ProUI

The 9.35-km Kazhakuttam-Kesavadasapuram stretch of the National Highway, a “most crucial” factor for the completion of the proposed 22.2-km monorail from Technocity to Karamana, will be widened into a four-lane carriageway at a cost of Rs.550 crore.

The four-lane road will be 24 metres wide with a two-metre median in the centre to accommodate the pillars of the monorail. The stretch will have a 3.5-metre service road on both sides.

High-level meet

The decision to widen the stretch was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in the Secretariat on Wednesday.

The meeting decided to reduce the width of the road from 30 metres, as suggested by the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (Natpac) that prepared the blueprint and estimate, to 24 metres to limit land acquisition.

Cost comes down

Official sources told The Hindu that by reducing the width of the road to 24 metres, the cost of road widening had come down from Rs.728 crore to Rs.550 crore. Thirteen acres of land had also been spared.

Natpac had estimated that Rs.576 crore was needed for land acquisition and Rs.152 crore for four-laning.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), the general consultant of the monorail project, had been insisting that Route 2 section (Kazhakuttam-Kesavadasapuram) be widened from the existing 11 metres to at least 22 metres to accommodate the two-track beams on circular pillars to be erected on the medians.

The DMRC has made it clear that civil works can commence only after the road widening as pillars for the monorail have to be erected.

Route 2 section will take five years for completion while the Route 1 section from Technocity to Kariavattom can be commissioned in 30 months after the turnkey contractor is finalised. The Route 3 section of 8 km from Kesavadasapuram to Karamana can be commissioned only along with Route 2.

Flyover projects

The other crucial factor for the project is flyovers at Sreekaryam, Ulloor, Pattom, and Plamoodu junctions. Plans have been submitted to the State for the flyovers, estimated to cost Rs.73 crore.

Kesavadasapuram-Kazhakuttam stretch to be widened

Work will be completed in

five years

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A reservation counter of Southern Railway will commence functioning at the Government Medical College Hospital here from Thursday.All rail reservations, including Tatkal tickets and reservation on concession, can be done from this counter set up near the entry of the hospital. The counter will be opened by T.N. Seema, MP, at 9 a.m.The reservation counter will be the fifth such non-rail head counter in the district and 18th under the Thiruvananthapuram Railway Division. The other counters are in Secretariat, civil station at Kudapanakunnu, municipal office at Attingal, and municipal office at Nedumangad.

Amritsar:
Train passengers can now look forward to a shorter journey between Amritsar and Chandigarh, as the Northern Railway (NR) has successfully finished the Chandigarh-Morinda-Ludhiana railway line which will shorten the distance between Ludhiana and Chadigarh from 126 km to 110 km.It will have the dual benefit for the Amritsar Chandigarh Superfast Express train. Firstly, the distance would decrease from the present 267 km to 251 km. Secondly, it will no longer require to be stationed at the Sirhind railway station for over 20 minutes for changing power engine to diesel-run engine. At present, Chandigarh-Amritsar Superfast Express covers a distance of 267 km in 4 hours 15 minutes. Once the new rail route becomes operational, it is expected to bring down the travel time to 3 hours 40 minutes.At present, the Superfast Express train passes through Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Sirhind and Morinda stations to reach Chandigarh. Once the new railway line is functional, the train would no longer need to travel to Sirhind, where power change takes place. This would attract more passengers who currently find the road travel less time consuming.The Chandigarh-Morinda-Ludhiana railway line stretch is part of the Chandigarh, Morinda and Ludhiana railway line project.Northern Railway Ferozepur division Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Naresh Chander Goel, talking to Amritsar Tribune, said so far, no notification for running the train on the new railway line had been received. He accepted that the new rail route would certainly bring down the travel time between Amritsar and Chandigarh.Officials at the local railway station said the occupancy rate of the Superfast train was over 60 per cent which was considerably higher than the erstwhile Duronto train, which had become a loss-making train. The 1,400-seat capacity train of Duronto was incurring a loss of about Rs 4 lakh daily, as on an average, 20 per cent seats remained occupied. Duronto had become the first train to connect the holy city with the state capital on August 24 in 2011. However, the authorities later gave in to passengers demand and renamed the train as Amritsar-Chandigarh Superfast Express with halts at Ludhiana and Jalandhar.A city resident, Dr AL Adlakha, said it was a welcome step, which had been long awaited. He said the Chandigarh-Morinda-Ludhiana railway line project was proposed way back in March 1997, with an investment of Rs1.5 billion. He, however, said that the delay in commissioning of the project led to the cost escalation of almost Rs 9.6 billion.The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the project in September 1998 and the construction of the tracks began in 2000. The project was to be implemented in three phases and the entire stretch of 110 km was expected to be commissioned by June 2010.Another city resident Amarjit Singh Asal said he urged the railways authorities many a time to swiftly accomplish the operationalisation of the Ludhiana-Morinda track to cut down the travel time between Amritsar and Chandigarh.

