ProUI

Indian Railways has decided to construct road overbridges (RoBs) at level-crossings based on feasibility studies. The RoBs would be commissioned wherever train-vehicle unit is greater than one lakh.

Where road overbridges are not possible, it will resort to limited use subways and manned level crossings, Union Minister of Railways Mallikarjun Kharge said.

The Puducherry – Villupuram railway line would get five road overbridges which would be completed in the next two years, Mr. Kharge said at the launch of the new Tirupati – Puducherry weekly express here on Tuesday.

He also laid the stone for an overbridge at Arumparthapuram . Work on an overbridge on 100 Feet Road would start soon, he said.

Both these overbridges would be completed within a year, and the remaining three within two years. Limited use subways would also be constructed at these locations. Work on the connecting road would be undertaken by the Public Works Department.

According to officials of the Southern Railways, the remaining three over bridges would include one near the AFT Mill and one in Kandamangalam.

Union Minister of State for Prime Minister’s Office V. Narayanasamy said Centre would be appraoched for completion of drinking water schemes introduced by the previous Congress government. . The Centre would fully fund the overbridge projects .

The Union Cabinet is set to clear in the next couple of days a long-pending refinery-cum-petrochemical complex in Rajasthan's Barmer district, giving Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's Congress administration approval for much-needed industry showpiece to show to voters in time before an Election Commission ban on pre-poll announcements comes into place next week.Gehlot has lined up a program on Sunday for Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to lay the foundation stone of the Rs 38,000-crore project between state-run refiner HPCL and the Rajasthan government. The state government will have 26% stake in the project.The Public Investment Board on Monday evening cleared the proposal, which has been battling a series of sabotage attempts from multiple quarters since March when the state government and HPCL signed an MoU. "The cabinet committee on economic affairs is slated to give its final nod to the project by Thursday," one political source said.Sources said the project was put on a fast-track after the Gandhi family rallied around Gehlot, who has been lobbying hard in Delhi for the past six months to get it approved. Gehlot, who faces assembly elections in November, is now seen locked in a neck-andneck race against the BJP led by former chief minister Vasundhara Raje after a tepid start, his comeback largely because of the popularity of the state government's medical and old-age pension schemes.The Centre and state government's race against the EC date for poll notification, expected any time next week, is likely to benefit other projects too. On Sunday, after laying the foundation state for the new refinery, she will also lay the foundation stone for a rail coach factory in Gulabpur in Bhilwara. A day before, the PM is slated to lay the foundation stone of an airport project in Ajmer.

The South Eastern Railways and North East Frontier Railways will run weekly superfast special trains between Shalimar (Kolkata)-Yeshwantpur and Kamakhya (Guwahati) — Yeshwantpur stations respectively during October and November.Accordingly, Train No 02863 will depart Shalimar station at 11 am on Mondays and reach Yeshwantpur at 4.30 pm on Tuesdays, on October 7, 14, 21, 28 and November 4, 11, 18 and 25. In the return direction, Train No 02864 will depart Yeshwantpur station at 11.15 am on Wednesdays and arrive at Shalimar at 4.20 pm on Thursdays, from October 9, 16, 23,  30, November 6, 13, 20 and 27.
Train No 02552 will depart  from Kamakhya at 2 pm on Wednesdays and arrive at Yeshwanthpur at 6.30 pm on Fridays from October 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30 and November 6, 13, 20 and 27.In the return direction, train number 02551 will depart Yeshwanthpur at 8.30 am on Saturdays and arrive at Kamakhya at 1:30 pm on Mondays, on October 5, 12, 19 and 26 and November 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30.

The above weekly superfast special will run in path and stoppages of train numbers 12552 and 12551 Kamakhya-Yeshwanthpur-Kamakhya AC Express announced in the budget, but which have not yet been introduced.

Augmentation

The South Western Railways has continued augmentation of one additional AC chair car  temporarily for train Nos.12028/12027 Bangalore City-Chennai Shatabdi Express from September 3 to December 3,1 from both ends.

The above trains run with a total of 14 coaches (instead of 13 coaches) comprising of two first class AC chair cars, ten AC chair cars and two motor cars for the above period, temporarily.

The Union Cabinet is set to clear in the next couple of days a long-pending refinery-cum-petrochemical complex in Rajasthan's Barmer district, giving Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's Congress administration approval for much-needed industry showpiece to show to voters in time before an Election Commission ban on pre-poll announcements comes into place next week.Gehlot has lined up a program on Sunday for Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to lay the foundation stone of the Rs 38,000-crore project between state-run refiner HPCL and the Rajasthan government. The state government will have 26% stake in the project.The Public Investment Board on Monday evening cleared the proposal, which has been battling a series of sabotage attempts from multiple quarters since March when the state government and HPCL signed an MoU. "The cabinet committee on economic affairs is slated to give its final nod to the project by Thursday," one political source said.Sources said the project was put on a fast-track after the Gandhi family rallied around Gehlot, who has been lobbying hard in Delhi for the past six months to get it approved. Gehlot, who faces assembly elections in November, is now seen locked in a neck-andneck race against the BJP led by former chief minister Vasundhara Raje after a tepid start, his comeback largely because of the popularity of the state government's medical and old-age pension schemes.The Centre and state government's race against the EC date for poll notification, expected any time next week, is likely to benefit other projects too. On Sunday, after laying the foundation state for the new refinery, she will also lay the foundation stone for a rail coach factory in Gulabpur in Bhilwara. A day before, the PM is slated to lay the foundation stone of an airport project in Ajmer.

