Indian railways appoints Hong Kong firm to develop 22 railway stations
NEW DELHI, December 31, 2007: The process for upgrading 22 railway stations across the country into world class ones has begun with the Railways appointing a Hong Kong-based firm for the development of New Delhi Railway Station.  M/s Terry Ferrell of Hong Kong has been appointed Architect and Technical Consultants for the New Delhi project, an official release said today. 
  The Master Plan and feasibility report on the New Delhi Railway Station would be submitted by February 2008 and the work would be carried out through Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) route through competitive selection. 
The project envisages development of the station and its surroundings as an iconic landmark of the national capital, the release said. Upon completion, the station would provide enough space for passengers with minimum congestion. Concourses at different levels, elevated first floor and underground, along with provision for inter-modal connectivity, vehicle and bus parking have been planned. 
  Initiating the process for pre-qualification of bidders for the development of nearly two dozen stations as world class, the Railways have already issued a global advertisement. The 22 railway stations are mostly located in metropolitan cities and major tourist centres 
 Source: Economic Times
 Pakistanis stranded after Thar express is cancelled 
Jodhpur, December 29, 2007 : Hundreds of Pakistani nationals have been stranded here after the Thar Express connecting the desert state with Pakistan's Sindh province was cancelled due to security reasons in the wake of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Most of the Pakistani nationals are a worried lot as their visa is to expire in a day or two. 
The train was scheduled to leave Jodhpur on Friday night and 465 passengers had booked their tickets to visit Pakistan but in the wake of violence incidents in that country, particularly in Sindh province, the train was cancelled till further orders. Railways, however, has refunded the ticket amount to passengers. "Taking in view passenger security, Railway Board has decided to suspend the services of the peace train till further orders and we have paid back the amount to passengers," S K Sood, Divisional Railway Manager of North Western Railway conducting the train, said. 
 Source: PTI
Bangalore to get metro rails by 2011 
Bangalore, December 27, 2007: The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has roped in five of the city's top architects to give each of the five metro stations a flavour of the city. "[It is being done] to reflect an image of Bangalore. It is after all known as the tech city of the world,” says Venkataramanan Associates principal architect V Narasimhan. He adds that for the same reason they are planning a ‘forward-looking image' for the stations while subtly integrating certain aspects of Karnataka’s heritage and Bangalore's history.
  However, it is not only the local architects contributing to the planning of the metro stations. The metro's website is calling for responses from stakeholders on the designs. "We want young people and youngsters to write in and share their opinions and ideas. We want their feedback as the metro is for the people," says BMRCL Managing Director V Madhu. The Corporation claims that the responses they have received on the designs so far have generally been favourable. The stations, which will have close to a lakh passengers walk through its doors everyday, will open its doors on schedule in December 2011.
 Source: Yahoo! News India

 Railways may seek Israeli cooperation
NEW DELHI, December 25, 2007: Indian Railways may consider seeking Israeli cooperation for installation of advanced simulators and radar systems for the rail network. The simulators can be used for determining the line capacity taking all possible factors into account while radar systems can be utilised for prevention of accidents at level crossings. 
  A high-level delegation led by Union Minister of State for Railways R Velu had visited Israel recently at the invitation 
of the Israeli government. According to a senior Railway Ministry official, who was part of the delegation, the advanced simulation method used in Israeli railways can be useful in the Indian scenario. "There are radars at certain important level crossings in Israel which are found to be useful in preventing accidents and the same can be considered here also," he said. The radars identify the stationery vehicles at the level crossings and alert the loco drivers in advance. "This would help in preventing accident at level crossings as we have large number of unmanned level crossings," said the official. 
 Source: The Economic Times
RAILWAY REVENUE EARNINGS UP BY 13.55 PER CENT 
December, 24, 2007: Ministry of Railways : The total approximate earnings of Indian Railways on originating basis during the period 1st December – 10th December 2007 were Rs. 1931.02 crore compared to Rs. 1700.57 crore during the same period last year, registering an increase of 13.55 per cent. 
  The total goods earnings have gone up from Rs. 1189.72 crore during 1st December – 10th December 2006 to Rs. 1314.38 crore during 1st December – 10th December 2007, showing an increase of 10.48 per cent. The total passenger revenue earnings during the period 1st to 10th December 2007 were Rs. 553.90 crore compared to Rs. 455.98 crore during the same period last year, reflecting an increase of 21.47 per cent. The revenue earnings from other coaching amounted to Rs. 49.15 crore during this period compared to Rs. 40.88 crore during the same period last year, showing an increase of 20.23 per cent. 
  The total approximate number of passengers booked during the period 1st to 10th December 2007 were 186.96 million compared to 173.92 million during the same period last year, showing an increase of 7.50 per cent. In the suburban and non-suburban sectors, the number of passengers booked during 1–10 December 2007 were 107.13 million and 79.83 million compared to 100.36 million and 73.56 million during the same period last year, registering an increase of 6.75 per cent and 8.52 per cent respectively. 
GENERAL MANAGERS’S CONFERENCE OF THE INDIAN RAILWAYS 
 December 20, 2007:  A conference of the General Managers of the Indian Railways was held at Rail Bhawan today to discuss the progress of various railway activities. In his message to the General Managers, the Hon’ble Minister for Railways, Shri Lalu Prasad, expressed confidence that the targets for the year would not only be achieved but would also be bettered handsomely. He expressed hope that Indian Railways would soon achieve the 800 Million Tonne mark in freight loading and would then embark on the mission of loading 900 Million Tonne in 2008-09. The Minister also exhorted the General Managers to focus their attention more closely on ways and means of increasing railways revenues, timely completion of projects, improvements in passenger amenities and safety in railway working.
  The Hon’ble Minister of State for Railways, Shri Naran Bhai J. Rathwa addressed the General Manager’s and complimented the Railway Organistion for keeping social obligations too in mind while striving for an ever high revenue generation. 
 Source: PIB
 The Indian Railways have managed to win back freight traffic lost to the roads. 
  MUMBAI, December 17, 2007: The Indian Railways (IR) have managed to win back freight traffic lost to the roads. They have snatched back almost 5% share from road transporters and also hit the truck market in the country. “The trend has been decisively reversed . We are no longer losing share in bulk commodities like steel, cement , coal and 
even parcels,” says Indian Railways officer on special duty Sudhir Kumar. For instance, the railways have gained almost 7% market share in the cement and steel segment since last year while their turnover from the parcels business has increased from Rs 450 crore to Rs 1,400 crore over the last three years. “We have got this traffic back from the roads,” Mr Kumar adds. 
  How did the railways get it right this time? Primarily, due to the addition of 10 private cargo train operators in the last one year, which also ended the monopoly of Container Corporation of India (Concor). . “The opening up of the container business is a masterstroke and a big opportunity area,” says professor G Raghuram, senior faculty at IIM Ahmedabad and the author of the case study on the turnaround of IR. “These are the players who will build the concept of multimodal transport. 
  Source: Economic Times
IOC threatens to stop fuel supply if Rly. insists on discounts 
 New Delhi, December 11, 2007: Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the largest supplier of diesel to Indian Railways, has threatened to stop fuel supplies to rail locomotives if the railways continues to insists on discounts on rates. IOC, which supplies 85 per cent of the 2.38 million kilolitre (kl) diesel railways need annually, in a letter dated November 29 said: "In case Railways insist on the discount terms offered two years ago, diesel supplies to railways would be stopped after December 31, 2007." 
  In 2005, IOC, BPCL and HPCL offered discount of Rs 300 per kl over market price 2006 diesel sales, while Reliance Industries offered a discount of Rs 1,104 per kl. Later, the state retailers agreed to offer a discount of Rs 1,125.27 per kl but Railways awarded the contract for 14 railway consumer depots (RCDs) belonging to public sector firms, to RIL.
"Although, RIL undertook diesel supply in 2006 for some of the RCDs awarded to it, later on after realising that diesel marketing is not favourable due to negative margins, RIL unilaterally stopped diesel supplies," the letter said adding the state retailers had to fill-in for RIL. For the tender for diesel supplies in 2007, RIL did not quote and the state- retailers offered a discount of Rs 300 per kl but the Railways extended validity period of rate contract for 2006 (including discount of Rs 1125.27 per kl) up to December 31, 2007. For 2008, the PSUs did not offer any discount and RIL did not make any quote. New private entrant Essar Oil offered diesel supplies to only one RCD without any discount, IOC said, adding the Railway Board has not finalised the tender and may take "undue advantage"of the 2006 contract. 
 Source: PTI
One killed, 55 injured in train derailment in India 
 New Delhi, December 10, 2007:  At least one person was killed and 55 injured after coaches of a train derailed in India's eastern state of West Bengal, officials said Monday. A spokesman of the Indian Railways said 14 coaches of the New Delhi-bound Brahmaputra Mail derailed near New Jalpaiguri city, 480 kilometres north of state capital Kolkata late on Sunday night.  "The body of a railway catering employee was recovered from a pantry car that suffered the maximum damage," said AK Saxena, chief spokesman of the Indian Railways.  Saxena said torches were used to cut through the mangled steel of the coaches to reach the affected coach. The wounded were admitted to a railway hospital and a state-run medical facility in New Jalpaiguri.  "Of the wounded, one is seriously injured while 37 suffered from simple injuries. 17 others have minor injuries like bruises," Saxena said.  But while railway officials in New Delhi said 55 people were injured, local news reports put the figure at over 100.  Traffic on India's north-eastern railway section was suspended for 10 hours after the accident. Railway officials said by tracks were cleared and traffic on the rail link was restored. The cause of the accident was not clear.
Railway managers to hone skills abroad
MUMBAI, December 05, 2007: Lalu Prasad Yadav  mandated that senior members of his staff spend time at a string of top global B-schools like NYUs Stern School of Business, INSEAD, France and Singapore and HEC Paris. The minister wants his managers to pick up the secrets of change management and customer focus and also develop a more global perspective that will enable them to develop a more robust medium and long term strategy for the railways. Mr Yadav and his cohorts are also talking to Wharton, Harvard Business School and MITs Sloan School of Business for advanced management programmes (AMPs) which will be tailor-made for the Indian Railways. 
  In a sense, Mr Yadav's dramatic turnaround of the Railways in a period of three years from a loss-making entity to one that has a surplus of nearly Rs 20,000 crore in FY07 has given it a new set of challenges in dealing with sustainable growth. In 2005, the Rakesh Mohan Committee famously called the Indian Railways a white elephant, and predicted then that it would be in the red to the tune of Rs 61,000 crore in ten years. 
   In his last budget speech, Mr Yadav laid out the roadmap by announcing that senior railway personnel would be sent for mandatory training at world-class management institutes. As a result, starting this December, batches of 35 people drawn from the Divisional Regional Managers and Junior Administrative Grade officers will go to INSEAD's campuses in France and Singapore. A total of 1,000 people over the next five years will undergo a one-week management programme at INSEAD, while a much smaller batch of 26 general managers will go to Stern School, New York. The genesis for the week-long advanced management programmes came about last year when team of 200 senior railway officials led by former Chairman JP Batra visited INSEAD's Singapore Campus. Railway officials and INSEAD professors have been in regular correspondence since then, with INSEAD Dean J Frank Brown calling upon Mr. Yadav during his visit to New Delhi last week. 
 Source: The Economic Times 

