Indian Railways News

Indian Railways News

Data says 25% rail crew not picked as per rule, Railways cracks whip

Twenty-five per cent of the crew members running Indian Railways are not picked according to rules, according to official data, prompting the transport behemoth to ask railway zones to adhere to norms.

The zones have to choose their crew from the Crew Management System (CMS) of Railways which has a database of 89,000 crew members and provides information about their status and availability for train operations, be it freight or passengers.

The railway board in a directive said that while on an average, 75 per cent of the crew are chosen by zones according to rule, it was still below satisfactory.

In the letter, the board has “expressed concern” that train drivers, assistant drivers, guards who form the basic functioning team responsible for train operations are not booked by zones according to rules mandated by the public transporter.

The CMS system provides two options of choosing crew members – the ‘fetch crew as per rule’ option and the ‘fetch all’ option.

Under the ‘as per rule’ option, zones are supposed to book crew who meet certain criterion – those who are not due for a periodical medical examination (PME), or due for transport refresher, are fit for the section, have road learning, have competency to work loco and are rested.

For the ‘fetch all’ option, the crew needs to meet just two parameters – they should not be due for medical examination and should have completed a transport refresher.

“The board feels that any crew member who is part of railway operations be it freight or coaching should be in optimum condition, both health wise and in expertise.

“So, he should tick all the boxes under the ‘fetch as per rule’ option. With safety of passengers being priority, the board feels that this cannot be compromised with,” a senior official said.

While on an average 75 per cent of such crew members have been picked under the ‘fetch crew as per rule’ option in 2017 across zones, the average has fallen in certain zones like South Eastern Railway has booked only 56 per cent under the rule, East Coast Railway has chosen 61 per cent and Central railways only 66 per cent.

This, the board has said, is ‘below satisfactory’.

However, compared to last year, the zones have in fact shown improvement in booking crew as per rule.

A report of CMS for the period January 1, 2016-June 30, 2016 has shown that South Eastern Railway has picked a mere 4.49 per cent crew as per rule, in Eastern Railway it was 5.25 per cent and in South Railway it was only 7.45 per cent.

“Board desires that zonal railways shall make all efforts to book crew as per rule in the CMS,” the letter sent out last month has said.

Railways to rank best & worst performing trains, zones

The Indian Railways will soon start making public a list of its best and worst performing trains and zones, with an aim to improve service standards by encouraging competition within the organisation. The zones and trains will be ranked on parameters such as cleanliness and punctuality, which are two longstanding issues for the railways, a top rail ministry official told ET.

This initiative is part of railway minister Piyush Goyal’s efforts to give the national transporter a performance makeover before the 2019 general elections, while also ensuring at least a 50% reduction in derailments and other accidents. The railways would make a list of the bottom and top ten trains of every zonal railways, the official said. The Indian Railways has 17 zones, which are divided further into sub-zones.

“The list would be made on the basis of housekeeping and environment, coaching standard and the punctuality of trains,” he said. “The railway minister has already put in place a monitoring team. All information related to trains and zones would be made public.”

The state-run transporter plans also to launch a mobile application for passengers that could list these trains and zones. The list will be updated regularly. The railways’ renewed priority on safety and repair of tracks and

and zones would be made public.”

The state-run transporter plans also to launch a mobile application for passengers that could list these trains and zones. The list will be updated regularly. The railways’ renewed priority on safety and repair of tracks and trains has hit operations badly with punctuality dropping to around 70% now from the average of 77-80%.

Goyal has told his officials to wrap up the maintenance work at the earliest to ensure at least 95% on-time performance. “There’s a renewed focus in therenewed focus in the rail board to push the service standards immediately. We are already providing real-time updates to passengers through SMS if their train is late and are also mentioning the reason why it is late. The minister wants the functioning to be very transparent,” the official added.

Indian Railways record 5 per cent jump in freight, passenger traffic in last 8 months

The Indian Railways has registered a rise in both its freight and passenger business during April-November as compared to the same period last year, according to a data with the national transporter.

The freight traffic, which essentially serves the revenue of the railways, recorded an almost 5 per cent jump in loading during April 1-November 30, 2017, as compared to 2016.
Amongst the commodities which contributed to this performance in the freight traffic include iron ore, which registered a 5.16 per cent growth in loading, cement which grew by 10.14 per cent, steel by 16.23 per cent, container traffic by 12.71 per cent and coal by 2.23 per cent.

“In fact, freight loading has seen a 0.79 per cent growth which is more than what our target was for these months,” a senior official of the railway ministry said.

