Mass Rapid Transit in India

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 10 Jan 2016 09:33

I had the same question as Kashi, then I realized there must be some deep reason why both the bridges spanning Hooghly are cantilever ones. Soil condition and flow rate could be one and the depth required for piling works. Not a civil engineer to know the exact technical reasons. There is also the barge traffic. Building another span across the river would make it expensive too with space for river traffic below.

Kashi · Post by **Kashi** » 10 Jan 2016 10:25

Rohit_K wrote:Kashi - The metro line on either side of the river is is underground with no space to build a ramp to make it elevated.

Tunneling 450m can take anywhere from 2-6 months for each tunnel. Constructing a bridge will take more time.

Ok..that makes sense, plus as Bade pointed out, Hooghly being a navigable river, river traffic considerations are also important.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 10 Jan 2016 18:17

Both sides of the Hooghly at that region are extremely congested. So LA for a bridge will be a big headache. We need multiple bridges
across the river connecting Kolkata but we have only three due to the problem of LA as it is heavily congested.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 10 Jan 2016 19:16

Another beautiful snap I could not resist from posting. I hope to see ten times this distance for Kochi metro replicated in pillars and girders for a HSRL connecting at least the two major cities and what a view it will be to ride it.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 10 Jan 2016 20:32

^bade saar!.. the beauty is naat the concrete structures but the kochi landscape.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 10 Jan 2016 21:17

Regarding the Kochi metro - do they have any plans to redevelop the road below with standard width and other stuff like proper pavements, etc.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 10 Jan 2016 21:25

^^ The segment above in the picture is part of NH-47 so I guess it will be. In the proper city roads I believe KMRL has plans to replace the surface and pavements, but there they are too narrow and not redeemable. Going forward any new construction (replacement for old structures) will have to be have proper setbacks for street parking etc. It is quite a mess in Kochi inner areas.

The other point I was trying to make is when a HSR gets built the look and feel will be similar to that stretch on NH-47. Maybe the concrete structures will have to be double pillars for better structural integrity to deal with the extra stress. Some one better qualified can comment. In any case this is how it will look and the usual naysayers in the state gets a model metro structure to look at to get a peek into the future for a state wide elevated HSR line. That will be the true mass rapid transit for a state with the greatest urban sprawl spanning its entire length along the coast.

Prasad · Post by **Prasad** » 10 Jan 2016 22:05

All I see is one gigantic heat sponge

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 10 Jan 2016 22:28

When one has 20-30% of a city surface in roads and concrete pavements (like Houston) then it will be a gigantic heat sponge. Not with an elevated line made of concrete. In reality the well planned wider roads and paved sidewalks everywhere in major cities of the world become heat islands from the diurnal heating...Bangalore may get there, if not the entire city just the over-developed parts nearer to ORR. For cities like Kochi, they are far from that scenario...the state wide sprawl comes as a blessing IMO. The immediate job is to provide for the arteries (preferably rail) to unclog them before it gets out of hand. If that does not get done in a short time frame, then people will flock to inner city areas where jobs are and all those green tops in that pretty picture will be replaced with tall concrete structures. It is happening but need to moderate it with lower density and separation, but for that the arteries need to be built first, so people stay put and dispersed.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 10 Jan 2016 22:39

pathetic are planners who would like to cut legs to fit their shoes. that is where they play and make money too. we all know about it. @EoD, it is a question of what is my share in making money.. rather which minds and hearts makes feel good by breathing quality air, greenery or health facilities.

MRT doesn't necessarily mean slamming layers of concrete over one another.. but then, well at least the $h!t would be all in one places.. some tradeoff! tropical zones must pay attention to concretizing, how much of greenery can be housed on top of these structures... for example, a coconut/palm pod every 50' is not a bad idea too over these concrete structures.. hanging gardens is another thought.

Prasad · Post by **Prasad** » 10 Jan 2016 23:05

Badeji,
The reason I said so is, the flyover to bial acts like one. If you've ever driven underneath it, especially at night, the moment you turn off from the road below to one of the sie roads, the temperature drops markedly.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 10 Jan 2016 23:31

Some measures to ameliorate that can be done. Growing creepers is one. One could in principle cover the whole route with a solar paneled rooftop, though it would look butt-ugly too.

In any case, the road surface below is wider and will radiate more heat, especially when concreted.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 10 Jan 2016 23:50

see, when gujjus put solar panel on their canal top it made sense because it was evaporating the canal bed.. so good. here growing creepers are a fine idea, and KL is full of creepers.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 10 Jan 2016 23:57

The low profile ivy creepers (or their equivalent) are good for the pillars it also hides the effects of humidity from plain sight and has a more aesthetic value too. But one cannot have creepers near the track bed. I am yet to see posters on the pillars...which is great progress considering the ugly billboards and 'vendakka aksharam' advertisements on all public and private walls these days to ward off bill posters from using them as free space. One ugly thing is replaced with another ugly thing which earns some money for the owner.

