Tag: Railways

Railways’ Buddhist Circuit train covering sites in India, Nepal to run from October 19-26

Source: thehindu.com

The Railways will run its first Buddhist Circuit train from this Saturday to October 26 covering sites related to Gautam Buddha in India and Nepal.

IRCTC will run the train covering destinations like Lumbini, where Buddha was born; Bodhgaya, where he gained enlightenment; Sarnath, where he gave his first sermon; and Kushinagar, where he attained nirvana, the Railways said in a statement.

“The significance of these destinations can be seen in the Mahaparinirvana sutra, wherein the Lord Buddha tells his followers that they can attain merit and a noble rebirth by going on pilgrimage to these places,” the statement said.

The package will cost Indians ₹1,23,900 per couple in AC first class and ₹1,01,430 per couple for AC two tier.

It will include road transport by AC deluxe coaches for the Nepal tour, visits to monuments and locations, accommodation, meals, services of tour manager, guides, entrance fees and travel insurance.

However, passengers will have to pay their visa fee for the Nepal leg of the journey and any other expenditure like laundry and other services.

The train will have four first AC coaches with 96 seats, two second AC coaches with 60 seats, two exclusive dining cars with a capacity of 64 guest in each and a pantry car.

It will be covered with unique vinyl wrap promoting Incredible India and is also equipped with personal digital lockers, cubicles shower, foot massagers, separate sitting area with single seated sofas.

Private security guards will be deployed in each coach, the railways said.

Modi govt again considering merging rail, roads, aviation, shipping into transport ministry

Source: theprint.in

New Delhi: The Modi government, in its second tenure, is once again considering having a unified transport ministry through combining the road, railways, civil aviation and shipping ministries, officials familiar with the matter told ThePrint.

A top panel of secretaries, constituted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to recommend transformative ideas for the infrastructure sector, discussed the unified transport ministry idea with the cabinet secretary last month.

“We have recommended that the way forward is a unified transport ministry to provide integrated multi-modal solutions,” one senior official who did not want to be named said.

The secretarial panel is likely to make a presentation before the Prime Minister soon. “A final call on whether to go ahead with the recommendation will be taken only after the meeting with the PM,” the official added.

An omnibus transport ministry is not a new concept. Countries such as China already have it — the country’s Ministry of Transport is mandated to make regulations for road, railways, water and air transportation. Cities like New York and London have a single body to govern public transport.

‘Need for co-ordinated approach’

The panel on infrastructure, headed by aviation secretary P.S. Khairola, has also recommended that the role of the existing aviation regulator — Airports Economic Regulatory Authority — could be expanded to cover the entire transport sector.

As of now, close to half-a-dozen central ministries, including roads, railways, housing, civil aviation and shipping cater to the transport sector. Almost all of them work in isolation, with minimal or no coordination with each other.

“The idea is to have some kind of coordinated planning while setting up a road, railway line or airport,” said a road ministry official privy to the matter. “Presently, all the sectors are working in silos. A coordinated approach will not only improve efficiency but will also go a long way in cutting costs.”

The official added that it is one of the recommendations made by the group of secretaries on infrastructure. “Nothing has been decided on what will be its structure. Whether it will be an omnibus ministry of transport or an integrated transport planning body that will decide on projects and investment to be made in the sector.”

Citing an example, another senior official working in one of the infrastructure ministries said, “Suppose an airport is being planned in a remote area. An integrated approach could help in planning a rail or road linkage to connect to the airport.”

Not the first time

This, however, isn’t the first time that an ‘omnibus transport ministry’ idea has come up.

In 2014, the National Transport Development Policy Committee, chaired by former RBI governor Rakesh Mohan, had in its report recommended setting up a single unified transport ministry.

The report batted for a unified ministry of transport at the Centre with a similar merger of transport functions at the state level.

But not much came of it.

Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has in the past five years spoken about the need to have an integrated, multimodal transport planning body to increase efficiency, in numerous public fora.

In fact, in its first term, the government had set up an infrastructure committee headed by Gadkari to address bottlenecks that were stalling big-ticket infrastructure projects. Besides Gadkari, ministers from the railways, shipping, petroleum among others were part of the committee.

