Shri A.K.Prasad IRAS has been appointed as new Financial Commissioner (Railways), Railway Board and ex-officio Secretary to Government of India vice Shri B.N. Mohapatra, FC, who superannuated on 31st January, 2018.

Shri A.K.Prasad  has since assumed charge as the new Financial Commissioner (Railways), with effect from 1st February 2018. Shri Prasad is an officer of Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS) of 1981 batch.

He has done his Masters in Economics from Delhi School of Economics in the year 1980.

Prior to this assignment, Shri Prasad was Additional Member/Finance in Railway Board.

In his distinguished career, Shri Prasad has earlier headed the Finance and Accounts wing as Principal Finance Adviser in Northern Railway, North Western Railway, North Central Railway etc.

He has also worked as Divisional Railway Manager, Solapur and on deputation as Financial Adviser NDMC and has wide experience of rail management and general administration.

आरसीसी स्लैब को लॉंच करने तथा रेल पथ पर संरक्षा को अधिक बेहतर बनाने के क्रम में लकड़ी के स्लीपरों के बदलाव हेतु रविवार 4 फरवरी, 2018 को वैतरणा एवं सैफाले स्टेशनों के बीच अप लाइन की पुल संख्या 99 पर तीन घंटे 30 मिनट का ब्लॉक लिया गया था। कार्य को सफलतापूर्वक पूर्ण करने के पश्चात ब्लॉक क्लीयर कर दिया गया, परन्तु उल्लेखनीय है कि पश्चिम रेलवे के मुंबई मंडल द्वारा इसी ब्लॉक अवधि में निकटवर्ती खंडों पर भी विविध कार्य पूरे किये गये।

पश्चिम रेलवे द्वारा इसी ब्लॉक अवधि में कुछ अन्य कार्य जैसे घोलवड – उमरगाम खंड पर 260 मीटर लम्बी रेल पैनल की अनलोडिंग, भिलाड – संजान खंड में बकाया टीआरआर तथा संजान यार्ड में बीसीएम के उपयोग द्वारा प्वॉइंट संख्या 109 की डीप स्क्रीनिंग जैसे कार्य भी किये गये। संरक्षा को अधिक बेहतर बनाने तथा 75 कि.मी. प्रति घंटा के अस्थाई गति अवरोध को सामान्य करने के उद्देश्य से अप लाइन पर पुल संख्या 445 पर लकड़ी के स्लीपरों को स्टील चैनेल स्लीपरों के साथ बदला गया। पश्चिम रेलवे ने वैतरणा तथा सैफाले के बीच के रेलवे ट्रैक को लकड़ी के स्लीपरों से पूर्णतः मुक्त कर दिया है। अतः इस व्यस्त रूट पर बिना कोई अतिरिक्त ब्लॉक लिये पश्चिम रेलवे द्वारा अनुरक्षण तथा अपग्रेडेशन के विविध उल्लेखनीय कार्यों काट अंतिम रूप दिया गया।

A block was taken on Sunday, 4^th February, 2018 between Vaitarna and Saphale on UP line at Br. 99 for three and half hours to launch RCC slab & to eliminate wooden sleepers and improve safety on the tracks. The block was cleared right after the successful completion but Mumbai Division of Western Railway also carried out multiple tasks in nearby sections in this block alone.

Western Railway simultaneously carried out few other tasks such as unloading of 260m long rail panels at in Gholvad- Umargam section, 520m TRR that was due in Bhilad- Sanjan section also completed in the shadow block and deep screening of point no.109 done using BCM in Sanjan yard. Wooden sleepers replaced with Steel Channel Sleepers on Br. No. 445 UP line improving safety & relaxing TSR of 75kmph to normal. Western Railway made full use of the block between Vaitarna-Saphale and made an UP line from Virar to Surat free of wooden sleepers, thereby completing multiple maintenance & upgradation works simultaneously to avoid need for separate blocks on this busy route.

Railways has planned to run an extra DEMU train between Indore and Ratlam stations. The Divisional Railway Manager of Ratlam Division on Sunday said that they were expecting to receive rake of a DEMU train, which is being run on Ratlam and Mathura rail section. “The rake is expected to be freed from the Ratlam-Mathura section in the second week of February.

We have requested for the rake to run an extra DEMU train between Indore and Ratlam railway stations,” said DRM Sunkar.

The DRM said the plan is to fulfil the demand of passengers for an additional DEMU train service between Indore and Ratlam during early morning and late in the evening.

