ProUI

Srinagar:
When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi will flag off the train from Banihal in the Jammu region to Qazigund in the Kashmir valley tomorrow, not only will the century-old dream of rail connectivity be fulfilled partly, but it will also bring in more cheer to people of Kashmir who travel by train daily.The Railways is introducing four new trains in Kashmir which will chug between Banihal and Baramulla on a daily basis from June 27.“We will introduce four new trains between Banihal in Ramban district and Baramulla in north Kashmir from Thursday,” said a senior official of the Northern Railway. “The total number of trains which will operate here will now be 14. We are already running 10 trains,” he said.The official said the more number of trains would help them to cater to a heavy rush.“The four new trains have eight coaches and they will be able to meet the heavy rush,” he said. — TNS

Hazaribag: BabulalMarandi on Tuesday flagged off the first passenger train between Koderma and Nawadih on Koderma-Nawadih-Giridih railway track under Dhanbad division. The railway network - the foundation stone for which was laid by former prime minister AtalBihariVajpayee in 2005 - will help people of Koderma, Domchanch, Markacho, Maheshpu and Nawadih .The Rs 371.36-crore Koderma-Giridih track project, covering 111 km, was sanctioned and supposed to be commissioned by 2005-06. However, work could not b started due to lack of funds. Later, the Babulal Marandi government agreed to meet 50% of the project cost, which was escalated to Rs 787.87 crore due to the delay. The JVM-P chief had said the project would create new avenues for employment generation in the mineral-rich belt on the Grand Chord section of the East Central Railway, which could not be exploited earlier due to lack of rail connectivity.

DRM Sudhir Kumar, Dhanbad division, said all efforts are on to complete the line by December. The passenger train will have five compartments and will be hauled by diesel engine. It will make two trips everyday except Sunday. tnn

He said he was happy since it was during his tenure as central minister for environment and forest that the project came up for forest clearance. But he said that he would have been more happy had the entire Koderma-Giridih(111 KM) route been completed.

Chitradurga: Thirty five persons were injured when a railway engine rammed into a stationary Mysore-bound passenger train at Chikkajajur in the district this evening, police said. The Hubli-Arsikere-Mysore train had halted at the station when the incident happened due to a mix up in signal that resulted in the engine coming on the same track, they said. The injuries were minor in nature and the passengers were given first aid treatment at a hospital following which the train continued on its journey, they said.

PATNA: The railways has decided to expedite the Railway Station Development Corporation (RSDC)'s plan to develop important stations with a view to improving passenger amenities.

According to an ECR official, the RSDC initiative would also cover Patna Junction, Gaya, Mughalsarai, Dhanbad, Muzaffarpur and Barauni in the first phase. The authorities have already approved a plan to build a food plaza outside Patna Junction either at Karbigahiya end or at the main entrance. "Restaurants, shopping areas and food plazas would be developed at major stations to help railways earn more revenue from railway premises," another official said.

According to sources, the railways has recently written letters to all states seeking their cooperation to develop stations under the RSDC plan. The old plan to create world class stations has been dovetailed with the new plan which basically aims at improving passenger amenities for commercial purposes, the sources said and added the railways has chalked out both long and short term plans to generate additional revenue from station premises.

The railways is in consultation with several reputed firms of the world to prepare a blueprint for development of railway stations from commercial point of view on the pattern of European countries, the sources said.

According to Danapur DRM L M Jha, railways has worked out a plan to give facelift to Danapur station as well. Janata meals are now available at Danapur station and Patna Junction, he said.

Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel arrested an eight-member gang from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar that had been stealing valuable goods from sitting and luggage rake (SLR) trains across the country including Tamil Nadu.

The thieves, using a novel method, mainly stole goods such as garments, spices and other equipment kept in SLR trains which have a seating facility in the middle and space to store luggage and parcels at both ends of the coach. The seating facility and parcel compartment are separated by the metal walls near the toilets at both ends.

Before boarding the train, the gang used to gather near the compartment and keep a watch to determine the spots where valuable parcels were being kept. “Once the train left the station, one short and one tall member of the gang entered a toilet and closed the door. The others used to stand outside in turns under the pretext of waiting to use it,” said a RPF officer.

The gang members inside the toilet then opened a 10-cm space near the water tank above the commode. “No human can enter through this gap. Hence they used to place a log in between and then increase the gap to over one foot using a jack. Then the short gang member would crawl into the parcel area,” said the officer.

