Indian Railways has decided to extend a Rajdhani Special train service between Mumbai and Delhi citing high demand. Western Railway – which caters to one of the zones served by Indian Railways – said the Superfast AC Rajdhani Special train running between the Bandra Terminus railway station in Mumbai and the Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station in Delhi will get a further extension of three months. In a press release dated January 15, 2018, Western Railway said the move was “to facilitate passengers and to clear extra rush”.
Here are five things to know about the extended thrice-a-week Bandra Terminus-Nizamuddin Superfast AC Rajdhani Special train:

1. The Rajdhani Special service between Bandra and Nizamuddin has been extended from January 17 to April 15, 2018.

2. The extended trips of the tri-weekly Superfast AC Rajdhani Special train will be from January 18, 2018 to April 15, 2018, according to the press release.

3. Previously, the Rajdhani Special service was scheduled to be operated till January 17, 2018.

4. The extended Rajdhani Special service will be operative with trains 09003 and 09004, according to the Western Railway.
Bandra Terminus-Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani Special timetable

5. Train No. 09003 will start from Bandra (T) at 4:05 pm every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. It will arrive at the Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station at 6:00 am the next day, the press release noted.

6. Train No. 09004 will commence its journey from the Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station at 4:15 pm on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. This train will reach the Bandra Terminus station 6:10 am the next day.

7. The train service will halt at Surat, Vadodara and Kota stations in each direction.

8. The extended Rajdhani Special train service will comprise AC I Tier, AC II Tier and AC III Tier coaches.

COMMENTS9. Bookings of train tickets under the extended Rajdhani Special service will commence from January 17, 2018, according to Western Railway.

10. The Railways had introduced the new tri-weekly Superfast Rajdhani Special service between Delhi and Mumbai in October 2017. This service aimed to fulfill the long overdue demand of passengers and to provide faster connectivity to passengers between the two metros.

Eyeing large-scale expansion, the Railways’ production units have been asked to formulate a roadmap to achieve a three-fold increase in production by 2022. This comes after Railways Minister Piyush Goyal held a meeting with the general managers of all the railway zones last month during which he emphasised the need for improving transport output by three times by 2022.

“It is needless to say that output of our production units has to increase substantially during this period to match the growth expectations,” a letter to the general managers of all production units of the railways said. “There is therefore, an urgent need for evaluating the performance of manufacturing facilities to assess their capability to ramp up production by almost three-times the present level with the existing workforce,” it said.

One of the most significant increase is to take place in the production of Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches this year. But boosting production significantly requires a sharp increase in the present annual coach production target of 2,435 to 5,000 such coaches, officials said. The directive to the production units also says that the plan should be such that it facilitates decisions that lead to the best usage of time, financial and human resources.

The plan, it said, should be “workable” and should succeed by making suitable changes to the present processes, inducting technology and introducing a judicious mix of “make or buy matrix”. It is therefore imperative that the production units of the Indian Railways embark on the journey of a three-fold increase with a clear strategy, the directive said.

“You are requested to formulate a ‘production ramp-up’ road map with absolute clarity of resources required with cost and timeline and communicate to board latest by January 31, 2018,” the letter said.

Responding to passengers’ anguish that diversion of Bengaluru-Karwar night express via Kunigal, the shortest route four days a week, did not reduce journey hours, the Railways has further speeded up the service, at least till Bhatkal effective February 10.

Though the train takes 17.15 hours from Bengaluru to Karwar even under the re-revised timings, the journey hours have come down at least by one hour till Kundapura because of efforts by South Western, Southern and Konkan Railways. Travel time from Bengaluru to Mangaluru Central gets reduced by one hour (total 10.45 hrs); Udupi by 1.20 hrs (total 12.40 hrs) and Kundapur 1.15 hrs (total 13.05 hrs).

The train takes a whopping 17.45 hours between Bengaluru and Karwar via Mysuru at present.

In the return journey on the diverted route, the train takes 16.20 hours from Karwar to Bengaluru as against 17.40 hours.

Campaign

Rail users launched a campaign for diverting the service on the new route after the Bengaluru-Hassan new line was opened even as Sanjay Revankar from Karwar fled a PIL petition before the Karnataka High Court seeking an exclusive overnight express train between Bengaluru-Karwar on the shortest route.

While the SWR announced diverting the existing combined night train (Bengaluru-Karwar/Kannur-Bengaluru) on the shortest route four days a week thereby speeding up the journey time, SR and KR did not reciprocate initially to receive the train with advanced timings, limiting the benefit of diversion to just 30 minutes.

