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Showing posts with label suresh prabhu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label suresh prabhu. Show all posts

Friday, 14 July 2017

18:34

Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu inducts First DEMU Train with Solar powered Coaches into service of the Nation

Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu inducts First DEMU Train with Solar powered Coaches into service of the Nation 
Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu today (14 July 2017) dedicated to the nation the first 1600 HP DEMU train with Solar Powered Coaches with a unique facility of Battery Bank here today. The entire electrical need of the coaches for Lighting, Fans and Information Display System will be met from the Solar Energy produced from the solar panels fitted in the roofs of coaches. While this train has been manufactured by the Coach Factory of Indian Railways namely Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai, its Solar panels and Solar systems have been developed and fitted by Indian Railways Organisation of Alternative Fuel (IROAF) Delhi. This first rake has been commissioned and based at Shakurbasti DEMU shed in Delhi of Northern Railway. Twenty-four more coaches will be fitted with this system within the next 6 months. The first rake will be put in the commercial service over the suburban railway system of Delhi division of Northern Railway.
On this occasion, Member Rolling Stock, Railway Board Shri Ravindra Gupta, General Manager Northern Railway Shri R.K Kulshreshtha, CAO of IROAF Shri Ravinder Gupta, CME Northern Railway Shri Arun Arora, CME IROAF Shri G.K Gupta, DRM Delhi Shri R.N Singh were among those present.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu said that “Indian Railways has taken a path breaking leap towards making Indian Railways’ trains greener and more environment friendly. Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has also been emphasising on use of green energy and Environment friendly measures. Indian Railways is committed for environment conservation & use of cleaner fuels. Indian Railways is trying to increase use of non-conventional sources of energy. More solar powered trains may be inducted in future.” Indian Railways has already made a target of 1000 MW Solar Plants in next five-years. Indian Railways is also taking several others environment friendly measures like Tea Plantation, Bio-toilet, Water-Recycling, Waste Disposal, using Bio-fuel CNG and LNG, Wind Energy etc.
Normally, DEMU trains provide power for its passenger comfort systems – lights and fans - from a diesel driven generator fitted on its Driving Power Car (DPC). IROAF has developed this system with a smart MPPT inverter which optimises power generation on a moving train to cater to full load even during the night. The unique feature of Battery Bank through storage battery ensures sufficient electricity when the sunlight is not available. The system helps in reducing Diesel consumption of the DPC and hence reduces carbon signature of these commuter trains by reducing CO2 generation by 9 Tonnes per coach per year.
A solar power DEMU train with six trailer coaches will save about 21,000 Litres of Diesel and thereby bring cost saving of Rs.12 Lac every year. Savings for a 10 coach rake with 8 trailer coaches will increase proportionately. These benefits will continue for entire 25 years life time of the rake. This will help in making DEMU commuter services better, more economical and environment friendly.
Solar hotel load (Lighting and Fan) system fitted on each coach is of 4.5 KWp capacity consisting of 16 Solar Panels of 300Wp each. This is adequate to power the fans and lights of the coach. The system is capable of developing up to 20 kWh per day (average) throughout the year. Surplus power generated during peak hours is stored in a 120 AH battery system. The system uses a data acquisition system and interfaces with existing hotel load power system of DEMU train. It will help in generating useful data for research for adapting the system for future rollout on all trains of IR. The system costs about Rs. 9 lakhs per coach at prototype stage.
Northern Railway launched the first DEMU service on Indian Railways in 1994. Today, NR has 3 DEMU sheds having highest DEMU holding on Indian Railways. Shakurbasti DEMU shed of Northern Railway has been a pioneer in the field of green powered DEMUs - CNG & Solar powered. The very first CNG fitted DEMUs were run by Shakurbasti. Now the first Solar panel powered DEMU train will also be maintained and operated by DEMU shed, Shakurbasti of Northern Railway. This pioneering effort makes a transition towards clean energy and reduction in the carbon emission.

Source:PIBNEWS
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Thursday, 6 July 2017

08:03

SHRI SURESH PRABHU, HON’BLE UNION MINISTER OF RAILWAYS ATTENDED VARIOUS PROGRAMMES ON GST AT COIMBATORE

SHRI SURESH PRABHU, HON’BLE UNION MINISTER OF RAILWAYS ATTENDED VARIOUS PROGRAMMES ON GST AT COIMBATORE
186/2017-18
04-07-2017
CHENNAI
Shri Suresh Prabhu, Hon’ble Union Minister of Railways attended various programmes o­n GST at Coimbatore o­n 03.07.17. Shri C.P. Rao, Commissioner of Customs and GST also accompanied the Hon’ble Minister.
The Railway Minister inaugurated the GST helpdesk at Makkal Sevai Maiyam, Seva Centre at Gandhipuram, Coimbatore and also interacted with the Press.Later, he had an interactive session o­n GST at the Coimbatore Chamber of Commerce & Industry.The Minister then unveiled a notice board o­n GST at Sowripalayam, Coimbatore.
During the above programmes, the Hon’ble Minister said that o­ne Country, o­ne Market and o­ne Tax – simplified the tax procedure. The ignorance and complexity of the present system is eradicated through easily understandable and well deliberated GST policy collection and distribution system. Law should be simple to understand, comprehend and implement, he said. He said that generating revenue was essential to develop infrastructure, reduce debt and to take care of the social sector.
He also appreciated the support by Confederation of Indian Industry and all associates in the implementation of GST. Replying to queries by members, he said the Government was prepared to listen to the representations and clear doubts regarding the impact of GST in different sectors.
He appealed to Corporates to join Railways in development through Corporate Social Responsibility like Private Siding, Station development, etc. They were advised to come forward for any kind of support in freight movement.
Indian Taxpreneurs Federation, Coimbatore welcomed the GST system.
Office Bearers of Chartered Accountants’ Association met the Hon’ble Railway Minister Members and appreciated the initiatives of the Central Government in simplifying procedures. They also expressed happiness over the speed of development in railways.
The Minister also visited the iconic Adhi Yogi and the Isha Foundation, Coimbatore.

