ProUI

New Delhi: In a major worry for the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), platform at Noida City Centre metro station has been found to be sinking with cracks appearing in it.

This was found when the DMRC officials were conducting a routine check of the platforms and pillars on the Noida route.

What’s amusing is that the officials from the Metro and construction company Gammon remain elusive on the reason behind the sagging.

Officials have conducted a thorough check at other stations in the vicinity and fortunately have found no such problem there.

Though, the DMRC hasn’t cancelled any trains, but the travel time has increased due to slow pace as the repair work is going on.

The repair work on pillars number 174 and 185 will continue for two-three weeks.

DMRC constitutes Committee to investigate Noida City Centre crack

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has constituted a committee to investigate the cause of the crack in one of the pillars of the Noida City Centre metro station, an official said Wednesday.

“A high-level committee comprising three general manager-level officers has been constituted, to investigate the cause of deflection in one of the cantilever arms of the Noida City Centre metro station on the Dwarka-Noida line,” said Mangu Singh, DMRC managing director.

“Action would be taken in case of any negligence or deficiency, after the submission of the report, likely this week,” Singh said.

The repair works of the pillar are ongoing, and expected to last three weeks.

According to the DMRC official, train operations need not stop during the repair work, but there will be restriction in the speed of trains as a precaution, and operations will be restricted to one platform.

Officials said that the repair work had affected the frequency of trains on the Yamuna Bank-Noida City Centre stretch, while trains were available every six minutes earlier, now the wait has been prolonged to over 10 minutes.

“The delay is at least for 10 minutes, and so it has added 20 minutes extra to my travelling time,” said Monica Rizal who works in a tourism firm in Noida.

“The delay in the service of the train also means the rush is huge. I let three trains pass, at least, and then board the fourth. That has meant double travel time,” said Reema Sharma, who travels from Noida each day for work.

Gulbarga: Pilgrims from the state will be able to travel directly by train to the Mata Vaishnodevi temple in Jammu and Kashmir once work on laying the 80 km long track  between Udhampur and Khatra stations is completed in a month, according to railway minister Malikarjun Kharge.

Flagging off a daily train service between Solapur and Yeshwantpur here on Tuesday, he said a direct train would be introduced between Bengaluru and Khatra station once the track work was completed .

The minister also revealed that a new train would be introduced between Bengaluru and the Ajmer dargah in Rajashthan via Guntakal and Gulbarga for the benefit of devotees.

Explaining the various initiatives taken by his ministry to improve train services, Kharge lamented that the state government was not showing enough interest in strengthening Karnataka’s rail network.

“Many states are pestering us for various projects. But here we have to repeatedly plead with the state government (to take advantage of the benefits on offer)” he said,  requesting former legislator from Gadag, D.R. Patil, who was on the dais, to cooperate with the ministry on  the proposed Wadi-Gadag railway line. “If Mr Patil help us in getting 40 to 50 acres of land and if the state government meets 50 per cent of the cost estimated at Rs 2,600 crore, we can simultaneously start the work from both ends,” he added.

While observing that the  recession had affected the railways too, the minister said his ministry could fail to meet its targets  as a result. “Although revenue collection  is higher than last year’s, I  doubt  we ‘ll be able to achieve the targets. We have not been able to give thrust to some projects In view of revenue shortfall,” he added.

New Delhi: In a major worry for the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), platform at Noida City Centre metro station has been found to be sinking with cracks appearing in it.

This was found when the DMRC officials were conducting a routine check of the platforms and pillars on the Noida route.

What’s amusing is that the officials from the Metro and construction company Gammon remain elusive on the reason behind the sagging.

Officials have conducted a thorough check at other stations in the vicinity and fortunately have found no such problem there.

Though, the DMRC hasn’t cancelled any trains, but the travel time has increased due to slow pace as the repair work is going on.

The repair work on pillars number 174 and 185 will continue for two-three weeks.

