Indian Railways Thread

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 22 Apr 2011 14:29

ho hum so finally IN general wagons might come out from the 1950s...

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 23 Apr 2011 11:19

Gaurav_S wrote:In a locotrol system, the communication between the lead and remote locomotive/s is achieved via radio wireless communication link. There will be an assistant pilot in each locomotive.

What I am eager to know is the working of the radio wireless communication link. Is it that all the drivers (I prefer this word instead of loco pilot) are given wireless sets, and the leading man gives out instructions on speeds, applying brakes etc.? Or is it that the engines itself are fitted with devices which does every thing automatically (plus a driver, there to work in case of a technical failure). Many locos have a mechanism in which two locos could be coupled together and controlled from the leading loco. A big cable is used as the connecting device.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 24 Apr 2011 08:20

I have a doubt. Do these LHB's have controlled discharge toilets or is it still open to the stars below...

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 25 Apr 2011 07:33

Excellent, what are we waiting for then. Admittedly CDT is not perfect but better than present situation. All 3000 new coaches should be LHB's. It will cost less than Rs 2,500 crore xtra under mass production and should replace all ~ 36,000 passenger coaches in about 10 years.

I'm not so sure about the A/C & sealed windows under India conditions and general 'makkal' use.

Meanwhile for those who wanted HSR in India a cautionary tale from Panda Land. $271 Billion in Debt with another $100 Billion this year is staggering.

The odd thing is the Passenger revenue works out to $15 Billion and freight revenue works out to $25 Billion for a total of $40 Billion in revenue. Profits are non-existent. This is IR levels of revenue. Yet they will have $400 Billion plus in debt by the end of this year. We should not fall into the same trap.

http://english.caing.com/2011-03-31/100243830.html

Spending ballooned to more than 600 billion yuan in 2009 and 709 billion in 2010. This year's investment is expected to top 700 billion yuan, not including locomotive and other equipment purchases, which are likely to add 126 billion yuan.

The ministry's debt is increasing apace: Borrowing totaled 77.1 billion yuan in 2007. But outstanding debt rocketed to 670 billion yuan in 2008, 1.33 trillion yuan in 2009 and, as of last September, hit an astounding 1.68 trillion yuan.

Cash flow from general operations including passenger tickets and freight revenues – the main revenue streams, which have been growing slowly in recent years – may fail to cover principal and interest payments down the line.

Passenger revenue totaled 109 billion yuan in 2009, and freight revenue topped 165 billion yuan. The ministry's after-tax profit was 2.7 billion yuan in 2009, after posting a 13 billion yuan loss in 2008.

The ministry this year is likely to have to start paying interest on 2007-issued bank loans and the principal on loans taken out in 2005. These payouts alone could be about 20 billion yuan to care for new interest requirements and another 10 billion yuan to cover new principal responsibilities.

Altogether, the ministry is expected to pay a whopping 180 billion yuan this year to cover principal and interest on all of its long-term bank loans and bonds.

somnath · Post by **somnath** » 25 Apr 2011 07:47

^^If IR was a corporate enity and not a dpartment of GOI, it would also have fairly ridiculous amounts of debt..

But yes, HSR is hugely tricky - its not a silver bullet solution for everything as the Chinese have been thinking...

Prasad · Post by **Prasad** » 25 Apr 2011 10:33

Making the entire rail network all over the country into HSR is a non-starter and definitely not needed/feasible either. If IR was to take very heavy demand routes and turn them into HSR wouldn't it increase usage on congested routes and also provide enough revenue to offset the capital sunk into it for conversion? I'm just guessing here because I have no idea about how revenue and costs balance out in such small scale for particular routes.

somnath · Post by **somnath** » 25 Apr 2011 10:51

^^^Depends on a number of factors - distance between the two "stations", land costs, air connectivity between the two etc..The issue is of demand..Commercially priced, does HSR attract more travellers from other modes of transport - air, roads etc? I had posted a studiy sometime back from Europe - it is very very situational...There seems to be a ballpark estimate that HSR works only upto a distance of 500 kms - anything above that is infeasible...

Vasu · Post by **Vasu** » 25 Apr 2011 15:50

I think the work on the DMIC (Delhi-Mumbai Infra Corridor) is on in full swing. Took the Rajdhani from Mumbai to Surat and back and all along the way, a new railway bridge was being built on almost every river, rivulet and trough.