Delay in receiving

Though the train arrives at Bantwal at 5 a.m., it was to be received at Mangaluru Junction, a distance of just 19 km, by SR at 5.58 a.m. Similarly, though it arrives at Mangaluru Central at 6.20 a.m, the Kannur portion was first despatched at 6.40 a.m. and Karwar portion at 7 a.m. More than an hour was wasted in the process.

Realising this, SR agreed to receive the train early at Mangaluru Junction at 5.32 a.m., at Central at 6 a.m. and despatch it first at 6.20 a.m. The Konkan Railway too reciprocated to receive the train in its jurisdiction at 6.55 a.m at Thokur.

However, KRCL has not speeded up the train beyond Bhatkal, saying the path was not available due to five oncoming trains. Hence, the train reaches Karwar at 12.30 p.m. only.

‘KRCL should have reciprocated’

While South Western and Southern Railways have made every effort to reduce the running time of Bengaluru-Karwar overnight express, Konkan Railway Corporation too should have reciprocated in right earnest, feel rail activists and sources in SWR.

“It is good that KRCL has speeded up the train till Bhatkal; but the same gesture should have been shown till Karwar,” said an activist who did not wish to be named.

Sources in SWR said Konkan Railway should have given priority to this train over others as it was the only overnight express between the State capital and Karwar. Karnataka too has contributed substantially to bring in KRCL, they noted.

KRCL Chairman and Managing Director Sanjay Gupta told that the Corporation speeded up the train as much as possible. Speeding it up beyond Bhatkal was not possible because of five oncoming trains. The issue would again be discussed by the three zones in the forthcoming Railway Timetable Committee meeting, he said.

‘Extend Chennai-Bengaluru Superfast to Mysuru’

Rail users from Mysuru region have demanded extension of Chennai-Bengaluru-Chennai Superfast Express (Train No. 12609/12610) to fill the void created by diversion of Bengaluru-Karwar/Kannur Express four days a week via Kunigal.

The Karwar Express leaving Bengaluru at 8.30 p.m. was the last service towards Mysuru and hundreds made use of it. Also, Karwar/Kannur-Bengaluru Express was the first service from Mysuru leaving at 5.30 a.m. to reach Bengaluru at 8.20 a.m, they said.

S. Yogendra from Mysuru Grahaka Parishat said Chennai-Bengaluru Express arriving at Bengaluru at 8.05 p.m. should be extended to Mysuru on the path of Kannur/Karwar Express on both up and down directions. If done so, it would also connect East Bengaluru with Mysuru region and help hundreds of travellers from areas like Whitefield and Krishnarajapuram, he felt.

SWR sources however said it was a difficult proposition as the rake has to undergo mechanical maintenance at Bengaluru upon its arrival from Chennai. Mr. Yogendra countered it saying maintenance can be done at Mysuru as well as there would be very few trains.

At majestic, two metro stations fail to connect to KSR Bangalore Railway Station

The much-delayed construction of a pedestrian bridge to provide access to the City Railway Metro station at platform number 10 of Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna (KSR) railway station may take three more months for completion.

Namma Metro’s Byappanahalli-Mysore Road line has two Metro stations, each connecting the railway station from two directions. Though the stretch was opened for public in November 2015, commuters of railways, BMTC and KSRTC are yet to get safe access.

Those exiting the railway station from the western point at platform number 10, have to climb down a row of stairs to the road and walk for nearly 200 metres to reach the City Railway Metro station.

“We are waiting to see when they will complete the construction. I have asked railway officials many times but they point fingers at the Metro. The stretch is very unfriendly to pedestrians in the evenings as the street is poorly lit,” said Srujan Reddy.

Reddy, who travels between Kengeri and Jayanagar, said he avoids the Kempegowda Metro Station “as it requires walking nearly a kilometre from the platform”.

“If the government wants to decongest city, it should prioritise integration to help people who travel from suburbs every day for work,” he said.

Work on the pedestrian bridge connecting the Metro station to platform 10 is still ongoing. The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has set February as the target for completion of the work.

“The BMRCL portion (of the bridge) will be ready by February end. The portion built by the railways may take three months,” the corporation’s Public Relations Officer U A Vasanth Rao said.

Once completed, the bridge will have an escalator and a lift at the Metro station. It will connect the railway foot-over bridge where passengers can access all platforms.

The project has missed three deadlines in 2017 with the cost nearly doubling from the original Rs 95 lakh to nearly Rs 2 crore. “The railways has given clearance for the project. It is left to the BMRCL to complete the work,” a senior official in SWR’s Bengaluru Division said.

