Indian Railways News

Indian Railways News

Supreme Court Raps Railways For No Action Against Encroachers On Its Land

The Supreme Court Monday pulled up the Railways for not acting against encroachers on its land in Gujarat, where a railway line is scheduled to come up, and said they are not protecting their property.

Observing that it is the “statutory obligation” of the Railways to initiate action against the encroachers, the court said the “public project” has to go on and the authority should have taken action on this.

“The project has to go on. It is a public project. You are making mockery of your plans and budgeting arrangements. Remove those who are encroachers. There is law for removal. You are not invoking that law,” a bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and CT Ravikumar said.

“It is your property and you are not protecting your property. And it is a statutory obligation on you to initiate action against encroachers,” the bench told Additional Solicitor General (ASG) K M Nataraj, representing the Railways.

The top court was hearing two separate petitions which have raised issues related to the removal of encroachment from Railways land in Gujarat and Haryana.

In the Gujarat matter, the petitioners had earlier told the top court that the state high court had vacated its July 23, 2014 interim order of status quo and permitted the Western Railways to go ahead with the Surat-Udhna up to Jalgaon third railway line project.

After the high court order, the petitioners moved the top court which granted status quo on the demolition of these ‘jhuggis’ in Gujarat.

The other plea relates to the demolition of ‘jhuggis’ near the railway tracks at Faridabad in Haryana.

In the Faridabad matter, the top court had earlier granted status quo on the demolition of structures of those, who have approached the court seeking stay of the eviction.

During the hearing on Monday, the ASG told the bench that Railways have no scheme for rehabilitation of those who are encroaching upon its land.

He referred to the ‘PM Awas Yojana’ which is subject to eligibility.

The ASG said the state will have to consider the aspect of rehabilitation.

The bench observed that the corporation, the state and the Railways should sit together and chalk out a plan and then inform the court about it.

“From the Railways point of view, all these people are unauthorised occupants and it is an offence,” the ASG said.

The bench observed, “Did you act upon it? Did you discharge your statutory obligation to remove them? Did you invoke the Public Premises Act? Did you invoke criminal action?”

Bengal Woman Serves Leftover Food From Wedding To The Needy, Wins Hearts

Weddings in India are a grandiose affair with multiple functions and ceremonies. Food forms an integral part of such weddings, and, more often than not, families over-cater to ensure that their guests don’t go hungry. Thus, a lot of food is wasted in the process. In such a scenario, the sight of a woman dressed in her finery, sitting on a railway platform in Bengal, and offering leftover wedding food to the poor stands out. We have no idea if it’s some deeply-held principle about reducing waste or a goal to feed the homeless, but the woman’s effort has, nevertheless, been very inspiring.

Nilanjan Mondal, a wedding photographer, shared the moment on a wedding photographers’ page on Facebook. Mondal identified the woman as Papiya Kar, who was seen feeding the poor with leftover food from her brother’s wedding. This happened at around 1 am on December 5 at Ranaghat Junction, a Kolkata Suburban Railway station. We could see the woman wearing traditional wedding attire and serving the food on paper plates by herself in the photos. People of all ages had congregated at the platform where she was distributing food. There was Dal, Roti, Sabzi and rice among the dishes served.

Over 1,200 people had liked the Facebook post and many even commented on it. Some said that it wasn’t an isolated case and that Kar had, in the past, too, cooked meals and served them to the poor and needy. One of those commenting in Bengali appreciated the woman’s act of kindness and added that if everyone had a similar mindset, society would be a better place. There were other comments such as “great job”, “great work”, and “so proud of you”.

A few days ago, in another similar humanitarian deed, a 10-year-old girl Lyla, who used to sell cookies to raise funds for her leg treatment, got help from an Instagram user in the most unexpected way. The user, Charlie Rocket, shared a clip on Instagram, showing his interaction with the girl. When he asks the girl about her “dream”, she says, “I like to cook. I have made cookies today,”, and goes on to add that she was doing a fundraiser at her home for her leg treatment. Click here to watch the entire clip of Charlie interacting with the girl and find out how he decides to surprise her.

We look forward to more such small acts of kindness because they never cease to make us smile.

