Upgraded to “gold standards” with braille signage and posters, automatic door controllers, walls, adorned with pictures of tourist locations in New Delhi and Chandigarh, in addition to other facilities — passengers are happy with the new look of the refurbished Shatabdi Express 12045/46, which runs between the two destinations. The train was, however, officially launched on Saturday, though introduced on Christmas.

During a press conference held at Chandigarh railway station, Ambala Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Dinesh Sharma said they have been working on improving the trains for a long time. “Finally, we have upgraded the Shatabdi. Many improvements have been made to the existing coaches so that our passengers can have a pleasant and different experience while traveling. The staff have also been trained to exhibit better behaviour. We intentionally called for the press conference after 10 days so that we could get proper feedback from our passengers.”
And so was it. Rita Bedi, a frequent traveller said the whole look of the train gives a positive vibe. “It looks extremely clean and hygienic. The journey should be pleasant and this is a step in the right direction,” said Bedi.

Praising the move, Rajan Sharma, a city resident, said, “It feels amazing to see this change in the train. I travel a lot and this upgrade will make the already wonderful experience in the Shatabdi much better.”

The Northern Railway had tasked the Ambala division to upgrade the New Delhi-Chandigarh Shatabdi Express 12045/46. Ambala division railway officials said that the upgrade had cost around Rs 2.2 lakh per coach.

Anti-abrasive paint has been used for luggage rack and roof, officials said. “The lavatories also have been upgraded with good quality locks, automatic hygiene and odour controllers, modular liquid soap containers as well as personal seat cover dispensers with dustbins next to the door. The odour controllers have also been installed in every compartment,” said an official.

Railway officials added the exteriors have been coated with an anti-graffiti material to protect the paint and maintain the elegant look. “Additional posters containing helpline numbers and safety measures in the train are also among the new installations,” said the official.

Source: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/passenger-thumbs-up-to-upgraded-chandigarh-new-delhi-shatabdi-express-5014701/

Starting January 3, Indian Railways will extend its SMS alerts for departure delays of over an hour to cover about 1,400 trains, including premium, superfast and express trains. So far, such alerts were sent only to passengers of premium trains like Rajdhani and Shatabdi, and were restricted to people boarding at the departure station. Now, travellers boarding at halt stations all along the route will also receive alerts.

“The idea was to inform passengers in advance about trains running behind schedule so they don’t have to wait for long hours at railway stations. It will also help passengers to plan their arrival,” said a senior Railways officer.

Launched in November 2017, the Railways sent out over 33 lakh SMSs to passengers between November 3 and December 7 last year.mation Systems, is free of cost. To avail the service, passengers have to mention their mobile numbers while booking tickets.

The service, developed by the Centre for Railway Information

To improve accuracy in tracking of trains, the Railways has tied up with ISRO for Real-time Train Information System. This will track trains on a real-time basis as well as disseminate running information to rail users.

“A tracking plate will be fixed on all 10,800 locomotives to track trains.
The fixing of the chip is expected to be complete by December 2018. Trials on the Delhi-Mumbai section have already been held,” the railway officer said.

Right on track

• To accommodate more passengers, railways plans to run standardised trains with 22 coaches
• Depending on the demand, railways at present runs trains having 12,16,18,22 and 26 coaches
• Plan is to initially have 300 trains of similar make on busiest routes
• This will help railways to substitute one train with another in case of delays
• It will need standardisation of infrastructure

  Source: http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2018/jan/03/indian-railways-extends-sms-delay-alerts-to-1400-trains-from-today-1743019.html

Indian Railways is aiming towards trebling its freight-moving ability to carry three billion tonnes of materials by 2030 in sync with an expected swelling of the Indian economy to touch the $10-trillion mark, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said Tuesday. “By carrying three billion tonnes of freight by 2030, we also aim to claim 50 per cent of market share of India’s freight movement,” Goyal told reporters.

The last few decades have seen the Railways ceding its market share in freight transportation to the road sector as it came up with propositions more economical than Railways. Over the years, its share of total freight movement has been near 35 per cent.

In the last three years, however, there has been a concerted effort to invest in capacity-building projects. Various route and tariff-rationalisation initiatives have resulted in the transporter carrying more freight to the effect that breaching the 1 billion tonne mark in a financial year has become the new normal. December 2017 saw an incremental seven million tonnes of freight over the figures achieved in the same month the previous year. The Dedicated Freight Corridor project will start getting commissioned in parts by the end of this year.

“We want to bring the charm back to rail travel,” Goyal said.

Railways is also working towards standardising the size of all passenger trains to 22 coaches. This will help in maintenance, capacity adjustments and better turnaround time. “… the length of the platforms will be increased and other related changes will be carried out,” Goyal said.

By the end of this fiscal, an unprecedented 3,500 km of tracks could be renewed.

Source: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/railways-aiming-at-trebling-freight-moving-ability-by-2030-piyush-goyal-5009391/

The Nikkei India manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), a bellwether of economic activity, grew at the fastest rate in five years in December.

Coming in the backdrop of a pickup in merchandise exports and output of eight infrastructure sectors in November, this has stoked expectations of a sustained revival in the Indian economy.

The manufacturing PMI rose to 54.7 in December from 52.6 in the previous month. A reading above 50 denotes expansion and one below it signals contraction. The manufacturing PMI is based on data compiled from monthly replies to questionnaires sent to purchasing executives in over 400 industrial companies in India.

Merchandise exports grew at a six-year high of 30.5% in November while the index for core sectors expanded at its fastest pace in 13 months at 6.8% during the same month.

India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth accelerated to 6.3% in the September quarter of 2017-18 after dropping to a three-year low of 5.7% in the June quarter on the back of demonetisation and uncertainty surrounding the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) from 1 July.

