India has had four train derailment accidents in the last few weeks. One of the accidents, in Uttar Pradesh on August 19, killed 23 people and injured more than 150 people. This series of serious accidents led to the resignations of Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu and Chairman of the Railway Board A.K. Mittal.

Since last many decades railway up-gradation was not keeping pace with time technology. Unions in railways rule the roots, efficiency and safety are the last things on their mind. Accountability is passing the buck and generally the blame is put on human error. However, we are supposed to follow rules. Shoddy maintenance of railways across India is the main cause for major accidents – particularly on the Northern India. Railways are also looting passengers by imposing safety surcharge. People started thinking that all the false promises were given from behind the veils of power mongers. God knows how the tough rakes are maintained or not but prone to more major mishaps.

India was one of the first countries in the world to build a large railway system. Its 21-mile railway from Mumbai to Tana was built in 1853, under British colonial rule. At the time of independence in 1947, the Indian railway network covered more than 55,000 kilometers, behind only the US, the former Soviet Union and Canada. The surge in India’s population and its rapid urbanization meant that the trains, which were relatively affordable, became the most important means of transport for most people. But the explosion in passenger numbers severely burdened the aging railway system, which had been constructed to a fairly low standard. As a result, accidents have not been uncommon.

As in the past the blame on the derailment near Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh is caused by negligence and the blame is passed on human error. The locals in UP expose lapses and it is very clear that accident could have been averted. The victims narrate their ordeal and that is pathetic.  Just by giving compensation we will not be able to make up the human loss. Eyewitnesses recount the horror and how the victims were struggling for help. Medical facilities reached the accident spot late and that shows the apathy and the lethargic approach of the officials.

By suspending or by transferring officials is not the solution.  More and more care should be taken on passenger safety and the railway budget should allot more funds to reduce the accident cases to a negligible level. The approach after the tragedy by the government does not augur well and the railway passengers are feeling lack of relief during such major accidents. It should not be out of context to mention here that the system is controlled by the Railway Ministry through the state-owned Indian Railways having more than 1.5 million employees and is India’s largest state-owned enterprise too. However, it is also probably the most inefficient Company in the world, in the state sector. Coupled with the government’s policy of low-cost train transport and high salaries for railway employees, the Indian Railways simply cannot accumulate enough funds to update its railway system.

The train accident near Khatauli saw tragedy struck killing of more than 23 people and injuring over 100 and that jolts the nation. It could have been averted if the track fractures had been taken care in time and a close watch carried on the train tracks. The derailment created fear among the passengers. Strange are the ways of train accidents in the Indian history. In the past we heard about bomb blasts, head on collision, wrong signal, smoke inside coaches and snatching of fish plates caused trouble and discomfiture to the travellers and caused major causalities at late night. A panel will be set up for a probe. But the dear lives were lost in a major mishap. Time tested methods are to be carried out regularly on all rail routes periodically.

The past governments have not given enough attention to vital infrastructure like railways. At the same time, India’s domestic manufacturing industry has fallen behind, unable to provide technical and equipment support for railway upgrading.

It could be said that India’s train accidents are not even accidents, but high-probability events caused by systemic problems. For decades, the situation has not improved. According to the statistics, in 2016 more than 500 train accidents took place in India. This problem cannot be solved by the resignation of the minister of railways. The minister himself to be serious on various corrupt practices in Railway system right from the Railway Board level to the Zonal and Divisional levels in the Engineering, Safety, Operations, Electrical, Signal & Telecom wings. Most of the Indian Railway officials are corrupt and past Governments have not taken sufficient steps to correct the system. Atleast Suresh Prabhu, former Railway Minister was too serious on such malpractices, as he has taken aggressive stand on corruption under the Prime Minister Mr.Modi’s regime.

The slow speed and frequent accidents on India’s railways have become symbolic of the backwardness of the country’s infrastructure. In the international media coverage of India, the train-related problems also give a negative impression of the country to the international community. Not only do foreign tourists feel insecure about traveling there, but foreign investors also have little confidence in India’s infrastructure, which has hindered the development of India’s economy and modernization.

Over the past decade, the government has recognized the importance of railways for economic development and it has proposed a series of railway construction plans. After Modi came to power, he expressed ambitions not only to reconstruct the original railways but also to form a “diamond quadrilateral” of railways connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Calcutta, the Delhi-Chennai high-speed railway corridor and the Mysore-Bangalore Chennai high-speed rail lines. At the same time, India also become more welcoming to the participation of foreign funds and enterprises. In September 2014, when Chinese leaders visited India, the two countries signed an agreement to invite Chinese enterprises to participate in a project to upgrade the railway from Bangalore to Mysore. India also announced in 2015 that it would invest more than $13 billion over five years to modernize and expand the railway system. In February 2016, India and Japan signed a $12 billion agreement to build a high-speed railway from Mumbai to Ahmedabad.

