ProUI

The proposal to entrust the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation with the preparation of the Detailed Project Report for setting up a suburban corridor and commencing suburban train services on Thiruvananthapuram-Chengannur-Harippad section will come up before the Cabinet on Friday.A steering committee headed by the Chief Secretary with representatives from Railways and the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation will also be set up to oversee the ambitious project and take it forward, official sources said.The State government has decided to take up the project mooted by Divisional Railway Manager Rajesh Agrawal for hassle-free travel of short-distance commuters.The decisions comes in the wake of a meeting convened by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy with the Rakesh Misra, General Manager, Southern Railway, and Rakesh Saxena, Chairman and Managing Director, Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation, at the Secretariat here on Thursday.It has also been decided to set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to implement the project that Railways want as a joint venture between the State and Railways.The SPV will take care of the automatic signalling system, modernisation of the stations, purchase of the rolling stock, upgrade of the level-crossings, and foot and road overbridges.

The project is estimated to cost Rs.3,000 crore as per the current cost of Rs.20 crore for a km.

The State will also look into the possibility of getting a World Bank loan for the project. Mr. Chandy said the corporation had been asked to submit the report by December end.

Minister for Transport and Railways Aryadan Mohammed, Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor; Chief Secretary E.K. Bharat Bhushan; Special Officer Biju Prabhakar; Mr. Agrawal; Chief Signal and Telecommunication Engineer S. Manohar; and Chief Safety Officer S. Anantha Raman attended.

ALLAHABAD: The North Central Railway has undertaken an awareness drive in schools to inform students measures for safe journey on trains. They are also being made aware of precautions to be taken while crossing railway crossings.A mobile video van is being taken to various schools and colleges, both in urban and rural areas of the district. The student community has already latched up to the idea of learning about various facets of the railways.Public relations officer of NCR Amit Malviya said "About 30,000 children have already been covered in the ongoing awareness drive. More children would be offered tips for safe journey in trains and crossing railway crossings. The awareness drive has already been conducted in about 45 schools and more schools will be covered in the coming days."The mobile video van is equipped with high definition LED television to deliver the message to students in most effective manner. The students are shown films through a projector. After the film is over, the staff travelling in the van answer students' query and satisfy their curiosity.So far, the awareness drive has been conducted in UP Higher Secondary School in Jhunsi, Agarsen Inter College, CAV Inter College, GIC Inter College, SP Memorial Vidya Niketan and others. The staff accompanying the mobile van also informs the students about the precautions to be adopted while moving through an unmanned crossing.

The students are being made aware of Zehar Khurans in trains, where in gullible passengers are duped by members of drug and rob gangs. They sweet talk passengers into accepting their eatables laced with intoxicating substances. When the victim becomes unconscious, and gang members escape with their luggage and money.

During awareness programme, railway staff counsels students and asks them to remain alert about the activities of strangers in trains and advice them against accepting edibles from any co-passenger.

Rupali Singh, who attended one of the awareness drive said "we did not know about the Zehar Khurans who steal passengers' luggage. From now on, I will remain alert in trains and also educate my friends in the colony about their activities."

The railway staff accompanying the mobile van is also counselling students about provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act and the Railway Act by distributing posters, pamphlets and handbills.

The North Central Railway region comprises of Allahabad division, Agra division and Jhansi division and has around 1,512 level crossings. Among them, 1,028 are manned crossings and 453 are unmanned. There are five cattle crossings and 26 canal crossings. Out of the total crossings in NCR region, there are 395 level crossings in Allahabad division, 313 level crossings in Jhansi division and the remaining in Agra division.

BHUBANESWAR: As many as 61,530 passengers were nabbed travelling without tickets in five months ending August in Khurda Road division of East Coast Railway. A fine amount of over Rs 2.64 crore was collected from them.The amount was Rs 48.89 lakh more compared to the corresponding period last year, a railway press release issued here on Thursday said. It said the drive against ticketless passengers would continue and special squads have been formed for it. The squads headed by chief traffic inspector (CTI) will raid trains plying on different routes or by camping at a specific station with the help of Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF). The ticket checking staff have been asked not to be rude with elderly passengers.

Bhubaneswar: Hard times ahead for ticketless travelers in trains. The Khurda Road Division of East Coast Railway has taken special ticket checking drives by deploying special checking squads to identify and penalize people travelling without or with improper tickets in trains. Failure to pay the penalty may even result in prosecution.

Till August 2013 of the current financial year, i.e. from April 2013 to August 2013, these ticket checking squads have booked about 61.53 thousand passengers for travelling without or with improper tickets which is 9.28 thousand more than the corresponding period of last year which is 17.76% more. Similarly, these squads have realized a sum of rupees 2 crore 64 lakhs and 58 thousand from the ticketless travelers during the period which is rupees 48.89 lakhs more than the corresponding period of last year by increasing 22.66%.

