Today's Cancelled Trains
Railway Employees News
07:55
Showing posts with label CRIS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CRIS. Show all posts
Monday, 5 April 2021
Wednesday, 19 July 2017
IMPLEMENTATION OF GOODS AND SERVICE TAX (GST) ON TRANSPORTATION OF PASSENGER BY RAIL
IMPLEMENTATION OF GOODS AND SERVICE TAX (GST) ON TRANSPORTATION OF PASSENGER BY RAIL
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Monday, 27 March 2017
Vacancies
06:55
Circulation of One vacancy of Sr.Executive in Purchase Cell at CRIS New Delhi on deputation basis. (Published On: 17/03/2017)
Circulation of One vacancy of Sr.Executive in Purchase Cell at CRIS New Delhi on deputation basis. (Published On: 17/03/2017)
Source:CRIS
Monday, 2 May 2016
Soon, Porters on Indian Railways will be an App away: CRIS
Soon,
Porters on Indian Railways will be an App away: CRIS
Initially, the service will
be made available only for passengers at the New Delhi railway
station. Registered porters at the railway station, who number more than
1,000, will soon become part of an online database, from where they would be
assigned to passengers
New Delhi: Travelling heavy becomes a major hassle when you
have to hire a porter at a railway station to carry your luggage till the
coach. The biggest problem is haggling over the payment.
All this may soon be a thing of the past — at least at the
New Delhi Railway Station.
Registered porters at the railway station, who number more
than 1,000, will soon become part of an online database, from where they would
be assigned to passengers who request for their services through the
application.
“Passengers would be able to book sahayaksthrough the mobile app
that will become operational from the New Delhi Railway Station,” said Arun
Arora, Divisional Railway Manager, Delhi.
“The mobile-based application is being developed by CRIS
(Centre for Railway Information Systems),” Mr. Arora added.
CRIS is the Information Technology arm of the Ministry of
Railways and has been at the forefront of developing many IT-enabled services
for Railways.
Senior officials of the CRIS, however, could not be
contacted despite repeated attempts.
According to sources, passengers would not only be able to
book porters through the soon-to-be-launched app, but also book wheelchairs
with helpers at the New Delhi Railway Station.
“All the sahayaks , along with their mobile numbers and
badge numbers, will be registered on the database.
When a passenger books a porter from his or her mobile
phone, they will receive his mobile number and badge number,” said a senior
railway official who did not wish to be named.
“The passenger can contact the sahayak and tie-up with him to meet at a
designated spot. We are also trying to come up with a mechanism through which
passengers can make payments online,” he said.
The mobile application would also have the option of
registering complaints by mentioning the porter’s badge number.
The mobile-based application is expected to be launched by
Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.
If the pilot project turns out to be successful, the model
will be replicated at other railway stations across the country.
If successful, the model will be replicated at other railway
stations across the country
Source:RailNews
Friday, 18 March 2016
Southern Railway
21:58
TRACK YOUR TRAIN’S PLATFORM USING 139 OR NTES APP AT CHENNAI CENTRAL
619/2015-16
18-03-2016
CHENNAI
TRACK YOUR TRAIN’S PLATFORM USING 139 OR NTES APP AT CHENNAI CENTRAL
YET ANOTHER INITIATIVE BY SOUTHERN RAILWAY FOR PASSENGER CONVENIENCE
Southern Railway has made arrangements for passengers boarding and alighting at Chennai Central railway station to get information regarding the Platform Number on which their train will be received or dispatched.Platform allocation at Chennai Central has been linked to both 139 and the NTES app.This facility will be enabled at all major stations in a phased manner.
Platform allocation as well as information regarding expected arrival and scheduled departure of trains is available through the NTES app and from 139.The NTES app is a free app which has been developed by the Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) for Indian Railways.This app can be downloaded on any Windows, Android or i-phones through Play Store or the i-Tunes app Store and will also give information regarding cancelled, rescheduled or diverted trains.
Through 139, passengers can receive their PNR status as well as information regarding time of arrival and departure of all trains including Platform Number allocation by sending an SMS.
For information regarding arrival/departure time and Platform Number, the customer should send SMS to 139 as given: AD spaceTrain Number space STD Code of station/city.For instance, type AD 12607 044 and send to 139.
Friday, 6 November 2015
UTS
23:35
BOOKING OF SEASON TICKETS AND PLATFORM TICKETS ON MOBILE APPLICATION
305/2015-16
05-11-2015
CHENNAI
BOOKING OF SEASON TICKETS AND PLATFORM TICKETS ON MOBILE APPLICATION
As part of “Operation Five Minutes”, initiative of the Hon’ble Minister of Railways announced during 2015 Budget Speech, Indian Railways launched a mobile ticket booking facility for unreserved travel. This facility was first opened on Southern Railways and the Chennai Suburban section was covered in June 2015. This application enables passengers to avoid standing in queue for to purchase their journey ticket and also avoid usage of paper for printing of ticket. Users are now booking tickets using this application for journey over the suburban section and on an average 1,200 passengers are booking journey tickets, using this application.