WR will introduce new 19411/19412 Ahmedabad- Ajmer Intercity Express from 22nd April, 2013 Ex Ahmedabad and from 23rd April, 2013 Ex Ajmer. Train No. 19411 Ahmedabad- Ajmer Intercity Express will depart from Ahmedabad at 09.10 hrs from 22nd April, 2013 to reach Ajmer at 18.45 hrs the same day.            In its return direction, Train No. 19412 Ajmer -Ahmedabad Intercity Express will depart from Ajmer at 06.25 hrs from 23rdApril, 2013 to reach Ahmedabad at 15.35 hrs the same day.            The train will halt at Sabarmati, Mahesana, Unjha, Sidhapur, Palanpur, Abu Road, Sirohi Road, Falna, Marwar & Beawar stations in both the directions.            It will consist of AC Chair car, Second seating and Second class general coaches.The booking of train No. 19411 will open from Saturday, 20th April, 2013.

The Maharashtra government said today it plans to introduce a metro rail line connecting South Mumbai and neighbouring Thane.  "A plan to set up metro railway line at an estimated cost of around Rs 2,091 crore is under the active consideration of the government," Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said in the lower house, replying to a discussion on the issue through a calling attention notice. Chavan indicated that a feasibility plan had been worked out and that the government is ready to take it up. Consultants felt that an efficient public bus transport system is considered more viable and preferable, he said. Informing the house that a detailed project report for the joint metro project had been prepared, Chavan said that it would be discussed during the next Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) meeting. "The government will send the project report to the Centre for approval," Chavan said. The government has decided to take up the project under a financial model, where the centre and state would each share 20 per cent of the project cost, while the urban local body would bear another 10 per cent, he said, adding that the remaining 50 per cent could be raised through loans. In his written reply during the discussion, Chavan also informed that it has been decided to extend the proposed Navi Mumbai Metro project (Belapur-Kharghar-Khandeshwar) to the site of the Navi Mumbai International Airport.

Amritsar:
The local railway authorities set the ball rolling for a Food Plaza at the railway station and the tender process is about to start for the same. Passengers felt its need acutely as the only refreshment room at the railway station remained closed during the past couple of days. Amritsar railway station witnesses the arrival and departure of as many as 128 trains (64 arrive and a similar number of them depart) daily and records a daily footfall of about 30,000 passengers.Railway officials today re-opened the refreshment room, which was closed two days back, after its operator, a private concern, paid over Rs 3 lakh as accumulated rent. However, the closure of the only canteen at the railway station posed great inconvenience to the passengers. A railway official, wishing anonymity, shared that the private concern had failed to pay the pending rent and had jumped the deadline.However, after orders from senior railway authorities, the local railway administration took the step.Surjit Sigh, a passenger, said undoubtedly, there were plenty of shops and stalls serving various snacks, but the only shop serving meals was closed which denied the waiting passengers an opportunity to have sumptuous breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The Amritsar railway station was proposed to be developed into a ‘world-class’ station way back in the 2009 railway budget, but the passengers and tourists visiting the holy city from around the world were still awaiting these amenities.

Ram Prasad, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Northern Railway, Ferozepur Division, said the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Limited was in the process of calling tenders to set up a food plaza. It will benefit thousands of passengers alighting and boarding trains at the Amritsar railway station on a daily basis.

He informed that the site plan had been approved. He assured that it would serve the choicest food to the passengers and pilgrims visiting the holy city.

WR will introduce new 22829/22830 Bhuj-Shalimar (Howrah) via Bilaspur- Katni from 20th April, 2013 Ex Shalimar (Howrah) and from 23th April, 2013 Ex Bhuj.



Train No. 22830 Shalimar (Howrah)-Bhuj Weekly Express will depart from Shalimar (Howrah) at 20.25 hrs every Saturday from 20th April, 2013 to reach Bhuj at 16.40 hrs o­n Monday.



