Page 30 - Railways

Indian Railways uses IRCTC Zoop's google chats to order food on train

New Delhi, June 6 (IANSlife) Zoop, an IRCTC-approved train meal delivery partner, has announced the availability of a Google Chatbot for train food delivery. To place food orders on the train

Merging railway budget with Union budget 'major blunder' of NDA govt: Moily

In the wake of the Odisha railway tragedy, senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily on Tuesday said the clubbing of the railway budget with the Union budget in 2017 was a "major blunder" of the NDA government and called for bringing back the practice of having separate budgets. Taking a swipe at the government, Moily said they are talking of bullet trains when the basics have not been rectified nor sufficient modernisation and technology has been put in place. "The clubbing of Railway Budget with the Union Budget has lost the focus on the railways. It is a major blunder committed by the NDA government. Mere focus on high-speed trains without taking into account safety and modernisation is a step in haste. It is necessary to go back to the Railway Budget," the former Union minister said in a statement. He also demanded that Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw should tender his resignation on moral grounds. Faster rail movement and vast network deserves sound operational ecosystem which

Ashwini Vaishnaw holds meetings with officials, after returning from Odisha

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. He is scheduled to speak to general managers of all zonal railways later in the evening through video conferencing, sources said. Sources said that the meeting focused on safety drills in zones with a special focus on signalling and telecom across the railway network. The train accident in Balasore involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, which were carrying over 2,500 passengers, and goods train laden with iron ore occurred around 7 pm on Friday near the Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore, about 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar. At least 278 people were killed and more than 900 were injured in the accident.

Railways spent over Rs 1 trillion on safety between 2017-2022: Report

The railways has spent more than Rs 1 lakh crore on safety measures between 2017-2018 and 2021-22 with a steady growth in expenditure on track renewal, according to an official document. Government sources also indicated that the railways will soon reply to a Comptroller and Auditor General of India's report that was cited by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to attack the Centre over the Friday triple-train accident in Odisha's Balasore that claimed 275 lives and injured more than 1,000 people. Kharge on Monday had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that "all the empty safety claims" of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw have been "exposed". He also said there is serious concern among people about the deterioration in safety of railways. In his letter, Kharge had pointed out that the 2022 CAG report "Derailment in Indian Railways" highlights that funding for the Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) has been reduced by a massive 79 per cent. It was claimed during the

Odisha crash: Commissioner of Railway Safety records statements of drivers

The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) on Monday recorded the statements of injured engine driver Gunanidhi Mohanty and his assistant Hajari Behera, who are undergoing treatment at AIIMS Bhubaneswar, officials said. Both were rescued from the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express that derailed near Bahanaga Bazar Station on June 2 that had claimed 275 lives and left around 1,200 injured. Both the drivers are stable. While Mohanty was taken out of the ICU on Monday, Behera is awaiting a head surgery, South Eastern Railway (SER) Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Aditya Choudhury told PTI. Families of both the drivers have appealed to all for privacy and allow them to recover physically and mentally. They claimed that the drivers could not be blamed for the mishap as they operated the locomotive according to rules. Earlier, the Railway Ministry had apparently given clean chit to both of them. The Commissioner Railway Safety, SER Circle, which began its inquiry into the .

Mamata Banerjee announces govt jobs for kin of Odisha train accident

: West Bengal Chief Minister on Monday announced state government jobs for the next of kin of those who lost their lives in the triple train crash in Odisha's Balasore. The West Bengal CM said that relatives of those who lost their limbs in the horrific crash will also be given government jobs. Banerjee added that her government will also give cash aid to those who were on board the Coromandel Express and are currently going through mental and physical trauma. She will visit Bhubanewsar and Cuttack on Tuesday to meet the injured passengers recuperating in different hospitals. She said currently there are 206 injured passengers from West Bengal admitted in different hospitals of Odisha. There are 33 critical passengers in Cuttack hospitals, she said, adding that a few Bengal ministers and senior officers will accompany her. She will distribute the ex gratia cheques and appointment letters to the next of the kin of the victims on Wednesday. The Bengal chief minister added that she

Wrestlers resume Railway duties, Sakshi to continue fight while working

After getting evicted from Jantar Mantar on May 28, top wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat have resumed their duties in the Railways, sources said

