RailEnquiry

  Indian Railways News  / WR TO RUN URS SPECIAL TRAINS TO AJMER

For the convenience of passengers during 800th Khwaja Urs fair at Ajmer, Western Railway will run two trips each of Urs Specials from Mumbai to Ajmer and back.Train No.09027 Bandra (T)-Ajmer Urs Special will leave Bandra (T)at 07.55hrs o­n 23rd & 26th May 2012and reach Ajmer at 02.40 hrsthe next day. Similarly in return direction, Train No.09028 will depart from Ajmer at 08.10 hrs o­n 24th & 27th May 2012 and arrive Bandra Terminus at 05.10 hrs, the next day.Enroute, the train will halt at Borivali, Vapi, Valsad, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Nadiad, Ahmedabad, Mahesana, Sidhpur, Chhapi, Palanpur, Abu Road, Falna, Marwar Jn, and Dorai stations in both directions.The train will have AC 3 Tier, Sleeper class and second class general coaches.Booking for Train No. 09027 will be open from 16TH May, 2012.

  Indian Railways News  / Nagpur survey to conduct inspection of disputed Narendra Nagar railway overbridge plot

NAGPUR: The ongoing controversy over delay in opening Narendra Nagar railway overbridge (RoB) for motorists may end on Wednesday as the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation has finally agreed to carry out survey of the carriage way of the bridge on Narendra Nagar ring road side by the city survey department.Even though the RoB is ready since November, the procurement of 33 sq mt land has delayed the opening of the Rs 40 crore RoB. In the past, tired of delay, twice residents and the youth wing of a political party had opened the bridge on their own.Confirming the development, MSRDC superintendent Jeevan Nikose said that inspection of the disputed land will commence at 10pm by officials of the city survey department.Nitin Kumbalkar welcomed the decision of MSRDC for agreeing to conduct inspection of the land by the city survey department. The RoB would have been opened by now had not MSRDC altered original sanctioned plan on its own," he alleged. "Extra land to be acquired belongs to my father Marotrao Kumbalkar who had earlier parted with 150 sq metres land for the project," he claimed."Since 2009 we had been demanding the land measurement by the city survey officials. As per original plan sanctioned in 1988, the 1.264km RoB was to connect with ring road near Narendra Nagar fire station. It now connects the ring road some 200 metres away from the fire station," added Kumbalkar.The inspection by city survey will be instrumental in making a crucial headway into the RoB project which has been on the back burner for the last 14 years owing to land dispute. This necessitated the MSRDC to acquire more land and get the opening of bridge mired in legal dispute.

  Indian Railways News  / Railways, ITDC jointly offer tourism services

New Delhi :  The Indian Railways and the Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) joined hands to improve tourism services offered by the two entities, drawing maximum advantage from each other’s large customer base, expertise and network of facilities. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) to this effect has been signed between the ITDC and the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a subsidiary of the Indian Railways, according to a statement. Among the popular services offered by the IRCTC are the Bharat Darshan tourist trains, Mahaparinirvan Express (Buddhist circuit special train) and educational tours for school children. The ITDC has carved a niche in the production of packaged drinking water (Rail Neer), e-tickets, cab rental services, online hotel booking services, budget hotels and online air ticketing. The company has been operating travel services under the Ashok Travels & Tours (ATT) brand.

  Indian Railways News  / Slums may derail Nagpur-Wardha proposed third railway line project

NAGPUR: Central Railway's (CR) proposed third railway line project between Nagpur and Wardha is facing a huge hurdle in the form of three slums that stand on the land needed for the railway line. They are notified slums and cannot be removed without rehabilitation.This is the second railways project to be hit by encroachment problem. The Nagpur-Kalamna additional line is not being built as much of the route has been encroached upon and railways have been unable to remove it owing to political pressure. Something similar is brewing here too.On May 4, CR officials had announced removal of Saraswati Nagar, Fakirawadi and Takia slums. Around 1,800 people are residing in these slums situated on 2.67 acres land beside the railway line behind the office of NMC's Dhantoli Zone. Following the announcement, the slum-dwellers led by corporator Sandip Joshi met the officials of CR and demanded withdrawal of decision. The officials reportedly gave an ultimatum of eight days and warned that the slums may be removed on May 13.Joshi asserted that railways could not remove the slums as they were notified by the NMC. "We are not opposing any development project. The CR wants to construct third railway line. Total 192 shanties are located on the land bearing khasra no: 289/1, 291 and 293/1 belonging to NMC and nazul. NMC had notified these slums in 1981. It also gave ownership rights to 86 slum-dwellers before 1980. Many of them are having property tax receipts and also voting I-cards of before 1995.According to State government's GR dated July 10, 2002, such require rehabilitation following due process. The CR officials have not issued any notice for their demolition. Therefore, the slums would remain. At present, our priority is to stop the CR from razing the slums. If required for developmental project, CR should follow the legal process with consent of NMC," he said.Joshi further said the slum-dwellers went to meet MP Vilas Muttemwar too asking for protection. "CR officials had said Muttemwar got the third railway line project sanctioned from the Central government. Therefore, the slum-dwellers decided to meet him but got no respite from Muttemwar. With no options left, the slum-dwellers filed a petition with the High Court. The High Court directed the CR not to undertake any demolition without consulting NMC. It also issued notices asking replies from CR and NMC. I have met mayor Anil Sole and informed him of the matter," he said.

  Indian Railways News  / Close shave for Duronto passengers

KOLKATA: Passengers on 12260 New Delhi - Sealdah Duronto Express had a narrow escape after the train ran into a herd of cattle near the Ranigunj station on Friday afternoon. Though the train didn't derail and there was no injury to passengers, the locomotive suffered some damage and had to be replaced before the train resumed its journey towards Sealdah. The train, which was already running behind schedule by over three and half hours when it reached Ranigunj, was further delayed by nearly two hours while the locomotive was replaced and necessary checks carried out.Sources in the railways claimed that the train might have derailed had it been moving even close to its top speed of 120 km per hour. Passengers were served sandwiches, fruit juice and bottled water at Durgapur after they complained of the delay. Some passengers also complained that the toilets had run out of water by the time the train started from Ranigunj."The incident happened just outside the Ranigunj station after the train ran over a cow at 1.40 pm. The cow-catcher of the locomotive was damaged and had to be removed. The train started from the spot at 2.35 pm after all the coaches were checked for any damage. It reached Ranigunj station at 2.42 pm where the locomotive was replaced. It finally left Ranigunj at 3.25 pm. As there are no facilities on board the train to serve lunch to passengers, arrangements were made at Durgapur. Passengers were served meals there," an Eastern Railway spokesperson said.According to experts, immediate steps need to be taken to prevent the movement of cattle on tracks used by high-speed trains like the Durontos and Rajdhanis. The Duronto runs non-stop between New Delhi and Sealdah (save for four technical stops for crew change).Unprotected tracks are a major problem due to which the railways are unable to run trains at top-speed. The Rajdhani and Duronto coaches can move at speeds of up to 140-150 km per hour but they are not allowed to do so as the tracks are unfenced. Even if the train had run into a herd of cattle at 120 km per hour, there could have been a derailment due to the impact," one of them said.