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."

नए रेल मंत्री मल्लिकार्जुन खड़गे रेलवे के हालिया हालात को लेकर बेहद सतर्क हैं। भ्रष्टाचार के आरोपों में पवन बंसल के इस्तीफे और उनकी जगह मंत्रालय का अतिरिक्त कार्यभार संभालने आए डॉ. सीपी जोशी के भी कांग्रेस संगठन में जाने के बाद बुधवार को रेल मंत्री का पदभार ग्रहण करते हुए खड़गे ने बोलने से परहेज किया।
उन्होंने बस इतना कहा कि पहले वह रेलवे बोर्ड के अफसरों से कामकाज समझेंगे। फिर अपनी प्राथमिकताएं तय करेंगे और इसके बाद ही कुछ कहने की स्थिति में होंगे। दरअसल, खड़गे रेल भवन में चल रही सीबीआइ जांच को लेकर सावधानी बरत रहे हैं। वह नहीं चाहते कि उनके किसी वक्तव्य का कोई अलग अर्थ निकाला जाए और समस्या पैदा हो। सीबीआइ अब भी बंसल के समय रेलवे बोर्ड के सदस्य [स्टाफ] के रूप में पश्चिम रेलवे के महाप्रबंधक महेश कुमार की नियुक्ति के...
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लिए हुए लेन-देन की जांच कर रही है। इसके अलावा रेलवे बोर्ड के सदस्य [इलेक्ट्रिकल] कुलभूषण के खिलाफ भी एक मामले में प्राथमिक जांच का केस दर्ज किया गया है। वरिष्ठतम होने के कारण कुलभूषण रेलवे बोर्ड अध्यक्ष पद की दौड़ में शामिल थे। सीबीआइ जांच में फंसने से उनका केस कमजोर हो गया है। उनके अलावा पूर्वोत्तर सीमांत रेलवे के महाप्रबंधक आरएस बिर्दी, दक्षिण-पश्चिम रेलवे के महाप्रबंधक एके मित्तल और उत्तर रेलवे के महाप्रबंधक वीके गुप्ता का नाम भी अध्यक्ष पद के लिए चल रहा है। रेलवे बोर्ड के मौजूदा अध्यक्ष विनय कुमार मित्तल 30 जून को सेवानिवृत्त हो रहे हैं।
खड़गे को नए अध्यक्ष के लिए पैनल का सुझाव भी देना है। इसके अलावा कुछ नए महाप्रबंधकों और मंडल प्रबंधकों के नामों का चयन करने की भी उनकी जिम्मेदारी है। बंसल की विदाई के बाद से सड़क परिवहन एवं राजमार्ग मंत्री डॉ जोशी रेलमंत्रालय का अतिरिक्त प्रभार संभाल रहे थे। अस्थायी प्रभार होने के कारण उन्होंने नियुक्तियों को लेकर ज्यादा माथापच्ची नहीं की। अब यह जिम्मेदारी खड़गे के कंधों पर आ गई है। चूंकि खड़गे कर्नाटक से हैं इसलिए माना जा रहा है कि वह नए अध्यक्ष के लिए दक्षिण-पश्चिम रेलवे के महाप्रबंधक एके मित्तल के नाम पर जोर दे सकते हैं।
खड़गे इससे पहले केंद्र सरकार में श्रम मंत्री थे। उन्होंने 1972 से 2009 तक नौ बार कर्नाटक विधानसभा का चुनाव जीता। 1979 के बाद वह कई मर्तबा कर्नाटक सरकार में विभिन्न विभागों के कैबिनेट मंत्री के रूप में सेवाएं दे चुके हैं। वह कर्नाटक प्रदेश कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष, कांग्रेस विधानमंडल दल के नेता और विपक्ष के नेता भी रहे। 2009 में उन्होंने लोकसभा चुनाव जीता और उसी साल 31 मई को उन्हें केंद्रीय श्रम मंत्री नियुक्त किया गया था।

