In yet another ‘ransomware’ cyberattack in Kerala, six computers of the Southern Railway office were hit on Tuesday by the ‘WannaCry’ virus, but there was no data loss, railway officials said.

According to the officials, the computers belonged to the accounts department of the Southern Railway, Thiruvanathapuram division.

The network was immediately disconnected and the affected computers were isolated, they said.

The computers were working on ‘browser based internal software’ with centralised data base, hence there has been no data loss, the officials said.

No computers of any of the departments related to train operations or passenger services have been affected, they said.

After Humsafar, Antyodaya, Deen Dayalu –all of which were promised in the previous budget, Indian Railways yesterday launched the Tejas express.

Now, as per media report the Indian Railways is contemplating a similar superfast train. A report in the Dainik Jagaran said that Railways is planning to launch a train on the lines of Rajdhani Express.

The paper noted that the time between Delhi and Mumbai will be covered in just 12-13 hours. Jagaran, quoting Ministry of Railway said that the idea had come after the successful trial of Talgo train on the Delhi-Mumbai route.

The light weight Spanish Talgo train hauled by Indian Railways locomotive covered the distance between Delhi and Mumbai in 11 hours 42 minutes in its final trial last September.

The Spanish-made coaches with Indian Railways locomotive had left New Delhi at 2.45 PM on September 10 and reached Mumbai at 2.33 AM next day early morning on September 11 covering the 1,384 km stretch travelling at about maximum speed of 150 KMPH.

Railway minister Suresh Prabhu yesterday flagged off the much-awaited Tejas Superfast Express from Mumbai to Karmali in Goa.

The train, which will cover the 630 km distance in less than nine hours, has ultra-modern amenities on board like LED TV, Wi-Fi and CCTV.

The Indian Railways will commence this week the final location survey for providing rail connectivity to the four important Hindu shrines in the hills of Uttarakhand at an estimated cost of over Rs 40,000 crore.

The Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), a railway PSU, has been entrusted with the task of undertaking the final survey for rail connectivity to Char Dham – Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath, and Kedarnath – through Dehradun and Karanprayag.

Earlier, RVNL had undertaken a reconnaissance engineering survey in 2014-15 and submitted a report in October 2015.

The REC survey recommends 21 new stations, 61 tunnels totalling into a tunnel length of 279 km and 59 bridges.

As the alignment will pass through the rugged mountainous terrain of the mighty Himalayas, the Railways has to meet the challenges of rail construction.

The existing rail heads or the nearest railway stations to the proposed Char Dham are Doiwala, Rishikesh, and Karanprayag.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu shall lay the foundation stone for the final location survey for single broad gauge line in Badrinath on May 13.

The four dhams have their varied and distinctive elevation levels along with spiritual significance.

The Yamunotri tracing the origin of the river Yamuna is situated at 3,293 metre above sea level while the Gangotri tracing the origin of the river Ganga is situated at 3,408 metre above sea level.

Kedarnath housing the shrine of Lord Shiva, is one of the 12 Jyotilingas at 3,583 metre height, while Badrinath housing the shrine of Lord Vishnu is at 3,133 metre height above sea level.

Besides pilgrims, a large number of foreign and domestic tourists throng the scenic state.

The ambitious project envisages bringing in a new era of safe and comfortable travel, said a senior Railway Ministry official.

The Indian Railways is also pursuing its ambitious project of constructing a new rail line between Rishikesh and Karanprayag and efforts are underway to fast-track the project.

These rail projects shall add momentum to the progress of the State by connecting far-flung areas besides boosting opportunities for tourism and economic development.

Eleven coaches of the Mumbai- Lucknow Lokmanya Tilak Express derailed here on Sunday but fortunately a tragedy was averted as the train was moving at a slow pace, the police said.

No casualties were reported though some passengers received minor injuries, an official said.

“At around 2.00 pm today, 11 coaches of the Mumbai- Lucknow Lokmanya Tilak Express derailed when it arrived at the platform number 3 of Unnao station. Since the train’s speed was slow, a bigger tragedy has been averted. All the passengers are safe,” Superintendent of Police, Unnao, Neha Pandey said.

She said the passengers had been provided food and water and alternate arrangements were being made to send them to their destinations.

“Photography and videography of the spot is being done. A team of UP ATS is likely to arrive at the spot from Lucknow,” Pandey said.

Some passengers however sustained minor injuries, as they tried to come out of the train. The incident came as a shock to them, a police official said.

The railway track has also been damaged due to the derailment.

Senior officials of the Railway and district administration also reached the spot.

Indian Railways will introduce the high speed, air-conditioned Tejas Express between Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Mumbai and Karmali for the first time on Monday.

Indian Railways will introduce the high speed, air-conditioned Tejas Express between Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Mumbai and Karmali for the first time on Monday.

Railway Minister Suresh Parabhu will flag-off  Mumbai CST-Karmali Tejas Superfast as Inaugural Special from Mumbai CST on 22/05/2017 (Monday) at 15.25 hrs via Video conferencing from Swami Narayan Sabhagruh, Dadar. The train will reach Karmali at 00:35 hrs on next day.

Here are the key facts about high-speed Tejas Express

Tejas Express is a state of the art train capable of running at the speed of 200 kmph.

Regular Service:

Commencement of Regular Service:

a. 22120 Ex. Karmali w.e.f. 23/05/2017.

b. 22119 Ex. Mumbai CST w.e.f. 24/05/2017.

 1. Timings upto 09/06/2017- Non Monsoon (Five days a week) :

Train No. 22119  Mumbai CST – Karmali , Tejas Superfast. will leave from Mumbai CST  at 05:00 hrs on every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday (Five days a week). Train will reach Karmali  at 13:30  Hrs on same day.

