Monthly Archives: November 2015

Indian Railway Time Table

Amazing facts of Indian Railways

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Indian railways are one of the most fascinating things that can happen to our country. The heart of travelling from one place to another. Indian rail time table has all the details of every train that runs across the country, but there is also some interesting information, which can surprise one.

There are some amazing things that one should know about Indian railways.

The New Delhi-Bhopal Shatabdi Express is the fastest train that runs on the track. It completes the entire journey in 7 hours and 50 minutes by availing an average speed of 150 kilometer per hour.

The slowest train of India, on the other hand, is named as Metupalayam Ooty Nilgiri Passenger, which has a speed of only 10 kilometers per hour. For a short distance like 44 kilometers, it takes more than 4 hours.

Vivek Express from Dibrugarh to Kanyakumari travels the longest distance of around 5000 kilometers and takes a long time to cover the stretch.train-platform-information

Have you heard a train with 115 halts or stoppages? Here it is. The Howrah- Amritsar Express stops more than it moves! It is followed by Delhi- Howrah Janata Express with 109 stoppages and Jammu Tawai- Sealdah Express with 99 halts.

There is a place in India that has two railway stations at same location with two different names. Surprised? Indeed an amazing fact to know. Srirampur and Belapur are the two station names in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, which has a same location.

The busiest railway station in India is Lucknow. Each day around 65 trains have a halt in this junction.

Lavatories in trains were first introduced in first class compartments in the year 1891, and later in 1907, it was built in all the compartments.

First air conditioned train that ran through the track was on 1874 in Great Indian Peninsular Railway.

India’s longest tunnel is the Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel, which is 11.25 kilometers long and is situated in Jammu and Kashmir.

In India, there are more than 7000 stations where more than 19,000 trains run every day. Among them, almost 12,000 trains are passenger trains and the others are forfeit.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Railway Station in Mumbai is the only terminus in the whole world which is listed as a monument of global heritage by UNESCO. This station caters around 33 million passengers every year.

The National Rail Museum is situated in Delhi, which was put up on 1977, is a very unique museum in Asia. It is spread over 11 acres of land and has a unique collection of steam engines, locomotives, carriages, photographs and other sensational things. The added good thing in this place is a toy train that runs round the museum and one can take a joy ride in it.

Delhi station has its name in the Guinness Book of World Record for having the world’s largest route of relay interlocking system.

These magical facts about Indian Railways are a matter of pride for all the Indians. One should know about these and boast it to the world.

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Learn from others

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India was once the owner of the largest railway networks in the world. But now it has lost its place to Japan. Now the question arises is why and how? The answer is very simple. The day to day mismanagement and regular accidents that are happening are claiming innocent lives in India. People are now worried to travel by train. India has more population, but no one is eager to travel by train nowadays. Even there is a question of comfort ability and safety. There are instances of robbery and burglary in the train at night. Trains get late to reach the destination. The absence of punctuality is another dreaded factor which is making Indian Railway suffers. We need to rectify these.

What are the ways to come out from this dead end? There is a solution to every difficulty. Japan has fewer trains and tracks than India. But still they are ahead of our country. How? This is because they run the trains fast and follow a particular timeline. The superfast train was invented in Japan since 1964 and it has not faced a single accident. Surprised! But that is the truth.pnrst

Other countries compared to Japan have faced many fatal accidents after the fast engines were introduced. India is also not an exception. But the question that arises is Japan faces many earthquakes and tsunamis. Till there are no fatalities. When the 2011 tsunami hit Japan, at that moment 27 trains were running simultaneously. They halted simultaneously and not a single life was lost.

But what does Japan has that other countries do not have? This is because of the safety measures they have. Whenever there is a natural calamity, the sensor catches the signal a few seconds before the calamity hits on. The train’s power gets automatically switched off and they come to a halt. That is why it is easy for the country to save lives during any kind of calamities.

Some officials of Japan have also come to India and are working on railway projects. They are working with the metro railway systems that run in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru. They are also planning for a 500 kilometers high speed railway line between Ahmedabad and Mumbai.

India is learning. India is developing. They are taking ideas from Japan in developing the railway tracks so that there can be no fatalities any more. Development is immediately needed in the Indian Railway system. There should be more trains and developed engines so that there will no delay in reaching the venue.