Overall freight loading saw a growth of 747.70 million tonne in these eight months of this year, which is 32.02 million tonne more than last year.

“In the passenger sector, we have grown by 5.22 per cent during April 1-November 20 over the same period last year and added around 50.33 million more passengers. This shows that railways continues to be the preferred mode of transportation for the people,” Member (Traffic) Mohd Jamshed said.

The railways, Jamshed said has also earned an additional Rs 1,579 crore in this period as against last year.

With these numbers in the last eight months, the railways seems to have finally come out of the rut after a dip in passenger traffic since 2013-14 and a marginal high in 2016.

Railways sacks 15 caterers, debars 16 contractors over lapses

he Indian Railways said today it has terminated the contracts of 15 caterers and debarred 16 catering contractors this year till November amidst complaints of over-charging and poor quality food served on trains.

The ministry, which often receives complaints from passengers over catering issues on its official Twitter handle, is known to respond to them on real-time basis.

According to the official data, the national transporter has imposed fines amounting to Rs 8.96 crore from January to October 2017, which was more than double the amount – Rs 4.05 crore – levied last year between January and December.

“The ministry is very concerned about complaints regarding catering. We have given instructions that strict action must be taken against those caterers against whom complaints are made and proven. We have zero tolerance towards such issues regarding food on our trains,” said Railway Ministry spokesperson Anil Saxena.

9 Lakh Senior Citizens Give up Ticket Subsidy in 3 Months, Rlys Saves Rs 40 Crore

Over nine lakh senior citizens have voluntarily given up their ticket subsidies under the ‘give up’ scheme of the Railways, thereby helping the transport behemoth save around Rs 40 crore.

Under the scheme launched last year, senior citizens had the option to either avail the full concession provided to them on rail tickets or forgo the entire amount. This year, a new option was added in which a senior citizen can give up 50 percent of the subsidy.

The scheme was launched to reduce the nearly Rs 1,300 crore subsidy burden of the Railways in the senior citizen category.
From July 22 to October 22, 2.16 lakh men and 2.67 lakh women gave up their full subsidy, while 2.51 lakh men and 2.05 lakh women decided not to avail 50 percent of their subsidy – making the total number of passengers over 60 years to give up their subsidy at 9.39 lakh in three months.

 During the same period last year, only about 4.68 lakh senior citizens gave up their subsidies – 2.35 lakh men and 2.33 lakh women.

“The figures show that the number of people letting forgoing the subsidy has doubled in one year. It is great news for Railways as we are looking to reduce our losses incurred through subsidies,” said a senior official of the ministry.

As of now, Railways bears 43 percent of the cost of train fare and incurs a loss of about Rs 30,000 crore a year in subsidising passenger fares out of which Rs 1,600 crore is for concessional fares.

Railways recovers only 57 percent of the expenses incurred for passenger transportation through sale of tickets of all classes.

Indian Railways’ Agency Lists Bond on London Stock Exchange

The Indian Railways’ financing arm on Wednesday listed its first green bond on the London Stock Exchange with an aim to finance infrastructure for dedicated freight corridors and passenger transport in India.

Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) was set up in 1986 as the dedicated financing arm of the Indian Railways for mobilising funds from domestic and overseas Capital Markets.

The 10-year dated green bond raised USD 500 million with an annual yield of 3.835 percent as it listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE)’s new International Securities Market (ISM).

The bond, the proceeds of which are aimed at financing or refinancing infrastructure for dedicated freight railway lines and public passenger transport in India, was more than three times oversubscribed as it received strong international investor support.

“Our debut green bond is a significant milestone for IRFC, supporting the company’s ambitious infrastructure green projects which includes procurement of rolling stocks for electrifying rail tracks across India,” said SK Pattanayak, the IRFC Managing Director.

Not only was the bond three times oversubscribed but today we have also achieved our aim, through London, to increase our investor base across the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa),” he said.

The IRFC listing marks the sixth green bond transaction on LSE by an Indian issuer and fourth on the new ISM.

The bond is certified by Climate Bonds Initiative, an international, investor-focused not-for-profit, which helps build transparent assurance frameworks around green bond investment.

Sean Kidney, CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative, said: “Indian Railways is the third state-backed entity to seek global exposure by issuing a certified green bond and listing in London

“This IRFC green bond and the previous issuance from the IREDA (Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency) and the PFC (Power Finance Corporation) are a sign of the enormous market opportunities for international investors in green energy, transport and infrastructure to meet India’s intertwined climate, energy and development goals”.

