Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu today denied he has been demoted in the cabinet reshuffle, saying he looks at his new task as an opportunity to ensure rapid economic growth of the country. Noting that his new assignment is his ninth as a cabinet minister, Mr Prabhu said every task is equally important.

A station master posted in Fefna has been suspended for alleged laxity after the Chhapra- Varanasi Intercity Express was sent on the wrong route, Railway officials said.

The train, which was supposed to go towards Ghazipur from the Fefna station, instead headed for Mau.

It was the alert passengers on board who ensured that it was stopped and brought back to Fefna, the officials said.

After a delay of 25 minutes, the train was sent on the right route, they said.

Taking note of the incident, Mr SK Jha, Divisional Rail Manager (DRM), Varansi suspended Fefna station officer VS Pandey and ordered a probe into the matter.

Services of 13 railway employees were today terminated for gross negligence that led to the August 19 train derailment in which more than 20 people were killed. Among those sacked are 11 gangmen, one ironsmith and a junior engineer, the railway ministry said.

All of them were workers in the Kathauli section where the accident took place when 14 coaches of the train jumped the rails.

“The railways has terminated the services of 13 employees under Section 14 of the discipline and appeal rule,” said Northern Railway spokesperson Neeraj Sharma.

Under this section, the services of any rail staff found guilty of gross negligence can be terminated without an enquiry.

The railway had earlier sent on leave, three top officials, including a secretary-level Railway Board officer, suspended four officers and transferred one in connection with the derailment.

Taking stock of the series of derailments this month, the draft report of a committee set up by Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu recommends that divisional railway managers (DRMs) be more empowered to take decisions, particularly in emergencies.

The committee, ‘Making Divisions as Strategic Business Units’, was constituted by Mr Prabhu in June to finalise a process by which more financial and executive powers are delegated to divisional railway managers so they are able to handle day-to-day operations more effectively.

According to the draft report, accessed by PTI, divisional railway managers should be fully empowered to grant blocks — stopping or diverting trains till work on the tracks is over — for up to three hours.

“No questions should be asked on regulation of trains for maintenance blocks,” the committee has recommended.

The three-hour time frame has been suggested, sources said, to ensure that the block does not effect running of trains on other connected divisions.

The suggestion from the committee headed by Director General, Personnel, comes days after the Kalinga Utkal Express derailment in Khatauli in Uttar Pradesh on August 19 in which 23 people were killed. The divisional railway manager of the Northern Division was among those sent on leave.

“The committee is working to enable divisional railway managers to concentrate more on safety, customer satisfaction, transportation business, customer interface, generation of revenue, operation and maintenance of assets.”

“We are also working to see that they are relieved of procedural rigmaroles,” an official in the ministry said.

The committee has suggested in its draft report that full flexibility be given to DRMs to utilise their revenue grant across ‘minor head’ and ‘primary head’ within the overall spending limit given to the division.

It has also recommended that divisional railway managers should have the power to make emergency procurements so that safety related issues are addressed quickly.

“The system of procurement through stores depot to be modified to address gap in availability of safety items in sufficient quantity, affecting reliability and safety of assets,” the committee said.

It said that the divisions should be enabled to place supply orders directly to the vendor against the pre-decided rate contract.

According to the draft report, the tendering system in work contracts at divisional level should be simplified.

It has suggested that the railways should replicate the process followed by the Central Public Works Department where contractors are pre-qualified by headquarters and a list of approved contractors is maintained.

The Indian Railways is divided into 16 zones, which are further sub-divided into divisions, each having its divisional headquarters.

There are a total of 73 divisions. Each division is headed by a Divisional Railway Manager.

There have been three derailments since the Kalinga Utkal Express accident on August 19.

About 100 passengers were wounded when 10 coaches of the Kaifiyat Express train derailed on August 23 in UP’s Auraiya district after crashing into a dumper on the tracks.

On August 25, six coaches of an Andheri-bound local train derailed in Mumbai, injuring six passengers. Yesterday, a landslide caused by heavy rain led to the derailment of the Nagpur-Mumbai Duronto Express in Maharashtra. No casualties were reported.

The suburban train services on the western railway line in Mumbai have resumed after incessant downpour threw life out of gear in the city.

The Railway Ministry said on Twitter that the services on the Western Railway resumed yesterday at 11.58 PM and stranded passengers were evacuated.

Suburban train services on the Central Railway (CR) mainline resumed this morning after remaining suspended for nearly 20 hours due to heavy rain that was nine times more than usual.
The first train left Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) for Kalyan at 7:26 am, an official said. “The first special train for Kalyan left CSMT at 7:26 am and the second one at 7:44 am,” said Sunil Udasi, chief public relations officer of CR.

He said services on other sections such as Kalyan to Karjat, Kalyan to Titwala and Thana to Kalyan are also operational.

