By Express News Service - KOCHI 10th May 2013 10:07 AM Photos
A sketch of the Metro Rail, the work of which will commence by this month-end. The blueprint for the traffic modifications to be imposed in the City during the construction work of the Kochi Metro Rail will be finalised soon.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) which is implementing the `5,182-crore Kochi Metro Rail project has held discussions with the City Traffic Police and other authorities concerned to chalk out a proper plan for diverting traffic.
 The tenders for the construction of viaducts and stations from Aluva to Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Kaloor, have been awarded and the remaining work is also expected to be allotted soon.
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 According to DMRC officials, the work of Kochi Metro Rail is expected to begin by this month-end and the traffic regulations will be introduced before that.
An official spokesperson of the DMRC said the agency that has undertaken the work would also appoint traffic wardens along with the Traffic police. “In projects like Delhi Metro Rail, the DMRC gets th

Photos
During the public hearing at KERC, BMRCL’s counsel had stated that the transport utility was paying a power bill of Rs 42 lakh a month and using nearly 7 lakh units. (File/Express) Namma Metro fares are set to go up owing to an increase in the price at which the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL)  purchases electricity. While the exact amount of increase has not yet been decided, officials said that an announcement can be expected soon.
On May 6, the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) increased the tariff of electricity for BMRCL by 20 paise, thus taking the price per unit to Rs 4.80 besides demand charges. During the public hearing at KERC, BMRCL’s counsel had stated that the transport utility was paying a power bill of Rs 42...
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lakh a month and using nearly 7 lakh units.
Confirming the upcoming fare hike, Managing Director N Sivasailam said that the hike had been approved by the bo

BHUBANESWAR: With a view to preventing death of elephants in train accidents, the state government on Friday signed an MoU with the New Delhi-based Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) to develop a mitigation plan.
The WTI would map accident-prone sites and habitats of elephants and also identify reasons, ecological, physical and man-made, responsible for death of pachyderms, official sources said. "The WTI will prepare a detailed report on mitigation plan and implement a Rs 9.9-lakh project over one year," forest and environment minister Bijayshree Routray said after signing of the MoU. "The railways has been requested to instruct drivers to reduce speed of trains in the pre-identified areas as well as developing better signage system and sensitize railway staff," he added.
In 2012, Odisha had witnessed death of about 13 elephants due...
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to train mishaps. While seven jumbos were killed due to rail accidents in Keonjhar, four in Berhampur of Ganjam district and two in Dhenkanal district also perished.

MARGAO: The accused arrested by the Konkan Railway police, Francis Xavier Fernandes, on charges of attempted sabotage of railway tracks near Dicarpale last month, was on Friday released on bail by the district sessions court.
He was granted bail on a bond of 10,000 and surety of like amount. Among the conditions laid out by the court while granting him bail, Fernandes has been asked to report to the Konkan Railway police station for the next three days.
Arguing in favour of the bail application moved by Fernandes, his counsel, Julius Gomes, told the court that the prosecution had failed to produce anything substantial to suggest that there was any link between the crime and the accused.
Gomes pointed out that apart from...
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ferreting out information that Fernandes was a former employee of the Central Railways and that he was earlier involved in an accident involving the owner of the motorcycle that was recovered from the railway tracks, the police have failed to establish any connection of the accused with the crime.
The Konkan Railway police had booked an offence against Fernandes under Sections 150-E (maliciously wrecking or attempting to wreck a train) and 151 (damage to or destruction of railway property) of the Indian Railways Act and 435 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to cause damage) of the IPC.

