Salem Railway Junction getting a facelift

The cement flooring on the platforms is being replaced with tiles at Salem Railway Junction.Salem Railway Junction after a long gap is getting a facelift.With the dates for the inauguration of Salem Railway Division is already announced, the junction and its surrounding areas are witnessing a flurry of activities. The entire junction was cleaned and white-washed. The platforms also are being renovated. The cement flooring on the platforms, particularly the main ones such as No.1 and No.2, are being replaced with tiles.

The rest rooms also are renovated. The roofing has also been extended on Platform No.1.The drainage facilities have been toned up.The entrance will soon sport a new look. The two-wheeler stand has been shifted to the far right corner.According to senior Railway officials, these works are going on round the clock to meet the deadline, ie September 14 when the division is expected to be inaugurated.The new divisional office is almost completed. Final touches are being given.As soon as the division is inaugurated the signals and controls of the Salem Railway Division will be vested with it.The emergency quota hitherto confined to four trains has also been extended to a few more trains.

New seating arrangement at railway station

Tiruchi:New seating arrangment at the Tiruchi railway station.The Tiruchi Division of the Southern Railway has further improved the seating arrangements in the Tiruchi Junction by providing stainless steel chairs on Platform No. 1 and in the PRS (Passengers’ Reservation System) centre. About 60 chairs had already been provided in the PRS and Platform No. 1.It has planned to provide 90 more chairs at the Booking Office area at the main entrance. The new chairs will be provided at the Booking Office area after the completion of the improvement works currently in progress, according to railway sources.

The provision of additional seating arrangements forms part of observance of 2007 and 2008 as ‘Passengers Amenities Years’ by the Railway Ministry.Only recently the Tiruchi Division commissioned a new facility — Electronic Fare Repeater System — at the reserved and unreserved ticket booking counters in the Tiruchi Junction.The Railways has also planned to open more automated teller machines (ATM) at the Junction premises. The ATMs of ICICI Bank and State Bank of India have already been commissioned. The Canara Bank is commissioning its ATM at the Junction premises on Sunday.

West Coast exp will stop at Wallajah road

Vellore:Union Minister of State for Railways R. Velu introduced the stoppage of the train Nos.6627/6628 Chennai Central-Mangalore-Chennai Central West Coast Expresses at the Wallajah road railway station on Wednesday.Mr. Velu said that once the new rail route from Tindivanam to Nagari was completed, the railway station would become a junction. At present, 24 trains stop at that station.

About 3,500 passengers board trains at the station every day, and the station realised an average revenue of Rs.1.05 lakh a day, and it earned a revenue of Rs. 3 crore last year.Consequently, the station would be upgraded from ‘E’ grade to ‘D’ grade. Railways would soon undertake improvement works at a cost of Rs.25 lakh in the station, he noted.The Minister inaugurated the unreserved ticketing system and introduced the stoppage of the train Nos.2695/2696 Chennai Central-Thiruvananthapuram-Chennai Central Superfast Expresses at the Vaniyambadi railway station later in the day.

A health camp of Southern Railway

A medical team of Southern Railway examining an employee on the platform at the Thiruthuraipoondi station.A train that the Tiruchi Division of Southern Railway operated on July 28 and 29, between Tiruvarur and Karaikudi, showcased its compassion for the employees.The special train that functioned as a mobile health camp was Southern Railway’s attempt at catering to the health and well-being of the employees posted at the stations en route.

A team of doctors of the the Goldenrock Railway Hospital screened their family members, too, on the train which also presented an exhibition highlighting the safety measures the public ought to take, especially when they cross unmanned level crossings.The exercise benefited 423 employees and their families at Mavur Road, Tirunellikaval, Alattambadi, Tiruthuraipundi, Tillaivilagam, Muthupet, Adiramapattinam, Pattukottai, Peravurani, Ayingudi, Aranthangi and Kandanur Puduvayal.

One hundred and thirty-three people, who were suffering from asthma, diabetes, heart problem, blood pressure, eye defects and dental defects, were referred to the Railway Hospital.Divisional Railway Manager R. C. Jat, who travelled in the train along with the senior officials, visited the staff quarters in all the stations to find out the requirements of the residents.
He directed the officials to fulfil their needs.

Railways announces changes in suburban train services

Chennai:Suburban EMU service AM 24, hitherto reaching Chennai Central, has been diverted to Chennai Beach to run as AB6 with effect from Friday. This service will start as 181 Fast to Tiruttani from Chennai Beach at 6.20 p.m.The Beach-Tiruvallur special will depart at 5.40 p.m.Melmaruvathur - Arakkonam Service will be operated as Fast service between Chennai Beach and Arakkonam. It will leave Chennai Beach station at 6 p.m.