Fifty two percent (52%) of passengers on the suburban section travel with season tickets. To help reduce the waiting time in queue for these customers, CRIS has further developed for Indian Railway, the Season Tickets feature on the same application.
Season Tickets can now be booked between pair of stations lying over Chennai Suburban, using the same application and will be valid only from the next day of the booking day unlike journey / regular ticket. Season Ticket can be booked from any location and there is no restriction in booking within the station or within the 5 km radius applicable to journey ticket, which was restricted in for journey tickets due to Geo fencing. This application also facilitates the renewal of the season tickets purchased already through the UTS ticket.
Just like journey tickets booked on this app, the Season ticket too can be carried on the phone and shown when requested for by ticket checking staff.
The details of how to book season tickets is available on Southern Railway Website (www.sr.indianrailways.gov.in)
Further, now booking of Platform Ticket has also been developed on this application and enabled for 5 major stations (Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Mambalam, Tambaram and Perambur).
For booking of platform ticket, the Geo fenced area is modified slightly so that platform tickets can only be booked within a radius of 2 km around the station and cannot be booked inside the station and along the track.
With these two new features – i.e. Season Ticket booking and renewal on the mobile, and booking of platform tickets, users can not only avoid counter queues completely but they can carry the ticket on their phones too.
Thursday, 15 October 2015
wait listed
10:02
Vikalp,A New Scheme to shift waitlisted tickets from one train to the next on which seats/berths are available.
Vikalp,A New Scheme to shift waitlisted tickets from one train to the next on which seats/berths are available.
On waitlist? Railways to allot seat in next train
CHENNAI: Booking train tickets this festive season will be a bit easier with the railways providing the option to shift waitlisted tickets from one train to the next on which seats/ berths are available.
The 'Alternate Trains Accommodation Scheme' (Vikalp), will be launched on November 1. Under the present system, passengers are allowed to book on one train at a time and waitlisted tickets do not gurantee a seat. It often has to be cancelled.
The new system allows a passenger to select alternative trains they wish to travel while booking tickets. The option will be available also for passengers travelling from stations which are not origins or destinations.
The new system allows a passenger to select alternative trains they wish to travel while booking tickets. The option will be available also for passengers travelling from stations which are not origins or destinations.
Some of the premier trains operated from Chennai such as Chennai-Madurai Pandian Express and Tamil Nadu Express to New Delhi have more than 300 passengers on the waitlist during holiday seasons. Beyond a limit, the railways doesn't allow reservation and allots only open tickets. Thus long-distance travellers are forced to reserve on multiple trains and wait for confirmation.
The new system works well for the passenger and the railways: It gives the passenger a hassle-free experience of booking just once; the railways gets to fill seats of special trains in a more streamlined manner. A circular sent out by Railway Board to zonal railways said that the scheme as suggested by Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) "will be implemented across mail / express trains of the same category, and no extra charges shall be taken from passengers, and no refund shall be provided for the difference of fares". Separate seats will not be earmarked for the scheme.
A senior official said the railways is preparing a list of trains and stations to be covered under the scheme. "On most occasions, passengers do not prefer to travel by special trains. Though new trains are introduced, several passengers continue to prefer a few popular trains. We will now be able to shift waitlisted passengers from a scheduled train to a special one."
Passengers welcomed the move as it promises confirmed berths or seats. Arun Pandian, a frequent traveller, said, "Some of the long-distance now run with empty coaches. An example is Dehra Dun-Madurai Express via Chennai that often runs with several of its compartments vacant. People prefer Pandian Express which has a long waitlist. The new scheme will help seats in such trains get filled, reducing the holiday rush."
Source :Times Of India
Thursday, 3 September 2015
Indian Railways to utilize ISRO’s Geospatial, Satellite Technologies
Indian Railways to utilize ISRO’s Geospatial, Satellite Technologies
New Delhi: Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today said for using geospatial technology and satellite technology for various operations of Railways, a Memorandum of Understanding will soon be signed between the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) (the IT arm of the Ministry) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Heavy Rail and Light Rail organisations around the world have pioneered the application of geospatial technology (Geographic Information Systems or GIS) to rail infrastructure and operations using Intergraph technology. Close integration of spatial information with operational systems, like SAP, Maximo and MIMS/Ellipse, has helped engineers and managers gain clearer insight into asset performance and improve the efficiency and safety of operations. Other key business functions include security and incident response, environmental management, noise mapping and control, property and land title management.
Launching three IT initiatives by organising video-conferencing between, Rail Bhawan and New Delhi Station, he said safety and security of passengers was of paramount importance of his ministry.
Railway Infrastructure Managers and Operators are huge property owners, managing very relevant areas of the territory related with railway infrastructures and facilities. Due to historical reasons – railway is a centenary industry – and further developments, within this valuable real estate assets, there are significant possessions in urban and suburban environments associated to lines, railway stations, logistic terminals and interfaces, yards, workshops, etc.
Each network, private or public, has its own context (world region, history, culture, values, leadership, …), but one thing is quite common among them regarding property and real estate control: information, when it exists, relies on old paper support deposited in “dark” basements of buildings or warehouses and it’s not an easy process to create knowledge from it under this conditions.
