Indian Railways Thread

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 12 Feb 2009 16:50

SSridhar wrote:New trams introduced in Kolkata on Wednesday plying along the city’s streets.

This looks like "old wine in new bottle". They have just put up new bodies. Look at the destination board used. It reminds me of a normal board put on a city bus. In over-all a changed design just to look like a modern tram. The outer body design looks similar to an old fleet of Trams in Amsterdam.

p_saggu · Post by **p_saggu** » 12 Feb 2009 17:25

I thought the trams were dying in Kolkata. Especially when they closed that stretch along Esplanade to Victoria Memorial. I still remember the tram rides I used to take to my college. A tram ride was always an eventful affair.

On several occasions, the overhead rod and wheel which takes power from the overhead lines would come off and the conductor would pull the rope to correct it. On two occasions the overhead wire broke off and fell on the tram! Everyone lifted their feet off the tram floor. Then we hurriedly exited the tram without touching anything within. The biggest nightmare was getting stuck in a tram on college street. I once got stuck on the way to howrah on AJC bose road, in a HUGE jam. I thought I would miss the train I was supposed to catch. Luckily Fairly Ghat was nearby and I made it by the steamer - just in time.

AjayKK · Post by **AjayKK** » 12 Feb 2009 17:52

The Telegraph has some comparison.

The administration will not regard the tram as anachronism

From wiki :An anachronism can be an artifact which appears out of place archaeologically, geologically or temporally. It is sometimes called OOPArt, for "out of place Art"

---------

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090208/i ... rolead.pdf

p_saggu · Post by **p_saggu** » 12 Feb 2009 20:31

Those big glass windows would look yummy to me if I were a rioter. There is nothing more sexually gratifying to a roiter than a big piece of glass and a stone in his hand.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 13 Feb 2009 03:03

They really need to improve the tracks. Half the trouble is the broken tram tracks in Kolkata... in some cases, the bricks which are between the tracks are much higher than the tracks themselves so I guess the tram runs not on the rails but on the bricks at those points!

@vina
Most of the old dabbas used to be coloured blue and cream iirc with some coloured green. I have closely inspected some trams in the past....they all had their original british parts (except perhaps the body)!!

@sagguddin,

Sometimes when the tram's connection with overhead line would break, I have seen the conductor+bystanders get some bamboo poles to prop the thing back up to touch the overhead wire.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 13 Feb 2009 08:30

5 Locos dispatched to Malaysia

Five locomotives overhauled and modified at the Goldenrock Workshop (GOC) here were flagged off to Malaysia at a function held at its premises on Thursday.

These locomotives will be exported through Indian Railway Construction Corporation (IRCON), New Delhi.

Forty three locos have already been delivered to Malaysian Railways between 1993 and 2001 through IRCON and were working satisfactorily.

IRCON placed order for five more in-service locos for Malaysia. These locos were sold to IRCON at an outright price of Rs. 6.66 crore, a press release of the GOC issued here today said.

The workshop has already carved a name for itself in overhauling and modification activities. This shop commenced modification cum rehabilitation of MG locomotives for export through Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) and IRCON in 1993 and so far 11 locomotives have been despatched to various countries like Malaysia, Tanzania, Myanmar, Sudan, Senegal, Mali, Mozambique and Benin (in western Africa).

With the current consignment, the GOC has despatched 116 locomotives to various countries. There are enquiries from new customers like Congo.

Arya Sumantra · Post by **Arya Sumantra** » 13 Feb 2009 08:46

p_saggu wrote:Those big glass windows would look yummy to me if I were a rioter. There is nothing more sexually gratifying to a roiter than a big piece of glass and a stone in his hand.

That's why in the tram design the curved part is all transparent plastic(acrylic, i suppose) and straight part is glass. Curved glass is expensive. Replacement is cheaper once the budding politicians are done with the protest. Similar segregation of straight(glass) and curved(plastic) parts exists in autorickshaws.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 13 Feb 2009 12:58

Passenger trains to have 22% more capacity

http://specials.rediff.com/money/2009/f ... 009-10.htm

pradeepe · Post by **pradeepe** » 13 Feb 2009 13:40

^
Summary from the railway budget:

http://specials.rediff.com/money/2009/f ... 009-10.htm

Reduction in passenger fares of ordinary passenger trains by Re 1 for fares costing up to Rs fifty per passenger for journey above ten kms.