KOLKATA: In the wake of the torrential rainfall that has lashed north India, the state government has decided to write to the Railway Board, requesting a special train from Dehradun in Uttarakhand that could bring back stranded pilgrims from Bengal.State ministers Madan Mitra and Rachpal Singh have already reached Dehradun to monitor the rescue operations of these tourists.On Tuesday, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had said that there were around 1,700 tourists and pilgrims from Bengal who were stranded in Uttarakhand.Mamata had also called up Uttarakhand chief minister Vijay Bahuguna and assured him of all possible help from her government to combat the situation. The state government officials have been in touch with their Uttarakhand counterparts as well.State fire services and disaster management minister Javed Khan who is keeping tabs on the development from Writers' Buildings said on Wednesday that one route had been opened through which the stranded pilgrims were...
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coming towards Dehradun.
"The two ministers (Madan and Rachpal) are supervising the rescue operations from Dehradun. Our chief secretary will send a letter to the Railway Board requesting them if a special train could be provided or extra coaches could be added to a train to bring back the pilgrims. The pilgrims are expected to return in two to three days," Khan said.
The state is sending a letter to the railway board requesting to provide a special train from Dehradun to bring back the stranded Uttarakhand pilgrims. Ministers Madan Mitra and Rachpal Singh have reached Dehradun to monitor the rescue and evacuation process of the tourists who had gone from the state.
On Tuesday, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had said that there were roughly 1,700 tourists and pilgrims from Bengal who have got stranded in Uttarakhand.
State fire services and disaster management minister Javed Khan, who is keeping updated on the developments from Writers' Buildings said that one route has been opened through which the stranded pilgrims are coming towards Dehradun. "The two ministers are supervising the rescue operations from Dehradun. Already air lifting the pilgrims in helicopters have started to bring out them. Our chief secretary will send a letter to the railway board requesting if a special train could be provided or extra coaches could be added to a train to bring back the pilgrims. The pilgrims are expected to return in two to three days," Khan said on Wednesday.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had personally called up Uttarakhand chief minister Vijay Bahuguna on Tuesday and assured him that the Bengal government will help as much as possible to combat the situation and for the safe return of the pilgrims who have been stranded at Uttarakhand. The state government have been keeping constant touch with their Uttarakhand counterpart.

Chhatrapur (Odisha): Hundreds of people on today staged a dharna in front of the railway station at Chhatrapur, the district headquarters in Ganjam district, demanding better amenities in the station and stoppage of some express trains.
Irrespective of party affiliations, the people under the banner of Chhatrapur Citizen Committee demanded extension of the Khallikote-Bhadrak DMU train up to Chhatrapur, extension of the platform, setting up of a waiting room, arrangement for adequate drinking water and toilet.
A memorandum in support of their demands was submitted to the East Coast Railway General Manager though the station master.
Committee president Amaresh Prasad Mishra threatened to start a rail roko programme if their demands were not met.
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Train services, however, were not affected due to the agitation as they staged the dharna outside the station, railway sources said.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JUN 19:   General consultancy agreement for setting up monorail projects in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode was signed here on Wednesday.
Special purpose vehicle Kerala Monorail Corporation signed the agreement with Delhi Metro Rail Corporation at a ceremony at the State Assembly complex.
SEAMLESS TRAVEL
P.C. Harikesh, managing director, Kerala Monorail, and S.D. Sharma, director, business development, Delhi Metro, represented the respective parties.
As per terms, Delhi Metro will undertake all necessary works with respect to announcement, entertainment and assessment of contractor’s documents.
It will develop models for ‘seamless travel’ in consultation with Kerala Monorail featuring common ticketing and integration with Southern Railway, suburban and urban...
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transport networks.
The cost of implementation of ‘seamless travel,’ which assures travel facility across these modes of transport, will be part of the project cost.
Delhi Metro will also recommend to Kerala Monorail a pre-qualified list for the latter’s acceptance.
It will prepare formal evaluation criteria and procedures for evaluation of the proposals; obtain approvals from Kerala Monorail; and assist it to invite bids from pre-qualified contractors.
PROPOSAL EVALUATION
Delhi Metro will also perform independent evaluation of all bid proposals for all contracts received, including ranking of bidders.
It will exercise all technical, financial and contract management powers and all proposals will be put up to Kerala Monorail for its final approval for taking appropriate decision.
Kerala Monorail will then oversee the quality assurance aspects, as considered necessary.
Delhi Metro will also be responsible for arranging funds for the project and payment to contractors/consultants upon certification.
Availability of all land will be ensured to the contractor in time. Widening of road from Mananchira to Meenchantha at Kozhikode and Kariavattom to Kesavadasapuram in Thiruvananthapuram will be completed at the earliest.
ROAD OVERBRIDGES
Delhi Metro will ensure completion of road overbridges at Panniyankara in Kozhikode and four flyovers at Sreekariyam, Ulloor, Pattom and Plamoodu in Thiruvananthapuram.
It will also provide all assistance in getting shifted in time utility services laid by various Government and non-Government organisations.
Details given in the detailed project report may be reviewed, if necessary, by the general consultant. It will also help Kerala Monorail with preparation of ‘request for qualification’ documents and inviting bids thereof.
The latter will get assistance for setting up pre-bid meetings and clarifications required, if any. Delhi Metro will evaluate technical bids and put up recommendations.
The general consultant will also assist Kerala Monorail with the process of inviting ‘request for qualification’ bids.

