Following two blasts targeting the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor in Punjab, the Railways Ministry is intensifying security measures, including increased patrolling, expanded surveillance, and drone deployment, to safeguard railway infrastructure and prevent further disruptions.
Former Union railway minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, on Sunday, said that the Railway's mismanagement led to the stampede at the New Delhi railway station.
The Indian Railway Ministry has requested Twitter (X) to remove disturbing images and videos related to the February 15 stampede at New Delhi Railway Station, citing concerns about the dignity of the deceased and the trauma experienced by survivors and their families. The request followed complaints from relatives of those affected by the stampede, which claimed 18 lives and injured several others.
Amid rising demand for coal freight and an aggressive push towards diversifying its freight basket, Indian Railways is planning to buy 100,000 more wagons over the next three fiscal years. The procurement plan will majorly comprise BOXN wagons, which are used to transport coal, said a senior Ministry of Railways official. Notably, the railways recently floated a sizeable tender worth Rs 35,000 crore of wagons, which had been in the pipeline since 2018. "Our Budget Estimates for freight increase were conservative.
The decision that came soon after the Bharatiya Janata Party's poll victory in four of the five states was taken after a high-level committee submitted its report to the Railway Board.
While the SECR has cancelled 22 mail or express trains and 12 passenger trains, the Northern Railways has cancelled four mail or express trains, and as many passenger services.
At present only certain categories of persons including essential services staff can travel by local trains, Mumbai's lifeline, due to the coronavirus threat.
The trains will, however, only carry essential services personnel identified by the State government.
The West Bengal government on Saturday sought support of the Indian Army, railways and port for restoring essential infrastructure and services in the cyclone-ravaged areas of the state. It also urged private entities to provide manpower and equipment for the purpose.
Infosys, according to sources close to the development, bagged the pilot project emerging as the lowest bidder (L1) in a competitive bidding process, which was attended by most Indian IT services firms and global companies like Siemens and IFS.
The fall in iron ore freight traffic in October and November this year by 70 per cent is likely to punch a huge hole in the cash surplus target of Indian Railways for the current financial year.
As part of its ambitious Rs 2,30,000 crore (Rs 2,300 billlion) outlay for the 11th Plan, Indian Railways plans to use space above platforms in Delhi, Mumbai and other cities to build passenger amenities by involving private players.
Army XI, Bangalore, and holders Western Railway reached the semi-finals of the 44th Bombay Gold Cup Hockey
The train accident, which claimed the lives of 60 people in West Bengal on Monday, has once again brought about the talk of the installation of anti-collision devices on trains.
The Railways have submitted a 'tentative time frame for finalising special recruitment drive' to fill up backlog vacancies of physically handicapped persons" in group C and D posts along with the top most group A. The special recruitment drive, to be completed in 19 months, would initially fill up 4,254 backlog vacancies for disabled persons as per requirements of the Persons with Disabilities Act 1995.
The Southern Railway said "miscreants" were behind Wednesday's accident involving a suburban Electric Multiple Unit and a goods train at Vyasarpadi near Chennai that left four persons dead.
The Indian Railway's attempt to close down an old Assamese medium school run by it in Assam has not gone down well with the outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam.
The function to launch the project was attended by Director General of the Railway Health Services, V K Ramteke, General Manager of Northern Railways Shri Prakash, Chief Medical Director of Northern Railway R N Tripathi and members of Railway Unions.
"We are targeting India. We will participate in the tender to be floated soon by the Indian Railways for 1,000 electric locomotives. We will offer 10 per cent cheaper price than other companies," Alstom's locomotive platform director Jean-Marc Tessier told PTI. The company unveiled on Wednesday the design of Prime II locomotives, the advanced version locomotives with high speed.
The ministry would spend about Rs 930 crore (Rs 9.30 billion) in the current fiscal year in information technology-related activities out of Rs 31,000 crore (Rs 310 billion) budget.
The Indian Railways is deploying data loggers in a major way for predictive maintenance, safety enhancement and for implementing computerised control charting.
Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav asked private investors on Thursday to avail of the liberalised policies announced by his ministry under public private partnership concept for faster growth of the railways.
The railways is also expected to fall short of the freight earnings target, owing to the economic slowdown.
Steps to raise funds could include an across-the-board increase in railway fares, senior officials said.
The Northern Railway is planning to set up laundries in Delhi and Lucknow regions and house them in railway land. Currently, the cleaning exercise is being outsourced to private contractors.
In order to increase its payload capacity and save fuel, the railways are considering a proposal to procure aluminium wagons by 2012-13, when the dedicated freight corridor is scheduled to become operational. The final decision would be taken after a cost-benefit study, said senior railway ministry officials. Aluminium wagons will be costlier than the steel and stainless steel wagons that are in use currently.
The Railways on Tuesday said the derailment of the Kalka Mail in Fatehpur two days ago, which claimed 68 lives, did not take place either due to emergency brakes being applied or because of a turning point. "From the inquiry so far, it is clear that the accident did not take place either due to emergency brakes or the turning point used to connect the tracks," said General Manager of North Central Railway Harish Chandra Joshi.
Not only the new-look coaches will carry more passengers with more comfort, plans are also underway with railway ministry revamping catering and other facilities on trains and stations to make them more tourist-friendly.
After a five-day waiting game, Railways Minister Dinesh Tiwari has resigned, according to Trinamool Congress sources. Tiwari met with TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, and expressed his willingness to quit.
Last year, ICICI Lombard had bagged the offer, battling five other private players. This year's tenders will be opened on September 1, sources in the Railway Ministry said, adding that invitations have been sent to about 20 companies this time.
The railways buy an average of 2.4 billion litres of diesel every year spending around Rs 4,500 crore (Rs 45 billion) annually on diesel fuel expenses for operating locomotives.
"We are definitely planning a multi-modal connectivity to certain places apart from destinations we operate. Though we are primarily looking at railways, we might also look at other means of transport such as roads," said Edgardo Badiali, CEO, GoAir to Business Standard. When a passenger books his ticket on the GoAir website, he will also have an option to book a railway ticket for a place of his/her interest close to the destination at the same time.
Maintaining its impressive growth, the Indian Railways earned over Rs 45,106 crore (Rs 451.06 billion) from April to December 2006 as compared to Rs 38,580 crore (Rs 385.80 billion) during the same period
Overall, the railways intend to build 66 MFCs at a cost of Rs 8 crore (Rs 80 million) each. MFCs would provide rail users with facilities like shopping, food stalls and restaurants, book stalls, telephone booths, medicine and variety stores, budget hotels and underground parking.
Voicing serious safety concerns over encroachments along rail tracks and trespassing which claim nearly 15,000 lives every year, a high-level railway panel has suggested amendments to existing acts and setting up of a task force in Mumbai where such deaths are highest.
A summary of Monday's play in the Ranji Trophy matches at various venues across the country.
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