Flames engulfed four coaches of Patna-Mokama passenger train last night; no one was injured in the fire. The train was stationed at Mokama railway yard, 90 kilometers east of Patna, when fire was spotted in two coaches at 1 am, the Railways spokesperson said. He added that an attempt was made to extinguish the fire but unfortunately it spread to two more coaches resulting in four coaches being completely gutted. The spokesperson said fire did not affect railway operations in that sector. The Additional Divisional Railway Manager reached the spot to take stock of the situation. Railway officials said the reason behind the fire is being looked into.

Chairman of the Railway Board, Ashwani Lohani told Press Trust of India, that train accidents have come down by 40-45 per cent in the current financial year as compared to last year. Hoping that train mishaps would further decrease, Mr Lohani said prime focus this year was to address safety, maintenance and cleanliness of trains and railway premises. By June, 500 railway stations would get Wi-Fi facility as part of the Union government’s Digital India initiative. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has set a target of track renewal for the current fiscal at 3,600 km, an 80 per cent jump over the average 2,000 km of tracks renewed by railways every financial year.

ABB India said today that it has bagged Rs 134 crore traction equipment order from the Indian Railways.

“ABB India has won an order worth Rs 134 crore to supply state-of-the-art traction equipment for electric locomotives, manufactured by Chittaranjan Locomotive works (CLW),” ABB India said in a statement.

It said the company will deliver traction converters, stand-alone auxiliary converters and vehicle control units for 64 electric

locomotives which will be used for passenger and freight operations.

They will be locally manufactured at ABB’s Nelamangala production unit in Bengaluru.

The compact, light traction equipment converts electricity from overhead power lines to the voltage levels required for traction motors and generates power for on-board auxiliary systems.

“ABB has been a key partner of Indian Railways over the decades with a suite of traction solutions. This year marks 10 years of our association with Chittaranjan Locomotive works (CLW) and we are privileged to have their trust and cooperation,” said Sanjeev Sharma, Managing Director, ABB India.

Currently, around 42 per cent of the entire Indian rail network is electrified. Indian Railways has a goal to electrify its rail network by 2020.

This move aims at reducing greenhouse emissions and the dependence on fossil-fuel based automotive power.

Rail coaches made of stainless steel instead of carbon steel can minimise the impact of train accidents, an industry body has said.

“If all the railway coaches in the country could be made of stainless steel instead of carbon steel, it can bring down the number of lives lost in train accidents significantly,” the Indian Stainless Steel Development Association (ISSDA) said referring to recent train accident in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh that claimed 22 lives.

It said the use of stainless steel in passenger coaches is a common practice in developed economies such as the US, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Korea and Australia and in many East Asian countries.

Stainless steel coaches also ensure safety and reliability through super fire and corrosion resistance, the association said, adding that the intrinsic weight of vehicle decreases, thereby increasing its load carrying capacity and fuel efficiency.

In case of accidents, stainless steel undergoes lesser deformation, which further helps in rescue operations, it said.

“Over 23 million people commute through trains in India on a daily basis. There is an urgent need to migrate to stainless steel coaches to improve safety of rail passengers … Indian Railways are already seized of the matter and taken up programme for increasing manufacture of LHB stainless steel coaches,” said K K Pahuja, President, ISSDA.

The association said Indian Railways, at present, is using stainless steel coaches in LHB designs only for Rajdhani, Shatabdi and other premium trains.

LHB coaches are designed to be anti-telescopic, which means that they do not pile up over each other in the event of derailment, it said.

Stainless steel coaches are stronger and absorb more energy during collision and they can withstand considerable impact without fracturing, it said.

In its December 2017 action plan, the Indian Railways has set a target of electrifying 38,000 km route in five years, incurring expenses of Rs. 32,591 crores for the project.  According to Elara Securities India, this is a notable jump from the Railways’ last year plans, reported by the Mint today.

A note from Elara said the current action plan’s target is 56 percent higher than an earlier plan of electrifying 90 percent of the network, or 24,400 route kilometres over FY17-21 announced in November 2016.

The national transporter has plans to award individual tenders as large as 1,500 km. This would reportedly lead to lowering of electrification costs due to better economies of scale and make these tenders more appealing to larger companies.  Previously, railways had been awarding tenders for small length projects, making them very time-consuming.

According to Elara Securities, Central Organisation for Railway Electrification (CORE), an arm of the railways that carries out electrification works, has sounded out empanelled vendors of government power utilities.

“This would be beneficial for Indian Railways in accelerating execution of electrification projects and foster competition by enhancing the vendor base,” Elara Securities added.

Meenakshi Badola wanted to celebrate her New Year Eve with her sister in Patna for the first time in almost 20 years. She had prepared for the family reunion before the year ended.

But that was not meant to be.