Source:SR



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Friday, 30 June 2017

07:21

Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Minister of Railways Lays The Foundation Stone For Five New Halt Stations Between Quazigund-Baramulla

Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Minister of Railways Lays The Foundation Stone For Five New Halt Stations Between Quazigund-Baramulla 

Five New Halt Stations Include Sangdan, Monghall, Ratnipora, Nadigam & Razwan on Baramulla-Qazigund Rail Section  

To cater to the public demand for new halt stations in the Kashmir Valley region, Hon’ble Minister for Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu laid the foundation stone for construction of five new halt stations viz.Sangdan, Monghall, Ratnipora, Nadigam & Razwan on the  Baramulla-Qazigund Rail Section”at a ceremonial program held at Sher-i-Kashmir International, Conference Centre at Srinagar today (29th June 2017) in the august presence of Ms. Mehbooba Mufti, Hon’ble Chief Minister, J&K Dr. Nirmal Kumar Singh, Hon’ble Dy. Chief Minister, J&K and Sh. Nazir Ahmed Laway, Hon'ble Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha were the distinguished guests on the occasion. Shri R.K. Kulshrestha General Manager, Northern Railway and other Senior Railway officials were also present in the function.
The new halt stations between Baramula-Quazigund stations are: Sangdan (Quazigund-Sadura), Monghall (Sadura-Anantnag), Ratnipora (Awantipura-Kakapora), Nadigam and Razwan stations (Budgam-Mazhom). These halts would cater to the transportation needs of residents living in these areas. 
The all-weather special DEMU trains in the Kashmir valley has become a veritable life-line to the residents providing mobility with convenience. On an average 25,000 passengers travel each day  in these DEMUs with a corresponding tickets earnings accounting Rs. 3.5 lakh per day.
Background information of Railway Services in Kashmir Valley:
With a view to provide an alternative and a reliable mass transportation system to Jammu & Kashmir, Govt. of India planned a 326 km (later extended to cover 345 km) long Railway Line joining the Kashmir Valley with the Indian Railways network. The Jammu-Udhampur-Katra-Quazigund-Baramulla rail line, a project of great importance for the local populace and the country as a whole, has been declared as “National Project”. This project is, perhaps, the most difficult new railway line project undertaken on Indian subcontinent. The terrain passes through the Himalayas, which are young fold mountains full of geographical surprises, high tectonic activity and extremely cold weather conditions.
The completion of Jammu-Udhampur railway link in 2005 spelled the dawn of new era in rail connectivity. The rail line in the Kashmir Valley was constructed in a phased manner with the Railway steadily commissioning rail sections between Anantnag-Mazahom in October 2008, the Mazahom-Baramulla section in February 2009 and the rest 18 km long section between Quazigund-Anantnag in October 2009 thus completing the 119 kilometre Qazigund-Baramulla railway line of the Kashmir Valley. The Railway since then is working steadily to complete the remaining of the 345 km long railway line. The Udhampur-Katra 25 km section was commissioned in July 2014 and the Katra-Banihal 111Km work is in progress (Target: March 2021). 
This portion being constructed by Northern Railway, KRCL and IRCON will have 97.34 Km of Tunnels, 27 Major & 10 Minor Bridges and 203 Km of Access road. 45% of the work is complete with an expenditure of 9419 Crore. The USBRL Project is a culmination of a large number of Tunnels and Bridges, one of the most important and challenging being across the deep gorge of Chenab River near Salal Hydro Power Dam. This necessitated the construction of a long span bridge in the Seismeic Zone V. The total Length of the ‘Chenab Bridge’ is 1315 m having a design speed of 100 km and can withstand wind velocity upto 266 Kmph having a life span of 120 years. The Bridge is made up of steel arches and is aesthetically designed using local expertise and construction material. The height of the bridge is 359 m which is about 35 m taller than Eiffel Tower in Paris. When complete this will be the highest railway bridge in the world. 
As part of the project to knit the zone of Jammu with the Kashmir valley which is separated through the majestic Pir Panjal mountain range, Indian Railway had earlier constructed the 11.21 Km long ‘Tunnel T-80’. This is the longest transportation tunnel in Asia. The existing stations that lie in the Banihal-Baramula section include Banihal, Shahabad Halt, Qazigund, Sadura, Anantnag, Bijbehara, Panjgam, Awantipora, Kakapora, Pampore, Srinagar, Budgam, Mazhom, Pattan, Hamre, Sopore and Baramulla. 15 pairs of DEMU services ply on the rail section providing all-weather connectivity in this region. Additional DEMUs were introduced in July 2015 and later Fast DEMUs for convenience of office-goers and students were put into service in May 2016 between Banihal-Baramula and Baramula-Budgam. Vadi Ki Sair-a Children Special train was introduced between Banihal to Baramulla from 26.11.2016, which now runs on every 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month.
Source:PIBNEWS
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Tuesday, 20 June 2017

08:54

Rajdhani rides to be 30% faster, travel from Delhi to Mumbai in 12 hours

Rajdhani rides to be 30% faster, travel from Delhi to Mumbai in 12 hours

The plan would make each line the fastest in India, running at top speeds of 200 kilometres per hour. The Gatimaan, which runs from Delhi to Agra, is currently number one with a maximum speed of 160 km/h.
The average speed of many Indian trains is slower by over 100 km/h. According to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the premier Rajdhani trains currently average around 75 km/h; the prevalent Express and Mail trains trundle along at 52 km/h; and freight trains are not even half as fast as that, averaging only 22 km/h.
Significantly, the proposal of the new plan is taking the official form of a cabinet note. In the past, hundreds of projects have been announced in railway budget speeches but have languished without approval by the cabinet. An estimated 394 rail projects worth nearly five lakh crore are pending.
According to Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu, implementation of the new plan will begin in January 2018 and take two to three years. An official who was not authorized to speak to the media reckoned that the project will cost Rs 18,163 crore. The Railways will focus on improving the electrical systems that direct trains and on civil engineering projects such as the lifting of tracks and the construction of new fences.
Ultimately, the government hopes to run faster trains throughout the ‘Golden Quadrilateral’, which also includes the Delhi-Chennai and Mumbai-Kolkata lines.
Of the 9,100 kilometers on the Golden Quadrilateral, the tracks along 6,400 kilometers (70% of the total) do not have the capacity to run trains at 130 km/h. Speed restrictions are in effect at 730 locations. These stretches have 2,736 level crossings. “We are working at eliminating these obstacles,” said a ministry official .
Britain has had trains going 200 km/h since 1976, and France is expecting this summer to start running trains that hit and go above 300 km/h. The fastest commercial train in the world, the Shanghai Maglev, tops out at 430km/h. Despite the considerable size and importance of the railways in India, they have been unable to keep up with the standards set by some other Asian nations and by Europe.

