ProUI

Corporation striving to bring down project cost

Those who feared that their property would be acquired for the second phase of Namma Metro Phase 2 can now be hopeful, as the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd., (BMRCL) has decided to minimise land acquisition for the project.This decision is one among the several to cut down project cost, which was estimated at Rs. 26,405 crore at the 2011 rates.The corporation had estimated that about 2,000 properties spread over about 200 hectares of land would be required for the 72 km Phase 2 for construction of four extension lines of the East-West and North-South corridors of Phase 1 and two new lines. Acquisition would be restricted for land required for viaduct and stations alone.

Only two levels

Another important decision taken to bring down the land requirement and project cost was constructing two levels of elevated stations instead of the three-level stations constructed on Phase 1. Ground floors of elevated stations on Phase 1 have passenger amenities and some commercial space, first floors are used for passenger concourse and the second floors have train platforms.

Though the station would be on a lower elevation to tracks with this decision, the metro trains are powerful enough to move with ease from the station to the elevated track, said a senior BMRCL official. A train comprises two motor-driver coaches at both the ends and one trailer coach in the middle. The driver-motor coach is powered by four 220 kVA motors, equivalent to 1,000 horse power, he said.

With the conservative five per cent increase in the project cost every year, the cost of Phase 2 is likely to cross Rs. 30,000 crore when project implementation begins in a few months.

Cost escalation

The central government, a partner in Namma Metro, would bear the cost escalation only if it is due to increase in central duties and cess. Cost escalation for any other reason including delay, would have to be borne by the State government and hence this decision by BMRCL.

Exact estimation to be made

With this, the land requirement now would now be lesser than the estimated 200 hectares, said the official, though the exact estimation is yet to be made.

BMRCL has already appointed M/s Jones Lang Lassalle as the consultant to assist the Land Committee headed by retired IAS officer C. Krishnappa to determine the market value of the properties.

The official said the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB), which is acquiring land for Namma Metro, has issued three preliminary notifications: for 24 hectares of private and three hectares of Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) land for the Mysore Road Terminal-Kengeri line, for 7.8 hectares of private land between Byappanahali and Mahadevapura on the Byappanahalli-Whitefield sector and for 1 hectare of land for construction of Ragigudda and Central Silk Board Stations on the R.V. Road Terminal-Bommasandra line.

Railways hike the fares second time in this fiscal year.Due to higher revenue they should allot more funds for the on going Uni-gauge, Doubling,New line and Electrification works .

Authorities yet to respond to long-pending pleas from passengers

The long-pending plea of the people of Koyilandy to develop the railway station in their locality is yet to evoke any favourable response from Southern Railway authorities.

The station is used by nearly 3,000 passengers daily.

The foremost demand is for a reservation counter that functions round-the-clock.

Currently, the counter is manned by a ticket counter clerk. Staff shortage has cut short the reservation counter service to four hours.

In the absence of a full-fledged reservation counter, most of the long-distance passengers have to travel to Vadakara and Kozhikode stations for booking their tickets.

“Hundreds of passengers to North Indian States struggle from the lack of a reservation counter here. They have to travel a long way to make their reservations,” says P. Gangadharan, a native of Koyilandy. “Many a time, they lose the chance of reservation because of the delay in booking,” he says.

The shortage of staff is also a pressing issue, as the ticket counter clerk on duty is often compelled to jump from one seat to the other to attend to the long queue of people.

Another demand that is pending is the need for a footbridge.

Such a facility will greatly benefit passengers, including the physically challenged and senior citizens.

Stop for trains

Stops for long-distance trains, including the West Coast, Netravati, Yeswanthpur, and Chennai Special Super Fast, has come up as a separate demand.

As of now, people from Koyilandy are compelled to board the train from Kozhikode or Vadakara stations to reach distant locations.

According to Koyilandy MLA K. Dasan, the railway station caters to an estimated population of 1.24 lakh in the city and the suburbs of Koyilandy.