When we refer application to railway land assets or generally speaking about the territory, we basically must relate two main variables: property and ownership. Further on, within a railway organization control is quite an important issue to several activities that should be developed over a very same reality: the railway domain.
In the year 2013, the General Manager (IT & Communications) of Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) had done extensive study on the need for GIS in Railways and Interfacing the GIS with applications on Indian Railways. The same can be downloaded here: GIS Base Map SS Mathur
GIS and Railways
Investing in current and reliable geodata is rewarding. There are lots of examples where efficiency gain can be attained but also an increase in safety and avoidance of damage to the environment.
The public receive a better service, including the fast availability of substitute transport, shorter incident problem-solving times and prevention planning.
Quality geodata should be a precondition for management in the railway sector and ideally one shouldn’t set up a business case for the improvement of data quality. In different countries there’s attention for BIM and geoinformation in the whole lifecycle of the railway network: from feasibility study, design and construction to the maintenance and management phase that which presents a comprehensive list of railways activities where GIS support have a prominent role.
Railway managers, whether focused on passenger or freight delivery, can use the spatial and analytic components of GIS to efficiently manage assets, maximize throughput, and monitor safety. The ability to share maps and information online improves communication with your stakeholders, including customers (Esri, 2014), empowering entire railways infrastructure life-cycle management.
Tuesday, 1 September 2015
Railway Minister
23:59
Railway Minister launches three important IT enabled Services developed by CRIS
Railway Minister launches three important IT enabled Services developed by CRIS
New Delhi: The Minister of Railways, Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu today launched the following IT initiatives developed by Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) (the IT arm of Ministry of Railways using remote control by organising Video-Conferencing between, Rail Bhawan and New Delhi Station.
1. Paperless Unreserved Ticketing through Mobile Phone between New Delhi – Palwal Section (NR)
2. Currency Coin cum Card operated Automatic Ticket Vending Machines at New Delhi Railway Station
3. Mobile Application for Freight Operations (PARICHAALAN)
Chairman, Railway Board, A.K. Mital, Kundan Sinha, Member Traffic, Railway Board, Jamshed, Additional Member (IT), Mrs.Vandana Nanda, Managing Director, CRIS, Board Members and senior officials of Railway Board and CRIS were among those present on the occasion in the Rail Bhawan. At New Delhi Station end, Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan and Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) Ms. Meenakshi Lekhi, New Delhi constituency.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu said that he is happy to launch various new initiatives, especially IT related initiatives, which are directed towards improving passenger and customer services on Indian Railways. The IT applications which have been inaugurated today are an indication that Indian Railways is constantly moving towards e-Governance. As you are aware, in the recent past we have launched a number of such IT initiatives which were also part of my Budget announcements. Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of Digital India is also our guiding force in Indian Railways. The Minister said the IT initiatives being undertaken by Indian Railways are in line with the Digital India Programme. He said that the spirit of this programme is to work as broad umbrella for various initiatives undertaken to improve quality of life and create facilities for common people.
Suresh Prabhu said that in April & June we had launched Paperless Unreserved Ticketing System for Chennai and Mumbai suburban sections. Today this has been launched for New Delhi-Palwal section of Northern Railway. This system shall now be proliferated to other important suburban sections of Eastern Railway, South Eastern Railway and South Central Railway shortly.
He said that Introduction of Coin-cum-Currency operated Ticketing Vending Machine is another step forward in ensuring that passengers get their tickets quickly under ‘Operation five minutes’ announced in Railway Budget. These ticket vending machines shall be installed at all the major stations in the country. 450 machines are being procured and installed by CRIS and shall be available at major stations during the next 3 months.
The Railway Minister said that the Freight Monitoring App named ‘Parichaalan’ is another development towards improving operating efficiency through improved Management Information System. This App shall greatly help the senior decision makers of Operating Department to plan freight operations on real time basis. After the initial experiment, this App shall be provided to other operating officers in the field.
Suresh Prabhu said that very soon Monthly Season Ticket (MST) can also be purchased through mobile by the passengers in Mumbai and Chennai suburban Railway network. The Railway Minister also said that even the platform ticket will soon be made available through the mobile phone.
The Minister further stated that in last few months we have also launched many other initiatives including Complaint Management System with mobile application to facilitate obtaining suggestions and complaints from passengers. Many improvements have been brought about in e-ticketing segment especially automatic refund during cancellation of trains, development of Hindi e-ticketing portal and integration of customer services on single portal. SMS Alert System to inform passengers about arrival and departure of trains, all India helpline and Mobile App for woman security have also been launched recently in Mumbai & Kolkata.
Suresh Prabhu said that it is also a matter of pride for us that all these applications are being developed by our own IT organization CRIS in consultation with nodal Directorates of Railway Board. This domain expertise and in-house specialization is unparalleled and these innovations are widely acclaimed to be the best in market.
The Railway Minister also announced that a Memorandum of Understanding will be signed shortly between Railways Department of CRIS and ISRO for using Geospatial Technology and satellite technology for various operations of Railways.
