Railway Weekly News 1st Oct to 7th Oct

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A) Railway capital Expenditure will be 2 lakh crore till Year 2024

The Indian Railways is planning a capital expenditure of Rs 2 lakh crore annually till FY24 owing to elaborate plans of the government to upgrade railway infrastructure across the country.

Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav said the Indian Railways’ network capacity will be boosted to improve freight movement in the country.

The plan includes doubling of 11,000 km of track, increasing by three or four times the 3,000-km route network, 51 projects related to coal connectivity and 10 projects related to port connectivity among others.

Indian Railways is currently running more freight trains as passenger trains are suspended. Now they want to continue the same scenario once normalcy occurs.

B) 200 More Trains To start before Festive Season

200 more trains are being planned by Indian railways during the 15th October to 30th November during the festive season.

Railway Board Chairman said that Railway will start extra trains to cater to the increased passenger traffic demand in festive season.

C) Naugarh is now Siddharthanagar railway station

The Naugarh railway station will now be known as the Siddharthanagar railway station. It is located in Siddhathnagar District of Uttar Pradesh. The railway station is located on the way from Gorakhpur to Gonda in North East Railway(NER).

Railway minister Piyush Goyal inaugurated the name change of the railway station in an online event on Monday evening.

Goyal said, “Mahatma Buddha’s birth place Lumbini is very near and keeping in view the wishes of the people, the name of the station is being changed to Siddharthanagar railway station. A large number of Buddhist tourists come to Lumbini and the area is declared as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.

D) Railways restores second reservation chart system, to be issued 30 minutes before departure

The Indian Railways decided to restore the earlier system of preparation of second reservation charts from 10 October. The system was paused in the wake of novel coronavirus pandemic for the last few months.

The first reservation chart was prepared at least 4 hours before scheduled departure of train. Thereafter, the available accommodation could be booked across PRS counters as well as through internet till preparation of second reservation charts.

Second reservation charts were prepared between 30 minutes to 5 minutes before scheduled/rescheduled time of departure of trains. Cancellation of already booked tickets was also permitted during this period as per provisions of Refund Rules.

Due to pandemic, instructions were issued to shift the time of preparation of second reservation chart to 2 hours before scheduled or rescheduled time of departure of trains.

As per request of Zonal Railways for ensuring convenience of rail passengers, the matter has been examined and it has been decided that the second reservation chart shall be prepared at least 30 minutes before scheduled/rescheduled time of departure of train.

E) Railways permit cooked food at stations for the first time since Covid-19 outbreak

Indian Railways has permitted cooked food at Railway stations ahead of the festive season.

The national carrier had so far allowed the sale of only packaged food across catering and vending units at stations. Now the closed food stalls will start their normal functioning at stations.

F) Indian Railways unveils new Tejas Express locomotives, capable to run at 160 kmph

Indian Railways  Electric locomotive manufacturing wing Chittaranjan Locomotive works(CLW) has designed the first batch of Tejas express locomotive capable of running at 160kmph speed.

These locomotives run with Push-Pull operations and thus air drag is reduced during running.

G) Indian Railways identifies new routes for Kisan Rail

The government has identified special seasonal trains for farmers to send fresh vegetables, fruits as well as other perishable goods to buyers across the country. Apart from vegetables and fruits, the plan also includes carrying meat and fish in refrigerated containers in the future.  

Kishan Rail started first from Kolhapur and Devlali in Maharashtra to Muzafarpur in Bihar carrying onions and bananas. Another Kishan Rail started from Anantpur in Andhra Pradesh to Delhi carrying mango, tomato, banana, pomegranate, musk melon and water melon

The Kishan Rail has been proposed on various routes as below:-

  1. Banana and Onion Special Kisan Rail service from Nashik and Jalgaon to Delhi between the months of March and December
  2.  Mango Special Kisan Rail service from the state of Andhra Pradesh to Delhi between April and June
  3. Banana Special Kisan Rail service for export from Anantpur to Mumbai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust
  4. Sapota or Chiku Special Kisan Rail service from Valsad, Surat and Navsari in the state of Gujarat to Delhi between the months of April and November
  5. Protein Special Kisan Rail service for packaged meat from UP’s Dadri or Kanpur areas to Mumbai and Gujarat ports (already an established route)

H) Indian Railways develops web portal for developing freight

The Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) team has developed a Freight Business Development (FBD) portal, which will provide users with easy to access information on managing transport logistics via railway.

The new FBD portal will enhance customer-support services by facilitating the real-time monitoring of queries and tracking freight consignments through the “GIS-based track and trace provision”. The transporter can track the status of the goods in transit by providing the FNR (freight name record) number, which is an 11-digit number printed on top-left of the railway receipt (RR).

Further, the “RailMadad” Grievance redressal portal of the Indian Railways has been integrated with the new FBD portal for dealing with the queries of prospective and existing customers and directing them to the Freight Business Units of the Divisions.

The customer can register their demand electronically from the place of their convenience through the Indian Railway’s Freight Operations Information System (FOIS) e-Demand Service.

I) Rameswaram’s new Pamban Bridge to be Indian Railways 1st vertical lift rail-sea bridge

The Pambam bridge was constructed 100 years ago and now it is being renovated with a new one. The New Pamban Bridge, which will be the country’s first Vertical Lift Railway Sea Bridge, is being developed parallel to this railway bridge.

This 2.07 km long railway bridge is being built with the help of modern technologies. According to the Railway Ministry, the beauty of the new rail bridge is that its middle part gets lifted up to let ships to pass through during travel. The New Pamban Bridge is expected to promote tourism in this region, especially for pilgrimage purpose as a large number of devotees come to visit Rameshwaram Temple and Jyotirling every year.

This new bridge is being developed by Railway Vikas Nigam Limited, a PSU of Indian Railways.

