Mass Rapid Transit in India

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RamaT
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by RamaT »

This is unfortunate.. it means funds that could have gone for other projects internally will have to focus on the metro instead. Perhaps we should not have been so eager to pay back the Japanese loans.
Japan unlikely to invest in phase 3 of Delhi Metro

JAPAN may not participate in India's ambitious plan to extend its state of the art metro network in national capital region (NCR) with an investment of Rs 11,000 crore.
http://www.mydigitalfc.com/news/japan-u ... -metro-104
Last edited by archan on 21 Aug 2010 07:41, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: username changes from strat-shooter to RamaT
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by Venkarl »

Image
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by manish »

Venkarl wrote:Image
Seems to be DPRK flag. Most probably the ship is flying it as a Flag of Convenience. DPRK is a relatively well established flag of convenience registry.

This vessel almost surely would have been owned by some non-DPRK entity, but would have been registered and flagged as a DPRK one to avail certain benefits or exploit loopholes in shipping law.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by wrdos »

This one is very impressive.
Good for Delhi
Suraj wrote:Delhi Metro's Airport Express trial run:
Image
Source: http://twitpic.com/2d30mc
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by krisna »

Metro rail’s date with Bangalore in December
Under the first phase of Namma Metro ("my metro" in Kannada), a 7.5-km stretch between Baiyappanahalli and M G Road on the eastern line is set to be finished in three years and eight months, thus becoming the fastest metro rail project the country has seen so far. Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) had started civil work for this stretch in April 2007.
It would be the second (after Kolkata Metro) to make use of the third rail system to draw power to run the train, which is considered environment-friendly. DMRCL uses overhead cables to supply electricity.
Once completed, Bangalore Metro will have 40 stations - 33 elevated and seven underground. The only interchange station common to both the corridors would be located underground at Majestic. When fully commissioned, the metro rail will serve 1.9 million passengers per day.
In another first to its credit, the first phase of Bangalore Metro will run on standard gauge tracks as compared to Delhi Metro, which started its inaugural run on broad gauge tracks. Also, BMRCL is yet to acquire more than 1,000 private and public properties and land, unlike in Delhi, which was contributed by the government.
Likely snags due to delay in acquiring land.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by krisna »

Metro crane comes crashing down in Bangalore; family escapes miraculously
Suddenly, a crane which was lifting a pillar on the metro site toppled, and wires from it and an arm fell just in front of our vehicle, damaging the bonnet and the glass. Luckily, our driver’s reflexes were quick enough, and he managed to halt the vehicle and save our lives.”
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by Sachin »

Dont know if any one gets the same feeling. Some times the news reports which gets published in Bengaluru gives an impression that Namma Metro is a collossal waste imposed on the other-wise happy Bangaloreans. Either it is about traffic diversions caused or about tree fellings. For God's sake, dont people have the common sense to know that a metro railway system cannot be built in 1 or 2 days (or months)? And for every big project like this trees may have to be cut, but Namma Metro folks have agreed to plant double the number else where, or in the same spot once the construction is over.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by manish »

Sachin wrote:Dont know if any one gets the same feeling. Some times the news reports which gets published in Bengaluru gives an impression that Namma Metro is a collossal waste imposed on the other-wise happy Bangaloreans. Either it is about traffic diversions caused or about tree fellings. For God's sake, dont people have the common sense to know that a metro railway system cannot be built in 1 or 2 days (or months)? And for every big project like this trees may have to be cut, but Namma Metro folks have agreed to plant double the number else where, or in the same spot once the construction is over.
It is basically counter propagandu from those who 'lost out' saar. By that I mean those politicians who failed to maneuver themselves (and their landholdings) into positions that would bring a windfall with the metro going live (read high valuations/rentals). May be some of you Bangaloreans can shed more light on it, but I distinctly remember reported attempts at land grab around a proposed station in South BLR (Jayanagar/Sarakki or BSK I don't quite remember) between some prominent politicians. IIRC the (in)famous D-K-Shi (no, he ain't Japanese :D ) was one of them.