The station also serves people from the nearby panchayats including Chemanchery, Chengottukavu. Arikkulam, Keezhariyur, Moodadi, Ulliyeri, Balussery, Panangad, Naduvannur, Unnikulam, Payyoli, Thikkodi, and Thurayur.

Mr. Dasan, who recently submitted a memorandum to the Southern Railway authorities on the issue, says that there are more than 16 higher secondary and technical schools in the area, in addition to 17 other nationalised and scheduled banks. Taking all such aspects into consideration, development of the station is imperative, he says.

Farmers too will benefit from the development of the station, as hill products including rubber, ginger, pepper and other vegetables are being transported largely to the market in trains, he adds.


Nearly 3,000 people use the station daily.

Main demand for 24-hour reservation counter

Every day, elderly and physically challenged passengers at the Pune rainway station can be seen struggling to climb the steep ramp of the foot overbridge to reach the platforms. Meanwhile, the battery-operated vehicle, which is supposed to ferry them to the platform for free, lies unused.

The vehicle remains parked near the accounts department office where passengers who need it cannot see it. The driver is never around. Calls on the helpline number (8600974444), printed on the vehicle, are either never picked up, or the person at the other end informs the caller that the services are unavailable at that hour.

The vehicle had come into service after the Ministry of Railways in 2009 received proposals to run free round-the-clock services to carry disabled and elderly persons on railway platforms and it decided to allow private parties to run these battery-operated vehicles. The idea was initially tried out on a pilot basis at a couple of railway stations in south India.

In accordance with the policy formulated by the ministry, the service is free of cost and the private player is not supposed to charge any money either from the passengers or the Railways. Also, the vehicles are only supposed to carry the physically challenged and the elderly. To help private players earn some revenue, the Railways allowed the operators to advertise on the vehicles. The Railways provides electricity free of cost to charge the vehicle.

However, on multiple visits to the station, Newsline found that the vehicle remains parked in front of the accounts department throughout the day. It also found that several senior citizens and their families were struggling to reach the platforms 3 and 5 on the foot overbridge. When asked, Sudhindra Saraf, who was accompanying his grandfather, said, "We are not even aware of any such service. If there is such a facility available they should publicise it through ads and announcements over the public address system."Harsha Shah of Railway Pravasi Group said that the vehicle is proving to be of no use for the elderly and the physically challenged."Apparently, the drivers employed are relatives of the railway officials who are engaged in some other private job and don't bother to carry out the duty of facilitating the transport of the intended beneficiaries in the project. Even if, by sheer luck, you find the vehicle, the driver will refuse to help you, saying that the vehicle can't be operated in the heavy passenger traffic on the overbridge," said Shah.

Shah said battery-operated vehicles at other stations in the country were fully functional and were available for the needy 24 hours a day.

"However, at Pune station the service is only available on the days when higher authorities like the general manager are visiting the station," he said.

Southern Railway has cancelled a number of trains between Chennai and Andhra Pradesh on Monday due to agitation by some workers of Andhra Pradesh Power Transmission Corporation over the Telangana issue.

The Jan Shatabdi Express running between Chennai Central and Vijayawada, scheduled to leave the city on Monday, has been cancelled, a Railway release said. Similarly, Chennai Central-Gudur Passenger, Vijayawada-Chennai Central Pinakini Express and Bitragunta-Chennai Central Passenger have also been cancelled, the release said.

GORAKHPUR: The Gorakhpur railway station became the proud owner world's longest home platform on Sunday after GM, NER, KK Atal inaugurated the remodelled Gorakhpur Yard.The remodelling work was completed on war-footing within the scheduled time. With the inauguration of the remodelled yard, Gorakhpur now has a platform measuring 1366.33 metres with ramp and 11355.40 metres without it. With this achievement, the NER has also secured a place in the Limca Book of Records. The certificate for the same would be issued soon. The achievement of the Gorakhpur station would also be incorporated in the Guinness Book of World Records. The postal department too is likely to release a special cover to mark the achievement.After inaugurating the newly installed route relay interlocking system, the GM also flagged off 12555 Gorakhdham Express (Gorakhpur to Hisar). Later, talking to reporters, Atal, said, "I congratulate the people of Gorakhpur on getting the privilege of world's longest railway platform in the city. I also appreciate the cooperation of the people of Gorakhpur as more than half of the work was completed within 11 days. I also appreciate the dedication of rail employees and officers who worked day and night for to ensure completion of work within the time limit."On the occasion, the GM announced award of Rs 1 lakh each for the construction department, signal construction department and Lucknow division and an award of Rs 50,000 for the headquarters.