The Chennai Central-Tiruvallur service at 6.15 p.m. has been extended to run up to Arakkonam.The changes came in the backdrop of commuters’ protest demanding restoration of the old time table of suburban EMU (prior to July 1).State CPI secretary D.Pandian on Friday asked the Southern Railway to take steps to redress the grievances of the commuters. Meanwhile, Southern Railway began operating eight 12 car rakes from Friday in the Chennai Beach – Tambaram suburban section, which will increase the peak hour services of 12-car rakes to 15 instead of six.

The 12-car rakes will run in lieu of 9 car services.In all 92 services will be operated with 12 car rakes during week days as against 28 services and 46 services on Sundays against no services.A Southern Railway press release said an increase of 33 per cent in capacity is envisaged by the introduction of 12 car rakes instead of 9 car rakes and there will not be any increase in frequencies.

Rake maintenance line inaugurated !

The Southern Railway General Manager, Thomas Varghese, inaugurated an integrated rake maintenance line on the railway station premises here on Tuesday.According to railway sources, the integrated rake maintenance line would be a new design pitline that could handle 26-coach trains for electrical and mechanical repairs/maintenance. This would be the third pitline in Madurai station.

Mr. Varghese also launched the Railnet Computer Training Centre of the Southern Railway Women’s Welfare Organisation. He opened a new record room for the Accounts Department in the Divisional Office.The Divisional Railway Manager, Hemant Kumar, the Additional Divisional Railway Manager, M. Suyambulingam, and other senior railway officials were present.

MRTS Services to Velachery soon

MRTS services to Velachery will become a reality before this month-end. The Commissioner of Railway Safety, who earlier conducted the preliminary inspection of the Tirumailai—Velacheri section, will conduct the final inspection in the third week of July.After his clearance, the line will be opened for passenger traffic, according to Union Minister of State for Railways R. Velu.Inaugurating a PRS centre at Tiruvanmiyur station here on Saturday, the Minister said preliminary work for the next phase of the project i.e. from Velachery to St. Thomas Mount had started. Nearly 75 per cent of the alignment would be along the median of the road. But land acquisition for 25 per cent near St. Thomas Mount would be a problem as there were many buildings on the stretch. If people cooperated with the administration, the extension could be completed before 2009.

The Minister hoped that the patronage for MRTS services would improve once they were extended to Velachery.Lack of inter-modal facilities was the major reason for the poor patronage of the services.Taking this into consideration, the administration had provided bus bays in some of the MRTS stations.Referring to a demand by the Union Shipping and Surface Transport Minister T.R. Baalu for providing a stoppage at Guindy for all trains coming from the South, the Minister said it would be done after completing the platform extension work at the station.As a majority of the trains had 22 to 24 coaches, the platform length should be extended to accommodate the entire train, he added.

Official allays fears over Salem division jurisdiction

Southern Railway Additional General Manager A.P. Mishra has allayed the apprehensions over the jurisdiction of the newly formed Salem Railway Division as it has already been technically approved and finalised by the Railway board itself.After inspecting the construction of the temporary office buildings for the division on Saturday, Mr. Mishra told media persons that there was no need to fear about the jurisdiction. There would be no going back after the Railway board’s approval and the announcement made by the ministry.

The division would soon be a reality, he said.The division was a most important project taken up by the Railways and the work was progressing speedily, he said.The full-fledged operation of the Salem division would begin after its inauguration, which was expected to be held in August.“We will be ready with the temporary office and other requirements within August 15,” he added.He said that the Railways scaled down its demand for lands for constructing permanent buildings including residential quarters for the division to 50 acres.“We require lands close to the Railway junction. But now our priority is to make pthe functioning of the division full-fledged.”The posting of employees to the division was being done purely on voluntary basis. The issue of transfer orders for the employees would commence within a week. Rest houses and transit accommodation for employees of the division would be arranged shortly, he said.

Broad gauge going to open by Sonia and Lalu

Chennai: United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad will inaugurate the broad gauge (BG) link to Rameswaram from the mainland. Southern Railway is awaiting dates from them before fixing the inauguration date.Announcing this to reporters here on Saturday, Minister of State for Railways R. Velu said earlier, the Ministry planned to invite President Abdul Kalam for the inauguration. As he had expressed inability to attend the function the administration decided to invite Ms. Sonia Gandhi, Mr. Lalu Prasad and Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi for the event.The link would be inaugurated after the Presidential election.

