IRFCA Mailing List Archive
Messages 1581 - 1600
From: Kandaswami, Auroprem* <Kandaswami#m#_Auroprem*@msgate.email
Subject: Re: Relaxed Railway Refund Rules
Date: 05 Aug 1996 13:18:00 -0500
Railway refund
New Delhi, July 25 (UNI) The railway refund rules regarding unused tickets or cancellation of tickets have been liberalised further.
For night trains leaving after 2100 hrs refund now can be obtained from the station within first two hours opening of reservation office on the following morning also.
Refund can be obtained during working hours and before preparation of reservation chart from any station or reservation office in the country which is linked to the ticket issuing station by computer,
an official release today said.
Charges for issuing duplicate ticket in lieu of the lost, misplaced, torn or mutilated reserved tickets of over 500 kms have been reduced from 25 per cent to 10 per cent subject to minimum recovery of 25 per cent charges for 500 km fares.
If reservation for some persons in a group or family ticket is confirmed while others are on waiting list and the entire ticket is cancelled, full refund has been allowed for confirmed passengers also provided that the ticket for the entire party or family is surrendered at the journey commencing station within four hours before scheduled departure and upto 3 hours after actual departure of the train.
Station masters of 453 important stations/reservation offices have been delegated special discretionary powers to grant refund on unused tickets issued by their stations which are surrendered for refund after the normal time limits prescribed in the rules for refunds.
From: Kandaswami, Auroprem* <Kandaswami#m#_Auroprem*@msgate.email
Subject: Railway minister prefers train
Date: 05 Aug 1996 13:25:00 -0500
Railways-Paswan
New Delhi, July 24 (UNI) Railway Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has started travelling by train since he took charge of his office.
Mr Paswan revealed this during the discussion on the railway budget in the Lok Sabha when Mr Sultan Saluddin Owaisi (MIM) made an appeal to the Minister to travel by train to understand the difficulties of the passengers.
The Minister said that he travelled by air only if it was very important. in fact, he had recently gone to Mumbai by train, he added.
Meanwhile, he urged members to make suggestions on how the catering services in the railways -- 75 per cent of which were in private hands--could be improved.
At another stage, Mr Paswan said he would take steps to provide Chowkidars at unmanned railway crossings all over the country. however, he said that it may not be possible to do this immediately,
and he would therefore concentrate on accident-prone areas.
From: Kandaswami, Auroprem* <Kandaswami#m#_Auroprem*@msgate.email
Subject: Re: CR Mishap
Date: 05 Aug 1996 13:29:00 -0500
Mumbai, July 30 (UNI) A eight-year old boy was injured, the engine and a second class-cum-luggage van of the 7031 Mumbai-Hyderabad express train derailed when a huge boulder rolled down on the train due to landslide between Thakurwadi and Monkey hill, near Lonavla, this afternoon, a Central Railway press release said. according to the press release, the boy was hit by the luggage which fell on him. He was given first-aid treatment and allowed to go home. Senior officers along with additional divisional railway manager (operations), Mumbai division rushed to the accident site. a medical van and breakdown van were rushed to the site immediately. restoration work was in progress. there was no disruption of traffic since it was diverted via middle line. The
rear portion of the train, except the engine and the second class-cum-luggage compartment, was brought back to Karjat from where it would start for its destination, the release said.
From: Rajesh Halarnkar <halarnka@KnK.email
Subject: THE HINDU ONLINE : Wagon procurement programme
Date: 06 Aug 1996 13:25:00 -0500
Cl: Transport
WHILE PRESENTING THE Railway Budget for 1996-97 to the Parliament
last week, the Union Railway Minister, Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan, has
preferred to make no comment on the controversial decision of the
former Railway Minister, Mr. C. K. Jaffer Sharief, to cut down
the Railways` wagon procurement programme a year ago,
precipitating a crisis in the industry. Although the revenue
earning freight traffic (REFT) rose from 365 million tonnes in
1994-95 to a record level of 390 million tonnes in 1995-96, Mr.
Sharief appeared to be sceptical about the Planning Commission`s
estimate of the REFT rising to 418 million tonnes during the
year.
