New Delhi, Dec 14 (IANS) An express train runs at an average speed of 50 km an hour and a good train at 25 km an hour. But this is only on broad gauge, Minister of State for Railways K.J. Surya Prakash Reddy told the Rajya Sabha Friday.
On meter gauge, the trains slow down, with express trains plying at 30 km an hour and goods trains at 14 km an hour.
Also on broad gauge, EMUs (electrical multiple units) run at 40 km an hour and ordinary passenger trains cover 36 km an hour.
The speed of trains, Bansal explained, was dependent on factors such as the trains themselves, signalling system, rolling stock and stoppages.
...
Read more...

"It is a constant endeavour of Indian Railways to improve the average speed of trains," he said.

LUCKNOW: Train journey during fog will become less agonizing for passengers who fail to get exact location about delayed trains.
Northern Railway (NR) on Wednesday uploaded a system on its website -- nr.indianrailways.gov.in -- that will track the trains running late due to fog and give their exact location.
"It's rail radar which will provide exact location of the trains running late due to fog," said Neeraj Sharma, CPRO, NR. Developed by the Central Rail Information System (CRIS), rail radar is a live system which tracks a train on a google map. It's an improved version of 'spot your train' service of railways. A passenger can log on to -- events.trainenquiry.com/fog - and get live information on fog delayed trains and cancellation/diversions due to fog.
...
Read more...

The service tells the exact stations between which the train got delayed due to fog. On Wednesday, it showed train number 15316 Kasganj-Gonda jn Gokul Express running late between Mailani and Nanpara Junction in Uttar Pradesh because of fog at 6:37pm. It also had a 'spot' option, by clicking on which passengers could know the exact location of the train. This will save passengers from inconvenience.
Meanwhile, many long distance trains from Bihar and UP were running late on Wednesday. The trains running late were Vaishali Express, Avadh Assam Express, Krishak Express, Kamakhya Express, Mailani-Gonda passenger, New Delhi-Darbhanga Swatantra Sainani Express and Amritsar-Katihar Express. Several trains including New Delhi-Gaya Mahabodhi Express and Delhi-Howrah Janta Express were re-scheduled.

VIJAYAWADA: Special trains to Sabarimala are not running on time, causing inconvenience to Ayyappa devotees. Hundreds of pilgrims are being made to wait for several hours in the railway stations in the chilly winter as no special train is running as per schedule. Piling on their agony, the railway authorities are also not providing any information about the status of the special trains.
It is entirely a different matter that the railways is pocketing huge sums by running specials to Sabarimala as all the trains are packed with devotees. Taking objection to the callous attitude of the railway authorities, the passengers staged a dharna at the railway station on Saturday.
The passengers protested when the Kakinada-Kollam special train which was scheduled to arrive at Vijayawada at 1.50 am, did not reach even...
Read more...

by 10.30 am. The authorities, who kept the passengers waiting for several hours in the station, maintained a stoic silence without announcing at least the revised schedule.
According to information, almost all the special trains announced by the South Central Railway for Sabarimala tour were running late by not less than 10-12 hours. Sources said the railway authorities were keeping the special trains in loopline to allow free passage to the regular super fast and express trains leaving the devotees in the lurch.
The special train left Kakinada town at 2.10 am last Thursday, nearly four hours behind schedule right at the originating point.
As per the original schedule it would have left Kakinada at 10.30pm on Wednesday and reached Vijayawada around 2am on Thursday.
However, the train reached Vijayawada at 7 am, nearly five hours late.
In normal conditions, any express train would cover the delay at least by 30 minutes to one hour after running for about 3-4 hours. Surprisingly, the special train was delayed by another hour by the time it reached Vijayawada on Thursday.
Lack of locker facility and other amenities for the surging passengers at the railway stations is another cause for concern. As per their custom, Ayyappa devotees have to take bath after every visit to the toilet. "There are several difficulties devotees are having to face," a devotee Kantha Rao Swamy said.
The special train, which started at Kakinada on Thursday, reached its destination by 36 hours late, according to a railway source. It went on adding a delay of an hour for every 3-4 hours journey as it was late by nearly six hours by the time it reached Renigunta and eight hours late when it crossed the last station in AP - Chittoor.