Most analysts expect economic growth to pick up in 2018 on the back of a continuous global recovery and improved manufacturing activity. The Reserve Bank of India expects growth, as measured by gross value added, to pick up to 7% in the December 2017 quarter and to 7.8% in the March 2018 quarter.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) will release the first advance estimates of GDP for the current financial year ending 31 March 2018 on Friday, which will act as the benchmark for most indices in the 2018-19 budget to be presented by finance minister Arun Jaitley on 1 February.

Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Care Ratings Ltd, said: “Our projection for the year is 6.7-6.8% based on the assumption of significant acceleration in Q3 and Q4 on the back of 4-4.5% industrial growth for the year.”

Aashna Dodhia, economist at IHS Markit, said India’s goods-producing economy advanced on its recovery path, with operating conditions improving at the strongest pace since December 2012. “Strong business performance was underpinned by the fastest expansions in output and new orders since December 2012 and October 2016 respectively. Anecdotal evidence pointed to stronger market demand from home and international markets,” Dodhia added.

In November, passenger vehicle sales grew at 14.3%, the fastest pace since July, on the back of a low base effect due to the demonetization of high-value banknotes in November 2016.

However, sceptics point out the short-lived boom in factory output, which grew more than 4% for two consecutive months in August and September, driven by restocking of warehouses, only to moderate to 2.2% in October.

Dodhia said challenges remain as the Indian economy adjusts to recent shocks, but the overall upturn was robust compared with the trend observed for the survey. “This outlook was shared by the manufacturing community as sentiment picked up to the strongest in three months amid expected improvements in market conditions over the next 12 months,” he added.

Industry lobby group Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s (Ficci’s) latest quarterly survey on manufacturing, released on 19 December, suggested a slightly less optimistic outlook for the manufacturing sector in the month as the percentage of respondents reporting higher production in the fiscal third quarter had fallen compared with the previous quarter.

The proportion of respondents reporting higher output growth during the December quarter fell to 47% from 50% in the September quarter, according to the survey. However, the percentage of respondents reporting lower production also came down to 15% in the third quarter from 18% in the second quarter.

Source: http://www.livemint.com/Money/vmlzR0QLcCZYE5r2nsTsfI/Factory-PMI-expands-at-fastest-pace-in-5-years-in-December.html

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Railways

---

29-December-2017 17:56 IST

Year End Review 2017 of Ministry of Railways

During 2016-17 consequential train accidents decreased from 107 to 104 in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year. Track Renewal speeded up- 2148 km old rails have been replaced with new rails upto Nov’17.

        Ground-breaking ceremony of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project (MAHSR) by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India and Hon’ble Prime Minister of Japan held in September, 2017.

Introduced First AC EMU consisting of 12-car (12 coaches) fitted with “Indigenous” 3-phase Propulsion system of Ms BHEL on Mumbai Suburban Section.

Mission Retro-Fitment to revamp passenger coaches launched to enhance the passenger experience. It will cover 45,000 Coaches.

14 Rajdhanis and 15 Shatabdi trains were identified to significantly improve passengers experience under “Project Swarn”.

Host of Passenger Amenities and Digital Initiatives were taken during the year 2017.

All time record commissioning of Electric Traction of 2367 route kilometer was achieved.

Introduced and proliferated Global Positioning System (GPS) based ‘Fog Pass device’ which displays the name and distance of approaching signals and other critical signal landmarks in advance during train operation.

In order to improve the functioning of Railways, substantial financial and administrative powers covering a wide spectrum of working have been delegated by the Railway Board to General Managers (GM),Divisional Railway Managers (DRM) and field officials.

 

PASSENGER AMENITIES, SERVICES

• From 03rd Nov. 2017, Service started to provide information to passengers through Short Messaging Service (SMS) regarding status of delayed trains. Initially, all Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Tejas & Gatiman Trains covered. From 15^th Dec, 2017, all Jan shatabdis, Duranto and Garib Rath trains have also been included. Now this service is available in around 250 trains.
• Permitted m-Aadhar as one of the prescribed proofs of Identity for Rail Travel Purpose.

• Extension of Scheme of Alternate Train Accommodation System aka VIKALP for the benefit of Waitlisted Passengers with effect from 1st April, 2017 in all Mail/Express trains.
• Initiatives for The Senior Citizens -Persons With Disabilities: Indian Railways launched Quota of 2 Berths for Divyangjans & Senior Citizens in AC 3 class. This is in addition to existing quota of 4 berths in SL class.
• Online booking of Retiring Rooms has been commissioned at 497 railway stations of Indian Railways. With a view to ensure optimal utilization of available accommodation in Retiring Rooms and Dormitory, instructions have been issued to Western Railway for booking of Retiring Room as well as dormitory for minimum duration of 3 hrs except for night booking where the booking will be done mandatorily from 2100 hrs to 0900 hrs. This facility is presently available at Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat stations.
• New Catering Policy in Railways launched. 33% Sub Quota for Women in Allotment of each Category of minor Catering Units at All Category of stations has been provided under this policy. Roped in Self Help Groups To Make Local Cuisines Available Through E-Catering Services of its PSU IRCTC.

• Initiated programme for 100% LED lighting at stations leading to improved illumination and passenger safety. Completed more than 3500 stations so far with a target to cover all Railway stations by March 2018.
• Provision of mobile/laptop charging points at all railway platforms.
• Provision of insect catchers at railway stations.
• A new mobile app IRCTC Rail Connect launched. Aadhar linked user IDs have been allowed to book 12 e-tickets in one month as against 6 tickets for non Aadhar user IDs.
• A new Integrated Mobile App ‘Rail SAARTHI’ launched which provides various services viz. Rail e-ticket booking, unreserved ticketing, complaint management, Clean my Coach, passenger enquiry etc.
• Payment of ticket using UPI/BHIM App has been implemented at reservation counters as well as on e-ticketing website.