Lot of the heartburn also comes from the likes of powerful landlosers (like the traders on CMH Road who had put up a huge fight to resist the current alignment). Money talks and these folks have it plenty.

But Namma Metro is going to go forward no matter what. At least for the currently under construction reaches. Of course, once a new govt comes in, no one can tell. Most likely the alignments and corridors would have to be realigned with the interests of the next coterie in power.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by manju »

Book Bus Tickets (Karnataka RTC) ON PHone


http://www.ksrtc.in/KSRTC_ngpay_Landing ... _page.html
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by vina »

Gosh. Today was the first time I took the Volvo city buses here in Bangalore (in fact taking the bus after close to 25 years in India). My word, very ultra modern onree, these Volvo Buses. They will be right at home in Europe or Singapore.

The seads were all decently padded, not a protruding unsafe metal anywhere , everything polyurethane cladded, the roof insert along the A/C vents were all soft touch material (not many "luxury" cars in India have them on the dashboards), the side framing were all fabric covered.

Most of all, the buses were automatic onree. I was not expecting that automatic at all. But there they were and in addition, right next to the driver there was a decently sized screen with a side view camera showing the traffic on the left. :lol: .

All very nice. Jai ho. That has opened my eyes. The Volvo routes are pretty practical, widespread and very neat and convenient. What a change from the Bangalore and Chennai buses of my youth !. Well, Yindia has arrived folks and how!. All it needs is the metro and some traffic sense and some danda applied in the posteriers of folks who litter the streets and some good garbage collection and cleaning system and in some 15 /20 years , will be pretty neat at least at Malaysia/Thailand levels (Swiss levels or organization and cleaniness we are genetically incapable of getting there, so lets not even try).
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by manish »

vina wrote:Gosh. Today was the first time I took the Volvo city buses here in Bangalore (in fact taking the bus after close to 25 years in India). My word, very ultra modern onree, these Volvo Buses. They will be right at home in Europe or Singapore.

The seads were all decently padded, not a protruding unsafe metal anywhere , everything polyurethane cladded, the roof insert along the A/C vents were all soft touch material (not many "luxury" cars in India have them on the dashboards), the side framing were all fabric covered.

Most of all, the buses were automatic onree. I was not expecting that automatic at all. But there they were and in addition, right next to the driver there was a decently sized screen with a side view camera showing the traffic on the left. :lol: .

All very nice. Jai ho. That has opened my eyes. The Volvo routes are pretty practical, widespread and very neat and convenient. What a change from the Bangalore and Chennai buses of my youth !. Well, Yindia has arrived folks and how!. All it needs is the metro and some traffic sense and some danda applied in the posteriers of folks who litter the streets and some good garbage collection and cleaning system and in some 15 /20 years , will be pretty neat at least at Malaysia/Thailand levels (Swiss levels or organization and cleaniness we are genetically incapable of getting there, so lets not even try).
Ayyo vina saar, this is totally unexpected of you! An out and out Bangalorean like you should have taken one of these beauties a lot earlier! Apparently now over 400 of these things ply on BLR's roads, with a stated target of 1000 soon. BTW Did you check out the uber-cool dijitaal display with onboard TFTA self-diagnostics that the driver has at his disposal?They even used to have active GPS displays with scrolling BLR maps indicating current position, destination, next stop and ETA on a trial basis for a few days (at least in 2007 when I lived there).

All very subanallah onree.

Next time try having a conversation with one of the drivers if possible. You can sense the pride in their voices :) BMTC, despite its ills has truly led the way in modernising urban bus transport systems* in India. Kudos to them (and KSRTC) for being first movers and risk takers way back when no one (incl. pvt sector intercity players who were busy fleecing customers by forming cartels) believed that India deserved such TFTA buses or facilities like online/mobile booking. Well done. They have even forced a positive change from other SRTCs and private operators who had no choice but to compete. It is a testament to their efforts that today KSRTC/BMTC are doing well both in terms of market share and profitability despite being costlier than the competition by a fair bit.

