Page 22 - Railways

No decrease in number of train passengers post Covid: Ashwini Vaishnaw

There has been no decrease in the number of train passengers and by the end of the current financial year, the Indian Railways will touch the pre-Covid passenger traffic of 650 to 700 crore, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday. The minister strongly refuted some reports and comments on social media that the number of train passengers has become half of what it used to be in 2010. "Post-Covid lockdown, the Indian Railways started its train services from December 2021 and by July 2022, operations were normalised. In the 2022-23 financial year, 640 crore people used the train network," he said. "This year, according to our conservative estimate, 650 crore people will travel (in trains). The number might go up to 750 crore. So we are back to pre-Covid era when the number of train travellers used to be around 700 crore," he added. He also dismissed reports that the number of non-AC coaches or sleeper class coaches has been reduced. "We have around 60,000 train coaches,

Centre giving Rs 6,080 cr for railways sector in Tamil Nadu: Vaishnaw

Ashwini Vaishnaw further said that the long pending demand of the Hosur Jolarpet inter-rail service project was being assessed and work would start soon after evaluating the cost efficiency

Bengaluru suburban railway project to start soon: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday said the Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project (BSRP) will start soon and it will not suffer due to the lack of a full time dedicated Managing Director in the joint venture company K-RIDE. He also noted that the Railways was planning to develop a circular railway network around Bengaluru to check traffic woes and Rs seven crore has been sanctioned to conduct a pre-feasibility test. During a media interaction after a meeting with the officials of South Western Railway and the Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) (K-RIDE), the minister said the Centre will take up the BSRP with 'full emphasis, full focus and full sincerity'. I think that the time will soon come. Our government, when we started the journey in 2014 at the central level, things changed a lot, Vaishnaw said replying to a question on the reason behind delay in completing the project. K-RIDE is a joint venture between the central government and Karnataka ...

Railway capex budget rules encourage finance ministry to expand model

National transporter is managing its expenditure better after Ministry brought in a new model

Why Indian Railways needs to evolve new business plan and revisit pricing

The Railways' profitable freight business is losing ground to the competition, while meeting pent-up passenger demand will mean more losses, notes T N Ninan

Special pilgrimage train for elderly flagged off from Bhubaneswar

Pilgrimage train is part of an initiative of tourism department under Baristha Nagarika Tirtha Yatra Yojana to help elderly people carry out their spiritual journey in places of religious importance

IRCTC website down: E-ticket booking services resume after 2-hour outage

At around noon on Thursday, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation website was down, causing inconvenience to lakhs of passengers

Trains temporarily cancelled, diverted due to traffic: Northern Railways

As per Northern Railways, Balamau - Lucknow Special, Lucknow-Sahajahanpur Special andSahajahanpur-Lucknow Special has been cancelled

LIVE: Uttar Pradesh govt bans sale of halal certified edible items

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Railways launch drive against inflammable items including firecrackers

To make the train journey safer, Railways urged passengers to be careful and not carry or let their co-passengers carry inflammable objects while travelling on trains

Rail stocks in demand: Titagarh, IRCON, RailTel, RVNL rally up to 19%

The Indian Rail Freight Industry is experiencing significant growth and improvements, with ambitious plans and increased investment aimed at enhancing capacity, efficiency, and sustainability

Indian Railways plans to eliminate waiting lists in 4-5 years: Report

In comparison to pre-COVID days, an additional 562 trains are now operational on a daily basis across the IR network.

95.3% railway passengers between April-October were in non-AC classes

As much as 95.3 percent of the total 390.2 crore railway passengers between April and October 2023 travelled in general and sleeper classes, while just 4.7 percent were in AC coaches, officials said on Wednesday. The railways registered a significant increase in the number of general and sleeper class passengers between April and October this year compared to the corresponding period last year. The Railways said in a press release that it received a total of 390.2 crore passengers across categories in these seven months this year, which is 41.1 crore more (11.7 percent up) than 349.1 crore passengers during the corresponding period of 2022. Out of these 41.1 crore passengers, 38 crore (92.5 percent) travelled in non-AC classes (general and sleeper classes) and the remaining 3.1 crore preferred the air-conditioned coaches. The break-up of AC and non-AC travellers from the total number of passengers, ie, 390.2 crore reflects the similar trend as 372 crore travelled in non-AC coaches

Capacity constraint

Railways should address demand-supply mismatch

IRCTC Q2 results: Profit rises 30% to Rs 295 crore, revenue up 23%

State-owned IRCTC on Wednesday reported 30.36 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 294.67 crore for September quarter 2023-24. The company had logged a net profit of Rs 226.03 crore in the year-ago period, it said in a BSE filing. Total revenue increased 23.51 per cent to Rs 995.31 crore in comparison to Rs 805.80 crore in Q2FY23, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) said. The company said its board has declared an interim dividend of Rs 2.50 per equity share. IRCTC was conceived as an extended arm of Indian Railways with an aim to upgrade, professionalise, and manage catering and hospitality services at stations, on trains, and other locations. Additionally, it has been instrumental in promoting both domestic and international tourism. The company comes under Ministry of Railways.

