Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

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A Nandy
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by A Nandy »

https://newsstation.media/news/sohna-df ... ontainers/
DFCCIL has completed the ‘Tunnel Breaking Ceremony’ which marks the completion of tunnel caving work of the 1 km long tunnel of its Western Dedicated Freight Corridor through the Aravalli mountain range, near Sohna in Haryana today in record less than a year time. The last blasting of the tunnel which is situated on the Rewari-Dadri section has been done today dated 24/07/2020.
The tunnel connects Mewat & Gurugram district of Haryana and negotiates a steep gradient on the uphill and downhill slope of the Aravalli range. The D-shaped tunnel has a cross-sectional area of 150 square metres to accommodate double line with higher OHE (Over Head Equipment) to enable double stack container movement on WDFC. Cross-sectional area wise, it is one of the biggest Railway tunnels in India. One end of the tunnel is near Rewari and is called Portal -1 or west portal while the other end of the tunnel at Dadri is designated as Portal -2 or east portal. Double line electrified track for double stacks train movement, the Dimension of tunnel 14.5 meter and 10.5 meter height in straight portion and 15 meter wide and 12.5 mtr. Height meter to provide extra clearance while negotiating the curve.
Geologically this tunnel safe and stable as it is caved through 2500 to 500 million year-old Proterozoic Rocks mainly Quartzite,Schists and slates of Alwar/Azabgarh group, part of Delhi Supergroup of rocks which are having good strength high bearing capacity.

Double stack containers and 25 ton axle load freight trains will run through this tunnel at a speed of 100 KMPH.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by A Nandy »

Chairman, Railway Board Media Interaction on 23/07/2020
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by chetak »

Big private train ride: Railways is now planning private freight trains in dedicated corridors.

Buoyed by good response to private passenger trains, Railway is steaming ahead with plan for private freight trains too

https://m.economictimes.com/industry/tr ... arebuttons via
@economictimes
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Mollick.R »

Expanding Sub-regional partnership: India hands over 10 locomotives to Dhaka
By Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury, ET Bureau Last Updated: Jul 27, 2020, 05:54 PM IST

New Delhi: India on Monday handed over 10 Broad Gauge (BG) locomotives to Bangladesh expanding cross-border transportation partnership with an eye on effective sub-regional cooperation.
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Technical details of Locomotives:

• Association of BR and IR began way back in 1996 with export of 10 MG locos from DLW.
• About 40 more BG locos exported over the years from 2001 to 2014.
• 120 passenger coaches also exported in 2016-17
Now 10 BG locos of WDM3D type
All locos have residual life of 28 years or more
These are 3300 HP, designed for speed of 120 kmph
Suitable for hauling freight as well as passenger trains
• Microprocessor based control system
• Ergonomic layout of driver’s cab for stress free driving and improved visibility for safer running
• Maintenance friendly features for quicker and easier maintenance
• IR has modified the locos to suit the maximum height restrictions in BR
• IR is keen to partner with BR for supply and maintenance of all types of rolling stock
• Theses locos would provide improved train operations within BR and also for interchange with IR and strengthen the partnership between both railways further.


https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ne ... 198776.cms
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Avik »

Sometimes its best to be understated while gifting/helping neighbours. This was one such occasion.
I wish IR had atleast taken the effort to paint the locos in BR's colors. The locos still have the names of IR's host loco sheds on them!
Dont get me wrong, I really like what IR is doing to help our neighbors, but it helps to be understated on some occasions, lest it be construed as 'charity'
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Historic day today. Engine trial from New Palanpur(Gujarat) to Daurai (Ajmer, Rajasthan) 343 km on the WDFC. Since commercial freight has started between Ajmer and Rewari, in about 7 months I anticipate that commercial traffic will start between Rewari and New Palanpur. New Palanpur(recall all DFC stations are separate from IR stations and about 40km apart) connects to lines to Kandla port, and Adani's Mundhra port via high rise OHE. Also high rise OHE has been installed upto Surendranagar and commissioned and so soon Pipavav port will also be connected to Palanpur by electric traction. So in about a year major Gujarat ports will be connected to the WDFC via e-locos. In the video notice that OHE equipment is not installed yet. It is being installed between Marwar and New Palanpur. Between Marwar and Rewari it is installed and commissioned between Ajmer and Rewari on both IR and DFC. A few days ago Ajmer Jan Shatabdi to Delhi ran for the first time using e-loco on IR tracks which are parallel to DFC tracks. So a pseenger train also used high rise OHE. All electric traction in this area is high rise, both IR and DFC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWYFG1mufSk

