Page 21 - Railways

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

RITES Q3 results: Profit drops 13% to Rs 129 cr, income at Rs 699 cr

RITES Ltd on Thursday reported 12.5 per cent drop in consolidated profit at Rs 128.78 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. The company had posted a profit of Rs 147.18 crore for the year-ago period, RITES said in a filing to BSE. Income dropped to Rs 699.85 crore from Rs 703.38 crore in the year-ago period, the filing said. The sequential progress is in line with the direction that we had strategised in the beginning of the FY, in having received an export order after a long gap, sustained growth in our project consultancy revenue and steady growth in our EBITDA," RITES Ltd Chairman and Managing Director Rahul Mithal said. RITES Ltd, an enterprise under Ministry of Railways, is a multidisciplinary engineering and consultancy organization, providing a comprehensive range of services from concept to commissioning in all facets of transport infrastructure and related technologies.

Stocks to watch on Budget day: Paytm, Godrej Consumer, Infra, rail, PSUs

Stocks to watch on February 1, 2024: Paytm expects an impact of Rs 300-500 crore to its annual EBITDA from the RBI's action on Paytm Payments Bank

Exam paper leak: RRB ex-chairman, nine others get five years imprisonment

A CBI special court in Hyderabad has sentenced the then-Railway Recruitment Board - Mumbai chairman Satendra Mohan Sharma and nine others to five years' rigorous imprisonment in connection with the leak of exam papers for the recruitment of 1,936 assistant station masters and assistant loco pilots in 2010, officials said on Tuesday. Among those sentenced in the case by the Principal Special Judge for CBI Cases - Hyderabad is former Assan-Mangalore Rail Development Corporation CEO AK Jagannadham. The court has also slapped a fine of Rs 1.75 lakh on Sharma and Rs 1.31 lakh on Jagannadham, the officials said. The total fines slapped on all 10 accused amounts Rs 7.87 lakh. The agency on June 15, 2010, booked the accused in the leak of examination papers for the recruitment of 1,936 assistant loco pilots and assistant station masters that was scheduled to be conducted by the Railway Recruitment Board on June 6 of that year. It was alleged that Sharma and Jagannadham had entered into a .

Indian companies look to cash in on bulging infrastructure order book

The growth of the big companies is trickling down to smaller companies and suppliers too

Employment process for 150,000 employees complete, says Ashwini Vaishnaw

Vaishnaw highlighted the annual employment procedure and the objective behind it

PM Gati Shakti: 3 infra projects worth Rs 9,600 cr recommended for approval

Three infrastructure projects of roads and railways worth Rs 9,600 crore have been recommended for approval under the PM Gati Shakti initiative, an official statement said on Thursday. These projects were assessed in the 64th Network Planning Group (NPG) meeting on October 17. "During the meeting, the NPG discussed three proposed greenfield projects of Ministry of Railways (1) and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (2), with an aggregate project cost worth about Rs 9,600 crore," the commerce and industry ministry said. The meeting was chaired by Special Secretary (Logistics), Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Sumita Dawra. The inter-ministerial NPG meets every fortnight and appraises infra projects to ensure multi-modality, synchronisation of efforts, and comprehensive development in and around the project location. The initiative was launched to develop an integrated infrastructure to reduce logistics costs. All logistics and connectivity ...

Fog in north, northeast India causing train delays, flight cancellations

Dense fog affected visibility in parts of north and northeast India on Thursday, heavily impacting road, rail and air traffic in the region with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicting similar conditions for the next five days. According to officials, 18 Delhi-bound trains were delayed by up to six hours due to foggy weather. Ranchi's Birsa Munda Airport saw 14 flight cancellations due to dense fog while four flights were diverted at Delhi's IGI Airport, they said. While satellite imagery showed some reduction in fog over Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh, 'dense' to 'very dense' fog prevailed in parts of Punjab, Haryana, west Rajasthan, Bihar, Delhi, west Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Assam, the IMD said. It also said there was rainfall at a few places in Arunachal Pradesh and parts of West Bengal and isolated places in the northeast, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry earlier in the day. In Tamil Nadu, temperatures plummeted in the

RPF's women staff assisted in 206 childbirths during train journey in 2023

The Railway Protection Force's women personnel went out of their way to help pregnant women in labour during their train journeys and assisted in 206 childbirths, the Railways said on Monday. According to the national transporter, the RPF, which has the largest share of women personnel in its ranks among the central forces, runs Operation Matrishakti, which provides help to pregnant women in childbirth. Releasing the achievements of RPF and its various operations and campaigns during 2023, the railways said under operation "Rail Suraksha" to safeguard rail property, the force registered 6,312 cases of theft in which recovery of stolen railway property worth Rs 12.48 crore was made with the arrest of 12,099 offenders. Acting against touts under Operation "Upalabdh", 5,544 touts were arrested and 5,207 cases were registered against them. This includes cases of more than 990 authorized agents of IRCTC who used illegal means in cornering reserved tickets, it said. In another initiative

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 ...