Indian railways Archives - Lokmarg

PM To Flag Off 2 Vande Trains From Bengal As ‘Durga Pujo Gift’

By LokMarg 22nd September 2023

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to inaugurate a total of nine Vande Bharat express trains through video conferencing on September 24, of which two will be specifically for West Bengal– one, connecting Patna to Howrah and the other, connecting Ranchi to Howrah. Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of the Eastern Railway, Kaushik Mitra has described this move as a “Durga Pujo gift” to Bengal.

“There are already three Vande Bharat trains in West Bengal- Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Junction, Puri-Howrah and New Jalpaiguri Junction-Guwahati. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has allotted another two Vande Bharats for West Bengal- Patna-Howrah and Ranch Howrah. People of West Bengal will be thrilled and take this as a Durgapuja gift from Narendra Modi,” the Eastern Railway CPRO said speaking to ANI on Friday.

The Vande Bharat Express trains will cover Bengal from the Chittaranjan area to Howrah, the CPRO said adding that both the trains will be inaugurated on the 24th and will reach Howrah station at around 10 pm.

On the new-age facilities that will be provided on board the Vande Bharat trains, Mitra said, “The inclination of the chairs has been increased from 17 degrees to 19 degrees. The cushion seating has been improved. We have also changed the colours of the seats from blue to reddish. We have improved the basins and lighting facilities in the washrooms. We have also introduced wheelchair facilities for the specially-abled passengers from the compartment.”

Speaking on passenger feedback about the Vande Bharat trains, the Eastern Railway CPRO said, “Based on the experiences and feedback we have received from passengers, Vande Bharats are more user-friendly, more sophisticated and more comfortable.”

Mitra further said that the Vande Bharat trains will now be the fastest train travelling on this route and will even be faster than the present Rajdhani Express. While the Rajdhani Express takes 7 hours 45 minutes to reach Howrah from Patna, the Vande Bharat express will take only 6 and a half hours.

“Earlier from Patna to Howrah, the fastest train travelling on this route was Rajdhani Express which used to take 7 hours 45 minutes. With this Vande Bharat Express, it will take only 6 and a half hours,” the CPRO said.

The CPRO said that Asansol being an economic hub in West Bengal, the Vande Bharats will help passengers travelling from these regions to Howrah and to Patna in a short span.

“Asansol is an economic hub. Many steel plants are there, many cement factories are growing up there. People from Patna or Asansol can come to Kolkata or reach Patna in a short span,” he said.

Mitra said that several railway stations have been developed as Amrit Bharat stations with modern facilities. “Many stations have been identified as Amrit Bharat stations. A huge amount has been spent on stations like Asansol, Andal and Bardhaman,” he said. (ANI)

Northern Railways Cancel Over 200 Trains Temporarily Ahead Of G20 Summit

By LokMarg 2nd September 2023

As the national capital gears up for the G20 Summit, Northern Railways has decided to cancel and divert over 200 passenger trains temporarily from September 8 to 11 here, a notification stated on Saturday.

According to the schedule, over 90 trains have been cancelled on September 9. More than 100 passenger trains will be cancelled on September 10 as well. Most of these trains run from Delhi to South Haryana’s Sonipat-Panipat, Rohtak, Rewari, and Palwal routes.

Apart from that, the Delhi-Rewari Express Special and Rewari-Delhi Express Special trains will be cancelled on September 11.

Moreover, several trains prescribed to originate or terminate at the New Delhi railway station during that period will now terminate or originate from Ghaziabad or Hazrat Nizamuddin railway stations.

India will host the G20 Summit on September 9 and 10 in the national capital.

The New Delhi G20 summit will see the “biggest participation” in the history of the grouping with arrangements in place for the mega event including that for the stay of leaders of member countries and the invited guest countries.

The Group of Twenty (G20) comprises 19 countries – Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, US, UK and the European Union.