Citing under-utilisation of the transport capacity and the
prevailing resource crunch, he cut down the wagon procurement
although the minimum annual requirement of wagons was assessed at
26,000 in terms of four wheeler units (FWUs). For the terminal
year of the Eighth Plan, the requirement was projected earlier at
120,000 FWUs, but this was cut to 81,000 FWUs in 1994. Yet within
a year this figure was again revised upward to 99,000 FWUs. The
Railways` later decided to buy 23,400 FWUs in 1996-97 to ease the
present wagon shortage. Considering that the installed capacity
for wagon building in the industry was only 36,000 FWUs _ the
achievable capacity being far less at 26,000 FWUs a year _ it was
clear there was little prospect for procurement of the additional
18,000 FWUs at short notice. Political interference was blamed
for the confusion in the wagon procurement programme.
Delays in the procurement of wagons had created serious
bottlenecks in the movement of freight, including foodgrains,
resulting in diversion of cargoes to the road transport sector
causing loss of revenue to the Railways. Curiously enough, when
the wagon crisis hit the freight traffic, the Railway authorities
had asked the wagon builders to diversify their activities!
Inexplicable delays in the procurement of wagons only aggravated
the situation forcing the administration to concede the
Opposition demand in the Rajya Sabha to set up a Parliamentary
Committee to go into the question of wagon shortage. As four-
fifths of the wagon building capacity in the country is
concentrated in the eastern region, particularly in West Bengal,
the State Chief Minister, Mr. Jyoti Basu, took up this issue with
the then Prime Minister, Mr. P. V. Narasimha Rao.
The Parliamentary Committee on Railway Wagons has expectedly
been critical of the Railways` unilateral decision on its abrupt
cutback in wagon procurement and suggested improved co-ordination
among the Planning Commission, the Union Industry Ministry and
major user-industries in the core sector to ensure adequate
availability of railway wagons to meet peak level demands. It has
favoured a sustained wagon procurement programme taking into p7=
3
account all factors including replacement. More than 27,000 FWUs
were condemned to the scrap yard in recent years while the total
output in 1993-94 and 1994-95 was less than 32,000 FWUs. As the
tendering system introduced by the Railways has caused a
controversy over the pricing issue, the Committee has suggested
that this question also should be resolved in consultation with
the wagon builders, the Union Industry Ministry and the Planning
Commission. With the target for REFT set at 410 million tonnes
for 1996-97, the Railways should review its wagon procurement
programme to remove the transport bottlenecks in the light of the
recommendations made by the Parliamentary Committee and fix
responsibility for the unilateral decision on the cutback in
procurement in recent years at a time when the wagon fleet of the
Railways has actually shown a decline. The Committee has rightly
stressed the need for improving not only the wagon availability
but also of its utilisation efficiency to cope with the rising
demands of freight traffic.
------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Dr. Jai Maharaj <jai@mantra.email
Subject: Hajipur-Bachhwara Gauge Conversion
Date: 06 Aug 1996 02:03:00 -0500
A.I.R. Commentary
HAJIPUR-BACHHWARA GAUGE CONVERSION
Written by Ajay Kumar Sinha, AIR Correspondent
Edited by Ajay Kumar Sinha
The Railway Minister, Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan yesterday
inaugurated the Gauge conversion work of the north
eastern railways at Desari. In his Railway Budget speech
on the 16th of last month, Mr. Paswan made several
proposals for expansion and strengthening of the Railway
network in the background regions of the country which
include north Bihar and the north eastern region. The
launching of this project which falls in north Bihar,
reflects the eagerness of the United Front Government to
strengthen infrastructure facilities in backward areas
rapidly. This is the first of the series of priority
projects announced by the Railway Minister in Parliament
20 days ago.
Railways is the cheapest mode of transport in the
country, both for goods and passengers. Its network is
spread over throughout the country. The foreign rulers
laid railway lines keeping in view their colonial
interest. We inherited three kinds of gauge systems.
They are broad gauge, metre gauge and narrow gauge. They
connected the Capital Delhi and the major ports -
Calcutta, Bombay and Madras through broad gauge but
metre gauge lines were laid in Assam, North Bihar,
Eastern U.P., Rajasthan and the Southern States. The
multiplicity of the gauge creates several hurdles in
smooth transportation of goods and passengers and
increases cost also. After the independence the
Government decided to have only broad gauge for the
whole country and started converting the metre and
narrow gauge to broad gauge. It provides more haulage
rapid speed and more space in wagons and bogies.
