additional divisional railway manager, Mysore division visited the spot.Taking note of the seriousness of the issue, Rakesh Gupta at meeting later on agreed to expedite the process of constructing a rail under bridge (RUB) at the spot.Nalin said he would impress on the state government to bear half of the estimated cost of Rs 92 lakh needed to construct the RUB, while the local stakeholders will bear the rest.The MP assured to allocate Rs 10 lakh from the MP local area development fund to help kick start the process.Incidentally, the earlier estimate for the RUB drawn up in two-years ago, when a motorcyclist had died in a similar accident was Rs 60 lakh.

Ruing the fact that the RUB project had never taken off despite importance of the project and consistent follow up, Nalin told TOI that it was decided at the meeting to construct humps on either side of road leading to the track and also display statutory warning boards to inform motorists of the railway track ahead.

The railway has accorded permission to local authorities to clear the foliage on its property or the land adjacent to the track to ensure better visibility of the track for the motorists using the stretch.

In addition, the local gram panchayat will take steps to appoint a person to double up as an impromptu level crossing attendant. These measures will be taken up at the earliest and continue till such time that the work on the RUB is not completed, Nalin said.

Noting that there are 17 such unmanned railway crossing in the district, Nalin said the official also visited the nearby Farangipete RUB.

Observing that the existing RUB there is not scientifically designed and prone to water logging in monsoon, Nalin said the railways have agreed to set right the flaw in the approach road leading to the RUB. Till such time, people will be allowed to use an adjacent unmanned level crossing, he said.

ANGALORE: A sum of Rs 600 crore to expedite work on seven long-pending railway projects and a promise to clear hurdles for Bangalore Metro work are some of the sops that the new railways minister Mallikarjun M Kharge doled out to his home state on Monday."Railways and Karnataka government together have decided to spend an additional Rs 600 crore in the current financial year to expedite work on seven pending rail projects,'' Kharge told reporters after a meeting with senior railway and state government officials.He said while the Centre would give an additional Rs 300 crore, the state would also chip in with an equal amount to take up those projects on a "war-footing". "We have decided to give more money for some urgent works and complete them in eight to ten months," he added.He also put the onus of project completion on the state government and said it should take it up on priority and resolve disputes relating to land acquisition hampering rail expansion.Kharge said Karnataka has received a share of Rs 900 crore for projects in the railway budget 2013-14 and if one were to include electrification and doubling of tracks, it would cross Rs 1,200 crore.

The sops from Kharge, however, have not impressed everyone. "We were expecting new railway lines and new trains for the state. But he simply belied our expectations. Even the sops of Rs 300 crore are just not enough,'' said S Hariprasad, a member of FKCCI, adding the promised projects were already on track and there was nothing new about it.

Kharge maintained that he decided to speed up the pending projects because there is less than a year for his term to end and making tall promises would simply not fetch results.

Removing hurdles for Metro

Kharge said the Bangalore Metro officials have apprised him about the hurdles involved in the work of Metro and he would take it up as a priority. "The onus of Metro work is largely on the state government but we have some issues to sort out. I will do all the needful to ensure work goes on smoothly,'' he added.

No hike in rail fares

Kharge ruled out increasing rail fares this year in view of diesel price hike. "There is no such proposal, and fares would not be raised. We will take the financial burden ourselves and not pass it on to passengers," Kharge said.

Booking to become smooth

Kharge said the railways will increase the number of servers to facilitate hassle-free booking of rail tickets through Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Website. "The pressure on IRCTC servers has already come down with the introduction of SMS booking. It's just a matter of time," he added.

New railway divisions

Kharge said he will examine the long-pending demand to include Gulbarga and Mangalore railway divisions in the South Western Railway Zone. "I cannot promise just like that. I have to see whether it is feasible. If necessary I will get the feasibility report done before taking a final decision,'' he added.

Kunigal stud farm

The railway is in a state of preparedness to execute work on the vital Bangalore-Hassan railway line which cuts across the historical Kunigal stud farm. But due to land acquisition problems the project has got delayed. "I have asked the state government to discuss the issue with business magnate Vijay Mallya and resolve it at the earliest. This is also true in case of land acquisition problems on Mangalore-Shravanabelagola route,'' Kharge said.