Badola, 45, had booked tickets for her and her five- year-old daughter and 71-year-old mother-in-law on Patna-bound Garib Rath Express for December 30, from Anand Vihar Terminal in New Delhi.

The express train had started the journey 10 hours late than the scheduled departure, and reached Patna more than 23 hours late, at 4:30am on January 1.

She was not alone, though, to miss the New Year Eve celebrations. Thousands of passengers in nearly 400 trains were delayed due to dense fog across the country on December 31.

According to the official data, as of December 31 midnight, 400 mail and express trains reached their destinations late after getting delayed on account of fog.

As of January 1, 2018, 6:30am, 56 trains arrived late, 20 were rescheduled and 15 trains were cancelled.

Trains like Patna Rajdhani Express, Poorva Express were 12 hours late, Rewa Express was 11 hours late and Magadh Express was 11 hours late.

The Railways said that it has started Fog Pass Device (Fog Pilot Assistance System) or FSD. It is GPS-enabled and can continuously calculate the distance of the train in relation to the next landmark, enabling drivers to know when exactly a signal is approaching.

The national transporter has recently installed 4,920 such devices in the most fog-affected railway zones – northern, north-central, north-eastern and north-western.

Plans are afoot to install additional 1,175 such devices to take the total to 6,095, covering the most-affected zones, the national transporter said.

Indian Railways has set a target of December 2018 to link all its locomotives via ISRO satellites, making it easy to track trains and communicate with their crew in real time, officials said.

By year-end, all 10,800 locos of the railways will have antennas fixed on them and they will be monitored inside the driver’s cabin, senior officials of the national transporter told PTI.

“We have already tried it on 10 locos and by December 2018 we will have this system installed in all our locos,” a senior railway board member said.

The railways is also working with the Indian Space Research Organisation to use its satellite-based system to check accidents at unmanned railway crossings and track train movements.

Efforts are on to connect all state capitals in the Northeast with double track railway lines by 2020, the Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Jitendra Singh, told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

Replying to questions, he said the government was seeking to develop the northeastern states by creating infrastructure and entrepreneurship facilities in the region.

Singh said rail connectivity between Aizawl and Imphal would be in place by 2020 when a double gauge track would be laid.

He, however, said work on setting up a railway station in Shillong had been stalled because of local protests and expressed the hope the issue would be resolved soon.

“In the next one year, we will have a double gauge rail track in all the states except, perhaps, Sikkim, because of topographic reasons… All state capitals in the northeast will be connected with double track railway lines,” he said.

Work on the double track in Imphal had started and would be complete by 2019, he said.

“A total sum of Rs 5,606 crore has been earmarked for it along with 15 new rail lines and six double track projects,” he told members in the Upper House.

Singh said Guwahati, Itanagar and Agartala already had double tracks, while Imphal would be double-tracked by next year.

Imphal and Aizawl would be connected by 2020, he said.

The minister also said the government was giving a boost to the industrial sector in the region.

Singh told the House the earlier government’s North East Industrial Promotion Policy was not being discontinued.

Indian Railways Recruitment 2018 for the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation Ltd (MRVC) has begun on its official website to fill job vacancies of Project Engineers in Civil, Electrical and Electronics & Telecommunications departments of MRVC. MRVC is a PSU (public sector undertaking) that comes under the purview of Ministry of Railways, India. Selected candidates will be recruited on a contract basis for 5 years project tenure with initial appointment for first 2 years extendable to next 3 years based on project requirement and candidate’s performance. Interested candidates can apply for the job posts on or before 27th January 2018 on the dedicated page of MRVC on Indian Railways’ website – mrvc.indianrailways.gov.in.

MRVC Recruitment 2018 – Vacancy Details

Project Engineer – Electronics & Telecommunications – 4 posts

Pay Scale 
The selected candidates will fall in the pay bracket of ₹40,000 to ₹1,40,000 with ₹40,000 basic pay and other fixed emoluments.

Eligibility 
The applicants must have qualified GATE 2017, along with a Bachelor’s degree in Civil, Electrical or Electronics & Telecommunications with minimum 60% marks via full time regular course in any recognized University or Institution.

Age Limit
The applicants must be less than 30 years of age as on 27th December 2017, however, age-relaxation rules apply as per reserved category laws prevalent for PSUs.

Application Process for MRVC Railways Recruitment 2018:

Step 1 – Visit the official notification – http://mrvc.indianrailways.gov.in/ticker/1514371868644MRVC%20vacancy.pdf

Step 2 – Download the application form given at the end of the above advertisement and take a print out

Step 3 – Affix a recent passport size photograph, complete the form and scan it along with GATE 2017 Admit Card and Official Scorecard, Engineering Graduation marksheet & certificate, date of birth certificate or age proof, and caste certificate (if applicable)

Step 4 – Send the application form and other documents via email to gate2017mrvc@gmail.com

Selection Process:
The applicants will be shortlisted on the basis of their GATE 2017 scores.