ProUI

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.

Mangalore MP writes to the Minister listing out demands


With Mallikarjun Kharge taking over as the Railway Minister, the activists and politicians and the traders’ body of the region hope that some of the long-pending proposals of the region would get the Ministry’s attention.People have been demanding divisional headquarters at Mangalore and bringing it under the South Western Railway Zone (based at Hubli) from the Southern Railway Zone (headquartered at Palakkad); construction of additional platforms at Mangalore Central, implementation of the three-year-old announcement on converting Mangalore into a ‘world-class railway station’, upgrading Mangalore Junction; doubling of Konkan-Railway track and additional fast night passenger between Mangalore and Bangalore.Nalin Kumar Kateel, MP, has already written to Mr. Kharge seeking implementation of many of these demands.The issues raised by Mr. Kateel also include: making Karwar-Yeshwanthpur a daily train instead thrice a week, better facilities at Subramanya station, arrival of Chervatur-Mangalore Passenger train (No. 56661) in Mangalore Central station at 8.30 a.m.; extension of passenger train to Puttur to Subramanya, doubling of tracks between Mangalore and Subramanya, building second platform and roof at Bantwal Station and development of Kabakaputtur as model station. He has pointed out that some media reports indicated that there were efforts to divert the weekly train between Mangalore and Bangalore announced in 2013-14 to run via Kannur and Selam instead of Arasikere. (Activists allege that Kerala and Tamil Nadu railway lobby was behind such moves).Mr. Kateel has warned the Minister that any such move would be resisted.District in-charge Minister Ramanath Rai said he would bring pressure on Mr. Kharge about “several issues” pertaining to the Railways.West Coast Rail Yathri Development Committee Chairman Hanumanth Kamath hoped that longstanding demands would get attention now that Mr. Kharge has been put in charge of the ministry. He said efforts are on to get in touch with him so that a delegation of activists is taken to either Delhi or meet him during his next visit to the State. Mr. Kamath said action had not been initiated three years after the then Railway Minister announced that Mangalore Central would be made a world-class railway station. Other improvements in the two stations of the city have also been ignored.G.G. Mohandas Prabhu, who heads the sub-committee of Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Railways and represents the chamber in Palakkad Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee, said a memorandum to be submitted to Mr. Kharge is being drafted highlighting various demands.

Southern Railway will introduce two new trains, the Manamadurai-Chennai Egmore Silambu Express and the Velankanni Express between Chennai Egmore and Velankanni on Saturday.

The bi-weekly train was announced in the Railway budget 2013-14.

Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram will flag off the Silambu Express at Manamadurai railway station at 8.15 p.m. in the presence of Central and State Ministers, MLAs and other dignitaries.

The regular service of the Silambu Express service will commence from June 26 from Chennai Egmore and from June 27 from Manamadurai.

Train No.16181 Chennai Egmore – Manamadurai (Bi-weekly) Express will leave Chennai Egmore at 8.20 p.m. on Wednesdays/Saturdays and reach Manamadurai at 7.45 a.m. the following day.

Train No.16182 Manamadurai – Chennai Egmore (Bi-weekly) Express will leave Manamadurai at 8.15 p.m. on Thursdays/Sundays and reach Chennai Egmore at 6.05 a.m. the following day.  

The trains will stop at Tambaram, Chengalpattu, Melmaruvathur, Villupuram, Vridhachalam, Tiruchi, Pudukottai, Chettinad, Karaikkudi, Devekottai Road and Sivaganga. The train to Egmore will also have a stoppage at Mambalam.

Advance reservation for the inaugural special and regular trains will commence from Thursday.

The same day, Southern Railway will introduce the Velankanni Express between Chennai Egmore and Velankanni.

Train Nos. 16185/16186 Chennai Egmore – Velankanni – Chennai Egmore Express will run with Train No. 16175/16176 Chennai Egmore – Karaikal – Chennai Egmore Express between Chennai Egmore – Nagapattinam – Chennai Egmore in both the directions with the existing timings. The trains will stop at Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Peralam, Mayiladuthurai, Sirkazhi, Chidambaram, Cuddalore Port Jn., Tiruppadiripuliyur, Villupuram, Tindivanam, Melmaruvathur, Chengalpattu and Tambaram.

Kochi Metro Rail Rail Ltd (KMRL) proposes to commence its tree planting project from tomorrow with 500 saplings to be planted at HMT in nearby Kalamassery. KMRL Managing Director, Elias George, Winston S Suiting, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests K Balachandran, General Manager, HMT, Ernakulam District Collector, P I Sheik Pareeth; Chief Co-ordinator, National Green Corps, Prof P Seetharaman; and DMRC's Principal Director, P Sriram, will participate in the planting of saplings at HMT tomorrow, a press release here said.

MANGALORE, APRIL 2: 
Proposal to construct more platforms at Mangalore Central railway station will be sent to the Railway Board.

The issue came up for discussion at a meeting convened by the Mangalore MP, Mr Nalin Kumar Kateel. He reviewed various railway-related issues on the occasion.

