The WAG12B (12000 HP) freight locomotive is powerful and is capable of high speed, thus, it is a significant addition to the Indian Railways network.

Indian Railways’ big ‘Make in India’ success! The first WAG12B (12000 HP) locomotive, manufactured under Narendra Modi government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative recently departed from the Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya railway station in Uttar Pradesh. According to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, the WAG12B (12000 HP) freight locomotive is powerful and is capable of high speed, thus, it is a significant addition to the Indian Railways network. The train departed with WAG/12B-60027 at a speed of 100 Kmph from DDU at 2:08 PM in long haul formation for Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction-Barwadih Junction (BRWD) section of DDU and DHN divisions of East Central Railway zone.

The 12,000 HP electric locomotive, a first for Indian Railways, has been manufactured as well as assembled at Alstom’s factory in Madhepura, located in the state of Bihar. The national transporter got the locomotive from Alstom as part of a 3.5 billion euros ‘Make in India’ deal. In Indian Railways bid to go green and reduce the carbon footprint, the WAG12B (12000 HP) locomotive marks a significant milestone.

The WAG12-class locos will be used to power trains on Indian Railways’ Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) and conventional corridors. The project which is a joint venture of the national transporter and Alstom, involves the manufacturing of as many as 800 fully electric super-powered double-section locomotives as well as their maintenance for over a period of 11 years. So far, eight such locomotives have been rolled out, while the others will be rolled out on an annual basis.

During its trial run, the locomotive achieved a maximum speed of 120 km per hour. It has hauling power of up to 6,000 tonnes. The electric loco makes use of low voltage cables as well as, it has LED lamps, making it a “green loco”. The locomotive can withstand India’s extreme heat and humidity as well. Equipped with Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBT)-based propulsion technology, the electric locomotive will lead to savings in the consumption of energy due to the use of regenerative braking.

The construction work on the 359 metre high Chenab Bridge has started amidst the lockdown period, imposed due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Chenab Bridge status: The construction work on the world’s tallest railway bridge starts amid lockdown! The development work on Indian Railways’ Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project has started after taking permission from the government. The Chenab Bridge, which is a part of the USBRL project will soon become the world’s tallest railway bridge. According to Piyush Goyal chaired Railway Ministry, the construction work on the 359 metre high Chenab Bridge has started amidst the lockdown period, imposed due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. However, all COVID-19 safety precautions are being ensured at the construction site, the ministry said. Watch the video here:

According to the Railway Ministry, many COVID-19 safety precautions are being ensured including sanitization prior to entry of workmen, entry of workmen into handwash area by maintaining physical distance, contactless handwash facility, safety shoes disinfection, digital thermal scanning, briefing by safety department and doctor, etc.

In the 111-kilometre long stretch between Katra and Banihal, which is a part of the USBRL project, the Chenab bridge forms a crucial link. The Chenab rail bridge will be 35 metres taller than the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris! Also, once the construction work is completed, the Chenab railway bridge will surpass the record of China’s Beipan river Shuibai rail bridge (275 metres).

Earlier this year, Chairman of Konkan Railways, Sanjay Gupta was quoted in a PTI report saying that the construction of the railway bridge over the river Chenab is the most challenging task of the Kashmir rail link project, carried out in Indian Railways’ 150-year-long history. According to him, being developed in hostile terrain, the structure has used more than 5,462 tonnes of steel and the bridge has been designed to withstand wind speeds of up to 260 kmph. The Chenab railway bridge will be 359 metres above the river bed. An ambitious project, which was declared a national project in 2002, the USBRL will connect Kashmir Valley to Indian Railways’ network.

As on 14 May 2020, a total of 800 Shramik Special train services have been operationalized from various states across the nation.

Shramik special trains transport 1 million passengers! For the movement of migrant workers, tourists, students, pilgrims, and other stranded people at different places during the lockdown period, Indian Railways is operating several Shramik Special train services. According to a press release issued by the Railway Ministry, as on 14 May 2020, a total of 800 Shramik Special train services have been operationalized from various states across the nation. By travelling on these Shramik Special trains, more than 10 lakh passengers have reached their home state so far. According to the ministry, the train services are being operated by Indian Railways only after concurrence is given both by the state which is sending the passengers as well as the state which is receiving the passengers.

According to the Railway Ministry, these 800 Shramik Special trains were terminated in various states across the country like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Uttarakhand. Indian Railways is ensuring proper screening of passengers before boarding the train. During the train journey, railway passengers are being provided with free meals and water.

