New Delhi: The railways will employ over four lakh people by 2021, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal announced on Wednesday indicating that the recruitment under the 10 per cent quota for economically weaker sections would begin soon. Addressing a press conference here, he said that at present the Railways have a[Read More…]
Tag: Railways
Forest land the size of Kolkata diverted for projects in past three years
By Mayank Aggarwal Kolkata, The Indian government has diverted over 20,000 hectares (the size of Kolkata) of forest area for developmental activities such as mining, thermal power plants, dams, road, railways and irrigation projects in the past three years (2015-18) across India. According to the official data revealed by the[Read More…]
Indian Railways to go Airport style, check-in 20 minutes before departure
The Indian Railways has taken a new security-related decision. The railway’s body in India is planning to make the arrival compulsory at least 20 minutes before the train arrives. The time will be utilised in completing the process of security checks. Arun Kumar, Railway Protection Force Director was quoted by PTI[Read More…]
Indian Railways: Solar panels on platforms to save Rs 1.25 crore annually
The Indian Railways in Ratlam has decided to install solar panels atop platforms of six railway stations in the division of the Western Railways. The stations include Indore, Ujjain, Nagda, Chittorgarh, Mhow, and Ratlam. The Railways has come up with a plan to generate 43.30 lakh units of electricity every[Read More…]
Railways to rework flexi fare scheme in premier trains
New Delhi: The Indian Railways is all set to rework the flexi-fare scheme in about one-third of the premier trains with less occupancy rate, railway ministry sources said. A source told IANS, “The flexi-fare or dynamic pricing scheme is being reworked and a formal announcement on the same can be[Read More…]
Sinha holds local administration responsible for Amritsar train tragedy
Varanasi: Union Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha on Sunday held the local administration responsible for the Amritsar tragedy in which 59 people were crushed to death by a train while watching the burning of the Dusshera effigy. “Had the local administration been cautious, the incident would have been[Read More…]
Amritsar train tragedy: Railways deny responsibility
Amritsar: Hours after 60 people were crushed to death by a train while watching the burning of a Ravana effigy here, the Railways on Saturday said it was not responsible for the tragedy. Northern Railways spokesperson Deepak Kumar said in a statement that the event was organised in an area[Read More…]
Bilaspur-Leh proposed railway line may be declared ‘national project’
New Delhi: The railways has suggested that strategically important 465-km railway line proposed between Himachal Pradesh’s Bilaspur and Jammu and Kashmir’s Leh along the Indo-China border be declared a “national project”, a Northern Railway (NR) official said on Wednesday. Addressing a press conference here, NR General Manager Vishesh Chaubey said:[Read More…]
IRCTC Online Ticket Booking: 5 things you must know before planning a vacation
The official e-ticketing and catering website, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has come up with an upgradation that brings in new features to serve passengers. To make it easy for people planning to travel during the upcoming Puja vacations including Dussehra, Durga Puja, Diwali to their family, relatives[Read More…]
Railways to invite private companies to donate for toilets, benches
The railways is all set to invite private companies to donate their CSR funds to sponsor amenities for passengers on station premises through a dedicated portal, Rail Sahyog, which will be launched by the Minister of Railways on Tuesday, a senior official said. The companies can use their corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds to build toilets, provide free Wi-Fi with kiosks for e-services[Read More…]
No free travel insurance in trains from September 1: Railways
The Indian Railways will not provide free travel insurance to its passengers starting September 1, an official said on Saturday. A senior Railway Ministry official said that the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has decided to stop free travel insurance starting September 1 and “the option of free[Read More…]
Supreme Court approves draft Constitution of BCCI
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday approved the draft Constitution of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and granted full permanent membership to the Railways, the Tri-Services, and Association of Indian Universities among others. This restoration of permanent membership and votes is in reversal of the[Read More…]
IRCTC to set up new kitchens, upgrade existing ones: Lok Sabha told