• Project Swarn – 14 Rajdhanis and 15 Shatabdi trains were identified to significantly improve passengers experience under “Project Swarn”.  To achieve the objectives under this Project, ‘staff behaviour’ was identified as an important parameter.  The frontline staff of these premier trains was trained in various aspects such as catering, linen management and cleanliness.

HIGH SPEED RAILWAY/ MOBILITY

• A road map developed to increase speed of trains by overcoming the existing impediments on Principal routes of the railways on Golden Quadrilateral(GQ) along with diagonals (Delhi – Mumbai, Delhi – Howrah, Howrah- Chennai, Chennai – Mumbai, Delhi – Chennai and Howrah – Mumbai) due to fixed infrastructure, movable infrastructure, and operational practices.

• Projects for two routes viz. New Delhi- Mumbai Central (including Vadodara- Ahmedabad) and New Delhi- Howrah (including Kanpur- Lucknow) for raising of speed to 160/200kmph have been included in WP 2017-18 at Rs. 18,000 crores approximately. Speed Enhancement project entails works such as through fencing, removal of level crossings, train protection warning system (TPWS), mobile train radio communication (MTRC), automated and mechanized diagnostic systems etc. which will considerably enhance safety and reliability. The main outcome of the implementation of the projects is increase in the maximum speed of the trains to 160/200 kmph. This will reduce the travel time of premium Rajdhani type trains to 12 hours as against the present travel time of 17 hours for Howrah Rajdhani and 15 hours 35 minutes for Mumbai Rajdhani.

• Replacement of loco hauled commuter trains with MEMU/DEMU trains: MEMU trains have a potential for average speed increment of up to 20kmph in comparison to loco driven passenger trains.

• Ground-breaking ceremony of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project (MAHSR) by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India and Hon’ble Prime Minister of Japan was held in September, 2017. Managing Director and other Directors in the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), constituted for implementation of the MAHSR project, have been appointed.
• Following Semi High Speed Studies are underway:

o    Delhi-Chandigarh (244 km): Final report of feasibility cum implementation study of New Delhi-Chandigarh Corridor for raising the speed of passenger trains to 200 kmph by SNCF/France has been received. Report under scrutiny.

o    Nagpur – Secunderabad (575 km): A Protocol under co-operation MoU has been signed between Ministry of Railways and Russian Railways for carrying out feasibility cum implementation study. Work started in June 2016 and progressing as per schedule.

o    Chennai- Kazipet by German Railways- Joint declaration of intent has been signed between both the parties on 10/10/17 for raising the speed of passenger trains to 200kmph on the existing route on 50:50 cost sharing basis. The feasibility study shall be carried out after signing a separate agreement, which is under finalization.

o    Feasibility study for High Speed Rail on Mysuru-Bengaluru-Chennai through Government to Government (G2G) with the Government of Germany has commenced.

SAFETY

• During 2016-17 consequential train accidents decreased from 107 to 104 in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year.  In the current year from 1st April, 2017 to 30^th November, 2017 consequential train accidents decreased from 85 to 49 in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year.

• During the year from January to December 2017 to give thrust to safety related issues, Safety drives were launched on all zonal railways with a view to prevent accidents.

• Emphasis on night inspections and ambush checks regularly by officers and supervisors, review of fracture prone locations, frequent and intensive footplate inspection, etc.

• Focus on monitoring practices associated with booking, counselling, training, PME, performance evaluation etc. of crew in view of SPAD by Loco Pilots.

• A special safety drive regarding – “Working on running lines” and “Safety at work sites” for a period of fifteen days to check incidences of uncoupling in passenger train (Locomotive Getting Separated from Formation).

• Gate Mitras were deployed at all unmanned level crossings (UMLCs) on Broad Gauge instead of only identified UMLCs in order to enhance safety.

• Under Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) a provision of `20,000 crore has been made in 2017-18 out of ‘RRSK’ to fund essential works for ensuring safety.

• High Level Safety Review Committee (HLSRC): A High Level Safety Review Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. Anil Kakodkar, former Chairman, Atomic Energy Commissionwas constituted on 16.09.2011 to go into all technical and technology related aspects in connection with safe running of train services in the country. The Committee submitted its Report on 17.02.2012.  All the 106 recommendations of the Committee have since been deliberated upon and 87 recommendations have been found fully/partially acceptable and 19 have not been found acceptable to the Ministry of Railways.
• Of the accepted recommendations, 65 have been fully/partially implemented. The remaining recommendations are at various stages of implementation.

• Target of Eliminating All Unmanned Level Crossing preponed to 2018. Till the time this is achieved, in the interim period, Indian Railways decided to deploy Gate Mitras. Gate Mitra is an initiative where a person will be deployed at a UMLC, and would alert road users about approaching trains. All UMLCs on Broad Gauge as on November 2017 were provided with Gate Mitras.

• Track Renewal speeded up: 2148 km old rails have been replaced with new rails upto Nov’17.Progress during corresponding period last year was 1624 km between April to Nov’16.

• Self-Propelled Ultrasonic Rail Testing (SPURTZ Car) is under procurement and trial of Ultrasonic Broken Rail Detection System is underway. Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS) is under implementation on Suburban/High- density Routes.

• Decided to switch over to 100 % manufacture of Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches as these have numerous advantages over ICF coaches including higher speed and safety especially during derailment and collisions. Completely switch over to LHB coaches production from 2018-19.

 SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT AND INNOVATION

• Comprehensively revised categories of various Railway Stations. In new scheme of station categorization, even the small stations, because of footfall criteria, to get the higher level of passenger amenities leading to better passenger satisfaction.