  The Indian Railways running suburban railways on the public-private-partnership
NEW DELHI, November 30, 2007: The Indian Railways is considering running suburban railways on the public-private-partnership (PPP) model by forging partnerships with state governments. The Railways have been incurring a loss of Rs 900 crore every year running the suburban railways. 
  According to the proposal, the Railways would own the land and state government and private players would operate the system and arrange required rolling stock for maintaining train frequency. Several states including West Bengal, Maharashtra  and Gujarat have decided to insulate the Railways against losses in suburban railways. States have proposed that the Railways can form a joint venture with the special purpose vehicle (set up by state government and the private player for maintaining and operationalising suburban railways). This way the Railways would not need to look after day-to-day maintenance of tracks and get its assured return. This is a move which can save a lot of revenue, a Rail Bhawan official said. An announcement is likely in Budget 2008. 
  State governments are of the view that if they are given authority to maintain suburban rails they would free the land from encroachments. The extra land can be used for laying parallel tracks thus increasing the frequency of trains. 
  Source: The Economic Times

 The Indian Railway has stalled the Rs 20,000-cr Rail Ratna Project 
 Delhi, November 27, 2007: The Indian Railway has stalled the Rail Ratna Project, which intended to build 100 budget hotels across the country on the surplus land available to it. RLDA (Railway Land Development  Authority) has created a stalemate on the project, as it is constituted to take on surplus land the railway has for commercial use. The railway ministry remains silent about the project's future. However, a senior official from the ministry revealed on conditions of anonymity that firm instructions had been issued from the minister's office to cut short the project for the time being. Moreover, the fact that land sites open for bidding are owned by RLDA has put the plan for building budget hotels on the backburner. 

Next Railway budget to be for common people
KOLKATA, November 25, 2007 :  Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Saturday indicated that the next Railway Budget would also be an ˜aam janataâ" (common man's) budget. I cannot say much about the budget since Parliament is in session now, but I assure you that it will be an ˜aam janataâ" budget, he said while speaking at a programme for inaugurating electrification of the Krishnanagar-Lalgola section of the Eastern Railway.  Mr Prasad said despite reduction in passenger fares, the railways had earned a profit of Rs 20,000 crore last year by increasing business volumes. Stating that globalisation had opened up opportunities for increasing business, he said the railways could play a vital role in this regard. 
   Mr Prasad said Rs 25,000 crore had been allocated for establishing a freight corridor that would help increase business. The freight corridor, he said, was required to increase speeds as existing railway lines were saturated. Without specifying a timeframe, the minister said the proposed Kolkata-Dhaka passenger train would be introduced shortly. The railway minister also assured of introducing a train from Kolkata to Murshidabad. On the gauge conversion, he said all meter gauge lines in the country would be converted to broad gauge.  
   The minister also expressed concern over the activities of Naxalite groups which blew up railway tracks at many places and damaged railway properties and said such activities were not correct. Apart from inaugurating the electrified stretch between Krishnanagar and Lalgola, he also laid the foundation stone for a new railway line between Krishnanagar and Charatala. 
  Source: The Economic Times

 
Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Saturday indicated that the next Railway Budget would also be an ˜aam janataâ" (common man's) budget.

CHANGES IN ACCOUNTING POLICY OF RAILWAYS 
 Delhi, Ministry of Railways Rajya Sabha, November 23, 2007: Only one accounting change for capitalization of capital repayment component of lease charges payable to Indian Railways Finance Corporation was made with the approval of Comptroller & Auditor General of India during 2005-06. During 2006-07, following two accounting changes have been carried out in consultation with Ministry of Finance, in accordance with the generally accepted accounting practices and to reflect correct picture of financial status in the financial statements of railways with due disclosure in the budget documents: 
 1. Accountal of reimbursement of loss on Strategic lines received from General Revenues as reduction in working expenses of concerned Railways. Previously, this amount was deducted from dividend payable by Indian Railways to General Revenues. 
 2. Accountal of interest earned on Railway Fund balances to Railway Revenues as Miscellaneous Receipt. Previously, this amount was credited to fund balances directly without routing 

RAILWAY WOMEN’S WELFARE CENTRAL ORGANIZATION organizes women's day.  
Delhi, November 19, 2007: Railway Women’s Central Organization organized a Women’s Day here today. Speaking on the occasion, Shri K.C. Jena, Chairman Railway Board said that RWWCO is one of the fore-runner voluntary organizations in the country today. He said that while the primary concern of the organization is a welfare of Railway employees and their families, it has always risen to the call of the society and the nation by paying particular attention on betterment of women folk of vast Railway family and their children. He congratulated outstanding Railway women employees who were honoured on the occasion for their excellent performance. He also congratulated talented children from Indian Railways, who won prizes in All India drawing and painting competitions and essay competition categories. In all 32 outstanding Railway women employees and 45 talented children were awarded on the occasion.  - PTI

