Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

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ArjunPandit
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by ArjunPandit »

Karthik S wrote:Bullet train to link Hyderabad with Amaravati
There were some feasibility studies for hyperloop too. Good thing is there is a fresh thinking and people are not flogging a dead horse
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Karthik S »

Also, Hyd-Amaravati can be extended till Chennai, although it's a longer route 730 km.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by disha »

Karthik S wrote:Bullet train to link Hyderabad with Amaravati

http://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index ... ati/337958
I think this is a trial balloon., or at best maybe a feasibility study announcement.

Politically., and this is world over., if the bullet train/HSR or any new high visible infrastructure project is not coming to your part of town (or region) it will be severely criticized as wasteful spending. And in the sidelines, lobbying will be going on to get that project to your part of town.

There is of course a need to have a HSR going from Hyderabad to Vijayawada to Tirupati to Chennai. In fact., one can have an HSR following the route of NavJeevan Express (Chennai-Vijawada-Warangal-Wardha-Bhusaval-Surat) and the Hyderabad-Warangal is an additional spur that is anyway necessary and another is Hyderabad - Guntur. And anyway this line is tricky in the sense - Guntur/Vijaywada are separated by 55 Km only! So an HSR in between would be better :rotfl:

Connecting Shamsabad to Gooty to Bengaluru and a quick metro to Secunderabad/Kacheguda from Shamsabad will be another HSR layout and create a triangle connecting major centers in South (the third route in this is Bengaluru to Chennai)
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by ArjunPandit »

disha wrote:I have to with heavy heart and regrets admit that our beloved Fmr Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh., eminent economist who presided over enormous heights of corruption has indeed gone senile.
Or follow the maxim: Never trust an eCONomist - particularly ones who are politically motivated.[/quote]
For as a matter of fact he's not wrong. We need to rectify our existing rail infrastructure. Where he gets wrong is a linear way of solving will get the results. It's a problem similar to adding more DTC buses in Delhi in '90 or go for Delhi metro.
Where he's wrong is that he's politically motivated and possibly acting on cues of Gandhi family.

Whether we need a linear solution through massive investment in our existing capacities or through non linear solutions e.g. Bullet train. Its neither of and or. Perhaps it is both. So he's certainly politically motivated but certainly not senile, he's even worse and that is cunning.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Supratik »

It seems Mumbai monorail is in deep doodoo. One of the trains caught fire and got partially burnt. Scomi is in bankruptcy and it has become a white elephant. Source SSC.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Deans »

Mollick.R wrote:Lots of confusion & fog on the air on the matter.

Even with IR's clarification there are few doubts. Like....

1. Between Mumbai & Ahmedabad a normal train have average 10-12 stops & with that the occupancy (load factor) is 103%.
2. Fares between intermediate stations will be as much as that of from start (Mumbai) to final terminating station (Ahmbd)
3. How will bullet train achieve break even with high capital investment , less number of station & much higher fares (may lead to less users). :shock: :?:
The alternative to a high speed train is air - as is the case wherever high speed trains are introduced. Not slower trains.
Given CURRENT capacity of Mumbai airport, it will soon be difficult to have ANY flights to Ahmedabad or Baroda . The airport is saturated and
any flights will be to destinations further away. Anyone wishing to travel quickly between Mumbai and Gujarat will have to take the bullet train
as long as the fare is equal to or cheaper than air. IR concluded several years ago (when Mamta was RM) that Mumbai-Ahmedabad was the most
feasible city pair to have a high speed train.
Incidentally, a high speed train will also be faster and cheaper than taking a taxi from South Mumbai to Virar or Thane (as many people do today).
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by arvin »

People using shinkansen as a Virar local to reach from bkc to virar will be the ultimate use of the train.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Suraj »

arvin wrote:People using shinkansen as a Virar local to reach from bkc to virar will be the ultimate use of the train.
Please don't use this thread for flippant one-liner comments .
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by arvin »