Now I believe it is a part of the DMIC because this line already has two tracks, but with 4 tracks instead of two, transportation of people and materials will more than double.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 26 Apr 2011 05:57

^^^^
What you saw is surely not the DFC. As you can see below even the engineering contracts have not been awarded yet.

http://articles.economictimes.indiatime ... l-corridor

The Railways will award contracts worth Rs 10,000 crore by the end of this year to kick start one of India's most ambitious infrastructure projects to build dedicated freight corridors to connect north India with Mumbai and West Bengal.

The freight corridor is the backbone of a $90 billion project to build an industrial corridor between Delhi and Mumbai with a series of industrial parks, airports, power plants and new townships. The Eastern freight corridor would ease movement of coal and other commodities to the north, the Delhi-Mumbai route would facilitate container movement. Busy ports such as Kandla, Pipavav and Mundra would benefit from the western corridor.

Currently, it takes a freight train about 50 hours to cover the 1400 km Delhi to Mumbai stretch. Once the freight corridor is commissioned, it would take 17 hours to travel the same distance.

The Rs 77,000 crore dedicated freight corridor project, scheduled to be built by 2016/17, is expected to ease infrastructure bottlenecks and boost industrial development and international trade as existing railway lines in these regions are running up to 50% more than the designed capacity. The choked railway lines have encouraged a rapid shift to road transport from railways. The National Highway Authority of India's plan to expand the Delhi-Mumbai highway to six lanes would accelerate the shift of cargo from goods trains to trucks, but the new freight corridors are expected to reverse the trend as the railways would be able to offer faster and cheaper transportation.

Besides civil engineering contracts, DFCCIL also plans to award contracts of about Rs 1,500 crore by mid 2012 for electrification and signalling works for the 1st phase of Eastern Corridor. For the Western Corridor, it may award contract worth Rs 4500 crore by the end of the next fiscal, officials said.

For the first phase, the company has completed land acquisition for 90% (600 kms) of the western corridor and about 50% of the land acquisition has been completed for the Eastern Corridor, Dutta said.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 26 Apr 2011 10:28

nukavarapu wrote:The GOI is anyways providing huge subsidies for lot of items like Oil, Fertilizers, how about providing some subsidies for fares, so that all passenger train rides will be comfortable to the masses?

The current fares itself are so low, because it is heavily subsidised (if I am not mistaken by charging high rates for freight). The IR seems to be taking a stance, that let us first ensure that people can move around the country with minimum costs. Then we can slowly start increasing the facilities

. I for one, really wish to see more 3rd A/C type coaches introduced in all trains. Today lot of people can afford 3rd A/C fares, and of course the trains still should have some normal coaches as well.

Klaus · Post by **Klaus** » 26 Apr 2011 10:54

Apologies if this sounds like a newbie question. How exactly does re-manufacturing of used bearings lead to increased availability of wheel sets? I understand the fact that there is a reduced uptime due to re-manufacturing, also asset optimisation but I couldnt quite grasp the increased wheel sets aspect.

Does it have something to do with better access or use of spare parts after re-fitting of renewed bearings?

Vasu · Post by **Vasu** » 26 Apr 2011 13:27

Theo_Fidel wrote:^^^^
What you saw is surely not the DFC. As you can see below even the engineering contracts have not been awarded yet.

http://articles.economictimes.indiatime ... l-corridor

The Railways will award contracts worth Rs 10,000 crore by the end of this year to kick start one of India's most ambitious infrastructure projects to build dedicated freight corridors to connect north India with Mumbai and West Bengal.

For the first phase, the company has completed land acquisition for 90% (600 kms) of the western corridor and about 50% of the land acquisition has been completed for the Eastern Corridor, Dutta said.

Even I had questioned whether it was indeed the DMIC or something else. I went online to look at the corridor map, and Surat is a part of the DMIC alignment. Perhaps its part of another expansion project of the railways. The continuity with which I saw the bridges being constructed told me its quite a big project, whatever it is.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 27 Apr 2011 10:37

In the long run, no where in the world are sleeper cars profitable.

As we speed them up, all our trains will have to become chair cars, which creates the entire issue of how to deal with 'khandan' type movements. You know the house on wheels.

Assuming that is not a problem, at a minimum we have to get 'ALL' the freight of the local passenger lines. Maybe build a 3rd line for freight so there is no interference. Next is to move the mainline away from the station platforms. If anyone has experienced it the feel of a Shatabdi blasting through a station at even 100 kmph is scary, even though it has already slowed from its 150 kmph maximum due to the station. Imagine 200 kmph. Also our twisty lines will have to be gradually upgraded with heavier rail and straightened out gradually.