Second class and sleeper class fares of all mail/express and ordinary passenger trains to be reduced by 2 per cent for tickets costing Rs 50 and more per passenger.

Fares of AC First Class, AC II tier, AC III tier and AC Chair Car also to be reduced by two per cent.

Freight rates unchanged.

Feasibility on for bullet trains between Delhi-Patna, Delhi-Amritsar, Chennai-Bangalore.

Railways expected to show a surplus of Rs 18,847 crore in the next fiscal.

FY09 Operating ratio seen at 88%; FY10 Operating ratio seen at 89%

FY10 freight revenue expected at Rs 59,060 crore

To spend Rs 37,900 cr in FY10

Started work on Dehi-Mumbai freight corridor

25 survey planned for 8 doubling projects

Dedicated freight corridor from Ludhiana to Kolkata to be inaugurated later this month by Sonia Gandhi.

Feasibility studies are on for running bullet trains between Delhi-Amritsar, Ahmedabad-Pune, Hyderbada-Vijaywada- Chennai, Chennai-Bangalore, Delhi-Patna, Kolkata-Haldia and Ernakulam-Howrah.

I was hoping they would include VZG-VJA-HYD in that list, the amount of traffic between VZG and HYD is tremondous and the current Godavari and Visakha superfast expresses are just not enough.

Hows the connectivity to the NE. We need to have ubiquitous connectivity to all of Arunachal and Assam to counter panda's game there.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 13 Feb 2009 13:49

We need to have ubiquitous connectivity to all of Arunuchal

there is no rail in arunachal. none at all. forget to higher places like bomdi-la or even itanagar.

even the line that runs parallel to arunachal border along darrang and north lakhimpur distt in assam is a single track MG line onree. one good air raid will
shut it down for a week.

its like GOI always beg and request people to slap us, then whine about a unjust
world.

"economic viability" can never be the criteria for infra in border areas if we are
serious about retaining what little we still have. the golmud-lhasa rail or the
swank new roads/airports in tibet are hardly paying for their own upkeep...but its
part of the "the plan".

question is - do we have a plan?

pradeepe · Post by **pradeepe** » 13 Feb 2009 13:57

its like GOI always beg and request people to slap us, then whine about a unjust
world.

Sad story of India. We whine and whine about the unjust world. But do nothing, forgetting that protecting dharma is a part of dharma.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 13 Feb 2009 14:21

krishnan wrote:
Passenger trains to have 22% more capacity

Any idea how this will be acheived? Back to the day of the "coffin berth" (as Dileep puts it)?

AjayKK · Post by **AjayKK** » 13 Feb 2009 14:47

Any idea how this will be acheived? Back to the day of the "coffin berth" (as Dileep puts it)?

As per speech of laloo (pdf),

Production of covered and open wagons of new design has since commenced. This will result in a 78 percent increase in capacity of goods rakes comprising of new design covered wagons as compared with the old stock.
These trains can now carry a load of 4100 tonnes compared with the earlier load of 2300
tonnes. The capacity of the freight trains comprising of open wagons with new design will also be 22 per cent more than before. Similarly, the capacity of passenger trains has also been increased.

Maybe Laloo has been advised by or it is his own idea to integrate ''open '' passsenger wagons

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 13 Feb 2009 14:55

Maybe a berth on the top

Dileep · Post by **Dileep** » 13 Feb 2009 15:29

What capacity increase? the passenger trains here carry 400+ people in a coach (108 seats). The only way to increase capacity is to increase the number of coaches.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 13 Feb 2009 15:42

http://specials.rediff.com/money/2009/f ... 009-10.htm

In his interim Railway Budget for 2009-10, Lalu announced the extension of 2187/2188 Jabalpur-Mumbai-Jabalpur biweekly Garib Rath Express to Allahabad. The trouble, however, is that the Jabalpur-Mumbai-Jabalpur Garib Rath does not exist!