Once inside, the thief opened the parcels, took most of the goods inside and sealed the bag again. He then pushed the bag containing the loot through the gap and crawled back into the toilet. “They used to seal the opened area again and then return to their seats and act like any other commuter,” said the officer.

After alighting from the trains, they sold the loot by posing as hawkers. “They did not loot equipment meant for industries. They concentrated mainly upon goods that could be sold on the road. They used to repack the spices and sell them in nearby States,” said the officer.

The gang that mainly operated in central India had caused a loss of crores of rupees to the Railways. As security was tightened in the stations in the region after a series of thefts, the gang moved to Chennai. They tried to use the same modus operandi to steal valuables from trains leaving Chennai Central. But as the RPF had already received information about the gang’s arrival in the city, they had formed special teams comprising inspectors Vijaykumar and Alagarsamy.

“They tried to steal welding machine parcels kept on the platform and were arrested in the process. During interrogation, they confessed that they used to steal from trains,” said the officer.

Keywords: train robberies, Railway Protection Force, Chennai Central Railway Station, sittin

आरा-सासाराम रेलखंड पर गड़हनी के समीप मंगलवार की सुबह एक पैसेंजर ट्रेन दुर्घटनाग्रस्त होने से बाल-बाल बच गयी। चालक की तत्परता से बड़ा हादसा टल गया। इस मामले में रेलवे सुरक्षा बल एक ट्रैक्टर को जब्त कर कानूनी कार्रवाई कर रहा है। हुआ यूं कि सुबह करीब आठ बजे एक पैसेंजर ट्रेन सासाराम से आरा की ओर जा रही थी, तभी गड़हनी में अचानक रेलवे क्रासिंग के बीच एक ट्रैक्टर आ गया। इस दौरान ट्रेन को अपने नजदीक आते देख चालक ट्रैक पर ही ट्रैक्टर छोड़ भाग निकला। बाद में ट्रेन के ड्राइवर ने इमरजेंसी ब्रेक लगाकर ट्रेन को किसी तरह रोका। जिसके बाद हादसा टल सका। वरना ट्रेन पटरी से उतर सकती थी। सूचना मिलते ही गड़हनी थाना प्रभारी विजय कुमार राय ने वहां पहुंच ट्रैक्टर को जब्त कर लिया। ट्रेन काफी देर यहां रुकी रही। बाद में बिक्रमगंज से आये आरपीएफ के जवानों ने ट्रैक्टर को अपने कब्जे में ले लिया।

NEW DELHI: The Cabinet is likely to consider the case of setting up of a company to implement the ambitious Rapid Rail projects in the national capital region (NCR), on Thursday. The proposal has been pushed by the Union urban development ministry. According to the proposal, the company will have a seed fund of Rs 100 crore. As reported by TOI earlier all four NCR constituent states - Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan - will contribute 50% of this seed money for NCR Transport Corporation (NCRTC) whereas Centre will put the rest. Sources said NCRTC will also reduce burden on Delhi Metro Rail Corporation as it would take care of creating facility for similar type of long-distance rail service across NCR.

Formation of the company on the lines of Delhi Metro is crucial to expedite the project work. Ministry sources said that within two months after the Cabinet decision the company would come into existence with a full time managing director and other officials.

SARAIGARH-BHAPTIYAHI (Supaul): Union home minister SushilkumarShinde on Tuesday laid the foundation stones of two projects - a 552-km-long border road along the Indo-Nepal border and an SSB recruitment and training centre - through remote control from the campus of the BiharGurmaita High School at Bhaptiyahi.Lauding the development projects in Bihar, Shinde said that the road along the Indo-Nepal border would not only help in ensuring security in the region, but also give fillip to the economic development of border areas. The SSB recruitment and training centre is estimated to cost Rs 117 crore.The minister said that the border road project would be completed by 2016. He also asked the SSB (Sashastra Seema Bal) director general Arun Choudhary to ensure that the centre is completed before he completes his term in 2014. He also urged the SSB DG to give preference to local youths in recruitment.

The heavy downpour played a spoilsport as Shinde rose to address a huge crowd on the school campus. He wound up his five-minute speech with the remark, "rains do augur well". He also promised to address the concerns raised by CM Nitish Kumar and state power minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav in terms of development of the state.

Speaking as the chief guest, Nitish said Bihar spearheaded the move for border road by taking it up with the Centre and was the first among the states where the border road project has been taken up.