DMRC constitutes Committee to investigate Noida City Centre crack

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has constituted a committee to investigate the cause of the crack in one of the pillars of the Noida City Centre metro station, an official said Wednesday.

“A high-level committee comprising three general manager-level officers has been constituted, to investigate the cause of deflection in one of the cantilever arms of the Noida City Centre metro station on the Dwarka-Noida line,” said Mangu Singh, DMRC managing director.

“Action would be taken in case of any negligence or deficiency, after the submission of the report, likely this week,” Singh said.

The repair works of the pillar are ongoing, and expected to last three weeks.

According to the DMRC official, train operations need not stop during the repair work, but there will be restriction in the speed of trains as a precaution, and operations will be restricted to one platform.

Officials said that the repair work had affected the frequency of trains on the Yamuna Bank-Noida City Centre stretch, while trains were available every six minutes earlier, now the wait has been prolonged to over 10 minutes.

“The delay is at least for 10 minutes, and so it has added 20 minutes extra to my travelling time,” said Monica Rizal who works in a tourism firm in Noida.

“The delay in the service of the train also means the rush is huge. I let three trains pass, at least, and then board the fourth. That has meant double travel time,” said Reema Sharma, who travels from Noida each day for work.

Railways have decided to suspend the services of Kolkata-Dhaka Maitree Express for two days from October 15 on the request of Bangladesh Railway to avoid operational complications arising due to stoppage of train operations in that country on Eid festival.
The bi-weekly train between Kolkata and Dhaka will not run on October 15 and 16 due to Eid festival, said a senior Railway Ministry official.
The official said it has been done on the request of Bangladesh Railway to avoid operational complications arising due to stoppage of train operations in Dhaka during the festival.
The train runs from Kolkata every Tuesday and Saturday while in the return direction it departs from Dhaka every Wednesday and Sunday.
Meanwhile, railways is planning to introduce the facility for booking of return tickets in Maitree Express.
"Steps are being taken to introduce the system of booking return tickets by Maitree Express," the official said.
India and Bangladesh had signed a Memorandum of Understanding on February 16, 2013 in Dhaka for construction of a new rail link between Akhaura (Bangladesh) and Agartala (India).
In order to improve trade through railways, the two Railways are jointly working towards containerisation of cargo and setting up suitable rail-linked Inland Container Depots to handle the cargo.
Out of the 16 projects that have been included in the USD 800 million Indian Line of Credit to Bangladesh, 13 are railway projects amounting to USD 687.4 million. Projects include procurement of rolling stock and development of infrastructure.

