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Indian Railways has recorded a year of strong and well-rounded progress in FY 2025-26, achieving significant milestones across freight operations, passenger services, infrastructure development, safety systems, digital initiatives with advancing self-reliance in technology and manufacturing. These accomplishments underscore its critical role in supporting economic activity, enhancing connectivity, and ensuring efficient mobility across the country.Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting and Electronics & Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, took to X to underscore the transformative progress of Indian Railways in FY 2025-26. He highlighted record freight and passenger performance, the introduction and expansion of Vande Bharat services, including the new Vande Bharat Sleeper trains, historic improvements in safety through reduced accidents and enhanced systems, and strengthened station and terminal infrastructure, all of which have enriched ...
Technology solutions provider Avantel on Wednesday said it has secured a contract worth Rs 459.9 crore to supply and maintain Real-Time Train Information System (RTIS) devices for the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS). The contract was awarded by Bengaluru-based Zetwerk, an infrastructure and technology partner to the Indian Railways. It covers the supply and annual maintenance (AMC) of RTIS devices. "Avantel Limited, a provider of technology solutions for the defence and communication sectors, has received a rate contract valued at Rs 459.9 crore (excluding taxes) from Zetwerk, Bengaluru, for the supply and Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) of Real-Time Train Information System (RTIS) devices for the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), Indian Railways," the company said in a statement. RTIS is an Indian Railways project developed in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It utilises satellite technology to automatically track train
More than three crore fake accounts from the IRCTC portal have been removed as part of efforts to deal with touts selling train tickets and around 78 per cent of the seats in trains are in the non-AC categories, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday. Asserting that the government's focus is to ensure comfortable and affordable services to the people, the minister also said that more than 75,000 special trains have been operated so far this financial year. Vaishnaw was responding to supplementaries during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha related to overcrowding in long distance trains. Steps have been taken to tackle the issue of touts selling train tickets and over three crore fake accounts have been removed from the IRCTC portal, he said and stressed that genuine passengers are getting train tickets. According to him, around 70 per cent of the coaches in trains are general and sleeper coaches while 78 per cent seats are in the non-AC categories. About running mor
While welcoming the move to indigenously develop bullet trains capable of a maximum speed of 250 kmph, experts have also cautioned the Railway Ministry that scaling up production before testing the prototype could be risky. Their cautionary note follows reports that the Ministry will soon award a tender for more trains. In a push to the 'Made-In-India' initiatives, the Ministry in 2024 awarded a contract to Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) to develop one pair of 250 kmph bullet trains by 2027. The Ministry recently informed a parliamentary panel that the first pair of Bharat-made Bullet Trains, named B28, will operate on the 508-km-long Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor. Its first phase is expected to open in August 2027 on a 97-km stretch from Surat to Vapi. The corridor is being constructed with financial assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to operate Japanese-made 320 km/h bullet trains using Japanese signalling technology. The Ministry .
High-resolution cameras installed in a Vande Bharat train, as well as AI technology, helped authorities catch the culprits who threw stones at the train in the Muzaffarnagar area of Uttar Pradesh, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The minister said that Vande Bharat trains are fitted with many safety features, including an anti-climbing feature that prevents one coach from climbing onto another. While mentioning the safety features in response to queries during Question Hour, Vaishnaw referred to the high-resolution cameras in the trains and the incident in Muzaffarnagar. "(Vande Bharat) trains are fitted with high-resolution cameras. In a recent incident in the Muzaffarnagar area, we could catch the culprits who were throwing stones on a Vande Bharat train just with a very small picture of a person captured on the camera, and by using some AI technologies, which helped us reach exactly the house where the person was residing," the minister said.