Railways to start special train to promote Games

September 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - In view of the ongoing stalemate between Air India executive pilots and the airline management, Indian Railways on Tuesday said that it would set up train passenger reservation counters at all important airports throughout the country for the convenience of stranded passengers who want to travel by trains. Ministry of Railways has also given instructions to all its Zonal Railways to give wide publicity through all possible means, including press and media for information of general public about the availability of a large number of vacant berths in trains.

August 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday flagged off the the first "Ladies Special" train here for women commuters from Delhi to Palwal in Haryana and said the service would be extended to other nearby cities Sonepat, Aligarh and Ghaziabad soon. "More 'Ladies Special' trains will be provided in the other suburban areas like Sonepat, Aligarh and Ghaziabad," Banerjee said.

August 5th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - A freight train link between Islamabad and Istanbul via Tehran is to be launched Aug 14, Pakistan's independence day. The train will run from Islamabad's Margala Station to Istanbul's Haydarpasa Station via Tehran Station, APP news agency reported, quoting railway officials here.

July 20th, 2009 KOLKATA - A day after Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee flagged off the first ladies' special local train, hundreds of jubilant women showered their blessings upon the West Bengal leader and wished her well. The first ladies' special train was flagged off Sunday and started plying from Howrah to Bandel station Monday.

July 19th, 2009 KOLKATA - Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee Sunday flagged off the first ladies special EMU train and 19 augmented 12-coach EMU services in Howrah division in West Bengal, in line with the commitment she made during her 2009-10 budget speech. "This special ladies local train would ply between Howrah and Bandel station twice daily during the peak hours.

July 3rd, 2009 Italian train derailment death toll rises to 20ROME — Italian officials say the death toll from a train explosion in Tuscany has risen to 20 after a woman died overnight in the hospital. The Civil Protection said Friday some 15 injured are still in serious condition.

June 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The railways ministry will carry forward the projects taken up by the former minister, Lalu Prasad, including the ambitious bullet train proposal, Minister of State for Railways K.H. Muniyappa said here Monday.

May 27th, 2009 JAMMU - Train services to and from Jammu that remained suspended for two days following violent protests in neighbouring Punjab have been restored "completely", an official said Wednesday. "All the trains from Jammu to various parts of the country were completely restored today (Wednesday)," divisional traffic manager Ashok Sharma said.

May 26th, 2009 KOLKATA - Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee, who broke convention Tuesday to take charge of her portfolio here instead of the national capital, said people earning below Rs.500 per month will be given monthly railway passes at Rs.20. "For the poor, we are announcing special monthly railway passes.

May 26th, 2009 KOLKATA - Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee, who broke convention Tuesday to take charge of her portfolio here instead of the national capital, identified the speedy completion of eastern freight corridor as being crucial to her scheme of things. "The eastern freight corridor between Kolkata and Ludhiana is very important and will be completed very soon," said Banerjee, adding: "It's very important for the development of four states - West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab." Also, the Bihar-Howrah express train, which was renamed as Kandari Express, will be made a daily train.

April 29th, 2009 6 killed in train crash in southern IndiaNEW DELHI — Two men seized the controls of a passenger train in southern India and rammed it into another train Wednesday, killing themselves and four passengers, news reports said. Another 11 people were injured when the men, who were not authorized to operate the electric train, drove it into a goods train at Vyasarpadi Jeeva station on the outskirts of Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state, Press Trust of India news agency reported, quoting railway officials.

February 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Following are the highlights of the interim rail budget for next fiscal presented by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad in Lok Sabha Friday: * Two percent reduction in fares for virtually all classes * Feasibility studies progressing well to start 'bullet trains' in India * Plan outlay for 2009-10 kept at Rs.379.05 billion (Rs.37,905 crore) * Railways will create record surplus of Rs.900 billion (Rs.90,000 crore) this fiscal * Rs.700 billion (Rs.70,000 crore) surplus ploughed back to improve efficiency * In past five years, no burden imposed on train passengers * Railways saw 14 percent rise in passenger income * Railways managed 8 percent growth in freight loading in five years * But freight down in current year due to economic downturn * Revised freight earnings for this fiscal to Rs.542.93 billion (Rs.54,293 crore) * Freight loading target retained at 850 million tonnes * Estimated freight earnings for next fiscal pegged at Rs.590.59 billion (Rs.59,059 crore) * Drop in train accidents, railway safety enhanced * Rs.367.73 billion (Rs.36,773 crore) spent this fiscal toward productivity, passenger facilities * Railways to introduce wagons with higher capacity * Railways to spend Rs.230 billion (Rs.23,000 crore) in 2009-10 * Work has started on Delhi-Mumbai dedicated freight corridor * Dedicated freight corridor from Ludhiana to Kolkata to be inaugurated later this month * Kolkata Metro will be expanded * 43 new train services to be started in 2009-10 * Frequencies of 14 trains enhanced * Frequencies of several trains across the country increased to daily service * Extension of 14 trains envisaged * Passenger volume likely to grow by around 7 percent over previous year * Steps to have railway connectivity to Kashmir initiated * Railways have set up four call centres

February 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Following are the highlights of the interim rail budget for next fiscal presented by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad in Lok Sabha Friday: * Railways will create record surplus of Rs.900 billion (Rs.90,000 crore) this fiscal * In past five years, no burden imposed on train passengers * Railways managed 8 percent growth in freight loading * Drop in train accidents, railway safety enhanced

February 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Following are the highlights of the interim rail budget for next fiscal presented by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad in Lok Sabha Friday: * Two percent reduction in fares for virtually all classes * Feasibility studies progressing well to start 'bullet trains' in India * Railways will create record surplus of Rs.900 billion (Rs.90,000 crore) this fiscal * In past five years, no burden imposed on train passengers * Railways saw 14 percent rise in passenger income * Railways managed 8 percent growth in freight loading in five years * But freight down in current year due to economic downturn * Drop in train accidents, railway safety enhanced * Rs.700 billion (Rs.70,000 crore) surplus ploughed back to improve efficiency * Rs.367.73 billion (Rs.36,773 crore) spent this fiscal toward productivity, passenger facilities * Railways to introduce wagons with higher capacity * Railways to spend Rs.230 billion (Rs.23,000 crore) in 2009-10 * Work has started on Delhi-Mumbai dedicated freight corridor * Dedicated freight corridor from Ludhiana to Kolkata to be inaugurated later this month * Kolkata Metro will be expanded * Frequencies of a host of trains enhanced * Frequencies of several trains across the country increased to daily service * Steps to have railway connectivity to Kashmir initiated * Railways have set up four call centres

February 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Following are the highlights of the interim rail budget for next fiscal presented by Minister for Railways Lalu Prasad in Lok Sabha Friday: * Feasibility studies progressing well to start 'bullet trains' in India * Railways will create record surplus of Rs.900 billion (Rs.90,000 crore) this fiscal * In past five years, no burden imposed on train passengers * Railways saw 14 percent rise in passenger income * Railways managed 8 percent growth in freight loading * Drop in train accidents, railway safety enhanced * Rs.700 billion (Rs.70,000 crore) surplus ploughed back to improve efficiency * Rs.367.73 billion (Rs.36,773 crore) spent this fiscal toward productivity, passenger facilities * Railways to introduce wagons with higher capacity * Railways to spend Rs.230 billion (Rs.23,000 crore) in 2009-10 * Work has started on Delhi-Mumbai dedicated freight corridor