ProUI

One lakh thirty thousands daily passengers travelling to and from Delhi and Noida, on the Noida line of Delhi Metro on Wednesday suffered as metro speeds went painfully slow at all six Noida metro stations, commuters said.Waiting time for metro went up to 15-20 minutes against the earlier 5 minutes, leading to heavy rush of passengers at stations, officials said.Delhi metro rail corporation (DMRC) said metro speed has gone down from 30 km per hour to 12-13 km per hour since it had started repair work in the cantilever arm supporting platform number one at Noida's City Center metro station, the last metro station on the Noida-Dwarka line.Metro passengers travelling on Noida-Dwarka route will have to suffer for three more weeks because of the ongoing repair work."Earlier, I used to wait for five minutes to catch a metro from Noida Sector 15 metro station. But now after this repair work, it takes 15 minutes to board metro to my college in Delhi's Patel Nagar. On Wednesday, it was more painful to travel and catch a metro as it took 20 minutes to board a metro from Patel Nagar to Noida. The whole route has got affected for past several days," said Mona Maurya, 25, a research scholar at a Delhi college at Patel Nagar.

According to DMRC, on an average about 2 lakh daily passengers travel from Noida on Noida-Dwarka route, but on Wednesday only 1,30,000 passengers travelled because of overcrowded Noida metro stations that put off many passengers.

Rumours are, City Center metro station will have to be closed for repair work, but DMRC denied it.

"Metro operations are completely safe and level of the platform is constantly monitored at all times. This is a precautionary and preemptive exercise being carried out for end portion of the platform at Noida City Centre Metro Station. The repair work is likely to be completed in 3 weeks since repair work can be carried out in traffic block hours in the night time only," said Anuj Dyal DMRC spokesperson. 

"Boarding a metro has become painful since this repair work has begun. Because one platform at City center is not being used rush create problems for passengers," said Gaurav Trivedi a commuter.

The Noida authority on Wednesday told that way back in 2008-9, the design of cantilever of Noida metro stations including of City Center had been approved after a controversy pertaining to its strength.

There has been some temporary suspension in the movement of bi-weekly regular ‘Maitree’ Express train service between Kolkata (India) to Dhaka (Bangladesh) on account of Eid-Ul-Azha, This train normally runs from Kolkata on every Tuesday and Saturday while in the return direction it departs from Dhaka every Wednesday and Sunday.

On the request from Bangladesh Railway, the Indian Railways has decided to cancel the trip of ‘Maitree’ Express train on 15th October 2013 (Tuesday) from Kolkata and on 16th October 2013 (Wednesday) from Dhaka to avoid operational complications arising due to non running of trains in Bangladesh on Eid days. Normal services of the train will resume thereafter.

There has been some temporary suspension in the movement of bi-weekly regular ‘Maitree’ Express train service between Kolkata (India) to Dhaka (Bangladesh) on account of Eid-Ul-Azha, This train normally runs from Kolkata on every Tuesday and Saturday while in the return direction it departs from Dhaka every Wednesday and Sunday.

On the request from Bangladesh Railway, the Indian Railways has decided to cancel the trip of ‘Maitree’ Express train on 15th October 2013 (Tuesday) from Kolkata and on 16th October 2013 (Wednesday) from Dhaka to avoid operational complications arising due to non running of trains in Bangladesh on Eid days. Normal services of the train will resume thereafter.

Emergency steps will be taken to meet the demands of railway commuters from Kazhakuttam, Rakesh Mishra, General Manager, Southern Railway, has said.He was speaking to representatives of the Kazhakuttam Railway Development Action Council here on Thursday.“Their demands are just. We will take all steps to solve their issues,” Mr. Mishra said.

Letter

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had sent a letter to Railway Board Chairman Arunendra Kumar asking him to consider a stop for all trains which run through Kazhakuttam from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.He had requested that Malabar Express, the only train that stops at Kazhakuttam now, be rescheduled.Employees of Technopark and institutions such as the VSSC, the University of Kerala, the Central Power Research Institute, Kinfra Industrial Park, Food Corporation of India, and the College of Engineering commute to different parts of Kerala from Kazhakuttam, the letter said.

