ProUI

VARANASI: Passengers, tourists and devotees have started arriving in the city as the festival and tourist season has begun. The railway authorities seem to have no interest in keeping the Cantonment railway station in proper order.

The authorities have turned a blind eye towards the problems being faced by the passengers at the station. The ongoing renovation work going on platform number one of the station troubled the passengers on Monday. One entrance on the platform from the main hall of the station remained closed throughout the day, troubling the passengers. It led to crowding of passengers who deboarded the trains on the platform.

Passengers could be seen struggling to get a place while waiting for the trains. The debris and dumped concrete is not removed from the platforms, creating troubles for the passengers.

The renovation of platforms started in April last year. The platform number six and seven have been renovated, but the renovation work on platform number one got delayed for five to six months. Sources in the construction department said that the work was delayed as the concrete was not available due to prolonged monsoon. The work is likely to get completed within a month.

Heavy concrete slabs, to be laid on the surface in order to make it strong, are kept just below the staircase of the platform, causing injuries to passengers.

NASHIK: The Department of Posts (DoP) is planning to open railway reservation centres at 19 locations in the Nashik division.

The DoP has identified 19 locations in Nashik to serve as booking centres for the railways but these are yet to be finalized.

According to Assistant Superintendent, Posts, Nashik headquarters, Pankaj Kulkarni, "Eleven locations have been identified inside the city while eight locations have been identified in the rural areas. The new system will ensure that commuters get their bookings through better assistance."

The official added that after starting the system in Mumbai, the postal department plans to start the railway reservation centres across rural areas and enable citizens to book their tickets in advance.

The Nashik division includes - Igatpuri, Trimbakeshwar, Surgana, Kalwan, Nashik and Sinnar talukas.s

According to the officer, the centres were likely to be raised at Nashik and Nashik Road Head Post Offices, Devlali Camp, Nashik Road Camp, HPT College campus, Nashik City and other post offices inside the city. In the rural areas the post offices at Ghoti, Trimbak, Surgana, Peth, Dindori, Ozar, Sinnnar and Wani that could be serving as reservation centres.

The official also said that as the DoP's reach is tremendous, they wanted to make it available to the common man. "One of the ways to do this is to start railway reservation centres. People would not have to be dependent upon agents and middlemen who charge a high amount as commission," the official added.

Currently, the railway department has only two booking offices - one at Nashik Road and another in Nashik city. The railways has also started an online reservation centre and a service for cellphone users.

"The services started by railway department were mostly for internet users. Citizens without access to the internet are forced to approach railway agents, who charge hefty sums as commission. The new centres will only help commuters book tickets easily," the official said.

NASHIK: The Department of Posts (DoP) is planning to open railway reservation centres at 19 locations in the Nashik division.

The DoP has identified 19 locations in Nashik to serve as booking centres for the railways but these are yet to be finalized.

According to Assistant Superintendent, Posts, Nashik headquarters, Pankaj Kulkarni, "Eleven locations have been identified inside the city while eight locations have been identified in the rural areas. The new system will ensure that commuters get their bookings through better assistance."

The official added that after starting the system in Mumbai, the postal department plans to start the railway reservation centres across rural areas and enable citizens to book their tickets in advance.

The Nashik division includes - Igatpuri, Trimbakeshwar, Surgana, Kalwan, Nashik and Sinnar talukas.s

According to the officer, the centres were likely to be raised at Nashik and Nashik Road Head Post Offices, Devlali Camp, Nashik Road Camp, HPT College campus, Nashik City and other post offices inside the city. In the rural areas the post offices at Ghoti, Trimbak, Surgana, Peth, Dindori, Ozar, Sinnnar and Wani that could be serving as reservation centres.

The official also said that as the DoP's reach is tremendous, they wanted to make it available to the common man. "One of the ways to do this is to start railway reservation centres. People would not have to be dependent upon agents and middlemen who charge a high amount as commission," the official added.

Currently, the railway department has only two booking offices - one at Nashik Road and another in Nashik city. The railways has also started an online reservation centre and a service for cellphone users.

"The services started by railway department were mostly for internet users. Citizens without access to the internet are forced to approach railway agents, who charge hefty sums as commission. The new centres will only help commuters book tickets easily," the official said.

Anti-Telangana protests entered their fourth day in Seemandhra region of Andhra Pradesh on Monday as more unions joined the stir while 32 trains were cancelled. The power shutdown also continues in 13 districts of Seemandhra, comprising coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema. Normal life is

crippled as reports say ATMs are not functioning in cities while other services are also hit by the power blackout. On Sunday morning, Power Employees’ Joint Action Committee began an indefinite strike. They had announced on Saturday that 70,000 workers of transmission, generation and distribution companies would go on an indefinite stir.

Power production at the Kadapa and Vijayawada thermal units and Srisailam hydro units was also hit.