Procedural delay might defer commissioning of AC (alternating current) traction from Kalyan to Thane and on the fifth and sixth lines between Kalyan and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus.
While Central Railway officers claimed inspection of the newly converted section would be conducted by May 18, the commissioner of railway safety (CRS) is yet to decide a date.
The Central Railway officers claimed conversion of 1,500 Volts DC (direct current) to 25,000 Volts AC was complete and awaiting CRS inspection.
However, Chetan Bakshi, CRS central zone, said CR was still to submit all documents for review delaying inspection.
Bakshi said, "Railways have to submit all documents, including drawings, for review by commissioner of railway safety before...
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inspection. Central Railway has sent incomplete documents. They have been informed about it."
A senior railway officer said: "We are ready with all the work. CRS inspection is holding up the commissioning."
The traction conversion will help Central Railway improve energy efficiency and cut transmission losses.
It will slash travel time for north- and east-bound trains such as Punjab Mail and Duronto Express by about ten minutes, as there will be no need to change locomotives at Igatpuri.
The conversion, part of World Bank-funded Mumbai Urban Transport Project 1, will also free up 20 DC-AC locomotives, which can be used for freight movement.
The frequency of trains between Thane and Kalyan will also improve by next year as 36 new AC rakes, which are to be commissioned at the beginning of 2014, will be used on this section.

Big-ticket projects make rly member electrical post coveted
The Railway Board post of member electrical, which has drawn interest after allegations that suspended member Manesh Kumar had paid a hefty bribe for it, is much coveted due to the big-ticket projects handled by it, including the Rs 2500-crore train collision avoidance system.
Insiders in railways maintained that appointment of officers from signal and telecom as member electrical have always been met with opposition. Mahesh Kumar comes from this discipline. They said intense lobbying for this post had begun for quite sometime as the present Member Electrical Kulbhusan is tipped to take over as chairman Railway Board in July.
Referring to reports of bribe being offered to Vijay Singla, the nephew of Railway Minister...
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Pawan Kumar Bansal [ Images ], to get the post of member (electrical), the railway ministry had, however, in a statement on Saturday said, "No relevant Board level post is vacant at present".
Kumar, the main accused in the bribery case in which Singla has also been arrested, was "not interested" in becoming member staff of the railway board, CBI has said.
Member electrical in the board, the highest decision making body of the national transporter, is at present looking into the implementation of projects worth thousands of crores.
Kolkata [ Images ] Metro and railway track electrification comes under him. The Rs 2500-crore train collision avoidance system, which the Railways plan to introduce in select routes on a pilot scale is being handled by the electrical wing.
Besides, the department is believed to be finalising a proposal for introduction of train sets in high-density routes, with each coach coming at Rs 150 crore. The high0speed train sets are expected to cruise along at 150 to 160 kmph, cutting travel time between metros.
The ambitious high-speed rail connectivity project is also being pursued by it, with estimates suggesting that laying one km of track would roughly cost Rs 200 crore.
The Railways annual budget for this fiscal has been pegged at over Rs 63,000 crore, as the public sector unit behemoth as entered into the select one billion tonne club in freight movement.
The board, including its chairman, comprises seven members, each entrusted with a specific area of operation. The members, who report directly to the minister, oversee areas related to mechanical, traffic, engineering, electrical and staff besides finance commissioner.
Apart from member electrical, the post of the member traffic assumes key for efficient functioning of Indian Railways. The post looks after passenger and freight movement among others.
Member engineering, on the other hand, looks after all railway land, laying of new lines, gauge conversion and doubling work while Member mechanical looks into the production aspects of all units which include diesel locomotive production, rolling out coaches and maintenance.
Member staff looks after the affairs of the railway personnel, Railway Protection Force and the medical wing.