While the Pulakeshi Nagar police have booked a case of negligence against the railway authority following the death of a nine-year-old boy in a trench dug up adjacent the Banaswadi Railway station, railway authorities deferred stating it as a case of trespass.

Preliminary investigations by the police confirmed that a trench was dug up to store rain water for construction activities, and the authorities had not fenced the area, leading to the mishap.

According to an official press release from South Western Railway, the officials claimed that the Railway land near Banasawadi station is fenced off by a compound wall on all four sides. Inside the compound wall, a seven-foot-deep Ground Level Reservoir (GLR) was under construction for augmenting the supply of water at Railway Station and the adjoining railway quarters. Further, the officials blamed the boys for trespassing, stating that the three boys jumped the boundary wall and went to the GLR construction site for swimming, which can be proved by the fact that the boys’ clothes were outside the construction site.

“This is a clear case of trespass, and since the railway premises is covered by a boundary wall on all four sides there was no need for extra protection for the GLR,” the release said.

“Railway land is being misused for all sorts of activities. Roads are built by people, boundary walls are broken, garbage is dumped and illegal constructions taken up, preventing railway staff from doing their duties,” the release said. The officials demanded that the police file an FIR against all those trespass on railway land.

However, the Pulakeshinagar police said it was clear that it was negligence of railway authorities, who left the trench without covering it properly, which led to the incident. “We have booked a case of negligence and are investigating the matter,” the police said.

Amritsar : Passengers of Chandigarh-Amritsar Superfast Express were peeved, as the authorities kept the train waiting for an hour at the Mannawala railway station, about 10 km from here, last night.A passenger Rachanpuneet said the train was parked on the outskirts of the city, adding that it was a wastage of time due to the lack of infrastructure at the railway station.He said the train was stopped at Manawala village's railway station at 9:45 pm. While the train was kept there for about 60 minutes, four other trains, including Sachkhand and Shatabdi, were allowed to pass. "It was really disgusting that the passengers were made to wait despite the train arriving on the outskirts of the city on time."Railways officials cited the disruption of power lines due to the high-velocity winds which struck yesterday. Besides, it has only six platforms, namely one to five and 1A.On the other hand, the railway station has been witnessing the departure and arrival of about 130 trains daily. The holy city receives tourists and pilgrims from across the country and all over the world. On an average, the daily footfall of passengers is about 30,000 at the railway station.

Though the announcement for making important railway stations of the country into world class stations was made in the year 2009, but the project has been on the backburner ever since. Around 50 railway stations were selected for the renovation, including stations of Varanasi, Lucknow, Allahabad, Mathura, Agra Cantt, Jhansi, Gorakhpur and Kanpur.

It is noteworthy that the plan for the world class station accounted to bring the existing stations up to the international standards in terms of efficiency of operations, comfort and convenience to passengers and the stakeholders. A number of stations of Indian Railways, located at metropolitan cities and important centers were identified for development through public, private partnership (PPP) model. The modern facilities like construction of hotels and rest houses to accommodate 1,000 people, restaurants, shopping complex, modernised parking, acoustic environment, advanced ticketing, public address system and entertainment arenas were also proposed in it.

It was also expected that once the project gets completed, these stations will be vibrant centers of city commerce, entertainment and social space. When TOI tried to take stock of the status of the project,it surfaced that the proposal of conversion of Cantonment railway station of Varanasi into a world class railway station is losing hope. According to sources, cities like Delhi and Lucknow have also not got the work started so Varanasi is lagging way behind. Former railway board chairman, Vinay Mittal had already hinted that no work for the Delhi station could be undertaken due to several problems being faced in extension of the station premises. The sources revealed that several places of worship were coming in the way of extension and similar problems are expected to surface in Varanasi and Lucknow stations.

After the announcement of this ambitious project no correspondence or official formalities for this purpose was made at Varanasi railway station so far, informed the chief area manager, Cantonment railway station, PK Saxena. However, senior divisional commercial manager ( DCM), Lucknow division, NR, AK Srivastava, said, "It is not that the plan for world class station will not be enforced, but so far there is no guideline or step taken in this regard. I am not aware of what is hindering the work on New Delhi railway station but it is definitely a difficult task to undertake massive renovation work at a fully functional railway station". He further said that to keep up with the works related to world class railway station, an office was established in New Delhi, however, it has not under taken any significant work as of now.

