ProUI

Chennai: This loco pilot is a real life saver. The lives of several dozen rail passengers aboard an EMU near Pattabiram would have been in jeopardy but for the alertness of 46-year-old loco pilot D. Kura­larasan of Tiruninravur.

The loco pilot and other passengers had a close shave when a 25KV high voltage overhead electric traction (OHT of the railway line) came perilously close to touching the EMU (train No: 4311-MMC to Pattabiram) in which they were travelling. Thankfully, the loco pilot stopped the train and made all passengers alight, averting a major mishap.

Around 1.30 pm, when Kuralarasan was piloting the EMU towards the terminal stop from Pattabiram, he noticed the OHT swaying. Just as he moved the EMU close to the diversion towards the military siding, he noticed that the OHT was swaying towards the train.

Instantly, he stopped the train, climbed down and alerted all passengers to alight. Nearly 60-odd passengers realised the gravity of the danger lurking over them when they noticed the proximity of the line to the train after alighting.

Further inquiries revealed that the fitting assembly of the OHT on the FCI side had got damaged, leaving the wire sagging. Though there are provisions that make the connection trip as soon as the OHT comes in contact with the train, a mishap could not be ruled out as there was no guarantee that it would trip, said a railway official, preferring anonymity.

Two EMUs, bound to the military side, were returned from Pattabiram owing to the OHT failure.

Member of Parliament from Coimbatore P.R. Natarajan has urged the State Government to initiate steps to acquire land for the Coimbatore airport expansion project.Addressing journalists in the city on Saturday, he said that the Airports Authority of India had on April 9, 2013 written to the Chief Secretary and Transport Secretary of the Government of Tamil Nadu seeking their opinion to its new proposal.The two officers, when he and a few others met them, denied having received such letters. Based on their replies when they approached the Airports Authority of India, the latter handed over a copy of the letter to support its claim. Armed with the letter they again met the two officers but the two maintained that they had not received the letter. This was quite unfortunate.If the two senior officers were in the dark then there was every possibility that the Chief Minister would not be aware of the AAI’s request.

This was bound to delay the land acquisition.

The new proposal envisaged two runways for the Coimbatore Airport to enable it handle wide bodied aircraft and also passenger movement in the next 40 years.

It also took into consideration the requests of the residents GKR Nagar, who had been seeking an expansion that did not include their locality. Mr. Natarajan said that in the interest of the city the State Government must act fast.

He also appreciated the State Government’s stand on the alignment for the proposed bypass connecting Kangeyampalayam with Mettupalayam. If the National Highways Authority of India was allowed to have its way, the people of Coimbatore would suffer the fate they suffered after a toll plaza was erected in Athupalam. He also condemned the decrease in funds for carrying out development works in Southern Railway. The money allotted this year was almost 50 per cent of what was allotted last year. And the next year it was likely to be reduced further.

The people of the State should protest against this in a big way to draw the attention of the Central Government.

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.

PUNE: The Central Railway Pune division plans to streamline vehicular traffic and movement of people at the Pune railway station to curtail traffic jams and slow movement of vehicles on the station's premises.The administration may have separate circulating areas for two-wheelers and four-wheelers along with widening the entry-exit gates. A dedicated walkway for passengers to reach the station is on the anvil."At present, we are studying the details for the project. We will finalize and implement it after the study," said a railway official.According to the official, hundreds of four-wheelers and two-wheelers visit the railway station every day. This often causes chaos at the entry-exit gates and on the premises during rush hours, he said. "Drivers complain they do not get enough space to park or halt vehicles," he added.Some officials said the administration is planning to restrict traffic jams and slow movement of vehicles in the circulating area. According to the new plan, vehicles could enter the premises, allow passengers to get off and proceed towards the exit gate.

At present, four-wheelers and two-wheelers enter from the same gate. The administration is also working on a plan for separate circulating areas for four-wheelers and two-wheelers, the official said.

Meanwhile, autorickshaw unions have demanded a separate entry point to the station, while private bus operators have asked for a dedicated bay for parking. Rajendra Agale, an autorickshaw driver said, "All vehicles enter the station from the same point which leads to chaos. Considering the large number of autorickshaws, the administration should set up a separate gate and a dedicated lane for autorickshaws."

