ProUI

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Many track stretches under the jurisdiction of Thiruvananthapuram Division are not patrolled by trackmen for the last many days, following protests raised against the decision to deploy women for night patrolling.

When the rainy season began, the authorities had deployed 320 women for monsoon special track patrolling. They were supposed to work from 9pm to 4am and check whether the rains have damaged the tracks. However, the decision to deploy women on night duty along the deserted tracks received stiff protests from the workers' union. Now, none of the women go for the work. Meanwhile, men are taking up double and triple duty in many stretches, while remaining stretches are completely ignored.

"It is the duty of the track man/woman to check the tracks at night and inform whether there is any damage on track, owing to flood, tree fall, land slide, etc. Since the state receives maximum rains during this season, the chances of such incidents are high. However, it was not a wise decision from the part of administration to deploy women for the night duty," said a senior railway engineer.

When contacted, a senior administration officer said the decision to deploy women was unintentional. "In fact, it was girls - mostly graduate and post graduate - who cleared the tests held to various posts of the engineering department. Incidentally, it was not mentioned in the advertisement that the vacancy is for the post of track man/woman. Now, following protests from the unions we have decided not to send the women for night patrolling. The trackmen are now forced to take up double and triple duties," said the officer.

The division has 12 sections under it, starting from Nagercoil till Vallathole Nagar. At least 200 track men/track woman work under each section and check the tracks regularly. The workers' unions are now planning to start protest against the administration for the work allotment that has been in place for the last one year.

Thiruvananthapuram: If you are traveling by train under the jurisdiction of Thiruvananthapuram Division at night, spare a prayer before you board the train. For, many track stretches under the division is not patrolled by trackmen for the past many days.

The reason: The authorities deployed 320 women for the patrolling job at the beginning of the monsoon special track patrolling. They were supposed to work from 9 pm to 4 am walking along the track all the night alone and check whether the rains have damaged the tracks or not. The decision to deploy women on night duty along the deserted tracks received stiff protests from the workers' union. Now, none of the women go on night duty; men are taking up double and triple duty in many stretches, while remaining stretches are completely ignored.

"It is the duty of the track man/woman to check the tracks at night and inform whether there is any damage on track owing to flood, tree fall, land slide, etc. Since the State receives maximum rains during this season, the chances of such incidents are high. However, it was not a wise decision from the part of administration to deploy women for the night duty," said a senior railway engineer.

When contacted, a senior administration officer said the decision to deploy women was unintentional. "Actually, it was girls - mostly graduate and post graduate - who cleared the test held to various posts of engineering department. Incidentally it was not mentioned in the advertisement that the vacancy is in the post of track man/woman. Now, following protest from the unions we have decided not to send women on night patrolling duty. The trackmen are now forced to take up double and triple duty," said the officer.

The division has 12 sections under it starting from Nagercoil till Vallathole Nagar. At least 200 trackmen/track woman work under each section to take care of the tracks.

The workers' unions are now planning to start protest against the administration for brainless work allotment that has been in place for the past one year.

Temporary  augmentation in Double Decker with 01 Executive coach.

PUNE: The Pune Railway Division will start the construction work of setting up a new foot over bridge (FoB) at Pune railway station after the monsoon. The Pune Railway Divisional Manager (DRM), Vishal Agarwal, informed the members of the District Railway Users Consultative Committee (DRUCC) about the new project at a meeting on Tuesday. The Senior Divisional Commercial Manager Alok Badkul, and the additional DRM A B Medankar, were also present. This new FoB will come up on the Alankar cinema side of the station and shall connect platform 1 with 2 and 3. This FoB shall ease the pressure on the other foot over bridge used by commuters. According to Agarwal, the Pune division had earned Rs 774 crore during the last fiscal, including Rs 534.56 crore from sale of passenger tickets. During the last fiscal, the division had undertaken the expansion of platform number 6 at Pune station and constructed a foot over bridge at Chinchwad station. "We have also opened three new counters at the Pune railway station computerised reservation centre that will function even on Sundays till 10 pm,” Agarwal said. “During the summer, we plied 194 special trains to different destinations. We attached about 314 extra coaches to different trains originating from Pune," he added. EASE PRESSURE - This new FoB will come up on the Alankar cinema side of the station and shall connect platform 1 with 2 and 3. - This FoB shall ease the pressure on the other foot over bridge used by commuters at the Pune railway station

