With this the railways have uploaded 2.5 lakh e-tenders on the central web site www.ireps.gov.in till date, and more than 15,000 vendors have been registered with the site.

Electronic procurement has enabled vendors and the participating industry with free access to railway’s procurement tenders and has enhanced transparency and competitiveness in the tendering process.

Railways has issued computerized railway receipts for more than 99.9 percent of its freight loading which has helped in collection of approximately 69.9 percent of freight payment through e-payment contributing around Rs 4,000 crore per month from the participating major customers, thereby cutting down wasteful manual processes both for railway and there major freight customers.

http://voicendata.ciol.com/content/news1/112010201.asp

Apart from tourists, it will also be beneficial for villagers living beyond Dasturi naka and people who come by road and have to walk up to Matheran — which is 3 km away— or use horses, cycles or hand-pulled rickshaws as no vehicle is permitted beyond Dasturi naka.

As soon as MMRDA deposited the money, the Railways called for bidders. There were two bidders for the tender, but a Patna-based company Phooltas, which provided rail buses for meter gauge sections in Railways, is the frontrunner. This will be first rail bus for narrow gauge for the company and each rail bus will cost Rs 1.30 crore.

“The rail buses can also be attached to couplers. Though they will look like ordinary buses, they will have driving cabs on both ends, separated by a glass panel door. This diesel bus will be able to ferry around 12 passengers at a time at the speed of 20 kmph,’’ the official added.

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/after-46-years-rail-bus-to-chug-up-to-matheran-again/895099/

The luxury train has 23 coaches, including presidential suites, with a passenger capacity of 84. It also has two fine dining restaurants and bars. All cabins have LCD TVs, wi-fi access, individual temperature control and full en-suite bathroom. There is one presidential suite, which comprises a full train car — the largest suite in a train across the world.

The royal train is likely to have a three-day itinerary, instead of seven days and the services provided onboard are also going to improve.

The train was earlier operated by Royale Indian Rail Tours Ltd, a joint-venture between Cox & Kings India Ltd and IRCTC. It featured as one of the most luxurious trains in the world in a recent list compiled by a US-based global rail travel society.

“We will be providing better onboard services and the itinerary is also expected to be shorter, making the train more accessible for people,” said a senior IRCTC official, requesting anonymity.

The IRCTC has launched a website www.railtourwismindia.com/maharajas for online bookings. “We’ll add new dimensions to luxury trains and bring down the package cost by shortening the itinerary. So, Royal India’s journey from Delhi to Mumbai and Classical India’s round-trip from Delhi with highlights, including the holy city of Varanasi, which cost around R10,00,000 is expected to come down to Rs 5 lakh,” the officer added.

http://forum.irfca.org/showthread.php/13862-Soon-royal-train-journey-within-reach

According to a Railway Board official, the railways intends to set up an autonomous body to implement and monitor the high-speed train project across the country. Since high-speed trains would run at the maximum speed of 300 km per hour, a legislation is required to set up the authority, he said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a…w/11429732.cms

1)Only Identity Card issued by Central / State Governments with Serial Number will be accepted as identity for issue of Tatkal Tickets.

2)Ration Cards issued by State Governments shall be accepted as proof of identity for booking tickets Tatkal Scheme only if the passenger whose photograph is available o­n the Ration Card is travelling.

The above stipulations related to Photo Identity Cards will be applicable for undertaking journeys o­n e-tickets also.

http://forum.irfca.org/showthread.php/14075-SCR-Clarification-on-Identity-proof-for-booking-Tatkal-Tickets

The first such train in the northern region is likely to leave the Kalka railway station on January 16 and the tourists will be able to soak up the scenic beauty of the “Queen of Hills” and other tourist spots along the way. The tourists will have to shell out between $ 120 and $ 150 for a one-way trip.

Talking with The Tribune, IRCTC Chief Regional Manager RK Sondh said the train was being introduced with a view to target foreign tourists who visited the capital city of Himachal Pradesh throughout the year.

He said the chartered train would leave the Kalka railway station in the morning and return in the evening.

Sondh said they were also planning to provide drinks to their travellers during the trip. Steps were being taken to seek liquor licences from the authorities concerned in this regard.

He said the chartered train to South India as part of the Bharat Darshan initiative would leave on January 7. The train would visit Tirupati and Mahabaleshwaram. The first halt of the train would be at Shirdi and those wishing to travel on the train would have to shell out Rs 5,500 for the 11-day tour, he added.

A team of doctors would be provided on the train to take care of the devotees in case of an emergency.

Arrangements would also be made to accommodate passengers, who want to leave the train on health grounds, in other trains, subject to availability of seats, for their return journey.

He said over 10,000 persons had travelled on these chartered trains under their Bharat Darshan initiative.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20111218/cth1.htm

Far away from the much hooplah that was created before the visit of maverick Yadav, Trivedi’s visit to the premier institute was a quiet affair. His visit to the institute was aimed at finding ways for the betterment of Indian Railways, through brainstorming sessions with senior faculty members.

Talking about the brainstorming session Trivedi had with around 25 students,10 faculties and director prof Samir Barua at the IIM-A, one of the faculty member who attended the meeting said that since the budget session is inching closer, Trivedi sought ideas on what should be included in the budget. There was also discussion on issues staring at Indian Railways and how to confront them. “He said that his focus is on increasing revenue for Indian Railways and make it self-sustained. This will enable them to introduce 130 new projects which are in pipeline for the railways without taking money from central government,” said a student who attended the session at the KLMDC at IIMA.