Two wagons of a goods train derailed and hit an overhead electricity pole in the Panki yard area here this evening, disrupting rail traffic on the important Delhi-Howrah route for few hours, a railway official said.
The incident occurred when two wagons of a goods train coming out of Panki yard got derailed and one of them hit a high-voltage electricity pole and left it leaning, Chief PRO of NCR Sandip Mathur said.
No one was injured in the incident, he confirmed.


As the electricity pole was damaged the power supply to Delhi-Howrah track was disrupted, he said.
...
Read more...

Some trains were running behind the scheduled time on the route.
Around 11pm, the rail traffic movement was restored on the Delhi-Howarh route, Mathur said.
A team of railway officials and engineers visited the site, he said adding, efforts were being made to remove the derailed wagons at the earliest.
A probe has been ordered into the incident, Mathur said.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will soon start a multi-cuisine food court at Delhi University's North Campus.
The food court will come up in an area of 2,500 sqft and will have cooking facilities to serve hot food. It will accommodate around 110 persons at a time.
IRCTC will also run mobile food vans. Carrying packed meals and other food items, these vans will move around the campus. They will be parked at designated places and times to serve students and faculty members. Some of the off-campus colleges will also get these vans.
"Students in the off-campus colleges who don't have access to proper canteens and good food will benefit," said Alka Sharma, registrar, Delhi University (DU).
...
Read more...

Pradip Kundu, public relations officer, IRCTC, said, "We have signed an agreement with the university. Several colleges such as Shri Ram College of Commerce, Hindu College, SGTB Khalsa College, Miranda House, Hansraj College and St. Stephen's College will benefit from the food court that will come up in front of the Faculty of Arts."
"The idea is to serve fast food but not junk food. We will cater healthy, nutritious and hygienic food. Proper meals and snacks - both Indian and Chinese -will be available. We will serve breakfast, lunch, snacks, and even dinner," he said. Rates will be economical.
"Some of the canteens in colleges such as St. Stephen's and Delhi School of Economics serve really good food. We are very happy but change is always refreshing. We just hope the food quality is better than what is served on trains," said Shounak Roy, a Master's student at DU.
"Apart from north campus, IRCTC will also operate mobile vans for two more colleges of Delhi University - Aditi Mahavidyalaya at Bawana and Bhagini Nivedita College in Najafgarh. Students here do not have any good eatery and, therefore, have to face a lot of problems. The food court is expected to start operating early next year. But mobile vans at Bawana and Najafgarh will start at the earliest," Kundu said.

Does the Indian Railways need to get the lion’s share of commodities, when it does not have the infrastructure to do so. Especially when 16 private Container Train Operators (CTO) have to scrounge around for business despite having money to invest in wagons to carry them?

Obviously, Big Brother is given the lion’s share of commodities based only on monopolistic measures.

Consider the facts. Coal, one of the commodities reserved for the Indian Railways, has been battling delays in evacuation from pitheads to areas of consumption, leading to power outages. Almost 20 million tonnes of coal are pending for evacuation because of inadequacy of rail infrastructure. Delay in repositioning of empty...
Read more...

wagons, insufficient number of wagons and small capacity of wagons, loss in transit are the problems faced by the Indian Railways.

So It decides to allocate a whopping amount of Rs. 13,820 crore for the purchase of 18,000 wagons. Coal constitutes 47% of the cargo carried by the railways. The projection for transportation of coal for 2012-13 is expected to be 498 million tonnes and is expected to be 700 million tonnes by 2016-17- a cagr growth of 8.5 percent.

There are three other commodities – Iron Ore, Coke and minerals – which again are reserved for the Indian Railways. The Private CTOs have been clamoring for more cargo.

Does it not make business sense to share this burden with the private sector and spare the valuable resources of the Indian Railways to augment track capacity and signaling?

New Delhi, June 29, 2012(PIB): The Ministry of Railways today decided that, with effect from July 10, 2012, booking of tickets under the Tatkal scheme would start at 1000 hours on the previous day of journey from the train originating station instead of 0800 hours as at present.
This is one of the measures the Railways are taking to eliminate the scourge of touts who corner the Tatkal tickets and then sell them to needy passengers at a premium.

