RailEnquiry

  Indian Railways News  / South Eastern Railway increased its earnings through sale of scrap

KOLKATA: South Eastern Railway increased its earnings through sale of scrap worth Rs. 289.53 crores during the financial year 2011-12. This is 40% higher than the annual target of Rs. 206 Crores fixed by Railway Board.The sale comprised of 72,571 MT of released permanent way materials, seven locomotives, 66 coaches and 899 wagons , all condemned and approximately 31,922 MT miscellaneous scrap. For such an outstanding achievement, South Eastern Railway has been awarded the Sales Management Shield at Railway Board's level jointly with West Central Railway at Railway Week Celebration organized at New Delhi on April 16, 2012. South Eastern Railway also topped the list in all-India rankings.Earlier, Eastern Railway (ER) managed to increase its earnings from sale of scrap to Rs 352.98 crore for the year of 2011-12. ER also surpassed the Railway Board's target of Rs 273 crore during the year, thus recording af 29.3% increase in 2011-12 over the target for the year. Earlier, Eastern Railway (ER) too managed to increase its earnings from sale of scrap to Rs 352.98 crore for the year of 2011-12. ER also surpassed the Railway Board's target of Rs 273 crore during the year, thus recording a 29.3% increase in 2011-12 over the target for the year.

During 2011-12, ER sold 29,858 million tonne of scrap rails, 30,407 million tonne of old permanent way scraps, 47,136 million tonne of ferrous scraps of Railway Workshops. According to a release, ER also sold 2401 million tonne of non-ferrous scraps of Workshops and Divisions, 671 condemned wagons, nine condemned locomotives and 187 condemned coaches.

  Indian Railways News  / Summer special trains between Amritsar-Bidar

Nagpur : The railway administration will run summer special trains between Amritsar and Bidar to clear the extra rush of passengers. Accordingly, train number 04610 will depart from Amritsar on April 23, 27 and 30 at 2.50 pm and reach Nagpur next day at 7.10 pm arrive at Ballarshah at 11.30 pm same day and reach Bidar next day at 8.30 am. Train number 04609 Bidar-Amritsar train will leave on April 26, 30 and May 3 at 5 am to pass through Ballarshah at 2.30 pm, Nagpur at 6 pm and reach Amritsar next day at 12.15 am, a release from Nagpur division of Central Railway said. The train will have 18 coaches, including 2 AC3 11 sleeper and 3 un-reserved coaches, the release added.

  Indian Railways News  / : Nagpur harbours the metro dream

NAGPUR :  The dream of having a Metro Rail in the second capital of Maharashtra is gradually taking shape.The Union Urban Development Ministry has assigned the job of preparing a detailed project report (DPR) to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), which has already executed a project in the National Capital successfully.The Maharashtra Government has already appointed the Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT), a civic development authority here, as the nodal agency for developing the Metro Rail project for Nagpur, sources said, adding the total cost of the project was estimated to be Rs 8,000 crore.The DMRC would require nearly six months to prepare the report and are likely to cut the period. The total length of th e route will be 37 km from one end in the North to other in South.Meanwhile, a demand has cropped up here for shifting out the Central Prison in 125 acre in the heart of the city on the busy National Highway (Nagpur-Wardha).The land thus freed can be used for building modern urban infrastructure like an underground plaza station for the proposed Metro rail network, an international convention centre, a modern market or a large auditorium.

City MP, Mr Vilas Muttemwar, has written to Chief Minister, Mr Prithviraj Chavan, in this regard and urged him to convene a meeting to discuss developmental projects in the city. Mr Chavan has agreed to do so after the Budget Session of the Assembly is over.

“The Central Jail is over a century old and squats over prime land within the city. Looking at the growing needs of the fast expanding city, it is high time the State Government at least commissioned an expert consultant to prepare a techno—feasibility report on shifting the jail and using its land for meeting the city’s needs for a large market, a metro junction etc,” Mr Muttemwar, who is also General Secretary, AICC, wrote to Mr Chavan.

