Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

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JTull
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by JTull »

vsunder wrote:View from a Drone of Progress along the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVyOCro ... e=youtu.be


kmkraoind: That is a bistable composite liner around the tunnel, sort of what they use in landfills to prevent seepage.
Lots of interesting videos on that youtube channel.

I like the extensive use of pre-fab sleeper blocks, subway boxes, etc.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

JTull wrote:
vsunder wrote:View from a Drone of Progress along the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVyOCro ... e=youtu.be


kmkraoind: That is a bistable composite liner around the tunnel, sort of what they use in landfills to prevent seepage.
Lots of interesting videos on that youtube channel.

I like the extensive use of pre-fab sleeper blocks, subway boxes, etc.
The use of subway boxes is by now very routine on IR also prefab sleepers. All that is standard. What is non-standard as can be seen in the video are the 250m rails and the Harsco track laying machines.
That is a first for India and a centralized plant for flash butt welding. The video for that plant I had posted earlier above. It is at Bhagega near Rewari. This is the Rewari-Iqbalgarh 640km section. Then the next section is Iqbalgarh-Vadodara, civil works have NOT been tendered for this part though systems work has been. Beyond that Vadodara to Vaitarna, tendered to IRCON, Mitsui and Tata consortium.

DFCC is just about started to move on the Dankuni(West Bengal)-Gomoh section which is going to be slow. First they plan to complete it as a PPP model. Funding has not been tied up. They have started to tender an agency that can do a survey of the needs of displaced people when they do land acquistion on the Dankuni-Gomoh stretch, way way way to go on this stretch. Japanese funding agencies are very picky about such studies, though this is a PPP section.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Singha »

with container trains the WAG7 can definitely work up some high speed

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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Gagan »

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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Gagan »

vsunder wrote:View from a Drone of Progress along the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVyOCro ... e=youtu.be
The GPS coordinates on the video are reversed.
The second number comes first. Railyard above is at 27.7063, 75.7505
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kashi »

vsunder wrote:View from a Drone of Progress along the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVyOCro ... e=youtu.be

IR alignment is seen on the right.
Curiously, the IR alignment in this sector is a single non-electrified line. I was under the impression that the Western DFC would run parallel to the Delhi-Mumbai line.

Are there any plans to double the existing IR line in the Iqbalgarh-Rewari section?

In some places (~2:15) one can see what appear to be level crossings. Wouldn't it be better to not have any level crossings on the DFC at all?
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kashi »

Bogibeel bridge unlikely by 2017
DIBRUGARH, May 28 - The completion of the country’s longest rail-cum-road Bogibeel bridge over the mighty Brahmaputra will not be possible by 2017. Ajit Pandit, the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the NF Railways informed the visiting Union Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu during a presentation at the construction site today that the bridge will not be ready before 2018. :(

The information was a shocker not only to the local media but also to Dibrugarh MP Rameshwar Teli and local MLA Prasanta Phukan, because the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), particularly the present Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had announced earlier that the rail project would be completed by 2017.

When Rameshwar Teli and Prasanta Phukan asked, in the presence of the Railway Minister, why it would not be ready by 2017, the CAO of the NF Railways replied that it would be impossible by next year. The CAO said that the project may be completed sometime in 2018.

It needs to be mentioned here that the 4.94-km bridge, located 17 km downstream of Dibrugarh, was scheduled to be completed in seven years after the project took off in 2002, that is, 2009.

The project has been repeatedly delayed for several reasons and another extension of the deadline will again cause significant time and cost overruns.

When asked to comment on the delay, the Railway Minister, who had said that further delay would not be accepted, later said that the Ministry would examine the entire works of the project and then comment. “I will comment only after undertaking a review of the whole project,” he told newsmen.

He also refrained from giving another deadline.

The Minister was taken in a ferry for inspection of the construction site after a brief project presentation by Pandit.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Kashi wrote:
Curiously, the IR alignment in this sector is a single non-electrified line. I was under the impression that the Western DFC would run parallel to the Delhi-Mumbai line.

Are there any plans to double the existing IR line in the Iqbalgarh-Rewari section?

In some places (~2:15) one can see what appear to be level crossings. Wouldn't it be better to not have any level crossings on the DFC at all?
You have asked several questions.