An official press release said no authorised agents, including agents of IRCTC and RTSAs/RTAs, would be allowed to book Tatkal tickets from 1000 hours to 1200 hours.

...
Read more...

The existing restriction of not allowing these agents booking of general tickets on the opening day from 0800 hours to 1000 hours will also continue, the release said.

The Tatkal scheme was launched by the Railways to meet urgent travel requirements of passengers who have to travel at short notice. For this, the Railways levy Tatkal charges, which range from Rs 300 in AC 2-tier and AC 3-tier to Rs 150 for AC Chair Car and Sleeper class in peak periods, over and above the journey fare.

The facility is available only to full fare paying passengers only and not to those travelling on concessional tickets.

Usually, four berths per coach in AC 2-tier and 6 berths per AC 3-tier and AC Chair Car coaches are ear-marked for the Tatkal Scheme. In the case of sleeper class, it is 10 per cent of the accommodation or one coach, whichever is less. All vacant Tatkal accommodation after the preparation of reservation charts is treated as general accommodation and booked accordingly.

The booking under the Tatkal Scheme is done only from originating to terminating point of the train and charged accordingly, though passengers can opt to board the train from an intermediate station.

However, on certain trains, the Railways can earmark Tatkal reservation quota at the originating station and one more important station where the number of berths/seats available for reservation is large.

Meanwhile, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC), which operates the railway reservation website, said that, even though capacity had been substantially increased during the last few years, the demand window had shrunk to the first few minutes when the Tatkal booking opens at 0800 hours. This results in skewed demand where the resources remain under strain at 0800 hours and underutilised during the rest of the day.

IRCTC said various steps had been taken to augment the resources, including software and hardware, to meet the growing demand. Booking through mobile phones has also been launched on a pilot basis, it said.

A user on IRCTC can open his account for booking of e-tickets only once and multiple sessions with single user ID cannot be opened. This is aimed at enabling more users to access the website and reduce congestion at 0800 hours

To ensure that agents and touts do not corner tickets, the IRCTC has taken several steps. All payment initiated before 8 am are logged out to eliminate the possibility of scripting with data pre-filled prior to 8 am. Mobile telephone numbers of users are verified and only two tickets can be booked per IP address between 8 am and 10 am to prevent multiple bookings from the same office complex or internet cafe.

Bangalore : Karnataka plans to operate 'bullet trains' across the state to provide high-speed connectivity between its tech hub Bangalore and Mysore, Belgaum and Gulbarga in the northern region of the state.
"We are in discussion with Japanese experts who have built and operate bullet trains in their country, especially between Tokyo and Osaka, to provide high-speed rail connectivity between Bangalore and Mysore (150 km), Bangalore and Belgaum (610 km) and Bangalore and Gulbarga (585 km)," state Industry Minister Murgesh Nirani told reporters here Monday.
As part of its basic infrastructure development across the state, including road, rail and airport connectivity, the state government has formulated a pro-active policy to attract investments from the private sector in the infrastructure sector on the public-private partnership (PPP) model.
...
Read more...

"We are commissioning the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for the ambitious project, which will require dedicated tracks, exclusive coaches and high-power connectivity to operate high-speed trains for reducing travel time between inter-cities by more than 50-60 percent," Nirani said.
As railways is a central subject, the state government will approach the central government and the Indian Railways for partnering in the project with financial assistance from international agencies such as the World Bank.
"JICA has come forward to assist us in the project. An expression of interest will be signed with it for the bullet trains project at the Global Investors' Meet (GIM 2012)June 7," Nirani pointed out.
The state government is also planning to build a tunnel through the 28 km Shiradi ghat section on the Bangalore-Mangalore (325 km) state highway to reduce travel time and provide a high-quality road to enable exporters and importers use the Mangalore port optimally than depend on ports in other states.
"The Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) has offered to provide technical assistance in building the tunnel with private builders on the PPP model," Nirani added.