The CM said the 552-km-long border road, running from Madanpur-Gobarhiya in West Champaran to Galgalia in Kishanganj, would pass through seven districts - West Champaran, East Champaran, Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Supaul , Araria and Kishanganj. He said the road will give a boost to the economy of the border districts and pave way for realignment of roads and construction of a huge network of bridges in the seven districts.

The state has allocated 110 acres of land for the establishment of the SSB recruitment and training centre at Asanpur-Kupaha, west of Kosi Mega bridge in the district, the CM said.

Nitish also raised the issue of special category status to Bihar and sought the support of home minister, who, he said, was always soft towards Bihar. In his 15-minute speech, he also called upon the railway ministry to expedite the rail route construction in light of the fact that the rail bridge over Kosi, which runs parallel to the road mega bridge near Saraigarh, was complete. He said these highly ambitious projects were taken up when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was at the helms at the Centre.

The CM also strongly advocated for the allocation of Rs 2000 crore pension money from the central pool as specifically mentioned in the Bihar Reorganisation Act, when the state was bifurcated.

Earlier, speaking on the occasion, SSB director general Arun Choudhary said the SSB recruitment and training centre in Supaul district was the fourth such centre across the country. It will impart training to 1500 recruits at a time, he added.

The SSB director general honoured Shinde, Nitish, Bijendra Prasad Yadav and other dignitaries with 'paag' (Mithila cap) and 'chadar'. Power minister Yadav chaired the meeting.

Those present on the occasion included Union home secretary R K Singh, SSB IG Aditya Kumar, MP Vishwa Mohan Kumar, MLAs Anirudha Yadav, Amla Devi and Arun Kumar and MLC Haroon Rasheed.

Speaking more as a native of the district than as a high-ranking officer, Singh said Bihar had notched up significant marks on the development parameters in the country.

मुंबई


देशातील सर्व प्रकारच्या सार्वजनिक वाहतूक सेवेसाठी एकच एक स्मार्ट कार्ड तयार करण्याचा केंद्र सरकारच्या नगरविकास खात्याचा उपक्रम प्रत्यक्षात येण्याची शक्यता दुरावली आहे. त्यामुळेच या वर्षी सुरू होत असलेल्या मेट्रो आणि मोनो रेल्वेसाठी एकच स्मार्ट कार्ड तयार करण्याचा निर्णय एमएमआरडीएने घेतला आहे. त्यास बेस्टनेही हिरवा कंदीला दाखवला आहे.

सार्वजनिक वाहतुकीच्या साधनांचा वापर करणाऱ्या प्रवाशांना प्रत्येक वाहनासाठी स्वतंत्र तिकिटे काढणे वेळेखाऊ आणि त्रासदायक आहे. त्यामुळे या सर्व सेवांसाठी एक स्मार्ट कार्ड असावे यासाठी केंद्राने 'मोअर' कार्डाची घोषणा केली होती. मात्र बहुतांश ठिकाणी रेल्वे सेवांनी या कार्ड योजनेत सहभागी होण्यास असमर्थता दर्शवली होती. गेली दोन वर्षे या कार्डबाबत केवळ चर्चाच सुरू असून आता तर हा विषय प्राधान्यक्रमातही नाही. 'मोअर' कार्डाची योजना येण्यापूर्वी, मेट्रो, मोनो आणि बेस्टसाठी एकच स्मार्ट कार्ड तयार करण्याच्या तेव्हा बासनात ठेवलेल्या योजनेचे पुनरुज्जीवन करण्याचा निर्णय एमएमआरडीएने घेतला असल्याचे महानगर आयुक्त यूपीएस मदान यांनी स्पष्ट केले. या कार्डात रेल्वेचा समावेश होऊ शकतो, मात्र त्यांना रेल्वे बोर्डाकडून परवानगी घ्यावी लागेल. त्यात बराच वेळ जाऊ शकेल. त्यामुळे या सहभागाबाबत रेल्वे नंतर विचार करू शकेल. मेट्रो आणि मोनो या सेवा सुरू होत असल्याने एमएमआरडीए स्वतंत्रपणे स्मार्ट कार्ड तयार करण्याच्या प्रक्रियेस चालना देण्याचे ठरवले आहे, असेही मदान म्हणाले.

Chitradurga: Thirty five persons were injured when a railway engine rammed into a stationary Mysore-bound passenger train at Chikkajajur in the district this evening, police said. The Hubli-Arsikere-Mysore train had halted at the station when the incident happened due to a mix up in signal that resulted in the engine coming on the same track, they said. The injuries were minor in nature and the passengers were given first aid treatment at a hospital following which the train continued on its journey, they said.