Apart from facilities like booking tickets online or checking Indian rail pnr status online or on mobile, there should also be development of railway stations, signaling system and easy telecommunications. The railway tracks should be repaired properly to avoid accidents. By doing all these things, Indian railway can regain its lost pride. Indians will be happy to have a journey by train. They will take pride in telling their rail stories and the lovely moments they have experienced in their journey.

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7 facts about the country’s fastest train

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By the end of the financial year of 2015, the country’s fastest train, named the Gatimaan Express, will operate between the stations of New Delhi and Agra Cantt. It is said to be India’s fastest operating train. Here are 7 facts you need to know about Gatimaan Express.

The speed – In a test, which the train underwent in June 2015, it barreled at a maximum speed of 170+kmph.

Out of 6 trials, they train got late only 1

The train has undergone a total of 6 run trials. This very high speed train has achieved all its proposed parameters successfully and the operations will begin in early April next year, i.e. after the end of the current financial year. For now, the Indian Railways has done a total of 6 trials of the train. The most recent one was done on 2nd June in which Gatimaan Express got late by a mere five minutes. Its actual proposed time for the journey was 110 minutes for the 190km journey. (Around one hour and 30 minutes). At present, with a two minute stop at the Mathura railway station, the Bhopal Shatabdi Express covers the distance between Agra and New Delhi at over two hours and ten minutes.

Specifications

The train has 12 coaches and an electric locomotive of 5,300 HP

Faster than the current fastest

India’s current fastest train is the Bhopal Shatabdi Express, which takes 2 hours and 10 minutes to cover the distance between the capital and Agra, route of 195 km. However, the Gatimaan Express will cover the same at around 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Ticket Fare

The one way fare of the air-conditioned car compartment between Delhi and Agra is said to be Rs 690, and a passenger will be needed to pay Rs 1,300 for the executive class. Currently, for the Shatabdi Express, a passenger is needed to pay Rs 500 for chair car; Rs 1,000 for the executive class.

Timing

The train will commence its journey from Agra Cantt Railway Station at 5.30 pm, and it will reach Delhi Junction at 7.15 pm. And when it runs the other way round, it will start from the capital at 8 am and reach Agra Cantt by 9.45 am.

The pilots will undergo a medical and psychological examination

The Indian Railways will be conducting medical and psychological tests to employ the best loco pilots in India and make sure that the Gatimaan Express becomes fastest and also the safest mode of distance traveling in the country. These tests will be conducted by the Research Standards and Designs Organization (RTDO). It will evaluate the pilot’s ability to keep utmost focus and make the best decisions under stress. The test will be undergone by a selected squad of 14 pilots from the A1 category, who will be chosen to take it. These train drivers are said to be the finest ones in the country.

And like any other train, you can check the pnr status mobile of your tickets for Gatimaan Express too. So, book your tickets soon for India’s own bullet train.

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India’s very first Shatabdi Double Decker train – everything you must know

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Much to the happiness of many passengers, the Indian Railways recently made an announcement which said that the country’s first Shatabdi double-decker air conditioned train, the Shatabdi, will soon run from the commercial capital to Goa. The double-decker train has been introduced due to the increasing demand for tickets during winter holidays.

In India, the first double-decker train took off in the October of 2011, which still operates between Dhanbad in Jharkhand to Howrah in West Bengal. Also, other routes too have been taken by other double-decker trains. However, this is the first time when a Shatabdi Express will get double-decker coaches.

Let us get a brief about the Shatabdi Express
Congress Minister Madhav Rao Sindia inaugurated the First Shatabdi train in the country in 1988 as a commemoration of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s 100th birth anniversary.
Every Shatabdi train is only a day train. They return to their respective stations by 11 Pm daily. They do not operate at night.
The fastest train in the country is the Shatabdi Express, which runs between the capital and the city of Habibgaj in Bhopal. It runs at a speed of 140 km per hour.

Let us see which track routes have the double-decker trains
Ahmadabad-Mumbai: India’s first superfast double-decker air conditioned train ran between Ahmadabad in Gujarat and Mumbai in September 2012.  This train usually takes 8 hours to complete a distance of 490 kms between the two major cities.

Howrah-Dhanbad: India’s first ever train to get double-decker was flagged off from the Howrah station to Dhanbad station. The service began on October 1, 2011. After the introduction of this train, our country became the third one after England and USA to run double-decker trains. In around in 5 hours, the train covers a distance of 250 kms.