Sunkar had come to Indore to inspect the railway station. “We are also planning to set up a stabling line between platform 1 and 2 of the station,” he said, adding that it will be for parking engines and trains with less number of coaches at the station.

The railways had earlier announced to develop a garden on this vacant space but after finding the need of a stabling line at the station it was changed.

Sunkar also issued instructions to officials concerned to start escalator facility at the station at the earliest. “Indore has always been the most important station of the division, and efforts are being made for provision of best class passenger amenities at the station,” he said.

Officials are also identifying areas, which are not in use, on the station’s premises. “The vacant space will be identified and developed in a manner so that they can be utilised for passengers’ interest,” he said.

Speaking about expansion of Dr Ambedkar Nagar railway station, the DRM said that they were waiting for land acquisition process. “The expansion project would be executed as soon as we get the land,” he said.

With gauge conversion being one of the core areas of ministry of railways, the Nagpur division of South East Central Railway (SECR) has removed one of the biggest hurdles in expediting broad gauge work between Nagpur-Chhindwara by constructing a rail under rail (RUR) bridge in record 44 hours on Saturday.

“RUR is a bridge which allows movement of trains simultaneously from above and beneath when trains criss-cross at a point. It was a challenging task completed it in 44 hours train block,” said SECR divisional railway manager (DRM) Amit Kumar Agarwal.

SECR is undertaking the massive project of 149-km Nagpur-Chhindwara gauge conversion and wants to complete it by December 2018.

Agarwal said, as part of this project, the new rail line had to cross the existing network in Nagpur area. There were three surface crossings (lines) — Kalamna-Koradi line, Nagpur — Kalamna and Kalamna-Itwari main lines. To avoid the surface crossings, which would have led to detention of trains on the main line, it was decided to have RUR. It cost railways Rs4.21 crore.

RUR is uncommon in the railways due to its execution, logistics and drainage issues. “In this case, drainage problem was resolved by keeping zero surcharge above reinforced cement concrete (RCC) boxes. For execution, ‘cut and cover’ method was planned by taking a fixed time span block and diverting traffic on alternate routes,” he added.

The construction wing of the SECR took up the challenge and built 24-metre-long RUR in only 44 hours. The work started around 12 midnight on Friday and was completed at 8pm on Saturday.

Agarwal said that during the 44-hour block, de-launching of nine RCC boxes of narrow gauge (NG) line, dismantling of existing abutment of narrow gauge RUR and existing six girder bridges, launching of 16 precast RCC boxes of 6mx6m size was literary an arduous task.

Chief engineer (construction) AK Pandey said the job was accomplished through use of heavy machinery including high capacity (600m & 300m) cranes, two hydraulic excavators and hydraulic concrete breakers, tippers and other equipment for executing the most challenging work.

Pandey said since it was not a Greenfield project, the work involved intricate planning for not only the bridge but also the movement of goods and passenger trains.

“It was a mammoth task to keep the freight trains moving on alternate routes, which could be done with detailed planning and monitoring. The work involved 180 workers besides 30 odd supervisors,” he added.

A major block has been taken from 11.20 hrs to 14.50 hrs on Up line and from 11.20 hrs to 13.50 hrs. on Down  line between Vaitarna – Safale stations on Sunday,  4^th February, 2018  for launching of  girder on bridge no. 99. Due to this following train will be cancelled/Short terminated:-

Train Cancelled (Down Direction) :-

• 59039 Virar – Valsad Passenger
• 93015 Churchgate – Dahanu Road EMU
• 93017 Virar – Dahanu Road EMU
• 93019 Virar-  Dahanu Road EMU
• 93021 Virar- Dahanu Road EMU

Train Cancelled (Up Direction ) :-

• 93014 Dahanu Road – Virar EMU
• 93016 Dahanu Road – Churchgate EMU
• 93018 Dahanu Road -Virar EMU
• 93024 Dahanu Road – Virar EMU
• 59046 Valsad – Bandra Terminus Passenger

Trains to be  short  terminated :-

• Train no 59440 Ahmedabad – Mumbai Central Passenger will be terminated at Palghar Station and will be reversed as Train no 59439  i. e. Train no 59440/39 will be remain cancelled between Palghar – Mumbai Central – Palghar.
• Train no 19116 Bhuj – Dadar Express will be terminated at Borivali and will be reversed as train no 19115  from Borivali.
• Train no 12996 Ajmer/ Udaipur – Bandra Terminus Express will be terminated at Borivali and will be reversed as train no 12995  from Borivali.