The chief commissioner of railways safety (CCRS) after inspecting Qazigund-Banihal rail link tunnel on Tuesday conducted a trial run on Wednesday. The rail link is scheduled to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on June 25. According to reports, to pave the way for
inauguration of the section by the Prime Minister and subsequent chugging of the trains, commissioner of railway safety (CRS) RK Kardam along with other railway team conducted statutory inspection of Banihal-Qazigund section of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link on Tuesday. To inspect the track, the team boarded rail trolley at 2.30pm from Srinagar and reached Qazigund at 8pm. Reports from railway sources said: "The CCRS team after carrying inspection of the route on Tuesday conducted a trial run of eight-bogie train on the track on Wednesday from Banihal to Qaziqund at 2.30pm successfully. The railways public relations...
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officer said they would submit the inspection report to high-ups in Delhi after which clearance will be given for chugging of train on the track.
The much-awaited railway section linking the Kashmir Valley with the rest of country will be thrown open on June 25 when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi jointly flag off the first train. The 18-km-long section between Banihal in Jammu and Qazigund in Kashmir will provide an all-weather surface link to the Valley that often gets snapped due to snowfall during winters.
The section, which includes an 11-km-long tunnel, named T-80, the longest of its kind in South Asia, will reduce the distance from 35 km to 18 km. It has been constructed at a cost of Rs. 1,691 crore.
Sources said all the systems in the tunnel like CCTV cameras and emergency call system have been interconnected and there will be automatic operation of equipment (ventilation, lighting, public address system etc).
The control centre will ensure monitoring of equipment by tunnel operators round the clock, visualisation of equipment's status on screens, monitoring by CCTVs, automatic and manual handling of alarms (fire and SOS) and communication with rescue teams, maintenance staff and people in tunnel.
The trial run on this section was successfully done on December 28 last year and since then trains carrying stones are running on regular basis. At present, passengers travelling between Banihal and Qazigund face problem during the winter months when the Jawahar Tunnel remains closed due to heavy  snowfall. All these problems will be reduced to a large extent with the starting of train services between Banihal-Qazigund.

Railways today decided to press services of special trains to rescue people stranded due to the flash floods at Haridwar, Rishikesh and other areas.
The recent flash floods have created a havoc affecting thousands of people in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
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.
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Passenger profile will be carried out to know their destination and accordingly train services will be launched, the official said.

