RailEnquiry

  Indian Railways News  / : MDMK campaign seeking rail projects to begin today

Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is launching a campaign in and around the city to urge the State Government to embark on Metro Rail Project for Coimbatore besides contributing its attention and share in ensuring the progress of various other railway projects.

The campaign to be presided by V. Easwaran – District Secretary of the party on August 1 (Wednesday) will begin at Sundarapuram, Aaatuppalam, Kuniamuthur, Kovaipudur, Perur, Vedapatti, Vadavalli, Idayarpalayam, Kavundampalayam, Thudialur, Saravanampatti, Kalapatti, Chinniampalayam and Sulur.

Mr.Easwaran told The Hindu that Coimbatore is all set to miss the bus in terms of the Metro Rail Project. Union Ministry for Urban Development in November 2011 announced Metro Rail Projects for tier-II cities such as Ahmedabad, Pune, Surat, Jaipur, Kanpur, Lucknow, Nagpur, Indore, Coimbatore, Kochi, Patna and Kozhikode. In the event of the States evincing interest in metro rail project, the Centre will come forward and give its consent and funds sharing the cost of the project.

Under this scheme, Metro rail works had begun in Kochi. State Governments have joined hands with Metro Rail Corporation and have commenced the Detailed Project Report (DPR) works in terms of Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Pune and Ludhiana. Similarly, DPR works are in progress in respect of Metro Rail works for Indore, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Surat, Kanpur, Patna, Nagpur, Jaipur. Even the neighbouring State of Kerala has commenced the works for mono-rail in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode. Of the 19 cities chosen for metro rail project, works had commenced in 18 cities and it was unfortunate that nothing has been done in respect of Coimbatore. Transportation infrastructure was paramount for a growing Coimbatore and for accelerating its economical growth and to rid the city of congestion. The Union Government was giving close to 50 per cent for the DPR cost for metro rail project and then also gives a share of the project cost to help the States implement it. Mr. Easwaran urged the State Government to make use of this opportunity to improve Coimbatore’s infrastructure. Metro rail project works will take nearly eight years and it was already too late for Coimbatore, he added.

  Indian Railways News  / The wait, the grief and a long journey home

The bodies of two victims of a fire that gutted coach S11 of Tamil Nadu Express (12622) on Monday near Nellore were sent by flight to their respective States after being embalmed here.

Southern Railway officials accompanied the families of victims who had gone to Nellore to identify the bodies of their loved ones.

At the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, Javed Ahmed Bhat waited with his cousins while the body of his brother Riyaz Ahmed Bhat (25) was being embalmed. Javed had visited his brother two months ago, at home in Pulwama, Kashmir. “He was supposed to join me,” Javed said of Riyaz, who had completed an M.Ed. in history at Barkatulla University in Bhopal, and was planning to pursue an M. Phil at Annamalai University in Chidambaram where Javed is pursing his M. Phil in Management Studies.

“He was an athletic young man, and played cricket,” Javed recalled.

Riyaz Ahmed Bhat (25) who boarded the train from Bhopal was in seat no. 42. His friend Shaukat also died in the accident.

Zakir Hussain (43) who was six seats away was travelling from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh to Chennai on business. He had boarded the train in Agra. “He has a factory making locks there,” said his cousin Abid Ali, who had come to identify his body. Hussain has three young children aged seven, five and three years. “He comes to Chennai to supply building hardware to traders here,” Mr. Ali said.

The families have a word of praise for the Indian Railways. “They have made all the arrangements for us. We are thankful to them for that,” Mr. Ali and his relatives said. The Railways made arrangement for the bodies of the victims to be brought to the GH by ambulance from Nellore and later to be transported to their respective homes.

On Monday, the body of G. Jagannathan was brought from Nellore and then transported from Chennai to Sankarankoil. The bodies of four of the victims hailing from Tirunelveli were also despatched by ambulance.

According to Forensic Sciences Department officials here, the Railways had approached them for analysis of DNA samples. Deputy Director Kamalakshi Krishnamurthy said, “If a body is completely charred there is nothing we can do. However, if some tissue or the femur bone is preserved, then a DNA analysis can be done.” She further added that there are centres in Andhra Pradesh to do the analysis and since the Nellore police would have registered the case, the analysis might be done in AP itself.

  Indian Railways News  / BJP demands allocation of spl fund for Rail Safety

BJP today demanded allocation of Rs 50,000 crore for 'Special Railway Safety Fund' to improve safety system in Indian Railways.

In his letter addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Minister of State for Railways and National BJP Executive member Bandaru Dattatraya, said it was unfortunate that without preliminary inquiry, Minister for Railways Mukul Roy declared that Tamil Naidu Express train accident was a conspiracy.