 Indian Railways: the world’s largest transport organisation to earn Carbon Credits
New Delhi, November 08, 2007: The World Bank has given a first-round clearance to an Indian Railways proposal 
to enter the global carbon trading market. The Bank’s approval came after an exceptional show of energy-saving by the Railways in a pilot project. Hence, the Indian Railways will be able to earn substantial revenues by selling millions of carbon credits to developed nations, while simultaneously contributing to the reduction of global warming.
   “As per estimates, we will earn around 1.1 million carbon credits in five years,” Sudhir Kumar, executive director of the Railway Board, said. Under the UN Framework Convention for Climate Change, each carbon credit point is worth $10.  In running 40 locomotives as part of a pilot project in October, they saved around 2 million kilowatt-hour of power — worth Rs 77.64 lakh. They did this by using locos powered by a technology called ‘regenerative braking’. The kinetic energy produced by a running train has traditionally been wasted every time the train brakes. "Through regenerative braking, this energy is now going back to the overhead wires, and is used to run other locos," VK Dutt, chief electrical engineer, Northern Railway, said. The locos are being maintained in Ghaziabad, and have been powering Rajdhanis, Shatabdis and several other trains. Apart from regenerative braking, they have also been trying to save energy by running lighter coaches and wagons. 
 Indian  Railways and NTPC  form Joint Venture for 1,000 MW Bihar plant
 New Delhi November 06, 2007 :  NTPC the country’s largest power generating company has entered into a joint venture agreement  of Rs 1,605 crore  with Indian Railways to set up a 1,000 MW power plant in Nabinagar in Bihar.  A joint venture company - Bharatiya Rail Bijlee Company - would be set up for the purpose with NTPC having 74% stake and the Railways having 26% stake. NTPC would put in Rs 1,188 crore of capital and the Railways would invest Rs 417 crore in the Nabinagar plant. The plant is expected to commence operations after 30 months from receipt of approval of investment by both parties, likely to come by December-end. As per the Cabinet approval, 90% of the power from Nabinagar plant will be supplied to railways and 10% to others and this will primarily be a captive power plant for the Railways.
 The average cost of generation from this plant will be Rs 2.13 per unit. The railways expects to save up to Rs 600 crore annually after paying wheeling and transmission charges, reducing operating expenses by 1-2%. The average annual requirement of the Railways is 2,000 MW. The Railways, at present, spends about Rs 5,700 crore a year towards electrical energy for traction and non-traction purposes.
Railways to go high-tech 
 New Delhi November 05, 2007: The Indian Railways is all set to go high-tech with the launching of an IT-enabled control charting system (CCS)  which will remove the inaccuracies in furnishing arrival and departure timings at the national train inquiry system. With an estimated cost Rs 86 crore, the system will monitor and control the movement of all trains across the country. Till now the system for announcement and departure of trains was disjointed as the data had to be fed manually, causing a considerable time gap since the information had to be passed from one station to another. Railway officials said that on several occasions, passengers did not get accurate forecast about the train movement as the system was manually fed.
   Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) has designed this system, which according to ministry officials, would be able to track about 10,000 trains including those carrying freight and passengers on screen with the new system becoming operational. This will help Indian Railways to prepare an effective and flawless system. Currently a trial run of the new system is being carried out in Madurai and Trichy divisions as a pilot project. The system would be extended to all the zones by December this year. The system software has been jointly developed by CRIS and Wipro.

Management guru: Lalu Prasad 
KOCHI, November 2, 2007: Hundreds of management students of the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) mesmerized  by Railway minister Lalu Prasad,  narrating how he scripted the successful turnaround of the loss-making Indian Railways. Before starting his  interaction with the students,  Lalu Prasad reminded them that representatives of prestigious educational institutions like Harvard and Wharton had visited India to  learn more about the management models being adopted by Indian Railways. Speaking in Hindi, his short but interesting observations left the teachers and students spellbound.  A management student, asked,  “Sir, what policy measures would you propose to ensure the sustainability of the progress and the growth achieved by Indian Railways?” 
  Quick came the reply: “The same question was asked by students from Harvard, MIT, and IIM-Ahmedabad. Yeh gaadi aage chalega, peechein nahin”  (this train will move ahead, and not backwards) even though Ministers might change in future. Another MBA student, asked how Mr. Prasad had tackled the problem of bureaucratic culture of Indian Railways. The Minister said that the right officers were posted at the right posts to ensure transparency. ‘I did not threaten them but provided encouragement to perform,” he said. 
   Calling himself as a ‘big land lord’ (based on the surplus land available with Railways), Mr. Prasad said that efforts would be made to utilise the land commercially. When asked by a student  whether the privatisation of Railways could improve the efficiency further, . Mr. Prasad said that privatisation would be helpful in categories like improving container services and setting up world class railway stations. The Minister said that a lot of foreign direct investment was coming to the country. But infrastructure had to be improved to attract more investment, he said.

 Railways to lay Dedicated Freight Corridor
 KOCHI, November 2, 2007:  In an effort to decongest the existing railway lines, the Railway Ministry has planned to lay Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC) for goods trains. "The existing lines have been saturated and there is congestion," Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav said while addressing students at the School of Management Studies of Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) here. He was speaking on the 'Turnaround in Indian Railways'. 
   In the first phase, corridors would be developed between Ludhiana-Howrah in the eastern section and between Mumbai and Delhi in western section, he said. In the second phase, DFC would be laid between Mumbai and Chennai and between Chennai and Howrah. Railways will also take "farmer-friendly initiatives" by setting up warehousing facilities and 'Krishi Centres' for stocking vegetables, flowers, fruits, paddy and other farm produce in all the 7,500 railway stations in the country. This would open up more job opportunities, he said. 
    The Railways also had plans to manufacture aluminium coaches for goods trains which would reduce their weight by four tonnes. The advantage was that about eight tonnes more goods could be carried by them. This would also reduce fuel costs, the minister said. More factories for manufacturing engines, locomotives, coaches and wheels would be opened in different parts of the country and the stress would be on indigenous production, he said. 
 Source: Economic Times

  A ticket for all modes of transport in EU
 NEW DELHI, November 1, 2007: In a move that could create new business opportunities for Indian carriers flying abroad, the Centre has asked European Union to allow airlines to offer multi-modal transport facilities to passengers. If allowed, airlines in India would be able to tie up with rail or bus operators in Europe, get bulk tickets and offer better prices to the passengers. So, for passengers, different modes of transport would be covered by one ticket issued by the airline. In return, European airlines would also get this facility on Indian Railways.
Tatas and L&T are in the race to set up the rail wheel factory in Chapra
 New Dehli, October 31, 2007: Railway minister Lalu Prasad said on Tuesday that Larsen and Toubro and Tatas are in the race to set up the rail wheel factory in Chapra on a Public Private Partnership basis with the Indian Railways. According to reports they are the only two companies that participated in the tender and their bids are under evaluation. On the dedicated rail freight corridor project Lalu said that the eastern freight corridor would be connected to all major ports in West. Clarifying his position on the SEZ the railway minister said that farmers should not be forced to sell land to the government. He launched an e-learning portal for Company Secretaries Foundation Programme. Under the system, the students would be imparted coaching through Web-based training.

Lalu Prasad to lecture at CUSAT on November  2, 2007
 KOCHI, October 30, 2007:  Railways Minister Lalu Prasad will deliver a lecture on the "turnaround of Indian Railways", organised by School of Management Studies, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) here on November 2. Speaking to reporters here, Mary Joseph, Director of the School of Management studies, said the institution is one of  the premier business schools in south India, known for its academic and cultural excellence. "In our pursuit for excellence, the school is organising a lecture series, 'excellence in management', to create a platform where management students can interact and learn from personalities who have carved a niche for themselves," she said. Lalu Prasad, will deliver the first lecture, she said.  The minister was invited to various business schools,  including Harvard Business School, to share his experience with management students some time ago, she said. Kerala Education Minister M A Baby, pro-Vice Chancellor N D Inasu and founder director of school of management studies M V Pylee will attend the function, she said. 

