RailEnquiry

  Indian Railways News  / T.N. Express: toll rises to 33

Eyewitnesses, who sustained burn injuries in Tamil Nadu Express train fire, gave their statements before the statutory inquiry of Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) Dinesh Kumar Singh at Narayana Hospital here and their experiences indicated short-circuit was the most probable cause of the mishap.CRS Dinesh Kumar Singh along with his staff took statements from nearly eight injured survivors and their co-passengers at the hospital on second and final day of inquiry on Friday. Sukhdev Singh, a native of Amritsar, could not speak as his condition continued to be critical.Meanwhile, M.V.Sambasiva Rao, 34 years, a resident of T.Nagar in Chennai, succumbed to burns at a private hospital in Chennai around noon. A native of Krishna district in AP, Rao was a businessman while his wife Jhansi is software professional. With this, death toll rose to 33 as per the railway officials. The local police officials said the toll went up to 29, as they did not count the four badly burnt bodies trapped in an irretrievable condition inside the coach.Eyewitnesses, who got down the coach a bit late, said flames spread first in the upper portion. Kumud Kumar Bansal, 56 years, a stationery retailer from Agra and convalescing at Nayarana Hospital told the CRS that before he got down from S-12 coach, he saw flames in the middle of S-11 coach. His daughter Prashansha, who escaped unhurt, said she suffered breathlessness and the coach had become hot. She too said she had noticed flames in upper parts of the coach first. Veena, a resident of Madurai, who was struggling to speak, said when she woke up she saw a berth light exploding into flames. Rekha, from Dayalunagar in Chennai, said she felt discomfort in chest because of smoke. Her relative Anil Kumar, who escaped unhurt said he opened windows to find that the train was still running and he along with some others pulled the chain on seeing smoke. The flames in S-11 were spreading through vestibules to adjacent S-10 and S-12 coaches when fire personnel started extinguishing fire at 4.31 a.m., said V. Srinivasulu Reddy.When CRS sought his assessment of cause, Mr. Reddy said only investigation could unravel that but certainly the impact of fire was intense especially in middle portion berths.

  Indian Railways News  / Kanyakumari Express delayed as AC fails TNN | Aug 4, 2012, 05.39AM IST

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TRICHY: Passengers of the Chennai-Kanyakumari Express (Train No. 12633) travelling by two-tier AC raised the pitch against the railway administration as an air-conditioner in a coach was out of order. Frightened by the recent fire-mishap on a Tamil Nadu Express train, they insisted that the railway officials attach a new coach with air-conditioner facility. So a new coach was attached in Tiruchirappalli railway junction in the midnight of Thursday.

According to the railways, the train departed from Chennai Egmore junction at 5.30 pm on Thursday as per schedule. A few minutes after departure, the passengers on coach no A1 (fourth from the rear side) raised a hue and cry over the air-conditioner not functioning. They took up the issue with the travelling ticket examiner (TTE). The TTE assured them that they would fix the problem once the train reached Villupuram railway junction. Even after the train reached Villupuram, the problem remained unsolved. So, the passengers disembarked and agitated.

The deputy station master was forced to rush to the spot and tried to pacify the passengers, saying the problem would be attended to in Tiruchirappalli junction. But the passengers did not get convinced and continued to protest. Then a team of technicians led by senior section engineer ( SSE) carried out repair work on the coach. Unfortunately, they could not mend the faulty air-conditioner, said the railways.

Meanwhile, the passengers refused to accept a spare air-conditioner to be fixed instead of the defective one because they were afraid of any fire accident. Despite the railway officials trying to convince them, they kept on demanding a new coach. Since their demand could be fulfilled only at Trichirappalli junction, the official gave up the effort to placate them. But on the demand by passengers, the officials opened the emergency exits of the coach to facilitate free flow of air into the coach until the train arrived in Tiruchirappalli.