1. Regarding Iqbalgarh-Rewari doubling and electrification: Here is the situation. The "trunk route" is Delhi--> Rewari---> Alwar----> Jaipur------> Phulera Jn----> Ajmer-----> Marwar------> Abu rd----> Iqbalgarh---> Palanpur---> Mahesana-----> Ahmedabad. The Ahmedabad Swarn Jayanti runs on this route.

The DFCC route is (connects with eastern DFCC here) Dadri---> Rewari(cuts the above mentioned trunk route here) goes and rejoins the trunk route above at Phulera and then keeps the alignment for the trunk route from Phulera to Ahmedabad.

What you saw in the drone is part of the branch line Rewari to Phulera which is single lined and non-electrified and a separate route distinct from the trunk route mentioned above between Delhi and Ahmedabad. So your question should be : Is Trunk Route 1. doubled and electrified?
Answer NO. The route is certainly doubled till Ajmer. From Ajmer to Palanpur, doubling has been going on since 2009. But it received a big shot in the arm in the 2015 budget and so work is going on for doubling between Ajmer and Palanpur with some renewed vigour and there are reports that some small sections are open between Ajmer and Palanpur and the video bears this out. Electrification is some ways off. There is also Meter Gauge between Palanpur-Mahesana-Ahmedabad that runs alongside the current broad gauge alignment so doubling on this part
will mean ripping up the meter gauge tracks and putting in a second BG line. The meter gauge section still has semaphore signals. Here is a video, you can see doubling work beyond Abu Rd, freshly laid tracks. Watch at 9:50 for start of doubling works. It seems doubling is done between Ajmer and Abu Rd. to Banas as seen in this video. Unfortunately these video fellows miss the forest for the trees and did not pan left, he would have caught DFCC work too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vjM7knUCWg

And when the video chappie does pan left when it strikes him he must, he is way beyond Iqbalgarh, what a pity!!
2. As I said before DFCC stations are 30-40km apart. DFCC stations do not exactly correspond to IR stations. The drone video is between two consecutive DFCC stations that are about 35km apart, New Bhagega and New Sri Madhopur. In the meantime the drone passed through 3 IR stations, you can make them out. DFCC stations have to have extra long loop lines that can accommodate 1500m rakesabout a mile long rakes. Junctions with IR are far apart. DFCC tracks do not go into the main stations
of a major junction, they avoid them like the plague. They go off into the boonies near a large town and come back and re-join the alignment. At the few IR/DFCC junctions yes they connect. DFCC avoids Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Ajmer, Marwar etc. Just stays on the outskirts.

3. Land acquisition is a major problem near big cities like Jaipur or major railways routes, here there is
less of a problem so that is perhaps one reason of avoiding any major trunk route alignment, unless forced to like on the heavily built up Eastern corridor . Also at Mahesana, a line connects to the DFCC from Mundhra and Kandla ports. So DFCC serves not just JNPT but other ports. The Japanese are very picky about displacing people and compensation. Western DFCC is entirely JICA funded so the Japanese have a huge say in this project.

4. The problem will come with HSR. The alignment now has 4 sets of tracks(possibly 5) between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. 2 for DFCC, 2 for IR and a possible third line and now 2 more for HSR. Plus environmental clearance, DFCC had to jump through hoops to get environmental clearance at Dahanu rd due to mangroves
between Surat and Mumbai. Ditto for HSR etc. The devil is always in the details no?
Last edited by vsunder on 02 Jun 2016 08:53, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kashi »

^^ Thanks much for the detailed explanation.

HSRs will have to be access controlled and will most probably go for an elevated route to circumvent some of these issues.

Regarding the DFCC, from watching the videos and scouring their websites, there's no information on whether DFCC tracks will be access controlled or not. Obviously, access control barriers, if they are planned, will not come up until the tracks, overhead traction and signalling systems have been installed.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Singha »

its news to me that delhi-mumbai is not double tracked and fully electrified. as the nations supposedly most tfta route, this is surprising.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by arshyam »

Delhi-Ahmedabad and Delhi-Mumbai are different routes saar. The latter is fully doubled and electrified, and now rated for 130 kmph for the most part.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by darshhan »

Singha wrote:its news to me that delhi-mumbai is not double tracked and fully electrified. as the nations supposedly most tfta route, this is surprising.
With nehru gandhis ruling for almost 60 years nothing is surprising anymore.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Here are the listed junctions of western DFCC with IR.

