The Indian Railways has introduced upgraded ‘Anubhuti’ coaches on its Chennai-Mysuru Shatabdi Express. The Southern Railway – which caters to one of the zones under the Indian Railways – will introduce Anubhuti coaches on the Chennai Central-Mysuru-Chennai Central Shatabdi Express sector from Friday, January 12, 2018, according to a press release dated January 11, 2018. The Southern Railway termed the move as a “Pongal Gift” to its passengers. Bookings for journey on the Chennai Central-Mysuru Shatabdi Express trains with the Anubhuti coaches – fitted with improved interiors and a GPS-based passenger system, among other features – are open, the Southern Railway said.

Here are 10 things to know about the Anubhuti coaches, introduced on the Chennai Central-Mysuru-Chennai Central Shatabdi Express:

1. Trains 12007 and 12008 of the Chennai Central-Mysuru-Chennai Central Shatabdi Express service will be augmented by an ‘Anubhuti’ coach from Friday, January 12, 2018, according to the press release.

2. The ‘Anubhuti’ coaches are fitted with improved interiors, ergonomically designed seats and improved modular toilets with hands-free taps.

3. Overhead reading lights are provided for every seat and the coach has diffused LED lighting, the Southern Railway said.

4. Besides, the coaches have a GPS-based passenger system and a special exterior painting with anti-graffiti coating.

5. The fare for travel by ‘Anubhuti’ coach is fixed at 1.2 times of the Executive Class fare of Shatabdi trains.

6. Other charges such as reservation fee, superfast surcharge, GST, etc. as applicable will be levied separately.

7. Normal rules pertaining to Child Fare will apply, according to the Southern Railway.

8. Concessional tickets and free complimentary passes which are not fully reimbursed will not be allowed, it noted.

10. “Normal Cancellation and Refund Rules shall apply,” the Southern Railway added.

In order to manage solid waste scientifically and convert them into environment-friendly products, the Golden Rock (GOC) Railway Workshop has started producing vermicompost, briquettes and biogas for the first time in Southern Railway.

The workshop has commenced solid waste management by disposing of the waste – such as dry leaves, non-recyclable paper and food waste, generated from the premises spread nearly 200 acres, in an efficient manner.

According to a senior official from the workshop, “It is a first-of-its-kind in Indian Railways’ workshops to manufacture organic fertiliser comprising dry leaves and waste generated from canteen and papers with a capacity of 250kg per month from the raw waste of two tonnes,” he said.

They use the organic manure for gardens maintained on the premises of GOC. At the compost yard, they are also producing briquettes from dry leaves and packing materials to use for their boilers, he said.

“So far it was a common practice to collect all the dry leaves and other waste to burn in an open area. However, as open burning of waste is prohibited by the pollution control board due to environmental pollution, we have adopted this technique. As per railway norms, the wooden packing materials – which were simply kept unutilised so far on our premises, are not saleable. So, it would be the best way to convert them into energy. By adopting this process we can reduce the coal purchasing from outside,” officials said.

The authorities have deputed three people to execute the process of producing briquette and bio-manure.

At an event organised in GOC, chief workshop manager P N Jha inaugurated a project for sending zero-value waste accumulated at GOC shops to Ultratech Cements, Ariyalur for co-processing with the approval of Tamil Nadu pollution control board.

Moreover, in order to impart training to the employees working across the Southern Railway, a symposium was also conducted at the GOC.

Rail planners will discuss a series of new projects when Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Chairman of Railway Board Ashwani Lohani visit the city on Friday.

The Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) has clubbed the projects under the third phase of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project, which was sanctioned in December last year. The plan has been proposed by assessing the city’s requirements in 2031.

A senior railway official said, “MUTP 3A is not only looking at expanding the suburban rail network but also modernising the system and making it more safe and secure.” A total of 210 AC EMU rakes will be procured as part of the project, which will cost around ₹44,000 crore. The plan includes an elevated fast track project between CST and Panvel and the suburban line linking Panvel and Virar. The plan also includes proposals for a new signalling system, which will be on a par with those used in modern metro networks.

Other proposals include construction of new lines on existing corridors: Line 5 and Line 6 between Borivali and Virar; Line 3 and Line 4 between Kalyan and Badlapur and another line between Kalyan and Asangaon

A capacity building workshop for officers of Northeast Frontier Railway was held at Maligaon in Guwahati on January 11. It was organised by the Transformation Cell of Railway Board which is working on initiatives for empowerment of field units and to improve the work processes, systems and culture of Indian Railways.

The Transformation Cell has engaged AT Kearney as Strategic Advisory Consultants through RITES (Rail India Technical and Economic Services) to provide support for driving the Transformation Agenda, according to a press release from Pranav Jyoti Sharma, Chief Public Relations Officer, NF Railway.

A key part of enabling the Transformation Agenda is to build capacity across the teams. In this context, a series of workshops are also being organised to build capacity within the Zonal and Divisional teams.