The Soil in North Bihar is alluvial and very fertile.
In spite of this gift of nature, poverty is wide spread
because the region is ravaged by floods every year. It
claims several lives and causes widespread damage to
crops and property. Water-logging on roads in the rainy
season is a common sight and one finds only damaged
roads. In the circumstances the Railways remain the only
mode of transport for the people in this region. This
area lacks industrialisation also because of the absence
of infrastructure facilities. In these circumstances, a
large number of people flock to prosperous centres in
the country for earning their livelihood, and railways
is the only cheap mode of transport for them.
An efficient railway network in the region is also
required from a strategic point of view. Its northern
border touches Nepal and it connects the North Eastern
region with the northern parts of India. After the
Chinese aggression in 1962 this area received greater
attention and several projects were taken up for
expansion of rail and road network. But because of
paucity of funds the gauge conversion work could not
keep the desired pace.
Thus the project will serve the strategic need of the
country and also help accelerate the economic
development of North Bihar.
End of Commentary from A.I.R., Delhi
Jai Maharaj <jai@mantra.email
%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:%:% Om Shanti %:%:%
Tuesday, August 6, 1996, 8:03:04 am in Hawaii, USA
From: <sshankarnarayan@kpmg.email
Subject: Goods trains on IR
Date: 06 Aug 1996 17:03:00 -0500
Hi folks,
Nice to see that Kerala is finally getting some attention from railways.
Meanwhile I was wondering if any one knows how IR schedules its goods trains. I
know that some between the metros are run as scheduled trains and promise 3rd
morning delivery and so on. How are the rest of the trains operated, who has
control over their progress?
Satish, my email address has changed to sshankarnarayan@kpmg.email
please do the needful.
-Sridhar (]
From: Vijay Balasubramanian <vbalasub@xavier.email
Subject: Booked speeds!
Date: 09 Aug 1996 16:00:00 -0500
Hi Folks,
Was browsing through the 1993 Central Rly. working time-table and discovered that the booked/max. speeds of quite a few trains have been increased, although
their schedules (as per the regular time-table) remain about the same. What a
shame!!!
Igatpuri-Bhusaval-Itarsi/Nagpur
---------------------------------
- Gitanjali, Pushpak, Vidarbha, the three mails, Sewagram, Panchavati,
Mahanagri, Jhelum, Karnataka, Goa, Navjeevan, Maharashtra
have a booked speed of 100 kmph. (increase of 10 kmph. for most of these)
Rest of the exps. have a booked speed of 95 kmph. (increase of 5 kmph.)
- Max. permissible speeds: 110 kmph. - Igatpuri/Bhusaval, Wardha-Nagpur
105 kmph. - Bhusaval-Itarsi/Wardha
Bina - Jhansi
-------------
Booked/max
- 110/120 - Shatabdi, Rajdhani (increases to 120/130 between Lalitpur - Jhansi
- 100/110 - TN, AP, Kerala, Karnataka, Mangala, Gondwana
Speeds increased for following trains:-
- 100/105 - Pushpak, Kalinga-Utkal, Goa, Hirakud, Chatisgarh, Punjab Ml, Malwa
- 95/105 - Lashkar, Rapti-Sagar, Himsagar/Navyug, Sabarmati, Dadar-Amritsar,
Reasons why the timings have not changed even though the speeds have increased-
1. Overdose of recovery times. e.g. the Gitanjali exp.
lowers its running time by
about 10 mts. between Nagpur-Wardha, making it a shade better than the TN.
However, it's been given nearly 20 mts. extra time. As a result, it's
performance in the Bhusaval - Nagpur section remains pathetic (~57 kmph.
average speed from Bhusaval to Nagpur).
2. No change in the run-times. I observed this for almost all the trains in
the Igatpuri-Bhusaval section. Although, their booked speeds have gone up
by 5-10 kmph., the actual running times between consecutive stations has
remained the same. How is that possible? This seems to be directly
violating the time-speed law (or am I missing something?)