The members of Institute of Indian Railway Electrical Engineers (IREE), South Central Railway Chapter celebrated 7^th Railway Electrical Engineers Day Celebrations at Electric Loco Shed, Lallaguda, South Central Railway today i.e., 3^rdFebruary,2018. Shri Vinod Kumar Yadav, General Manager, SCR was the chief guest and Shri John Thomas, Additional General Manager was the guest of honour. Shri A.A.Phadke, Principal Chief Electrical Engineer and Chairperson of IREE presided over the function.

The Electrical Engineers Day is celebrated as a mark of its remembrance for the 1^st ever electric train was run on 3^rd Feb, 1925 from Boribander (Now known as Mumbai CST) to Kurla on 1500v DC on Great India Peninsula Railway.

Speaking on the Occasion, Shri Vinod Kumar Yadav stated that Electrical Engineering has got bright future ahead in the Railways as the emphasis is laid in the recent Budget for Railway Electrification all over the Railway network. The General Manager stated that the Hon’ble Minister for Railways and the Chairman, Railway Board are taking positive view for the introduction of semi Hi-Speed trains and Hi- Speed Trains Network. He also appealed to the Officials of Electrical department to rise to the requirements of large scale railway electrification projects and ensure timely completion from concept to commissioning. SCR is placed at top position over Indian Railways in terms of achieving Energy conservation awards continuously for three years with the efforts made by Electrical Department and should maintain the same in forth coming years, he added. The General Manager also visited the Electric Loco Shed, interacted with the staff and planted a sapling in the premises.

Earlier, Shri John Thomas, Additional General Manager spoke on the occasion and said that Electric Engineers have to face the challenges ahead to achieve the targets of electrification projects completion.

Shri Gopinath Mallya, Chief Electrical Loco Engineer welcomed the dignitaries and made a presentation on the theme of Electric Traction and Technological advancements over the years. Shri A.A.Phadke, Principal Chief Electric Engineer Smt. Padmini Radhakrishnan, Principal Financial Advisor (PFA); Shri Arjun Mundiya, Principal Chief Mechanical Engineer; Shri P.K.Sangewar, Principal Chief Material Manager; Shri Sanjay Sankrityayan, Chief Security Commissioner; Shri Amit Varadan, Divisional Railway Manager, Secunderabad were amongst the Officials present. The delegates from RVNL, L&T Electrical and Automation, Seimens India Pvt. Ltd also participated in the seminar.

About Electrical Loco Shed, Lallaguda

Electric Loco shed Lallaguda was constructed as a part of Vijayawada – Balharshah Railway Electrification project at a cost of Rs. 25 crore including the Machinery & Plant with a designed homing capacity of 100 Locos. The shed was inaugurated on 06.09.1995.The shed has started with initial holding of 72 Locomotives comprising of WAM4 & WAG5 for hauling Passenger and Goods Trains. Subsequently higher Horse Power Express locos of WAP4 class were inducted at the end of year 1995. The state of Art technology Three phase locos are inducted in May 2007.

At present the shed has a total holding of 211 Locomotives including 101 coaching locos. The shed is operating 93 express loco link including prestigious trains like Rajdhani, Duranto, Sampark kranthi express trains.

ELS/LGD carries out Minor maintenance schedule (IA/IB/IC/IT) and Major Maintenance Schedules (AOH/MOH/IOH) as well as unscheduled repairs of locos. POH of Locos is carried out at Bhusawal, Perambur, Kancharapara & Dahood Loco workshops.

The shed is able to carry out maintenance of the locomotives with best practices on Indian Railways with highest reliability of the locomotives with meagre 2.77 manpower per loco (against 3.38 IR Average)

Loco Holding:

The present holding is as shown below

Holding of ELS/LGD

Coaching		Goods	Total
WAP4	WAP7	WAG9
40 (Conventional)	61 (3 Phase)	110 (3 Phase)	211

Make	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18 (As on 30.08.17)
WAP4	63	60	59	60	60	60	58	47	40	40
WAP7	2	8	17	24	33	40	40	47	54	55
WAG7	8	16	8	–	–	–	–	–	–
WAG9	52	62	71	74	77	81	95	110	118	120
TOTAL	125	146	155	158	170	181	193	204	212	215

ELS/LGD carries out Minor maintenance schedule (IA/IB/IC/IT) and Major Maintenance Schedules (AOH/MOH/IOH) as well as unscheduled repairs of locos. POH of Locos is carried out at Bhusawal, Perambur, Kancharapara & Dahood Loco workshops.