J) JSPL receives rail supplier status from Indian Railways

Jindal Steel and power Limited (JSPL) has become the first private player to achieve the status of rail supplier to Indian Railways.

Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO), which works under the ambit of the Railway Board, has approved field performance of UIC 60 kg, 880 Grade prime (Class- A) rails made by JSPL at its Raigarh Plant. Normally the rails to railways were solely supplied by Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), a PSU under GOI.  

Question No-1:- Indian Railways First Vertical Bridge is being constructed at-

a) Nehru Setu Rail Bridge near Dehri-on Son in Bihar.

b) Vembanad Bridge, Kochi Kerala

c) Pambam Bridge, Rameshwaram

d) Mahanadi Rail Bridge, Odisha

Railway News 14th Sept to 30th Sept

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A) Bullet Train: Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) corridor project

The 508Km long Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) is the most coveted project of Indian Railways. Shri Narendra Modi and Japanese PM Shinjo Abe had laid the foundation for this ambitious project in the year 2017. However, the work progress slowed due to land acquisition issues.

Now the project has been fast-tracked and tenders have been floated for 28 steel Bridges in the 88 Km section of Vadodara-Ahmedabad. The Bullet Train project was slated for completion in the year 2023.  However the real progress can be checked from next 3-4 months, said Shri VK Yadav, Chairman Railway Board.

B) Indian Railway’s New Delhi railway station to be world-class

Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) of Indian Railways held the first pre-bid meeting for the redevelopment of the New Delhi railway station. As many as 20 national and international firms companies such as Socié té Nationale des Chemins de Fer (SNCF), Anchorage Infrastructure, Arabian Construction Company, GMR, Adani, JKB Infra, etc., participated in the meeting. RLDA is a statutory Authority, under the Ministry of Railways.

According to RLDA, the project’s objective is to project NDLS as a multi-model hub through up-gradation of facilities and state-of art facilities as elevated concourse, multi-level parking, rest rooms, theaters, lounges, Foods, advertisements etc.  

The New Delhi railway station redevelopment project would be developed on a Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer, also known as the DBFOT model for 60 years’ concession period. The project, which is slated to be completed in four years is expected to incur capital expenditure of around Rs 6,500 crore.

C) For the first time, Indian Railways carries Industrial Salt

For the first time in the history of Indian railways, 3882 Tonnes of industrial salt in bulk were transported from Wavaniya railway station near Maliya in Morbi district to Renukut, 1588 kilometres away. Wavaniya Railway station lies under Rajkot Division, Western railway. The HQ of Western Railway is Churchgate, Mumbai.

D) Mumbai’s CSMT is all set for a new makeover

IRSDC (Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation) is inviting Request For Qualification (RFQ) for the redevelopment of Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) station through the PPP model. After the CSMT station redevelopment, commercial space of 2.5 lakh sq m is set to be generated. Following items will be developed at CSMT station under the new model:-

1) The CSMT station redevelopment project, worth Rs 1,642 crore, will be handed over to a private party, who will have to finance and undertake the revamp work.

3) The redeveloped CSMT railway station will have new commercial spaces — including malls, eateries and shops. All these spaces will be monetized by the operator.

4) Besides, new restaurants, commercials shops as well as coffee shops will also come up.

5) As per the proposed plan of the station redevelopment project, around 10 restaurants will come up on CSMT premises.

6) Also, some existing buildings in the CSMT premises will be demolished and some railway offices will be shifted to Byculla and other stations.

7) Moreover, the divisional general office of the CSMT railway station will be shifted to Byculla as well.

8) The Harbour line, which links the southern part of the financial capital with western suburbs as well as Navi Mumbai, will be shifted to the P D’mello Road side on the main line station’s east direction, on an elevated level.

9) The revamped CSMT station will have an access control system.

10) Also, railway passengers will have to pay a user fee, which will be decided by the Railway Board.

E) Junior railway minister Suresh Angadi dies of Covid

Minister of State for Railways and Karnataka BJP MP Suresh Angadi passed away on Wednesday, days after he tested positive for COVID-19.

The 65-year-old passed away at around 8 pm at the AIIMS trauma centre which has been converted into a dedicated COVID-19 facility, sources at the hospital said.

F) Visakhapatnam railway station third in the country to get a green rating

Visakhapatnam railway station has been awarded the platinum rating by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) for adopting green concepts thereby reducing the adverse environmental impact. Visakhapatnam is the third railway station to get this distinction after Secunderabad and Jaipur stations. Vizag secured 82 out of 100 points in six environmental categories.

The Environment Directorate of Indian Railways, with the support of the IGBC, has developed the Green Railway Station rating system. It addresses national priorities such as water conservation, handling of waste, energy efficiency, reduced use of fossil fuel, lesser dependence on usage of virgin materials and health and well-being of occupants. 

Vizag railway station performed well in categories such as sustainable station facility, health, hygiene, energy and water efficiency, smart green initiatives, innovation and development.

G) Sikkim to be connected through Indian railways

The state of Sikkim will get Indian Railways connectivity. The state is expected to get connected to the Indian Railways network with 44.96 km long Sivok-Rangpo new line project, which was included in the Budget in 2008-09. The line’s 41.55 km lies in the state of West Bengal, while 3.41 km lies in Sikkim. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal recently stated that the anticipated cost of the Sevoke-Rangpo Railway project is Rs 4,085 crore. Up to March 2020, Rs 682 crore expenditure has been incurred and Rs 607 crore outlay has been provided for the fiscal year 2020-21.

Out of a total of 14 tunnels (around 39 kilometres long), works have been taken up on 12 tunnels and so far, progress of around 2.50 kilometres length has already been achieved.

H) IRCON floats tenders for construction of Chhattisgarh East West Railway

IRCON, the construction arm of Indian Railways, has floated tenders for the construction of Coal India’s 135-km east-west rail corridor Chhattisgarh East-West Railway Limited (CEWRL), at an estimated cost of ₹4,970 crore.