The idea to have an omnibus transport ministry elicits a strong response from transport sector experts. While some experts feel that it’s about time that India too has a unified transport ministry, many think that it is “unimplementable”.

Former Railway Board chairman Arunendra Kumar said that this kind of a merger is not a good idea. “It will be difficult to implement,” Kumar said. “Take for instance railways. It’s a huge setup and demands a high degree of specialisation and resources. The entire machinery is well oiled. I don’t think unification is required. It will only add to the red tape.”

However, a road ministry official who did not want to be named said that the integration being proposed will not be at the “operational” level but at the level of planning and investment.

“We have limited resources. Private investment is dwindling,” he said. “In a situation like this, an integrated approach will go a long way in planning and using the available resources judiciously.”

Indian Railways largest waiting hall opens at Patna Junction! From digital screens to local art, see features

Source: financialexpress.com

New Indian Railways waiting hall at Patna Junction: Indian Railways continues to give a swanky makeover to stations across India under its station redevelopment and beautification initiative! Recently, the Patna Junction railway station in Bihar got a new waiting hall for better comfort of passengers. The waiting hall, set up over an area of 7,500 sq ft, has been provided with a seating capacity of over 300 passengers. In addition to this, as many as 200 more seats can be added at the hall. Interestingly, the newly opened waiting hall at Patna Junction station is said to be the largest waiting hall on the Indian Railways network. Also, many other passenger-friendly amenities and facilities have been provided in the waiting hall.

According to information shared by the East Central Railway zone, the new waiting hall has been equipped with 7 HD screens of 65″. The digital screens will display entertainment-related content as well as train information 24×7. The waiting hall has been beautified to promote local art with all the walls being covered in Madhubani painting in bright and attractive colours. The entire waiting hall is centrally air-conditioned. Moreover, additional fans have been provided as well. Also, the entire waiting hall is lighted with 100 per cent LED fixtures concealed in the ceiling.

Piyush Goyal-chaired Railway Ministry is effortlessly working towards beautification and redevelopment of stations across the country. Not only are the railway stations being beautified, but they are also being well equipped with various modern facilities. Some of the stations, which were renovated recently include New Delhi railway station, Kamakhya Junction, Asansol Junction, Mathura Junction, Haridwar Junction, Jaipur Junction, Lonavala, Adoni, Bellampalli, Sainagar Shirdi, Manduadih, Kurnool City railway station, etc.

Besides, Indian Railway Station Development Corporation (IRSDC)- a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) is also working to transform certain railway stations into airport-like hubs. Currently, development work is being carried out at Habibganj and Gandhi Nagar railway stations.

People travel 46 kilometres free of cost from Rajgir to Tilaiya in Bihar

Source: indiatvnews.com

About 46 kilometres of the train journey is absolutely free for the people from Rajgir to Tilaiya. It is not a gift from Railways but the common people have created this system. 

There is a junction, a station and five halts between Rajgir and Tilaiya. There is no arrangement for buying tickets in all these places and neither is the ticket collector also the train stops without any prior signals. Apart from Rajgir and Tilaiya, there is no restriction on people’s movement.

The Railways have abandoned the maintenance of these seven stations. There are bushes grown over the platforms and devices have been stolen. This railway route was approved by Nitish Kumar while being the Railway Minister and the project started in 2002. On June 19, 2010, CM Nitish Kumar inaugurated it.

On this railway route, there are two passenger trains, one is Danapur-Tailaiya and the other is Bakhtiyarpur-Gaya DMU, also one and half dozen goods trains are running. All these trains give a blow while crossing the station.

In 2012, the ticket counter was inaugurated at Jethian Railway Station. The responsibility of collecting tickets was given to the private company. In Jethian, 3 Assistant Station Master, 4 Porter and Gangman, RPF was also deployed. But the private company returned from the fear of commuters when the trains were getting late.

From Rajgir to Tilaiya, there are Negpur, Natesar, Jethian, Sarasu, Oro, Mahmudpur and Sitarampur stations and halts. Signal lights at all these places are not working.

According to media sources, there is a shortage of staff in the railway at these stations. The process of restoration is going on after which the vacant places will be filled.