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St Thomas Mount station is Chennai’s next big thing in public transport

St Thomas Mount station is set to become the city’s biggest multimodal hub after MGR Central when metro rail’s phase-2 metro rail corridors open. It is here that commuters can switch between two metro rail lines, an MRTS line and suburban network and travel to the core areas and far suburbs. The 47km phase two line of Chennai Metro Rail Ltd (CMRL) from Madhavaram to Sholinganallur via St Thomas Mount, where stoppages for a few incoming express trains could be considered, is expected to be ready in three years. CMRL and railways are planning a double decker corridor with MRTS on the first deck and phase-2 line on the second deck near St Thomas Mount station. The elevated metro line from Madhavaram to Sholinganallur via Alandur will snake into the existing metro station adjacent to St Thomas Mount suburban railway station and while exiting turn left to soar 27 metres over the railway line to reach Adambakkam and on to Sholinganallur. A CMRL official said the 460-metre double decker line, being built by MRTS, between St Thomas Mount and Adambakkam crosses the suburban railway tracks. The two lines will have a common/alternative pier or pillar arrangement as the alignment is the same. This will minimise land acquisition and cut costs. “We will not construct a new station at St Thomas Mount for phase-2,” the official said. Southern Railway chief public relations officer B Guganesan said “MRTS and CMRL viaducts will be made of steel girders with concrete slab when the line crosses the tracks. Piers will be built on either side and the steel girders will be hoisted and installed using a crane.” Concrete slabs will be cast over the steel girders. Tracks will be laid on it. Suburban trains will have to be regulated for the work for five days at a stretch. Tracks have already been barricaded. St Thomas Mount will become an interchange point for commuters from suburbs like Madipakkam, Perumbakkam and OMR, to be linked in phase-2, to reach areas like Velachery and Kotturpuram that are connected by MRTS. Later, when the planned TambaramKilambakkam metro line comes up, MRTS passengers can easily access localities beyond the airport like Tambaram, Vandalur and Kilambakkam. R Ramanathan, former railway and CMRL official, said plans were made for long distance trains to stop at St Thomas Mount suburban station for passengers to switch to metro, MRTS or suburban. “The plan was to allot a oneminute stop for long distance trains. We had planned it like Mambalam and decided to add crossover or turnouts in the suburban station to facilitate the stoppage,” he said. With the phase-2 line coming up, stopping of long distance trains is required more than ever.

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Toy train ride in Darjeeling to become more affordable

The journey through the spectacular mountains of the Himalayas will become more affordable from March as the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) has reduced the fare of the world-famous 'Toy Train' service. The DHR authorities have reduced the fare of the queen of hills Darjeeling's toy train service by up to Rs 200. The authorities took the initiative to attract more tourists. Notably, Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Sanjay Chilvarwar, ADRM, Katihar Division, Northeast Frontier Railway, said that all the fares of the toy train have been drastically reduced. It was told that the chair car fare in the train from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling was Rs 1,600 earlier, now it has been reduced to Rs 1,400. The air-conditioned first-class fare was earlier Rs 1,720, now it has been reduced to Rs 1,500. Similarly, fares have also been cut for Joy ride services of the toy train running between Darjeeling-Ghoom-Darjeeling. The fare of Toy Train with Vistadome Coach with Joy Ride Steam Engine, which was earlier Rs 1,600, has now been reduced to Rs 1,500. DHR administration said that the newly revised fare will be implemented from March 1. Chilvarwar also said that in order to further increase the popularity of the toy train, the DHR will organize a summer festival from March 1 to March 31. The festival will be organized at Siliguri Junction and Kurseong and Darjeeling DHR stations in the Darjeeling Hills region. Cultural programs will be organized under this festival. The DHR authorities are going to include one AC Vistadom coach from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling. In Darjeeling to Ghoom section, all the coaches will be replaced with vistadom coaches instead of normal coaches.