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... 584544.cms
In a move that could reduce costs and quicken construction of the ambitious Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, the road transport and highways ministry offered right of way to the railways to build part of the project alongside the upcoming 380-km Vadodara-Mumbai expressway.
The Indian Railways is yet to acquire land for the Rs 1.08 lakh crore bullet train project. The government aims to complete the Japanese International Cooperation Agencyfunded project by August 2022.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by SBajwa »

How do you book Train to/from Delhi to Agra from outside of India?
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by sanjayc »

SBajwa wrote:How do you book Train to/from Delhi to Agra from outside of India?
Foreigners and NRIs would now be able to book train tickets in India online by using international debit and credit cards through IRCTC website.
Till now foreigners and NRIs could book their train tickets in India using only American Express International Credit Cards which were accepted at IRCTC portal through American Express (AMEX) Payment Gateway. Other International Cards are not accepted for payments as on date.

Other international cards are not accepted for payments till now but from now on foreigners can book their tickets abroad using their cards, said IRCTC CMD AK Manocha.

IRCTC will now permit other international credit and debit cards issued outside the country for booking of e-tickets through its ticketing site as it has made necessary changes in the system to enable global transactions.

Mr Manocha said acceptance of all global cards will fulfill the longstanding demand of foreign tourists as they will be able to book e-tickets directly and will no longer depend on other agencies for the purpose.
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/foreign ... ds-1401052

IRCTC website: https://www.irctc.co.in/eticketing/loginHome.jsf

Foreign tourist quota booking: http://contents.irctc.co.in/en/ForeignT ... ooking.pdf

Registration guide for NRI's / Foreign Tourists
http://contents.irctc.co.in/en/Internat ... _guide.pdf
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Karthik S »

Good coordination between Railways and Road ministries.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... /&from=mdr
In a move that could reduce costs and quicken construction of the ambitious Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, the road transport and highways ministry offered right of way to the railways to build part of the project alongside the upcoming 380-km Vadodara-Mumbai expressway.
.
.
According to the official, the move could save Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 12,000 crore for both the road and railway ministries and save the railways the task of acquiring land for the 380-km route. The total length of the bullet train project is 508 km. If the bullet train is aligned with the expressway, the railways would only need to acquire land between Ahmedabad and Vadodara.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by JayS »

Karthik S wrote:Good coordination between Railways and Road ministries.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... /&from=mdr
In a move that could reduce costs and quicken construction of the ambitious Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, the road transport and highways ministry offered right of way to the railways to build part of the project alongside the upcoming 380-km Vadodara-Mumbai expressway.
.
.
According to the official, the move could save Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 12,000 crore for both the road and railway ministries and save the railways the task of acquiring land for the 380-km route. The total length of the bullet train project is 508 km. If the bullet train is aligned with the expressway, the railways would only need to acquire land between Ahmedabad and Vadodara.
Brilliant move. Hope they can make it happen. Could be used as model for other places too.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by schinnas »

Is the expressway a straight line for most part? Bullet train route cannot have much turn and even in rare case of turn, the radius has to be very large.
Instead of aligning train route to road route, it should be the other way. A technical feasibility study alone can answer if this is possible.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Karthik S »

schinnas wrote:Is the expressway a straight line for most part? Bullet train route cannot have much turn and even in rare case of turn, the radius has to be very large.
Instead of aligning train route to road route, it should be the other way. A technical feasibility study alone can answer if this is possible.
Don't know accuracy of this line, but seems straight enough. But looks like HSR line will deviate a little to touch the planned cities.

Image
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Vips »

Railways installs Asia's largest interlocking system in Kharagpur.

The railways has installed Asia's largest solid state interlocking (SSI) system in Kharagpur, which will enable station masters to set 800 different routes for trains in a matter of minutes. Interlocking is a railway signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements of trains through an arrangement of tracks such as junctions or crossings.

Installed at a cost of Rs 39 crore, the cutting-edge technology, which replaces the pre-1989 route relay system that only allowed operators to set maximum 423 routes, ensures that no cross-movement takes place, according to a railway ministry statement today.

