NEW DELHI: Newly-appointed railway minister Mallikarjun Kharge has a tough task ahead as he assumes charge at a time when the national transporter is facing a financial crunch and is mired in controversies such as "cash-for-promotion" scam and deep inroads of industry lobbies in policy making.
With a Congress leader at the helm of affairs, many in railways expect the political uncertainty surrounding the cash-strapped transporter to end and hope that it will be back on tracks as far as long-pending reforms are concerned.
Kharge, the sixth railway minister in the UPA-2 regime, was cautious while taking charge and refused to answer any query before having detailed discussions with Railway Board officials.
The frequent change of guard at the top has created a...
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sense of uncertainty, disrupting the planning and procurement process.
The minister will have to speed up decision-making and take a call on ambitious proposals such as setting up a rail tariff regulator to determine fares, pushing much delayed multi-crore locomotive plants at Madhepura and Marhora in Bihar, elevated rail corridor project in Mumbai and many more.
The long-pending Planning Commission plan to restructure railways, which got a push after China decided to restructure its national transporter along commercial lines, may also be back on track.
Apart from big issues, the minister has to decide on the urgent appointments to high-level vacancies against the perception that most promotions are sold.
All-India Railwaymen's Federation (AIRF) has said there are loopholes in the promotion process at the apex level, which facilitate scope for favouritism on face value or other considerations.
The posts of member (traffic), additional members and divisional railway managers are vacant. The posts of railway board chairman and financial commissioner will fall vacant by the end of this month.
With less than a year left for general elections in 2014, it will be interesting to see if Kharge is able to implement the reforms agenda and modernization as recommendations by Anil Kakodakar committee and Sam Pitroda panel.

KOLKATA, 19 JUNE: Having failed to meet the railway ministry's March deadline, the Noapara Metro station (in sns photo) in Kolkata's northern suburb is now likely to be thrown open to the public in the first week of July.
Work on the new Metro station is complete and the mandatory clearance from the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), Eastern Circle, also came through in late May.
According to Metro Railway general manager, Mr Radhey Shyam, they were now imparting training to motormen (train drivers) on operating trains on the 2.59-km new route from Dum Dum to Noapara.
"The training is at an advanced stage and we have plans to commission the Noapara station for passengers soon,” the Metro GM said....
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Another senior Metro Railway official, attached to the operations wing, said that the “road-learning training” being imparted to train drivers would be over by the end of the month. After that they would be in a position to throw open the station anytime. “But it will be safe to say that the station will be opened in the first week of July.”  There has been confusion as to whether the new Metro station can be opened during the panchayat polls scheduled to continue till 15 July as a Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in force; but the State Election Commission secretary, Mr Tapas Ray, today clarified that MCC is effective only for the rural areas.
Noapara Metro station comes under the joint jurisdiction of Baranagar and Dum Dum municipalities.  Metro Railway has a car shed at Noapara spread over a 147-acre premise; the new Metro station ~ which is an elevated one ~ has been constructed on the left side of the car shed at an estimated cost of Rs 182 crore. The station has four platforms but initially the authorities will put two platforms into service for trains plying on the main Kavi Subhash (New Garia) -Dum Dum-Noapara Metro route; the rest two platforms will be put to use once the proposed Dakshineswar Metro route is opened. Noapara Metro station will serve commuters from Sinthi More, A K Mukherjee Road and B T Road. It will take about five minutes for a Metro train to cover the distance from Dum Dum to Noapara, thus taking 54 minutes for an end-to-end trip from New Garia to Noapara. As of now a Metro train takes about 49 minutes to cover the existing 25.23-km Metro route from New Garia to Dum Dum. Faced with a shortage of train drivers, Metro Railway is planning to operate only 50 trains up to Noapara in the initial stage and gradually increase the number of trains depending on the rush of passengers. As of now, Metro Railway operates 270 trains on weekdays, 201 on Saturdays and 76 trains on Sundays at five, seven, eight, ten and 15-minute interval. The average number of daily Metro commuters is 6 lakh.