Calcutta, Sept. 25:The Centre may fund a 3km rail-and-road link for a proposed port on Sagar Island in a bid to lure private investors for Bengal’s most ambitious infrastructure project yet.
The crucial link on the Muriganga, a distributary of the Hooghly that flows between the island and South 24-Parganas, is estimated to cost Rs 3,500 crore, nearly half the expense earmarked for the proposed port.
The investment in the bridge, which is essential to transport cargo from Sagar Island to the mainland, was being seen as a deterrent for investors who would take up the project in the public-private-partnership mode.
“If the government partly funds the rail-road link, it may improve the viability of the Sagar port. Hence, such an idea is under consideration,” said R.P.S. Kahlon, the chairman of the Calcutta Port Trust that is spearheading the Rs 7,820-crore project.
The Sagar port, a much-needed infrastructure for Bengal’s economy because of the ever-reducing navigability of the ports in Haldia and Calcutta, is finally seeing traction after being in the realm of discussion for a decade.
A special purpose vehicle is being formed where the CPT will have 76 per cent stake and the Bengal government 24 per cent to oversee the project. The CPT is also set to appoint a transaction advisor that will draw up details of the bidding process to select the private investor(s).
Six firms, including marquee consultants such as KPMG, Ernst & Young, Deloitte, Crisil and Feedback Venture, are in the fray for the job.
“We are going to appoint the adviser by next Monday. It will then take the process forward. It is going to be a long process. I expect selection of the investor by end of next year,” Kahlon said.
The port is being designed to handle 54 million tonnes of cargo. It is likely to be operational by the end of 2019-20. The facility will come up on the western side of the island facing West Midnapore on a 2,500-acre plot that will be reclaimed from the confluence of the Hooghly and the Bay of Bengal.
The entire project is being divided into two parts, the port facility and the two-deck rail-cum-road link on the Muriganga. Infrastructure experts say private investors will be wary of taking up the cost of building the bridge as it will depress the internal rate of return from the project to a large extent.
“The Centre can finance up to 90 per cent of such projects (bridge) under the viability gap funding if the project is considered as being of national importance,” an expert said.
Much will depend on the political formation at the Centre in the next Lok Sabha. If Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamul Congress becomes part of it, the road to Sagar could come up faster.
Under the proposed plan, the two-tier bridge — one a rail track, the other a road — will hit the mainland at Kashinagar in South 24-Parganas. The rail link will run northwards passing through Kulpi and Diamond Harbour and connect with a dedicated freight corridor at Dankuni.
The port is likely to have a river draught maximum up to 13.5 metres and can handle Panamax vessels — ships that can navigate the Panama Canal — carrying up to 75,000 tonnes of cargo.
Ships coming to Haldia can handle up to 25,000 tonnes because of the silt choking the riverbed.
Compared with some of the other ports on the eastern coast of India such as Paradip or Visakhaptnam, the river draught is not much but it was found to be the deepest available in Bengal.
The new port is important for the economy of not only Bengal and other eastern states but also Nepal and Bhutan.
The shipping trend globally is to move large ships for economy of scale. Such ships cannot come to either Haldia or Calcutta.

New Delhi(PTI): The bi-weekly train service between Calcutta and Dhaka will be suspended on October 15 and 16 because of Id, a railway official has said. The request to suspend Maitree Express had come from Bangladesh Railway.

जबलपुर. पश्चिम मध्य रेल प्रशासन ने रेल कर्मचारियों के बच्चों को केन्द्रीय कर्मचारी हित निधि से वर्ष 2013-14 के लिए स्कालरशिप/आर्थिक सहायता/नगद पुरस्कार देने की सूचना जारी कर दी है. इस संबंध में मुखय जान संपर्क अधिकारी पीयूष माथूर ने बताया कि स्कालरशिप/आर्थिक सहायता/नगद पुरस्कार प्राप्त करने हेतु रेल कर्मचारियों को निर्धारित आवेदन 31 दिसम्बर तक जमा किया जाना है. स्कालरशिप रेल प्रशासन के द्वारा तकनीकी शिक्षा को बढ़ावा देने हेतु रेल कर्मचारियो के बच्चों और आश्रित भाई/बहन जो न्यूनतम 4 वर्ष का डिग्री कोर्स या न्यूनतम 3 वर्ष का डिप्लोमा कोर्स कर रहे हैं. उन्हें रु. 5000/- और रु. 3000/- संभावित राषि स्कालरशिप के रूप में केन्द्रीय कर्मचारी हित निधि से प्रदान की जाएगी. तकनीकी शिक्षा में वार्षिक छात्रवृति प्रदान करने के लिए समूह घ के कर्मचारियों का 5 प्रतिशत एवं अनुसूचित जाति के कर्मचारियों हेतु 15 प्रतिशत एवं अनुसूचित जनजाति हेतु 7.5 प्रतिशत आरक्षित किया गया है. रेल प्रशासन द्वारा रेल कर्मचारियों के मेघावी छात्रों को प्रोत्साहित करने हेतु, ऐसे बच्चे जो स्नातक पाठ्यक्रम की अंतिम परीक्षा में प्रथम प्रयास में ही 60 प्रतिषत अंक के साथ उत्तीर्ण हो जाते हैं, उन्हें रु. 2000/- का नगद पुरस्कार भी दिया जाएगा।. नगद पुरस्कार मेरिट तथा फण्ड की उपलब्धता के आधार पर दिया जाता है. रेल प्रशासन के द्वारा रेल कर्मचारियों के अंधे/मानसिक रूप से रोगी एवं बीमारी जिसमे पोलियो/लकवाग्रस्त बच्चों को भी पंजीकृत मेडिकल प्रेक्टिषनर, रेलवे डाक्टर के प्रमाण पत्र के आधार पर प्रति बच्चा रु. 2000/- वार्षिक अनुदान दिया जाता है.

