KSR BANGALORE CY JN

The first case of COVID-19 case was reported in India o­n 30^th Jan,2020. Since then awareness about sneezing and coughing etiquettes and hand wash guidelines were reaching public using all means of communication. Southern Railways took all out efforts in creating awareness about these etiquettes and guidelines. At this juncture hand sanitizers and masks started running out of stock and prices spiraled to unimaginable level wherever stock was available. Government of India got these two items notified under Essential commodities Act. Now with Railway Board giving directions to Production units and workshops to use their manufacturing facilities to manufacture essential medical items Southern Railway has put its team working o­n this task.

Southern Railway has Electric loco sheds at Erode and Arakkonam and Diesel Loco shed at Ernakulam. Perambur loco works, Golden rock workshop and Perambur Carriage & Wagon work are its other workshops.

Perambur Loco Works has taken the initiative of making the hand sanitizers for its use in  railway offices and railway hospitals. The materials that are gone into making this in-house product are iso propyl alcohol, Hydrogen Peroxide, Glycerol and Distilled Water. Initially 5 litres have been prepared. Similarly Goldern Rock Workshop, Tiruchirappalli has also produced  in-house 10 litres of hand sanitizers. The average cost of making comes to o­nly Rs. 570 per litre which is lot cheaper than what is sold in the market. Golden Rock workshop has handed over the material to Medical department for making the hand sanitizers in its lab and it will soon be making 60 cots as required by the Medical branch.

Perambur Carriage works has taken the initiative of making 250 masks till date. 100 masks have been distributed to Chennai division for the use of running staff working goods trains. 150 masks handed over to Railway hospital, Perambur. This mask is made of white cotton cloth and is of single layer with elastic ear band. This can be reused after thorough wash. Besides it has produced 45 nos of aprons and handed over it to Railway hospital at Perambur. They are in the process of making 50 numbers of cots in the next ten days using the available material in the workshop. This workshop also has plans to manufacture three layer masks.

Electric Locoshed, Erode also has lent a helping hand in this regard. It has produced 200 litres of hand sanitizers so far for consumption in offices, hospitals in the jurisdiction of Salem Division. Electric Loco shed at Arakkonam, Diesel loco shed at Ernakulam  and medical branch of Trivandrum division have also contributed in making hand sanitizers for their internal usage.

Coaching Depot in Basin bridge has also come up with their capacity to make 50 masks o­n a daily basis utilizing the available material and allowing their lady staff to work from home. This will be made out of cotton cloth in single layer. This can be reused after wash. This masks will be used for railway employees and in railway hospitals.

With these initiatives Southern Railway has proved its mettle yet again in this time of medical crisis.

Press Release No. 2020/04           Mumbai, 13^thApril, 2020

WR TO RUN 68 MORE TRIPS OF 9 TIME TABLED PARCEL SPECIAL TRAINS

TO HELP TO KEEP THE SUPPLY OF ESSENTIALS ROLLING

TO VARIOUS DESTINATIONS

Western Railway is well ensuring to continue the transportation of essential items like medical supplies, medical equipment, food, etc in small parcel sizes across the nation, in the wake of COVID19, 68 more trips of 9 special parcel trains have been planned by WR to run between Bandra Terminus - Okha, Bandra Terminus – Ludhiana, Mumbai Central - Firozpur, Porbandar – Shalimar, Ahmedabad – Guwahati, Surat – Bhagalpur, Dadar – Bhuj, Linch – New Guwahati and Kankaria – Cuttack.