Chief operating manager, RV Singh, chief signal and telecommunication engineer, HK Agarwal, chief administrative officer, Onkar Singh, chief signal telecommunication engineer, HK Agarwal, DRM Lucknow, Anoop Kumar, ADRM (Lucknow), chief engineer (construction), ON Verma, chief signal telecommunication engineer (construction) SN Sah, SDGM, PN Rai, CCM, Arvind Kumar, CPRO, Alok Kumar Singh, secretary to GM, Amit Singh along with senior railway officials were also present at the inaugural ceremony.

PATNA: About 17,000 people have visited Bharatiya Nritya Kala Mandir so far to have a look at the photo exhibition put up by East Central Railway (ECR) to mark the 160 years of Indian Railways. The exhibition is a repository of rare photographs of Railways right from 1853 to the present time. There are about 250 photographs at this exhibition which will conclude on Monday.

A visit to the photo exhibition gives an idea of how the Indian Railways has been progressing since its first run on April 16, 1853, between Bori Bundar (Mumbai) and Thane. There was a time when shunting engine was hardly available to haul passenger train rake or goods train in the yard. Railways had then adopted a novel idea to keep elephants on the payrolls of railways and they were used in place of locomotives to push the coach or a rake in the yard for shunting purpose. The rare photographs in black and white in which elephants are shown pushing rake or coach attracted attention of the visitors, especially schoolchildren who were visiting the photo exhibition almost everyday.

The youth and children throng the exhibition to view the rare photos of 'refugee special train' during partition of India in 1947. People was shown sitting on the roofs of the train which came from Pakistan to Amritsar and Ambala during partition.

The exhibition show is a thrill for the visitors who found it highly informative and educative. Railways has been a mode of transport for every section of the society during pre and post independence era. Rare photographs of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, Nizam of Hyderabad, Lord Linlithgow, Dr S Radhakrishnan, Babu Jagjivan Ram, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Satyajit Ray, Rajiv Gandhi and many others were the cynosure of all eyes. A rare photograph of Patna Junction in 1939 is also displayed.

Various models of locomotives right from 1853, coaches of passenger trains including the modern LHB coaches, the biggest railway yard of Mughalsarai, upcoming Patna-Sonepur rail-cum-road bridge over the Ganga, Harnaut coach maintenance workshop, Chhapra wheel factory, saloon of Darbhanga Maharaj, 1906 tunnel in Maharashtra, flood situation at Patna Junction, 1920 passenger engine, steam engine bearing National anthem, models of Victoria Terminus, old Delhi and Madras stations in 1873 are other highlights of the railway photo exhibition, said ECR CPRO Amitabh Prabhakar.

PATNA: About 17,000 people have visited Bharatiya Nritya Kala Mandir so far to have a look at the photo exhibition put up by East Central Railway (ECR) to mark the 160 years of Indian Railways. The exhibition is a repository of rare photographs of Railways right from 1853 to the present time. There are about 250 photographs at this exhibition which will conclude on Monday.

A visit to the photo exhibition gives an idea of how the Indian Railways has been progressing since its first run on April 16, 1853, between Bori Bundar (Mumbai) and Thane. There was a time when shunting engine was hardly available to haul passenger train rake or goods train in the yard. Railways had then adopted a novel idea to keep elephants on the payrolls of railways and they were used in place of locomotives to push the coach or a rake in the yard for shunting purpose. The rare photographs in black and white in which elephants are shown pushing rake or coach attracted attention of the visitors, especially schoolchildren who were visiting the photo exhibition almost everyday.

