The Indian Railways is planning a series of steps to improve the safety of rail tracks, including automated inspections and frequent traffic blocks for maintenance. In a meeting chaired by the Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani, with all General Managers of the Zonal Railways through video conferencing on September 16, Mr. Lohani suggested various measures to give the highest priority to the Railways’ safety. He also noted that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is concerned by the speed of response during accidents, a senior Railway Ministry official said. Mr. Lohani directed all the Railway zones to procure “self-propelled cars” for track inspection, citing its usefulness in the Delhi division.

A Railway Board member highlighted that a large number of rail fractures are occurring on rails that have not served even 25% of their lifespan. “This usually happens due to improper handling or laying of rail tracks, and is a major sign of worry. We have asked the Zonal Railways to adopt technology while inspecting rail tracks. Quality of welding and frequent maintenance blocks are crucial to improve rail welds,” a senior official said.

Steel Authority of India has raised prices of its flat products by Rs 600 per tonne while keeping rates of longs unchanged, an industry source told. The hike by the state-owned steelmaker, coming as it does after some months of no change, will more than compensate for the lapse in railways’ Rs 300 per tonne subsidy for steel transport in the lean monsoon season.

The subsidy is provided by the railways to encourage transportation of commodities in the lean season of monsoon when demand is subdued. It lapsed September 30.

Flats are currently trading in the market at around Rs 39,000 per tonne while longs are going for Rs 34,500-Rs 35,000 per tonne.

Private steel producers did not raise the prices in October after having increased them in September quarter by 2 to 6 percent, sequentially. SAIL had not hiked the prices then.

October is usually a time for price hikes in the steel sector as general demand for new vehicles and construction and real estate picks up on the passage of monsoon amidst the festival seasonAccording to a report by Kotak Securities, domestic prices have trailed global prices due to increased supplies from new capacities. Flat products find use in automobile and consumer durable industry.

Prices of longs, a product whose supply chain is characterized by many small players, declined during July-September by 2 percent compared to same quarter a year ago due to weak construction demand. Long products are used in real estate and construction activities.

“I don’t see the prices firming up any more over the next one to two months,” an official with a company, making downstream steel products that find use at airports and malls, said.

Domestic steel demand increased 4 percent on year to 42.9 million tonnes in the first half of the ongoing financial year. The rise was led by the 16 percent jump in April-August flat product sales to 15.27 million tonnes against the 2 percent decline in demand for longs to 17.12 million tonnes, according to the Kotak report

The practice of having a reconfirmatory look at the reservation chart on coaches before boarding a mail or express train is set to change as South Eastern Railway will stop pasting charts on its trains from Monday.

SER spokesman Sanjoy Ghosh said it has been decided that the practice of pasting of reservation charts on train coaches will be discontinued from 16 October.

“The long-standing practice of pasting charts on train coaches is being done away with at Howrah station primarily to keep the coach exterior clean. It will also save paper, thus making the railways more environment-friendly,” Ghosh told PTI here.

SER operates several mail and express trains from Howrah to different destinations in the west and south, including Mumbai, Chennai and Ahmedabad.

Reservation charts are pasted on all coaches beside the doors of mails, expresses at stations from where they commence their journey.

“People used to queue up in front of coaches earlier for knowing their reservation status and seat/berth allocation. But with the advent of modern forms like SMS services and reservation enquiry through the internet, the old practice of seeing the chart pasted beside coach doors have lessened a lot,” Ghosh said.

Tickets with confirmed status at the time of booking have information printed on the ticket itself, while waitlisted and Reservation Against Cancellation(RAC) passengers get their status updated on their registered mobile number through SMS at the time of charting, which is four hours before the scheduled departure of the train, Ghosh said.

Further, digital charting system has been installed at the major stations and at other stations, manual boards are installed for displaying the status of the waitlisted tickets to guide the passengers.

Apart from these, IVRS service through number 139 are available for passengers for checking the status of their tickets on real-time basis, the SER spokesman said.

According to railway officials, it takes at least two years on an average to build a foot overbridge (FOB). The reason for the same is said to be the lack of availability of uninterrupted working time as the trains always keep running and that the officials have very little space to manoeuvre while constructing the foot overbridge The railways have to make sure that they don’t cause any damage to the tracks, overhead wires or the posts that fix these wires in place, while drilling into the ground for laying the foundation piers.

