Page 8 - Indian Railways

End of the stone age: Railways to upgrade rail tracks at select stations

The current tracks have greyish ballast stones scattered around them to keep the tracks in their place and curb derailments. But these stones require regular monitoring and replacement

Indian Railway Finance Corporation Q2 profit surges 14% to Rs 1,714 crore

Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) on Thursday reported a 14 per cent increase in its profit at Rs 1,714 crore in the second quarter ended September 30, 2022. The company, which is the dedicated market borrowing arm of the Indian Railways, had earned a profit of Rs 1,501 crore in the same quarter of previous year. The revenue from operations for Q2 FY23 also grew by 23.88 per cent to Rs 5,810 crore as against Rs 4,690 crore reported in the same period of last year, IRFC said in a statement. Net worth stood at Rs 43,549 crore and Assets Under Management (AUM) at Rs 4,39,070 crore as on September 30, 2022, it said. The board of the company also approved an interim dividend of 8 per cent of face value of Rs 10 each, that is Rs 0.80 per share for 2022-23, it said. The cumulative funding to the Indian railway sector by IRFC has crossed Rs 5.05 lakh crore mark by the end of the Q2 FY23.

Survey work going on for bullet train project in Varanasi: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Survey work is going on to start bullet train services here, Rail Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday. The proposed alignment of the high-speed rail corridor will pass through Greater Noida, Agra, Lucknow, Prayagraj and Varanasi, he said. Speaking on the first bullet train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, Vaishnaw said, "New things are being learnt through this (project). As this project develops, there will be more development. "More bullet train corridors will be built in the country. Survey work is going on in Varanasi to start a bullet train." Vaishnaw, who is visiting Varanasi, also inspected Kashi station and Rajghat bridge. Kashi station in Varanasi district will be developed at a cost of Rs 350 crore to boost economic activity. Its design should be done keeping in mind Kashi's religious and temple culture, Vaishnaw told reporters. Plans are also afoot to connect Kashi station with air and water routes and its design is being worked on, he said. Once the desig

RPF arrests 319 offenders in month-long special drive: Indian Railways

In a month-long campaign to expedite the execution of warrants and production of absconders and accused before courts, the RPF arrested 319 offenders, including 52 absconding for the past 10 to 15 years, the Railways said Friday. The Railway Protection Force (RPF) is responsible for the security of Railway property. Cases of theft of railway property are registered and enquired by RPF under the Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Act. It also launches prosecution under Railways Act 1989. "Delay in execution of warrants or arrest of named accused persons causes a delay in disposal of cases, puts additional pressure on judiciary and law enforcement agency and adversely interferes with the administration of justice," the Railways said. To ensure expeditious execution of warrants and production of the absconders and accused persons before courts, a month-long pan-India drive focusing on the execution of warrants was conducted over the Indian Railways from October 1 to 31. "During th

Mumbai: Technical snag delays local trains on Western Rail's fast corridor

The local services in the Western Railway's fast corridor in Mumbai were delayed for a brief period on Friday morning due to the failure of a track-changing point, an official said. There was a "point failure" (track-changing point) at Goregaon on Up and Down fast lines at 6.20 am. The problem was resolved at around 7.23 am, a spokesperson of the Western Railway said. The trains running on the fast corridor were delayed during the morning rush hour because of the technical snag, he said. "Due to this technical problem, all up and down fast suburban locals are running late by 15 to 20 minutes. Inconvenience caused is deeply regretted," the Western Railway's divisional railway manager of Mumbai division tweeted. The suburban local trains, which are termed as Mumbai's lifeline, ferry around 35 lakh commuters every day.

After Diwali, Chhath, Northern Railways rolls back platform ticket hike

Tickets are now cheaper at Lucknow, Varanasi, Barabanki, Ayodhya Cantt, Ayodhya Junction, Akbarpur, Shahganj, Jaunpur, Sultanpur Junction, Rae Bareli, Janghai, Bhadohi, Pratapgarh and Unnao Junction

Northeast Frontier Railway clocks 4% jump in freight unloading in October

Northeast Frontier Railway on Thursday said it has registered a nearly four per cent rise in freight unloading at 1,218 rakes during October this year. NF Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Sabyasachi De said 1,218 freight-carrying rakes were unloaded during October 2022 as compared to 1,176 rakes in the same month last year. "NF Railway is continuously registering a steady growth in freight unloading. From April to October of the current financial year, 8,317 freight-carrying rakes were unloaded. This is an increase of 10.13 per cent in comparison to the corresponding period of last year," he added. The local division of the Indian Railway transported goods like FCI rice, sugar, salt, edible oil, food grains, fertilizer, cement, coal, vegetables, automobiles, and other items during the month and unloaded them in different goods sheds within its jurisdiction. "During October 2022, 673 rakes of freight carrying trains were unloaded in Assam, out of which 329 were loaded with ...