BHUBANESWAR: The East Coast Railways (ECoR) has sought private participation in a big way to improve its infrastructure. So far, it has come up with five projects in participatory models and mobilized Rs 1,200 crore from different industry players.

"Odisha has witnessed rapid industrialization in the last few years and the prospect of private participation in railway infrastructure development is huge. We are getting very good response from industries," said G D Brahma, chief operations manager, ECoR.

Brahma said the National Minerals Development Corporation (NMDC) has invested Rs 800 crore for laying an additional line between Kirandul and Jagadalpur in Chhattisgarh. It will connect its mines with its proposed steel plant and will also help in evacuating iron ore. NMDC will recover the invested money through freight rebate, he added.

In Odisha, Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) has invested Rs 200 crore for introducing auto-signaling at railway crossings between Paradip and Talcher. "It would facilitate transportation of more rakes by the MCL. As a result, the investor would be able to recover the money from increased freight and resultant profits," Brahma said. MCL has been transporting 23 to 24 rakes in a day, but after the introduction of auto-signaling system, the number will increase to 45 rakes a day. The MCL will recover its investment in six to seven months, he added.

Similarly, the Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation (APGEN) has evinced interest in investing Rs 80 crore for auto-signaling from Talcher to Gundapalli to Vijaywada. Besides, infrastructure companies GMR and Lanco have made investment of Rs 20 crore to lay an additional line between Talcher to Meramandali.

In addition to this, the ECoR has also envisaged expanding railway lines between Talcher and Raj Athagarh from two lines to four lines through participatory approach. "Industrial development in Jharsuguda area offers huge prospects of private players in railway infrastructure development," Brahma said.

South Eastern Railway has decided to run 7 pairs of weekly special trains between Santragachi and Rajkot (Gujarat) during the period from October 16 to November 30 during Durga Puja and Diwali Festivals.

          08049/08050 Santragachi-Rajkot Weekly Special (7 pairs), the Weekly Special train leaving Santragachi every Wednesday at 21.25 hrs will reach Rajkot at 16.15 hrs every Friday. In the return direction, the special train leaving Rajkot every Saturday at 09.00 hrs. will arrive Santragachi at 08.05 hrs every Monday.  This special train will run during the period from October 16 to November 30.

          The special train will have stoppages at Kharagpur, Midnapur, Bankura, Adra, Purulia, Chakradharpur, Rourkela, Jharsuguda, Raigarh, Bilaspur, Raipur, Durg, Rajnandgaon, Gondia, Nagpur, Wardha, Badnera, Akola, Malkapur, Bhusaval, Jalgaon, Nandurbar, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad, Viramgam, Surendranagar and Wankaner between Santragachi and Rajkot.

          With these 7 pairs, S E Railway will be running a total of 115 pairs of special trains during Durga Puja and Diwali festivals to clear the huge rush of passengers. The other special trains are Santragachi-Chennai Weekly AC Superfast special (9 pairs), Santragachi-Mumbai Weekly Superfast AC special (8 pairs), Santragachi-Puri (9 pairs), Shalimar-Yesvantpur (8 pairs), Santragachi-Anand Vihar (8 pairs), Santragachi-Kochuveli (9 pairs), Shalimar-Hyderabad (8 pairs) Sealdah-Puri (7 pairs), Tata-Bhagalpur (8 pairs) , Hatia-Yesavantpur (8 pairs), Ranchi-Katihar ( 16 pairs) and Tata-Visakhapatnam (10 pairs) which have  already been announced by South Eastern Railway.

