Indian Railways Thread

[Singha]

where do the truckers ride ? I have seen army trains where they pitch
a small tent on the flatbed or sleep in back of truck if its empty and a kitchen
wagon is attached at the end..food is served when train stops at mealtimes.

[sanjaychoudhry]

where do the truckers ride ? I have seen army trains where they pitch
a small tent on the flatbed or sleep in back of truck if its empty and a kitchen
wagon is attached at the end..food is served when train stops at mealtimes.

I have seen them sitting and sleepin in their truck cabins (like they do during road driving) but mostly they while away their time sitting on the wagon floor next to their trucks and whistling at girls at railway stations on the Konkan route. No idea where they get their meals from, though.

RORO service again on Konkan Railway

Mangalore , June 11, 2004

THE "Roll-On Roll-Off" (RORO) service between Maharashtra and Mangalore will be reintroduced on the Konkan Railway network on June 15.

The service was discontinued after running for a brief period during 1999.

Addressing the members of Truck Owners' Association at Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) in Mangalore on Thursday , Mr Manish Shah, partner of Manish Transport Company, Mumbai, said that his company has been appointed the service provider for Konkan Railway's "RORO" service between Kolad in Raigad district of Maharashtra and Surathkal in Mangalore.

In this, the loaded truck will roll on to the wagon at Kolad and roll off at Surathkal and vice versa. Mr Shah said that trucks would cover nearly 900 km on railway wagon without actually running. It is an alternate-day service for the customers of Mangalore, he said. The service will be flagged off at Kolad on June 15 and in Surathkal on June 16.

There will be a 72-seat coach in the train for drivers and cleaners of the trucks. At present, 35 trucks can be accommodated in every RORO service. Each truck on the wagon would have insurance cover for Rs 5 lakh, he added.

The KCCI President, Mr R.D. Kini, said that RORO service would help reduce the travelling time from 72 hours to 18 hours between these two destinations.

Link

Konkan Railway's profitable ro-ro service — Big savings for truckers too
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/200 ... 190600.htm

[Katare]

Well a good budget and substantial increase in capital outlay...

For people who were saying all this surplus will disappear once sixth pay commisiion comes into effect - Railway has already made a provision of more than a billion dollars and for next year it is providing another $2.5 billion provision and still maintaining its surplus intact.

Lots of misinformation and uninformed comments by DDM etc.....

IIRC, Railway doesn't follow double entry accounting system that corporates follow. Rs 25k is 'surplus' not 'net profit', this is the way railway budget has always been reported so data is comparable. The surplus is more like operating profit of private companies...

Increase in passenger and freight traffic (passing the cost to user) is a real achievement of lalu and should be looked at as a progressive step not looting.

The turn around has more to do with economic growth and some innovative changes that RM allowed.

Look at this table it has all the data....

Rlys makes Rs 4,500-cr provision for 6th Pay Commission outgo

[Singha]

how are trucks and tanks loaded onto wagons ? is it driven at an acute
angle from the platform and slowly turned as the front wheels enter the
flatbed ?

[ranganathan]

The truckers don't seem to have any amenities? No kitchen, no toilet nothing except a flat bed?

[Singha]

well the 72 seat wagon will sure have 4 toilets. food I guess they will either
have to buy on stops or bring themself as pantry car is not economical.

[Katare]

Detailed data table.....

Growth express

[bala]

IIT Kanpur scientists develop green toilets for trains

A group of IIT Kanpur scientists has developed an eco-friendly discharge system as Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav proposed Green Toilets in all trains in the 2008-2009 Railway Budget.

IIT Kanpur was entrusted in 2005 by Technology Mission on Railway Safety to develop an eco-friendly toilets to avoid pollution and stop rails getting rusted.

N S Vyas, co-ordinator, Technology Mission on Railway Safety and professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department of IIT, told PTI that IIT has handed over the system worth two crore to the Railways and it was being tried in one Chennai train.

The Rail Budget has allotted Rs 40 million for the project.

Vyas said, "In this new system, the solid part and the liquid part of the human waste will be separated and the solid part will be collected in a container, which later will be collected on reaching the last station. The liquid part will be recycled and will be used."

"The system will avoid depositing the human waste on the rails. In China, they use thermal treatment in the trains for the disposal of human waste, but this system is completely based on chemical treatment," he added.

Vyas also said "The pilot testing is on progress in a Chennai train and as the Minister has announced the proposal for green toilets in the budget, all the trains will have this soon."

[Vasu]

Whats very good to see is that these technologies are now coming from our own country.

