RailFanning is a gift you give yourself. - Varun

BHUBANESWAR :  Accepting the BJD’s challenge for a public debate on the alleged negligence of the Centre to Odisha in Railway budget in 2021-22, the BJP on Saturday said it is ready for a discussion.BJP state general secretary Golak Mohapatra said, “We are ready for an open discussion. Let the BJD name the venue, date and time”.
In a scathing attack on the BJD, Mohapatra said none of the railway projects in Odisha are completed on time due to inefficiency of the State government. Land acquisition, law and order and forest clearance are the major stumbling blocks in which the Centre has absolutely no role to play. The State is putting the blame on the Centre to cover up its inefficiency, he...
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said.
The State has the dubious distinction of not utilising Central assistance.  BJP secretary Lekhashree Samantsinghar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been giving priority to Odisha and has always allocated sufficient funds. Odisha government must share details on how much funds it has received from the Centre and how much has it spent on various projects, she said.

BHUBANESWAR: Accusing the Centre of neglecting Odisha in the railway sector over the years, the ruling BJD on Friday maintained that implementation of ongoing projects has slowed down because of inadequate funding.
Stating that six districts - Kandhamal, Boudh, Mayurbhanj, Kendrapara, Deogarh and Malkangiri - are without railway line even after 75 years of Independence, BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty told mediapersons that though the Railways collects at least Rs 20,000 crore revenue from the State per year, even a fraction of it is not provided for development of rail infrastructure in Odisha.
He asked...
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why the railway density in Odisha is only 15 km per 1000 sq km compared to 42 in West Bengal and 35 in Bihar. Mohanty also criticised the Centre for the slow progress of Khurda-Balangir and Talcher-Bimlagarh railway line projects. While only 90 km out of 290 km of Khurda-Balangir line has been completed, work on only 20 km of 155 km of Talcher-Bimlagarh is over, he said.

उज्जैन (नईदुनिया प्रतिनिधि), Rail Budget 2021। उज्जैन-देवास-इंदौर रेल मार्ग दोहरीकरण के लिए इस साल बजट में मात्र एक हजार रुपये आवंटित किए गए हैं। हालांकि रेलवे बोर्ड के अधिकारी इसे चूक मान रहे हैं, मगर अब ठेकेदार ने दोहरीकरण का कार्य बंद कर दिया है। अधिकारियों का कहना है कि बजट नहीं मिलने के कारण ये स्थिति बनी है। इस संबंध में मुख्यालय में चर्चा की जा रही है। जल्द ही अतिरिक्त बजट मिलेगा। 80 किलोमीटर के इस मार्ग पर उज्जैन से कड़छा के बीच 15 किलोमीटर का काम पूरा हो गया है। अब 65 किलोमीटर का कार्य और शेष है।
बता दें कि वर्ष 2016-17 के वार्षिक बजट में रेल मंत्रालय ने इंदौर-उज्जैन मार्ग के दोहरीकरण की घोषणा की थी। 650...
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करोड़ रुपये की लागत से होने वाले काम में सिविल वर्क्स के अलावा सिग्नलिंग विभाग, टीआरडी विभाग, इलेक्ट्रिक पावर विभाग तथा अन्य विभागों के खर्च को शामिल किया गया था। वर्ष 2017-18 में काम की शुरुआत हुई थी। दिसंबर 2020 में उज्जैन से कड़छा के बीच 15 किलोमीटर का काम पूरा हो गया था। इसका कमिश्नर रेलवे सेफ्टी (सीएसआर) ने निरीक्षण कर ट्रेनों के संचालन की अनुमति दे दी थी। इस वर्ष बजट में उज्जैन-देवास-इंदौर रेल मार्ग के लिए मात्र एक हजार रुपये जारी किए गए। इसके बाद कड़छा से देवास के बीच चल रहे काम को ठेकेदार ने रोक दिया है।
मुख्यालय में करेंगे बात, मिलेगा बजट
रेलवे अधिकारियों का कहना है कि इंदौर, देवास, उज्जैन के लोकसभा सदस्य रेल मंत्री से बात कर रहे हैं। वहीं मुख्यालय को भी इस संबंध में रिपोर्ट भेजी जा रही है कि इस मार्ग पर काम जल्द पूरा किया जाना जरूरी है। उम्मीद है कि बजट मिलेगा। इसके बाद काम फिर शुरू किया जाएगा।
विद्युतीकरण भी साथ-साथ
इंदौर-उज्जैन लाइन की सिंगल लाइन में इलेक्ट्रिफिकेशन पहले ही है। दोहरीकरण के साथ ही दूसरी लाइन को भी इलेक्ट्रिक से जोड़ा जाएगा। दोहरीकरण के साथ ही इलेक्ट्रिक लाइन का काम भी पूरा किया जाना है। इससे रेल परिचालन बाधित नहीं होगा। रेलवे द्वारा सिविल वर्क्स पर 430 करोड़ रुपये, सिग्नल एंड टेलीकॉम पर 101 करोड़ रुपये, टीआरडी पर 129 करोड़ रुपये, इलेक्ट्रिक पावर 18.5 करोड़ रुपये खर्च किया जाना है।
उज्जैन-देवास-इंदौर रेल मार्ग दोहरीकरण के लिए इस साल पर्याप्त बजट आवंटित नहीं हुआ है। इस कारण कड़छा से देवास के बीच काम रुका है। बजट में राशि मिलने पर कार्य शुरू किया जाएगा। - विनित गुप्ता, डीआरएम, रतलाम मंडल

