RailEnquiry

  Indian Railways News  / ‘New Hubli rail station will be inaugurated in a month’

General Manager of the South Western Railway Ashok Kumar Mital has said that the new Hubli railway station will be inaugurated in approximately a month.Speaking to presspersons here on Monday, after accompanying Pralhad Joshi, MP, on an inspection of ongoing works at the new station, Mr. Mital said the station would become functional once basic facilities were set up.Later, addressing the media, Mr. Joshi said that MPs from Karnataka would be forced to stage a dharna in New Delhi if the Karnataka Sampark Kranti Express was not made a daily train and if the route was not changed to via Tumkur, Davangere, Hubli, Dharwad and Belgaum.He said that Sampark Kranti Express trains were introduced to ensure connectivity between State capitals and the National Capital. “However, in the case of the Karnataka Sampark Kranti Express, once it departs from Yeshwantpur, it covers only 60km in Karnataka. It then enters Andhra Pradesh where it stops at many places,” he said.Mr. Joshi said that as there were already 10 express trains running between Andhra Pradesh and New Delhi, there was no need to run the Karnataka Sampark Kranti Express via Andhra Pradesh.

  Indian Railways News  / Error in hall ticket causes confusion

A printing mistake on hall tickets brought candidates appearing for a Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) exam to a wrong venue in Selaiyur, Tambaram, on Sunday morning.Angry over not finding their roll numbers and allotted classrooms, they staged a protest and squatted on the road outside the venue. The test was cancelled and a re-examination will be held in two months, an official said.A national two-hour, objective-type written test was conducted on Sunday by RRB.The test was conducted across 37 venues in Chennai, including Bharath Engineering College (Bharath University) in Selaiyur. Only 2,304 candidates were to appear for the entrance test here, but an additional 1,000 plus students landed up.After the candidates were informed that they had come to the wrong venue, they protested at the venue. Some of them also damaged furniture.They then gathered on Agaram Then Main Road, blocking traffic for nearly an hour.Though policemen tried to pacify them, the agitated candidates said they would disperse only after an assurance from RRB authorities.

Sunitha Vedantham, Chairman, RRB, Chennai, said a re-examination would be conducted within two months for the 3,000 candidates who came to the Selaiyur venue on Sunday.

Ms. Vedantham said 19,272 candidates were to appear in 37 venues in Chennai. The proceedings were peaceful in the 36 other centres.

Problems arose because of a printing error in the hall tickets of candidates who were to write the tests either at General Cariappa Higher Secondary School in Saligramam or Annai Velankanni Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Saidapet.

The results of the tests held in 36 other centres would not be released until the re-examination was conducted for the 3,000 odd candidates who had missed their test.

Candidates were of the view that as several thousand young men and a considerable number of women too appeared for the test, it was an irrational and unwise move to make them come to Chennai from as far as Coimbatore, Kanyakumari, Tuticorin, Tirunelveli and other remote locations.

  Indian Railways News  / Airport line defects worse than thought

New Delhi: The defects on the Airport Metro Express line seem to be more serious than what was revealed earlier. According to a report submitted by a joint inspection team of Delhi Metro and Reliance Infrastructure, not only do 25% of the bearings need to be repaired, but some girders have also been found to have cracked. The problem has been compounded by the fact that pre-cast girders and pedestals were used along the elevated section of the line when these should have been custom-built according to the location. The joint inspection was overseen by the Railways.
    “Of 540 bearings that need rectification, 90% were found to have been constructed without following specified design norms,’’ said a government official. “Deviations as a result are pronounced.” Thousands of track clips also found broken
    The official, however, claimed that prima facie,thecracksdon’tseem to be serious but only a detailed investigation can confirm this. If found to be serious, these cracks will need a “stronger” rehabilitation process, said sources. “In an extreme case, the girders may need to be recast,” added the official.
    The shortcomings are not confined tothecivilconstruction workundertaken by DMRC. Senior officials in the urban development ministry saidtheclips used in the underground tunnel on whichthe rails restwere alsofoundtobe breaking. “Of the 3.5 lakh clips used, around 4% have breakage issues,” said oneofficial.R-Infra carriedoutlaying of the tracks. Sources said it has now roped in Hong Kong University to offer solutions.
    “The concessionaire has assured us that the issue will be resolved in a month as the university is expected to submit its report soon. The university was taken on board over a month ago,” saidtheofficial. Secretary (urban development) Sudhir Krishna added that the repair workon theclipswould not affect operations of the line even if the work starts after the line is reopened. However, he added that “speed will be restrictedto75-80kmph”.
    The good news, according to officials, is that most of the defects can be rectified. While the repair work will be undertaken by DMRC, Systra, the company that originally designed the airport line, will also be involved. Added the official, “While DMRC will deploy the rehabilitation team, Systra will be the design consultant and ensure that its specifications are followed.” A consultant will also be hired to monitor the on-going rehabilitation process, added theofficial.
    “Though DMRC has assured the ministry that work shall be completed by August-end, we are keeping fingers crossed. Only once the location studies aredonewillthetimelinebe more accurate,” saidthesource.