Am reading Vision 2020 by Dr. Kalam and he has so much admiration for countries such as Japan whose strength is their own technologies. These little developments and innovations are what will take us forward.

I think its just as important to teach the people how to behave and use these new facilities. On Headlines Today, they asked a few people at some station about the feasibility and success of these green toilets, and one jerk-off said it won't work because this is India.

[krishnan]

Now wait a minute , "The liquid part will be reused", what does it mean? Are they talking about the water , or something else

[Dileep]

Now wait a minute , "The liquid part will be reused", what does it mean? Are they talking about the water , or something else

The pee will be processed, turned into mineral water, and sold to you for Rs 5 per pouch

[bart]

Now wait a minute , "The liquid part will be reused", what does it mean? Are they talking about the water , or something else

The pee will be processed, turned into mineral water, and sold to you for Rs 5 per pouch

That would be too obvious; It will be used to make chai and tomato soup

[Katare]

Now wait a minute , "The liquid part will be reused", what does it mean? Are they talking about the water , or something else

[hnair]

The pee will be processed, turned into mineral water, and sold to you for Rs 5 per pouch

That would be too obvious; It will be used to make chai and tomato soup

Wow! you guys are raising our hopes too much. we are talking about definite upgrades here, people

[VickersB]

That would be too obvious; It will be used to make chai and tomato soup

You mean to say you guys haven't had pee(a) soup before? that would be chai and pea soup!

[svinayak]

Highlights of the Railway Budget for 2008-09.


Quick summary:
a) Market response was positive (but not resounding, since there were no big surprises)
b) Strategy of gaining volume by keeping prices low continues (certain freight and passenger fares lowered; no fare hikes; freight accounts for about 65% of revenue).
c) Spending plans include more trains as well as technology upgrades.

Initiatives for making traveling easy:
Low Fare

* Discounts in fares in various classes of travel

Class


Busy Season


Lean Season

AC First


3%


6%

AC 2-Tier


2%


4%

AC-3 Tier (81 berths)


4%


8%

AC-3 Tier (64 berths)


Nil


Nil

AC CC (102 seats)


4%


8%

New Sleeper Coaches (84 berths)


4%


4%

Sleeper Class (72 berths)


Nil


Nil



* Supplementary charges for Superfast Trains for Second Class shall be reduced from Rs. 10 to Rs. 8.
* It has been proposed to introduce Tourist Tickets from any station to any station in Mumbai Suburban area as a pilot project. The fares for Second Calls Tourist Tickets shall be Rs. 40, Rs. 75 and Rs. 90 for 1, 3 and 5 day respectively.
* All passengers above 60 years of age will now get a 30% discount, while females above 60 years would get a 50% discount.
* 50% concession to students appearing in upsc/ssc exams.
* The freight on petrol and diesel has been cut by 5%, while those on fly ash have been cut by 14%.


Better Facilities

* Frequencies of 14 trains to be increased along with the extension of 23 existing train routes.
* Availability of earmarked coaches for vendors in passenger trains. More convenient, comfortable and high capacity new design passenger coaches will be manufactured.
* e-tickets will be issued through e-seva of State Governments, Post Offices, petrol pumps and ATMs of Banks.
* Hand held computer terminals will be provided to TTEs in reserved coaches to improve occupancy.
* The number of computerized UTS counters will be increased to 8,000 over the next two years. 6,000 automatic ticket vending machines will also be installed in major cities and connected with UTS terminals.
* Go-Mumbai Card/ Smart Card facility will be launched for easier ticketing for commuters.
* An increase in ticketing counters to 15,000 in the next 2 years from the current 3,000.
* 50 large stations across the country will have lifts and escalators while 30 bigger stations would have multi-level parking system.


Technology Upgradation

* Railways to invest Rs 2.5 lakh crore in next five years for upgradation of information technology network.
* Rs 4,000 crore would be spent on green toilets for 36000 coaches in the next 5-year plan.
* All the trains will be run via online control in the next two years and the trains would be linked via software communication by 2009.
* CCTVs and metal detectors would be put up at all stations.


