The World Opinion

Tag: Railways

  • Concession long past, however auto-upgradation of rail tickets would possibly not have resumed for senior electorate

    Via Specific Information Provider

    CHENNAI:  A bit of rail passengers complained that auto upgradation of tickets is but to be resumed for senior electorate even though the latter were charged complete price ticket fare for the previous few months. Then again, the railways maintained that after the passengers have no longer availed of the concession, their tickets gets queued within the upgradation listing robotically.

    Below the senior citizen quota, males elderly 60 years and above and ladies elderly 58 years and above are eligible for 40 and 50 in step with cent concessions in price ticket fares respectively. The concession, which was once to be had in all categorical and premier trains, was once withdrawn in COVID particular trains in 2020 and 2021 and later prolonged to common trains.

    Aged passengers had been excluded from the auto-upgradation scheme, below which tickets of wait-listed passengers will likely be upgraded through one elegance with none further fare in opposition to vacancies. The upgradation is completed through Passenger Reservation Gadget (PRS) all through the preparation of the primary chart robotically from sleeper to 3AC, 3AC to 2AC and 2AC to 1AC.

    The desire was once given to wait-listed passengers below the tatkal quota adopted through the overall elegance who do not avail of any concession in price ticket fare. The scheme is acceptable just for the ones passengers who’ve selected ‘auto-upgradation’ on the time of reserving.

    S Radhakrishnan (64), an ordinary commuter from Dindigul mentioned, “Within the 3rd week of June, my sleeper elegance wait-listed price ticket 2 booked on Chennai-Palakkad categorical was once showed, however no longer upgraded. Then again, third and 4th wait-listed tickets were given upgraded. I ponder whether senior electorate’ tickets have been nonetheless saved out of car upgradation.”

    A equivalent factor was once confronted through different passengers in Sengottai categorical two weeks in the past. “I may not want giving up my decrease berth in sleeper elegance for an higher berth in third AC. Then again, passengers who’re in the back of within the ready listing are getting upgraded. The railways must glance into it,” mentioned 63-year-old Okay Sambath.

    A railway professional mentioned, “When there was once no concession class relating to age, tickets of senior electorate is not going to get skipped in auto upgradation. If there’s any particular grievance, we can glance into it.”

  • On-board catering products and services to renew in all Rajdhani categorical trains after a few years

    Specific Information Provider

    NEW DELHI: God information is for the passengers, who used to go back and forth within the premier Rajdhani Specific from side to side the nationwide capital. 

    The railways, nearly after a few years has resumed the onboard catering products and services in all premier Rajdhani categorical, which runs between the nationwide capital and the capital towns of different states on quite a lot of routes, with impact from February 1.

    Recently, there are 24 pairs of premier Rajdhani categorical trains being operated via the Indian Railways among the quickest different trains within the nation. Throughout the pre-Covid time, the price tag fees of the Rajdhani categorical educate used to incorporate catering fees for vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals. After the pandemic broke out within the nation, the onboard catering provider was once withdrawn via the railway in 2020 beneath right kind protection protocols for passengers. 

    Confirming the resumption of onboard catering provider within the Rajdhani categorical trains, Anand Okay Jha, spokesperson of IRCTC, mentioned that the onboard catering provider has been resumed with impact from February 1 in all Rajdhani categorical trains together with the New Delhi-Rajendranagar Tejas Rajdhani. “Now, the fee for availing foods-opting both for vegetarian or non-vegetarian is incorporated within the fare of a Rajdhani categorical educate price tag,” Jha mentioned.

    “We have now resumed the onboard catering within the Rajdhani categorical educate however the bed-roll provider continues to be into consideration of the railway board whether or not to renew it or now not amid the persisting pandemic state of affairs,” a senior railway supply mentioned.

    Assets mentioned that the railway minister is anticipated to take a last resolution at the re-start of bed-roll products and services within the Rajdhani categorical educate.

  • Bookings of chartered trains, particular coaches and rail saloons declined

    Specific Information Carrier

    NEW DELHI: The railways has registered a pointy decline within the reserving of a full-length of the chartered teach, the coaches and opulent saloon by way of non-public events and different govt our bodies for the big day within the ultimate 3 years. 

    As according to the railways’ information, just one,151 railway coaches and the sumptuous rail saloons have been booked right through the previous 3 years within the nation by way of the people, the events and the federal government our bodies for particular application. A full-length charted teach or separate one or two coaches and opulent railway saloon are booked by way of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Company (IRCTC) thru a unmarried on-line window reserving machine of railways for someone or the birthday party or the federal government frame for the particular application.