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Delhi-Katra Expressway to reduce travel time to Mata Vaishno Devi by 5 hours

The Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir's Katra is visited by lakhs of pilgrims every year. Several devotees also travel to Katra from Delhi via road. Now, the distance between Delhi and Katra which is 727 km will be reduced to 588 km and the travel time will also reduce by 5 hours. The Delhi-Katra expressway would reduce the travel time between Delhi and Katra to six and a half hours Katra, Jammu, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Kapurthala and Jalandhar are some important cities to be covered by this corridor The Delhi-Katra expressway is anticipated to be completed by 2023 The key factor about this corridor is that it will connect holy cities, Katra and Amritsar The projected cost of the project is Rs 35,000 crore. The widening of the national highway between Jammu and Pathankot, which will be upgraded to a six-way lane from a four-way lane, is currently underway to ease the route for travellers between Jammu, Katra and Pathankot. Approval for the corridor came in with the announcement for several other government projects Initially, plans for the corridor were set in motion back in 2018 It is being referred to as a “path-breaking revolution in promoting industry and investments in the entire region.” It is being stated that the corridor will catalyse the exponential growth of economic centres in cities like Jammu and Katra.

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SpiceJet introduces six new flights connecting key metros with Bangkok

SpiceJet, India’s favourite airline, today announced the launch of six new international flights to Bangkok enhancing connectivity between India and Thailand under the air bubble agreement. The airline will introduce daily direct flights connecting Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata with the Thai capital. The new flights will commence operations from 10th March, 2022 in a phased manner. Shilpa Bhatia, Chief Commercial Officer, SpiceJet said, “We are delighted to launch new flights connecting Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata with Bangkok. The Thai Capital has always been among the top picks for leisure travellers and a favourite international destination for SpiceJet passengers. With international leisure travel picking up again, we expect our new flights to do very well.” SpiceJet will be deploying its Boeing 737 aircraft on these routes. Bookings are now open on www.spicejet.com, SpiceJet’s mobile app and through online travel portals and travel agents.

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Thailand To Ease Test & Go Requirements on March 1

Beginning March 1, 2022, Thailand’s quarantine-free entry program, Test & Go, will be even easier. While travelers will still be required to provide proof of full vaccination or recovery as well as a negative PCR test result completed no more than 72 hours prior to entering Thailand, all travelers from any country will now be able to enter via the Test & Go program. Travelers entering by land and air must apply for entry via the Thailand Pass system, while water arrivals must apply for a Certificate of Entry. Air and land travelers do not need to be quarantined, but on the first day of travel must wait for a negative COVID-19 test result within a SHA Extra Plus approved facility. On the fifth day of entering Thailand, travelers must test themselves again and upload their results via the Test & Go app. Travelers must also provide proof of pre-paid accommodation for at least one night in a government-approved accommodation, including SHA Extra Plus accommodations. This is lower than the previous rules, which required two nights of prepaid accommodations. Travelers are also required to bring along proof of an insurance policy with coverage no less than $20,000, down from the current requirement of $50,000. The Test & Go program was restarted in 2022 on February 1, after a period of time when the country closed to quarantine-free travel due to the Omicron variant.

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Delhi all set to build India’s first ever e-waste eco-park

In a bid to boost tourism, the Delhi government has decided to build India’s first ever e-waste eco-park. The announcement was made on Thursday by Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. He said that soon Delhi will be home to the "country's first" e-waste eco-park which will take care of rising e-waste. Addressing a press conference, Sisodia said, "Two important decisions have been taken in the cabinet meeting. The first decision pertains to e-waste park. As the use of electronic gazettes is increasing, e-waste is also increasing. Its management system is not there yet. Delhi government will set up the country's first e-waste eco-park, where recycling, re-manufacturing work will be done." He further said that the park will be constructed on 20 acres of land to take care of Delhi’s 2 lakh tonnes of e-waste which is produced annually. In addition to this, the government will also introduce the Delhi Film Policy 2022 for tourism purposes. The minister further stated, "We'll bring Film policy 2022 for better branding of Delhi and associate our residents through films. ₹50 crore film fund will be introduced to support film producers. This will be India's most progressive Film Policy, aiming to create jobs and boost the economy." Highlighting the objective behind the film policy, he said that the government of Delhi has already approved the Delhi Film Policy 2022 which has four prime objectives: 1) Job creation 2) Association of the people of Delhi with the policy 3) Make Delhi a prime shooting location brand 4) And transforming the National Capital into a hub for the production of domestic and international cinemas The minister has also announced the subsidy of up to INR 3 crore for the movies made in Delhi.

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