Annual Outlays and Plans

* An outlay of Rs. 31,000 crore for the Annual Plan 2007-08 has been proposed, an increase of 32% over previous year and would be the largest Annual Plan for the Railways so far to maintain the high growth rate. This includes:

o Support of Rs 7,611 cr from General Revenues.
o Internal Generation of Rs 17,323 cr.
o Extra Budgetary Resources of Rs 5,740 cr.
o 200 Diesel, 200 Electric engines and 11,000 wagons to be produced.
o Outlay on project related Plan heads: New Lines Rs 1,610 cr, Gauge conversion Rs 2,404 cr, Electrification Rs 300 cr, Metropolitan Transport Projects Rs 722 cr.
o Outlay on Safety related Plan heads: Track renewal Rs 3,360 cr, Bridges Rs 597 cr, Signal & Telecommunication works Rs 1,597 cr, Road over/under bridges Rs 551 cr and manning of unmanned level crossings Rs 500 cr.
o Important Targets: New Lines 500 kms, Gauge Conversion 1800 kms, Doubling 700 kms.
o Rs 2,725 cr required for four National Projects.
o Rs 1,00,000 cr investment via PPP.
o Railways to invest Rs 75,000 crore to upgrade infrastructure over the next seven years.
o Rail coach manufacturing facility to be set up in Kerala.


Performance

o Railways is expected to report a cash surplus of Rs 25,000cr in FY08.
o Revenue from passengers fare increased 14% in 2007-08 as reduced fares increased volumes and profits. Revenues from freight loading increased by 8.2% in the first 9 months of 2007-08.
o Rail operating ratio is at 76.3% with a work force of 14 lakh.

[John Snow]

Guys calm down, there many rest rooms in which the liquid part is recycled to flush the system again and again, with out wasting use potable water. I have seen dispalys informing the use of urinating systems which proudly proclaim , no fresh water is being wated in these toilets.

The technology exists, but the one developed by IIT guys may be different
**
I remember in 1967 my uncle (civil engineer) supervising for Hindustan Construction Company of Walchand Hirachand group for BHEL hyderbad township to recirculte the watse water after litrally centrifuging the sewer and then seperating the solid waste and water. The water was then fed to irrigate farms around. ( as singha says in his post)

[Singha]

in most tech park buildings of india, the waste water is recycled by law in small in-campus plants and used to water the gardens and run fountains.
there are signs proclaiming "do not drink" knowing the habits of some to just drink from any tap.

[Dileep]

Water recycling is no bigg deal technically. The obvious thing is to vacuum compact the mix, and use the liquid to flush again and again. In the end you will have a vary solid compacted block of crap to be removed to a disposal facility. Simple onlee, and can run off the generator belt.

[BijuShet]

Now wait a minute , "The liquid part will be reused", what does it mean? Are they talking about the water , or something else

The pee will be processed, turned into mineral water, and sold to you for Rs 5 per pouch

Dileep saar this was too freaking hilarious. I almost chocked on a banana I was eating while reading this. Please put out spoiler alerts before such posts.

[Vick]

Now wait a minute , "The liquid part will be reused", what does it mean? Are they talking about the water , or something else

The pee will be processed, turned into mineral water, and sold to you for Rs 5 per pouch

Nothing like glass of refreshing Rail Neer to quench the thirst!

[Vipul]

First train in Kashmir valley completes trial run.

Srinagar, March 1 (IANS) The much awaited train service to the Kashmir valley had its first 65-km trial run Saturday.

The trial run of the train started from the central Badgam district railway station and ended at the Panzgam railway station in south Kashmir's Pulwama district.

The run was completed with eight coaches and was supervised by an eight-member team of the railways headed by Ankush Krishnan, the managing director of the Indian Railway Construction Company (IRCON).

Krishnan is also the member secretary of the Railway Board.

The multi-million-rupee Kashmir rail project is being commissioned in two phases. By the end of this year, the rail link between south Kashmir's Anantnag district and north Kashmir's Baramulla district is expected to be ready.

In the second phase, railway operations between the valley and the rest of the country will begin.

The rail service is expected to give a tremendous boost to trade and industries in the valley besides making passenger movement faster, more affordable and more convenient.

[Gerard]

Indian baby in train toilet fall

[SSridhar]

Rail budget off-track in certain key areas

Those familiar with the goings-on in the corridors of Rail Bhavan do not rule out the possibility of hikes outside the Railway Budget for 2008-09 as has been done in the past through various means, such as changing the classifications, allowing overloading, introducing surcharges and slapping new types of imposts.

The mandarins in Rail Bhavan, in their bid to play to the gallery, often remain oblivious to the imperative of timely completion of projects. There are any number of projects sanctioned years ago but yet to see the light of day. It often takes years, even to lay tracks over a distance of a few kilometres.

