Transportation

On August 15, 2005 Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had announced his government's decision to take the rickshaws off the streets as it was an "inhuman" practice. Subsequently a Bill was introduced in the State Assembly seeking amendments to the Calcutta Hackney-Carriage Act of 1919 with the purpose of phasing out rickshaws.

"Although there are less than 6,000 registered rickshaws on the streets of Kolkata, the decision affects the livelihood of over 20,000 persons as the same rickshaws are used in shifts. Additionally, there are owners and supervisors who depend on them," Avijit Mukherjee, an activist of Calcutta Samaritans, an organisation that has been fighting for their cause.

After the Act was amended, the Kolkata Police and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) stopped renewing licenses that used to be given to the owners and the rickshaw pullers, rendering their services illegal, he added.

Officials of the KMC and Kolkata Police confirmed that the issuing of licenses to hand-pulled rickshaws had been suspended after the Calcutta Hackney-Carriage Act was amended.

The rickshaws, often represented as an iconic symbol of the city, continue to ply on the streets, but rickshaw pullers complain about harassment by the city police, when they are unable to produce the licenses.

Source: The Hindu By Ananya Dutta Five years after ban, Kolkata rickshaw pullers yet to be rehabilitated

Chief ministerBuddhadeb Bhattacharjee announced that the transport workers will get pension once they complete
60 years and will get several other benefits including compensation if they become paralyzed or lose their vision in any accident or due to illness.

The government has set up a welfare fund for this, said state labour minister Anadi Sahu.

Ms Banerjee informed this while laying the foundation stone for 'Rabindra Museum' opposit Howrah station near here.

The foundation stone was laid by Ms Banerjee to commemorate the death anniversary of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

"Scores of people travel from one part of the country to another during the time of Durga puja and these new trains will bear the rush of extra passengers and make their journey smooth," Ms Banerjee observed.

Taking exception to blockade on Railway tracks on 'petty issues', she said such things came in the way of movement of trains resulting in the economic loss.

She also advocated for withdrawal of all sorts of transport strikes, including the proposed three-day shut down called by transport operators here from August 10.

Source: newkerala.com 75 pairs of new trains during Durga puja: Mamata

But there will not be any reduction in the retail price of diesel, which is Rs 39.94 per litre. The subsidy can be availed of only by owners of buses, mini-buses and taxis.  

After tabling The West Bengal Appropriation (No. 2) Bill 2010 in the Assembly today, finance minister Mr Asim Dasgupta said the subsidy would be operative from 1 August. Mr Dasgupta said the move would cost the state government Rs 110 crore annually.

Bus, mini-bus and taxi operators will purchase diesel at the retail price and the amount will be reimbursed by the state government every month.

Mr Dasgupta said it has been found  that buses and mini-buses consume 50 to 60 litres of diesel per day and taxis consume 20 litres per day. The government will deposit the subsidy in the bank accounts of the bus, mini-bus and taxi operators every month. This apart, the state government will provide a subsidy of Rs 50 crore on kerosene. There will be some reduction in the price of kerosene but the exact amount will be announced later, said Mr Dasgupta.

Source: The Statesman Subsidy for transporters

A meeting was held during the day between Transport Minister Ranjit Kundu and senior transport department officials on the one hand and bus and taxi operators on the other in the minister's Writers' Buildings chamber.

"We have told them that we cannot go in for a fare hike right now. The state government has borne part of the burden of the petro-product hike by announcing a diesel subsidy. The operators, too, will have to bear some of the burden. They will not have to close shop if they do so," Kundu said after the meeting.

However, the bus operators claimed that it was due to political compulsions that the state government was refusing to increase fares.

"We are going to meet on Thursday and take a decision.

But the fares have to be increased; otherwise we will opt for a bigger agitation," Bengal Bus Syndicate President Swarnakamal Saha warned after the meeting with the minister.

Kundu pointed out at the meeting that the state government had already announced a Rs 1 per litre diesel subsidy, which would reduced the burden on bus and taxi owners.

Source: The Indian Express Govt refuses to hike transport fares

Duronto is a new concept in rapid passenger movement which came 41 years after the Rajdhani Express revolutionised train services between Delhi and major cities, she said adding the new multi-colour trains between metros were faster than the red and yellow locomotives.