The workshop covered topics relevant for the Zones/Divisions in executing large scale transformations – ethics, change management, business case preparation, set up of program management office including digital tracking etc. Meanwhile, an interactive session was held to take suggestions for process reforms in Indian Railways.

The release mentioned that Indian Railways has set for itself a target for transformation of Structure, Process and Culture in order to make the organization more responsive to customer and employee needs with a constant emphasis on safe and punctual travel.

Tourists can now enjoy a joyride here on the UNESCO world heritage railway track on the lines of a similar service in Darjeeling in West Bengal.

The joyride train will run between Shimla and Shoghi stations, covering a distance of about 15 km in an hour and five minutes. This is a section of the heritage track, which goes up to Kalka.

The one-way fare for the Shimla-Shoghi ride amidst the scenic beauty of the `Queen of Hills’ will be Rs.260. Tourists can book online. The train would have chair-car coaches.

Unlike the well-known toy train which runs from Kalka to Shimla, this joyride is within the Shimla city limits.

Lok Sabha MP Virender Kashyap on Thursday flagged off a trial run. As of now, the service will operate up to 28 February. Kashyap said he has asked the Railways to continue it because of its huge tourism potential.

“The trial run of Shivalik Delux Express has started today to attract tourists and it would benefit tourism sector positively in the hill state,” he said.

Thousands of tourists visit Shimla in winters as well as summers and the train would prove an additional attraction for them, he said.

Kashyap thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Railways minister Piyush Goyal for the train services on the over 100-year-old heritage track.

The Shimla-Kalka railway line is a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow-gauge track along a mostly mountainous route. The track is known for dramatic views of the hills and surrounding villages.

The railway line was built in 1898 to connect Shimla, the summer capital of India during the British Raj, with the rest of the Indian rail system.

At that time, 107 tunnels and 864 bridges were built throughout its course. However, 102 tunnels remain in use now.

On 8 July 2008, UNESCO added the Kalka-Shimla Railway as an extension to the World Heritage Sites of Mountain Railways of India.

The route winds from the foothills of the Shivalik Hills at Kalka and covers several important points such as Dharampur, Solan, Kandaghat, Taradevi, Barog, Salogra, Totu (Jutogh), Summerhill and Shimla.

The track has a gradient of 1 in 33 or 3 percent and it has 919 curves, the sharpest being 48 degrees. Climbing from an altitude of 656 metres, the line terminates at an elevation of 2,076 metres at Shimla, a difference of 1,420 metres.

The country’s ready-to-eat (RTE) food industry is gearing up to tickle the taste buds of railway passengers.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is likely to float a tender by March-end to supply RTE food items directly on trains.

The move may open up railway catering business to major players in the food processing industry such as Nestlé, MTR, ITC, Amul, Bambino, Britannia, Dabur, Defence Research Development Organisation, Elite, Gits, Haldiram, Kohinoor Foods and McCain Foods.

RTE meals were introduced in select railway stations and trains in 2016 on a trial basis, but they were being distributed through existing catering service contractors.

The railways now wants to move to the next stage, allow manufacturers to directly sell through their sales representatives.

This is a part of its strategy to ensure clean food for passengers.

This can be a huge boost for the RTE food market, which is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of around 22 per cent till 2019.

“Our plan is to provide healthy food. One company may not be enough for the huge volumes that the railways require. So, we may go for zone-wise or train-wise tender. It is yet to be finalised,” an official said.

About 23 million passengers travel on trains on a daily basis.

Indian Railways provide approximately 1.1 million meals to passengers every day, of which one million meals are provided on board. Last year, IRCTC had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with DRDO for transfer of technology for processed food pouch, so that RTE food can be warmed and eaten straight out of the packet.

Besides this initiative, IRCTC is also targeting to provide 100,000 online meal orders per day over the next couple of years through e-catering.

Currently, only 7,000 meals are being booked online every day.

Around 193 stations and 1,516 trains are covered under the e-catering policy.

As part of its catering policy, IRCTC has taken over the operations of 333 of 335 mobile pantry cars that were run by contractors.

According to the new catering policy, launched in February last year, all mobile pantry, food plazas, and base kitchens will be brought under IRCTC.

IRCTC has also invited multi-national players such as French food services and facilities management company Sodexo and Travel Food Services (TFS), who operate lounges in airports, to manage its base kitchens.

The plan also includes a road-map to upgrade at least 16 base kitchens.

This came after a recent Comptroller and Auditor General report said the food articles supplied in railways are unsuitable for human consumption.

The Traffic Transportation branch of Railway Board has revised the freight rates for transportation of coal and coke that will be effective from January 15th.

In an interview Sachin Bhanushali, Director and CEO of Gateway Rail Freight spoke about the latest happenings in his company and sector. 40 percent of the cargo comprises of coal and coke related cargo, he said.

The overall cost structure of Indian Railways has always been under pressure because almost about 50 percent of its cost comprises of the staff cost, so there is continuous inflationary pressure on railways cost, he added.