At 200 kmph, Chennai Mumbai is 8 hours. Chennai Delhi is 12 hours. Every part of India will be a day-train away.

Jaspreet · Post by **Jaspreet** » 27 Apr 2011 17:44

Theo_Fidel,
Interesting post but raises more questions(for me at least).

>no where in the world are sleeper cars profitable
Why is that?

>all our trains will have to become chair cars
Why?

>'khandan' type movements.
What is this movement?

>Also our twisty lines will have to be gradually upgraded with heavier rail and straightened out gradually.
Are they that twisty?

>At 200 kmph, Chennai Mumbai is 8 hours. Chennai Delhi is 12 hours. Every part of India will be a day-train away.
This assumes that the 200 km/h will be sustained for long hours. Given that the current graph of a train movement (a Chinese poster drew such a graph) is saw-toothed, shouldn't India be addressing that first? Also, most non-premium trains are routinely 2-8 hours late. If they are addressed first there is a lot of latent productivity gains to be had there. My belief is that there has to be a holistic change even if slowly rather than doing piecemeal technological changes and hoping that things will improve.

somnath · Post by **somnath** » 27 Apr 2011 18:16

Journeys like Mum-Chennai and Del-Mum are not feasible with HSR..At those distances, the capital costs and running costs of HSR doesnt keep it materially cheaper than air travel...

Murugan · Post by **Murugan** » 28 Apr 2011 10:45

nukavarapu wrote: Sachin -- If you remember, for all his notoriety, LPV introduced something called the Garib Rath. But I think it is a seater car and not a sleeper. The fares were marginally competitive and worked out good for the economically sensitive classes. I wonder if they can come up with the sleeper version of Garib Rath. Somehow all the talk about providing affordable means of transport for the masses has been going on for way too long. Its time for IR to start providing full course meal instead of the basic bread and butter. Its time to move on.

Garib Raths have sleepers class and chair cars, only difference from 3 tier ac coach - there are 3 side berths in garib rath

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 28 Apr 2011 14:20

Murugan wrote:Garib Raths have sleepers class and chair cars, only difference from 3 tier ac coach - there are 3 side berths in garib rath

3 Side berths too are getting removed (or already removed) because of high number of complainst from the travelling publics.

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 01 May 2011 09:43

Howrah-Delhi Rajdhani to get Wi-Fi facility in two months

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 02 May 2011 06:34

Fund cuts at the cost of rail safety

First, a Rajdhani Express caught fire and the engines of two other express trains were gutted. In all the three incidents, passengers had a miraculous escape.

On the heels of these mishaps, came the detection of three bombs aboard another Rajdhani Express.

Due to a mechanical problem, the wheels of a coach of the superfast Shatabdi Express got jammed.

In another train, the brakes failed. In addition, some derailments have been reported. The incidents, which occurred in quick succession, have shocked the passengers and the Railway Board, according to railway sources.

These have exposed not only the poor upkeep of trains but also the lax attitude of senior officials to maintenance and passenger safety.

If passengers escaped without much of injury in all these incidents it was because of the alert ground and running staff.

Two AC coaches and the pantry car of the Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani Express caught fire at Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh on April 18.

The following day, the engine of the Bolangir-Bhubaneswar Inter-city Express caught fire at Cheruppali in Orissa.

On April 24, the engine of the Rajendranagar-Lokmanya Tilak Express caught fire at Kalyan, Mumbai.

On April 20, the wheels of a coach of the Amritsar Swarna Shatabdi Express got jammed at Taraori in Karnal district of Haryana.

But the alert driver brought the superfast train to a halt without causing much distress to the passengers. The coach, however, had to be replaced.

Again on April 24, the driver of the Jaipur-Secunderabad Express was shocked to find the regular brakes non-functional, that too when the train was running on a gradient. He applied the emergency brakes and stopped the train in the Midghat section near Bhopal.

About railway safety, the less said the better. No money has been allocated during the past two years.

Allocation even under the capital development fund has been axed.

It was slashed down by Rs. 442 crore to Rs. 2,358 crore from the budget provision of Rs. 2,800 crore during 2010-11. It is no surprise that even for 2011-12 the provision is only Rs. 2,400 crore.

Highly placed government and planning officials are critical of the functioning of the Railways and said these fund reduction measures are perilous to the organisation and the lives of unsuspecting passengers.

