Indian Railways Update:

This news comes a day after IRCTC cancelled over 190 trains on Vijayadashmi (Oct 5). Additionally, it has decided to divert 15 trains and reschedule 2 trains due to various reasons varying from operational work on tracks to natural disasters. Furthermore, chances are multiple trains can be cancelled on October 7 as well, based on the information on the NTES website.

The cancellation and other changes in the trains’ schedule will have an effect on passengers travelling from cities like, Pune, Bina, Satara, Bhatinda, Pathankot, Gorakhpur, New Delhi, Vadodara, Ratnagiri, Madgaon, Lucknow, Varanasi and many more.

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The Prime Minister said, “Shri Suresh Angadi was an exceptional Karyakarta, who worked hard to make the Party strong in Karnataka. He was a dedicated MP and effective Minister, admired across the spectrum. His demise is saddening. My thoughts are with his family and friends in this sad hour. Om Shanti.”

He started as BJP vice president in Belgaum in 1996, and worked his way up.

He was elected MP in the Lok Sabha election in 2004, and again in 2009. He was elected for a third term in 2014, when the BJP came to power in the centre, and for a fourth term in the general election last year, after which he was made Union Minister of State for Railways.

President Ram Nath Kovind tweeted, “Shocked to know the passing away of Shri Suresh Angadi, Union Minister of State of Railways. An amiable leader Shri Angadi worked tirelessly for the people of his constituency, Belagavi and Karnataka.”

Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) chief HD Deve Gowda tweeted, “I am shocked and deeply saddened by the demise of Union Minister of State for Railways and four-term MP from Belagavi Shri. Suresh Angadi. He was like a younger brother to me. I feel terrible losing him. This is an unbearable loss to our nation.”

Mr Angadi was a law graduate. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.

India has been reporting coronavirus cases upwards of 70,000 daily for the past few weeks. Other MPs who have died due to coronavirus infection are H Vasanthkumar, Ashok Gasti and Balli Durga Prasad Rao.

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Broad features of the same are as below: –

a. Metro operations to be resumed in graded manner. Metros having more than one line should open different lines staring from 7th September, 2020 onwards in a graded manner so that all corridors become operational by 12th September 2020. Daily hours of operations may be staggered initially, which needs to be increased gradually with resumption of full revenue service by 12th September, 2020. Frequency of trains to be regulated to avoid passenger crowding at stations and in trains.

b.Stations/ entry-exit gates in containment zones to be closed.

c.In order to ensure social distancing, suitable markings at stations and inside trains to be done.

d.Wearing of face mask to be mandatory for all passengers and staff. Metro rail corporations may make arrangements for supply of masks on payment basis to the persons arriving without mask.

e.Only asymptomatic persons to be allowed to travel after thermal screening at entry into the stations. Symptomatic persons should be advised to go to nearby COVID Care Centre/Hospital for testing/medical attention. Use of Aarogya Setu App to be encouraged.

f.Provision of sanitizers to be made at entry into the stations for use by passengers. Sanitization of all areas having human interface viz. equipment, train, working area, lift, escalators, handrail, AFC gate, toilets etc. needs to be done at regular intervals.

g.Use of Smart Card and cashless/online transactions to be encouraged. Tokens and paper slips/ticket to be used with proper sanitization.

h.Adequate dwell time at stations to be provided to enable smooth boarding/deboarding ensuring social distancing. Metro rail corporations may also resort to skipping of stations to ensure proper social distancing.

i.Passengers to be advised to travel with minimum luggage and avoid carrying metallic items for easy and quick scanning.

j.Operation of Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system as per the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) & Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ISHRAE) guidelines. Intake of fresh air in air-conditioning system to be increased to the extent possible.

k.Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaign to be launched for passenger and staff through electronic/print/social media, poster, banner, hoarding, website etc.

l.Metro rail corporations to keep close liaison with state police and local administration for regulating crowd outside station and to deal with contingencies.

Based on above guidelines, Delhi, Noida, Chennai, Kochi, Bangalore, Mumbai Line-1, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Maha Metro (Nagpur) Kolkata, Gujarat and UP Metro (Lucknow) have prepared their SOPs. Government of Maharashtra has decided not to resume operation of metro during September, 2020. Hence, Mumbai Line-1 and Maha Metro operations shall commence from October, 2020 or as State Government may decide further.

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“This is to bring to the notice of all concerned that as decided and informed earlier as well, regular passenger and suburban train services will continue to remain suspended till further notice,” a statement from the Railways said.

“It may be noted that 230 Special Trains, which are running at present, will continue to operate. Local trains in Mumbai, which are presently being run on limited basis only on the requisition of state government, will also continue to run,” it said.