AHMEDABAD: Western Railway with the help of Government Railway Police carried a drive against illegal ticket sellers at various railway stations under Ahmedabad division from 02 June to 15 June 2013.
Railway officials caught three people from New Bhuj, Sardargram and Chapi computerized reservation centres for selling illegal tickets. Railway recovered nine tickets from black marketers worth Rs 9,445. The railways in an effort to provide better service to passengers, Western Railway has come down heavily on the illegal travelers and touts. In a bid to stamp out ticketless travellers and touts, Western Railway conducted regular raids at Ahmedabad railway station and recovered more than Rs 7.5 crore.
Western Railway conducted regular checks in April and 1,78,235 cases of ticketless/irregular travel including unbooked luggage cases were detected. This resulted in a recovery...
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of Rs 7.45 crore. Similarly, more than Rs 6 lakh was realized from 620 cases of illegal transfer of reserved tickets.
In recent times, Western Railway has got stricter in handling of touts and illegal travellers. More than 150 raids were carried out to nab touts running the illegal ticket syndicate. As many as 249 touts were detained and punished under the applicable sections of the Railway Act. The Railways ticketing system has always been rich grounds for touts to lure passengers.
Authorities have also deployed a 'Surakshini' squad at the station, to do away with beggars and unauthorized hawkers. In the last month, 1,023 beggars and illegal hawkers were apprehended. Of these, 654 were evicted, 354 were fined and 15 persons were sent to jail. Surakshini squads regularly remove beggars from the station.

बाढ़ का पानी धीरे धीरे उतरने लगा है। साथ ही हथनीकुंड बैराज में भी पानी की मात्रा कम हो गई है। बुधवार शाम चार बजे हथनी कुंड बैराज पर 77919 क्यूसिक पानी यमुना नदी में बह रहा है। यह जानकारी डीसी केएम पांडुरंग ने दी। उन्होंने बीबीपुर व टापू कमालपुर का दौरा करते हुए दी।
उन्होंने दोनों गांवों में तट कटाव को रोकने के लिए संबंधित विभागों के अधिकारियों को दिशा निर्देश दिए। उन्होंने कहा कि गांवों में स्थिति सामान्य हो रही है और डॉक्टरों की टीमें गांव-गांव जाकर स्वास्थ्य की जांच कर रही हैं। इसके अलावा अन्य जरूरी वस्तुएं भी बाढ़ प्रभावित क्षेत्रों में लोगों को दी जा रही हैं।
यूपी के रास्ते खुले, लोगों ने ली राहत की सांस
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कलानौर के पास क्षतिग्रस्त पुलिया को ठीक कर दिया है। इसके बाद ट्रैक को आवाजाही के लिए खोल दिया गया। उधर, रोडवेज ने भी यूपी के लिए बस सर्विस शुरू कर दी है। इससे लोगों ने राहत की सांस ली है। ट्रैक पर सुबह साढ़े दस बजे ट्रायल लिया गया।
इस दौरान यहां से एक मालगाड़ी को निकाला गया। सही रिपोर्ट मिलने पर ट्रैक को आवाजाही के लिए पूरी तरह से खोल दिया गया। रेलवे के डीआरएम पीके सांघी ने बताया कि सुबह ट्रायल के बाद ट्रैक पूरी तरह से खोल दिया गया। रोडवेज प्रवक्ता ने बताया कि बुधवार से बसें यूपी जा रही हैं।
अम्बाला-सहारनपुर रेलमार्ग दोबारा बहाल
दो दिन लगातार ठप रहने के बाद बुधवार अम्बाला-सहारनपुर रेलमार्ग बहाल हो गया है। रेलमार्ग बहाल होने से यात्रियों ने राहत महसूस की है। रेलमार्ग बंद होने की वजह से दर्जनों ट्रेनों को रेलवे द्वारा डाइवर्ट किया गया था जबकि कई ट्रेनों को रद्द करना पड़ा था। बुधवार रेलमार्ग बहाल हुआ तो रेलवे ने बेहद धीमे रफ्तार से यमुनानगर नदी के पुल से ट्रेनों को निकाला। डाउन लाइन मध्य रात्रि 1.10 मिनट पर आरंभ की गई जबकि अप लाइन प्रात: 8.50 मिनट पर बहाल हुई। बुधवार कई ट्रेनों को धीमे रफ्तार से निकाला गया।

Regular toilets will be replaced by eco-friendly bio-toilets for disposing human waste at all stations of the Konkan Railway (KR), an official said here Wednesday.
