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Bangalore: Log on to eBay for best deals on mobiles, laptops, tablets and METRO TOKENS. Surprised?  Namma Metro tokens were put on sale for a whopping $49.99 (Rs 3,136.37) for a set of 10 on eBay on Monday morning.    According to media reports, the offer price for a Namma Metro token was quoted at $5.99 (Rs 369.97) apiece later in the evening.      Qouting BMRC official, reports state that since passengers are not allowed to keep tokens while exiting Metro stations, their sale on eBay is a punishable offence.   BMRC wrote to eBay and lodged a complaint with the Cyber Cell when the matted came to their notice last month.    Metro tokens from Ukraine, St Petersburg, Shenzen and Santiago among other places are also on offer on eBay. BMRC has been warning passengers that carrying metro tokens attracts a fine of Rs. 200, but, more than 2,500 tokens have gone missing from BMRC counters.   Although, a person has to drop the token to exit. . But people can purchase more than one token, which means that he need to drop only one token and could walk out with the other.    BMRC official said that they have instructed the staff to issue only one token per head to solve this problem.    Moreoever, some passengers holding Metro smartcard can buy a token but use the card to enter/exit the station, making it easy to smuggle tokens out.    For this the metro official said that the only solution lies with the people. He said that they should not indulge in such activities.      THE NUMBERS   Number of tokens lost: 2,500   Price of each token: Rs. 10-15   Fine if caught trying to smuggle tokens out: Rs. 200   Price of a token on offer eBay: $ 4.99 to $9.99

The Railways will introduce the Tatkal scheme in many passenger trains to help travellers avail themselves of the emergency reservation facility. Till now, the facility is available for Mail and Express trains, including premier services such as Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi. Tatkal reservation can be made in all reserved classes except the AC first class.

Bangalore: Log on to eBay for best deals on mobiles, laptops, tablets and METRO TOKENS. Surprised?  Namma Metro tokens were put on sale for a whopping $49.99 (Rs 3,136.37) for a set of 10 on eBay on Monday morning.    According to media reports, the offer price for a Namma Metro token was quoted at $5.99 (Rs 369.97) apiece later in the evening.      Qouting BMRC official, reports state that since passengers are not allowed to keep tokens while exiting Metro stations, their sale on eBay is a punishable offence.   BMRC wrote to eBay and lodged a complaint with the Cyber Cell when the matted came to their notice last month.    Metro tokens from Ukraine, St Petersburg, Shenzen and Santiago among other places are also on offer on eBay. BMRC has been warning passengers that carrying metro tokens attracts a fine of Rs. 200, but, more than 2,500 tokens have gone missing from BMRC counters.   Although, a person has to drop the token to exit. . But people can purchase more than one token, which means that he need to drop only one token and could walk out with the other.    BMRC official said that they have instructed the staff to issue only one token per head to solve this problem.    Moreoever, some passengers holding Metro smartcard can buy a token but use the card to enter/exit the station, making it easy to smuggle tokens out.    For this the metro official said that the only solution lies with the people. He said that they should not indulge in such activities.      THE NUMBERS   Number of tokens lost: 2,500   Price of each token: Rs. 10-15   Fine if caught trying to smuggle tokens out: Rs. 200   Price of a token on offer eBay: $ 4.99 to $9.99

CHENNAI: The country's first stainless steel electric multiple unit (EMU), meant for Mumbai's suburban network, was flagged off at Integral Coach Factory here on Tuesday. The 12-car unit is the first of 72 rakes to be supplied to Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) as part of the project's second phase. The coaches are energy efficient, and have better seats, interior lighting and broader windows.However, it will take several years before such rakes are inducted into Chennai's suburban network. "The suburban trains for Mumbai are made with World Bank funding and are expensive. The railways will have to take a decision," said Rakesh Misra, general manager of ICF and Southern Railway, after flagging off the rake.The new rake will be tested, certified and commissioned in Mumbai in a week. The feedback from commuters would be taken into account while building the next rake that is expected to be made by the end of October."The design will be perfected and frozen in January. Thirty rakes will be supplied next year to MRVC," said Pankaj Kumar, chief mechanical engineer, ICF.Being made of stainless steel, the new rake will need minimum maintenance and will be more reliable when compared to the earlier 129 rakes that were supplied to Mumbai under the first phase of the 3,000 crore project.Rakesh Saxena, chairman and managing director of MRVC, said, "Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) has introduced a lot of technology into the suburban network like forced ventilation system and GPS-aided display boards.The 909 coaches that ICF supplied under phase one helped us to reduce overcrowding by about 18%. Now, the number of people who travel has increased and has touched 7.5 million commuters per day. The new set of rakes will be useful to reduce overcrowding."S Sridhar, chief electrical engineer, ICF, said the factory was the leader in three phase propulsion technology which was energy efficient and could be leveraged for manufacture of metro rail coaches in the future.