*PS: Interestingly, even the AL SLF bus design employed by BMTC (IIRC KMS built) is far better than the ones deployed by most others including MTC ones(which are TVS-Irizar built and are pretty good themselves, have travelled a lot in them) in terms of ergonomics and finish. In fact, JnNURM honchos sent out a cicular asking all implementing agencies to adapt/use the design deployed by BMTC. This is a far cry from the days of old BTS/KSRTC 'Kempu bus' days when just the thought of travelling in one of their contraptions was enough to induce vomiting.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by Sachin »

manish wrote:It is a testament to their efforts that today KSRTC/BMTC are doing well both in terms of market share and profitability despite being costlier than the competition by a fair bit.
In the recent past I had a chance to use the BMTC buses quiet very often. And I must say that they are visionaries in many fronts. First, they introduced the low floor buses (built on Tata and Leyland chasis) which had good comfortable seats and also catered good to the standing passengers. These buses also had bigger wind shields/side windows etc. so that even standing passengers could look out and and see and identify the locality.

Then they introduced Volvo buses, which were very similar to the models I have seen in Europe. As vina said they also did an optimization of routes and now run primarily on the IT-Vity corridor. These buses are quite worth the money which the passengers pay for. The crew also seems to have some additional trainings. Now they have also introduced Tata Marcopolo buses (which costs 1/2 the price of Volvos), and they are a hit too. If I remember correctly BMTC also introduced the first digital/LED type destination board which displays information in English and Kannada (Shudh Hindi avoided ;)). BMTC rather than playing socialists (and having bad buses put up equally for every one) clearly introduced better buses, and then also charged the IT-Vity crowd more ;).

Another good concept I liked was the automatic announcements and display of the next stop and the final destination of the bus. I dont know how this is operated (GPS or Manual) but this is a good system to have. Especially for folks who are new to Bangalore and cannot identify bus stops by sight. Here again the display and announcements are in English and Kannada (Shudh Hindi avoided ;)) but it serves the purpose quite well.

Karnataka SRTC also successfully implemented the private-public partnership when it comes to running long distance Volvo buses. The buses are privately owned, and leased out to Kar.SRTC. The driver is provided by the owner, conductor comes from the Kar.SRTC. The private bus owners are also to maintain their vehicles, and they are happy to do that. Which private businessman wants to have a big Volvo bus idling its time in the workshop without generating any revenue?

In other words, I am happy to see a government body like Kar.SRTC and BMTC moving away from the socialist concept of making/treating every one as the cattle class and giving sub-standard service to every one across the board. These people have realised the way economy is going, and providing the services accordingly. And they also have not forgotten the rural sector or the poor man.

Tamil Nadu for ages have been good in providing real cheap public transport to its people. The biggest white elephant in the area seems to be the KSRTC of the socialist republic. Out dated buses, over-staffed depots, unionised workers, no sense of ownership and innovation at all. An IPS officer appointed as the MD did try to revamp the system and he was partially successful. But the white elephant would take atleast 5-7 years to make some profit. But looks like some sense is also entering the heads of the employees.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by Bade »

Met someone who just came from Blr and he was all praise for these new buses. He said the fares were very competitive to the Auto fares for the same destinations, it only needed folks like him to walk the final leg unlike the autos who could take them right to the desitnation. But that even old folks like him are willing to take the bus than the auto for the comfort of the ride and the low price.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by Sachin »

Bade wrote:it only needed folks like him to walk the final leg unlike the autos who could take them right to the desitnation.
In Electronics City area I remember the days when auto rickshaw criminal gangs used to charge some thing like Rs.50/- (or more) to take one person from the main campus gate to the offices of IT Vity Major (colonels and brigadiers). These criminals used to hold every one to ransom, and it was they who called the final shots.

