Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

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ldev
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by ldev »

Singha wrote:this thread fulfills a emotional need in me - I love machinery, the hum of powerful motors, the growl of big diesels.
Not Indian Railways, but watching the video below should fulfill that emotional need to watch heavy diesels in action. Utah Railways, 12 EMD units totaling 36,000 hp hauling a coal train up a very very steep grade, I think it is 1 in 40. Enjoy - and turn the speakers up!!. One of my favorites.

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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kakkaji »

Arvind Pangariya-led team to discuss bullet train project in Tokyo
The Indian team will explore the possibilities of participation of Japanese companies in the bullet train project under the Make in India initiative.

The high-level team will also discuss the finalisation of the general consultant for the Rs 98,000 crore flagship project with senior Japanese officials including the special Advisor to Japanese PM Hiroto Izumi on May 16 in Tokyo.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Why not look at Indian locos instead, full starting procedure of an EMD WDP 4B

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbXhZOMNgCg

The only negative point of this video would be if there is a better commentary besides closing
circuit breakers. The one thing that baffled me is the RPM's on the display, it is 250 or something
but the max rpm for a WDP4B is 905rpm. Somehow I thought it would be 2000rpm for a 4500hp beast.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by ldev »

^^
Thanks vsunder for this unique video which shows the full start up procedure!!.

The thing about non IR youtube videos is that because of the road infrastructure, it is possible to take fantastic videos which appeal to railfans such as the video posted below (Canadian National Rail freight train paced near Kingston, Ontario, Canada. btw, to truly enjoy, watch this video with the speakers turned high!!). Also, while 1 or 2 locos coupled together make a certain amount of noise 3,4 or more locos, EMD or ALCO together especially under full throttle when climbing a long grade make a fantastic cacaphony!! I wish there were more such videos of IR trains. And whatever other people may say the howl of an EMD under full throttle leaves the hum of an electric loco far behind in the wow factor for railfans!!

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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Singha »

Seems meatier than our wdg4. Wil our dfc locos be akin to these dreadnoughts?
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by ldev »

^^
Wiki says most of the ES44AC GE Evolutions locos (the first loco in the video above) are 4400 hp, about the same as WDG4 which is 4500 hp?. There is a later version ES58AC1 which is 6200 hp, 300 of these are being assembled in China for China Railways.

DFC should be able to maintain 100kmph for these freight trains. In US/Canada most of these trains run at 100-120 kmph.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Singha »

Somehow the buff front end with staircase amd verandah makes it look more industrial design badass
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by arshyam »

Nah... nothing comes close to the sounds of an Alco pulling its load up a steep incline. The chugging as it gains speeds with its heavy load is literally music for the ears. EMDs only whine and growl, but the Alcos sound more brawny. There is something mesmerizing when watching an Alco in full fury, honking and chugging as it climbs a steep gradient. IMHO, of course :)

This video does a good comparison of Alcos vs. EMDs, notice how sedate the EMDs sound in comparison: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR3I1yQz_OU
Location: the famed Makalidurga ghat, north of Bengaluru on the line toward Guntakal.

More chugging, please turn up the speakers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASw3rPXe7vc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTbvIuCBzRA

While we don't have the best road infra, allowing open doors and windows in coaches makes for some good video capture opportunities. Enjoy:
Some of my faves when it comes to chugging and honking:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktA8X-b_Shw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ0-EuMZelo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSYMOzcAne8

A whiny EMD diesel in the famed Braganza ghat, Goa-Karnataka border: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OKzk5bNOJc

Here's a 'whiny' Alco WDM-3D, thanks to its turbo-charger:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCGExbdfZEs

Lastly, somehow the Alcos in their homeland don't sound as impressive as they do on IR. Maybe it's just me, or maybe it's a function of how much we drive our Alcos underpowered with enormous loads:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDtg71Dppoc (listen at the 1:00 hr mark)
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by arshyam »

BTW, our DFC lines will be electric traction, both of them. No reason to go the Amirkhan way and rely on more powerful diesels here, given our import dependency on oil.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by arshyam »

vsunder wrote:Those of us lucky fellows who have traveled on IR extensively and seen huge chunks of India, what can we say: this land, this blessed plot, this India.
Well said sir. Travelling by train across our land gives us a sense of how big and varied it really is, not to mention how beautiful. One of my favourite scenes is the late afternoon journey through the Tungabhadra basin on the Chennai-Mumbai mail. Verdant and fertile lands as far as the eye could see. Puts our food production capabilities in perspective.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by SriKumar »

Man...I say, there is nothing to beat aircraft engines (jets or props) for the fulfilling sound of heavy machinery thundering under full throttle. Any aircraft take-off will do it...especially from the outside. That said, I think train engines are pretty good too. I once saw the engine of diesel engine on a train station platform (local passenger train), with its engine cover open....and the sound under just idling conditions was something. Once a train gets moving, other 'trainey' sounds 'take over' the heavy, low frequency, thundering hum of the engine of the locomotive.