Building the Elphinstone FOB will prove difficult due to space crunch — the structure is in close proximity to the platform and tracks —  and the fact that Central Railway (CR) is also constructing the Parel Terminus simultaneously.

A railway official said, “The end of the platform at Parel that connects to the foot overbridge is extremely narrow will have to be widened. When the Central Railway will be working on widening that part, we will have to make sure that during the process of digging and fixing the foundation of the bridge, we do not damage the bed of soil on which the tracks are laid.”

For constructing the bridge, the railways will have to bring parts of the foot overbridge together and align them together piece by piece.

During this process, trains cannot be allowed to run on the section where work is going on and finding the time when trains can be halted without causing trouble to commuters is a tough job.

The Western Railway will be rebuilding the Elphinstone Road Bridge, which was opened for the public in 1972.

My query pertains to the recent stampede on Elphinstone foot overbridge in Mumbai where 22 persons died and over 35 were injured. In such a case, can the affected persons file for compensation before the consumer court?

Media reports say that the government has announced some ex-gratia payment to the families of those who died and free treatment to the injured in the tragedy. They can also seek compensation under the Consumer Protection Act., provided they were travelling (or intended to travel) by the local train and were using the bridge as part of their commute. This makes them consumers of the railway service and they can seek compensation for the deficient or negligent service.

The Railways may well argue that the stampede was a result of too many people taking shelter on the bridge on account of heavy rain. However, there is enough evidence that many regulars at this station had warned the authorities about the extremely heavy passenger traffic on the narrow bridge and the possibility of a stampede or any other serious accident and sought intervention. The Railways, however, had made no effort to expand or extend the bridge nor regulate traffic on the structure to prevent such a mishap.

Is there any judgment on an issue like this?

The Elphinestone tragedy reminds me of another horrific disaster involving a railway foot overbridge that came up before the consumer court some years ago, forcing the apex consumer court to remind the Railways that it is its responsibility to maintain in good order, platforms, footpaths and overbridges. Failure to do so constitutes negligence and the Railways has to pay for the consequences, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission had said.

The complaint, in this case, pertained to the collapse of Jogeshwari railway foot overbridge on September 28, 1992. To quote from the order of the apex consumer court, because of the heavy rain, a large number of passengers had taken shelter on the bridge, when a portion of it suddenly gave way, killing and injuring several passengers.

The complainant, Vinaya Vilas Sawant, who was on the bridge with her husband, fell from a height of about 20-25 feet on to the track below, along with the rubble. Multiple fractures and spinal injuries left her with 60 per cent disability, even after two surgeries. Even with the screws and plates used to stabilise her spine, she could walk slowly only with a walker and with the help of an attendant. In fact, when she and her husband were lying unconscious from the fall, they were also robbed of their jewellery and cash.

However, when she filed a complaint before the consumer court, seeking compensation from the Railways, the biggest public sector undertaking argued that she was not a consumer. She was not travelling by train, but only using the bridge and that did not make her a consumer under the Consumer Protection Act. While she said that as an employee of MTNL, she had a monthly pass to travel by train and the pass had been stolen along with all the other belongings when she was lying unconscious, the Railways argued that she did not have a monthly pass!

The district and state consumer courts dismissed her complaint, but the apex consumer court clarified that once a passenger has purchased a ticket to travel by train, he or she is the consumer of all services provided by the Railways in connection with that travel and this included the platform, footpath and overbridges meant for ingress to and egress from the train. In this case, subsequent investigations into the collapse had revealed gross negligence of the Railways — the bridge was in a bad shape, but the Railways had failed to act (Smt Vinaya Vilas Sawant Vs Union of India, RP No 864 of 2006).

The decision paved the way for consumers to haul up the Railways for its negligence with regard to not just rail travel, but the connected facilities too.

The South Western Railways will operate 12 additional train services from Bengaluru and Hassan to Shravanabelagola during the Mahamastakabhisheka to be held from February 7 to 26.

A.K. Gupta, General Manager of SWR, inspected the Hassan and Shravanabelagola stations on Friday.

According to a release issued by SWR on Saturday, the frequency and number of services will be announced later. During the Mahamastakabhisheka held in 2006, only a few trains were run between Hassan and Shravanabelagola, as the track between Hassan and Bengaluru was not ready then.

“This time, SWR is gearing up to handle enhanced passenger traffic. Adequate additional temporary booking counters will be opened at Hassan and Shravanabelagola,” Mr. Gupta said.

