Bokaro is undergoing constant changes and development in its railway infrastructure. A new project involves the reconstruction of the Kurmidih bridge located at the Tupkadih end of the Bokaro railway station. This bridge construction is estimated to cost around 12 crore rupees. The new bridge will accommodate 7 railway lines instead... of the current 2, with a length of 48 meters and a width of 12 meters. A separate carriage-way will also be built for pedestrians and cyclists. The construction of the bridge is expected to be completed by October of the next year. Additionally, plans are underway to expand the platforms at Bokaro, with tenders already issued for platforms number 4 and 5. The construction of these platforms is expected to commence in the first quarter of the next year. Regional Manager Vinit Kumar confirmed that the bridge construction has been ongoing for one and a half to two months and that the tender process for the platforms is in progress. Passengers are expected to benefit from these infrastructural improvements by the end of the next year.Read More...

To combat ticket scalping, the Indian Railways has implemented a new measure requiring mobile number verification before booking Tatkal tickets. Passengers will receive an OTP (One-Time Password) on their mobile phones, which they must provide to secure a Tatkal ticket. This new rule will initially apply to the Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani... Express and Sealdah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, both of which pass through Dhanbad. The OTP verification will be required for travel on or after December 3rd. This applies to bookings made through the IRCTC app, web portal, and reservation counters. Passengers booking Tatkal tickets for travel on December 3rd must provide their mobile numbers from December 2nd onwards. They will need to provide OTP twice; once for online Tatkal ticket booking and again for payment. The railway authorities are also planning to extend this OTP requirement to other trains, including premium and mail/express trains. The OTP must be provided within 30 seconds to obtain a ticket. The CRIS software is being updated to facilitate this new process. The railways will monitor the numbers from which OTPs are requested to identify and curb the activities of ticket touts.Read More...

On Saturday, a mega ticket checking drive was conducted at various stations of the Dhanbad railway division. A total of 962 ticketless passengers were caught during the drive. The railway authorities collected a fine of ₹5,44,480 from them. Ticket checking was also carried out in trains by squad teams, along with... station checks. Most of the passengers caught at the stations were those who were traveling in superfast trains with express train tickets. Fines were also levied on passengers carrying excess baggage without booking.Read More...

On Saturday, Anil Kumar Mishra, the General Manager of South Eastern Railway, conducted a comprehensive inspection of key railway establishments within the Kharagpur Division, focusing on operational safety, infrastructure development, passenger amenities, and staff facilities. The inspection began at Santragachi Railway Station and Santragachi Coaching Depot, where GM Mishra, along with... the Divisional Railway Manager, Kharagpur and senior officials from the headquarters and division, reviewed passenger amenities, cleanliness, security arrangements, and maintenance practices of coaching assets. Subsequently, the General Manager visited Shalimar Railway Station, inspecting various public facilities, the Electronic Interlocking (EI) room, and the coaching yard, and assessed ongoing works and operational systems vital for safe train operations. GM Mishra then conducted a window trailing inspection from Shalimar to Kharagpur, thoroughly examining the track condition, signaling systems, and yard layout along the route.Read More...

The South Eastern Railway's Construction Organization has requested the state government to expedite the land transfer process for the Ilu-Silli bypass railway line construction project. A letter was sent on November 19th to the Secretary of the Revenue, Registration and Land Reforms Department by the Deputy Chief Engineer (Construction), Ranchi. The... letter states that the 5.9-kilometer project was approved by the Railway Board in 2023-24 with a budget of ₹137 crore. South Eastern Railway requires non-agricultural land in several villages of Silli block, including Silli, Lohardaga, Javal, Supari, and Konche. Construction will commence once the land is available. The project will reduce congestion at Muri Railway Station. Trains between Ranchi and Tatanagar will bypass Muri Junction, traveling via Silli-Ilu. This will save approximately 45 minutes of travel time and improve the efficiency of both passenger and goods trains.Read More...

To facilitate the millions of devotees visiting Gorakhnath Temple for the Makar Sankranti festival, both the Railway Administration and the Transport Corporation have initiated preparations. During the Khichdi Mela, two pairs of special trains will operate from Gorakhpur on the Anandnagar-Nautanwa and Gorakhpur-Badhni routes. Additionally, 450 buses will be deployed on... 13 routes by the Roadways department. Enhanced passenger amenities and robust security arrangements will be implemented to ensure a smooth experience for the devotees. Station Director Ratandeep Gupta announced that all passenger trains will halt at Nankha Jungle station from January 13th to 16th to manage the crowd during the Khichdi Mela. Extra general ticket counters will be opened at Gorakhpur and Nankha Jungle stations. Additional Railway Protection Force personnel will be deployed for security. Adequate arrangements for drinking water and sanitation facilities will be provided. Inquiry centers, help desks, and health desks will be established at various locations. Dedicated railway staff will be available to assist the devotees. Special attention will be given to cleanliness on station premises and platforms. Announcements via the announcement system will keep passengers updated on train schedules. Additional arrangements will also be in place on December 31st and January 1st to manage the anticipated crowd. The Regional Manager of the Transport Corporation, Lav Kumar Singh, stated that 450 buses will operate on 13 routes from Gorakhpur, including routes to Badhni, Nautanwa, Maharajganj, Balrampur, Gonda, and areas near Nepal. Routes have been finalized for bus operations. Control rooms will be set up at the Gorakhpur bus station and the Gorakhnath Temple. Electric buses will operate as shuttle services between the bus station and the Gorakhnath Temple. Buses from outside will halt at Gorakhpur station. The station premises will have arrangements for night shelters, sanitation facilities, and bonfires for the convenience of devotees. Information about buses will also be available via the announcement system. Additional bus arrangements will be implemented on December 31st and January 1st as well.Read More...

