No plans to merge  "Indian Railways"

    Referring to various railway projects, said the projects are sanctioned Zonal Railway-wise and not State-wise, as Indian Railway's projects may span across state boundaries.

The government has no proposal under its consideration for the merger of  the Indian Railways, the government was informed on Wednesday. Union Minister of State for Railways is a corporation (public sector unit) and the central government has always been helping it.

At present, there is no proposal to merge  the Indian Railways, he said during Question Hour.

The Railway connects Mumbai with Mangalore. The 741kilometre line passes through Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka along the western coast.

Referring to various railway projects, the projects are sanctioned Zonal Railway wise and not State wise, as Indian Railway projects may span across state boundaries.

However, as on April 1, 2021, 35 projects (16 New Line, 2 Gauge Conversion and 17 Doubling) costing Rs91,137 crore for 6,142 km length falling fully or partly in Maharashtra are under different stages of planning or approval or execution, out of which 906 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs18,008 crore incurred up to March 2021, he said.

High speed Wi-Fi internet facility now available at 6,100 railway stations: Rail tel.

   The high speed free Wi-Fi internet facility is now available at 6,100 railway stations across the country, Rail tel said on Tuesday.6,100 stations with Wi-Fi coverage was reached today (Tuesday) with the commissioning of Wi-Fi facility at railway station  UP in Lucknow Division of Northern Railway, the statement by Rail tel noted.

Rail tel, a PSU under the Ministry of Railways, said it is close to expanding this coverage to all stations -- except the halt stations -- in the country.6,100 stations, more than 5,000 stations are in rural areas, it said.

   The project of providing free Wi-Fi internet facility at stations was envisaged in the Railway budget of 2015, it noted.

    Indian Railways shuns use of diesel for lighting up and cooling coaches

    The Railways  completed its transition from diesel for meeting its electricity requirement inside coaches. According to officials in the know, this will result in a Rs3854 crores per annum. The electricity being transmitted on the overhead cables will now be used for illumination and air conditioning needs inside trains.1586 trains (992 rakes) from End On Generation (EOG) to Head On Generation (HOG).

  This move will result in a reduction of CO2 emissions to the tune of nearly 5.8 lakh tonnes per year, Rs3854 crores per annum in terms of saving of costly imported diesel, Executive Director (Information and Publicity) told ET. This becomes even more relevant in the present scenario when the prices of oil are expected to skyrocket globally due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, he added.

   The EOG systems use diesel to power generators that generate electricity required for lighting and air conditioning inside trains. The HOG uses draws power supply from the over head cables, converts it and then transmits the electricity for using inside the trains.

   This transition had being implemented in 2018 and was completed in February 2022.

   The total cost of the system was just Rs60 crores and the system is indigenous.

   This transition comes at a time when domestic bulk diesel prices have been hiked by Rs25  in line with global cues. While the diesel used by the Railways