ProUI

PUNE: The city should consider underground metro only if it has sufficient funds to shoulder the excessive project cost, Vivek B Gadgil, Chief Executive and Managing Director of L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad), said on Saturday. Speaking to press persons, he also said that, the world over, cities are opting for elevated metro because of techno commercial and security reasons and suggested that Pune should follow suit.

There are pros and cons of elevated and underground metro. The decisions should be made on the basis of techno commercial reasons, he said. However, across the world, cities are opting for elevated metro in the backdrop of rising terror threats. Especially after the attack on the London underground, security concerns determine decisions on transport projects like the metro,” Gadgil said during a discussion with faculty members of Vishwakarma Institute of Information and Technology at Kondhwa.

When asked if Pune should go ahead with the elevated metro plan, Gadgil said, “If the city has funds, it should go ahead with underground metro. However, an underground project is very expensive compared to elevated metro. Also, it is a wrong notion that underground metro causes lesser nuisance then the elevated metro during construction. In fact, even the underground metro cause disturbance during construction phase.

Majority of work for underground project, like opening of tunnel and metro stations, has to be started on ground.”

He added that political interference in transport projects delay them and the city has to suffer. Gadgil said that, if there are no socio-political and economic hurdles, it is possible to complete a 60km metro project within four-to-five years.

The Pune elevated metro project proposal has been pending with the state government for three years and is likely to be tabled before the state cabinet next month. The project for Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad includes two routes with a total length of 31.5km. The first route is between Vanaz and Ramwadi in Pune and the second between Pimpri Chinchwad and Swargate. As per the revised costs in 2013, the metro rail project will cost Rs 10,183 crore.

Gadgil said that the metro project alone is not going to solve city’s traffic problem. “The city has to develop a connectivity network around the metro project. Only then citizens will be able to use the metro,” he said.

Speaking on engineering requirements for modern metro projects, Gadgil said, “When we compare the situation in our country with other nations, we realize they have moved far ahead of us in terms of technology. In fact, we need to introduce metro engineering as a subject in colleges. Building metro projects is a critical task. If one thing goes wrong, it will affect the end result.”

Kozhikode: The festive season and vacations bring with them a surge in air and rail passenger traffic, but the state has proved a complete failure in handling the rush of people.With  Onam falling on September 16, a Monday this year, train tickets from  cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai to major cities in Kerala have been sold out weeks ago.In the struggle to reach home, non-resident Keralites are being forced to depend on tatkal tickets as there is a nearly 3000 long waiting list on most of the daily trains to the Malabar, such as the Chennai- Mangalore superfast, and Yeshwanthpur- Kannur Express.But diminishing the hopes of passengers, only less than a  100 tatkal tickets are issued for a train on a given day and that too at a cost of Rs 1200 or more by some travel agencies in Bengaluru. Adding to passenger troubles, tickets of the Kerala bound Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation buses for the first three weeks of September were completely sold out by August last. Also, while bus fares from cities like Bengaluru to the state have risen sharply,  air fares between the Middle East and Kerala have risen by nearly 300 per cent. “There is usually a surge in inward bound travelling to Kerala during Onam, Christmas, Eid and the summer vacations coinciding with the closure of schools in March with a good many Malayalis settled in other  parts of the country and abroad heading back home.

Even if 10 per cent of the millions of Keralites working in cities like Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and  other places in the country travel to Kerala during the Onam or Christmas season it works out to a huge number,” notes N. Subramanian, vice president (marketing and sales) of the Kozhikode- based Superstone Properties and a frequent traveller on the Kochi- Bengaluru and Kozhikode- Kochi sectors.

Vijayakumar, Kozhikode regional officer, National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC),  says the festive season usually sees a four to five per cent rise in passenger traffic.

And according to a pre- feasibility report of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd on the ‘Kerala high speed rail between Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam’, traffic in Kerala has been growing at a rate of 10 to 11 per cent every year, resulting in high traffic and pressure on the roads and increased travel time.

Although Kerala is well connected to its neighbouring states through inter-city and inter-state bus services run by the KSRTC and private operators, their capacity, constraints, and ultimately the riding quality and safety has made road travel the least preferred by the public. 