Ambitious Railway Stations modernisation programme on the Ajmer Division got halted at various railway stations as Contractors fume over the cost escalation in the wake of GST. One among the stations on Ajmer Division is Udaipur railway station, which still awaits modernization activity hit due to semi-finished facilities.

The face lift that was supposed to happen long back could not take place since private companies did not show interest in it. Another issue is that of escalator and lift at the railway station.

The city station was supposed to be equipped with escalator and lift for the comfort of old and disabled. The plan for escalator was approved in August 2016. This work was supposed to be completed by March 2017. But till now, nothing has been done. People were given high hopes for this facility but all went in doldrums since contractors stopped all required work for lift and escalator after the application of GST in July. Contractors blamed everything on GST saying that the prices of construction material had gone high.

Railway declared in November 2017 that GST will not be applicable on the firms which were given contract before GST came in. Now that the contractors have started working again on the escalator and lift project, it is being assumed that they will give it a final shape at the earliest.

Modernisation of Udaipur railway station does not seem to happen the way it was projected. If private parties do not take interest in the face-lift for city station, it may be a blotch on Udaipur as smart city since during tourist season trains to and fro Udaipur are mostly packed and with no proper and modern facilities public might lose interest in railways. This would cause a negative impact on income through railways in tourist season. With tariff almost at par with flights many a times, it is all the more required to enhance the standard of trains and railway stations, both.

लोकमान्‍य तिलक टर्मिनस-गोरखपुर एक्‍सप्रेस तथा पनवेल-गोरखपुर एक्सप्रेस गाड़ियों मे स्थायी रूप से 1 वातानुकूलित 2 टियर श्रेणी का डिब्बा

रेलवे निम्नलिखित गाड़ियों मे 1 वातानुकूलित 2 टियर श्रेणी का डिब्बा स्थायी रूप से लगाएगी।

15064 लोकमान्‍य तिलक टर्मिनस–गोरखपुर एक्सप्रेस में लोकमान्‍य तिलक टर्मिनस से दिनांक 23.1.2018 से, 15063 गोरखपुर -लोकमान्‍य तिलक टर्मिनस एक्‍सप्रेस में गोरखपुर से दिनांक 22.1.2018 से, 15066 पनवेल-गोरखपुर एक्‍सप्रेस में पनवेल से 17.1.2018 से एवं 15065 गोरखपुर-पनवेल एक्‍सप्रेस में गोरखपुर से दिनांक 16.1.2018 से स्थाई रूप से एक वातानुकूलित 2 टियर श्रेणी का डिब्‍बा जोडा जाएगा।

आरक्षण: गाडी संख्‍या 15064 एवं 15066 एक्‍सप्रेस गाडी में  वातानुकूलित 2 टियर श्रेणी के डिब्बे का आरक्षण दिनांक 16.1.2018 से प्रारंभ होगा।

सभी से अनुरोध है कि कृपया नोट करें तथा इस सुविधा का लाभ उठाए।

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.
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.

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

he Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)’s India International Exchange listed the first bond on its Global Securities Market yesterday.

The bonds issued by Indian Railways Finance Corporation (IRFC) are one of the highest credit rated bonds issued by an Indian corporate and has been IRFC’s first foray into the Green Bond market.

On the occasion of listing the bond, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday, in the days to come, IRFC is going to expand its footprint into the newer lines of business and will be able to use its Minimum Alternate Tax better.

Aiming to fund rail expenditure through asset monetisation, railway minister said that he would be “satisfied” with any amount of capital allocation to the transport behemoth in the upcoming budget. Without giving details on the budget allocation for railways, Goyal told reporters in Mumbai that he is “satisfied with whatever has been proposed (in the budget). Frankly, I may not even need all of that as we have aggressive plans on monetising some of the (Railways) assets,” he said.

The railway budget was merged with the general budget last year. The minister said his government is planning to change some of the existing guidelines on monetising land and station assets as well as contemplating on extending the lease period from 45 years to 99 years, among others.

Speaking on the sidelines of a BSE event, he also noted that after extensive stakeholder deliberations “there is a lot of excitement among them to get involved”. “One concern developers had was regarding the approval process, so we are bringing in new guidelines to penalise ourselves (the Railways) for every day of delay in giving approvals,” Goyal said.

He said the move will help build confidence among the promoters and maximise the value of the railways and therefore not make the public sector unit “dependent on the union budget”. Asked about plans to list the Indian Railways Finance Corporation (IRFC), Goyal said the public sector enterprise is looking to expand its footprint in days to come into newer line of business which would help improve its valuation.

“Therefore, some of those timelines I have allowed to be delayed till the final business plans are made and finalised with Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Corporate Affairs…certain other concessions we require,” Goyal said. IRFC is a unit of the Indian Railways that helps raise financing for various other units of the transport PSU.