Source:RailNews


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08:43

Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Minister of Railways, inaugurates various Railway related services in Odisha and Assam

Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Minister of Railways, inaugurates various Railway related services in Odisha and Assam 

Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu inaugurated following services in Odisha and Assam through video conferencing from Rail Bhawan today i.e 19-06-2017.  Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas (Independent Charge), Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and Member of Parliament(Lok Sabha) Shri Dr. (Prof.) Prasanna Kumar Patasani, were specially present to grace the occasion. Chairman, Railway Board, Shri A. K. Mital, Member Traffic Railway Board, Shri Mohd Jamshed, other Railway Board Members and Senior Officials were also present on the occasion.
1.New railway line between Bolagarh Road and Nayagarh Town
Ø  The work for provision of new line between Khurda Road and Bolangir for a total length of 289 km was sanctioned in the year of 1994-95 at a total cost of Rs 801.78 crores.
Ø  The work for commissioning of new line between Bolagarh Road and Nayagarh town (12 km) has been completed. The total length of rail line completed is about 65 Kms.
Ø  Train No. 58429/58430/58431/58432 (Khurda Road- Bolagarh) passenger trains are being extended upto Nayagarh Town.
Ø  A large number of pilgrims visit Puri during the Rath Yatra festival and this train will facilitate the movement of pilgrims between Nayagarh Town and Puri. This will be daily service with a composition of 12 coaches.
Ø  This will fulfill the long pending demand of the local people for rail connectivity.
2.Nayagarh Town Railway Station Building
Ø  It is a ‘E’ category station on Khurda Road-Bolangir section, built at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore.
Ø  Passenger amenities like booking windows, public address system, waiting hall, platform, toilets, drinking water have been provided at the station.
Ø  To facilitate physically handicapped passengers wheel chairs have been provided. Stretchers have also been provided for medical needs of the passengers.
3.Passenger halt at Bolagarh Town
Ø  Passenger halt at Bolagarh Town was sanctioned on 13.10.2016. on passenger amenity grounds. Location of the halt is between Rajsunakhala and Bolagarh Road stations on Khurda Road-Bolangir new line in Khurda Division of East Coast Railway. It has been built at a cost of Rs. 98 lakhs.
Ø  Amenities provided are (i) High level platform (360 metres), (ii) Booking counter cum waiting room (25 sqm), (iii) Approach road (900 sqm) and (iv) one hand tubewell.
 4.PRS at Kamakhya Temple
Ø  Hon’ble MR announced for opening of PRS counter at Kamakhya temple premises on 7.5.2017.This is non-rail head PRS with the assistance of Kamakhya Devottar Board cater to approximately catchment area of 5000 passengers.
Ø  This is a location of tourist importance, lakh of devotees visit the shrine especially during Ambubushi Mela.
Ø  At present, on Northeast Frontier Railway there are 249 locations where computerized reservation facility is available.  After this, the figure will be 250 (including 115 locations in the State of Assam).

Source:PIBNEWS


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Tuesday, 23 May 2017

08:19

Rail Safety Cess likely to be fixed at less than 2% of the total fare amount: says Railway Board officials

Rail Safety Cess likely to be fixed at less than 2% of the total fare amount: says Railway Board officials

NEW DELHI: Passenger train tickets could see a marginal hike if the government decides to implement a ‘safety cess’ to shore up revenues of India’s biggest transporter, railway minister Suresh Prabhu has hinted. The cess could be fixed at less than 2% of the total fare amount, officials said.

The state-run behemoth is reeling under mounting losses, a Rs 32,000-crore debt burden and galloping operating ratio, the calculation of paisa spent against every rupee earned.

“A safety cess on passenger tickets is under consideration,” Prabhu told reporters on Tuesday. He, however, did not say when the cess was likely to be introduced.

An official told that the railways was considering various options “including the possibility of effecting an incremental increase, so that the pain (of raised fares) remains gradual for low-income passengers in particular”.

Indian Railways operates 19,000 trains daily and carries an estimated 23 million passengers, a number equal to the population of Australia, on its network of tracks running to nearly 64,000 kilometres.

But it also has a poor safety record with hundreds of accidents leading to the death of a total of more than 3,000 passengers in a ten-year period between 1999-2009.

A safety cess was last levied in 2002 during Nitish Kumar’s term as the railway minister to service a special fund of Rs 17,500 crore. The fund was set up to take up several tasks, including restoration of old bridges, besides signaling and track modernisation works.

Officials said passenger services have remained heavily subsidised, with losses in this segment estimated at Rs 30,000 crore this year.

While higher class fares – AC-I and AC-2 – have been gradually raised in the past few years, tariffs in the non-reserved classes and suburban trains have largely remained untouched.

Approximately 94% of the passengers travel in the unreserved second class.

“Volumes (in terms of revenue generation) can come only when fares of the unreserved class are hiked,” the official added.

In this year’s budget, finance minister Arun Jaitley announced a Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) or the Rail Safety Fund with a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore, envisaging an annual spending of Rs 20,000 crore for the next five years on safety upgrade schemes.

For the current fiscal, the finance ministry sanctioned Rs 10,000 crore for the fund, while directing the railways to raise additional Rs 10,000 crore required for executing RRSK tasks this year.

Last fiscal, the transporter logged an operating ratio of 96.96%, the highest ever in the last decade. This means the transporter spent 96.96 paisa for every rupee it earned.

During the year, losses of Rs 4899 crore were reported in freight transportation, while passenger earnings increased by a mere 5%.