Duranto Express Derails In Odisha, All Passengers Safe

At least two wheels of the parcel van of Duranto Express jumped off the tracks at Haridaspur Railway Station in Odisha’s Jajpur district today, the East Coast Railway said.

“There is no report of any injury due to the incident,” it said.

“Two front wheels of high-capacity parcel van of 12246 Yasvantpur-Howrah Duranto Express has derailed while passing through Haridaspur Railway Station Yard at 11:14 hrs today. All passengers are safe,” East Coast Railway or ECoR said in a statement.

The incident will not affect the movement of train services of the Kharagpur-Bhubaneswar main line, it said.

“All passenger coaches will be connected with another engine. The restoration of the affected coaches will be done with immediate effect,” the statement added.

Duranto Express Derails In Odisha, All Passengers Safe

At least two wheels of the parcel van of Duranto Express jumped off the tracks at Haridaspur Railway Station in Odisha’s Jajpur district today, the East Coast Railway said.

“There is no report of any injury due to the incident,” it said.

“Two front wheels of high-capacity parcel van of 12246 Yasvantpur-Howrah Duranto Express has derailed while passing through Haridaspur Railway Station Yard at 11:14 hrs today. All passengers are safe,” East Coast Railway or ECoR said in a statement.

The incident will not affect the movement of train services of the Kharagpur-Bhubaneswar main line, it said.

“All passenger coaches will be connected with another engine. The restoration of the affected coaches will be done with immediate effect,” the statement added.

Duranto Express Derails In Odisha, All Passengers Safe

At least two wheels of the parcel van of Duranto Express jumped off the tracks at Haridaspur Railway Station in Odisha’s Jajpur district today, the East Coast Railway said.

“There is no report of any injury due to the incident,” it said.

“Two front wheels of high-capacity parcel van of 12246 Yasvantpur-Howrah Duranto Express has derailed while passing through Haridaspur Railway Station Yard at 11:14 hrs today. All passengers are safe,” East Coast Railway or ECoR said in a statement.

The incident will not affect the movement of train services of the Kharagpur-Bhubaneswar main line, it said.

All passenger coaches will be connected with another engine. The restoration of the affected coaches will be done with immediate effect,” the statement added.

Man Forgets Gold, Rs 75,000 At Agra Station. Auto Driver Helps Return It

An autorickshaw driver on Wednesday helped return gold and cash-filled trolley bag to its owner, who had forgotten it at the gate of the Agra Cantt Railway Station, the police said.

The bag was spotted by autorickshaw driver Vinod Yadav who then handed it over to the Government Railway Police (GRP) of the station.

The bag contained a pair of gold bangles, a ring, a pair of anklets, and  75,000 in cash, along with clothes, said a GRP official.

“Vinod Yadav found the trolley bag unattended outside the gate of the Agra Cantt Railway Station and handed it over to the GRP,” Sushil Kumar, Sub Inspector at GRP, Agra Cantt Police Station, said.

The police traced the bag’s owner – Biri Singh, a resident of the state’s Hathras district. He was said to have arrived in Agra from Bhopal.

Mr Singh was located through a contact number found inside the bag and was called to collect his property, Mr Kumar said.

“We called the relatives of Biri Singh, who then contacted him. We asked Biri Singh to collect the bag from the GRP police station premises. After completing the procedure, we handed over the bag to him,” he said.

“He was quite happy and thanked us and the driver as he got the trolley bag and valuables items safely,” he added.

Vinod Yadav, who has been operating from the station for the past several years, said it was his duty to return the bag.

“I felt very good after returning the trolley bag as it was my duty to hand over the unattended bag to the real owner,” he said.

“In past as well, passengers have left their belongings, but rickshaw drivers had returned them safely,” he added.

Biri Singh too expressed disbelief at getting his bag back and thanked Mr Yadav and the GRP officials.

Comments“I can’t believe that I have got my bag back safely with all my valuables and cash as well. Nothing was missing from the bag. I appreciate the efforts of the autorickshaw driver and GRP,” he said.

Platform Ticket Price Hike In Mumbai Rolled Back, Will Now Cost ₹ 10

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.

Platform Ticket Price Hike In Mumbai Rolled Back, Will Now Cost ₹ 10

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 Launches Indigenously-Developed Simulator To Train Drivers

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.

Ramayan Express Staff’s Saffron Uniform Changed After Protest

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.