In order to upgrade the quality of food served on trains, the IRCTC is to set up new kitchens and upgrade existing ones, parliament was told on Wednesday. “The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) has been mandated to carry out the unbundling by creating a distinction primarily[Read More…]
Railways opts for latest tech worth Rs 2,726 crore to enhance track safety
New Delhi: Stepping up its efforts to prevent train derailments, Indian Railways is opting for the latest technology to reduce its dependence on manual inspections and to improve the track maintenance system of its rail network. Automatic track geometry-cum-video inspection systems, ballast regulating machines, rail grinding machines, automated multifunction track recording[Read More…]
Railways to use Artificial Intelligence for preventing signal failures
Aiming to reduce the possibilities of signals failing, Indian Railways has undertaken remote condition monitoring of the system, a new approach for the national transporter, to predict failures through the effective use of Artificial Intelligence. The Signalling system is vital for safe train operations and the railways completely depend on[Read More…]
Railways to use GPS-enabled fog safety devices
In a bid to ensure timely running of trains during winter, the Railways has planned to use GPS-enabled fog safety devices in the trains to alert the loco pilot about approaching signals. A railway official told IANS that plans were afoot to use the GPS-based devices in trains that would[Read More…]
Railways target completing Bullet Train project by August 2022
Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani, who has a reputation of a turnaround man, has taken up the task of monitoring and chairing the periodic review meetings of the project that is estimated to cost over Rs 1 lakh crore ($15 billion). Lohani held a high-level meeting in Rail Bhavan last[Read More…]
Railways to work with ISRO to ensure rail safety, says Piyush Goyal
Indian Railways is working with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to develop safety mechanisms to make travel by trains’ safer, union minister, Piyush Goyal said on Thursday. The minister said that he met ISRO chairman AS Kiran Kumar a few days back. Indian Railways along with RailTel are functioning[Read More…]
Railways to run 4,000 special trains this festive season to tackle holiday rush
Nearly 4,000 special trains would run for the upcoming festival season, minister of state (Railways) Manoj Sinha said on Tuesday. “In the next 40 days, we will celebrate the Durga Puja, Dussehra, Diwali and Chhath. So, we are introducing additional trains to facilitate holiday travelling between October 15 and October[Read More…]
No more overcharging for food, tips for catering staff in railways
Railway Minister, Piyush Goyal has asked the catering staff of railways to stop overcharging for food and stop seeking tips from the passengers. A letter from minister’s office was sent to all zonal railway units across the nation. It asked them to ensure that the practice is stopped with immediate[Read More…]
Trains to be renamed after celebrated Indian literary works
The railways ministry is considering a proposal to rename trains after well-known literary works, referencing not just their authors but the region they belongs to. As a result, passengers travelling to West Bengal may board a train named after a novel by Mahashweta Devi or a train to Bihar could[Read More…]
RB chairman Ashwani Lohani calls upon employees to ensure safety of passengers
Railway Board chairman, Ashwani Lohani, on Tuesday called upon the railway employees across the country to ensure the highest level of safety in train operations. He also urged them to instil a renewed sense of confidence in railway passengers. He said that emphasis should remain on the safety of the[Read More…]
Railway board chairman, A K Mittal finally resigns after Utkal, Kaifiyat train mishaps
Railway board chairman, A K Mittal, gave his resignation on Wednesday. However, sources report that railway minister, Suresh Prabhu, has not accepted his resignation as yet. Mittal was facing criticism following the Utkal Express derailment in Muzaffarnagar. The tragedy led to the death of 23 passengers and over 60 others[Read More…]
Utkal Express derailment: Death toll reaches 23, PM Modi offers condolences
The death toll went up to 23 people in the Utkal Express derailment that happened on Saturday evening. Over 70 people are reported to have been injured in the accident. Sources say that the accident happened because of ‘maintenance failure’, while the railways is examining all possibilities behind the derailment.[Read More…]
Indian Railways to take clean energy initiatives
Striving for a cleaner environment, the Indian Railways has planned to reduce its emission intensity to the extent of 32% by 2030 by taking a series of energy efficient initiatives, the government said on Friday. In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain said[Read More…]