Mallikarjun Kharge took charge as the sixth Minister of Railways in the UPA II government today. The high-profile ministry had seen an unceremonious exit of Pawan Kumar Bansal when the Central Bureau of Investigation unearthed an appointment scam involving Bansal's nephew and a sitting member of the Railway Board.
Kharge took charge at the minister's office on the second floor of Rail Bhawan that also houses rooms of minister's staff and the board members most of whom have been lately haunted by CBI questioning. “I can only tell you something when I talk to the officials here" was the one-line response of the new minister who enjoys a clean reputation but may have to face a the tough task of cleansing the system while resorting to faster decision making.
The 70-year-old member...
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of Parliament from Gulbarga in Karnataka has been attending briefings since yesterday even before he officially took charge at 10.30 am today. After completing the formality of taking over, he again held meetings with Railway Board chairman Vinay Mittal and the other members of the board where the minister was apprised of current issues’.
One of the biggest challenges that lie in front of him is the appointments at the Railways Board. The Chairman of the Railways Board and the finance commissioner Vijaykanth are set to retire by June 30. Besides, two posts of member (staff) and member (traffic) are vacant. Considering the controversy that led to Bansal's resignation, the appointments at the seven member apex board of the Indian Railways would be closely scrutinized by the public at large but close aides denied that there were any discussions on the pending appointments in the two days.  
Many officials whose promotions and appointments went into freeze because of the controversy are now looking up to the new minister. Some promotions at the level of DRM which were supposed to be rotated are expected to be approved. It would also be interesting to see how Kharge takes forward the agenda of Bansal to depoliticize the railway tariffs by setting up the Railways Tariff Board.
Insiders tell us that the minister is seen as a ‘mass leader’ in the ministry. "There must be something about him that he was elected nine times as an MLA," said an official who did not want to be named. Kharge seems to induce positivity and spirit in the ministry which has been in the news not for very good reasons.
The minister’s appointment is also seen as a positive development for the railway projects which came abruptly to a halt because of Bansal’s resignation. The current government completes its constitutional term on May 31, 2014. Assuming that the government will choose to complete the term and railways would breathe free of controversy, Kharge would have almost eleven months to make his presence felt.

New Delhi: Several low-lying areas along the river Yamuna were on Wednesday flooded as the water level in the river was flowing two metres above the danger mark and inching towards touching the highest level of 207.49 metres. “The water level in the river rose to 207.12 metres which is 2.29 metres above the danger mark of 204.83 metres. The water level is likely to go up further,” a senior official of the flood control department said. The highest water level of 207.49 metres in Yamuna was recorded in 1978 when several areas in the city witnessed flash floods. The city government has asked the army to be on alert for helping the civil administration, if required. The river had crossed the danger level of 204.83 metres on Tuesday morning, prompting authorities to evacuate around 2,000 people from various low-lying areas in east Delhi like Usmanpur, Yamuna Bazar, Bhajanpura and...
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Shastri Park and set up relief camps for their shelter. Officials said the water level is likely to go up further as Haryana released over 81,000 cusecs of water into Yamuna from the Hathnikund barrage on Wednesday. The neighbouring state had released eight lakh cusecs of water on Monday and 1.5 lakh cusecs on Tuesday. They said some low-lying areas near the river, including Garhi Mandu, Usmanpur Pusta and Jagatpur village were inundated by Yamuna waters. In the past 40 years, the city had witnessed floods in 1967, 1971, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1988, 1995 and 1998. The authorities have set up over 400 tents in four districts, including 240 in East, 100 in Southeast, 50 in Central and 30 in Northeast to accommodate the affected people. The 145-year-old Old Yamuna Bridge connecting east Delhi with the heart of the national capital, was shut for rail and road traffic on Tuesday after the water level in Yamuna rose dangerously. Services of over 50 trains were affected due to rising water level in the Yamuna, with Northern railway suspending train movement on the old bridge from Wednesday till further notice.

‍For the convenience of the rail passengers and to increase the passenger carrying capacity Railway Has decided to increase the passenger carrying capacity of 12985/12986 Jaipur-Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Jaipur Double Decker And 12059/12060 Kota Hazrat Nizamuddin Jan Shatabdi Express Trains o­n temporary basis as per the under-mentioned programme:

The 12985/12986 Jaipur-Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Jaipur Double Decker Trains will be augmented by attaching o­ne additional Executive chair car from 21.06.2013 to 18.09.2013 from Jaipur and Delhi.
12059/12060 Kota Hazrat Nizamuddin-Kota Jan Shatabdi Express Train will be augmented by attaching o­ne additional AC Chair Car from 21.06.2013 to 01.07.2013 from Kota and Hazrat Nizamuddin.
The other features...
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like timings, route, stoppages, composition etc. will remain as unchanged.