Rohit_K · Post by **Rohit_K** » 11 Jan 2016 06:30

True that. In Hyderabad, the ruling party has taken over all metro pillars for the upcoming GHMC elections. I do not believe they took HMR's permission.

http://i.imgur.com/luXzTEv.png

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 11 Jan 2016 06:31

billboards are a useful nuisance all over the planet. as long as they aid in increasing green space, make it so.

creepers will creep into wherever they have a hold to, and can see sun. it is however easy to train them.

Rohit_K · Post by **Rohit_K** » 12 Jan 2016 09:20

Your Cell Phone May Not Work in Bangalore Metro Tunnels

BENGALURU: With the Phase-I of Namma Metro heading towards a June 2016 launch deadline, an aspect that is going to hit commuters is that no facilities have been made for mobile connectivity for the entire underground corridor. The underground section that involves seven Metro stations covers 8.8 km of the 42.3-km Phase-I network.

What this means is that as a Metro train chugs from the elevated tracks onto the underground tracks, 60 feet below the ground level, network will lose connectivity.

Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola conceded that no infrastructure has been put in place for telecom connectivity. “Our priority is on completing the underground tunnel. Our focus is only on that now. Other amenities will be incorporated later,” he said.

When asked about how the infrastructure could be put in place after Metro gets functional in the corridor, he said telecom providers could be allowed to put in place infrastructure like laying of cables in the corridor in the night and early morning when Metro trains are not running. Temporary arrangements could be set up Kharola added.

General Manager (Finance) and Chief Public Relations Officer BMRCL, U A Vasant Rao said, “Our technical team is working towards providing mobile connectivity.” As of now, the nearly 1,500-strong workforce working in the underground corridors face a total cut-off from contact with the outside world when they go down to work.

“The need to provide mobile connectivity for the underground stations was discussed years ago and tenders were meant to be called long ago to choose telecom providers,” an official said. But it appears the process has been delayed.

Rohit_K · Post by **Rohit_K** » 12 Jan 2016 09:23

Odd-even days help Metro rake in moolah from NCR

New Delhi: Delhi Metro seems to be emerging as the top choice for NCR commuters. Over the past week of the odd-even scheme, stations in the NCR saw a hike in the ridership, some by as much as 52%. "The percentage increase in the ridership from these stations is around 9.3%," said a Delhi Metro spokesman. Noida Sector 18 station saw a rise of 52.85%.

Botanical Garden, located in Uttar Pradesh, saw a hike of 31.70%, while the stations on the newly opened Badarpur to Faridabad corridor witnessed an average increase of 10 to 15%. The ridership from the NCR stations has been consistently high in the past week. From 4.4 lakh passengers on January 4 to somewhere between 3.9 and 4.1 lakh since then, Delhi Metro has been ferrying more passengers since the odd-even scheme started.

The stations, 22 in total, are located in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. However, of these, three have also seen a decline. These are Vaishali, Kaushambhi and Escorts Mujesar. The drop in the ridership in these stations is six to 15%, with Kaushambhi station witnessing a decrease of 15.79%. The drop is interesting considering both Vaishali and Kaushambhi stations witnessed a healthy ridership on regular days. For instance, the ridership on December 30-a working day-at Vaishali was 45,241, whereas it was only 35,994 on January 5, another working day.

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has been running 70 extra trips-30 on the Airport Express line-for the duration of the odd-even scheme since January 1.

Rohit_K · Post by **Rohit_K** » 12 Jan 2016 09:25

Bangalore Metro's January Newsletter has been published:
http://www.bmrc.co.in/pdf/news/Jan2016.pdf

TMRG has posted his analysis here: Bangalore Metro – January 2016 Tunneling Update

excerpt:

Like the month of November, in December – apart from TBM Godavari making solid progress, the rest 2 TBMs (Kaveri & Krishna) have made very little progress. If TBM Krishna is to take the same amount of time as TBM Kaveri to tunnel the parallel tunnel, then in all likelihood, tunneling on Phase 1’s underground section will only be completed by early to mid 2017. After taking into account the time it takes to lay the track bed, install electrical/signalling equipment, perform tests and have the line inspected, the entire 1st Phase of Bangalore’s Metro is most likely to be completely operational only by the end of 2017.