Bus operator Ramesh Kachan said, "We have been demanding a halting bay for buses for long. The railway administration and the traffic police have not addressed our needs. The administration should consider our demand while preparing the plan."

Easier way

# Separate circulating areas for two-wheelers and four-wheelers

# Widening of entry-exit gates

# Dedicated walkway for passengers

# Dedicated lanes for vehicles entering the station

to enter the station to drop passengers

# Autorickshaw drivers want separate entry gate

# Private bus operators have asked for a dedicated bay where the buses can halt.

GUWAHATI  – Vigil in major railway stations of Assam will soon be enhanced by at least 200 new Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras.The cameras are expected to be installed in a phased manner in major stations including the Guwahati Railway Station. As part of the integrated security system, the NFR authorities will complete the installation process by the end of this year.Additional Chief Security Commissioner SZ Samuel told this reporter that the installation process of the CCTV cameras will go a long way in reducing the threat perception associated with the railways and also help in averting crimes and detecting criminals.He said the installation is a part of the integrated security system funded by the Union Railway Ministry.The railway stations expected to be covered in the first phase, include Kokrajhar, Guwahati, Lumding, Badarpur, Diphu, Furkating, Mariani, Simaluguri, Jorhat and Dibrugarh.

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.

Cold transporter CR is at loggerheads with govt over non-payment of dues.

In a move that could put paid to Central Railway’s (CR) efforts to save electricity, the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd (MAHADISCOM) has conveyed to the railways that it wants to hike the power charges for the transporter from Rs7.98 to Rs9.60 per unit.The move would bring about a burden of Rs300 crore in CR’s power bills leaving the transporter, already among the laggards in a bleeding railway system, without enough money for various electrical works in the suburban system. The issue has now reached the highest levels of the state government and the railways with the railway ministry’s member (Electrical) Kul Bhushan and state chief secretary JK Banthia meeting to thrash out differences. The meeting was also attended by senior CR officials, including chief electrical engineer PK Srivasatav and Maharshtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) officials.According to sources, the state was told that the hike in the rates was not acceptable to the railways as it would increase CR’s energy bills from Rs1,200 crore to over Rs1,500 crore. The biggest hit would be taken by the suburban system which accounts for half - around Rs600 crore — of the total energy bill at CR. The railways also rejected the state’s contention that subsidised electricity to various sections of the society - mainly the agriculture sector - had left the MSEB and its trifurcated entities with massive losses.“We too are a heavily subsidised system. Asking to us to pay will inconvenience commuters since there is a trickle-down effect to such things, and in the long run, projects as well fares get affected,” said a senior CR official.According to officials, one of the demands made by the railways is that the state government pay ‘wheeling’ charges — power lingo for money paid for transportation of electricity - so that railways can buy electricity from some other grid at lower rates.As reported earlier by dna, the MSEB’s generation arm, Mahagenco, and CR are already fighting over non-payment of Rs111 crore incurred in transportation of coal.Locals to get hit The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd wants to hike the power charges for CR from Rs7.98 to Rs9.60 per unit. But the railways has told the state that this is not acceptable as it would increase CR’s energy bill by nearly Rs300 crore. The biggest hit would be taken by the suburban system which pays for half the bill.

Around 50 passengers in a suburban train had a narrow escape from electrocution as the alert EMU driver halted the train on time, just before it came into contact with a live electrical cable near Pattabiram on Friday.The train, which originated from Moore Market Complex station near Central at noon, was headed to Pattabiram Military Siding station. According to a Railway source, there were over 500 passengers when the train left Moore Market. At Pattabiram station, most of the passengers disembarked. Around 50 passengers were left, and the train then headed towards Military Siding station.“When the train was nearing Pattabiram Military Siding station, the driver, Kuralarasan spotted a snapped live 25 KV electrical cable hanging,” said Sumesh, a passenger who was on the train.Kuralarasan immediately braked and the train stopped a metre away from the wire. The driver then lowered the pantograph – a device mounted on the roof of an electric train to collect power through contact with an overhead power cable. All the passengers were asked to disembark.

Sources said that if the wire had come into contact with the metal body of the train, the passengers inside could have been electrocuted.

Kuralarasan has nearly 15 years of experience and a source said, railway officials appreciated the driver’s presence of mind.