Page 19 - Railways

Strong Q4 powers ABB India, but near-term positives seem priced-in

ABB India (ABB) has leveraged demand from quality players to manage deeper penetration across market segments and localisation has helped cut costs, leading to better margins

PM lays foundation stones for redevelopment of 45 rail stations in Bengal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday virtually laid foundation stones for redevelopment of 45 rail stations in the southern parts of West Bengal under the 'Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.' While foundation stones were laid in 22 stations under South Eastern Railway jurisdiction, the same was done for 23 stations under Eastern Railway limits, railway officials said. These are among the over 550 stations for which the PM laid the foundation stone all over the country for improvement of facilities under the scheme, which aims to modernise railway stations throughout the country, the official said. West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose, accompanied by the Eastern Railway general manager, attended the programme at Bandel station. Bandel will get Rs 307 crore for transforming it into a world-class station. Kharagpur Junction is another station in the state where the foundation station was laid, a South Eastern Railway spokesperson said. The prime minister's address was streamed on a gian

PM lays foundation stone for redevelopment of 33 Bihar railway stations

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday virtually laid the foundation stone for redevelopment of 33 railway stations and construction of 72 other projects in Bihar under the East Central Railway (ECR) zone. The PM laid the foundation stone of the railway projects in Bihar under the Amrit Bharat Stations scheme. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Ministers - Samrat Chudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, joined the PM's function virtually from the state capital. A statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office after the function said, "Thirty-three railway stations which will now be redeveloped in Bihar include: Barauni, Siwan, Munger, Thawe, Sabaur, Arariya, Shivnarayanpur, Dauram Madhepura, Dehri On Sone, Guraru, Karhagola Rd, Chausa, Laheria Sarai, Banka, Simri Bakhtiyarpur, Supaul, Nawadah, Raxaul, Motipur, Luckeesarai, Masrakh, Rafiganj, Mairwa, Piro, Bikramganj, Labha, Janakpur Road, Chakia, Nabinagar Road, Ghorasshan, Salmari, Ekma and Shahpur Patoree". "The project aims

PM Modi unveil projects worth Rs 41,000 crore for Indian Railways

The Amrit Bharat stations, spanning 27 states and Union Territories, will undergo redevelopment at a budget exceeding Rs 19,000 crore

How an unattended goods train travelled 70 km from J-K to Punjab on its own

The 53-wagon train loaded with chip stones travelled from Jammu-Kashmir's Kathua to Punjab's Hoshiyarpur between 7.25 am and 9 am without any drivers

India's longest rail tunnel opens in Jammu on Udhampur-Baramula rail link

The longest railway tunnel of the country on the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) was opened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday as he flagged off the first electrified trains of the Kashmir valley. "Prime Minister Modi was present in Jammu and he virtually flagged off two electrified trains simultaneously -- one from Srinagar to Sangaldan in the down direction and the other from Sangaldan to Srinagar in the up direction," a railway official said. He added that the prime minister also inaugurated the 48.1-km-long Banihal-Khari-Sumber-Sangaldan section. "This longest tunnel, which is 12.77-km long and known as T-50, falls between the Khari-Sumber section," the official said. According to the Northern Railway (NR), trains can now run from Baramulla to Sangaldan via Banihal, which used to be the last or originating station earlier. T-50 is supposed to be the most challenging of the 11 tunnels in the Banihal-Khari-Sumber-Sangadal section. According to railway offici

Dharmendra Pradhan flags off special train to Ayodhya from Sambalpur

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday flagged off a special train from here to Ayodhya. The Sambalpur-Darshan Nagar-Sambalpur Astha Special train carrying 1,512 devotees from the western region of Odisha left for Ayodhya. "There is a lot of enthusiasm among the devotees. The train was flagged off at Sambalpur station and it will have halts at Rourkela and Jharsuguda before entering neighbouring Jharkhand. The train will reach at Ayodhya on Wednesday and bring back the devotees to Odisha the next day", Pradhan told reporters. Pradhan thanked the railways for the train with 20 sleeper coaches, which will allow devotees from western Odisha to have darshan of Ram Lalla at Ayodhya. The Union minister is also scheduled to inaugurate the Robotics Centre at Vedic International School at Pabpali Sason and attend the inauguration of the Skill India Centre at Majhipalli here and other events.

