A team of officials, led by DRM R K Jha, carried out an intensive inspection of railway stations from Baruna near Buxar to Islampur under Danapur Division of the East Central Railway (ECR) on Wednesday. As per the directives of the new CRB Ashwani Lohani, the officials concerned to crucial categories have to ensure utmost importance to safety in train operations to ensure safety of passengers at any cost and to improve passenger amenities.

According to DRM R K Jha, the Danapur Division has initiated several steps to improve passenger amenities at big and small railway stations. “Since Barh station experiences huge traffic flow, the platforms have been widened so that passengers have enough space to sit while waiting for trains. Mail and express trains with a load combination of 24 coaches have also been stabled on the platforms,” Jha said, adding the railways had introduced announcing system facilities at Kasichak, Sirari and Wazirganj stations on the Kiul-Gaya route of the Division.

While additional sheds have been made on the railway platforms at Hathida, Rampur Dumra, Darauli and Gahmarh, concrete surface has been built on platforms at Mahavir Halt, Jatdumri Halt and Neema Halt on the Patna-Gaya section.

“RPF and RPSF personnel have been directed to keep a close tab on the activities of miscreants on running trains and railway premises. Important stations, including the Patna Junction, Rajendra Nagar Terminal, Pataliputra Junction and Danapur station, have been brought under round-the-clock security surveillance to ensure safety of the passengers,” Jha told.

Railway officials will continue the inspection of important sections under Danapur division on Thursday.

A rivalry between two Divisions under two different Zonal Railways, “to show dominance over a new train” Antyodaya Express, led to a fight between drivers at Bharatpur Junction in Rajasthan last month, putting at risk the safety of passengers and delaying the train for hours.

The issue pertained to who would drive the Gorakhpur-Bandra train between Mathura and Kota section. On the first trip, which was flagged off by then-railway minister Suresh Prabhu, the Agra division driver had taken the train on the route, but on the second instance, the Kota division claimed their right to helm the locomotive.

Dozens of Kota division drivers stopped the train at Bharatpur on August 22 and beat up the driver and his assistant, Sandeep Mukherjee and Deepak Mahaur of Agra division, before taking over and continuing the trip. The Kota division drivers again stopped the train on August 29, but senior officials intervened and let the Agra division driver continue.

Divisional Railway Manager of Agra, Ranjan Yadav said the fights, which delayed the weekly train for a few hours, occurred due to overlapping schedules made by the two divisions — Kota and Agra.

“It rarely happens that schedules of crew from the two divisions overlap,” a train driver said, but added, “It’s also true that often divisions’ drivers enter into a rivalry to show their dominance on a new train.”

The issue was resolved on September 1, when the Chief Passenger Traffic Manager of the NCR division issued a letter of compromise.

Under the new plan, it has been decided that on the Bandra-Gorakhpur trip, the WCR crew will drive the train from Kota to Mathura, and on the return trip, the NCR crew will take the train from Mathura to Kota.

SAFETY OF PASSENGERS AT RISK

In the wake of recent train derailments in the region, the fight between divisions of railways poses a grave threat to safety of passengers due to the drivers’ lack of concern over passengers’ well-being.

“A train driver is supposed to concentrate on his job. He is not supposed to carry dozens of people for his safety inside the engine. The two divisions have risked the lives of passengers,” said a source.

A report by loco inspector M K Meena, who was present at the time of the incident, said on August 22, the train driver Mukherjee was beaten up and had to be treated by a doctor. The Railway Police Force (RPF) stood as mute spectators.

On August 29, the situation was tense as the Agra division driver had brought dozens of colleagues with him, fearing assaults by the Kota division staff. A fight was prevented, but the train was delayed for half an hour. The Indian Railway Loco Running Organisation, a registered association of train drivers, wrote a detailed report to the Railway Board narrating the incident.

The fights come at a time when the Indian Railways faces a 20% shortage of drivers across the country.

In a month, Bengaluru will receive two spanking new electric trains to replace conventional trains in the city’s suburban network.

These two trains are part of the 15 trains that the Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala will deliver to the state in the next one year.