Odisha train tragedy: 51 hours later, train movement restored on tracks

The restoration work started 15-17 hours after the tragedy, after a long rescue effort where frontline rescuers had difficulties navigating through the wreckage

'Coromandel would've derailed even if it hadn't collided with goods train'

Coromandel Express from Shalimar would have derailed even if it had not collided with freight train at Bahanaga Bazaar station near Odisha's Balasore on Friday evening, senior railway officials said

IRDAI asks insurers to suo motu settle claims of Odisha rail mishap victims

Under suo motu settlement, the companies settle the claims even without the other parties applying for it

Balasore train disaster: Locals stepped up in rescue-and-relief work

Locals recount tales of terror, bravery, and hope

CBI probe recommended into Odisha train accident, says Ashwini Vaishnaw

MHA assisting us, no officers absconding right now: Railway Board

Isn't non-compliance of CAG 2022 report enough for minister to resign: NCP

The NCP on Sunday sought to know why the measures suggested in the 2022 Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report to prevent train disasters were not implemented by the Centre, and asked if this non-adherence was not enough for Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to resign in the wake of the Odisha train tragedy. The party also alleged that as per the CAG report, train accidents were waiting to happen due to several shortcomings, but the railway ministry and the minister failed to take this warning seriously. The Odisha train crash involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, which were carrying around 2,500 passengers, and a goods train occurred around 7 pm on Friday near the Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore. At least 288 people died and over 1,100 injured in the accident, the worst rail accident in India in nearly three decades. The tragedy has triggered a debate over the Kavach anti-collision system with the opposition parties,

Odisha train crash: Driver error ruled out, possible sabotage being probed

The railways on Sunday virtually ruled out driver error and system malfunction, indicating a possible "sabotage" and tampering of the electronic interlocking system behind the triple train accident that claimed at least 288 lives in Odisha. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the "root cause" of the accident and the "criminals" responsible for it have been identified. "It happened due to a change made in the electronic interlocking and point machine," he told reporters at the site of the accident in Balasore district. Here in Delhi, top railway officials explained how the point machine and the interlocking system function. They said the system is "error proof" and "fail safe" but did not rule out the possibility of outside intervention. "It is called a fail safe system, so it means that even if it fails, all the signals will turn red and all train operations will stop. Now, as the minister said there was a problem with the signalling system. It could be that someone has done so

50 killed, over 350 injured in Odisha triple train crash; rescue ops on

Four coaches of the Coromandel Express derailed in Odisha's Balasore district on Friday evening after a head-on collision with a goods train, officials said. The accident happened around 7.20 pm near Bahanaga Bazar station when the train was on the way to Chennai Central station from the Shalimar station near Kolkata, they said. Accident relief trains have been dispatched to the spot, a South Eastern Railway official said. It was not immediately known how many people were injured in the accident. The state government directed the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action (ODRAF) Force to assist in rescue operations.

PM flags off Vande Bharat Express that will connect Guwahati, Jalpaiguri

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday flagged off Assam's first Vande Bharat Express that will connect Guwahati with New Jalpaiguri, via video conferencing

Modi govt raised Railway budget for NE, helped expedite projects: Vaishnaw

Rail Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday said before 2014, the allocation for the railways for the northeast was Rs 2,000 crore but, under the Modi government, it has increased to Rs 10,200 crore, helping expedite projects in the region. Talking to reporters at the Guwahati railway station ahead of the launch of the semi-high speed Guwahati-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express, he also said by June, all states where electrification of routes has been done, will have Vande Bharat trains. Connecting Guwahati in Assam with New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, the train will help save about an hour of journey time, compared to the current fastest train connecting the two places. It will cover the journey in five-and-a-half hours while the current fastest train takes about six-and-a-half hours to cover the distance, the PMO said in a statement on Sunday. "Fifteen to 20 years ago, whatever good thing used to happen used to go to big cities, these took time to reach the northeast," the minister .

Vande Bharat trains, hi-tech stations drive Railways on growth fast track

The railways started to develop and produce Train 18 at its Integral Coach Factory in Chennai and in 2018 it was rolled out and later rechristened as Vande Bharat Express

Broke rules while travelling on train? Here're fines you may have to pay

From littering and crossing train tracks to travelling without a ticket, here's a list of things individuals do to disobey the rules and the consequences they face

How did Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto Express get their names? Know here

Most of the trains that run for long-distance travel are named after the destination