The youth and children throng the exhibition to view the rare photos of 'refugee special train' during partition of India in 1947. People was shown sitting on the roofs of the train which came from Pakistan to Amritsar and Ambala during partition.

The exhibition show is a thrill for the visitors who found it highly informative and educative. Railways has been a mode of transport for every section of the society during pre and post independence era. Rare photographs of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, Nizam of Hyderabad, Lord Linlithgow, Dr S Radhakrishnan, Babu Jagjivan Ram, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Satyajit Ray, Rajiv Gandhi and many others were the cynosure of all eyes. A rare photograph of Patna Junction in 1939 is also displayed.

Various models of locomotives right from 1853, coaches of passenger trains including the modern LHB coaches, the biggest railway yard of Mughalsarai, upcoming Patna-Sonepur rail-cum-road bridge over the Ganga, Harnaut coach maintenance workshop, Chhapra wheel factory, saloon of Darbhanga Maharaj, 1906 tunnel in Maharashtra, flood situation at Patna Junction, 1920 passenger engine, steam engine bearing National anthem, models of Victoria Terminus, old Delhi and Madras stations in 1873 are other highlights of the railway photo exhibition, said ECR CPRO Amitabh Prabhakar.

ALLAHABAD: Incessant rain severely affected the movement of trains at Allahabad railway station. With the railway yard heavily waterlogged and signal failure reported early in the day, several trains were delayed.

The problem was worse on platform number 1 and 2 of the railway junction where the movement of severak New Delhi-bound trains was affected. The trains which arrived late at the station included Kalka Mail and North East Express. Due to the non-functioning of signals for a certain period, train traffic was handled through log books until the signal failure was rectified.

Several trains [B][URL=http://mumbailocaltraintimetable.net/Mumbai-To-Pune-Trains.aspx] mumbai to pune train[/URL][/B]  have been diverted while road traffic on Bharatpur-Hindaun road has also been affected, police said. Bainsla announced his readiness to hold parleys after holding talks with his community members at a meeting in Bharatpur during which he discussed a letter sent by the government inviting their leaders for talks either in Jaipur or Bharatpur. A district administration official had handed over the letter to Bainsla earlier in the day in which the government offered to hold talks but the offer was initially not accepted by Gujjars, who were demanding that its emissaries come to the rail tracks at Pilupura for the parleys.
visit: http://mumbailocaltraintimetable.net

ALLAHABAD: In view of Durga Puja festival, railway administration has made arrangements for several special trains. This include Allahabad-Udhampur special, Allahabad-LTT (Lokmanya Tilak Terminus) and Bandra-Patna special.

Train number 04113/04114 will run between Allahabad and Udhampur. It will depart from Allahabad at 3:20pm and reach Udhampur at 5:20pm. During the return journey, the train will depart from Udhampur at 7:10pm and terminate at Allahabad at 9:25pm. This train will depart from Allahabad end every Saturday from October 12 to November 30 and from Udhampur end every Sunday from October 13 to December 1. This train comprises of two AC-II tier, seven sleeper, and seven general coaches.

Train number 04115/04116 will run between Allahabad and LTT. This train will depart from Allahabad at 11:45pm and reach LTT at 2:50pm. During return journey, the train will depart from LTT at 4:40pm and terminate at Allahabad at 9:50pm. This train will depart from Allahabad end every Wednesday from October 9 to November 27 and from LTT end every Thursday from October 10 to November 28. This train will comprise of two AC-II tier, seven sleeper, and seven general class coaches.

Train number 09011/09012 will run between Bandra and Patna via Allahabad. The train will leave Bandra at 5:10am and terminate at Patna at 4:00pm. During its return, the train will depart from Patna at 6:45am and terminate at Bandra at 4:35pm. This train will depart from Bandra Terminus end every Sunday from October 6 to November 24 and from Patna end every Tuesday from October 8 to November 26. It will comprise of one AC-II tier, two AC-III tier, seven sleeper, and six general coaches.