Page 7 - Indian Railways

WR to spend Rs 264 crore to build fences along Mumbai-Ahmedabad route

The Western Railway (WR) has said it would install fences along the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route by May next year to stop animals from straying onto the tracks and getting run over by trains, a move coming in the backdrop of the prestigious Vande Bharat Express hitting cattle four times since its launch on September 30. Addressing a press conference at the railway zone's headquarters at Churchgate here on Friday, WR General Manager Ashok Kumar Misra said tenders have been invited for the construction of the fences on the 620-kilometre-long route, which is expected to cost Rs 264 crore. The third semi high-speed Vande Bharat Express, flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 30 between Gandhinagar in Gujarat and the country's financial capital, has hit cattle four times so far, leading to minor damage to the aerodynamic nose of the state-of-the-art rake. The latest incident occurred between Udvada and Vapi stations in Gujarat on Thursday evening. According to Western Railwa

Rail passenger revenue zooms 76% YoY, speeds past pre-Covid levels

Unreserved tickets garner 422% more; bookings still 72% of pre-pandemic period

Indian Railways seeks quicker land acquisition for stalled projects

Zonal Railways asked to designate more works as special projects for quicker clearance

Railways ferries 124-mt freight in Nov, clocks 5% rise since last year

Officials peg FY23 freight between 1500-1550 mt

Who's the brain behind Vande Bharat?

The third version of semi-high speed Vande Bharat train chugged off from the stable of Integral Coach Factory recently. We caught up with Sudhanshu Mani, the man behind this sophisticated train

Indian Railways invites bids for 200 new rakes of Vande Bharat trains

Ministry of Railways has floated a tender for manufacturing 200 new rakes of new-generation Vande Bharat trains

Alstom, Medha, Siemens in race for Rs 26,000-crore Vande Bharat order

At least 4 of the five bidders have formed JVs for the Rs 26,000-crore order

Railways plan to launch Jagannath Express during next Rath Jatra: Vaishnaw

Indian Railways is planning to launch Jagannath Express', on the lines of the Ramayana Express, during the Rath Jatra festival in Puri next year, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday. Semi high-speed Vande Bharat Express trains will also be launched in Odisha soon, he said on the sideline of a programme. The proposed Jagannath Express will be introduced during the Rath Jatra festival in Puri to showcase Odisha's rich culture, art, tradition and cousin, he said. It will be the second theme-based tourist circuit Bharat Gaurav' train after Ramayan Express. The seaside town of Puri is famous for the 12th-century temple of Lord Jagannath. The minister said that Odisha will soon get to see Vande Bharat Express. By the month of January or February next year, the country will be manufacturing around four trains a month, he said adding: We are examining the electrification and other essential parts for running the Vande Bharat train in the state. Claiming that railway ...

38 special trains to operate for Sabrimala pilgrims from Telugu states

According to SCR, Hyderabad-Kollam special trains will be operated every Monday on December 5, 12, 19 and 26 and January 2,9 and 16

300-400 new Vande Bharat trains to be announced in upcoming Union Budget

According to a railway ministry official, there will be an announcement for provision of 300-400 new Vande Bharat trains in the Union Budget 2023-24 which will be the highest ever allocation

Railways to run 14 special trains to clear rush on Mahaparinirvan Diwas

The Central Railway (CR) on Thursday said it will run 14 unreserved special trains to clear the extra rush of passengers travelling on the occasion of Dr B R Ambedkar's death anniversary, observed as Mahaparinirvan Diwas, on December 6. A CR press release said of the 14 special trains, 3 trains will run from Nagpur to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (Mumbai), 6 from CSMT Mumbai/ Dadar to Sewagram/Ajni/Nagpur, 2 between Kalaburagi and CSMT, 2 between Solapur and CSMT and one from Ajni to CSMT. Besides, the Railway has decided to augment train no 11401 CSMT-Adilabad Express departing on December 6, with one general second class coach for the benefit of passengers traveling on the occasion of Mahaparinirvan Diwas, said the release. The South Central Railway will also run a special train from Adilabad to Mumbai which will be notified in due course, it said. Every year, thousands of people converge at Chaityabhoomi in central Mumbai, where Ambedkar's last rites were performed, to .