All of them are meant for suburban services around Bengaluru. This was the deal signed between the state government and the ministry of railways in January. The total cost of the conversion is pegged at Rs 327.79 crore, 80 per cent of which will be shared by the state government.

Each of these two trains have eight coaches. “They are expected to arrive by September end,“ said RS Saxena, Divisional Railway Manager, Bengaluru. These electric trains, called mainline electric multiple units (MEMUs), have greater carrying capacity (resulting in better utilisation of line capacity), better fuel efficiency and performance when compared to the outgoing diesel electric multiple unit (DEMU) trains and conventional passenger trains.

The above-mentioned 15 trains operate between Bengaluru and various suburban town such as Bangarpet, Jolarpettai, Mysuru and Hindupur.

“As and when the new rakes arrive, we will deploy them on sections that are seeing good patronage. Two more rakes are expected to arrive by this-year end and the remaining four rakes will be dispatched in 2018,“ Saxena said.

January’s memorandum of understanding also involved upgrading maintenance facilities for the MEMUs at Banasawadi. “The project will be taken up only after approval in the supplementary budget,“ an official statement from the railways said.

Although any project that costs more than Rs 5 crore should be routed through the railway budget for approval, A K Gupta, general manager, SWR, said this would not affect manufacturing of nine rakes as agreed in the pact. “Each year, a certain amount is set aside to manufacture rakes. As the Railway Board has already agreed to allot 15 pairs of trains to Bengaluru, there will be no problem,“ he said.

At present, the SWR operates 94 commuter services in Bengaluru. Of them, 44 are passenger (conventional) trains, 26 are MEMU and 24 are DEMU trains. Urban mobility activist Sanjeev Dyamannavar hoped that the new trains will mean an increase in the number of services to Whitefield.

“As Metro work is being taken up between Baiyappanahalli and Whitefield, a higher frequency of train services would definitely see good patronage,“ he said.

Khandala: Two wagons of a goods train derailed near Khandala in Maharashtra, the third train accident reported in the country today, a Central Railway spokesperson said.

Two wagons of the train derailed at around 3:55 pm, even as the railways was dealing with two derailments which happened earlier in the day.

“Two wagons of the goods trains derailed in Khandala this afternoon. We are in the process of clearing the tracks,” said Sunil Udasi, Chief Public Relations Officer, Central Railway.

This is the third case of derailment today.

Earlier, seven coaches of Jabalpur-bound Shaktipunj Express jumped the rails near the Obra Dam station in Sonbhadra district in Uttar Pradesh at around 6:25 am. Further, the engine and power car of the Ranchi-Delhi Rajdhani Express derailed near Minto Bridge in Delhi at around 11:45 am.

Seven coaches of the Jabalpur-bound Shaktikunj Express derailed today in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh, a railway official said.

“The accident occurred at around 6:25 AM and we have already cleared out the site,” Railway ministry spokesperson Anil Saxena said.

“All passengers were put on the remaining coaches and by 7:28 AM all of them had left the spot. All of them are safe and no one was injured in the accident,” he said.

The train was running at a speed of around 40 km/hr which, officials say prevented any injuries when the incident occurred.

This is the third such derailment in the state in less than a month.

On August 19, the Utkal Express had derailed in Muzaffarnagar district, killing 22 people and injuring 156.

Around 100 passengers were wounded when 10 coaches of Kaifiyat Express train derailed after crashing into a dumper which strayed on to the tracks in Auraiya district on August 23.

Seven coaches of the Jabalpur- bound Shaktipunj Express derailed today in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh, a railway official said.

“The accident occurred at around 6:25 AM and we have already cleared out the site,” Railway ministry spokesperson Anil Saxena said.

The train was running at a speed of about 40 km/hr which, officials say prevented any injuries when the incident occurred.

This is the third such derailment in the state in less than a month.

On August 19, the Utkal Express had derailed in Muzaffarnagar district, killing 22 people and injuring 156. About 100 passengers were wounded when 10 coaches of Kaifiyat Express train derailed after crashing into a dumper which strayed on to the tracks in Auraiya district on August 23.

ABB today said it has dispatched its 1,000th traction transformer that will be used in the metro project in Lucknow.