“The situation has resulted in a three-fold rise on train dependency,” says C.E. Chakkuni, general secretary of the Malabar Rail Users Association, and a member of the Calicut Airport Development Committee. 

“Prediction of the growth in the number of passengers is not such a herculean task today and so there is no justification for the delay in announcing special trains  during the festive seasons,” he maintains, blaming the lethargy of the governments in the state for the lack of planning.

Pointing out that around 9000 people depend on the Kannur- Yeshwanthpur Express every day, he wonders why the services of around a 1000 KSRTC buses were abruptly stopped from the Malabar. “Why isn’t the  government not showing any interest in restoring these services?” he asks.

The time has obviously come for travel demand forecasting, which is today an integral component of  modern transport planning. Like in any other field, travel demand forecasting can be divided into two components – long term and short term.

The first takes into account mainly demographic factors, economic and infrastructure growth in a particular region. And the second focuses  on  short term fluctuations, especially  seasonal variations and trends.

In fact, in countries like the US, the surge in air and road passenger traffic on the eve of Christmas and New Year Holiday season  frequently makes headlines. The surge or decline in holiday travel is also used as an important indicator of  economic health.

But despite a  large number of Keralities working abroad or outside the state often returning home for festivals or vacations, its transport department  has made no room for travel demand forecasting, which could make life much easier for most travelling to the state, deplore experts.

इलाहाबाद। प्रतापगढ़ में चलने वाले सेना भर्ती मेला में युवाओं की भारी भीड़ जुटने की संभावना है। इसे देखते हुए रेलवे प्रशासन ने भी कमर कस ली है। युवाओं की भीड़ साधन न मिलने पर बवाल न काटे, इसके लिए उत्तर मध्य रेलवे प्रशासन सात और आठ सितंबर को इलाहाबाद जंक्शन से दो स्पेशल ट्रेनें चलाने जा रहा है। इसमें एक ट्रेन एक्सप्रेस और दूसरी फास्ट पैसेंजर के रूप में चलाई जाएगी। उधर, प्रयाग चलने वाली फैजाबाद की दोनों पैसेंजर और पीआरएल में भी दो-दो अतिरिक्त कोच जोड़े जाएंगे। रेलवे प्रशासन के मुताबिक भर्ती मेला में कौशाम्बी और इलाहाबाद के युवकों की भर्ती के दिन स्पेशल ट्रेनें चलाई जाएंगी, जिससे दोनों जिलों के युवक आसानी से प्रतापगढ़ पहुंच सकें और वापसी कर सकें। सात सितंबर को पहली ट्रेन इलाहाबाद जंक्शन से सुबह 10.50 बजे छूटेगी। यह गाड़ी प्रयाग स्टेशन पर रुकते हुए 12.30 बजे प्रतापगढ़, 13.40 बजे सुल्तानपुर और 15.25 बजे फैजाबाद पहुंचाएगी। उसी दिन फैजाबाद से शाम 4.30 बजे छूटेगी और 17.57 बजे सुल्तानपुर, 19.10 बजे प्रतापगढ़, 22.35 बजे प्रयाग और 22.50 बजे इलाहाबाद जंक्शन पहुंचाएगी। 14 कोचों की इस ट्रेन में छह स्लीपर, पांच जनरल, एक एसी (लॉक) और दो एसएलआर डिब्बे रहेंगे। आठ सितंबर को दूसरी स्पेशल ट्रेन भी इलाहाबाद जंक्शन से सुबह 10.50 बजे और वापसी में फैजाबाद से शाम 4.30 बजे छूटेगी। अन्य स्टेशनों पर भी ट्रेन के आने-जाने का समय निर्धारित किया गया है।

The Southern Railway will introduce Coimbatore – Rameswaram – Coimbatore Weekly Express via Tiruchi from September 17. The train Coimbatore – Rameswaram – Coimbatore Weekly Express (16618/16617) will be introduced with effect from September 17 (Tuesday) from Coimbatore and from September 18 (Wednesday) from Rameswaram.