Start Dadri on EDFC, IR and EDFC junction and major container terminal. Huge tunnel through the Arravalli hill( to accommodate double stacked containers, see the video I linked above you can see one standing as the Swarn Jayanti whizzes past) ------> New Rewari Jn.------> alignment runs parallel to Rewari to Phulera branch line------> Phulera Jn. connects with double track trunk route coming from Jaipur on Delhi to Ahmedabad trunk route------>
New Palanpur Jn.( connects with line to Gandhidham and Kandla and Mundhra ports, this line is being doubled)----> New Mahesana Jn. ( for Surendranagar-- Rajkot-- Okha port, Veraval port, Porbandar port, other ports in Khambat gulf)------> Sabarmati North Jn ----> Sabarmati South Jn. ( for Ahmedabad)( connects to Viramgam line)-------> now going south and south west and far from the Ahmedabad/Mumbai line ----> New Makarapura Jn( for Vadodara)------> New Varediya Jn. ( for Dahej port/ Bharuch and Ankleshwar)---> finally running parallel to the IR Delhi-Mumbai tracks----> Udhna Jn( as the line
loops around Surat and goes over the IR Delhi-Mumbai tracks)-------> no more junctions from Surat to Mumbai, zilch, nada, zero etc etc. DFCC veers off at Vasai and leaves Western railway Mumbai-Ahmedabad mainline towards Kalyan and then we have the last junction before JNPT, New Kharbao Rd. Jn.between Kalyan and Vasai Rd. Crosses over the CR tracks between Thane and Kalyan no junction, zero, and on to JNPT. 10 IR junctions intermediate to Dadri and JNPT in all. Similar to EDFC, the number of junctions is few, far apart. Yes there are intermediate stations called New XXX but they are 30-40km apart. There are some exceptions like Sabarmati North Jn. and Sabarmati South Jn. are about 5-10 km apart.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by arshyam »

darshhan wrote:
Singha wrote:its news to me that delhi-mumbai is not double tracked and fully electrified. as the nations supposedly most tfta route, this is surprising.
With nehru gandhis ruling for almost 60 years nothing is surprising anymore.
Guys, once again, check the map with vsunder sir's directions. Or look here to see both routes: https://goo.gl/maps/XxPXUwDHdp22. The right side one from Ahmedabad to Delhi is the main Mumbai - Delhi trunk line, which branches off the spur to Ahmedabad at Vadodara/Godhra.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Further Comments

1. In addition to what Arshyam wrote above: Western DFCC while moving from Dadri to Rewari outside Delhi
will simply hop over the Delhi-Mumbai mainline tracks between Delhi and Mathura Jn. No junction has been planned. The first junction of DFCC after Dadri is at Rewari see above.

2. In the drone video, the next IR station after Shri Madhopur( that is a DFCC station New Shri Madhopur) is Reengus Jn. 10 km away. Here a IR branch line comes in from Jaipur(southeast of Reengus)towards Sikar and joins the Rewari to Phulera IR branch line. DFCC will simply hop over this Jaipur-Sikar branch line. No junction and NO minor station New XXX is planned at Reengus. The logistic hub for Jaipur is at Sri Madhopur that is already seen in the drone pics. Containers etc will go to Sri Madhopur from Jaipur that looks barren now.

3. DFCC simply hops over existing IR tracks, 10-11 junctions each on both DFC's. Similar hopping over on eastern DFC say at Hathras between Dadri-Khurja-Kanpur. DFC does not even enter Kanpur, loops south of Kanpur and then runs along the IR alignment after IAF station Chakeri/Kanpur towards Allahabad.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kakkaji »

Railways to seek cabinet approval for funds for three new dedicated freight corridor
NEW DELHI: Firming up plans for expansion of the dedicated freight corridor (DFC) network, railways will seek cabinet approval for arranging fund and acquiring land for the new three dedicated corridors.

The proposed new routes are the 2327 km long East - West Corridor connecting Kolkata to Mumbai, the 2328 km long North - South Corridor linking Delhi with Chennai and the 1114 km long East Coast Corridor from Kharagpur to Vijaywada.

The market share of railways is expected to go up to 50 per cent from the current 18 per cent with the operation of DFC.