Mr Udasi said since Kurla is still flooded, it may take some more time for the Harbour line trains to get back on the track. This line is also operated by the CR.

“We will shortly start services between Kurla and Kalyan also,” Mr Udasi said. “Stranded trains are being cleared first and then CSMT to Thane traffic will resume,” the official said.

Services on the suburban corridor of the Western Railway (WR) are also back on track. Trains on this section resumed at midnight and more services were started at 7 am.

“Trains running normal over all suburban lines of western Railway @RailMinIndia @sureshpprabhu,” Western Railway tweeted.

A major tragedy averted on Tuesday at Nagpur railway station after the Sampark Kranti Express left the platform no 1 and an alert senior train ticket examiner detected a rail fracture at the Itarsi end. The caution was felt after it was noticed that three coaches of the train jumped while moving and the movement too was not smooth. Sources said senior TTE Jitendra Kumar Hathel, The TTE suspected something wrong, and noticed the rail fracture on the railway line when he checked the spot. He immediately rushed to the deputy station superintendent (Dy.SS) office at platform number 1 and informed the staff there.

An alert was sounded and the control room was informed about it. The engineering staff too was summoned. In the backdrop of the recent mishap at Khatauli in Uttar Pradesh, where 23 passengers died, there was panic among passengers waiting for Ahmedabad Express. Even as repair works started at the rail fracture on platform number 1, Ahmedabad Express was shifted to platform number 2. Central Railway public relations officer (PRO) PD Patil confirmed the incident and said the rail fracture was repaired and traffic from the platform was restored in 45 minutes.

Even as repair works started at the rail fracture on platform number 1, Ahmedabad Express was shifted to platform number 2.

Central Railway public relations officer (PRO) PD Patil confirmed the incident and said the rail fracture was repaired and traffic from the platform was restored in 45 minutes.

A  month before the Utkal Express accident, the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) S K Pathak had raised concerns about the quality of personnel serving in the Railway’s safety category posts.

In a letter to R K Kulshrestha, General Manager, Northern Railway, which is dated July 17, Pathak had raised doubts on whether the staff was hired giving due regard to the prescribed qualifications.

Kulshrestha was sent on leave following the Utkal Express accident on Saturday.

The letter raised some serious concerns about the safety of passengers travelling on trains. The Commissioner of Railway Safety falls under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and it was done to ensure independent probe by a government agency.

“Most of the recent railway accidents are due to human error. This is a serious reason for concern. It appears that the Railways has failed to ensuring that the newly recruited staff in engineering, signal and telecom, traction departments are adequately trained,” said the commissioner of railway safety.

In Utkal derailment, the Railway Board has accepted negligence by its staff and three topmost railways officers, including Railway Board Member Engineering A K Mittal, has been sent on leave based on prime facie evidence.

Pathak said that in the last five years a number of new facilities, including new lines have been opened after statutory inspection and authorisation by the Commission. “While authorising the opening of some of the new assets, The Commission directed the Railways to post adequate number of trained and qualified staff to maintain these new assets,” Pathak said in the letter.

However, he noted that the Commission was not informed about hiring process and whether the staff have been hired giving due regard to the stipulated norms. Expressing concerns over a spurt in train accidents due to human error, the CRS asked railways to furnish details of the number of recruitments done to man the new facilities.

The Commission has asked the Northern Railway to tender a briefing on the process. “It is advised that the status of filling of safety category posts in all new sections already opened may be submitted to the Commission,” said the communiqué. An internal analysis by the Railways found that 87 per cent of all rail accidents occur due to human error. Of these, 51 per cent are due to failure of the railway staff.

The Utkal Express derailment in Uttar Pradesh where 23 died was allegedly caused because the engineering department was carrying out ‘unofficial’ maintenance to repair tracks.

This means that a ‘line block’ permission to slow down trains on a section of track or divert them through the other track was not taken from the Operations Department, which ultimately led to the train running on weak tracks and derailing.

Such a situation is unlikely to happen in the Chennai division of Southern Railway, say official sources. This is because, two years ago, the division devised a systematic method of handling track renewal works which would have to be requested a day in advance.

For instance, on Monday evening, Southern Railway issued a press release that there would be line and power block on Chennai-Gudur section to facilitate engineering works for constructing a limited use subway at Nayadupeta.

“The engineering department has to send in their requests a day in advance. This will be sent to a senior official of the divisional operating department who will either give permission or reject it. But in any case, the process will be on paper by the previous day evening,” said a senior railway official. A dedicated log is also maintained which can nail those flouting rules. This was devised based on learnings from Mumbai railway division, say sources.

This prevents shortcuts from the section engineers on the field and also gives them enough time to channelize manpower and resources for the work.

Track renewal work is very important as most important lines in Indian Railways are over-stressed. But due to high frequency of trains, maintenance time for tracks is less. “Planning in advance helps iron out the inter-departmental differences and also improve safety ,” another official said.