The Modi government’s railway construction plan is exciting, but will not be easy to achieve. First, the huge funds required have not yet been mobilized, partly because private capital hasn’t been properly involved, but also because there are still concerns regarding foreign investment. Second, long-term constraints in the institutional infrastructure in India have not been resolved, such as problems related to land expropriation.

Even if Modi can create a miracle and successfully complete his plan, it only involves the enhancement of the main Indian Railways, which account for just a small part of the entire Indian railway system. A comprehensive upgrade of the whole system will need a huge amount of money, and will take several decades to achieve. Therefore, news about Indian train accidents is not likely to fade away.

In a bid to facilitate passengers, now there will be multi-purpose stalls (MPS) at railway stations. These stalls will have miscellaneous items that will satisfy travelling needs of the people, under one roof.

Pursuant to announcement made in 2016-17 budget, the Railway Board announced the policy on September 5, directing all general managers to ask divisional railway managers (DRMs) to prepare a blueprint of the total requirement of MPS platforms and stations.

Such multi-purpose stalls will first come up at A1, A, B and C category stations on priority. The policy will be applicable to existing stalls also but if they don’t want to opt for it, such stalls will be allowed to continue till their agreement term period with railway divisions ends.

“The railway divisions have been asked not to make any new allotment or give extension to any existing stalls or trolleys. All these stalls will be converted into MPS in phased manner. The basic idea is to mop up additional revenue by the railways,” said senior officials.

They added one of the objectives of the new policy is to decongest railway stations by optimum utilization of space on platforms. “Too many stalls at platforms also prove to be hurdle in smooth flow of passengers. MPS will not only solve the purpose to great extent but will also benefit passengers by one-stop purchases,” said officials.

The MPS will include artifacts and items of local and regional importance. It will also include existing items like packaged drinking water, magazines, newspapers, chemist stall items, milk powder and food items.

It shall be mandatory for these stalls to sell books pertaining to Indian culture, values, morals and history. The MPS will also have to sell zonal railway timetable and trains at a glance and other official publications.

Official sources said a blueprint will be prepared with approval of DRM and it will be forwarded to chief commercial managers (CCMs) prior to invitation of bids. Retailers, individuals and self-help groups (SHGs), registered firms will be eligible for bids.

With digitization, the railways have made it mandatory now for the stall owners to keep swipe machines for acceptance of debit and credit cards without charging any additional transaction charge for sale above Rs 100.

Sources said, a committee of CCMs of four zones — Southern Railway, Northern Railway, Eastern Railway, and Western Railway — will prepare a tender document to be executed by all zonal railways and licensees after Railway Board approves it.

Salient Features of The Policy
* Multi-purpose stalls to have all items under one roof.
* DRMs told to prepare blueprint of the MPS and submit proposal to CCMs before bids.
* Retailers, individuals, SHGs, registered firms allowed to be part of the MPS.
* Bids to be invited through e-tendering process only.
* Three-member panel at division level to deal with tendering process.
* The MPS allotment will be for five years only.
* 25% reservation for MPS will be for all reserved categories at A1, A, B & C category stations and 49.50% at D, E, F category stations.
* The policy will be for existing stalls only.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will on Thursday lay the foundation stone for India’s first bullet train project, connecting Mumbai and Ahmedabad, in Ahmedabad, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.

“The commencement of work on the country’s first High Speed Rail (Bullet train) project will begin on September 14 in Ahmedabad,” Mr Goyal told reporters, adding that the bullet train technology would “revolutionise and transform the transport sector”.

“This will be a historical moment as India will gets it first bullet train,” he said.

“This is an occasion to celebrate the advent of the most modern technology in India. It shall also benefit the farmers for transportation of agricultural produce in a fast mode,” Mr Goyal said.

 The Railway Minister said that the high-speed rail was envisioned by PM Modi to take Indian Railways towards “most modern technologies like developed countries”.

With the Indian Railways adopting most modern technologies, the bullet train was an endeavour to bring economic growth and prosperity in the country, he said.

The 508-km Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project will entail an estimated cost of Rs. 1,10,000 crore.

“Out of this Rs. 1,10,000 crore, Japan is giving a loan of Rs. 88,000 crore and the interest on this loan is minimal, i.e. 0.1 per cent,” Mr Goyal said.

“This loan is to be repaid to Japan in 50 years. Loan repayment period of 50 years with 15 years grace.”

Of the 508-km stretch, 92 per cent of the route will be elevated, six per cent in tunnel and the rest two per cent will be on the ground.