Duronto is a new concept in rapid passenger movement which came 41 years after the Rajdhani Express revolutionised train services between Delhi and major cities, she said adding the new multi-colour trains between metros were faster than the red and yellow locomotives.

The legend of every grand metropolis is consecrated in one iconic symbol. If the Statue of Liberty upholds a New Yorker's dream, the fountains of Trafalgar Square recalls the empire. Likewise, Kolkata's tram epitomises the laid-back nature of this erstwhile British capital.

These slow-moving electric reptiles have been rumbling down the streets of Kolkata for 137 years. They have witnessed the golden decades of this heritage city since its formal inception back in 1873.

Tram services were withdrawn soon after induction due to lack of patronage, but were reintroduced in 1880 by the then British government which formally launched the Calcutta Tramways Company Limited (CTC) as a registered joint stock company at London.

Kolkata is the only Indian city which has an electric tram network. Over the years, the tram has undergone a series of transformations. Horses have given way to electricity.

Source: Gulf News Kolkata's vintage trams on track for a makeover

The apex court verdict was delivered by a bench of Justices R.V. Raveendran and P. Sathasivam Monday, upholding the West Bengal State Transport Authority's power to deny permits or curtail routes of stage carriage buses.

The authority refused to accept permit applications for two bus routes -- one between Dhulian Bazar to Kolkata via Raghunathganj and Barasat and another from Raghunathganj to Kolkata via Barasat - filed in 1997 and 1998 and instead, offered permits for curtailed bus routes from Dhulian Bazar to Barasat, and Raghunathganj to Barasat respectively in a bid to prevent the buses from entering Kolkata.

The decision was challenged in the Calcutta High Court. The high court asked the authority to consider applications afresh as the refusal letters did not give any grounds for rejecting them.

The authority lost the case before a division bench of the high court.

Source: Sify.com Court okays curbs on buses in Kolkata

"Today (Tuesday) we had a meeting with the transport minister and have placed our demand. The state government has to either increase the bus fares or slash the taxes it has imposed on diesel. We have given 10 days' time to him to decide," Trinamool Congress legislator and Bengal Bus Syndicate president Swarnokamal Saha said.

"If it doesn't happen, we will take the necessary action," he said.

"We have given the estimation of price escalation to the transport minister and have told him to fix the price based on that. He has asked for 10 days," said Sadhan Das of the Joint Council of Bus Syndicate.

"The monthly expenditure for running the buses has increased to a large extent," Das said.

The central government Friday agreed to decontrol the price of petrol, which meant an increase of at least Rs.3.50 per litre in most metro cities. It also hiked the prices of diesel by Rs.2 a litre, kerosene by Rs.3 a litre and cooking gas by Rs.35 per cylinder.

The near Rs 2 rise in diesel prices this time round may lead to a rise of at least Rs 2 in bus fare in Kolkata, a Rs 4-5 rise in taxi fare and a clear jump of anything between Rs 3000 and Rs 4,500 in truck freight charges depending on the route.

Transporters have appealed for a 'pricing mechanism' to determine the increase or decrease in fares. "Put eminent economists in a panel to find a formula for dealing with international crude oil price fluctuations. So far, it is political whim that determines the fare, which, more often than not, is unfair. Let there be a transparent and fair system of calculating fuel and fare hikes, said a bus owner.

Transport secretary Sumanta Choudhury said: "A decision on reducing sales tax on diesel needs to be taken collectively by the government and various departments. The decision on raising bus and taxi fares also needs to be taken collectively with stake holders.

Source: Times Of India Brace for steep taxi, bus fare hikes

E-ticket booking facilities for trains will now remain open for 23 hours a day. Computers will remain shut for just an hour from 11.30 pm to 00.30 am for enabling date change.

Currently, e-ticketing facilities are unavailable from 11.30 pm to 5 am. Given the time difference, booking facilities for rail travel in India remains unaccessible for a major part of the day for residents of countries like the UK and the US.
The extended timing for e-ticketing will be implemented this month, a ministry official said. From 1.99 lakh bookings in 2002-03, e-ticketing has marked an exponential growth over the years. During 2009-10, e-ticket bookings touched a figure of 719.60 lakh.

The concept of e-ticketing became a runaway hit after May 2008, when the Railways permitted the purchase of wait-listed e-tickets. E-tickets comprise approximately 22 per cent of the total reserved ticketing of the Indian Railways.