In its return direction, Train No. 22829 Bhuj – Shalimar (Howrah) Weekly Express will depart from Bhuj at 13.40 hrs every Tuesday from 23rd April, 2013 to reach Shalimar (Howrah) at 10.05 hrs every Thursday.



The train will halt at Santragachi, Kharagpur, Tatanagar, Chakradharpur, Rourkela, Jharsuguda, Raigarh, Champa, Bilaspur, Anuppur, Shahdol, Katni Murwara, Damoh, Saugor, Bina, Vidisha, Bairagarh, Shujalpur, Ujjain, Nagda, Ratlam, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad, Dhrangadhra, Samakhiali, Bhachau, Gandhidham & Adipur stations in both the directions.



It will consist of AC 2 tier, AC 3 tier; II class sleeper and II class general coaches.



The booking of Train No. 22829 will open from Sunday, 21st April, 2013.

20 SPECIAL TRAINS BETWEEN LOKMANYA TILAK TERMINUS AND ALLAHABAD

Central Railway has decided to run 20 Special trains between Lokmanya Tilak Terminus and Allahabad to clear the extra rush of Passengers during summer rush. The details are as under –04116 Special train will leave Lokmanya Tilak Terminus at 15.50 hrs o­n every Thursday from 25.4.2013 to 27.6.2013 (10 trips) and will arrive Allahabad at 21.50 hrs next day.04115 Special train will leave Allahabad at 10.20 hrs o­n every Wednesday from 24.4.2013 to 26.6.2013 (10 trips) and will arrive Lokmanya Tilak Terminus at 14.50 hrs next day.

HALTS: Kalyan, Igatpuri, Nasik Road, Manmad, Jalgaon, Bhusaval, Khandwa, Itarsi, Habibganj, Bhopal, Bina, Lalitpur, Jhansi, Orai, Pokhrayan, Kanpur and Fatehpur.

COMPOSITION: o­ne AC-2 tier, o­ne AC-3 tier, 9 Sleeper class, 4 General Second class and 2 General second class cum guard’s brake vans.

RESERVATION: Bookings for Train No. 04116 open from 21.4.2013.

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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A reservation counter of Southern Railway will commence functioning at the Government Medical College Hospital here from Thursday.All rail reservations, including Tatkal tickets and reservation on concession, can be done from this counter set up near the entry of the hospital. The counter will be opened by T.N. Seema, MP, at 9 a.m.The reservation counter will be the fifth such non-rail head counter in the district and 18th under the Thiruvananthapuram Railway Division. The other counters are in Secretariat, civil station at Kudapanakunnu, municipal office at Attingal, and municipal office at Nedumangad.

Work on the city's first Metro line is on at a furious pace with a short trial run likely in May. Internal deadlines set by the team working on the project suggest that work on all stations covered in the first phase will be completed by July.The trial run will be on a short stretch of about 2.5 km from the car depot in Versova to Azad Nagar Metro station, as per the tentative plan discussed in a review meeting of the project earlier this week. The entire Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar elevated Metro corridor will be 11.4 km in length.The effort is to conduct the trial run on Maharashtra Day."We are trying to schedule the trial run for May 1, it being a day of historic importance. Engineers are trying their best to complete all work by then on this stretch. However, it could be a few days here or there," a senior official at Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) said on the condition of anonymity. Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL) the consortium implementing the project on public private partnership plans to complete the first phase from Versova to the Airport road station by August. MMOPL is a consortium of Reliance Infrastructure, Veolia Transport and MMRDA."As per the current schedule, work on first phase is likely to be over by mid-August after which there would be trial runs for 25 days," the official said. "The second phase will take a little longer as the entire team is focusing on the first phase. In the second phase up to Ghatkopar, about four girders are left to be launched," he added.As per the internal schedule drawn up by engineers, among stations that would be part of the first phase, the Chakala and Airport road stations will be completed by the end of May. The Versova, DN Nagar, Azad Nagar and Western Express Highway stations will be completed by mid-June, and the last station to be ready in this phase would be Andheri by mid-July. Work on all stations started between October 1 and October 12 last year.The laying of tracks on the viaduct is nearly over for the first phase. VNC Rail One, a joint venture between Visakhapatnam's VNC and Germany's Rail One, was in charge of the track laying work, and the rails were imported from Austria.Activities for installation of automatic fare collection equipment, being undertaken by Spanish firm Indra, have started at DN Nagar and engineers are targeting a July-end deadline.