Caption: The Controlled Toilet Discharge System (CTDS) installed in a train coach being overhauled at the Mysore Railway Workshop.
Mysore, Apr. 19- In order to maintain cleanliness and hygiene at the railway stations, the Controlled Discharge Toilet System (CDTS) is being used in the coaches of Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duranto trains since last year.
Mysore Railway Workshop Chief Manager U. Subba Rao told SOM recently that in the CDTS system, a container attached to the bottom of train toilet holds the contents until the train attains a speed of 30 kmph, after which the wastes are discharged.
“This prevents the toilets from releasing contents at stations. So far, 5,300 CDTS units have been provided in 1,900 coaches, built under transfer of technology imported...
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from Germany,” said Rao and agreed that this system only shifts the problem from the station area to outside station limits.”
“A total of 68 bio-toilets based on anaerobic bacteria, imported from the US, and 436 bio-toilets based on anaerobic bacteria and developed indigenously by DRDO are already in operation in nine trains,” he said.
“In the bio-toilet system, anaerobic bacteria consume waste material and convert it into water and gas. The water passes through a chlorine tank and is discharged as clean water, while the gas generated evaporates. The technology is not used in any other railway system in the world,” he said and added that this would prevent the corrosion of the metal railway tracks and other materials.

By S.N. Venkatnag Sobers
Soon people travelling long distances in trains will get respite from the stench of toilets as the Indian Railways has decided to replace the existing toilets inside bogies with ‘Green Toilets.’
The Indian Railway has joined hands with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the development of bio-toilets.
Earlier, the waste was discharged directly to the tracks resulting in an unfriendly atmosphere at the Railway Stations and a stinking smell along the tracks. The installation of bio-toilets will enable passengers to have a pleasant journey and also a hygienic and friendly atmosphere at the Railway Stations. The new system will treat the waste using bacteria and convert the same to harmless gas and water.
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The installation of bio-toilets in trains was recommended by a special committee with regard to safety formed by Railway Ministry. The Indian Railway has a target to install 2,500 bio-toilets during 2012-13 budget.
However, there was no mention about the installation of bio-toilets during the previous Railway Budget presented by Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal. But it is expected the new system is slowly taking shape and would be implemented by all Railway units.
The South Western Railways has also taken up the matter seriously. Mysore Railway Station is considered to be one of the cleanest in the country and has successfully maintained cleanliness in the Station. Initially, the bio-toilets will be installed in trains travelling from Mysore and Hubli and will be extended to all stations soon.
Speaking to Star of Mysore, U. Subbarao, Chief Workshop Manager, Central Railway Workshop, Mysore, said: “The project is being implemented throughout the year by the Indian Railways. The project is expected to take shape once we receive the procurement from Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai, which has been given the responsibility of supplying the necessary materials for the installation of bio-toilets.”
Indian Railway has already installed bio-toilets in a few selected trains on an experimental basis successfully. Now, it has decided to install the same in all trains stage by stage.
Subbarao also mentioned that each bio-toilet would cost around Rs 3.5 lakh and initially around 100 coaches would be fitted with bio-toilets.
With the Railways taking initiative to install bio-toilets inside the coaches, train travelling would be much more comfortable than before.

Mysore Railway Division achieves highest ever loading during 2012-13
Caption: Vinod Kumar, Divisional Railway Manager, SWR, Mysore Division, flanked by Branch Heads after receiving the Overall Efficiency Shield from Ashok Kumar Mital, General Manager, SWR, Hubli, during the 58th Railway Week Celebrations.
Mysore, Apr.12- The Commercial Department of Mysore Division of South Western Railway (SWR), has bagged the Efficiency Shield for the Year 2012-13, thus creating a record of winning efficiency shield for five consecutive years.
Mysore Division has also won the overall efficiency shield for the third consecutive year for performing exceedingly well in major efficiency parameters.
The Finance, Electrical, Operations, Safety & Security Departments of the Division have won efficiency shield in...
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the current year. The inter-divisional Rajbasha Shield was also won by Mysore Division.
The SWR Mysore Division registered a cumulative loading of 6.624 million tonnes and earned a revenue of Rs. 541.22 crores during the financial year 2012-13.
The Division has achieved an impressive 9.88 % growth in revenues in the current fiscal as compared to the previous year. The previous highest cumulative loading achieved by the Division was 6.459 million tonnes during 2007-08.
The performance of the Division in freight loading is significant in the backdrop of downturn in iron ore mining across the State. The total revenue for the Division in the current year stood at Rs.557.16 crores as against Rs.507.06 crores.
In the passenger segment, the Division has earned Rs. 158.78 crores in the current year as against Rs.144.82 crores in the previous year— a healthy 9.64% growth. Similarly, in the freight segment the Division registered a growth of 10.11% while other coaching and sundries rose by 12.06% and 5.10% respectively.
The Division handled a total of 541.22 lakh passengers in the currrent fiscal registering a 9.91% year-on-year growth.
Under the best maintained Railway station category, Mysore Railway Station has been declared the winner, according to a press release from V. Sudhakar Naik, Divisional Commercial Manager.