-Scenic Barkakana-Ranchi ride by 2014-end, 2-month delay for Koderma link
Misty hills, forest terrain, glorious view and numerous twists and turns on tracks. No, not the heritage Kalka-Shimla toy train, but an equally picturesque ride on the Barkakana (Ramgarh)-Ranchi route.
In Jharkhand, nature delivers and human nature delays. So, while the proposed 67.3km stretch between Barkakana (Ramgarh) and Ranchi is full of natural delights, the narrow gauge train project, part of the 200km Ranchi-Hazaribagh-Koderma rail line, has not finished even in 14 years.
Starting in 1999, it missed its 2005 and 2007 deadlines. Now, it is slated to cost Rs 3,000 crore.
Amidst pressure from the likes of BJP veteran and Hazaribagh MP Yashwant Sinha, who has thrown his weight behind the project, the Hazaribagh-Koderma line will now, hopefully, be ready by end of August, a two month setback from the earlier deadline of June.
The scenic stretch between Hazaribagh and Ranchi via Barkakana, however, is likely to be completed by 2014-end.
East Central Railway officials admitted work had slowed down between Barkakana and Ranchi due to the “difficult topography” and delay in getting environment and forest clearances to lay tracks on forested hills. “Three tunnels are under construction at present, including the 600m long ones in Masmohana and Khapia, and the third in Durgi village that is 300m long,” said a source.
Railway engineer R.N. Singh sounded optimistic. “We are back on track and will complete the work between Barkakana and Ranchi soon although the train will pass through three tunnels and travel on several bridges to reach its destination,” he said.
Railway sources stressed on the positives. One, the most scenic stretch of this 200km journey will be between Barkakana and Ranchi, with the train running on an altitude of 200-400ft above sea level, crossing three tunnels and a dozen big and 113 small bridges and 28 road overbridges.
Two, it will be an affordable visual treat. Passengers will pay Rs 10 per ticket for passenger, Rs 24 for mail and Rs 33 for express trains.
Three, the Barkakana-Ranchi link will boost the local economy by widening access for vegetable farmers.
“Barkakana is the vegetable basket of the district. If the rail link starts from 2014, farmers of villages such as Pali, Sanki, Jamra, Khapia, Baridih, Daridag, Kodi, Kadru and Armadag will gain the most,” said farmer Mohan Kushwaha.

Eastern Railway has fixed a month’s deadline to complete the construction of an underpass at Jadavpur station that has been in the making for close to two years.
The lack of an underpass at the spot cost a Jadavpur University teacher one of his legs last Friday while he was crossing the tracks. Hundreds run the same risk or more.
A railway official said Cosmos Construction, a Naihati-based company assigned the task of building the underpass, has been asked to finish all pending work and open the utility for public by July. Failure to do so will earn the company punishment ranging from payment refusal to temporary suspension.
“The underpass was supposed to be completed long ago. But a lackadaisical attitude of the construction agency has led to the delay. We have given them a month’s deadline to finish construction and deployed extra personnel to oversee work,” the railway official said.
Work on the underpass connecting KS Roy Road at Jadavpur to Jheel Road at Garfa across 15m-wide railway tracks started in August 2011 and was supposed to be completed by the end of the year.
Metro had on June 10 published a report highlighting how the incomplete subway and the part of it above the ground were filled with water and filth. The electrical and sewerage connections are incomplete and wooden planks, stone chips, nails and iron rods lying dumped around the structure.
Official said the Friday morning tragedy — JU teacher Gopinath Bhandari slipped while crossing the tracks and a suburban train ran over his right leg — triggered a flurry of activity among railway officials, who decided to speed upwork.
Even on the day of the accident, not one worker could be seen at the site. An official said they had all taken leave to celebrate Jamai Sashthi.
On Tuesday, however, the picture was different. At least 30 employees were working at the site, instilling hope among thousands who are forced to risk their lives and cross the tracks daily to avoid a 2km detour via the Prince Anwar Shah Road connector or Sukanta Setu.
“The railways have asked us to speed up work and finish the project within a month. They have even promised us to pay our dues at the earliest. We are working accordingly and are hoping to getthe subway ready within 20 days. In the next few days the mandatory safety tests will be conducted, after which the subway can be opened for public,” said a senior official of the construction agency.
At the accident site there used to be a level crossing till Sukanta Setu came up eight years ago. After the bridge was constructed joining Garfa with Jadavpur via the Sulekha crossing, the railways removed the level crossing and stopped vehicular and pedestrian movement across the tracks.
“After last Friday’s accident I shiver whenever I have to cross the tracks. I am praying for the underpass to be ready at the earliest,” said Juthika Mukherjee, 57, a resident of the area.