In short, the railways have succesfully managed to retain the mediocre
avg. speeds in sections such as Bhusaval - Nagpur despite an increase in
the booked speeds :-(. Will the commercial speed of the Gitanjali Exp.
cross the 60 kmph. mark again? One feels sad when one realizes that it
was a classy train about 15 years back - Bombay-Howrah in 29 hrs. with a
commercial speed of about 65 kmph.
Vijay
From: Prakash Tendulkar <prakasht@VNET.email
Subject: Max speed, booked speed and run time
Date: 09 Aug 1996 14:09:00 -0500
Vijay,
This is known as jugglery of numbers. It has been going on for
years. Every Railway wants to give out pleasing news for
Ministers to announce and at the same time wants to ensure that
the statistics of punctuality does not look bad. Although my info
is 25 years old, it should hold true today, too.
For Surat - Bombay Central section, for example, if a train runs
at booked speed, takes a halt of specified number of minutes at
each station (ignoring departure time) and has no caution order
(for track work), then you would see a saving of 45 minutes in
four and half hours run time of Flying Ranee. This 45 minutes
buffer accounts for caution order, surprise delays at stations
and loss of time at suburban section between Virar and Bombay
Central during the peak hours. If this is not enough, you can add
up time by running at Max. speed.
So it is not surprising to see that Mail and Express trains
arriving in early morning hours at Bombay Central (when suburban
traffic is light and through tracks are free), arrive 20 minutes
before time regularly.
Suburban section of Western Railway is not different either.
Marine Lines to Churchgate (1 km) has a run time of 5 minutes
whereas Churchgate to Marine Lines run time is 3 minutes. Is this
difference due to wind resistence? Nope. This is known as
crunching the numbers.
Prakash
From: Rahul Saxena <RSAXENA@LAITRAM.email
Subject: Re: Goods trains on IR
Date: 12 Aug 1996 14:34:00 -0500
As you pointed out, a few goods trains move on a printed schedule
between large goods stations.
Most goods trains are unscheduled services, and they are the
responsibility of the "Operating" department of each division. Goods
trains are handed from division to division at interchange points, and
each division's performance is measured -- i.e. there is an incentive to
move goods trains quickly through your division.
Non-guaranteed schedules mean that the Operating department has a lot of
flexibility in moving goods trains. The flexibility is required to even
out the flow of traffic to account for variable loco availability, and to
handle failures in the system, such as hot axle-boxes, etc.
rahul.saxena@laitram.email
From: Rajesh Halarnkar <halarnka@KnK.email
Subject: 12 AUGUST 1996 : FM freezes Rs 3,870 cr of railway funds
Date: 13 Aug 1996 16:23:00 -0500
FM freezes Rs 3,870 cr of railway funds
Sneh Lata Bhatia
-----------
NEW DELHI 11 AUGUST
THE FINANCE ministry has frozen major accounts of the
Railways, including the depreciation reserve fund (DRF),
capital fund (CF) and the pension fund (PF), amounting to
roughly Rs 3,870 crore.
Despite repeated requests, the ministry is refusing to
permit the Railways to withdraw money from these key sources
for funding development plans. Though the Railways
contribute to these funds, they have to seek the finance
ministry's permission to withdraw money from these accounts.
As talks have failed, railways minister Ram Vilas Paswan
will soon be meeting finance minister P Chidambaram to break
the impasse. The Railways fear that the finance ministry may
divert these funds to meet its fiscal deficit.
During recent discussions, railway ministry officials
suggested to the finance ministry that 50 per cent of the
dividend given to them should be re-deployed in the
Railways' capital investment.
The demand is based on the recommendation of an expert panel
set up to suggest capital restructuring of the Railways. The
finance ministry has rejected this demand as well.
Under the existing arrangement, the Railways have to
surrender their entire earnings and provision for various
accounts to the Consolidated Fund of India. Only the
budgeted amount approved by Parliament is released in a
phased manner. Any additional demand has to be approved by
the finance ministry.
The Railways had approached the finance ministry to release
50 per cent of the accumulated reserves for developmental
works. During 1996-97, Rs 1,374 crore have been provided for
DRF, Rs 755 is in the CF and Rs 170 crore in the pension
fund.
Official sources say that additional funds are required to
meet the additional liability of the revised dearness
allowance, announced by the finance ministry recently.
Of the total estimated burden of Rs 5,000 crore, the share
of Railways works out to be Rs 2,000 crore.