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Thursday, 4 May 2017

07:45

Minister of Railways Inaugurates Two Day Global Technology Conference

Minister of Railways Inaugurates Two Day Global Technology Conference 

Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu inaugurated the two day Global Technology Conference for Leveraging World Class Technology (International Conference on Development & Adaptation of Advance Technology for Railways) here today.
Chairman, Railway Board, Shri A. K. Mital and other Railway Board Members, DG Research Design & Standards Organization (RDSO) and GM Northern Railway Shri R. K. Kulshreshta and senior officials were also present on the occasion.
Research Design & Standards Organization (RDSO) is the nodal organization for this Conference, supported by Ministry of Railways and by Institute of Rolling Stock Engineers (IRSE) and Institution of Railway Signal & Telecommunication Engineers (IRSTE). The Conference is focusing on critical areas of Indian Railways - Reliability, Safety and Customer Service.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu said that Railways are evolving and getting modernised all over the world. Indian Railways also need to evolve as per the technological advancement across the world. Earlier, the budget of Railways was not as per the need of Railways, in past 3 years, Railways investments have been stepped up. The Railways investment shall be increased in coming decade. The need for technological advancement is an imperative. Railways investment shall lead to spin off benefits to other sectors. India is a big market for the Global suppliers of technology at the same time it is important to understand that Make in India is one part and Develop in India is another. The focus is to co develop technology in India. India will then become the hub of technology. Railways is looking for co operation from the Global suppliers of technology and would welcome their solution if they are feasible and cost effective in Indian context.
In keeping with the unremitting agenda of the Indian Railways to augment the pace of its operational improvements through enhancing its pace of modernized technological adaptations, the Research Design and Standards Organization (RDSO) of the Indian Railways is holding a two-day Global Technology Conference on 3rd & 4th May 2017 at New Delhi. The Technical Engineering Institutes of the Indian Railways viz. Institute of Rolling Stock Engineers (IRSE) and the Institution of Signal and Telecommunications Engineers (IRSTE) are the nodal bodies liaising and organizing this Conference. 
With four lead thrust areas viz. Safety, Reliability, capacity enhancement and customer service, the Global Technological Conference envisages bringing in new perspectives and insights in planning for future rail transportation growth in the country and for assessing contemporary global technologies relevant to adoption on IR. The Conference is featuring technical sessions, technical presentations, and table-top exhibits, besides wide opportunities for several industries networking too. 
Besides the knowledge takeaways, it is envisaged that the Conference would enable the emergence of a multi-disciplinary logistics interface and eco-systems that would enable the Indian Railways to deliver new levels of value along with modernization. Several experts from rail transportation development and allied technological industries, academia and research fraternity across the world are slated to deliver presentations and interact with experts of Indian Railways (IR)  for identification of appropriate cutting edge technologies and systems available worldwide for adaptation and deployment on IR and Public Sector Units of the IR. 
The broad themes of the Conference are:
1.Enhanced Safety
2.Reduced In-service failures and automated Health monitoring & Inspection
3.Capacity Enhancement and Congestion reduction
4.Enhanced Customer Service
The RDSO has launched a dedicated conference website www.gtcir.in for disseminating information and facilitating registration of participants. The brief details are also available on a conference booklet on this website.
The Conference topics relating to the above themes on which on Indian and Foreign speakers shall be presenting are given below. More than 50 speakers are slated to hold presentations on the under-mentioned technical topics:-
● Rail Fracture Detection System and Residual Stress Measurement of Rails
● Automated System of NDT of Rails
● Latest Technology for Track Formation Rehabilitation
● Improved AT & FB Welding Techniques
●Track Monitoring  System
●Bridge Health Monitoring
● Latest Methodology of Bridge Inspection (Under-Water Inspection of Bridges)
● Online monitoring of OHE
●Permanent Magnet Traction Motors
● SiC Device based Traction Converters
● Latest technology for improving Housekeeping on Trains and
● Adoption of latest Methodology of Rolling Stock Testing
● On Board & Wayside Condition Monitoring of Rolling Stock
● Use of Tilting Trains and Modern Coaches
● Latest Design Wagons
● Fog Vision System
● DPWCS-For Interoperability, Operational flexibility and Push-Pull operation of trains
● Latest tools and trends in use of Data Analytics for Enhancing Safety
● IoT for enhancement of Reliability and Safety
● Improvement in Reliability of Signalling System
● Continuous Automatic Train Control with Moving Block
● Centralized Traffic Control
● Wi-Fi on Trains, including Infotainment
● Latest technology for Passenger Guidance at Stations and Trains
●Latest technology for enhancing Security on Trains and at Stations
● Train protection and warning system
●Energy efficiency in Traction system

Brief Details are also available on the dedicated conference website www.gtcir.in

Source:PIBNEWS

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Tuesday, 18 April 2017

06:47

Hon’ble Minister for Railways has inaugurated various services on Konkan Railway in the function held at Panaji (Goa)

Hon’ble Minister for Railways has inaugurated various services on Konkan Railway in the function held at Panaji (Goa)

09-April-2017

Under the able guidance of Hon’ble Minister for Railways Shri Suresh Prabhu, Konkan Railway took various initiatives for the upliftment of Konkan Region by way of providing more and more passenger amenities as well as customer oriented services for freight users over Konkan Railway which has facilitated in making the journey more comfortable.  Amongst the measures initiated by the Hon’ble Minister includes capacity enhancement of KRCL line, route electrification, construction of additional eleven new stations etc. to name a few.
To boost the development of Konkan region and provide all kind of support to the people of Konkan in general, Hon’ble Minister for Railways has inaugurated following services in the function held today at Panaji (Goa) through remote :

1)   New Halt Station at Saundal between Vilavade – Rajapur Road Station.
Hon'ble Minister for Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhu inaugurated Saundal Halt Station in Ratnagiri District for the convenience of the residents in and around Saundal area.
Saundal village, Dist. Ratnagiri is between Vilavade (km. 250/718) and Rajapur Road (km 267/349)  stations of Konkan Railway.The  proposed Halt station caters to about 35000 local populace of surrounding villages like Oni, Pachal  Partawale, Solawade, Gotane, Yalawan, Ozar, Tulawade etc. The proposed station, Saundal (km: 260/420) is about 9.7 KM away from Vilavade and 6.9 KM away from  Rajapur Road station. Hon’ble MR conducted Bhoomi Poojan on 16.10.2015 at site. The work of proposed Halt station is completed with a total expenditure of ` 1.22 Crores. Konkan Railway express its sincere thanks to the residents of Saundal for their support & cooperation for timely completion of the work of new station. The location for  the proposed station is on embankment of 28 Mtr height with track  gradient of 1 in 260 in which  49500 CUM of Earthwork in embankment is involved.  Following passenger facilities are provided at Saundal Halt station.:
Rail Level Platform of 460 Mtr X 6 Mtr.
One Ticket booking office.
Modular shelter of size 6 Mtr x 5 Mtr each - 3 nos.
Drinking Water Pedestals – 3 nos.
One borewell with water supply arrangement.
Trains proposed to halt at Saundal Halt Station
 # 50105/50106 Sawantwadi-Diva-Sawantwadi  Passenger
 # 50101/50102 Ratnagiri-Madgaon- Ratnagiri Passenger

2)   Goods siding at Thokur Station:
Thokur area is upcoming as an industrial hub.  Mangaluru Special Economic Zone (MSEZ) is being formed with an expectation of setting up of more than 300 + petro chemical factories.  In addition to that, ONGC Mangluru Petro Chemical LTD (OMPL) has already started functioning.  Presently these companies are not provided with proper rail connectivity. The importance of Railway siding at Thokur is quite prominent in this scenario.
Konkan Railway has constructed a 370 Mtr siding at Thokur station at an estimated cost of ` 1.75 Crore for facilitating the projected traffic from Mangalore area.  KRCL is expecting substantial earning from this siding.
Major commodities expected to move from this siding will be Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA), Pet-coke, Sulphur, Bitumen, Fertilizer, etc.
Today,,Hon’ble Minister for Railways has inaugurated this goods siding at Thokur Station.