I) Indian Railways invites tenders for Delhi-Jaipur-Udaipur-Ahmedabad high-speed corridor

The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) on Tuesday invited its first set of tenders for the 886 km long Delhi-Jaipur-Udaipur-Ahmedabad high-speed corridor. The detail project report will be prepared through this tender.

This corridor is among the eight high-speed networks that the Railways is planning across the country, one of which — the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail (HSR) — is under construction.

Apart from the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor, the other seven are the Delhi-Noida-Agra-Lucknow-Varanasi (865 km), the Delhi-Jaipur-Udaipur-Ahmedabad (886 km) sections, Mumbai-Nashik-Nagpur (753 km), Mumbai-Pune-Hyderabad (711 km), Chennai-Bangalore-Mysore (435 km), and the Delhi-Chandigarh-Ludhiana-Jalandhar-Amritsar (459 km) sections.

J) Cabinet approves Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor to decongest Delhi

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved proposals for the Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor, a 122 km double-track line running around the west of Delhi from Palwal in the south to Harsana Kalan in the north.

The orbital route would connect with existing radial lines at Patli on the Delhi – Rewari line, Sultanpur on the Garhi Harsaru – Farukhnagar line and Asaudha on the Delhi – Rohtak line. It would also connect to the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor at Prithala.

The orbital line would enable freight trains to be routed around Delhi, helping to decongest the National Capital Region and supporting the development of multimodal logistics hubs.

K) Now travel by plane if you don’t get a confirmed railway seat

Railofy, a Mumbai-based start-up, has launched India’s first ‘Waitlist and RAC Protection’ service, aimed towards tackling the problems faced by the passengers travelling by trains after being put on the waiting list.

However, by using the Railofy app, or by visiting its website, a passenger can enter the PNR number of their ticket. The traveller also needs to pay a fee, which is determined according to each trip.

After this, Railofy keeps tracking the passenger’s waiting list tickets. If the passenger’s ticket is not confirmed until the last minute, the app provides a flight ticket to the passenger, at the similar price as that of the train’s.

Railofy will make the long-distance journey easier. On some routes, It is also providing the bus connectivity options.

Question No-1:- The HQ of Western Railways is

a) Hubli

b) Churchgate Mumbai

c) Jaipur

d) Ahmedabad

Railway News 7th Sept to 13th Sept

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A) Indian Railways resume Vande Bharat Express service

The Indian Railway decided to start 80 new trains from 12th September. The list include India’s first semi-high speed train Vande Bharat Express which was operating between New Delhi and Varanasi and stopped after lockdown.

The second Vande Bharat Express train which operates between New Delhi and Katra will remain suspended till further notice.

“Eighty new special trains or 40 pair of trains will start operating from September 12. Reservations will begin from September 10. These will run in addition to the 230 trains already in operation.” Railway Board Chairman Shri Yadav said.  

B) The Indian railway starts clone train service

Clone Trains started by Indian Railways will run ahead of existing trains if there is demand so that there is no waitlist in the particular train.

The national transporter will now have more clarity on the exact demand, based on which it can offer productive routes for these trains. “It is better to run trains on routes where there is more demand, than keeping the assets idle.

Indian railways had suspended all passenger trains services from 25th March due to nationwide lockdown. However, it resumed services in a staggered manner, with Shramik Special trains from 1st May. Thereafter, it started 230 special trains across the country. It will run another 80 special trains from September 12. The additional trains were announced keeping in mind the covid-19 situation.

Running clone trains will help in improving the financial health of Indian Railways.

C) Second Kisan Rail started by Indian Railways

Indian Railways has flagged off India’s second and South India’s first Kisan Rail train service, from Anantapur in the state of Andhra Pradesh to Adarsh Nagar in Delhi. The inaugural run of the train started on 9 September 2020. Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy jointly flagged off the Kisan Rail train via video conferencing.

The first Kisan Rail train service on the Indian Railways network was launched on 7 August 2020. The train runs between Devlali in Maharashtra and Danapur in the state of Bihar.

The Kisan Rail consists of 10 parcel vans as well as one luggage cum brake van and operates on a weekly basis.

The Devlali – Danapur Kisan Rail has scheduled halts at Nasik Road, Jalgaon, Manmad, Khandwa, Satna, Bhusaval, Katni, Itarsi, Manikpur, Jabalpur, Buxar, Burhanpur, Prayagraj Chheoki, and Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Nagar. Indian Railways believes that the Kisan Rail train service will cater to the needs of small farmers or traders by carrying their perishable items to distant places.

The move is a step towards achieving the goal of doubling the incomes of farmers by 2022, according to the Railway Ministry. Earlier, the ministry had stated that the freight of this train will be charged as per the parcel tariff of Indian Railways’ normal train.

D) Indian Railways to convert sleeper and general coaches with AC coaches

Indian Railways is planning to redesign three-tier sleeper class and unreserved general class coaches as air-conditioned (AC) carriages to improve the passenger travel experience.

The Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala will build the model of the upgraded sleeper class coach. The carriage will feature 83 berths instead of the usual 72.The upgraded variant will be known as AC three-tier Tourist Class, an official told the publication.

The unreserved general class coaches will also be reconfigured as a 100-seater AC Class. The design of the coach is being finalised.

The plan to upgrade the sleeper and general coaches is part of the government’s plan to switch to an all-AC model. However, a formal decision has not been taken.

E) Railway Board takes charge of Vande Bharat Project

The coveted Train 18 project or Vande Bharat project contracts were being undertaken by ICF, but Railway board has taken charge of the 1500cr project and tenders will be floated at Railway Board level. The ICF along with two other production units would be involved in manufacturing the train set after the tender was awarded.

