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20-05-2020
The initiative of Indian Railways to run special train services in the current times took a firm shape forward o­n South Central Railway when the first special train to originate o­n the zone commenced journey from Secunderabad to New Delhi today i.e., 20th May, 2020 afternoon.
The fully air-conditioned Train No. 02437 Secunderabad – New Delhi AC superfast special train service departed Secunderabad at 13.15 hrs today and is scheduled to reach New Delhi at 10.40 hrs tomorrow, completing the journey in 21 hrs 25 minutes. This is going to be a...
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weekly service departing Secunderabad o­n Wednesdays while in the return, the train will start from New Delhi o­n Sundays.
With all the major AC class options of travel available (3AC, 2AC,1AC), the first special train carried 1003 passengers. In line with the advisory intimated to all the booked confirmed travelers of the train, prior formalities including thermal screening of the passengers, ticket checking etc., were completed o­n platform well before time, subsequent to which they were allowed to board the train duly adhering to social distance and mask wearing practices. The passengers were also provided with Sanitizers to maintain personal hygiene. Elderly passengers and those else who required assistance, were shifted to the coaches with the help of wheel chairs.
To ensure convenience o­n course the travel, Ticket Checking staff, Railway Protection Force personnel and few from other maintenance wings were deployed to perform duty from the originating till the destination station.
Prior to the commencement of the journey, due precautions were taken at Secunderabad station which was totally cleaned and disinfected to ensure health safety of the passengers. Proper markings o­n the station premises and platform enabled the travelers to maintain required physical distance from each other before boarding the train. Shri Gajanan Mallya, General Manager, South Central Railway complimented the officials and staff of Secunderabad Division for making elaborate arrangements for safe handling of passengers and stressed that the same should be continuously maintained, so as to make each rail journey comfortable and safe for the travellers.

20-05-2020
Rajdhani Super Fast Special trains between New Delhi and Chennai with revised days of service from 21st May 2020 shall run as detailed below:-
With a composition of 1 AC First Class Coach, 5 AC Second Class Coaches, 11 AC three tier coaches, and two Generator car cum Brake Vans, Train No.02434 New Delhi – Dr MGR Chennai Central Rajdhani Superfast Special will leave New Delhi at 16.00 hrs o­n Mondays and Thursdays starting from 21st May 2020 to the following stoppages and timings :-
Agra...
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Cantt ( Arr 18.10 hrs / Dep 18.12 hrs)
Jhansi (Arr 20.53 hrs / Dep 21.03 hrs)
Bhopal (Arr 00.15 hrs / Dep 00.25 hrs)
Nagpur (Arr 05.45 hrs / Dep 05.50 hrs)
Warangal ( Arr 11.48 hrs / Dep 11.53 hrs)
Vijayawada (Arr 14.35 hrs / Dep 14.37 hrs)
and reaching Dr MGR Chennai Central at 20.40 hrs o­n Tuesdays and Fridays (Day 2)
In the return direction, Train No.02433 Dr MGR Chennai Central – New Delhi Rajdhani Superfast Special will leave Dr MGR Chennai Central at 06.35 hrs o­n Wednesdays and Saturdays starting from 23rd May 2020 to the following stoppages and timings :-
Vijayawada (Arr 12.21 hrs / Dep 12.26 hrs)
Warangal (Arr 15.22 hrs / Dep 15.24 hrs)
Nagpur (Arr 21.10 hrs / Dep 21.15 hrs)
Bhopal (Arr 02.40 hrs / Dep 02.50 hrs)
Jhansi (Arr 05.06 hrs / Dep 05.11 hrs)
Agra Cantt (Arr 07.55 hrs / Dep 07.57 hrs)
and reaching New Delhi at 10.30 hrs o­n Thursdays and Sundays. (Day 2)
Reservations are open.
Guidelines for these trains
The fare structure for this train shall be as applicable for the regular time tabled Rajdhani trains (excluding catering charges).
Only o­nline E-Ticketing will be done through IRCTC website or through Mobile App. No tickets will be booked across the reservation counter o­n any Railway Station. Booking of tickets through ‘agents’, (both IRCTC Agents and Railway Agents) shall not be permitted. Maximum Advance Reservation Period (ARP) will be of maximum 7 days.
No catering charges shall be included in the fare. Provision for pre-paid meal booking, e-catering shall be disabled. However, IRCTC shall make provision for limited eatables and packaged drinking water o­n payment basis. Information to this effect shall be made available to passengers during time of booking ticket.
Passengers are encouraged to carry their own food and drinking water. Dry, ready-to-eat food and bottled water shall be provided o­n demand, inside the trains o­n payment basis.
All passengers shall be compulsorily screened and o­nly asymptomatic passengers are allowed to enter /board the train.
Passengers travelling by these special services will observe the following precautions :
(a) Only passengers with Confirmed tickets shall be allowed to enter the Railway station.
(b) All passengers shall be wearing face covers/masks at the entry and during travel.
(c) The passengers shall reach the station at-least 90 minutes in advance to facilitate thermal screening at the station. o­nly passengers who are found asymptomatic will be permitted to travel.
(d) Passengers shall observe social distancing both at the station and o­n trains.
(e) On arrival at their destination, the travelling passengers will have to adhere to such health protocols as are prescribed by the destination state/UT
Zonal Railways have been instructed to ensure that there are separate entry and exit gates at Railway stations to the extent feasible so that there is no face to face movement of passengers. Zonal railways will be guided by standard social distancing guidelines o­n stations and trains and observe the safety, security and hygiene protocols.
All passengers are advised to download and use the Aarogya Setu application.
No Linen, blankets and curtains shall be provided inside the train. Passengers are advised to carry their own linen for the travel. The temperature inside AC coaches shall be suitably regulated for this purpose.
No stalls/ booths o­n the platforms shall be opened. No train side vending would be permitted. Passengers are advised to travel light.
As per MHA guidelines the movement of the passenger(s) as well as the driver of the vehicle transporting the passenger(s) to and from the Railway Station shall be allowed o­n the basis of the confirmed e-ticket.
Guidelines for Quarantine for persons coming from outside state to Tamilnadu:
As per the guidelines of the TN Govt issued o­n 11th May, 2020, regarding Covid-19 - Testing and Quarantine Guidelines for Incoming persons - revised orders, with reference to the MHA order No.40-3/2020 - DM-I(A) dated 5/5/20
Persons from Other States/Union Territories:
Testing be done o­n all persons coming into Tamil Nadu from all the States/UTs. If they test positive, they will be taken to a hospital. In case, if the result is negative, such persons be continued in institutional quarantine facility for 7 days, in respect of persons coming from Hot Spots (Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra) - After 7 days, if the individuals display no symptom, they can be sent to home for home quarantine, or continued in Government quarantine, if the individual does not have facilities at home for the remaining 7 days as well.
Where in a coach, even a single passenger is tested positive, all other passengers who travelled in the coach, though tested negative, will be put to institutional quarantine in their district, for 7 days, followed by home quarantine at their place of stay for 14 days.
The accommodation facilities for quarantine purpose will be facilitated by Tamilnadu government and option will be given to passengers for either paid accommodation or free of cost.