All this changed once BMTC introduced more buses into the Electronic City area, and then gave another kick on the jaw of the auto wallahs by introducing Volvo buses. The most admired company and vegetable oil co. now have given parking space to the BMTC buses so that, they can pick up passengers at leisure. The Volvo buses (and the low floor, newly rolled out BMTC Ashok Leyland buses) have become a big hit.

So much so that the auto rickhshaw criminal gangs have now reduced the fair, and their behaviour too has changed. The fare is now Rs.30/-, and if the criminal acts too smart, a person just needs to wait for around 10 minutes before a Volvo lands up to pick him up :).

As I see it in Bengaluru, these modern buses are worth the money we pay for. Auto rickshaws have the slight advantage of dropping a person at the foot steps of home, or start a journey exactly the minute he wants. But this advantage has already been lost thanks to the criminal and goonda mentality prevalent amongst the auto rickshaw drivers. I say "more power to BMTC, let them start more bus stands and put modern buses on the roads. You have nothing to lose other than auto rickshaw goons and their families starving" :lol:.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by SSridhar »

Chennai Metro contracts for cars with Alstom
Chennai Metro Rail Limited has signed an agreement with Alstom Transport for supply of 168 coach cars for the metro rail in Chennai. The total cost of the contract is around €243 million. The contract also includes an option for 16 additional metro cars. The first delivery is planned for the end of 2012. In addition to supplying the rolling stock, Alstom will equip the new trains with a signalling system for Automatic Train Protection (ATP) and Automatic Train Operation (ATO).

They will be equipped with a regenerative braking system ensuring significant energy savings. The cars will operate on 25 KV AC through an overhead catenary system at speeds of up to 80 Km/h.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by BhairavP »

I used the buses from the airport in BLR to Malleswaram.. very quick, convenient and cheap. Great experience.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by Suraj »

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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by Nayak »

Initially when the volvo services started, only the most experience drivers were given the chance, now every idiot gets to drive one, results are there to see, the volvo drivers intimidate other vehicles off the street, drive rashly, no signals nothing, very rude behavior, I am already seeing dents on the bodies, my sis who was regular to ITPL was saying that some of the drivers refuse to stop and just ignore passengers. More than collecting passengers the idea seems to complete the trips on time.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by Sachin »

Marten wrote:Personally, I can't wait for the metro services in Bangalore to start.
As I noted a few posts above, the whines have started over the fact that temporary roads have to be built over Cubbon Park. The court has given the Metro folks permission to go ahead with the work, with some mandates set as to what they should do once the work is over. (A sample of such a whine fest).

I noted the tone of such articles in The Hindu as well. It is always whines and more whines. One single alternative, or some mitigation plan - nah, these fellows cannot provide that. I got reminded of my friends in Socialist Republic of Kerala, the commies. Have ideas on every thing under topic and find innovative ways to scuttle any work. But make some thing constructive/productive, no chance of them doing it.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by krisna »

CWG: A new-look website for Delhi Metro
The new-look website http://www.delhimetrorail.com has been designed on the lines of the sites of Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore Metros, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Managing Director E Sreedharan said at its launch.
DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal said the Delhi Metro studied the website of these Metros before re-designing the website, which now has an international look.
Designed to help foreign visitors and others from rest of the country to get to know about the city and the Games, the website will have an interactive route map which will help the commuters to look for routes and fares in a easy manner.
The special booklet, which will be available free of cost to everyone at Metro stations, major hotels, restaurants and other places of importance, has a Metro network map and details of heritage sites, cultural centres and other tourist attractions in the national capital.
The booklet has details about the Games venue and how it is being connected with the Delhi Metro. The Metro will provide connectivity to 10 of the 11 stadias in the national capital.
The new website has been based on Content Management System (CMS) which will ensure quick updation of the site. It has been designed and developed by Netcomm Labs Pvt. Ltd. in collaboration with DMRC.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by manish »