Against this, the Railways have made a budgetary provision
of only Rs 1,000 crore.
From: Rajesh Halarnkar <halarnka@KnK.email
Subject: http://www.pugmarks.com...erald/aug12/protest.htm
Date: 13 Aug 1996 16:25:00 -0500
Activists protest over the denial of railway zone
headquarters to Hubli
DH News Service
HUBLI, Aug 11
Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj M P Prakash and his
ministerial colleagues, Mr S S Patil and Mr Umesh Katti beat a hasty retreat
here today following a strong protest by the activists of the Forum for
North Karnataka Development and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The acitivists who were protesting against the denial of the headquarters of
the south-west railway zone here, gheraoed the minister and shouted slogans
like, ''M P Prakash go back, we want railway zone,`` when he went to the
Indira Glass House to meet the agitators.
The agitators were led by the Central Action Committee Chairman Patil
Puttappa, Forum General Secretary V B Hombal and BJP leaders Chandrakant
Bellad, MLA and Prahalad Joshi.
Later while dispersing, the agitators smashed the windscreens of a vehicle
which was ferrying in the Janata Dal workers for a party meet. Three persons
were injured in the incident.
Chief Minister J H Patel, who was to be here to oversee the arrangements for
the prime minister`s visit on August 22, did not turn up as he is reported
to be held up in Delhi.
Addressing the agitators Dr Patil Puttappa lambasted the Janata Dal
Government at both the State and the Centre, for neglecting the north
Karnataka region. He charged that great injustice had been done to the
region by not choosing Hubli as the venue of the south-west railway zonal
headquarters. ''If the JD wants to survive, it must favourably respond to
the pro-people programmes and act according to the wishes of the people.
Otherwise, it will be rooted out,`` he declared.
Dr Puttappa asserted that they were not against Prime Minister H D Deve
Gowda`s visit to the City on August 22. ''But, he must first announce that
the headquarters of the railway zone will be shifted to Hubli. Otherwise he
will not be allowed to visit the City,`` he said.
Questioning the rationale behind chosing Bangalore as the venue of the new
zone, he said, ''what is there in Bangalore? Perhaps, these leaders have
their land in Bangalore. If you want to keep Bangalore alive, please shift
the zonal headquarters to Hubli,`` he cautioned.
Amidst shouting of slogans, Mr Prakash merely said that he would convey the
sentiments of the people to the chief minister and the prime minister.
Later, addressing party workers at the Glass House, Mr Prakash charged that
the agitation (by the activists of the Forum) was politically motivated.
He also described the announcement by the Forum leaders that the prime
minister and the chief minister would be prevented from coming to the City,
as undemocratic. ''It is not proper to try to settle all the problems on the
street. It is also not logical to state that the prime minister will be
prevented from coming into the City on August 22,`` he remarked.
Mr Prakash said party workers must be wary of the misinformation campaign
launched by some leaders that the region had been shown step-motherly
treatment.
With a view to countering the criticism, Mr Prakash enumerated some of the
programmes launched by the state and central governments for the development
of the region. He said that the government had shown the political will to
set up a High Court Bench in Hubli and the process of identifying the
buildings and land had already been completed. ''The government is making
all preparations to set up the bench here. In a day or two, the PWD, DPAR
and the law secretary, who have studied the places, will submit their report
to the government,`` he said.
Mr Prakash called upon the people to try to get the region developed by
according an ''unprecedented`` welcome to the prime minister.
State JD General Secretary Basavaraj Bommai strongly refuted the allegations
levelled against his father and Union Minister for Human Resources
Development S R Bommai. He said that the land for the High Court Bench was
sanctioned when his father was the chief minister. ''But now, some
disgruntled elements are spreading canards agaist Mr S R Bommai,`` he
remarked.
He also launched an attack on Dr Patil, charging that the latter as a
journalist, heaped abuse on those who did not show him favours.
PWD Minister C M Udasi, Minister for Co-operation S S Patil, Minister for
Sugar Umesh Katti, former assembly deputy speaker B R Yavagal and former
minister P C Siddanagoudar, who addressed the party workers, called upon
them to accord an unprecedented welcome to the prime minister during his
visit to the City.