(TRAVPR.COM) INDIA - June 4th, 2012 - Operators of Maharajas’ Express, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has re-launched this Indian luxury train with five brand new itineraries for the upcoming run season starting from September 2012. Heritage of India is one of the 5 newly launched itineraries of Maharajas’ Express and will be launched from October 6, 2012. The 8 days and 7 nights journey encapsulates the soul of India’s rich cultural and royal heritage to provide wholesome experience to the guests. The weeklong journey begins from national capital New Delhi and covers Jaipur, Ranthambore, Fatehpur Sikri, Agra, Gwalior, Orchha, Khajuraho, Varanasi and Lucknow in a lavish journey spanning over 168 hours.
The Indian Panorama tour itinerary has been tastefully crafted to provide glimpse of Buddhist heritage in Ajanta Caves, forts, palaces and sand dunes in Rajasthan and to...
Read more...

dig out rich casket of Mughal architectural jewels in Agra. The all inclusive journey starts from US $5560 and includes cost of guided sightseeing tours, on board dining, entrance fees at the monuments, transportation, and porter charges. However, expenses of personal nature both on and off the train are excluded from the journey cost.
Maharajas’ Express is considered as Asia’s most luxurious rail journey and. With a capacity to accommodate 88 guests, the 43 luxurious cabins of Maharajas’ Express include previously unheard of presidential suite in a luxury train spanning over entire. The cabin facilities of the Maharajas Express train include Wi-Fi internet, live television, direct dialing phone, electronic safe, and en-suite bathrooms.
Other facilities of Maharajas’ Express includes ornately designed dining outlets, safari bar, Rajah lounge and a souvenir coach to make your journey comfortable and memorable. For more information on facilities, itineraries, scheduled departures and booking of Maharajas Express Indian Panorama Journey, visit http://www.luxoindia.com/maharajas-express/indian-panorama.html
About the Company
Indian Holiday Private Limited®, a National Tourism Award winning company recognized by Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, offers booking for Maharajas Express Train. You can rely on us as a trusted resource with 22 years of domain experience. We are also associated with travel bodies IATO, PATA, ASTA and IMTA.

Indian Railways has decided to give preference to wait-listed passengers under the Tatkal ticket scheme over other passengers while clearing the waiting list in the event of addition of extra coaches to the train. To clear the extra rush of passengers, Railways have introduced many summer specials as well as resorted to adding extra coaches in trains.
“If an extra coach is added to a particular train, then preference would be given to wait-listed Tatkal ticket holders. After that other class wait-listed passengers will be adjusted in the coach,” a senior Railway Ministry official said. Passengers shell out more to purchase tickets under the Tatkal scheme.
In November last year, Railways had reduced the advance reservation period of Tatkal tickets from two days to one day (24 hours).
...
Read more...

For example, if a train is to depart from the originating station on second day of the month then the Tatkal quota for that particular train will open at 08.00 hours of the first day of the month.
As per the Tatkal scheme, a maximum of four passengers can be booked per PNR for Tatkal tickets and no refund will be granted on cancellation of confirmed Tatkal tickets except in exceptional circumstances. No duplicate tickets will be issued except only in exceptional cases on payment of full fare, including Tatkal charges.
Tatkal tickets shall be issued only on production of prescribed photo identity card. For this purpose, a self attested photo copy of the proof of identity of any one passenger is required to be attached to the requisition slip

NEW DELHI: Noting that the Indian Railways are in the red financially and have not been able to meet the cost of operating passenger and other services, the Comptroller and Auditor General Tuesday said the national transporter should rationalise both passenger and freight tariffs and explore alternate sources of financing.
"There is heavy cross-subsidisation from freight services to passenger services... percentage of freight earnings used to subsidise the losses on passenger and other coaching services ranged between 15.80 percent and 34.32 percent during 2007-08 to 2009-10," said the latest CAG report on railways tabled in parliament Tuesday.
"It is essential that railways increases its market share in bulk commodities where it has an inherent competitive advantage," said the report.
According to the CAG...
Read more...

report for 2010-11, the surplus earned by the railways was Rs.1,404.89 crore and the accumulated fund balances were substantially depleted.
This, said the report, indicated a continued poor financial performance by the railways and posed a risk for future sustainability.
The CAG report also expressed concern over the increasing dependency of the railways on the gross budgetary support due to shrinkage of internal resources.
It also suggested that the transporter should wind up unviable and loss-making projects.
"It is important for the railways to review all capital works in progress and take expeditious decision with regard to closure of projects especially unremunerative lines, where there is road connectivity and where the progress with the projects is no longer as valid. There is a need to focus more on viable projects," said the report.