A layer of rock beneath the Ripon Buildings lawns has emerged a stumbling block to taking over of additional land on the premises, by the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL).
Two months after CMRL sought additional land from the Chennai Corporation, officials are “still unsure” of the time of taking over additional area that is needed on the premises of Ripon Buildings.
Corporation sources said the CMRL had postponed the plan to take additional area as the machines were taking more time to cut the hard rocks. There have been reports of frequent breakdown of machines due to the “very hard, grade-four igneous rock 16 metre below Ripon Buildings.”
“It takes time. There is lot of wear and tear. But we have to...
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go up to 33 metre below the ground,” said an official of CMRL.
The unusual, unexpected hard rock formation beneath Ripon Buildings has been cited as a reason for “extra time requirement in completing the work in the Ripon Buildings neighbourhood.”
The CMRL will request the Chennai Corporation for additional land only after the existing work involving cutting of rocks is completed. Around 70 entrance/exit diaphragm wall panels, 63 main station box diaphragm wall panels and six plunge columns have been completed at the Central Metro station so far.
The additional land on the premises of Ripon Buildings is likely to be taken over only after six months, officials said.
In addition to the 4,507 sq. m. of land permitted to be used on Ripon Buildings premises by the G.O. issued in 2010 by the State government and the resolution passed by the Corporation Council, CMRL may have to take more land for the crucial infrastructure project.
The CMRL is planning to seek more land from the Chennai Corporation for the work as there is a need for rearrangement of earlier planned structures under the new design requirement.
CMRL has not yet shared the sketch pertaining to its requirement of additional area on the premises with the Chennai Corporation.
Chennai Metro Rail Limited began digging work on the lawns of Ripon Building on May 4, 2011.
The CMRL had assured the Corporation Council earlier that the premises would be restored to its original condition after the Central Metro station is constructed between Buckingham Canal and Raja Muthiah Road.

