RAILWAY SAMACHAR

Kolkata Metro extension approved

on principle -Basudeo Acharya

Kolkata : Though the formal approval of extending the Metro Railway from Dum Dum to Dakshineshwar was awaited, the Railway Board has on principle approved the extension, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Railways, Basudev Acharya said today. Acharya told a press conference here, "The extension of the Metro Railway from Dum Dum to Dakshineshwar has been approved on principle. The cost of the project will be Rs 525 crore, half of which will be borne by the West Bengal government. "The Railway Board has also placed the demand for extending the Metro Railway from Garia to Baruipur in South 24 Parganas," Acharya said. Keeping in mind the rising number of passengers which was growing at a rate of 8 percent demanding new terminals and upgradation of the Railways, Acharya said "In the next one year all platforms of the Howrah and Sealdah suburban railway section will be lengthened so that the 12 coach trains can be accommodated. "He also stressed the need for two to three more terminals in the metropolis because the three existing terminals - Howrah, Sealdah and Kolkata were not enough to handle the passenger pressure.

'More railway terminals needed in Kolkata'

This metropolis needs at least three more terminals to split the growing rail traffic load, chairman of parliamentary standing committee on railways -Basudeb Acharya

Kolkata : This metropolis needs at least three more terminals to split the growing rail traffic load, chairman of parliamentary standing committee on railways Basudeb Acharya said Saturday. 'Passenger rate in Eastern and South-Eastern railway is growing by 4.5 percent per year. In fact, Kolkata is the second city after Mumbai which records the maximum number of people travelling by trains every day,' Acharya told reportersafter a standing committee meeting here.' Besides, every year new industries, including steel plants, are coming up in West Bengal. In total, there is a growth of eight percent in rail traffic, including passengers and goods. Hence, keeping in mind the situation after fiveyears from now, we feel there is a need for at least three more railway terminals in Kolkata to distribute and accommodate the traffic burden. 'The three terminals now are at Sealdah station, Howrah station and Kolkata station (also called Chitpur Terminus). According to the data given by Acharya, six million people travel by train everyday in Mumbai, while in Kolkata, the figure is 3.5 million a day. Acharya also said the committee has suggested to the central government an increase in the number of coaches in the trains to increase passenger capacity. 'In face of the growing passenger traffic, we have suggested to the centre thatif we increase the number of coaches from 9 to 12 in all trains, then the train capacity will increase by 30 percent. ''But for that all railway platforms have to be elongated to accommodate the12-coach trains. This will take some time to materialise,' Acharya said. The chairman further said the committee has demanded ladies special trains inall sections. 'Our representatives recently visited the stations here during office hours (9-10 a.m.) and saw how women are suffering because of the peak hour pressure. If there can be special trains for women in other cities, then why not in Kolkata? We have demanded ladies special trains here too that will run in allsections.'

Passengers up in arms against TCs

LUDHIANA: Once again the tiff between passengers and ticket checkers came to the fore on Saturday, when the ticket examiners had to leave the platform after heated arguments with passengers. A passenger, Vicky Sharma, travelling from Jalandhar with his family was intercepted by three lady checkers at platform number one, as according to them his three small children were without tickets. The ticket checkers demanded full tickets even for their small children. Allegedly, the ticket checkers asked for Rs 100 as bribe from them, but when they refused to pay the amount, they started misbehaving with them and asked them to pay Rs 260 as penalty for travelling without tickets. This infuriated the passenger, who in turn started collecting other passengers on the platform in his favour, levelling graft charges against the three ticket checkers. The ticket checkers had to leave the place in order to save their skin. Criticizing the TCs, Vicky Sharma said it had become a routine affair for the TCs to trouble the passengers in order to make quick buck. He said the ticket checkers insisted they buy tickets even for their small children, which was notat all justified. He alleged the TCs misbehaved with the woman passengers too. He urged authorities to take strict action against such exploitation of rail passengers. GP Singh, divisional traffic manager said passengers should not travel without tickets as this could land them in trouble. He said it is not easy for theticket checkers to check tickets of passengers because there are several problems that they have to face, while performing their duty. He said though it was not right to misbehave with passengers, sometimes passengers too level wrong allegations against the checking staff. He asserted if passengers carry appropriate tickets, such incidents would automatically come to an end.

NCR : Flyover near Naini soon

Allahabad : Railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has approved construction of a flyover and a level crossing near Karchana railway station. An amount of Rs 20 crore has been sanctioned for the flyover in Dighiya and Rs25 crore for a flyover near Naini. The work on the projects would start soon, former minister and Samajwadi Party leader Ujjawal Raman Singh said. Singh said that the information related to projects was conveyed to him telephonically by Yadav. The railway minister said that keeping in mind the problems faced by residents of trans-Yamuna areas like Naini, Karchana and Dighiya, the railway ministry has approved the projects. The railway ministry has sent a proposal to the state government, seeking its recommendations on the projects. The residents of these areas are facing hardship in the absence of a railway overbridge. Traffic snarls are a common sight.

Fire Destroys Part of GRP Office at Patna Junction

Patna : A fire possibly caused by an electrical short circuit at the Government Railway Police (GRP) office located on Platform Number 1 at Patna Junction on Friday destroyed part of the building while causing damages worth over several thousand rupees. As reported, the fire began at around 2:45 pm in an adjacent room of the GRP office that contained valuable documents and police gears. The room contained acouple of cans of kerosene and diesel and could have caught fire due to sparkscaused by electrical short circuit in the room, GRP inspector Alok Singh said. When an early attempt by the railway officials to douse the fire failed to control the flames from spreading to other parts of the building, fire tenders were summoned who took nearly 45 minutes to bring the situation under full control. No one was said to be hurt in the incident though some documents and other items were destroyed beyond recovery. Had the fire not brought into control quickly, it could have gutted a major portion of the Platform Number 1, Railway SP D. N. Gutpa said. Officials are investigating the case to rule out any foul play in the incident.

NFIR demands jobs for local youths in railways

SURAT : Reiterating its stand on giving preference to local unemployed youths, general secretary of National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR) M. Raghavaiah has stated that filling up of group 'D' vacancies for technicians and other such positions in various railway zones in the country should be solelyfor local candidates who are pass-outs from institutions like ITIs. Raghavaiah, who is also a staff side leader in Joint Consultative Machinery (JCM) National Council, said there are many unemployed youths in Gujarat whowant to join as railway technicians but they have to travel long distances totake examinations held on different dates. The railway administration needs toencourage local youths to fill up vacant posts. Senior functionaries were in city to attend a two-day working committee meetingof Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), which began on Saturday. Sharif Khan, president, Western Railways Mazdoor Sangh (WRMS) said, "Railwaymen, particularly senior railway employees, are not happy with Sixth Pay Commission. Those appointed after January 2006 are drawing higher pay than their seniors. Wehave represented this issue to Central government for immediate consideration. "NFIR leaders claimed the railway has around 1.9 lakh vacancies, out of which around 80,000 are in the safety department. The railway administration has failed to fill up the posts.