The LSE said the latest bond listing demonstrates Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2015 commitment to funding India’s infrastructure and growth through the issuance of over 1 billion pound worth of Masala bonds.

“Today’s green bond listing is a significant milestone for India and the IRFC, allowing the country to further tap a dynamic new international channel of finance for Indian infrastructure,” said CEO of the London Stock Exchange plc Nikhil Rathi, who described Indian Railways as the “heartbeat of the Indian economy”.

“It also re-enforces the progress being made in the Energy for Growth partnership established in April between the UK and India, strengthening London’s position as India’s closest and most valued funding partner.

“There is an undeniable shift in momentum in the green and sustainable financing across the globe. The London Stock Exchange Group is at the forefront of this green financing movement, developing innovative products and services in partnership with our customers,” Rathi said.

The London Stock Exchange Group said it has been supporting investors and issuers in the transition to a low- carbon and sustainable economy for over a decade, developing innovative products and services in close collaboration with the market.

To date in 2017, there has been 64 percent growth in the number of green bonds listed on the LSE compared to 2016 and a 65 percent increase in money raised.

In the same period, 23 green bonds have been listed in London, raising USD 9.4 billion, compared to 14 green bonds which raised USD 5.7 billion in 2016.

In total, there are 61 green bonds listed in London that have raised over USD 20 billion in aggregate terms across seven currencies.

Aircraft-type bio-vacuum toilets on Indian Railways from next month

Stinking and non-functioning toilets on Indian Railways — one of the world`s largest rail networks — may soon become a thing of the past. The national transporter is upgrading its bio-toilets to imported bio-vacuum toilets — the kind found in aircraft — an official said. The first 100 coaches with the new toilets will be attached to important trains like Rajdhani and Shatabdi and would be rolled out from January 2018.

“These bio-vacuum toilets will be odour-free and cut down water usage by over one-20th,” he said.

The official also said that the Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF) will roll out the first 100 coaches fitted with bio-vacuum toilets and that these will be attached to premium trains like the Rajdhani and Shatabdi expresses.

Stinking and non-functioning toilets on Indian Railways — one of the world`s largest rail networks — may soon become a thing of the past. The national transporter is upgrading its bio-toilets to imported bio-vacuum toilets — the kind found in aircraft — an official said. The first 100 coaches with the new toilets will be attached to important trains like Rajdhani and Shatabdi and would be rolled out from January 2018.

“These bio-vacuum toilets will be odour-free and cut down water usage by over one-20th,” he said.

The official also said that the Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF) will roll out the first 100 coaches fitted with bio-vacuum toilets and that these will be attached to premium trains like the Rajdhani and Shatabdi expresses.

“The bio-vacuum toilet only requires about half a litre of water and all the waste is cleared through suction,” the official said, adding these had been tried out on a pilot basis in some trains.

The official said that the manufacturers of the bio-vacuum toilets have assured railways that the fabrication units would be set up in India.

Before the introduction of bio-toilets, lack of cleanliness on Indian trains, particularly in the toilets, was always a big issue. Until then, trains had no system to treat human waste, which was emptied on to the rail tracks.

In bio-toilets, human waste wasn`t supposed to be emptied on to the tracks but digested by anaerobic bacteria, which convert it into water and bio-gases that are released after disinfection. However, it was found that this hardly worked in practice.

The bio-toilets have been deployed in Indian trains over four years to 2017, at a cost of Rs 1,305 crore, but these are no better than septic tanks, IndiaSpend reported last week quoting a two-year-long study by the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M).

A staggering 93,537 “bio-digesters” — as the toilets are called –have been installed in mainline express and mail trains. However, sanitation experts and various studies — including those commissioned by the railways — have pointed out that most of the bio-toilets are ineffective or ill-maintained and the water discharged is no better than raw sewage.

Over 900 trains currently have bio-toilets either in some or all of their coaches.

Kacheguda Becomes India’s ‘First’ Energy-Efficient Railway Station

Kacheguda has earned the distinction of being the first energy-efficient ‘A1 Category’ railway station in the country, the South Central Railway (SCR) said.

Kacheguda railway station in Hyderabad division of the SCR, has achieved 100 per cent energy efficiency by replacing 1,312 conventional lights with light-emitting diode (LED) lighting, 370 ceiling fans with Brushless DC Electrical (BLDC) motors energy-efficient fans and 12 air conditioners with energy efficient inverter type ACs, the SCR statement said. Kacheguda has earned the distinction of being the first energy-efficient ‘A1 Category’ railway station
“With these initiatives, it will save about 1.76 lakh units and Rs. 14.08 lakh per annum with reduction of the connected load by 46.18 kW for Railways,” it said. SCR general manager, Vinod Kumar Yadav, complimented divisional railway manager of Hyderabad division, Arun Kumar Jain, on the achievement.