vina · Post by **vina** » 13 Feb 2009 15:48

Dileep, dont give him ideas. Next you will see stuff like chairs /benches welded on roof tops of coaches and passengers being charged for riding those , with "free breeze" and "greater ability" to admire country side thrown in for free.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 13 Feb 2009 15:48

his speech draft is probably older than the recent cancellation of side middle berth.

current platforms in india (major stns) can accomodate ~30 rakes max, even 25 is stretching it a bit thin. in smaller wayside stations the capacity is around 15 probably.

longest I ever seen is 25 for the assam-kerala/blr trains.

we can go for double decker coaches...believe WR has some. its a design where the
lower deck is lower than whats currently the case. but imo its fraught with more danger
given the state of our old bridges and dangerous sections.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 13 Feb 2009 15:56

You cant lower the lower berth any further, if you do , there wont be any space to put the luggages

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 13 Feb 2009 16:01

I meant the coach has a middle part that is lower and can accomodate perhaps
150% of current load(1.5 * 78) for a 2tier3sleeper hellwagen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2lzR9r9I9I

not sure if these puppies have sleeper berths or just day passenger seating though.
I suspect the latter, which means its useless.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 13 Feb 2009 20:13

IIRC the WR Double decker coaches are for day travelling only and do not have berths for sleeping.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 13 Feb 2009 20:35

Same prices for 5 years, yet tickets costlier.

Those mesmerised by the great railway rope trick, watch out for the magicians’ fine print. The train network did away with illegal middlemen and just hired a new middleman — itself.

At first glance, Indian Railways has pulled off a turnaround seen as impossible in India — never-before profits without raising passenger fares. But a Hindustan Times reporter who travelled 2,800 km on the country’s busiest route, New Delhi-Mumbai-New Delhi, to investigate passenger services found it is ingenious number crunching. Technically fares have not gone up for five years, but several invisible costs have been added.

The biggest is the extra costs paid for “Tatkal” (immediate) reservations, an expanding quota reserved for last-minute bookings, cutting into the regular seats available without increasing the number of seats in some cases. There are also surcharges of up to Rs 25 on the purchase of tickets online –– going against standard practice of online tickets being cheaper than over-the-counter ones.

Passengers also pay more if they buy a ticket from a city that is not where their journey will originate or end.“Fares have not increased. But each time I travel, the Railways manage to extract money out of my pocket,” said Surendra Gairola, a 32-year-old passenger, as the Golden Temple Mail rolled out of Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh.

On the way to Mumbai, the reporter and photographer ended up paying an additional Rs 600 to add to the regular AC-III fare of Rs 2,280 on the Golden Temple Mail.On the way back in the same class on the Trivan-drum Raj-dhani, additional charges of Rs 2,575 were added to the normal fare of Rs 2,850 in the name of Tatkal scheme.

“There is something fishy. I had to buy a Tatkal ticket, but several berths in the compartment remained empty throughout,” said 62-year-old Neelam Jha, a homemaker who recently travelled from Saharsa to New Delhi by the Garib Rath (chariot of the poor).

The upper quota for “Tatkal” seats has been fixed at 30 per cent of all reserved seats. Even if they board midway, passengers often have to pay for the train’s entire run. And even though one passenger has paid for the entire trip, the Railways sells the same seat to another passenger for the stretch where it is vacant.

Worse, Tatkal tickets are non-refundable. The quota of these berths is released five days before departure, but passengers can queue up for them two months in advance.

What this means is that the Railways is actually selling almost 30 per cent of passenger tickets on premiums that could go as high as 40 per cent –– doing exactly what touts and middlemen used to do earlier.

Indian Railways runs 8,984 passenger trains every day on tracks stretching across 63,327 kilometres, ferrying 1.7 crore passengers –– more than the population of New Delhi.

Given the traffic volumes, the Railways generate huge profits by way of “add-on” charges. This prosperity does not seem to have translated into better travelling comforts for passengers.

The original Tatkal concept had envisaged that additional coaches would be fitted to accommodate last minute travellers. But a Railway official said on condition of anonymity that the network simply does not have enough spare coaches to carry longer and heavier trains, nor the high-powered engines required to pull them, or tracks and platforms that can support bigger numbers.

