Page 4 - Railway Minister

New rail corridors to cost Rs 11 trn, add 40K km of tracks: Vaishnaw

The national transporter is expected to have an operating ratio of 98.7 per cent in the current financial year

Revamped stations will reflect, promote cultural heritage of city: Vaishnaw

Railway stations are an integral part of culture and people's day-to-day life and these should reflect, protect and promote an area's cultural heritage, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, citing redevelopment projects in Ayodhya and Puri. While the architecture of the facade of the redeveloped station in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh embraces tradition in a line with the upcoming Ram temple there, the redeveloped Puri station will reflect the traditional architectural features of the famed Jagannath Temple. "The more you gel a railway station with a city the better it is. Development should be such that cultural heritage should get a place in it. It should be protected and reflected significantly," the minister told PTI in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. He was in the city to review its station's redevelopment. In 2021, the Railway Ministry had launched the Amrit Station Scheme. Under it, 1,309 railway junctions are being redeveloped with a special focus on safety and amenities for ...

Every passenger gets 55% concession on train journeys, says Vaishnaw

Every passenger gets 55 per cent concession on train journeys, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said regarding demands to restore pre-Covid fare concessions for senior citizens and media persons. Without giving any direct reply to questions by media persons on the restoration of concessions, Vaishnaw said, "The Indian Railway is already offering 55 per cent concession on train fares to every train passenger. Vaishnaw was in Ahmedabad to review the progress of the ongoing bullet train project among other things. Before the COVID-19 lockdown imposed in March 2020, the Railways offered 50 per cent concession on train fares to senior citizens and government-accredited journalists. Railway operations were completely shut down during the lockdown but when its full-fledged resumption in June 2022, the Railway Ministry didn't restore these concessions and since then the issue has been raised on various platforms, including in both houses of parliament. Vaishnaw maintained a similar stand

Investments worth Rs 14 trillion in the works for rail overhaul: Vaishnaw

We are increasing the passenger capacity to 10 billion. By 2030, waiting lists will not exist, said Ashwini Vaishnaw

Railways give thumbs up to Rs 1 trn plan to do away with waiting lists

The Indian Railways plans to procure 7,000-8,000 new train sets over the next 15 years to make train travel more efficient and eliminate waiting lists

Rail would need over 30 bn units of power after full electrification: Govt

The railways would require around 30.13 billion units of electricity after 100 per cent electrification of its broad gauge lines, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has informed the Lok Sabha. In a written reply on December 13 to a query by BJP MP Rajesh Chudasama who wanted to know the electrification status, he said the railways is progressively procuring renewable energy from different sources for its present and future requirements. Chudasama also sought to know the expected consumption after 100 per cent electrification and "the manner in which Railways is likely to ensure that the increased electricity demand is met through renewable sources". In his reply, Vaishnaw said, "Based on the present electricity consumption for traction purposes of Indian Railways, the expected increase in electricity consumption after 100 per cent electrification is estimated to be about 30.13 billion units. The actual demand will depend on the future passenger and goods traffic over Indian ...

India's first bullet train section to be complete by Aug 2026: Vaishnaw

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor has been making steady progress since its construction began in November 2021

Chhath Puja Special Trains: Indian Railways to run 283 special trains

The Ministry of Railway announced that the Indian Railway will run trips of 283 special trains during the Chhath Puja festival. The special trains aim to manage the movement of all the passengers

Railways decides to stop engine compartment inspection by assistant drivers

To ensure safe operations, the Railway Board has decided to stop the age-old practice of engine compartment inspection by the assistant driver leaving the driver alone in a running train. Train drivers, also called loco pilots or LPs, have welcomed the decision, saying in view of the upgraded and modern cabin (engine), which triggers safety indication for any machine fault, manual inspection of various machine compartments inside the engine has become a redundant practice. "Taking safety as paramount into consideration, it has been decided by the competent authority that inspection of machine room/HT (High Tension) compartment after every neutral section by ALPs/Co LPs on run may be stopped, the board said in a letter addressed to the general managers of all railway zones. Loco pilots said that when engines that run on electricity with the help of overhead equipment (OHE) shift from one phase of electricity to another, they pass through a neural section where there is no power ...