The last three tenders have been cancelled by ICF on technical and other grounds. Train 18 would is an Indian High speed intercity electric multiple unit. The first trail run occurred on 29th October 2018 in Chennai.

The Vande Bharat train was finally flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15th February 2019 for trains to run in Delhi-Varanasi route.

F) Hubli Railway station named as Sidharoodha Swamiji Railway station

The Hubli Railway station in Karnataka will be named as Sidharoodha Swamiji Railway station. The state government has proposed and the Home Ministry has no objection on this.

Shree Siddharoodha Swami was an exponent of Advaita philosophy and was known for “simple living, great thinking”. He was born in Bidar in 1836 and achieved salvation in Hubblii in 1929. He preached the oneness of all religions and equality of human beings.



G) Railway to soon link all NE state capitals, Bangladesh: Railway Minister

The central Government is committed for overall development of North-Eastern Region. The state capitals of Guwahati, Agartala and Itanagar have already been connected through Rail network.

A 12-km-long Agartala-Akhaura (Bangladesh) railway project is now under execution to link Tripura’s railway network with Bangladesh’s railway network. Once the project completed, the distance between Tripura and Kolkata would be reduced by 1,100 kilometers.

Question No-1: Hubli is the HQ of which Railway Zone:-

a) Southern Railway

b) South Central Railway

c) South Western Railway

d) South Eastern Railway

Railway News from 21st August to 6th September

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A) No Chinese Train 18, Tender cancelled.

Integral coach factory (ICF) Chennai was involved in the manufacture of Train-18 which is also called Vande Bharat Trains. The tender for manufacture of Train 18 was floated by ICF and only foreign company participated was Chinese state owned CRRC corporation. The other companies which participated are Bharat Heavy Electricals, Electrowaves Electronic, Mumbai-based Powernetics Equipments and Hyderabad-based Medha Group.

The bid by CRRC will be scrapped by Indian railways based on the ‘Make In India’ Clause. Also, the tender is likely to be cancelled, no reasons said by Railways.

B) PM Modi has approved 100% electrification of Indian Railways

PM has approved program for 100% electrification of Indian Railways. Indian Railways plans to become zero carbon-free by 2030. The entire route kilometre of Indian Railways will be electrified. The Prime Minister office has given a green signal.

C) 960 Railway stations work through Solar supply, A move towards carbon-free by 2030

The Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal on Monday said that the Indian Railways has so far solarised 960 Railway Stations and has moved closer to become a Net Zero Carbon Emission Railway by 2030.

Some of the stations that have been provided with solar supply include Varanasi, New Delhi, Old Delhi, Jaipur, Secunderabad, Kolkata, Guwahati, Hyderabad and Howrah.

The solar panels are installed at Station roofs and provide electricity to the station lighting and passenger amenities. The work order for another 550 stations has been placed.

The 51000 hectares vacant of Indian Railways will also be installed with solar panels for which survey is being carried out. The supply to Trains in these sections will be through solar energy.

D) No pillow, Towels, Bedsheets in AC coaches

Indian Railways plans to stop the Pillows, Bed Sheets, Blankets in trains. The plans are in discussion stage at higher levels to sell the necessary travel assets to passengers as per requirement. The temperature of the coaches will be so adjusted that there is no requirement of blankets and bed sheets.

All the travel kits consisting of pillows, bedsheets and blankets will be sold at railway Stations by private vendors so that passengers can purchase as per requirement.

E) Indian Railway starts E-PASS for its employees

Chairman Railway Board has launched e-pass module of Human Resource Management System (HRMS) developed by CRIS through video conferencing which was also attended by several high-ranking Railway officials.

Earlier the process for the issuance of passes was manual and it was nightmare for the staffs for issue of passes.

The E-Pass module has been developed by CRIS under HRMS project and will be rolled out over Indian Railways in a phased manner. With this facility, railway employee is neither supposed to come to the office for applying for pass nor has to wait for a pass being issued.

Employees will be able to apply for the pass online from anywhere and get the e-pass generated online. The complete process of application and generation of pass is mobile friendly. Ticket booking on pass may also be done online on IRCTC site apart from the earlier facility of counter booking from PRS/UTS counter.

This facility will help railway employee in using their pass hassle-free and simultaneously make the working of all officials involved in the issuance of pass smooth.

F) Indian Railways starts RFID Tags to Track Entire Fleet of Wagons, Coaches and Locomotives

Indian Railways is installing the RFID ( Radio Frequency Identification Tags ) in coaches, locomotives and wagons so that its entire fleet can be tracked easily. Currently the whole activity is carried out manually and there is scope for errors. With this the national transporter will be able to know the exact postion of all wagons, locomotives and coaches.

G) Char Dham project: Indian Railways to connect Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath, Kedarnath with a 327 km railway line

The Indian Railways is set to connect a railway line of 327 kilometers, connecting the Char Dham i.e Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath, and Kedarnath via Dehradun and Karanprayag in the state of Uttarakhand making it an easy and comfortable journey for crores of devotees.

The entire project is expected to cost around Rs 43,292 crore.

According to the details shared by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, the 327 km long rail line will pass through Dehradun, Pauri, Tehri Garhwal, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Uttarkashi.

H) Govt approves restructuring of Railway Board, appoints the first CEO in Indian Railway history

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) on Wednesday approved restructuring of Railway Board and appointed Vinod Kumar Yadav as the first  Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Board.

The 114 year old Railway board consisted of various members and DG as per departments. Now the members have been made based on functional lines and current requirements.

Pradeep Kumar has been appointed member, infrastructure, PC Sharma as member, traction and Rolling Stock, PS Mishra has been made member, operations and business development. Manjula Rangarajan has been appointed member, finance.

The committee had also announced the merger of Railway group-A services into a combined service called Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS). This will end the age old departments of Indian railways.

