RAILWAY SAMACHAR

Dhenkanal Rly Stn. Gets A Raw Deal

DHENKANAL : Despite frequent visits by Khurda Road Divisional Railway Manager(DRM) R Venkadaswami to Dhenkanal and Talcher, the long-standing demands ofpassengers are yet to be addressed. The DRM often visits the area once in amonth and inspects Talcher, MCL sidings and other stations on the Dhenkanal-Talcher route and halts every time at Dhenkanal station.According to station train signal register (TSR), the DRM comes in a traincalled light goods special (LGS) and is accompanied by a number of class Iofficers from different sections like signal, security, operation, commercial,safety, electrical and signal during his visit. He recently visited Dhenkanalrailway station, inaugurated an SBI ATM and held talks with officials. But thedemands of passengers were reportedly not looked into.The demands include attaching more bogies with fast passengers and intercityexpress trains, posting of clerk at inquiry room, PCO facility on stationpremises, expediting the foot overbridge work, construction of rain-proof shedover platform, adequate lighting facility in the platform, halting of BBSR-Kurla express, stall facilities and others.Dhenkanal railway station is one of the oldest stations in the State. Dhenkanal-Talcher sector also tops in revenue collection. According to sources, Talcherrailway station earns over Rs 100 crore a month from transportation of coal toseveral areas of the country. Dhenkanal railway station earns around Rs 9.13lakh from ferrying of passengers every month.Officials on condition of anonymity said the DRM is concentrating on privatesidings of MCL instead of the main line during his frequent visits. This despiteMCL having its own skilled professionals to look after the railway sidings.However, Venkadaswami said he had no idea about overcrowding of passengers andwill look into the matter. The DRM also said he would look into posting ofinquiry clerk and installation of PCO facility.

Punjab Govt. To Speed up rail line construction process
Shimla : The Punjab government today said it will speed up the processof land acquisition for the construction of Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri rail line.Chief Secretary of Punjab Ramesh Inder Singh during a meeting with his HimachalPradesh counterpart Asha Swaroop directed the Deputy Commissioner Ropar to makejoint inspections with the Railway authorities to acquire land in 14 villages,which falls in Ropar district of Punjab.Swaroop said the rail line was vital for the development of Himachal Pradesh asit would provide the necessary impetus for development of the region.

BHUBANESWAR RAJDHANI EXP. TO HAVE MODERN

GERMAN COACHES : FREQUENCY INCREASED

Bhubaneswar : LHB (Linke-Hofmann-Busch) Germany design coaches are being introduced inBhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express with effect from 25.01.09.These German LHB coaches are different from the Indian coaches. These are longerthan the existing coaches by 1770 mm and have been designed for speed of 160Km/Hour with the capacity of increasing the speed to 200 KMPH if required.Besides, the coaches are light in weight with higher passenger comfort. TheSpecial feature of the coach is its higher carrying capacity. LHB coach 24berthsin A/C First class as against 18 berths made by Integral Coach Factory(ICF), 52 beths in A/C two tiers as against 48 in ICF coaches and 72 berths inA/C 3 Tier as against 64 in ICF coaches.There are luggage racks of modern design with integrated lamps for all seats. The coaches are of superior framing design and corrosion free and also vibrationproof. The coaches are made of fire retardant materials. Controlled dischargetoilet system has been introduced in these coaches. Bigger windows and moderninteriors with improved Air-conditioning system have also been introduced.Shri K. C. Jena, Chairman, Railway Board will flag off the Bhubaneswar RajdhaniExpress with the inducted new LHB German design coaches at Bhubaneswar RailwayStation at 11.25a.m on 25th January'09.RAJDHANI TO RUN ONE MORE DAYThe frequency of 2421/2422 Bhubaneswar-New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Expresshas been increased from bi-weekly to tri-weekly with effect from 31st Jan'09from Bhubaneswar and from 1st Feb'09 from New Delhi. Now Bhubaneswar-New DelhiRajdhani Express will leave Bhubaneswar on every Sunday, Wednesday andSaturdays. In the return direction, 2422 New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Expresswill leave New Delhi on every Sunday, Monday and Fridays.

SAMBALPUR-PURI INTER CITY EXPRESS TO RUN DAILY

Bhubaneswar : Train no. 8303/8304 Puri-Sambalpur-Puri Intercity Express will run daily with effect from 1st Feb'09. Presently, this train is running six days a week except Sunday. In consideration of providing better convenience to the passengers, Railway administration has decided to increase the frequency of this popular train.Shri K. C. Jena, Chairman, Railway Board will flag off the this Intercity Express at Bhubaneswar Railway Station at 11.50 a.m. on 25th January'09 as aspecial train for increase in frequency of Sambalpur-Puri Intercity Express.

Rail meets to address the fast growing logistics needs

KOLKATA : Chairman, Railway Board, K. C. Jena held a high level meeting on Saturday here to discuss a detailed plan being prepared by the Indian Railways to address the fast growing logistics needs- both for passenger and freight services- inthe Greater Kolkata metropolitan area. The plan, which is perhaps the first of its kind being tried out by the Railways' system to tackle fast growing needs of Kolkata and its suburban area, essentially revolves around an integrated approach by Eastern (ER), SouthEastern (SER) and Metro Railway to tackle the demanding transportation needs ofthe area over the next 15-20 years. The meeting was attended by Deepak Krishan, General Manager, Eastern Railway, A. K. Jain, General Manager, South Eastern Raiway and V. N. Tripathi, General Manager, Metro Railway and principal head of departments of all the three Railways basedin Kolkata."A detailed and holistic plan is being worked out encompassing all the threerailways, namely ER, SER and Metro to identify the needs of the greater Kolkataregion. We are in the process of shortlisting a consultant who will help usprepare the blueprint for its execution," a top Railway official told ET.The Railways' technical services arm, RITES, is likely to be one of the agencies shortlisted for the consultancy. "A decision on the appointment of theconsultant is expected shortly. We will have to decide whether it is through anopen tender or through a single tender, he added. "We have decided on the terms of reference for the job and have completed aninternal study to make a detailed assessment of the number of passengers andfreight customers as well as the number of freight terminals in and aroundKolkata. This will help us understand the need to either relocate or augmentthese terminals to meet future needs," the official said.The plan will be worked out with other key agencies involved in growth anddevelopment of the city namely, Kolkata Metropolitan Development Agency (KMDA). The meeting also reviewed the performance of the three railways and alsodiscussed the launch of Metro Railways' extended services upto Garia. Theservice in that stretch is likely to operational by end of March 2009.