Mr. Velu said the zonal administration had sent proposals for gauge conversion of the Madurai-Bodi line, doubling of the Madurai-Maniyachchi- Tuticorin/ Nagercoil, and electrification of the Madurai-Tuticorin sections. The proposals had to be approved by the Central agencies before the final clearance for implementation.Gauge conversion of the Vriddhachalam-Salem and Tenkasi-Shenkottai sections was over and, after the Commissioner of Railway Safety’s inspection, the new lines would be opened for traffic. Other projects to be completed before the current financial year are, gauge conversion of the Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur, Villupuram-Mayiladuthurai, Tiruvarur-Nagore, Karaikudi-Manamadurai sections, and doubling of the Irugur-Coimbatore and Dindigul-Madurai sections.

The Minister said there was a steady growth in revenue earnings of Southern Railway.Passenger earnings in the first three months was Rs.473 crore as against Rs.390 crore in the same period last year.Total earnings, including freight and sundry, was Rs.792 crore in the first three months as against Rs.715 crore during the same period last year. There was nine per cent growth in the number of passengers in the first three months.Earlier, presiding over the inauguration of a new passenger reservation service (PRS) centre at Tiruvanmiyur, the Minister said there was no dearth of funds for improving passenger amenities. Though budget allocation for the current year was Rs.40 crore, Southern Railway had been permitted to spend up to Rs.100 crore. Thanks to heavy surplus funds, the zone had received more funds for various ongoing projects.

Union Minister for Shipping and Transports T.R. Baalu, inaugurating the PRS centre, complemented the Railway Ministry for undertaking various projects for improving infrastructure in the State. This, in turn, would foster economic development.Chennai Mayor M. Subramanian said the Corporation was aiming at providing congestion-free roads in the city.Southern Railway General Manager Thomas Varghese, welcoming the gathering, said the Tiruvanmiyur reservation centre would be the 94th in Tamil Nadu and the 31st under the Chennai Division. It was set up at a cost of Rs.8 lakh.

Train delayed due to fracture at rails

Vellore:Several Chennai-bound trains were delayed by one to two hours, after a fracture was detected on the rails at the Latheri railway station near Katpadi on Tuesday morning.According to railway police sources, a Chennai-bound goods train going to Katpadi was diverted via the loopline at the Latheri railway station to allow the Thiruvananthapuram-Chennai Express to pass at 6.45 a.m. The driver of the goods train heard a strange sound and got down to inspect the joint between the main line and the loopline.

He detected the fracture and alerted the Station Master, who signalled the Thiruvananthapuram-Chennai Express to stop. The timely action by the goods train driver averted an accident. All other Chennai-bound trains were stopped at stations en route.Railway officials and engineering staff reached the spot and repaired the fracture.Railway Protection Force sources said that such fractures were common during winter and summer.

Train timeing re suheduled

Tiruchi:Southern Railway has announced some changes in the running of trains due to the work of insertion of precast RCC box below the railway track between Srirangam and Tiruchi Town stations for laying sewage pipelines of Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board on June 23.The work will be carried out between 9.30 a.m. and 2.10 p.m. Consequently, the Chennai – Egmore – Guruvayur Express scheduled to leave Chennai Egmore at 7.25 a.m. on June 23 is rescheduled to leave at 9 a.m.Train No. 800 Tiruchi – Lalgudi workmen’s special is fully cancelled, while Train No. 805 Vriddhachalam – Tiruchi passenger is partially cancelled between Srirangam and Tiruchi, a press release from the Southern Railway here said.

Train derails

Ramanathapuram: A goods train, which was coming from Manamadurai to Mandapam on the newly laid broad gauge track, derailed near Mandapam Railway Station on Tuesday.The train was carrying blue metal for filling in sections of the track.The accident occurred when the goods train, which had 12 wagons, was about to enter the Mandapam Railway Station around 2.30 p.m.The first wagon of the train derailed from the track.Engineers have rushed the spot to put the derailed part of the train on track.

52 cr for Tirchi railway division to carry out development

Tirchi:Southern Railway Headquarters has sanctioned Rs. 52 crore to the Tiruchi Railway Division to carry out various types of development works.It would be utilised to carry out 157 works. A sum of Rs. 13 crore is proposed to be spent to convert unmanned level crossings into manned ones besides construction of limited use subways in lieu of unmanned gates and laying of approach road to the adjacent manned / unmanned gates to enable the closure of the poorly used unmanned gates.

