Amarkantak Express: Holy for Railfans as holy as Amarkantak is for devotees. - Ayan G

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India on Wednesday accused the railways of “window dressing” to present its operating ratio in “a better light” during the 2018-19 financial year by including advance freight payments in its calculations.

Operating ratio (OR) represents the proportion of working expenses to earnings. A higher ratio indicates poorer ability to generate surplus.

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CAG also raised concerns over delays in projects over the past five years due to inefficiency of zones and weak monitoring by the Railway Board.

In a report on the railways’ finances tabled in both Houses of Parliament, the CAG said the OR for 2018-19 was 97.29 per cent against the target of 92.8 per cent in the budget estimates. This meant that the national transporter spent Rs 97.29 to earn Rs 100.

“However, if advance freight of Rs 8,351 crore from NTPC and CONCOR was not included in the earnings of 2018-19, the OR would have been 101.77 per cent instead of 97.29 per cent,” the report said.

“The net surplus in 2018-19 was Rs 3,773.86 crore. The OR would have ended with a negative balance of Rs 7,334.85 crore but for receipt of advance freight and less appropriation to DRF (depreciation reserve fund) and pension fund. The ministry of railways resorted to window dressing for presenting the working expenses and operating ratio in a better light,” the CAG said.

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Union Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi passed away on Wednesday. Earlier this month he was admitted to AIIMS in Delhi after he contracted coronavirus disease.
New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi passed away on Wednesday. Earlier this month he was admitted to AIIMS in Delhi after he contracted coronavirus disease.
Following his swab samples returning positive for COVID-19 on September 11, the MP from Belagavi had requested all those who came in close contact with him me in the last few days to monitor their health and...
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get tested in case of any symptoms.
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Lok Sabha MP from Srikakulam, K Ram Mohan Naidu, on Monday, raised the issue regarding the recently announced railway zone for Andhra Pradesh. Mentioning that a special railway zone has been the dream of the people Uttarandhra for several decades, the MP requested the Central Government to initiate works related to the South Coast Railway without any further delay.
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clarity on when the operations are going to start. Also, there seem to be differences regarding the boundaries of the zone. I request the Central Government that the new zone covers the entire Andhra Pradesh according to the AP Reorganisation Act.”
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SOUTH CENTRAL RAILWAY
PRESS RELEASE
PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICE, SECUNDERABAD - 500 071
No.207/2020-21 07-09-2020
Secunderabad
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Trains passing through SCR Jurisdiction from 12th September, 2020



SCR will run 04 more special trains passing through the Zonal jurisdiction as detailed below:-

1.Train No.06527/06528 KSR Bengaluru-New Delhi-KSR BengaluruSpecial Trains
(02 Services):



Train No. 06527 KSR Bengaluru – New Delhi Special Train will depart KSR Bengaluru at 19.00 hrs with effectfrom 12thSeptember, 2020 (Daily) and arrive New Delhi at 10.30 hrs o­n the second day.



In the return direction Train No. 06528 New Delhi-KSR Bengaluru Special Train will depart New Delhi at 21.15 hrs with effectfrom 14th September, 2020 (Daily) and arrive KSR Bengaluru at 14.00 hrs o­n the second day.



These special trains will stop at Bengaluru Cantt., Yelahanka, Hindupur,Penukonda,Sri Sathya Sai Prashanthi Nilayam, Anantapur, Gooty, Guntakal, Adoni, Mantralayam Rd, Raichur, Yadgir, Wadi, Kalaburagi, Solapur, Kurduvadi, Daund, Ahmadnagar, Belapur, Kopargaon, Manmad, Jalgaon, Bhusaval, Burhanpur, Khandwa, Itarsi, Bhopal, Bina, Jhansi, Gwalior, Agra Cantt, Mathura and H. Nizamuddin stations in both the directions.These special train consists of First AC, AC II Tier, AC III Tier, Sleeper and General Second Class Coaches.



*The Stoppages & Timings and Days of Service will be the same as Train No. 12627/12628 KSR Bengaluru-New Delhi-KSR Bengaluru Karnataka Express.

*For Train No. 06527 no stoppage at Dharmavaramand for Train No. 06528 no stoppage at Gooty and Dharmavaram railway station.

2.Train No. 02510/02509 Guwahati-Bangalore Cantt-Guwahati Special Trains
(02 Services):



Train No. 02510 Guwahati-Bangalore Cantt Special Train will depart Guwahati at 06.20 hrs with effect from 13thSeptember, 2020 (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday) and arrive Bangalore Cantt at 11.40 hrs o­n the second day.



In the return direction, Train No. 02509 Bangalore Cantt – Guwahati Special Train will depart Bangalore Cantt at 23.40 hrs with effect from16th September, 2020 (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday) and arrive Guwahati at 06.00 hrs o­n third day.



These special trains will stop at Kamakhya, Rangiya, Barpeta Rd, New Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, New Alipurduar, New Cooch Behar, Dhupguri, Jalpaiguri Rd, New Jalpaiguri, Kishan Ganj, Barsoi, Malda Town, New Farakka, Rampurhat, Bolpur Shantiniketan, Howrah, Kharagpur, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur Keonjhar Rd, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Khurda Rd, Srikakulam Rd, Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry, Vijayawada, Perambur, Arakkonam, Katpadi, Jolarpettai, Bangarapet and Krishnarajapuram stations in both the directions.



These special train consists of AC II Tier, AC III Tier, Sleeper and General Second Class Coaches.

Sunday, 06 September 2020



The Railways on Saturday said the bullet train project was progressing well, but the real timeframe for its completion can be gauged within the next three to...
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six months when the status of land acquisition will be ascertained.

He also said while 82 per cent of the land has been acquired in Gujarat, in Maharashtra land acquisition is only at 23 per cent.

Yadav said, in a linear project like the bullet train project, work can only begin when a certain amount of land is available.

"We are hoping that within the next three to six months, we will be able to get to that point. Our designs are ready and we are set to go. It is true that the tenders and land acquisition were delayed a bit due to the coronavirus pandemic, but I can say that the project is progressing well.

"As the COVID19 situation improves, we will be able to start the bidding process and within the next three to six months, we will be able to get the status of land acquired and then we will be able to provide a real timeframe for the completion of the project," the railway board chairman said.