Despite a suggestion by a parliamentary panel, the Railways failed to put in place a mechanism to oversee repairs and maintenance. This too is said to have had its impact.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 21 May 2011 12:11

Soochana - March 2011 Edition
A good source of information on the dual cab WDP locos, and some information on how Railways plan to operate longer trains, with multiple locos.

Vikas · Post by **Vikas** » 21 May 2011 18:57

Who is going to be the new railway minister now that MB is gone to WB ? Someone again from WB or Bihar. Who is SG going to please with the ministry.
I say, give a chance to someone from Karnataka or Kerala to build railway infrastructure there in remaining 3 years of UPA-2 Govt.

sum · Post by **sum** » 21 May 2011 18:58

^^ Mukul Roy, Didi's right hand man...

Vikas · Post by **Vikas** » 21 May 2011 18:59

Sum, Is that confirmed ?

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 25 May 2011 19:54

there is no moral practice of the present congress government. I think it is time forl seeking a legal amendment for one person one post. Otherwise in future one person will be chief minister and primeminister and all the ministeries can be held under them. New Minister for Railway should be appointed soon.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 28 May 2011 08:44

New Version of Anti Collision Device to be Evaluated

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 28 May 2011 17:44

India's longest tunnel will be ready by 2012

QAZIGUND: The rail link between Kashmir valley and the rest of the country will be completed by December 2012 once India's longest tunnel at 11 km - connecting Qazigund with Banihal - is constructed within a year.

The tunnel, one of the world's largest and deepest, will pierce through the Pir Panjal range below snowline, which stands like a wall between the Valley and Jammu.

The engineering marvel, named T80, is strategically important for the country since the only road link via the Jawahar Tunnel, which connects both the regions in the border state, is often blocked due to heavy snowfall.

"The tunnel will provide all-weather connectivity between the two regions," said Chahatey Ram , chief administrative officer of Northern Railway. "We are hopeful that Banihal-Qazigund rail link will be commissioned by December 2012," he added.

Hitesh Khanna, director (works) of IRCON, which is executing the project, said of the 11-km stretch, work has been completed in 10.40km. The distance between Banihal and Qazigund will be reduced to only 16km once the tunnel becomes operational, said R V Anand of IRCON.

Railways is also building an eight-feet wide service road along the T80 for any exigency.

The Banihal-Qazigund project is part of the Katra-Qazigund (129 km) venture, passing through hostile terrain of young Himalayas that are routinely posing geological surprises to the engineers. The inhospitable terrain has forced IRCON to construct 67.5km of access road to reach the project site, which has also helped in providing connectivity to around 35 villages.

Railways is using state-of-the-art Austrian tunnelling method to construct T80 that involves integration of surrounding soil formations into a ring-like support structure.

In 2002, then NDA government had announced a 345-km Jammu-Udhampur-Katra-Qazigund-Baramulla railway line, the biggest mountain rail project since the Independence.

The 53-km Jammu-Udhampur section was opened to the public in 2005, and the 119-km Qazigund-Baramulla route has been operational since 2009.

At present, the 6.5km Karbude tunnel of the Konkan Railway is the longest tunnel in India.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 01 Jun 2011 16:46

Sikkim Rail Link Work

“The work will begin in full swing from October. Minor problems exists in regard to the construction of the railway link Rangpo in Sikkim. Steps are being taken to solve the problems,” he said at a meeting with Sikkim government officials here.

Mr Sahai said enough distance would be maintained from the National Highway while laying the railway tracks and maximum care would be taken to safeguard wildlife and environment during construction work, he said.

rahulm · Post by **rahulm** » 03 Jun 2011 09:31

I visited the DLW Varanasi plant recently.

Impressive plant showing its age on the shop floor.Meeting targets comfortably while operating below capacity. The plant is vertically integrated for most purposes. The engine block castings are sourced from outside.

Paint shop is primitive.

SQC is not applied. 100% testing for components.

Many examples of WDM3A's, WDG4's were in various stages of manufacture.

Ambience is sarkari.

I saw a sense of urgency only in the PRO department where red coloured files with "URGENT - RTI MATTER" were being moved around speedily. Jai RTI!

wig · Post by **wig** » 08 Jun 2011 09:12

Entering 100th year, Punjab Mail on record track

The Punjab Mail that runs from Ferozepore to Mumbai has entered its 100th year of service.

Once known as the pride of Punjab, the train was introduced by the British in 1912 between Peshawar and Mumbai.