KSRTC has just launched commercial services of Mercedes-Benz Intercity buses. The earlier runs were on a trial basis a year ago (this is different from BMTC's ongoing trials for low floor AC city buses). Apparently KSRTC will be the fourth state-owned operator to deploy these buses on intercity runs. Prices seem to be slightly higher than Volvo B7R/9400 fares, probably owing to the higher upfront costs (and probably higher maintenance too, considering the possible economies of scale offered by KSRTC/BMTC's vast Volvo B7R/B7RLE/8400/9400 fleet).

They look pretty nice in KSRTC's traditional white livery for luxury buses. BTW, I fully expect the black n white 'KSRTC' lettering to change soon to KA's trademark yellow-red combo :) a la their Volvo fleet.
Image
BANGALORE September 15, 2010: The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation has added 10 international standard Mercedes- Benz buses to its fleet and will deploy them on five long distance daily services including between Bangalore and Mysore.
..
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Transport Minister R. Ashok flagged off two buses bound for Mysore in front of Vidhana Soudha this morning and said that the KSRTC will also run the Mercedes- Benz buses for its inter state schedules such as Tirupathi, Chennai and Hyderabad soon.
But as I have stated earlier, IMVVHO unseating the Swedes from the top of the high-end bus market in India is going to be a very tough task. The massive existing user base with near-100% share will tilt the balance in their favour.

Already some of the enthusiasts on T-BHP and SSC have reported lower levels of comfort and convenience onboard as compared to the Volvos. It will be interesting to compare them side-by-side with KSRTC's Volvo fleet.

And in the meantime, the article also sheds some light on KSRTC's fiscal health...
Welcoming the gathering the Managing Director of the KSRTC Gaurav Gupta said that the drivers of Mercedes- Benz were specially trained at the Mercedes unit in Pune.

The KSRTC registered a record of sorts on Tuesday (September14) by collecting a total of Rs. 20 crore altogether from all its daily services and made a record profit of Rs. 8.16 crore on a single day, he explained.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by krisna »

Image
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Dr Sreedharan, MD, Delhi Metro Rail Corp Coming out of Movia, The first Indian Metro Rail, which is being rolled out at Savli, Vadodara in Gujarat .
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Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi waves to a huge gathering while launching Movia at Vadodara.
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An engineer works on a Movia Metro Train
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The bogie design has been improved and the flooring quality upgraded to ensure a smoother ride

The trains promise a more comfortable ride for Delhiites as they have been made after analyzing the problems with the existing coaches.The four-coach train is the first metro train manufactured as part of the 424-cars order from the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.
Driver's cabin
The trains are energy efficient and the cost of the trains is also much lesser compared to their imported counterparts.
The new trains include an advanced braking system to keep the noise levels in check as the earlier coaches were very noisy.The air-conditioning has also been improved so Delhiites can expect a cooler ride next time they board a Metro train. The coaches are state-of-the- art - these have been made using the most advanced manufacturing technology such as spot-welding robots, being used for the first time in the country for rail car body manufacturing.
The coaches are about 35-40% indigenous, as a large part of the spare parts, have also been manufactured by local vendors.
The train is environment- friendly in design. Surface transport vehicles contribute to nearly 84% to the carbon emissions in the atmosphere, followed by aeroplanes, which add another 15%. Rail-based transportation comprise for just 1% of these emissions.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by jamwal »

^^^
Isn't it Bombardier ? Certainly looks like one
Another design is already running on one route already. It's coaches have have adapted features from oldest Korean and later Bombardier coaches (above).
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by manish »

jamwal wrote:^^^
Isn't it Bombardier ? Certainly looks like one
Another design is already running on one route already. It's coaches have have adapted features from oldest Korean and later Bombardier coaches (above).
Yes. And all the boards in the background also say Bombardier. I also think that these photos are old because I do remember this event happening many months ago, unless I am confusing this for something else.