Pegging “social commitment” as the Indian Railways’ priority, Railway Minister Mukul Roy on Monday said “affordable travel” will be made available to meet the needs of all income groups.
Addressing his first public meeting after assuming charge of the Railways, Roy seemed averse to privatisation of the Railways, the buzzwords during his predecessor Dinesh Trivedi’s tenure. He was talking at the 57th Annual Railway National Award Function, 2012.
Describing Mamata Banerjee’s document on the Railways, titled “Vision 2020,” as the “guiding document,” Roy said,� “The objective is to deepen and broaden the agenda of inclusive� growth.” He, however, admitted that it is a difficult times for Railways. “It is a challenging period on resource front,” the minister said.
But, Roy evaded mention...
Read more...

of recommendations of several high level committees formed by his predecessor Trivedi, including the Anil Kakodkar Committee and Sam Pitroda Committee.
“I intend to launch drive to mop up resources through non-conventional means like PPP initiatives, advertising on Railway locations and utilising vacant land and air space available with the Railways,” he said.
Roy said: “My vision is to have profitable, efficient, and safe and corruption-free Railways.”

As many as 2,200 Sikh Yatrees (pilgrims) led by Sardar Amreek Singh and Jaspal Singh from India have arrived here through Wahga border on Tuesday to celebrate the annual Besakhi festival.
The Sikh Yatrees arrived by three special trains of Pakistan Railways from India.
Chairman Evacuees Trust Property Board (ETPB) Syed Asif Ali Hashmi welcomed Yatrees when their train arrived at Wahga Railway station.
ETPB Addition Secretary Shrines Zahid Hussain Bokhari, Deputy Secretary Faraz Abbas, Azhar Sulehri, Sardar Sham Singh Chairman Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parabandhak Committee and a large number of local Sikh leaders and ETPB officers were also present on the occasion.
Talking to journalists, Syed Asif Ali Hashmi said that ETPB has...
Read more...

made special arrangements for Sikh Yatrees.
He said ETPB had served free langar (meal) and established a free medical camp at Wahga station.
The department would also provide free transportation, meal, medical and residential facilities to all Yatrees during their stay in Pakistan.
He also expressed satisfaction over the security arrangements for Besakhi Festival.
After customs and immigration clearance at Wahga station, Sikh Yatrees left for Hassan Abdal where they would stay at Gurdwara Panja Sahib for performing their religious rituals.
Sikh Yatrees would stay in Pakistan till April 19.
It may be mentioned here that approximately 3.000 Sikh Yatrees are expected to reach Wagha Border to participate in the Behsaki festival.
Pakistan Railways police have made special security arrangements on the directions of Syed Ibne Hussain, Inspector General Police (IGP) Railways.
All SPs of Pakistan Railways Police had arranged strict security plan and commandos have been deployed with the Sikh special trains.
Lady commandos have also been deployed with the train for the security of lady Sikhs.
Railway police bomb disposal staff have checked all the empty racks and Railway Station Nankana Sahib, Lahore, Hassanabdal and Badami Bagh with the co-ordination of the Local District Police and administration.
A foolproof security rehearsal has also been conducted.
IGP Railways issued special direction to Railway police and other staff for good behaviour and conduct with the Sikh Yatrees so that they remember the services of PRP in their country.

Chandigarh: For the benefit of the Sikh pilgrims across the country, a luxury train covering all the leading Sikh shrines in the country will be flagged off in December this year.
Making the announcement Principal Secretary Tourism Geetika Kalha said on Tuesday that an agreement had been signed between Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corp (IRCTC) and Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board (PHTPB) to run the train.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal would flag off the train on December 26 this year.
The train would cover Akal Takht in Amritsar, Takht Sri Damdama Sahib at Talwandi, Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib (Anandpur), Takht Sri Patna Sahib (Patna) and Takht Sri Hazur Sahib at Nanded in Maharashtra.
...
Read more...

