ProUI

Railway officials moot second entrance to ease congestion

The Tirupati railway station is all set to get a facelift. This was indicated during the visit of a five-member committee led by Chief Commercial Manager P. Ganeshwar Rao on Friday.Reviewing the developmental aspects and status of existing passenger amenities, the committee members from various departments went around and enquired about the changes that could be incorporated to make the station better. The plan to develop a second entrance to the station on the southern side got a boost with many members stressing its importance to ease congestion. “The steady flow of pilgrims can be efficiently managed if a second entrance can be opened on the south side. This would give access to the second and third choultries of the TTD on the DR Mahal road for which talks with TTD are on,” a senior official said. As the private landholders are quoting exorbitant prices, the Central government will have to step in to take up the acquisition process, a member opined.They felt that the existing capacity of waiting halls and lodgings were grossly insufficient to cater to the needs of people and that the RPF and RMS services would have to moved out to create additional space. Besides, the members coordinated the construction of two additional lines – platform and non-platform lines. The committee comprised Chief Engineer (Track maintenance) Achyuta Rao, Chief Communication Engineer Gandhi, Engineer S.K. Gupta and others.

ALLAHABAD: Tension gripped Chota Baghara locality near Prayag railway station under Colonelgunj police station on Saturday afternoon when railway authorities along with GRP personnel used force to stop some construction work on a makeshift temple situated close to railway tracks.This was protested by temple priest and volunteers of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) who staged a dharna on the railway track, forcing GRP personnel to resort to a mild lathicharge to disperse the protestors. The VHP leaders however accused the railway authorities of trying to demolish the temple and removing the idols from the spot.According to reports, a small temple existed near Prayag railway station level crossing where locals performed puja. On Saturday afternoon, railway officials along with GRP personnel reached the spot and asked the priest to refrain from undertaking any new construction at the temple. The team also chopped down the branches of a banyan tree underneath which the makeshift temple is housed.In the meantime, VHP leaders including Acharya Kushmuni and others reached the spot and entered into heated arguments with the railway staff and GRP personnel. The VHP leaders and volunteers thereafter sat on a dharna on the railway tracks forcing the police to resort to a mild canecharge to disperse the unruly crowd, after which the situation was brought under control.

Circle officer (CO) GRP, OP Singh told TOI, "Since the temple is constructed illegally on railway land, it was imperative on our part not to allow any further construction. This perhaps angered the protestors who were desperate to occupy the piece of land on the pretext of undertaking fresh construction for the temple."

On the other hand, VHP leaders accused the railway authorities of acting in an arbitrary manner and resolved to intensify the agitation.

GORAKHPUR: A tout was arrested from Gorakhpur railway station during an RPF drive to check rampant misuse of railway tickets on Saturday morning. Three tickets of tatkal reservation and a general ticket were recovered from him."Acting on a tip off, our team reached the reservation counter and nabbed the tout waiting for his turn at the reservation counter," said RPF inspector Rajesh Kumar. He was identified as Anup Kumar Mishra of Sidhdharth Nagar. "Anup runs a PCO near railway station. We recovered three tatkal tickets including Gorakhpur- New Delhi Vaishali Express, Gorakhpur- Bandra terminal, 2nd AC and Gorakhpur- Allahabad, 2nd AC. The general ticket was of sleeper class, Gorakhpur- Lucknow." Rajesh Kumar added.

GURGAON: The delay in completing the Rs 8.5-crore widening work of the Railway Station Road by the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) has upset the local residents, commuters and traders on both sides of the road alike. Now, residents doubt whether the whole thing is a ploy of the contractors to increase their budget.It has been more than eight months and only 30% of the work has been completed. The project was to be completed in a year's time. Now, residents doubt if the remaining 70% work would be completed within the next four months.Parminder Kataria, deputy mayor, MCG, who inspected the road with two other councillors recently, said, "The work is going slowly, causing problems to commuters. This is one of the busiest roads in the city. We talked to the executive engineer and reminded him to speed up the work."During monsoon, commuters had to face a lot of troubles after the MCG dug up the road to install the master sewer pipeline and the traffic was being diverted to one side of the road. All the traffic coming from Gurgaon city and Farrukh Nagar and Basai had to pass through this narrow one-side of the road. The work on the pipeline has since been completed. However, the road remains one-way.