The shed is able to carry out maintenance of the locomotives with best practices on Indian Railways with highest reliability of the locomotives with meagre 2.77 manpower per loco (against 3.38 IR Average).

The loco shed is at present headed by the rank of JAG grade  Senior Divisional Electrical Engineer assisted by one Divisional Engineer, one Assistant Divisional Engineer along with Senior Material Manager who is responsible for managing the procurement, stocking and distributing of stores to various sections.

The loco maintenance wing is divided into main sections headed by a Senior Section Engineer and assisted by junior supervisory staff to monitor and improve various maintenance schedules and modification works carried out in the section. A locomotive nominated for maintenance is first received by the PPO section and dispatched out through the same section after completion of the maintenance.

The role played by the other sections namely, Traction Motor, Bogie, Auxiliary Machines, Electronics, SPM and Relay, TFP & GR, Pneumatic, Technical, Tool Room, Machine Shop, General and Store section is vital in completing the process. In a nutshell, it is a comprehensive team effort that keeps the wheels on the move.

Non-Gazetted:

Staff	Sanction	Actual
Supervisors	63	63
Artisans	523	421
Group D	88	118
Ministerial	16	12
Total	690	614
Man power/loco		2.77
IR average		3.38

IMPORTANT MILESTONES:

WAP4 Loco No: 22313 of Electric loco shed Lallaguda adjudged 3^rd best out of more than 20 locos in All India basis competition of Crew Friendly Cab Modification contest organized by Ministry of Railways in April’03.

Innovation proposed by ELS/LGD on modification of End Hanger Assembly of brake rigging of WAP4 locomotive was chosen as second best innovation in Indian Railways by Railway Board for the year 2006-2007 and sanctioned a cash prize of Rs. 2,00,000/-.

GM special group award of Rs. 25000/- was declared to ELS/LGD for its excellent performance during 2010-11 among Zonal level.

Electric Loco shed, Lallaguda received “Best Electric Loco Shed Shield” for the years 2010 & 2012 among the three sheds in SC Railway.

Performance Indices:

Outage: The coaching and goods outage for the last 05 years with current year are given below:

	2013-14		2014-15		2015-16		2016-17		2017-18(Apr-Aug)
	Chg	Goods	Chg	Goods	Chg	Goods	Chg	Goods	Chg	Goods
Railway Board Target	88.33	65.20	87.42	76.89	85.95	99.51	87	107.15	85.4	110.9
Actual	88.79	73.03	85.2	82.06	82.59	98.39	82.53	103.86	83.36	104.23

Statistical Ineffective: The Statistic ineffective details for the last 02 years with current year are given below:

	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18(Apr-Aug)
Target	6.0	7.25	6.0	9.52	7.6
Actual	7.42	8.85	7.87	7.96	8.82

Reliability:

PUNCTUALITY RELIABILITY (Per 100 locos/month)

2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18(Apr-Aug)
3.1	3.3	3.3	2.5	2.5

ASSET RELIABILITY (Per 100 locos/month)

2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18(Apr-JUL)
3.1	3.8	4.2	3.2	3.4

ENERGY REGENERATION IN 3PHASE LOCOS (in Million Units)

2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18(Apr-Aug)
62.6	69.6	82.8	98.2	30.6

INNOVATION/ GOOD WORK DONE

1.To avoid dropping of slack adjuster assembly (bottom) in case of breakage of its Split cotter pin in WAP7 locos, ELS/LGD proposed provision of hexagonal head bolt with plain washer and castle nut in place of slack adjuster pin with split cotter pin. The item was discussed during 37^{th MSG} meeting and accepted by Railway Board. RDSO issued Modification No. MS 441 for this arrangement to all Zonal Railways.

2.The falling of brake hanger was observed which are supported by single headless pin in WAP7 locos. To prevent the falling of brake hanger in case of brake hanger pin coming out, E clamps have been developed and provided by ELS/LGD for brake hangers5,6,19&20 which acts as stopper for the brake hanger lever pin. RDSO issued Standard Maintenance Instruction no. SMI 282 on this arrangement to all Zonal Railways.