 Indian Railways set to introduce e-payment for freight
 NEW DELHI, October  29, 2007: The Indian Railways are going to introduce electronic payment system for the freight sector. e-payment of freight has already been implemented in the coal sector in East Coast Railways, particularly coal booked for Badarpur powerhouse, said V N Mathur, Member Traffic, Railway Board. "There is a need to focus on the use of information and communication technology to the core activities of the railways. E-payment is part of it," Mathur said speaking at a seminar on "Rediscovering Railways Through Information and 
Communication Technology" here on Monday. 
   Freight operations and passenger reservation are other areas where there is a need for extensive use of IT to maximise the utilisation of coaches, wagons and locomotives, he said. "We are exploring possibilities to make unreserved tickets available without the need to wait in long queues. Central Railway is experimenting with contact less smart cards for its suburban section where the smart cards itself becomes the authority to travel," Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) Managing Director Madhav Pathak, said. Indian Railways is one of the largest provider of transportation services in the world. "We carry about 15 million passengers - about the population of Australia, over 2 million tons of freight every day, over the length and breadth of India," Pathak said. 
  Speed is the new mantra for Indian Railways
NEW DELHI, October 26, 2007: After increasing the speed of Bhopal Shatabdi Express between Delhi-Agra to 150km per hour, Indian Railways  is now planning the same on Delhi-Kanpur segment for Lucknow Shatabdi Express. "Preparatory work, including strengthening of tracks, signalling and other related exercise, is going on. Certain areas between Delhi-Kanpur have been identified as sensitive where we have to either erect fence or construct a wall along the lines to ensure the 150km speed at this stretch," said a senior Railway Ministry official. 
  Railways have constructed walls at some places on Delhi-Agra segment for safety of the train running at high speed. "It has been decided to increase in phases the speed of other passenger trains including Shatabdi, and express trains connecting major cities. Once major cities are connected with high speed trains, it would be extended to other sectors also," said the official. 
  The Railways had earlier announced its plan to run bullet trains at 250km per hour speed connecting metro cities but it seems the project is not on its priority list considering the high cost involved--an estimated Rs40,000 crores per corridor. "The basic aim of enhancing the speed of trains is to reduce the travel time between the cities. While attempts are being made to increase the speed, we are also trying to reduce the number of halts as well. The Railways has shortlisted a few express trains to increase their speed upto 100 km and necessary work is going on for this. 
 Source: Economic Times
Indian Railways may buy Rs 9,000-cr worth of goods through e-procurement
New Delhi, October 24, 2007:  Indian Railways through its online tendering and procurement system may buy goods valued at about Rs 9,000 crore this year. Indian Railways is now in the process of implementing the e-procurement process at 12 more places, seven zonal railways and five production units. The  e-procurement application into new units was based on a successful pilot project implemented at the Northern Railway. The e-procurement process includes placing the tender documents and inviting bids online, allowing bids to be placed online in a secure transaction environment, and opening and awarding the bids online. The production units of Indian Railways are: Diesel Loco Works, Varanasi; Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala; Integral Coach Factory, Perambur; Rail Wheel Factory, Bangalore and Diesel Loco Modernisation Works, Patiala. 
 Plan to revamp the Mumbai Suburban Railway System
  NEW DELHI, October 24, 2007:  According to an official statement on Tuesday, to rationalise operations and bring down decongestion, the Indian Railways in collaboration with Maharashtra government has drawn up a major plan to revamp the Mumbai Suburban Railway System through implementation of rail component of multi-modal Mumbai Urban Transport Project. The main objective behind this new plan is to bring down the over crowding during peak hour peak direction and segregate the suburban train operation from the main line passenger and freight services. 
  The MUTP Phase-I was sanctioned at a cost of Rs. 3,125.20 crore with addition of 550 new trains, a 25 per cent increase in total trains per day. On the fast lines, all trains will be of 12-cars. On slow lines, 20 per cent of trains will be of 12-cars. Vehicle km per day would stand increased by 33 per cent. Over crowding during peak hour peak direction will come down from existing over 5,000 commuters to 3,600 per 9-car rake.  
Rail freight plan run into procedural problems over land acquisition. 
New Delhi, October 23, 2007: The ambitious East-West dedicated rail freight corridor project has run into procedural problems over land acquisition. While the railway ministry has put up the project before the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), the Department of Expenditure in the finance ministry has said the railways should have approached the CCEA only after acquiring land for the project. Under the freight corridor project, 5,270 hectares of land is to be acquired for the western corridor (Delhi-Mumbai), while 3,563 hectares will be acquired for the eastern corridor (Delhi-Howrah). 
   The railway ministry has almost completed the survey for the two corridors, but the land acquisition process has been slow. Out of Rs 28,000 crore earmarked for the project, Rs 9,000 crore is to be raised by the railway ministry as equity, while the remaining has to be raised through debt. The Railways says that as some part of the debt is to come through a loan from the Japan government, they are yet to be told by the finance ministry as to how much that amount would be. 
  The railway ministry had circulated a draft Cabinet note to the ministries of law, finance and the Planning Commission proposing an amendment to the Railway Act earlier this year, which would enable it to acquire land 
expeditiously for the project. This amendment, the ministry has suggested, should be on the lines of the National Highway Authority of India Act. 
 French firms scouting for business opportunities in rail transport.
NEW DELHI, October, 21, 2007:  At least seven French rail companies with no prior experiences in India, have been scouting for business opportunities in rail transport in the country. The expertise of the companies varies from RFID technology to designing of transportation spaces.  Indian Railways (IR), which has been sitting on over Rs 30,000 crore profit made during the last two years, may dole out high value contracts to private companies. What has made the Indian market even more lucrative is that cities such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad are building metro rail networks. 
   The French companies which may like to have a grip in the Indian market includes SETEC, a public transport engineering company, BALOGH, which specialises in RFID technology and JST which sells traction transformers. Neu Railways, which has expertise on maintenance for rolling stock and NFM, which manufactures boring machines, are also scouting for business opportunities in the Indian rail market. A senior representative from NFM said, “ we are looking at new opportunities in the Delhi airport linkage project, Bangalore and Chennai metros, and also in some hydro power projects.”  Established French railway players like Alstom and Systra are also keen on getting a bigger pie in the rail transport business here. 
 Railways to add middle berth in sleeper coaches
NEW DELHI, October 18, 2007 : Indian Railways plan to add a middle berth along the corridor of coaches in trains barring Rajdhani Express in order to accommodate more passengers and boost revenues. This will be done in regular and air-conditioned sleeper berths. Currently, a three-tier sleeper coach has only two side berths along the corridor. This allows both passengers to sit in separate seats facing each other without blocking the aisle. While a non-AC sleeper coach has total 72 berths, an AC three-tier coach has 64 berths. 
  However, the railway ministry is now working towards adding nine berths in non-AC sleeper coach and eight berths in AC three-tier coaches on the side by raising the upper berth and fit another berth in the middle. Fund has already been allocated and the retrofitting work will begin next month, Niraj Kumar, Executive Director, (coaching) said. It would cost about Rs 1.5 lakh per coach to do the retrofitting work. "While the Research Design and Standard Organisation (RDSO) has approved the changed design, we have also got the safety clearance to go ahead with retrofitting work in 12,500 non-AC sleeper coaches and 1,500 AC coaches in  our workshops," said Kumar. "We have already done it in three coaches in Jhelum Express on an experimental basis", he added. 
  There is a considerable increase in passengers. The number of AC three-tier passengers increased from 20.61 million in 2005-06 to 23.89 million while the number of passengers in non-AC sleeper coaches rose from 177 million to 205 million during the same period. 
 Source: PTI
Indian Railways mulling online bidding for vacant seats
NEW DELH, October 17, 2007I: The Indian Railways are mulling online bidding for vacant seats in sleeper classes below the notified price. "Like airline tickets, we are planning to allow bidding for vacant seats," a senior railway official said here today. "Bidding will be permitted below the notified price," he said. If there are vacant seats in AC two-tier coaches, then the bidding will start at AC three-tier fares, the official said. "The bidding for vacant seats is part of our project for the development of a commercial portal for the Railways," he said. 
