Railway Ministry

Over 9.79 lakh vacancies exist in different central government departments, including a highest of 2.93 lakh in railways, as on March 1, 2021, Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday. He said the occurrence and filling up of vacancies is a continuous process, as per the requirement of various ministries, departments and organisations of the Central government. "Government has already issued instructions to all ministries/departments for timely filling up of the unfilled posts. Rozgar melas being organised by government of India are expected to act as catalyst in further employment generation," he said in a written reply. Besides railways, there were 2.64 lakh vacant posts in defence (civil), 1.43 lakh in home, 90,050 in posts, 80,243 in revenue, 25,934 in Indian audit and accounts department, and 9,460 in atomic energy department among others, Singh said, citing the annual report of the department of expenditure.

Railways on Wednesday issued an order to restore the fare for AC 3-tier economy class travel which had been withdrawn in November last year when it was merged with AC 3-tier. Despite the restoration in price, Railways will continue offering linen to passengers, the order indicated. The present order has withdrawn an earlier circular in which the fare for AC 3-tier economy class ticket had been made equal to the fare of an AC 3-tier ticket. The reason for the merger was stated to be the cost of linen which was initially not provided in the economy air conditioned class. According to the order, passengers who have booked tickets online and over the counter will be given a refund of the extra amount for the pre-booked tickets. The railways, while introducing the 3E as a class in September 2021, had announced that fares in these newly-introduced coaches will be 6-8 per cent less than normal AC 3 coaches, pitching the class of travel as the "best and cheapest AC travel service" in the .

Ashwini Vaishnaw also inspected New Delhi-Ajmer Shatabdi Express and takes feedback from passengers

Union ministries of finance, railways, defence, labour and employment and home are the "top five litigants" amongst the government, Lok Sabha was informed on Friday. In a written reply, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said seeking to reduce litigation, ministries and departments such as the railways and the Department of Revenue, involved in a high number of litigations, have been taking several measures for reducing the number of court cases. Citing data available on the Legal Information Management and Briefing System (LIMBS) portal, he said the finance ministry has 1.73 lakh pending cases, including 9,062 in the Supreme Court. The railways ministry has 1.08 lakh pending cases, including 554 in the top court, while the defence ministry has over 85,000 pending cases, which include 1,235 in the apex court. The labour and employment ministry is party to over 78,000 pending cases, including 320 in the top court. The home ministry has over 23,000 pending cases in various courts and tribunal

The step is expected to eliminate the "biggest risk" faced by contractors, meaning that railways will ensure that payments are made within the stipulated time, said the railway minister at an event

Indian Railways' have manufactured 785 electric locomotives and 4,175 LHB coaches in FY23 up to January 31

300 Vande metros, 1000 8-coach Vande Bharats, hydrogen trains in the works

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train is a "dream project of this country and of national importance and in public interest", the Bombay High Court said on Thursday dismissing a petition filed by Godrej & Boyce company challenging acquisition proceedings initiated by the Maharashtra government and the NHSRCL in Mumbai's Vikhroli area for the project. A division bench of Justices R D Dhanuka and M M Sathaye said the project was one-of-its-kind and collective interest would prevail over private interest. The court said in cases of conflict on inter fundamental rights and intra fundamental rights, the court has to examine as to where lies the larger public interest while balancing the two conflicting rights. "It is the paramount collective interest which would ultimately prevail. In the facts of this case, the private interest claimed by the petitioner does not prevail over the public interest which would subserve infrastructural project of public importance which is a dream project of ..

The Railways has earned more than Rs 600 crore through convenience fee, which it retains from passengers on the cancellation of a ticket, so far in 2022-23, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the cancellation or clerkage charge is levied on cancellation of tickets as per the Railway Passengers (Cancellation of Tickets and Refund of Fare) Rules 2015. In addition to the normal fare indicated on the reserved tickets issued through computerised passenger reservation system counters, the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) also charges convenience fee from passengers who book tickets online. The minister said the convenience fee amount charged is Rs 30 for air-conditioned classes and Rs 15 for non-AC classes. On cancellation of ticket, this convenience fee is not refunded. He said that convenience fee collected by the IRCTC during 2019-20 was Rs 352.33 crore, during 2020-21 it was Rs 299.17 ..

Sitharaman has announced that coastal shipping will be a preferred mode of transport for passengers and freight

Railways ministry gets highest-ever capital expenditure allocation, of Rs 2.4 trillion in FY24

Railways has also been focusing on building better domestic infrastructure for manufacturing trains

It earned Rs 1.2 trillion till Dec from freight, marking a growth of 16 per cent YoY

Prime Minister Narendra Modi after flagging off the Vande Bharat Express from Howrah to New Jalpaiguri virtually on Friday, asserted that the Union government is transforming the country's railway infrastructure by making record investments. The Prime Minister who also launched four railway projects for West Bengal and laid the foundation stone for the redevelopment of the New Jalpaiguri railway station, pointed out that railway stations, including New Jalpaiguri, are being developed on the lines of airports. In all the railway projects inaugurated by him for West Bengal are estimated to be worth more than Rs 5,000 crore. Noting that doubling of tracks and electrification is underway at a record speed, he said that the eastern and western freight corridors will bring revolutionary changes to the country's economy. "Today's Vande Bharat train was launched from the land where 'Vande Mataram' slogan was coined. The launch date of December 30 is significant as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bos

Govt must address vulnerabilities

Key features of these proposed stations include provisions for roof top plazas, longer platforms, ballastless tracks, and 5G connectivity

While business prospects remain unchanged, one-year average target price of analysts is Rs 600

Floor price fixed at Rs 680/share, an over 7% discount to Wednesday closing price

Railway stocks: In the upcoming budget, the railways has reportedly sought gross budgetary support (GBS) of Rs 1.5-1.8 trillion over the Rs 1.37 trillion figure earmarked during Budget 2022-23

U-turn on station development major cause behind botched FY23 monetisation