The NFR (Northeast Frontier Railway) has received Rs 1,511 crore more Budgetary allocation than last year. This was informed by Anshul Gupta, General Manager (GM), NFR while interacting with media persons within the jurisdiction of NFR on Saturday. Deliberating on the Budget provisions, he stressed on the important pillars of the Budget for making the Indian Railways "Future ready". The General Manager said, "The gross Budgetary allocation for NFR for 2021-22 is Rs 8,060 crore which is much higher than last year's figure of Rs 6,549 crore. The Gross Budgetary Allocation in 2021-22 is 238% more than the average of 2009-14 (Rs 3,383 crore/year)."
The GM also said that talks are...
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on with the Assam government for acquisition of land to construct the elevated corridor from Kamakhya to New Guwahati. Referring to the unauthorised occupation of NFR quarters and land, the GM said, "Assessment and survey is on."
He further pointed out that NFR's earnings from passenger trains during April-December 2020 dropped to Rs 380 crore from Rs 1,463 crore during the corresponding period in 2019. This is a 73 per cent fall in earnings. In the case of goods trains, the earnings fell by 20 per cent during the mentioned period. The earnings through goods trains during the corresponding period in 2019 were Rs 954 crore that dropped to Rs 772 crore this year.
The General Manager also stated that the Indian Railways has got the highest-ever total Plan Capex of Rs 2, 15,058 crore. This is much higher than the last year's figure of Rs. 1, 61,042 crores. During the interaction, the GM informed that adequate fund has been allotted for capital connectivity to the north-eastern States by March, 2023, faster connectivity in the NER (North East Region) by doubling the 'High Density Network' (HDN) sections along with electrification of the entire network for seamless connectivity. The GPS-based 'Train Collision Avoidance System' (TCAS) in the 'High Density Networks' (HDN) and the 'Highly Utilized Networks' (HUN) routes of NFR for ensuring safety of train movement was sanctioned in Budget 2020-21; and it has been sanctioned for the remaining sections in this year's Budget. With the introduction of this system, speed of the trains is monitored by the system and 'Automatic Braking' applied if a loco pilot crosses the speed limits or passes a signal at danger. The 'Automatic Block Signaling' (ABS) and the 'Centralized Traffic Control' (CTC) for the HDN routes of NFR are also sanctioned in the Budget.
He also informed about introduction of the aesthetically designed 'Vista Dome LHB' coach on tourist routes to give a better travel experience to tourists willing to travel in the NER in consultation with the respective State Governments.
As per policy of the Indian Railways, works for 100% electrification of NFR routes are also going on. This policy of cent percent electrification will give a boost to the economy of the north-eastern States and it will bring the NFR at par with the other 'Electrified Railways'. He added that work for electrification is already complete in 451 RKM in NFR and work for electrification is going on in 770 RKM section in NFR which is likely to be completed by August 2021. Work in the remaining 2,962 RKM is planned to be completed by March, 2024. This will impart efficient, pollution free transportation needs of NE States. He also announced that the electrification of track is likely to be completed up to Guwahati by March this year.
The General Manager also explained about the 'Freight Business Development (FBD) Portal', which is a one-stop solution for freight or parcel customers and various other initiatives taken for providing optimized logistic services to freight customers. He informed that out of the 75 goods sheds in the NE region, 15 are already working 24x7 for the benefit of loaders and transporters.
Introduction of the 'Kisan Rail' has helped farmers to send their produces at ease to the markets in the far-flung areas and get benefitted. Farmers of
NER can now send tea, rubber, turmeric, black pepper, mustard, soya bean, betel nut, mandarin (orange variety), pineapple, ginger, kiwi, litchi, passion fruit, chillies (green), large cardamom and other perishable products to the outside market by using the services of Kisan Rail. As much as 50% subsidy is allowed for transportation of all fruits and vegetables through these trains.
Refrigerated parcel van to carry pineapples and other fruits and vegetables from the North East to other parts of India is also available for booking.
Due to the increased emphasis on freight movement owing to the COVID scenario, as many as 9,361 freight-carrying rakes were unloaded till January 21 from April 2020. The average speed of the goods-carrying trains also increased to 47 kmph from 27 kmph due to various measures taken, added the General Manager.
While the media persons from Guwahati were present physically at the briefing, others joined virtually from Agartala (Tripura), Silchar (Assam), Katihar (Bihar) and Siliguri (West Bengal).