BRIEFS ABOUT VARIOUS IT INITIATIVES:
CASH/SMART CARD OPERATED TICKET VENDING MACHINE (CCOTVM)
Cash/Smart Card operated Ticket Vending machine (CCoTVM) is an unmanned self-operated kiosk which can be used by passengers themselves to buy unreserved tickets through Currency/Coins as well as smart cards. These kiosks have easy graphical interface for ticket transaction so that the user can operate these machines. The kiosk accepts currency/coin of all denominations of Rs 5 and above. The machine does not accept soiled/cut/ glued/taped/colored notes and accepts currency notes of Gandhi series. CCoTVMs will reduce queue length at existing ticket counters by providing an alternate unmanned ticketing solution and mode of payment. CCoTVMs have the following functionalities:-
1) Issue of non-concessional second class journey tickets for non-suburban section and second/first class journey/return tickets for suburban section.
2) Issue of Platform Tickets
3) Renewal of non-concessional season tickets.
4) Recharge of smart cards in denominations of Rs. 20/-, Rs. 50/-, Rs. 100/- and Rs. 500/-.
CCoTVM consists of:
1) Thin Client
2) Thermal Printer
3) Touch screen
4) RFID reader
5) Cash Validator with 15 notes escrow
6) Coin Validator with 10 coins escrow
7) The cash box has the capacity to hold 25,000 notes and 3,000 coins.
The basic difference between Automatic Ticket Vending Machine installed upto now and newly introduced CCoTVM is that ATVM can issue tickets through smart cards while CCoTVM can issue tickets using Cash (notes & coins) and smart cards. It can also be used for recharging these smart cards.
Security of CCoTVM:
The machine has two access doors, both at the front side of the machine and is equipped with mechanical & electronic locks. One door is used for maintenance activity by the service engineer. The second door is for accessing the cash box and is integrated with an alarm system. The alarm will go off whenever the door is opened by any unauthorized person. The machine has a cash box with electro mechanical lock at the bottom. Whenever the authorized supervisor wants to open the cash box to takeout shift cash, he/she will gain access to the machine by using a supervisory smart card. On keeping this smart card on the reader slot and pressing the Indian Railway logo on top right side of the screen, the supervisor’s menu will appear on the screen. After entering the password, machine will print the Daily Trains Cash -cum-Summary Book (DTC) for accountal of the collected cash.
PAPERLESS UNRESERVED TICKETING MOBILE APPLICATION
To move forward in line with Digital India, Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) has developed a paperless Unreserved Ticketing feature in Mobile Application “utsonmobile” both for Android and Windows platforms. This will eliminate the need for printing of Unreserved Tickets on ATVMs at the stations. User can download ‘App’ from Google Play Store or Window Store.
The application was rolled out as a pilot project between Chennai Egmore & Tambaram suburban Section of Southern Railway on 22.04.2015 and Churchgate-Dahanu Road suburban section of Western Railway on 08.07.2015. The application has now been implemented on complete suburban area of Chennai & Mumbai Western Railway suburban section which covers 125 stations over 295 kms distance. Presently, about 1600 tickets are being booked daily by the passengers through this application.
The application is now being implemented on the New Delhi-Palwal section of Northern Railway covering 11 stations over 57 kms distance. For paperless ticketing, GPS co-ordinates of railway tracks on the New Delhi-Palwal section, plus 20 meters on either side of the tracks have been earmarked as Geo-Fencing area within which no ticket booking is allowed in order to ensure that passengers have ticket before commencing the journey.
The application provides necessary on-screen alerts to guide the passenger during the booking process. Payment for the ticket is done through the “Railway Wallet” feature in the “App”. After booking the ticket, the passenger will get the ticket confirmation screen which contains limited information of the ticket. The paperless journey ticket will be stored in the local mobile application database in the encrypted form which cannot be tampered with. Ticket booked in paperless mode cannot be cancelled in order to prevent claiming of refund after travel.
The ticket has distinct colour scheme everyday and it is embedded with Quick Response (QR) code. It cannot be forwarded to another mobile or edited or printed. The old invalid tickets will be removed from the mobile device through a sync feature in the ‘App’.
For the purpose of ticket checking, the application has various features such as colour scheme, show ticket features, secret code of the day, booking time of the ticket and scrolling of legend “IR UNRESERVED TICKETING”. In case of mobile in disconnected mode, it will be checked through QR Code.
PARICHAALAN, REAL TIME DECISION MAKING IN FREIGHT OPERATIONS
Freight operations on Indian Railways are monitored through various reports generated by FOIS. These MIS reports represent various facets of freight operations like rolling stock holding of wagons and locomotives, interchange of freight trains with neighbouring divisions/zones, loading details, current train running and terminal performance. These reports are tabular in design and are mostly static in nature.
‘Parichaalan’ is a mobile application conceptualized and developed by CRIS to make decision making on freight operations absolutely easy and user friendly. The application is a powerful tool as it not only represents data in a pictorial and graphical manner that is easily comprehensible but also makes the information dynamic and current in nature. Instead of focusing on post-mortems, Parichaalan moves operations management systems to a higher level of real time decision making.