These have been plying in Delhi for a while now jamwal ji, you might have noticed the telltale LED route indicators on the inside instead of simple plastic stickers that one found on the older ROTEM coaches.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by jamwal »

Cameras too.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by Christopher Sidor »

Louts on Metro face music from women

While the activism of the general public is commendable, the following point is worth repeating.
The men reportedly boarded the train in Gurgaon, soon after which women commuters started protesting. As the train got packed on the way to Central Secretariat and the women insisted that they deboard, the men refused and prevented the train doors from closing at Hauz Khas station. DMRC staff and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel tried to intervene but the men refused to relent. The police had to be called in finally. Two of the commuters were caught while the others fled.
The CISF personnel at the metro station were not given permission to arrest the trouble makers. Rather the local police had to be called in. This leads to a question, if CISF is given the responsibility to guard the metro station and its premise, why are not these personnel allowed to arrest these trouble makers. It is like expecting CISF to guard and protect the metro, but with both of their hands tied behind the back. CISF was given the job, because the local police, be it Delhi Police or Gurgaon Police or Noida Police or Faridabad police is so incompetent and hallowed out with corruption.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by Vasu »

This is surprising. I was under the impression that the CISF has a similar set of rights and duties as a state policeperson, including the right to arrest. Many of them bear arms and have been doing a very commendable job at all the airports.

Speaking of Metro safety, i've always encouraged any woman i've ever met and who's from Delhi to carry some sorts of arms. I understand pepper spray is not very prevalent in India, and tasers are illegal, but there are many other things that a young woman can carry which can be used with wasting any time. The men of Delhi continue to raise standards - molesting women during Delhi Marathon, a gangrape of a lady in Dhaula Kuan, and their utter refusal to register the fact that women's coaches are for women only. Some freakin urban culture this. Since this culture is too ingrained, fear is the only key to keep them in check. Unfortunately thats not happening.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by Vikas »

I was in the Delhi metro at Gurgaon station couple of days back when Gurgaon Police raided the ladies compartment and thrashed Men black and blue which was surprising to me. Even some women joined the fun.

Still there were young guys and old Men who were Ok with touching women here and there if the intent was not bad.
Couple of them were of the opinion that women should not get out of the house if they are so scared of unwanted groping. There were innuendos about women who would raise noise when someone brush passes her or stands where lot of men are standing. Absolutely shameless creatures.
My observation is that Men in NCR region are more uncouth and cheap and willing to sexually harass a girl than anywhere else in India. Even the basic courtesy of offering woman only seat to a woman is missing.

So thrashing plus big fine is the only way to put the fear of God in their hearts.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by Aditya_V »

Can we hand out Tazers, so that these guys can be Tazed and then given a big fine. With video camera evidence in Metro of them Brushing and commenting, I think a few examples will set these guys right.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by Sachin »

Vasu wrote:I was under the impression that the CISF has a similar set of rights and duties as a state policeperson, including the right to arrest. Many of them bear arms and have been doing a very commendable job at all the airports.
Guess this is the same type of arrangement between RPF and GRP (state police unit). Railway Protection Force's main job is to ensure that Railway property (and not the people who travel in trains) are safe. Where are regular law and order matters like harassment, accidents etc. come under the perview of the Govt. Railway Police (GRP). Essentially, looks like it is just to add further confusion and chances of passing the buck.
VikasRaina wrote:My observation is that Men in NCR region are more uncouth and cheap and willing to sexually harass a girl than anywhere else in India.
Hmm.. We have competition there. Men of the socialist republic of Kerala. And many of the arguments offered by the men at NCR seems to be identical to the arguments raised in the "100% literate" state as well :).
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by munna »

Sachin wrote: Essentially, looks like it is just to add further confusion and chances of passing the buck
Err no it actually keeps it simple and easy for all parties concerned for two reasons.