3.ELS/LGD proposed to remove anti spin valve and associated double check valve in brake system of three phase locomotives since they are not in service. This was proposed by SCR in 37^th MSG meeting and accepted by Railway Board.RDSO issued Modification no. MS 447 to all Zonal Railways.

4.ELS/LGD proposed to carryout insitu Magnetic particle testing on TM motor support of 3 phase locos during schedules to detect the cracks.Accordingly RDSO issued Maintenance instruction No.269 Rev.1’ dt:16-3-16 to all Zonal Railways.

5.ELS/LGD has highlighted the problem of non availability of C clearance of MSU which is leading to MSU failures in 3phase locos. Accordingly RDSO issued modification no.456 Rev’0′ dt:9.1.17 for Modification in drawing of supporting ring to achieve adequate ‘C’ Clearance in MSU assembly of 6FRA-6068 TM in WAG9/WAP7 class of locomotives.

6.ELS/LGD proposed to review MOH schedule periodicity of WAG9 locomotives from 18 months to 24 months.During decisions on recommendations of 61^stESC Railway Board accepted the proposal and RDSO vide letter no. RDSO Lr No. EL/3.6.1/1, Dt.19.10.16 had issued Revised MOH (TOH) schedule for WAG9 for 24 months.

REDUCING EXPENDITURE:

INDIGENOUSLY DEVELOPED TRACTION CONVERTER COOLANT PUMP:

Converter coolant pumps which are received in M/s BHEL make IGBT Traction Converter locos are of magnetic coupling type and having high failure rate. The cost of the pump is high (Rs.12,98,903/-approx) and the maintenance time is also high. ELS/LGD has explored indigenous market and developed a converter coolant pump through M/s Flowwell at the cost of Rs.1,10,548/- and achieved effective cost saving of Rs.11,88,355/- percoolant pump( RS.23,76,710/- per loco approx). This was accepted by Railway Board & RDSO in 38^thMSG meeting.

Reducing energy consumption:

Three phase locomotives are equipped with regenerative braking. These locomotives have contributed saving of Rs. 15.9 crores during 2009-10, Rs. 20.3 crores in 2010-11 & Rs. 11.3 crores during 2011-12 upto August (Rs. 4.5 /unit) through regeneration of energy.

Goods Outage :

Goods outage has been 101.13 locos per day during this month as against the target of 104.1 locos, i.e., 08.52 % above the RB target. With this, the cumulative Goods outage for the year so far has been 73.03 locos against the target of 65.20 locos. i.e 12.01 % above the Railway board target.

Inspections / Super checks carried out:

Officer	Day Time	Night Time
Sr.DEE	1	1
DEE	1	1
ADEE-I	1	1
ADEE-II	1	1

Energy Conservation:

During the month, 4.5 Million units of Energy was regenerated by 41 three phase locomotives (Locos visited the shed) which was 13.03% of Energy consumed by them. With this 65.64 Million units were generated in total during 2012-2013 which was 13.67% of Energy consumed.

CORDLESS IMPACT WRENCHES:

10nos. Battery operated cordless impact wrenches procured this month for the usageof staff working on various equipment of the locomotive. These wrenches operate at 1.8 Volts for the sizes from M12 to M20 and deliver torque up to 650 Nm. These electrical portable wrenches arelight in weight and easy to operate. They can be used for tightening/loosening bolts of Axle boxes,Transformers, Gear cases etc.

ANTI SMOKING CAMPAIGN

TOBACCO DAY.  Dr. Anjaiah. MD, Dr.Sunil. Chest Physician and Dr.Padma. Family planning In  charge from Railway Hospital, Lallaguda have participated in this campaign and given presentation on the health hazards of active and passive smoking. The meeting was attended by the officers, supervisors and staff of ELS/LGD.

SPECIAL  DRIVES :

15 days special drive to joint check of pantographs with TRD staff and to check and ensure condition of roof equipments (including pantographs, cleaning of roof insulators and roof bars etc.,) in electric locos from 28-12-2013 to 11-01-2014.So far 5 locos covered under this drive.

Regeneration of Energy:

During this month 5.08 Million units of Energy was regenerated by 51 three phase locos (locos visited the shed), which was 12.61 % of the energy consumed by them.v

Railway infrastructure around Delhi got a major boost in the 2018 budget, with many hundreds of crores in funding across two projects – the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) and the Delhi Metro.