‘Parichaalan’ overcomes all this by:
• Providing mapped movement of freight trains- the first time ever on IR.
• Providing powerful search tools-removing the need to sift through voluminous tabular data.
• Providing effective Decision Support System-focusing on the right parameters
• Use of powerful graphical interfaces-for easy comprehension of vital parameters of operations.
• Providing an effective planning tool-predictive in nature for planning of movement and loading.
• Providing a paperless tool- environment friendly leading to savings of a 1000 trees per annum.
• Allowing for mobility of officials- Live updates and decision sharing through the App.
• Allowing adequate time for officials- less stressful working environment.
• Allowing for instant information retrieval across multiple pages through hyperlinks.
• Cost saving in procurement of paper, printing and distribution
This App has the potential to earn carbon credits for IR and also can become a revenue generating tool by providing similar logistics solutions for IR customers like CIL, NTPC, SAIL, TISCO, FCI, Oil Co’s, Ports, etc
Friday, 17 July 2015
Indian Railways to allow Tatkal Train Tickets booking without ID Proof soon
Indian Railways to allow Tatkal Train Tickets booking without ID Proof soon
Chennai (MAS): Soon, passengers need not worry about providing their identity proof while booking tatkal train tickets, be it in the online or offline mode.
Instead, they can carry any one of the 10 prescribed proofs of identity, which include the passbook with photograph of a nationalised bank or a bank credit card with photograph, during the travel, a Railway Board circular dated July 14, says.
The new rule would bring a huge relief to a large number of passengers who are desperate to buy tickets a day ahead of travel. Currently, those making their way to the Passenger Reservation System (PRS) counters at 10 am to procure paper tatkal tickets have to submit photocopies of their identity card. Those who are booking the tickets online need to key in the ID card details. All these details will be printed on the reservation chart pasted on the train coach. In addition, the passengers need to furnish the same ID card to the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE). In case a different ID is shown, the TTE can slap fine on them for travelling without a valid ticket.
“There have been many instances when I’ve entered my driving licence details while booking the e-ticket, but during the journey I was carrying my PAN card and I was fined by the TTE. When I argued that the traveller’s details were same and only the ID card was different, he didn’t relent,” said S Karthik, a 27-year-old IT professional from Bangalore, who travels to Chennai regularly.
Others were relieved that their PAN card and passport details would not be printed on the reservation charts pasted on coaches. “In the time of internet and telephone frauds, it’s not safe for such details to be publicly available on the railway coaches where anyone can access them,” says 40-year-old home-maker G Pavithra.
The Railway Board circular has directed the Indian Railways IT wing, Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), to make the requisite changes in the software by September 1, after which the new rule is likely to come into effect.
Wednesday, 15 July 2015
UTS
15:40
Indian Railways Give Aesthetic Look to Passenger Tickets
Indian Railways Give Aesthetic Look to Passenger Tickets
NEW DELHI: While Indian Railways continue to struggle for providing quality food and travel experience to passengers aboard trains, it has decided to give a aesthetic and uniform look to passengers tickets. Railway Board has already circulated the set format of passenger tickets to all zonal railways for the same.
The need to have a uniform look for passenger tickets was felt as at present 16 different format of tickets under unreserved ticketing system (UTS) are prevalent in different zones in the country.
The existing format of UTS tickets has been reviewed in consultation with CRIS (Centre for Railway Information Systems), the IT arm of railways. Of the 13 million passengers who travel by train, nearly 12 million are unreserved passengers.
“Based on feedback received from CRIS, it has been decided that 16 formats of UTA tickets may be replaced with seven formats,” said an order issued by Vikram Singh, Director Passenger Marketing, Railway Board.
The specifications say that the size of the ticket shall remain same 120mmX64mm with advertisement and 103mmX64mm without advertisement. The printable area shall be 78mmX59mm. The caption of ‘Happy Journey’ (in English and Hindi) shall be printed at one side of Indian Railways logo and pre-printed stock number on the other side of Indian Railways logo.
According to CRIS official, a design competition was held whereby ideas were crowd sourced and some of the best have been selected.
“The idea was to give aesthetic and uniform look to UTS tickets and now all zones have been instructed to take necessary actions,” said the official.
Railway has also tied up with Ahmedabad based National Institute of Design (NID) for an image over of state run transporter and passengers can expect designer interiors, quality beddings, innovative designing, green toilets and user friendly coaches.
The NID will improve passenger services through innovative ideas focusing on people, environment and sustainability through this Research Centre. It will also design ladder for upper berths, lighting arrangements at stations and circulating areas to give an aesthetic touch to rail facilities.
Railway has signed agreements with other ministries for making a coordinated effort to improve services. It already has arrangements with the road transport ministry for construction of ROB/RUB, coal ministry for improving coal linkage and urban development ministry for development of areas around railways stations.
Source :The New Indian Express.
Source :The New Indian Express.