Rohit_K · Post by **Rohit_K** » 12 Jan 2016 09:28

No details, just a sentence from a speech that has turned into a headline:

KTR: Hyderabad Metro Rail to be extended by 200 km

A few pages ago, he had announced a 83 km Phase 2, so either this is pre-election BS or they're cooking a grander plan.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 14 Jan 2016 02:38

Actually every A class city in India can easily be designed to go 1000 km average route distance per city.

Kashi · Post by **Kashi** » 16 Jan 2016 17:14

With the odd-even rule coming in, perhaps this would be a good time to overhaul the Delhi Ring Railway system. Overhauling the mindset of folks taking those trains will be a different challenge altogether.

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 21 Jan 2016 19:54

Not in India, but Indians should participate:

Is Hyperloop the future of high-speed travel?

Out of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.
Media captionWATCH: Is Hyperloop the future of inter-city travel?

"Yeehaw!" cries the rocket-engineer as he drives the all-terrain buggy hard over the rocks and scrub of the Nevada Desert.

With his big hat and moustache, he looks like a cowboy riding out over his territory.

The chap in the borrowed bright-orange quilted jacket, hanging on for dear life in the back, looks less at home. That's me.

I had expected cold weather, but not the chill of hurtling through desert air at 6C in fog and rain.

The excitingly named Brogan BamBrogan - yes, he changed it; no, I didn't ask why - is taking me on the very first tour of 50 acres (0.2 sq km) of desert that will, in the next year, become a test track for the Hyperloop.

Originally conceived by Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk, Hyperloop is an idea of colossal ambition and science-fiction proportions.

Passengers and freight will sit in pods propelled at high speed from city to city, inside low-pressure tubes on stilts above the landscape.
Image caption Travel in the Hyperloop could reach speeds of 700mph

"It will have a top speed of over 1,000km/h [620mph]," Mr BamBrogan shouts over the engine.

"We will use the pillars to even out the bumps in the terrain so people don't feel weird."

The buggy bounces over a rock and whisks past the 20 massive tubes already on site, and I find what concerns me is not the technical challenge.

I can absolutely believe the skills Hyperloop Technologies has brought in from the likes of SpaceX could crack the science, overcome the air resistance, and withstand the acceleration - it will be gentle.

What my mind, lacking as it does the ambition, faith and blue-sky thinking of some of Hyperloop's backers and directors, cannot envision, is that within the next decade or so we could see the beginnings of something so radical that it would transform the landscape.

"This is a big deal," I call back, "an entirely new form of transport. Do you think it will ever come off?"

Mr BamBrogan replies: "It will absolutely come off.

"This is the first generation that has not seen a new form of transport.

"People over the years have seen advancements, and it has changed their lives."

Analysis: Prof David Bailey, Aston Business School

There are big barriers to doing this - would people really want to get inside a vacuum tube and be propelled at up to 700mph?

It doesn't sound very comfortable.

Given the time you would need to accelerate to 700mph and back to stationary, you would have to have quite a gap in-between the pods to make it safe.

I would question whether you could get the throughput of people Hyperoloop suggests.

But mostly I think my concern is over the cost of it.

The cost of putting anything on pylons or stilts is expensive.

And the thought of building that across California sounds very expensive indeed to me.

Of course, I would love to see it happen and be proved wrong.

Yes, but each leap forward in transportation has cost.

Hyperloop Technologies has secured $37m (£26m) in funding.

But the initial proposed track from Los Angeles to San Francisco has been estimated at costing $8bn (£5.6bn).

And it will need a lot of buy-in from any government that fancies a Hyperloop in its country.

"The regulatory side is a key part," one of the cofounders tells me later.
Image caption A prototype Hyperloop is being built in the Nevada desert

Shervin Pishevar is no stranger to ripping up the transport rulebook.

He was one of Uber's first backers and says even though the regulators tried to shut Uber down, "people basically forced it open again, because they wanted these types of solutions".

Of course apping-up taxis on existing infrastructure has immediate public appeal.

Tubing-up thousands of miles of land at massive cost might not invoke so much people power.

Still, $37m buys you a lot of pipe.

And the one I am now standing inside will be connected to 199 others by the end of this year to form the 3km (1.9 mile) Nevada test track.

"Welcome to the Hyperloop!" I shout for the camera.

And the acoustics cause my voice to reverberate along the tube.

It sounds futuristic, and, therefore, makes great TV.

Let's just hope Hyperloop can be more than just a pipedream.

Vriksh · Post by **Vriksh** » 24 Jan 2016 06:52

X-Posted from Smart City Ideas Thread.