From: Rajesh Halarnkar <halarnka@KnK.email
Subject: 10 AUGUST 1996 : Rlys may get JRY funds to lay tracks, create jobs
Date: 13 Aug 1996 17:17:00 -0500
Rlys may get JRY funds to lay tracks, create jobs
Sneh Lata Bhatia
-----------
NEW DELHI 9 AUGUST
THE GOVERNMENT is planning to transfer a part of the Rs
5,000-crore Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY) funds to the railway
ministry which will use the amount to provide employment
through its routine works.
This innovative move will take care of the Railways'
additional fund requirements as well as the generation of
employment under the JRY scheme.
It is suggested that instead of the rural development
department, the Railways be made the nodal agency for
implementing the scheme while commissioning railway networks
in rural, backward and hilly areas.
Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, concerned over the declining
popularity of the centrally-sponsored JRY among the states,
is exploring alternative venues for its implementation.
However, he is reluctant to take a radical decision for he
fears that this might be misunderstood as diversifying funds
meant for rural development to the Railways.
The idea is to pool Railway funds meant for line expansion
and JRY outlay, to achieve the twin objectives of the Deve
Gowda government.
Highly-placed sources say the Railways has agreed that earth
excavation work, laying of lines and sleepers would be done
manually and payment made from JRY funds.
The Railways has affirmed that it would not use machines.
The cost of lines, sleepers and other components would be
borne by the Railways. This will serve the following
purposes:
Providing employment to those residing in rural and backward
areas
Providing connectivity
Improving the implementation of JRY
Railways minister Ram Vilas Paswan had asserted in the
budget speech this year that the Railways should become the
forerunners of backward areas development. His suggestion
was endorsed by his cabinet colleagues.
However, a funds crunch prevents him from making good his
promises. He has, therefore, put this proposal to the prime
minister.
At present, the resource situation is so thin that Mr Paswan
provided only Rs 200 crore for network expansion in his
budget against the requirement of at least Rs 30,000 crore.
This will also ensure better utilisation of the JRY
resources.
Recent reviews have shown that states are no longer keen to
implement JRY. Even backward states like Bihar, Uttar
Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have failed to attract unemployed
to the scheme.
In recent years, man-hours generated under the scheme have
come down sharply by 50 per cent.
Experts feel that the wages offered under normal channels
are more attractive than JRY wages.
It is also feared that there is leakage of funds and the
scheme does not reach the needy.
From: Kandaswami, Auroprem* <Kandaswami#m#_Auroprem*@msgate.email
Subject: Re: Railway workforce
Date: 14 Aug 1996 06:16:00 -0500
Plan To Slash Railways Workforce Put On Hold
(The Hindu: 14 Aug 1996)
________________________________________________________
Railway Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has put the brakes on the Railway`s move to reduce staff strength. Acting on a World Bank report which recommended a 40 per cent reduction, the Railways has, over the past four years, succeeded in reducing its manpower by 1.75 lakhs. Even then overstaffing varies from 4 to 10 per cent depending on the zone. But the creation of six new zones and a possible seventh a year later, along with the Minister`s emphasis on expanding the network in backward areas, are the reasons for reversing the trend of reducing staff strength.
________________________________________________________
From: Kandaswami, Auroprem* <Kandaswami#m#_Auroprem*@msgate.email
Subject: Re: Computerized Rly. Reservations
Date: 14 Aug 1996 14:10:00 -0500
New Delhi, Aug 13 (UNI) Railways will provide computerised reservation facilities in 25 more centres in the country during
the current financial year, an official release said here today.
The centres are Bina, Ahmednagar, Saugor, Wardha, Barddhaman, Lal Kuan, Darbhanga, Izatnagar, Nainital, Sonpur, Hajipur, Modinagar, Panipat, Cuddapah, Alleppey, Mettupalayam, Nagercoil, Kanyakumari, Shencottah, Mhow, Veraval, Valsad, Bharuch, Navsari and Nadiad.
As on March 31 last, 275 centres have been computerised for passenger reservations. these include 52 locations on Northern railway, 44 locations on Southern railway, 42 locations. South Central railway, 34 locations on Central railway, 33 locations. Eastern raiway, 30 on Western railway, 16 on South Eastern railway. 15 North Eastern railway and 9 on Northeast Frontier railway. these cover 92 per cent of total passenger reservation. about six lakh passenger reservations are done daily on railways. the total number of passengers travelling daily with tickets in one crore twenty lakh per day, the release said.