Chennai-Bangalore: This train consists of 12 coaches. With its three engine coaches, this train has 12 double-decker chair coaches. It takes around 5 hours to cover the distance of 458 kms.

Delhi-Jaipur: India’s second shortest and frequently used train which is double-decker runs between Jaipur and Delhi. The service was flagged off on August 15, 2012. It runs 300 kms within 5 hours 30 minutes.

Flying Rani: One of India’s oldest operating trains: Flying Rani Express was introduced by the British as a weekend special train between the cities of Mumbai and Surat. Called the Queen of the Western Coast, Flying Rani runs for about 5 hours 20 minutes. Its double-decker coaches were only recently included. The train still runs on its original single decks, sometimes.

Kacheguda-Tirupati: The Indian Railways, in order to manage the flow of pilgrims to Tirupati, announced a double-decker train between Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh and Kacheguda in Hyderabad last year. This train runs on 625 kms within 10 hours 30 minutes.

Guntur-Kacheguda: The newly formed state of Telengana got its second double-decker train, named the Guntur-Kacheguda Express on May 13, 2014. The train runs from Guntur and scheduled to run on 285 kms within 6 hours 10 minutes.

If you plan to travel in any of these trains, get your tickets booked well in advance and not to forget to check pnr status railway before leaving your place. Which deck would you prefer? Upper or lower?

Indian Rail Info

Facts about Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus we bet you didn’t know!

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Out of all the major railway junctions of India, the most popular one is the CST. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, previously known as the Victoria Terminus or VT, is Mumbai’s biggest railway station. It is a UNESCO world heritage site and also the headquarters of the Central Railway, which has many interesting facts to its name. Let us read a few.

The first railway station of the country:

On 16th April, 1853, the iconic first passenger train of the country was operated by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. It covered a distance of 40kms from Borivali to Thane, and gave birth to the Indian Railways. CST was eventually named as Victoria Terminus after the then Queen, but subsequently came to be popularly known as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, after the Maratha 17th century king. CST is also one of the oldest railway stations all over the world. Most particular aspect of the station is the dome, seen in many famous Bollywood movies. After the 26/11 attacks, the beauty of the station was partially diminished. Damaged portions were rebuilt and the station is as beautiful as before.

The reason for constructing the station:

The station was designed by the famous designer Frederick William Stevens. Also, influences from the Victorian and Gothic revival along with the traditional Mughal architecture, was used in the construction. The station was constructed in 1887 to mark the Golden Jubilee of the great Queen Victoria. It was after the construction of this station that the railway became popular in India.

Total time taken in its construction:

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus took a total of 10 years for its completion. This is the longest time taken for constructing any railway station in India. The station is an architectural landmark built in the Gothic-revival architecture as the headquarters for the central Railway. The brilliant architect has been there for over a 100 years. The station is always very crowded with over 200 trains running to and from the station daily.

The renaming of the station in 1996:

The Railway Minister of India, Suresh Kalmadi, in 1996, changed the name Victoria Terminus to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus after the leader and founder of the great Maratha dynasty, Chhatrapati Shivaji. However, even now, most people call it as VT station, especially the taxi drivers of Mumbai.

The total number of commuters:

Along with being a UNESCO world heritage site, this Terminus is the very soul of the commercial capital. Every single day, around 3 million commuters use the station for traveling either to the various suburbs of the city or to anywhere else in the country. The local train passengers outnumber the express train passengers. The local trains itself are a pride of Mumbai.

If you are planning a visit to Mumbai from a distant place, get your Indian railways reservation online.

It is said that a visit to Mumbai is incomplete without seeing the iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. So even if you go by flight, do not miss to visit the railway station!

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Free wifi at almost every Indian Railway Station – What you must know

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Wifi nowadays is more important than the place we are heading to. Before asking for the menu card in a restaurant, what we first ask for is the wifi password. Before ordering a drink at the club, we ask for the wifi password and even before appearing for the interview, we ask for the office password! All of us want to use free wifi and the moment we get access to free wifi connection, our happiness knows no limits. Earlier in 2015, AAP, the Aam Aadmi Party decided to offer free wifi internet in all major cities. This was one of the proposals of AAP. Also, Mamata Banerjee commenced the free wifi service all over Kolkata.