I) 80 new trains from Sept 12

The Indian Railways has decided to operate 80 more trains from September 12, for which reservations will start from September 10. These 80 trains will be in addition to 230 trains that are already on track.

Railway Board Chairman Shri VK Yadav said that Railways will run clone trains in routes as per requirements. Railways will also run exam special for students as per the request of state government.

J) Computer-based tests for Railway’s 1.4 lakh vacancies from mid-December

Railway Board Chairman has finally confirmed a date for the RRB exams. Thus the long wait of students has been heard off and it has been decided to conduct the various RRB exams from 15th December. This will be boon for students preparing for these exams across the country.

Question:- Who is the first chairman and CEO of Railway Board?

A) Vinay Mittal

B) Vinod Kumar Yadav

C) Ashwani Lohani

D) Raghuram Rajan

Railway News 1st August to 20th August

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A) Malgudi Railway Station

The Arasalu railway station in Shivamogga district in Karnataka has been renamed as Malgudi Railway station based on the popular series Malgudi Days. Malgudi is the fictional town in ‘Malgudi Days’ a collection of short stories written by R K Narayan.

The Arasalu railway station is located in Mysore Division of South Western Railways.

B) Indian Railways commissions 670 m-long bridge over Bhima river

The South Western Railway commissioned the Lachyan-Hotgi section, which is 33 km long, as part of the doubling project from Hotgi-Kudgi-Gadag (284 km) which was sanctioned by Railway Board.

It connects Karnataka with Maharashtra through Bijapur and Sholapur districts. The track passes through the 670 m long important bridge over River Bhima, the longest bridge in the zone comprising 14 spans of 45.7 m each.

C) Ayodhya Railway station to be modeled on the Ram temple

Ayodhya is one of the most important religious places in the country, Indian Railways will provide direct connectivity from Lucknow, Varanasi as well as other religious places in the nearby areas. The Ayodhya Railway station falls under the northern railway zone. It will be developed as major tourist destination. For this whole Railway station will be redeveloped in phases. In phase-1, 104 Cr will be spent for developing the façade, aprons, platforms, staff quarters etc.

D) Indian Railways’ second-longest railway bridge

Indian’s second-longest rail bridge is Vallarpadam Rail Bridge located in Kerala. It is located on the famous Vembanad lake near Kerala backwaters and known for scenic beauty.

The length of the Vallarpadam Rail Bridge is 4. 64Km.

The longest Railway Bridge in India is Bogibeel Rail cum road bridge located in Assam on river Brahmputra. The Bogibeel Rail cum Road Bridge is 4.94 Km long and connects Dhemaji District with Dibrugarh District of Assam. It was recently inaugurated by PM Modi in December 2018.

E) Railway employees get e-pass facility, can book tickets online through IRCTC

Indian Railways today launched e-pass module for its employees that will help them apply for pass online and get the e-pass generated online. Ticket booking may also be done online on IRCTC site apart from earlier facility of counter booking from PRS/UTS counter. This is a great Human Resource development activity by Indian Railways.

F) Kisan Rail started by Indian Railways

Indian’s first Kisan Rail started by Indian Railways that will run from Nashik in Maharastra and Danapur in Bihar. This will be the first such train, carrying vegetables and fruits, that would run between Maharashtra and Bihar.

The Kisan Rail special parcel service has been provided scheduled halts at Nasik Road, Jalgaon, Manmad, Bhusaval, Burhanpur, Itarsi, Khandwa, Jabalpur, Satna, Katni, Prayagraj Chheoki, Manikpur, Buxar and Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Nagar.

It is expected that kisan Rail will reduce transportation costs by Rs 1000 per tonne compared with roadways and reduce travel time by around 15 hours.

G) Railways constructing the world’s tallest pier bridge in Manipur

The Indian Railways is constructing the world’s tallest pier bridge across river Ijai in Manipur, in its effort to provide connectivity to various parts of in the remote areas of the North-Eastern state of India.

The bridge which is being constructed across river Ijai near Noney is an engineering marvel because the tallest pier height will be of 141 meter. It will surpass the existing record of 139 meter of Mala – Rijeka viaduct, Montenegro in Europe.

It is located at the hilly terrain of Marangching village in Noney district, about 65 km west of Imphal. The total estimated cost of the railway bridge is Rs 280 crore, while the scheduled target to complete the project is March 2022.The bridge is a part of Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal new BG line project (111 Km). The total length of the bridge will be 703 meter.

H) Indian Railways to carry out surveillance of Mumbai station with a Drone

Central Railway’s Mumbai Division has procured two Ninja UAVs i.e drones for better security and surveillance in railway areas like station premises, railway track sections, yards, workshops, etc.

The drones will help in inspection of railway yards, workshops, criminal activity, garbage dumping activity, assessing the encroachment on railway property etc.

I) Manduadih railway station now renamed as Benaras Railway station

The Union home ministry has approved the renaming of Manduadih Railway station as Benaras Railway station. It is the best station in Varanasi division in terms of facilities.

The station name change is initiated by state government and approved by Home ministry.

It is equipped with an air-conditioned lounge, world-class retiring room, digital chart facility, a cafeteria and food plaza. Its architecture is unique and looks like an airport.

Questions:-

  1. Indian’s second longest Railway Bridge is located in the state of

a) Assam

B) Bihar

C) Kerala

D) Maharashtra

2) India’s First kisan Rail started between which states-

A) Uttar Pradesh to Assam

B) Madhya Pradesh to Bihar

C) Kerala to Tamil nadu

D) Maharashtra to Bihar

Railway News 20th July to 31st July

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A) World’s first electrified tunnel in India

The world’s first electrified tunnel of 1KM length is being constructed on western dedicated freight corridor of DFCCIL near Sohna in Haryana.

