Railways cancelled almost 9,000 train services this yr, over 1,900 due to coal movement: RTI reply
New Delhi, Jun 5: The Railways cancelled almost 9,000 train services this year, out of which over 1,900 were due to coal movement in the last three months, according to an RTI response.
In a reply to a query under the Right To Information (RTI) Act filed by Chandra Shekhar Gaur, the Railways has said that it cancelled 6,995 train services for maintenance work or for construction purposes, while 1,934 services were cancelled from March to May due to coal movement.
Officials said due to severe shortage of power, the Railways has been forced to prioritise the movement of coal rakes over passenger services.
They also said that the national transporter is on its way to deliver 58 super critical and 68 critical projects worth more than Rs 1,15,000 crore in the next few years, and hence, maintenance as well as construction work is also being carried out as a priority across its network.
However, this has critically affected the movement of passenger trains across the country, especially during the peak summer months.
According to the RTI response, from January to May, the Railways cancelled 3,395 services of mail/express trains, while 3,600 passenger train services were cancelled during the same period due to maintenance reasons or for construction works.
In the peak month of May itself, 1,148 mail/express train services and 2,509 passenger services were cancelled due to maintenance or construction work.
While in January and February, no train services were cancelled due to coal movement, 880 mail/express train services and 1,054 passenger train services were cancelled due to the prioritising of coal rakes in the last three months.
The Railways is also struggling to provide confirmed tickets to passengers due to a shortage in trains, a severe surge in demand for tickets over the last few years and lack of new trains.
According to official figures, in 2021-22, more than 1.60 crore passengers who had bought tickets could not travel because they were being wait-listed, indicating a shortage of trains on busy routes.
Due to the prioritising of coal rakes, the Railways has in fact recorded its best-ever monthly freight loading of 131.6 million tonnes (MT) in May 2022.
The loading of coal to power houses -- both domestic and imported -- has increased by more than 11 MT in May with 52.4 MT coal being moved to power houses as against 41.01 MT last year, registering a 28 per cent growth. Cumulatively, in the first two months of this year, Indian Railways loaded over 18 MT extra coal to power houses as compared to the same period last year with a growth of 24 per cent.
According to the figures, the passenger sector requirement in 2019-2020 was 8.4 billion and the average drop in the waiting list was 8.9 per cent. During the busy season, 13.3 per cent passengers were not able to get confirmed reservations.
With the demand for more number of trains from passengers, the Railways has introduced around 800 new trains in the last six years since the Railway Budget was merged with the General Budget in 2016.
On an average, the Railways operates a little over 11,000 trains per day.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
