Etrains Blog

Railways minister Piyush Goyal has shared glimpses of the country’s soon to be inaugurated first centralised AC railway terminal in Karnataka. The upcoming state of the art railway terminal in Bengaluru's Baiyappanahalli district. Goyal tweeted on Thursday and shared photographs of the station, "Have a glimpse of the upcoming Sir M. Visvesvaraya Terminal in Bengaluru, Karnataka, equipped with state-of-the-art facilities". The Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal railway terminal has seven platforms with escalators and lifts linking each of the platforms for easier passenger movement. A foot over bridge and two subways have also be added for a better connection between the platforms. The 4200 sq. meter station construction, which has cost ₹314 crore, will serve to a daily footfall of 50,000. Fifty trains can be operated from the terminal on a daily basis. The photos shared by the minister show the luxurious interiors of the railway terminal, railway lines, the stylish and sufficien...

Final tenders for 150 private trains, which are scheduled to commence operations on 109 routes by 2023, are expected to arrive by 31 March. Termination fees, granting alternative routes and further relaxation for route exclusivity, the government of Narendra Modi has planned major concessions to ease private players' concerns before they begin bidding to run trains. The Ministry of Railways and the Group of Secretaries (GoS) were cleared of these compromises at a meeting held last week. The meeting was chaired by Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog, Suneet Sharma, Chairman of the Railway Board, Tarun Bajaj, Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, and others. A senior government official said, "In the second pre-offer meeting, which took place in January, the bidders raised certain issues with regard to the draft agreement." 'In the meeting with the secretaries, the issues were addressed and the draft agreement will be tweaked accordingly,' said the official, ...

Indian Railways will begin unreserved train operations soon. Piyush Goyal, the Union Minister for Railways, shared a list of the 35 unreserved trains that will begin to fly. This is the first set of unreserved trains that will start operating on 22 February during the pandemic. He tweeted , "With the continuous increase in passenger services, Indian Railways is going to start 35 unreserved mail and express special trains from next 22 February". In March 2020, the government suspended all passenger trains following the national lockdown to combat the pandemic of Covid-19. As of June 1, the government authorized the resumption of train services in a graded manner. More than 65 per cent of trains are back on track, according to Indian Railways. Source:  https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/indian-railways-35-unreserved-mail-express-special-trains-full-list-685442

In the wake of a rail blockade that farmers called on February 18 to protest the three controversial agriculture laws, Indian Railways cancelled many trains in the north, especially in Punjab. The trains cancelled are mainly those that on February 16-19 either start or are bound for the state. Among the trains cancelled by the northern railways are 05211 Darbhanga-Amritsar Express from 16 February onwards and 05212 Amritsar-Darbhanga Express from 17 February onwards. The following trains will be partially cancelled:  02715 Nanded-Amritsar Express beginning on February 17 will be short terminated at Chandigarh; 02716 Amritsar-Nanded Express will begin at Chandigarh on February 19; 08237 Korba-Amritsar Express train on February 17 will be short terminated at Ambala: 08238 Amritsar-Korba Express will start from Ambala on February 19; 09613 Ajmer-Amritsar Express train journey on February 17 will be short terminated at Jallandhar City, 09612 Amritsar-Ajmer Express will start from ...

After the Union government allocated Rs.1, 000 crore for the Bairabi-Sairang project in Mizoram in its budget for the year 2021-22, Indian Railways intends to connect all state capitals in the north-eastern part of the country to receive a boost. The Bairabi-Sairang new railway line project is being initiated by the Northeast Frontier Railway(NFR) in Mizoram. The Ministry of Railways plans to complete the project by March 2023. The project would include four stations from Bhairabi, namely Hortoki, Kawnpui, Mualkhang and Sairang. The capital, Mizoram Aizawl, is not far from Sairang station. According to a statement by the NFR, "Better rail connectivity will lead to economic development not only of the people of the Mizoram but also for the entire NE region". "State traders will be able to carry daily consumption items as well as construction materials in a far cheaper, cost-effective, and eco-friendly way. State farmers will be able to send their goods at a cheaper rate a...

At the Indian Railways' Research Designs and Standards Organization in Lucknow, the prototype of a new rail travel class, AC-III Economy, was perfected for oscillation trails earlier this week. It is intended to be an economical version of the non-AC Sleeper class that is air-conditioned. Last year, the task of developing this was granted to the state-owned Rail Coach Factory (RCF), Kapurthala, the manufacturer of India's Linke Hoffmann Busche coaches. The design philosophy was to take a non-AC Sleeper coach as a guide and try to convert it into an AC coach. The AC-III tier is the only travel class that gives Railways a clear benefit, and is also said to be the most successful. It is expected that the AC-III economy will sustain that and provide the masses with AC travel while keeping it affordable. The prototype looks like an improvement from the current AC-III tier rather than an improved version of the non-AC Sleeper. The style imprint of the current Sleeper class coach is m...

The Indian Railways, led by Piyush Goyal, are moving towards the target of full electrification by December 2023. Similarly, with the recent electrification of the Nimmita- New Farakka railway section in the state of West Bengal, the Eastern Railway zone has been 100 percent electrified. The move would increase the speed of the railway as well as reduce the carbon footprint of the environment, according to the Railway Ministry. Recently, Manoj Joshi, General Manager of Eastern Railways, mentioned that the national transporter has all round development work and the fund is not a constraint on the completion of projects in West Bengal. Joshi said Indian Railways spent a sum of Rs. 19811.7 crores in infrastructural works as well as Rs 710.3 crores in passenger amenities in the Eastern Railway zone during 2014-2020. 661 kilometers of new line/double line/triple line/quadruple line were commissioned in West Bengal over the period 2014-19, compared to 335 kilometers in 2009-14. During the p...

Indian Railways has now unveiled a digitally-advanced passenger service. Now, the mobile application-based end-to-end baggage service can be used by commuters in the region. Recently, in partnership with the Indian Railways, the luggage service provider BookBaggage announced the launch of its first ever app, which will provide passengers with a safe transit of their luggage and parcels. https://twitter.com/etrainsin/status/1359422371208196104 BookBaggage.com will provide luggage delivery services where travelers can take their choices from home to home and from station to home. Not only this, but this software also includes luggage monitoring via the app. Previously, airline passengers had access to these facilities, and now Indian Railways passengers and customers can also use these services. On January 26, 2021, Indian Railways unveiled its app-based parcel delivery service with BookBaggage. This service was first introduced by Ahmedabad's Indian Railways. The starting price of ...