Railway Ministry Shifts Blame to Coal India for Fuel Crisis

Rubbishing the APP’s (Association of Power Producers) allegation of discrimination in coal rake allocation, the railway ministry has put the blame on Coal India (CIL) and the ministry of coal for the fuel crisis. A lower than promised supply of coal by CIL and the coal ministry’s inability to coordinate with the railways are the main issues, it said.

During the peak season (December-March), demand for transportation from various sectors, including imported coal, picks up. “To address the issue Indian Railways is loading 20 additional rakes of imported coal daily compared to last year,” a railway ministry spokesperson said.

However, loading by CIL during the April-November, 2014 period was much less than the agreed quantity, even though adequate railway wagons were available. “Ministry of railways have been highlighting this issue and requesting the ministry of coal and CIL to ensure more loading of coal during other months,” the spokesperson said.

According to railways, CIL’s inability to supply adequate coal to the respective independent power producers (IPPs) might have led to a fall in actual supply in FY15.

The APP had complained to railway minister Suresh Prabhu, alleging that Indian Railways is discriminating “against IPPs in placement of (coal) rakes”. The association also indicated that the lack of coordination between CIL and railways is leading to coal shortage for the IPPs in the country.

The supply of rakes for the power sector is monitored regularly by a committee comprising coal, railways and power ministry officials.
Denying the APP’s claim of favouring PSU power producers, the railways said, “It has planned to supply rakes on priority for critical power houses.” And it has been successful to bring down losses for the critical power plants and reduced their numbers to 13 from 30 earlier.

“In spite of heavy fog in north region, which totally crippled operations, railway has been able to ensure adequate supply to critical power producers”, the railways said.

The power producers who have coal stock for running four or lesser days is considered ‘critical’.

Source: The Financial Express

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Posted in Railway News

Upkeep of A and B Class Railway Stations Outsourced

Tiruchi Division records slight dip in freight earnings

Housekeeping of “A” and “B” class stations in Tiruchi railway division has been outsourced, Divisional Railway Manager Manjula Rangarajan said on Monday.

Noting that cleanliness was a focus area of the railway, Ms. Rangarajan said the railway had increased the imprest with station masters substantially to enable them to maintain the station premises clean.

Speaking at the Republic Day celebrations organised by the Tiruchi Division here, Ms. Manjula said the Tiruchi division’s freight earnings witnessed a marginal decrease in the last nine months this year as compared to the corresponding period of last year. The division earned Rs. 300.94 crore from freight business in the last nine months of the current year against Rs. 301.23 crore earned in the corresponding period of last year, with the marginal decrease being -0.10 per cent.

However, earnings in the passenger front showed an increase of 18.33 per cent with the earnings being Rs. 197.26 crore during the last nine months of the current fiscal as compared to Rs. 166.70 crore earned during the corresponding period of last year.

Stating that safety in train operations was a priority to the railway, she said the division witnessed substantial reduction in the number of yard derailments this year.

The Divisional Railway Manager highlighted some of the tasks accomplished by the division this financial year.

Source: The Hindu

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Posted in Railway News

Modi Govt to Present Rail Budget on Feb 26, Union Budget on Feb 28

New Delhi: The budget session of parliament will begin Feb 23 and the union budget would be presented Feb 28.

The first part of the session would be from Feb 23-March 20 and the second part from April 20 to May 8, a senior official said Wednesday.

The railway budget would be Feb 26 and economic survey Feb 27.

Source: ABP Live

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Posted in Railway News

Western Railway to Replace Fluorescent Tubelights with LED ones

Decision taken keeping in mind high consumption of electricity; 500 LED tubelights have already been installed as part of pilot project at Mahalaxmi car shed earlier this month.

A poorly maintained lighting system, which the Western Railway nonetheless spends heavily on, is a common feature in local trains. But the scenario is set to change, as the WR has started a project wherein it has decided to replace the existing fluorescent tubelights with Light Emitting Diode (LED) ones.

Authorities said the new LED tubelights are brighter, and will lead to savings in electricity costs. The project was initiated earlier this month at the Mahalaxmi car shed. “We have replaced about 500 fluorescent tubelights with LED ones so far,” said Shailendra Kumar, Divisional Railway Manager (Mumbai), WR.

While a regular tubelight costs about Rs 250 or so, an LED one comes for around Rs 1,100. Though officials agreed that installing LED lights was a costly affair, they pointed out that an LED tubelight can last for at least five years against the 18-month lifespan of a fluorescent tubelight.

Justifying the purchase of LED lights, a senior WR official said, “Most of the electricity utilised by us goes in operating trains, which we cannot cut back on. Installation of LED lights will help us save at least some units and reduce the power bill.”

Power Woes

• At present, Western Railway is paying R9 per unit of electricity, and its power expenditure has shot up by 40 per cent in the last two years
• WR has requested Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) to allow it to get ‘deemed licensee’ status so that it can purchase electricity from other states
• Authorities want to procure electricity from Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, as the cost per unit there is around R4-5
• This, officials say, will allow the railway to save nearly Rs 200 crore annually

Source: Mid Day

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Posted in Railway News

Maharashtra: State Proposes Railway Terminus at Sawantwadi in Sidhudurg

Maharashtra Transport Minister Diwakar Raote has given nod to a proposal for a railway terminus at Sawantwadi in the coastal Sindhudurg district. The proposal would now be forwarded to the Railway Ministry, Raote said in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The state government has also sanctioned Rs 21.20 crore for constructing the necessary infrastructure at Sawantwadi.

