The Central Railway has decided to reduce the price of platform ticket at key stations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region from ₹ 50 to ₹ 10 from Thursday, an official said.

The platform ticket price will be reduced at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), Dadar, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT), Thane, Kalyan and Panvel railway stations, he said.

Earlier this year, Mumbai division of the Central Railway had increased the price of platform ticket from ₹ 10 to ₹ 50 at these stations to discourage overcrowding amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Central Railway has decided to reduce the price of platform ticket at key stations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region from ₹ 50 to ₹ 10 from Thursday, an official said

The platform ticket price will be reduced at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), Dadar, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT), Thane, Kalyan and Panvel railway stations, he said.

Earlier this year, Mumbai division of the Central Railway had increased the price of platform ticket from ₹ 10 to ₹ 50 at these stations to discourage overcrowding amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Delhi Metro launched the first prototype of a ‘Made-in-India’ simulator to train its drivers – in a step towards indigenising technologies involved in metro operations in the country. In this regard, metro operator Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in association with state-run engineering manufacturing firm Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) launched the first prototype of an indigenous rolling stock driver training system (RSDTS).

Delhi Metro authorities also demonstrated the functioning of a super – supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system, which is being developed as a monitoring system for equipment and assets to rationalize maintenance periodicity, manpower requirement and spares management.

As part of the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, DMRC and BEL had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in September 2020 in order to develop the rolling stock driver training system – useful for training drivers of railway or metro trains.

The system will also be used for evaluating the driving skills of a working train operator, which is done periodically for safety reasons. This will be the first indigenously developed universal train driving simulator that can be suitably modified for any Metro system or Railways, according to a statement shared by Delhi Metro.

CommentsThe system being developed indigenously has the facility of the same core software to be utilized for creating different combinations of rolling stock, signaling and line profiles, by changing the input data files, along with minor hardware changes in the driving desk, if required. This will enhance the flexibility of the training system and could majorly result in saving costs, as the same system can be used for multiple stocks and different routes.

Bowing to protest by seers in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, the IRCTC on Monday evening said it will change the saffron attire of waiters on board the Ramayan Express, which had invited the ire of a section of sadhus.

The seers, earlier on Monday, had taken strong objection to the saffron attire of waiters on board the IRCTC-operated Ramayan Express and dubbed it as an “insult” to Hindu religion.

They had threatened to stop the train in Delhi on December 12 if the dress code was not withdrawn.

“We have written a letter two days back to the Union Railway Minister lodging our protest against waiters in saffron serving refreshments and food in the Ramayan Express.

“Donning saffron attire with sadhu-like headgear and wearing ‘malas’ (necklaces) of ‘rudraksha’ (sacred seeds) is an insult to Hindu religion and its seers,” Ujjain Akhada Parishad’s former general secretary Avdeshpuri told PTI.

He said seers will stop the train at Delhi’s Safdarjung railway station if the saffron dress code of the waiters was not changed, adding it was necessary for protecting the Hindu religion.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), in a retweet to a media outlet which ran this agency report, said, “It is to inform that the dress of service staff is completely changed in the look of professional attire of service staff.”

When contacted for his reaction on the IRCTC announcement about the change in attire, a delighted Avdeshpuri said, “It is a victory of (Hindu) religion and ‘sanskriti’ (culture)” and that it was his duty to raise the issue.

Ujjain city, where the famous Shree Mahakaleshwar temple of Lord Shiva is located, hosts Simhastha Kumbh Mela every 12 years.

The country’s first Ramayan circuit train chugged off on a 17-day journey from the Safdarjung railway station on November 7, and will visit 15 places associated with the life of Lord Ram.

Covering a distance of more than 7,500 km, the train will take the pilgrims to places such as Ayodhya, Prayagraj, Nandigram, Janakpur, Chitrakoot, Sitamarhi, Nashik, Hampi and Rameshwaram.

The Ramayan Express is equipped with first-class restaurants, a library and shower cubicles.

Passengers on long-distance train journeys need not worry about packing meals anymore as the Railways has decided to resume cooked food services that had been suspended during the Covid pandemic.

The move comes days after the national transporters decided to discontinue the “special” tag for mail and express trains and revert to pre-pandemic ticket prices with immediate effect.

In a letter to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) today, the Railway Board said that in view of the normalising of train services and the relaxation of Covid curbs in restaurants and eateries across the country, it has been decided that cooked meals would be provided again on trains. The letter added that the service of Ready To Eat meals would also continue.

The Railways is gradually returning to the pre-pandemic scale of services after the Covid’s severely disrupted services. The national transporters first restored services of long-distance trains and then short-distance passenger services started operating as special special trains with “slightly higher fares” to “discourage people from avoidable travels”.

As the number of passengers picked up amid a slide in Covid cases, there were demands for a return to pre-Covid ticket prices — ticket prices of special trains and holiday special trains are marginally higher.

Last Saturday, the Railways decided to drop the “special” tag and return to the pre-pandemic ticket prices.