The computerised passenger reservation system on the railways was introduced in 1985-86 at New Delhi and later extended to Bombay, Calcutta, Madras and Secunderabad both for onward and return journey reservations.
From: Prakash Tendulkar <prakasht@VNET.email
Subject: Railway News
Date: 16 Aug 1996 06:35:00 -0500
Calcutta's Metro service was suspended almost entirely on Thursday
as motormen refused to run trains, following threats from a
rampaging mob that ransacked the Dum Dum station. This is the
first time since its inception that Metro services have been
stalled for such a long time. Trouble erupted at 10 am after a
train was cancelled at the station due to technical problems in
its rake.
Twelve bogies of the New Delhi-bound Vaishali Express derailed
near Raunapar railway station, about 100-km from Gorakhpur, on
Wednesday. So far no causality has been reported.
Gorakhpur)
From: S Pai <pai@apollo.email
Subject: new deal with GM?
Date: 16 Aug 1996 15:17:00 -0500
Apparently IR have signed a new agreement with General Motors (last
week?) for technology transfer regarding "fuel-efficient locos".
Anyone have any details on this?
-Satish
From: S Pai <pai@CS.email
Subject: Goodbye!
Date: 19 Aug 1996 18:16:00 -0500
Hi, folks,
The IRFCA mailing list will be shut down tomorrow. This is probably
the last message on it -- but perhaps it'll be reborn some day.
If any of you are interested in organizing a Listserv for Indian
Railways at some time in the future, do get in touch with me for the
list of people on IRFCA. If you'd like to know if I or anyone I know
has been able to organize such a list, drop me a note. If any of you
do not want to be bothered with such lists in the future, let me know
and I'll drop your name from my list.
Goodbye! It's been a lot of fun. Keep on railfanning!
-Satish
From: Philippe Quiot <tog-ch@vtx.email
Subject: Re: reincarnation of the irfca mailing list
Date: 30 Sep 1996 17:36:00 -0500
CONGRATULATIONS !
A call to steam-enthusiasts / specially in Europe:
Indian Railways are scrapping narrow-gauge (both meter-gauge and
indian-narrow-gauge i.e. 2ft6" steam Loks at a high rate !
There would be still opportunities for saving several of them and running
them in Europe, following new concepts of steam railways which are no more
exclusively "local historical stuff" but tourism entertainment !
For european historical justification, many "indian" Loks were built outside
India...
If a party of motivated enthusiasts is organized, each of them could own
part of such a full-size Lok and run it on steam lines in Europe for the
cost of a scale model !
Waiting for e-mail about this...
Bye for now...
At 00:54 30/09/96 -0400, you wrote:
>
>Folks: with Satish's help, I have resurrected the IRFCA mailing list.
>It is once again being hosted at the University of Maryland.
>
>The relevant addresses are:
>
>posting: irfca@cs.email
>admin-requests: irfca-request@cs.email
>
>If any of you would like to be removed from this list, this would be a
>good time to request this.
>
>anurag
>
"Times of Glory" tog-ch@mail.email Philippe QUIOT
tog-sa@he.email ( )
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From: John Raby <jraby@gol.email
Subject: Darjeeling Himalaya Railway
Date: 01 Oct 1996 07:44:00 -0500
Can anyone tell me what the latest situation on the Darjeeling line is and
plans for the future? A recent article in the British 'Independent'
newspaper suggested that only the top part from Ghoom to Darjeeling will be
retained as a tourist operation. Steam fans must hope not. I am keen to
visit from Japan, university vacations permitting, sometime between
December 1996 and end March 1997. Any advice to <jraby@gol.email would be
appreciated.
From: Jairaj, Vinod <vjairaj@blue.email
Subject: Re: forwarded message from Philippe Quiot
Date: 30 Sep 1996 12:36:00 -0500
HI!
Continuing this discussion on Narrow Guage, can some one please
tell me if the NG line between Yelahanka and Bangarapet is still
functioning? In those days, Yelahanka used to be one of the few stations
to have all the guages. Now, it has only BG.
Thanks,
Vinod