While railways will earn revenue from freight movement on the dedicated corridors, DFCC will earn access charge which is about 35 per cent to 40 per cent of the revenue earnings.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Suraj »

Gagan wrote:Does the original Talgo engine also tilt?
If it does, then IR will be doing a disservice by putting non-tilting desi engines on the talgo coaches!
There's no original Talgo engine. Talgo is not a propulsion system or even a tilting system. It's a train articulation system, and 'Talgo' itself is an acronym; the first two letters are Spanish for 'train articulated', the L stands for light, and the last two letters are the inventors' surname initial letters. Some Talgo coaches have tilting technology, while others don't. The Spanish high speed AVE 102 has Talgo coaches but I don't think they tilt. There's a 'Talgo pendular' coach design, which I think is the only Talgo coach that tilts. I don't know if the one IR ran is Talgo Pendular.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Prem »

India to invest Rs 3.3 lakh cr on three new rail freight corridors
http://www.business-standard.com/articl ... 321_1.html
India will spend Rs 3.3 lakh crore to set up three new arms of the dedicated rail freight corridors, crisscrossing the length and breadth of the country over the next eight years. The 5,500-km-long new corridors would supplement the existing plans to lay 3,300-km-long two dedicated freight corridors (DFC).“The feasibility study of the three corridors has been completed and submitted by RITES. The three corridors would be developed at a cost of Rs 3.3 lakh crore in around eight years,” said Adesh Sharma, managing director, Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation (DFCC), an arm of Ministry of Railways, implementing the Rs 82,000-crore DFCC project.In this year’s Budget, Rail Minister Suresh Prabhu had announced three new corridors: 2,328-km North-South corridor between Delhi and Chennai; 2,327-km East-West corridor between Kolkata and Mumbai; and 1,114-km East Coast corridor between Kharagpur and Vijaywada..
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Singha »

the bogibeel bridge like the C-system continues to defy any solution. surely longer bridges in more challenging conditions have been completed in india and outside .... I think the trickle funding and lack of oversight by the UPA regimes gave them a lot of leeway to slip deadlines. plus the excuses of periodic floods overtopping the construction areas.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

A video of Construction of Western DFCC between Abu Rd and Ajmer.

Warning The videographer initially is confused. He thinks that IR doubling works after Palanpur is the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor. But then at some point, a tube light clicks, he pans right( he is going from Mahesana towards Ajmer and so DFC is to his right!) and then at 21:00 onwards one sees not only the IR double line beyond Palanpur but the scale of the construction of the DFC. Batching plants and also a yard in a partial stage of construction like at New Bhagega(in the drone video), from where sleepers, rails etc will be deployed along with a NTC machine for track laying. This video has been shot March 2016.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QShVOqc-jOs

Just before Palanpur, you can see in the video twin tracks approaching from the left. Those are tracks going to Gandhidham, Kandla and Mundhra port and Bhuj and beyond. DFC will connect to these tracks.


Ldev: Daund-Manmad has been sanctioned for doubling in the rail budget for Feb 2016. Now with the Udhna-Jalgaon doubling almost complete, maybe those Arjun MBT's from Ahmednagar, can come to Manmad---> Jalgaon------> ( newly doubled and hopefully strengthened tracks)Nandurbar------> Udhna/Surat, connect to Western DFC and ride the 32ton axle loads to the western border. Do any of the Jarnails at Army HQ say something when tracks are built and be pro-active? For example why do they not insist that Ahmednagar--> Manmad be strengthened to take heavy loads, rather than say nothing and then complain about bridges being small and load bearing capacities of trains/bridges later? This is the most baffling aspect of the entire Indian bureaucracy, army or otherwise, unable to think way ahead and make plans for the future. Certain strategic lines should be strengthened to take heavier axle loads and bridges widened etc. then these issues are off the table. Even if doubling is done maybe one line is strengthened and if need be that strengthened line can be requisitioned by the army etc for running trains both in the up and down direction if need be. All can be done, all can be done but who listens to such simple fixes.
For example the Army could insist that the newly sanctioned third line Jalgaon--> Manmad be built to 32 ton axle loads specs, then ok one line on the busy Jalgaon---Manmad section is strengthened.
Last edited by vsunder on 05 Jun 2016 00:26, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Suraj »

Railways plans $30 billion investment fund with World Bank as anchor investor
The Ministry of Railways is in talks with the World Bank for setting up a Railway Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) with a corpus of around $30 billion where the bank would act as the anchor investor. The fund will be utilised for implementing rail-based projects.