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The Railways’ decision to resume serving cooked food on trains also comes days after the Ministry of Civil Aviation allowed airlines to serve meals on all domestic flights

The Ministry of Railways has shared a glimpse of the new pod rooms that were inaugurated at Mumbai Central railway station today. The pod concept retiring rooms will provide world-class comfort to travellers at affordable rates.

A pod hotel, also known as a capsule hotel, has a number of small rooms or “pods” that contain a single bed each. These hotels were first started in Japan to provide cost-friendly yet comfortable accommodation to travellers, and have seen an increase in popularity in India of late. Urbanpod was one of the first boutique pod hotels to open in India.

Photos shared by the Ministry of Railways show that the Urbanpod hotel at Mumbai Central station in Maharashtra features a row of pod rooms which travellers can book for short stays.

The swanky new pod rooms at Mumbai Central have been done up in muted shades of beige, brown and white. The pods come with a single bed, a mirror and a personal safe, among other amenities.

“Travelling by train on a short business trip or taking a group of students on a tour, POD rooms at Mumbai Central station are here to make your journey comfortable and easy,” the Ministry of Railways wrote while sharing photos on Twitter.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will soon serve ‘vegetarian-friendly travel’ by getting some trains ‘sattvik certified’, especially those running on routes connecting religious sites. This statement was given by the Sattvik Council of India, a non-governmental organisation involved with the certification. It is also said that the implementation of only vegetarian food in trains to religious sites will begin from November 15, 2021. According to a release by the Sattvik Council of India, the organisation has partnered with the IRCTC to deliver vegetarian-friendly services and promote vegan travel to holy sites. The Vande Bharat Express, which goes from Delhi to Katra operated by the IRCTC, will be certified as “sattvik” as per the Sattvik Council of India.

“IRCTC base kitchens, executive lounges, budget hotels, food plazas, travel and tour packages, Rail Neer plants will be ‘sattvik’ certified to ensure ‘vegetarian-friendly travel,’ the statement said.

The NGO also stated that they would collaborate with the IRCTC to create a vegetarian food handbook. The IRCTC has an agreement with it and has opted to seek certification for specific pilgrimage trains, as the Vande Bharat Express. It is expected that about 18 trains will serve sattvik food, as per the PTI report. However, till now, the IRCTC has not made a comment on the issued statement.

 

 

Seven coaches of Kannur-Yeshwantpur Express on Friday derailed between Toppuru-Sivadi ghat section in Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu, informed South Western Railway (SWR). The incident took place at around 3:50 am on Friday.

The coaches derailed due to the sudden falling of boulders on the train.

“All the 2,348 passengers on board are safe,” said SWR.

No casualties or injuries reported till now.

Following the incident, the DRM Bengaluru Shyam Singh with the divisional team of senior officers and a doctor rushed to the spot immediately with an accident relief train (ART) and medical equipment van at 4.45 am.

“The unaffected rear portion of six coaches and SLR along with passengers is cleared towards Toppuru and further to Salem. This will be halted at Toppuru. Fifteen buses are being arranged at Toppuru for the convenience of passengers. Five buses are being arranged at the spot of the accident. Water and light refreshment have been arranged at spot,” stated SWR.

Senior railway officers, Principal Heads of Departments, and the Disaster Management Cell, Hubballi are closely monitoring the situation.

The superintendent of Meerut City Railway Station has received a letter threatening bomb blasts at railway stations and temples in nine districts, including Meerut, ahead of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s visit to the city on November 11.

Security was tightened at all railway stations although police believed it to be a hoax.

Railway Police DSP Sudesh Kumar Gupta said the letter was received on Tuesday and a case was registered against unidentified persons under relevant sections at the GRP police station.

Mr Gupta said prima facie, it seems to be a hoax. A similar letter was also received by the Hapur Railway Station superintendent’s office on October 30, following which a thorough checking was conducted in the station premises.

Station Superintendent RP Singh said the letter threatened bomb blasts at many temples and railway stations in nine districts, including Meerut, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Muzaffarnagar, Aligarh, Khurja, Kanpur, Lucknow and Shahjahanpur.

In view of the proposed visit of the chief minister to Meerut on Thursday, the police administration has increased vigil, Superintendent of Police (City) Vineet Bhatnagar said.

Train services in the Ranaghat-Lalgola section of Sealdah division were disrupted for more than 24 hours owing to obstruction by a section of people at Jalalkhali Halt station in Nadia district, demanding stoppage of all trains passing through it, an Eastern Railway official said on Wednesday.

The agitators, who have been squatting on the tracks since Tuesday morning, claimed that residents of around 15 villages in the area depend on train services from the station, but only a few trains stop there.

“We are holding discussions with the agitators to lift the protest so that services are normalised,” ER spokesperson Ekalabya Chakraborty said.

He said that Jalalkhali being a halt station, it is not possible that all trains would stop there.

Chakraborty said that the agitators have been offered stoppages of a few more trains at the halt station.

He said that 12 EMU locals on the Sealdah-Krishnanagar line and at least two express trains connecting Sealdah and Lalgola were cancelled on Wednesday owing to the agitation.

He asserted that the agitation would be lifted only on the promise of stoppage of all trains passing through the halt station.