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  Indian Railways News  / Dream run ahead for Golden Chariot

Dream run ahead for Golden Chariot
Bangalore, Nov 19, 2012, DHNS:

The loss-making Golden Chariot, a luxury tourist train service in Karnataka, has a silver lining at last.

The Southern Zonal Council comprising Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry has decided to endorse the concept to promote tourism in South India, on the lines of the Golden Triangle circuit in North India.

The Council meeting held here on Friday arrived at a consensus to introduce ‘Peninsular Tourism Trains’ in the southern zone, and instead of introducing another train it was decided to promote The Golden Chariot (TGC), which is already on the tracks. The train has been making losses since its introduction four years ago.

TGC Project Director M Srinivas said the proposal would help boost the revenue of the project. The TGC at present operates on two circuits - Pride of South (Bangalore-Mysore-Kabini-Belur-Halebid-Hampi-Goa) and Southern Splendor (Bangalore-Chennai-Puducherry-Tanjore-Madurai-Nagarcoil-Thiruvanathapuram-Alappuzha-Kochi). He said the TGC was already plying through Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Goa and extending the circuit to cover Andhra Pradesh would not be a problem.

A proposal would be submitted to the Railways for changing the route once the Andhra Pradesh government finalises tourist destinations in the State, he added. For the moment, the plan is to extend the Pride of South circuit to Bijapur and Bidar to enter Hyderabad.

Srinivas said the Golden Triangle circuit connecting New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan has improved tourism prospects in North India to a great extent inspiring the southern states to replicate the model.

Rail corridor


The South Zone council is also said to have okayed the proposal to extend the high speed rail corridor between Thiruvanathapuram and Mangalore to Udupi.

The project, being implemented by the Kerala government, covers a distance of 526 km between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod. Udupi being an important town close to Mangalore, it was felt that the corridor should be extended by 42 km.

The rail link between Mangalore and Udupi will be taken up by Karnataka and the project cost is estimated to be Rs 300 crore, sources said.

  Indian Railways News  / Centre asks states to be on guard ahead of Naxals' PLGA week

NEW DELHI: The Centre, wary that Maoists may stage some major strikes during the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) week that stands advanced to November 24 to coincide with slain leader Kishenji's 'martyrdom' day, has told the nine Naxal-affected states to step up vigil and tighten security around economic infrastructure, including railway property.The PLGA week, observed from December 2 to 8 in honour of slain leaders of the CPI (Maoist)'s armed wing, is likely to see a spurt in attacks on paramilitary forces, particularly CRPF, as well as on trains, railway tracks and other government infrastructure.The Centre is particularly concerned as the PLGA week has been brought forward to November 24 this year, apparently to send a message that the Maoists seek to avenge the killing of Kishenji - which took place on the same day last year - by carrying out spectacular attacks around his first death anniversary.In an advisory to the nine Left-wing extremism-hit states, the home ministry has called for deployment of adequate security forces at vantage points to foil the Naxals' plan. Sharing inputs that Naxals have been congregating and have constituted special action groups to carry out intensified attacks during the PLGA week, the MHA has sought tighter security, particularly in Midnapore district in West Bengal, from where Kishenji operated. The "threatened" points include Jhargram, where a train was stopped and passengers held hostage earlier, Belpahari, Jamboni and Nayagram.

Kishenji was killed on November 24 in West Bengal last year in a special operation conducted by a joint squad of the state police and CRPF.

The MHA advisory has asked security forces to keep a check on Maoist activities, gatherings and any other offensive activity in their respective areas of operation.

Party posters urging the people to observe the PLGA week from November 24 have sprung up in a big way in interior pockets of Andhra-Orissa border and Chhattisgarh. A senior police officer involved in anti-Maoist operations earlier told TOI the rebels could resort to ambush.

  Indian Railways News  / IRCTC deactivates 44K multiple-user IDs

PATNA: In a major decision to further improve the functioning of online railway ticket booking system, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) recently deactivated at least 44,000 multiple-user IDs to prevent unscrupulous travel agents from procuring general and 'Tatkal' tickets through the IRCTC e-ticketing portal.

According to a senior IRCTC official, IRCTC during its drive against unscrupulous agents across the country detected 44,000 multiple user IDs being used by vested interests to book tickets through the portal. A close examination of these IDs revealed they were used on a regular basis. "We deactivated the IDs in one stroke with a view to checking online ticket booking malpractices," he said.

According to an official, IRCTC has been operating e-ticketing website for the convenience of passengers at the national and international levels. It has about 1.35 lakh registered agents on its rolls. However, a few of these agents had opened multiple-user IDs using the same cellphone numbers and IDs, he said.

That apart, a team of IRCTC vigilance wing also detected five lakh such IDs created by individuals or agents to book or procure journey tickets through the IRCTC website. Further investigation revealed they were being used by unauthorized agents, an IRCTC official said.

