China is keenly examining the project designed to build a rail link between Armenia and Iran and expressed its interest for bringing it into its fold under “One Belt, One Road” project. This was announced by Jian Aiming, the head of the Department for Eurasian Affairs of the Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, in a meeting with Armenia’s Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology Vahan Martirosyan.

Aiming was quoted as saying in a press release that China’s Ministry of Commerce would discuss the inclusion of this project in the “One Belt, One Road” program. He added that after the discussions were over, the corporation would be ready to conduct a feasibility study of the project.

Martirosyan stressed that the rail construction is of strategic importance for Armenia and expressed readiness to discuss this issue with China’s trade minister.

The agreement on the construction of the rail link was approved by Armenian and Iranian governments in 2009. In 2012, the Dubai-based Rasia FZE Investment Company was granted a 50-year concession by the Armenian government to build and manage the 305-kilometer railroad from Armenia to Iran, to be named the Southern Armenian Railway.

By late 2013, Rasia FZE developed a feasibility study for the project, estimated to cost $3.5 billion. The high cost is explained by mountainous terrain through which it is supposed to pass. Specifically, the 305-km-long railroad was to cross 64 bridges spanning 19.6 km and 60 tunnels extending over 102.3 kilometers.

The Armenian government said the railroad was to run from Gagarin Station in Armenia’s Gegharkunik Province to Agarak in southern Syunik and may transport cargo totaling 25 million tons a year. It was also said to provide the shortest transportation route from the ports of the Black Sea to the ports of the Persian Gulf and establish a major commodities transit corridor between Europe and the Persian Gulf region.

China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation Ltd. was established in June 1979 under the approval of the Chinese State Council. Its business scope expands from international contracting for railroad construction to civil engineering design and consultancy, real estate development, trading, industrial investment and hotel management as well.

The business activities of CCECC have expanded to over 40 countries and regions where more than 20 overseas offices or subsidiaries have been established.

The One Belt and One Road initiative is a development strategy proposed by the Chinese government that focuses on connectivity and cooperation between Eurasian countries, primarily China, the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt and the oceangoing 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road.

The strategy underlines China’s push to take a larger role in global affairs with a China-centered trading network. It was unveiled by Xi Jinping in September and October 2013 for SREB and MSR respectively.

Private power producers in the country are irked by their experience in procuring coal under the Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala Transparently in India (SHAKTI). According to the players, the supply of coal has been far from satisfactory.

SHAKTI is the new methodology approved by the government to centralise the process of allocating coal to thermal power plants. The policy was approved in May last year and there had been one round of bids under the scheme for coal-based power plants with power purchase agreements in September. But industry players allege that the winners have not been getting the desired coal supplies even months after being awarded the bids.

However, Mr Susheel Kumar, Secretary, Coal Ministry, brushes aside the allegations, saying that before competing for a Power Purchase Agreement, the companies will have an idea at what cost they will get coal. Mr Kumar said that “This will allow them to make a more informed bid for supplying power.”

Refuting allegations that there was delay in supplies, Kumar said that “According to the SHAKTI policy, power companies will have to get their PPAs amended within 45 days to factor in the lowered cost of coal attained after bids. Some winners then approached the government seeking a relaxation in deadline to 90 days, citing delays in getting their PPAs updated at the regulators.

Mr Kumar added that “We even allowed the winners to start taking the promised coal if the state governments give a guarantee that the lowered coal costs will be passed on in the form of lower tariffs.” Mr Ashok Khurana, Director-General of the Association of Power Producers, said that “The Coal India approach of taking advance payment for all e-auction coal under rail/road mode without committing to any assured supply has resulted in outgo of huge cash from (power plant developers) without translating into coal supply. This has resulted in huge advance accumulation of funds, thus creating cash flow problems for already stressed projects without any visibility or plan of coal supply.”

he number of containers handled at New Mangalore Port crossed 1 lakh TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) on February 26 during the current financial year.

The port handled 1,00,666 TEUs of containers till February 26 of 2017-18 as against 82,169 TEUs in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, recording a growth of 22.51 per cent. The port handled 94,939 TEUs in 2016-17.

‘Significant achievement’

Suresh P Shirwadkar, Chairman in-charge of New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT), termed this growth as a significant achievement towards the development of container traffic at the port.

Increase in the handling of cargoes such as coffee, raw cashew, gherkins, machinery, polypropylene granules and chemicals contributed immensely to achieving this growth in terms of TEUs, he said.

The port is witnessing a steady growth in container traffic mainly due to its business promotion initiatives. Infrastructure works such as expansion of container yards and increase in the number of reefer plug points, and ‘ease of doing business’ initiatives have also contributed for this growth, he said.

These initiatives have fostered the container movement to the port from the hinterland. The port, which handled 9,646 TEUs during 2005-06, is now handling more than 1 lakh TEUs of containers.