According to a press release issued by Shri Ravinder Bhakar - Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, 12 timetabled parcel express trains with 56 trips were planned to run between 31^stMarch to 15^th April, 2020, to mitigate the difficulties in transportation of essential items. Now, 68 more trips of 9 parcel express trains are planned to be run, details of which are as under :-

●Bandra Terminus – Okha Parcel Special ( 10 trips)

Train No 00921 Bandra Terminus- Okha Parcel special will leave from Bandra (T) at 21.30 hrs o­n 16^th, 18^th, 20^th 22^nd & 24^th April, 2020 to reach Okha at 14.00 hrs the next day. Similarly, Train No 00920 Okha – Bandra (T) Parcel special will leave Okha at 13.30 hrs o­n 16^th, 18^th , 20^th, 22^nd & 24^th April, 2020 to arrive Bandra (T) at 5.55 hrs the next day. The train will halt at Vapi, Valsad, Surat, Ankleshwar, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad, Viramgam, Rajkot and Jamnagar station in both directions.

●Bandra Terminus - Ludhiana Parcel Special Rake (10 trips)

Train No 00901 Bandra Terminus – Ludhiana parcel special willdepart from Bandra Terminus at 20.00 hrs o­n 15^th, 17^th, 20^th, 22^nd& 24^th April, 2020 and will reach Ludhiana at 03.00 hrs o­n the 3rd day. Similarly, Train No 00902 will leave Ludhiana at 23.30 hrs o­n 17^th, 19^th, 22^nd, 24^th & 26^thApril, 2020 and will arrive Bandra Terminus at 06.30 o­n 3rd day. The train will halt at Vapi, Surat, Ankleshwar, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad, Mahesana, Falna, Ajmer, Jaipur, New Delhi and Ambala stations in both directions.

●Mumbai Central – Firozpur Parcel Special (12 trips)

Train No 00911 Mumbai Central – Firozpur parcel special will leave Mumbai Central at 19.45 hrs o­n 16^th, 18^th, 19^th, 21^st, 23^rd & 25^th April, 2020 to reach Firozpur at 02.30 hrs o­n third day. Similarly, Train No 00912 will leave Firozpur at 08.00 hrs o­n 18^th, 20^th, 21^st, 23^rd, 25^th & 27^thApril, 2020 to arrive Mumbai Central at 15.10 hrs the next day. The train will halt at Vapi, Surat, Ankleshwar, Vadodara, Godhra, Ratlam, Nagda, Kota, Sawai Madhopur, Bharatpur, Mathura, New Delhi, Rohtak and Bhatinda stations in both directions.

●Porbandar – Shalimar Parcel Special (8 trips)

Train No 00913 Porbandar – Shalimar parcel special will leave Porbandar at 8.00 hrs o­n 18^th, 20^th, 22^nd& 24^th April, 2020 to reach Shalimar at 03.30 hrs o­n third day. Similarly, Train No 00914 Shalimar – Porbandar parcel special will leave Shalimar at 22.50 hrs o­n 20^th, 22^nd, 24^th& 26^th April, 2020 to reach Porbandar at 18.25 hrs o­n third day. The train will halt at Jamnagar, Rajkot, Surendra Nagar, Ahmedabad, Anand, Vadodara, Surat, Nandurbar, Bhusaval, Akola, Badnera, Nagpur, Durg, Raipur, Bilaspur, Jharsuguda Jn, Rourkela, Chakaradharpur, Tata Nagar and Kharagpur Jn. stations in both directions.

●Ahmedabad – Guwahati Parcel Special (6 trips)

Train No 00915 Ahmedabad – Guwahati parcel special will leave Ahmedabad at 16.30 hrs o­n 17^th, 20^th & 23^rdApril, 2020 to reach Guwahati at 17.00 hrs o­n the third day. Similarly, Train No 00916 Guwahati – Ahmedabad will leave Guwahati at 16.00 hrs o­n 20^th, 23^rd & 26^th April, 2020 to reach Ahmedabad at 16.05 hrs o­n third day. The train will halt at Anand, Chhayapuri,Ratlam, Kota, Sawai Madhopur, Bayana, Agra Fort, Tundla, Kanpur, Lucknow, Banaras,Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhayaya, Patna, Muzaffarpur Jn, Katihar Jn, New Bongaigaon and Changsari stations in both directions.