In yesterday's train accident, 32 people were burnt to death when flames engulfed the S 11 coach of Chennai-bound Tamil Nadu Express near Nellore, while in August 2008, 32 lives were lost when Gowthami Express met with an accident near Mahbubabad in Warangal district, he said.

At that time also, the railway authorities had declared that it was conspiracy but later it was found out that the accident took place because of electrical short circuit, he pointed out.

Everyday around two crore passenger commute across 10,000 trains in the country and this was the fourth fire accident in the Indian Railways in the last two years, the senior BJP leader said and alleged that an ambitious plan was submitted earlier this year by the Expert Group for the modernization of Indian Railways that required Rs 5,60,000 crore over next five years, but the government did not seem to have focused adequately on the safety aspect.

  Indian Railways News  / Grid failure: total blackout in 10 districts

The districts where supply was ‘restored’ witnessed voltage fluctuations till late in the evening Parts of Odisha faced a major power failure following crashing of eastern grid in the afternoon on Tuesday.

Although power supply was partially restored within two hours, several pockets including industrial region of Talcher-Angul had to reel under power crisis for hours.

“Following crashing of northern grid, the north-eastern and eastern grids collapsed on Tuesday. We first tried to hook to western grid immediately and restore power supply in parts of State capital,” said P. K. Das, Senior General Manager (Power System) at State Load Dispatch Centre here.

Mr. Das said most parts of the State experienced the sudden halt in power supply during the day. As many as 10 districts mainly in coastal region had complete power failure during the day. However, many western Odisha districts were unaffected by Tuesday’s blackout.

Speaking to reporters, P. K. Pradhan, Director (Commercial) of Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (OPTCL), said, “immediate partial restoration was possible due to generation of hydropower at Rengali, Burla and Indravati. Besides, thermal power production at Ib Thermal and Sterlite Industries at Jharsuguda saved the situation.”

By evening power engineers were struggling to normalise the power situation in Kalahandi, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Keonjhar, Angul and Bhadrak.

The districts where power supply was claimed to have been restored witnessed low voltage situations till late evening.

People had tough time in many parts of Cuttack as water could not be drawn due to unavailability of power.

“We are trying to restore power supply in all parts of the State by evening. We are in touch with central power managers to ensure that power supply becomes normal in the State,” said Mr. Pradhan.

As soon as the eastern grid crashed, about 13 express trains and five passenger trains were stranded en route.

“Due to power failure in eastern circle, train services in East Coast Railway jurisdiction were disrupted for about 90 minutes affecting movement of 13 mail express trains,” said East Coast Railway issuing a statement.

Trains that were affected by power failure included Puri-New Delhi Neelachal Express, Mysore-Howrah Express, Secunderabad-Howrah Falaknuma Express, Tirupathy-Santragachhi Express, Villupuram-Kharagpur Express, Dhauli Express and Pondichery-Bhubaneswar Express.

Train services were normalized on Palasa-Bhadrak section at 02.45 pm.

  Indian Railways News  / The tragedy of being in Coach S-11

The tracks leading to the Nellore Railway Station have turned into a desolate museum of sorts, thronged by scores of visitors. The sight that greets people here are the gory remnants of a fire accident that claimed 32 lives and injured 27 in the early hours on Monday.

At 4.22 a.m., a fire broke out in the S11 coach of the Chennai-bound Tamil Nadu Express (12622), as the train, which began its journey in Delhi, was passing through Nellore.

A pair of white shoes lies abandoned on a section of the tracks. Near the shoes are a few blood-stained air pillows. Toothbrushes, shaving gear and packets of what used to be dinner, are some of the other items strewn on the tracks. At around 2.30 p.m., a group of locals huddle by the tracks in mournful silence, some scanning the debris carefully, others curious about the ash. About 100 metres away, a group of residents from Nellore Ramamurthy Nagar are taking shade beneath a tree. These residents saw the train compartment go up in flames. “It was around 4 a.m. I think, when I heard a commotion. When I stepped out, I was shocked to see a compartment on fire,” said Venkateswaralu, a resident. As he had undergone a throat operation he could not rush forward to save the passengers, but called the fire service, an ambulance and a few local politicians, he said.

“But there were other residents who rushed forward to give water to the thirsty passengers. Some were crying and some were trying to make calls to their loved ones. By 5 a.m., two fire-fighting vehicles arrived and were trying to douse the flames,” said Venkateswaralu.

No barrier

For them language was not a barrier. “Some of them knew Telugu, but many did not. But we knew they needed help and we did what we could. This is the first time we are seeing such an accident on a track near our locality,” added Venkateswarlu.

K. Chandrasekhar, another resident says he was woken up by the barking of dogs. “It was unusual, so I came out and I saw was the compartment burning. By then the fire service had arrived. Ambulances were also present at the site of the accident,” he said.

“The railways hike fares frequently, but the facilities remain abysmal. Their negligence has cost so many lives,” says P. Abdul Thameem, another resident.