EXTENTION OF CANCELLATION OF 12873/12874 HATIA-ANAND VIHAR JHARKHAND SWARNAJAYANTI EXPRESS IN VIEW OF FOGGY WEATHER

Kolkata, 14th February, 2017:

In view of foggy weather 12873/12874 Hatia-Anand Vihar Jharkhand Swarnajanti Express will continue to remain cancelled from Hatia upto 28.02.17 and from Anand Vihar Terminal upto 01.03.17.

Source:SER

DFCCIL-Railways inks MoU to fix target for various projects during 2016-17

New Delhi: The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation and the railways have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to fix the target for various projects during 2016-2017.

Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL), a government enterprise under the administrative control of the Ministry of Railways, is at present carrying out construction of 3,342km eastern and western freight corridors for exclusively movement of goods trains.

The MoU envisages laying down the target for various important activities of DFCCIL. It will also help timely release of funds for execution of projects, land acquisition and continuance of full assistance by the Ministry of Railways in deputing officials on tenure basis to work in DFCCIL.

The MoU was signed on September 26 by DFCCIL Managing Director Adesh Sharma and Railway Board Secretary R K Verma.

The 1,840km Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor from Ludhiana to Dankuni near Kolkata traverses Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

The 1,502km Western Dedicated Freight Corridor from Dadri (Uttar Pradesh) to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (Mumbai) passes through Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Haryana.

These freight corridors will contribute in a great manner towards the economic development of the states encompassing them as well as help ease the traffic load on existing Indian Railways network.

The core sectors like power houses, fertiliser, food grains and POL (petroleum, oil and lubricant) movement will be benefited by this infrastructure.

Source:RailNews

Minister of Railways introduced Wi-Fi services at Three More Railway Stations i.e. Patna, Ranchi & Visakhapatnam

The Minister of Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu inaugurated the High Speed Wi-Fi services at Patna (Bihar), Ranchi (Jharkhand) & Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) Railway Stations through Video Conferencing from Rail Bhawan, New Delhi for the commuters at these Railway Stations. The Wi-Fi facility for the visitors & rail users at these stations has been commissioned by RailTel in association with Google for providing high speed state of the art world class internet experience to the commuters. Chairman, Railway Board Shri A.K. Mital, Member Engineering Shri V.K. Gupta, M.D. RailTel Shri R.K. Bahuguna, and other board Members were present at Rail Bhawan to grace the occasion. Various dignitaries were also presented at the respective abovementioned Railway Stations.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu said that as the India is heading towards digitalization, Internet has become the basic need of every individual for which they are entitled to. He said that to bring the railway stations to world standard and to keep pace with the latest technology, provision of high speed WiFi is the first step in this direction. He said that so far this facility has been provided at 19 Railway Stations which will be extended to 100 Railway Station in the coming one year. He said that after completion of this project of providing WiFi facility at all 400 stations, it would be the biggest WiFi service in the world. He said that Indian Railways have been taking lot of measures to improve the facilities for the railway users and the coming time will also bring lot of new facilities which will make the railway passengers feel proud.

Source:PIBNEWS

Railways goes for drastic cut in Tender processing time

New Delhi: Faced with a huge backlog of pending projects, railways has accelerated project execution by cutting down tender processing time from 2-3 years to 6-9 months with focus on faster completion of works which are commercially viable and can reap huge benefits for the cash-strapped transporter.

With the fast-track mechanism in place, tendering process for 14 doubling projects worth Rs.13,260 crore out of 77 worth Rs.96,000 crore announced in the rail budget 2015-16 has already started.

According to earlier practice, it used to take 2-3 years after tenders were called for a particular project announced in rail budget. The tardy process has resulted in backlog of around 300 projects costing around Rs 3.5 lakh crore over the years.

Earlier, after a project was included in the budget, it was sent to Planning Commission (now NITI Aayog) for ‘in-principle’ approval. Then it used to go to the extended railway board and finally to cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA). Once CCEA approved it, railways would go for the final location survey and subsequently prepare detailed estimates. Expenditure could be incurred only after detailed estimates or part of it had been sanctioned.

“This process takes 2-3 years which means tender can be called roughly two years after a project is included in the budget,” an official said. To cut down the time gap of two years, railways has asked zonal railways to carry out final location survey immediately after work is included in the budget. Zones have been directed to send detailed project report (DPR) to railway board with a reasonably firm cost. After examining DPR, the board sends it to NITI Aayog for ‘in-principle’ approval. CCEA would consider the projects after Aayog’s nod.