“Discussions have been initiated with the World Bank for setting up a Railway Infrastructure Development Fund of around $30 billion,” the rail ministry said in a statement detailing the achievements in the past two years of the Modi government, the first official confirmation of the sise of the much talked about fund.

Rail minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu had floated the idea of the fund after a visit to Washington DC in January 2016. Prabhu had told Business Standard in an exclusive interview last month the bank had expressed confidence in the railways’ ability to spend money judiciously.

“The corpus of that fund is yet to be decided but it may not be used only for Indian Railway projects and would be channelised for all rail-based projects including even Public Private Partnership (PPPs),” he had said.

The World Bank is understood to have given its in-principle approval for the creation of the fund and the proposal is now with the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA). “We are ready with the basic structure. We will take it forward once other formalities are in place,” a senior rail ministry official said.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kakkaji »

Andhra Pradesh to have 2 high-speed rail lines with foreign collaboration: Suresh Prabhu
VIJAYAWADA: High-speed railway lines would be built between Visakhapatnam-Chennai and Bengaluru-Amaravati in collaboration with foreign countries, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said here today.

The foreign collaborator would be decided after talks with different countries, he said.

Briefing reporters after a three-hour high-level meeting with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu , he said a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV)\Joint Venture (JV) company would be formed by the railways with the state government in a couple of months for taking up major rail projects in the state.

"Through the proposed SPV, 21 railway stations in the state would be redeveloped as airports :-? . The South-Central Railway General Manager would coordinate with the state government in this regard and review the works every month," Prabhu said.

The Railway Minister also announced an aggregate capital investment of Rs 1,000 crore for setting up two new railway workshops at Kurnool and Tirupati and a wagon overhaul facility at Visakhapatnam.

These facilities would create hundreds of jobs, he said.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Singha »

amaravati is close to vijaywada (40km) . they might as well connect to vijaywada and hence interlink to the other line. will permit semi HSR upto vizag.

the blr to amaravathi route will be interesting...whether it will follow the existing line to hyd until it clears north of nallamala forest and then turn sharp right, or southern route via kadapa/tirupati...in which case its tempting to just use the vizag-chennai route upto vijaywada. imo blr-chennai HSR will solve this problem and is more financially viable but I guess CBN wants more track km and work for his state and a chance to develop a undeveloped alignment.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Singha »

works needed to start yesterday on the blr-chittor-chennai expressway...this will vastly ease logistics to the northern industrial areas of chennai and avoid the crowded hosur and sriperumbudur area . lay DFC/semi HSR along this route in parallel.

people on personal business in cars and buses will also prefer this shorter and faster route. will be shorter by 100k for most.

Andhra Sricity industrial plans will also hugely benefit - CBN ought to be pushing hard for this.

at present Telegana is revenue +ve and Andhra in -ve. he needs to be very proactive on infra front. there is no lack of talent both intellectual and manufacturing in Andhra....for some reason it has not taken off but people seem to have lot of landed wealth and gold stashed away, plus huge number of NRIs from all towns in Andhra.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Avik »

those Arjun MBT's from Ahmednagar, can come to Manmad---> Jalgaon----. Do any of the Jarnails at Army HQ say something when tracks are built and be pro-active? For example why do they not insist that Ahmednagar--> Manmad be strengthened to take heavy loads, rather than say nothing and then complain about bridges being small and load bearing capacities of trains/bridges later?
Vsunder- ACC at Ahmednagar is a training centre, not an active duty formation. At best there would be about a dozen Arjuns there, used only for training at the ACC. The frequency of shipping Arjuns to and from Nagar would be very low, unless they're headed to Aavadi.
By the way, the new build Arjun's from Avadi take the grand trunk route to the north.
The Army's real requirement for railway support is doubling of the line all the way from Jalandhar to Jammu, perhaps even a third line there. Currently the Madhopur-Kathua section is still to be doubled. The next priority would probably be a new line linking Jaisalmer to Barmer to Bhildi. Most of the railway lines feeding critical launch pad-nodes for the mechanized corps in Rajasthan, are recently converted single lines. The other priority item are all the new rail link projects announced for the North East and Sikkim especially the regions north of the Brahmaputra. Of these only the first item will get done by mid next year.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Avik: Thanks for your observations. Yes, Jallandhar-Jammu doubling has been held up on that small section(Madhopur-Kathua) due to litigation by contractors to build a bridge across the Ravi river and subsequent to that funds did not flow in. I am under the impression doubling and electrification will be over at the end of this fiscal, once the bridge is ready as funds are now there and the bridge is being built. The other line you mention Barmer-Jaisalmer has been surveyed but not built.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by ldev »