The new train will depart from Coimbatore at 9.45 p.m. on Tuesdays, Tiruppur 10.30 p.m., Erode 9.25 p.m.; Karur 10.35 p.m.; Tiruchi 12.15 a.m.; Pudukottai 1.02 a.m.; Chettinad 1.31 a.m.; Karaikudi 2.15 a.m.; Devakottai road 2.21 a.m.; Sivagangai 3.02 a.m.; Manamadurai 3.35 a.m.; Paramakudi 4 a.m.; Ramanathapuram 4.30 a.m.; Mandapam 5.10 a.m.; Rameswaram 6.45 a.m.In the return direction, the train Rameswaram – Coimbatore Weekly Express (16617) will leave Rameswaram on Wednesdays at 7 p.m.; Mandapam 7.30 p.m.; Ramanathapuram 8 p.m.; Paramakudi 8.30 p.m.; Manamadurai 9.10 p.m.; Sivaganga 9.15 p.m.; Devakottai Road 10.10 p.m.; Karaikudi 10.30 p.m.; Chettinad 10.45 p.m.; Pudukottai 11.17 p.m.; Tiruchi 1.10 a.m.; Karur 2.45 a.m.; Erode 4.30 a.m.; Tiruppur 5.15 a.m. The reservation for this train commences from September 8.

सशस्त्र सीमा बल (एसएसबी) नौंवी वाहिनी की भगवानपुर बाहृय सीमा चौकी के जवानों ने औचक निरीक्षण कर बढ़नी से गोंडा जाने वाली ट्रेन से चार क्विंटल 30 किलो नेपाली डली बरामद किया है। पकड़ी गई डली की कीमत 86000 रुपये बताई जा रही है।
एसएसबी के सहायक सेनानायक टीएन उपाध्याय को मुखबिर के जरिए सूचना मिली कि शनिवार सुबह बढ़नी से गोंडा जाने वाली ट्रेन में तस्करी का सामान जा रहा है। सूचना को गंभीरता से लेते हुए सहायक सेनानायक तत्काल कार्रवाई करते हुए गैंसड़ी रेलवे स्टेशन पर ट्रेन की बोगियों का औचक निरीक्षण जवानों के साथ किया। छानबीन में एक बोगी से 10 बोरे नेपाली डली प्राप्त हुई। सवारियों से पूछताछ में किसी ने उसे अपना नहीं बताया। जवानों ने नेपाली डली को अपने कब्जे में लेकर कस्टम कार्यालय बलरामपुर में जमा करा दी गई है।

GUNTUR: The South Central Railway will operate special trains between Hyderabad, Kakinada and Narsapur to clear the extra rush of passengers during the Vinayaka Chavithi festival.The Narsapur to Secunderabad train will leave Narsapur at 8 pm on Monday and reach Secunderabad at 6 am on Tuesday, according to senior divisional commercial manager C Ramakrishna. tnnThe train will halt at Palakole, Bhimavaram, Akiveedu, Kaikalur, Gudivada, Vijayawada, Guntur, Sattenapalle, Piduguralla, Nadikude, Miryalaguda and Nalgonda. Another pair of special trains will run between Kakinada and Hyderabad on Sunday and Monday.The Kakinada-Hyderabad train will leave Kakinada at 10.30 pm on Sunday and reach Hyderabad at 10.35 am on Monday, while the return train from Hyderabad would leave at 9 pm on Monday and reach Kakinada town at 9.30 am on Tuesday. The trains will halt at Rajahmundry, Bhimavaram, Gudivada, Vijayawada, Guntur, Sattenapalle, Nadikude, Miryalaguda and Nalgonda.

In a big relief to bi-weekly Bilaspur-New Delhi Rajdhani passengers, berth quota from Nagpur has increased with immediate effect. Central Railway DRM Brijesh Dixit said quota for AC I is consistent at 4 while quota for AC II has gone up from 24 berths to 64 and AC III from 54 to 112. Train number 12441 leaves Nagpur at 8.45pm on every Monday and Thursday and reaches Delhi next day at 10.45 am.