The tunnel connects Mewat and Gurugram districts of Haryana.  

B) Indian to send 10 Board Gauge Railway locomotives to Bangladesh

India has good relations with Bangladesh and as a friendly gesture sent 10 broad gauge diesel Locomotives.

These locomotives were handed over as per the commitment given to Smt Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh during her last visit in October.

C) 44 Vande Bharat express Trains will be manufactured in the next 3 years

Indian Railways in its commitment will manufacture 44 Vande Bharat Express trains in the next 3 years period. The trains will be simultaneously manufactured in three rail units — the Railway Coach Factory, Kapurthala, Modern Coach Factory, Rae Bareilly and the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai.

D) 7 new routes will get Bullet Trains

Indian will now have seven new routes in its Bullet Train network. The seven new routes are as under:-

  1. Delhi to Varanasi via Noida, Agra and Lucknow
  2.  Varanasi to Howrah via Patna
  3.  Delhi to Ahmedabad via Jaipur and Udaipur
  4. Delhi to Amritsar via Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Jalandhar
  5. Mumbai to Nagpur via Nasik
  6. Mumbai to Hyderabad via Pune
  7. Chennai to Mysore via Bangalore.

Railway Weekly News 13th July to 19th July

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A) Hopeful of completing Katra-Banihal rail link by Dec 2022

The katra-Banihal pending link for connecting the Jammu-Baramula line will be completed by 2022, said Chairman Railway Board. This section contains the highest rail bridge on Chenab. The work is being undertaken by various agencies of Indian Railways.

The Katra-Banihal line is part of the Jammu-Bramulla national rail project of 356 Km. The Jammu-Katra-Udhampur section was opened in 2014 while Banihal-Baramulla section was made operational in 2013.

B) All North East States will be connected through Rail network soon

Chairman Railway Board has said that all the north-east state capitals and major locations will be connected through Railway network.

The various projects are in different stages of completion:-

Jiribam-Imphal railway project: In the state of Manipur, the capital, Imphal to get Indian Railways connectivity through the 111 km long Jiribam-Imphal project. This railway project is likely to be completed by March 2022.

Bhairabi Sairang railway project: ForMizoram, the capital, Aizawl to get Indian Railways connectivity through the 51 km long Bhairabi Sairang project, which is expected to be completed by March 2023.

Dimapur-Kohima railway project: For Nagaland, the capital, Kohima to get the rail network through 82 km long Dimapur-Kohima project. This rail project is expected to be completed by the month of March 2023.

Teteliya-Byrnihat railway project: The capital of Meghalaya, Shillong will be connected to the Indian Railways network through the 22 km long Teteliya-Byrnihat project. This railway project is likely to be completed by March 2022.

Sivok-Rangpo railway project: The capital of Sikkim, Gangtok will get Indian Railways connectivity through the 44 km long Sivok-Rangpo railway project.

C) Dehradun station’s name included Sanskrit as the third language

Dehradun Railway station was provided with Sanskrit name recently. The Urdu language originally was replaced with Sanskrit.

The name of the Railway station is decided by the home ministry in consultation with the state government. In case of change, the state government writes to the Home ministry and home ministry communicates to Railways.

Normally a station has an English name, a Hindi name in Hindi dominated areas and local or third language. As Uttar Pradesh has Urdu as the third language, thus Dehradun was written in Urdu being part of earlier Uttar Pradesh. Uttrakhand has Sanskrit as a second language, thus Sanskrit name was written in place of Urdu.

D) Indian Railways’ 1st cable-stayed rail bridge, Anji Khad bridge

The country’s first Cable-stayed bridge ‘Ajni Khad’ is being constructed on the river Chenab between Katra and Reasi in Jammu and Kashmir. This bridge is being developed by Konkan Railway Corporation Limited, A railway Ministry Undertaking. This bridge is part of the strategic project Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link.

The details of the Anji Bridge are as under: –

SNdetailsRemarks
1Height of the bridge331m
2Length of the bridge473.25m
3No of cables for support96
4Constructed on riverChenab
5Connects placesKatra with Reasi

E) India out of Chabahar-Zahedan Rail Project

The chabahar is a port in Iran and has been developed by the Indian government. The port is strategic to India as there is planning to connect Afganisthan through the rail project. In the first phase , the railway line was to be laid from Chabahar to Zahedan and then to Afganisthan’s Zaranj city.

This port and railway line will allow India to access the central Asian countries as Kazakistha, Turkemenithan, Tajikisthan etc.

The project was to be built by Indian railway PSU IRCON at a total aid of 1.6 billion dollars.

On 16th July, there were rumours that Iran may construct the railway line from chabahar to Zahedan themselves. However, Iran has denied such news as fake. Let’s see what’s the actual scenario.

Question No-1

Chabahar Port is located in which country?

A) Iran

B) Iraq

C) Pakisthan

D) UAE

Question No-2

Recently a railway station name was provided with Sanskrit, what is the name:-

A) Haridwar

B) Varanasi

C) Ayodhya

D) Dehradun

RAILWAY WEEKLY NEWS 5TH JULY TO 12TH JULY

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A) Solar Plant Commissioned at Bina for powering electric Trains.

A 1.7MW Solar Plant has successfully been commissioned at Bina in Madhya Pradesh for Railway operations. The plant will directly feed power to electric traction systems of Indian Railways and electric trains will run on this power.

This is the first time that solar power is being directly used for traction applications.

The project has been jointly conceptualised and developed by BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited) and Indian Railways.
The project has been installed and commissioned by BHEL in just 4.5 months from the date of joint land survey with Indian Railways for the Bina location excluding time lost due to COVID- 19 disturbances.

With this the dream of Indian Railways for complete electrification and Go Green by 2030 can be achieved.

B) Now Electric Trains till New Jalpaiguri station of NFR

The Brahmputra Mail is one of the oldest trains running between New Delhi to Dibrugarh.