Even the condition of the one-way is also dilapidated. The pitches are worn out and the road is filled with potholes.

"This is an old game played by the contractors. They delay the projects intentionally and then urge the authorities to sanction more money to finish the remaining work due to escalation of the price of raw material," said D R Yadav, president, Sector 9A RWA.

When TOI contacted Rajesh Bansal, executive engineer, MCG, said, "We have faced several problems. There were several electrical poles and we had to remove these poles while widening the road. Besides, we have yet to get clearance from the forest department as the road passes through greenbelt areas. Again, the sewer line work had to be done on the road. There were also water supply lines on the main road. These lines had to be removed and restored."

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During office time, it takes more than one hour to pass that narrow stretch of the road. Passengers coming to the station are always at the danger of losing their trains. There is no alternative ways to reach the railway station - Ravi Kumar, commuter.

We face a lot of problems due to slow work on the road. Customers cannot enter the shops and establishments located on the other side of the road --- Virender Kumar, a shopkeeper.

The road was not repaired from the last ten years and now it has started repairing but in a snail's pace, causing problems for all --- Ishan Pokhariyal, a professional.

GUWAHATI: In order to tackle the rush of passengers in view of Durga Puja in October, Northeast Frontier Railways has started running special trains between Assam and leading metros of the country.Altogether seven special weekly trains will be run by the NFR to accommodate passengers. It has already started operating a weekly special train between Kamakhya and Chennai Central railway station from September 9.From October, the railways will start running special trains between Dibrugarh and Chandigarh (from October 11), Kamakhya and Yesvantpur (from October 2), Guwahati and Varanasi (from October 5), Guwahati and New Delhi- AC Special (from September 25), Guwahati and Secunderabad (from October 7) and Guwahati and Gorakhpur (from October 11).While the special weekly train between Guwahati and Secunderabad will run till December, rest of the special weekly trains will run till November end, said Nripendra Bhattacharyya, public relations officer of NFR."The rush of passengers has already started in the booking counters ahead of Durga Puja. We have fixed the schedule of trains in such a way so that people from Assam working in other states can come back to their place of domicile to celebrate Puja and the residents of other states staying in Assam can go back to their home states," added Bhattacharyya.

While the Dibrugarh-Chandigarh weekly special will leave Dibrugarh on every Friday, the special train between Kamakhya and Yesvantpur will leave Kamakhya junction every Wednesday. The Guwahati-Varanasi special train will leave Guwahati every Saturday. The Kamakhya-Chennai Central and Guwahati-New Delhi special trains will leave Kamakhya junction and Guwahati railway station every Monday and Wednesday. The Guwahati- Secunderabad and Guwahati-Gorakhpur special trains will leave Guwahati station on every Monday and Friday respectively.

New Delhi: UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is likely to lay the foundation stone for the modern rail coach factory in Bhilwara on September 22. The setting up of the Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) coach factory in Bhilwara, constituency of former Railway Minister C P Joshi, was announced in this year’s Rail Budget. Sources in Railways said Gandhi is likely to lay the foundation stone. Rajasthan government is providing about 800 acres of land for the factory. While Railways has signed a MoU with state-owned BHEL for setting up the factory to cater to the growing demand for more local and suburban trains, another MoU will be signed with Rajasthan government for acquiring land. The Rs 1000-crore factory is to manufacture about 400 coaches annually. MEMU trains equipped with higher acceleration capacity are expected to move faster on electrified tracks and would benefit daily commuters. They are required for faster connectivity with suburban areas. Each MEMU train with nine coaches can carry 1,800 passengers. BHEL is already into manufacturing of diesel and electric locomotives at its plant in Jhansi and has an annual capacity to make around 50 engines.

LUCKNOW: The 2,500 crore Rail Coach Factory in Sonia Gandhi's constituency Rae Bareli is proving to be a white elephant for railways. Even after three years of production, the factory has only two shells (the empty coach without the bogey and interiors) to call its own.Railway ministry has sanctioned Rs 650 crore to the Rail Coach Factory (RCF) in 2013-14. But, so far the factory has rolled out only two shells and 25 assembled coaches. There has been no production since June when 12-odd coaches were assembled.The main reason cited for limping production is Rail Coach Factory, Kapoorthala, decision to back off from its commitment to supply raw material to Rae Bareli factory in the initial years. "The target was to produce 150 coaches this year but not more than 25 coaches have been rolled out," said sources.Even after three years, the factory has not become self-reliant in procuring raw material and rolling out coaches, entirely manufactured on its premises. "RCF Kapoorthala says it's time Rae Bareli factory starts its own production. They have to float tenders to procure raw material to us as well," added sources. But, Rae Bareli factory is still lagging behind despite several assurances from the railway ministry to fast-track the project.