• Introduced and proliferated Global Positioning System (GPS) based ‘Fog Pass device’ which displays the name and distance of approaching signals and other critical signal landmarks in advance during train operation. At present total 7263 Fog Pass Devices have been procured and being used in NR, NER, NCR, ECR, NFR& NWR which are the most fog affected Railways.

• Major Transparency measures by RDSO:

1. a) “New Online Vendor Registration System” has been launched by RDSO with effect from 8^th Nov 2017– With the new online system implemented by RDSO since 8^th Nov 2017, the Vendor can now deposit registration fee, submit documents, download technical drawings & specifications and interact with RDSO online.

1. b) All RDSO controlled items have now been listed on RDSO website with specific timelines for Vendor Registration process for each individual item. RDSO will endeavour to complete the registration process for which the vendor applies within defined timelines.

1. c) Innovation Challenge: An Innovation Challenge has been conducted to invite ideas and to augment the pace of Indian Railways operational improvements through innovative methods. Innovation Challenges attracted a huge response and a total of 4683 entries were received.  RDSO has been entrusted the task of conducting the screening and evaluation process.  The Innovation Challenge has been conducted in the following 06 areas:

(i)           Accessibility to trains from low level platforms

(ii)         Increasing capacity of coaches

(iii)       Digital capabilities at stations.

(iv)       Design of Wagons for efficient loading and transportation of new commodities.

(v)         New Idea/ Suggestion to improve the working of Indian Railways.

(vi)       Increasing Non-fare revenue of Indian Railways.

 

TRANSPARENCY

• Online Tracking of Contractor’s Bill enabled on single website – IT enabled real-time Web based system has been developed for tracking bill payments. This system enables the registered vendor/contractor to track status of bills from the time they are submitted to the Railways till the final payment is made.
• Implementation of 100% Digitization of Receipt Note.
• Digital finalization of tenders – Total 54700 tender cases finalized this year digitally through Indian Railway E-Procurement portal www.ireps.gov.in.
• More than 1000 e-Reverse Auction tenders opened on Indian Railways web portal during last 1 year.

NEW TRAINS

• India’s First Tejas Express Between Mumbai and Karmali inaugurated.

• More Than Three Decade Old Demand for an “Express” Train for People of Kirandul in Dantewada District of Chhattisgarh fulfilled. Extended Train No. 08152 Visakhapatnam – Jagdalpur Upto Kirandul.

 Prime Minister of India & Prime Minister of Bangladesh Jointly along with Chief Minister, West Bengal Flagged off New Cross-Border Train between India & Bangladesh, “Kolkata-Khulna Bandhan Express” from Kolkata.

• Introduced tri- weekly new Special Rajdhani between Delhi – Mumbai route from 16th October, 2017.
• Introduced First AC EMU consisting of 12-car (12 coaches) fitted with “Indigenous” 3-phase Propulsion system of Ms BHEL on Mumbai Suburban Section.

• Introduced Third Mahamana Express to run between Varanasi and Vadodara on 22nd September 2017.

Vistadome Tourist Coach with glass walls launched at Vishakhapatnam to run between Visakhaptnam and Araku Valley. The Vistadome coach has features like glass roof, LED lights, rotable seats, GPS based info system etc will offer to tourists to enjoy scenic beauty not only at destination but also along the journey.

• Introduced Train No.22165/22166 Bhopal-Singrauli  Express (Bi-Weekly):

• Introduced Train No 22167/22168 Singrauli-H. Nizamuddin Express(Weekly) :

• Introduced Train No 18109/18110 Jammu Tawi-Rourkela Express (Daily) Upto Sambalpur:

• Introduced Train No 22913/22914 Bandra(T)-Patna Humsafar Express (Weekly)

• Introduced Train No 22921/22922 Bandra(T)-Gorakhpur Antyodaya Express (Weekly)

• Introduced Train No 22434/ 22433 Anand Vihar (T) To Ghazipur (Bi-weekly) via Kanpur, Allahabad:

• Introduced New DEMU Service between Baiyappanahalli-Whitefild-Baiyappanahalli.

• Introduced Train No 22163/64 Bhopal- Khajuraho Mahamana Intercity Express (Daily),

• Introduced Train No 22833/34 Bhubaneswar- Krishnarajapuram Humsafar Express  (Weekly)

• Introduced Train No 17323/17324 Hubballi – Varanasi – Hubballi Express (Weekly)

• Introduced Train No 17325/17326 Hubballi – Mysuru – Hubballi Express (Daily)

• Introduced Train No 16791/16792 from Punalur to Palakkad.

• Introduced Train No 22992/22991 Veraval – Bandra Terminus Super Fast Express
• Introduced Train No 22994/22993 Mahuva – Bandra Terminus Super Fast Express
• Introduced Train No 19030/19029 Mahuva – Bandra Terminus Super Fast Express
• Introduced Train No 58653/58654 Ranchi-Barkichanpi Passenger upto Tori
• Introduced Train No Train No 14715/14716 Sri Ganganagar – Tiruchirappalli Humsafar Express (Weekly) (via Krishnarajapuram, Pune, Ahmedabad) the fourth Humsafar clan of trains
  

• Introduced Train No Train No 22877/22878 Ernakulam – Howrah Antyodaya Express (Weekly) (via Salem, Katpadi, Visakhapatnam) first Antyodaya clan of trains.
  

• Extended Train No. 19653/19654 Ajmer Ratlam Express Extended up to Indore.

• Extended Frequency of Train No.22419/22420 Ghazipur City-Anand Vihar (T) Suhail Dev Express from tri-weekly to four days a week.

• Extended Frequency of Train No.19041/19042 Bandra (T)-Ghazipur City Express (weekly to bi-weekly).
• Extension of Train No.58429/58430/58431/58432 (Khurda Road- Bolagarh) passenger trains extended upto Nayagarh Town.