A Southern Railway press release here said Rs. 6 crore would be spent for improvements to track on the chord line. Parcel offices at Kumbakonam, Pondicherry, Mayiladuturai and Tiruvarur will be improved at a cost of Rs. 50 lakh. Stationmaster rooms on chord line will also be improved.Two new Railway Protection Force (RPF) outposts have been planned at Villupuram and Chidambaram at a cost of Rs. 60 lakh.Improvements to running room at Tiruchi where Loco Pilots, Assistant Loco Pilots and Guards take rest after completion of duty has also been planned at a cost of Rs. 30 lakh.Concrete surfacing of goods yards at Ariyalur, Ichchangadu and Vriddhachalam was being undertaken to facilitate free movement of lorry traffic inside the shed.

Spl train to Madu & Tuticorin

Southern Railway will operate special trains to Madurai and Tuticorin and back to clear rush of passengers.Train No.0606 and 0628 will leave Madurai at 11 p.m. on June 12 and June 16 and arrive at Egmore at 10 a.m. the next day. In the return direction, train No.0605 and 0627 will leave Egmore at 11 p.m. on June 15 and June 17 and reach Madurai at 9 a.m. the next day.

It will stop at Kodaikanal Road, Dindigul, Tiruchi, Vriddhachalam, Villupuram, Tindivanam, Chengalpattu and Tambaram. Train No. 0606 and 0628 will stop at Mambalam also.Train No.0619 will leave Egmore at 11 p.m. on June 13 and reach Tuticorin at 12.15 p.m. the next day. In the return direction train No.0620 will leave Tuticorin at 9 p.m. on June 14 and arrive at Egmore at 10 a.m. the next day.It will stop at Tambaram, Chengalpattu, Tindivanam, Villupuram, Vriddhachalam, Tiruchi, Dindigul, Madurai, Virudunagar, Sattur, Kovilpatti and Vanchi Maniyachchi. It will stop at Mambalam too.

Spl trains to Madurai and Mangalore from Chennai

Southern Railway will operate special trains to Madurai and Mangalore from Chennai to clear rush.Train no.0685 will leave Madurai at 11 p.m. on May 22 and May 24 and reach Chennai Egmore at 9 a.m. the next day. No. 0686 will leave Egmore at 11 p.m. May 23 and 25 and reach Madurai at 9 a.m. the next day.The trains will stop at Kodaikkanal Road, Dindigul, Tiruchi, Vriddhachalam, Villupuram, Tindivanam, Chengalpattu, Tambaram and Mambalam. The composition will be one AC 2-tier, one AC 3-tier, eight sleeper class, two general second class and two luggage-cum-brake vans.

No. 0661 will leave Chennai Central at 4 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays (from May 15 to 29) and reach Mangalore at 7.45 a.m. the next day.No. 0662 will leave Mangalore at 5 p.m. on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays (from May 16 to 30) and reach here at 8.45 a.m. the next day.The trains will stop at Arakkonam, Katpadi, Jolarpettai, Salem, Erode, Podanur, Palghat, Shoranur, Kuttipuram, Tirur, Calicut, Badagara, Tellicherry, Cannanore, Payyanur, Kanhangad and Kasargod.No. 0662 will stop at Perambur too. The composition will be one AC 2-tier, one AC 3-tier, nine sleeper class, four general second class and two luggage-cum-brake van coaches.Reservation will begin on May 13.

Chennai Central- Coimbatore weekly special train

Union Minister of state for Railways R Velu has ordered for special train services on Chennai Central- Coimbatore section to clear the extra rush of passengers.A Southern Railway (SR) release today said the Chennai Central- Coimbatore weekly special would leave here at 2230 hrs on May 16,23 and 30 and reach Coimbatore at 0815 hrs on the next day.In its return direction, the train would leave Coimbatore at 2345 hrs and reach here at 0830 hrs, on the next day.

Another special train would leave for Coimbatore at 2230 hrs on June 6,13,20 and 27 and reach Coimbatore at 0815 hrs on the next day.In its return direction, the train would leave Coimbatore at 2345 hrs on June 7,14,21 and 28 and reach here at 0830 hrs on the next day.Advance reservation for these trains would commence tomorrow.The frequency of the Chennai Egmore - Tenkasi Podhigai Express (both directions) would be increased from tri-weekly to six days a week with effect from June 1 next. The Chennai Egmore - Tenkasi Podhigai Express would not run on Tuesdays and the Tenkasi-Chennai Egmore Podhigai Express would not run on Wednesdays, the release added.