The long-pending demand for a direct rail link between Hyderabad Karnataka and Mumbai Karnataka regions will be met on October 2 with Railway Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge flagging off the new train that originates at Hubli and reaches Secunderabad after passing through Gadag, Bagalkot, Bijapur and Gulbarga districts.Official sources said here on Monday that the new train would be run thrice a week and cover 662 km between Hubli and Secunderabad. Although the new train would be formally flagged off on Wednesday, its actual service would begin from October 4.Sources said that the train from Hubli would stop at Gadag, Badami, Bagalkot, Bijapur, Hotagi Junction, Station Gangapur, Gulbarga, Shahbad, Wadi Junction, Chitapur, Sedam and reach Secunderabad.The train will have 16 bogies initially, including one two-tier AC , two three-tier, six sleeper, six general coaches and two luggage compartments.The travelling time from Hubli to Gulbarga would be approximately nine and half hours, the railwa sources said.

In the absence of a direct train link between the Mumbai Karnataka and Hyderabad Karnataka regions, the passengers were hitherto taking a circuitous route.

MALAPPURAM: The Southern Railway will run special trains between Kochuveli and Bangalore City as well as between Thiruvanathapuram Central and Chennai Central to meet the rush during puja season.Kochuveli - Bangalore City Special Train (train no. 06314), will run on October 3, 17 and 31. This train will leave Kochuveli at 8.15 pm on Thursdays and will reach Bangalore City at 1.50 pm on Fridays. In the return direction, Bangalore City-Kochuveli Special Train (train no. 06313) will run on Fridays on October 4 and 18.This train will leave Bangalore City at 3.20 pm on Fridays and will reach Kochuveli at 10.30 am on Saturdays.These trains will have one 2-tier AC, two 3-tier AC, four sleeper class, six second class chair car, four general second class and two luggage-cum-brake vans.These trains will stop at Kollam, Kayamkulam, Mavelikkara, Chengannur, Tiruvalla, Kottayam, Ernakulam Town, Aluva, Thrissur, Palakkad, Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode, Salem, Dharmapuri, Hosur and Bangalore stations.

The Thiruvananthapuram Central-Chennai Central Special Train (train no. 06312) will leave on Wednesdays at 8.05 pm from October 2 to 22 and will reach Chennai Central at 1.15 pm the next day.In the return direction, Chennai Central-Thiruvananthapuram Central Special Train (train no. 06312) will leave on Thursdays from October 3 to 23 and will reach Thiruvananthapuram Central at 11.45 am on the next day.

These special trains with two 2-tier AC, two 3- tier AC, 11 sleeper class, two general second class and two luggage-cum-brake van, will stop at Kollam, Kayamkulam, Mavelikkara, Chengannur, Tiruvalla, Kottayam, Ernakulam Town, Aluva, Thrissur, Palakkad, Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode, Salem, Jolarpettai, Katpadi, Arakkonam. Train no. 06312 will also stop at Perambur.

PATNA: East Central Railway (ECR) started a photo exhibition at Bharatiya Nritya Kala Mandir here on Tuesday to commemorate the glorious 160 years of Indian Railways and 11 years of ECR with its headquarters at Hajipur.GM Madhuresh Kumar, while inaugurating the seven-day exhibition, lauded the efforts of ECR to organize photo exhibition in Patna depicting the 160-year-old history of Indian Railways. He said such kind of exhibition will prove informative and educative for youth and children as Indian Railways continues to be the lifeline for the people in the country, he said.Railway Board Information Centre, New Delhi, director Seema Sharma was also present on the occasion.According to ECR CPRO Amitabh Prabhakar, the ECR, which came into existence on October 1, 2002, has put on display rare photographs of Indian Railways at this exhibition. Models of major projects of ECR have also been put on display at the photo gallery exhibition here, he said.During the 11 years of its existence, Prabhakar said, the ECR has provided maximum passenger amenities which included provision of passenger reservation system (PRS), unreserved ticketing system (UTS), platform extension, sheds on platforms, safe drinking water, benches and platform surfacing at all big and small stations. Railways is committed to provide more PRS and UTS facilities at all big and small stations under ECR jurisdiction, the CPRO said, adding the number of PRS-cum-UTS facility is available at 58 stations of ECR.ECR, to cope up with the growing needs of the common people, has given a priority to 'janata ticket booking sewak' (JTBS) scheme in each division. The number of JTBS has gone to 78 in the zone. The basic aim of JTBS is to reduce passengers' rush from main ticket booking counters at all major stations, including Patna Junction, he said.