Officials believe, with the extended hours, e-ticketing growth will witness another surge as domestic travellers too will get attracted to use the facility.

The Railways are also tweaking procedures to ensure that the facility does not get restricted to one section of passengers.

For addressing this lacuna, student identity cards (with photograph) and passbook holders from nationalised banks (with photographs) will also be treated as authorised documents for train travel on e-tickets.

Fresh directives in the regard will be issued this month, officials said.

These are among the 300 AC buses that the state government had ordered under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme. While Volvo has already supplied its quota of 60 buses, Tata Motors will begin delivering its order only now. The state had also placed an order for 1,000 non-AC buses with Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland for plying in Kolkata and Asansol.

"We are ready to commence delivery of AC buses. Currently, drivers who will be operating the buses are being trained. We will hand over the first lot of 12 buses by the end of this week," a Tata Motors official told TOI. Over the next couple of months, Tata MarcoPolo Motors will deliver the remaining AC buses in batches of 12 to 15 buses and expects to complete delivery of all 240 buses by July 2010.

The low-floor buses, with a floor height of 400 mm and 35 seats, are fitted with 240 HP electronic Cummins engine . The buses will also sport automatic transmission which will reduce driver fatigue. The buses will have pneumatic suspension at the front and rear to provide a smooth ride over bumps and potholes. The buses are also fitted with pneumatic doors and passenger information system.

Source: Times Of India By Subhro Niyogi Tata drives out with AC buses on city roads

The farcical driving-licence test conducted by the Alipore RTO (route transport office) on Penn Road every Wednesday has gone from sham to strict within two weeks of a Metro exposé on how back-seat driving could get you a licence to kill.

Metro parked itself on Penn Road this Wednesday for a repeat test that revealed a "reformed" licence regime. Spot the difference...

What we saw
April 28: A trainer from a motor training school is at the wheel, a group of applicants are bunched in the back seat and the motor vehicles inspector is missing in action. The driver takes the car 100 metres down a low-traffic stretch and the applicants at the back are asked to watch him. Test over. Success rate: 100 per cent.

May 12: Candidates listed for the licence test start converging on Penn Road around noon in cars belonging to various motor training schools. The names emblazoned on the cars look familiar. The inspector, who arrives at 1.15pm, looks familiar as well. Only his shades are missing, replaced by a pair of glasses.

As soon as the inspector signals he is ready, the 100-strong contingent is divided into groups of four. The groups are asked to get into four cars parked in a straight line. Three applicants each get into the back of every car and one takes the driver's seat.

At 1.25pm, the convoy starts moving with the inspector in the front passenger's seat of the first vehicle. All four candidates in the car take turns to drive, the inspector watching their every move. The inspector then gets into the next car as the convoy enters Belvedere Road. By the time the convoy returns to Penn Road, all 16 applicants have been at the wheel.

.What we heard
April 28: "Shouldn't I drive?" asks a bewildered candidate on being told to sit at the back. "You all carefully watch how I drive. Otatei kaaj hoye jabe," retorts the driver from the motor training school.

Source: The Telegraph By Rith Basu Change Drives In: licence Test Goes From Farce To Foolproof In Two Weeks

With the Railways reportedly sitting on the prestigious East-West Metro Corridor project, the state Transport department now plans to take up the matter with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to urge him to bring the issue to the notice of the Central government.

A joint venture of the Centre and the state, the Rs 4,874-crore project would help connect Kolkata and Howrah through a tunnel under the Bhagirathi.

Six months ago, the state Transport department had sought permission from the Railways to dig land for constructing the station near the banks of Bhagirathi, some 30-odd ft beneath platform numbers 15 and 16 of the Howrah station. Even as several letters have been sent to the Railways, the reply is awaited, it is learnt.

"If work is not started now, it will cause us immense loss and the project cost will also escalate," said a Transport department official.

The official also claimed that posters had appeared on the walls of shops and houses of Bowbazar, urging residents not to give up their lands for the project.

"If this project is also stalled, it will be a matter of shame for the state," the official said.

Minister for Transport Ranjit Kundu said: "If the Railways continue with this kind of attitude, it will be a disaster for the state. I will urge the Chief Minister to take up the issue with the Centre and, if needed, even talk to Mamata Banejee to get the roadblock cleared." Union Minister for Railways Mamata Banerjee had earlier suggested that the project be transferred from the Ministry of Urban development to the Railways.