Monthly Archives: August 2015

Indian Railway News

The centre will set up solar plants on Railway lands

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Solar thermal plants will be put up on lands owned by the Indian Railways. This will increase the usage of renewable energy. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu confirmed this plan yesterday.

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The minister stated that the sector needs to work towards lessening carbon emissions. He also added that traditional sources of coal have to be used less, and if we continue to use, then the carbon emission would not be reduced. By using innovative ways with the use of technology, we can reduce these carbon emissions. Suresh Prabhu is bringing in a lot of ideas for the betterment of the rail sector and currently wants to take actions to increase the use of solar power.

The Railway Minister says that the rail sector has already started the procedure of bringing in use rooftop of railway buildings to generate solar power. Not just this, but the harness of solar energy will be done by putting panels on the roof of the railway coaches. Apart from this, he added that the rail sector is planning on developing solar thermal projects to generate power. These projects will be set up on the Railway lands across the country. Other than this, they are making considerations for development of solar power generations under the Public Private Partnership model.

Suresh Prabhu has been constantly bringing in new ideas and development plans for the Indian Railways. In his initial financial plan, he had said that the government will help to set up 1000 MW solar plants in the coming five years. He also said that there is a need for energy audits to have a control over emissions and make effective usage of electricity.

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Suresh Prabhu is not just setting up solar plants but is also getting a lot of investment for the Indian Railways. The finances will be used to modernise and develop the stations as well as improve the trains.

Not just for the development of the Rail sector, but Suresh Prabhu has also stated that in the next two to three months, there will be CCTV cameras in ladies coach. He stated that around 20,000 CCTV cameras are going to be installed in the upcoming two months. For now, this will only be a part of the coach trains across the country. The money used for this project will be from the Nirbhaya Funds. We just hope local trains and railway stations also get CCTV cameras and tight security to help all the women across the country.

Indian Rail Info

Are the central railway employees still on hungry strike against Yatri Ticket Suvidha Kendra Scheme?

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On 25th August 2015, the employees of central railway went on a hunger strike for an entire day in Mumbai. This strike was against the Railway Board’s recent Yatri Ticket Suvidha Kendra Scheme. Around 50 employees of the different groups with the other staff like the commercial and running gave up food under the sign of CRMS (Central Railway Mazdoor Sangh). This strike took place at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. The act was done to oppose The YTSK scheme, which enables agents to make ticket booking and they can apply additional fee charges on the fare.

The CRMS has referred to this strike as an unnecessary action and also said that it was exploiting passengers. The employees have made a demand to the board to change their decision. Currently, there is no update on how the board has reacted and if the employees are still on strike but as on the day, they were adamant on their decision.

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The CRMS President, R P Bhatnagar had stated that this act is a defilement of the Contract Labour Act, 1970. He also added that due to the corruption in all the departments in the India Railways and because of association dealing with the administration and secretive players, the railway has to adopt such ways of outsourcing.

Under the YTSK scheme, the operator will add a fee of around Rs. 30 for the sleeper class and around Rs. 40 for the A/C class. The CRMS President also told that this is a small amounted fare hike and that the operators will only make about Rs. 50,000 every day. The members of CRMS observed the same fast in places like Nagpur, Pune, Bhusawal and Solapur divisions yesterday.

Invited Talk on Safety in Rail Transport

The general secretary of the CRMS, Praveen Bajpayee had stated that, the rail administration is not targeting passengers or the railway staff by any means. He also said that the money earned by the private players must have already gone in the railway’s coffer. He supported the strike act and said that there is no assurance that passengers won’t be overcharged.

“The problem will be given consideration if it is put in front of the correct authority at the right time,” said a senior CR official.

Since the rail sector is coming up with a lot of developments, there could be a chance of hikes in the prices.