The demand of the power sector for Indian coal over a period of last three-four years has been robust because of change in policy, said Bhanushali.

Freight rate hikes by railway usually come in parts, so it is very difficult to predict, he further mentioned.

Going forward, a little bit of correction in terms of sectoral increase in freight rate like coal, coke as well as the commodities, for which there is demand, can be anywhere between 5 percent and 7 percent but I don’t expect it to be across the board, Bhanushali added.

Speaking of initial public offering (IPO), he said that as of now there is no plan of an IPO.

Taking a dig at ex-honchos of the Railways, chairman Ashwani Lohani today said he was “amazed” that they were full of ideas on ways to shore up the sector, but did little to implement them when they were in office.

Lohani said on Facebook that former seniors came up with ideas now, but did not carry them out when they worked for the national transporter.

“I am amazed at the number of ex-seniors who are bubbling with ideas on how to set the railways right. Equally amazing is why they did not implement the very same ideas when they sat on powerful chairs,” he posted on his personal page.

The Railway Board chairman said youngsters joining the sector, too, had fallen short of his expectations.

Many of the youngsters were “more concerned about the quota of DRMs and GMs and less about what they can contribute to the railways”, he wrote, referring to the senior posts of Divisional Railway Managers and General Managers.

Lohani said the focus had to shift to delivery and for that “we need to develop a lot of spine and belief in oneself.

I remain hopeful that things would change for the better.” Sources in his office said since he had taken over as the chairman last year, ex-officials had often been visiting him to discuss the future of the Indian Railways.

Many of them came with plans, ideas and advice for Lohani, the senior-most bureaucrat in the Railways, they said.

The Indian Railways has introduced upgraded ‘Anubhuti’ coaches on its Chennai-Mysuru Shatabdi Express. The Southern Railway – which caters to one of the zones under the Indian Railways – will introduce Anubhuti coaches on the Chennai Central-Mysuru-Chennai Central Shatabdi Express sector from Friday, January 12, 2018, according to a press release dated January 11, 2018. The Southern Railway termed the move as a “Pongal Gift” to its passengers. Bookings for journey on the Chennai Central-Mysuru Shatabdi Express trains with the Anubhuti coaches – fitted with improved interiors and a GPS-based passenger system, among other features – are open, the Southern Railway said.

Here are 10 things to know about the Anubhuti coaches, introduced on the Chennai Central-Mysuru-Chennai Central Shatabdi Express:

1. Trains 12007 and 12008 of the Chennai Central-Mysuru-Chennai Central Shatabdi Express service will be augmented by an ‘Anubhuti’ coach from Friday, January 12, 2018, according to the press release.

2. The ‘Anubhuti’ coaches are fitted with improved interiors, ergonomically designed seats and improved modular toilets with hands-free taps.

6. Other charges such as reservation fee, superfast surcharge, GST, etc. as applicable will be levied separately.

7. Normal rules pertaining to Child Fare will apply, according to the Southern Railway.

8. Concessional tickets and free complimentary passes which are not fully reimbursed will not be allowed, it noted.

9. Seats remaining vacant at the time of first charting will be offered for current booking at a 10 per cet discount on last price.

10. “Normal Cancellation and Refund Rules shall apply,” the Southern Railway added.

The finance ministry may keep the plan outlay of Indian Railways at current level in the budget as the government is resorting to borrowing in the face of lower revenue collection.

The finance ministry is learnt to have rejected 8-10 per cent increase in plan outlay sought by the public sector transporter, which has been on a spending-spree to build new rail lines and upgrade existing ones.

Over the last three years, the railways has been raising its capital expenditure to bridge the infrastructure deficit and renew its creaking assets. It has earmarked a total capital outlay of Rs 8.56 lakh crore for five years.

In tune with the emphasis on green energy, the railways is set to electrify more lines across the network. After factoring in this aspect, it has projected a higher plan outlay for 2018-19.

“The railways may generate more resources on its own by tying up long-term funds and monetising its assets. This will reduce the dependence on budgetary support. But at the same time adequate funds would be made available to the railways so that its project implementation is not affected,” an official said.

The railways’ total plan outlay of Rs 1.31 lakh crore for 2017-18 was the highest in its history. Of this, Rs 55,000 crore came from the central budget and the remaining was raised through institutional financing, internal resources and PPP projects, among others.

The funding pattern for the next fiscal is likely to be the same, although it could raise more from LIC with which the total fund tie-up is Rs 1.5 lakh crore over a five-year period.

Facing severe capacity constraint, especially on the trunk routes connecting metro cities, the railways has embarked on major infrastructure building exercise.

Besides, it is facing the challenge of bolstering earning from freight and passengers which have been slipping against its projections.

The operating ratio of railways, a key matrix of its financial health, has been under stress. It stands at about 97 per cent which indicates it spends Rs 97 to earn Rs 100. For the next fiscal, the target may be set at 95 per cent on belt-tightening measures and higher revenue earnings.

Last year, the government had merged the railway budget with the main budget ending the British era tradition.