The previous government had given sanction for terminus at Madure near Sawantwadi, but Raote has cleared the proposal for Sawantwadi itself.

Source: DNA India

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Posted in Railway News

For Fifth Consecutive Day, Kalka Shatabdi Delayed due to Fog; City to Experience Rain till Friday

For the fifth day in a row, fog led to delay in the arrival of New Delhi-Kalka Shatabdi. On Tuesday, the the train was late by over five hours and reached the local railway station at 4.17 pm. On Monday, the train was late by over six hours and reached here at 5.15 pm.

The delay caused inconvenience to passengers, with many blaming Railways for not providing enough services. A local official said that owing to poor visibility in the capital since last week, the train has been running late. The situation is expected to remain the same for few more days.

Apart from this, the Kalka-Howrah Mail was delayed by over 19 hours. Unchahar Express reached the local station after a delay of 13 hours while Lucknow-Chandigarh Superfast Train was late by four hours.

Amritsar-Chandigarh Superfast Express also ran late by one hour and 12 minutes.

Tuesday remained relatively colder, with the maximum temperature recorded at 14.5 degree Celsius, six degrees below normal. The minimum temperature was recorded at 10.2 degrees Celsius, four degrees above normal.

Beginning Wednesday, the city will experience rain until Friday, the Meteorological Department has predicted. The next 24-36 hours will remain cloudy and dry, with the possibility of dense fog during morning hours. However, there will be a decline in the intensity of fog thereafter.

Meanwhile, air operation was not affected much as visibility improved during day time. Only two Delhi-bound flights—one each of Jet Airways and Spicejet—were cancelled.

Source: Indian Express

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Posted in Train Delay Information

Southern Railway to run Trichy-Pune, Guwahati–Thiruvananthapuram Special Trains

CHENNAI: Southern Railway will operate special trains between Tiruchirapalli and Pune via Chennai and a train between Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati to clear extra rush of passengers.

Special trains between Tiruchirappalli - Pune (via Chennai Egmore): Train No.06801 Tiruchirappalli - Pune special train will leave Tiruchirappalli at 5.30am on Sundays on January 25, February 1, 8, 15, 22 and March 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29, leave Chennai Egmore at 12noon the same day and reach Pune at 11.50am the next day.

Train No.06802 Pune - Tiruchirappalli special train will leave Pune at 3.40pm on Mondays on January 26, February 2, 9, 16, 23, March 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30 leave Chennai Egmore at 12.50pm on Tuesdays and reach Tiruchirappalli at 7.15pm on Tuesdays. The composition of the trains will be 1 AC 2-tier, 3 AC 3-tier, 13 sleeper class, two general second class and 2 luggage-cum-brake van coaches.

The trains will stop at Srirangam, Vriddhachalam, Villupuram, Melmaruvathur, Chengalpattu, Tambaram, Chennai Egmore, Arakkonam, Tiruttani, Puttur, Renigunta, Koduru, Razampeta, Cuddapah, Yerraguntala, Muddanuru, Tadipatri, Gooty, Guntakkal, Adoni, Mantralayam Road, Raichur, Yadgir, Wadi, Gulbarga, Solapur and Daund.

Special trains between Guwahati - Thiruvananthapuram (via Perambur): Train No.02516 Guwahati - Thiruvananthapuram special train will leave Guwahati at 11.25pm on January 26 and reach Thiruvananthapuram at 10.30pm on January 29.

Train No.02515 Thiruvananthapuram - Guwahati special train will leave Thiruvananthapuram at 12noon January 30 and reach Guwahati at 8.20am on February 2.

The composition of the trains will be 1 AC 2-tier/3-tier, 1 AC 3-tier, 11 sleeper class, four general second class and two luggage-cum-brake van coaches.

The trains will stop at Kamakhya, Goalpara Town, New Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, New Alipurduar, New Coochbehar, Dhupguri, New Jalpaiguri, Kishanganj, Barsoi, Malda Town, Rampur hat, Durgapur, Asansol, Adra, Bankura, Bishnupur, Midnapore, Hijli, Balasore Bhadrak, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Khurda Road, Brahmapur, Palasa, Srikakulam Road, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Samalkot, Rajamundry, Eluru, Vijayawada, Ongole, Nellore, Gudur, Perambur, Arakkonam, Katpadi, Jolarpettai, Salem, Erode, Tiruppur, Podanur, Palakkad, Thrissur, Aluva, Ernakulam Town, Kottayam, Tiruvalla, Chengannur, Kayankulam and Kollam.

Advance reservations for Tiruchirapalli- Pune special trains are already on while reservations will open on January 22 for Thiruvananthapuram - Guwahati special train.

Source: The Times of India

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Posted in New/Special Trains