  "The Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) is developing the portal. The project, costing nearly Rs 100 crore, will be executed on the Public-Private Participation model," the official said. "Once the CRIS finalises the format, we will invite tenders," he said adding many IT majors have shown interest in the project. Besides tickets, the portal will have facility for booking freight. "Our aim is to switch over to online mode in a big way in 
phases. This includes tendering and procurement of goods," he said. 
 Source: PTI
 Toilet girl goes global
Chennai, October, 16, 2007: A schoolgirl who has solved a centuries-old problem vexing Indian train travellers will rub shoulders with global experts at the World Toilet Summit in Delhi. Fourteen-year-old K. Masha Nazeem of Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, had two years ago designed a train toilet that would keep tracks at stations free from filth and stench. The invention brought her a cash award at the Indian Science Congress in Hyderabad last year, as well as a note of encouragement from then President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
  The Class X student will be the only schoolgirl at the October 31-November 3 summit, where UN and government agencies will focus on public sanitation programmes. Masha’s achievement, at age 12 when she was in Class VIII, is remarkable in a country where 70 crore people lack access to proper sanitation and where water contamination by human waste is seen as the biggest health problem.
  Masha’s invention allows a locomotive driver to switch off waste release from all the toilets when the train enters a station. The waste collects in a tank, to be discharged by another press of a switch once the train leaves the platform. The device, said to be simple and elegant, had amazed railway engineers and railway minister Lalu Prasad. Junior railway minister R. Velu had promised to consider incorporating it in coaches built by the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai. Masha’s device made news when it won the first prize at the Southern India Science Fair 2005 in Secunderabad.
 Source: THE TELEGRAPH
 Indian railways inaugurated its Integrated Train Enquiry System 
Chennai, Oct 15: Indian railways today inaugurated its south zone "Rail Sampark," or the Integrated Train  Enquiry System (ITES), a one stop shop for information on various aspects. Union Minister of State for Railways R Velu inaugurated the service, wherein one can call 139 and get information on PNR enquiry, current train running position of any train in any part of India, accomodation availability and fare enquiry. 
 "This is an effort by the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) and the Indian Railway Catering and  Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) and is a fulfillment of a promise made by Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad  Yadav in the Railway budget," Velu said after making the first call from South India. Rail Sampark is already operational in north and west zones. The round the clock service was worked out after the department received many complaints on no or little response to enquiry calls. "No calls will go unattended and if there is no response in the regional call centre (Mysore in South India), it will be routed to the zonal hub, located in Chennai," Velu said. 
   Presently available only on BSNL and MTNL lines, the service will also be expanded to other service providers' lines. Among other initiatives, the southern railway will acquire 25 10-way self-printing ticketing machines to speedily issue tickets on suburban train routes. 
 Railways earnings up 11% from April to end-September
 New Delhi October 15, 2007: The Indian Railways' approximate earnings on originating basis from April to end-September stood at Rs 32,572.29 crore as compared to Rs 29,379.56 crore during the same period last year, which is an increase of 10.87%. The PSUs' total goods earnings grew by 10.43% to Rs 21,752.35 crore between April and September 2007, as against Rs 19,698.71 in the corresponding period last fiscal.
   Passenger revenue earnings during first six months of the financial year 2007-08 stood at Rs 9,510.18 crore, as compared to Rs 8,456.20 crore over the same time last year. Revenue earnings from other coaching and sundry operations increased by 6.95% to Rs 1,309.76 crore during April-September this fiscal, as against Rs 1,224.65 crore during the corresponding period last year.
   The railways recorded a 5.55% increase in passenger bookings. There were approximately 3.3 billion bookings between April and September 2007 and 3.1 billion last fiscal.
 Source: Business Standard
Indian states want bullet trains
 Chennai, Octber, 13, 2007 (IANS):  A number of state governments have made representations to the railway ministry seeking bullet trains, Minister of State for Railways R. Velu said here Saturday. Speaking at a seminar at the University of Madras, Velu said Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana and West Bengal 'wanted the railways to begin bullet train projects' in their states. The ministry is studying the feasibility of trains running at 250-odd km an hour, on the lines of bullet trains in Japan.
 Source: Indo-Asian News Service 
Rs 660 cr bonus for Railways staff for 2006-2007
 New Delhi October 11, 2007: The Union Cabinet today approved the payment of a productivity-linked bonus, equivalent to 70 days wages, to eligible non gazetted Indian Railways employees for 2006-07. The Indian Railways is the country's largest employer.
  The bonus would cost the Railways Rs 660 crore and would be distributed among 1.33 million group C&D employees. The bonus has been calculated on the basis of the formula approved by the Cabinet at a meeting held on September 23, 2000. However, Railway Protection Force and Railway Protection Special Force personnel have been excluded from payment.
  In addition, the Cabinet also approved Rs 63.20 crore as budgetary support to a dozen central public sector undertakings. The funds would go towards liquidating outstanding statutory dues, paying salaries and wages for the period up to June 30, 2007. 
 Source: Business Standard
Indo-Bangla talks to take up Moitree Express schedule
NEW DELHI, October. 8, 2007: The inter-governmental railway meeting between India and Bangladesh which began here today took up various issues on streamlining the freight-train operations between the two countries. The additional secretary (railway division) in the Bangladesh communications ministry, Mr ATKM Ismail, leads the Bangladesh delegation to the two-day session of the internal governmental deliberations. The joint secretary in the traffic department of the Railway Board, is leading the Indian team. 
  The two points of inter-change in India are at Gede and Petrapole. In Bangladesh Darshana and Benapole are interchange points. At present about two to three freight trains enter Bangladesh from India every day. Railway ministry sources said though the trial runs for the Moitree Express had already been conducted, the two governments were yet to finalise the operational aspects for the first passenger train service between the two countries. There was still no word on what would be the likely fare structure for the proposed train, sources said, adding the two countries were also yet to finalise the schedule for running trains and rotational aspects of the operations. 
 Source: The Statesman
Railways to extend discount on freight charges
  NEW DELHI:   A Diwali bonanza for construction, cement and steel companies as the Railways is all set to announce an extension of 30% discount on empty flow direction for freight carriage till December. The scheme was valid till September 2007 only. The mini rake scheme would also continue. 
  The Railways is of the view that the move would not hurt revenues as freight growth rate in second quarter of 2007 has been quite impressive at 14%. “The idea is to attract maximum traffic from our only competition, which is road. The truck rate is significantly higher than the rate for the return trip, whereas the Railways charge the same rate in both directions. The scheme does not include transportation of coal and iron ore. Under the scheme of mini-rakes, extra wagons are made available without any additional charge in the non-peak season and at a freight rates higher than block rake trains by 5% in the peak season. Railway’s peak season is September-February.
 Source: The Economic Times 
The Indian Railways’ (IR) decision to better usage of urban land
New Dehli, October 5, 2007: The Indian Railways’ (IR) decision to develop its major stations in Mumbai is very timely. The buoyant property prices and demand for commercial space could help IR raise funds to meet its huge investment needs, reducing dependence on the exchequer and market borrowings. Most railways the world over are big property players. 
  With 750 acres of prime land at its Bandra, Mumbai VT and Mumbai Central stations, there is no reason why Mumbai and other big cities should not contribute more to IR’s non-core revenues. Part of the reason why IR has been slow in commercial development of property is lack of regulatory clarity. 
  The Railway Act 1989 has now been amended to allow commercial  development of railway land. In fact, the Railways has already handed over nearly 90 sites to a dedicated body, Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA), which became functional at the beginning of the year, for commercial development. 
 Source: Economic Times
                                                                                                                        
