Camera in Reservation offices

Surveillance cameras to be installed at railway reservation offices

Staff Reporter

The move is aimed at arresting the menace of agents and middlemen at major railway stations

No Unmanned LC state

A first in zero unmanned crossings

By Princy Alexander | ENS - KOCHI

23rd May 2013 12:07 PM

Soon, the state will wave a red flag to bloody accidents at unmanned rail crossings. Come June, Kerala will become the first state in the country to claim the status of ‘zero’ unmanned level crossings. Since the national target set by the Railway Board for totally eliminating unmanned level crossings is 2015, Kerala will have a two-year headstart over many states.

Rail welding problem- Press report

Welders take shortcuts to finish rail tracks quickly

TNN | May 23, 2013,

CHENNAI: The rails on the Arakkonam-Mahendrawadi section of Southern Railway, where 11 coaches of the Muzzafarpur-Yeshwantpur Express derailed on April 10, were welded together using a technique considered the best. But this is not foolproof. One person was killed and 32 injured in the April 10 accident.

Touts caught

NEW DELHI, May 21, 2013

Railway employees, touts caught red-handed

Staff Reporter

As many as 252 railway employees and 116 railway touts were caught red-handed, indulging in reservation malpractices, during the decoy checks conducted by the Northern Railway vigilance squads between March 1 and May 17.

Touts

Travel agent’s office raided; fake railway tickets seized
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 21
The Railway Protection Force (RPF) raided a travel agent’s office at Giaspura and seized 219 fake tickets of advance booking  here today.

Goods engine catches Fire

Engine of goods train catches fire in Khanna

Khanna, May 21
A major tragedy was averted when an engine of a goods train caught fire. The train was stopped at the Khanna railway station as soon as the driver witnessed.

Pakistan Railway -report

RUK (PAKISTAN), May 20, 2013

Pakistan, rusting in its tracks

AGM of German Train Drivers union

Annual General Meeting of German Train Drivers Union(GDL –Germeinsam Zugkunft bewegen) on 13.05.2013
Kassel, 23.04.2013
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
The Board invites all the GDL Kassel Kassel Miglieder the floor one at a general meeting. This will take place on Monday, 13.05.2013 at the restaurant "Zum Schillereck," Schiller Strasse 45, Kassel.
The start is scheduled for 16:00 clock. , The invitation and agenda has been received by all of our members by mail or by postal service.
We ask for an active participation.
The Executive Board of the GDL Kassel

Britsh Railway Train drivers union demands;

Union calls for protection for train drivers

9 May 2013

ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan today called for greater protection for train drivers from vandals and trespassers on the railways as two more trains were attacked. ‘This is becoming an everyday occurrence,’ Mick said. ‘Our members have the right to go about their occupation without worrying about their safety – and if the driver is under attack, so too are the passengers.’

Micksays sooner or later these attacks will lead to a major incident and he calledfor greater education in schools, on stations and within communities to warnpotential vandals of the seriousness of this dangerous anti-social behaviour.
Thechair of the union’s Motherwell branch was injured when a stone was thrownthrough his window as he drove betweenBlantyre and Newton stations just after 22:00 on Wednesday, and a Preston toLondon Virgin Pendolino train was delayed for three hours at Crewe after itwas attacked by youths who caused £6,000 worth of damage.
‘Tossing objects at trains isnot a bit of fun,’ Mick says. ‘It is a dangerous vandalism that could lead to aloss of life.’
Mick called for a continual processof education, rather than just ‘an outbreak of activity’ after an incident.

About ASLEF

ASLEF is Britain's trade union for train drivers. Its 18,500+ members are employed in the train operating companies, the freight companies, London Underground and some Light Rapid Transport.

The first recorded meeting of the 'Associated Society of Locomotive Steam Enginemen and Firemen' was held on 7 February 1880 and its first monthly magazine was published eight years later. The union has seen its members working 12 or 16 hour days and six day weeks; it has fought major industrial disputes; it has seen nationalisation and privatisation; it has witnessed massive growth in the railways and the slashing cuts of Beeching. Throughout it all, it has continued to advance the opinions of its members with dignity, force and coherence that should be expected of the UK's foremost craft union.
Today the union's head office is located at 75-77 St John Street, London EC1M 4NN. The union's day to day direction is overseen by the Executive Committee. Each of its 8 regions has a District Organiser and an Executive Committee member, while the main negotiations with employers are undertaken by Company Council Representatives.
The union also has a retired members section and three consultative committees representing members who are women, black and ethnic and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. It is affiliated to the Trades Union Congress and to the Labour Party.

Rail gate -Report

Railgate: CBI documents validate phone intercepts

Abhishek Sharan, Hindustan Times  New Delhi, May 20, 2013

The CBI has gathered adequate corroborative clues to authenticate the reliability of the 1,000-odd telephonic intercepts made by its special unit that led to the cracking of the bribery case allegedly involving suspended railway board member Mahesh Kumar and Vijay Singla, the nephew of former railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal.

Rail gate -report

Railgate: CBI documents validate phone intercepts

Abhishek Sharan, Hindustan Times  New Delhi, May 20, 2013

The CBI has gathered adequate corroborative clues to authenticate the reliability of the 1,000-odd telephonic intercepts made by its special unit that led to the cracking of the bribery case allegedly involving suspended railway board member Mahesh Kumar and Vijay Singla, the nephew of former railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal.

Bio Toilets

Railways plans to install bio-toilets on more trains

Mohammed Akhef, TNN | May 20, 2013,

AURANGABAD: Buoyed by the successful installation of 48 bio-toilets on tow long-distance trains, the South Central Railway (SCR) has decided to replace the existing excreta disposal systems in trains such as Secunderabad-Manmad Ajantha Express that passes through Nizambad, Nanded, Aurangabad and Manmad.