The focus of the Railway Budget appears to be on the kitty. Safety received only a passing reference. The Rs 17,000-crore Special Railway Safety Fund, created by the earlier Railway Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, in 2001, with a tenure of five years, lapsed in 2006. However, Mr Lalu Prasad got a one-year extension.

While earning profits is welcome, it need not necessarily be the Railways’ sole consideration. Apart from safety and security of passengers, running trains punctually should also receive top priority. Next, the issue of passenger amenities.

What kind of comfort can passengers hope to have in a compartment in which more berths are being squeezed into the same space without increasing the number of bathrooms?
High-speed trains

Overloading of trucks has been banned by the apex court, but overloading of wagons appears to have been ignored. Overloading of wagons has been legalised by the Railway Minister, (eg, CC+6,CC+8) in his desperate bid to earn more revenue without adding much to the infrastructure.

Fifty-three new trains have been announced on a saturated system, without making provision to improve the infrastructure. Next, the speed of trains.

On a high-density network, accounting for nearly one-third of the country’s total rail network of 66,000 km, the average speed of passenger train is 55 km and goods train 20 km. Even Rajdhani and Shatabdi Expresses run at an average speed of 75 km.

The fastest passenger train is Shatabdi Express between Bhopal and Kanpur with an average speed of 140 km, well below the speed of fast trains the Railway Minister vowed to introduce after visiting countries where such trains operate.

There are some unanswered questions: Why is the average turnaround time of wagons still so high despite slashing of the free time and hike in demurrage? Why are more diesel locomotives proposed to be acquired despite the Minister’s announcement to go for electrification of more routes?

Why do the same wagon manufacturers take much less time to deliver a rake to a WIS (Wagon Investment Scheme) customer vis-a-vis the Railways? Is the shortage of wheels receiving due attention?
Anything new?

One wonders if all the announcements made in the Budget are new.

For example, the western section of the Dedicated Freight Corridor was sanctioned earlier. But the progress of work has been painfully slow. Till now, the basic alignment of the routes has not been finalised and the blueprint is not yet ready.

One is not clear how the project is going to be implemented — as the Railways’ own project or through a separate entity in which the Railways may be or may not be a partner. Land acquisition is another issue that may add to costs and time delay.

he Railway Minister has been quoted as saying that he is in favour of implementing the project as the Railways’ own project. But then the Railways’ own track in regard to timely and efficient execution of projects is not something to write home about.

Much, therefore, will depend on whether he comes back as the Railway Minister after the next Lok Sabha election. Some other issues are also critical. For example, the issue of land acquisition. The delay will only add to the costs.

Mr Lalu Prasad’s performance as the Railway Minister in the past five years has been impressive in the sense that he presented five budgets in a row, all surpluses, and has succeeded in projecting Indian Railways as one of the high-performers.

But would it not also be in order to have a performance audit that makes a proper assessment of how many of the promises made in the earlier Budgets have actually been delivered upon.

[SBajwa]

I am not sure where to post this story but check this out since it is about transite.

TO mark the 100th birth anniversary of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh, the Vancouver Transit Union office has installed his portrait.


http://www.southasiapost.org/2008/20080 ... ures.htm#3

Any of the Indian railways have any such portraits? I do have seen some..

[Vipul]

World's tallest rail bridge.

[SSridhar]

Siliguri-Gangtok Rail Link

Inquiries reveal that a move is afoot on the Indian side also to construct railway lines from Siliguri in the foothills on West Bengal to Sikkim, first up to Rangpo, to be extended gradually to Gangtok. If Srinagar could linked by rail, why not Gangtok? There is even a proposal to construct a railway yard in Siliguri, it is further learnt.

[SSridhar]

High speed rail corridor in the South

Indian Railways is exploring the possibility of setting up a high-speed rail corridor connecting Chennai, Bangalore, Coimbatore and Kochi, according to Mr K.C. Jena, Chairman of the Railway Board.

Speaking to newspersons here, he said that six high-speed passenger corridors have been planned as a public-private partnership.

Interested State governments and the Railways will pool in equal funds for the same.

He pointed out that a global tender would soon be called to fix a consultant in this regard.

[Theo_Fidel]

Chennai Metro Rails Website now active.

http://www.chennaimetrorail.gov.in/index.html

Pretty plain right now but has spiffy photos of Stalin's jaunt to Japan.

Hope he learnt something.

Not sure about the rust colored livery.

[bala]

Guess where these pics are taken? Courtesy Zhiemi of ssc

[sampat]

during my last trip to desh i had a pastry in cafe coffee day! it is CP stop..Rajeev chowk? i used to change lane there for barakhamba road.