  Indian Railways News  / Funds crunch hits gauge conversion work

NAGPUR: The the project to convert 654-km narrow gauge tracks to broad gauge in Nagpur division of South East Central Railway (SECR) has been hit by funds crunch. The work needs Rs 1,400 crore at today's prices but has been allocated only Rs 95 crore.The various sub-projects are being implemented since past six-seven years and all are far from completion. The pace with which gauge conversion is moving, it may take over two decades to complete. The four gauge conversion projects include Nagpur-Chhindwara (147 km), Jabalpur-Nainpur (110 km), Chhindwara-Nainpur-Balaghat (217 km) and Chhindwara-Nainpur-Mandla Fort (180 km)."The Jabalpur-Nainpur gauge conversion has been completed in 40 km patch till Sukrimangla. On Nagpur-Chhindwara route, work for a 750 metre tunnel between Chhindwara and Saunsar patch is in progress," said divisional railway manager (DRM) S L Verma told reporters on Thursday.If individual projects are considered, Jabalpur-Gondia-Balaghat section is estimated to cost Rs 1,030 crore. Of this, Rs 620 crore have already been spent. "We still need another Rs 400 crore," said Verma. Similarly, the cost of Chhindwara-Nagpur project is Rs 585 crore. The SECR has spent Rs 207 crore till date and needs another Rs 370 crore. However, a provision of only Rs 40 crore has been made. In 182-km Chhindwara-Mandla Fort section, Rs 700 crore is required, Verma added.Explaining the delay, Verma said gauge conversion was being carried out in remotest parts where it is difficult to transport equipment. In some sections like Balaghat and Nainpur, acquiring forest and private land was an issue. He said these projects could not be implemented on either public-private partnership (PPP) or build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis.Considering the pace of these projects, conversion of Nagpur-Nagbhid section will be a dream. It is yet to get Planning Commission clearance. The SECR is also thinking developing 13 km narrow gauge patch between Bimalgondi and Kukdikhapa as a heritage site."We are asking Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (MPTDC) to develop this route for tourists by separate narrow gauge alignment. The SECR headquarters have given a go ahead to implement the idea. This was one of the issues in the meeting with Madhya Pradesh chief secretary and railway officials on Thursday," Verma said.

  Indian Railways News  / NCP agrees to elevated Metro

PUNE: Deputy Chief Minister and senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar, in a sudden turn around, has conceded to the Congress-backed elevated Pune Metro, admitting that the underground one could indeed prove too expensive to become a reality.   The deputy chief minister had earlier, during the campaign for the civic elections, made light of the Congress allegations on cost escalations for an underground metro.   The metro is likely to get a nod at the next cabinet meeting scheduled to be held soon after the state legislature session, Pawar said during at a meeting in Mumbai on Monday.   The minister's move could be an attempt to preempt any embarrassment for himself after he realised that Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan is indeed going to announce the elevated metro, political observers said.   NCP city unit president and newly elected Rajya Sabha member Vandana Chavan said her party did not mind withdrawing its opposition to the elevated metro if it brought relief to the common man.   “Experts have told us the underground metro could cost as much as Rs 10 per kilometre, which is way beyond the means of the common people. Apart from the three times cost escalations, the maintenance too could be high to manage, Chavan said adding that her party was still ready to hear anyone who could come up with a way to bring down the cost of the underground metro.   “The elevated routes have proven to be a disaster in Bangalore and Mumbai. Pune needs to learn lessons from their mistakes,” Pawar had said during the electioneering   He even said that being the State's finance minister, he was politically strong enough to take care of any escalated costs for the Metro project.   Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Ankush Kakade says there is no need to read too much into the NCP's change of stance on the Metro. “We have done it on several issues earlier and there is nothing wrong in bowing down to the opinion of experts. After all we are not the experts on the issue.”   On his party's vigorous campaign on the underground metro during the the civic elections, Kakade said it would be naive to believe that such a stand had brought his party any votes.   EMBARRASSMENT The minister’s move could be an attempt to preempt any embarrassment for himself after he realised that CM is indeed going to announce the elevated metro, political observers said.