Due to increased fog during the winter season, railway operations are affected. The risk of accidents at railway crossings also increases. The Railway is taking measures to strengthen safety at railway crossings to prevent accidents. Brijendra Mani Tripathi, Executive Director of the Safety, Signal and Telecommunication Department of the Railway Board,... has directed to enhance safety measures on five points. He has sent letters to the General Managers of all zones along with the East Central Railway, asking them to rectify these issues immediately to reduce the chances of accidents at railway crossings due to fog. The letter emphasizes the need to strengthen safety measures at railway crossings. In the past two years, three serious accidents have occurred at railway crossings in the SER, ER, and NR zones. Therefore, there is a need to increase safety measures at all level crossing gates. All road safety devices (signals, signage, hooters, and speed breakers) should be present at the railway crossings and should be functioning correctly to alert those coming from the road. Officers will conduct systematic inspections. Furthermore, it is stated that the gateman must ensure that no vehicle is between the boom barriers before closing the gate. All necessary facilities for safe gate operation and emergency handling, according to gate working rules, should be properly functioning at every crossing. Regular counseling and training of gatemen should be conducted. The officers are instructed to systematically inspect the crossings to ascertain whether the gatemen are familiar with both routine and emergency procedures. The safety measures at railway crossings in remote areas of Sonpur and Samastipur divisions are limited. Many crossings lack hooters. There is a shortage of signage and symbols. Visibility of symbols and signage is also poor in some places. The Ramdayalunagar and Bairia crossings, near Muzaffarpur city, are located close to NH. The safety standards here are not correct. The presence of NH near the railway crossings increases the chances of accidents. Gates are often jammed. Many times, there is chaos when a train arrives.Read More...

On Friday, 10 railway employees of Ranchi railway division were felicitated upon their retirement. ADRM Hemraj Meena praised the work of all the employees at a ceremony held in Hatia. The event was conducted by Assistant Divisional Personnel Officer Alok Rai. Vijay Barla and Chanchal Singh were also present. The retirees... included Virendranath Mahto, Krishnanand Rai, Kamal Mardana, Sudhir Anil Tigga, Somra Munda, Sadhan Chandra Das, Sukhram Kumhar, Hare Krishna Banerjee, and Ratan Bedia. Due to development work in the Adra division of South Eastern Railway, a rolling block will be in place, impacting three trains. The Barddhaman-Hatia-Barddhaman MEMU Express will be canceled from December 1st to 6th. The Tatanagar-Hatia Express on December 3rd will run via Chandil, Gunda Bihar, and Muri instead of Chandil, Purulia, Kotshila, and Muri. The Kharagpur-Hatia Express will depart two hours late on December 7th. To facilitate passengers, the Bhubaneswar-Dhanbad-Bhubaneswar Special via Ranchi has been extended. The Bhubaneswar-Dhanbad Special via Ranchi will depart from Bhubaneswar daily from December 1st to December 31st. The Dhanbad-Bhubaneswar Special will depart from Dhanbad daily from December 2nd to January 1st. Considering the extra rush of passengers, additional coaches have been added to four trains. An extra second-class sleeper coach will be added to the Ranchi-Godda Express on November 29th. Extra coaches will be added to the Ranchi-Varanasi Express on November 29th and December 1st, and to the Ranchi-Godda Express on November 29th. An extra sleeper coach will also be added to the Ranchi-Ara Express on November 29th and December 1st. A demand has been made to extend the Hatia-Durg Special Express to Nagpur. Arun Joshi, a member of the South Eastern Railway's ZRUCC, submitted a demand letter to the office of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to extend and regularize the train. The letter stated that the extension and regularization of this train will provide direct and convenient rail service to students, businessmen, industrial units, and common passengers. Mukesh Parik was also part of the delegation.Read More...

Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy stated that the central government is prioritizing the development of the railway system in Telangana, allocating unprecedented funds. Speaking at a press conference after reviewing the progress of the redevelopment works at Hitech City Railway Station in Hyderabad on Friday, he mentioned that the electrification of... railway lines in the state is 100% complete. He explained that stations are being developed with Wi-Fi and other modern amenities to provide better facilities to passengers. The first phase of modernization works at Hitech City station, costing ₹35 crore, is progressing rapidly, and arrangements have been made for 16 special trains to stop at this station during the Sankranti festival. He also announced that Hyderabad Nampally station is being modernized at a cost of ₹350 crore, and the redevelopment plan for Kachiguda station is in the approval stage. The construction of Komuravelli Railway Station is nearing completion. He further added that the works of the second phase of MMTS are progressing. Tenders for works up to Yadadri under the second phase of MMTS are in progress. The minister also stated that he will personally inspect the progress of the railway multi-manufacturing unit being constructed in the Kazipet railway junction on Saturday. The center will continuously monitor the progress of railway projects in Telangana.Read More...

The SMVT Bengaluru railway terminal, Bengaluru's first fully air-conditioned station, commenced commercial operations on June 6, 2022. Construction started in 2014, but was delayed due to design challenges and the Covid-19 pandemic. The terminal was built at a cost of Rs 314 crore.Read More...