  
Indian Railways in twinning pact with Welsh rail
                                   
                                The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
LLANDUDNO (WALES) October 04, 2007: Indian Railways, the world's second largest under a single management, has entered into a pact with Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways, one of the world's smallest, to cooperate in a wide range of areas. 
  The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the first railroad to be granted World Heritage status, was modeled on Ffestiniog Railway and first opened in 1882. "The two railways will soon be discussing technology transfer of turning coal-fired engines into oil-fired," said Welsh Railway company manager Samantha Hughes at a Showcase Wales tourism event. "The 'twinning' agreement will help in exchange of ideas on crossings, signal technology and even guard operations," Hughes said referring to the pact that allows exchange of ideas, knowledge and technology, among other issues.  Ffestiniog Railway, that runs a 25-mile network along with Welsh Highland Railway, celebrates its 175th anniversary this year, while the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is in its 125th year in 2007. Ffestiniog Railway has "twinned" with HSB in Germany and a railway company in South Africa. 
Source: The Economic Times

 Railways special package for tourists
 MUSSORIE, October 03, 2007:  With rapid growth in domestic tourism industry, railways have worked out a package that takes care of train reservation and hotel booking woes to woo Indian and foreign tourists and plans foray in outbound tourism. "We have worked out a dynamic strategy in association with transporters, hoteliers and state tourism departments to provide an affordable package to tourists. Known as VAT package, it is being launched across the country," A K Barar, Group General Manager, Indian Railway and Tourism Corporation 
(IRCTC) said. 
  "We have identified about 80 prominent destinations including Mussorie, Shimla, Kanyakumari, Cochin, Munnar, Puri, in the first phase which will be expanded in the next phase to include more tourist spots in the country," Barar said. "We are targetting the common man to avail our new services. Whether it is a group of people or just one family, the VAT package can be availed by all," said Barar. Though IRCTC had earlier been in tourism business it was not in a full-fledged way as more focus was on catering business. Now, it has created a new tourism marketing department to work out novel ways to lure tourists in a big way. The department is constantly working out new schemes to woo tourists. 
 Source: The Economic Times
Sonia Gandhi  to inaugurate railway projects 
  CHANDIGARH, September 29, 2007: United Progressive Alliance chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi would be the chief guest at various functions of the Indian Railways at Rewari on October 7, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said here on Friday. Mr. Hooda said he had received intimation from Railway Minister Lalu Prasad that five prestigious projects of the Indian Railways would be launched from Rewari. Ms. Gandhi would dedicate to the nation the newly converted broad gauge rail line between Rewari and Delhi Sarai Rohilla; lay the foundation stones for a new broad gauge rail line between Rewari and Rohtak and electrification of rail line between Rohtak and Shakurbasti and flag off two new trains.
  Source: The Hindu
India to run female passengers train 
  New Delhi, September 28, 2007: Railway authorities in India are planning a new service on selected directions for female passengers coming to Delhi on working days. It's aim is to reduce the number of cases of men who disturb women on overcrowded trains and cause harassment and other inconveniences to women during local 
train journey. Authorities plan to run women-only trains between national capital Delhi and Panipat and Palwal in Haryana and Aligarh in the Uttar Pradesh state. 
  "We have submitted the proposal to the railway board for running exclusive trains for women office-goers in certain routes," the Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted Sri Prakash, a railway general manager as saying. About 25,000 women commute to Delhi from the neighboring areas on working days. 
 OFC COMMUNICATION NETWORK TO COVER 5000 RAILWAY STATIONS
  New Delhi , Ministry of Railways, September 26, 2007: RailTel Corporation of India, a public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Railways, plans to extend its Optical Fibre Communication (OFC) network from about 2900 railway stations covering 30000 route kms at present to 5000 railway stations in the country covering 45000 route kms to provide bandwidth and multi-media services. The seventh Foundation Day ceremony of RailTel was organized at National Rail Museum, New Delhi today.  
  Speaking on the occasion Shri S.K. Vasishta, Managing Director, RailTel Corporation said that Railtel’s data 
connectivity at every railway station on the OFC route is enabling large scale opening of Passenger Reservation System (PRS)/Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) facilities thus benefiting common people even at remote stations. RailTel has a plan of setting up feature packed cyber cafes initially at 82 Railway stations under the brand name of “Cyber Express”. These are next generation cafes with facilities for web browsing at broadband speed, e-mailing, Internet Gaming, Internet Telephony, Scanning, Printing, Photocopying, faxing and video conferencing – all under one roof. This facility shall be open 24 hours and 365 days for the public. The users can access cyber cafes through pre paid cards/ vouchers which can be used across all the stations thus providing roaming facility to the users. To ensure that these cyber cafes are not being used by anti-social elements and 
terrorists, security measures like CCTVs and maintenance of photo-registers will be maintained. 
   RailTel has successfully started operation of its cyber cafes at 24 stations across India. The stations at which these cyber cafes have been setup are New Delhi, Chandigarh, Gorakhpur, Jaipur, Jhansi, Jodhpur, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Asansol, Sealdah, Howrah, Puri, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Guntur, Bangalore, Ernakulum, Secunderabad, Mysore, Vijaywada, Ahmedabad, Mumbai Central, Nagpur and Pune. 
   RailTel is poised to deliver another first for the high end railway passengers by deploying Wi-Fi hotspots at Railway stations to deliver Internet services to the passengers having Wi-Fi/WiMax enabled devices. Initially planned at 50 Railway stations, the service will be delivered on WiMax/Wi-Fi based platform. Reliable Passenger Reservation System (PRS) and Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS), has now became a necessity to service 
people more productively. RailTel is in the process of shifting these vital circuits alongwith those for train operations and control communication on the Optic Fiber Cable (OFC) and Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) network of RailTel thus guaranteeing reliable communication with greater availability. Huge cost savings are expected, as all these applications will be transferred on a unified IP network, which will be highly efficient and scalable. RailTel’s data connectivity at every Railway station and even at important places in a city on its network will also enable large scale opening of PRS/UTS facility thus greatly benefiting common people of the country.
   In another major initiative, RailTel has plans to become first National Long Distance (NLD) network in the country to migrate from conventional network to Next Generation Network (NGN) Technology to enable operators to further cut STD rates and make it more efficient STD (National Long Distance) services to subscribers using RailTel’s NLD Network. RailTel already has IUC (Interconnect) Agreement with major operators like Airtel, Idea, TTSL, TTML, HFCL among others. On the strength of this network, RailTel will be able to offer not only STD trunk 
services but can further enhance its service portfolio by offering various Value Added Services (VAS) like enterprise VoIP, Video conferencing, etc to its Enterprise customers. 
 Source: PIB
                                                                                                                                             
German railway team to explore tie-up with Indian Railway
 NEW DELHI, September 26, 2007:  An 11-member expert team from Deutsche Bahn, the German Railway, is coming on a five-day visit to India next month to explore possibilities of technical cooperation with various ongoing projects of Indian Railway. The team is reaching India on October 8 and slated to visit eight cities including Mumbai, Lucknow, Allahabad, Mughal Sarai, Tughlakabad and Ghaziabad. 
   Germany has an advanced railway system and is known for its expertise on signalling, electrification, locomotive manufacturing, logistics, maintainance and operations. The Indian Railway is also using German technology in its signalling system in some areas and looking for more areas of cooperation, the official said. 
 Source: The Economic Times
Railways Minister promises unprecedented rail budget next year
 MOTIHARI (Bihar) September 25, 2007:  Promising the next rail budget to be unprecedented and astonishing, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday said its thrust will be on further expanding the network in the country. "The next budget for the Railways will be unprecedented and astonishing. We want to further expand the network in the country and reach such people who have not yet got the opportunity to use its service," Prasad said while addressing a gathering here after flagging off a new train between Motihari and Varanasi. 
   Describing the Railways as the country's "lifeline", he said, "Though India has the largest rail network in the world, we want to take it to the people who are not yet reached." Thirty-nine rail-road over-bridges were being constructed in the state and the rail-cum-road bridge over river Ganga between Digha and Sonepur -- declared as national project -- will be completed by 2009, Prasad said while accusing his predecessors of ignoring the state in awarding rail projects. He thanked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for extending support for the project. 
  Source: The Economic Times
Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) on running trains. 
 Patna, September 24, 2007:  The  Indian railways ministry has decided to introduce yet another passenger- friendly facility by announcing Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) on running trains. Railway sources here today said the ministry was serious about introducing ATMs in trains to enable passengers to avail themselves of banking facility. Presently, prominent railway stations like Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai have ATM facility and the ministry had already planned to open 1,833 more ATMs on railway stations across the country.
  The plan was also to enable commuters with e-ticketing facilities installed alongside the ATMs on the stations. Railway sources maintained that nationalised banks would install their ATMs in the trains and a separate boggie with adequate arrangements of security personnel would ensure safe transactions. 
  "This was possible through Global Positioning System(GPS) and Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) on which Research, Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) has been working to explore the feasibility of such a novel concept and fulfill the long cherished dreams of the people to avail of banking facility while traveling," the sources said.
                                                                                                                                          