Starting from Amritsar, the train will embark on a nine-day journey via Delhi, Agra and Gwalior and culminate at Nanded.
At a meeting here on Tuesday, Badal approved the name of the train as "Panj Takhts Yatra Express".
Kalha sought the personal intervention of the chief minister with the central government for the grant of subsidized tariff rates, as allowed to the Buddhist circuit train.

Bangalore: The Railways are soon shifting to a satellite-based tracking system to get the exact time information regarding the movement of train. The pilot project implemented on Chennai section is soon to be completed. It will be in production from next year.
P Bala Bhaskar Rao, VP (Operations) of Hyderabad-based Avantel Limited, "We will commence installation of the Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) system from the next week covering 107 locomotives that run on the Chennai section. The installation of the technology will be completed by February of next year,"as quoted by Business Standard.
India's first certified indigenous MSS system for defense and aerospace applications has been developed by Avantel and the first 12 unit of system including four spare systems is to be delivered to Boeing Company under a...
Read more...

contract worth about $ 2.2 million. Supplied by the American aircraft company to Indian defense forces, these MSS systems would be fitted on 8 P-8I Maritime Reconnaissance Aircraft.
The Boeing Aerospace in compliance with Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA) standards produced the MSS system for the P-8I. According to the company, it has been qualified by the Center for Military Airworthiness & Certification (Cemilac).
Rao said that the system involving the technology is same for the aircraft and Indian Railways. The MSS-based tracking system is planned to be implemented in the Railways across the country once its pilots demonstrate its efficiency.
The first phase of the Real Train Information System, based on the satellite imaging for rail navigation has been opened by the Railway. It has been mutually developed by the Research Design and Standards Organization and IIT-Kanpur. Despite the fact that the locomotives are fitted with GPS equipment, the system runs on Global System for Mobile (GSM) communication technology that is used in mobile phones.
After the implementation of new system the movement and location of each train will be tracked on a realtime basis. Rao said, "Once the system is in place several value-added services like providing passengers with accurate information on train arrival time among others will be developed around it,"
Avantel has also come up with ultra high frequency (UHF) communication systems and products, and it will be delivered to Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) under a contract for 25-crore in the next six months.
The Indian army extensively uses the MSS system mainly on the Navy warships and Cost Guard vessels. The MSS system for defence applications are developed from various platforms like submarines, torpedoes, ground-based vehicles, ships, and aircraft.
Founded in 1995, Aventel had started developing Type-C terminals for one-way messaging following a technology transfer agreement with Isro in 2000. A turnover of Rs 24.5 crore was recorded for the BSE-listed company in 2001 and revenue of 26 crore is expected for the present year. Its share closed up at 58.25 whereas its 52-month price stood at 69.5 and 41 respectively.

As many as 1,220 persons lost their lives in the last five years due to various train accidents in India, out of which, the mishaps occurred at the unmanned level crossings accounted for 717 fatalities, which is 59 per cent of the total.
The Railway Board has provided these

year-wise (April to March) figures in reply to an RTI query filed by the president of Thane District Rail Passengers' Association- Om Prakash Sharma.
The reply also states that the deaths due to unmanned level crossing was 146 in 2006-07, 148 in 2007-08, 129 in 2008-09, 170 in 2009-10 and 124 in 2010-11.
As...
Read more...

per the year-wise breakup, the number of people killed due to train mishaps was maximum in 2010-11, with 374 registered deaths. There were 208 deaths in 2006-07, 191 in 2007-08, 209 in 2008-09 and 238 in 2009-10.
According to the Railway Board, deaths due to train collisions was maximum (239) in 2010-11. Of the total number of deaths in 2010-11, 64 per cent which is 239 of the total was on account of collision. Out of the 49 deaths due to train derailment, 13 were in 2007-08, the reply added.
In the last five years, the total number of persons injured in train accidents was 2,124, out of which, 469 were registered in 2010-11. The number of injured was 402 in 2006-07, 412 in 2007-08, 444 in 2008-09, and 397 in 2009-10, it said.
Talking to PTI, Gupta said, "The number of train accidents and the resulting loss of human lives is on the rise, as revealed by the Railway Board figures. The railway authorities should immediately take precautionary measures, especially at the unmanned level crossings, so that precious human lives are not lost."