Take this train at your own peril
The most dangerous train journey in India snakes through the incredibly picturesque Dima Hasao district of Assam.
This would vie for top honours in the category of most scenic rail routes in India. A 186-kilometre long, 110-year-old metre-gauge track that snakes through one of the most verdant and breathtakingly beautiful landscapes in the country. It is also, perhaps, the most dangerous rail route in Asia. That's why the diesel locomotive is armoured, armed security personnel outnumber passengers on the train and gun-toting para-military men line the most of the track.
The rail route through the Borail Hill Range between Lumding and Badarpur in Assam that passes through the state's insurgency-infested Dima Hasao district is considered...
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to be an engineering marvel with 37 tunnels and a series of stunning bridges and viaducts spanning deep gorges and ravines. This terrain also provides ideal hideouts for the members of the 13-odd armed outfits belonging to warring ethnic groups like the Dimasas, Nagas, Kukis, Hmars, Karbis and Baites.
During the construction of this rail line, which took 11 years (it was completed in 1903) and cost Rs 4. 2 crore, many died of malaria, diarrheoa, other diseases, attacks by wild animals. There were also killer landslides. But when it was completed it was beautiful enough to have poems written about it. Now, the Hill Queen Express plies everyday between Lumding and Badarpur via the quaint and picturesque town of Haflong, the headquarters of the Dima Hasao district.
A potent mix of backwardness, poverty, neglect and ethnic tensions brought insurgency to this district, earlier known as North Cachar Hills, in the 1990s. The violence intensified in 2005 when the Jewel Garlosa faction of the Dima Halim Daogah (DHD), an outfit of the district's dominant Dimasa tribe, launched bloody attacks on non-Dimasas and security forces.
"The journey on this route then became hazardous and tourists, who used to flock to the Hill Queen Express, stopped coming, " says a spokesperson of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR). Towards the end of 2007, DHD militants lying in ambush at one end of a tunnel attacked the Hill Queen Express as it emerged from the tunnel. The bullets hit Nityananda Barua, the locomotive driver, who, despite being seriously injured, reversed the engine and took the train back inside the tunnel, thus saving many lives. Barua died and was awarded the Kirti Chakra for his valour.
Train services were then suspended and resumed only after the locomotives were retrofitted with bullet-proof glass and their bodies reinforces with steel sheets that can resist bullets. But militants targeted the train again in April 2009, killing a CRPF jawan and injuring 25 others. The next day, militants attacked a goods train on this route, killing two security personnel. "We have provided bullet proof vests to the loco drivers and guards and every coach of the train has at least 25 armed security personnel. Passengers are not allowed to sit next to the windows, " says the NFR spokesperson.
Since the attacks, NFR authorities have been playing it safe and the Hill Queen Express plies only intermittently. "The local railway authorities take a decision on running the train based on the situation in the district and intelligence inputs, " says the spokesperson. A lot depends on the availability of army and para-military personnel to guard the train and the vulnerable portions of this route.
However, it is not only militants who make this rail route dangerous. The sharp turns and ill-maintained tracks appear to have confused quite a few loco drivers who ignored warnings about speed limits. You can see the rusted remains of mangled trains, especially freight rakes, that line the route.
The Hill Queen Express itself is anything but regal: the train is now about ten-odd ramshackle coaches pulled by a locomotive that missed its date with the scrap-yard by at least a decade. But if one can ignore the discomfort and the perils, the journey is unforgettable. For some, it is the inherent perils that add the thrill to this journey.