Meanwhile, Piyush Goyal chaired Railway Ministry in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Health and Family welfare had decided to partially restore passenger train services. Therefore, from 12 May 2020 onwards, a total of 15 pairs of special train services are being operated by the national transporter from New Delhi railway station to various destinations such as Ranchi, Chennai, Patna, Agartala, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Mumbai Central, Jammu Tawi, Bengaluru, Howrah, Bilaspur, Secunderabad, Madgaon, Dibrugarh, Thiruvananthapuram.

Passengers who wish to travel on these trains can book tickets through the IRCTC website or IRCTC mobile app. Also, downloading of Aarogya Setu mobile app is mandatory for passengers who wish to travel on these special trains.

The Shramik, as well as the special trains services, started with effect from May 1 and May 12 respectively, will continue to operate, according to a statement issued by Indian Railways.

Big announcement by Indian Railways! If you had an IRCTC train ticket booked for travel on or before 30 June 2020, here is some news for you. All train tickets that were booked for regular passenger train services for travel on or before 30 June 2020 have been cancelled by Indian Railways. However, this is not applicable for Shramik and special passenger trains that are being run by the national transporter during the lockdown period due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The Shramik, as well as the special trains services, started with effect from May 1 and May 12 respectively, will continue to operate, according to a statement issued by Indian Railways. For the cancelled IRCTC train tickets, full refund will be granted to railway passengers. IRCTC has said that passengers need not go online to cancel their train tickets, the refund will be given automatically when it is processed by the system.

According to the statement issued by Indian Railways, except Shramik and special trains, all regular passenger train services including Mail or Express trains, passenger and suburban or local train services will remain cancelled until further advice. Indian Railways had suspended its regular train operations when the lockdown began in March, but continued to take ticket bookings for trains scheduled to run after April 14. But with the lockdown being extended, the national transporter suspended IRCTC advanced booking as well. Now, the decision has been taken to cancel all tickets for regular trains booked for journeys till June 30.

From 12 May 2020 onwards, 15 special passenger train services (30 including return journeys) are being operated by Indian Railways. The trains are being departed from the New Delhi railway station (NDLS) to various places including Ahmedabad, Secunderabad, Agartala, Jammu Tawi, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Ranchi, Bilaspur, Patna, Bhubaneswar, Bengaluru, Dibrugarh, Madgaon, Mumbai Central, Howrah.

Besides, as per the demands received from the various state governments and based on the guidelines by the Ministry of Home Affairs, several Shramik special trains are being operated from various states across India. According to Railway Ministry, as on 13 May 2020, as many as 642 Shramik Special trains were terminated in various states like Andhra Pradesh (3 Trains), Bihar (169 Trains), Odisha (38 Trains), Himachal Pradesh (1 Train), Jammu and Kashmir (3 Trains), Chattisgarh (6 Trains), Karnataka (1 Train), Maharashtra (3 Trains), Jharkhand (40 Trains), Manipur (1 Train), Rajasthan (8 Trains), Madhya Pradesh (53 Trains), Tamil Nadu (1 Train), Tripura (1 Train), Mizoram (1 Train), Uttarakhand (4 Trains), Uttar Pradesh (301 Trains), West Bengal (7 Trains), Telangana (1 Train).

The announcement was made by FM Nirmala Sitharaman a day after PM Narendra Modi promised a Rs 20 lakh crore economic stimulus package to deal with the fallout of the Coronavirus pandemic

Modi Rs 20 lakh crore package details: In a big relief for contractors, all Central agencies have been asked to provide up to 6 months extension, without any cost to the contractor, for obligations such as completion of work. The announcement was made by FM Nirmala Sitharaman a day after PM Narendra Modi promised a Rs 20 lakh crore economic stimulus package to deal with the fallout of the Coronavirus pandemic. The relief for contractors covers construction and goods and services contracts. This includes Central agencies like Indian Railways, roadways and highways projects, Central Public Works Department etc. The extension of up to 6 months covers obligations by the contractor for completion of work, extension of concession period in Public Private Partnership contracts or any intermediate milestones.

The government agencies have been directed to partially release bank guarantees. This will be done to the extent contracts are partially complete, with an aim to ease the cash flows.