    In line with authentic railway figures, 570 coaches and rail salons have been booked best right through 2018-19 which additional dwindled to 511 in 2019-20 and best 70 in 2020-21.

    The decline within the reserving of the charted trains or its coaches and rail saloon was once uncovered when the railway minister shared main points not too long ago responding to a question of a member in Lok Sabha. The minister additionally shared information that best 41,221 passengers travelled in a complete of 570 coaches and saloons booked right through 2018-19.

    In the similar manner, best 38,699 passengers travelled to quite a lot of locations by way of best 511 booked coaches and rail saloons in 2019-20.

    “In 2020-21, best 4347 passengers travelled in by way of best 70 booked rail coaches and saloons within the nation,” the railway minister mentioned within the Lok Sabha.

    Now, the reserving of sumptuous rail saloon, which is named a ‘transferring space’ at the wheel, has been allowed to people additionally for particular circle of relatives or non-public functions by way of the railway after a revision within the reserving coverage in 2018 for selling ‘ Saloon tourism’.

    At this time, the railway has 336 saloon vehicles, each and every supplied with two bedrooms, a kitchenette and eating amenities, throughout its all zones. “Regardless of all this, the reserving has now not picked up that has develop into a significant fear for industrial viewpoint to the railways,” mentioned a senior authentic who prefer anonymity.

    And the similar state of affairs was once registered within the reserving of charted trains for particular objective right through the ultimate 3 years additionally. In 2018-19, best 312 charted trains have been booked by way of people, the events and the federal government for particular motion. In 2019-20 additionally, best 149 charted trains have been booked adopted by way of the extraordinarily deficient reserving of best charted trains 25 in 2020-21.”

    Spokesperson of IRCTC Anand Okay Jha advised this day-to-day that the reserving of charted teach, coaches or the rail saloon to a person or the birthday party or govt’s different division relies on the provision of rakes of charted trains, coaches and the rail saloon within the involved zones.

  • President lauded executive in modernising railways, in his cope with to Homes of Parliament

    Categorical Information Provider

    NEW DELHI: “My executive is modernising the Indian Railways at a quick tempo. Within the ultimate 7 years, 24,000 km of railway routes had been electrified,” President Ram Nath Kovind mentioned whilst addressing the joint sittings of each the Homes of Parliament in the beginning of the price range classes on Monday.

    Expressing the dedication of the federal government for creating railway infrastructure, the President mentioned the New Vande Bharat trains and the brand new vista dome coaches have added new feathers to the Indian railways.  He additionally knowledgeable each the Homes that the works of recent rail tracks and double-railway tracks are being performed impulsively.

    He, mentioning the re-developed Rani Kamalapati in Madhya Pradesh and the Gandhinagar Railway stations in Gujarat as world-class railway stations, lauded the railways for offering the brand new glimpses of contemporary India via those stations.

    He additionally termed the arch rail bridge, being built around the river Chenab in Kashmir, in his cope with to each the Homes of the Parliament as a centre of enchantment. “This is a subject of delight for the rustic that the capitals of North-East’s all states are coming at the railway map with the efforts of my executive,” he mentioned, including that the rail and air connectivity has now not a dream for the folk of north-east states, specifically Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

    But even so this, touching upon the federal government’s works on public delivery, the President mentioned that 11 new metro routes had been mentioned for reaping rewards the folk in 8 states each day.

    “India is now additionally a number of the 4 nations on the planet having biggest driverless educate networks,” he claimed and extra added that an Indigenous Automated Educate Gadget (IATS) has additionally been evolved within the nation symbolising the rising capacity of ‘Make in India’.

    In his cope with to the joint sittings of individuals of each the Homes, the President additional cited that the railway ran greater than 1900 Kissan rails all the way through the Covid sessions on 150 routes for transporting about 6 lakh MT of agriculture merchandise.

    In the meantime, the Indian railway claimed on Monday that 3 zones out of 16, have completed the objectives of overall electrification. “In a significant jump against 100 according to cent electrification, 3 zones of Indian Railways specifically West Central Railway, the Kolkata Metro and the East Coast Railway had been absolutely electrified lowering carbon footprints,” the ministry of Railway claimed.

