New Delhi Highlighting its inability to support increasing number of metro projects, the Centre has asked state governments to follow the models of Karnataka and Delhi for financing capital-intensive Metro rail projects by levying cess on residential and commercial developments, and increasing house tax. It has also urged them to set up state-level urban transport funds with such levies to finance the projects.

The Centre says its unable to support the increasing number of metro systems through the Budget and therefore wants the states to develop their own funding sources to part-finance such capital-intensive systems.

Many projects in the country may be languishing because of land acquisition problems but the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation (DFCC) has over the past three years acquired 70 per cent of the 10,000 hectares it requires to construct exclusive railway lines for goods traffic. The area acquired is more than half as large as the 18,500-hectare Kolkata metropolitan city.

MUMBAI: Western Railway (WR) has geared up for the monsoon by carrying out cleaning of culverts, desilting drains, increasing the level of tracks and identifying flood-prone spots. "We have indentified flood-prone areas. We will pay more attention to these sections near Marine Lines, Charni Road, Grant Road, Mumbai Central, Elphinstone Road, Dadar, Mahim, Andheri, Jogeshwari and Nalasopara-Virar," said WR chief public relations officer Sharat Chandrayan.

As the monsoon nears, railway authorities have sought to assure Mumbaikars that this year, there will be no disruptions in suburban services, which usually witness substantial breakdowns every rainy season. The Western Railway (WR) has added Digital Axel Counters (DACs) on standby in case the track circuiting system fails, and in turn causes signal failures, at nearly 500 flood-prone areas. DACs are trackside equipment which, when the train passes, count and store the number of axles by means of a software at both ends of the track.

ThiruvananthapuramKerala, counting on debt funding by Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to feed 80% of its proposed R1.18-lakh-crore high-speed rail corridor project, is likely to corner some Japanese industrial investment too, as if in bonus.

A business team, led by Japanese diplomatic officials, has been in talks with state industry officials on a project for manufacturing advanced technology components for high-speed trains.

NEW DELHI, 21 MAY: Expressing concern over the scarcity of safe drinking water at stations and trains, the parliamentary standing committee on railways has asked the railways to take effective steps to ensure safe potable water to passengers. The panel headed by Mr T R Baalu (DMK) in its report tabled in Parliament said scarcity of packaged water in long distance trains and unsealed water bottles at railway stations are matters of concern. The committee said it is distressed to note that though the new catering policy was issued in July 2010, it is being implemented at a very slow pace.

Express news service : New Delhi, Tue May 22 2012, 01:08 hrs

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways has said there is a scarcity of safe drinking water in long-distance trains across the country.

Even though the Indian Railways has taken over the catering service it has not been able to implement its policy on the desired lines and the problem of drinking water continues to be acute and a matter of concern in stations and moving trains.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee headed by T.R. Baalu in its report, which was tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, expressed concern that during inspection, the committee found that normal tap water was being used for drinking at most stations.

The other surprise in the railway budget is a new line that Mamata Banerjee wished in the heart of Buxa Tiger Reserve
DEEP INSIDE the core of Buxa Tiger Reserve in north Bengal and at the heart of a vast forest landscape that includes Bhutan’s Phipsu wildlife sanctuary is the settlement of Jayanti. Set up during the Raj to facilitate mining, this was a busy railway station transporting dolomite and limestone till the mid-1980s before conservation became the priority.

New Delhi: Drawing flak for project delays, the government has decided to set up a dedicated forum to clear bottlenecks such as coal linkages and environmental and defence clearances that are major holdups. Top government officials told TOI that after the meeting of the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade and Industry last month, the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) has been asked to identify projects and remove bottlenecks in consultation with other departments and ministries.