vsunder wrote: Ldev: Daund-Manmad has been sanctioned for doubling in the rail budget for Feb 2016. Now with the Udhna-Jalgaon doubling almost complete, maybe those Arjun MBT's from Ahmednagar, can come to Manmad---> Jalgaon------> ( newly doubled and hopefully strengthened tracks)Nandurbar------> Udhna/Surat, connect to Western DFC and ride the 32ton axle loads to the western border. Do any of the Jarnails at Army HQ say something when tracks are built and be pro-active? For example why do they not insist that Ahmednagar--> Manmad be strengthened to take heavy loads, rather than say nothing and then complain about bridges being small and load bearing capacities of trains/bridges later? This is the most baffling aspect of the entire Indian bureaucracy, army or otherwise, unable to think way ahead and make plans for the future. Certain strategic lines should be strengthened to take heavier axle loads and bridges widened etc. then these issues are off the table. Even if doubling is done maybe one line is strengthened and if need be that strengthened line can be requisitioned by the army etc for running trains both in the up and down direction if need be. All can be done, all can be done but who listens to such simple fixes.
For example the Army could insist that the newly sanctioned third line Jalgaon--> Manmad be built to 32 ton axle loads specs, then ok one line on the busy Jalgaon---Manmad section is strengthened.
Thanks for that update. I wonder how long the doubling work will take if it is just sanctioned in this budget? 5 years??

As far as planning ahead is concerned, you've got to hand it to the Americans. I remember Gulf War 1 in 1991 and the thousands of armoured vehicles including tanks in Saudi getting ready to roll into Iraq. No trains there so all had to be transported by road. I remember a Saudi civil engineer telling me that when all the highways, bridges and road were built after the influx of oil , the US insisted that they be capable of bearing the weight of the heaviest US tanks planned then, the MIA1/2 Abram.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Avik »

electrification will be over at the end of this fiscal
Vsunder- one question I have pondered over is why IR is keen to electrify tracks going north to Jammu from Jalandhar, or for that matter the planned electrification of the line from NJP to GHY?
Specifically for the Jalandhar-Jammu section, all it would take is a couple of saboteurs to damage one of the sub-stations to close down or atleast majorly disrupt that entire section. Given the strategic importance of that route, keeping it dieselized would appear to make sense. Even if the fuel tanks at Jammu get hit, the diesel locos will have enough fuel at Jalandhar to do the up-down duty
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kashi »

Avik wrote:Specifically for the Jalandhar-Jammu section, all it would take is a couple of saboteurs to damage one of the sub-stations to close down or atleast majorly disrupt that entire section. Given the strategic importance of that route, keeping it dieselized would appear to make sense. Even if the fuel tanks at Jammu get hit, the diesel locos will have enough fuel at Jalandhar to do the up-down duty
IR can still run diesel locos on tracks that have been electrified, if necessary.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Avik »

^^^^^^^

It could, but why electrify and increase risk? The Jalandhar-Jammu line doesnt see heavy cargo movement like the GQ lines
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kakkaji »

Reality check on bullet train ambition
New Delhi, June 5: France's national railway company SNCF, studying the feasibility of upgrading the New Delhi-Chandigarh line, is keen to partner Indian Railways to turn the line into a semi-high-speed corridor with trains running at an average speed of 200 km per hour (kmph).

"When we did the study for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed corridor (bullet train), we also asked our Indian counterparts to look at semi-high-speed corridors, which can be done at a quarter of the cost of a high- speed one. The Delhi-Chandigarh corridor will be a technology demonstration one when done," said Philippe Lorand, senior vice-president of SNCF.

Indian Railways is believed to be more interested in semi-high-speed corridors as they do not require land acquisition and are cheaper. While the Mumbai high-speed corridor is expected to cost Rs 80,000 crore and take about a dozen years to complete, a semi-high-speed corridor of a similar length will cost Rs 20,000 crore and can be completed in 3-4 years.

