Indian Railways

In order to clear extra rush of passengers during Summer, Railway will run a special train between Durg and Jammu Tawi as per the programme:-

The 0893 Durg - Jammu Tawi special train will depart from Durg on 20.06.2009 at 05.00 a.m. to arrive at Jammu Tawi at 4.30 p.m. on next day. In the return direction, the 0894 Jammu Tawi - Durg special train will depart from Jammu Tawi on 22.06.2009 at 10.00 p.m to arrive at Durg at 8.25 a.m. on 24.06.09.

Consisting of one 2 tier AC, one 3 tier AC, ten Second Class Sleeper and four General Second Class coaches besides two luggage vans. The 0893/0894 Durg – Jammu Tawi special train will stop at Raipur, Bhatapara, Uslapur, Pendra Road, Anuppur, Shahdol, Katni Murwara, Bina, Jhansi, Gwalior, Agra Cantt, Delhi Safdarjang, Ambala Cantt, Ludhiana and Jalandhar Cantt stations enroute in both directions.

In order to clear extra rush of passengers during Summer, Railways will run Weekly Special train No.0581/0582 between Barauni and Adarsh Nagar Delhi as per the programme:-

The 0581 Barauni – Adarsh Nagar Delhi Weekly special train will depart from Barauni on 11.06.09, 18.06.09, 25.06.09 and 02.07.2009 at 01.45 p.m. to arrive at Adarsh Nagar Delhi at 02.10 p.m. the next day. In the return direction, the 0582 Adarsh Nagar Delhi - Barauni special train will depart from Adarsh Nagar Delhi on 12.06. 09, 19.06.09, 26.06.09 and 03.07.09 at 03.45 p.m. to arrive at Barauni at 03.45 p.m. the next day.

Consisting of One 3 tier AC, Nine Second Class Sleeper and four General Second Class coaches besides two luggage vans, the 0581/0582 Barauni – Adarsh Nagar Delhi Weekly special train will stop at Shahpur Patoree, Hajipur, Sonpur, Chhapra, Siwan, Bhatni, Deoria Sadar, Gorakhpur, Basti, Gonda, Lucknow, Shahjahanpur Bareilly, Moradabad, Ghaziabad and Delhi stations enroute in both directions.

1. The platforms in 12, 13, 14 and 14 at Moore Market Complex have recently been provided with surveillance cameras for recording the photographs of drivers starting the train as well as for detecting unauthorized movement of persons, if any.

2. An out-of-turn work for fitting surveillance cameras on all the 17 platforms of Chennai Central and Moore Market Complex has been sanctioned which would be completed in six months.

3. A security boundary wall for 200 metres is being erected along platform No.14 to check unauthorised persons entering the complex. Further, two security booths at Chennai Central and one at Mooremarket Complex will also be constructed shortly.

4. An integrated security scheme consisting of (a) surveillance cameras at the station (b) perimeter security (c) access security and (d) dog squad has already been proposed for providing total security to passengers at major important stations.

5. An integrated security schemes for 7 major stations at Southern Railway (Mangalore, Trivandrum Central, Calicut, Ernakulam, Tiruchi, Madurai and Coimbatore) have already been sanctioned at a cost of Rs.51 crores.

6. A similar security scheme for major Suburban stations like Moore Market Complex, Chennai Egmore, Chennai Beach, Tambaram, Mambalam, Basin Bridge and Trivellore is being processed for sanction by Railway Board at a cost of about 15 crores.

7. The present surveillance cameras in Moore Market Suburban station platforms are providing photographs of drivers starting the trains as well as movement of unauthorised persons near loco cab.

8. RPF Security staff are also checking up the cabs to ensure manning of cab by authorised drivers.

9. ID Cards have been given to drivers to prevent unauthroised manning of cabs.

10. In accordance with the safety rules provisions in 4.19 (Southern Railway) the personal custody of EMU cab keys have been given to the Motormen to ensure accountability. That is, the cab keys are also being numbered to fix responsibility for misuse / loss.

11. The cabs of EMU trains are being locked with keys when not in use.

12. The Guard’s key system has been made operational to prevent unauthorised starting of EMUs by unauthorised drivers. Motormen cannot be start the train without Guard’s bell.

13. Railway staff found to be wanting in response have been screened and shifted out of Chennai Central / Moore Market Complex area which are requiring high mental alertness.

14. A hotline communication between the Section Controller and Traction Power Controller has been provided to enable Traction Power Supply to be switched off during emergency.

15. On duty control staffs are to verify this arrangement before assuming charge. Railway Board have been approached for sanctioning a pilot project for Chennai Division for installing the Biometric System of authorising Electric Multiple Units movement after verification of finger prints of Motormen to be recorded in the system.

The modified scheme of Smart Cards for Automatic Ticket Vending Machine (ATVM) was inaugurated by Shri E. Ahamed, Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Railways at Chennai Egmore railway station today.

The salient features of the scheme are as under.

1)     The Smart Card is being issued for a minimum denomination of Rs.50/- with a security deposit of Rs.30/- (previously Rs.50/-)..

2)     The card is issued upto a maximum value of Rs.2000/-.

3)     Top-up/refill available in multiples of Rs.50/- upto a maximum of Rs.1000/-.

There are no changes in the other features.