These special ticket checking staffs have been entrusted with the task of conducting surprise checks at different stations o­n different days over Khurda Road jurisdiction. The ticket checking squads, headed by a Chief Traffic Inspector (CTI) will conduct surprise checks in trains going in different routes or by camping at a specific station with the help of Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF). The ticket checking staff, however, have been instructed against rude behavior and asked to treat senior citizens and the elderly with respect.

Ludhiana:
The Excise and Taxation Department today seized 150 consignments coming from other states. Officials of the department conducted a raid at the railway station early this morning following a tip-off information received by it.The consignments were despatched from Delhi and belonged to different parties. "At the time of seizing the goods, they were found without bill. The parcels mostly contained garments. The actual value of the parcels can be known only after verification," said Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner Bhupinder Gupta.Meanwhile the Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Tejbir Sindu, also conducted a raid at a unit located in the Focal Point area. The unit is engaged in the manufacturing of transformers and had been under the department's scanner for VAT evasion for a long time.

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 19 — A Rs.3,000 crore regional rapid rail project to run two trains from Thiruvananthapuram to Chengannur and Haripad in Kerala was approved Thursday after Chief Minister Oommen Chandy met top railway officials.

The trains will ease travel in the crowded southern districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Alappuzha.

"This project would be a joint initiative of the centre and the state. The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) will be submitting a detailed project report by December," said Chandy to reporters after meeting Southern Railway and MRVC officials.

"This project once commissioned will bring down the traffic on the roads in these two sectors," Chandy said.

The project has been designed to supplement the existing trains that run on these sectors, he said.

Chandy asked top railway officials at the meeting to run super fast trains in the northern districts of the state.

Additional Stoppages for Four Express Trains

South Central Railway will provide  additional stoppages for the following four express trains as detailed below.

1)Train No. 17018 / 17017 Secunderabad – Rajkot – Secunderabad Tri Weekly Express will be provided with additional stoppage for a minute at Chittapur with effect from 24th September, 2013. Accordingly, Train No. 17018 Secunderabad - Rajkot Tri Weekly Express will arrive / depart Chittapur at 17 59 / 18 00 hrs.  In the opposite direction, Train No. 17017 Rajkot-Secunderabad Tri Weekly Express will arrive / depart Chittapur at 06 24 / 06 25 hrs. The stoppage will be o­n experimental basis for a period of six months.

2)  Train No. 12735 / 12736 Secunderabad – Yesvatnhpur - Secunderabad Garibrath Express will be provided with additional stoppage for a minute  at Chittapur. Accordingly, Train No. 12735 Secunderabad – Yesvanthpur Garibrath Express will arrive / depart Chittapur at 22 10 / 22 11 hrs. with effect from 24th September, 2013. In the opposite  direction, Train No. 12736 Yesvanthpur - Secunderabad Garibrath Express will arrive /  depart Chittapur at 05 17 / 05 18 hrs with effect from 25th September, 2013. The stoppage will be o­n experimental basis for a period of six months.

3)  Train No. 16571 / 16572 Yesvnatpur-Bidar-Yesvantpur Tri-weekly Express will be provided with additional stoppage for a minute at Tandurwith effect from 25th September, 2013.  Accordingly, Train No. 16571 Yesvanthpur-Bidar Tri Weekly Express will arrive / depart Tandur at 06 22 /  06 23 hrs.  In the opposite direction, Train No. 16572 Bidar – Yesvanthpur Tri Weekly Express will arrive / depart Tandur at 21 22 / 21 23 hrs. The stoppage will be o­n experimental basis for a period of six months.


4) Train No.17230 Hyderabad-Kochuveli Sabari Express, departing Kochuveli from 24th September, 2013 to 15th October, 2013, will be provided with additional stoppage at Wadakancherry.  Similarly, Train. No.17229 Kochuveli-Hyderabad Sabari Express, departing Kochuveli from 25thSeptember, 2013 to 16th October, 2013,  will be provided with  additional stoppage at Wadakancherry.

Within a couple of weeks, the 110-year-old majestic viaduct across a valley in Aryankavu on the Shengottai-Kollam rail route, designed and constructed by British engineers, will lose its colonial charm. The next few days could well be the last days to have a final glimpse of the grand old lady in her colonial charisma.

The landmark Aryankavu viaduct in Kollam district which carried meter gauge trains for more than a century is a 13-arch architectural marvel that mesmerized everyone who passed by. As part of the gauge conversion project which is under way, the structure requires to be strengthened to accommodate broad gauge trains. For that purpose, the viaduct has to be jacketed with concrete.