Manufactured at the Vadodara factory, the light-weight, reliable ABB traction transformers are attached to and critical for on-board or metro compartment power supply, ABB said in a statement.

These transformers enable efficient use of electric power and achieve higher levels of acceleration, with minimal space requirements.

They are designed to lower fault level, ensuring high reliability and commuter safety.

A stretch of Lucknow Metro has been thrown open to public today in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

ABB’s traction transformers have helped move more than 3 million passengers safely and sustainability in metros every day across 5 cities in the country.

ABB’s track side transformers for overhead electrification and auxiliary dry type transformers will also power the metro stations for lighting and other requirements.

“We are pleased that our historic 1,000th milestone has coincided with a project, which expands the horizon of mobility options in this historic city to enable safe commute for millions every day,” said Sanjeev Sharma, Managing Director, ABB India.

In addition, a comprehensive ABB electrification solutions package will be provided to Lucknow Metro in a phased manner.

In the second phase, ABB will provide compact power sub-stations for efficient power supply and distribution especially for the underground rail network, with relevant power protection and control technology.

Also, ABB technology will be used in the building infrastructure for the electrical distribution. Finally, the lightning arrestors provided by ABB will be used on the metro rail buildings to keep commuters safe.

ABB is among the leading firms providing turnkey power supply solutions for metro rail projects. Since 2002, ABB has implemented turnkey electrification of both AC and DC metro rail systems and currently 8 operational metro rail projects across the country run on ABB technology.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath attended the opening ceremony of the Lucknow metro on September 5. Passenger services were due to start the following day.

Services are operating between 06.00 and 22.00 on an initial 8·4 km ‘priority corridor’ between Transport Nagar and Charbagh, serving eight stations. When complete, the city’s starter line would connect Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport and Munshipulia. Three stations on a 3·4 km section would be underground, with the remaining 19·4 km and 19 stations on an elevated alignment.

The project is being developed as a joint venture between the central government and the state of Uttar Pradesh.

In 2015 Lucknow Metro Rail Corp awarded Alstom a €150m contract to provide rolling stock and signalling. Designed in Bangalore and manufactured at Sri City and Coimbatore, the 20 four-car Metropolis trainsets each have 186 seats arranged longitudinally and two areas for passengers with reduced mobility. Alstom’s factories in Bangalore and Saint-Ouen in France are supplying Urbalis CBTC signalling.

The Chief Minister’s office posted a 2.27-minute video on its official Twitter handle, in which Adityanath is seen saying, “Your wish has finally come true. This metro is yours — this is a gift for your from the central and state governments.”

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always been in favour of a congestion-free, cheaper and eco-friendly public transport system,” he said in the video message.

“We have set a target of March 2019 to complete the second phase of the project,” Adityanath said in the video. Instead of a metro corporation for each of the cities/districts Hqrs where the project has been approved by UP cabinet, Chief Minister Adityanath Yogi on Tuesday said that an umbrella corporation Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC) would be set up to supervise the operational work of metro construction in these districts. The Chief Minister was speaking before flagging off of the first metro rail of Lucknow at Transport Nagar along with home minister Rajnath Singh and governor Ram Naik. Also present on the stage was Metro man, Padm Bhushan and Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation consultant E Sreedharan. The first phase of 8.5 km from Transport Nagar to Charbagh Railway station would be opened for commercial operation from Wednesday 6am onwards.

The chief minister also sought support and guidance from Sreedharan in the UP Metro Rail Corporation. Since the metro man had spoken before the Chief Minister began his address it was still not known whether he would agree to be consultant of UPMRC or not like he had been of Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation.

Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi has dreamt of providing metro transport in 50 cities of the country in the next three years, UP has maximum opportunity to grab, Yogi said and added that metro project has been approved for Kanpur, Jhansi, Agra, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Meerut and Allahabad. While DPR work is complete in some districts, in other it is on and in a few survey work is on.

Once all this metro projects come under UP Metro Rail Corporation, these metro projects could be expedited. He urged the Metro Man Sreedharan to be on board the UP Metro corporation. Lauding his contribution, Yogi said that Sreedharan was the best example for the bureaucracy, which otherwise is known for delaying the projects, that how a project which had a three years deadline can be completed in two years time. Bureaucracy should learn from Sreedharan’s work culture, Yogi stressed.