Mysore-Bangalore doubling

The work to shift the 225-year-old Tipu Sultan's armoury which has come in the way of Bangalore-Mysore railway line doubling project can only be expected to begin next year. "We are waiting for shifting of the armoury to protect it without causing any damage to the structure,'' Kharge said. The armoury, which is one of eight constructed by erstwhile Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan, comes under the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Karnataka and is situated close to the railway track at the Srirangapatna Railway Station.

Pending projects

Routes --------------------------- Deadline/ clearing hurdles

Kadur-Chikmagalur - ----------- Nov 2013

Kolar-Chikkaballapur ------------ Dec 2013

Gadwal-Raichur ----------------------August 15, 2013

Hotagi- Gulbarga ---- -------------Dec 2014-15

Hassan-Bangalore --------------- To decide on Kunigal stud farm

Hospet-Hubli-Londa-Tinaighat-Vasco-da-Gama --- To get nod

Bidar-Humanabad --- -----------------Two-and-a-half-years

Minister's promises

Kharge promised to sort out hurdles in the Bangalore Metro on a priority basis

He ruled out increasing rail fares this year in view of diesel price hike

Railways will increase the number of servers to facilitate hassle-free booking

Examine demand to include Gulbarga, Mangalore divisions in South Western Railway Zone

Asks state to discuss Kunigal stud farm issue with industrialist Vijay Mallya to sort out Bangalore-Hassan line

Tipu Sultan's armoury, which has come in the way of Bangalore-Mysore doubling project, to be shifted from next year

Ludhiana:
Activists of the Uttariya Railway Mazdoor Union (URMU) met the Station Superintendent and discussed the issue of duty roster with him.Leaders of the URMU alleged that the stationmasters did not have any authority to make duty roster of employees.The competent authority for making the roster was the Divisional Personnel Officer.ML Prasher, assistant divisional secretary of the Uttariya Railway Mazdoor Union , said carmen were surplus at the Railway Station, Ludhiana, so officials take there services when required.Satnam Singh, a carman, had been deputed at the booking office for the past two years.

Now, the Station Superintendent deputed a train disperse peon at the booking office.

“We have the objection that why the train disperse peon has deputed at a place where surplus carmen are serving well. We met the Stationmaster and he agreed with our point,” Satnam Singh added.

UDHAGAMANDALAM: The southern railway general manager RakeshMisra on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of introducing one more service on Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR), a long pending demand by the locals.
"With one track on the NMR, extra service will be impossible. After five in the evening, it is difficult to notice movements of wildlife on the track," said Misra.

The GM was here on an inspection tour of track and stations on the route from Mettupalayam to Ooty. In a specially arranged train which was stopped at all the stations, including Hillgrove, Kattery and Coonoor, the GM personally led the inspection at all points. "It is a routine inspection in the NMR section," Misra said. Apart from higher officials from the southern railway, a special guest from European Commission also accompanied the team during the inspection.

"Mr Bird, a railway researcher from Brazil, accompanied me on the trip. He is interested in steam loco production unit and it is a part of his research," said Misra. Mr Bird was amazed to learn that the southern railway is the only railway in Asia which manufactures steam engines that too only for the NMR section, Misra added.

Regarding the recent brake failure of a loco near Kallar station, Misra said mechanical errors are beyond human control. However, we are focusing more on the safety measures in the section".

On June 15, a steam loco pulling goods wagons from Coonoor to Mettupalayam developed a brake failure and could not stop at Kallar station. When asked why Kallar station doesn't have 'catch-siding'-a safety measure system meant for ghat section railways- Misra said Kallar was located at the tail portion of the ghat section. Even otherwise, NMR does not require 'catch-siding' as the gliding was not very steep, he said.

Bengaluru: In an effort to accelerate the execution of some long-pending railway projects ahead of next year’s polls to Lok Sabha, the Union and state governments agreed to fork out Rs 300 crores each on Monday. Speaking to media persons after chairing a meeting to review the progress of railway projects in Karnataka, railways minister M Mallikarjun Kharge said “the allocation in this year’s budget is Rs 900 crore, and if the budgetary provision for electrification and doubling of tracks is included it will go upto Rs 1200 crore.Now, both the Centre and state government have agreed to spend an additional Rs 300 crore each to complete some of the projects which could possibly be completed within 10 months.