Replying to the queries of Mr Kateel on this, Mr Padmadas, Commercial Manager, Palghat Division, Southern Railway, said that the division had sent a Rs 16-crore proposal the Railway Board suggesting the need to build additional two platforms at Mangalore Central railway station.

The board was requested to include the project in the Railway Budget of 2012-13. Since it has not been included in the budget, again a proposal will be sent to the Railway Board to include it in the Railway Budget of 2013-14, he said.

At present, Mangalore Central railway station has three platforms. Added to this, around Rs 2.3 crore has been earmarked for taking up various development activities at the Mangalore Central railway station.

पलपल इंडिया ब्यूरो, मुंबई. पूर्वोत्तर भारत की तरफ यात्रा करने वाले यात्रियों की सुविधा को ध्यान में रखते हुए पश्चिम रेलवे ने बांद्रा टर्मिनस-गोरखपुर के बीच 23 एवं 30 जून को दो अनारक्षित विशेष ट्रेन चलाने का निर्णय किया है. जिसके तहत गाड़ी  सं. 05062 बांद्रा टर्मिनस-गोरखपुर विशेष ट्रेन 23 एवं 30 जून, 2013 को बांद्रा टर्मिनस से 05.10 बजे प्रस्थान करेगी, जो अगले दिन 18.45 बजे गोरखपुर पहुंचेगी.
उधर से गाड़ी सं. 05061 गोरखपुर-बांद्रा टर्मिनस विशेष ट्रेन 21 एवं 28 जून, 2013 को गोरखपुर से 07.10 बजे प्रस्थान करेगी और अगले दिन 17.35 बजे बांद्रा टर्मिनस पहुंचेगी. इस गाड़ी को यात्रा के दौरान दोनों दिशाओं में बोरीवली, वापी, सूरत, भरूच, वडोदरा, गोधरा, दाहोद, रतलाम, नागदा, भवानी मंडी, रामगंज मंडी, कोटा, सवाईमाधोपुर, हिन्डौन सिटी, भरतपुर, अछनेरा, मथुरा जं., हाथरस सिटी, कासगंज, फार्रुखाबाद, कन्नौज, कानपुर सेंट्रल, लखनऊ जंक्शन, गोंडा, बस्ती एवं खलीलाबाद स्टेशनों पर हाल्ट दिया जाएगा.
इस समय मुम्बई से गोरखपुर की तरफ जाने के लिए भले ही उतनी भीड़ नहीं है, पर उधर से आने वाली गाडिय़ां पूरी तरह पैक आ रही हैं. आरक्षित डिब्बों की दशा अनारक्षित डिब्बों से भी बदतर हो गई है. जिसके मद्देनजर रेल प्रशासन ने यह निर्णय लिया है.

Due to operational reasons the following trains have been rescheduled/cancelled o­n 20.06.2013  ie today-
RESCHEDULING OF TRAINS
15484 of 19.6.2013  Delhi Jn.-Alipur Dwar Mahananda Express train scheduled to depart  from Delhi Jn. at 6.40 a.m. has been rescheduled to depart at 3.35 p.m. o­n 20.06.2013.
02282 NewDelhi Jn.-Bhubaneshwar Super Fast Special train scheduled to depart  from New Delhi Jn. at 1.00 p.m. has been rescheduled to depart from New Delhi at 5.40 p.m. today.
13040 Delhi Jn.- Howrah Janata Express scheduled to depart  from Delhi Jn. at 3.35 p.m. has been rescheduled to depart from Delhi Jn. at 07.10 p.m. today.
14006 Anand Vihar- Seetamarahi Lichhvi Express train scheduled to depart from Anand Vihar at 3.50 p.m. has been rescheduled to depart from Delhi Jn. at 11.50 p.m. today.
12488 Anand Vihar-Jogbani Seemanchal Express scheduled to depart  from Anand Vihar at 7.40 a.m. has been rescheduled to depart from Anand Vihar at 09.00 p.m. today.
CANCELLATION OF TRAINS
15484  Delhi Jn. to Alipur Duar Sikkim Mahananda Express train of 20-06-13 is cancelled.

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.