That is, 508 km stretch will have 468 km of elevated track, 27 km inside tunnel and the remaining 13 km on the ground.

The high speed train will also pass through the country’s biggest tunnel of 21 km, of which seven km will be under the sea.

Sushant Mishra, Infra Advisor to the Indian Railways, told IANS that Japan was awarded the contract because there had been no accident on its bullet train networks.

“They (Japan) are pioneers of bullet train technology, and their train has the highest punctuality rate,” Mr Mishra said.

Japan was also ready to transfer the technology to India and sponsoring the project.

He also said that the works for the terminal in Sabarmati would start from September 14 itself.

“About 825 hectares of land would be acquired for the high speed rail,” he said.

On the Ahmedabad-Mumbai route, total 12 stations have been proposed that include Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati.

The distance of 508 km will be covered in two hours and seven minutes by the bullet train if it stops at four stations namely Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Mumbai.

According to railway ministry officials, the operating speed of the bullet train will be 320 kilometers per hour and maximum speed will be 350 kilometers per hour.

If the bullet train will stop at all 12 stations, then it will cover the distance in two hours and fifty-eight minutes.

In a day, the high-speed train will make 70 Ahmedabad-Mumbai sorties.

“A total of 24 high-speed trains will be imported from Japan and then rest of the rakes will be manufactured in India,” Mr Mishra said.

The Centre is confident of starting the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train on August 15, 2022 to commemorate the 75th year of India’s Independence, a year ahead of its schedule, a senior official of the railway ministry said on Monday.

The official, who in-charge of the bullet train project, said that while the deadline to launch the train will remain 2023, the railways is focused to start it keeping in view the Independence Day celebrations in 2022.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said that the scheduled date of starting the bullet train is 2023, according to the Japanese. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes that Indian engineers have the capability and our workers have the efficiency to complete it a year earlier,” he told reporters.

“When the Prime Minister lays the foundation stone for the project on September 14, it will also mark the beginning of the project,” Mr Goyal said, adding that the venue of the foundation laying ceremony will be the passenger terminal for the bullet train.

He further said that it was the goodwill of the PM that was instrumental in India getting such cheap loan from Japan for the bullet train.

The 508-km-long Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed rail Project (Standard Gauge) is estimated to cost Rs. 1,10,000 crore on completion.

Out of the Rs. 1,10,000 crore, Japan is giving a loan of Rs. 88,000 crore. The interest on this loan is minimal at 0.1 per cent and it is to be repaid in 50 years, with a grace period of 15 years.

Mr Goyal said that the project is expected to provide 12-15 lakh jobs. Around 20,000 in construction, 4,000 direct jobs for running the system and around 20,000 indirect jobs.

“I think for such low expenditure we are not only getting this huge system, but also modern technology which will provide lakhs of jobs in India. With this technology, industry will get a big boost.

“Then eventually, India will make cheaper bullet trains and export it to the world. So going ahead, India will be part of the international standards in transport technology,” he added.

While covering the 508-km stretch between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, the train will stop at 10 stations — Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand and Sabarmati.

The railway official said the train would take 2 hours and 58 minutes to cover the distance if it took 10 halts, adding that with two halts — at Surat and Vadodara — the travelling time would come down to two hours and seven minutes.

Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), the special purpose vehicle created for implementing the metro rail project in Chennai, is likely to take up the feasibility study for a metro rail project in Coimbatore.

Sources said it was decided at a high-level meeting in Chennai a few days ago that the State government would ask the CMRL to conduct the study and prepare a detailed project report.

The feasibility study would take about three months and the detailed project report about nine months.

The move follows Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s announcement in the Assembly that the Coimbatore city would get metro rail.

Preliminary discussions centred around having metro rail along arterial roads and studying various stretches for about 120 km, the sources said.

The arterial roads could be Avinashi Road, Trichy Road and Mettupalayam Road.

Discussions were also held about whether metro should cover the entire stretch or combining it with mono rail or bus rapid transit system.

The sources, however, pointed out that things were in a very preliminary stage. Only after completing the feasibility study and preparing the detailed project report would a clear picture emerge about the route, cost, pattern of funding and establishment of a special purpose vehicle.

Citing Kochi as an example, many politicians and activists have been saying that the city missed the bus when the Centre announced the scheme more than seven years ago.

The issue cropped up again when Kochi opened its first stretch recently.

 

Over 2,000 families residing along the Pathankot-Jogindernagar railway line between Nurpur and Jogindernagar have been spending sleepless night following orders of the Himachal Pradesh High Court directing railway authorities to check illegal construction and submit report before September 19.The railway authorities have issued notices to such persons, treating their houses under the category of illegal construction. They have submitted a list of 2,238 illegal buildings to the HC. The final decision will be taken on September 19 when senior officers of the Railways, including the chairman of the Railway Board, would appear in court.