“Given the scenario, the scheme has been reduced to a moneymaking venture for the Railways,” said frequent traveller Jagat Kant Chaudhary, a 42-year-old banker. “This is not true,” said Chairman, Railway Board S.S. Khurana. “Additional coaches are being fitted for Tatkal travellers. The Railways has no shortage of spare coaches or high-powered engines to pull longer and heavier trains, while platform capacity is being rapidly increased,” he told HT.

Ananth · Post by **Ananth** » 14 Feb 2009 03:10

Coramandel express has derailed, resulting in 15 deaths, at the time of posting.
Train derails in Orissa, 15 killed

Train derail: Telephone helplines opened
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holn ... 140330.htm

Kolkata (PTI): The railways opened two telephone helplines at the Howrah railway station to provide information about the passengers of the Howrah-Chennai Coramandel Express, whose 18 bogies derailed near Jajpur Road railway station in Orissa on Friday night.

People wanting to get information about their relatives and friends travelling in the Express can call up at either of the two numbers (033) 26411416 and 26413660, railway sources said.

More reports:
http://www.rediff.com/news/2009/feb/13i ... r-help.htm
http://www.rediff.com/news/2009/feb/14n ... tation.htm

PTI: 15 dead, 60 injured as Coromandel Express derails in Orissa
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holn ... 140333.htm

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 15 Feb 2009 11:33

First train from Baramulla flagged off

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 15 Feb 2009 11:34

Katra-Qazigund will need to be re-aligned

rahulm · Post by **rahulm** » 20 Feb 2009 13:09

Xpost from Indian heath industry thread:

A photo and audio report in the Sydney morning Hearld on India's hospital train:

http://www.smh.com.au/interactive/2009/ ... index.html

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 21 Feb 2009 04:08

Lifeline Express

The Lifeline Express or Jeevan Rekha Express is a mobile hospital in a train run by the Indian Railways. There are actually two such trains. Each train, with specially designed air-conditioned coaches, has two surgical operation theatres with three operating tables, a sterilizing room, several patient wards, on-board power generators, a pantry car, storage for medical supplies, and accommodation for medical staff. A hospital today is an institution for professional health care provided in part by physicians and nurses. ... In rail transport, a train consists of a single or several connected rail vehicles that are capable of being moved together along a guideway to transport freight or passengers from one place to another along a planned route. ... Indian Railways (IR) is the state-owned railway company of India having a complete monopoly over the countrys rail transport. ... Note: in the broadest sense, air conditioning can refer to any form of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning. ...

The train visits different parts of the country, usually rural areas with insufficient medical facilities, or areas hit by natural disasters, etc., and stays in each place for several days while medical care (routine as well as major surgery) is provided to the local people. A figurine of Vishnu, a Hindu god, in the Narasimha Avatar. ...

The Lifeline Express. was started on ], 1991, with three coaches donated by IR, and equipment from Impact India, a non-profit health service provider based in New York. Impact India still runs the trains with help from IR and corporate and private donors.

The Lifeline Express epitomises an international initiative which began in 1981 in England to prevent and cure avoidable disablement.
The Lifeline Express is a fully staffed "hospital on wheels", equipped with a modern operation theatre which offers diagnostic, medical and surgical treatment for prevention and curative interventions for the handicapped.
Encouraged by the response, in 1996 Tata Steel arranged for the Lifeline Express to reach Bhelatand in Dhanbad, where its necessity was established beyond doubt.
tata.com : Tata Steel backs Lifeline Express (292 words)
Lifeline Express, the worlds first hospital-on-wheels and promoted by Impact India for the remote rural areas of the country, launched its 51st project here Monday.
Sponsored by Tata Steel for the seventh time during its decade-long career, the fully-equipped moving medical facility without a doctor, would remain at the service of the most marginalised rural communities around Ghatsila in East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum, and the Seraikela-Kharswan districts of Jharkhand.
Doctors from Tata Steels Tata Main Hospital (TMH) and the Jamshedpur Eye Hospital (both located in Jamshedpur) are to perform the surgeries at the four-coach hospital having a diagnostic test room, operation theatre, an eye correction cabin, a recovery room and a discussion centre.

Dileep · Post by **Dileep** » 23 Feb 2009 11:37

I saw a train that is quite interesting yesterday.