Target of 475 Vande Bharat trains in 3 years: Railway Minister Vaishnaw

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday said that the plan for the production of 475 Vande Bharat trains in the next three years is on track. The minister, speaking at the Times Now Summit, said that Bullet Trains will be fully functional by 2026. On the redevelopment of railway stations, the minister said that master plans for 138 stations have been made, while designs have been finalised for as many as 57 stations. "The target of having 475 Vande Bharat trains...is on track. In the last budget, 400 trains were sanctioned and before that 75 had been sanctioned. We will be achieving the entire target in the coming three years," he said. The minister that Vande Bharat has evoked good interest among many countries and its quality parameters match world-class trains. Replying to a question on safety aspects amid incidents of cattle hits involving Vande Bharat trains, the minister said that the train's 'crumble zones' are designed to absorb the impact, restricting damage to the

Top Headlines: Economic survey in Jan, railways' coal projects, and more

CEA V Anantha Nageswaran is looking to put his stamp on his first Economic Survey, and to that end, the 2022-23 Survey, which will be released on January 31

Railways eyes Rs 94k cr coal connecting projects as part of Energy Corridor

National transporter targets FY24 to close critical project pipeline

Vivek Express: Country's longest train to operate twice a week from Nov 22

The services of the country's longest train, Vivek Express, that connects Assam with the southernmost tip of Tamil Nadu will be available twice a week beginning November 22, a Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) said on Saturday. The Dibrugarh- Kanyakumari Vivek Express, which was flagged off on November 19, 2011, covers a distance of 4,189 km and traverses through nine states in over 80 hours. Train no. 15906 (Dibrugarh Kanyakumari) Vivek Express which previously used to run on Saturdays, will now operate additionally every Tuesday from November 22, a press release issued by NFR said. Train no. 15905 (Kanyakumari Dibrugarh) Vivek Express which currently runs only on Thursdays, will now be available even on Sundays from November 27, the release said.

Not so fast: Infrastructure woes slow down Vande Bharat trains

Besides cattle run-overs, fencing and track quality reasons for trains moving at an average 83 kmph

Railways announces pay grade upgradation for 80,000 field officers

Around 80,000 railway employees facing stagnation in their jobs now have an opportunity to improve their pay scale with the national transporter announcing a new provision under which its supervisory cadre will have a chance to reach higher pay grades equivalent to Group A officers. Announcing the new provision on Wednesday, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said there was stagnation of supervisory cadre of railway in Level-7 and the scope of their promotion was negligible. "There was a long pending demand for upgradation of supervisory cadre since the last 16 years. The only scope of promotion was selection in 3,712 vacancies by giving exam in Group 'B'. Now provision has been made for 50 per cent people from Level 7 to go to Level 8. "Provision has been made for promotion of 50 per cent people in non functional grade from Level-8 to Level 9 in four years," he said at a press conference here. The move is expected to benefit 40,000 such supervisor grade employees like station maste

Railways to build walls on worst-impacted routes to contain cattle hits

Plans are to build 1,000 km of walls across sections, no change on Vande Bharat nose panel, damage to which brought the issue of cattle hits to the fore

IRCTC allowed to customise menu for diabetics, infants, health aficionados

The Railway Board has given its catering and tourism arm IRCTC the flexibility to customise its menu to include local and regional cuisines as well as food suitable for diabetics, infants and health aficionados. According to a note sent by the Railway Board to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the move is aimed at improving catering services on trains and give passengers more options. "As a measure to improve catering services on trains, it has been decided to give IRCTC the flexibility to customize the menu so as to include items of regional cuisines/preferences, seasonal delicacies, requirement during festivals, food items as per the preferences of different group of passengers such as diabetic food, baby food, health food options, including millet-based local products among others," the note said. At present, the IRCTC has to get the menus, comprising mostly of standardised food items and beverages, approved by the Railway Board before it can introduce

IRCTC Q2 PAT up 43% YoY to Rs 226 crore, revenue from operation rises 99%

Total income of IRCTC grew 97.55% to Rs 831.79 crore from Rs 421.05 crore YoY