The statement added that Kacheguda is a “historic and the most beautiful” railway station building on SCR and one of the landmarks of Hyderabad city.

Kacheguda has also been referred to as one of the landmarks of Hyderabad by South Central Railway

From January, Trains To Get Aircraft-Type Bio-Vacuum Toilets

Stinking and non-functioning toilets on Indian Railways — one of the world’s largest rail networks — may soon become a thing of the past. The national transporter is upgrading its bio-toilets to imported bio-vacuum toilets — the kind found in aircraft — an official said. The first 100 coaches with the new toilets will be attached to important trains like Rajdhani and Shatabdi and would be rolled out from January 2018.

“These bio-vacuum toilets will be odour-free and cut down water usage by over one-20th,” he said.

The official also said that the Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF) will roll out the first 100 coaches fitted with bio-vacuum toilets and that these will be attached to premium trains like the Rajdhani and Shatabdi expresses.
He also said there would be lesser chances of such toilets getting blocked.

The railways’ initiative to upgrade the existing bio-toilets came after pesistent complaints from passengers that these were getting blocked due to dumping of waste such as plastic bottles, paper and the like in the toilet pot.

Explaining the need of shifting to bio-vacuum toilets, the official said: “Saving water is a priority for the railways.”

“In bio-toilets, the water requirement per flushing is up to 15 litres. And the water doesn’t generate enough pressure to discharge the waste from the pots, resulting in a foul smell and blockage of the pot.

“The bio-vacuum toilet only requires about half a litre of water and all the waste is cleared through suction,” the official said, adding these had been tried out on a pilot basis in some trains.
The official said that the manufacturers of the bio-vacuum toilets have assured railways that the fabrication units would be set up in India.

Before the introduction of bio-toilets, lack of cleanliness on Indian trains, particularly in the toilets, was always a big issue. Until then, trains had no system to treat human waste, which was emptied on to the rail tracks.

In bio-toilets, human waste wasn’t supposed to be emptied on to the tracks but digested by anaerobic bacteria, which convert it into water and bio-gases that are released after disinfection. However, it was found that this hardly worked in practice.

The bio-toilets have been deployed in Indian trains over four years to 2017, at a cost of Rs. 1,305 crore, but these are no better than septic tanks, IndiaSpend reported last week quoting a two-year-long study by the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M).

A staggering 93,537 “bio-digesters” — as the toilets are called –have been installed in mainline express and mail trains. However, sanitation experts and various studies — including those commissioned by the railways — have pointed out that most of the bio-toilets are ineffective or ill-maintained and the water discharged is no better than raw sewage.

Over 900 trains currently have bio-toilets either in some or all of their coaches.

Kacheguda becomes first Energy Efficient Railway Station on Indian Railways

Kacheguda Railway Station has earned the unique distinction of being the First Energy Efficient ‘A1 Category’ Railway Station on Indian Railways. Kacheguda Railway Station on Hyderabad Division of South Central Railway has achieved the 100% Energy Efficiency by replacing 1312 conventional lights with Light-emitting diode (LED) Lighting, 370 ceiling fans with Brushless DC Electrical (BLDC) motors energy efficient fans and 12 no’s of Air Conditioners with energy efficient Inverter type Air Conditioners.

With the provision of these energy efficient LED luminaries, BLDC fans and Inverter type AC units, it will save about 1.76 Lakh units and Rs. 14.08 Lakhs per annum with reduction of the connected load by 46.18 kW for Railways. Shri Vinod Kumar Yadav, General Manager, SCR complimented Shri Arun Kumar Jain, Divisional Railway Manager, Hyderabad Division for the achievement. The initiative was possible on account of the efforts of Shri V. Venkata Ramana, Senior Divisional Electrical Engineer and Shri P. Prem Kumar, Senior Section Electrical Engineer, Kacheguda, Hyderabad Division who put in extensive efforts which made it possible to achieve this distinction.

The Kacheguda Railway station is a historic and the most beautiful Station building on South Central Railway and one of the landmarks of Hyderabad city which has completed 100 years. Situated in the Heart of the city of Hyderabad, this imposing structure was built in the year 1916 by the Nizam’s Guaranteed State Railway during the reign of Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam.