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मुंबई में तत्काल टिकट रैकेट के पर्दाफाश के बाद चौकन्ना रेलवे प्रशासन की नजर अब टिकट खिड़कियों की ओर घूम गई है। तत्काल टिकट की स्थिति जानने के लिए लखनऊ की एक सेंट्रल इंटेलीजेंस ब्यूरो की टीम ने दस बजे छापा मारा। टीम ने तत्काल टिकट काटने वाले कर्मियों से पूछताछ की। सब कुछ सामान्य मिलने के बाद टीम वापस लौट गई।
दस बजे जैसे ही तत्काल की रेलवे टिकट खिड़की खुली वैसे ही सीआईबी की टीम निरीक्षक अमरनाथ की अगुवाई में छापा मार दिया। औचक छापामारी से यहां हड़कम्प मच गया। टीम ने लाइन में खड़े लोगों से भी पूछताछ की। करीब एक घंटे तक गहन छानबीन के बाद सब कुछ सामान्य मिलने के बाद टीम वापस लौट गई।
चीफ आरक्षण अधिकारी राम सजन ने बताया कि टीम ने एक एक आरक्षण के तत्काल टिकटों की जांच की। सब कुछ सामान्य पाया गया। उन्होंने कहा कि औचक निरीक्षण के दौरान टिकट देने में कहीं कोई दिक्कत नहीं आई।

टाटानगर रेलवे प्लेटफार्म पर अनुसूचित जाति के छात्र व सफाई कर्मचारी को आरपीएफ और जीआरपीएफ द्वारा पीटे जाने के मामले को रेलवे बोर्ड के चेयरमैन ने संज्ञान में लेते हुए मामले से जुड़े संबंधित अधिकारी को चार सप्ताह के अंदर एनएचआरसी (नेशनल ह्यूमन राइट्स कमीशन) को रिपोर्ट करने को कहा है। उक्त बातें झारखंड ह्यूंमैन राइट्स के केंद्रीय अध्यक्ष मनोज मिश्रा ने साकची स्थित अपने आवास पर संवाददाताओं को संबोधित करते हुए कहीं। उन्होंने कहा कि चेन छिनतई की घटना में बेकसूर छात्रों तथा रेलवे के दो सफाई कर्मियों को बेरहमी से पीटना आरपीएफ और जीआरपीएफ की हरकत को दर्शाता है। ऐसे में इन पुलिस कर्मियों पर कार्रवाई होनी चाहिए।
क्या है मामला
किशोर कुमार करूआ ने बताया कि 12 दिसंबर 2012 को दादा के देहांत होने की जानकारी संजय करूआ अपने भाई गुरुचरण और सुखदेव को देने संजय टाटानगर रेलवे स्टेशन गया था। उस दौरान टाटानगर स्टेशन पर चेन छिनतई की घटना हो गई। इतने में आरपीएफ ने संजय, गुरुचरण और सुखदेव को पकड़ लिया और पिटाई की। संजय ने कहा कि उसने छिनतई नहीं की है, फिर भी आरपीएफ ने उसे नंगा कर पीटा। संजय ने आरपीएफ को बीए का पहचान कार्ड भी दिखाया, लेकिन आरपीएफ ने तीनों को जीआरपी के हवाले कर दिया। बाद में सफाई कामगारों और एससी/एसटी रेलवे यूनियन नेता के कहने पर छोड़ दिया गया। पिटाई से तबीयत बिगड़ने पर दूसरे दिन संजय को एमजीएम में भर्ती कराया गया था।

Vijayawada: Pilgrims from Krishna district, who were rescued after being stranded in the rain-ravaged Uttarakhand, reached here on Sunday from New Delhi.

As many as 153 people, who belonged to various places in the district, arrived in a special train this morning.

The railway administration attached four bogies to the New Delhi-Visakhapatnam Link Express for residents of Visakhapatnam and Rajahmundry, and two coaches to Puri-Tirupati Express for those belonging to Ongole and Nellore, to facilitate their journey home, said Additional Divisional Railway Manager S Subba Rao.

Pilgrims were provided free food at the railway station.

Namma Metro officials are bracing for prolonged litigation, massive cost overruns and delays as it has decided to stick to the realigned plan and save a portion of Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology. The decision could push costs up by at least Rs 1,000 crore, most of it would be forked out as compensation for the 98 buildings it would have to demolish under the realignment plan.  After a fortnight of public campaign against the realignment as well as the inter-change stations of Metro Phase II lines from RV Road-Bommasandra and Gottigere-Nagavara, Metro officials said it will not review the decision just to “protect properties of some patrons who will be affected by the realignment decision”.    Metro officials had agreed to the realignment despite misgivings by its top brass as first reported by   Bangalore Mirror   (98 buildings will be razed to save parking lot of hospital, June 3). Following the report, residents and owners who stand to lose their property had formed an association, Jayadeva Interchange Metro Victims Association (JIMVA), to better fight for their rights Ramesh K, coordinator of JIMVA, called the decision a “verdict of bureaucrats and not that of elected representatives”.   In a press release issued on Thursday, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), stated, “BMRCL does not propose to seek review of the decision to relocate the stations and the change in alignment of the line in question occasioned by it since location of the stations at Jayadeva Hospital premises is not feasible in public interest and also other Public (sic) infrastructure cannot be dismantled - merely to protect the properties of some patrons who will be affected by the realignment decision.’’   The realignment would affect several properties in Jayanagar 9th Block East, BTM Layout and Bannerghatta Road. Several multi-storied office complexes and commercial buildings including Gopalan Mall, Valtech IT park, Infosys and On Mobile are located on this stretch. While BMRCL’s estimated additional cost of compensation is Rs 145 crore, a conservative calculation by residents, based on market value of Rs 11,000/sqft, amounts to about Rs 840 crore. Together with interest it would exceed Rs 1,000 crore. About 1.65 lakh sqft of land and 3.25 lakh sqft built up area is required for the realignment line and the stations. The guidance value in the area is about Rs 8,000 per sqft.   Residents had pinned their hopes on the new government, but transport minister Ramalinga Reddy, who was briefed on the issue by BMRCL authorities on Saturday, said he was not aware of the decision. “I was busy with other meetings on the school transport drivers’ strike with BMTC officials and could not concentrate on what’s happening with the Metro,’’ Reddy said.  Metro ‘victims’ draft new plan     As per the original alignment, BMRCL had proposed interchange stations for the RV Road-Bommasandra and Gottigere-Nagavara lines across the 130-foot lung space between Jayadeva hospital building and its compound wall. This alignment was frozen in 2011, but in December 2012, the hospital director Dr C N Manjunath had objected, stating that the construction of the Metro would affect the outpatients’ block, the cardiac cathlab and intensive coronary care units, along with some essential services like the oxygen plant. A High Power Committee headed by the chief secretary and comprising senior IAS officers recommended the alignment be changed. The government agreed, even as BMRCL chief was unhappy.    JIMVA is still hopeful that the government would reconsider its decision. On the advice of the new government, it had submitted alternative plans to the realignment. Experts had also insisted that taking the Metro underground would avoid property destruction and litigations. “We still have hopes on elected representatives and the chief minister. We will not take this as a final decision,’’ Ramesh said.    Apart from the Jayadeva realignment, there were property owners along the Byappanahalli-Whitefield line near Vaidehi Hospital Circle who also had raised certain issues – of how this Metro Phase II alignment was changed to save a BMTC bus depot. Responding to it, BMRCL has said: “The alignment design leaves the BMTC facility, a public infrastructure facility unaffected and forms the basis of the alignment design in the DPR. BMRCL does not propose to seek a review of the alignment as we consider the retention of the BMTC facility integrating with the proposed Metro Station in the vicinity to be in the public interest.’’

We still have hopes on elected representatives and the chief minister. We will not take this as a final decision RAMESH, AFFECTED PROPERTY OWNER

Almost all the trains announced in the Railway Budget 2013 and as demanded by commuters in Coimbatore, are likely to find a mention in the railway time table to be released on July 1.Sources in the railways said that the Yesvantpur – Mangalore Weekly Express via Coimbatore is likely to be operated from Yesvantpur on Sundays and from Mangalore on Mondays.Similarly, the much awaited train on the Coimbatore – Rameswaram – Coimbatore section is likely to materialise now. It has been planned to operate the service from Coimbatore on Fridays and from Rameswaram on Saturdays. Mangalore – Kacheguda bi-weekly express train from Mangalore on Wednesdays and Saturdays and from Kacheguda on Tuesdays and Fridays will increase Coimbatore’s connectivity with Mangalore and Hyderabad.The Coimbatore – Hazrat Nizamuddin Kongu Express will be re-routed via Yesvantpur instead of Bangalore.

The Manamadurai-Chennai Egmore bi-weekly Silambu Express was flagged off here on Saturday. The Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, the Minister of State for Commerce and Industries E.M. Sudarsana Nachiappan and Chairman Manamadurai Town Panchayat I. Joseph Rajan flagged off the train.