●Surat – Bhagalpur Parcel Special (8 trips)

Train No 00917 Surat – Bhagalpur parcel special will leave Surat at 10.00 hrs o­n 15^th, 17^th, 20^th & 22^ndApril, 2020 to reach Bhagalpur at 18.30 hrs the next day. Similarly, Train No 00918 Bhagalpur – Surat will leave Bhagalpur at 16.00 hrs o­n 17^th, 19^th, 22^nd & 24^th April, 2020 to reach Surat at 01.00 hrs o­n third day. The train will halt at Nandurbar, Jalgaon, Bhusaval, Itarsi, Jabalpur, Katni, Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhayaya, Buxar, Danapur and Patna stations in both directions.

●Dadar – Bhuj Parcel Special (10 trips)

Train No 00925 Dadar – Bhuj parcel special will leave Dadar at 18.10 hrs o­n 15^th, 17^th, 19^th, 21^st& 23^rd April, 2020 to reach Bhuj at 8.30 hrs the next day. Similarly, Train No 00924 Bhuj – Dadar parcel special will leave Bhuj at 14.35 hrs o­n 16^th, 18^th , 20^{th ,}22^nd& 24^th April, 2020 to arrive Dadar at 04.50 hrs the next day. The train will halt at Vapi, Valsad, Surat, Ankleshwar,Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad, Viramgam, Dharangdhra, Samakhiali and Gandhidham stations in both directions.

●Linch – New Guwahati Parcel Special (2 trips)

Train No 00929 Linch (Gujarat) – New Guwahati parcel special will leave Linch o­n 16^th April, 2020 at 18.00 hrs to reach New Guwahati at 15.00 hrs o­n 18^th April, 2020. Similarly, Train No 00930 will leave New Guwahati o­n 22^nd April, 2020 at 01.30 hrs to reach Linchat 22.30 hrs o­n 23^rdApril, 2020. The train wil halt at Palanpur, Ajmer, Jaipur, Bharatpur, Achhnera, Agra Fort, Tundla, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, Patna, Sonpur, Katihar, New Jalpaiguri, New Bongaigaon and Changsari stations in both directions.

●Kankaria – Cuttack Parcel Special ( 2trips)

Train No 00932 Kankaria- Cuttack parcel special will leave Kankaria at 18.00 hrs o­n 15^th April, 2020 to reach Cuttack at 03.30 hrs o­n 17^thApril, 2020. Similarly, Train No 00931 will leave Cuttack at 13.30 hrs o­n 21^stApril, 2020 at 13.30 hrs to reach Kankaria at 23.00 hrs o­n 22^ndApril, 2020. The train will halt at Anand, Chhayapuri, Ratlam, Ujjain, Maksi, Bina Jn, Katni Murwara, Bilaspur Jn, Jharsuguda Rd, Sambalpur City, and Talcher Rd. stations.

Shri Bhakar stated that o­n 13^th April, 2020, five parcel specials left from WR to various parts of the countryviz Ahmedabad – Guwahati, Bandra Terminus – Ludhiana, Rajkot – Coimbatore, Bhuj – Dadar and Bandra Terminus – Okha.

He stated that, since the lockdown period till now, from 22^nd March to 12^th April, 2020, total 1267 rakes have been used to supply essential commodities amounting to 2.72 million tonnes. 2917 freight trains were interchanged with other railways, including 1479 trains handed over and 1438 trains taken over at different interchange points. 41 Millennium Parcel rakes of Parcel Vans/Railway Milk Tankers (RMTs) have been sent to different parts of the country to cope the demands of essential items such as milk powder, liquid milk and other general consumer goods. The total losses over Western Railway up to 12^th April, 2020 have been Rs 383.75 Cr (inclusive of suburban+ non-suburban). Inspite of this, Western Railway has also successfully refunded Rs. 138.81 crore against cancellation of tickets till now and inMumbai Division itself, refund of Rs. 65.58 crore has been made. In all 21.78 lakh passengers have cancelled their tickets over entire Western Railway & have received refund accordingly.

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