Although the exact date of the introduction of the train is not clear, records show a complaint (dated October 12, 1912) lodged by an angry passenger regarding its delayed arrival at the Delhi station.

The Punjab Mail, that has acquired the status of a superfast train, is about 16 years older than the Frontier Mail.

It was most favoured by the British officers in the pre-Partition days. It continues to be the favourite train of residents in the Malwa belt travelling to Delhi or Mumbai.

With 24 airconditioned and ordinary coaches, the train covers 1,930 km in 34 hours. This was the fastest train carrying officers from the South to the North during the British regime. Archival documents indicate that it made its inaugural run from Mumbai on June 1, 1912.

Before the Partition, it used to traverse 2,496 km in 47 hours between Peshawar and Bombay (now Mumbai).

According to the records of the Central Railway, in 1914 the train (from Bombay to Delhi) covered 1,541 km in 29 hours and 30 minutes.

In the early 1920s, this transit time was reduced to 27 hours 10 minutes, despite as many as 18 intermediate stops.

In 1972, the trainsit time was pushed up to 29 hours. Today, the Punjab Mail has as many as 37 intermediate stops. The cost of running the train from Bombay to Punjab, according to 1911 estimates, was to be shared equally by the GIP Railway and the North Western Railway.

The document states that the cost of the “eight-car train” was then an astronomical Rs 89.40 lakh.

This included the design and construction of the cars from the Burma teak at the Matunga Workshop.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110608/punjab.htm#3

Sravan · Post by **Sravan** » 04 Jul 2011 14:44

New track detection algorithms for rail detection developed by this US company specifically for Indian railways. Checkout their video section to see their test algorithm in action. You might need to click on the video's link multiple times to get to the video.

http://www.solfice.com

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 04 Jul 2011 18:24

Akhil Chandra Sen wrote this letter to the Sahibganj Divisional Railway office in 1909(100 Years before). It is on display at the Railway Museum in New Delhi. It was also reproduced under the caption "Travelers' Tales" in the Far Eastern Economic Review.

PROBLEM

"I am arrive by passenger train Ahmedpur station and my belly is too much swelling with jackfruit. I am therefore went to privy. Just I doing the nuisance that guard making whistle blow for train to go off and I am running with lotah in one hand and dhoti in the next when I am fall over and expose all my shocking to man and female women on platform. I am got leaved at Ahmedpur station.

THREATENING REQUEST.

This too much bad, if passenger go to make dung that dam guard not wait train five minutes for him. I am therefore pray your honor to make big fine on that guard for public sake. Otherwise I am making big report to papers."

IMPORTANCE of PUBLIC COMPLAINT.

Any guesses why this letter was of historic value?...... ......... ...............

It apparently led to introduction of toilets in trains.

Vasu · Post by **Vasu** » 04 Jul 2011 19:17

well I'll give you that, Bengalis do love their jackfruit!

Purush · Post by **Purush** » 11 Jul 2011 13:22

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... f334ec.751

67 dead, 200 hurt as trains derail in India
By Sharat Pradhan (AFP) – 5 hours ago

LUCKNOW, India — Rescue teams using sniffer dogs searched for bodies and survivors Monday in the mangled remains of two Indian passenger trains that derailed at the weekend, killing 67 and injuring 200.

Nearly a dozen carriages of a packed express jumped the rails in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh on Sunday, while a suspected bomb planted on the tracks in the northeastern state of Assam derailed a second train.

In the first accident, 150 kilometres (95 miles) from state capital Lucknow, rescue teams called in heavy-lifting equipment to move the damaged carriages, some of which mounted each other while others had been crushed almost flat.

Two Swedes were among the 67 killed, while a third was hospitalised, local official A.K. Pathak told AFP from the scene. About 100 people were injured and taken to local hospitals, of which about four are serious.

"The toll may still go up. Sniffer dogs have been sent in to detect any bodies trapped under sheets of metal because it is physically not possible for search parties to enter," Pathak said.

Anxious relatives and friends of the 1,000 passengers travelling on the train from Kolkata to New Delhi gathered at stations along the line seeking information about their loved ones.

In Assam, police said they suspected the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), a tribal separatist group, had planted a bomb that caused the derailment of four carriages, some of which rolled into a water-logged ditch.
At least 100 people were injured, 20 critically, police said.

"We have sounded a high alert across the state with security personnel deployed in vulnerable locations to thwart rebel attacks," Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi told AFP.

"We condemn such barbaric militant attacks like bombing trains or other such things targeting civilians."