पलपल इंडिया ब्यूरो, मुम्बई.  पश्चिम रेलवे आरपीएफ नक्कारेपन के कारण यात्रियों को आने -जाने में घोर असुविधा का सामना करना पड़ा रहा है, नालासोपारा, वसई, विरार, मीरा रोड, भायंदर, बोरीवली, अंधेरी, बान्द्रा, जैसे प्रमुख स्टेशनों के पादचारी पुलों पर हाकरों का कब्जा हो गया है.नालासोपारा तो हाकरों का नया अड्डा बनकर उभरा है, जहां स्टेशन परिसर में सैकड़ो अवैध हाकर कुंडली मार कर बैठे हुए हैं.

लाखों के वारे-न्यारे

सूत्रों की माने तो रेल परिसर में अवैध रूप से लगाई जाने वाली दुकानों से लाखों रीपए के वारे -न्यारे हो रहे हैं, पश्चिम रेलवे के एक वरिष्ठ अधिकारी ने इस गोरखधंधे के लिए अप्रत्यक्ष रूप से मुख्य सुरक्षा आयुक्त को जिम्मेदार ठहराते हुए कहा कि इस फसाद की जड़ें उपर तक फैली हुईं हैं, जिसके कारण मंडल रेल प्रबंधक द्वारा बार-बार आब्जेक्शन लिए जाने के बावजूद अवैध हाकरों से रेलवे परिसर को मुक्त नहीं हो पा रहे हैं.

आरपीएफ के आर्शीवाद से  फिर  संजने लगी दुकाने

स्टेशन परिसर को अवैध हाकरों से खाली कारने के निर्देश देत-देते थक चुके मंडल रेल प्रबंधक संदीप साइलस ने अब  सरप्राइज चेकिंग पर जोर दिया है. इस संदर्भ में पिछले दिनों नवभारत में प्रकाशित खबर के बाद कुछ दिन तक हाकर नालासोपारा स्टेशन परिसर से गायब हो गए थे, पर स्थानीय आरपीएफ के आर्शीवाद से एक बार फिर दुकाने संजने लगी हैं.

मुखबीर का काम करते हैं स्थानीय आरपीएफ वाले

नालासोपारा स्टेशन के बाहर अवैध रूप से फलों को धंधा करने वाले एक हाकर ने बताया कि दुकान लगाने के लिए प्रत्येक हाकर से रोजना आरपीएफ वाले 100 रूपए लिए लेते हैं, जैसे ही

रेल प्रशासन का कोई बड़ा अधिकारी निरीक्षण की योजना बनाता , स्थानीय आरपीएफ वाले इन अवैध हाकरों को आगाह कर देते हैं.

AHMEDABAD: Western Railway with the help of Government Railway Police carried a drive against illegal ticket sellers at various railway stations under Ahmedabad division from 02 June to 15 June 2013.