He said that increase in the frequency of calls by feeder-line container vessels, competitive ocean freight offered by mainline container operators, and the option of three ports for transhipment of cargo have helped reduce transit time for containers.

The stabilisation of frequency of schedules of the vessels and harmonious industrial relationship have enabled in establishing the reliability of services over the neighbouring ports, he said.

CONCOR Operations

The Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) has commenced its operation from its Inland Container Depot in Bengaluru to NMPT. At present, CONCOR operates a weekly train service from Bengaluru to Mangaluru and vice versa.

A railway siding for CONCOR was commissioned on January 31.This initiative will further boost the connectivity and transportation of containers on railway network, he added.

Siemens is offering a new locomotive for service in Germany. The Smartron is tailored for a specific transport function and utilises all the advantages provided by standardisation.

As a pre-configured locomotive, the Smartron has been conceived for transporting freight in Germany and ensures customers cost-efficient operation and the highest safety standards. The Smartron has already received approval for operating in Germany. The locomotives can now be ordered and will be delivered beginning late in 2018. The first locomotive of the new series is immediately available to customers for test runs and demonstration.

“With the new Smartron, we’re offering our customers a powerful and reliable locomotive that is configured for specific operations, making possible a simple purchase process. One standard version, one standard contract, one standard price – that’s the idea behind the Smartron,” says Sabrina Soussan, CEO of the Mobility Division at Siemens.

The Smartron is based on proven components of the Vectron, which has already demonstrated its reliability in over 100 million kilometres of operation. The locomotive has a maximum output of 5.6 MW and a top speed of 140km/h. It operates on the standard 1,435 mm gauge and weighs around 83 tonnes. The Smartron is designed for the 15-kV AC power system and is equipped with the PZB/LZB train protection system. The locomotive will be delivered in the standard colour “Capri Blue.”

ISRAEL Railways (IR) and Siemens signed a contract worth more than $US 1bn on March 7 for the delivery of 60 Desiro HC regional EMUs over the next 10 years. A contract worth up to €900m for Siemens to supply to Israel Railways with up to 60 four-car and six-car Desiro HC double-deck electric multiple-units over 10 years was signed in Lod on March 7.

The initial tranche of 24 trains comprises six four-car and 18 six-car sets, each formed of two single-deck driving cars and two or four double-deck intermediate vehicles. This includes a firm order for the supply of an initial six four-car and 18 six-car EMUs and the provision of 15 years of maintenance at a purpose-built depot in Ashkelon.

There are further options for maintenance. The overall fleet of 60 trains is valued at $US 910m. Siemens will build a new maintenance centre at Ashkelon at a cost of $US 65.3m and maintain the first 24 trains in a 15-year deal worth $US 113.6m.

‘This order is strategically important for us in two respects’, said Sabrina Soussan, CEO of Siemens’ Mobility Division. Siemens has previously supplied hauled stock to ISR, but now ‘for the first time in our company’s history, we will be delivering complete trains to Israel’, Soussan said. ‘And also for the first time, we’ve sold our innovative Desiro HC train platform outside Germany.’

Alstom, Bombardier Transportation, Hitachi Rail Italy, Siemens, Škoda Transportation and Stadler had submitted best and final offers for the EMU contract, which has been awarded as part of ISR’s 25 kV 50 Hz electrification programme. Siemens was named preferred bidder in September 2017, subject to final approval from the Ministry of Economy.

The All India Inter-Zonal Quiz Competition to mark the 63 rd Railway Week Celebrations of Indian Railways was held today i.e., 7 th March,2018 at Rail Kalarang, Secunderabad. The first ever such event on Indian Railways was conducted by South Central Railway.

The Quiz Competition saw participation of 16 teams representing various Zones and production units of Indian Railways, including the host South Central Railway. The day long Quiz Competition which comprised of a preliminary round involving all teams followed by two semi- finals of 6 teams each and the finals comprising of the top 6 teams which qualified in the Semi-finals.

The internationally acclaimed Quiz Master, Mr. Gautam Bose conducted the entire competition, which built up tempo at each stage, reaching the climax in the tough finals. Southern Railway, represented by the 3 member team of Shri P.V.Manoj , Shri P.R.Girish Kumar and Shri R.Ramachandran were the winners , followed by the North Eastern Railway team of Shri Jagadamba Prasad, Shri Shashwad Gupta and Shri Sanat Jain as the runners up.

The third Place went to Western Railway, while Chittaranjan Locomotive Works stood 4th , while South Central Railway and Indian Railways Organisation of Alternate Fuels (IROAF) stood jointly in the 5th position. Shri Vinod Kumar Yadav, General Manager, South Central Railway who inaugurated the Competition in the morning and was the Chief Guest at the concluding function, presented the prizes to the winners, runners up and the other teams which made it to the finals. Shri John Thomas, Additional General Manager, South Central Railway joined him on the dias to felicitate the teams.