Two railway stations, Chiplun and Kankavali on the KR route, had earlier been selected for installing the country's first green toilets to bio-degrade night soil through technology developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
"The technology, while permitting eco-friendly and quicker disposal of human waste, is also economical. Passengers and locals at both Chiplun and Kankavali have appreciated the efforts of the railways," the official said.
Encouraged by the public response, KR has now decided to set up such toilets at all the major stations on its network.
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The bio-toilet uses the DRDO's bio-digester technology, which is economical and can be implemented faster than the regular RCC (reinforced concrete cement) toilets.
"The technology is 100 percent maintenance-free and allows complete elimination of pathogens without requiring the night soil to be disposed through sewage line and septic tank," the official explained.
Since the need for septic tanks and sewage lines has been eliminated in this technology, the bio-toilets can be installed and ready for use within just 48 hours, compared to two months for the conventional toilets.
Even the cost savings on bio-toilets are high, as much as 70 percent, compared to regular toilets. While a regular toilet costs around Rs.100,000, a bio-toilet can be put up at just Rs.30,000.
The bio-digester requires only an initial one-time charging with anaerobic bacterial inoculums if it is in regular use.
The bio-degradation of the night soil leads to generation of bio-gas which can be utilised for cooking.
The clean, odour-less water extracted after bio-degradation can be recycled for irrigation in gardens and other such places.
The DRDO bio-toilets are being widely utilised by the defence forces in remote locations.
The Indian Railways signed a memorandum of understanding with the DRDO in 2010 to develop a bio-toilet for use in railway coaches to improve the environment in and around the railway infrastructure.

The city of Nawabs, known for mannerisms and tonga rides, is gearing up to welcome its own metro rail network.If things roll as planned, the first phase of the Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC), the proposed special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the project, would be up and running by 2016-17.The total project envisaged in phases is estimated at Rs 16,000 crore, to be funded in a 50:50 ratio by the Centre and Uttar Pradesh on the lines of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and as suggested by the Union urban development ministry. DMRC is the consultant for the project and had prepared the Detailed Project Report (DPR).Both the joint venture partners would infuse 20 per cent each as equity in the project, while the rest would be raised through debt.The high powered committee headed by state chief secretary Jawed Usmani had recently approved setting up of the SPV and constituted...
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a sub-committee headed by secretary housing, Rajiv Agarwal, to identify alternative sources of funding.Lucknow Metro project has been moving at turtle's pace for the last several years. During the previous Mayawati regime, the project could not move beyond the route alignment stage over funding model to be adopted.Meanwhile, North-South corridor route, spanning about 24 km and connecting Lucknow Airport to Munshi Pulia, has been finalised.
In his 2013-14 budget speech on February 19, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had averred time had come when Lucknow boasted of its own metro rail, so that it could be counted amongst the developed cities in the world.
"Now, that one corridor has been frozen, we have to see that cost remains at the minimum. Later, we would identify other routes to connect virgin areas to the metro network. This would not only usher in growth in these pockets, but also generate funds for the project," Agarwal told Business Standard.
He said the project plan would now be put before the cabinet, hopefully this month itself, before it is forwarded to the Centre.