  • Railway built-in all 695 hospitals & well being centres with Ayushman Bharat Virtual Venture

    Via Specific Information Provider

    NEW DELHI: In a vital success to enhance the well being care amenities, the railways has built-in its all of the 695 hospitals and well being centres with the ‘Aayushman Bharat Virtual Venture’ (ABDM) on a challenge mode.

    The combination of all hospitals and well being centres has been performed via combining the Health facility Control Knowledge Machine (HMIS) the RailTel Company of India- one of the most PSUs of the Ministry of Railways, in collaboration with the Nationwide Well being Authority.

    Upon a success integration of railway’s all of the 695 hospitals and well being centres with the ABDM, the RailTel claimed that the mixing of well being wings of Indian railways won’t best receive advantages round 80 lakhs railway workers, pensioners and their members of the family but in addition allow most of the people to avail of the advantages of well being care amenities to be had on the railway hospitals and the well being centres in a unbroken virtual approach.

    Previous to this integration, the RailTel Company of India had applied a Internet-based multi-module HMIS in all of the 695 hospitals and well being centres of Railway around the nation.

    Now, each those two methods – ABDM and the HMIS have effectively built-in for the advantage of sufferers and well being administrations. Underneath the HMIS gadget, a cellular app- HMIS Affected person Cell AAP has additionally been created for simple and speedy data get entry to to sufferers associated with their OPD registrations, medical doctors’ prescriptions, lab studies and others.

    Puneet Chawala-the CMD of RailTel, thru a observation, stated, “RailTel is dedicated to taking part in a significant function within the virtual transformational actions going down within the nation. The combination of all hospitals and well being centres of railways with the ABDM will progressively be certain the achieve of fine well being amenities to each and every citizen of this nation.”

  • ‘Indian Rly wishes prime stage of capital expenditure to beocme an engine of expansion through 2030’

    Categorical Information Carrier

    NEW DELHI: Because the Financial Survey 2021-22 got here out with main points on Monday, the Indian Railway sector will emerge to get an overly prime stage of capital expenditure for changing into the engine of nationwide expansion within the subsequent 10 years.

    With a excellent collection of mega initiatives within the pipeline, the railways will haven’t any wrong way however to look an overly prime stage of capital expenditures to boost up its capability expansion through 2030.

    The capital expenditure (Capex) has larger from Rs 45,980 crore according to annum in 2014 to Rs 2.15 lakh crore – round 5 instances the Capex of 2014.

    Because the Financial Survey additional places it, “As extra initiatives are taken available and a number of other assets of capital discovering are advanced, the Capex will building up additional within the coming years and the railway device will if truth be told emerge as an engine of nationwide expansion.”

    Touching upon the Nationwide Rail Plan, the Financial Survey has laid down the street map for capability enlargement of the railway networks additionally through 2030 to cater the expansion as much as 2050.

    “It envisages the introduction of a future-ready railway device that is in a position to no longer most effective meet the passengers’ call for but additionally building up the modal proportion of railways freight to 40-45 according to cent from the prevailing stage of 26-27 according to cent,” the survey identified.

    Because the survey has categorically said the Indian Railway has known 58 initiatives as Tremendous Essential, centered to be finished through December 2022 whilst 68 initiatives had been known as Essential and feature been centered to be finished through March 2024. Those initiatives are considering expanding capability on routes that serve primary mineral, business hubs at the side of the ports and primary intake centres beneath the Nationwide Rail Plan, the survey mentioned.

    The survey additionally identified that the freight ecosystem beneath the Nationwide Rail Plan is predicted to develop from the present stage of 26.27 according to cent to 8200MT through 2030. At this time, the railway capability is just ready to hold 1220MT which is round 26.27 according to cent of the modal proportion.

  • Rail to levy price for boarding, alighting at redeveloped stations; suburban educate passengers exempted

    By means of PTI

    NEW DELHI: Lengthy-distance educate commute is prone to value extra for passengers boarding or alighting at redeveloped stations because the Railways is making plans to levy a station construction price starting from Rs 10 to Rs 50 relying at the magnificence of commute.

    Officers mentioned the cost might be added to the educate tickets all through reserving.

    The associated fee shall be levied simplest after such stations grow to be operational.

    The consumer price can be in 3 classes.

    Rs 50 for all AC categories, Rs 25 for sleeper magnificence and Rs 10 for the unreserved magnificence.

    No station construction price shall be charged for suburban educate trips, in keeping with a round issued through the Railway Board.