VIRUDHUNAGAR: With the Madurai railway division extending Karaikudi-Manamadurai-Karaikudi passenger till Virudhunagar via Aruppukottai, the long-standing demand for rail connectivity in the section has finally been met. The extended passenger train was formally inaugurated at Virudhunagar junction on Saturday morning.Viruthunagar - Manamadurai section was closed for broad-gauge conversion work in 2008 and the people in the region were stressing for the speedy completion of the works as the work proceeded at snail pace.After five years, the section was ready for train operation and the section was inaugurated for train operation in the presence of Union minister of state for civil aviation K C Venugopal on July 14. The recently flagged off Puducherry - Kanyakumari Weekly Express was the sole train plying through this section. As the local people were demanding more train services, the division has now extended Karaikudi-Manamadurai DEMU passenger till Virudhunagar.The extended passenger service, train number 76837 Karaikkudi-Virudunagar passenger (except Saturdays) will leave Karaikkudi at 6.15pm and arrive Manamadurai at 7.35pm to leave Manamadurai at 7.45pm and will reach Virudunagar at 9.45pm. Meanwhile, train number 76838 Virudunagar-Karaikkudi passenger (except Sundays) will leave Virudunagar at 6am, arrive Manamadurai at 7.40am to leave Manamadurai at 7.50am and will reach Karaikkudi at 9.35am. The train will stop at Devakottai road, Kallal, Panangudi, Sivaganga, Melakonnakulam, Manamadurai, Narikkudi, Tiruchchuli and Aruppukkottai.

Virudhunagar MP, Manick Tagore flagged off the train in the presence of divisional railway manager, A K Rastogi and Additional DRM, V Ajithkumar and other railway officials. A Malairajan, a member of the Consumer Forum in Aruppukottai welcomed regular train service on the stretch after five years. "The train timings are very beneficial for the office-goers. We urge the railway authorities to extend this train up to Senkottai so that many more benefitted," he said.

People in the region were excited when the Union Minister for Railways Mallikarjun Kharge announced on July 2 that the 58 km stretch of broad-gauge railway line between Raichur in Karnataka and Gadwal in Andhra Pradesh, would be dedicated to the nation on August 15, 2013. Unfortunately the plan has not materialised due to various factors.The work for the new line was taken up in 2001–02 when the NDA was in power at the CentreThe project cost was pegged at Rs. 109 crore. A total of 652 acres of land was acquired from farmers of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh (398 acres from Karnataka and 254 acres from Andhra Pradesh). The work was supposed to be completed in 2008. Protest by the farmers over fair prices for their lands, legal hurdles, and the floods in 2009 delayed the work. The work of the new line was completed early this year. Stations were built along the route with necessary amenities. The final touches were done by officials to make it ready for inauguration on August 15.“The commissioning of a new rail line can take place only after Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) approves the lane after inspection. The work on the broad-gauge line between Raichur and Gadwal has been completed and we are waiting for the clearance of CRS, which comes under the Ministry of Civil Aviation,” Sambasiva Rao K., Chief Public Relation Officer, South Central Railway, told The Hindu from Secunderabad.

Sources in the Railway Department say the CRS is not satisfied with the quality of work done on the project, and has therefore not given the green signal. They say it might have had reservations about the strength of bridges and cross-drains built at various points along the lane.

“The South Central Railway has submitted the documents with regard to the new railway line between Raichur and Gadwal. However, we are not satisfied with them as there are some deficiencies,” a senior officer attached to the office of Commissioner of Railway Safety, South Central Railway, said.

GUNTUR: The South Central Railway will operate special trains between Hyderabad, Kakinada and Narsapur to clear the extra rush of passengers during the Vinayaka Chavithi festival.The Narsapur to Secunderabad train will leave Narsapur at 8 pm on Monday and reach Secunderabad at 6 am on Tuesday, according to senior divisional commercial manager C Ramakrishna. tnnThe train will halt at Palakole, Bhimavaram, Akiveedu, Kaikalur, Gudivada, Vijayawada, Guntur, Sattenapalle, Piduguralla, Nadikude, Miryalaguda and Nalgonda. Another pair of special trains will run between Kakinada and Hyderabad on Sunday and Monday.The Kakinada-Hyderabad train will leave Kakinada at 10.30 pm on Sunday and reach Hyderabad at 10.35 am on Monday, while the return train from Hyderabad would leave at 9 pm on Monday and reach Kakinada town at 9.30 am on Tuesday. The trains will halt at Rajahmundry, Bhimavaram, Gudivada, Vijayawada, Guntur, Sattenapalle, Nadikude, Miryalaguda and Nalgonda.