The RRTS is a series of rail corridors that connect the central sections of the city of Delhi to its neighbouring National Capital Region (NCR) and some parts of the neighbouring states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) is the entity implementing the high-speed regional rail system.

The project is currently in its inception stage but received a shot in the arm when the Centre allocated Rs 659 crore for Phase 1 of the project in the Union Budget.

In context, just last year, a measly Rs 0.01 crore was allocated to the project.

So what is being funded in Phase 1? This phase of the project consists of three corridors –

• Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut (92.6 km).
• Delhi-Gurugram-Rewari-Alwar (180 km).
• Delhi-Sonipat-Panipat (111 km).

According to an NCRTC spokesperson, the first to be executed will be the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor, with plans that hope to see trains covering the New Delhi-Meerut distance in less than an hour.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) got a Rs 50 crore grant for further expansion in the NCR. This amount will be disbursed for two projects –

• Noida Sector 32 to Electronic City
• Dilshad Garden to New Bus Adda (Ghaziabad).

This is apart from the total fund allocated for all Metro projects in the country — Rs. 14,314.60 crore, according to DMRC sources, quoted.

The Delhi Metro’s Phase 3 is already complete, and Phase 4 is yet to be approved by the Government and the Centre. The approval of Phase 4, will be followed by the disbursal of funds.

For 29-year-old M Monisha, the toughest part of the daily commute from her home in Avadi to her office in Mambalam is not inside the crowded train. It starts after she gets down at Chennai Central to walk through an ill-lit subway across the Poonamalee High Road to the Park station and catch another crowded train to Mambalam. During monsoon, it becomes worse due to water-logging.

Every day, residents who commute from the western suburbs to the southern fringes of the city have to change trains at Chennai Central because there are no direct EMU services linking Chennai’s two most-patronised suburban lines — Tiruvallur-Chennai and Chennai-Tambaram — despite a link at Chennai Beach. But this is set to change as the Chennai division of Southern Railway is mulling a ‘through service’ during peak hours from Tiruvallur to Tambaram via Chennai Beach. The provision was discussed on the sidelines of a Divisional Rail Users Consultative Committee (DRUCC) meet on January 31. Officials said around 60,000 people, almost 20% of the total number of passengers on the section, travel from western suburbs like Avadi, Tiruninravur and Tiruvallur to areas Guindy, Adambakkam and Tambaram.

Railways could not do this until now because on the Tambaram section 12-car EMU trains are run, while on the Tiruvallur section nine-car EMUs are operated. But divisional engineers have completed extending platforms at more than 30 stations on the Tiruvallur section to run 12-car trains. At least four 12-car rakes are on their way to Chennai to be run on the Tiruvallur section, said a senior official. However, railway officials are yet to decide on the schedule of these direct services which sources said would be finalised after accounting for operational constraints.

The completion of the quadrapuling project on the Beach-Washermanpet section could be a roadblock though. “But a few trial services can be run even in current scenario,” a top official said.

The move comes at a time when higher bus fares have pushed intracity commuters to train services, something reflected in the increase in the number of season tickets sold by the railways. With increase in number of coaches and through services.

Passenger associations have welcomed the move for a through train. “I can travel on the same train from without getting down at Beach or Central to interchange to Park,” said 44-year-old John Charles, who travels from Pattabiram to Chetpet every day. “There is a direct bus, but it takes almost 20 minutes more depending on the traffic. Commuters are also exposed to dust pollution too,” said John, adding that women’s safety is a concern in the city’s buses.

While direct buses are not available between the western and southern suburbs, services connect Avadi to T Nagar. But given the long travel time, some commuters said they preferred trains to buses.

At a time when the youth have been left high and dry waiting for their dream jobs, North Western Railway (NWR) has decided to dole out jobs to its not-so-young staff, that is, its retired employees.

It has decided to re-engage its retired employees in the Jaipur division, and up for grabs is a whopping 1,061 positions. This is being done under the new re-engagement policy of the railways.

Sources said that the situation has arisen in the railways as the positions are lying vacant and no initiative has been taken to fill them up.

In fact, there has been no recruitment for class III and IV that is conducted by the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB).

Of these positions which are to be filled, 748 positions are of track man itself which is considered an important position. Its shocking to note how the NWR’s Jaipur division had been working with so many positions of track man lying vacant.

The other positions which will be filled up with the retired staff include ticket examiner, station master, goods guard, personnel in the electric division and mechanical division; there are requirements in signalling too.