3) Commissioning of  four India Post  Passenger Reservation System (PRS) at  LANJA, RATNAGIRI, SANGAMESHWAR & KHED.
In order to avoid inconvenience and hardship in reserving train accommodation to passengers of non-rail head location as well as residing in city area situated away from Railway stations, Hon'ble Minister for Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhu has inaugurated four India Post Passenger Reservation System (PRS). With the opening of these four India Post PRS, total India Post PRS in Ratnagiri region will become seven and over all nine on entire Konkan Railway.  
Lanja Post-Office is situated in heart of Lanja City. POST OFFICE PRS Lanja will serve passengers of Lanja Taluk. At present there is no PRS facility anywhere in Lanja Taluk and passengers have to go to Ratnagiri or Kankavali which are 35 & 85 KM away from Lanja. Further, passenger can get reservation of any train which is not possible through present system of Quota Reservation System provided at Adavali and Vilavade station.
Sangameshwar Post-Office : PRS is situated at a prominent location of Sangameshwar town. It is about 500 Mtr away from Sangameshwar bus station and 04 KM from Sangameshwar Railway station. This new PRS will facilitate passengers of Sangameshwar Taluk. At present passengers of Sangameshwar  & Deorukh have to travel a distance of 40 KM either to Ratnagiri or Chiplun which is nearest PRS for booking of train tickets.
Ratnagiri City Post-Office : PRS facility will be operated at Head Post Office. Ratnagiri .This post office is situated in main market of Ratnagiri city & located 8.5 KM away from Ratnagiri Railway station. This will facilitate resident of Ratnagiri city and Taluk. This PRS will fulfill a long pending demand of Ratnagiri to setup City Booking Office  in Ratnagiri city. It will also facilitate  passengers to book ticket of any train which is not possible through town booking agencies situated in Ratnagiri city
Khed Post Office is located in the heart of Khed city. It is 2.5 KM away from Khed Railway station. This post office PRS will facilitate passengers of Khed city and as well as rural area of Khed Taluk.
4)   Integrated - Control Office Application (COA) system
Hon'ble Minister for Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhu has inaugurated IT enabled train operation system called Control Office Application (COA) on KRCL.
The Control Office Application (COA) of Indian Railway has been implemented in KRCL in a unique model by seamless integration with the existing Operations and Train Control Module (OT) of KRCL where Train timings captured at Stations are updated on a real-time basis and Controllers can monitor and manage the running of trains. By implementation of COA in KRCL,  the final route of Train movement has been mapped in the COA application of Indian Railway, so that a holistic view of the entire movement of trains in Indian Railway and its statistics generation is achieved.
It is this application that feeds the National Train Enquiry System (NTES) which provides upto date information on train running to the passengers. COA also links train operations information to Freight Operations Information System (FOIS) and Integrated Coaching Management System (ICMS) of Indian Railway.

5) Signing of Facility Agreement for Rs 1200 crore Rupee Term Loan among SBI, EXIM Bank with KRCL for Roha-Veer track Doubling and Route Electrification projects"
Route Electrification of Konkan Railway & Doubling of Roha-Veer section are two projects sanctioned by the Government of India. KRCL has begun execution of these projects which will now cost  ` 1510 crore including financing charges.

Ministry of Railways has sanctioned an amount of `  310 crore in the Budget 2017-18 for these projects. KRCL has made arrangements for the balance fund of ` 1200 crore through a Rupee Term Loan Facility from a consortium of lenders consisting of State Bank of India and EXIM Bank. The infrastructure project is funded on a 20-year structured loan pattern. M/s SBI caps was the advisors for KRCL for the loan arrangement. The fund from this facility would be availed from April ‘2017 onwards with the signing of the loan agreement

The above facility agreement was signed today in the august presence of Hon'ble Minister for Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhu.

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06:43

Inauguration of Lifeline Express at Sindhudurg station on 16/04/2017 by Hon'ble MR Shri Suresh Prabhu

Inauguration of Lifeline Express at Sindhudurg station on 16/04/2017 by Hon'ble MR Shri Suresh Prabhu

15-April-2017

Hon'ble Minister for Railways Shri Suresh Prabahkar Prabhu will inaugurate the hospital on wheels which is called Lifeline Express at Sindhudurg Railway station remotely through video conference at 10:00 hrs of 16/04/2017.

The Lifeline Express or Jeevan Rekha Express is World's first hospital train run by the Impact India Foundation. The Lifeline express was started to provide on-the-spot diagnostic, medical and advanced surgical treatment for preventive and curative interventions for disabled adults and children for outreach into inaccessible rural areas where medical services are not available; offered using the Indian Railway Network which is the largest in the world. It was developed in collaboration with the Indian Railways and Health Ministry. This has completed 25 years of service to the poor and under privileged masses of India.

The train consists of 7 coaches and will have facility for the treatment of restoring sight to blinds, mobility to polio stricken, hearing to deaf and smiles to those affected with cleft lip besides dental, epilepsy treatment and cancer services at total free of cost. The service to the needy people will be available at Sindhudurg Railway station from 16/04/2017 to 18/04/2017.

Konkan Railway appealed to all to disseminate the information to all needy who can avail benefit from this service.

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Saturday, 15 April 2017

13:15

Meerut-Lucknow Rajya Rani Express derails in UP; railways, Adityanath announce compensation -Live

Meerut-Lucknow Rajya Rani Express derails in UP; railways, Adityanath announce compensation -Live

Eight coaches of the Meerut-Lucknow Rajya Rani Express derailed on Saturday morning.

The incident took place at 8:15am between Rampur and Mundapanda --- near a bridge over the Koshi river.

No casualties have been reported so far.

Here are the Live updates: 

• Railways ministry says all the stranded passengers are being taken to their destination and traffic along the route has been restored.

• Railway releases a list of injured passengers.

The injured passengers have been moved to district hospitals in Rampur, some five kilometres away from the derailment site.

 After Yogi Adityanath, Indian Railways announces Rs 50,000 compensation for the injured.

• Northern railway spokesperson says two passengers have been injured and there are no casualty in the accident. Earlier, authorities said 10 people were injured.

• UP chief minister Adityanath Yogi announces Rs 50,000 compensation to those seriously injured in the accident and Rs 25,000 for passengers with minor injuries.

• NDRF teams, railway and police officials are on the spot of the accident for rescue efforts.

• Moradabad Divisional Railway manager (DRM) has reached the spot to oversee the rescue and relief operations.

• Railways wants to normalise rail traffic as the route is a double line, .

• Railways issues helpline for victims and families of the train derailment: 0121-6401215

• Railways minister Suresh Prabhu tweets: “Personally monitoring situation.Directed senior officers to rush to the spot.Ensure speedy relief and rescue operations,” adding that an enquiry has been ordered into the incident and strict action will be taken against defaulters, if any.

• A train is being arranged for rescue. Fortunately no major injuries have been reported, says Neeraj Sharma,CPRO,Northern Railways.

• Trains delayed due to the derailment.

• Ministry of railways says no casualties reported.

• A train is being arranged for rescue. Fortunately no major injuries have been reported, says Neeraj Sharma,CPRO,Northern Railways.