It looked exactly like an express train. Some 12-15 passenger coaches, with a mix of SL, FC, A etc. The only problem is:

All coaches have their windows and doors welded shut!

The material used for closing the windows and doors looks to be the same sheet metal used for body panels. I was standing on the wayside, and the train passed pretty fast, so I couldn't register more info.

The options I could come up with are:

1. Like old planes, the old coaches are converted into freight service. Lalu's mind at work.
2. A Dummy rake to test the track.
3. It hides something inside. Something cylindrical.

chilarai · Post by **chilarai** » 23 Feb 2009 13:48

I think many military stuff is transported that wa

Ananth · Post by **Ananth** » 23 Feb 2009 21:13

Lessons to learn from Lalu
http://specials.rediff.com/money/2009/f ... m-lalu.htm

Like his colleague in the ministry of finance, has railway minister Lalu Prasad also blown it in his last year in office? Was his dream run, like P Chidambaram's, also largely based on a huge buoyancy in the economy?

That's tempting to say, given that when the final numbers for the year come in (the figures are projected based on data till December, and an upturn in trend in January), the critical Operating Ratio could well be pretty near what it was when Prasad took over.

More important is the turnaround in the Railways' thinking that Prasad has brought about, a thinking that's best documented in Bankruptcy to Billions, a book just brought out by Prasad's Officer on Special Duty Sudhir Kumar and Shagun Mehrotra, a PhD student at Columbia.

Dileep · Post by **Dileep** » 24 Feb 2009 06:18

Update: Those were the New Modified Goods (NMG) wagons, created from old passenger coaches, for the purpose of carrying cars. IR Fan site has info.

Nitesh · Post by **Nitesh** » 26 Feb 2009 14:42

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage ... uman+waste

Darpan Singh, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Lucknow, February 25, 2009
First Published: 23:50 IST(25/2/2009)
Last Updated: 23:53 IST(25/2/2009)
Very soon, the sight of dirty railway tracks at platforms may become a thing of the past.

The Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO), Lucknow, has developed “aerobic bio-toilets” which will use bacteria to biodegrade human waste into gas and water, which may be released later on.

One thousand of these “eco-friendly, zero-discharge” toilets will be installed on trains this financial year.

The RDSO is the only body of its kind in the country and the biggest in Asia, which looks after preparation of designs, standards and specifications for materials used by the railways.

Praveen Kumar Tiwary, director of the Carriage Unit (RDSO), said: “The technology was imported from a US-based company, Microphor, and Aikon Industries of Delhi has Indianised it. These toilets have been tried out in one rake of Delhi-Rewa Express and the results have been encouraging.”

While the RDSO and the IIT-Kanpur are responsible for the design of these toilets, Urbane Industries of Chennai will do the manufacturing part.

“Biodegraded material can be stored for 15 days in a tank to be emptied at the destination point. The odorless solid waste could also yield revenue as it can be turned into excellent manure after being dried up,” said an official.

According to Tiwary, the Defense Research and Design Establishment, Gwalior, has also developed a similar technology called “anaerobic bio-toilets” for stationary use. He said, “The technology, being tried out for its suitability in mobile use, is in the initial stages of development.” The Railways have planned to fit 20 rakes with bio-toilets in 2009-10.

IIT-Kanpur has also designed a similar toilet system, which works on solid-liquid separation. “Water is recycled for flushing purpose and the solid is taken out from toilet tanks periodically for composting in pits,” said an IIT-Kanpur official. He said prototype toilets had been installed in Chennai- Lucknow Express.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 11 Mar 2009 01:33

‘Changes in accounting norms lead to rise in Rlys surplus’

Changes in accounting procedures are partly responsible for the miracle turnaround of the Railways in the last four years, according to Mr Lalu Prasad’s Officer on Special Duty, Mr Sudhir Kumar.

This revelation is contained in a book on the Indian Railways, Bankruptcy to Billions, written by Mr Kumar and Mr Shagun Mehrotra, a researcher at Columbia University. The book was recently released by the President, Ms Pratibha Patil.

“As a result of these accounting changes, the Railways’s cash surplus records an incremental Rs 3,489 crore in 2008,” admit the authors in the book. This accounts for 14 per cent of Rs 25,006 crore surplus in 2008.
...