Railway Reservations through post offices
  NEW DELHI, September 21, 2007: A dedicated unit has been set up in the Business Development Directorate of the Department of Posts for designing and implementing new IT based business packages in the rural areas. Post offices in the rural areas have the inherent potential of becoming centres for dissemination of information be it in the field of health, education agriculture or marketing said  Shri A.Raja, Minister of Communications and Information Technology at a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his Ministry. 
    Railway Reservations through post offices is yet another effort by India Post to extend the benefits of IT induction, to people residing away from railway reservation centres. The scheme initially proposed to be launched at 30 locations will be extended to rural areas also as soon as Ministry of Railways is able to install their systems in Post Offices, the Minister said. 
Get a berth and unwind
  Guwahati, September 17, 2007 :  This Puja, the Indian Railways is going full steam ahead to bridge the divide  between the region and the rest of the country. The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited, a  public sector enterprise under the ministry of railways, will launch its maiden nine-day trip from Guwahati to  popular tourist destinations, including Calcutta, Puri, Chilka and Bhubaneswar, this Saturday. 
  It will also launch similar trips from New Delhi to the Guwahati-Kaziranga-Shillong-Tawang circuit as part of its  plans to explore the Northeast. Sources said the special trains would not only help the Railways tap the burgeoning tourism market but also offer holidayers a safe and hassle-free journey. Depending on the response, the “festival trains” could become a round-the-year feature with packages for both high-end and budget travelers.
   The chief regional manager of the corporation, L. Saikia, said the city office is offering value-added tour  packages , the first of which will chug out on Saturday — inclusive of reservations, road transport, sightseeing and food. The two-tier AC package will cost around Rs 19,000 while the three-tier AC seat will cost Rs 1,000 less.  Similar packages from Guwahati are also on offer for tourists taking the Gangtok-Kalimpong-Darjeeling route.
   The Delhi-Kaziranga-Shillong special is expected to get on track by December. But it will be a little longer before it reaches Tawang, Dutta said. “People from the south and west generally fly to New Delhi for the trip as it helps cut down on time,” he added. Dutta said though the Puja special packages are more suitable for high-end tourists, the corporation is planning to launch economy trips if the effort is successful. An economy class berth would be 40 to 60 per cent cheaper than two or three-tier AC travel. “The packages are so designed that one  has just to board the train and forget about everything else. “Travellers will take home not only beautiful sights —  Jagannath Temple, Konark Sun Temple, sea beaches at Puri, Chilka Lake, Nandankanan Zoo, Kalighat temple, Victoria Memorial, Birla Planetarium, Jorasako, Dakshineshwar and Belur Math — but also get to know the culture and way of life in the places they visit,” he added.
Source: The Telegraph - Calcutta
 Train crushes pilgrims, sparks violence in Uttar Pradesh
 LUCKNOW, September 14, 2007: (Reuters) - At least 14 Hindu pilgrims were killed in Uttar Pradesh after five of them were run over by a train on a bridge and the rest panicked and jumped into a river and drowned, officials said on Friday. The incident, which occurred late on Thursday, led hundreds of pilgrims to go on the rampage as they set ablaze a carriage on the train, damaged railway property and blocked the track for hours. Authorities said pilgrims on the train stopped it by pulling the emergency chain as it passed over the bridge to collect water from the Saryu river, considered sacred to many. "As the train came to a halt over the bridge, some pilgrims got down to fetch the river water," said J.N. Chamber, the state's home secretary.
  "Another scheduled train came on the other track over the bridge, leaving those on the bridge in a nervous and confused state and leading to the accident." Railway officials said five pilgrims were crushed under the wheels 
of the train and rescue teams had recovered nine bodies from the river so far. The devotees, also known as "Kanwarias", walk hundreds of miles every year to collect holy water from rivers in northern India and also visit temples across the region. 
 The Indian Railways will require 1,800 electric locomotives 
  CHITTARANJAN, September 12, 2007:  A quantum jump in production from 30 to 320 in just five years, has been planned for the Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, the country's pioneering railway engine manufacturer. The rising graph has been outlined, considering the increasing demand for railway engines to cater to the domestic services during the 11th five-year plan. 
  The Indian Railways will require 1,800 electric locomotives during this period. However, CLW, according to the top Railway board officials, would not be able to meet it, despite the full utilisation of its shops. By the end of the 2009-10 financial year, CLW, as per as its projected plan would produce 320 locomotives annually. The loco major had produced only 90 locomotives in the 2004-05 financial year, when the orders were slashed dramatically, causing worry among the company workers, executives and the labour unions. In the last financial year, CLW started climbing the rising graph and produced 150 railway engines, out of which only 36 units were 3-phase locomotives of international standard. In the present fiscal year, the railway board has asked the company to ensure the production of 200 locomotives, out of which 55 units would be of 3-phase type. 
  The 3-phase locomotives are produced at CLW with technology transfer from Switzerland based M/S Adtranz. Besides the increase in production figure, the railway board as well as the ministry has asked the loco major to help in substantial price reduction. The ministry of railways has approved Rs 121 crore in two phases towards the augmentation of the existing R & D wing of CLW. Mr VN Mathur, member (Traffic), railway board said: “CLW should continue to lay more stress on the production front, as the country will require 3,600 new railway engines by the end of the current five-year plan.” 
 Source: The Statesman
                                                                                                            
Budgetary support for unfinished rail projects proposed
  NEW DELHI, September 8, 2007 : Indian Railway is facing a major challenge to arrange funds for about 60 projects sanctioned on socio-economic considerations under the Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana scheme envisaging an investment of about Rs 20,000 crore. Considering the huge requirement of funds, the Standing 
Committee on Railways has recommended that budgetary support to the railways be adequately enhanced so that the projects taken up especially in hilly, tribal and backward areas could be completed as early as possible. 
  The committee has also suggested the constitution of an expert committee consisting of eminent economists and representatives of the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Finance to explore new sources of funding and suggest remedies so that all the sanctioned projects are completed in a maximum period of five years. The committee also noted in its report that some uneconomic branch lines connected with the main line had not been converted into broad gauge so far and said such branch lines be identified and converted into broad gauge lines so that it may lead to socio-economic development of the areas. 
  The panel felt that Railways can improve the efficiency and productivity by decongesting the routes which are over saturated and by removing the bottlenecks by linking the missing links in doubling, gauge conversion, electrification and signaling and telecommunication system and better management of terminals on the viable routes. The committee expressed its concern over the slow progress of national projects and recommended timely release of funds by the Centre and expeditious execution of these projects by the Railways. 
 Source: Economic Times
INSTALLATION OF ATVMS AT RAILWAY STATIONS
  Lok Sabha, September 07, 2007: Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs) have not yet been installed on Indian Railways for disbursing journey tickets. However, Platform Ticket Vending Machines are functional at 
Patna, Muzaffarpur, Gaya, Bangalore city, Bangalore Cantt., Mysore, Yeshwantpur and Krishnarajpuram stations of Indian Railways.
  Provision of approximately 6000 ATVMs at approximately 1400 locations has been sanctioned. These are proposed to be installed through ‘Public Private Partnership’ model subject to successful implementation of pilot project. 
  Yes, Sir. A pilot project for installation of approximately 300 smart card based ATVMs in suburban stations of Central and Western Railways in Mumbai area will be undertaken by the end of year 2007. This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri R.Velu in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today. [ PIB Press Release ]
CASH SURPLUS EARNED BY RAILWAYS
  Lok Sabha, September 06, 2007: Railways have budgeted for a ‘cash surplus of Rs.16082 crore after dividend’ in the current year. This cash surplus is utilized to finance the Railways’ Plan for augmentation of track & rolling stock and replacement & renewal of the Railway infrastructure. 
  At present, around Rs.218 crore have been sanctioned for various works costing above Rs.50 lakh to bring about improvement in sanitary conditions of service buildings (including station buildings), Railway colonies and improving the condition of coaches including provision of green toilets. In the current year’s Plan, an amount of Rs.23 crore (i.e., 0.14% of the above cash surplus) has been provided for undertaking these works. Works valuing less than Rs.50 lakh are undertaken by zonal railways under their powers. 
  Apart from above, about Rs.800 cr is to be spent on the sanitation of service buildings (including stations), residential colonies & welfare buildings and the coaches from out of the working expenses of the Railways which are incurred before arriving at the above surplus. 
  A special campaign has been launched to mark the year 2007 as ‘cleanliness year’. Frontline staff are being  imparted ‘on the job customer care training’ besides the class room training for a period of one year or so. 
  A number of stations have been selected on Indian Railways for developing them as Clean Train Stations. Railways are also making special efforts to improve the standards of cleanliness and hygiene in trains with special emphasis on rake cleaning in the depots during maintenance by going in for mechanized cleaning arrangements, enroute cleaning at Clean Train Stations wherever commissioned, cleaning during terminal attention at the other ends, comprehensive cockroach and rodent control in trains etc. 
  This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri R.Velu in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today. 
                                                                                                       