AMRITSAR: Beauty has little value if it has no admirers. Similar was the case with Vivek Express exibition train when it arrived in the holy city.
Vivek Express exhibition train, being run by Indian Railways, to commemorate 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, chugged into Amritsar railway station on Wednesday.
It was welcomed by a negligible number of people in the holy city. The empty train revealed the lackadaisical attitude of railway authorities.
A floral tribute paid to Swami Vivekananda at the inauguration ceremony was not enough and railway authorities need to generate awareness among people about the arrival of this unique train, residents said.
Railway authorities not only failed to gather people to...
Read more...

showcase the life of Swami Vivekananda, but it also didn't give a perfect location where it can be observed by the passersby, sources said. A corner of the railway station where goods are packed and unpacked was the designated the place for it.Amritsar station supervisor Kuldeep Singh Teji, however, didn't admit any negligence on his part. "As the train has to stay there for four days, it was not possible to locate it on platform 1," he said.
The train will be stationed here for more than three days till November 19. The train exhibition is open to public between 10 am and 6 pm, free of cost.The train exhibits a large collection of pictures and gives details of historical moments from Swami Vivekananda's life.
Information on the landmark World Parliament of Religions of 1893 -- where he delivered his famous speech that had the American audience rise up in applause -- is also exhibited.The four-day exhibition in five coaches of the train traces the story of Ramakrishna Mission and how Swami Vivekananda set it up.
The guide on the train said that the train began its journey on January 12, 2010, and will culminate on January 11, 2014 on the eve of Swami Vivekananda's 150th birth anniversary.
Area resident Harmeet Singh said that thin attendance of people has certainly depressed mission enthusiasts. Only a few came to see the exhibition. "The train, too, was stationed far off from the platform which has enhanced the problem even more," he lamented.

10th Oct, 2011: Issuing a stern warning that violence of any nature will not be tolerated, the Andhra Pradesh police said that anyone indulging in sabotage, disruption of train services or any act that poses threat to law and order will be dealt with an iron hand.
Briefing media persons in Hyderabad on Monday about the security arrangements being made in view of the 3-day rail roko call given by the Telangana Joint Action Committee and set to begin on 12 October, senior police officials reiterated that the state police, the Railway Protection Force and other security agencies have been deployed in appropriate numbers to foil the agitation.
Appealing for peace, Additional DGP (Law & Order) and spokesperson S A Huda said stern action would be taken against those who try to...
Read more...

enforce the rail roko in the Telangana region.
He quoted over a dozen sections under the Railway Act, the Indian Penal Code and the Prevent Of Damage To Public Property Act, any of which could be applied if Telangana activists try to disrupt rail services.
However, Huda refused to divulge details of forces deployed in the region, citing security reasons. He said that sensitive and trouble-prone areas have been identified, and that the forces were capable of handling any kind of situation.
Addl. DG of Railway Protection Force V S Kaumidi said that no kind of inconvenience to passengers or damage to public property would be tolerated.
He said that stern action would be taken, especially against organisers of such acts. He said that action will be taken even if a single bolt of the railways is damaged.
Chief Safety Commissioner of South Central Railway B Mohan assured passengers of complete security during their journeys and at all railway stations in the Telangana region. He said that any damage to the Railways' property would be a national loss, and that therefore, the Telangana activists must avoid indulging in violent acts.
Regarding the Maoists' Bharat Bandh on 12 October, Huda said that its impact would be confined to the border areas, and that urban areas would not be affected.
On being asked as to why politicians were being spared while cases were being booked against Telangana students, Huda said that no one was being spared and that action would be taken at an appropriate time. He also assured people of elaborate security during the Group-II examinations starting from 15 October.
Anuradha, IG (Intelligence) was also present in the media conference. (INN)