Tuesday, 14 July 2015
Western Railway
07:37
Churchgate effect: Western Railway upgrades its check on loco pilots
Churchgate effect: Western Railway upgrades its check on loco pilots
The Western Railway on Monday installed a biometric Crew Management System (CMS) as part of its infrastructure, which also includes a breathe-analyser and a web camera, to keep a check on its loco pilots (motormen for long-distance trains), assistant loco pilots and guards. The plan was in the pipeline for a while, but after the recent Churchgate accident, the procedure was speeded up, according to officials.
The motorman in the Churchgate mishap, where the train’s rake crashed into a platform, has tested negative for the alcohol test. However, officials say it is time that a monitoring mechanism is put in place. Officials say the biometric CMS, camera and breathe analyser together will help in ascertaining the precise status of the train staff. It will provide scientific data, without needing manual intervention, they add. Currently, the loco pilots, whose trains ply through the western tracks, get their breathe analysed at Vasai railway station which has the only CMS. “It was developed by the Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) in the year 2005 and was installed around two years ago at Vasai,” said an official. With an upgraded infrastructure now installed in Bandra, the data will be available in live time, said officials. Also, it will be available from the starting point of the train, instead of from a halt that the staff otherwise have to take for the data to be recorded.
Churchgate train accident: Restoration work remains incomplete despite assurances
Steam locomotive to run in Mumbai
At last,toilets in train engines to help drivers relieve stress
The Western Railway now plans to expand the upgraded infrastructure to Mumbai Central, Vasai, Dahanu, Valsad, Udhana, Surat and Nandurbar. It will be utilised by 700 loco-pilots of long-distance trains and 400 Westen Railway motormen.
“It has a wide screen and the motorman has to log in with his or her depot name, bearing name of the station along with a four-digit number. After feeding the data, the officer needs to put his palm on the screen. The loco-pilot has to correctly feed the data, give his identity and get his breath checked by the analyser which is placed on the right side of the machine. The loco pilot will be considered fit to take the train after he gets a ‘BT clear’ message from the machine,” said a loco-pilot, on the condition of anonymity.
“If this KIOSK of CMS does not clear the motorman, he cannot report to duty and needs to meet the supervisor, “ said a source.
“The biometric CMS is leveraging technology for better efficiency and will be certainly saving time consumed. It is going to be installed very soon for the entire Indian Railway system,” said a Western Railway spokesperson.
Source : The New Indian Express
Friday, 26 June 2015
train cancelled
06:53
Indian Railways launches SMS based Alert Service for Cancelled Trains
Indian Railways launches SMS based Alert Service for Cancelled Trains
New Delhi: Ministry of Railways has started yet another passenger friendly measure on pilot basis, under which SMS messages would be sent to passengers informing about train cancellation in case the train in which they have booked their tickets for is cancelled due to unavoidable circumstances. Under this pilot project, the SMS messages are being sent to those passengers who are boarding at originating station. At a later stage, this will be extended to cover enroute station also. This exclusive SMS based service has been commenced on all India basis.
The SMS will be sent to their respective mobile numbers entered by them in reservation slips while buying tickets from PRS counters or while purchasing online e-tickets. The cancellation information would be sent quite in advance to the passengers for their convenience so that it may help them plan alternative arrangement in time. To avail this facility, passengers are advised to invariably mention their mobile numbers on the reservation slips.
The software for this service has been developed by Center for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), the information technology (IT) arm of the Indian Railways.
Friday, 5 June 2015
Recruitment rules
07:26
Passing out Function of IRSSE Probationers–2012 Batch from IRISET on 5th June, 2015
Passing out Function of IRSSE Probationers–2012 Batch from IRISET on 5th June, 2015
Secunderabad (SC): South Central Railway spokes person informed that the Passing out function of Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers (IRSSE) 2012 Batch is scheduled to be held on 5th June, 2015 at the Auditorium of Indian Railway Institute of Signal Engineering & Telecommunications (IRISET), Tarnaka, Secunderabad at 03.30 pm. Navin Tandon, Member Electrical, Railway Board will be the Chief Guest while Shri Pradeep Kumar Srivastava, General Manager, SCR and Shri P.K.Srivastava, Director General, Research Design & Safety Organisation (RDSO) will be the Guests of Honour.
INDIAN RAILWAY SERVICE OF SIGNAL ENGINEERS
The Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers (IRSSE) is a Group A Gazetted cadre of the Government of India. The officers of this service are responsible for managing the Signals and Telecommunications Engineering Organisation of the Indian Railways.
RECRUITMENT
The incumbents who are Graduates in Engineering are selected by the Union Public Services Commission, the apex gazetted recruitment body of the Government of India. The examination consists of Engineering Services Exam ; all India written test followed by interview for selected candidates. Based on the marks obtained, a choice can be made to join this service. The Engineering Services Examination is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) of India. The UPSC is responsible for recruiting middle and top-level bureaucrats for the Government of India.
ROLE AND FUNCTION
Functional Role : The service abbreviated as IRSSE has the job of Managing the vast Signalling and Telecommunication (S&T) infrastructure of the Indian Railways. This basically is techno-managerial in nature, Signalling principles and operating rules. The Signalling is a function essential for Safe Train operations and Maximizing the utilization of fixed and moving assets (Train rakes, locos, Track, Over Head Power Eqpt etc.). Telecom on the other hand caters for Both Safety related, Operational and Administrative communication needs of the Huge IR network. The Copper Cable, Optical Fibre Telecom and Microwave Links span several Lakh km.