Student said one of the faculties proposed that railways should also go for public private partnership (PPP) model as many corporate houses have benefited from the model. “There was also discussion on requirement of a separate regulatory body for the Indian Railways like the DGCA for airlines,” said another professor. However, since it was an informal interaction, what would he choose to implement was not discussed. Trivedi also went to National Institute of Design (NID) to get an idea of new designs which will suit the railways. Director of NID Pradyumna Vyas said Trivedi’s visit to the campus was very good. “In the new era, there needs to be design change in the Indian Railways. We discussed about new design for uniform, coach, railway station etc. We will now formally prepared a proposal and submit it to work with the Indian Railways,” he said.

http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/GUJ-AHD-to-put-railways-on-track-minister-visits-iima-nid-2670959.html

This is part of a long-term plan to phase out existing coaches that are made using 55-year-old designs and replace them with variants of German Linke Hofmann Busche (LHB) coaches that can run up to 200 kmph.

The railway ministry has sanctioned Rs 249.58 crore to ICF for the purpose. “Preliminary works to establish a new plant near one of our units has started. The new plant will be attached to the existing factory,” said ICF chief mechanical engineer Hemant Kumar.

Central Organisation for Modernisation of Workshops and Rites has invited tenders to identify contractors to build machine units, buildings and other facilities that are required to make the coaches.

“When production of stainless steel coaches starts, the capacity of ICF will increase to 1,700 coaches per year,” he said. The factory now produces nearly 1,400 coaches.

It looks like the conventional coaches made using ICF’s design may be on their way out even though they are cheaper than LHB coaches. Railways wants to go for the expensive LHB coaches because they are superior to the conventional coaches designed by ICF.

Railways imported 20 coaches from Germany in 2000 and started manufacturing LHB coaches at the Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, after transfer of technology, from 2001. These coaches are used in Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express and a few Duronto trains.

As these coaches received good feedback and railways want to run faster trains, the ministry gave the green signal to manufacture more LHB coaches and sanctioned `130.24 crore to RCF and sanctioned a new plant at ICF in the 2011 Railway budget. A new coach factory planned at Rae Bareli will also make stainless steel coaches.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Coming-soon-Trains-of-steel-speed/articleshow/11200726.cms

Of late, the city has been seeing an increase in traffic diversions due to the metro rail project. Actress Anuja Iyer (of ‘Ninaithale Inikkum’ and ‘Unnaipol Oruvan’ fame) will anchor the film.

“The documentary, made in Tamil and English, runs for nearly 20 minutes. Post-production work is on and the documentary will be screened in theaters and public places. It has been shot by ad filmmaker Poogundran. It took two days to film the documentary,” said Iyer.

As the work on the project will continue till 2015, the documentary will focus on a range of things it would impact. “I will be touching upon the points like why such a project is required, and how it will help us in the future. Shot at landmark spots with heavy traffic like the Egmore railway and the Koyambedu market area, it will also show actual construction sites of metro rail. While including complaints from people, the documentary will stress on how the agencies have taken care to keep the green cover of the city as undisturbed as possible. It would say that no tree would be felled unless it is absolutely necessary,” Iyer said.

A senior metro rail official said that the film would help the corporation educate the people about the benefits of the project and to address any concerns they would have.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/A-film-to-showcase-metro-rail-benefits/articleshow/11237428.cms

The matter of pride here is Mysore will be the first city to boast of such a facility in the country. The miniature trains imported from the US will run on digital command control system along a track length of 600 metres, Dr Anup Dayanand Sadhu, senior divisional commercial manager, SWR, Mysore division, told Deccan Herald.

A model of a township, comprising Mysore city, Kodagu, mining areas and other prominent tourist attractions, is being recreated at the gallery. The miniature trains will run on tracks covering all these places.

Sri Ram Associates of Mysore have designed and executed the project on their own, at an estimated cost of Rs 15 lakh. They had been working on the model for the past six months. Railways have provided space in the heritage gallery that earlier had photographs pertaining to the evolution of Railways. Once the work is completed, Sri Ram Associates will be handing over the same to railways.

The model has miniature replicas of the Mysore Railway Station, Amba Vilas Palace, Hotel Lalita Mahal Palace, St Philomena’s Church, Doddagadiyara, K R Circle and Chamaraja Wadiyar Circle, Chamundi Hill with the temple at the top, Srirangapatna Railway Junction, footover bridges and tunnels among others. Tiny houses and also the prominent high-rise buildings in the vicinity of the Railway Station can also been seen in the form of models.

Mention must be made of the century-old Wesley Bridge, and KRS Dam in Srirangapatna taluk, which have also been recreated. The effect of flowing water will be made using imported rexin, the officer said.

As said earlier, it is a recreation of the railway system. The miniature trains will automatically run and stop according to the signals. The brass pole lamps will glow, lighting up the entire model and enhancing the beauty of the architectural wonder.

Chicago and Hamburg have similar miniature trains but on a much bigger scale. The Science and Technology Museum in Chicago has 500 miniature trains, while at Hamburg, it is even more, said Sadhu, recalling his visit to Chicago. The model is made using foam (for trees), plaster of paris (for stones and mounts), cardboards and other available materials.

The entry to the gallery situated on platform one is free for passengers who have tickets. For others, it will be through platform tickets.

Apart from professionals, five students from Chamaraja Academy of Visual Arts (CAVA) have lent their expertise in making the model.

Sadhu said: “If all goes well, the gallery will be opened either by the end of the year or in January as a New Year gift.”

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/212065/mysore-railway-museum-gets-countrys.html