 INFRASTRUCTURE

The first Phase of the Station Redevelopment Program comprising 23 major Railway Stations of Indian Railways was launched.

• Mission Retro-Fitment to revamp passenger coaches launched to enhance the passenger experience. It will cover 45,000 Coaches.
• Significant Step taken towards Providing Rail Connectivity for Chardham Pilgrimage in the State of Uttarakhand through commencement of final location Survey.
• Record Commissioning of sections on Electric Traction: During the calendar year 2017, all time record commissioning of Electric Traction of 2367 route kilometer was achieved. A target for electrification of 4,000 route kilometer has been set for achievement during financial year 2017-18.

• Major Strategic Decisions to speed up 100% Electrification work-

1. a)  For Rail Electrification projects, Provision of “Deemed approval” has been made for various drawings/schematic/plan wherever approving authorities do not take decision within specified timelines.
2. b) In future, doubling, new line and gauge conversion projects for the sections shall be simultaneously assessed with electrification.
3. c) To avoid multiplicity of agencies involved in execution, it has been decided that “Henceforth, where electrification and doubling works have been sanctioned both works should be executed by the same agency.
4. d) It has been decided to go for large size contracts on EPC mode on case to case basis, preferably adopting EPC (turnkey) based contracting system or large composite item rate contract in package size of 300/500/1000/1500RKMs.

• Opening of Major Routes On Electric Traction: During the calendar year 2017, commissioning of missing links have resulted in better linkages and seamless connectivity on following routes:

o   Commissioning of Andal-Sitarampur section,

o   Commissioning of Indore-Mhow section.

o   Commissioning of Singapur Road – Lanjigarh – Titlagarh section

o   Commissioning of Lapanga – Sambalpur section.

o   Commissioning of Una Himachal – Amb Andura section.

o   Commissioning of Lalitpur – Udaipura section.

o   Commissioning of Walgaon – Narkher section.

o   Commissioning of Manpur-Tilaiya-Bakhtiyarpur section.

o   Commissioning of Ramanagaram-Mysore section.

• Energy Management: Dedicated transmission line network of railway-8000 Km network planned. Existing transmission line network from Dadri-Kanpur extended up to Allahabad. Work in progress for Allahabad-Mughalsarai transmission line network.
• Electric Locomotive Factory at Madhepura in Bihar (Make in India project)- First phase of construction of factory has been completed. First prototype locomotive under assembly at the factory and expected to be rolled out by Feb.’18 as per time line. Manufacturing of High Horse Power Freight locomotives (9000 hp) for hauling longer and heavier trains with improved mobility. Manufacturing of High Horse Power Passenger locomotives (9000 hp) for improving average speed of coaching trains in this Locomotive Factory at Madhepura.
• Technological Interventions for Crew Comfort inside locomotives:

(a)          Water Closets in Locomotives
(b)         Cab air conditioners
(c)          Improved Cab Ergonomics and layout

• Distributed Power Wireless Control System (DPWCS) for hauling longer and heavier freight trains with two or more locos in between train configuration.
• Technological Interventions for Safety – Crew Voice and Video recording system.
• New Era of Green Technology (HOG power supply) with use of Hotel load converter on electric locomotives in WAP-7 locomotives and in WAP-5 locomotives. Provision ofHotel load converter on locomotives, eliminates the use of diesel generator cars, thereby replacing power cars by passenger carrying coaches.

 DIGITAL INDIA INITIATIVES

• For incentivizing people to opt digital transactions, IR has  withdrawn service charge from booking of e-tickets, offered free insurance of Rs 10 lakhs on e-tickets and 0.5% discount on Season Tickets purchased through digital means etc.
• Around 9,500 POS machines have been installed at various ticket booking counters to accept payment from Debit/Credit cards.  No MDR is charge for booking through Debit cards at ticketig counters.
• The facility of payment through UPI/BHIM has been provided at PRS counters.
• Rail Cloud Project launched – To achieve the goal of single digital platform for Indian Railways.
• Railsaver App developed and its utilization popularized with the railways.
• Implementation of e-office in the Railway Board.
• Implementation of on-line submission and assessment of Annual Performance Appraisal Report (APAR) through SPARROW for officers of Indian Railways.
• Digitization of old Annual Performance Appraisal Reports (APARs) of Group-A Officers of Indian Railways.
• Launching complimentary Wi-Fi facility at National Rail Museum (NRM), New Delhi, first museum in India to have such facility.
• Agreement with M/s Google Cultural Institute (GCI) for digitization of Railway Heritage and bringing them online for universal access and creating awareness among future generations.
• In collaboration with Google Cultural Institute , launched an innovative programme for dissemination of India’s rich cultural heritage to railway passengers through video screens at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Mumbai.

• In collaboration with ISRO, expediting use of space technology on Indian Railways for various projects like Real Time Train Information System, Advance Warning System at Unmanned Level Crossing Gates

• In order to promote digital payments, preference in Upgradation to those passengers who have booked ticket through digital mode of payment has been implemented.

FREIGHT

• Liberalised Automatic Freight Rebate Scheme in Empty flow Directions has been issued w.e.f.01.01.2017 by modifying earlier TEFD Scheme.
• Policy on Long Term Tariff Contract with key freight customers has been issued on 30.3.2017. Total 24 proposals were received and out of them, 21 proposals / agreements have been signed. The major companies who have entered into contact with Zonal Railways under this scheme included TATA Steel, Ultra-tech Cement, India Cement, Jindal Steel and Power, J.K. Cement, Ambuja, ACC etc.
• Double stack dwarf container introduced as a new delivery model to increase Loadability and attract new traffic under wire.  New tariff policy granting 17% rebate to Double Stack Dwarf Container trains has also been issued on 14.07.2017.
• Right Powering of freight trains: To provide high speed to freight trains and ensure swift movement of goods, New policy introduced for right powering arrangement for freight trains with a horse power to trailing load ratio of 1.5-2.0 for improving average speeds.
• New Partnership with India Post for Business Parcel launched.
• Mission Hundred’ – Commissioning of PFTs/Sidings- 45 terminals have been commissioned during 2016-17. Out of the remaining 55 terminals, so far 13 terminals have been commissioned in 2017-2018.