The train no 16181, Chennai Egmore Manamadurai bi-weekly Silambu Express will run on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The train no 16182 Manamadurai-Chennai Egmore bi-weekly Silambu Express will run on Fridays and Mondays.

The trains will stop at Tambaram, Chengalpattu, Melmaruvathoor, Villupuram, Vridachalam, Tiruchi, Pudukottai, Chettinad, Karaikudi, Devakottai Road and Sivaganga. The train no 16182 will stop at Mambalam also.

NEW DELHI: Travel for devotees to the famous Vaishno Devi shrine will become more comfortable with trains expected to go right up to Katra, the shrine's base camp, from August.Railways is going to open the 25-km Udhampur-Katra rail link in August as work on the difficult route is almost complete.The national transporter is also working with the state government to integrate permit slips for Vaishno Devi Darshan with the train ticket."We are in talks with the Jammu & Kashmir government. The passenger can get permit slips while booking the train ticket," said V K Gupta, General Manager, Northern Railways.The next step is an evaluation by the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) for approval to run trains up to Katra as safety clearance from the watchdog is mandatory before new route becomes operational, an official said.Most of the work, except the laying of ballast-less track on a 3.1-km-long tunnel, the most difficult on the route, is almost complete now, Gupta said.After the commissioning of the new route, pilgrims will be able to reach the base camp of Vaishno Devi shrine at Katra without having to break their journey at Jammu.An estimated 10 million devotees pay obeisance at the Vaishno Devi shrine annually.The Udhampur-Katra rail route — to be completed at an estimated cost of Rs 960 crore — passes through hostile terrain, making it an extremely challenging railways project.The route consists of seven tunnels and 30 small and big bridges, including a 185-feet high tunnel. A total of seven tunnels span over 10 km of the 25-km stretch.While no decision has been taken yet on the number of trains which will go to Katra, but once the line is operational, any train coming to Uddhampur can be extended to Katra depending on popular demand.Katra station is ready with three platforms, and two more platforms will come up later.

For R. Parthasarathy, an employee at Brahmatheertam in Royapuram, where he cooks 13 different dishes for families of the dead every day, the return journey after work has been the same for nearly 40 years. “The Royapuram station is the one place in the city that has not changed at all. Sometimes, I fall asleep there, lulled by the breeze, and miss the train,” he says.With its high ceiling, Corinthian pillars and a new coat of crimson paint, the 157-year-old railway station is an integral part of Parthasarathy’s life.“People have an inherent dislike for anything that is old. Instead of demolishing the station, they should look into the drinking water taps that have been dry since the past 20 years,” he says.Every day, nearly 12 trains halt at the station, the oldest in south India. But except the morning peak-hour ones, most of the trains are usually late, say passengers. Most of them travel to Tiruvallur, Tiruvottiyur, Vyasarpadi and Thirunindravur, among other places.On one side of the unused tracks is a huge track-laying engine. “It came here five months ago. Whenever tracks need to be repaired or cleaned, the engine is sent from here. Earlier, the work was done manually, and people would come to watch how over 30 men lifted the heavy tracks and replaced the fittings,” says A. Rajagopalan (73), who frequently travels to Walltax road from Perambur.

“The premises are still unsafe for women, which is probably why many prefer to go to Central station in the late hours. But it takes just five minutes to get to Parry’s in a train from here,” he says.

Officials here recall, how, not more than 30 years ago, there were at least 100 RPF officials employed at the station which had more than 20 departments.

“Now there are just two rooms — one for the station master and the other for the commercial department. There are barely 10 policemen here,” says an official.

Ball-bearings, batteries, broken racks and valves are stocked in spaces between pillars, and everything is covered with bird droppings. The walls and floors of the platforms are a colourful mix of union election posters, party symbols and slogans. Dogs roam about freely on the platforms.

At another end, garbage accumulated in the area is set on fire, and some passengers walk to the opposite side to avoid the smoke. There are no announcements made, and passengers keep waiting for hours for a train. “The last train arrives at midnight and the first, at 1.40 a.m., going to Arakkonam. With a break of just one-and-a-half hours, this should be a rather busy station. It can be made much more commuter-friendly with more lights, security, announcements, foot overbridges and regular maintenance,” says J. Yusuf, another passenger.

Opposite the station are red buildings which residents fondly remember as Anglo-Indian structures. “One of them was the ‘forms’ department that stocked all kinds of stationery and typewriters. It used to be very noisy with the constant tap of keys on typewriters. That was the time when this was the ‘central station,’ but over time, most departments were shifted to either Chennai Central or Locoworks,” says an old-time worker.