General Management: Like all other IR Engineering (IRSE, IRSEE, IRSME) and Civil service Cadres (like IRTS, IRPS and IRAS), the IRSSE has the responsibility of contributing to the General management of railways. In IR, the general management posts are GM (general manager), AGM (Addl. GM), SDGM (Senior Deputy General Manager), CPRO (Chief Public Relations Officer), DGM (Deputy General Manager) etc. at Zonal level and DRM (Divisional Railway Manager), ADRM (Addl. DRM) at Divisional level. They have also to contribute for posts of CSO (Chief Safety Officers), Sr. DSO and Sr. EDPM.
ORGANISATION
APEX LEVEL :The S&T Organization is headed at apex level (i.e. Railway Board, Ministry of Railways) by ML (Member-Electrical) who heads Electrical and S&T Departments. IRSEE and Passing out Function of IRSSE Probationers–2012 Batch from IRISET on 5th June, 2015
IRSSE have access to this post. He is assisted by two Special Secy rank (equivalent to GM) officers v.i.z Additional Member (Signal) and AM(Tele). Due to importance of Signalling & Telecommunication in the working of Railways, the 5th Central Pay Commission recommended creation of separate post of Member (Signal & Telecom)in the Railway Board. However, the recommendations are yet to be implemented.
ZONES :The Indian Railways has 17 Zonal Railways with an average Track length of about 4000 km and average staff strength of about 80,000 headed by GMs. The Zonal Organizational structure of Signal Engineers is headed by HAG/SAG grade IRSSE officer designated as CSTE (Chief S&T Engr) who is assisted by various SAG officers designated as CSE (Chief Signal Engr), CCE (Chief Communication Engr), CSTE (Planning), CSTE(Projects) and CSTE(Construction) and SG/JAG, SS & JS grade officers designated as Dy CSTEs, SSTEs and ASTEs.
DIVISIONS : Each Zone is divided into 3-7 Divisions each with an average track length of about 1000 km and staff strength of about 15000 headed overall by DRM (Divisional Railway Manager).
At this Level the Signal Engineers are Headed by a JAG/SG grade IRSSE officer designated as Sr.DSTE (Senior Divisional S&T Engineer) who is in turn assisted by SS & JS grade officers designated as DSTEs and ASTEs. An IRSSE officer starts his career as an ASTE who is the Team leader of about 100-200 staff.
DEPUTATION OPPORTUNITIES
Most of the IRSSE Officers have an opportunity to join/opt on deputation in organisations like RailTel Corporation of India Limited (A Telecom PSU under Ministry of Railways) and Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) – an IT Arm of Indian Railways etc.
Indian Railways Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications
undefinedSetup in 1957 by the Ministry of Railways, Government of India, to cater to specialised training needs of their own staff and officers in the field of Railway Signalling and Telecommunication, Indian Railways Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunciations (IRISET) in the first year of its existence was concerned only with imparting training to Apprentices JE (junior engineers) Signal and Apprentice JE (junior engineers) Telecommunication, but subsequently, in view of the rapid developments in the field of Signaling and Telecommunication, several specialised technical training needs of Officers and Staff of Signal and Telecommunication Department in Signal Engineering, Telecommunications Technology, Electronics and Information Technology Training have also been introduced. Facilities available in this Institute are also extended to foreign nationals.
Located in the southern part of India in Secunderabad adjoining the capital city of Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh, the Institute is spread over about 28.3 hectares. IRISET provides initial as well as advanced training, theory as well as hands on, in Railway Signalling and Telecommunications. It caters to the total training requirement of the Officers and the Supervisors of Signal and Telecommunication department of Indian Railways.
IRISET is in the approved list of ESCAP and UNDP. It provides training in Railway Signalling and Telecommunications to private and public sector enterprises as well. It also train officials of Foreign Railways.
There are four hostels in the campus itself, one for officers and three for supervisors. There are laboratories for all the important areas of Railway Signalling & Telecommunication to provide hands on training in the Institute. The lecture halls are equipped with the modern teaching aids.
Friday, 29 May 2015
Shatabdi trains
11:18
Indian Railways to launch Paperless Ticketing system on Rajdhani, Shatabdi trains in collaboration with ISRO
Indian Railways to launch Paperless Ticketing system on Rajdhani, Shatabdi trains in collaboration with ISRO
Railways, ISRO to join hands in this initiative on a large scale basis. This system is available through a mobile application developed by the CRIS (Centre for Railway Information Systems). The reason for choosing Rajdhani, Shatabdi trains first for paperless ticketing system is that near 99.9% passengers of premier trains are likely to have mobile phones, says the Railways – hence an initiative; says Railway Board
New Delhi: Stepping up efforts to reduce usage of paper, Railways have decided to introduce paperless mobile ticketing system in premium trains like Rajdhani and Shatabdi services. In its effort to become paperless, the Indian Railways is in talks with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to have a GPS linked mobile ticketing system.