FINANCE

• Inaugurated the following policy initiatives for non fare revenue viz.,  Policy Initiatives of Increasing Non Fare Revenue like Out of Home Advertisement,Content on demand,      Branding of Trains,      Non-fare Revenue Policy,      ATM Policy and  Initiatives promoting ease of ticketing through digital transactions (for reserved as well as unreserved passengers)
• Savings of Rs. 512 Cr.(approx.) has been achieved since July’17 by adopting best procurement policies/practices like Design modification, change in specification, challenging consumption, Long Term Contracting, Reverse Auction, improving vendor base etc.

MAKE IN INDIA INITIATIVES

• Policy on Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) dated 15-06-2017 implemented.
• Policy for providing Preference to Domestically Manufactured Iron & Steel Products (DMI&SP) implemented.
• Policy for preference to Domestically Manufactured Electronic Goods issued by The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology(MeitY) in October, 2017.
• Relaxation from condition of prior turnover and prior experience for Startups and Medium Small Enterprises.
• Vendor meets organized on PAN-India basis at 12 prominent locations across the country in association with MSME & SIDBI during October & November 2017 with special emphasis on development of indigenous firms.

 SECURITY

• Seats earmarked for Security Personnel of escorting teams in the trains. Berth no.63 in S1 Coach of the train earmarked for Security Personnel so they can be located easily in case of need.
• Railway Protection Force decided to extend Child Rescue Campaign in 47 additional Railway Stations taking total to 82 Railway Stations. The campaign had been successfully implemented in 35 existing Railway Stations. RPF rescued around 21,000 children in last three years.

GREEN INITIATIVES

• Dedicated Green Corridor in Bhagalpur- Banka section (Bihar) of Malda Division.
• Dedicated Green Corridor-Madhupur-Giridih section of  Asansol Division.
• 500 Kwp Solar Roof Top System commissioned at Mysuru Work Shop.
• Indian Railways Organization for Alternate Fuel (IROAF) sets gold standards by winning Golden Peacock Award for Eco Innovation for the year 2017 for introducing eco friendly and cost saving Dual Fuel 1400 HP Diesel engines on DEMU trains.
• First DEMU Train with Solar powered Coaches inducted into service of the Nation.
• New Water Management Policy with respect to consumption and utilization in Railways was released.
• GreenCo Certificates developed by CII given to Three Units of Indian Railways viz. Diesel Locomotive Works (Varanasi), Perambur Carriage Works (Chennai), Lalaguda Carriage Workshop (Hyderabad)
• Various new initiatives taken for improving energy efficiency- Replacement of all electrical equipments at railway stations and service buildings with energy efficient BEE star rated equipments under ESCO model, 100% LED lighting at all the railway stations, service buildings, workshops, Sheds and other installations etc. With this, savings of Rs. 125 Cr. achieved this year by saving about 7% energy.
• Building Management Information System (BMIS) implemented at Rail Bhawan including LED lights which shall save about Rs.30 lacs per annum in the energy bill.
• Policy for use of energy efficient equipments by all vendors issued to the railways.
• More than 60 MW of solar & wind power plants have already been installed covering270 stations & 120 administrative buildings & hospitals and further orders for about 150 MW have been  placed for solar plants on roof tops of Railway Buildings.
• An International Conference on Green Initiatives and Railway Electrification organized in October 2017.

HUMAN RESOURCE

• Project Saksham Launched : The decision of imparting a week-long training in skills and domain knowledge to all the employees of Indian Railways had been taken. The focus of all such training is to ‘make a difference’ to the job performance.
• Station Directors in large Stations have been now given the powers of the Branch Officers in the divisions to enable them to take decisions for smooth operations.
• Employee Charter was released. An employees’ charter is notified for ensuring time bound redressal of railways employees’ issues related to dues, entitlements and grievances.
• NIVARAN- Portal for Grievance Redressal of Railway Employees was launched.
• Cashless treatment Scheme in Emergency (CTSE) Scheme was launched for Railway Employees.
• DRMs /Chief Workshop Managers (CWMs) have been given powers tore-engage retired railway employees up to 62 years of age against vacancies.
• NRTU is being established at Vadodara, Gujrat to give impetus to research and training in rail transport.

 REFORMS

• In order to improve the functioning of Railways, substantial financial and administrative powers covering a wide spectrum of working have been delegated by the Railway Board to General Managers (GM),Divisional Railway Managers (DRM) and field officials.
• Number of posts of Additional Divisional Railway Managers (ADRMs) in all the railway division offices for better supervision.
• A Five Member Committee of senior officials of Railway Board to suggest measures for making substantial improvement in worksites safety over all Indian Railways network.

SPORTS

• Ministry of Railways felicitated Indian Railways Women Cricketers of Indian Women Cricket Team for their outstanding performance in Women World Cup 2017. It is a moment of great pride for Indian Railways that of the squad of 15 players of Indian Women Cricket Team, 10 Women Cricketers were from Indian Railways.
• Mirabai Chanu, Indian Railways Sportsperson, became the first Indian in over two decades to claim a gold medal at the World Weightlifting Championship in Anaheim, USA.

MOUs

• MoU between India and Switzerland on Technical Cooperation in Rail Sector

• Memorandum of Understanding signed between Rail Land Development Authority(RLDA) & IRCON International Limited for Redevelopment of Delhi Safdarjung Railway Station.