Eariler, international funding agencies, viz, World Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) had evinced interest in Lucknow Metro. On May 13, JICA officials had even met the state chief secretary seeking details.
Agarwal said other routes, including East-West corridor and ring metro line running about 13 km and 42 km respectively, would be added to the project depending on the techno-feasibility reports.

After the launch of work on the metro rail in the commercial capital of Cochin, ground has been set for setting up elevated rapid transport system in the other two major cities of Trivandrum and Calicut in Kerala.The state government has appointed the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) as general consultant for building the metro rail systems in the two cities. An agreement in this regard was signed here on Wednesday. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Transport Minister Aryadan Mohammed were present on the occasion.The agreement makes DMRC responsible for the design, preparation of tender document, selection of contractors, supervision, and quality certification for the 22.2km monorail in Trivandrum and 14.2km in Calicut. The projects will be implemented by Kerala Mono Rail Corporation (KMRC), the special purpose vehicle floated by the government earlier. The DMRC will get 3.25 per cent of the estimated cost of Rs55.81 billion as consultancy fee....
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Of the total cost, Rs35.9 billion is expected to be incurred for the Trivandrum monorail project and Rs19.91 billion for the one in Calicut.
The elevated mass rapid transport system will run from Technocity to Karamana in the state capital and from Government Medical College to Meenchantha in the northern city of Calicut. The monorail in Trivandrum will have provisions for extension towards the south up to Neyyattinkara as well as towards north to Attingal.
There is another proposal to extend the network to the Trivandrum International Airport.
The total requirement of land for the first phase of the mono rail in Trivandrum is 17.170 hectares. Of this, 13.75 hectares is government land; 0.58 hectares with railways; and 2.820 hectares with private parties. Only 39 families and 65 shops would be affected as per the detailed project report. The government has already announced four-laning of the Kazhakuttom-Kesavadapuram road in the capital city for the mono rail under a Rs100-billion package cleared by the state government for the development of roads. Public Works Minister Dr Ibrahim Kunj said the government will soon acquire land for the project.
The government had earlier proposed a metro rail for Trivandrum but it was rejected as the city did not have enough ridership. Shortage of land for building the metro rail also prompted the government to go for mono rail.
Monorails can be built on the medians of existing roads, without affecting the road traffic or disrupting life. The overall width of the cars is only three metres, while the guide way width is just 69to 80 cms. The reduced size of the support structures cuts down on costs.
Monorails can negotiate steeper grades and sharper curves, and being elevated, there is no danger of a collision with surface traffic. Since the cars straddle the guide way, there is little chance of derailment, which adds to the safety factor. — news@khaleejtimes.com

CHANDIGARH: In the wake of damage to the Chandigarh-Saharanpur track, passengers of Chandigarh-Lucknow bound express trains had to face several problems on Wednesday due to cancellations of both the trains from Chandigarh. They ran from Saharanpur instead. Although the engineering wing of railways restored the damaged Chandigarh-Saharanpur track on Monday afternoon, information was released before the restoration of the track as authorities did not want to confuse passengers. "Restoration of the line was done at 2pm. But earlier, we were not aware of when repair work would be completed. Therefore, for the convenience of passengers, we did not change the train schedule. From Thursday, trains will run from Chandigarh", said Gulshan Kumar, senior division commercial manager of Ambala division.Thousand of passengers travel to Lucknow from Chandigarh railway station in the Chandigarh Lucknow Express and Sadbhavna Express everyday. "I came to know in the afternoon that the damaged railway line has...
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been restored, but when I reached the railway station, I came to know that the train had been cancelled on Wednesday. So I had to postpone my journey", said Kedar Nath, a city resident.