"We want to increase the speed of trains to 180-220 kmph in select sectors to significantly reduce travel time between major cities. The French pilot project is important for us," an Indian Railway official said. He said high-speed trains would be considered for Delhi-Chandigarh, Delhi-Kanpur, Nagpur-Bilaspur, Mysore-Bangalore-Chennai, Mumbai-Goa, Mumbai-Ahmedabad and Chennai-Hyderabad.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Singha »

^^ yes the semi-HSR is the future. at this stage we should not even be investing in the mum-ahmedabad HSR instead it should be semi-HSR. focus should be on building a base of technology and producers in India to resolve the DFC and semi-HSR requirements 90% on our own, before we think of HSR.

Howrah-NJP-GHY-Dibrugarh should also be taken up for semi-HSR. unlike other parts of india, option of bus travel out of NE is not there due to distance. states in south india have a lot of long distance buses and much better roads.

ideally india should negotiate with BD to run our goods trains nonstop through BD, with perhaps 1 logistics halt from tripura to howrah .. this will free up the northern route better. will also curtail the usual howl of "indians are invading" as these trains will have a couple drivers and a couple guards only. in exchange we can offer to upgrade that route to handle heavier trains and quicker signals.

unfortunately their rail network is fairly pathetic with the eastern half of country stuck with meter gauge and BG<->MG containers cannot be easily moved....but we can atleast use their N-S BG line as a goods corridor from Howrah side for a alternative route to assam and decongest the Malda - NJP areas

we should offer some soft loan to BG it all the way to tripura border in exchange for our cos getting the contract for construction and rolling stock

even their biggest seaport and 2nd largest city and edu center, chittagong is still stuck on MG . WAG9 locos should be hauling containers into mizoram and tripura if we help them pull their pants up.

Image
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by SSundar »

Singha wrote:^^ yes the semi-HSR is the future. at this stage we should not even be investing in the mum-ahmedabad HSR instead it should be semi-HSR. focus should be on building a base of technology and producers in India to resolve the DFC and semi-HSR requirements 90% on our own, before we think of HSR.
We'll do everything Saar - DFC, Semi-HSR and HSR - where they fit and where other countries are eager to invest. There are some routes which would work best with HSR, and others where semi-HSR works for the optimal travel time. IR is a system starved of investment for years like a human who has not been fed for weeks. Can't expect him to follow table etiquette and remember to eat salad before the main course :mrgreen:. If someone's willing to put it on the plate, we'll eat it onlee.
Singha wrote: ideally india should negotiate with BD to run our goods trains nonstop through BD, with perhaps 1 logistics halt from tripura to howrah .. this will free up the northern route better.
A dedicated transit corridor via BD would be a win-win for both India and BD. BD can fence the whole darn line if they suspect that the Indian drivers and guards are dying to disappear digging for gold in those prosperous cities in BD land.

YouTube chacha has a longish video about the Maitree Express train. One cannot believe how pathetic the service, support infrastructure and travel conditions are compared to what one might endure going from France to Londonistan. But then, nobody can accuse countries like BD (and even India) of doing what's best for their people.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by chetak »

^^^^^^^


The transit corridor will not be given to India until and unless India permits free and visa less movement of the jehadi BDs across our borders like we have foolishly done for the nepalese and similarly allow the BDs to settle and work in India at their free will.

and we all know that no govt in India will survive if such a foolish thing is ever done.

we are stupidly trying to buy their good behavior and will never succeed.

what were our stupid, myopic baboo(n)s doing after the 1971 war?? haven't they have always claimed that the sun does indeed shine out of their @$$ holes??

could they not foresee this little requirement and arm twist the BDs into providing the free corridor that we so badly required for our own national security??
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kashi »

^^ Myopia was our failure To press for Chittagong during partition
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by chetak »

Kashi wrote:^^ Myopia was our failure To press for Chittagong during partition
It was a mexican standoff.

jinnah was pressing very hard for calcutta.

Anyway, now the chinese are pulling the BD puppet strings and the BDs have realized the enormous strategic value of the transit corridor to India. They will never agree.

Even if BD wants to give us the transit corridor, the chinese will never allow them to do it.

Helps keep India on edge, both economically and security wise, because of the chicken neck.
Last edited by chetak on 06 Jun 2016 17:08, edited 1 time in total.
Karthik S
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Karthik S »

We can go for HSR as long as we don't have to invest from our own budget.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kashi »

Atleast we can work on a Transit corridor Through Myanmar

KarthikJi HSR will not require our budgetary support
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Karthik S »

That's my point. If we manage to get similar funding that we got for Mumbai Ahmadabad line for other routes, we can go ahead with HSR.
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