The sound that the engine driver gets to hear is probably the pure sound of (pure) engine power, unadulterated by squeaks of wheels, track, couplings, coaches etc. etc. (OK, no fatwa please for bringing up plane engines on a train thread).
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by ldev »

arshyam wrote:Nah... nothing comes close to the sounds of an Alco pulling its load up a steep incline. The chugging as it gains speeds with its heavy load is literally music for the ears. EMDs only whine and growl, but the Alcos sound more brawny. There is something mesmerizing when watching an Alco in full fury, honking and chugging as it climbs a steep gradient. IMHO, of course :)

This video does a good comparison of Alcos vs. EMDs, notice how sedate the EMDs sound in comparison: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR3I1yQz_OU
Location: the famed Makalidurga ghat, north of Bengaluru on the line toward Guntakal.
You are totally right, nothing like an ALCO under full cry, better still if is smoking heavily :) . Unfortunately they are a dying breed. And the first video that you posted the Alco vs EMD at Makalidurga is my favorite IR video for sound effects!! Probably the best there is on IR.

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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Just a small comment on the Makalidurga video which is I agree first rate, ( a large number of videos in Arshyam's list have been shot by well-known culprits, Subramaniam has one through the Pallakad Gap, Palghat to Coimbatore with Mangalore-Egmore exp.!!) I am always impressed with the way SCR maintains the livery on its locos. In the Makalidurga video those are Moula Ali twins taking charge from Manmad. A few months back I was at Bangalore city and the KK was brought in by two Guntakal twins, again smart looking and extremely well-maintained ALCO's. The general level of exterior maintenance has fallen abysmally. In the 1960's I cannot think of any shed that did not maintain their WP's impeccably, all gleaming dials, gauges and brass fittings polished. When the diesels came same thing, immaculately maintained. But now I see the level has fallen sharply, even sheds like Erode(leaping deer) are doing so poorly. Erode had always a very high reputation, so did Jhansi shed. Those of you who know the area around Manmad know that the KK as it leaves Manmad travels for a short while through what is called Ankai-Tankai killa area outside Manmad, and that reminds me of Monument Valley, Arizona, which I also like very much, seems the same geological effects of limestone wearing down and the attendant rubble pile at the base of the cliff and strange looking mesas and columns. The twins really struggle at the beginning negotiating the steep Deccan gradients. Enjoy the clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_ZfzpSOwho

At Kopergaon you cross the Godavari. In the old days you got down at Kopergaon to get to Shirdi, it was the closest station.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by ldev »

vsunder wrote: Those of you who know the area around Manmad
By the way, what is the status of the doubling/electrification on the Manmad-Daund line? It used to be a sleepy line once upon a time....
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kashi »

Kakkaji wrote:Arvind Pangariya-led team to discuss bullet train project in Tokyo
The Indian team will explore the possibilities of participation of Japanese companies in the bullet train project under the Make in India initiative.

The high-level team will also discuss the finalisation of the general consultant for the Rs 98,000 crore flagship project with senior Japanese officials including the special Advisor to Japanese PM Hiroto Izumi on May 16 in Tokyo.
It seems this is only about the funding. I thought that representatives from JR East, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Hitachi would have been there, since they are the ones expected to actually build this project.

Given the oft-mentioned operational speeds of 320 KM/H, we'll most likely get the The E6 series trainsets. Not a big fan of their abnormally giant noses upfront!!
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Singha »

that fish head type design might be for same reason SSNs have bulbous and not pointy noses. or maybe its more stable and not prone to "floating" up. in a situation where every ounce of weight matters, every shape has a story behind it.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Singha »

Two semi-high-speed trains from Bengaluru planned

After the Bengaluru–Mysuru–Chennai high-speed rail link failed to take off, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Sunday said the government was mulling over a semi-high-speed rail link between not just Bengaluru and Mysuru, but also between Bengaluru and Hubballi.