Addressing the huge gathering of Officers and Staff of Railways besides the Quiz lovers from the city present at the Competition, the General Manager stated that Indian Railways has for the first time, decided to organize competition in Cultural events, Painting, Photography and Quiz for the Indian Railway Workforce, on the eve of the 63 rd Railway Week Celebrations to be held in April,2018. While the other Competitions have been entrusted to 3 other Zones, the All India Quiz Competition was tasked for South Central Railway to conduct. The tough level of competition and equally exciting rounds of the Quiz, showed the knowledge skills of Railway Employees, who are amongst the best. Shri Vinod Kumar Yadav added that these events are meant to develop a sense of team spirit amongst Railway Employees and enhance their competence levels so as to enable them perform to their best.

Earlier, Shri M.Umashankar Kumar, Chief Public Relations Officer, SCR welcomed the gathering and detailed the format of the tournament. The winners and runners up team will be felicitated at the main National Level function to mark the 63 rd Railway Week Celebrations of Indian Railways being held at Bhopal on 11 th April,2018. The other four finalists will be awarded at the regional function of the Railway Week Celebrations to be held at Secunderabad, also in April,
2018.

The Quiz Master Shri Gautam Bose expressed his happiness at the high levels of knowledge and intelligence of all the players representing the participating teams, which made the competition exciting and tough.

A scheme of booking e-ticket online and making payment after 15 days through ‘ePaylater’ powered by M/s Arthashastra Fintech Pvt. Ltd., as pilot project, has been introduced by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC). Under this scheme, a customer has the option to pay after 15 days of booking an e-ticket through IRCTC website. The service charge levied on using ‘ePaylater’ scheme is 3.50% of transaction amount and applicable taxes. Online ticketing through IRCTC website is gaining popularity and its share vis-à- vis counter tickets is increasing. Further, online ticket booking is also being promoted as a cashless mode of transaction.

ePaylater as a payment option is displayed at the payment page of IRCTC website to make people aware about the availability of this payment method. Details about its service charge and ‘Terms & Conditions’ of the scheme are also provided at the payment option page.

Founded in December 2015 and based in Mumbai, ePayLater is a digital payment solution offered by Arthashastra Fintech Pvt. Ltd. that enables a “Buy Now, Pay Later” product for frequent online purchasers with an interest free credit term of 14 days. Arthashastra Fintech is recognized as a startup by the ‘Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion’ of the Government of India’s Ministry of Commerce.

The earmarked ladies quota in railway reservation  is a humanitarian effort adopted by Indian Railways, in its efforts to ensure confirmed reservation to women passengers travelling alone or in a group of female passengers. Now, in a move to benefit more such women passengers, Railways has decided to earmark a reservation quota of 6 berths in 3AC class of Garib Rath Express trains for exclusive use of female passengers irrespective of their age while travelling alone or in a group of female passengers.

Further, as per modified rules only female passengers travelling alone or in group of female passengers will be booked in the earmarked quota till preparation of first reservation charts. The unutilized quota will be released to waiting list female passengers travelling alone or group of female passengers, followed by waiting list senior citizens. If there are no such passengers and berths are left vacant, onboard ticket checking staff shall be authorized to allow this accommodation to any other lady passenger/senior citizen on partially confirmed ticket.

रेलवे द्वारा महिलाओं के लिए अलग से चिह्नित किये गये आरक्षण कोटे के नियमों में बदलाव

भारतीय रेल द्वारा रेल आरक्षण में महिला कोटा प्रदान करना एक उदारतापूर्ण प्रयास है, जिसके तहत अकेले या महिला यात्रियों के ग्रुप में सफ़र कर रही महिला यात्रियों को कन्फर्म आरक्षण सुनिश्चित किया गया। अब ऐसी महिला यात्रियों को अधिक सुविधा पहुँचाने के प्रयासों के तहत रेलवे ने गरीब रथ एक्सप्रेस ट्रेन में III एसी श्रेणी में छह बर्थ का आरक्षण कोटा चिह्नित किया है, जिसका लाभ बिना उम्र को ध्यान में रखते हुए ऐसी महिला रेल यात्री उठा सकती हैं, जो या तो अकेले या महिला यात्रियों के ग्रुप में सफ़र कर रही हैं।

