RAILWAY SAMACHAR

METRO HAS VOLUNTEERS NOW TO

CHECK PASSENGERS INDISCIPLINE

New Delhi : Next time you itch to squat on the floor or lean againstsliding doors aboard the metro, think again because Delhi Metro Citizen Forum'svolunteers will be patrolling the network to stop you from doing so.The volunteers will sport a fist-sized blue and red badge with "Delhi MetroCitizen's Forum" stamped across it.Over a hundred commuters of the Delhi Metro Sunday formally became a part of theDelhi Metro's Citizens Forum, which aims to help the Metro administration ininstilling better behaviour and discipline among the fellow commuters.The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) handed the badges to volunteers after adaylong training cum orientation programme called 'Sahyog' held at the MetroRail headquarters here."In the training programme, volunteers were imparted training about variousimportant aspects of Metro operation such as customer orientation, etiquette,co-operation with passengers, ticketing procedures, boarding and de-boardingfrom trains, security mechanisms, disaster management and cleanliness," saidAnuj Dayal, the chief spokesman of the DMRC.The initiative that was launched a month ago received more than a thousandapplications of which 150 odd were selected."After a month-long process of short listing the forms, the selected volunteerswere called for today's training programme," Dayal said.DMRC intends to involve more commuters in the initiative and forms are stillavailable with the station managers of the metro stations.Delhi Metro recently recorded its highest daily number of passengers at9,500,000. On an average, it ferries about 800,000 commuters everyday.Still, the swanky Metro system faces many challenges to keep in check passengerswho are accustomed to flouting rules and breaking queues."In the wake of increasing ridership and the scheduled opening of many newcorridors in the coming year, such cooperation from the commuters has becomevery important," Dayal said.

NARROW ESCAPE FOR PATHANKOT-DELHI EXP. IN PUNJAB

Jalandhar (Punjab) : Hundreds of passengers of the Pathankot-DelhiExpress train had a lucky escape Saturday as it was stopped by applyingemergency brakes, barely 100 metres away from a stationary engine near here.A head-on collision between the passenger train and the engine, which was on ashunting job, was avoided by a whisker after both came on the same track nearthe Phillaur railway station near Jalandhar."The Pathankot-Delhi Express train was going towards Ludhiana and suddenly cameon the same track as that of the stationary engine. The train does not have apermanent stop at Phillaur but it came to a sudden halt as it was shown redsignal," said a railway official."The engine was then put on another track to make way for the train to pass."

MHOW-MANMAD RAILWAY LINE IN LIMBO

Badwani(MP) : Maharashtra's former legislator Anil Gotealleged that Mhow-Manmad railway line was in limbo in absence of propercooperation from Madhya Pradesh government.''The Madhya Pradesh given formal approval for about Rs 1450.41 crore worth339-km long ambitious railway line of in 2008-09,'' Loksangram leader Gote toldmediapersons here yesterday.He claimed that the survey report to lay down the railway line fromMaharashtra's Manmad to Madhya Pradesh's Mhow area via Malegaon, Dhule, Shirpurand Sendhwa was handed over to the ministry on January 14.Centre did not issue any directives in connection with the formal approval ofthe railway route's construction. Hence, former union law minister RamJethmalani wrote a letter to Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and demanded toimmediately start the work.After the construction of Mhow-Manmad railway line, Madhya Pradesh's Indore,Badwani, Khargone and Dhar while Maharashtra's Nashik and Dhulia's population ofabout three crore would be facilitated.