Stung by frequent complaints from genuine passengers, IRCTC deactivated the multiple-user IDs of the agents and individuals to maintain transparency in the online ticket booking system. It was with this end in view that IRCTC has fixed the 'Tatkal' ticket booking time from 10am to 12 noon to allow free access to the site by genuine passengers, according to an IRCTC official.

According to sources, the new 'Taktal' ticket booking time was implemented from July 10, 2012. A close study of the online ticket booking revealed the number of bookings online has gone up to 74,000, including 46,000 'Tatkal' tickets, every day in the first two hours after July 10 across the country. Earlier, the total ticket booking was 63,000, including 43,000 'Tatkal' tickets, every day in the first two hours of booking, the sources said.

The IRCTC official said on an average 4.47 lakh e-tickets are booked per day against 3.6 lakh earlier. The rise in the online ticket bookings can be attributed to constant monitoring of the site by IRCTC officials concerned, he said and added the number of online ticket bookings had also increased in Bihar.
Source - times of india

  Indian Railways News  / தாம்பரம் அருகே முத்துநகர் எக்ஸ்பிரசில் என்ஜின் கோளாறு: ரெயில் போக்குவரத்து பாதிப்பு || muthu nagar E

தூத்துக்குடியில் இருந்து சென்னை எழும்பூர் நோக்கி முத்துநகர் எக்ஸ்பிரஸ் ரெயில் வந்து கொண்டிருந்தது.  தாம்பரம் ரெயில் நிலையத்திற்கு இன்று காலை 7.25 மணிக்கு வந்தது. பயணிகள் இறங்கிய பின்னர் மீண்டும் புறப்பட்ட ரெயில் தாம்பரம் சானட்டோரியம் அருகே திடீரென நின்றது. என்ஜினில் ஏற்பட்ட கோளாறு  காரணமாக ரெயில் வழியில் நின்றது.

இதனால் அடுத்து வந்த அனந்தபுரி,  பொதிகை, ராமேஸ்வரம் எக்ஸ்பிரஸ், புதுச்சேரி பாசஞ்சர் ரெயில் ஆகியவை வண்டலூர், பெருங்களத்தூர்,  வரை வழியில் நிறுத்தப்பட்டன. முத்துநகர் எக்ஸ்பிரஸ் ரெயில் பழுதாகி நின்றதால் எழும்பூரில் இருந்து குருவாயூர் புறப்பட்டு சென்ற எக்ஸ்பிரசும் வழியில் நிறுத்தப்பட்டன.

பழுதாகி நின்ற என்ஜினை சரிசெய்ய தாம்பரத்தில் இருந்து  என்ஜினீயர்கள் வந்தனர். ஆனால் அவர்களது முயற்சி பயன் அளிக்கவில்லை. பின்னர் எழும்பூரில் இருந்து மாற்று என்ஜின் கொண்டு வரப்பட்டது. அதன் பிறகு முத்துநகர் எக்ஸ்பிரஸ் எழும்பூருக்கு புறப்பட்டு வந்தது. 

வழக்கமாக காலை 7.45 மணிக்கு எழும்பூர் வந்து சேரவேண்டிய முத்துநகர் 9.30 மணிக்கு வந்து சேர்ந்தது. ரெயில் தாமதத்தால் பயணிகள் பெரும் சிரமத்திற்கு ஆளானார்கள். இதற்கிடையில் அதில் பயணம் செய்த பயணிகள் மின்சார ரெயில்கள் மூலமாக வீட்டிற்கு சென்றனர்.

  Indian Railways News  / An additional road to railway station

With the aim of decongesting the road leading to the railway station, a proposal has been mooted to construct an additional road. A new road would be constructed from the railway station to connect with the road passing in front of the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking workshop. This would be parallel to the existing entry point of the railway station.The new road would provide an additional entrance to the station. This would ensure that the entrance to the station is not clogged when a large number of vehicles come to the station to pick and drop passengers. It has been witnessed that there is a surge of vehicles, especially during the arrival and departure of Kalka Shatabdi to Delhi. The vehicles jostle for space and the parking lot overflows, forcing people to park outside.The power cabin that is present at the railway station would be broken down and a road constructed from there, connecting it with the road in front of the railway station. An additional parking area would also be constructed to facilitate the commuters. A proposal to increase the existing parking area is also doing the rounds.A railway official says traffic snarls are witnessed when private vehicles enter the station to pick or drop passengers. It gets difficult to find space to park. He adds that keeping this in view a proposal for an additional entrance has been mooted. The commercial and private vehicles can be segregated.Recently, some residents of Makhan Majra village made representations to Union Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal to get a gate open that reduces the distance for the villagers to the railway station. The gate had been closed several years ago.During the recent visit of General Manager, Northern Railways, V K Gupta several proposals for sprucing up the railway station were discussed. A proposal to construct an overbridge from Mauli Jagran to connect to the station is likely to be revived. Officials say that the proposal was mooted several years ago, but no progress was made. It may finally see the light of day.