• Trains delayed due to the derailment.

• Ministry of railways says no casualties reported.

This is the latest in a string of similar accidents the public transporter has suffered in recent months, underlining the challenge the government faces in turning around the colonial-era rail network that carries more than 23 million passengers daily.

Last November, 142 people were killed and more than 200 injured when 14 coaches of the Indore-Patna Express train derailed in Kanpur Dehat district of Uttar Pradesh.

Then in January, 32 died and over 50 injured when the Bhubaneswar Express derailed in Vizianagaram. In March, 50 people were injured when eight coaches of the Jabalpur-Nizamuddin Mahakaushal Express (12189) derailed in Uttar Pradesh’s Mahoba district.

Most of these accidents are attributed to human error or poor infrastructure coupled with inadequate maintenance

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Saturday, 8 April 2017

19:56

RAILWAY MINISTER SHRI SURESH PRABHU WILL FLAG OFF THE INAUGURAL SPECIAL TRAIN NO:06576 MANGALORE JN -YESVANTPUR ON 9.4.2017

RAILWAY MINISTER SHRI SURESH PRABHU WILL FLAG OFF THE INAUGURAL SPECIAL TRAIN NO:06576 MANGALORE JN -YESVANTPUR ON 9.4.2017
08-04-2017
CHENNAI

HON’BLE RAILWAY MINISTER TO FLAG OFF MANGALORE JN – YESVANTPUR NEW EXPRESS TRAIN SERVICE, DEDICATE MANGALORE – CHARVATTUR ELECTRIFICATION AND DOUBLING OF PANAMBUR – JOKATTE SECTION TO THE NATION.

Indian Railways is the most commonly used mode of public transportation and its vast network and economic viability addresses the concerns of millions of rail users. Railways is focusing o­n short term, medium term and long term infrastructure development for fast, punctual, safe and comfortable transportation.  2016-17 was an eventful year for Indian Railways, setting many records in project implementation and creation of customer-friendly facilities.

In continuation with the efforts of Indian Railways in making Railway services more accessible to new areas, a new tri-weekly express train service is to be introduced between Yesvantpur – Mangalore Jn. Also, the 82 km long newly electrified section between Mangalore Jn/Mangalore Central and Charvattur will be dedicated to the nation along with the new double line between Panambur and Jokatte Railway Stations.

Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Hon’ble Union Minister of Railways through video conferencing from Goa, will flag off the inaugural special train No.06576 Mangalore Jn. – Yesvantpur special train, during a function to be held at Mangalore Jn. railway station at 11.30 hrs. on Sunday, the 9th April, 2017, in the august presence of Shri D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Hon’ble Union Minister of Statistics & Programme Implementation, Shri B. Ramanatha Rai, Hon’ble Minister for Forest, Environment & Ecology, Govt. of Karnataka and Shri U.T. Khader, Hon’ble Minister for Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, Govt. of Karnataka, Shri Nalinkumar Kateel, Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Shri P. Karunakaran, Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Shri Ivan D’Souza, MLC, Capt. Ganesh Karnik, MLC, Smt Meenakshi Shantigodu, President, Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat, Shri J.R. Lobo, MLA, Shri B.A. Mohiuddin Bava, MLA, Shri K. Abhayachandra Jain, MLA and Smt Kavitha Sanil, Hon’ble Mayor, Mangaluru City Corporation. The function will be held at Mangalore Jn. Railway Station through video conferencing from Madgaon at 11.30 hrs. o­n 09th April, 2017. Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu will also dedicate the 82 km long newly electrified section between Mangalore Jn/Mangalore Central and Charvattur to the nation as well as dedicate the new double line between Panambur and Jokatte Railway Stations to the Nation.

A.Inaugural Special Train:

Train No.06576, the inaugural special train, will run to open timings from Mangalore Jn. to Yesvantpur.
Composition:Second Class Chair Car – 4, General Second Class – 8 & Luggage-cum-brake van – 2 coaches.
Stoppages:Bantawala, Kabakaputtur, Subrahmanya Road, Sakleshpur, Hassan, Channarayapatna, B.G. Nagar, Yediyuru, Kunigal, Nelamangala and Chikbanavar.

B.Regular services of Yesvantpur – Mangalore Jn. tri-weekly express:
The regular services of Train No.16575 / 16576 Yesvantpur – Mangalore Jn. – Yesvantpur tri-weekly express trains will commence Ex – Yesvantpur o­n 11.04.2017, Tuesday and Ex – Mangalore Jn. o­n 12.04.2017, Wednesday.

Train No.16575 Yesvantpur – Mangalore Jn. tri-weekly express train will leave Yesvantpur at 07.50 hrs. on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and reach Mangalore Jn. at 17.30 hrs. the same day.
Train No.16576 Mangalore Jn. – Yesvantpur tri-weekly express train will leave Mangalore Jn. at 11.30 hrs. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and reach Yesvantpur at 20.30 hrs. the same day.
Composition:Second Class Chair Car – 7, General Second Class – 5 & Luggage-cum-brake van – 2 coaches.
Stoppages:Chikbanavar, Nelamangala, Kunigal, Yediyuru, B.G. Nagar, Shravanabelagola, Channarayapatna, Hassan, Sakleshpur, Subrahmanya Road, Kabakaputtur and Bantawala.

The regular services of Train No.16575 / 16576 Yesvantpur – Mangalore Jn. – Yesvantpur tri-weekly express trains will commence Ex – Yesvantpur o­n 11.04.2017, Tuesday and Ex – Mangalore Jn. on 12.04.2017, Wednesday.

Source:Southern Railway

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Thursday, 23 March 2017

08:21

New railway scheme to shorten wait lists, transfer passengers to alternative trains