Hygienic kitchens in railway stations and pantry cars
  September, 03, 2007: After being hauled up by the court for unhygienic kitchens in railway stations and pantry cars, the Indian Railways have announced a slew of measures to remedy the situation. The government- run Indian Rail Catering and Tourism Corporation has recruited professionals with experience in the hospitality sector to ensure that those who supply food to the railways maintain specified standards. The railway ministry has also set up a committee to suggest standards for kitchens and revision of menus. It is high time they did so since surprise checks by a court-appointed committee found vegetables being chopped on trains without being washed, the cooking staff not using gloves and colonies of cockroaches in pantry cars. 
  These measures, though welcome, are cosmetic. Despite the sharp lowering of domestic airfares over the past few years, an overwhelming majority of Indians still travels by train. But the railways, despite collecting a few brownie points in recent years, haven't done enough to ensure the comfort or safety of passengers and also haven't kept up with technological advances. Take, for instance, the time taken by a Rajdhani, the country's premier train, to travel from Delhi to Mumbai or Kolkata. The duration of the journey - roughly 16 hours to Mumbai and 17 hours to Kolkata - has remained practically unchanged since the Rajdhanis were introduced four decades ago. 
  In the same period, the travel time taken by trains has been cut significantly in the rest of the world. The Rajdhanis travel at an average speed of around 90 kmph while the bullet trains in Japan as well as trains in Europe run at average speeds of well over 200 kmph. One of the reasons why Indian trains can't run at speeds comparable to those in Japan or Europe is the absence of modern rail tracks and equipment. The Indian Railways must invest big time to upgrade their network. 
  There has been a dramatic turnaround in the fortunes of the Indian Railways in recent years. This has largely been based on the increased freight being carried by trains. It's time that the railways funnel some of these profits to creating high-speed corridors for trains and to increasing passenger comforts. The railways have taken some steps in the right direction. Tickets can now be booked on the Internet; touch-screen TVs on seats are being introduced in Shatabdi trains and the train toilets are cleaner than before. But much more needs to be done if Indian trains are to reach world standards. 
 Source: The Times of India
185 railway stations susceptible to terror strikes: minister
New Delhi, August 30, 2007, Indian Railways has identified 185 railway stations all over the country that 
could be vulnerable to terrorist strikes and is taking measures to upgrade the security system, Union Minister of State for Railways R Velu has told Parliament. Of these, 17 are metro stations where Indian Railways plans to upgrade the security system, said Velu replying to a starred question in the Lok Sabha. "The railways have started procuring X-ray machines to install them at selected places on these railway stations," the minister said.
  One such machine has been installed at Kolkata in the Chitpur terminal railway station and another at Delhi Main railway station on Platform no. 18, where the Delhi-Attari Express berths. The train carries passengers bound for the Pakistan border at Attari and had been the target of terror bombings in February this year in which 65 people, mostly Pakistani passengers, were killed. The minister also said that the different zonal railways have ordered 29 more X-ray machines for their respective terrorist-sensitive stations/platforms. Besides this, the Indian Railways is getting more trained sniffer dogs, bomb detection and disposal equipments, handheld metal detectors, doorframe metal detectors and closed-circuit cameras and television system for these railway stations.
  The railways have installed closed-circuit television cameras on important platforms at 31 railway stations so far, said Velu in reply to another starred question in the Lok Sabha.
 Source: Hindustan Times
Myanmar, Tanzania keen on old engines
AHMEDABAD, 29 Aug, 2007:   Old diesel locomotives which dominated Indian meter gauge tracks since the sixties are today export material. The railways has instead renovated the locomotives and is selling them to countries like Myanmar and Tanzania.  Tanzania Rail Corporation is run by a consortium of Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES), an enterprise of ministry of railways and Tanzania government, with RITES holding a 51% share. The arrangement is on a 25-year lease basis. 
 For the Sabarmati Railway Diesel Shed (SRDS) of Western Railway in Ahmedabad, old has indeed turned gold. Following gauge conversion, SRDS renovated out-of-the job locomotives and is now in the process of exporting these ‘second-hand locomotives’ through RITES. 
 While Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi, undertakes manufacturing of new locomotives, the Thiruchirapalli-based Railway Shed carries out overhauling work of old locomotives. However, RITES selected SRDS for the renovation of meter gauge locomotive. So far, SRDS has bagged the order for renovation of 15 meter gauge locomotives. It has received Rs 5.23 crore from RITES. 
 Of the 15 locomotives, five have been despatched by road to Chennai port on August 15 for  export  to Myanmar. The second lot of five locomotives is scheduled to take off during the first week of September to Tanzania and remaining five locomotives will also be despatched (exported) to Tanzania by the end of December this year, SRDS project in-charge Vishal KapurKapur said. 
 The locomotives meant for export have been incorporated features like modification in diver's cabin to ease the ergonomics of train operations by the drivers, poly urethane 
paint for better aesthetics as also long life. Other features include dual brake modification to haul both air brake and vacuum brake trains as per international requirement, footboard modifications and frontage modifications for better looks and provision of ‘Vigilance Control Devices’, which applies brakes on the train in case something happens to the driver, say heart attack. 
 Source: Economic Times                                                                                          

 Bullet trains to ply in four corridors in India
 NEW DELHI, August 23, 2007 : Railways are contemplating to run high-speed bullet trains in the country, the Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday. The Railway Ministry will conduct pre- feasibility studies for construction of high-speed passenger corridors, equipped with the state-of-the-art signalling and train-control systems for running high-speed trains at speeds of 300 to 350 km per hour, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad said in a written reply. 
 The proposed trains are to run in the Northern, Western, Southern and Eastern regions of the country. Various state governments were approached by railways to find out their willingness for participating in pre-feasibility studies. Governments of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have agreed in principle to participate in the pre-feasibility studies. 
  Public-private partnership Special purpose vehicles have been formed in partnership with private sector partners to execute Haridaspur-Paradip, Obullavaripalli-Krishnapatnam and Bharuch-Dahej port connectivity projects, Prasad said.

Joshi Museum of Miniature Railways
 The Joshi's  Museum of Miniature Railways in Kothrud, Pune is small and beautiful museum, the only one of its kind in the country. The museum, brainchild of B.S. Joshi, an engineer by profession is a two-story building and was opened to the public on April 1, 1998. 
  The museum is like a miniature city on a circular structure of 12 foot or so. Rail lines meandered through the city. A fully functional station yard with as many as six platforms, three main lines, an announcement system, plenty of siding, goods loading facilities, turn-table cranes and so on were on show. Perched on the rails were miniatures of all sorts of trains. There were steam trains billowing smoke, diesel engines, high speed inter-city express, circular ground trains, the local shuttle right before us. In the  show the alive trains moving along their lines, evoking the curiosity of a rail journey. Off they went through the ghats and tunnels sending us into raptures. More ...
    Joshi's Museum of Miniature Railways

 Allow Railways to use surplus money for its development
 Bangalore, August 19, 2007 : Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on