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 11 Mar 2009 12:10

RaviBg wrote:‘Changes in accounting norms lead to rise in Rlys surplus’

Not a financial expert at all. But I read it some time back that some of these schemes may back-fire later. As per that report Railways is showing its pension fund as a profit/surplus amount. The pension fund is huge, because the railway staff strength is huge. But the other aspect is that pension fund sooner or later would have to be used up to pay the actual pensions to employees. Laloo may not be the Railway Minister when that happens, and the chap holding the portfolio/ministry then will have to face the music.

Harish · Post by **Harish** » 17 Mar 2009 17:28

Can I request some kind souls who frequent this thread, to share their experiences travelling on Laloo's pet project called 'Garib Rath'. I need to travel with family from Chennai to Delhi/Nizamuddin, and I find that Garib Rath tickets are priced dirt cheap, even in 3AC. Automatically this makes me apprehensive about a whole lot of things - knowing Laloo as we do.

If you have travelled and have anything to share, please do so. It will help me make a decision about which train I choose.

Also the train shares the same timetable as the Rajdhani,which should make it extremely fast - touching 150 kmph on certain sections. Is this true? Has this train ever reached Delhi on time?

Grateful and TIA for any info from fellow rakshaks.

AjayKK · Post by **AjayKK** » 17 Mar 2009 17:54

Harish, not much to add.
Though some page back, there was discussion on the middle berth.
Here it is , laloo's invention

p_saggu · Post by **p_saggu** » 17 Mar 2009 19:42

I just got off a train. The TTE was trying to sell off the middle berth at night to a few people, and was trying to tell the passangers in a cubicle that there are three seats. Until I and a few people intervened.
The new railway coaches as seen in the picture above have a cool colour combination. White roof, Dark brown metal bars and rexin seats, light brown boards. The overall finishing of the bogies is quite good, except for the third seat in the asile.

If the railways has decided to do away with the third seat, these should be removed from the bogies promptly.

Dilbu · Post by **Dilbu** » 17 Mar 2009 19:45

Sachin wrote:
RaviBg wrote:‘Changes in accounting norms lead to rise in Rlys surplus’
Not a financial expert at all. But I read it some time back that some of these schemes may back-fire later. As per that report Railways is showing its pension fund as a profit/surplus amount. The pension fund is huge, because the railway staff strength is huge. But the other aspect is that pension fund sooner or later would have to be used up to pay the actual pensions to employees. Laloo may not be the Railway Minister when that happens, and the chap holding the portfolio/ministry then will have to face the music.

From day one I had suspected this because the kind of turn around mentioned in the media was almost impossible to achieve in such a short period of time. My theory is that he was playing with capital and revenue expenditure items. A mind boggling financial statement like that of Indian Railways with numerous annexures and schedules present ample opportunity to cook up things to project a favourable result.

The auditing of govt accounts are lagging behind by a few years and by the time CAG catches up with the mischief Lalu would have extracted the full political milage out of his 'financial wizard' image in this year's election. If he can come back to power then the enquiry into the issue can be effectively suppressed also. JMT.

p_saggu · Post by **p_saggu** » 17 Mar 2009 19:49

Harish wrote:If you have travelled and have anything to share, please do so. It will help me make a decision about which train I choose.

Also the train shares the same timetable as the Rajdhani,which should make it extremely fast - touching 150 kmph on certain sections. Is this true? Has this train ever reached Delhi on time?

I once saw a 'Garib Rath' on New Delhi Rly station, horribly late (6 - 7 hrs IIRC). the people alighting looked garib alright. But this was probably a one off rare situations.
I have not travelled on the train, but one person who did, said that the trip was enjoyable and OK.
Take it for what it is worth.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 17 Mar 2009 23:28

A good news. Recently had to travel on the SBC-ERN route and the SRR-YPR route. The allotment of the Side Middle Berth has got cancelled

. There is some fuzz about the whole thing because the coaches on the rake have side middle berth and the numbering has changed. The TTEs get a bit hassled but then finally things get sorted out. The sooner they physically remove the 'side middle berth' and do the re-numbering again, the better.