  Indian Railways News  / Mumbai-Pune Pragati Express to run via Diva-Panvel-Karjat till 25.7.2012

PRAGATI EXPRESS TO RUN VIA DIVA-PANVEL-KARJAT TILL 25.7.2012
Central Railway has decided to EXTEND the diversion of Train No. 12126/12125 Pune - Mumbai - Pune Pragati Express o­n diverted route via Diva - Panvel -Karjat further up to 25.7.2012. There is no change in timings and halts of the train o­n the diverted route

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Date: July 17, 2012

This news comes to you from the Public Relations Department, Central Railway, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Mumbai.

  Indian Railways News  / After 7 years, Rajdhani to get 3 extra coaches

The flaring red Rajdhani Express, which connects the financial capital with the country’s capital, is getting longer. By July-end the current lot of Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani Express trains that run on 18 coaches, will run on 21 coaches, thus adding 200 more seats for passengers.

Express expansion: The Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani Express is expecting to add 3 extra coaches to each of its trains by the end of this month, to increase passenger capacity. File pic

The importance of this addition in coaches and seats is that this is the first time that Rajdhani trains starting from Mumbai will have 21 coaches, since the first ran in 1972. Rajdhani Express is considered to be among the elite train services run by the Indian Railways, which connects the capital of the state with India’s capital.

For over three decades, the railways were running normal 16-coach Rajdhani trains, until they began operating LHB made coaches for this train in 2004, when the number of coaches was increased to 18. These LHB coaches are considered to be sturdier and have a more powerful motor that enhances the speed of these trains. Currently, the LHB coaches of Rajdhani trains can cross speeds of over 130 km/h, which can even touch 160 km/h at certain stretches on this route.

The fully air-conditioned Rajdhani trains have two generator motor cars on each end which power these coaches. Sources said that presently, technical changes are being made to ease the process of adding coaches to the Rajdhani Express. “We are adding capacitors inside these LHB coaches that won’t put too much pressure on the generator cars,” said a Western Railway official on condition of anonymity.

There are nearly 120 LHB coaches that would require these technical changes before they can actually run 21-coach Rajdhani Express trains. Sources added that presently there are enough coaches to run a 21-coach Rajdhani Express between Mumbai Central and Delhi, but they want to first carry out necessary changes in all coaches.

Nearly three months ago, the WR authorities completed work on extension of platforms at Mumbai Central main line station at a cost of Rs 19 crore. This has allowed them to run longer trains and increase carrying capacity by 33 per cent. There are five platforms, of which four would have the capacity to accommodate 24-coach trains, while the fifth one caters to 20-coach trains.

The LHB coaches of Rajdhani trains are also 15 per cent longer than a normal coach of a long distance train, so they cannot accommodate more than 21-coaches. Confirming the development, Sharat Chandrayan, chief PRO, Western Railway said, “We are in the process of augmenting the number of coaches for Rajdhani Express”.

Once the authorities are through with the work on Rajdhani Express, they will then augment the coaches on the August Kranti Rajdhani Express on the Mumbai Central-Delhi Hazrat Nizamuddin route.

Both these trains take around 16 hours to reach Delhi from Mumbai.