14 station redevelopment projects in tendering stage: Ministry of Railways

The station redevelopment project has been accelerated by the Ministry of Railways and the tenders for 14 more stations are likely to be awarded in the next four-five months, the national transporter said on Thursday. The redevelopment of these stations envisages provisions for a spacious roof plaza on the station premises, facilities such as food courts, waiting lounges, playing areas for children and a designated space for local products. The project will integrate various modes of transport, such as metro and bus services, with the railway stations. The construction of the station infrastructure will adopt green building technology and facilities for differently-abled people. The stations will be developed on the concept of intelligent buildings with state-of-the-art facilities for the passengers. The project will also create "City Centre-like spaces" at the stations for the railway commuters as well as the general public. The Rani Kamalapati station of the West Central Railway,

Railways to invite bids for redevelopment of 4 stations in 3-5 mths: Report

The stations are Anand Vihar in Delhi, Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, Thane and Mumbai Central in Maharashtra

Top headlines: Customs, excise mop-up, 42 companies approved for PLI & more

The government set a target of Rs 3.35 trillion for excise and Rs 2.13 trillion for Customs mop-up for FY23 while presenting the Budget in February

Recovery tracker: Decline in railway freight numbers, air traffic

Vehicle registrations and power generation is higher than before

Railways extends round-trip freight discounts for six months, say officials

Sources in the ministry say policy not successful so far; extension period kept low as the board may soon have to decide whether to modify the policy further or discontinue it altogether

Railways readies Rs 90,000 crore projects for freight optimisation

Ministry aims for Rs 2-trillion budgetary allocation in coming years, says minister Vaishnaw

Railways does not earn profit through passenger trains: Raosaheb Danve

Union minister Raosaheb Danve has said that running passenger trains does not benefit the railways in terms of revenue, and added that the central government runs these services for the convenience of people. The Minister of State for Railways also said that the national transporter tries to make up for the losses incurred due to passenger trains from freight services. He was speaking after flagging off a weekly special train from Jalna to Chhapra Junction (in Bihar) on Wednesday night. "The railways does not earn any profit by running daily (passenger) trains. For every rupee spent, it suffers a loss of 55 paise. There is no profit in running passenger trains...there is a loss. But the Modi government does not work for profit. (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi ji says we have to operate these services for the convenience of people," he said. "And we try to make up for the losses (suffered due to passenger trains) by operating freight services and through other sources of revenue," th

PM to flag off South India's first 'Vande Bharat Express' on Nov 11

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off South India's first 'Vande Bharat Express' train and inaugurate the second terminal of Kempegowda International Airport, built at a cost of Rs 5,000 crore, during his visit to the city on November 11. He will also be unveiling the 108 foot tall statue of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, the founder of Bengaluru, during his visit to the state capital. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday participated in the video conferencing with Prime Minister Modi regarding the preparations for various programmes to be held here on November 11, in which the latter will participate. "On that day, PM will flag off South India's first Vande Bharat Express train which will run between Chennai and Mysuru via Bengaluru in the state capital, inaugurate the second terminal of Kempegowda International Airport built at a cost of Rs 5,000 crore to handle an additional 2.5 crore passengers," an official release said. Detailing the uniqueness of the terminal, it said a

Indian Railways to allow land monetisation for redevelopment of 16 stations

All 16 stations will be bid out in the public-private partnership (PPP) mode in FY2023

Northeast Frontier Railway to run special trains for Chhath Puja

The Northeast Frontier Railway has decided to run two pairs of special trains on Dibrugarh-Gorakhpur and New Jalpaiguri-Gorakhpur routes to clear the extra rush of passengers for 'Chhath' Puja, an official said on Tuesday. Both trains will consist of 20 coaches, the NFR spokesperson said. One of the special trains will leave Dibrugarh at 7.25 pm on October 27 and reach Gorakhpur on October 29 morning. In return, the train will commence its journey from Gorakhpur at 7:50 hours on November 1 and come to Assam's Dibrugarh at 20:50 hours the next day. The other special train will run for one trip leaving Gorakhpur at 5 pm on October 29 to reach West Bengal's New Jalpaiguri the next morning. In the return direction, the train will leave New Jalpaiguri at 2 pm on October 31, and reach Gorakhpur the next day morning.

Railways to set up 'Restaurant on Wheels' at 4 more stations in Maharashtra

The Central Railway will soon set up 'Restaurant on Wheels' at four more stations in Maharashtra apart from two such existing facilities, to offer a unique experience to diners inside a modified coach mounted on rails, officials said on Tuesday. The CR opened one such restaurant at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in Mumbai last year and another one at Nagpur station earlier this year under the Non Fare Revenue Scheme. Similar restaurants will soon come up at Akurdi, Chinchwad, Baramati (all in Pune district) and Miraj (Sangli) stations under the scheme, the Central Railway (CR) said in a release. "The 'Restaurant on Wheel' is a modified coach mounted on rails, a fine-dining place offering a unique experience to diners and accommodates more than 40 patrons inside the coach with tables," the release said. Its interiors have been decorated in such a way that people can enjoy the experience of dining in a rail-themed setting, it said. "The 'Restaurant on Wheels' theme

Railways redesigning wagons, overhauling infra to transport more SUVs

Among cars, UVs have seen the highest growth during the past few years

Recovery tracker: Dip in railway numbers, fewer flyers ahead of Diwali

Weekly vehicle registrations surge to nearly 600,000