Bengaluru: The state Cabinet’s in principle approval for a Commuter Rail System (CRS) has revived hope of Bengaluru going the Mumbai way and allowing people to travel long distances in quick time to work in the city, without living in it.
The departments concerned have started to work on a detailed project report (DPR) for all the six routes that RITES has suggested for CRS in its feasibility report. Work on another CRS line between Kunigal and Bengaluru is already underway.
In all, the RITES report on CRS for Bengaluru has identified seven corridors — Yeshwantapur-Tumkur, Bengaluru-Mandya and beyond, Yelahanka-Doddabal­l­apur, Yelahanka-Chikbal­lapur, Byappanhalli-Hosur, Byappanhalli-Bangarapet, and Kunigal (Soldevanahalli)-Bengaluru — covering 440 kms for urban and suburban commuters. However only three routes to Tumkur, Mandya and Bangarpet from Bengaluru will become reality in the first...
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phase.
Around 150,000 daily trips are made on these corridors already and their number could increase to about 450,000 by 2031, according to RITES. The volume of commuters is the highest (34,500) in the Bengaluru-Bangarapet sector.
While the Bengaluru-Mandya sector sees 25,500 commuters, the Tumkur sector handles 24,000 and the Chickballapur and Hebbal sectors, 1,500 each. On the cards is a special purpose vehicle for the project, which will need good support from the state in terms of allocation of land and funds for coaches. The railways, for its part, will have to schedule operations to and from Bengaluru City Railway station which does not have many free slots.
Fast, cheap, perfect decongestion tool for city
The Commuter Rail System (CRS) that will provide an easy commuting option between Bengaluru and neighbouring towns and villages, has the potential to decongest the city like no other project can.
Running through the suburbs in all directions, the CRS corridors will give people the option of working in Bengaluru and living elsewhere, letting the city that has been seeing a huge influx of people, breathe easier in the long run.
“CRS which will provide a fast and cheap way of commuting, will ease the burden on Bengaluru as people will then be able to stay far away form the city and still come to it for work. If there is a fast train from Mandya to Bengaluru every 15 minutes, some may even want to open offices in Mandya and people from Bengaluru could head to them for work. The CRS will decongest the city,” says Mr Pranav Jha, founder of Praja Raag, a not- for- profit organisation that advocates solutions for urban civic problems, including transportation.
While Bengalureans agree that the city desperately needs a Mass Transit System to connect its suburbs and nearby tier 2 towns to decongest it, for once there also seems to be consensus that CRS is the best choice of all available modes of transport to make this happen.
“The CRS is the best option for these corridors as it will make use of the existing tracks to destinations like Mysore, Tumkur, Yelahanka, Whitefield and Hosur and does not require major investment. Most of these tracks are parallel to the existing roads,” notes Prof MN Sreehari, advisor to the state government on traffic, transportation and infrastructure.
Mr Pranav Jha too agrees that CRS is the best option on these corridors.” We cannot have road based connectivity between Bengaluru and its satellites as it will prove very expensive and so unsustainable. Even if BMTC buses are run on 30 to 40 km long routes, it will work out expensive due to the high fuel cost. The only practical solution is CRS as it requires no huge investment and can use the existing tracks,” he says.
Considering its advantages, ABIDe member R.K. Misra hopes the next government will implement the project quickly and efficiently. “The 2002 RITES report has been gathering dust for long enough. While the Bombay Local is a huge success, commuting in Bengaluru is not unidirectional like in Mumbai. Many CRS lines can be developed on the existing lines here,” he points out.
CRS is what the city needs
R.C. Acharya
The Garden City is no longer a pensioners’ paradise and has long become the job hunters’ favourite haunt. Easy commute to the suburbs with a fast, safe and assured form of transport will help to not only decongest the city, but also stop any further large scale influx of people into it by providing alternate spaces for growth.
Fortunately, all the seven proposed CRS corridors lead to Bengaluru. This should not cause problems of congestion as EMU (Electric Multiple Units) or DEMU (Diesel Electric Multiple Units) are fitted with driving cabs at both ends making the trains instantly reversible with a platform occupancy of less than 5 minutes!
Sharing tracks with the long distance main line passenger trains can be avoided by building separate tracks as has been done in Mumbai, where now no less than six tracks exist between Virar and Dadar. Four tracks are dedicated to suburban services, two each for fast and slow locals, while the remaining two take care of long distance trains.
A comparison of various parameters of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) bi-directional, Metro (double line) and Rail (double line) yields some interesting facts. BRT with a maximum peak passenger throughput (passen­ger­/hour) of 20,000 and running at an average speed 25 to 40 kmph, costs Rs 14 crores per km to build. Metro at 40,000 passenger/hr throughout at speeds of 25 to 45 kmph, costs Rs 250 crore per km. CRS with 60,000 passengers/hr throug­h­out at average speeds of 40 to 70 kmph emerges a clear winner as it requires just Rs 15 crore per km to build.
With a train length of 15 coaches and a wider body (3.66 m) as against a six coach Metro train with only a 2.88m wide body, the CRS has an inbuilt advantage of being 3.15 times the size of a Metro train.
A draft report prepared in June 2010 for the BMRDA by M/S Wilbur Smith Associates on a comprehensive traffic and transportation study for the Bengaluru metropolitan region provides for a planned investment of Rs 73,300 crore in phases upto 2031. But surprisingly, it does not include any investment on CRS and instead suggests elevated Metro tracks along these seven corridors at a hefty price of Rs 250 crore per km. This is a highly expensive proposition for reaching these tier II towns.
Can Bengaluru become another Mumbai with mass transit being provided by wide body EMU coaches? While Mumbai carries almost seven million passengers a day on the combined network of Western and Central Railways, the existing seven corridors leading into Bengaluru could see a jump from the present 150,000 passengers a day to 450,000 in the next five years involving an investment of less than Rs 6,600 crores.
The writer is former member, Railway Board