a) Law and order is a state subject and hence it will be constitutionally problematic to have central agencies enforcing the same in states. Secondly the forces such as CRPF, CISF and ITBP are do not have extensive detective and law enforcement wings to enforce law/gather evidence. Their prime mandate is to provide security cover and that is all they that are capable of!

b) Even if we were to provide them power to arrest and prosecute then we will have to create a new set of infrastructure for housing suspects (lock ups), police stations and legal notaries (munshis). Best avoided I feel as that will make our security setup a complex game of passing the buck.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by Sachin »

munna wrote:b) Even if we were to provide them power to arrest and prosecute then we will have to create a new set of infrastructure for housing suspects (lock ups), police stations
First hand information from a pal of mine who is a RPF man. All major railway stations have a separate RPF Police station in place. These police stations have lock ups. Infact my nearest RS, have a RPF station (SHO is a CI in RPF) and a GRP Police station (guess under an ASI/HC). In my town there is also a magistrate who looks into cases filed by RPF. In the RS near my place parking violations are charge sheeted by an RPF SI and goes to this magistrate who presides over such cases. The RPF has to investigate thefts (of stuff held in goods trains etc.) occuring on Railway property. But other cases, for example suspicious death on railway tracks are investigated by GRP.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by Vasu »

commenting on the sorry state of Kolkata Metro.

Kolkata Metro's ride of neglect
Last month, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), India’s model mass rapid transit (MRT) system, announced that it was looking to list on domestic bourses to raise funds for expansion. If it happens, this would be a first for urban transportation organisations in the country.

Constant delays, and even a derailment, have begun to mar its usually acceptable record. In October, over 2,000 passengers had to be evacuated after a southbound train was derailed during peak hours. There have also been recurring issues with new air-conditioned coaches.

Even as officials scramble to work on crucial components — including coaches, ticketing and communication systems — that are in dire need of replacement, it is clear that the railways will need to do a substantial rethink on the future of the only underground MRT system under its purview.

Rolling stock, for instance, hadn’t seen new introductions until new rakes were brought in this October. But these, too, have been constantly plagued by technical snags. The system continues to mainly function on rakes procured when Kolkata Metro first started operations.

Kolkata Metro, which serves about 6 lakh passengers daily compared with DMRC’s 16 lakh, has only 20 trains, including two new rakes. Additionally, unlike Kolkata Metro that currently depends on the Railways’ Integral Coach Factory for rolling stock, DMRC has roped in international coach makers such as Hyundai Rotem and Bombardier.

The situation is no different with the ticketing system. The Railways’ information technology arm, Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), had been given the responsibility to upgrade this earlier this year. Although CRIS had a blueprint ready by February, Kolkata Metro officials are still unable to commit a deadline by which this process would be complete.

With a 22-km network and only 21 stations, against the 156-km network of DMRC, Kolkata Metro is the smallest of the MRT systems in the country. According to Dilip Halder, a former professor of transport economics at Jadavpur University, it was planned as part of a much larger matrix of MRT systems, including an east-west line and another on the north-south axis.

But apart from the Calcutta Mass Transit System of 1971, Halder claims the railways did not have any other long-term strategic plan for Kolkata Metro. “But even the Calcutta (Mass) Transit Study was not followed properly,” he added. Work on the east-west line only started last year as a joint venture between the West Bengal government and the Union urban development ministry. Plans for another north-south line have been put on the backburner.

Kolkata Metro has also suffered by virtue of being part of Indian Railways. As one of the most localised arms of the railways, with its own general manager, the network has suffered from bouts of negligence from disinterested ministers.

Another problem of being part of the Indian Railways has been inordinate movement at the very top. Kolkata Metro has had over ten general managers in the same number of years.
The railways has been kept out of all other metro projects in the country. While DMRC and Bangalore Metro are operating as special purpose vehicles with equity participation of the Centre and respective state governments, Hyderabad Metro is an Andhra Pradesh government enterprise that will undertake the project on a build-operate-transfer basis.