100 farmers arrested at Thanjavur station for staging 'rail roko' protest

Around 100 farmers from different farmers associations were arrested at Thanjavur Railway station on Saturday when they tried to stage a 'rail roko' protest in front of the Cholan Express. The group was protesting the police action against the farmers' agitation in New Delhi. P R Pandian, Ayyakannu and Sundaravimalanathan, presidents of the various farmers associations, participated in the 'rail roko'.

IRCTC announces appointment of Sanjay Jain as CMD with immediate effect

Railway PSU IRCTC on Wednesday announced the appointment of Sanjay Kumar Jain as its Chairman and Managing Director with immediate effect. Prior to this role, Jain was Principal Chief Commercial Manager (PCCM) of Northern Railway, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) said in an exchange filing. "...the appointment of Sanjay Kumar Jain has been approved by the Government of India (Ministry of Railways) for the post of CMD on immediate absorption basis...for a period with effect from the date of his assumption of charge of the post and till the date of his superannuation i.e. 31.12.2026 or until further orders, whichever is the earlier," IRCTC said. Jain has relinquished the charge of PCCM/Northern Railway on February 13, 2024 and has assumed the charge of the post of IRCTC Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) on regular basis with effect from February 14, 2024. The official is an Indian Railway Traffic Services (IRTS) Officer of 1990 batch. A qualified Charter

Jupiter Wagons switching tracks: To expand rail supply chain beyond wagons

The company looks to capture the rolling stock replacement market, which it believes will supersede the original equipment manufacturing market in the future

Railways' mismanagement behind cost overrun in Hajipur-Sagauli project: Rpt

The Hajipur-Sagauli New Line project, sanctioned in 2003-04 at an estimated cost of Rs 24.66 crore, registered a huge cost escalation of Rs 2,066.78 crore in January 2019 due to indecisiveness of the Railway Administration, according to a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report. Tabled in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, the report titled 'Loss due to indecision of Railway Administration in the matter of land acquisition: East Central Railway' was based on one of the findings of a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report of 2021. After carrying out a detailed examination, the PAC observed that the railways' lack of prudent decision-making and timely payments resulted in avoidable extra expenditure, underscoring the importance of meticulous financial planning and adherence to land acquisition policies. "The Hajipur-Sagauli New Line project, sanctioned by the Ministry of Railways in 2003-04, underwent a series of financial oversights and lapses in land acquisition processes, leading to

Railways mismanaged land purchase for Hajipur-Sagauli project: House panel

The Hajipur-Sagauli New Line project, sanctioned in 2003-04 at an estimated cost of Rs 24.66 crore, registered a huge cost escalation of Rs 2,066.78 crore in January 2019 due to indecisiveness of the Railway Administration, according to a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report. Tabled in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, the report titled 'Loss due to indecision of Railway Administration in the matter of land acquisition: East Central Railway' was based on one of the findings of a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report of 2021. After carrying out a detailed examination, the PAC observed that the railways' lack of prudent decision-making and timely payments resulted in avoidable extra expenditure, underscoring the importance of meticulous financial planning and adherence to land acquisition policies. "The Hajipur-Sagauli New Line project, sanctioned by the Ministry of Railways in 2003-04, underwent a series of financial oversights and lapses in land acquisition processes, leading to

Railways made Rs 6.85 cr irregular payment to foreign vendor: House panel

The Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW) of Indian Railways purchased equipment from a foreign vendor worth Rs 6.85 crore in 2017 for diesel locomotives whose production was already stopped, according to a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report. The committee, which tabled its report in Lok Sabha on Wednesday, expressed surprise that the vendor had delivered the equipment beyond the delivery schedule in violation of the purchase agreement and BLW would have rejected the supply. However, it agreed to buy at approximately 36 per cent discounted price, the report said. The issue relates to the purchase of 660 channel air boxes in November 2018 for manufacturing diesel locomotives. According to the report, in view of increasing electrification of routes, the Railway Board decided in May 2016 to manufacture electric locomotives at BLW and this was started from February 2017. From 2019-20, the production of diesel locomotives at BLW was completely stopped. The committee said that in May 2016,