He was speaking after officially renaming the City railway station as Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna (Bengaluru) station. The Minister also announced that a joint venture company would be incorporated with the Railways and the State government and that within the next three months, many projects would be taken up through this body. Mr. Prabhu said the Bengaluru-Hassan line and the doubling work on the Bengaluru-Mysuru line be completed by December. He added that a survey will be taken up for better connectivity of Hassan, Belur, Halebid, Sringeri, and Shivamogga.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Singha »

looks like if ever the blr-chennai HSR is to be built it will have to follow some easier alignment via kolar chittor planned expressway between blr-chennai.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Suraj »

Singha wrote:that fish head type design might be for same reason SSNs have bulbous and not pointy noses. or maybe its more stable and not prone to "floating" up. in a situation where every ounce of weight matters, every shape has a story behind it.
The Shinkansen nose and pantograph shapes are the result of much research into tunnel boom noises, and into pantograph sounds:
How one engineer's birdwatching made Japan's bullet train better
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Prasad »

Given that current shatabdi also frequently overruns its 5hr trip time doubt it'll ever following current routes. But if it goes through no-mans land areas then it'll be pretty much a point to point service only with several stations for blore and chennai each.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kashi »

Singha wrote:that fish head type design might be for same reason SSNs have bulbous and not pointy noses. or maybe its more stable and not prone to "floating" up. in a situation where every ounce of weight matters, every shape has a story behind it.
In the case of E6 series trainsets, a key motivation was to avoid the "sonic booms" when these trains enter tunnels at high speeds.

EDIT: Suraj-san has already posted the link to the relevant writeup.

As far as Ahemdabad-Mumbai section is concerned, the choice of the trainsets will be influenced by the frequency, length (number of cars/compartments) and operational speeds.

If we go for 16 carriage train seats, spaced 10 minutes apart (as is the case on the most popular Osaka-Tokyo route), then we'll probably opt for an India-specific variant of N700A series, which runs on the Osaka-Tokyo route. Though, N700A on the Tokaido route are restricted to a top speed of 275 km/h (due to noise regulations and track limitations), the Taiwanese variant of the 700 series (long since replaced with N700 and now N700A) THR 700T is capable of running at top speeds of 300 km/h carrying 12 carriages. It remains to be seen if JR are able to offer a customised variant of N700A (IHR N700AI) that will be capable of operating 16 carriage trains at 320 km/h on the average.

The E6 series usually consists of 10 carriages and run at 320 km/h. I cannot say for certain if they'll be able to operate at same speeds if the number of carriages are increased to 16.

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how this pans out.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by A Nandy »

I read that the DFC is expected to bring up the speed for freight trains to 100 kmph. Is there any way to run them at even higher speeds like 180 that's planned for the Talgo passenger trains? Maybe using similar technology for negotiating the curves. It would probably pay for itself even if run at bullet train speeds.

Or is there something pretty paranoid about a mile long high speed freight train screaming down the track at 180/320 kmph :D
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Zynda »

^^ Freight trains are heavier (way heavier) than passenger trains. So need a lots lots of power to move something that heavy at such high speeds. Probably won't be cost effective. Also since freight trains tend to be longer, I guess it becomes a safety issue since longer & heavier trains take longer distances to brake
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by sohamn »

A Nandy wrote:I read that the DFC is expected to bring up the speed for freight trains to 100 kmph. Is there any way to run them at even higher speeds like 180 that's planned for the Talgo passenger trains? Maybe using similar technology for negotiating the curves. It would probably pay for itself even if run at bullet train speeds.

Or is there something pretty paranoid about a mile long high speed freight train screaming down the track at 180/320 kmph :D
To move a heavy freight train at 300 kmph will probably require > 30000 hp and enormous traction , engines needs to be super heavy and you probably need 6 /7 engines to pull that off. Furthermore it will be able to do that only in straight lines, as freight train won't be able to tilt in curves and will crash because of the momentum. It would be cost prohibitive in current technology.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

ldev wrote:
vsunder wrote: Those of you who know the area around Manmad
By the way, what is the status of the doubling/electrification on the Manmad-Daund line? It used to be a sleepy line once upon a time....
Information about this part of India is hard to come by. But as far as I understand here is the latest.

Manmad-Kopergaon-Putnamba--Shirdi Sai Nagar(SNSI) energized and train running with A/C loco since 2014.

