50 railway stations to be of world standard

October 2nd, 2009 RANCHI - Maoist rebels on Tuesday blew up a railway track between the Dania and the Jogeshwar railway stations under Dhanbad Division of East Central Railway in Jharkhand. The powerful explosion damaged about one-metre of the track, which led to disruption of rail traffic for over 11 hours.

September 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Railways have identified 64 stations around the country to be developed as "multi-function" stations, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said Monday. "The expert committee on railway land usage, chaired by Dr.

July 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Rail Budget for 2009-10 by voice vote after Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee announced some more concessions, few new rail lines and setting up of an expert committee. Replying to a marathon debate on rail budget in the Lok Sabha, Banerjee said an expert committee, headed by Amit Mitra, will prepare a blue print for business plans of railways.

July 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee Friday unveiled a massive plan to revamp railway stations in the country, saying that 50 stations in large cities would get world class facilities, while 50 more would have multi-functional complexes. Presenting her ministry's budget for the current fiscal in the Lok Sabha, Banerjee said: "The world class facilities in the 50 stations will be developed through innovative financing and under public private partnership mode.

July 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Following are the highlights of the rail budget for the current fiscal presented by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee in the Lok Sabha Friday: - New train information system to be started in Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi - 50 mobile rail ticket vans to be introduced - ATMs on 200 mid and small sized stations - Integrated security scheme rolled out for 140 vulnerable stations - Special recruitment drive for the physically challenged, minorities - Committee under Sam Pitroda to commercialise railways' optic fibre network - Private operation of freight terminals to be encouraged - One doctor to be posted on each long distance train - New factory in West Bengal for making 500 state-of-the-art coaches annually - Janta khana (peoples' food) to be provided in railway stations - Railways will not be guided by economic viability, but by social commitment - Seven nursing colleges to provide employment to railway spouses - Medical colleges proposed to be opened through public-private partnership model - Cold storages and cargo facilities to eliminate wastage of perishables - 50 world class stations to be developed on public-private partnership model - 309 out of 375 stations will be developed with modern facilities - 50 stations at tourist, religious places to have integrated facilities - Infotainment facilities on Rajdhani Express for long distance passengers - Unreserved ticketing systems to be expanded from 5,000 to 8,000 terminals - Passengers can now buy tickets at 5,000 post offices - Air-conditioned double-decker trains for inter-city travel - SMS updates for wait-listed passengers - 200 automatic vending machines at key stations for selling tickets

July 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Friday said that Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has done a highly competent job by presenting a pro-poor Rail budget.

July 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - All the zones in Indian Railways have been instructed to ensure availability of 'Janata Khana'. Presenting the Railway Budget for 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha today, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said that national and regional cuisines would be introduced in the catering by the Railways.

June 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Indian Railways has plans to introduce special facilities for the physically challenge's convenience at over 1,500 stations in the country. According to senior Railway Ministry officials, special facilities like access ramps, reserved parking slots, low height water taps and suitable toilets for differently-abled people will be developed in phases at important railway stations.

March 21st, 2009 PATNA - Suspected Maoist rebels blasted a railway track in Bihar's Gaya district, disrupting train services on the Gaya-Mughalsarai section, officials said Saturday. Railway sources said a group of armed Maoists blew up the track between Guraru and Pairayya stations in Gaya this morning.

March 19th, 2009 DISPUR - A powerful bomb exploded on the railway track between the Diphu and Daldoli Railway Stations in Assam's Karbi Anglong District at around 1 a.m. on Thursday.

January 26th, 2009 RAMPUR - Bomb disposal squads have started checking trains, railway parcels and frisking passengers at the Rampur railway station and other stations along the route in Uttar Pradesh after a phone call, allegedly from Saudi Arabia, claiming that four terrorists had set off from there to attack the railway network, officials said. Divisional Railways Security Commissioner, Vivek Sagar, said Tuesday the threat was being taken very seriously and the entire railway division of Moradabad has been put on high alert and police chiefs of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand informed of the situation.

January 24th, 2009 KOLKATA - Intense searches were conducted at the airport and major railway stations and security has been tightened in shopping malls as the city gears up to celebrate the nation's 60th Republic Day Monday. All passengers were frisked at the Howrah railway station, with the Railway Protection Force deploying sniffer dogs to look for explosives, said a police officer Sunday.

January 18th, 2009 RAMPUR - Pakistan based terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has issued a written threat to blow up two railway stations in Uttar Pradesh and three in Uttarakhand, officials said. J.S. Dwivedi, the station master of Najibabad railway station, said he had received an inland letter signed by self-proclaimed JeM Karachi area commander Tasleem Mohammad Saturday afternoon.

January 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp (IRCTC) will open 52 food plazas at stations across the country, an official statement said Monday. The Railway Board has also given approval to IRCTC’s proposal for setting of two ‘Rail Neer’ water plants at Pallur in Chennai and Ambernath in Mumbai, it added.

December 23rd, 2008 KOLKATA - Security has been stepped up at all the 17 Metro stations here after the city police received a tip-off about a possible bomb blast at one of the stations Wednesday, officials said. 'We have received information from a reliable source Wednesday afternoon that there will be a bomb blast at one of the 17 Metro stations by today (Wednesday) night,' Police Commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakraborty told IANS in the evening.