Southern Railway introduced Parcel Cargo Express Train (PCET) o­n 1stApril, 2020 to enable seamless transportation of essential commodities. Presently, daily Parcel Cargo Special trains are operated between Chennai Egmore – Thiruvananthapuram, Dr MGR Chennai Central - Shoranur, Thiruvananthapuram – Kozhikkode and Dr MGR Chennai Central – New Delhi. Owing to patronage, the services of Parcel Cargo Express trains run by Southern Railway have been extended upto 31st May, 2020.
Using these services Southern Railway has transported from 24th March, 2020 till 18th May, 2020 various commodities totaling a weight of 6155 tonnes. The majority of them being farm products weighing 2294.04 tonnes and food items weighing 1271 tonnes. Vegetables and fruits weighing 84.55 tonnes and 103.46 tonnes...
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respectively, were transported during the period. Along with these 52.38 tonnes of postal materials were despatched through RMS (Rail Mail service) . Apart from these, o­n-demand parcel train services were operated to Punjab (2 trips to Bathinda) and Haryana (2 trips to Hisar) and transported 1867 tonnes of cotton seeds aiding agricultural activities in the country. The transportation of 1.15 lakh litres of milk (in tetrapacks of each 1 litre) from Salem to Dimapur in Assam deserves special mention.
These parcel cargo express train have gained patronage amongst traders wanting to transport essential commodities. SETU 24*7 helpline numbers of various divisions for assistance to Traders/farmers/Logistics and Cargo Operators desirous of booking various commodities is given below :
Chennai – 9444282223 or 9003061980
Palakkad – 9746763953
Trivandrum – 9746769951
Tiruchchirappalli – 9003864953
Madurai – 9003862953
Salem – 9003956951
Railway Helpline 138 can be accessed for all Divisions.

Proud moment for Indian Railways, as it became 6th country in the world to join the elite club of producing high horse power locomotive indegenously.

It is the first time, high horse power locomotive has been operationalised o­n broad gauge track in the world. .

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locomotive has been produced under Make in India programme.

The locomotive has made its maiden commercial run between DeenDayalUpadhaya Station toShivpur o­n 18.05.2020

Manufactured by Madhepura Electric Locomotive Pvt. Ltd. (MELPL), locomotive operated from Pt DeenDayalUpadhyayaJn

These locomotives are state of the art IGBT based, 3 phase drive and 12000 horse power electric locomotive

These high horse power locomotives will help to decongest the saturated tracks by improving average speed and loading capacity of freight trains
First 12000 HP made in India Locomotive, manufactured by Madhepura Electric Loco Factory situated in Bihar, was put into operation by Indian Railways from Pt DeenDayalUpadhyayaJn Station yesterday.
The loco is named WAG12 with Number 60027. The train departed from DeenDayalUpadhyaya Station at 14:08 hrs in long haul formation for Dhanbad Division of East Central Railway, consisting of 118 wagons which travelled from Pt DeenDayalUpadhyayaJn to Barwadih via Dehri-on-Sone, Garhwa Road.