More than passengers, the station officials, who did not wish to be identified, are passionate about restoring the building. “There are hardly 20 of us here and most of us will retire in the next two years. We have spent almost a lifetime under this roof, and it has been sturdy enough. There is no reason it should go now,” says an official.

The station may not be neglected altogether, for it seems officials have realised the value of the extensive space it provides.

According to sources, there is a survey on to lay a new track, and there are also proposals to open a maintenance shed for engines.

For R. Parthasarathy, an employee at Brahmatheertam in Royapuram, where he cooks 13 different dishes for families of the dead every day, the return journey after work has been the same for nearly 40 years. “The Royapuram station is the one place in the city that has not changed at all. Sometimes, I fall asleep there, lulled by the breeze, and miss the train,” he says.With its high ceiling, Corinthian pillars and a new coat of crimson paint, the 157-year-old railway station is an integral part of Parthasarathy’s life.“People have an inherent dislike for anything that is old. Instead of demolishing the station, they should look into the drinking water taps that have been dry since the past 20 years,” he says.Every day, nearly 12 trains halt at the station, the oldest in south India. But except the morning peak-hour ones, most of the trains are usually late, say passengers. Most of them travel to Tiruvallur, Tiruvottiyur, Vyasarpadi and Thirunindravur, among other places.On one side of the unused tracks is a huge track-laying engine. “It came here five months ago. Whenever tracks need to be repaired or cleaned, the engine is sent from here. Earlier, the work was done manually, and people would come to watch how over 30 men lifted the heavy tracks and replaced the fittings,” says A. Rajagopalan (73), who frequently travels to Walltax road from Perambur.

“The premises are still unsafe for women, which is probably why many prefer to go to Central station in the late hours. But it takes just five minutes to get to Parry’s in a train from here,” he says.

Officials here recall, how, not more than 30 years ago, there were at least 100 RPF officials employed at the station which had more than 20 departments.

“Now there are just two rooms — one for the station master and the other for the commercial department. There are barely 10 policemen here,” says an official.

Ball-bearings, batteries, broken racks and valves are stocked in spaces between pillars, and everything is covered with bird droppings. The walls and floors of the platforms are a colourful mix of union election posters, party symbols and slogans. Dogs roam about freely on the platforms.

At another end, garbage accumulated in the area is set on fire, and some passengers walk to the opposite side to avoid the smoke. There are no announcements made, and passengers keep waiting for hours for a train. “The last train arrives at midnight and the first, at 1.40 a.m., going to Arakkonam. With a break of just one-and-a-half hours, this should be a rather busy station. It can be made much more commuter-friendly with more lights, security, announcements, foot overbridges and regular maintenance,” says J. Yusuf, another passenger.

Opposite the station are red buildings which residents fondly remember as Anglo-Indian structures. “One of them was the ‘forms’ department that stocked all kinds of stationery and typewriters. It used to be very noisy with the constant tap of keys on typewriters. That was the time when this was the ‘central station,’ but over time, most departments were shifted to either Chennai Central or Locoworks,” says an old-time worker.

More than passengers, the station officials, who did not wish to be identified, are passionate about restoring the building. “There are hardly 20 of us here and most of us will retire in the next two years. We have spent almost a lifetime under this roof, and it has been sturdy enough. There is no reason it should go now,” says an official.

The station may not be neglected altogether, for it seems officials have realised the value of the extensive space it provides.

According to sources, there is a survey on to lay a new track, and there are also proposals to open a maintenance shed for engines.

LUCKNOW: Trains coming to Lucknow from Delhi arrived several hours behind schedule at Charbagh station on Saturday due to signal failure in Moradabad division, which occurred on late Friday night.A fault in the home signal at Bareilly affected the movement of trains through Moradabad division. The fault was rectified by 8:30am on Saturday."The trains are running as per their normal schedule now," said CPRO, Northern Railway, Neeraj Sharma. Due to the failure, almost all the trains on Lucknow-Delhi route, including the prominent ones like Lucknow Mail, arrived several hours behind schedule. Since the movement of hundreds of trains passing through Moradabad division was hit, it took Railways several hours to restore the movement of affected trains. However, once the fault was rectified, Delhi-bound trains departed on time from Lucknow.Meanwhile, a second special train from Haridwar, carrying passengers who were stranded in Uttarakhand, reached Lucknow on Saturday. Railways is not charging any fare for these trains.The special trains are running from Haridwar to Lucknow, Mumbai and Delhi to evacuate the stranded passengers. Railways ran a special train from Haridwar to Delhi on Saturday also. Railways is also revalidating the tickets of passengers stranded in Uttarakhand. Special arrangements have also been made to refund the fare against the tickets of flood-affected passengers.