Using aerial ropeways for point to point transport. Authorities can mandate/allow real estate industry to construct buildings such that buildings can incorporate a Ropeway by extending pillars above buildling terrace thereby creating support pylons for the ropeway and in some instances create the ability to operate privately owned rooftop ropeway stations. This will allow private operators to string together routes.

People can then travel to work by taking the elevator to terrace and then taking the terrace top ropeway network to destinations. Will freeup roads for heavy transport and will probably be far far cheaper and promises faster more predictable transport.

http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2011/01/ ... sport.html

http://www.doppelmayr.com/en/applications/urban/

member_29172 · Post by **member_29172** » 24 Jan 2016 07:10

Vriksh wrote:X-Posted from Smart City Ideas Thread.

Using aerial ropeways for point to point transport. Authorities can mandate/allow real estate industry to construct buildings such that buildings can incorporate a Ropeway by extending pillars above buildling terrace thereby creating support pylons for the ropeway and in some instances create the ability to operate privately owned rooftop ropeway stations. This will allow private operators to string together routes.

People can then travel to work by taking the elevator to terrace and then taking the terrace top ropeway network to destinations. Will freeup roads for heavy transport and will probably be far far cheaper and promises faster more predictable transport.

overhead cables are hardly attractive and a pain to maintain and renew. A better idea would be a train that connects all buildings underground. Or it can be tried for various branches of a company or facility.

For example Hospital A have 3 branches in the city - A1 (original building A), A2 (10 km apart), A3 (20 km apart). A dedicated train like facility can transport patients and staff and equipments to one place to another. It also avoids the traffic above.
Expanding on that, just like trains have their stations, these hospitals can have their little stations along every 1 km. An accident victim or stroke victim can be brought here and directly transported to any of the hospitals that choose to participate in this transportation scheme.

Vriksh · Post by **Vriksh** » 24 Jan 2016 08:12

@above

Cost, permissions and time of setting up a UG track is perhaps 5-10 times more than road transport. The idea that you can link up each point to another point by UG railway is phenomenally expensive and impractical.

Aerial ropeways are perhaps the cheapest form of transport since land acquisition costs are negligible spans of > 1 KM are common, energy costs are low since a universal motor hauls all the load at high efficiency and since it is a continuous system the uphill downhill load balance makes it very very energy efficient.

Ropeways have been used to transport skiers up slopes worldwide and have been designed with very good aesthetics, low noise and high reliability. Many cities have implemented ropeways for urban transport.
http://www.doppelmayr.com/en/applications/urban/

Check out specifications of material transport Ropeways called RopeCon which can transport 600 tons/hr (=60x10 ton trucks @15 KW engine = 60*15 = 900 KW ) with an motor or engine of 30 KW nearly 30 times less energy.

http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2011/01/ ... sport.html
http://www.doppelmayr.com/en/products/ropeconR/

though ropeways are most efficient in hilly regions, they may be quite practical in Urban areas where land acquisition costs are high and space is a premium. Ropeways can get around right of way limitations much more easily.

Rohit_K · Post by **Rohit_K** » 26 Jan 2016 09:35

Recent updates from diff sources:

Ahmedabad
Gujarat CM Lays Foundation Stone For Ahmedabad Metro’s Line 2

MEGA Invites Tenders to Procure 96 Coaches for Ahmedabad Metro

Bangalore
Metro phase-2 on track as land acquisition begins

Metro proposes two-wheelers on hire for last-mile connectivity

Chennai
Next stretch (Airport-Little Mount) of Metro Rail to be operational in six months

Chennai Metro – January 2016 Tunneling Update

Delhi
TBM Shields Lowered for Delhi Metro’s Pink Line at RKP

Delhi Metro Completes Pushing Truss Bridge at Punjabi Bagh

Delhi Metro’s TBM Starts Tunneling from Chirag Delhi to GK

Delhi Metro TBM Makes 2nd Breakthrough at Sarojini Nagar

Kochi
Video of Kochi Metro’s First Test Run at Muttom Depot

Kolkata
BEML Awarded Rolling Stock Contract for Kolkata’s EW Line

Lucknow
[Pics] Lucknow Metro’s Construction at Singar Nagar

Mumbai
DMRC Invites Bids for Mumbai Metro’s Dahisar – DN Nagar Line

Setback for Mumbai Metro car depot as Aarey Milk Colony declared 'Eco Sensitive Zone'

Kashi · Post by **Kashi** » 26 Jan 2016 12:10

^^ Thanks for the updates Rohit_K

JTull · Post by **JTull** » 26 Jan 2016 12:43

Rohit_K wrote: Setback for Mumbai Metro car depot as Aarey Milk Colony declared 'Eco Sensitive Zone'