However, with West Bengal’s chief ministerial contender as the incumbent railway minister, Kolkata Metro is squarely back in the spotlight, which might translate into more funds and better officers for the system. The problems of this ageing network, though, are unlikely to disappear in a hurry, as Banerjee is slowing but steadily finding out.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by Vasu »

came across this newsreport from earlier this month on the Lucknow Metro. this newsitem is actually quite detailed, so I am hoping it has some substance because the journalist is reporting after a high-level meeting and is not the usual DDM flight of fancy.

Monorail to act as feeder service to Metro in Lucknow
The state has decided to run both Metro rail and monorail in Lucknow. The monorail will be used as feeder service to connect congested and densely populated areas with Metro rail routes.

This was the direction Chief Secretary Atul Kumar Gupta at a meeting held on Thursday with officials of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and various other departments, including Housing and Urban Planning, Public Works Department, Power, Urban Development and the Airport Authority of India.

In 2009, the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) had tied up with DMRC to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the Metro rail project. On Thursday, DMRC General Manager SD Sharma made a presentation about the progress of the DPR.

A decision was also taken to extend the metro rail from Polytechnic tri-section to Patrakarpuram crossing in Gomti Nagar in North-South corridor.

This Gomti Nagar link will be 3.5 kms long and the officials were directed to check feasibility of extending it to Gomti Nagar Extension housing scheme in future.

As the North-South corridor passes close to various high-security government buildings including Vidhan Bhawan, a 15-km underground stretch from Mavaiyya to Hazrtaganj has been proposed. A 6.5-km stretch of the East-West corridor — from Charbagh to Thakurganj — will be underground too.

The North-South corridor will have 25 stations — eight of them underground. There will be 12 stations — seven of them underground ¿ in the East-West corridor.

There will be four terminals, including one each at Munshipulia, Hardoi Road, Charbagh and near Amausi airport. There will be two depots, one each at Hardoi Road and Amausi airport.

At Thursday’s meeting, it was decided to develop a station at the metro terminal proposed opposite to Amausi airport.

Officials said the entire Metro rail project will cost around Rs 10,000 crore.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by Christopher Sidor »

Monorail, Metro, BRT's we are finally upgrading our urban areas after more than a decade of negligence. However will not this drive to more urbanization with its own pitfalls? And what about high-speed inter-city transport? Delhi's proposed RRTS system is the only one that is being considered currently. There are other corridors like Bombay-Pune, Bombay-Surat/Ahmadabad, Chennai-Coimbatore/Pondicherry/Madurai, Bangalore-Mysore/Chennai, etc which come to ones mind which seem fit for a RRTS.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by krishnan »

Koyambedu going to bethe hub for chennai metro rail. L&T given major work for it. I wonder whether they should have metro rail from chennai to mahab/pondy.
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Re: Mass Rapid Transit in India

Post by Vasu »

Christopher Sidor wrote:Monorail, Metro, BRT's we are finally upgrading our urban areas after more than a decade of negligence. However will not this drive to more urbanization with its own pitfalls? And what about high-speed inter-city transport? Delhi's proposed RRTS system is the only one that is being considered currently. There are other corridors like Bombay-Pune, Bombay-Surat/Ahmadabad, Chennai-Coimbatore/Pondicherry/Madurai, Bangalore-Mysore/Chennai, etc which come to ones mind which seem fit for a RRTS.
The Indian Railways are lagging far far behind in the inter-city segment now, which is very unfortunate considering they are the largest carriers of people. There is a huge demand for 3 AC and 2 AC seats but the Railways has been true to its roots and done nothing for the higher end travel.

With the airlines forming their own price cabal, and the railways almost always without a seat, traveling home is the most difficult thing to do for any holiday. :(
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