New Delhi: Rescue teams were finally able to evacuate some of the people stranded in higher reaches of Uttarakhand on Wednesday even though damaged roads and washed away bridges continued to hinder evacuation throughout the day. The government, on its part, has pumped in immediate relief funds and rescue choppers to the battered north Indian state, which has been devastated due to torrential rains that have caused massive landslides and fatal floods. The Indian Army managed to rescue 9,000 people from areas around Uttarkashi even though thousands still remained without any help in the state's remotest part - Kedarnath. Special mountain rescue teams have been formed by the Army to provide immediate relief to the stranded tourists and pilgrims. This is the season for many pilgrimages that take place in the state, resulting in high number of people congregating in different part of Uttarakhand. Many tourists also head over to...
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the hilly state to escape harsh north Indian summer. Both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the state's Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna have warned that the death toll - currently at 150 - is likely to swell further as many still remain missing or without help. PM Manmohan and Congress President Sonia Gandhi did an aerial survey of the affected parts of the state, post which the PM announced that Rs 1000 crore would be released as disaster relief fund. He also said Rs 145 crores would be provided to the state as immediate relief fund and the families of those who have perished in the tragedy would receive Rs 2 lakh. People whose houses have been completely destroyed would get a help of Rs 1 lakh while those whose homes have been partially damaged would receive Rs 50,000.
Twenty-two helicopters have been pressed into rescue work and the strategy is to airlift people from the worst hit areas. But on the ground, the movement of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel has been crippled by landslides. Even though aerial surveys and rescue missions by the Indian Army, Indian Air Force and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and clearing skies provided some aid to the people, places that have been most affected by the nature's fury have remained inaccessible due damaged transport and road services. Lack of manpower also added to the woes, though Bahuguna sought to clarify that there are enough resources and funds available in the state. However, he admitted that there is no estimate of the exact death toll yet and that he did not expect the monsoon havoc to turn into a calamity of this proportions. Bahuguna confirmed that 500 roads and 175 bridges in the state have been washed away. He further added that thousands still remain stranded in the state. According to CNN-IBN, around 70,000 people are stuck in the state. Bahuguna also said it would be difficult for the Kedarnath Yatra to be resumed for a year. "I don't think we can resume the Yatra there for one year. 18 km of road has been damaged. Kedarnath is in debris. The temple has been saved but there is eight to ten feet of debris all around," he told reporters. The Chief Minister said until the road is constructed, the debris cannot be removed. "We need machines, cooperation of the Army, Air Force. So, it is a problem of large magnitude. The state government and the central government together are doing their best," he said. Bahuguna said if the weather is favourable in the coming days, then things will improve. Meanwhile, Minister of State for Home RPN Singh tried to defend Bahuguna's visit to Delhi, which many see as inappropriate as his state is suffering from such a huge crisis, and said the Chief Minister barely stayed in Delhi for half hour. Singh also said the rescue conditions are very difficult but that the paramilitary forces are doing their best. He confirmed that roads have severely been affected in Kedarnath hampering the rescue operation. "But our primary concern is to make people safe and secure. This is a problem of huge magnitude," he said. MoS Home also said there will be no discrimination done in evacuating people as reports of VIPs receiving special treatment and being rescued earlier than other citizens surfaced. "Whoever is worst affected and whoever we reach first will get help. There will be no special treatment given to anybody," Singh said. Noting that the government's first priority is to evacuate the people who are in grave danger, Singh said, "It's not that 60,000 people are stranded in hills and water. Some of them are in hotels and homes." He declined to go into the remarks of BJP leaders including Sushma Swaraj with regard to the disaster, saying, "Instead of making slogans, what is important is what we do...I would not like to make it a political issue or give it a colour of politics." Meanwhile, Railways decided to press services of special trains to rescue people stranded due to the flash floods at Haridwar, Rishikesh and other areas. Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge has instructed the Railway Board to do whatever possible to rescue people from the flood affected areas, said a senior Railway Ministry official. Special trains will be pressed into service from stations like Dehradun, Rishikesh and Haridwar for stranded passengers. Moradabad division has been asked to arrange trains for the stranded passengers. Special counters will be opened at stations for these passengers, said the official. Passenger profile will be carried out to know their destination and accordingly train services will be launched, the official said. However, the vast destruction in the state that damaged routes of several important pilgrimages prompted the government to cancel batches 2 to 10 of Kailash Manasarovar Yatra. The road between Almora and the road-head at Tawaghat has been washed away at several places and some major bridges have also been damaged. Helpline numbers: Uttarkashi: 01374-226126, 226161 Chamoli: 01372-251437 Tehri: 01376-233433 Rudraprayag: 01732-1077 The ITBP helpline and control room numbers: 011-24362892, 9968383478 Army medical emergency helpline numbers: 18001805558, 18004190282, 8009833388 Uttarakhand Helpline numbers: 0135-2710334, 2710335, 2710233

Heavy rainfall in north India and Mumbai has taken a toll on punctuality of several long-distance passenger trains passing through Tatanagar.The New Delhi-Puri Purushottam Superfast Express, Tata-Amritsar Jallianwallah Bagh Express (dn), Howrah-Mumbai Geetanjali Express and Howrah-Ahmedabad Express (dn) ran up to six hours behind schedule on Tuesday.Railway officials at Tatanagar confirmed that the trains were delayed because of the downpour in north India and Mumbai over the past couple of days. “Trains from the north and west are running late owing to waterlogging on the tracks along several railway sections,” said an official at the enquiry kiosk.Howrah-bound Geetanjali reached Tatanagar some six hours late. The scheduled arrival of the train is 8.15am, but it chugged in at 2.30pm. Similarly, Purushottam Superfast Express and Jallianwallah Bagh Express were each late by two hours.The Howrah-Ahmedabad Express also arrived at Tatanagar an hour behind schedule on Tuesday. The train was supposed to arrive...
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at 9.20am, but reached around 10.25am.
Trains from Bihar like the South Bihar Express and Tata-Chapra Express (dn) also ran an hour late.
But, railway sources said that they were arriving behind schedule for over a month now. Earlier, it was because of the summer rush and now it is because of monsoon.
Meanwhile, the Chakradharpur railway division has asked authorities at Tatanagar, Rourkela and Jharsuguda stations to remain alert and ensure that passengers were not inconvenienced in case of delays. Stations have been directed to ensure cleanliness of waiting rooms and dormitories and adequate supply of drinking water.

MADURAI: Trains are all set to chug on the newly-laid Virudhunagar - Manamadurai broad gauge section soon. As a prelude to the commencement of the train services, railway officials have decided to conduct a speed trial on the section. "Speed trials using a special train formation will be conducted on the newly converted broad gauge railway line between Manamadurai and Virudunagar railway stations by the commissioner of railway safety, south zone, Bangalore on June 21 between 8am and 6pm to assess the fitness of the track," a statement from the Southern Railway said. The railway authorities have also appealed to the public not to come near the track during the speed trials. "General public, all users of railway line and premises situated along the Manamadurai - Virudunagar section are alerted and requested not to come near or approach the railway track during the high speed trial timings," added the statement....
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The railway officials had already conducted trial runs that had come out satisfactorily. The ensuing trial run would determine the stability of the track during high speed.
Once the speed trials are completed, goods train services are expected to commence in July and subsequently passenger services would be kick-started.
The 67km Manamadurai - Virudhunagar section has Aruppukottai, Tiruchuzhi and Narikudi stations enroute and facilities have also been provided at these stations to handle broad gauge services. Once the train services on this section commence, south-bound trains from and to Trichy could pass through Manamadurai without the need to travel to Madurai and Dindigul. "The section could be tapped to its optimum level to route goods traffic. This would ensure that the extremely high traffic on the Virudhunagar - Madurai mainline is eased," said P T K A Balasubramaniam, member of Divisional Rail Users Consultative Committee.