The occupancy of special trains is being monitored on a regular basis and additional special trains may be run based on the requirement, the national carrier said.

However, all other regular trains and suburban trains run before the lockdown will remain suspended for the time being, it said.

All special trains — 12 pairs running on the Rajdhani routes since May 12 and 100 pairs operating since June 1 — will continue.

The limited special suburban services which began recently in Mumbai to ferry essential services personnel identified by the local authorities will also continue to run, officials said.

Earlier, the national transporter had suspended all services till August 12. With the suspension of passenger trains indefinitely, Indian Railways has estimated a loss of around Rs 40,000 crore in its passenger business for this fiscal.

The extension of the suspension comes at a time when active COVID-19 cases in India stand at 6,39,929, while 15,83,489 people have recovered, according to the Union Health Ministry. On Tuesday, a single day spike of 53,601 COVID-19 cases pushed India’s virus caseload to 22,68,675 with the death toll climbing to 45,257.

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Following are the salient features of the Post Covid Coach:

1. Handsfree amenities: Post Covid Coach is having handsfree amenities like foot operated water tap & soap dispenser, foot operated lavatory door (outside), foot operated flush valve, foot operated latches in lavatory door, outside washbasin with foot operated water tap and soap dispenser and forearm operated handle on compartment door.

2. Copper-coated handrails & latches: Post Covid Coach equipped with copper-coated handrails & latches because copper degrades the virus landed on it within few hours. Copper has anti microbial properties. When virus lands on copper, Ion blasts pathogen and destroy the DNA and RNA inside the virus.

3. Plasma air purification: Post Covid Coach is having provision of plasma air equipment in AC duct. This plasma air equipment will sterilize the air and surfaces inside the AC coach using ionised air to make the coach Covid-19 and particulate matter resistant. This provision will also improve the ion concentration from 100 ions/cm3 to more than 6000 ions/cm.

4. Titanium Di-oxide coating: Post Covid Coach is having Titanium Di-oxide coating in the coach. Nano structured Titanium Dioxide Coating functions as photoactive material. This is aeco-friendly water-based coating that kills viruses, bacteria, mould, and fungal growth and most importantly enhances indoor air quality. It is non-toxic and approved by food testing laboratory of the United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA), CE certified. TiO2 is considered to be a safe substance and is harmless to humans. This Titanium Di-oxide coating applied on washbasins, lavatory, seats & berths, snack table, glass window, floor, virtually every surface that comes in human contact. Effective life of this coating is 12 months.

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151 Trains to be run by Private operators once the selection  process is over, would be over and above the already existing trains .

These trains are going to run on the routes where there the demand for trains are already higher than the existing capacity…

The driver and guard of the trains will Railway officials . The safety clearance of trains will be done by Railways only .

The 109 OD Pairs have been formed into 12 Clusters across the Indian Railway network. Each Train shall have a minimum of 16 coaches.

The project would entail private sector investment of about Rs 30,000 crore. This is the first initiative of private investment for running Passenger Trains over Indian Railways network.

Majority of Trains to be manufactured in India (Make in India). The private entity shall be responsible for financing, procuring, operation and maintenance of the trains.

Trains shall be designed for a maximum speed of 160 kmph. There would be a substantial reduction in journey time.The running time taken by a train shall be comparable to or faster than the fastest train of Indian Railways operating in the respective route.

The objective of this initiative is to introduce modern technology rolling stock with reduced maintenance, reduced transit time, boost job creation, provide enhanced safety, provide world class travel experience to passengers, and also reduce demand supply deficit in the passenger transportation sector.

The Private Entity shall pay to Indian Railways fixed haulage charges, energy charges as per actual consumption and a share in Gross Revenue determined through a transparent bidding process.
The operation of the trains by the private entity shall conform to the key performance indicators like punctuality, reliability, upkeep of trains etc.

The objective of this initiative is to introduce modern technology rolling stock with reduced maintenance, reduced transit time, boost job creation, provide enhanced safety, provide world class travel experience to passengers, and also reduce demand supply deficit in the passenger transportation sector.

The Private Entity shall pay to Indian Railways fixed haulage charges, energy charges as per actual consumption and a share in Gross Revenue determined through a transparent bidding process.

Indian Railways network is about 68,000 route kilometers. In the year 2018-19, the reserved passenger volume was 16% (0.59 billion) of the total originating non- suburban passengers (3.65 billion).  Almost 8.85 crore of waitlisted passengers could not be accommodated.

Ministry of Railways felt the requirement to introduce private participation in passenger train operation which will allow introduction of next generation technology and provision of higher service quality, ensuring use of improved coach technology and reduced journey time. In this direction, RFQ has been already invited to permit private entities to undertake passenger trains operations.