The project has also been hit by split management. The factory is managed through three offices headquarters at Delhi, local office in Lucknow and the small set up at Lalganj in Rae Bareli.

The factory was set up to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of coaches. It was to roll out 1,000 LHB coaches every year. But major chunk of the factory's budget sanctioned by railway ministry goes in paying salary to its 40 officers and about 1,100 staff.

Besides, Rs 12 to 13 lakh extra is spent on the transportation of raw material like seats, wheels, paints, bathroom fittings and other accessories during every consignment. "The raw material is to be provided as and when required. However, for past two months we are not getting it," said sources.

Rae Bareli factory has to manufacture only LHB coaches. Railways incurs about Rs 2.73 crore in manufacturing a single AC-3 tier LHB coach and Rs 2.63 crore for an AC-2 tier LHB coach. LHB is a light weight coach based on German technology that improves the speed of a train. It is the latest requirement of Indian Railway.

Three years after it started production, only 113-odd coaches have been assembled at Rae Braeli. The factory has not made a single coach indigenously so far. It rolled out 18 coaches in 2011-12 and 70 in 2012-13.

Initially, the project was delayed due to political apathy as the railway ministry was headed by Mamata Banerjee. The factory was not given more than Rs 100 crore as annual budget then, said sources. The factory has failed to meet its production deadline several times after inauguration in 2007.

Things improved when Pawan Bansal took over as the railway minister. A big sum was sanctioned to the factory in this year's rail budget.

The factory's administrative block has to be shifted to Rae Bareli by next month. But, that seems unlikely given the sluggish pace of work.

What ails Rae Bareli rail coach factory?

* Factory has failed to get self-reliant over the past three years

* RCF Kapoorthala is showing disinterest in providing raw material

* Factory is managed through three offices in Delhi, Lucknow and Rae Bareli

* Everyday management of the factory is getting affected due to split offices

* Ancillary units have not started

* 1000-strong staff are underemployed at factory

* Major portion of annual budget of the factory goes in paying salaries

हाथरस किला से पुरानी दिल्ली तक चलने वाली एचएडी ईएमयू रविवार से हाथरस जंक्शन से दिल्ली के बीच ही चलेगी। हाथरस जंक्शन व किला स्टेशन के बीच रिमॉडलिंग का कार्य चलेगा। इसके कारण ट्रैक को नॉन इंटरलॉक कर दिया गया है। यह ट्रेन तीन अक्टूबर तक ट्रेन प्रभावित रहेगी।
हाथरस जंक्शन रेलवे स्टेशन का विस्तार किया जा रहा है। प्लेट फार्म बढ़ाए जा रहे हैं। सिग्नल हाईटेक किए जा रहे हैं। इस दिशा में हाथरस जंक्शन व किला स्टेशन के बीच के प्वांइट भी बदले जाने हैं। प्वाइंट बदलने के कार्य में लगभग दस-बारह दिन का समय लगेगा। इसके कारण ट्रेक को नॉन इंटरलॉक (एनआइ) कर दिया गया है। एनआइ के बाद 22 सितंबर से एचएडी ईएमयू ट्रेन तीन अक्टूबर तक हाथरस किला तक नहीं पहुंचेगी।
दैनिक यात्रियों को परेशानी
एचएडी के बंद होने से दैनिक यात्रियों को समस्या का सामना करना पड़ेगा। एक दिन में चार सौ से पांच सौ यात्री किला स्टेशन से एचएडी पकड़ते हैं। दैनिक यात्रियों को अब हाथरस जंक्शन पहुंच कर ट्रेन पकड़नी होगी।