The train arrived in Tiruchirappalli junction at 11.52 pm instead of the actual arrival time of 11 pm. Then a 3-Tier A/C coach was attached in place of the 2-Tier A/C coach. The train arrived in Kanyakumari with a 29- minute delay at 7.19 am on Friday.

  Indian Railways News  / Extra coach

The Railways have added one First Class Air Conditioned coach in the 12997/12998 Tirunelveli-Hapa-Tirunelveli Express trains as a temporary measure till October 30 to clear the extra rush of the passengers, according to a press release.

  Indian Railways News  / North Eastern Railways drive against unauthorized persons on railway stations

VARANASI: The Varanasi division of North Eastern Railways (NER) is carrying out a special drive from August 3 to August 16 to keep the railway stations free from anti-social elements, unauthorized vendors and other unwanted persons crowding the railway stations.

A special check will be kept on unattended articles lying at station premises as well as trains with the help of dog squad and hand metal detectors. As many as 4,850 people were detained from January to July this year at different places under the division in connection with alarm chain pulling. Unauthorized vendors were also arrested for illegally selling eatables and meals on railway platforms under the Railway Protection Act.

NRE general manager V Ramchandran held a meeting to discuss the preparations of Kumbh Mela with the officials of Varanasi division on Thursday. He directed that the weekly report of the progress on passenger facilities during Kumbh like extra booking counters, food stalls, water booths, cleanliness and sanitation should reach the headquarters timely. He stated that the preparations for new trains that will run during the Kumbh festivity should also be completed on time and special care of safety, cleanliness, punctuality and other passengers facilities in trains will be taken during the festival.

  Indian Railways News  / A friend in need, is a friend indeed

Unlikely heroes crop up during times of adversity. A.K. Haridasan, a 62-year-old autorickshaw driver, is one such person.The senior citizen camped near the exit gate of a deserted Kozhikode railway station with his vehicle on Thursday when the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] called a hartal in protest against the arrest of P. Jayarajan, the party’s Kannur district unit secretary.Mr. Haridasan was on a self-appointed mission to ferry free-of-cost passengers who had come to the city by train in search of urgent medical care.“Since morning I have had two trips to the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital. The first was an aged couple who came by the morning passenger train from Payyoli."The 70-year-old man was a heart patient. There was no one to pick them up, so I took them to the hospital in my auto. "The second was a cancer patient, and he was travelling alone,” said Mr. Haridasan, who has been plying the city’s roads since 1982.Seated on an old low stool brought from home, he described hartals a “thermometer meant to test a common man like me”. “My vigil started at 8 p.m. last night (Wednesday) after the hartal was announced and will continue till 8 p.m. tonight,” Mr. Haridasan, a Mankavu resident, said.He spoke fluent English, claimed to know four languages and said he was an “old BA.”  “First do me a favour. Speak to my wife and daughter, tell them I am safe,” was his first request even as police jeeps prowled the street outside the railway station’s parking lot while a small crowd of passengers haggled with autorickshaw drivers or waited for someone to pick them up.

A group of software engineers from Wipro, on the way to Wayanad from Chennai for a holiday, approached Mr. Haridasan for a lift to the nearest hotel, only to be politely refused.

“I intend to take only those who are sick and old. They need me the most now,” he said.

He has taken pains to alter his auto into a rudimentary ambulance.

“I have dismantled the passenger seat to make room for a bed, a sheet, and a pillow so that a sick person can lie down while travelling,” he said.

Unruffled

 News of sporadic incidents of violence in the city left Mr. Haridasan unruffled.

“I don’t know what I will do when somebody stops me on the road. I am doing this service for the first time. But then, I have reached an age when I don’t have to fear bodily harm. Besides, this is my city too,” he said.

Later on, a phone call to Mr. Haridasan revealed that a group of agitators had indeed confronted him when the area around the railway station grew more tense.  

“The rear tyre of my vehicle has been deflated after I refused to leave the spot.

But I don’t intend to leave till 8 p.m. If 50 more people have to be taken to the hospital, I will take all of them, tyres or no tyres,” he said in a tone of calm defiance.