Putanamba--SNSI is a branch line. Putnamba-Ahmednagar-Sarola( energized by circumstantial evidence). Sarola-Kashti
energized. DRM Solapur division tweets on April 18, WAG-9 # 31260 hauled a goods between Sarola-Kashti.

https://twitter.com/drmsolapur

From Kashti to Daund is 13km. Pune-Daund is energized and doubled. So supposedly a 13km section is not energized, some say poles are partially in the ground.

Doubling between Manmad-Daund no word, maybe there is a provision in the budget. Hope they make heavy axle load rails, Armoured Corps is based in Ahmednagar and they may need to transport Arjuns and heavy tanks in the future through that mesa area to deploy in Rajasthan.

More importantly Solapur division is non-performing or CR is focused only on Mumbai or RVNL is sleeping.
This is in regard to Mumbai-Chennai doubling and electrification. Here is the latest:

Pune-Daund( electrified and doubled)

Daund-Bhigwan( doubled and not electrified)

Bhigwan-Mohol( 123km) single line and NOT electrified. Contracts have been repeatedly cancelled for doubling works. Bridge over River Bhima stands completed for doubling works since years.

Mohol-Solapur doubled and not electrified.

Solapur-Hotgi-Tilati (30km) doubled and commissioned a few months ago, not electrified.

Tilati-Gulbaraga( via Akkalkot Rd., Afzalpur and Ganagapur rd( Dattatreya pilgrimage site) 105 km, single line, not electrified, and contracts cancelled multiple times. Some people say earthworks done, minor bridges done, who knows? Newspaper reporters do not come here to the back of beyond, only people like me, go tramping all over Afzalpur, Akkalkot etc. Yes, yes that was before in 2010 so nothing happening then.

Beyond Gulbarga, some say electrification is complete, but doubling is complete all the way to Chennai,
except for a 11km stretch at Mantralayam and a second bridge over Tungabhadra.

South towards Bangalore from Guntakal, Penukonda-Bangalore doubling has just started by virtue of a huge push in 2015 budget. Contracts have been awarded and doubling works to finish in 4 years.

Note The grandfather of Alan Turing, Stoney was an engineer with the Madras and South Mahratta Railway who designed the bridge over the Tungabhadra. His daughter the mother( Ethel Sara Stoney) of Alan Turing was born in the Podanur railway colony and she married a civil servant who was posted to Chatrapur, Odisha where Turing was conceived. Stoney bought a house in Coonoor which was bought a few years ago by Nandan Nilekani not knowing the Computer Science connection. The other guy Augustus De Morgan was born in Madurai , NAND and NOR gates man.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_De_Morgan
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by ldev »

vsunder wrote:
Information about this part of India is hard to come by. But as far as I understand here is the latest.

Manmad-Kopergaon-Putnamba--Shirdi Sai Nagar(SNSI) energized and train running with A/C loco since 2014.
Wow, surprising to me, given the lethargy in the Solapur division elsewhere as stated by you. Is it because of Shirdi? :shock:
Putanamba--SNSI is a branch line. Putnamba-Ahmednagar-Sarola( energized by circumstantial evidence). Sarola-Kashti
energized. DRM Solapur division tweets on April 18, WAG-9 # 31260 hauled a goods between Sarola-Kashti.
Again, I was not aware of the importance of this branch line. I wonder what the reason is?
https://twitter.com/drmsolapur

Doubling between Manmad-Daund no word, maybe there is a provision in the budget. Hope they make heavy axle load rails, Armoured Corps is based in Ahmednagar and they may need to transport Arjuns and heavy tanks in the future through that mesa area to deploy in Rajasthan.
That Manmad-Daund line which was once so sleepy is now humming with activity with so many north south trains passing through, that it's unpardonable that it is not doubled at least if not electrified already. The Armoured Corps in Ahmednagar!! That brings back memories of endless lines of tanks going to the ranges when I was a boy and the tar road chewed up by the tracks!!
This is in regard to Mumbai-Chennai doubling and electrification. Here is the latest:

Pune-Daund( electrified and doubled)

Daund-Bhigwan( doubled and not electrified)

Bhigwan-Mohol( 123km) single line and NOT electrified. Contracts have been repeatedly cancelled for doubling works. Bridge over River Bhima stands completed for doubling works since years.

Mohol-Solapur doubled and not electrified.