Indian Railways passengers take note! With Indian Railways resuming partial passenger train services amid lockdown, Piyush Goyal chaired Railway Ministry has made it “mandatory” for passengers to download the Aarogya Setu mobile app in their mobile phones. From today, as many as 15 passenger train services have been started, with the special trains departing from the New Delhi railway station (NDLS). With passengers travelling during the lockdown period, Piyush Goyal chaired Railway Ministry is ensuring suitable measures to prevent the deadly COVID-19 infection from spreading. The ministry in a tweet stated that it is mandatory for passengers to download Aarogya Setu mobile application in their phones, before commencing their train journey.

With Aarogya Setu mobile app, the Modi government aims to keep everyone safe and alert about COVID-19 pandemic. The mobile app connects essential health services with the public in the government’s combined fight against novel coronavirus outbreak. The Aarogya Setu mobile app tracks a person’s interaction with someone who could have tested positive of novel coronavirus through a Bluetooth and GPS generated social graph. With this app, a person is alerted if they are in close proximity to a COVID-19 positive patient. Moreover, the app also gives instructions on how to self-isolate as well as what to do if someone develops coronavirus symptoms.

To get alerts on COVID-19, a person needs to install the Aarogya Setu mobile application on his/her mobile phone. After installing the app, switch on Bluetooth and GPS. Then, set the location sharing to ‘Always’.

From today, the 15 special trains will run to various destinations across the country including Mumbai Central, Bhubaneswar, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Ranchi, Patna, Agartala, Jammu Tawi, Howrah, Ahmedabad, Bilaspur, Thiruvananthapuram, Dibrugarh, and Madgaon. However, the tickets for these special passenger train services can be booked only through the official IRCTC web portal or through the IRCTC mobile app.

The fare structure of the special trains will be as applicable for the regular time tabled Rajdhani Express train services or as per the regular time tabled train category notified by the coaching directorate.

Indian Railways passengers note! No pre-paid food, no blankets on special passenger trains! Amid nationwide lockdown due to novel coronavirus pandemic, Indian Railways has decided to run special passenger train services! According to a statement issued by the Railway Board, the fare structure of the special trains will be as applicable for the regular time tabled Rajdhani Express train services or as per the regular time tabled train category notified by the coaching directorate. These trains will start operations from 12 May 2020 from NDLS to various places such as Bilaspur, Secunderabad, Madgaon, Ahmedabad, Jammu Tawi, Howrah, Chennai, Patna, Dibrugarh, Mumbai Central, Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, Agartala, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar. Here, take a look at the catering and linen rules for these special trains as listed by the Railway Board in a circular accessed by Financial Express Online.

Will passengers get IRCTC pre-booked food on-board the special passenger trains?

According to the national transporter, no catering charges will be included in the fare. Also, provision for booking of pre-paid meals or food items will be disabled. However, the official catering arm of Indian Railways, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) can make provision for limited eatables as well as packaged drinking water on a payment basis, it stated. Passengers will be provided will all the related information during the time of ticket booking.

The Railway Board has stated that the tickets for these special train services can only be booked online via the official IRCTC website (irctc.co.in) or through the IRCTC mobile application. The counter ticket operations at railway stations across the nation will continue to remain shut. Apart from this, passengers will now be able to book tickets for these special train services through authorized agents of IRCTC or Indian Railways. As per the cancellation policy, the cancellation for these special trains will be allowed up to 24 hours before the scheduled departure of the train. The cancellation charge will be 50% of the ticket fare.

The isolation ward train services, on request from state governments, will be deployed at the railway stations and linked to the nearest COVID-19 hospital, as per government guidelines.

Indian Railways stations identified for COVID-19 isolation coaches! Considering the possibility of a surge in the number of novel coronavirus cases, as many as 215 railway stations in 23 states and Union Territories have been identified by the government where trains with the new isolation coaches can be deployed. Spread across major hotspots, these Indian Railways stations are located in green zones as well as orange zones, according to an IE report. The isolation ward train services, on request from state governments, will be deployed at the railway stations and linked to the nearest COVID-19 hospital, as per government guidelines.

The guidelines recently issued by the Health Ministry stated that considering the possibility of an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, a view is taken to use Indian Railways coaches as novel coronavirus care centres. According to the guidelines, the train coaches will be used for cases that are suspected or confirmed and will be categorized into very mild and mild. The SOP stated that separate coaches will be utilized for suspected and confirmed cases. Also, patients may be given individual cabins and at the most, two patients may be accommodated in a cabin. A senior government official was quoted in the report saying that the railway stations have been identified in such a way that the trains can be used there and also the trains can remain on standby so that at the shortest possible time, they can reach any place.