[sanjaychoudhry]

Yeah. It is Rajeev Chowk (Connaught Place) metro station at Delhi.

[Kalantak]

Centre clears metro rail for Hyderabad

“Memorableâ€

[Himanshu]

Sridhar/Theo.. any idea about the upgradation of the Signaling system in the Indian railways..

Any new developments in the Diesel Loco Technology in the Indian Railways??

[bala]

Railways to commission high-tech communication system

New Delhi (PTI): As part of efforts to improve safety of high-speed trains, Railways will soon introduce a sophisticated communication system for unhindered contact between the driver and ground staff.

The Mobile Train Radio Communication (MTRC) system will replace the existing walkie talkie system which is not reliable when the train is running at a high speed. "The walkie-talkie system is not reliable and found to be wanting in train operations. Voice becomes inaudible in high speed trains. Communication also gets blocked if the train negotiates a curve," said a senior Railway Ministry official.

The MTRC system to be introduced in the high density routes at an estimated cost of Rs 284 crore will enable the driver and guard to communicate with each other and also with station master, control officers and other concerned officials responsible for train operations.

"In fact, when a train runs at a speed of 140 km per hour, no system other than the MTRC does work. That is why we have decided to replace the existing communication system with the advanced system. The MTRC system is effective even when the train runs at 300-km per hours speed," said the official.

The MTRC system has already been commissioned on three routes covering 725 km in Howrah-Dhanbad, Mathura-Jhansi and Guwahati-New Bongaingaon sections on a pilot basis.

Work is going to be commissioned on 3200-km high density routes, said the official.

[putnanja]

Hand-held reservation gadget makes it a joyride for TTEs, passengers

[Sachin]

Hand-held reservation gadget makes it a joyride for TTEs, passengers

The cost of each equipment seems to be too high. Rs.70,000/- ?? That is way more than even a laptop. I feel that railways should try for more indegenous solutions (rather than stuff from IBM etc.)

[ranganathan]

The HCl solution seems optimum.

[Kalantak]

Railways gets patent for anti-collision device
Tripti Nath
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 27
The Anti-Collision Device (ACD) developed by Konkan Railway, has been granted patent by China, Russia and Singapore.

The grant of patent by three major countries will give recognition to the wonder technology in these countries and open up possibilities of export of the technology in future. Konkan Railway had applied for worldwide patents for this technology in the past and had been granted patent for ACD in India and South Africa.

The ACD, indigenously designed by Konkan Railway, is an intelligent, ‘self-acting’ microprocessor-based equipment that successfully prevents collision of trains in mid-sections, station area and at level crossings. The device is installed in locomotives of trains, guard vans, stations and at level crossing gates. Since the device needs no manual input, it enhances safety in train operations.

Konkan Railway has successfully implemented the ACD network on North East Frontier Railway and the ACD networked route was declared as commissioned last year. It covers 1,924 Broad Gauge (BG) route km, 202 stations and 589 diesel locomotives.

The successful commissioning of the ACD networked route on NF Railway has paved the way for implementation of ACDs on BG routes of other zonal railways. Konkan Railway has submitted proposal for providing the ACD on South Central Railway, South Western Railway, and Southern Railway, covering a total of 200 stations and more than 1,600 route km on Vasco-Madgaon-Londa-Hubli- Guntakkal-Renigunta, Ernakulam-Shoranur-Palghat- Erode-Chennai and Bangalore-Jolarpettai sections with 3,200 ACD units.

[Kalantak]

Team arrives to review train project
Jammu, April 27

With plans afoot to launch the train services to the valley in June this year, a high-level team of railway officials arrived in Kashmir to finalise the arrangements and review the present status of the project. The team-led by divisional railway manager, Satish Kumar, would check the railway track, DMUS and working of the railway stations at different places along the 68-km of newly created railway track in the valley during its three-day visit, the sources said.

The team would also review the security measures of the track, working of the nine railway stations, train trials and technical faults if any on the 68-km of rail track, they said.

Commissioner, railway safety, would then arrive here in the first week of May and would go for train trials and working of the stations, they said. They added that in June, train services were expected to start in the valley.

Other members of the team include senior divisional commercial manager Brijesh Dharmani, divisional electrical engineer B.S. Kharkal and senior divisional financial advisor Mukesh Mittal. The nine railway stations along the track have come up at Anantnag, Bijbehara, Panzgam, Awantipura, Kakapura, Pampore, Srinagar, Budgam and Rajvansher.