India has invited Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain and UAE as guest countries for the mega event. (ANI)

Thousands Can’t Be Uprooted Overnight: SC On Eviction In Haldwani

By LokMarg 5th January 2023

Thousands can’t be uprooted overnight, the Supreme Court on Thursday said while putting a stay on the Uttarakhand High Court’s decision ordering the State authorities to remove encroachments from railway land in Haldwani’s Banbhoolpura area.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Abhay S Oka issued notices to the Indian Railways and Uttarakhand government on the pleas.
“There cannot be uprooting of 50,000 people overnight,” said the bench, adding that there has to be segregation of people who have no right on the land and the need for rehabilitation while recognizing the need for railways.

Noting that people are living there for decades, the bench said there should be measures for rehabilitation since the issue involves a human angle.

Posting the case for hearing on February 7, the bench said that it has put to the Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati that full rehabilitation of the persons in the area is needed.

“Issue notice. In the meantime, there shall be a stay of the directions passed in the impugned order. There should also restrain any more construction or development on the land,” said the bench in its order.

During the hearing, the apex court said, “What is troubling us is how do you deal with a situation where people bought the land in the auction and took possession after 1947 and acquired title. You (railways) may acquire the land but what to do now? People live for 60-70 years some rehabilitation has to be done. There must be a culmination to the issue and we do not encourage what is going on.”

ASG Bhati for Indian Railways said that this strip of land belongs to the railways. Their claim is that it is their land, they are not asking for rehabilitation.

The top court said that maybe all of them cannot be painted with the same brush, and there may be different categories. “But there are people for whom a human angle needs to be considered. Someone will have to examine their documents,” it added.

Bhati said that Kathgodam Railway station does not have any space for expansion and there are 4365 unauthorized occupants.

The Uttarakhand High Court had on December 20 ordered the removal of encroachments from railway land in the Banbhoolpura area of Haldwani after giving notice to the residents one week in advance.

Led by Congress MLA from Haldwani, Sumit Hridayesh, residents of the area approached the Supreme Court on Monday challenging the High Court’s order. Another petition was also filed through advocate Prashant Bhushan.

A total of 4,365 encroachments will be removed from the area. Those facing eviction have been living on the land for many decades.

Residents have been protesting against the removal of encroachments from railway land in compliance with a High Court order.

The petition highlighted that the petitioners are poor people who have been lawful residents of Mohalla Nai Basti, Haldwani district for more than 70 years.

The petition stated that the names of local residents are entered in the municipal records of the house tax register and that they have been paying house tax regularly for years.

There are five government schools, one hospital, and two overhead water tanks in the area. It is further stated that “the long settled physical possession of the petitioners and their ancestors, some even prior to the date of Indian independence, has been recognized by State and its agencies and they have been given gas and water connections and even Aadhaar card numbers accepting their residential addresses.” (ANI)

Newly Launched Chatbot Of IRCTC Getting Remarkable Response

By LokMarg 23rd September 2022

The newly launched Chatbot of IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited) is getting remarkable response from the train passengers during the beta launch as over 1 billion people have used it, a senior IRCTC official said.

While talking to ANI, the official said that the new conversational and convenient feature to book railway tickets enables customers to interact with the system via voice, chat and click based system. Additionally, the system requires no passwords and works based on the One Time Password (OTP).
The official also told that the technology is powered by CoRover, a conversational AI Platform which is being used by more than 1 billion users.

“In our constant pursuit to enhance the user experience, leveraging new age technologies, we are today taking a giant leap. Now, passengers can book their train ticket in a conversational manner, leveraging our AI Virtual Assistant, AskDISHA 2.0, powered by CoRover, the Conversational AI platform, used by more than 1 billion users.”

The improved Virtual Assistant, AskDISHA 2.0 has many features like booking tickets, checking PNR status, cancelling tickets, changing boarding station, checking refund status and answering queries like Tatkal timings.

The official further informed that this is a landmark step towards enhancing the passenger experience.