“Zones can call tenders soon after Aayog’s approval. However, the financial commitment can be made only after all approvals are in place,” said an official, adding that zones are empowered to sanction detailed estimates and can accept all tenders.

A senior official said, “With new mechanism in place, out of 77 projects, DPRs of 67 has been prepared and received by the board. Around 14 has received Aayog’s nod and they have been sent to CCEA for final approval.”

The projects fast-tracked by railways included works related to providing connectivity to coal and iron mines in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha and busy passenger lines.

Nine Railway Stations of Jharkhand are chosen for modernisation into world-class

Ranchi (R): Nine railway stations from Jharkhand are a part of the Centre’s list of 400 chosen for modernisation into world-class infrastructure through private-public partnership (PPP) mode, getting the seal of Union cabinet’s approval on July 16.

Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu has promised a web-based bidding process and evaluation by independent experts to ensure transparency in this ambitious exercise, which is likely to see mega investments from private partners.

Of the 400 A or A-1 category stations across India with focus on metros, major cities, pilgrimage centres and tourist destinations, Jharkhand’s nine are Ranchi, Hatia and Bokaro of South Eastern Railway, Daltonganj, Gomoh, Koderma and Parasnath of East Central Railway, and Jasidih and Madhupur of Eastern Railway.

Sanjoy Ghosh, Chief Public Relations Officer of the Calcutta-headquartered South Eastern Railway (SER), said all the nine were Category-A Railway stations.

An official from SER, Calcutta, said though the final modalities of revamp were yet to be known, the stations would be developed on the Swiss Challenge approach, which is by inviting open bids from interesting parties.

“For instance, a real estate developer may give a detailed proposal of redevelopment of a railway station, which would be uploaded on the official website. If someone comes up with a better proposal, that new proposal would be accepted, and this process would go on, till a special railway committee selects the best proposal,” the SER official said.

“Developers will leverage real estate development of the land and air space in and around the stations,” he added.

Niraj Kumar, senior divisional commercial manager of Ranchi division under SER, also maintained they were yet to formally get modalities of the project.

“Ranchi and Hatia railway stations are under our division. We are looking forward to out-of-the-box ideas from interested parties for redevelopment of these railway stations,” he said.

Prabhu, during his visit to Ranchi in June, had also maintained that they planned to convert Ranchi station into a world-class facility.

Reminded of the minister’s promise, senior divisional commercial manager Kumar said: “Making Ranchi station world class will take time but a dedicated team has already started working in this regard.”

Elaborating on the proposal, he said: “A world-class station is one that has proper transport linkages with other stations, high-end passenger amenities, including shops, restaurants and lounges, etc. All these will have to be done on the PPP mode. For this, you need to have land so that a private player can work uninterrupted.”

“We (the railways) have enough land but at various places we don’t have title deeds. Therefore, we have activated a dedicated team that is in constant touch with state government to transfer title deeds. The government is very positive and is cooperating with us. But it is a time-taking process and needs meticulous planning and paperwork on all fronts,” Kumar stressed.

Govt to offer 26% in DVC Power Plant to Railways

New Delhi: The government plans to offer a 26% stake in generation-to-irrigation utility Damodar Valley Corporation’s coal-fired power plant at Raghunathpur in West Bengal, which is expected to be acquired by central generation utility NTPC, to the Indian Railways.

Power minister Piyush Goyal is likely to make the offer to railway minister Suresh Prabhu soon. He is of the view that buying into the project in Purulia district of the state would provide a captive source to the railways and reduce its daily power consumption costs.

Goyal said NTPC’s takeover of the project will benefit all stakeholders, including thre two states — West Bengal and Jharkhand. He has already spoken to the chief ministers Mamata Banerjee and Raghuvar Das, who are believed to have agreed to the plan.

DVC has not been able to complete the project because of lack of funds. It has a debt of Rs 30,000 crore and Rs 8,000 crore arrears — much of it from Jharkhand. The company may not be keen on selling the project to NTPC but the proceeds could reduce its financial burden.

Goyal said the government is also working to ensure that DVC gets its outstanding from the Jharkhand government soon. “We are working on it and it will be done.”

The Centre is of the view that Raghunathpur has remained a “half-baked” project for DVC and selling it off to NTPC would resolve the problem for DVC as well as for NTPC. There are two phases of development. The first phase has two units of 600 mw each, while the second phase consists of two units of 660MW.