Recently it became the first train to run on electric engine till New Jalpaiguri station of NFR. Earlier this train used to run on electric engine till Pt Deen Dayal Upadhayay Jn only.

Now that the missing electrification work of Bhagalpur- Shivnarayanpur has been completed, the electric trains in this section can run on electric engines till New Jalpaiguri station of NFR.

C) First Parcel Train outside India by Indian Railways

Indian railways sent the first consignment of parcel train to Bangladesh from Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. The train was sent to Benapole in Bangladesh.

Guntur district is known for the production of chillies. Earlier these were transported through road but the volume was supply was low and costly.

Now that parcel trains are being sent, it is cheaper and a huge quantity of 384 tones is being transported per train.

D) World’s highest rail bridge by Indian Railways over river Chenab 

The world’s highest rail bridge is being constructed by Indian Railways in Jannu & Kashmir. The 1.315-km long, Chenab bridge is being built above the Chenab river at a height of 359 metres.

The bridge is being built on the Katra-Banihal railway line at village Kauri in the Reasi district. It will connect the Jannu & Kashmir with the mainland Indian Railways.

E) Bengaluru airport will be connected by train services

South Western Railway zone of Indian Railways will give a stoppage for trains which are being operated on the Yelahanka-Bangarpet railway line.

Work on railway halt station at ‘Kempe Gowda International Airport’ is under way and likely to be completed by august 2020.

F) No Chinese Train 18, Indian Railways confirms

ICF(Integral Coach Fcatory) Chennai is developing the train 18 for which it had floated tenders.

Chinese company CRCC had participated in the tenders. ICF is looking into to scrap the Chinese company and include the Indian names as Medha, BHEL etc as they are looking for make in India vendors.

Vande Bharat Express, also known as Train 18, is an Indian semi High-Speed EMU It was designed and built by (ICF) at Chennai under government’s make in India initiative. PM flagged off the first Vande Bharat Express on from New Delhi to Varanasi on 15th Feb 2019.

G) world’s first 100% green railways with net-zero emissions by 2030

Railway Minister Shi Piyush Goyal said that PM has given green signal for 100 percent electrification of Indian railways.

Also, Railway aims to be 100 percent Green Railway by 2030. Green means all fuel requirement of Indian Railways will be met through the green energy sources as Solar energy, wind energy, Hydel Power etc.

H) NRTI starts Railway UG and PG courses

The National Rail and Transportation Institute (NRTI), Vadodara, a deemed to be University established under the Railway Ministry was announced in 2018.

Now the institute has been developed and the first admission to courses of UG and PG is being started from 2020-21 session.

The Indian Railway is a technical department but India lacks studies in transport and rail management at UG and PG levels. Thus to fill the gap of trained professionals in this field, the railway-related courses are being started.

I) Compactor dustbins will be installed in Railway coaches

The existing dustbins in railway coaches are often over flooded and there are garbage laying around it. Thus Indian Railways has decided to install the compactor dustbins which will compress the waste material and create extra space.

Indian Railways will install in 5000 coaches in first go.

That’s all for this week.

Here are a few Questions:

Question No-1:- The Vande Bharat Express is a

A) High Speed Train

B) Semi High Speed Train

C) Express Train

D) Goods Train

Question No-2 :- World’s Highest Bridge in Jammu & Kashmir is being constructed on which river-

A) Jhelum

B) Indus

C) Sutlej

D) Chenab

Question No-3:- Recently India sent a parcel Train outside India to which country-

A) Nepal

B) Bhutan

C) Myanmar

D) Bangladesh

Answers: 1. B, 2. D, 3. D

RAILWAY NEWS 27TH JUNE TO 4TH JULY 2020

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A) The railway starts work for new Vertical Lift Sea Bridge at Pambam.

The Pambam Bridge between Mandapam to Rameswaram island situated in the Gulf of Mannar was constructed in 1914. The bridge is 106 years old and there are constraints in speed enhancement.

The old bridge has flaps in the middle which are lifted upwards during ship movement. However, The speed can’t be increased on this old bridge, thus Railway ministry has decided to construct a new bridge with vertical lift which will allow ships to move when not in operation.

This would be the country’s first vertical lift railway sea bridge.

The length of the bridge would be 2.05Km and would be developed by Rail Vikash Nigam Limited (RVNL) at a total cost of 250 Cr.  

B) Right-Sizing and not Down Sizing. No Job Cuts. Says Indian Railways

Indian Railways has issued a guideline to check if the existing railway employees could be used for other works with some skill changes.

A typical SM Room

For example Railways is planning to accommodate the station masters with work profiles of Electrical Signal Maintainer with little training.

This means job profiles may change for its employees. The non safety workforce will be re-skilled and deployed into safety works. There would no job losses, Indian Railways Director General (HR) Railway Board, Anand S Khati said the Railways will be “rightsizing and not downsizing”.

The Railways currently has 12,18,335 employees and spends 65 per cent of its income on payment of salaries and pension. Thus there are plans to reduce the expenses.

C) Indian Railways plans to raise the speed to 130Kmph on Golden Quadrilateral Routes and its diagonals.

Indian Railways is planning to raise speed on important route to 130 Kmph. The various Golden quadrilateral routes and diagonals of Indian Railways are as below:-

SNRoute TypeGolden Quad lateral/Diagonal
1Delhi-MumbaiGolden Quad lateral
2Delhi-HowrahGolden Quad lateral
3Delhi-ChennaiDiagonal
4Mumbai-HowrahDiagonal
5Howrah-ChennaiGolden Quad lateral
6Mumbai-ChennaiGolden Quad lateral

Indian Railways is also working on the over Rs 13,000 crore project to upgrade the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah railway routes to allow for passenger trains to hit 160 kmph.