Very recently, on the 12th of September, the Indian Railways announced that it has partnered with the world’s best tech, Google to give free Wifi services to a total of 400 railway stations all across the country. This wifi project is known as the Nilgiri project. Under Nilgiri, the users will be able to enjoy free access to high speed Wifi for around 30 minutes.

The project is known by the name of “the Nilgiri project”

Under this brilliant initiative, a total of 400 railway stations in the country will enjoy absolutely free wifi services.

Any passenger at the station will be allowed to use the wifi for a total of 30 minutes after which it will get disconnected by default.

The wifi has a one- time password. Using this password, the user will then be able to enjoy free wifi and use the internet without the worry of roaming charges.

Google-will-provide-Free-Wi-Fi-across-400-Indian-railway-stations

As per sources close to the project, once you are done with your 30 minutes, the otherwise fast speed of the wifi will gradually decrease and get slow.

However, the connection of the wifi with the phone will still be active even after the 30 minutes for which the wifi has been used.

The Fiber technology of Google has been employed by the project.

Using this fiber technology, internet service of up to a good speed of 2GB per second will be provided by the company.

Google’s Fiber Technology was introduced in the year 2010, and its service is available in only the United States of America.

The Indian Railways is making use of the Satellite technology, and at present giving free wifi connectivity on only a selected few trains running on specific routes.

The project, yet to begin, will be carried out in many phases. As per expectations, the first phase should be complemented in four months.

In its very first phase, Nilgiri will be running in parts.

In the second phase, Google will provide free wifi on moving trains all across the country with its cut edge technology.

Indian Railways have improved by leaps and bounds from its not so good reputation. From facilities like checking pnr status railways online or on mobile to free wifi, it has left no stones unturned to deliver its passengers all necessary facilities. We hope the wifi becomes operational at the earliest!

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The latest initiatives made by the Indian Railways

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The Indian Railways is constantly improving and developing. It has come up with quite a few new innovations in the recent past and has proposed many more. They want to ensure their passengers not just a comfortable but also a reliable travel experience.

Here are the latest initiatives by the Indian Railways for a ‘happy journey’

As per the reports, this scheme has been launched on pilot basis and the service will be available in more than 200 cities initially. Customers can book a ticket 5 days prior to commencement of journey and can get it delivered at home where the payment can be made.

  1. The cash on delivery payment method for booking tickets

For customers, who do not have access to the net banking facilities and for those who do not prefer using their credit or debit cards for online transactions, the Indian Railways introduced the COD–Cash on Delivery payment system. You can book online but pay in cash. If the reports are to be trusted, the COD scheme has been launched on the basis of the pilots and initially, the service will be available in not more than 200 cities. The passenger can book the ticket online before six days of the journey’s commencement and can have the ticket delivered on their address for the payment.

  1. Eco-friendly vacuum toilets on the train

The Railway Minister, in the Rail budget 2015-2016 announced that the Indian Railways would install 100 vacuum toilets in Shatabdi Express on the Delhi-Chandigarh route. However, this is for trial basis and if the initiative turns out well, each train in India will have vacuum toilets.

Vacuum or the eco-friendly toilets are very important since they prevent any kind of corrosion on railway tracks when the train is stopped for discharging all the waste on the tracks.

There are also plans of swapping the toilets with bio-friendly ones.driverless_metro

  1. Free wifi at stations and in trains

There are quite a few luxury trains, which have already been providing wifi connectivity since quite some time, but Prime Minister Modi wants that at least ten more long express trains get wifi. It is likely that priority will be extended to Rajdhani, Duronto and the Shatabdi express.

Also, the railways are looking forward to offer free Wi-Fi facilities to a total of 400 railway stations in the country, but it can be used for only 30 minutes.

Bangalore railway station became the foremost station in India to get Wi-Fi facility for offering high-speed connectivity to the passengers. This service began in October 2014. Later, the service started at Ahmadabad railway station on 31st January, 2015.

  1. Bullet trains – Indian Railways came up with a proposal of high-speed bullet trains in the country on the 2015 Republic Day Parade. Bullets trains will run only on three routes by the end of this year.

With such a lot of emancipation in the railway sector, from the facility to spot ur train to the availability of nutritious food to vacuum toilets, our country sure is moving ahead on the tracks of development.

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PNR Is Your Short Cut to a Hassle Free Journey

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 India is if not most, one of the most diverse countries both on the basis of culture and geographical conditions. With fastest growing economy in the world tag, India has done even better and the connectivity among people is one of the fundamental requirements for better growth at the faster pace. This work of reducing the gap between people has been done by none other than Indian Railways, although there are other modes of transportation, but, undoubtedly, Indian Railways is way ahead when it comes to connecting people emotionally too.