A temporary Passenger Reservation System will be opened at Shravanabelagola. And arrangements for temporary structures, including waiting hall and toilets, are being planned. “Additional stalls for food and beverages will be planned at Hassan. For uninterrupted power supply, back-up generators are also being planned. CCTV and high-speed WiFi will be provided at Hassan and Shravanabelagola stations,” he said.

The Mahamastakabhisheka draws pilgrims in lakhs during the period and hence the railway authorities said cleaning arrangements for ensuring hygiene are being worked out.

R.S. Saxena, DRM of Bengaluru Division, Atul Gupta of Mysuru Division, and P. Lamghare, Principal Chief Mechanical Engineer, accompanied the General Manager for the inspection.

GM INSPECTION

Mahamastakabhisheka, the head anointing ceremony of Lord Gommateswara at Shravanabelagola is being celebrated once in 12 years. The holy event will be conducted from 7^th Feb 2018 to 26^thFeb 2018.

South Western Railway is planning to run additional train services to Shravanabelagola from Benagluru/Hassan to facilitate pilgrims during the period. Shri A K Gupta, General Manager, SWR has inspected  Hassan & Shravanabelagola stations on 13.10.2017 in connection with preparatory arrangements and to plan necessary passenger amenities for convenience of the passengers expected to turnout in large numbers during Mahamastakabhisheka.  He was accompanied by Divisional Railway Managers of Bengaluru & Mysuru Sri R.S.Saxena ,Atul Gupta and various heads of departments.  Shri P Lamghare, Principal Chief Mechanical Engineer , Shri U S S Yadav, Principal Chief Engineer, Shri Rajeev Kumar, Principal Chief Electrical Engineer , Shri John Prasad, Principal Chief Operations Manager  & Shri K Siva Prasad, Principal Chief CommercialManager  were present in the inspection.

A press release of SWR stated that 12 additional services are being planned from Bengaluru/Hassan to Shravanabelagola during the celebrations.  Frequency and number of services will be announced in due course.  Shri A K Gupta stated that in 2006 the section from Hassan to Bengaluru having Shravanabelagola station   was not open for passenger traffic and only few trains were run between Hassan to Shravanabelagola. But this time SWR is gearing up to handle enhanced passenger traffic as this section has been made operational in March this year. Adequate additional temporary booking counters will be opened at Hassan & Shravanabelagola. A temporary PRS will be opened at Shravanabelagola.  Arrangements to erect temporary structures for waiting hall & toilets are being planned.  In addition a control room will also be opened by Railways at Hassan & Shravanabelagola.  A helpdesk will also be provided at these stations to facilitate passengers.

Additional stalls for food and beverages will be planned at Hassan. For uninterrupted power supply backup generators are also being arranged.  CCTV & High speed Wi-Fi at Hassan & Shravanabelagola stations will be provided.  Coordination with Stage Govt. for security, first aid and water supply will be ensured. Cleaning arrangements for ensuring hygiene are being worked out. Mobilizing extra rakes and staff to cater this significant event is on the way. Sri Gupta has stated that all out efforts are being made by South Western Railway to organize Railway portion of the prestigious event successfully.

The team of officers later met the Seer of Shravanabelagola Digambar Jain Matha and sought his guidance.

L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Limited (L&TMRHL), the concessionaire for Hyderabad Metro Rail project, has sought additional financial support of Rs.3,756 crore to facilitate completion of the project.

In a letter to the government on October 10, L&TMRHL has appealed for help, stating that the project needs urgent financial support to tide over the situation and establish financial viability.

It said the project funding was suffering due to reasons beyond the control of L&T or the State government. Hence, assistance is being sought from the Central government as well to sustain the project, L&TMRHL said in the letter.

The letter further stated that the concessionaire had exhausted all its means of financing and is currently starved of funds to complete the project. Since all sources of funding are exhausted, infusion of funds is needed from the government.

The letter comes after L&TMRHL held meetings with senior government officials in August seeking financial support. During the meeting, the concessionaire was asked to submit details on its financial requirements. The same had to be reviewed and necessary recommendations made to the Central government for approval.

According to sources, L&TMRHL has said that the delay in handing over land parcels as planned under the Concession Agreement led to the project being delayed by more than 15 months.

In view of the festive season, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has decided to launch a special drive to ensure smooth operation of its trains.