Further tripping could affect the entire southern grid, the employees said. Some media reports said even neighbouring Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala were affected.

On Sunday, protesters defied curfew and shoot-at-sight orders to clash with police and pelted stones at security forces. The troops retaliated by firing rubber bullets. Curfew was also imposed in Vizianagaram town after day-long violence on Saturday.

According to media reports, 20 policemen and 30 protesters were injured. Dozens of agitators were arrested.

Power crisis in Andhra Pradesh is a factor behind the cancellation of the trains, Railway sources said.

East Coast Railways on Monday halted operations of four express trains and all local/passenger trains originating and terminating at Visakhapatnam in the wake of agitation in Andhra Pradesh, official sources said.

Power crisis in Andhra Pradesh is a factor behind the cancellation of the trains, Railway sources said.

The express trains cancelled on Tuesday were 17015 Up Bhubaneswar-Secunderabad Visakha Express, 12898 Up Bhubaneswar-Puducherry Weekly Express, 18411 Up Bhubaneswar-Visakhapatnam Intercity Express and 18412 down Visakhapatnam-Bhubaneswar Intercity Express.

However, for the comfortable journey of the train passengers stranded enroute, East Coast Railway has arranged diesel locomotives for movement of long distance trains.

Apart from this, food and drinking water provision has been made at different stations for stranded passengers, a Railway release said.

ECoR has also opened an emergency control room at Visakhapatnam for smooth movement of trains. Staff has been deputed to look after the proper arrangement of food and drinking water at various stations and in trains.

With a bottle of water being charged Rs. 40 and an ordinary meal sold at Rs. 120, passengers of long-distance trains had a horrible time at stations in Srikakulam district.

The passengers were stranded for more than 10 hours in in Srikakulam, Palasa and Naupada stations from the early hours of Monday.

Chennai-Howrah Mail, Visakha Express, Bangalore-bound Prashanti Express and other trains were halted at stations in Srikakulam district as there was no power supply for the movement of trains.

Electricity employees went on strike in Seemandhra region in support of United AP movement.

No water

Passengers coming from West Bengal, Assam, Odisha, Jharkhand and other States were clueless. Those coming from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka also had the same bitter experience in Odisha, and West Bengal-bound trains.

The toilets had no water supply.

Likewise, food supply from pantry cars was not available from afternoon. Fans in the trains did not function and the problem was only compounded for travellers of AC compartments, which lacked open windows.

M.V. Krishnapppa, a passenger, alleged that petty vendors were looting passengers by hiking the rates of all food items.

“We were forced to pay Rs.40 per water bottle. A cup of tea is sold at Rs.15. Stale food was sold at Rs.120 per plate. Railway officials did not take any action on the sellers,” he added.”

A traveller Satish coming from West Bengal said that it was unfair to stop the trains at small stations where nothing was available.

The travellers were put to many hardships during the night.

They were worried about the entry of anti-social elements in the dark thanks to the absence of powerin the trains.

Petty vendors loot passengers of trains stranded in stations due to strike by electricity employees

The Gorakhpur railway station in Uttar Pradesh has the world's longest platform,a fter it was inaugurated on Sunday (Oct 6).The remodelled Gorakhpur Yard was completed on a war footing within the scheduled time.Till now Kharagpur had the longest platform with its length of 1,074 metres. The platform in Gorakhpur is 1366.33 metres long.With this achievement, the North Eastern Railway has also secured a place in the Limca Book of Indian Records. The certificate for the same would be issued soon.The achievement of  Gorakhpur station would also be incorporated in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The proposal of the railways to set up an AC loco maintenance shed in Ernakulam has kicked up a row with railway employees alleging that the move is political in nature.According to officials, the railways has set aside `20 crore for setting up the AC loco shed on the Ernakulam junction premises.A letter has been forwarded by the General Manager of the Southern Railways to the Railway Board for approval.The decision to set up the AC loco shed was taken as most of the trains in the Thiruvananthapuram division ran on electric engines, the officials said. However, the railway employees allege that the move to set up the AC loco shed and in turn transfer the diesel loco shed from Kerala to Tamil Nadu or Karnataka was political.They said the move was a huge blow to the 350 employees currently working in the diesel loco shed, which is Kerala’s only diesel engine maintenance facility.Southern Railway Mazdoor Union (SRMU) divisional president P Unnikrishnan said since the repair and maintenance work of diesel locos is different from electric engines, it is also highly unlikely that these employees will be reinstated.“We are not against the construction of a new AC loco shed here. However, if there is any move to shift the diesel shed to a different place, the management should take us into confidence. There is a huge possibility that the employees will be transferred to other locations, i.e., to other states where the diesel shed will be relocated. We demand that the management either withdraw the move or hold talks with us in this regard to allay the fears of the employees,” Unnikrishnan said.