New Delhi, April 1: Travelling in trains is set to become costlier from tomorrow as the hike in reservation fee and superfast charges announced in the Rail Budget come into effect from April 1. Besides hike in passenger fares, freight rate for all commodities will also go up by about 5.7 per cent on Monday. The Railways expect to earn Rs 42,210 crore from passengers traffic and Rs 93,554 crore from goods transportation in 2013-14. Though the Railways have not increased basic passenger fare, it had proposed increase of the reservation fee, superfast and Tatkal charges. Cancellation and clerkage charges will also be hiked from April. While the cash-strapped Railways were expected to mop up about Rs 880 crore annually from the latest hike in service charges on train tickets, the freight rate revision will fetch Rs 4200 crores for the national transporter in the fiscal 2013-14. As per a...
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Railway notification, while reservation fee for second and sleeper class has not been revised, AC classes will be dearer by Rs 15 to Rs 25 per ticket. Superfast charges have been increased by Rs 10 for sleeper and second class fare. For AC classes, the hike is between Rs 15 and Rs 25. There are more than two crore passengers travelling daily on about 11,000 trains in the country. Tatkal fee has been increased by 10 per cent of the basic fare for second class and 30 per cent for all other AC classes. While cancellation charges have been increased by Rs 10 to Rs 50 per ticket for confirmed tickets, clerkage charge for cancellation of waiting list and RAC tickets will be hiked by Rs 5 for sleeper class and Rs 10 for AC class. Cancellation and clerkage charges have been hiked to deter touts from booking bulk tickets in advance, a senior Railway Ministry official said. Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal had effected the hike in the basic passenger fare by 21 per cent before the Rail Budget in January 22, this year. The hike in passenger fare was announced after 10 years as successive Railway Ministers during that period were not in favour of increasing fares. The cost of fuel and energy went up many times during that period and it was essential to hike the fares, said the official. PTI

KOCHI: A high-level meeting called by Kochi Metro Rail Ltd today discussed ways to divert and regulate traffic during the construction phase of the project and prepared a proposal to enable all stakeholders to deliberate.
The preliminary plan has been handed over to police and other key departments to formulate a detailed proposal considering the ground realities and a review meeting would be held in two weeks to finalise it, a KMRL press release said.
The civil works of the project from Aluva to Petta have already been tendered in four packages as Aluva to Kalamassery, Kalamassery to Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, and the stadium to South railway station, South railway station to Pettah. It is likely to start physical work by April/May.
The...
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meeting observed some general principles and decided to deliberate the plan further. In order to take up Metro works, four meters either side from the centre of Highway will be barricaded. Work has been planned in stretches of 200 metres and hence road widening will be taken up accordingly.
Necessary traffic signs, lights, warnings, speed regulations, traffic controls at entry points of bye-roads are to be displayed. To ensure two lane facility, road widening will be taken up on either side of the highway.
Among other major suggestions were to redirect traffic from Northern side to City from Kalamassery through Container Road and High court, re-direct heavy and light traffic from Northern and Southern side to the city from Edapally Junction to Palarivattom and Vyttila through By-pass.
The meeting was chaired by Elias George,Managing Director KMRL attended by Padmakumar- IGP, Sheik Pareeth- District collector, K G James, Kochi city Police commissioner, P Sreeram, Projec director, DMRC

