Tag Archives: Ministry of Railways

Giving tourism and trade a major upswing, the Indian government has approved a new railway line connecting Mumbai and Indore. This 309 km route will be the shortest rail link between the two commercial hubs, reducing travel time significantly. The project, estimated to cost Rs. 18,036 crores, is expected to be completed by 2028-29. This new rail connection will not only enhance connectivity but also promote tourism in the region, especially to the popular religious sites of Ujjain and Indore.

Ravneet Singh Bittu has taken the oath as Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways in Team Modi 3.0. He switched over from the Congress to the BJP just ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election and lost the polls from Punjab’s Ludhiana. BJP believes Bittu is among the popular leaders who are likely to make an impact on the party as it goes it alone in Punjab.

The Ministry of Railways has shared that in order to revert back in a phased manner to the pre-COVID levels of service, its passenger reservation system will be shut down for 6 hours during the lean business hours of the night for the next 7 days. This is to enable upgradation of system data and updating of new train numbers. Since huge amount of past (old train numbers) and current passenger booking data are to be updated in all Mail/ Express trains, this is being planned in a series of carefully calibrated steps and implemented during night hours in order to minimise impact on ticketing services,” the ministry said.

Indian Railways has increased rail fares. The last fare revision over Indian Railways was done in 2014-15. For the passengers travelling in ordinary non-AC classes, there shall be an increase of 1 paisa/PKM (Passenger Kilometer), and of 2 paise/PKM for non AC mail or express trains. For AC classes, the increase is 4 paise/PKM. The increase in fare will be on tickets bought on or after 1st January 2020 and no excess fare (difference of fare) will be charged from passengers who have booked tickets before 1st January 2020. In an official statement, the Ministry of Railways said “In order to expand passenger amenities and facilities at railway stations and trains, it has become imperative to increase the fare marginally without overburdening any class of passengers. Further, the burden of 7th Pay Commission on Indian Railway has necessitated rationalisation of fares.  Fare revision will help in channelising the fast modernisation of Indian Railway. Keeping the affordability concerns of daily commuters, there shall be no fare hike for passengers over suburban sections and season ticket holders. This class constitutes 66% of total passenger segment over Indian Railways. Existing fares of train services like Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto, Vande Bharat, Tejas, Humsafar, Mahamana, Gatiman, Antyodaya, Garib Rath, Jan Shatabdi, Rajya Rani, Yuva Expresses, Suvidha and special trains on special charges, AC MEMU (non-suburban), AC DEMU (non-suburban) etc shall similarly be revised to the extent of the above-proposed increase in class-wise fares.”

Revenues from Indian Railways are estimated to reach to US$ 44.5 billion by the end of FY20, according to a recent report by Ministry of Railways. Indian Railways’ revenues increased at a CAGR of 9.66 per cent to US$ 27.71 billion during FY07-18. Revenue during April-May 2018 stood at Rs 28,349.29 crore (US$ 4.40 billion). Indian Railways has undertaken various measures to boost revenues including passenger earnings, freight earnings, parcel earnings, among others.

The Ministry of Railways has commissioned a second glass-roof Vistadome Coach, funded by the Ministry of Tourism, on the Jan Shatabdi Express plying on the scenic Mumbai-Goa route, to provide a panoramic view of the picturesque Western Ghats. The Vistadome Coach boasts of a glass roof which has electrically-controlled opalescence, that is, it can be made transparent or opaque at the turn of a switch. Passengers seeking a better view can head for a special observation deck. All seats are rotatable by 360 degrees and are pushback chairs. The coaches are fitted with automatic sliding compartment doors, multiple TV screens and wider body side door. Ministry of Tourism provided financial assistance to the tune of Rs12 Crore @ Rs.4 crore per coach to Ministry of Railways for the manufacture of three glass top coaches, for developing rail tourism in the country. The first Vistadome Coach was commissioned by the Ministry of Railways on the Vishakhapatnam–Araku Valley Route in April 2017 and is attracting a large number of tourists.

Piyush Goyal has replaced Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu as the Minister of Railways. Goyal was the MoS (I/C) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines in the Government of India. He will reportedly get to manage his power portfolio as well. He is currently a Member of Rajya Sabha and was earlier the National Treasurer of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He headed the BJP’s Information Communication Campaign Committee and oversaw the publicity and advertising campaign of the party including the social media outreach for the Indian General Elections 2014. He is an all-India second rank holder Chartered Accountant and second rank holder in Law in Mumbai University. He was a well-known investment banker and he has advised top corporates on management strategy and growth. He earlier served on the Board of India’s largest commercial bank, the State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda.

Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu flagged off Gandhi Darshan Special Tourist Train on June 17, 2017. In order to commemorate the centenary celebration of Sabarmati Ashram associated with the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, Ministry of Railways has decided to run Gandhi Darshan Special Tourist Train covering all the important tourist places under Gandhian Circuit. The train will be operated by its PSU IRCTC. Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu flagged off this train through video conferencing from Bandra, the train started its journey from Sabarmati on June 17 (Saturday), the centenary day of Sabarmati Ashram in the presence of Gujarat Chief Minister, Vijay Rupani. This Gandhi Special Tourist train will cover all the important destinations like Wardha, Motihari, Bettiah, Gaya, Varanasi, Allahabad and Surat connected with India’s freedom struggle movement & Mahatma Gandhi. The train will be on a special tour for 10 days from June 17 to 26, 2017.

Due to Jharia coal field fire and acting on subsequent advisory received from Ministry of Coal, Ministry of Railways has decided to stop the operation of goods and passenger traffic on Dhanbad-Chandrapura Railway line w.e.f. June 15, 2017. Keeping in view the safety of passengers, Ministry of Railways has diverted seven trains, cancelled 13 Mail Express Trains and six passenger trains. Member Traffic, Railway Board Mohd Jamshed gave a brief about this development at Rail Bhavan today. He informed that on an average 11 pairs of Mail/Express and 6 pairs of passenger trains run on the section daily. Special counters to facilitate refunds as per extant rules will be provided for the affected passengers. He reiterated that all efforts would be made to minimize passenger inconvenience

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has inaugurated new free Wi-Fi facility across 28 stations of Konkan Railway along with improved amenities at the Kudal and Chiplun stations. Konkan Railway has tied up with the network provider Joister to provide free Wi-Fi at its stations. Unlimited free Wi-Fi will be provided from Kolad to Madure in the initial phase with a peer to peer speed of 2 mbps. The larger stations will be able to provide access to 300 users whilst the smaller stations will be able to sustain a 100 users. The network covers the station entrance and surrounding area. The scheme has been launched in line with the Government’s Digital India campaign and Joister has undertaken the project of providing free Wi-Fi to the rural area along the Konkan route as a part of their Corporate Social Responsibility. According to the statement, “This facility will help commuters and tourists on Konkan Railway to access essential information and they could use their time productively while waiting for trains at railway stations.”