Railway authorities said that the metre gauge section was opened in the year 1963 and was considered ideal for goods traffic from Tuticorin. After a period of 50 years, the section was closed for traffic in 2008 for gauge conversion. Once the section is reopened for traffic, the Trichy - Manamadurai passenger may be extended till Virudhunagar while Kanyakumari - Rameswaram Express running three days in a week can be routed through this section, which will save time and additional distance of going through Madurai.

Assuming charge of the Railway Ministry, Mallikarjun Kharge today said he would hold a discussion with officials on issues being faced by the national transporter before deciding on priorities. "I will discuss the issues and then I will have to decide on priorities," Kharge said after assuming charge at Rail Bhawan. Asked about his priorities, he said, "Unless I talk to them (officers) and discuss the issues I will not comment." Kharge, an MP from Gulbarga constituency in Karnataka, is the sixth Railway Minister in the last four years. His immediate predecessor Pawan Kumar Bansal had to quit last month in the wake of cash-for-post scam in railways.
Asked about the vacancies in the Railway Board, Kharge said, "All these things are there. I will discuss with them (officers) as to what can be done within a shortspan of time."...
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Though he was given the responsibility of railways day before yesterday, the Karnataka Congress veteran took charge today.
Railways have to show some urgency in shortlisting the possible names for the key posts in Railway Board and submit them to the DoPT for consideration.
Currently, Member Staff Mahesh Kumar is behind the bars and under suspension as he is accused of bribing Vijay Singla, nephew of former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, for a top post in Railways.
Besides, the post of Member Traffic is vacant while Chairman Railway Board Vinay Mittal and Financial Commissioner Vijaykanth are retiring on June 30.
Besides filling up vacant posts, he has to decide on the constitution of the long-pending Rail Tariff Authority also.

MUMBAI: A motorman of a Churchgate-bound fast train jumped the red signal at Borivli on Wednesday morning, but a mishap was averted as the rake stopped after three coaches crossed the signal pole. Western Railway had to cancel 24 services, while many ran behind schedule due to the incident.At 11.40am, a Virar-Churchgate local jumped the red signal on platform 5. Three compartments of the 12-car local had passed by the signal when the train was brought to a halt by the erring motorman himself. WR refused to spell out the reason for the incident but senior officials on condition of anonymity said that motorman J K Saha could have been at fault. He was immediately taken off duty and an inquiry will be conducted to ascertain the cause.Sources said the error of judgment Saha's part could have brought two Churchgate-bound trains on the same track. An official said, "Platform numbers...
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5 and 6 at Borivli are both used for Up direction trains. The signals for trains moving out of both these platforms are located close to each other on the same side. The motorman probably jumped the signal due absent-mindedly or was confused by the location of the signal poles. He mistook the green signal meant for the train on platform 6 as being for his train. There could have been panic if the Churchgate-bound train on platform 6 had started moving simultaneously."
Since the train on platform 6 didn't start at the time, a side collision was averted. Also, the train on platform 5 could have derailed had it hit the points and crossings where trains interchange tracks.
WR motormen have also blamed the location of signal for this incident. A motorman said, "More than a year ago, the signal on platform 5 was moved from the left side of the track to the right. Motormen are comfortable with signals on the left. In fact, we have complained to the administration about the confusion it causes at Borivli." The motorman also claimed that Auxillary Warning System (AWS) was not working or else the pilot of the train could have been forewarned about the signal being on red aspect. "In such cases, an assistant who is well-versed with the working of the signal accompanies the motorman. However, it seems that the assistant deputed on this train too failed in his duty," he said.
However, a senior official said, "The motorman involved in this incident has an experience of 11 years. Motormen are aware about the location of each and every signal on the route and hence the reasoning is not justified. Moreover, in a city like Mumbai there are space constraints, which don't allow us the liberty to install signals at points of our choice," adding, "The enquiry will establish if the motorman was at fault or the signal was not working properly. We will also check the role of the guard in this incident."