Also, the SSI software will detect the routes a particular train can take and inform the station masters working at the panel, bringing down the operation time and the possibility of human error. It will reduce the possibility of accidents.

"The software is microprocessor-based and suggests possible routes to the station master. All that he has to do is to assign platforms depending on the importance of the train, number of coaches and other parameters," a senior railway official said.

The system was made operational yesterday.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by hanumadu »

Karthik S wrote:Good coordination between Railways and Road ministries.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... /&from=mdr
In a move that could reduce costs and quicken construction of the ambitious Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, the road transport and highways ministry offered right of way to the railways to build part of the project alongside the upcoming 380-km Vadodara-Mumbai expressway.
.
.
According to the official, the move could save Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 12,000 crore for both the road and railway ministries and save the railways the task of acquiring land for the 380-km route. The total length of the bullet train project is 508 km. If the bullet train is aligned with the expressway, the railways would only need to acquire land between Ahmedabad and Vadodara.
What if the expressway needs more lanes in the future?
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kashi »

hanumadu wrote:What if the expressway needs more lanes in the future?
Unlike highways, expressways are access-controlled, so if there is a need to add the lanes, all the access barriers will have to be dismantled, service roads co-opted as lanes and new service road being build. Maybe it'll be easier to build a new express way/highway running parallel to the existing one.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Dipanker »

Vasco Da Gama-Patna Express derailment: Train mishap kills 3 in Chitrakoot; Railways Minister announces compensation
At least thirteen coaches of the Vasco Da Gama-Patna express derailed at Manikpur railway station in Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh on Friday morning, killing three people and leaving at least nine injured, as reported by news agency PTI. Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal announced an ex-gratia compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to kin of dead in the accident, Rs 1 lakh for those with grevious injuries and Rs 50,000 for those injured.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Dipanker »

After fare hike in October, Delhi Metro lost over three lakh commuters a day, RTI data reveals
Delhi Metro lost over three lakh commuters a day after the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) increased the passenger fare for the second time this year in October, according to an RTI query.
The daily average ridership of the metro came down significantly to 24.2 lakh in October from 27.4 lakh in September, translating to a decline of around 11 per cent.
Considered as the metro’s busiest route, the Blue Line lost over 30 lakh commuters, according to data shared by the DMRC in response to an RTI query by PTI.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by disha »

^^Seasonal variation accounted for?

Please re-read the post & educate this oaf (me) what else was going on in October that could also plausibly account for such a variation!
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by saip »

I take it, that the three lakh loss is per day and 30 lakh loss is per month. The article says fares went up by 100% and the ridership went down by 11%. Then why complain?
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by disha »

I may be daft., but is not Deepavali a big holiday in India!? And this year it came in october., so lots of holidays & several immigrants back to their villages etc.

Will that not impact ridership at all!? Matbe in some worlds everything has to do w/ fare hikes and nothing to do w/ holidays impacting ridership.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Karthik S »



Points:

7 packages, 1 for the 21km tunnel, 1 for Mumbai Terminus.
Single tunnel of about 14m diameter, will take 36 to 42 months with work starting next year.
Both Indian and Japanese companies can bid, but tunnel and other difficult areas will be done by Japanese.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Gagan »

There is a twitter post which suggests that there are increased railway accidents in India when a certain political party is no longer in power in the center.
The poster gives examples of events in 1970s, 1990, and now
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Prem »

Kashi
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kashi »

Missing the insights from vsunder on this thread. I remember he used to provide very nice and succinct details of different projects including DFCC.

Kahaan hain sirji (Where art thou sir?)
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Gagan »

Second that! VSunder you are missed here!
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by A_Gupta »

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... om-14-days
A $7.1 billion rail corridor in Rajasthan that’s set to cut freight times between India’s capital New Delhi and the business hub of Mumbai to 14 hours from 14 days is finally showing signs of progress.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Zynda »

GE Rail promoting the "value" of its IR loco WDG-6.