These train services would be operated on the Indian Railway Network where at present both passenger and freight trains are  being operated on the common track. The major trunk routes are saturated and operate at near full capacity. However, with planned commissioning of Dedicated Freight Corridors in 2021 and other infrastructural works, there would be availability of additional paths for operation of additional passenger services and it would therefore be possible to run additional services utilizing modern trains proposed in  the current initiative.

The private entities for undertaking the project would be selected through a two-stage competitive bidding process comprising of Request for Qualification (RFQ) and Request for Proposal (RFP). RFQ process will be for pre-qualification and shortlisting of the bidders will be based on their financial capacity, who will be required to offer share in the Gross Revenue at RFP stage (bid parameter) for undertaking the project.

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The first such train left from Virar for Churchgate in the morning, an official said. According to a statement by Western Railway, 73 pairs of suburban services, including eight pairs between Virar and Dahanu Road, will run from June 15. Maximum services will run between Churchgate and Virar, but few will also run up to Dahanu Road, it said.

These services will run as fast local train over WR, between CCG and Borivali and will run as slow beyond Borivali.

On the other hand, the plan for resuming services on CR includes 200 trains (100 up and 100 down). While 130 will run between CSMT and Kasara/Karjat/Kalyan/Thane, 70 trains will run between CSMT and Panvel.
“The arrival and departure train timings arriving at CSMT suiting to the duty shifts i.e. 7 hrs, 9 hrs, 10 hrs, 15 hrs, 21 hrs, 23 hrs. Departing from CSMT suiting to the duty shifts i.e. – 7 hrs, 9hrs, 15 hrs, 18 hrs, 21 hrs, 23 hrs,” the statement by Central Railway read.

The Railways had on March 22 announced suspension of all its passenger services from midnight to March 31 midnight and said only goods trains will run during the period.

Nearly 80 lakh people use the suburban trains in Mumbai everyday, a Central Railway official said. The Mumbai suburban rail network operates more than 3,000 services everyday, facilitating people to reach their workplaces, he said.

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i. Encourage & Revive Non-Motorised Transport (NMT)-As most of the urban trips are clocked in under five kilometres, NMT offers perfect opportunity to implement in this COVID 19 crisis as it requires low cost, less human resource, easy & quick to implement, scalable and environment friendly.

ii. Recommencing Public Transport with greater confidence of Commuters-Public transport is the backbone in urban areas especially for the low/middle income commuters for which these services are the mainstay of their daily transit needs. However, it is imperative at this stage that transmission of infection through usage of public transport should be curbed by adopting the right sanitization, containment and social distancing measures.

iii. Active utilization of technology to curb the spread of virus- Enabling technologies such as Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), indigenous cashless and touch less system like BHIM, PhonePe, Google Pay, PayTM etc.and National Common Mobility Card (NCMC)will reduce human interaction, in operations of public transit systems.
The advisory has been issued in view of COVID-19 pandemic which has suddenly impacted our way of life and that of our local, regional and global transport systems.

1.Evidence shows that there is a steep drop in public transport ridership volumes by 90%. Further, it has been observed that there is upto 60% reduction in air pollution. Re-establishing the earlier level of ridership in public transport is a big challenge for cities, as people may be looking for more options especially personal modes that allow for safer travel in the post lockdown scenario.

2. In order to avoid resurgence of car and other private vehicle usage, many cities around the world have encouraged e-ticketing, digital payments and reallocating street space for cycling and pedestrians through street closures, creating Non-Motorized Transport (NMT) priority zones, pop-up bike lanes & sidewalks, providing parking and charging equipments and financing options to make cycling more accessible. Some of the important initiatives taken recently in view of COVID-19 to promote NMT by these cities are as follows:
• New York has added 40 miles of new NMT lanes to support cyclists;
• Oakland, USA has closed 10% of its streets for motor vehicles;
• Bogotá, Colombia has added 76 km of cycle overnight;
• In Milan, Italy, 22miles of streets has been transformed to cycling lanes
• Auckland, New Zealand has removed on-street car parking and built up 17 km of temporary bike lanes in addition to widening of existing bike and foot paths.Also, city has developed a program to fund pop up bike lanes;
• Promotion of bike sharing in China has led to 150% increase in trips nationwide during lockdown; and
• In UK, local businesses relocate road space for pedestrians to allow residents to respect social distancing guidelines, while queuing outside shops

3. Various studies conducted by MoHUA show that about 16-57% of urban commuters are pedestrian and about 30-40% of commuters use bicycles in the country depending on the size of the city. Considering this as an opportunity, elevating the priority of these modes in this testing times gives travellers another private vehicle alternative, which is clean, safe, secured particularly, if it is integrated with other modes and affordable for all. This area is one of the thrust areas of National Urban Transport Policy-2006[NUTP-2006]. It will also generate employment opportunity for the work force in NMT industry.

