Nearly a decade after the green signal was given for building Oshiwara railway station, the Western Railway (WR) will begin constructing it from May. The station was proposed between Jogeshwari and Goregaon under phase-I of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project, which then kept it pending
due to deadline constraints. Most of the corresponding work, like creating space for the platforms, extension of tracks for the Harbour line and other work, has begun.
Locals have been demanding a road over-bridge (ROB) ever since the station was proposed, before the closure of the level crossing gate. Now, the WR will begin work on constructing this 10-lane ROB (including footpaths) along with the Oshiwara station.
This ROB will connect the Swami Vivekanand Road (SV Road)...
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with the Western Express Highway.
“Once the ROB is completed in two years’ time, two of our level crossing gates (number 25 and 26) will be closed for vehicles and trespassers,” said chief PRO, S Chandrayan of WR.
Once the LC gate is closed, it will help smoother operation of suburban trains, and could mean fewer incidents of trespassing.
The cost of this ROB above the tracks is Rs. 14 crore while the total cost is around Rs. 40 crore. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has given the balance amount.
Initially, there were problems between the BMC and WR on the cost-sharing pattern, which has now been sorted out.
HT had first reported about this 10-lane ROB and construction of Oshiwara railway station on February 4. WR is in the process of calling tenders for the construction of another road over-bridge between Andheri and Jogeshwari railway stations, which will happen in the next three months.

The Central Railway will run a special train between Secunderabad and Jaipur via Nagpur to clear the extra rush of passengers this week, an official press release said.
Accordingly, train 09736 Jaipur–-Secunderabad special will leave Jaipur at 9.10 pm on August 4 (Saturday) and arrive at Secunderabad at 03.55 am on third day (Monday).
This train will leave Nagpur at 4.50 pm and Ballarshah at 8 pm on August 5, the release said. Similarly, train 09735 Secunderabad-Jaipur special tain will leave Secunderabad at 11.25 pm on Aug 6 (Monday) and reach Jaipur at 06.15 am on third day (Wednesday).
This Train will leave Ballarshah at 06.10 am and Nagpur at 10.30 am on Aug 7. The train will be structured as...
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follows: one first AC, one AC-2 tier, four AC-3 tier, 10 sleeper class, 2 general second class and 2 general second class cum brake vans, it added.

CHENNAI/NEW DELHI: Railways maintenance staffs say Monday's disaster was waiting to happen, as shortage of staff, scarcity of components and pressure to operate trains on time make them skip mandatory overhauling of electrical components, especially wiring inside coaches.
"Many times components like switches, alternators and regulators are taken from sick coaches and installed in new ones. Alternators are used to generate power when train runs and a regulator is used to control voltage. When these components malfunction, there is a possibility of a voltage surge. The fire seems to have been caused by a power short circuit," said a railway technician.
"Coaches are checked for defects in the undercarriage, wheels and equipment. But, electrical fixtures are given only a perfunctory check. Even broken fixtures are not changed when a train is readied...
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for operation. In air conditioned coaches battery is charged without checking whether it is working well," said a railway staff at the electrical department.
Rules say that all electrical items should be replaced periodically, when midlife overhauling is done every 12 years. But, "in most of the cases wiring is not changed. The coach that caught fire was due for its periodic overhaul next year," said an official.
The emphasis now is only on AC travellers who constitute one-third of rail passengers. In the sleeper coaches, only the rexin of the seats and the side window panels of the train are fire resistant. Fire extinguishers are found only in AC coaches and the floor vinyl panel and curtains of only coaches used in Rajdhanis, Shatabdis and Durantos are fire resistant. Railways claimed last year that it has launched a pilot project to install fire and smoke detection alarms on trains and equip coaches with fire-retardant material.
Railways standing committee chairman on Monday promised to work out ways to prevent recurrence. "The next meeting of the standing committee will discuss steps to be taken to prevent recurrence of such accidents and present it to Parliament for consideration," he said in a statement.
For more than six months, the ministry of railways has been sitting on the recommendations by a panel headed by nuclear scientist Anil Kakodkar to improve safety of trains. Kakodkar who went into reasons of various accidents had suggested that trains should have flame detection sound alarms. Eyewitnesses of the Nellore accident said they woke up only after the fire had spread.
The panel had noted that the possibility of fire accidents is highest between 2pm to 6am. The Tamil Nadu Express compartment caught fire at 4:20am. The panel had suggested immediate investment of Rs1 lakh crore for a safer railway system and raising Rs 5,000 crore from passengers as safety cess.
Last month, the Comptroller and Auditor General observed that the railway authorities have given least priority to the safety of passengers and train operations. The CAG report slammed the railways' inability to maintain safety as its first priority after 20 passengers were killed in more than six accidents since January 2012.

नई दिल्ली।
केंद्रीय ग्रामीण विकास मंत्री जयराम रमेश ने देश की लाइफ लाइन रेलवे पर तंज कसते हुए उसे दुनिया का सबसे बड़ा खुला शौचालय बताया है। रमेश ने यह बयान जैव-शौचालयों के लिए धन उपलब्ध कराए जाने के संबंध में दिया।
रमेश के मुताबिक, हम खुले में शौच करने के मामले में दुनिया में नंबर एक पर हैं। दुनिया में खुले में होने वाले शौच का 60 फीसदी भारत में होता है। यह बड़े ही शर्म की बात है। मंत्री रमेश ने कहा कि भारत में स्वच्छता की समस्याओं का दूसरा रूप रेलवे है, जो दुनिया का सबसे बड़ा खुला शौचालय है। उन्होंने कहा कि 11 लाख यात्री प्रतिदिन खुले में शौचालय करते हैं।
रमेश जो पेयजल एवं स्वच्छता मंत्री भी...
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हैं, उन्होंने कहा कि रेलवे में सफाई की क्या दशा है इसके बारे में हम सभी जानते हैं। उन्होंने कहा कि मौजूदा समय में नौ रेलगाड़ियों के 436 डिब्बों में ही जैव-शौचालयों को लगाया गया है।