The SRMU will observe black day on Monday and is gearing up for a statewide agitation in the coming days.

Railway officials here said there were possibilities to set up the AC loco shed without disturbing the diesel loco shed.

“However, we have not been given any briefing regarding this because the proposal is in the initial stages,” Ernakulam area manager P L Ashok Kumar said.

Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Kumari Selja on Monday accused the Congress’s Haryana unit of not just working against her interests, but also of seeking to intimidate her. “I have been in politics for 25 years; I first became a Central Minister in 1992,” Ms. Selja said, “but I have never faced such personal animus from within the party as I am now.”The Minister’s comment came a day after an unknown miscreant flung a sharp-edged stone through the window of a new train — the Kalka-Sainagar Shirdi superfast express — she had inaugurated, as it runs through her parliamentary constituency, Ambala. She was injured on her upper arm and shoulder. If it had been a few inches higher, says a shaken Ms. Selja, “it could have been much worse.”The Minister, after flagging off the train at Kalka on Sunday, was travelling in a general compartment all the way up to Chandigarh, waving through a barred window at those on platforms at different stations. Several railway officials were with her. As dusk fell, it was suggested to her that she move to a seat by an unbarred window. She initially demurred as it was dark by then, but when pressed, she changed her seat. Somewhere between Kalka and Chandimandir at Manakpur village, a large stone thrown by a miscreant came through the window and hit her hard. The shocked Minister jumped up. An FIR was lodged later at night, and enquiries are on.

This incident assumes significance as it comes against the backdrop of heightened dissidence in the Haryana unit of the Congress, with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his backers ranged on one side and senior Central leaders from the State like Ms. Selja and Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Birender Singh, on the other. Another leader, Rao Inderjit Singh, it may be recalled, recently quit the Congress, citing his unhappiness with Mr. Hooda, and demanded an inquiry into the land deals in Haryana by Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra.

Indeed, Mr. Hooda has often hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons — in reports relating to the Vadra land deals, and not taking a sufficiently strong stand against honour killings.

In June this year, Congress sources recalled, Mr. Birender Singh, then general secretary — and a grandson of the legendary Jat leader Sir Chotu Ram — was told he would be inducted into the Union Cabinet. But hours before the swearing-in ceremony, he was informed there had been a change of plan: and as compensation — as part of a party reshuffle he had given up his general secretaryship — he was made a CWC member. If the party leadership had intended to elevate Mr. Birender Singh to pacify the anti-Hooda camp, his non-induction in the Union Cabinet was seen as a victory for the Hooda faction.

More recently, during the recent Parliament session, as part of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s exercise of having regular meetings with members of the State units, there was one with the Haryana unit. At that meeting, there were some complaints about the Chief Minister: Mr. Gandhi, according to those who were present, said he did not wish to hear any complaints about the State government.

Ms. Selja, 51, a four-time MP from Haryana, who has been a Central Minister from 1992-96, and again from 2004 onwards, is the most senior leader from the State in the Central government and is not accusing Mr. Hooda directly. But given the Minister’s usual low-key style, the fact that she has gone public about the attack on her and talked about the “personal animus” against her from within her own party, would suggest that there is trouble brewing in the Haryana unit.

“I have never faced such personal animus from within the party as I am now”

Chandigarh:
After a long wait, the city resident finally got a direct train from Chandigarh to Sai Nagar, Shirdi. MP Pawan Kumar Bansal flagged off Kalka-Shirdi train from the Chandigarh Railway station here today. The bi-weekly superfast train was approved in the last railway budget.On its outward journey, it will depart every Thursday and Sunday at 7:40 pm and will reach Sai Nagar, Shirdi, on Friday and Monday at 10:15 pm having stoppages at Ambala Cantt, Panipat, New Delhi, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Mathura, Agra Cantt, Gwalior, Bhopal, Bhusawal and Manmad.On its return journey from Sai Nagar Shirdi weekly train, it will depart every Tuesday and Saturday at 10 am from Shirdi and will reach Chandigarh on Wednesday and Sunday at about 12 noon having stoppages at Manmad, Bhuswal, Bhopal, Gwalior, Agra Cantt, Mathura, Hazrat Nizamuddin, New Delhi, Panipat and Ambala Cantt.The president of Sirdi Sai Samaj, Chandigarh, Rajesh Kalia, welcomed the move but said that quota of seats from Chandigarh was not adequate. He said that Kalka-Shirdi train had just 85 seats for the Chandigarh station. Running twice a week, maximum 170 residents could travel every week. The quota however needs to be increased to at least 150 seats per train since at least 500-600 pilgrims travel to Shirdi from Chandigarh.

The train comprises of total 13 coaches having the composition of 2-Tier AC (01 coach), 3-Tier AC (01 coach), sleeper (03 coaches) and unreserved (06 coaches) and SLR's (02 coaches).