D) Sheshnaag and Anaconda Trains run by Indian Railways

Indian railways for the first time started running longer trains by combining the wagons and engines.

The SECR (South East Central railway) was able to successfully run such trains on most important routes to transport larger volumes of fright in one movement.

The sheshnaag was created by combining 4 BoxN sets with 4 electric locomotives with a total length of 2.8 KM. On the other hand, Anaconda consisted of 3 rakes. The detail analysis of both types is listed below:-

SNDetailSheshNaagAnaconda
1No of Rake sets4 sets3 sets
2No of Wagons251177
3Length of the train2.8Km2 Km
4Type of WagonsEmpty BoxN wagonLoaded BoxN Wagon
5Run betweenNagpur to KorbaBhillai to Korba
6Load carried–15000 tonnes
7Total No of engines43

Sheshnaag is the longest train run by Indian Railways in its history till now.

E) New 125-km broad gauge Railway line from Rishikesh to Karnaprayag

The two holy shrines of Rishikesh and Karnaprayag in Uttarakhand will be connected through a broad gauge railway line of 125 KM. 

The new railway line will boost the connectivity between two important hindu pilgrimage sites. It will also lead to development of tourism and development in the state. It is Indian Railway’s proposed route of Char Dham yatra.

The details of the project are enlisted below:-

SNDetail of projectFacts and know-how
1Length of the project125Km
2Time TravelApprox 2.5 hours
3No of stations12
4Connecting placesDevprayag, Srinagar, Rudraprayag, Gauchar, Karnprayag, Dehradun, Tehri Garhwal, Pauri Garhwal, Rudraprayag and Chamoli.
5Cost of the project16,216 crore
6No of tunnels and bridges17 tunnels and 35 bridges
7Expected date of completionDec 2024

According to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, this broad gauge rail line will promote tourism, trade as well as provide Indian Railways’ connectivity between five districts of the state. The RVNL( Rail Vikash Nigam Limited), a railway PSU will be carrying out the work at an estimated cost of 4295 Cr.

F) Shopping complexes to come up near these 15 railway stations

Multi Functional complexes(MFC)  will be established at railway stations of Indian Railways. The RLDA (Rail Land Development Authority), a PSU of the Indian railways has proposed the plan.

According to details shared by RLDA, the MFCs will be set up in the vicinity of respective station complexes and fall in the circulating area of the railway stations.

The various stations are as :-

  • Siuri in Birbhum, West Bengal
  • Balurghat in Dakshin Dinajpur, West Bengal
  • Malda Town in Malda, West Bengal
  • Madarihat in Alipurduar, West Bengal
  • Rohtak, Haryana
  • Durgapur in Paschim Bardhaman, West Bengal
  • Raja Ki Mandi in Agra, Uttar Pradesh
  • Kanchrapara in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal
  • Nadiad in Kheda, Gujarat
  • Sasaram in Rohtas, Bihar
  • Tiruchifort in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu
  • Gulbarga, Karnataka
  • Sikar, Rajasthan
  • Bellary, Karnataka
  • Bharatpur, Rajasthan

Question No-1

The longest train run by indian railways till now is called

A) Anaconda

B) Sheshnaag

C)Elephant

D) Python

Question no 2

Pambam bridge is located in

A) Arabian sea

B) Indian ocean

C) Gulf of Mannar

D) Sri Lanka

Railway Weekly News 21st June to 26th June

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A) Railtel will install video surveillance system (VSS) at 6,049 stations of Indian Railways

Video surveillance system (VSS) is an IP based CCTV system with camera installed at various locations of railway stations. All these cameras are IP based and networked on optic fibre network. These cameras will be connected with the nearest control room where RPF can monitor.

These cameras will have artificial and facial recognition features. They can even detect the human body temperature.  The recording of the video feed from the CCTV cameras will be stored for 30 days for playback, post-event analysis and investigation purposes.

 RailTel, a public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Railways, will be providing the video surveillance system (VSS) at the 6,049 stations of the Indian Railways. 215 stations have already been commissioned.

B) Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan- Ministry of Railways Initiative

As large numbers of migrants have reached their home states, there is a need to provide suitable employment to these people.

Thus, Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan has been launched to empower and provide livelihood opportunities to migrants in villages affected by Corvid-19 pandemic.

The Prime Minister announced that an amount of Rs 50,000 Crores would be spent for building durable rural infrastructure under the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan. Approximately Rs 1800 crore would be spent in 116 Districts of 6 States i.e., Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa & Jharkhand.

Under this Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan, 12 different government ministries will carry out 25 types of different works. The different ministries are as:-

  1. Rural Development,
  2. Panchayati Raj,
  3. Road Transport & Highways,
  4. Mines,
  5. Drinking Water & Sanitation,
  6. Environment,
  7. Railways,
  8. Petroleum & Natural Gas,
  9. New & Renewable Energy,
  10. Border Roads,
  11. Telecom and
  12. Agriculture

Railways will carry out following works under Garib Kalyan Yojana:-

(i) Construction and maintenance of approach roads for level crossings.

(ii) Development & cleaning of trenches, and drains along the track.

(iii) Construction and maintenance of approach road to railway stations.

(iv) Repair and widening of existing railway embankments/cuttings.

(v) Plantation of trees at the extreme boundary of railway land.

(vi) Protection works of existing embankments/ cuttings/bridges.

All the above activities were already going on under various works. Now the migrant labourers will be diverted for such works.

Question:-1 Video surveillance system (VSS) based CCTV system will be installed by which organisation of railways?

A) RVNL

B) RITES

C) RailTel

D) IRCTC

Question:-2 Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan by central government has been launched specifically for

A) ALL CITIZENS

B) FARMERS

C) MIGRANT LABOURER

D) SC/ST PEOPLE

ANS:- 1 (C), 2 (C)