Information gathered revealed that most of the houses had been constructed on private land even before the rail track was laid in 1929. They were never served any notice. Even the railway authorities have earlier admitted in an affidavit filed before the court that there was no illegal construction along the Pathankot-Jogindernagar rail track except in 19 cases, in which proceedings were pending in different courts in Himachal and Ferozepur.

Twelve persons of Thakurdwara village in the outskirts of Palampur town, who had also received notices, told The Tribune that their houses were constructed 60 years ago. They said these were away from the track. That time, the railway authorities never termed their houses as illegal.

However, after the HC orders, these structures may face demolition any time. Recently, a resident of Palampur filed a PIL before the High Court, seeking action against illegal construction along national highways and rail lines. Thereafter, the court directed the railway authorities to submit the status report regarding the illegal construction or encroachment on the land belonging to the Railways between Pathankot and Jogindernagar.

The affected parties today appealed to Chief Minister Virbhadhra Singh to come for their rescue and save their houses from demolition. They said their houses were never a hurdle for the rail line.

The world’s oldest steam engine today successfully completed a “heritage run” between two railway stations here with a single coach, drawing huge crowds along the route.

The Heritage Special Locomotive EIR-21 was run from the Egmore to Kodambakkam railway stations in the city, covering two stations in between. It drew huge crowds along the route, the Southern Railway said in a release.

This was the sixth heritage run for EIR-21, which is similar to the Fairy Queen, another steam engine, in appearance.

The first run had taken place on August 15, 2010. The locomotive had run between the Chennai Central and Avadi railway stations as part of Independence Day celebrations that year.

Built in 1855, the steam engine had been kept as an exhibit at the Jamalpur Locomotive Workshop and then at the Howrah station in West Bengal after it was withdrawn from service in 1909.

Several parts of the locomotive got rusted or went missing while some were found broken. After its revival, the engine went on its first heritage run in 2010.

The EIR-21 can adapt to various technological developments and is equipped with a GPS-based speedometer, the release said.

A rail journey between Nagpur and Hyderabad may take a mere three hours down from the nine that most trains take now if a plan is put into action. The railways have drawn a blueprint for a semi-high speed corridor linking the two commercial hubs, a senior official said.

“The ministry has initiated a joint feasibility and implementation study with Russian Railways to chalk out details after which it will be sent to the Railway Board for approval,” the senior ministry official said.

The railways planned to cash in on the fact that at present there were no direct flights between the two cities. A flight with a stopover could take four hours or more.

Currently, the 584-km stretch is covered by the Railways at an average speed of 60km/hr in a minimum of nine hours.

The railways is planning to run the trains at a speed of 160-200km/hr by strengthening the existing tracks and fencing off the route to complete the journey in less than three hours.

Semi-high speed trains can gather a maximum speed of 200 km/hr, while faster ones in the category of high-speed or bullet trains can run at 250-350 km/hr.

The Delhi-Chandigarh corridor, one of the busiest routes in north India, is slated to be the first semi-high speed project being taken up by the Railways with French help. It will enable trains to run at a maximum speed of 200km/hr.

A Japanese civic group teamed up with a railway operator on Sunday to let some 30 cats roam on a local train at an event, hoping it will raise awareness of the culling of stray cats.

Passengers on a local train in Ogaki, in central Japan, were greeted by meowing companions on a moving train, where some passengers mingled with the felines while others enjoyed lunch.

“I think it’s great more people are aware about stray kittens through events like this,” said Mikiko Hayashi, a passenger from western Japan, who owns two cats that were strays. The event was hosted by Yoro Railway Co Ltd and a non-governmental organisation called Kitten Cafe Sanctuary.

The number of cats in Japan admitted to shelters has dropped by around 70 percent to 72,624 in 2016 from 237,246 in 2004. That has reduced the number of cats culled from 238,929 in 2004 to 45,574 in 2016. The cat population in Japan is around 9.8 million.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe will lay the foundation stone for the proposed Ahmedabad-Mumbai High Speed Rail Network, commonly known as the bullet train, on September 14 in the Gujarat city, railway officials said today.

The bullet train, which has a capacity to accommodate 750 people, is expected to reduce travel time between the two cities from seven to three hours.

The train will stop at each of the 12 railway stations on the route, but only for 165 seconds. A 21-km-long tunnel will be dug between Boisar and Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai, of which seven kilometers will be under water.

The entire line will be at an elevation of around 20 meters which will reduce land acquisition.

After the laying of the foundation stone, an investment summit will also be held between the Indian side and a Japanese delegation comprising representatives from Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).