There will not be a wait for six months, the wait to travel on metro for the people of Lucknow will be over tomorrow as the commercial run to cover 8.5 kilometres would begin, the CM said. “Yeh kewal ek shagoofa nahin hai, yeh ek vaastvikta hai,” the CM concluded.

History is proof that governments across party lines have often tried to find the answer to train accidents in the resignation of the railway minister – the latest example of this long practiced phenomena being Suresh Prabhu, former Union Minister of Railways. But for the people of the Northeastern region, the change of ministership of Suresh Prabhu, from Railways to Commerce and industry on September 3 is not a digestive item. Prabhu shall be remembered for delivering what no other Union Railway Minister could – a widened network of rail infrastructure to the people of the region.

In the last three years, the ministry under Prabhu was successful in including five northeastern states – Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura – to the broad gauge (BG) map of the country. As many as 29 new trains were introduced in the region in a span of just one year – 2016 to 2017.

Today, no metre gauge line exists in the northeastern states, thanks to conversion of over 900 kms of track to BG in the last three years. All the states of the region, except Sikkim, are now included in the BG network.

Many of these projects might have started during the UPA, Deve Gowda and Atal Bihari Vajpayee regimes but the ministry under Prabhu gave the much-needed push, thanks to which the projects, including those stranded for years, met completion or are near completion.

Look at Tripura. State capital Agartala saw a metre gauge (MG) track as lately as in October 2008, even though the MG line reached the state’s business hub Dharmanagar from Assam in 1964.

It was also during Prabhu’s term, in August 2016, that Tripura saw a foundation stone laid for the construction of the railway line connecting Agartala to Akhaura in Bangladesh, even though a pact to this effect was signed in January 2010 by the UPA government with the Sheikh Hasina regime.

Work is on in full swing in the 15-km stretch, which will not only be a part of the Trans Asian Railway Network but will substantially shorten the rail distance between Agartala and Kolkata via Bangladesh – from the present 1,590 kms to 499 kms.

This rail link will connect Agartala to Ashuganj river port, via Akhaura, about 54 kms away. As per news reports quoting North Eastern Frontier Railway officials, the project is likely to be completed before the year turns.

Besides, the 114 km BG track from Silchar in Assam to Agartala and thereafter to the border town of Sabroom, from where the Chittagong port of Bangladesh is merely 75 kms away, is likely to completed by March 2019. Already, the track has reached Udaipur town of Tripura. The Silchar-Udaipur track has been operational since January 2017.

Thanks to the gauge conversion of the Silchar stretch, there are now three new BG trains from the Barak Valley of Assam, including Poorvottar Sampark Kranti Express, a direct train from Silchar to New Delhi, a decades-old demand of the people of that valley.

The other two trains, flagged off by Prabhu in February 2016, were the first freight trains from Badarpur in Assam to Jirania in Agartala, and to Jiribam in Manipur.

While the freight train from Badarpur to Jiribam helped include Manipur in the BG network, the one to Jirania came at a time when NH 8, Tripura’s only road route to the rest of India through Assam, was in shambles, thus leading to a crisis situation as hundreds of trucks remained stranded on it for months together. The goods train helped cart essential stuff to the state.

Work is presently on the 84 km long Jiribam-Tupul section of the railway project in Manipur and likely finish by 2018. Thereafter, the link will stretch to state capital Imphal. Though this project to lay railway track to Imphal began in 2004, barely 20% of the work was reportedly completed till 2014. Media reports say survey is on also to lay a railway line from Imphal to Moreh, a business town bordering Myanmar.

The railway ministry has also sanctioned reconnaissance engineering-cum-traffic survey for eight new lines in the state for a total length of about 625 km.

While Nagaland has been a part of the BG network since 1997 after the MG track in Dimapur was converted, in August 2016, Prabhu laid the foundation stone in the town to extend the track for another 88 kms to reach Zubza, situated 16 km from the state capital Kohima.