We have decided to take up these projects on a war-footing.” Kharge said though almost all pending railway projects were discussed at the meeting, the stake holders decided to release funds to some of them so that they would be ready in eight to ten months.

Besides, he also called some officers in-charge of these projects and made them commit to the deadline in the presence of media persons.

The projects which would be taken up on priority include include Kadur-Chikmagalur (deadline November 2013), Kolar-Chikballapur (deadline December 2013), Gadwar-Raichur (deadline August 15), and Kotagi-Gulbarga (December 15). Besides, land disputes would be resolved through Lok Adalat and designated land acquired as early as possible.

Doubling of tracks would be taken up if state government agrees to acquire land along Bengaluru-Mysore and Bengaluru-Mangalore tracks. The minister ruled out a hike in train fares following an increase in price of diesel. "There is no such proposal, and fares will not be raised,” he added.

Meanwhile, a senior official of the Railway Board official said the capacity of the server of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) would be incr­eased to overcome problems in securing tickedts over the internet.

On behalf of the state government, public works minister H C Mahad­evappa, chief secretary S V Ranganath, principal secretaries of finance, revenue, infrastructure and urban development, attended the meeting.

In the first quarter of the current fiscal, Bhubaneswar-headquartered East Coast Railway (ECoR) accounted for 49 per cent of the total incremental traffic of the Indian Railways. ECoR thus emerges as the fastest-growing freight-loading zonal railway.

During the period, ECoR handled 37 million tonnes (mt) of originating freight traffic, up from 31.35 mt in the same period last year, marking an incremental traffic of 5.65 mt.

GROWTH IN JUNE

For the Railways as a whole, the freight traffic was 256.31 mt (244.81 mt), or an incremental traffic of 11.5 mt. ECoR posted more than 18 per cent growth against the national average of 4.7 per cent. In June alone, ECoR’s growth was 22 per cent at 12.28 mt (10.04 mt).

Indra Ghosh, General Manager, ECoR, would attribute this to system improvements achieved through a slew of measures entailing strict monitoring and improvement in working.

Ghosh, however, conceded that in terms of actual volume, Bilaspur-headquartered South East Central Railway (SECR) topped among the zonal railways.

TO YIELD RESULTS

During the period under review, SECR handled 37.18 mt (32.37 mt), posting a growth of 2.23 per cent. “In July, the performance should be much better as the steps recently initiated will start yielding results,” he observed. Ghosh is also the General Manager of SECR as an additional charge.

During the period, ECoR’s daily average handling of wagons was 6,152, which was more than 300 wagons handled by SECR, he pointed out. In other words, SECR’s wagon utilisation is better, as it handled more cargo with fewer wagons.

santanu.sanyal@thehindu.co.in

नरकटियागंज-मुजफ्फरपुर रेलखंड पर चलनेवाली एक ट्रेन ऐसी भी है, जिसमें सुविधा तो सवारी गाड़ी जैसी मिलती है, लेकिन यात्रियों को किराया एक्सप्रेस का देना पड़ता है। जी हां, यह ट्रेन है नरकटियागंज से मुजफ्फरपुर जाने वाली 15215 व 15216 एक्सप्रेस गाड़ी। यहां बता दें कि नरकटियागंज से मुजफ्फरपुर तक इस एक्सप्रेस गाड़ी का गमनागमन होता है। वह सभी स्टेशनों पर रूकती है। मगर उसका किराया रेलवे एक्सप्रेस की वसूल करती है। जिससे यात्रा करने वाले यात्री आर्थिक क्षति महसूस करते है। यह एक्सप्रेस ट्रेन लगभग एक दशक पूर्व से इस खंड में परिचालित होती है। मगर अब तक किराया एक्सप्रेस का ही लगता है। कुछ ऐसे यात्री जो इस ट्रेन को सवारी गाड़ी समक्ष कर यात्रा करने के एवज में पकड़े भी जाते है। यात्री रामेश्वर कुशवाहा का कहना है कि इस ट्रेन का किराया एक्सप्रेस का वसूल कर रेलवे यात्रियों के साथ न्याय नही करता है। इस पर रेल प्रशासन को सोचना चाहिए। शिवकुमार सिंह का कहना है कि एक्सप्रेस का मतलब एक्सप्रेस होता है। ये तो सभी जगह रूकती है। रेल प्रशासन को इसका किराया कम करना चाहिए। अवधेश शरण का कहना है कि पहले बेतिया का किराया 20 रुपये था मगर अब इसका किराया 30 रुपये कर दिया गया है। इस ट्रेन का किराया कम करना चाहिए ताकि सवारी गाड़ी के अनुकूल यात्री महसूस कर सके। प्रमोद राजभर का कहना है कि सवारी गाड़ी की तरह रूकती है अधिक समय लगता है। इस पर विचार करना चाहिए। यात्रियों को रेल प्रशासन से इसका भाड़ा कम करने की मांग की है।