Indore to be railway hub with projects worth thousands of crores: Vaishnaw

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that Indore, the financial capital of Madhya Pradesh, is being turned into a major hub of railways with projects worth thousands of crores of rupees. He made the statement on Friday after inaugurating the main election office of Ramesh Mendola, sitting BJP MLA from Indore-2 and the party's candidate from the same seat for the upcoming assembly elections. To make Indore a major centre of railways, work is underway on projects worth thousands of crores of rupees for laying new rail lines in six directions of the city, doubling of railway line and gauge conversion. These projects include Ratlam-Indore-Mhow-Khandwa-Akola rail line, Indore-Manmad rail line, Indore-Dahod rail line and Indore-Jabalpur rail line. Vaishnaw said that apart from making Indore's main railway station and Laxmibai Nagar railway station world-class, work is also going on for a multi-modal cargo terminal. The BJP has appointed Vaishnaw the joint in-charge for the ...

Railways earns freight revenue of nearly Rs 96,000 cr so far in FY24

Indian Railways on Wednesday said it hauled 887.25 metric tonnes of freight between April and October this year, an increase of 31.61 MT over the same period last year. According to an official statement, the national transporter earned Rs 95,929.30 crore freight revenue during the period as against Rs 92,345.27 crore in the same period last year, an improvement of approximately Rs 3,584.03 crore. During the month of October, an originating freight loading of 129.03 MT has been achieved as against 118.95 MT in October last year, an improvement of approximately 8.47 per cent. Freight revenue of Rs 14,231.05 crore was earned in October this year as against Rs 13,353.81 crore last year, an improvement of about 6.57 per cent, it stated.

Central Railways commissions BPAC system in Vasind-Asangaon section

The Central Railway has commissioned the block proving by axle counter (BPAC) system in the Vasind-Asangaon section of Mumbai Division, an official said on Tuesday. As per a release issued by the Central Railway, the BPAC system plays a pivotal role in maintaining the utmost safety of train operations. Specifically, it meticulously examines the last vehicle of a section, subsequently confirming the section's clearance before granting authorization for another train to enter. Earlier, the BPAC system was exclusively deployed up to Vashind railway station within the Kalyan-Igatpuri section. However, the Railway Board has sanctioned the extension of BPAC operations from Khadavli to Igatpuri, and the work is in progress and will be completed soon, it stated. The Mumbai division has a BPAC system installed on the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) to KALYAN section, CSMT-PANVEL Harbour line, CSMT-Goregaon line, Kalyan-Karjat section and Vasai-Panvel-Roha section. The BPAC syste

Andhra Pradesh train accident: Odisha Cong demands Vaishnaw's resignation

The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) on Monday demanded the resignation of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in the wake of the train accident in Andhra Pradesh where 14 people were killed and 50 others injured. OPCC president Sarat Pattnayak said Vaishnaw should resign from the post on "moral grounds due to frequent train accidents" during the NDA regime at the Centre. "The prime minister should drop Vaishnaw from the Railway Ministry if he is not effectively managing affairs. Otherwise, Vaishnaw should resign from the post on moral grounds," the Congress leader said. He alleged that the "people of Odisha are ashamed over Vaishnaw's inability to handle the Railway Ministry affairs". Vaishnaw was elected to Rajya Sabha from Odisha, and all in the country have witnessed how frequently train accidents are taking place during his tenure as the railway minister, Pattnayak said. "He should accept the responsibility and remain accountable for the accidents. This is not a lone tr

PM Modi, Hasina to inaugurate cross-border rail project on Wednesday

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina will jointly inaugurate a key cross-border railway project on Wednesday, officials said. The prime ministers of the two neighbouring countries will launch the Agartala-Akhaura Cross Border Rail Link Project at 11 am in a virtual ceremony, they said. The 15-km rail link (5 km in India and 10 km in Bangladesh) will boost cross-border trade and significantly reduce the travel time between Agartala and Kolkata via Dhaka, the officials said. The trial run of the project was successfully completed on Monday, after a locomotive engine attached with four wagons entered Tripura, stopping at Nischintapur, a newly built railway station here. The rail link encompasses one major bridge and three minor bridges. At present, it takes about 31 hours to reach Kolkata from Agartala by train, which will be reduced to just 10 hours, an official said. The Indian Railways had allocated Rs 153.84 crore from its budget to expedite