• India and Italy Sign an MOU for Technical Cooperation in Rail Sector Especially on Safety Related Subjects. MoU with Ferrovie Dello Stato Italiane S.P.A. of Italy on Technical Cooperation in the Rail Sector.
• Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) / Memorandum of cooperation (MoC) with Foreign Ministries/Railways for Technical Cooperation in Railway Sector.
• Memorandum of Understanding with UNESCO, New Delhi for preparation of Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan (CCMP) of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR), UNESCO World Heritage Site. This will boost conservation of DHR and promote hill railway tourism.
• MoU between Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA), an institution under Ministry of Railways and National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC), a PSU of Ministry of Urban Development regarding redevelopment of identified railway stations.
• MoU with Taiwan for bilateral cooperation in promoting rail heritage on both sides.

MISCELLANEOUS

• Century old Steam Loco EIR-21 (year built 1855) has been revived and steamed at Chennai.
• NG Steam Loco ZB-66 has been revived and steamed up at Kalka Shimla Section after a gap of several decades.
• Neki ki Rail” a seminar for improving the Railway’s social footprint and impacting society in a positive manner Organised by Ministry of Railways at National Rail Museum.
• Notification for setting up of Rail Development Authority (RDA) issued in May, 2017. In order to operationalise the Authority, process for appointment of Chairman and Members of the RDA has been initiated.
• Promotion of Tribal /local Art at Stations: To showcase tribal/local art at stations,  select tourist stations at 24 locations were identified and Zonal Railways concerned were requested for aesthetic up gradation of these stations with local/tribal art.
• The ‘Fairy Queen’, the oldest surviving functional steam engine in the world commenced its journey from National Capital Delhi to Rewari, Haryana after a gap of 5 years. This train, which is a great attraction among steam engine lovers across the globe, will run between Delhi Cantt. Station and Rewari

***

As many as 336 numbers of structural steel members called stringers of the iconic Saraighat Bridge over the River Brahmaputra here have been replaced in a duration of just eight and half months. Stringers are steel beams positioned along the length of the bridge on which the rails of the track are directly placed, according to P J Sarma, the chief public relations officer of Northeast Frontier Railway.

Load from a passing train are first transferred to the stringers and from them further to other members. Replacement of inner stringers is a very difficult task as it requires removal of outer stringers. Workers have to position themselves in very limited working space and the work is to be done by stopping the movements of trains i.e. a “traffic block”.

Saraighat bridge is the first rail-cum-road bridge over the mighty River Brahmaputra near Guwahati. The 1.4 kms long double – decker bridge which connects both North and South banks of Brahmaputra River was opened for traffic in 1963. Originally the bridge was constructed to run two MG or one BG train.

Later, during gauge conversion in 1982-83 the rail stringers were replaced making provision of MG / BG combined track i.e. on which both MG and BG traffic could ply. Now it has one BG track over it. The bridge has already completed 54 years of service. During the more than 54 years of service, the flanges of Rail Stringers get corroded. Hence they needed replacement or strengthening work.

Since March 2017 to June 17, 2017 only 14 numbers new and 19 numbers strengthened rail stringers could be replaced due to non-availability of traffic block. However, later regular scheduled traffic block for one hour 45 minutes on every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday was allotted. This resulted into an increase of replacement of stringers from two to six numbers per block. Accordingly, the total work involving 336 stringers was completed on November 15,2017 in eight and half months as against the target date of December 31, 2017.

It can be mentioned here that similar work was done in the year 2007 for replacement of outer stringers, which took about 3 years to complete. But this time inner stringers were changed (which requires almost double the quantum of work under traffic block) within a much shorter time, thus minimizing the disruption to traffic due to proper planning.

Source: http://www.theshillongtimes.com/amp/2017/12/28/repair-of-iconic-saraighat-bridge-carried-out-in-record-time/

Spot power prices have declined to about Rs 2.90 per unit from a high of Rs 5 per unit in early September as near-adequate availability of coal led to higher electricity generation. Analysts said prices may fall further and stabilise at about Rs 2.5 per unit.

Improved coal supplies and reduced power demand in winter boosted inventory levels of the fuel at power plants. Coal stocks at plants are close to 13 million tonnes, enough to last for nine days now compared with six days in September-October.

With higher electricity generation by plants, demand for short-term power on the exchanges in November and December declined from the previous months. Short-term power prices fell to Rs 3.55 per unit in November and further to Rs 2.9 per unit on Thursday.

The difference between total buy and sell bids at the Indian Energy Exchange turned negative in November and for most of December, indicating a drop in demand for short-term power. On most days in December, half the power on offer remained unsold either due to lack of demand or constraints in the power grids, pulling down prices to below Rs 3.

Power generators offered almost 6.4 million units for sale over the past 30 days, of which only about 3.9 million units were sold.

“Power generation in November, excluding renewable resources, increased 1.7% yearon-year to 95 billion units,” said Nitin Bansal, an analyst at India Ratings and Research. “However, demand in November dipped 8.2% against October due to seasonal variation and drop in temperature across northern India. These factors are likely to pull down power prices at exchanges further over the next three months. We believe it would stabilise at around Rs 2.5 per unit and Rs 2.6 per unit during the next three months.”

During this time, Coal India increased production 2.6% year-on-year. Production has been rising year-onyear since August. Coal inventory levels have improved over the past few weeks on account of increased production and lower requirements due to easing power demand in November.