बर्दवान सुपर नॉन स्टाप (इएमयू) पर दैनिक यात्री कर लेते हैं कब्जा महिलाओं और बच्चों को भी नहीं बख्शा जाता बिहार के जमुई में ट्रेन पर माओवादी हमले की घटना अखबारों और टीवी चैनलों की सुर्खियां बनीं. यह ट्रेन तो जल्द ही माओवादियों के कब्जे से मुक्त हो गयी, लेकिन एक ऐसी ट्रेन भी है, जिस पर रोज कब्जा होता है. वह भी बिना हथियारों के. यह ट्रेन है बर्दवान-हावड़ा सुपर नॉन स्टॉप (इएमयू).बर्दवान स्टेशन पर दैनिक यात्रियों का आतंक सिर चढ़ कर बोलता है. वे सुनियोजित तरीके से रोजाना इस ट्रेन पर कब्जा जमा लेते हैं. आम यात्री ट्रेन में घुस ही नहीं पाता. मुश्किल से कोई इस ट्रेन में घुस कर किसी सीट पर बैठ गया तो दैनिक यात्री उसे र्दुव्यवहार कर सीट से उठा देते हैं. कभी-कभी तो ट्रेन से बाहर भी फेंक दिया जाता है. दैनिक यात्रियों का गिरोह महिलाओं और बच्चों से भी बदतमीजी से बाज नहीं आता. हालत यह है कि इनके आतंक से आम यात्री इस ट्रेन में घुसने की हिम्मत नहीं जुटा पाता. इस ट्रेन में सीट को लेकर रोजाना तू-तू मैं-मैं होती है.कभी-कभी मामला हाथापाई तक पहुंच जाता है. पूरा मामला अधिकारियों के संज्ञान में है, पर अब तक कोई कारगर कदम नहीं उठाया गया है.हावड़ा स्टेशन पहुंचे एक यात्री सोनू राय ने बताया कि उन्होंने बर्दवान स्टेशन पर अपनी एक्सप्रेस ट्रेन इसलिए छोड़ दी, क्योंकि लोकल ट्रेन से वह जल्दी हावड़ा स्टेशन पहुंचना चाहते थे. लेकिन जब हावड़ा जाने वाली एक लोकल ट्रेन में सवार हुआ तो कुछ लोगों ने सीट पर बैठने नहीं दिया. हद तो तब हो गयी जब मुङो ट्रेन से उतरने के लिए मजबूर कर दिया गया. सोनू ही नहीं, उनके जैसे सैकड़ों लोग अपने परिवार के साथ ऐसी घटनाओं के शिकार हो रहे हैं. यह भी दिलचस्प है कि सीट की खातिर महिलाओं, बच्चों और बुजुर्गो तक से र्दुव्यवहार करने वाले दैनिक यात्रियों में कोई अनपढ़ नहीं बल्कि सरकारी कार्यालयों में काम करने वाले बाबू, मैनेजर, अध्यापक और वकीलों के साथ रेलवे के कर्मचारी भी शामिल हैं. ये लोग हर रोज काम के सिलसिले में बर्दवान से इस ट्रेन में सवार होते हैं.
कैसे करते हैं कब्जा
बर्दवान नॉन स्टाप सुपर फास्ट ट्रेन बर्दवान स्टेशन से रोजाना सुबह 8.40 बजे हावड़ा के लिए खुलती है. बिना किसी स्टेशन पर रुके करीब डेढ़ घंटे में यह हावड़ा स्टेशन पहुंचती है. यात्रियों की भारी मांग को देखते हुए रेलवे ने करीब 20 वर्ष पहले इस ट्रेन को चलाया था. ट्रेन पर कब्जा करने के लिये दैनिक यात्रियों का ‘गिरोह’ सुनियोजित तरीके से काम करता है. कई सीटों पर डीपी यानी डेली पैसेंजर लिखा होता है. हर रोज ट्रेन रवाना होने से आधा घंटा पहले दैनिक यात्रियों का एक साथी स्टेशन पहुंच जाता है. ट्रेन के प्लेटफॉर्म पर लगने से पहले ही वह अपना पोजीशन ले लेता है. ट्रेन के प्लेटफॉर्म पर लगते ही वह अपनी निर्धारित बोगी में सवार हो जाता है. बोगी में जाते ही वह सबसे पहले सीटों पर तास के पत्ते बिछा देता है. उसके बाद बोगी का दरवाजा भी अंदर से बंद कर लिया जाता है.
दूसरा दैनिक यात्री दरवाजे पर खड़ा होकर अन्य यात्रियों को बोगी में प्रवेश नहीं करने देता. जो लोग जबरदस्ती करते हैं उन्हें अंजाम भुगतने की धमकी दी जाती है. कोई यात्री यदि ‘डीपी’ लिखी सीट पर बैठ गया तो उसे बदतमीजी के साथ सीट से उठा दिया जाता है. स्टेशन पर इन यात्रियों का इतना खौफ है कि आम यात्री तो दूर , रेलवे प्रशासन भी दरवाजा खुलवाने की हिम्मत नहीं कर पाता. हालांकि अवैध कब्जे के खिलाफ रेलवे सुरक्षा बल व रेलवे राजकीय पुलिस ने कई बार अभियान चलाया लेकिन जब बात हावड़ा-बर्दवान नान स्टाप सुपर (इएमयू) की आती है तो रेलवे प्रशासन के भी हाथ-पांव फूल जाते हैं. रेलवे के एक वरिष्ठ अधिकारी ने बताया कि इस ट्रेन को दैनिक यात्री पूरी तरह से कब्जा कर लेते हैं लेकिन हम चाह कर भी उनको ऐसा करने से रोक नहीं पाते क्योंकि पूरी ट्रेन पर कार्रवाई करने के लिए बड़ी संख्या में फोर्स की जरूरत होगी.

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.