[rant]If one every wanted to know the difference between India and China, look no further. These guys, of course, don't mind millions of tons of sand mining, burning coal beds, widespread logging, and other environmental disasters the country is facing. But these foreign NGO funded activists never cared for wasted Indian resources and would know how to come in the way of development.[/rant]

JTull · Post by **JTull** » 27 Jan 2016 11:00

Delhi Metro tests new driverless trains

While the trains are designed by Hyundai Rotem, only 20 six-coach train sets were shipped from South Korea. The remaining 366 coaches-that is, 61 trains of six coaches-are being built in the BEML factory in Bengaluru as part of a tie-up between the two firms.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 27 Jan 2016 19:39

Interesting.. can it detect raasta roko? hopefully so. I think we should think about safety-critical aspects with automation as well. at least, we should discuss and draft our needs here.

Kashi · Post by **Kashi** » 28 Jan 2016 09:38

SaiK wrote:Interesting.. can it detect raasta roko? hopefully so. I think we should think about safety-critical aspects with automation as well. at least, we should discuss and draft our needs here.

Delhi Metro tracks are all access controlled no? So how will there be a raasta roko? Or do you mean something else such as cave ins, track obstructions etc?

rsingh · Post by **rsingh** » 30 Jan 2016 20:03

Bade wrote:Another beautiful snap I could not resist from posting. I hope to see ten times this distance for Kochi metro replicated in pillars and girders for a HSRL connecting at least the two major cities and what a view it will be to ride it.

People will have heart attack if they make something like this in Brusselabad. Green lobby is so strong here that they want everybody to ride bike. BTW we are doing away with all fly-overs in city as well.

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 30 Jan 2016 20:10

^^ Actually, that concrete monstrosity is greener than bikes given the number of people and the distance it can transport.

Flyovers, I sort of agree, they should be built in moderation. Too many of them, means comfort for 4 wheelers only and pedestrians and public transport users end up paying the price. Buses cannot use most of these flyovers as they need to serve the stops at the important junctions which have these flyovers. Hence they don't get the time saving benefit of using these flyovers. If they use the, the pedestrians end up walking a long distance to the new bus stops well beyond the flyover. Chennai is a good example of such mindless flyover construction.

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 30 Jan 2016 20:12

Kashi wrote:
SaiK wrote:Interesting.. can it detect raasta roko? hopefully so. I think we should think about safety-critical aspects with automation as well. at least, we should discuss and draft our needs here.
Delhi Metro tracks are all access controlled no? So how will there be a raasta roko? Or do you mean something else such as cave ins, track obstructions etc?

Safety regs will require a driver to be present in the train anyway to look out for such things and apply emergency brakes if needed. But otherwise, the trains will drive themselves. The tracks are access controlled, so there won't be issues with people or cattle crossing, level crossings, etc., the things one sees on IR tracks.

Didn't DMRC try something of this sort earlier? What's new now?

member_29172 · Post by **member_29172** » 31 Jan 2016 10:08

How can someone do rasta roko in enclosed stations and elevated tracks? what kind of stupid question is this lol.

A lot of them also have a third rail involved so they'd be electrocuted if they tried something stupid like that.

Kashi · Post by **Kashi** » 31 Jan 2016 13:12

Alka_P wrote:A lot of them also have a third rail involved so they'd be electrocuted if they tried something stupid like that.

Delhi Metro uses 25 kV overhead contact system to power its trains. As far as I know, the system does not employ a third rail.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 31 Jan 2016 15:46

gurgaon line (not part of DMRC) is using 3rd rail though.

http://www.siemens.co.in/en/news_press/ ... lution.htm

Rishirishi · Post by **Rishirishi** » 02 Feb 2016 03:58

Just a question. Are the flyways of Mumbai strong enough to carry metro or rail. My understanding is that 90% of the people of Mumbai use public transport, yet cars take up most of the place. What about putting a charge of RS 75K per month on anyone who owns a car in Mumbai, and use the funds to build solid public transport network. For a billion dollars per year, Mumbai could build 75-100Km of metro per year and the buses would move people much faster.
Kids would be able to play in the streets and people would be able to walk and enjoy life.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 06 Feb 2016 19:51

Kashi wrote:
SaiK wrote:Interesting.. can it detect raasta roko? hopefully so. I think we should think about safety-critical aspects with automation as well. at least, we should discuss and draft our needs here.
Delhi Metro tracks are all access controlled no? So how will there be a raasta roko? Or do you mean something else such as cave ins, track obstructions etc?

track obstruction.