    It mentioned that platform tickets at those stations can also be dearer through Rs 10.

    “Station Construction Price (SDF) might be amassed from the passengers (boarding in addition to alighting at such stations).”

    “Elegance-wise SDF for advanced/redeveloped stations might be charged as below: For alighting passengers at such stations, the SDF might be 50 consistent with cent of the charges indicated above.

    If each boarding/alighting such stations, if that’s the case, SDF might be 1.5 occasions of the acceptable charge, the round mentioned.

    SDF might be uniform throughout all such stations and might be charged as a separate element plus acceptable GST, for which directions might be issued one after the other, it added.

    Officers mentioned that the levying of SDF will be sure a continual income move for the Railways and can make the fashion financially viable for the nationwide transporter to entice non-public gamers Quite a lot of stations are being redeveloped on Indian Railways to supply fashionable facilities.

    Rani Kamalapati station of West Central Railway and Gandhinagar Capital station of Western Railway were advanced and commissioned.

  • In pandemic-hit 2020-21, railways earned over Rs 500 crore from Tatkal, top class Tatkal tickets

    By way of PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Railways earned Rs 403 crore from tatkal price tag fees, an extra Rs 119 crore from top class tatkal tickets, and Rs 511 crore from dynamic fares all through 2020-21, at the same time as a lot of its operations remained suspended via many of the yr because of the Covid pandemic, published an RTI answer.

    Passengers in those 3 classes are normally final minute travellers who avail those services and products most commonly for emergency trip through paying top class fees.

    In a respond to a RTI filed through Madhya Pradesh-based Chandra Shekhar Gaur, the Railways stated that it earned Rs 240 crore from dynamic fares, Rs 353 crore from tatkal tickets and Rs 89 crore from top class tatkal fees within the monetary yr 2021-22 until September.

    Within the 2019-20 monetary yr, when there have been no restrictions in educate operations, the nationwide transporter earned Rs 1,313 crore from dynamic fares, Rs 1,669 from tatkal tickets and Rs 603 crore from top class tatkal tickets.

    The knowledge from the railway ministry comes a month after a Parliamentary Status Committee on Railways remarked that the costs levied on tatkal tickets are “a bit unjustifiable” and put an enormous burden in particular on the ones passengers who’re financially vulnerable and are compelled to trip in urgency to satisfy their kith and family or so for an excessively brief distance additionally.

    The committee desired that the ministry devise measures for a professional rata fare for distance travelled.

    Tatkal price tag fees had been fastened as a proportion of fare on the charge of 10 in keeping with cent of fundamental fare for 2d elegance and 30 in keeping with cent of fundamental fare for all different categories matter to minimal and most.

    Beneath the top class model, which used to be presented in 2014 in make a selection trains, 50 in keeping with cent of tatkal quota tickets are bought the usage of the dynamic fare device.

    The committee additionally stated that flexi or dynamic pricing looked to be “quite discriminatory” given the information that fares of Rajdhanis, Shatabdis and Durontos are already upper as in comparison to different mail and categorical trains and are virtually at par and at some cases upper than the ones of funds airways.

    Information additionally displays that over 52 lakh individuals who have been on wait listing after finalisation of seat reservation charts may just now not trip through trains within the first six months of the present fiscal.

    Round 32,50,039 PNRs (passenger identify information), towards which 52,96,741 passengers had bookings, have been auto-cancelled as they have been in wait standing after preparation of the charts until September of this monetary yr.

    “The issue is that we wouldn’t have sufficient trains to satisfy the call for of most of the people. The ones that may come up with the money for the top class fares, spend cash to get tatkal tickets. Some trains are out of achieve for some who can not pay the dynamic fares. Despite the fact that we e-book prematurely, the tickets are wait indexed in maximum trains,” stated Sujeet Rai, who travels to look his oldsters in Bihar yearly.

    “What I do is e-book tickets prematurely and when they’re wait indexed until the very finish, I attempt to get tatkal tickets and cancel the up to now booked price tag. Despite the fact that its now not an emergency and you’ve got made plans together with your circle of relatives, you may have to take a look at to get showed tickets,” he stated.

    Whilst the Railways didn’t release any new trains all through Covid-hit 2020-21, it introduced in as many as 144 new educate services and products in 2019-20, 266 services and products in 2018-2019, 170 services and products in 2017-2018 and 223 services and products in 2016-2017.