Farmers, whose lands were acquired for the purpose of laying a railway line between Harihar and Kotturu, have said they would not allow any function to be held to inaugurate the railway line nor allow the running of trains till they were given adequate compensation.At a meeting convened at the Deputy Commissioner’s office here on Tuesday, farmers led by Honnuru Muniyappa, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) district president Honnuru Muniyappa and Aluru Nagaraj, sangha working president, said the Railways had failed to distribute compensation to the farmers whose lands were acquired.

The department had given a compensation of Rs. 28, 000 per acre to a few ‘gullible farmers’ and insisted that other farmers accept the same rate, they said. Many farmers were aware the market value of their lands was not below Rs. 8 lakh per acre, Mr. Muniyappa said, adding that unless the Railways gave at least this amount as compensation, they would not withdraw cases nor allow the Railways to inaugurate the track.

Standing crops

Mr. Muniyappa noted standing crops such as cotton, maize, sugarcane and paddy were destroyed in the first two years when the railways started lying the railway line and farmers were unable to cultivate crops since 2005 when the lands were acquired.

Farmers owning nearby lands were also unable to raise crops as labourers dumped mud in the fields.

Hence the Railways should compensate the losses sustained by the farmers, he said. He argued that all farmers whose lands were acquired should be given uniform compensation or at least compensation as per the prevailing market price. The sangha further demanded the decision taken at the Railway Board to give a job to a farmer whose land had been acquired for the purpose of lying of railway line should be acted uponS.S.Mallikarjun , Davangere MLA (north) and G.M.Siddeshwar, Davangere MP, have directed railway authorities to speed up the distribution of adequate compensation.

Jobs

Mr. Mallikarjun asked the railway authorities to provide jobs to family members of the farmers whose lands were acquired. K.C. Kondaiah, former Rajya Sabha member, and H.S.Shivashankar, MLA (Harihar) were present.

The Union Cabinet is set to clear in the next couple of days a long-pending refinery-cum-petrochemical complex in Rajasthan's Barmer district, giving Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's Congress administration approval for much-needed industry showpiece to show to voters in time before an Election Commission ban on pre-poll announcements comes into place next week.Gehlot has lined up a program on Sunday for Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to lay the foundation stone of the Rs 38,000-crore project between state-run refiner HPCL and the Rajasthan government. The state government will have 26% stake in the project.The Public Investment Board on Monday evening cleared the proposal, which has been battling a series of sabotage attempts from multiple quarters since March when the state government and HPCL signed an MoU. "The cabinet committee on economic affairs is slated to give its final nod to the project by Thursday," one political source said.Sources said the project was put on a fast-track after the Gandhi family rallied around Gehlot, who has been lobbying hard in Delhi for the past six months to get it approved. Gehlot, who faces assembly elections in November, is now seen locked in a neck-andneck race against the BJP led by former chief minister Vasundhara Raje after a tepid start, his comeback largely because of the popularity of the state government's medical and old-age pension schemes.The Centre and state government's race against the EC date for poll notification, expected any time next week, is likely to benefit other projects too. On Sunday, after laying the foundation state for the new refinery, she will also lay the foundation stone for a rail coach factory in Gulabpur in Bhilwara. A day before, the PM is slated to lay the foundation stone of an airport project in Ajmer.

The Union Cabinet is set to clear in the next couple of days a long-pending refinery-cum-petrochemical complex in Rajasthan's Barmer district, giving Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's Congress administration approval for much-needed industry showpiece to show to voters in time before an Election Commission ban on pre-poll announcements comes into place next week.Gehlot has lined up a program on Sunday for Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to lay the foundation stone of the Rs 38,000-crore project between state-run refiner HPCL and the Rajasthan government. The state government will have 26% stake in the project.The Public Investment Board on Monday evening cleared the proposal, which has been battling a series of sabotage attempts from multiple quarters since March when the state government and HPCL signed an MoU. "The cabinet committee on economic affairs is slated to give its final nod to the project by Thursday," one political source said.Sources said the project was put on a fast-track after the Gandhi family rallied around Gehlot, who has been lobbying hard in Delhi for the past six months to get it approved. Gehlot, who faces assembly elections in November, is now seen locked in a neck-andneck race against the BJP led by former chief minister Vasundhara Raje after a tepid start, his comeback largely because of the popularity of the state government's medical and old-age pension schemes.The Centre and state government's race against the EC date for poll notification, expected any time next week, is likely to benefit other projects too. On Sunday, after laying the foundation state for the new refinery, she will also lay the foundation stone for a rail coach factory in Gulabpur in Bhilwara. A day before, the PM is slated to lay the foundation stone of an airport project in Ajmer.