The instruction came days after a parliamentary committee in its report blamed the national transporter for not doing enough to promote rail tourism.

To promote rail tourism in the country, the railways has asked its zonal arms and public sector undertakings to outsource their ticketing and catering works to IRCTC and concentrate on branding.

The instruction came days after a parliamentary committee in its report blamed the national transporter for not doing enough to promote rail tourism.

In a letter on January 3, Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani has asked all zonal railways to promote the brand of rail tourism on select routes.

He has asked them to identify tourist and luxury trains and brand them both on the interior and exterior.

Lohani has also asked rail PSUs such as Indian Railway Finance Corporation and Ircon International, and zonal railways to give the catering contracts for all events, seminars and programmes held outside rail premises to IRCTC, the railways’ catering and tourism arm.

Senior zonal railway officials have been told that the responsibility of managing such events should also be entrusted with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).

PSUs under the transport behemoth have also been asked to book air tickets for all its personnel from the IRCTC website, thus promoting the brand.

Soon after the parliamentary standing committee report was tabled, Lohani held a meeting with the travel and trade community where the issue of promotion of luxury trains was raised. In fact, the committee said that there was a lacuna in the branding of such trains.

Lohani has also addressed one of the major grouses of the travel community which said that the running schedules of such trains were not made clear. In order to cut down on delays, the board has now entrusted the Director, Coaching as the nodal officer for luxury trains.

The official can now be directly approached for approval on any scheduling issues, instead of the zonal railways.

Sources say that the board now wants to take on promoting rail tourism seriously and soon it will hold meeting with state tourism departments to take it forward.

A go-ahead from the Ministry of Defence and delinking of compensation discussions from that of land alienation, are yet to make Army land available for the MMTS project. The Army in Secunderabad rebuts Railways’ claims that it is stalling the project.

As part of the MMTS Phase-II project, a 23-km railway line, running between Sanathnagar and Moula Ali, was to be doubled. About 4 km of this line, between Suchitra and Sanathnagar, exists on Defence land, which the Railways had used to lay the first line in the past. However, when the Railways sought to lay a parallel line post-2014, the Local Military Authority (LMA) objected. Difference in the quantum of compensation awarded by the Railways and the State government for the Defence land was cited as the reason for objection. Consequently, 64-acres of land, that was once handed over to railways to build a track is no longer available, Railway officials say, even as work on rest of the stretch nears completion.

“Around 90 % of the work on the stretch is complete. The rest can go ahead only if the local military authority allows the use of land,” a senior Railway official said.

The existing line runs through a firing range that has been not been in use for many years. In compensation for the Defence land, neither the State government nor the Railways have been able to provide land of equal value to the Ministry of Defence. The demand for equal value land has also been the bone of contention between the State government and the Army in other transactions. Defence sources informed that one of the main reasons for Army’s demand is to have a state-of-art firing range facility, far from civilian settlements. The firing facilities that the Army had in Secunderabad and surrounding area are now enclosed by thick civilian settlements, as in the case of Bowenpally and Kowkur.

A breakthrough for the mass transport project appeared within arm’s reach last year, when a high-level ministerial committee was constituted to discuss compensation while delinking it from ground-level development of the project. A State-level board comprising representatives of the Telangana government, Railways and the Army, was also set up to resolve the issue. The Ministry of Defence informed the LMA to give its nod, Railway officials claimed, adding that the LMA has not acted yet.

Denying the Railway’s version of events, Army officials informed that the recommendations of the board and the Defence Ministry, along with that of the LMA, have been forwarded to the next level of command and the matter is being actively pursued to favour the project.

Senior officials of the Indian Railways will now have to camp for two days in a fortnight in areas where safety works are underway to ensure proper execution of such work.

The Railway Board in a letter last month directed that Senior Administrative Grade (SAG) officers in the civil engineering department be nominated and allotted a division each where they will oversee safety-related works which include track renewal, bridge rehabilitation, elimination of unmanned level crossings, raising platforms and other track maintenance work.

“The nominated officers should regularly visit the division to provide necessary guidance in planning and execution of the works… These officers may be directed to camp in their allotted division for one week in the beginning and thereafter should visit the allotted division for at least two days every fortnight till the end of March 2018”, the letter said.

SAG are usually at least joint secretary-level officers, who have completed an average of 23 years in service.

In the next financial year, Indian Railways has set a target of replacing 8,000 km of old and depleted lines at an estimated cost of Rs 10,000 crore and overhauling the entire signalling network to improve safety.

Officials say that this will reduce the number of derailments by 50 per cent in the next two years.