It was a tumultuous year for the railways as a cash-strapped ministry saw four ministers in quick succession, resulting in indecision and delay in policy making process.
It will be mandatory for sleeper-class train passengers to carry identity proof from December 1, this year as Railways firmed up steps to prevent misuse of tickets by touts and facilitate hassle-free travel by bonafide people.
Union Minister Harish Rawat, who was sulking after having been denied chief ministership of Uttarakhand, on Sunday had all smiles as celebrations broke out at his residence in New Delhi over his elevation to the Cabinet rank.
IRCTC used to charge Rs 40 per ticket for bookings in AC classes, Rs 20 per ticket in sleeper class
An effort is on to change the fortunes of the country's largest transport network. But it's a long journey ahead.
Three passengers were killed and over 15 injured when a passenger train derailed near Belgaum in Karnataka on Monday evening due to flash floods which washed out tracks, railways said, District Collector Anvu Kumar said.
Crackers carried by passengers led to the fire in the Tamil Nadu Express that claimed 32 lives in July, according to an inquiry by Commissioner Railway Safety which absolved the railway staff.
Against the backdrop of recent suicides and fratricides by jawans and stand-offs between them and officers, Defence Minister A K Antony on Thursday asked the armed forces to adopt a liberal approach to jawans' pleas for leave and respond promptly.
After the controversy surrounding the National Counter Terrorism Centre, Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa have trained their guns on the central government again by opposing a proposed amendment to the Railway Protection Force. They have joined Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in asking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to instruct the railway ministry not to proceed with the move.
Congress, which is an ally of the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, on Monday questioned the recurrence of train accidents and said the railway ministry was not safe in the hands of state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's party.
A passenger travelling to Thiruvananthapuram from New Delhi on a Mail or an Express train in Sleeper Class will now have to shell out an extra Rs 186.
The Railways launched the Google's free Wi-Fi service at Vijayawada, Kachiguda and Raipur stations.
Anukur Pathak feels Rajdhani Express doens't have a plot but pretends to be a racy thriller.
The total earnings during April-August this year were Rs 48,635.19 crore (Rs 486.35 billion) as against the target of Rs 49,994.28 crore (Rs 499.94 billion), falling short of Rs 1359.09 crore (Rs 13.59 billion), according Railway Ministry data.
Dinesh Trivedi, late on Wednesday night, sent his resignation letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, according to television reports. Mukul Roy, minister of state for shipping, who had earlier served in the railway ministry, is expected to take over. The government is also expected to announce a rollback on hike in rail fares.
Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro) and Oriental Consultancy along with Parsons Brinkhoff India has bagged the contract to conduct the pre-feasibility study on the proposed 664 km long Hyderabad-Vijaywada-Chennai route for running the high speed train, a senior Railway Ministry official said.
The Railway Ministry has sanctioned 55 new lines, nine gauge conversions and 128 doubling projects since 2009.
Two months after Dinesh Trivedi was removed as railway minister, his party Trinamool Congress continued to target him for hiking passenger fares and advised his successor Mukul Roy on Thursday to follow the policies of Mamata Banerjee in running the organisation. Trivedi was removed from the railway ministry a few days after he presented the rail budget, in which he hiked passenger fares.
Condoling the loss of lives in the fire accident in the Tamil Nadu Express, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday asked the Railway ministry to render all assistance to the affected.
Fares of AC First Class, Executive Class, AC-2 tier, AC-3 tier, AC Chair Car will go up by 3.708 per cent from October 1 and a notification to this effect will be issued on Thursday, a senior Railway Ministry official said.
A federal minister in Pakistan on Saturday announced a bounty of $100,000 on the head of the maker of an anti-Islam film that has sparked violent protests, shocking many people with his announcement.
Out of the total of 25,359 complaints received during 2010, the highest of 8,330 were against Railways, 6,520 against banks, 1,836 against petroleum department and 1,572 were against telecom officials.
Railways have no plans as yet to increase freight charges despite the steep hike in diesel prices which have put an additional burden of over Rs 1200 crore (Rs 12 billion) on it.
After the launch of National Counter Terror Centre was put on hold due to protests by non-Congress ruled states, chief ministers of Tamil Nadu and Orissa on Tuesday trained their guns again at the Centre by opposing the proposed amendment to the Railway Protection Force Act.
Though bids for 43 Train 18 sets were invited first, orders for only three were given, including one for Spanish major CAF and Medha Group that supplied for the first Vande Bharat train.
The government on Thursday allowed state-run oil majors to fix diesel prices on their own in order to reduce an expanding subsidy bill and budget deficit. Oil companies announced a dual price mechanism while hiking the rates.
Four bodies of the S-11 coach of Tamil Nadu Express, which was devastated by fire on Monday, would be sent for a DNA test to ascertain their gender as the bodies were charred beyond identification.
Platforms witness heavy rush during fairs or rallies.
Minister of State for Railways, Kotla Jaya Surya Prakash Reddy, on Friday resigned from his post in protest against the Union Cabinet's decision to go ahead with the proposed bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
Thackeray said he was in constant touch with the Centre over the issue of running more trains to ferry migrant labourers, stranded due to the coronavirus-enforced lockdown, to their native places.
The total earnings of Railways during April to November this year were Rs 78,868.17 crore compared to Rs 66,150.48 crore during the same period last year, registering an increase of 19.23 per cent.
'The bullet train project is a complete sham'
Get ready to shell out Rs 5 instead of Rs 3 for entering railway platforms across the country as the increased platform ticket rate will come into effect from Tuesday.
Faced with increasing incidents of misuse of tickets, Railways have made it mandatory for all passengers travelling in AC classes to carry an identity proof with them.
A 'water train' with 10 wagons carrying water for parched Latur in Marathwada region, which is battling the worst drought ever, on Monday left from Miraj in western Maharashtra.
On Monday, Railway Board, the apex body in the ministry, issued a circular that the Prime Minister's Office would handle all projects worth Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) and above.
'As her graduation degree was found to be fake, she can be given the post of constable which matches her educational qualification'
China's high-speed rail project suffered yet another major jolt on Friday after officials recalled 54 bullet trains being used on the much publicised Beijing- Shanghai line over safety concerns.
There have been contradictory reports on the cause of accident.
A fracture in the rail line was responsible for the Howrah-Kalka Mail accident that claimed 70 lives last month, the preliminary report submitted to Railway Ministry, claimed.
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