Due to water logging and breaches some long distance trains had to be rescheduled o­n Thursday, 26thSeptember,2013 . Train no 12952 & 12954 Rajdhani Express coming to Mumbai are delayed by 2 hrs 30 hrs and some other trains coming to Mumbai are delayed by around 4 hours  .

            Trains Rescheduled –

·12953 August Kranti Rajdhani Express is rescheduled at 19.45 hrs.

·12925 Bandra (T)-Amritsar Paschim Express is rescheduled at 12.35 hrs .

·22451 Bandra( T) -Chandigarh Express is rescheduled at 14.25 hrs .

·12471 Swaraj Express rescheduled at 11.50 hrs .

  The details / information can also be obtained from train enquiry system o­n 139.

Due to water logging and breaches some long distance trains had to be rescheduled o­n Thursday, 26thSeptember,2013 . Train no 12952 & 12954 Rajdhani Express coming to Mumbai are delayed by 2 hrs 30 hrs and some other trains coming to Mumbai are delayed by around 4 hours  .

            Trains Rescheduled –

·12953 August Kranti Rajdhani Express is rescheduled at 19.45 hrs.

·12925 Bandra (T)-Amritsar Paschim Express is rescheduled at 12.35 hrs .

·22451 Bandra( T) -Chandigarh Express is rescheduled at 14.25 hrs .

·12471 Swaraj Express rescheduled at 11.50 hrs .

  The details / information can also be obtained from train enquiry system o­n 139.

SURAT/VADODARA/BHARUCH: Lakhs of commuters were stranded on railway platforms and highways on Wednesday as continuous downpour on the third day in south Gujarat forced cancellation of 18 trains and jammed all the main roads and highways.

The national highway 8, the arterial link between Ahmedabad and Mumbai, witnessed a nearly 30-km-long traffic jam near Bharuch on both ends of Sardar Bridge on Narmada.

Police teams are working to clear the traffic but it will take several hours. “The jam on NH8 near Bharuch is due to potholes on Sardar Bridge. It is taking a long time for the vehicles to cross it and that has led to the major jam,” Bharuch SP Bipin Ahire said.

Railway officials said a breach on tracks between Vadodara and Bharuch has forced the cancellation of trains going to Surat and Mumbai. “Important trains like Shatabdi Express were moved along the down track that was functional,” said an official.

With little sign of rain abating, rail and road traffic disruptions are likely to continue for some time.

Meanwhile, Surat, Vadodara and Bharuch continued to reel under rain fury on Wednesday. Situation was particularly grim in Karjan taluka of Vadodara where many people are reported to be stranded amid flood waters. The Army has been kept on stand-by to tackle any eventuality. Over 1,200 people stranded in 16 villages in Karjan, Padra and Vadodara (rural) were rescued.

Vadodara remained on the edge for the second day as Vishwamitri continued to flow above the danger mark at 28.6 feet. Authorities closed a bridge at Kalaghoda as river swelled dangerously.

Surat city was battered by 211mm in eight hours since Wednesday morning, leaving all the major areas in knee-deep waters. Five creeks in the city started overflowing due to massive influx of water due to heavy rains in the adjoining talukas, which received an average 200mm rainfall.