Though Sikkim is the only northeastern state to not have rail connectivity yet, there is now progress in the project to link Sevok in West Bengal to Rangpo, a stretch of 44 kms, after the Supreme Court gave a go ahead to it last year. Though the foundation stone for the project was laid by the then vice president Hamid Ansari in 2009, it ran into legal trouble due to environmental concerns as the line would pass by Mahananda elephant sanctuary.

In coming times, this railway line is likely to reach Nathu-La on the India-China border.

Quite a few times during his visit to the region, the former railway minister had reiterated to the media that all the capitals of the northeastern states would have rail connectivity with the national capital by 2020. Hope the new railway minister Piyush Goyal fulfils this unfinished agenda. For clearly, New Delhi needs to continue this ‘Act’ in the northeast, for the region to be truly able to play its part to make real the ambitious policy of the Modi government – Act East.

Extension of Multi Model Transport System (MMTS) to temple town Yadadri has been cleared. Sanctioning the extension of MMTS Phase II from Ghatkesar to Raigir, Rail Vikas Nigam limited (RVNL) has sent the detailed estimates for the project. RVNL has estimated the total project cost to be around Rs 412.26 crore.

This cost will be shared between the Telangana government and the Indian Railways at 2:1 ratio.

The state government has to provide around Rs 290 crore as its share and remaining amount will be contributed by the railways.

RVNL has asked the state government to release Rs 75 crore to-wards the first installment to start work on the project.

Once the state government gives its approval and releases the funds, the project will commence.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao who has been vocal about his keenness to provide a railway link to the pilgrim town of Yadadri, had requested the Railway Ministry to grant approval on the extension of MMTS Phase II services from Ghatkesar to Raigir.

Raigir is just three km away from temple town Yadadri.  The distance between Ghatkesar to Raigir is 32 km. After the extension of MMTS Phase II to Raigir station, the state government wants to rename it as Yadadri.  The estimated time it would take to reach Raigir from Secunderabad by MMTS is 45 minutes.

Sanatnagar-Moula Ali rail line picks up pace, defence land survey on

Woes of lakhs of commuters plying between Malkajgiri, Sainikpuri, Neredmet and Hi-Tec City may end soon as Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS) Phase II work between Sanatnagar and Moula Ali has picked up pace.A survey on acquiring defence land to lay the railway track between Sanatnagar and Moula Ali is underway .A team from Defence Estate Office and local military authority (LMA) has been carrying out the survey for the past two weeks and might complete the task by September-end.

Though the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), which is executing the project, had received a communication from the ministry of defence (MoD) regarding permission given to the LMA to take up a detailed survey on defence land in June, the LMA delayed it stating that they were yet to get any communication from their headquarters. As a result, the survey got delayed by nearly two-and-half months. In fact, the RVNL had been pursuing the issue since 2012, but due to unknown reasons, the survey got stuck in red tape.

To lay the railway track between Sanatnagar and Moula Ali, the RVNL would require 65 acres of defence land, especially near Suchitra (Secunderabad Cantonment periphery). The LMA raised objections over parting land of the firing range. Now, the LMA has asked the RVNL to pay compensation for the defence land. According to the MMTS Phase-II proposal, 35-km track would be laid between Ghatkesar and Sanatnagar via Moula Ali. MMTS phase II works are currently on between Ghatkesar and Sanatnagar via Moula Ali (37 km). Five stations -Ferozguda, Suchitra junction, Bhudevi Nagar, Neredmet and Moula Ali HB Colony -would come up between Moula Ali and Sanatnagar. “Survey on the defence land in at a brisk pace. The team hopes to complete 65-acre land survey by September end. Later, a survey report will be submitted to the MoD for a decision on land transfer,” defence sources told.

Meanwhile, the railway authorities completed marking properties likely to be affected as part of doubling the railway track at Rail Katta Lane at Nandamuri Nagar. This is as part of the new railway track proposed between Moula Ali and Sanatnagar. As per the demarcation, nearly 42 properties might get affected.Locals have appealed to the railways to provide them alternate parcels of land When contacted, Ward NoVI member Pandu Yadav, in whose jurisdiction the area falls, said.” It is true some properties at Rail Katta Lane will be affected as part of MMTS phase-II. I will make efforts to either shift them to another area or construct new houses on abutting defence land.”