3 Trains from (HSA)HASIMARA to (NNA)NAUGACHIA

WESTERN RAILWAY TO RUN WEEKLY SUMMER SPECIAL TRAINS

BETWEEN AHMEDABAD – PATNA & OKHA – NAHARLAGUN

EXTENSION OF TRIPS OF SPECIAL TRAIN BETWEEN BANDRA TERMINUS – BARMER

For the convenience of passengers and with a view to clear the extra rush during the ensuing summer vacation, Western Railway will run Summer Special Trains o­n Special fare between Ahmedabad – Patna & Okha – Naharlagun. The trips of Bandra Terminus – Barmer is also being extended.

According to a press release issued by Shri Sumit Thakur – Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, the details of these train are as under:

1.Train No. 09417 / 09418 Ahmedabad – Patna – (Weekly) Special [18 Trips]

Train No. 09417 Ahmedabad – Patna Weekly Special will depart from Ahmedabad at 09.10 hrs, every Monday and will reach Patna at 21.05 hrs, the next day. This train will run from 1^stMay, 2023 to 26^th June, 2023.

Similarly, in return direction Train No. 09418 Patna – Ahmedabad Weekly Special will depart from Patna at 23.45 hrs, every Tuesday and will reach Ahmedabad at 11.20 hrs, o­n Thursday. This train will run from 2^ndMay, 2023 to 27^th June, 2023.

Enroute this train will halt at Nadiad, Chhayapuri, Ratlam, Kota, Sawai Madhopur, Gangapur City, Hindaun City, Bharatpur, Achhnera, Mathura, Kasganj, Farrukhabad, Kanpur Central, Lucknow, Sultanpur, Jaunpur City, Varanasi, Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Jn., Buxar, Ara and Danapur stations in both directions.

This train comprises of AC 2 - Tier, AC 3 - Tier, Sleeper Class and General Second Class coaches.

2.Train No. 09525/09526 Okha – Naharlagun Special [26 Trips]

Train No. 09525 Okha – Naharlagun Special will depart from Okha at 22.00 hrs.every Tuesday and reach Naharlagun at 16.00 hrs, o­n Friday.  This train will run from 4^th April, 2023 to 27^th June, 2023.

Similarly, Train No. 09526 Naharlagun - Okha Special will depart from Naharlagun at 10.00 hrs. every Saturday and arrive Okha at 03.35 hrs, o­n Tuesday. This train will run from 8^th April, 2023 to 1^st July, 2023.

Enroute this train will halt at Dwarka, Khambhaliya, Jamnagar, Hapa, Rajkot, Wankaner, Surendranagar, Ahmedabad, Nadiad, Anand, Chhayapuri, Godhra, Ratlam, Nagda, Ujjain, Maksi, Shajapur, Biyavra Rajgarh, Ruthiyai, Guna, Shivpuri, Gwalior, Etawah, Govindpuri, Prayagraj, Gyanpur Road, Banaras, Varanasi, Ghazipur City, Ballia, Chhapra, Hajipur, Shahpur Patoree, Barauni, Begu Sarai, Khagaria, Naugachia, Katihar, Barsoi, Kishanganj, New Jalpaiguri, New Cooch Behar, Kokrajhar, New Bongaigaon, Barpeta Road, Rangiya, Udalguri, New Misamari, Rangapara North, and Harmuti stations in both directions.

This train comprises of AC 2-Tier, AC 3-Tier, Sleeper Class and General Second Class coaches.

3.Extension of trips of Train No. 09037/09038 Bandra Terminus – Barmer Weekly Special

Train No. 09037 Bandra Terminus – Barmer Weekly Special which was earlier notified up to 26^th May, 2023 has been extended upto 30^th June, 2023.

Train No.09038 Barmer – Bandra Terminus Weekly Special which was earlier notified up to 27^th May, 2023 has been extended upto 1^st July, 2023.

The booking for Train No. 09417 & 09525 and for the extended trips of Train No. 09037will open from 1^st April, 2023 at all PRS Counters and o­n IRCTC website. The above trains will run as Special Train o­n Special Fare. For detailed information regarding timings of halts and composition, passengers may please visit www.enquiry.indianrail.gov.in.

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N. F. Railway o­n 20^th March, 2023 signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with RailTel Corporation of India Ltd, for installation of Intrusion Detection System (IDS) to avert train-elephant collision and disaster mitigation measures. N. F. Railway has been taking many initiatives to prevent and detect movement of wild animals, especially elephants, approaching the tracks. Installation of IDS in important sections is o­ne such of them.

 The MoU was signed by G.R. Das, Chief Communication Engineer, N. F. Railway and Zakir Siddiqui, Executive Director/Eastern Region/Railtel in presence of Shri Anshul Gupta, General Manager/N. F. Railway and Shri Sanjay Kumar, Chief Managing Director/RailTel Corporation of India Ltd.

After 100% success of the pilot project o­n IDS that was undertaken by N.F. Railway in the Chalsa – Hasimara section of the Dooars area under Alipurduar Division in West Bengal and Lanka – Hawaipur section under Lumding Division in Assam, it has now been decided to install the system gradually in all other elephant corridors spread over N.F. Railway.

 The system is based o­n Artificial Intelligence (AI) and existing optical fibres will be used as sensors to identify movements of wild animals at locations and alert control offices, station masters, gateman and loco pilots. It uses fibre optic based acoustic system working o­n the principle of dialysis scattering phenomenon to sense the real time presence of elephants o­n the track. The AI based software can monitor un-usual movements up to a stretch of 60 km. In addition to it the IDS will also help in detecting rail fracture, trespassing o­n railway track and alert about disaster mitigation due to unauthorised digging near railway tracks, landslides near tracks etc.

It is important to mention here that the pilot project has already been immensely successfully in saving lives of many elephants approaching railway track from being hit by trains.