Train No. 22120 Karmali – Mumbai CST, Tejas Superfast. will leave from Karmali at 14:30 hrs on every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday (Five days a week). Train will reach Mumbai CST  at 23:00  Hrs on same day.

 2. Timings w.e.f. 10/06/2017 to 31/10/2017 – Monsoon (Tri weekly):

Train No. 22119  Mumbai CST – Karmali , Tejas Superfast. will leave from Mumbai CST  at 05:00 hrs on every Monday, Wednesday & Saturday  (Tri weekly). Train will reach Karmali  at 15:30 Hrs on same day.

Train No. 22120 Karmali – Mumbai CST, Tejas Superfast. will leave from Karmali at 07:30 hrs on every Tuesday, Thursday, & Sunday (Tri weekly). Train will reach Mumbai CST  at 19:45  Hrs on same day.

Halts: Dadar (DD), Thane(TNA), Panvel(PNVL), Ratnagiri(RN), Kudal(KUDL)

Composition: Total 15 LHB Coaches :- Executive CC – 01, Coach, CC – 12 Coach, Generator Cum SLR – 02 Coach.

Reservation: Bookings for Inaugural Special Train No. 02119 leaving Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus on 22.5.2017 and for Regular Services of 22119 leaving from 24.5.2017 will open on 21.5.2017 at all PRS counters and on website www.irctc.co.in.

Catering Services– In case the passenger wishes to opt for onboard catering services, service – wise catering charges i.e. Executive class and Chair car on Tejas Trains shall be inbuilt in the ticket fare. If passenger do not opt for catering services at the time of booking the ticket and decides to purchase meals onboard, an extra amount of Rs 50/- per service, in addition to the prescribed catering charges shall be charged subject to availability. However a charge of Rs 20/- will be included in the fare for all passengers of all classes, since packaged drinking water and newspapers will be provided on board to every passenger irrespective of their option for onboard meals.

The Visakhapatnam railway station is the cleanest, followed by Secunderabad, among the 75 most busy stations in the country.

The Visakhapatnam railway station is the cleanest, followed by Secunderabad, among the 75 most busy stations in the country.

As per a survey, the report of which was released by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu here today, the Jammu railway station occupied the third spot, while the New Delhi station was ranked at 39 among the most busy stations.

The survey was carried out by the Quality Council of India.

The Darbhanga railway station in Bihar was the dirtiest among the most busy stations.

Clean toilets at platforms, clean tracks and dustbins at stations were some of the criteria for judging railway stations for cleanliness.

This was the third survey on cleanliness done by the railways to keep a tab on rail premises as part of its ‘Swachh Rail’ campaign.

“We want all stations to be clean. There are many stations which have improved their cleanliness ranking from last time,” Prabhu said after releasing the survey report.

The Anand Vihar railway station was ranked at the 5th position, while Nizamuddin and Old Delhi stations were placed at 23th and 24th position.

The railway station in Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was ranked at 14th position.

The survey was carried out for total 407 stations, out of which 75 are in the A-1 category or most busy stations and 332 are in the A category.

The Beas railway station was the cleanest, followed by Khammam, in the A category. Ahmedanagar station was ranked at 3rd position.

While the Darbhanga railway station was at the 75th position in the A-1 category, Jogbani was the dirtiest in the A category.

The railways has about 8,000 stations which are classified into seven categories — A1, A, B, C, D, E and F based on their annual passenger revenue.

The stations which contribute more than Rs 50 crore a year in passenger revenue are considered to be A-1 stations. The A category stations contribute between Rs 6 crore and Rs 50 crore as annual passenger revenue.

All suburban stations are in C category, while all halts are in F category.

The railways will now carry out a survey of 200 trains on cleanliness.

The railways will launch shortly its redesigned e-tendering system with more user-friendly new features to facilitate digital participation of over 60,000 vendors.

The railways will launch shortly its redesigned e-tendering system with more user-friendly new features to facilitate digital participation of over 60,000 vendors.

Ushering in a new era by going paperless, the system envisages that bids are invited online and the entire process leading to award of a tender is done electronically.

Online refund of tender cost and earnest money deposit, online bidder deregistration process, integration with payment gateways of more banks are currently underway in the railways to make the system efficient and transparent, said a senior railway ministry official responsible for the e-system.

The redesigned e-tendering system part of the complete digitisation of supply chain will have vendor interface module to benefit vendors with online vendor registration and inspection call and contract amendment process.

Besides, the system would facilitate auto-alerts, processes relating to acceptance of supplied material and its payments and also include vendor grievance redressal process, the official said.

The railway supply chain supports activities of production, asset acquisition, periodic overhaul and maintenance of rolling stock, tracks, stations, signalling and telecom network, among others.

Digitisation of railway supply chain is designed towards achieving objectives of transparency, global reach, efficiency, ease of doing business, removing entry barriers and enhanced competitiveness, the official said.

While several vendor-related processes and documents are also going to be digitised, efforts are also on to enable vendors to submit online bills and ensure seamless payment.

The digitised supply chain provides single window access for entire supply chain process, 24×7 global and easy reach in real time, savings of time, cost and efforts, online payments for tender cost and earnest money deposit.

The official said digitisation of railway supply chain began with e tendering in its procurement and e-auction in its sale of scrap.

Currently scrap material worth more than Rs 2,700 crore is sold through 100 per cent e-auctions annually.

While over 2,700 bidders have been registered for sale of scrap materials, more than 32,000 scrap lots are e-auctioned annually.

Payment towards earnest money deposit is collected through e-payment gateway.