The list has stations from all the major cities – Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai as well as major cities in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Goa, Tripura, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Punjab, and Karnataka.

There are 27 stations from Uttar Pradesh, 21 stations from Maharashtra, 18 stations from West Bengal, 15 stations from Bihar, 14 stations from Madhya Pradesh, 14 stations from Karnataka, 13 stations from Assam, 11 stations from Gujarat, 10 stations from Tamil Nadu, nine stations from Odisha, seven stations from Punjab, seven stations from Jharkhand, three stations from Kerala, two stations from Jammu and Kashmir and two stations from Telangana. According to the report, the railway stations have been identified after considering if allied facilities such as electricity and water to make these coaches functional, are available. In 85 of the railway stations, medical staff from railway hospitals will be deployed.

The BJP said on Monday the railways has subsidised 85 per cent of ticket fare for special trains being run to transport migrant workers and the state government has to pay the remaining 15 per cent, soon after the Congress attacked the central government over the issue.

The state government concerned can also pay for the tickets, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said.

He said the Madhya Pradesh government is doing so and asked Rahul Gandhi to tell the Congress-ruled states to follow suit.

He was responding to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s attack on the railways for charging poor migrant labourers ticket fare, even as it donated over Rs 151 crore to the PM-CARES Fund.

“Rahul Gandhi ji, I have attached guidelines of MHA which clearly states that ”No tickets to be sold at any station”. Railways has subsidised 85% & state govt to pay 15%. The state govt can pay for the tickets (Madhya Pradesh’s BJP govt is paying). Ask Cong state govts to follow suit,” Patra tweeted.

The BJP leader further clarified that for each ”Shramik Express”, special trains being run for migrants, about 1,200 tickets to the destination are handed by the railways to the state government concerned.

State governments are supposed to clear the ticket price and hand over the tickets to workers, he said.

Seeking to corner the central government, the Congress on Monday said its state units will bear the cost of rail travel of needy migrant workers and labourers stranded at their workplaces due to the lockdown imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi in a statement announced the party’s decision and said this would be the Congress’ humble contribution in standing shoulder to shoulder with these workers.

In a tweet, BJP MP Subramanian Swamy claimed that migrant workers returning home will not have to pay money as the rail travel will be free from now onwards.

Mr Swamy, in a tweet, said, “Talked to Piyush Goel office. Govt will pay 85% and the State Govt 15%. Migrant labour will go free. The Ministry will clarify with an official statement.”

Among many major renovation works that were conducted during the lockdown period, the national transporter has successfully completed the rehabilitation of a Brick Arch bridge in a record time of 36 hours.

Indian Railways renovates a century-old railway bridge in record time! Despite the country still under lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Indian Railways is utilizing this time to complete its repair and maintenance work. Among many major renovation works that were conducted during the lockdown period, the national transporter has successfully completed the rehabilitation of a Brick Arch bridge in a record time of 36 hours. This bridge was originally built in 1862. According to details shared by the Southern Railway Zone, the century-old railway bridge is located at Km 384/900-384/000 on downline between Anangur – Caveri railway stations (near Erode). The existing railway bridge, which falls under Salem Division, is of Brick Arch consisting of three spans of 9.15 metres.

According to Southern Railways, the existing railway bridge was proposed to be replaced with RCC segmental boxes comprising four spans of 6.6 metres wide. Initially, the rehabilitation work was planned to be carried out with two temporary girders of 60 feet with crib support in the centre.

However, keeping in view the operation of less train services during this nationwide lockdown period due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the national transporter decided to rebuild directly without temporary girder for a continuous 36 hours block. The rebuilding work of the railway bridge was taken up at 8.00 AM on 4 May 2020 and the work completed at 5.00 PM on 5 May 2020. During this period, all the train services dealt on the single line between 3 stations i.e. Sankaridurg to Erode, the zone stated.

Recently, the Railway Ministry issued a statement saying that during this lockdown period when all passenger train services are cancelled due to COVID-19, several long-pending repair and maintenance works like Yard remodeling, renewal of scissors crossover, repairs of bridges, rail tracks have been carried out by Indian Railways. Besides, many pre-monsoon works have also been conducted to prevent the disruption of train services during the rainy season.