Railway officials caught three people from New Bhuj, Sardargram and Chapi computerized reservation centres for selling illegal tickets. Railway recovered nine tickets from black marketers worth Rs 9,445. The railways in an effort to provide better service to passengers, Western Railway has come down heavily on the illegal travelers and touts. In a bid to stamp out ticketless travellers and touts, Western Railway conducted regular raids at Ahmedabad railway station and recovered more than Rs 7.5 crore.

Western Railway conducted regular checks in April and 1,78,235 cases of ticketless/irregular travel including unbooked luggage cases were detected. This resulted in a recovery of Rs 7.45 crore. Similarly, more than Rs 6 lakh was realized from 620 cases of illegal transfer of reserved tickets.

In recent times, Western Railway has got stricter in handling of touts and illegal travellers. More than 150 raids were carried out to nab touts running the illegal ticket syndicate. As many as 249 touts were detained and punished under the applicable sections of the Railway Act. The Railways ticketing system has always been rich grounds for touts to lure passengers.

Authorities have also deployed a 'Surakshini' squad at the station, to do away with beggars and unauthorized hawkers. In the last month, 1,023 beggars and illegal hawkers were apprehended. Of these, 654 were evicted, 354 were fined and 15 persons were sent to jail. Surakshini squads regularly remove beggars from the station.

The action committee opposing the high-speed rail corridor project will take out a Collectorate march and hold a dharna on June 22.Announcing this at a press conference here on Wednesday, the action committee members said the project costing Rs. 1.18 lakh crore would rseult in the largest eviction the State has witnessed. Though it has been claimed that the project cuts across just 20 m of land in width, nearly 100 to 120 metres has been surveyed at many places raising suspicion.The march on June 22 will start from the stadium corner. It will be attended by people’s representatives and leaders of various organisations, they said.Dharmadam panchayat president Prabhakaran, Edakkad Premarajan, chairman, action committee, and P.B.M. Farmees, Convener, were present.

The much-awaited railway section linking Kashmir valley with rest of the country will be launched on June 26 when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will jointly flag off the first train. The 18-km-long section between Banihal in Jammu and Qazigund in Kashmir will provide an all-weather surface link to the Valley which often gets cut off from the rest of the country due to snowfall during winters. Northern Railway is coordinating with the Jammu and Kashmir government to arrange bus service from Uddhampur to Banihal for passengers to avail train service for the Valley. "The bus service will be available from Udhampur to facilitate passengers availing train from Banihal next month," a senior Northern Railway official said. The Banihal-Qazigund section, which includes an 11-km-long tunnel, will reduce the distance from 35 km (by road) to 18 km. It has been constructed at a cost of Rs 1,691 crore.

"It was a challenging task. Besides the difficult terrain, land was acquired for the Kashmir rail link project in adverse law and order situation in the state," the official said.

Train service is already operational within Kashmir valley in the 118-km-long route between Qazigund and Baramulla in north Kashmir.

"The mandatory inspection of the track by Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) is being done and the clearance is awaited. The line is expected to open on June 26," the official said.

Trial run on this section was successfully done on December 28 last year and since then trains carrying stones are running on regular basis.

Work on this section was executed by IRCON, a PSU under railways. It will have two main railway stations - Banihal in Jammu division and Qazigund in Kashmir division.

In addition to these stations, a halt station is also being provided at Hillar village in Anantnag district for the convenience of local public.

IRCON Director (Works) Hitesh Khanna said commissioning of this section would help realise the dream of connecting Jammu region with Kashmir valley. He said it was Maharaja Pratap Singh who first explored the possibility of connecting Jammu to Kashmir Valley with a railway line way back in 1898.

Railways on Wednesday decided to press into service special trains to rescue people stranded due to the flash floods at Haridwar, Rishikesh and other areas.Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge has instructed the Railway Board to do whatever possible to rescue people from the flood affected areas, said a senior Railway Ministry official.Special trains will be pressed into service from stations like Dehradun, Rishikesh and Haridwar for stranded passengers. Moradabad division has been asked to arrange trains for the stranded passengers. Special counters will be opened at stations for these passengers, said the official.Passenger profile will be carried out to know their destination and accordingly train services will be launched, the official said.