PATNA: East Central Railway (ECR) started a photo exhibition at Bharatiya Nritya Kala Mandir here on Tuesday to commemorate the glorious 160 years of Indian Railways and 11 years of ECR with its headquarters at Hajipur.GM Madhuresh Kumar, while inaugurating the seven-day exhibition, lauded the efforts of ECR to organize photo exhibition in Patna depicting the 160-year-old history of Indian Railways. He said such kind of exhibition will prove informative and educative for youth and children as Indian Railways continues to be the lifeline for the people in the country, he said.Railway Board Information Centre, New Delhi, director Seema Sharma was also present on the occasion.According to ECR CPRO Amitabh Prabhakar, the ECR, which came into existence on October 1, 2002, has put on display rare photographs of Indian Railways at this exhibition. Models of major projects of ECR have also been put on display at the photo gallery exhibition here, he said.During the 11 years of its existence, Prabhakar said, the ECR has provided maximum passenger amenities which included provision of passenger reservation system (PRS), unreserved ticketing system (UTS), platform extension, sheds on platforms, safe drinking water, benches and platform surfacing at all big and small stations. Railways is committed to provide more PRS and UTS facilities at all big and small stations under ECR jurisdiction, the CPRO said, adding the number of PRS-cum-UTS facility is available at 58 stations of ECR.ECR, to cope up with the growing needs of the common people, has given a priority to 'janata ticket booking sewak' (JTBS) scheme in each division. The number of JTBS has gone to 78 in the zone. The basic aim of JTBS is to reduce passengers' rush from main ticket booking counters at all major stations, including Patna Junction, he said.

BHOPAL: The state government has asked Germany company conducting surveys for proposed metro project in Bhopal and Indore to incorporate Mandideep and Sehore in Bhopal metro project. Interacting with a delegation of the company here on Monday, urban administration and development (UAD) minister Babulal Gaur said the model to be selected for Indore metro should be low-cost for passengers, fast and speedy, a government spokesman later informed.Delegates of the company included transport planner Gerhard Kutzer and project director Dr Helmut Gyatt principal secretary UAD SN Mishra and commissioner of department Sanjay Shukla.The German company representatives said survey of Bhopal and Indore is over. They also held discussions with officers of UAD, municipal corporations of Indore and Bhopal and the Town and Country Planning."Secondary data of the two cities have also been collected," they told the government.They said after inspection report it will be decided as to which metro - mono or LRD - will be better for Indore and Bhopal cities. Deputy project manager Rohit Gupta said mode for metro would be selected keeping future needs in view.In Bhopal and Indore, metro route will be 60 to 65 km long. Initial cost of Bhopal metro is Rs 6,000 crore and of Indore metro is about Rs 7,500 crore.

It’s a daily fight for elbow space these days at the railway station in the city. Every train departing from, arriving in and touching the station is bursting at its seams with people headed for various destinations.The agitation in the Seemandhra region against carving out a separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh has brought operations of KSRTC and APSRTC buses from here to a screeching halt. No bus is being operated from the city to nine districts in coastal Andhra Pradesh and four in the Rayalaseema region.The operation of a total of 33 NEKRTC buses has been suspended from the Bellary region to Mantralayam, Srisailam, Kadapa, Gutti, Vijayawada, Guntakal, Kurnool, Anantapur, Tirupati and Rayadurga. The bus travelling to Chennai via Anantapur has been called off.   The  Corporation is suffering a daily loss of Rs three crore, Durgappa, the divisional controller, told Deccan Herald.The worst hit are thousands of workers from Hospet, Siruguppa and Bellary who travel to Andhra Pradesh every day.The result: Trains are the only mode of transport out of the region for the common man. Passengers virtually barge into both passenger and express trains that arrive on the platforms of the Bellary station. The rush has spilled over to the Hospet and Toranagallu stations also.

Sought-after trains

The much sought-after trains include the Hubli-Vijayawada Express that leaves Bellary at 4 am, the Hubli-Tirupati fast passenger that leaves the station at 11 am, the Amaravathi Express that departs at 4.30 pm, the Kolhapur-Hyderabad Shahu Maharaj Express that leaves at 8.15 pm, the Hampi Express that chugs out at 10.45 pm, the Kolhapur-Tirupati Haripriya Express that departs at 11.30 pm.

Also jam-packed is the passenger train that leaves Bellary for Guntakal. Those headed for Rayadurga depend on the passenger train that runs between Hospet and Bangalore.

The period between 11 am and 4.30 pm is the most difficult every day for those bound for various places in the neighbouring state. The passengers have appealed to the Railways that they run special trains in these hours, for, in the absence of buses the rail route is their only hope.

Another problem is that barring a few passenger trains, there are only express trains that ply to Andhra Pradesh. This makes it very difficult for people in the region’s rural hinterland to travel to the neighbouring state. The express trains halt only in major stations.

High ticket sales

Amidst all this are the Railway authorities who aren’t complaining. The unprecedented crowd is filling the coffers of the Railways, thanks to the manifold increase in ticket sales.

There is some saving grace vis-a-vis the buses, though. Four services ply to Hyderabad via Raichur at night. Some night buses also go to Mantralayam from Hubli, Mangalore and Karwar.