Source:  https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/coal-supply-surge-pulls-down-spot-power-prices/articleshow/62291034.cms?utm_source=APPusers&utm_medium=twittershare&utm_campaign=socialsharebutton

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Railways

---

28-December-2017 13:06 IST

 

Minister of Railways directs to re-categorize railway stations taking into account earnings, passenger footfall, strategic importance

Ministry of Railways has comprehensively revised categories of various Railway Stations
In new scheme of station categorization, even the small stations, because of footfall criteria, to get the higher level of passenger amenities leading to better passenger satisfaction.

 

In a major policy decision, Ministry of Railways has comprehensively revised categories of various Railway Stations with a view to make it more practical and rational. This comes after the Minister of Railways & Coal, Shri Piyush Goyal directed to re-categorize railway stations taking into account earnings, passenger footfall, strategic importance with a view to plan various passenger services and passenger amenities at stations in a more effective and focused manner. It will also help the passenger to have a better experience in relation to travel amenities at stations.

The earlier criteria for station categorisation was based on the annual passenger earnings only.  Stations were categorised into 7 categories which A-1, A, B, C, D, E and F.  The criteria for categorisation of stations have now been revised to include footfalls at the station.  The stations have been further segregated based on the type and clubbed into 3 groups i.e. non-suburban (NS), suburban (S) and Halt (H).  Further these groups have been put in grades ranging from NSG1-6, SG1-3 and HG1-3 respectively.

In the old criteria the number of stations with high passenger footfalls (handling high number of commuter and MST pass holders etc.) could not be covered into the higher category of station which led to these stations being eligible for lower level of amenities.  As per the new criteria the number of footfalls has also been given equal weightage and is taken into account as criteria for categorisation of stations.  Therefore, many stations like Kalyan, Panvel, Tambaram, Thane have qualified into the higher category and become eligible for higher level of passenger amenities.

Under this new scheme of categorization of railway stations, the stations have been clubbed into 3 groups namely Non-Suburban, Suburban and Halt. Further, these groups have been put in different grades ranging from 1-6. Accordingly following categories have been  formed.

Category of stations	Criteria of Earnings (in Rs.)			Criteria of outward Passengers handled
I.                   Non-Suburban
NSG 1	More than 500 Crore			More than 20 Million
NSG 2	100 to 500 Crore			10 to 20 Million
NSG 3	20 to 100 Crore			05 to 10 Million
NSG 4	10 to 20 Crore			02 to 05 Million
NSG 5	01 to 10 Crore			01 to 02 Million
NSG 6	Upto 01 Crore			Upto 01 Million
Total of (I) 5976
II.                Suburban
SG 1		More than 25 Crore			More than 30 Million
SG 2		10 to 25 Crore			10 to 30 Million
SG 3		Upto 10 Crore			Upto 10 Million
Total of (II) 484
III.             Halts
HG 1			More than 50 Lakh			More than 03 lakh
HG 2			05 to 50 lakh			01 to 03 lakh
HG 3			Upto 05 lakh			Upto 01 lakh
Total of (III) 2153
Total Number of stations (I+II+III) 8613

Presently, there are 5976 Non-Suburban Railway Station, 484 Suburban Railway Stations and 2153 Halts, which makes total number of stations as 8613. This categorization of stations has been done for the period 2017-18 to 2022-23.

 General Managers shall have powers to categorize a station as NSG-4 category if it is a place of Tourist importance and/or is an important junction station.

In addition, Ministry of Railways has given GMs full powers to sanction out of turn safety related works without any limit. The following amenities will be provided at all the stations irrespective of their category for safe performance of journey by passengers:

• Foot over bridge
• High level platform
• Trolley path for movement of wheel chair

For improving stations and passenger interfaces: More amenities has been provided to lower category of stations like:

• Waiting halls
• Platform shelters
• Lifts
• Escalators
• Digital charts display
• Illumination
• The train/coach indication board

In view of the new criteria even the small station will get the higher level of amenities which will lead to better passenger satisfaction.

***

Indian power plants now have average coal inventory of about nine days, comfortably breaching the critical stock threshold that forced several generating companies to recently shut down units amid a crisis in supplies of the primary solid fuel.

“Supplies have improved considerably and a large number of our units at power stations have been brought back up,” a senior executive at top state-run generating company NTPCBSE 0.90 % said. “These units were either operating at very low capacity levels or idling due to the lack of coal. We have been receiving additional rakes since the last few days, helping scale up generation.” Another executive at an independent power producing company said: “Supplies have regularised and are increasing at a slow and steady pace. We are now being able to plan better since we know how much coal we are to receive on a daily basis.”

According to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), stocks are considered critical if they fall below five days for pit-head plants. For non-pit-head plants, the threshold is less than a week.

According to the Central Electricity Authority , there are no pit-head plants with critical stocks while in the non-pit head category, there are just about 10-odd plants against 27 two months ago.

All these plants, however, are receiving supplies on a regular basis and a senior Coal IndiaBSE -0.47 % executive said it will take some time before these plants start to build up stock as the fresh supply of coal is almost entirely being used up for generating power.

 

“Coal India has been loading anything between 275 and 280 rakes a day, including loading from private washeries and goods sheds. Direct loading from pit heads has been hovering around 250 rakes a day and we are aiming to increase that to about 270,” said a Coal India executive.

Factors that helped improve stocks at power plants include the onset of winter, which led to reduced demand in certain pockets, and increased production. However, land acquisition issues at the Rajmahal mine area under Eastern Coalfields in West Bengal are still affecting coal production. Law and order issues at collieries under Central Coalfields have also considerably affected loading. The closure of a 34-kilometre railroad stretch between Dhanbad and Chandrapura in Jharkhand is also affecting supplies.

The alternate route being used involves moving coal via trucks to another loading area. Coal from this region is sent to power plants in West Bengal, Odisha, and north India, including Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The region also supplies coal to plants of the Damodar Valley Corporation.

Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/power-plants-rebound-as-coal-supplies-steady/articleshow/62234968.cms