Few days back, in a samwad programme was held in Jaipur and the ticket checkers had demanded more people in their unit when they had met the division’s commercial manager .

The re-engagement is being done in accordance with a letter issued by the railway board in October and in December 2017.

Subsequently, the headquarters of railways had also sent an official letter regarding the re-engagement policy in December itself.

However, there are certain conditions which will be followed under this re-engagement policy of railways.The scheme of re-engagement of retired staff will be valid till December 1, 2019, or 65 years of age, whichever is earlier.  This means that retired employees above the age of 65 will not be eligible.

India’s railways carry eight billion passengers a year, and a billion tonnes of freight; the 42,000 route miles cover all kinds of terrain, and the trains run through weather which is often violent in many ways. The railways have also played, and still play, a transformative role in almost every aspect of Indian life, and Christian Wolmar tells this very complex story easily and directly.

In the early 1850s, the then Governor-General, Lord Dalhousie, saw the railways as an asset in his gigantic yet thorough plan to extend British power. He thought that the railways would encourage enterprise, expand production, aid the discovery and exploitation of natural resources, and even help social progress — and that they would also strengthen British rule. The main objector, the East India Company, which had a near-monopoly on colonial trade in India, gave way.

Subsidy route

Yet in an age when the idea of the state as a major economic actor was almost unimaginable, the problem was that of attracting British railway companies to undertake the immense projects involved. The companies finally agreed to a compromise; the colonial government guaranteed a return of 5% on their investment, when the current lending rate was 3%. Moreover, taxpayers in India — colonials and Indians — carried the risk, while shareholders in Britain got the ‘profits’. Only two of the lines thus constructed broke even, and the guarantees eventually cost the government of India about £50 million, while moderately wealthy people in Britain bought railway shares for the guaranteed returns. The companies became what Wolmar calls subsidy junkies; the government eventually took over many lines, and the writer acerbically notes the similarities to today’s public-private partnerships, or private finance initiatives in their British avatar. The tight central procedures — despite the lack of control on actual project costs — and the absence of a white-collar criminal class, however, meant that corruption was lower than it had been on U.S. railroads, even if the procedures also spawned India’s bureaucracy.

The initial lines were laid in eastern India and inland from Bombay; the eastern line had to bridge colossal rivers, and the western one involved steep climbs and tunnels across the Western Ghats. Conditions for the workers — large numbers of whom were brought by brokers from far across India — were terrible, and about 25,000 died on the ghats project.

British overseers were openly racist, and readily adopted casteist generalisations about the workforce, though some of them learnt that local timbers and certain local techniques were best for the conditions. Some even learnt from the contractor Jamsetji Dorabji, who earned his workers’ trust, and also — possibly because he was illiterate — had a prodigious memory. Most strikingly too, the ghats line was built by Alice Tredwell, who took over when her contractor husband Solomon died after a month in India.

Racist approach

India’s technical advantage in entering the railway age two decades after the industrial powers did not last, but by the late 19th century the railways were an integral part of imperial India, despite the problems caused by a multitude of gauges, owners, and company systems. Wolmar covers life and work on the railways, and much else until and including today, with examples both appalling and entertaining. In the early days, third-class passengers were locked into bare and windowless steel wagons; the railways helped spread cholera and plague, and even elite Indian passengers started criticising conditions in third class. Yet the poorer passengers, as Wolmar shows, subsidised the richer ones and helped British profits.

Unpleasant journey

All passengers, though, had to face their own demons over shared trains and stations; the Calcutta High Court judge Sir Asutosh Mukherjee awoke in a lower berth to find that a Britisher in the upper berth had thrown his slippers out of the window — but when the colonial could not find his own jacket Sir Asutosh told him the jacket had gone to look for the slippers.

Some ambitions were not realised; freight was one of Dalhousie’s original concerns but never grew as he thought it would, and was also a magnet for corruption after Independence; the north-western lines, built in fear of Russian expansion, were a huge waste of money, in what looks like an early form of the military-industrial complex. The railways served only partly to move troops to where they might be needed in possible rebellions, and their record in famine relief was also patchy. The Indian nationalists, for their part, distrusted the railways for extending British power, for reshaping aspects of Indian society, and — as the author shows — for restricting India’s economic development. Yet all Indians accepted the iron road; Wolmar adds, ‘In no other country is the railway so indelibly connected with the image of the nation.’