Solapur-Hotgi-Tilati (30km) doubled and commissioned a few months ago, not electrified.

Tilati-Gulbaraga( via Akkalkot Rd., Afzalpur and Ganagapur rd( Dattatreya pilgrimage site) 105 km, single line, not electrified, and contracts cancelled multiple times. Some people say earthworks done, minor bridges done, who knows? Newspaper reporters do not come here to the back of beyond, only people like me, go tramping all over Afzalpur, Akkalkot etc. Yes, yes that was before in 2010 so nothing happening then.

Beyond Gulbarga, some say electrification is complete, but doubling is complete all the way to Chennai,
except for a 11km stretch at Mantralayam and a second bridge over Tungabhadra.
So the stretch from Daund to Gulbaraga is the problem. Again, your post brings back memories, travelling from Pune to Yadgir in north Karnataka, mid day train from Pune reaching Yadgir about 10.00-10.30 pm. (I think it was called the Dadar-Madras Express then). Desolate area all the way through, no wonder no reporters show up!!
Note The grandfather of Alan Turing, Stoney was an engineer with the Madras and South Mahratta Railway who designed the bridge over the Tungabhadra. His daughter the mother( Ethel Sara Stoney) of Alan Turing was born in the Podanur railway colony and she married a civil servant who was posted to Chatrapur, Odisha where Turing was conceived. Stoney bought a house in Coonoor which was bought a few years ago by Nandan Nilekani not knowing the Computer Science connection. The other guy Augustus De Morgan was born in Madurai , NAND and NOR gates man.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_De_Morgan
Thanks for all the information. One learns so much, just reading your posts!!
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by A Nandy »

Talgo coach apparently at Izzatnagar depot.

http://d.indiarailinfo.com/blog/post/1851939

Image
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kashi »

An interview with Suresh Prabhu

http://swarajyamag.com/politics/speed-r ... r-railways

He makes some very relevant points.
[P]ut up charging points, improve food quality, cleanliness in stations and coaches, retro-fit coaches internally, provide wi-fi. These are small things that can happen in the short term. They are the deliverables for the customer, but not something that will overhaul the railways. What is important is to keep eye on short term without losing sight of long term. That has to be our strategy.
...
We are trying to change the Railway Board management structure; we are also considering cross-functional entities. Compartmentalisation of railways is a problem - it is about specialisation but also creates hurdles to seamless functioning, so that has been addressed. Some task forces have been created. Two directorates have been created - one for mobility and one for revenues.
...
Last year, we were ready, for the first time, with capacity for handling 1.2 billion tonnes of cargo. That capacity is there today.
..
By 2020, we would have added capacity, modernised signalling to a great extent, completed hopefully the dedicated freight corridor..We are planning for 2019, but 2020 in the worst situation. Land sometime becomes an issue.
....
In most major countries, the contribution of non-rail revenue is 30 per cent. In India, it is not even 1 per cent. So we have created another directorate – to increase non rail revenue. One [source] is advertisement, then station redevelopment.
...
What we are doing is an outcome-based accounting. If you have outcomes to be derived, it cannot be done post creation of expenditure. You measure it that time, but the process has to start with budgeting.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Javee »

The train that I usually take to go to my hometown was upgraded with LHB coaches a few months backs. The coaches were made in Rae Bareily in 2015. For all its advantages the damn A2 coach was leaking from the roof, close to where the toilets and electricals were. Pretty depressing to see the mess and the attender's un-enviable job in keeping the water away from the electrical switches and boards.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Singha »

You should have taken some photos of the leak, photo of the coach number outside and tweeted it to rail ministry and mantri
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by A Nandy »

Talgo cars prepared for Indian Railways testing.

http://www.railnews.co.in/wp-content/up ... rkshop.jpg
http://www.railwaygazette.com/uploads/p ... go-ner.jpg
Nine Talgo cars have been delivered to North Eastern Railway's Izzatnagar workshop in Uttar Pradesh ahead of planned testing on the Indian Railways network.

Transport of the cars from Spain was managed by Gefco, with the vehicles shipped from Barcelona on March 27. Once customs formalities had been completed, Uniworld Logistics transported the cars 1 600 km by road from Mumbai port to the Izzatnagar workshop.

The trainset is to be reassembled and fitted with monitoring equipment by the end May, ahead of tests hauled by WDP-4 diesel and WAP-5 electric locomotives.
http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/trac ... sting.html

http://www.railnews.co.in/talgo-train-s ... r-pradesh/

The Indian Railways which is the fourth largest rail network in the world is all set to equip its train with solar energy and set to conduct the first trial run by the end of May 2016 in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur city.