It was a proud moment for Indian Railways, as it became 6th country in the world to join the elite club of producing high horse power locomotive indegenously. It is the first time, high horse power locomotive has been operationalised o­n broad gauge track in the world. The locomotive has been produced under Make in India programme. The Madhepura factory is the largest integrated Green Field facility built to the highest standards of quality and safety with production capacity of 120 locomotives and spread across a massive 250 acres.
These locomotives are state of art IGBT based, 3 phase drive, 9000 KW (12000 horse power) electric locomotive. The locomotive is capable of maximum tractive effort of 706 kN, which is capable of starting and running a 6000 T train in the gradient of 1 in 150. The locomotive with twin Bo-Bo design having 22.5 T (Tonnes) axle load is upgradable to 25 Tonnes with design speed of 120 kmph. This locomotive will be a game changer for further movement of coal trains for Dedicated Freight Corridor. The locomotives can be tracked through GPS for its strategic use through embedded software and Antennae being lifted through the servers o­n ground through microwave link.

The locomotive is capable of working o­n railway tracks with conventional OHE lines as well as o­n Dedicated Freight corridors with high rise OHE lines. The locomotive has air-conditioned driver cabs o­n either side. The locomotive is equipped with regenerative braking system which provides substantial energy savings during operations. These high horse power locomotives will help to decongest the saturated tracks by improving average speed of freight trains.

Madhepura Electric Locomotive Pvt. Ltd. (MELPL) will manufacture 800 State of the Art 12000 HP Electric Freight Locomotives in 11 years and being o­ne of the most power full electric locomotive in the world will increase the speed of freight trains and will allow faster, safer and heavier freight trains to move across the country, thus reducing congestion in traffic. It will also lead to considerable savings in energy consumption through re-generative braking. As part of the project, factory along with township has been set up in Madhepura, Bihar with capacity to manufacture 120 locomotives per year. The project will create more than 10,000 direct and indirect jobs in the country. More than Rs 2000 Crores has already been invested in the project by the company.

Along with the factory, socio-economic development in Madhepura is being driven by this project. As part of CSR initiative skill centres are being set up in Madhepura to impart training to local people.

It may be noted that Indian Railways entered into Procurement cum Maintenance Agreement with Madhepura Electric Locomotive Pvt. Ltd. (MELPL), as part of the largest Foreign Direct Investment project of Indian Railways to transform the heavy freight transportation landscape of the country. This is ‘Make in India’ Initiative by India Railways (IR).

The project started in 2018 and the Prime Minister of India inaugurated the project o­n 10th April’ 2018. The prototype locomotive was delivered in March 2018. Based o­n the test results having design issues, the complete locomotive including bogies has been redesigned. The new design of locomotive has been inspected by RDSO at Madhepura factory and cleared for dispatch from factory o­n 16th Nov’ 2019. Further RDSO has conducted oscillation trials at various speeds upto 132 kmph and the locomotive has passed oscillation trials successfully. The locomotive has made its maiden commercial run between Deen Dayal Upadhaya Station toShivpur o­n 18.05.2020. The design was completed for the whole locomotive in a record time of four to six months and despite the initial hiccups and the o­nset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it could not dampen the spirit of August initiative of IR, surpassing all odds we could secure the permission of the Bihar Govt. to resume operations at the Madhepura Factory putting the project back o­n track.

Indian Railways to double the number of Shramik Trains to bring more relief to Migrants. Around 200 trains to run by tonight.
Indian Railways to introduce 200 Time Tabled Daily New trains from June 1, 2020.
The booking will done o­nLY online and shall commence in few days. Trains will be non AC. Schedule and trains to be announced soon.
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a major relief to migrants all across the country.
Indian Railways plans to double the number of Shramik Trains to bring more relief to Migrants.
In addition to these Shramik Special trains, Indian Railways is going to start 200 new Time Tabled trains from June 1, 2020. The routes and schedule of these trains will be intimated soon.
The booking will o­nLY online and shall commence in few days .
Trains will be non AC. No tickets will be sold at any railway station and prospective travellers should not come to the railway station to buy tickets.
Indian Railways appeals to the migrants not to panic. Efforts are being made to ensure that all of them are able to travel to their home states at the earliest.
Efforts will be made such that they will be able to board trains from Railway Station Head o­n main line which is close to their existing location.
Railways has asked the State Governments to identify and locate these migrants who are walking o­n roads to go to their home states and transport them to the nearest main line railway station after doing their registration at the nearest district hqrs and give a list of these travellers to the Railway Authorities so that arrangements can be made for their further travel through Shramik specials.
More than 21.5 lac migrants have been transported to their home states through “Shramik Special” trains in 19 days and operated more than 1600 “Shramik Special” trains till 19th May.
Indian Railways appeals to the migrants not to panic . Efforts are being made to ensure that all of them are able to travel to their home states at the earliest.
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PIB Courtesy