Page 6 - Railway Ministry

NDRF says it pulled out 44 passengers alive, retrieved 112 bodies

As the nation mourned the loss of lives in the horrific triple train accident in Balasore, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said on Saturday that their personnel pulled out 44 passengers alive from the mangled coaches of the passenger trains and retrieved 112 bodies.The NDRF added that its personnel were conducting a last round of search with the help of other agencies."After rescuing 44 live victims & retrieving 112 bodies till now, NDRF teams conducting Final Search with other agencies," tweeted NDRF.Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Railways, Amitabh Sharma, on Saturday informed that a total of 58 trains had been cancelled, 81 diverted and 10 terminated in light of the accident.Sharing details about the ongoing restoration work, he said it was underway in full swing and they will working to ensure restoration of services on the downline first.The three-way accident involved Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Coromandel Express and a goods train ..

Restoration work ongoing at war footing at Odisha accident site: Railways

Railways Ministry informed restoration work is ongoing at war footing in Odisha's Balasore where passenger trains and a goods carriage were involved in accident, leaving 288 passengers dead

Anti-collision device Kavach to be installed in trains next year: Railways

The Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) or Kavach, which was rolled out for trials last year, is likely to be installed in trains next year, Ministry of Railways spokesperson informed

Will increase passenger capacity on railways by 3 billion: Vaishnaw

The railway board has been directed to formulate an action plan on all the policy initiatives discussed by June 15

Railway approves procurement of 238 Vande Bharat Metro rakes for Mumbai

The Railway Board on Friday approved the procurement of 238 Vande Bharat Metro trains for Mumbai, senior Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) officials said. These rakes will be procured under the ambitious Mumbai Urban Transport Project-III (MUTP-III) and 3A (MUTP-3A), which are being helmed by the Railway ministry and the Maharashtra government to augment the capacity of the metropolis' suburban train network, they added. "These trains will be manufactured by the technology partner ensuring Make in India guidelines of the Centre's Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade. The procurement will be undertaken by MRVC and it will be with maintenance requirements spanning 35 years," said an MRVC spokesperson. Two depots for maintenance of the rakes already approved under MUTP-III and 3A will be set up by the technology partner, the official added. MUTP-III and MUTP-3A projects are worth Rs 10,947 crore and Rs 33,690 crore respectively. As per the railways, Vande Bha

To avoid 2022 crisis, Indian Railways ferries more coal for electricity

Imported thermal coal freight also sees higher volumes amid railways plan to avert 2022 crisis

Contracts to revamp New Delhi, Ahmedabad stations 'axed' over pricey bids

Union Cabinet sanctioned much lower amounts than bids received for mega redevelopment projects

In Rail Vikas Nigam, India gets its 13th Navratna in nine years

Earlier, RVNL was in the Miniratna category - I and a schedule 'A' CPSE under Ministry of Railways which recorded an annual turnover of Rs 19,381 crores and net profit of Rs 1087 crores

Vande Bharat Metro to hit tracks by December 2023; check features

The highly anticipated Vande Metro is expected to provide an affordable mode of transportation and will connect major cities, while also reducing the pressure on the suburban train network

Over 979,000 vacant posts in govt, maximum of 293,000 in railways: Centre

Over 9.79 lakh vacancies exist in different central government departments, including a highest of 2.93 lakh in railways, as on March 1, 2021, Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday. He said the occurrence and filling up of vacancies is a continuous process, as per the requirement of various ministries, departments and organisations of the Central government. "Government has already issued instructions to all ministries/departments for timely filling up of the unfilled posts. Rozgar melas being organised by government of India are expected to act as catalyst in further employment generation," he said in a written reply. Besides railways, there were 2.64 lakh vacant posts in defence (civil), 1.43 lakh in home, 90,050 in posts, 80,243 in revenue, 25,934 in Indian audit and accounts department, and 9,460 in atomic energy department among others, Singh said, citing the annual report of the department of expenditure.