In January this year, the SCR had installed bio-toilets on two of its trains, Kacheguda-Bangalore Express and HussainSagar Hyderabad-Mumbai Express, at Rs 80,000 each. Satisfied by the results, the SCR authorities have decided to go a step ahead and install the bio-toilets on some more trains.

The SCR is viewing the bio-toilets as a solution to the hazards of the conventional ones fitted in the trains, as the facility, by allowing night soil to fall on the tracks, cause unhygienic conditions and corrosion to the rails and coach fittings. This, in turn, endangers safety. The passengers use the toilets while the trains are on platforms and the tracks get scattered with excreta, creating unpleasant situation for those on the platforms.

A senior railway official said maintaining cleanliness at railway stations, especially the tracks, is a daunting task for the railways in the face of the ban on the manual scavengering and track maintenance staff also has to face difficulties in maintaining the tracks.

The bio-toilets, jointly developed by Railway Research Design and Standard Organisation and Defence Research Development Establishment, have six compartments each and inoculums (bacteria) are used to decompose the night soil.

The night soil from commode enters the bio-tank, where the inoculums are stored, and get decomposed by the bacteria. Following this the decomposed substance enter a chlorine-filled tank, where it further gets treated. The final output is just water and gas. The bio-toilets with provision to replenish inoculum and chlorine are making the facility more preferable and easy to maintain.

Railway officials maintained that the SCR was set to fit 200 more bio-toilets on three more trains, including Ajantha Express that passes through the Marathwada region, in a couple of months.

An official said with simple design, less maintenance and easier fitment procedure, the eco-friendly bio-toilets will ensure zero discharge of night soil on the ground. "The arrangement will ensure clean environment and hygienic conditions of the railway stations and the tracks," the official added.

ICF sharing know how with Private players

Workers against ICF sharing know-how with private players

M. Dinesh Varma

Indian Labour Conference- press release.

45th Session of the Indian Labour Conference Concludes with A Resolve to Provide Universal Social Security Coverage and Assured Pension to the Entire Working Population

The 45th Session of the Indian Labour Conference (ILC) today concluded with a resolve to provide universal social security coverage and assured pension to the entire working population. 

Fund crunch in Railways

Fund crunch to delay railway projects in North East

May 18, 2013

Rail BABU's in glass house.

Rail brass makes full use of second homes worth up to Rs 50, 000 in extra income

By Maneesh Pandey
19 May 2013 |

CBI director Ranjit Sinha may be insisting that a probe be held against RPF Association secretary general U S Jha for "retaining accommodation despite retirement and against formal entitlement", but some of the top railway officers enjoying double housing benefits seem to have flown under the radar.

A report about Railway

the railways
The gravy train
The Railways, with an annual loss of a staggering Rs 27,000 crore, is riddled with corruption. Unless concerted efforts are made to put it back on track and come down hard on those out to milk it dry, there may soon be no option but to privatise the bleeding behemoth, as many countries around the world have already done.
By Girja Shankar Kaura

Hawala route for bribe

Hawala route for bribe payment in railway scam: CBI

New Delhi: The hawala route was used for payment of bribe money in the Railway graft scandal, a preliminary probe by CBI showed, as the agency asked senior Railway officials to join its investigations. As the scandal put Railway Minister P K Bansal in the dock after his nephew Vijay Singla was among the arrested in the alleged Rs 10 crore Railway bribery scandal, the agency shortlisted 500 phone calls for scrutiny from out of the 1,000 intercepted calls mainly among the four arrested accused.

Black sheep in CBI

DIG leaked raid info: CBI official
Rajinder Nagarkoti
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 18
The CBI DIG, Mahesh Aggarwal, had allegedly leaked the information of a raid by the Delhi CBI at the residence of former Union Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal’s nephew Vijay Singla in Sector 28. A CBI Inspector posted at the Chandigarh office has levelled these allegations against Mahesh Aggarwal in his affidavit submitted before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).

Indian Labour Conference at New Delhi

Govt firmly committed to partnering with unions, industry for growth: PM

Aditi Nigam

AIRF letter to Cabinet secrtary.

Rail unions demand transparency in top-level appointments

Our Bureau

Write to Cabinet Secretary; AIRF fears 4-5 lakh promotions will be delayed

New Delhi/Kolkata, May 8:  

Vacancies in Railway posts should be filled in advance and on seniority basis, the largest union of Indian Railways, the All-India Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF), has said.

Corruption in Railways.Report.

Over 6,400 railway employees came under graft charges

PTI

New Delhi, May 13:  

Over 6,400 railway employees are facing departmental proceedings for being allegedly involved in corruption during 2012.

Railway to improve safety- The Hindu report

Chennai, May 18, 2013

Railways to improve safety levels with communications-based control system

Indian Railways plans to roll out a communications-based train management system that provides higher precision in locating trains when compared to the conventional signalling systems, S. Manohar, Chief Signal and Telecommunication Engineer, Southern Railway, said on Friday.

NIT report:

17.05.2013. 
Today at National Industrial Tribunal (NIT) Mumbai: 
Railway has brought various documents to substantiate their stand.Next hearing fixed on 15.07.2013. AILRSA filed an application to stall newly constituted Empowered Committee on Running Allowance.

Loco Pilots of MDU reported sick.

Loco pilots go on strike, demand proper facilities

TNN | May 17, 2013,

MADURAI: Loco pilots, affiliated to an employee union staged a flash strike for two hours in the Madurai division on Thursday protesting the alleged ill-treatment meted out to one of their counterparts.