“Currently, the paperless ticketing system is operational in unreserved ticketing for commuters in Egmore and Tambram suburban section in Chennai on a pilot basis. Our aim is to extend the paperless ticketing system in both reserved and unreserved segment in phases. While the system is at present operational in a suburban section in Chennai, we will cover all suburban services soon and then it will be extended to reserved segment also,” said Member (Traffic)/Railway Board Mr.Ajay Shukla in New Delhi on Thursday. The Railways are going to introduce a mobile app that will indicate the locations at which a passenger starts his journey and completes it. The new IT Application will allow passengers to book and receive ticket on mobile phones.
He said passengers of the premier trains like Rajdhani and Shatabdi will be the first to have this paperless mobile ticketing facility. This system is available through a mobile application developed by the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) – an Indian Railways’ software wing. “The GPS linked system require mapping of the area and ISRO is doing that. We are in advanced stages of discussions with ISRO to develop such Mobile App,” Member (Traffc), Railway Board Ajay Shukla. Though mapping is available on Google, the Railways is opting for ISRO for the security reasons, said a railway official.
The reason for choosing Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains first for paperless ticketing system is that all most 99.9% of passengers of premier trains are likely to have mobile phones, he said. Shukla said, however, before introducing the system in the reserved ticketing segment, refund rules will be rationalised so that passenger will not have any problem in getting their money back if a ticket is being cancelled.
Railways consume about 600 tonnes paper for printing tickets and reservation charts in a year. The national transporter expect to earn carbon credit, if printing of tickets is eliminated completely.
Railways is also planning to launch multi-lingual portals for reservation of tickets. “Currently, it is in English and Hindi and we want the portals to be in all regional languages,” he said. In order to accommodate more passengers, Shukla said the number of coaches of certain popular trains will be increased to 24.
Sunday, 17 May 2015
Microsoft
18:15
The IRCTC portal sells Rs250 crore worth of tickets a day
The IRCTC portal sells Rs250 crore worth of tickets a day
New Delhi: The government-owned Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has kicked off a valuation process, in a move to tap the capital markets – the first step to entering the league of e-commerce companies that gain huge valuations over short periods.
IRCTC claims to book more rail tickets in a day than all the airline tickets sold across the world put together. However, analysts say RCTC’s record won’t fetch good valuation.
They say before hitting market, the portal should upgrade its software and appoint a CEO who can upgrade its working standards.
The IRCTC portal sells Rs250 crore worth of tickets a day, and books only about 54-58 per cent of the total train tickets and sees huge growth potential.
Reports quoting IRCTC’s chairman and managing director (CMD) AK Manocha said the valuation is expected to be higher than Rs14,000 crore.
”We have 3.1 crore customer data, get over two million hits a day, and book 5.5-6 lakh tickets a day,” he said, apart from hitting a high of 13.45 lakh bookings on 1 April.
Meanwhile, officials of IRCTC, Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) and the Railways are reported have held a meeting with ICICI chairman KV Kamath last December on this issue.
He said IRCTC has appointed Microsoft to conduct a proof of concept, and engage officials with big data knowledge to increase the government-owned company’s revenue streams.
A company release said ICICI Securities has been appointed as in-house advisor to assist in the valuation exercise / processes by coordinating and evaluating strategies and presentations by various advisors / bankers of IRCTC.
Tuesday, 12 May 2015
Suvidha sceme
08:04
After Tatkal,Premium the Railway Board Introducing "Suvidha" Scheme.
After Tatkal,Premium the Railway Board Introducing "Suvidha" Scheme.
Rail’s Suvidha scheme to be lighter on commuter pockets
New Delhi: After Tatkaal and Premium, the Railway Board will now introduce a scheme called “Suvidha” intended to be lighter on commuters’ pockets, considering trains were running empty under Premium fares. Slated to be launched in the first week of June, the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), which is the Railways’ IT arm, has been
asked to add the upcoming scheme to Indian Railways’ website.
Suvidha will be 200 per cent of the normal fare as opposed to Premium, which is 300 per cent of normal fare. Tatkaal, on the other hand, is Rs 300 added to the normal fare of whichever class one purchases, but is available only 24 hours in advance and is heavily misused by touts. Senior Railway officials, on condition of anonymity, revealed that Suvidha was thought of when Premium trains like the Mumbai-Gorakhpur Express ran at an occupancy rate as low as seven per cent in April.
“The Railway Board has asked all General Managers to identify which trains are running at such low occupancy; the idea is that by providing the Suvidha scheme, touts will find it even harder to operate and those who cannot afford the 300 per cent in Premium, but want to plan 24 hours in advance, will have an option as well,” said an official. He added that particular trains would be identified. “For example, if we see that people have stopped booking a train after a certain date, then we will switch that train from Premium to Suvidha, so if Mumbai to Gorakhpur is running empty from May 15, we will switch that train to Suvidha and the point of view that Railway is not affordable because of Premium will change,” he explained. The Suvidha scheme will also be provided as one of the results when passengers search for Tatkaal or Premium trains on the Internet.