Only one unit of first phase is operational. The second unit is stuck in the absence of infrastructure for water and coal supply. The second phase too is stuck, though contracts for equipment have been placed with state-run power gear-maker Bhel and BMR. But there are structural problems in the way orders have been placed.

CBI arrests railway official in bribery case

A railway official in West Bengal was arrested for taking bribe from a subordinate promising a favourable transfer, a CBI official said on Wednesday.

"Prem Prakash Sharma, a senior mechanical engineer in Asansol railway division, was arrested on Tuesday night after being caught red handed taking a bribe of Rs.5,000 from Sanjay Kumar," said a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official.

"Sharma had asked for the bribe for relieving Kumar in pursuant to his transfer orders for Bokaro (in Jharkhand)," said the official.

Sharma, during the day, was presented before a court which remanded him in 14 days' judicial custody.

Source:Webindia123

Mineral-rich Jharkhand a priority for Railways: Prabhu

Ranchi (RNC): Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu launched three key railway projects in the state and Odisha on Sunday and pledged to weave an intricate railway network in mineral-rich Jharkhand by 2018.

Prabhu opened the 16.5km third line between Sini and Rajkharsawan under Chakradharpur division of South Eastern Railway. The minister also launched four additional loop line projects (in Harubera, Barkipona, Nagjua and Urma stations) that will ease railway traffic in the busy Muri-Barkakana, Ranchi-Lohardaga and Adra-Chandil lines.

“Jharkhand with its rich mineral reserves is crucial for India’s economy. Keeping that in mind, the state’s rail network will be improved in the next three years,” Prabhu said at the ceremony. He was accompanied by chief minister Raghubar Das.

The minister also inaugurated a DEMU passenger train between Rourkela and Sambalpur in Odisha and laid the foundation of an electric loco shed in Bondamunda, both under the South Eastern Railway (SER).

Prabhu, while inaugurating an automated laundry of 1 ton capacity in Ranchi station, promised Das to look into the demand for a direct train to Mughalsarai in Bihar via Patna, a daily express between Ranchi-Trivandrum via Chennai (that in turn would help patients heading to south India for treatment) and another daily between Ranchi-Dehradun.

However, the minister granted the CM’s demand to extend the Puri-New Delhi Purushottam Express up to Jaipur. “It is important to finish the long standing projects,” Das told Prabhu. Prabhu said the railways is mulling to overhaul Ranchi into a world class station under PPP mode.

Prabhu also said the railways is working to establish base kitchen in every station and commission pantry cars in long distance trains.

Tatanagar will become Jharkhand’s first station to have battery-operated cars (railway buggy) at many places

Tatanagar (TATA): They look like golf carts and are a blessing for the elderly, the ailing and the physically challenged at major railway stations.

Now, Tatanagar will become Jharkhand’s first station to have battery-operated cars, often called the railway buggy at many places.

The service is likely to start by July-end. “It’s the first such service in Jharkhand and we hope it will help passengers immensely,” said A.K.Agarwal, a spokesperson of Chakradharpur Railway division, under which Tatanagar falls.

“We are working out the modalities to start the battery car service on Tatanagar’s platforms. We will select an NGO to operate and manage the service. A nominal charge will be taken from passengers who book the battery-operated car,” Agarwal said.

Each car will have a sofa at the rear that can seat up to three passengers. It can also carry luggage, but not as much as a trolley can.

According to Agarwal, the battery-operated car can ferry elderly and physically challenged passengers – as well as luggage – from one platform to the other and also go right up the entrance of the station.

Booking will be done from a centrally located place, most likely a kiosk set to come up beside Enquiry. A buggy can be booked by showing the passenger’s ticket. Later, a ramp may be built to enable the battery-operated car reach the auto stand outside for added convenience. Phone numbers for this service are also likely to be advertised prominently.

“Once the car services start, after alighting from a train, a physically challenged or an elderly passenger can actually relax,” he said.

“The battery operated vehicles will immensely help passengers especially the elderly ones,” said Vijay Anand Moonka, a senior functionary of Singhbhum Chamber Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and chairman of the business outfit’s railway committee.

“We have noticed numerous passengers suffering from arthritis and other related diseases face a lot of problems in walking on the platforms to catch trains. The battery operated vehicles prove a boon for such passengers apart from the disabled and elderly ones,” said Moonka.

Chotanagpur Passengers’ Association also welcomed the new passenger-friendly effort.

“We have been demanding this service for quite some time. The railway needs to be very careful in selecting the NGO which can effectively manage and run the service without any hassle,” said Arun Pandey, a senior functionary of the passengers’ outfit.