Director (Operations) Sharat Sharma has directed all the officials of Operations and Maintenance wing to intensify their travel by the metro while moving to and fro duty, a DMRC’s press statement said.

The move comes close on the heels of the metro fare hike, which is being opposed by the Delhi government and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party.

According to the DMRC, the special drive is aimed at ensuring that any minor issue or incidence which may affect pleasant travel experience for the millions of passengers in this festive season is directly monitored and attended to by the officials in the least possible time.

It said the drive also is intended towards ensuring the “highest level” of cleanliness on its premises.

The services of the Delhi Metro, which started operations in 2002, is today

availed by nearly 30 lakh passengers daily, according to the DMRC.

Presently, its network consists of about 218.17 km with 164 stations along with six more stations of the Airport Express Link.

The network has now crossed the boundaries of Delhi to reach Noida and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh and Gurgaon and Faridabad in Haryana.

The DMRC at present has 235 train sets of four, six and eight coaches, according to the information on its website.

It is confirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has agreed to inaugurate the first phase of the Hyderabad Metro Rail project on November 28.

According to the sources, the official letter in this regard is going to reach the Telangana government on Monday.

The confirmation came through following the report submitted by the Union Urban Development Ministry whose team of officials gave an approval on the project after the inspection in Hyderabad.

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had written a letter to the Prime Minister on September 6 requesting him to launch the Metro Rail service in Hyderabad.

The Metro Rail project is one of the biggest public-private partnership project in the country is being constructed on a 72-km stretch encompassing three corridors spread across Hyderabad.

PM Modi will launch a 30 km stretch of the metro rail project extending from Nagole to Miyapur on November 28.

Officials are making test run between Mettuguda-Begumpet and sources say that the complete test run will be completed in 15 days.

After more than a year, Indian Railways and Coal India are witnessing high demand for fuel from the power sector. Coal sales increased 15-16 per cent in August and September. Yet the two entities is not happy.

Emphasis on the power sector is bad for the CIL balance-sheet. This is because the miner gets 20 per cent higher price from non-power customers like steel, cement and others.

And over the last two months, its supplies to the power sector increased from roughly 82 per cent to 92 per cent. Even the most profitable open market sales have nearly stopped as CIL failed to offer much coal to the platform. The result may be felt in terms of lower margin in the July-September quarterly results.

CIL and Railways could step up supplies to the power sector but its production and marketing plan suffered fresh uncertainties.

The miner is expecting the situation to improve in October as the loading rate is set to improve from 215 a day to 235 a day in a week’s time.

History repeats

In the past, CIL used to direct nearly 30 per cent of its total sales to this segment. The ratio tilted in favour of power nearly four years ago, when the power sector was hit by fuel crisis.

The fuel crisis was a result of the greed and wrong policy prescriptions on the part of the then UPA government which ignored many alarms to recklessly enhance the generation capacity. CIL paid the price. It squeezed supplies to every customer to keep the power sector happy.

After coming to power, the Narendra Modi government went a step ahead. Open market sales were suspended throwing many ferroalloys companies, especially in Odisha, in great uncertainty.

Though the policy was reversed in the last year and more coal pumped into the open market; CIL had a hard time to get its customers back.

Coal supplies need strong logistics support which cannot be created overnight. Non-power customers found imports a more dependable option. The meltdown in energy commodity prices too helped the move.

The government’s decision to spare a potentially more polluting high-sulphur petroleum coke from carbon tax vis-a-vis four times rise in clean energy cess on coal from ₹100 a tonne to ₹400 a tonne, further tilted the game away from coal.

Cement makers started using petroleum coke not only for kiln operations but also for captive power generation. But just when CIL was trying to rebuild this market, the current crisis struck. And CIL has no one but the power sector to blame.

Spreading uncertainty

Between 2007 and 2017, India’s power generation capacity has doubled riding on thermal power capacity growth. It was expected that the plant-load factor of the sector will improve from 79 per cent to 85per cent during the period.

The reverse happened. PLF declined consistently to 60 per cent in FY17, indicating huge over-capacity running into 40-50 GW.

According to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), as of July 2017, the all-India PLF was barely 55 per cent.

Open market tariff was an unremunerative ₹2.5 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) and private sector generators were facing techno-feasibility constraints to run plants at barely 55 per cent PLF. To reduce costs, they stopped storing coal for the monsoon.

A sudden upturn in demand for thermal electricity beginning mid-August, led to a rush for coal causing a disruption in the entire system.