Image

The train will be pulled by the conventional diesel locomotive engine and the solar energy will be used to power the lighting and other internal electrical gadgets. All the coaches of the train will house the solar panel on the rooftop and will power the lights and fans inside the coach. The Indian Railways is upbeat about the project and is looking to generate 1,000MW of solar energy by 2020.
http://www.railnews.co.in/india-is-all- ... red-train/
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kashi »

PRABHU KI TWITTER EXPRESS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6Y5k0nMmqE



An insight into how the Ministry of Railways is acting on the requests send to them via Twitter
A Nandy
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by A Nandy »

I hope the railways is also collecting all the twitter data to look at which sections are facing the most complaints infrastructure, cleanliness and law and order wise. These need to focused on.

Problems and tracking of improvements in these areas can be found far more easily if passengers continue to monitor and tweet with pictures and location on a regular basis.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by svenkat »

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/1st-batch-of-cars-rolls-out-of-countrys-first-rail-auto-hub/articleshow/52380764.cms
It was a momentous occasion for tiny Wallajabad railway station in Kancheepuram district, about 100 km from here, on Saturday evening. The first batch of cars were loaded on to a freight train from Southern Railway's common user rail-auto hub, the first in the country.
The train, carrying 124 cars from auto major Hyundai's factory in Sriperumbudur and bound for Changsari in Assam's Kamrup district, has 25 specially designed wagons each capable of carrying five cars. Southern Railway will earn 16.37 lakh from the trip.
Located 12km-40 km from manufacturing units of auto MNCs like Nissan, Hyundai and Ford in such areas as Oragadam, Sriperumbudur and Singaperumal Kovil, the hub is designed to help cars be driven on stone-paved tracks into the wagon. It is expected to cater to more than one million cars annually produced in these areas and will also see trains bringing cars for distribution in Tamil Nadu and adjoining states.
Southern Railway, aiming to capture the export market through Chennai and Ennore ports, will use trains to transport cars to and from the two ports and hopes to increase freight earnings that are now just half its total earnings. Transporting freight earns railways profits and also helps its cross-subsidises ticket fare for passenger trains; freight earnings are key for every railway zone.
Wallajabad station, strategically located on the Chengalpet-Tirumalpur section, is connected to Arakkonam as well as Chennai Beach. Freight trains through Arakkonam can transport cars across the country; some can be sent to Chennai port, located next to Chennai Beach station on the Walajahbad-Chengalpet-Beach route. This is faster than the congested road network, say officials.

The rail-auto hub, they add, has come as a boon at a time when the Chennai Port-Maduravoyal elevated expressway project, aimed at boosting the export plans of auto majors, is stuck in court.
The move to develop Walajahbad as a rail auto hub was announced in the railway budget in February and the hub was inaugurated by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on March 1.
It can hold 300 cars and is linked by seamless four/six lane roads to production centres. All infrastructure facilities have been developed in-house by railways.
Kashi
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kashi »

http://www.railnews.co.in/funding-no-mo ... -railways/
Funding no more a constraint for Indian Railways

Indian Railways has moved out of a phase of fund constraint to a state where funds are available and a shelf of projects ready to be financed.

While the national transporter has a funding window open from the Life Insurance Corporation, it is finalising a structure of funds to be floated jointly with the World Bank.

Rail Minister Suresh Prabhu told that Indian Railways was constrained last year by the lack of detailed project reports, which could be taken up for construction.

“Some Rs 5.6 lakh crore (Rs 5.6 trillion) worth of projects are ready with us now… Funding is no more a constraint for us,” he said.

LIC has agreed to provide Rs 1.5 lakh crore (Rs 1.5 trillion) over five years starting 2015-15.

The first tranche of Rs 30,000 crore (Rs 300 billion) was to come in the last financial year, but only Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) was disbursed because of lack of project preparedness.

“There are no commitment charges on funds with LIC, so we can draw anytime,” Prabhu said.