The Guwahati-Puri Express was nearing Ghograpara, about 70 kilometres from Assam's main city of Guwahati, when it was hit by the strong blast.

"There was a loud explosion and it was total chaos soon after," passenger Jiten Das told AFP by telephone.

"The coach in which I was travelling skidded off the track and fell in marshy land with waist-deep water. Somehow we managed to get out. I cut my head and arms and have a wound in my chest."

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is acting railways minister, expressed "deep sorrow and shock at the loss of lives".

On Thursday, 38 people were killed in another rail crash in Uttar Pradesh when a train slammed into a bus carrying a wedding party.

India's state-run rail network -- still the main form of long-distance travel despite fierce competition from new private airlines -- carries 18.5 million people daily.

The worst accident in India was in 1981 when a train plunged into a river in the eastern state of Bihar, killing an estimated 800 people.

The railway is the country's largest employer with 1.4 million people on its payroll and it runs 11,000 trains a day.

Experts say the creaking system, the world's second largest under a single management, is desperately in need of new investment to improve safety and help end transportation bottlenecks that threaten the country's economic growth.

"There is a real danger that the frequency of train accidents in India might soon desensitise people as 'yet another' instance of what has become thoughtlessly, mind-numbingly commonplace," the Indian Express said in an editorial Monday.

The newspaper criticised a political tradition of successive coalition governments awarding the railway ministry portfolio as a sop to important allies.

"This practice should be ended immediately and the ministry given to a responsible individual," it said.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 11 Jul 2011 13:32

Err if it happenned in Chattisgarh and not Assam someone would have blamed the CM for incompetence in not protecting the railway line.

sum · Post by **sum** » 11 Jul 2011 14:22

^^ Maybe the improperly trained and a "danger to the nation" SPOs would have got blamed in BR if it happened in C'garh!!!

SRoy · Post by **SRoy** » 11 Jul 2011 14:49

^^

there is another derailment...howrah-kalka mail.

silod · Post by **silod** » 11 Jul 2011 16:04

I am not able to understand who actually is the present Railway Minister? Mamta B..... but she is looking after West Bengal. Manmohan S....but he is busy in delaing with one blow after the another on his tainted ministers. Who is taking care of this important national assets?
Two train accidents in a single day.... I have never heard that before. MMS, as usual, is silent on this as well.....

sum · Post by **sum** » 11 Jul 2011 17:12

^^ Saar, so many RSS folks suspiciously roaming around near the wreckage helping out the victims....
Has to be a Loony right wing, communal conspiracy to defame the secular forces!

Was this a second act of "Hindu terror" on a train ( after Samjautha where RSS seems to have joined hands with Al-Q : Clicky )??

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 11 Jul 2011 21:33

there is no cabinet rank railway minister at present since Mamata became CM. the MoS is from her party TMC as well. he said he didnt want to go the site so as not to obstruct rescue activities. the media and even the PM has pounced on that statement and is scolding him now.
however I agree with his sentiment - ministerial visit just increase the tamasha factor in india.

the real blame if any should rest on Mamata for spending 100% time on WB politics in her term and neglecting the railway activities...1000s of bridges are unsafe and have reached EOL....some cannot support the new gen of longer and faster trains unless the passing is at slow speed. signaling could always need improvements to pack in more trains safely...but to raise resources the holy grail of sleeper class and general fares being raised as well as sacred cows like mumbai commuter rail fires might need to be raised ... IR is also trying to sell off or develop its land holdings in prime areas to make some money...but the 1 million number of employees is a huge burden to support

its a big ship that is survivable and can sail the rough seas , but not rigged to be nimble or fast.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 11 Jul 2011 22:02

Singha wrote: the real blame if any should rest on Mamata for spending 100% time on WB politics in her term and neglecting the railway activities....

And in her all-important mission of conquering the cpm, she propped up the Gorkhaland agitators and the maoists under pcpa. How else can anyone explain the truce between Gorkhaland agitators and the new govt? She has been MIA in the Rail Bhavan too. All in all, she is an apt case for dereliction of duty. Just because she is frugal personified in an age of show-offs does nt get her plus points for not doing her job. At the very least, Laloo Yadav was around in Rail Bhavan even if there may have been 108 charges of cooking the books and showing profits etc. Why do we get such nutjobs as Rail Mantris and Mantris in the HRD wing? Almost no new connectivity has been established in the NE and there is talk of love for BD and how they are seeking transit. First, they dont do the job and then go cross-border love instead of showering love inside the country.