New railway scheme to shorten wait lists, transfer passengers to alternative trains
Waitlisted passengers will get the choice of travelling on reserved berths in alternative trains on the same route from April, railway minister Suresh Prabhu announced on Wednesday.
Called Vikalp, or alternative train accommodation system (ATAS), the scheme will provide reserved berths or seats within 12 hours to passengers on the waiting list in another train bound for that destination. The change won’t entail any additional fare or charges.
This is an attempt to settle a long-running grudge of millions of people that travel with the country’s largest public transporter.
But there is a caveat to the plan: alternative berths will depend on the availability of vacant seats in another train.
In the overcrowded network, the possibility of finding reserved berths in alternative trains appears remote. Unconfirmed tickets have been a standard complaint of people seeking to travel with the railways, which carries 23 million passengers every day, a number equal to the population of Australia.
The scheme has additional flaws. A waitlisted passenger on the Delhi-Howrah Duronto with a travel time of 17.15 hours, for instance, might end up spending 41 hours for the journey if he is accommodated on the Delhi-Sealdah Express.
Also, a passenger seeking to cancel his ticket on an alternative train will have to pay a steep charge.
The cancellation fee for a confirmed booking, which is the case for a person getting accommodated on an alternative train, is much higher than the money deducted on a refund for a waitlisted ticket.
A railway official said Vikalp cannot address these problems entirely. “Smart traffic management plans can help, but unless infrastructural constraints are removed, lasting solutions cannot come.”
A reverse scenario can be possible too. Passengers can get lucky. Say, a wait-listed traveller on the Shaheed Express may find an alternative berth on the faster Duronto or Rajdhani trains.
The latest move is aimed at optimizing utilisation of seats across all trains; thereby increasing earnings and reducing refunds on waitlisted tickets.
The railways run more than 12,000 passenger trains every day. But the loss-making network loses more money each time a train leaves the platform with a vacant seat. Since train tariff is heavily subsidized, just 27% of railway revenue comes from passenger tickets.
The nationwide scheme will kick in from April 1 and will be available for those buying e-tickets to start with. But it will be extended to passenger reservation service (PRS) tickets as well.
The plan is available already on six routes, including Delhi-Lucknow, Delhi-Jammu and Delhi-Chennai.

Source:HT
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Friday, 17 March 2017

07:16

Shatabdi trains to soon have new ‘Anubhuti’ luxury chair car coaches

Shatabdi trains to soon have new ‘Anubhuti’ luxury chair car coaches

Suresh Prabhu-led Indian Railways is looking to introduce luxury chair car 'Anubhuti' coaches in its Shatabdi trains

After introducing the Humsafar and Antyodaya Express, Suresh Prabhu-led Indian Railways is looking to introduce luxury chair car ‘Anubhuti’ coaches in its Shatabdi trains. These new coaches will have a host of new features such as comfortable seats with infotainment screens and attendant calling facility. The coaches will be manufactured at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) Chennai and should start plying on key Shatabdi routes by the end of 2017. Sources in Railways told FE Online that around 10 ‘Anubhuti’ coaches will be manufactured this year by ICF at an average cost of Rs 2.9 crore per coach.
The ‘Anubhuti’ luxury high-speed intercity coach will be able to take a maximum speed of 160 kmph and will have a seating capacity of 56 passengers. Apart from seats with infotainment systems and an attendant calling facility, the coaches will boast of LED lighting, GPS information based system, toilet occupancy indicators, FRP panelling, automatic inter- communication sliding doors, modular toilets with touch-free amenities and a composite mini pantry. The coaches will be LHB-type air conditioned executive chair cars.

Interestingly, in 2013 a prototype of ‘Anubhuti’ coaches was unveiled under the then Railway Minister Pawan Bansal. But, the project never took off the ground. Now, Indian Railways is looking to introduce new ‘Anubhuti’ coaches, but the project is very different from the 2013 one.

With a focus on increasing passenger comfort, Indian Railways has been introducing new trains such as Humsafar, Antyodaya and Deen Dayalu. All these new services have multiple new features both for the unreserved passengers and those who are willing to pay extra for more amenties. With ‘Anubhuti’ coaches and the new Tejas Express, Railways is revamping short distance smei-high speed rail travel in the country. For the uninitiated, Tejas Express was one of the most awaited promises of Railway Budget 2016 and it will start plying on the Surat to Mumbai route in the next financial year.

Tejas Express, which is currently being manufactured, has also been envisioned as a luxury train service. The train will run at a maximum speed of 130kmph, and has been described as the “future of train travel in India” by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. The new luxury, semi-high speed train, will offer onboard services such as entertainment, local cuisine, WiFi, etc. Equipped with 22 new features, the chair cars will also come with LCD entertainment screens with headphone sockets. Luxurious chairs with recliners and leg rest, reading lights, more mobile and laptop charging points, attendant call button, toilet occupancy indicators, smoke detectors, modular bio-toilets, and automatic door closing metro-like mechanism are some of the features that will make Tejas Express stand out.
Alongside, Indian Railways is also working on its ‘Mission Raftaar’ that proposes to double the average speeds of freights trains and increase the average speed of superfast mail/express trains by 25 kmph in the next 5 years. With new trains on the anvil, passengers can certainly look forward to days of more comfortable, luxurious and faster train travel in the coming months and years.

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Thursday, 16 March 2017

19:36

Suresh Prabhu take a bow: Konkan Railway delivers milk to a baby after a tweet!

Suresh Prabhu take a bow: Konkan Railway delivers milk to a baby after a tweet!

On March 12, a concerned passenger Anagha Nikam-Magdum tweeted to Konkan Railways about an infant who needed milk but the parents did not seem to know where to get some for it. Little did she expect that her one tweet would solve the parents concern so promptly. She tweeted, “This baby needs milk, baby travelling with her parents @KonkanRailway ‘s , Happa Express, please contact Sneha Bapat travelling with them”. Konkan Railways were prompt in replying and asked the passenger’s PNR details.To her surprise Konkan Railway too noticed and promptly asked for the ticket details. Nikam-Magdum shared a photo of the ticket of child's parents.No sooner had she done so, Konkan Railways replied, “milk arranged at Kolad station, please come out of coach at Kolad stn.”Later the passenger tweeted in gratitude at the prompt reply by the Konkan Railways saying “Kartiki (the child) is so lucky, she got milk in a running Happa Express, thank you @KonkanRailway.” We guess we have to hand it on to Suresh Prabhu. He is doing a fabulous job.

Source: Dna India


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Sunday, 5 February 2017

07:27

Aadhaar Number link in Railway Pass?

Aadhaar Number link in Railway Pass?

No proposal to link Aadhaar with Railway passes: Govt.

The Government currently has no proposal to link Aadhaar numbers with railway passes, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu informed Parliament on Friday.

“At present, there is no such proposal” to link Aadhaar with railway passes, Prabhu said in the Rajya Sabha during Question Hour while responding to a query on the issue by TMC member Vivek Gupta.

The Government is in the process of putting in place a Human Resources Management System (HRMS) to ensure that employees and pensioners of the Railways are able to book tickets online through any portal, he said.

Stating that the railway pass holders at present do not have an online facility to book tickets, the Minister said “we have started the job. We are working on a Human Resources Management System (HRMS). Once this is ready, pass holders will be able to book tickets online.”

There are 16,360 officers in Group A and B categories and 13,12,449 officers in Group C and D categories in the Railways. Passes are issued based on the basic pay.