PUNE: Konkan Railway ( KR) will run summer holiday special air-conditioned (AC) trains between LokmanyaTilak Terminus (LTT) in Mumbai and Madgaon in Goa, and between Ahmedabad and Mangalore. The weekly trains, which will have 15 coaches, are being run in association with Central Railway and Western Railway from April till June 6.
Train number 01007 will leave LTT at 55 minutes past midnight on Thursday and reach Madgaon the same day at noon. Train number 01008 from Madgaon will leave on Thursday at 5.10 pm, and reach LTT the next day at 4.10 am. It will halt at Thane, Panvel, Roha, Chiplun, Ratnagiri, Kudal, Thivim, and Karmali stations.
The Ahmedabad-Mangalore AC superfast train (09420) will leave every Wednesday at 4.35 pm and reach Mangalore the next day at 7.10 pm. The Mangalore-Ahmedabad...
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train (09419) will leave Mangalore at 10.40 pm on Thursday and reach Ahmedabad the next day at 11.15 pm.
The train will halt at Nadiad, Anand, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat, Navsari, Valsad, Vapi, Vasai Road, Panvel, Roha, Khed, Chiplun, Ratnagiri, Kankavali, Kudal, Thivim, Karmali, Madgaon, Karwar, Kumta, Bhatkal, Udupi and Thokur, a press release said.

High-level coordination meeting on security convened by Southern Railway The helpline numbers of Government Railway Police in Tamil Nadu and Kerala will now be printed on the back of the tickets booked through the Passenger Reservation System for the benefit of travellers in distress.
This was decided at a high-level coordination meeting on security convened by Southern Railway and attended by Government Railway Police chiefs of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Puducherry.
“Initially, these numbers will be printed on the back of tickets booked through the PRS. Soon, we will extend it to open tickets too,” V. K. Dhaka, Chief Security Commissioner, Southern Railway said.
Officials attending the meeting emphasised the need for constant exchange of crime intelligence between the GRP, Railway...
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Protection Force and local police for effective prevention of crime and extremist activities.
They also reviewed the security of passengers, especially women passengers, and exchanged inputs on improving overall safety of travellers.
Though the crime rate in 2012 on the Southern Railway network has come down by 12 per cent from the 2011 levels, the coordinated vigil will be sustained, Mr. Dhaka said.
The meeting also took stock of the state-of-the-art Integrated Security System project that envisages putting in place an anti-terror apparatus that includes high-tech surveillance cameras, under vehicle scanners, doorframe metal detectors and X-ray baggage screening conveyors and explosives detection and disposal mechanisms at important stations.
In Chennai, the system has already been set up at Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore and Basin Bridge apart from four more suburban stations. In all, the ISS is being set up at 14 stations in southern railway including Madurai, Tiruchi, Coimbatore, Thiruvananthapuram Central, Kozhikode, Ernakulam and Mangalore.
Rakesh Misra, Southern Railway General Manager, said the ISS which was already installed at six stations would be commissioned in the remaining eight stations expeditiously. More stations will also have CCTV coverage, he said.

When reality seems to be blurring
The Indian Railways promises us a unique experience every time we travel. This time around, the experience came during a trip to Coimbatore, en route to Ooty, to cool us down before our results. First, the train looked extremely odd, as if the guys in charge of ‘colouring’ it decided to use psychedelic patterns seen by ‘stimulated’ people.
Surprises were not limited to the external appearance. The inside of the allegedly executive class compartment bore a strange resemblance to the subway connecting Central Station and Government General Hospital. Given my luck, it was no surprise that the adjacent seat was occupied by a man who personified a particular stereotype.
We were offered drinks. Here again the Railways...
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played with my senses adding strength to my ‘psychedelic express theory’. I could have sworn that the man said it was ‘Coffee’; I was certain it smelled like coffee; most of the neurons in my visual cortex reckoned it looked like coffee. But the moment I took a sip, I realised I was ‘illusionating’. It tasted just like Rail-Neer albeit, a bit warm. We were then served different versions of Rail-Neer masquerading as Sambhar, Dhal and even Paneer Butter Masala. This was followed by more sensory mismatches. We were subjects of some top secret Government initiative to distort senses making a seemingly normal person question his sanity? Or was it just disregard for quality and plain bad cooking?
To err may be human, but to err is not a human right. This bad trip aboard the psychedelic express was definitely not right.
Sai Sriram. S, Madras Medical College