The metro rail has begun its eastward march towards Assam and Odisha.Last week, the Centre approved financial help to the Odisha government and asked it to prepare a detailed project report to construct a nearly 32km metro line connecting Jatani, Khurda, Bhubaneswar, Barang, Cuttack and Choudwar.Delhi is considering a similar request from Assam.Barring Calcutta, none of the eastern cities have metro rail projects.The Union urban development ministry has agreed to sanction 50 per cent of the cost to make the detailed project report.“It takes nearly one to two years for a detailed project report as the comprehensive city mobility plan also has to be made, which will take into account the ridership and viable routes,” said a senior official.All metro rail projects need a nod from the Centre before they can take off. Currently, a metro rail project is financed jointly by the Union and the state government. The Union urban development ministry usually holds a minor stake. The construction of a metro’s underground track costs Rs 300 crore per kilometre and an overhead metro line costs close to Rs 200 crore per kilometre.

The state government has to bear at least 50 per cent of the cost.

The Calcutta new metro line, the East West metro, is the only exception, as the state government does not have any stake in it.

The model for this metro was changed under pressure from Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee who was railway minister at that time and wanted full control of the metro project. At present, the Union railway ministry holds 74 per cent stake while the urban development ministry has 26 per cent stake.

The metro rail currently is operational in Bangalore, Delhi and Calcutta.

All the three cities are also constructing additional lines and new phases.

New metro projects are under construction in Jaipur, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai.

The Jaipur metro is scheduled to be operational from October this year while the Mumbai metro is expected to open by December this year. Both Chennai and Hyderabad metros are scheduled to open to the public by 2015.

Gujarat has also launched a company, Metro Link Express for Gandhi Nagar and Ahmedabad, or MEGA.

A month ago, the company had sent the detailed project report for the 83km metro line connecting Gujarat’s twin cities of Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad.

The Centre, however, has returned the project without approval.

“The detailed project report has been forwarded by the company and not by the Gujarat government so we cannot accept the proposal. The state government has to invest in the project, therefore they should forward the proposal and not the firm,” said a senior ministry official.

Pune metro’s detailed project report is also under scrutiny. It was sent back by the Centre for further details as there were doubts about the alignment.

In Punjab, Ludhiana and Chandigarh have also approached the ministry.

The Chandigarh administration proposes to connect the two suburbs — Zirakpur and Mohali.

Ludhiana has also proposed to include its suburbs. The Centre is yet to clear these projects.

With the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) not naming Pawan Kumar Bansal in its chargesheet in connection with the railway bribery case, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday took on the apex investigating agency, saying it is now habituated to implicating the opposition and saving the government.

"The chargesheet has proved that the CBI can't probe cases, in which the government is involved, impartially.The CBI is habituated to implicating the opposition and saving the government," said BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain.

Bansal, who was forced to resign as Railways Minister in May over a corruption scandal in which his nephew allegedly played a starring role, is not among the 10 people accused of the scam in a chargesheet filed by the CBI.

Bansal was interrogated about the scandal by the CBI last month, which centred on his nephew, Vijay Singla, collecting 90 lakhs in cash, which the CBI says was a bribe from a member of the Railways Board, who hoped for a promotion.

He had to quit the Union Cabinet after it came to light that his nephew had allegedly accepted a bribe of Rs. 90 lakh from Mahesh Kumar for being appointed to the post of member electrical.