No politics behind orange Vande Bharat trains, says Rly minister Vaishnaw

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in a recent interaction with journalists dismissed the notion that there is any politics behind launching orange-colour Vande Bharat trains, saying the choice of colours was informed by scientific thought. "For human eyes, two colours are supposed to be the most visible - yellow and orange. In Europe, almost 80 per cent of trains have either orange or a combination of yellow and orange," Vaishnaw said. "There are many other colours, such as silver, which are bright like yellow and orange but if we talk about it from the point of view of visibility to the human eye, these two colours are considered to be the best," he added. Vaishnaw asserted there is no politics behind it and it is a 100 per cent scientific thought. He said it is due to these reasons black boxes in aircrafts and ships are of orange colour. "Even rescue boats and life jackets, which National Disaster Response Force uses, are of orange colour." The Indian Railway launched its first

'No law and order in Bihar, nobody is spared': Minister on journo's murder

The journalist, identified as Vimal Kumar Yadav, was allegedly shot dead at his home by unidentified assailants in the Raniganj Bazaar area of the district, police said earlier on Friday

Ashwini Vaishnaw inaugurates first 3D-printed post office in Karnataka

The 3D printing technology is a fast-emerging way of constructing structures. It uses computer-aided design to create three-dimensional objects through a layering method

Vande Bharat trains register 99% utilisation during FY24 up to June 2023

To ensure maximum utilisation, Zonal railways have been authorised to introduce up to 25 per cent discount on the basic fare in AC chair car and Executive class

Piyush Goyal to visit UK for FTA negotiations, review progress of TEPA

The India-UK bilateral trading relationship was worth Pound 34 billion in 2022, growing by Pound 10 billion ( Rs 102 crore) in one year

PM Modi has created opportunities for jobs, enterprises: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Asserting that good infrastructure spurs growth in all sectors, Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has created employment opportunities for youth and also a framework to promote startups in the country. The Vande Bharat, airports, ports modernisation, highways, and expressways, among other projects are examples of how infrastructure would make a difference in people's life, he noted. "After graduation, you will join some stream of economic activity where infrastructure plays a very big difference. If you have good infrastructure in the country, then the shipping industry and other sectors, too, develop," the Minister said while speaking at the 19th convocation of SRM Institute of Science and Technology, here. He said the Modi-government has ensured development across all sectors. Ten years ago the country imported electronics products but today 98 percent of the electronic components were made in India. And Tamil Nadu contributed .

Vaishnaw visits Delhi control room, explore ways to upgrade railway systems

The Railway Minister emphasized the need to develop a foolproof system to ensure smooth operations and enhanced passenger services

HD Deve Gowda praises Railway Minister amid alliance rumours with BJP

Deve Gowda was also questioned whether he would support the efforts of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar to form a front against the BJP

Railway ministry releases helpline number to locate affected passengers

Apart from the helpline number shared by the Indian Railways, the Ministry of Railways on its Twitter profile has also shared some other helpline numbers, including Howrah, Kharagpur, Balasore

Odisha train crash: Railway Minister Vaishnaw holds meetings with officials

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who returned to Delhi from Balasore in Odisha after reviewing the rescue and restoration work following the triple train accident, is holding a series of high-level meetings with officials here on Tuesday. After meeting senior Railway Board officials in the morning, Vaishnaw is now meeting general managers (GMs) and divisional railway managers of zonal railways. The virtual meeting which began at around 5 pm is expected to take a couple of hours to finish, sources said. In the meeting with the Railway Board officers, the minister instructed officials to draw out plans to make the railway network completely tamper proof from external elements, they said. On Monday, the Railway Board had issued instructions to all GMs to ensure that the protocol around the signalling systems are made tamper-proof. The train accident in Balasore involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, which were carrying over 2,5

LIVE: FIR against unknown people in connection with Odisha train mishap

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