According to a latest announcement by, Indian Railway minister Mamta Banerjee tatkal service by Indian Railways will be more commuter-friendly.

Now on the passengers can avail of the new opportunity of booking their tickets for their exact destination. They will no longer need to spend extra money if their destination is before the final destination of the train. Earlier, they had no option but to pay for the entire route of the journey even though they traveled for a small distance only.

Apart from this benefit for the railway passengers, there will be an increase in the number of seats in the general category. The tickets can be booked from 8am onwards and the booking can be made five days before the date of journey.

Date of effect will be announced shortly for this new tatkaal rule.

Passenger amenities, safety and security will have priorities in the next Railway budget which is likely to be presented on July one, Railway minister Mamata Banerjee has said. Emphasis will also be given on infrastructure development which, Banerjee told a television news channel last night, will strive to strike a balance between the commercial and human face of the Railways.

“The Railways have two sides commercial and human face we have to maintain both sides,” she said. Asked if she stands the risk of being dubbed as a regional railway minister if she looks after the interests of Bengal more than the rest of the country, Banerjee said, “I will look after the interests of people across the country and at the same time the people of the state as much as possible. So the tag ‘regional’ would be unwarranted”. “Bengal has been neglected for years together even though 41 MPs belonging to the Left and Congress had represented the state in the 14th Lok Sabha. I am committed to look after the interests of the people all over the country, but I would also help implement various projects in my state,” she said.

Apparently rattled by the tag of ‘regional Railway minister’, she said no one had so when the Railways had been looked after by ministers from Bihar for so many years. On Metro Railway expansion from Tollygunge to Garia, the minister said although most of the expansion project had been completed, work in the last two-km stretch had been halted because of 120 families who needed to be shifted and rehabilitated.

In order to clear extra summer rush of passengers Northern Railway will increase the passenger carrying capacity by augmenting following trains as under:-

The 4553/4554 Delhi-Una Himachal Express train has been augmented by one additional second class sleeper coach with immediate effect to run upto 15-07-2009 from Delhi and uptill 16-7-2009 from Una.

The 4555/4556 Bareilly Delhi Express train has been augmented by one additional second class sleeper coach with immediate effect to run uptill 16-07-2009, in both the direction.

The 2309/2310 Rajender Nagar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express train has been augmented by one additional A.C. 3 tier coach with immediate effect to run upto 30.6.2009 from Rajender Nagar and uptill 1.7.2009 from New Delhi.

In order to clear extra rush of passengers, Railways is running Special Express Trains between Howrah and Yeswantpur .

0805 Howrah-Yeswantpur Special Express Train will leave Howrah at 06.45 p.m on 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th June’09 towards Yeswantpur and will reach Yeswantpur at 06.30 a.m on next Thursdays.

Similarly in the return direction, 0806 Yeswantpur-Howrah Special Express Train will leave Yeswantpur at 11.55 p.m. on 11th, 18th and 25th June’09 & 2nd of July’09 and will reach Howrah at 12.40 p.m. on Saturdays.

This special express train will stop at Bhadrak, Jajpur Keonjhar Road, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Khurda Road, Brahmapur, Palasa, Vizianagaram and Duvada stations under East Coast Railway jurisdiction between Howrah and Yeshvantpur.

This train will also have a composition of two Guard-cum-Luggage vans, two General Second Class coaches, 08 Sleeper Class coaches, two AC-2 tier coaches and two AC- 3 tier coaches.

If you are a regular traveler between New Delhi and Howrah or New Delhi and Sealdah by the Rajdhani Express, then be prepared for a surprise.

Fish and rice, the quintessential Bengali dishes, have been introduced in the prestigious train of the Indian Railways. This was one of the first decisions taken by the Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee after she assumed office. Elated Bengali passengers are lapping it up.

One of Mamata’s priorities is to revamp the railway catering system and improve the food quality. Following her directives, IRCTC has also reintroduced a few items that were taken off the menu during the tenure of Lalu Prasad Yadav.

The new menu includes cheese sandwich, samosa/kachori and sandesh or kaju barfi for sweets. The passengers are served with varieties of Knorr soups also. “The introduction of fish and rice is a good step as Bengali passengers, given a choice between chicken and fish, opt for the latter,” said Sunil Talreja, Deputy General Manager of IRCTC.

For dinner passengers get a wide variety to choose from veg pulao, peas pulao and jeera rice, rumali roti, parathas, peas paneer, shahi paneer and veg kofta. Non-vegetarians can choose from chicken and fish, a rohu fish or bombay bhetki as fish fry.

Rail passengers of one of India’s most loved trains, the Deccan Queen, held a birthday party celebrating the train’s service for 80 long years. The Deccan Queen was started on June 3, 1930. Although it started as a weekend train for the Britishers during their rule in India to ferry race fans from Mumbai to Pune it was soon converted to a daily service. The train departs from Pune railway station towards Mumbai at 7.15 a.m. and reaches Mumbai at 10.30 a.m. It departs from Mumbai the same day at 5.10 p.m. and reaches Pune at 8.25 p.m. The train covers a distance of 192 kilometers in one direction. Drivers of Indian Railways find it prestigious to drive the Deccan Queen. It has the distinction of being the only train in India to get the ISO 9000 certification and also the only short distance train to have a dining car. It has 16 coaches, including the engine.