जालंधर : सुरक्षा के नाम पर रेलवे प्रबंधन बोर्ड द्वारा स्टेशन पर कुकिंग में एलपीजी के प्रयोग को बीते ढाई साल से प्रतिबंधित कर रखा है, इससे कुकिंग बंद पड़ी हुई है। यह प्रतिबंध लंबी दूरी के रेलयात्रियों के लिए परेशानी का सबब बन गया है। अब तो स्टेशनों पर बच्चों के लिए दूध भी नहीं मिलता है। नेशनल फेडरेशन रेलवे वेंडर वीयर एसोसिएशन के प्रधान जोगा सिंह कहते हैं कि जब पेंट्रीकार में एलपीजी का प्रयोग हो सकता है, तो स्टेशनों पर क्यों नहीं? इनका कहना है कि रेलवे बोर्ड ने इसके प्रयोग में सुरक्षा संबंधी शर्तो के साथ छूट दे दी है। जिसे हमलोग मानने को तैयार भी है, फिर भी मंडल के अधिकारी इजाजत नहीं दे रहे हैं। पड़ताल करने पर पाया गया कि स्टेशन के स्टालों पर वेंडर चाय को कंटेनरों में भरकर रखे हुए हैं, जो दो ढाई घंटे के बाद पूरी तरह से ठंडी और स्वादहीन हो जाती है, जिसे यात्री न चाहते हुए भी पीने को मजबूर है। छत्तीसगढ़ से आए हुए राजेश महतो, जयशंकर शर्मा, हावड़ा मेल से लखनऊ जा रहे राजिंदर विक्की, विवेक सिंह व प्रित्यूष बनर्जी आदि ने कहा कि ताजी चाय व पूरी-सब्जी तो स्टालों से गायब ही है।
वेंडर एसोसिएशन के जोगा सिंह कहते हैं कि फिरोजपुर रेल मंडल के मोगा, फरीदकोट, कोटकपूरा, जलालाबाद, फाजिल्का, लोहियां जंक्शन व बठिंडा आदि स्टेशनों पर कुकिंग में एलपीजी का प्रयोग किया जा रहा है। बोर्ड ने शर्तो में कामर्शियल सिलेंडर का प्रयोग, कंपनी की गैस पाइप, रेगुलेटर और फायर हाईड्रेंड आदि रखना जरूरी है। फिरोजपुर मंडल के वरिष्ठ मंडल वाणिज्य प्रबंधक उपजीत सिंह ने बताया कि कुकिंग में एलपीजी के प्रयोग पर लगी रोक के हटाए जाने की उनके पास कोई जानकारी नहीं है।

Railway authorities are focussing more on hygiene and security

The authorities are focussing more on security and hygiene at the city railway station here following the high footfall of passengers in view of Mysore’s status as a major tourism destination.

Officials have been directed to increase passenger amenities with more emphasis on drinking water and toilets and special attention on women.

Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, chairman, Passenger Amenities Committee, told that the thrust on security was to ensure smooth conduct of Dasara.

“Metal detectors will be installed at the station while CCTV cameras will be positioned at critical places for round-the-clock monitoring. These facilities will be in place within a week to ensure that security is tightened ahead of Dasara,” Mr. Narayanaswamy said. He apprised himself of passenger amenities and issues pertaining to rail commuters and passengers during a visit here on Thursday.

“Mysore is way ahead compared to other stations and far better with some of the facilities being in excess of the actual requirements. But being a heritage and tourist city, more passengers arrive and depart from here compared to other stations in the division, and it is prudent to have increase the capacity for future,” he added.

Mr. Narayanaswamy said hygiene in catering would be accorded high priority and officials had been instructed to ensure there was no compromise on cleanliness. On enhancing connectivity to different centres, he said the number of passengers and daily commuters had increased significantly and introduction of additional trains would depend on the availability of rakes, platforms and operational feasibility. “There was demand for additional trains across the country, but track capacity constraints are also a limiting factor,” he added.

On the track-doubling between Mysore and Bangalore, Mr. Narayanaswamy said there were some issues related to land acquisition between Mandya and Maddur and he had appealed to the district administration and the State government to expedite the process.

“The work till Mandya is over but there are issues of shifting the Tipu’s armoury at Srirangapatana and acquisition of early 9.7 acres between Mandya and Maddur. Once this was done and the Cauvery bridge completed, then only the rail links will have to be provided as most of the civil and earth works have been done,” Mr. Narayanaswamy said.

The electrification of tracks was taking place concurrently and once completed, the railways could introduce additional train services between Mysore and Bangalore, he added. Mr. Narayanaswamy will soon visit Hassan and other major stations as part of his official tour.