The preliminary work for that has already started. The project is a necessity and will provide the equivalent of an exoskeleton to the rectangular piers of the 102-meter-long viaduct built with neatly cut blocks of granite and surkhi. But the front portion of the piers will be spared from the jacketing work so as to enable the structure to project a part of its colonial charm to posterity.

This concession has been granted to the viaduct by the Railways in the wake of strong local sentiments that the structure be preserved as a heritage property. The Railways cannot afford it as that would warrant a costly new alignment through the ghat section comprising forests which will be a difficult proposition.

The jacketing project is viewed as the most economical and practical solution to the problem. The contract for it has been awarded and it is a Rs. 3 crore work designed to provide the viaduct with at least another 50 years of use. Workers, on sliding work platforms have already started drilling the granite blocks on the three sides of the piers for the jacketing work but not those on the front portion.

The jacketing work will commence before Onam and expected to be completed in five months.

When the work is over the viaduct will not look the same from any side. Construction of the viaduct began in the late 1890s and was over by 1903. The meter gauge service on the Shengottai-Kollam section was commissioned in November 1904 by the then Travancore Maharaja Sree Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma V.

Next few days could well be the last days to have a final glimpse of it

It is a 13-arch architectural marvel that mesmerized everyone who passed by

MUMBAI: The Central Railway (CR) will run a special air-conditioned superfast train from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) to Hazrat Nizamuddin in Delhi on September 24.CR plans to make it a weekly train later. It will be the third Rajdhani-type train that will leave the city late in the day."Number 02109 AC superfast special train will leave LTT on September 24 at 2.30pm and arrive at Hazarat Nizamuddin at 10.20am the next day," a CR spokesperson said.The special train will halt at Nashik Road, Bhusawal, Bhopal, Jhansi, Gwalior and Agra Cantonment.

"On its return journey, the train will leave Hazrat Nizamuddin on September 25 at 3.50 pm and arrive at LTT at 11.50 am the next day," the spokesperson said.

Dates for future weekly runs are yet to be finalized.

Bookings for the special train begin on September 21. The special train has a first class, three two-tier and 10 three-tier coaches.

Similar trains as of now are Rajdhani express and August Kranti Rajdhani express, which leave from Mumbai Central and reach New Delhi the following morning.

The new train will traverse a distance of 1,535 km. Currently, only Punjab Mail travels to New Delhi from CST. The train traverses a distance of 1,544 km and halts at 56 stations during its 26-hour journey.

LUCKNOW: The chairman of Metro cell and housing secretary Rajiv Agarwal along with director general of PAC visited the proposed depot site of North-South (N-S) Metro corridor at 32nd battalion of PAC on Thursday. The two officers surveyed the site to decide on the design of depot and identify buildings and structures that would fall within the range and need relocation. The duo was also accompanied by other officials of the Metro cell.The interim consultant for Metro Rail project in Lucknow - Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) - in its detailed project report (DPR) has suggested construction of the N-S corridor depot site at 32nd battalion of PAC. It had submitted the design of depot to the high-power committee headed by chief secretary Jawed Usmani on September 13.Though officials surveyed the 80 acre land of PAC for three hours, they could not finalise the design of depot. Officials claimed the buildings falling within the plan would have to be relocated and hence a new campus layout plan would have to be prepared. The finalisation of the new design of PAC campus would take about a week, they said.A senior official said, "The depot design proposed by DMRC is almost finalised but the new design of PAC campus, after incorporating all changes and relocations of existent structures, is yet to be prepared. Numerous quarters, offices and grounds fall within the depot area that would have to be relocated. This requires more consultations and time."

Officials claimed that in all likelihood the design of N-S corridor depot would be finalised by September 30. The site comprises many buildings, offices, quarters, residences and parade grounds which need to be removed and re-designed in other places. The comprehensive new campus design would be finalised next week.

An official said, "The structures are not uniformly distributed; instead they are sparsely located on the 80 acre land. It is a tough task to consider all of them in a plan. It's a time taking process and should hopefully be finalised by month end."

Rajiv Agarwal informed that the re-modeling of campus needs to be done in a way that residences and offices occupy less space. The cell is considering the option to build multistoried buildings to accommodate commandoes in them. Similarly, offices can also be set up in multi-storied buildings which occupy lesser space.

Meanwhile, the Metro cell is busy completing formalities for registering the special purpose vehicle (SPV) - Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation - under the Companies Act, after getting approval from the high-power committee on Wednesday. The SPV has been formed to execute Metro Rail project in city.

The N-S corridor of Lucknow Metro from Amausi airport to Munshipulia (approx 23km) would be built in the first phase. Its groundwork is slated to begin this December with completion expected around March 2018. The construction of the east-west (E-W) corridor from Charbagh station to Vasantkunj (approx 11km) would start after a gap of one year and expected to be completed by March 2019.