इसके अलावा संशोधित नियमानुसार अकेली यात्रा कर रहीं महिला यात्री अथवा महिला यात्रियों की समूह में यात्रा हेतु चिह्नित कोटा में आरक्षण प्रथम आरक्षण चार्ट तैयार करने तक किये जा सकेंगे। खाली रह गये कोटा को अकेले यात्रा कर रही महिला यात्री को अथवा महिला यात्रियों के समूह में रिलीज़ किया जायेगा। तत्पश्चात प्रतीक्षा सूची के वरिष्ठ नागरिकों को इस कोटे में शामिल किया जायेगा। ऐसे कोई यात्री न होने तथा बर्थ खाली होने की स्थिति में ऑन बोर्ड टिकट चेकिंग स्टाफ वह बर्थ आंशिक कन्फर्म टिकट पर किसी अन्य महिला यात्री/वरिष्ठ नागरिकों को आवंटित करने हेतु प्राधिकृत होंगे।

Your train journey from Delhi to Jaipur is about to get an upgrade. According to several reports, the Ministry of Railways has signed a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with an Italian infrastructure and engineering company FS-Italferr. With the company’s involvement, a feasibility study will be conducted, and the key focus will be to create a semi-high speed rail corridor between Delhi and Jaipur, with the aim of increasing the speed of the train (up to 200kms per hour), and reducing travel time significantly.

The distance between Delhi to Jaipur is 309kms, and the current situation allows passengers to travel to either cities in a span of 4 hours 30 minutes, with the speed being 75kms/hr on an average, and 110kms/hr at the maximum.

Details suggest that the Ministry of Railways has written to Northern Railways, Delhi, and North Western Railways with regard to the feasibility study, to help and support the Italian company, in order to complete the feasibility report. If implemented, this move is likely to be a game-changer for the Indian Railways, as they will be able to compete with airlines that enable passengers to travel between Delhi and Jaipur in only an hour.

This initiative can be added to a roster of growth strategies by the Indian Railways that include the expansion of the metro network across cities, bullet train facilities for passengers, and making luxury trains more affordable for tourists.

Safety is accorded the highest priority by Indian Railways and all possible steps are undertaken on a continual basis to prevent accidents and to enhance safety because of which during the last three years, the number of consequential train accidents (including accidents at Unmanned Level Crossings mainly caused due to negligence of road vehicle users) have decreased from 135 in 2014-15, to 107 in 2015-16 and further to 104 in 2016-17.

In the current year (upto 28th February, 2018) the number of consequential train accidents have further reduced to 70 as compared to 99 in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Security has been identified as one of the priority areas by Railways for strengthening and upgradation. Measures initiated in recent past to strengthen security over Indian Railways include installation of CCTV cameras at railway stations/trains, operationalisation of security helpline 182, and development of security App etc.

Operational measures to strengthen security of passengers include escorting of about 4500 important mail/Express trains daily by Railway Protection Force / Government Railway Police, access control at important railway stations, prosecution of offenders for unauthorized vending/hawking, entry into ladies and reserved compartments, touting of tickets, trespassing, roof travelling, alarm chain pulling etc. under relevant provisions of the Railways Act., detection of passenger related crime, arrest of criminals and handing over to GRP for further legal action.

Close coordination and liaison is maintained by the RPF with GRPs to strengthen security over railways. State Level Security Committee for Railways (SLSCR) have also been constituted for all State/UTs under the Chairmanship of respective Director General of Police/Commissioner of States/UTs for regular monitoring and review of security arrangement for the Railways.

Prevention and detection of crime related to passengers, registration of such cases, their investigation and maintenance of law and order in railway premises as well as on running trains are the statutory responsibility of the State Governments. For this purpose, a separate wing of State Police in the name of ‘Government Railway Police’ (GRP) functions in respective States. Ministry of Railways are supplementing efforts of States in providing security over railways through the Railway Protection Force (RPF).

Improvement In Surveillance

Close surveillance on anti-social elements, regular and intensive drives conducted by RPF have resulted in 18.84 % more arrests in the year 2017 as compared to the year 2015. Zone-wise number of persons arrested by the RPF in the last three years (2015, 2016 & 2017) is appended. The statistics of Northern Railway includes arrests made in Delhi.

Railway Protection Force (RPF) has been empowered under the Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Act to arrest and prosecute offenders related to Railway Property. RPF personnel have also been empowered under the Railways Act to arrest and prosecute offenders involved in offences specified under 29 sections of the Railways Act which are related to alarm chain pulling, unauthorised hawking and vending, touting, trespassing, travelling on roof and foot-board of train, travelling of male persons in coaches reserved for female passengers etc. 0.59% of total arrests are related to offences under the Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Act and 99.41% are related to the Railways Act.

Special emphasis is being given to improve living conditions of RPF/RPSF personnel by providing barracks at important locations and upgrading basic amenities in the existing barracks at par with running rooms. During the year 2018-19, works to the tune of  Rs.59 Cr. have been sanctioned for construction of barracks. All the Divisional Railway Managers have been advised to conduct inspection of all the RPF barracks and submit status report. Measures initiated to strengthen RPF also include installation of CCTV cameras at Railway stations/trains, upgradation of security helpline No. 182, development of security App., soft skill training to RPF personnel, etc.