                This apart, S E Railway has also decided to augment a number of important mail/express trains by attaching extra coaches, both AC and Non-AC during the period from 1st October to 10th November, 2013 to clear extra rush of passengers during the festive season. The important trains which will be augmented are Howrah-Digha Tamralipta Express, Howrah-Digha Kandari Express, Howrah-Yesvantpur Duronto Express, Howrah-Mumbai Duronto Express and Howrah-Pune Duronto Express. (EOIC)

BHUBANESWAR: The ECoR on Tuesday collected about Rs 2 lakh fine from passengers travelling without ticket during a massive 36-hour ticket checking drive here at the Bhubaneswar railway station.As many as 600 without-ticket passengers were caught during the check. In the drive, about 67 railway staffers were involved, including commercial supervisors, chief ticket inspectors (CTI), train ticket examiners (TTE) form Khurda Road division. Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel helped them in the operation."We took the decision not only to check unauthorized entry of persons into the platform, but also to spread awareness among the passengers. Some people, who entered the platform without ticket were also fined," said an officer of ECoR. During the drive, passengers were asked to buy tickets from the counters. Daily commuters were also asked to obtain monthly tickets. While the railway station witnesses movement of about 55, 000 passengers everyday, about hundred trains arrive on and leave from the four platforms.

ईद-उल-जुहा के कारण कोलकाता (भारत) से ढाका (बंगलादेश) के बीच सप्‍ताह में दो बार चलने वाली मैत्री एक्‍सप्रेस ट्रेन में कुछ अस्‍थायी निलंबन हुए हैं। यह ट्रेन कोलकाता से हर मंगलवार और शनिवार को, जबकि ढाका से हर बुधवार और रविवार को चलती है। बंगलादेश रेलवे के आग्रह पर भारतीय रेलवे ने मैत्री एक्‍सप्रेस को 15 अक्‍टूबर, 2013 (मंगलवार) को कोलकाता से 16 अक्‍टूबर, 2013 (बुधवार) को ढाका से प्रचालन संबंधी जटिलताओं के कारण नहीं चलाने का निश्‍चय किया है, क्‍योंकि ईद के दिन बंगलादेश में रेलगाडि़यां नहीं चलती हैं। उसके बाद ट्रेन की सामान्‍य सेवा बहाल हो जाएगी।

There has been some temporary suspension in the movement of bi-weekly regular ‘Maitree’ Express train service between Kolkata (India) to Dhaka (Bangladesh) on account of Eid-Ul-Azha, This train normally runs from Kolkata on every Tuesday and Saturday while in the return direction it departs from Dhaka every Wednesday and Sunday.

On the request from Bangladesh Railway, the Indian Railways has decided to cancel the trip of ‘Maitree’ Express train on 15th October 2013 (Tuesday) from Kolkata and on 16th October 2013 (Wednesday) from Dhaka to avoid operational complications arising due to non running of trains in Bangladesh on Eid days. Normal services of the train will resume thereafter.

GORAKHPUR: Due to re-modelling of the station yard of Gorakhpur Junction, several trains have been either cancelled, short-terminated or diverted from today, General Manager of North Eastern Railway, AK Atal said here.After re-modelling of the station yard, Gorakhpur will have the world's longest platform, Atal claimed.Till now Kharagpur was the longest platform with its length of 1,074 metres. Gorakhpur will be of 1,300 metres, Atal said adding, the signalling system of the station is being modernised leading to rescheduling of several trains till October 6.15105 and 15106 Chhapra-Gorakhpur Intercity, 15019 Gorakhpur-Nautanwa Intercity and 15020 Nautanwa-Gorakhpur Intercity will remain cancelled, a NER press release said.Apart from these, 55071, 55069, 55070, 55029 and 55072 passenger trains have been short-terminated, it said.Several long distance trains have been rescheduled to terminate or start from Lucknow, the release added.Atal said, the doubling of railway lines between Lucknow and Chhapra will be completed by March next year while an alternate rail route between Gorakhpur and Gonda will be available by year end after completion of gauge conversion between Barhni-Gonda and Gonda-Behraich.