Trai seeks views on allocation of more spectrum to Railways for safety

Telecom regulator Trai on Wednesday sought stakeholders' views on the assignment of additional spectrum to Indian railways for safety and security applications. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in mid-2023 had informed Trai that Indian Railways has requested for an additional 5 MHz of paired spectrum in the 700 MHz band to be allocated for enhancing its safety and security systems. The DoT had requested Trai to examine and provide its recommendations on the matter. "The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has today released a consultation paper on the assignment of additional spectrum to Indian railways for its safety and security applications," the regulator said in a release. In the consultation paper, Trai sought stakeholder views on whether an additional 5 MHz (paired) spectrum in the 700 MHz band should be assigned to Indian Railways (IR) for its requirement related to safety and security applications, and whether spectrum harmonisation is needed to make the

82 Vande Bharat trains operational, work on to enhance speed to 160 kmph

The number of Vande Bharat trains has been increased to 82 and work is underway to increase the speed of these trains to 160 kilometres per hour on the New Delhi-Mumbai and New Delhi-Howrah routes, the government informed Parliament on Wednesday. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha to questions raised by 10 MPs regarding the services of the Vande Bharat trains, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, "As on January 31, 2024, 82 Vande Bharat train services are operating across the Indian Railways, connecting states having Broad Gauge (BG) electrified network." "Besides, provision of stoppage of train services and introduction of new train services, including Vande Bharat, are ongoing processes on Indian Railways subject to traffic justification, operational feasibility, resource availability etc.," he added. "Train-wise and state-wise revenue generated is not maintained," the minister said to questions on the state-wise average income generation from the Vande Bharat trains. Vaishna

Freight target miss in FY24 set to dent Railways' ambitious growth plan

Grappling with capacity concerns, this is the first post-pandemic Budget where the railways will miss its targets set at the beginning of the financial year

Jupiter Wagons Q3 results: Consolidated net profit rises 82% to Rs 81 crore

Jupiter Wagons Ltd on Tuesday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 81.46 crore during the third quarter of the current fiscal, up by 82 per cent from Rs 44.59 crore in the corresponding period last year. The revenue from operation was Rs 895 crore during the October-December period of the 2023-24 financial year (FY'24) as compared to Rs 879 crore in the year-ago quarter, the company said in a regulatory filing. The wagon maker stated that its EBITDA margin expanded by 140 basis points. The order book stood at over Rs 7,000 crore, it said. The company closed a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) in December 2023, raising Rs 403 crore that provides the necessary fuel for ambitious growth plans, including setting up of a foundry, working capital requirements and backward integration through inorganic growth, the Kolkata-based mobility major said.

High capex, railway corridors, focus on seafood to boost India's exports

Announcements of measures in the interim Budget such as high capex, three major economic railway corridors, and a target to increase seafood exports would help boost the country's overall outbound shipments, exporters say. The government has proposed to step up the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) by enhancing aquaculture productivity from existing 3 tonne to 5 tonne per hectare, and setting up five integrated aqua parks. CII National Committee on Exports and Imports Chairman Sanjay Budhia said that the announcement of a Rs 1 lakh crore corpus for innovation with a 50-year interest-free loan for long-term financing, refinancing at no or nil interest rates will encourage the private sector to scale up R&D and innovation in sunrise domains and new age technologies. "There is a reinforcement of continued thrust on exports. Announcement of three economic corridors, multi-modal connectivity, emphasis on additional airports, etc. and doubling the target of .

TRSL Q3 result: PAT rises 91.3% to Rs 75 cr, revenue reaches Rs 954 cr

Titagarh Rail Systems Ltd (TRSL) on Monday said its profit after tax in December quarter rose 91.3 per cent to Rs 75.03 crore. The company had posted a PAT of Rs 39.22 crore in the year-ago period, TRSL said in a filing to BSE. Net revenues during the third quarter increased to Rs 954.68 crore from Rs 766.4 crore in the year-ago period. "The company's robust performance in Q3 FY24 is a reflection of our sustained operational momentum. On a year-over-year basis, the freight rolling stocks/passenger rolling stocks recorded substantial growth. "The government's unwavering emphasis on the building of world-class rail infrastructure in India makes us enthusiastic about higher and sustained growth in the upcoming quarters," TRSL Vice Chairman and Managing Director Umesh Chowdhary said. TRSL offers mobility solutions with its presence in both the passenger and freight rail systems including railway wagons, components, passenger coaches and metro coaches.

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