Railways restores fare of AC 3-tier economy class travel in trains

Railways on Wednesday issued an order to restore the fare for AC 3-tier economy class travel which had been withdrawn in November last year when it was merged with AC 3-tier. Despite the restoration in price, Railways will continue offering linen to passengers, the order indicated. The present order has withdrawn an earlier circular in which the fare for AC 3-tier economy class ticket had been made equal to the fare of an AC 3-tier ticket. The reason for the merger was stated to be the cost of linen which was initially not provided in the economy air conditioned class. According to the order, passengers who have booked tickets online and over the counter will be given a refund of the extra amount for the pre-booked tickets. The railways, while introducing the 3E as a class in September 2021, had announced that fares in these newly-introduced coaches will be 6-8 per cent less than normal AC 3 coaches, pitching the class of travel as the "best and cheapest AC travel service" in the .

Delhi-Jaipur Vande Bharat Express train to run before April: Vaishnaw

Ashwini Vaishnaw also inspected New Delhi-Ajmer Shatabdi Express and takes feedback from passengers

Finance, railways, defence ministries among top 5 litigants in government

Union ministries of finance, railways, defence, labour and employment and home are the "top five litigants" amongst the government, Lok Sabha was informed on Friday. In a written reply, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said seeking to reduce litigation, ministries and departments such as the railways and the Department of Revenue, involved in a high number of litigations, have been taking several measures for reducing the number of court cases. Citing data available on the Legal Information Management and Briefing System (LIMBS) portal, he said the finance ministry has 1.73 lakh pending cases, including 9,062 in the Supreme Court. The railways ministry has 1.08 lakh pending cases, including 554 in the top court, while the defence ministry has over 85,000 pending cases, which include 1,235 in the apex court. The labour and employment ministry is party to over 78,000 pending cases, including 320 in the top court. The home ministry has over 23,000 pending cases in various courts and tribunal

New payment mechanism of railways: 30 days max, else govt will pay interest

The step is expected to eliminate the "biggest risk" faced by contractors, meaning that railways will ensure that payments are made within the stipulated time, said the railway minister at an event

Indian Railway to achieve record production of locomotives, coaches in FY23

Indian Railways' have manufactured 785 electric locomotives and 4,175 LHB coaches in FY23 up to January 31

Railways to acquire new rolling stock worth Rs 3.14 trillion in FY24

300 Vande metros, 1000 8-coach Vande Bharats, hydrogen trains in the works

Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project holds national importance, says HC

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train is a "dream project of this country and of national importance and in public interest", the Bombay High Court said on Thursday dismissing a petition filed by Godrej & Boyce company challenging acquisition proceedings initiated by the Maharashtra government and the NHSRCL in Mumbai's Vikhroli area for the project. A division bench of Justices R D Dhanuka and M M Sathaye said the project was one-of-its-kind and collective interest would prevail over private interest. The court said in cases of conflict on inter fundamental rights and intra fundamental rights, the court has to examine as to where lies the larger public interest while balancing the two conflicting rights. "It is the paramount collective interest which would ultimately prevail. In the facts of this case, the private interest claimed by the petitioner does not prevail over the public interest which would subserve infrastructural project of public importance which is a dream project of ..

Railways earns over Rs 600 cr via convenience fee in FY23 so far: Minister

The Railways has earned more than Rs 600 crore through convenience fee, which it retains from passengers on the cancellation of a ticket, so far in 2022-23, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the cancellation or clerkage charge is levied on cancellation of tickets as per the Railway Passengers (Cancellation of Tickets and Refund of Fare) Rules 2015. In addition to the normal fare indicated on the reserved tickets issued through computerised passenger reservation system counters, the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) also charges convenience fee from passengers who book tickets online. The minister said the convenience fee amount charged is Rs 30 for air-conditioned classes and Rs 15 for non-AC classes. On cancellation of ticket, this convenience fee is not refunded. He said that convenience fee collected by the IRCTC during 2019-20 was Rs 352.33 crore, during 2020-21 it was Rs 299.17 ..

Budget 2023-24: Soon, Rs 75K-crore transport connectivity projects

Sitharaman has announced that coastal shipping will be a preferred mode of transport for passengers and freight

Budget pushes for developing transport, urban infrastructure, housing

Railways ministry gets highest-ever capital expenditure allocation, of Rs 2.4 trillion in FY24