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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by disha »

^Designed in Bengaluru, Kerala and manufactured in Bihar. It will take years to manufacture 1000 locomotives and then countries like Bangladesh, Srilanka, Nepal, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand & Vietnam will need at least 250 each to replace their aging locomotives and provide appropriate transportation in east and countries in sub-Saharan africa (another 10 or so) will require another 250 each to add to their rail transportation.

In effect we are talking about some 5000 additional locomotives. That will keep the design center and the factory in Bihar active for at least next 20-30 years.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Zynda »

Actually GE is mulling about getting out of rail business.

Kenya has bought in to a Chinese rail package...Chinese are doing track work for high speed railway (120 Kph+), are building the required infra (beautiful stations plus signalling) and also are supplying motive & rolling stock. The Chinese are such a threat that recently Siemens & Alsthom have joined forces together. So no guarantee that Sri Lanka etc won't chose to go with Chinese rail products package (if they are prudent...they won't do it) but yeah...there is potential for the GE loco plant to serve as a manf & export hub for this side of the world.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Gagan »

^^^
The chinese are ripping the Kenyans out on this.
They have built a normal express train speed railway, and are extracting HSR (Not bullet train) prices from the kenyans.
It would appear from the rumours and news reports that they have bribed politicians with huge bribes to get this contract

And Kenya, IMHO is one of the more sensible African Nations - a democracy, market capitalist with a booming economy and high education standards
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Supratik »

$3 billion project to speed up Del-Mum, Del-Kol route to 160 kmph being sent for cabinet approval. Should be seen in context of DFC along same routes freeing up passenger traffic.

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/delhi-k ... un-1786315
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Karthik S »

Good, need to have 3 tier system like the Chinese. HSR, Semi HSR and normal express trains.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Uttam »

Supratik wrote:$3 billion project to speed up Del-Mum, Del-Kol route to 160 kmph being sent for cabinet approval. Should be seen in context of DFC along same routes freeing up passenger traffic.

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/delhi-k ... un-1786315
Is increasing speed also a way of utilizing the infrastructure more efficiently? If a segment of track can handle 10 trains, then by increasing the speed of trains, say by 20%, can the same track handle now handle 12 trains? Similarly, if a trainset was able to make 10 trips a month, can this train set make 12 trips a month after the speed is increased. I would love hear from a train Guru on the forum!
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Supratik »

DFC and semi HSR will free up capacity on these lines. This will lead to more trains, shorter journey time and better time keeping.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Vips »

Railways plans to spend Rs 60,000 crore to modernise signalling.

The railway ministry will soon send a proposal to the cabinet seeking its nod for a Rs 60,000-crore programme to modernise Indian Railways' signalling system, which will allow trains to run at a gap of 7-8 minutes, a senior government official said.

"We are revamping the signalling completely," the official told ET.

The railways will upgrade the entire capacity in the country over five years. It will spend Rs 20,000 crore in the first year, he said.

Indian Railways is also working on a plan to electrify more than 30,000 km of rail lines in next five years to have 100% electrified network. Under the plan, railways will phase out diesel engines in five years, which will help it cut its Rs 26,500 crore annual fuel bill by Rs 10,500 crore, the official said.

Railways has a 64,000 km long network, of which a little less than half is electrified. "Electrification revamp would be done through a special purpose vehicle (SPV)," the official said.

"Golden quadrilateral would be prioritised and then its lateral corridors may be taken up. This proposal would be taken to cabinet soon
for approval. SPV would be formed by public sector entities. It could be structured like Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT)," he said.
d issue about no provision for mortgage or resale," the official said.

"We have now reworked it. It will have a 99 year lease and allow mortgage," he said. Indian Railways has lined up 400 stations for redevelopment.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Prem »

Engineering Par Excellence: Indian Railways' engineers have shown their commitment and skills by repairing India's highest broad-gauge freight line within 58 days against the set target of 60 days.

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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by A Nandy »

Thanks for the amazing video especially with the details of construction.

I hope the Railways comes up with such war footing plans to repair all the British era bridges that are still hanging on somehow.
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