Indian Railways is pioneering more and more technical options for the betterment of its services and no doubt that, in recent years, with the help of technical advancements, it has raised it service experience by several notch. Not only in connecting people but also in connecting various industrial hubs, Indian Railways has come a long way since then.

One of the first initiatives of Indian Railways keeping in mind the need of today’s generation was launching of IRCTC, which enabled passengers to book the online ticket, which is absolutely hassled free and it was not at all time consuming.

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One such service for passengers who have waitlist tickets or RAC tickets can check their seat status with the help of PNR number generated while booking your ticket. We all must be aware of PNR, it stands for Passenger Name Record, is automatically generated number by Railway automated servers while you book your ticket, and this PNR number is indeed very helpful in tracking your details, like seat details, passenger details, etc.

There are many ways of checking your PNR status and you can use any of them according to your convenience. Here are some of them.

  • Checking your PNR status online

The simplest way to check the PNR status. If you have a waitlisted ticket or RAC, you are worried about its final status and you don’t know how to check it? Just visit online website of Indian Railways or IRCTC. There is an option of ‘Get PNR status’, click on that, look for your PNR number on the upper left corner of your ticket, enter the PNR number and get the status.

You can also check your PNR status on websites other than official websites of Indian Railways. Examples are travelkhana.com etc.

  • Getting PNR status on mobile via SMS

Not all people use the internet and nor they have great knowledge about the internet. The other way to get your PNR status on mobile is using the tele services of Indian Railways, by dialing 139. You can also use other numbers like 5676747, 54959, all you have to do is to send PNR number to any of the above numbers and they will send PNR status to mobile.

  • Checking PNR status via mobile APP

Keeping in mind the next generation, Indian railways has launched its own APP, which can be used for so many things from booking tickets to checking PNR status. All you have to do is to download the app and get the services.

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Railway Tickets… Just Under Clicks…!!

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India is famous for many things. One such thing would be its extensive rail network. Talking about the prices, you can get nothing cheaper..! The numbers speak about the might of Indian railways. It has a track length of 1,15,000 and about 7,112 stations across the country. It provides employed for lakhs of people out there. It would be interesting to note railways transport about 17 to 20 million passengers per day. So, if you are planning to take a train, get your Indian railways reservation online as early as possible for a comfortable journey.official indian railway

Book Your Train Ticket Online…

It is to be remembered that in online booking of train tickets, your seat gets confirmed only on completion of the payment process. There are multiple sources of payment like debit cards and online banking. If you are planning to book a ticket for yourself, then this is all what you have to do:

  • IRCTC, which stands for Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, is the official website for all your railway activities, queries and info. To book a ticket for yourself, you must register in this website. It costs you nothing more than a couple of minutes of your time.
  • Once the process of registration is done, log in to your account. You can find the columns named ‘source station’ and ‘destination station’ waiting for your inputs. Fill them accordingly. In no time, a list of all available trains and their timings will be displayed on your screen.
  • Choose the train of your choice by selecting your desired class. On completion of this selection process, click on ‘book now’ option to proceed to the payment section.
  • Here, you need to fill the basic info of the passenger like name, age, gender, seat preference and other such stuff.
  • Choose your payment mode and get your ticket confirmed.

Get a print out of your online ticket. You will also get confirmation mail and a message to your registered mobile number.

Oops…! Did You Lose Your Online Ticket…?

Is your online printed ticket lost..? Have you booked it through IRCTC official website..? You don’t have to worry at all. This process is real simple when compared to the claiming of a lost offline ticket. Log in to the official IRCTC website and search for the option “booked ticket history”. This link shows you all your tickets booked online. Find the one which you lost and get another print out of it. You can do it by clicking on the option “print ticket button”. However, if you have booked your ticket through the agents, then you are left with no other choice then approaching these agents who helped you out in getting your ticket. In reality, these agents shouldn’t charge you for getting a duplicate of your ticket. Imagine, what if you lose your ticket after boarding the train..? Then you are left with absolutely no choice other than paying the required amount as asked by the TC. However, you can reclaim your amount by submitting an application to the Railways Reservation Administrator. You will be granted the amount after the inquiry process.