RailEnquiry

  Indian Railways News  / Derailment near Vadodara affects rail traffic

Rail traffic on the Delhi-Mumbai route was affected on Monday after three wagons of a goods train derailed at Miyagam-Karjan railway station near here in the evening.

Western Railway Vadodara division senior divisional commercial manager Uday Shankar Jha said the derailment occurred around 5 p.m. He said two trains had been held up at Vadodara.

The traffic on the downside (Mumbai-Delhi) route has been restored, Mr. Jha said, adding that the Delhi-Mumbai line will be cleared within a couple of hours. — P

  Indian Railways News  / Tirupati-Rameswaram Exp flagged off

RAMESWARAM: The inaugural service of the three-days-a-week Rameswaram - Tirupati Express, was flagged off formally on Monday by state minister for handloom and textiles, S Sundararaj in the presence of divisional railway manager, A K Goel and other railway officials. The train was earlier operated between Madurai and Tirupati for two days. The train will leave Tirupati on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays, while in the return direction, it will leave Rameswaram on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Train No. 16780 Rameswaram - Tirupati Express will leave Rameswaram at 4pm, arrive Madurai at 7.05pm and leave Madurai at 7.15pm and reach Tirupati at 10.35am the next day. Train No. 16779 Tirupati - Rameswaram Express will leave Tirupati at 1.15pm, arrive and depart Madurai at 5.55am and 6am respectively and reach Rameswaram at 9.15am. The train would have one AC three-tier, one first class, eight sleeper class, six general second class, two general second class-cum-luggage van coaches.

The train will halt at Mandapam, Ramanathapuram, Paramakudi, Manamadurai, Madurai Junction, Kodaikanal Road, Dindigul Junction, Tiruchirappalli Junction, Thanjavur, Kumbakonam, Mayiladuthurai, Sirkazhi, Chidambaram, Cuddalore, Tiruppadirippuliyur, Villupuram, Tiruvannamalai, Vellore Cantonment, Katpadi and Pakala.

  Indian Railways News  / Western Railway motormen yet to get show-cause notices

MUMBAI: The Western Railway (WR) administration has not yet summed up the courage to issue show-cause notices to motormen whose stir brought services to a halt for more than four hours on July 20. It was the second such disruption since November 2011.

Around 450 motormen had taken mass sick leave to demand improvement in working conditions on July 20. But their main grouse was the proposed appointment of two 'rebel' motormen, who had not supported their earlier agitation, as instructors at the Mahalaxmi training school.

Senior WR officials are feeling powerless to handle the indiscipline as they do not have the higher authorities' backing. A senior official said, "We were on the verge of taking action on July 20. It could have worsened the situation in the short-term but been a boon in the long-term." As the stir prolonged, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan summoned general manager Mahesh Kumar to ensure an early resolution. "It brought tremendous pressure on the administrators."

Shailesh Goyal, member, Zonal User's Consultative Committee, said, "It is setting a bad precedent." Bhavesh Patel, an activist, said NGOs may file a PIL.

  Indian Railways News  / New Delhi AP Express train rescheduled

The South Central Railway (SCR) tonight announced to reschedule in departure timing of the Hyderabad-New Delhi Andhra pradesh train tomorrow. Train No 12723 New Delhi AP Express scheduled to depart tomorrow at 0625 hrs has been rescheduled to depart at 0920 hrs due to late arrival of incoming train, SCR said in a release here.

  Indian Railways News  / Historical road-cum-rail bridge in poor condition

Rajahmundry: The historical road-cum-rail bridge connecting East and West Godavari districts is once again in the news for wrong reasons. Cracks are appearing in the crocodile joints of the bridge and a huge hole has formed at one joint. The hole has become so huge that one can see the moving train below. Traffic on the bridge was affected and the officials were not allowing heavy vehicles onto the bridge. Trucks and RTC vehicles were being diverted to the Barrage.

The road on the road-cum-rail bridge has been the subject of concern since long. The road on the bridge was designed with crocodile joints to withstand the vibrations from the railway track when the trains pass through the bridge. But, the condition of the road was deteriorating over the last several years. Repairs were taken up many times on the road, but to no avail.

Two years ago, repairs were taken up at 65 crocodile joints with micro-concreting technology with Rs 20 lakh. Even this technology has failed to improve the condition of the road as vibrations were denting the road. Now, the Roads and Buildings engineers have called engineering experts to examine the road-cum-rail bridge.

The bridge was designed with crocodile joints as it a steel construction and vibrations are common on the steel bridge. The road bridge was damaged due to the negligence of the officials. Repair works have been taken up as ‘eyewash’ whenever there was a problem.

Neither the government nor the officials ever tried to bring permanent solution for the problem. Travelling on the road-cum-rail bridge has become a nightmare for commuters. Lighting on this bridge has been always the subject of concern and many accidents had taken place on the bridge due to poor lighting.

Lack of application of the local people’s representatives was said to be the main reason for this pathetic condition. The government was not taking any permanent step to improve the road citing the new road bridge which was coming up on the Godavari.

But, the fourth bridge will be open to the public in March 2013. Till then, it is the government’s responsibility to keep the road-cum-rail bridge in good condition, which is the second largest of its kind in Asia, people said.