4. India has a robust 700 Kms of operational metro rail in 18 major cities and a BRT network of about 450 kms operational in 11 cities across the country carrying 10 million passengers daily. But due to the social distancing norms being practiced, their capacities would be utilized at 25 to 50 percent of pre-corona virus levels. Such dramatic and dynamic changes in demand and supply will require complementing these public transport systems with alternative modes of transit.

5. MoHUA has undertaken several rounds of discussions with the subject matter experts, Industry experts, operators, World Bank and other eminent urban transport experts in the country and other parts of world, who have clearly outlined, that there will be change in characteristic of urban mobility post COVID-19. With a sense of insecurity in the minds of the public in travelling in public transport during these testing times, in all possibilities, there will be increase in number of private vehicles on road, which will not only create pollution but eat away space for other modes of public transport besides adversely affecting road safety and increase air pollution level and serious congestions on the roads.

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The state’s infrastructure is “stretched to its limit” after the May 20 cyclone and it can receive very few trains carrying migrant workers back on a daily basis as of now, she said.

The state considers the ferrying of a large number of migrant workers by the railways as a big problem for public health. The pressure should be “optimal and well managed”, Banerjee said.

“The state government is facing a dual crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic and the devastation caused by Cyclone Amphan. Our infrastructure is completely stretched. The railways is sending Shramik Special trains to the state every day according to its whims and fancies, without even bothering to inform us,” she said.
“Where will we keep these migrant labourers for institutional quarantine? This is not the time for politics. We are facing a very tough situation and we need time and space to tackle it,” the chief minister said, ahead of the slated arrival of 11 Shramik Special trains in the state in the evening.

Banerjee, one of the most vocal critics of the BJP, hit out at the saffron party, saying, “They can disturb me politically, but why are they causing harm to the state? West Bengal is facing such a major disaster. It will lead to a spike in COVID-19 cases. Who will take the responsibility then?” “I request the prime minister and Union home minister to look into the matter so that there is no spike in COVID-19 cases in the state. The prime minister should intervene,” the feisty Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo said.

The TMC government had asked the railway ministry not to send Shramik Special trains to the state till May 26 in view of the devastation caused by Cyclone Amphan. However, a total of 41 such trains are scheduled to arrive in the city this week.

The railways, however, said no trains were being “planned” by the national transporter and it was only operationalising the trains that have been asked for by the states.

“The railways was given a demand with details such as the number of passengers, originating and destination points. All the related coordination is being done by the state governments. The railways is a medium providing service by arranging rakes based on the request from these states,” it said.

Around 41 trains were to leave for West Bengal on May 26, but by midnight, only 10 had departed, the railways said.

So far, 35 trains have terminated in Bengal, 22 are in transit and three more are in the pipeline, according to data provided by the national transporter.

“It is because of the sudden announcement of the lockdown that we are facing this migrant labourer crisis. I had earlier told Union Home Minister Amit Shah that if his government feels that we cannot handle the COVID-19 crisis, why don’t they (Centre) handle it on its own?” Banerjee said.

Asserting that the coronavirus cases were brought under control in the state, the chief minister said there was a recent spike after 25 per cent of the migrant labourers, who returned from other states, tested positive for the disease.

Most of these cases were returnees from the hotspot areas in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, she said.

“We had come up with a plan, according to which everyone would have come back in a few days in a phased manner. But we got to know only on Tuesday that many trains are coming from Maharashtra. I myself spoke to the Maharashtra government and they said they were informed of it at 2’o clock the night before. Had the Centre drawn up a plan with us, the railway ministry consulted us, it would have been better,” Banerjee said.

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Zonal Railways have been instructed to decide and notify opening of reservation counters as per local needs and conditions. These reservation counters will open from tomorrow in a phased manner, along with dissemination of information about their respective locations and timings as per the local needs and conditions.

Indian Railways has also allowed booking of Reservation Tickets through the Common Service Centers and Ticketing agents w.e.f tomorrow.

It may be noted that running of Shramik Special trains will continue to be handled by local State Governments as per the existing protocols.

Opening of all these booking facilities once again will mark an important step in the graded restoration of passenger railway services and making the task of ticket booking easy for all prospective travelers from all parts of India in reserved trains.

Zonal railways may adhere to standard social distancing guidelines and observe the hygiene protocols in view of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

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