“First time, the users can book ticket without knowing their IRCTC password, it will be possible just with an OTP. AskDISHA 2.0 has also proven to be a very effective instrument and the addition of voice booking and will make it even easier for travellers to plan their trips,” the official added.

The senior official also estimated that at least 25 percent of clients will be switching to this option in the future.

“It is expected that at least 25 per cent of clients will be switching to this option in the future and also attracting new users who want to book their tickets using the conversational tool rather than chatting. In August 2022, AskDISHA has got around 95 lakh queries, which includes booking request, cancellation and more. Also, it had 88% positive feedback with the AI Accuracy rate of 99 per cent,” the official told ANI.

The official further talked about the “Technological Revolution” in the Indian Railways under the current leadership and government.

“It is notable that the Indian Railways, under the leadership of the Minister for Railways and IT have been undergoing a massive technological revolution in pursuance of Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Digital India’, ‘Made in India’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’,” the official further said.

“Under the aegis of the present government, the Indian Railways, being one of the largest rail networks of the world have been achieving new milestones of transformation every day in various spheres for improving the travel experience of the passengers,” the official added.

The new avatar of IRCTC’s chatbot, AskDISHA 2.0, aims to help users get authentic, correct and instant answers to their queries. It will not just save time and enhance the user experience, but will also help them in doing end-to-end real-time transactions, the official said. (ANI)

Cyber Crime I – 'Busting An e-Ticket Racket'

By LokMarg Publishing 3rd October 2018

I knew that change was near, and that nature of crime was going to be transformed with changing technology. Without any official backing, I started to read about cyber crimes. I then pursued professional courses on the subject and today I am a PhD holder. I was also conferred with the Cyber Cop of the Year (2012) award by Data Security Council of India (DSCI) NASSCOM.

Over the past few years, my interest in cyber crime and financial fraud has brought me many digital crime assignments from central agencies and other government bodies. Recently, I busted a gang of software sellers, who helped railway touts book train tickets within a fraction of seconds. Booking train tickets on the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website generally takes several minutes, even with high-speed Internet connections.

Tracking this multi-crore, pan-India racket was a tough job. The software they used bypassed all the security norms put in place by the Central government website. The agents would merely fill in the details of the passengers and the required train, along with the mode of payment and voila… the tickets were booked. An in-depth analysis of the software showed that it provided proxy IP addresses; bypassed IRCTC captcha and bank OTP; allowed forms autofill; and logins with multiple IDs.

The servers were usually based outside India, allowing the users to fraudulently gain unauthorised access to a computer network in contravention of rules and regulations. These software makers were based out of major metro cities and were connected with agents through different WhatsApp groups. It was thus important for us to penetrate their network.

My team also went undercover and one of our team members posed as a customer to see how an agent booked the ticket. And then we followed the electronic trail. Following the crackdown, IRCTC has introduced multiple security features to their website to keep a check on such bookings. But you can never be sure of a foolproof system.

The nature and magnitude of cyber crimes are changing every day. Last month, I arrested four hackers, who booked tickets online from the website of the UP’s State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) without paying up. We managed to figure their modus operandi before they could cause a bigger damage. We found that they were exploiting the vulnerabilities of the online payment system of the UPSRTC website to book counterfeit e-tickets through a software called ‘Burp Suite’. After procuring these free tickets, they would then sell them on WhatsApp and Facebook groups.

Robbers no longer need to enter a bank with guns to steal money, it can happen with just a click of a button. Here, the robber doesn’t have a face, or any record, all we have is a digital footprint. He or She can operate from any part of the world. Most cyber criminals are young and energetic and eager to learn. They know a bit of scripting.

And with a few sessions of hacking tutorials available on the internet, they are ready for the kill. They are learning something new each day, so cops working on cyber crime, need to hone their skills every day. The digital world comes with its own set of banes. While technology has made our lives hassle-free, it has also opened new avenues for thefts and frauds. From withdrawing money through cloned cards to trading vital information on the web, all this is happening in India. Unfortunately, not many in our law enforcement agencies are skilled enough to tackle such crimes.