Source:The Hindu


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Wednesday, 28 December 2016

07:27

SIX RAILWAY FACILITIES IN KERALA COMMISSIONED

                               SIX RAILWAY FACILITIES IN KERALA COMMISSIONED  

No.603/2016-17
27-12-2016
Chennai

SIX RAILWAY FACILITIES IN KERALA COMMISSIONED                                                                         
Hon’ble Union Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu along with Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala Shri Pinarayi Vijayan, Inaugurated/dedicated six passenger amenities for rail users of Kerala today (26th  December, 2016) at a function held at Trivandrum Central Railway Station. Passenger Amenities at Kollam, Ernakulam and Kannur were also inaugurated through video conferencing from Thiruvananthapuram.
Shri.Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu along with Shri Pinarayi Vijayan dedicated Women Passengers Facilitation Centre at Tiruvananthapuram Central, and through video conferencing from Thiruvananthapuram Central, dedicated the Paid AC Waiting Hall (in association with Kudumbashree) at Ernakulam town Railway Station. 
Through Video conferencing, the Ministers also inaugurated four other amenities, viz., Inauguration of  Wi-fi facility, Train Information LED Display Boards,  Renovated Ladies Waiting Hall at Kollam Junction Railway Station  and Escalator at Platform no.1 of Kannur Railway Station.
Shri.Pinarayi Vijayan, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala in his keynote address said that Government of Kerala will hold a series of meetings with Railway Minister to discuss various developmental issues. Chief Minister also expressed his happiness that Railways were providing various amenities at Tiruvananthapuram, Kannur, Ernakulam and Kollam.
In his address to the gathering, Shri.Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Hon’ble Union Railway Minister informed that against Rs.250 crore allocated during 2012-13 and Rs.380 crore during 2013-14, Kerala has been allotted a budgetary  outlay of Rs.1014 crore during 2016-17.  This shows Railway Ministry’s growing attention o­n the infrastructural development of Railways in Kerala. The Minister also appealed to Govt of Kerala to  take up Joint ventures /partnership with Indian Railways to ensure  speedy infrastructural development. The Minister mentioned that in Gujarat, Indian Railways, with the help of State Government/ Municipalities has come up with proposals for developing Multifunctional Metro Complex to facilitate passengers. He also expressed happiness that Kerala Government has got  the unique status of a nominated minister for coordination of rail development in the state.  The Minister expressed happiness in extending Wi-fi facilities to 100 stations of Indian Railways during 2016 and assured that many other stations Pan-India will have Wi-Fi access by the end of 2017.
Shri G.Sudhakaran,  Hon’ble Minister for Public Works, Registration, Govt of Govt of Kerala,  Shri C.P.Narayanan,      Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Shri V.S.Sivakumar, M.L.A., Shri O.Rajagopal, M.L.A. and former Union Minister of State for Railways, graced the occasion at Tiruvanthapuram Central along with Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala and Hon’ble Union Railway Minister.
Later, Shri.Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Hon’ble Railway minister held a meeting with Shri. Pinarayi Vijayan, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala to discuss the representations of the state.  Mr.Vashishta Johri, General Manager and a team of Southern Railway officials were also present at the meeting.
The following passenger amenities were inaugurated/dedicated during the function

1.DEDICATION OF WOMEN FACILITATION CENTRE AT TIRUVANANTHAPURAM CENTRAL
Giving importance for the exclusive assistance of women passengers, an All Women Facilitation Center supported by women Railway officials including RPF, has been opened at Thiruvananthapuram Central station. This facilitation centre will offer all types of rail-related travel information and security assistance. The assistance booth, functional round the clock, is situated near the new booking office.
The speciality of the assistance booth is that there will be a lactating room for feeding mothers, wheel chairs, easy service of coolie porters and accessibility to prepaid auto/taxi. A dedicated round the clock Helpline number 9567869385 (Located in Thiruvananthapuram) exclusively for women, in addition to the help lines 138 & 182 of Railways has been provided.  Women passengers anywhere in Trivandrum division which spans from Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari to Shoranur, may make use of the helpline number in case of any emergency.

2.INAUGURATION OF WI-FI FACILITIES AT KOLLAM RAILWAY STATION
Kollam Junction Railway station falling under A category stations of Trivandrum station is o­ne of the busiest stations in Kerala and handles 23300 passengers o­n an average daily, generating a revenue of Rs.15.5 lakhs .  The Wi-fi facilities at Kollam will benefit inward and outward passengers to stay connected while they are at the station premises.

3.INAUGURATION OF TRAIN INFORMATION LED DISPLAY BOARDS AT KOLLAM RAILWAY STATION
Digital information boards are a much sought after amenity at railway stations for dissemination of information o­n trains dealt at the station. To save power, LED based passenger information display at nineteen stations costing Rs.6.5 Crores is being executed. This will provide a revenue of Rs.36 lakhs, besides saving power to the tune of Rs.6.5 Crores.  Kollam is the second station after Thiruvananthapuram Central to have this facility in Thiruvananthapuram Division. Similar boards will be installed at Ernakulam Junction and Thrissur   shortly.

4.INAUGURATION OF RENOVATED LADIES WAITING HALL AT KOLLAM RAILWAY STATION
Considering the comforts of women passengers who visit the station, the Ladies Waiting Hall at Kollam Railway station has been upgraded.  The renovated Ladies Waiting Hall has rest room facilities.  Security personnel are posted round the clock for ensuring women passenger safety.
The above three facilities are provided at Kollam Railway station at a cost of Rs.12 lakhs.

5.INAUGURATION OF ESCALATOR AT KANNUR RAILWAY STATION
Escalators are installed at railway stations for providing quick and safer access to Platforms, especially for senior citizens, sick and physically challenged passengers.  The escalator is commissioned at a total cost of Rs.1.82 crore at Kannur station.  100 passengers will be able to navigate per minute o­n this facility benefitting around 30000 passengers using the station every day. Kannur is the fourth station in Palakkad Division to have escalator facility after Palakkad Junction, Kozhikkode Junction and Mangalore Central.

6.DEDICATION OF PAID AC WAITING HALL TO THE NATION IN ASSOCIATION WITH KUDUMBASHREE
Ernakulam Town, an A category station under Trivandrum Division of Southern Railway attracts 11000 footfalls every day recording a revenue of Rs.17 lakhs per day o­n an average. 
Southern Railway, in association with ‘Kudumbasree”,  an all women Self Help Group of Government of Kerala, has set up a thematic waiting hall at Ernakulam Town Railway Station by refurbishing the existing facility at a cost of Rs.9.2 lakhs. This swanky air-conditioned waiting hall is maintained and operated by volunteers of Kudumbashree Mission
The facility, charged Rs 20 per head for an hour, is unlike the normal air-conditioned waiting halls available in other major stations in the country as it has facilities such as free Wi-Fi, kids play zone, mini-library, train-on-call service, gents and ladies washrooms, breastfeeding comfort, changing room for infants and digital display of train arrival and departure timings.


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