With the World Bank, the Railways plans to float an independent fund that would provide both equity and debt finance to “all railway projects and not just the Indian Railways”.
Javee
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Javee »

Singha wrote:You should have taken some photos of the leak, photo of the coach number outside and tweeted it to rail ministry and mantri
I did tweet to the DRM at SR and to the mantri, but didn't take pics though as I felt it would be inhumane to the attender's who stood there the entire trip to make sure the electricals remain dry.
chetak
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by chetak »

Javee wrote:
Singha wrote:You should have taken some photos of the leak, photo of the coach number outside and tweeted it to rail ministry and mantri
I did tweet to the DRM at SR and to the mantri, but didn't take pics though as I felt it would be inhumane to the attender's who stood there the entire trip to make sure the electricals remain dry.
Hope that you specifically did appreciate the attender's role in the tweets
Kakkaji
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kakkaji »

Rail regulator via executive order?
The rail ministry is mulling setting up the long-delayed regulator for the sector through an executive order and later on widen its powers, to ensure the proposal does not meet parliamentary hurdles.

The regulator would approve passenger fares and freight rates, ensure fair play and a level-playing field for attracting private investment in the sector and define efficiency benchmarks and performance standards. The proposal comes at a time when the Indian Railways is struggling to meet the current financial year's tall target of incremental freight loading of 50 million tonnes and reverse a declining trend in passenger volumes.
Kashi
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kashi »

Thales to give latest Safety Tech to Indian Railways
Indian Railways intends to implement Train Protection Warning System (TPWS) on a total of approximately 7,900 km of main lines across the country out of which 3,300 km has already been budgeted.

Currently, TPWS, meant to prevent train accidents due to drivers’ failure, is being implemented on 68-km long rail line near Chennai on a pilot basis by Thales, which offers effective signalling and supervision to telecommunications for mainline rail and metro system.
Kashi
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kashi »

Indian Railways to partner Foreign Govts for Big projects
New Delhi: In a first-of-its-kind move, the railway ministry has decided to go for “government-to-government (G-G)” partnerships with other countries for its big-ticket projects.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said, “In the coming years we are going to witness massive G-G investment in the railways. We are ready to sign agreements with as many as 14 countries for G-G investment. This will allow us to execute big-ticket projects, like high-speed trains and modernisation of stations, in one go against the piecemeal approach of the past.” Mr Prabhu said that his ministry would be moving the Cabinet for approval.

The Japan government has indicated that it could invest $25 billion in Indian Railways. Talks with the South Korean and French governments for re-development of the New Delhi Railway Station and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, respectively, are already at an advanced stage, Mr Prabhu said.

The other countries Indian Railways is in talks with include China, Germany, Czechoslovakia, the United Arab Emirates and Spain.

The Indian government will collaborate with foreign governments for investment, technical expertise, infrastructure upgradation and technology transfer.

Once contracts with foreign governments are signed and sealed, the Indian railways intends to hand over semi-high-speed routes for execution to them. “We are looking to hand over one route each to these 14 countries to run semi-high-speed (160-200 kmph) trains,” Mr Prabhu said, adding that the “Indian railways will integrate the developed infrastructure with the existing networks.”

The semi-high-speed routes to be handed over include New Delhi-Kanpur, New Delhi-Chandigarh-Ludhiana, Mumbai-Nagpur, Bengaluru-Chennai, Nagpur-Bilaspur, Mumbai-Goa, Chennai-Hyderabad and Nagpur-Secunderabad.

Mr Prabhu said that the “government-to-government” partnerships would be a step beyond the much-talked about foreign direct investment (FDI).

In the G-G route, the railways would not be dependent on private companies for investment. Instead, the Indian government will acquire soft loans from foreign governments for specific projects. This would help the railways secure an assured large corpus of funds at a substantially lower rate of interest and with a much bigger timeframe to pay the money back.

That the FDI route was not producing the desired results was evident from the government’s failure to attract foreign players in the manufacturing of “train sets” which would have replaced the current LHB-driven Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains. For the 2014 project, not a single foreign investor showed interest because they felt that the project was not profitable enough to invest.

The shift from the FDI route to G-G is, thus, significant. It is a proactive approach to put into action the grand plans announced by the railways in the last two years of the NDA government. The Indian railways is not abandoning the FDI route for investment. Many ongoing and future projects involving setting up of workshops and last-mile connectivity will still remain FDI-dependent.

South Korea government may invest $1.5bn to redevelop the New Delhi Railway Station

France has shown interest in re-developing Chatrapati Shivaji Terminal, Mumbai and the Ludhiana station

China may partner with Indian Railways to develop the semi-high speed route (Bengaluru-Mysore-Chennai)
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