Here you can see OHE poles in some sub-sections of the part above ^^^.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4cJ-YIfFwk

This video shows NTC machines working at Dankaur on the EDFC. Dankaur lies between Khurja and Dadri and is 18 km from Dadri. Dadri will be a major container hub outside NCR region of Delhi and here WDFC and EDFC will join. Khurja to Dadri is scheduled for completion by Dec this year. Track linking should be over in a month but systems and OHE work will take 6 months more and when complete will provide a new freight corridor between Delhi and Kanpur by next June easing severe congestion on the Delhi-Howrah line. Many changes will happen on the IR network next year which will be clearly visible. between Gudur and Vijayawada OHE upgradation is taking place besides third line work so as to raise sectional speeds to 130 kmph and beyond to 160 kmph.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQgbRT9lpqI

Dadri will connect by a bridge over River Yamuna in the NOIDA area(spans being launched, piers ready) through Faridabad, and hop over the Delhi-Mathura -Mumbai/Chennai mainline by a rail over rail flyover(This was completed in a 6 hour operation on Jan 26th with a traffic block on this busy line) and then by a 2.7 km viaduct (spans being launched, piers done), through the 1 km Sohna tunnel(done a few days ago) and join the WDFC at Rewari. Dadri-Rewari is supposed to be finished May 2021, but may be delayed due to Covid by 3-4 months.

The poster Avik above is totally ignorant of all IR history and most likely very young. ALCO supplied the first diesel locos to India from its Schnectady NY works in 1958. All these locos that came before DLW, Varanasi was up and running had a logo at three places on the loco. It consisted of two hands shaking with a background of stars and stripes. One of the Anglo-Indian engineers on IR has shot a movie now on youtube of the arrival of the first ALCO locos at Mumbai docks. These engineers had to travel to the US to be trained in the maintenance of these locos. They were all given to SER and homed in Kharagpur. So every moron, in India knew in the early 1960s that the new diesels were from the US.

Secondly if this poster had even bothered to search the news, every effing DRM (divisional railway manager) across zones was tweeting a few days ago that how IR moved 1 lakh tonnes of onions from MH and 10,000 tonnes of red chillis from Reddipalem, Guntur AP to Bangladesh. So what is the harm in stating all this. It is a fact. Go and check it.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Railfans Iraqua Akhtar and Ammar Rizvi have been doggedly and diligently pursuing the Satpura narrow gauge gauge conversion project. In my opinion this is a major project of IR. IR also considers it very important as it not only gauge converted but electrified the tracks simultaneously. The tracks lie in an isolated part of India and so the dedication of the railfans above is quite astounding who go to these forests in all types of weather. Now only 23 km is left to install BG tracks and associated OHE equipment, traction sub-stations etc. This is a detailed report by Akhtar along with Rizvi who travel the entire 23 km stretch and shows the state of the last segment of this project.


This line when complete will shorten the travel time between Chennai/Bangalore/Hyderabad and Varanasi/Prayagraj by 6-7 hours. It will relieve pressure on Itarsi and Nagpur which is completely congested and where line quadrupling projects and line tripling projects under CR is stalled. A devastating fire in the RRI cabin in Itarsi in 2015 brought system wide failures in IR. This line will allow trains from South India traveling to Lucknow, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur and Bihar to bypass Nagpur and Itarsi.

There is a great potential for tourism as there are wild life sanctuaries in this area and ruins of the ancient Mahakoshal and Gond kingdoms. The town of Chanda and its fort the ancient capital city of Mahakoshal is nearby. Chanda is also getting connected by an electric line post gauge conversion. Furthermore there are a large number of Menhirs which are stone markers of burial sites from paleolithic times which nobody has quite studied properly. These Menhirs are centered a lot around Naghbir between Balharshah and Gondia and then onward between Gondia and Nainpur on this line. The potential for tourism is great and my impression is that traffic will mount quickly on this route necessitating doubling or patch doubling soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmaWrsAP3RE
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Suraj »

Menhirs ?? I haven't heard that word since the last time I read Asterix :)
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Avik »

vsunder - my point is simple. Its good to help neighbours but no one likes to be told that they're being helped

Would it have been so difficult to paint the locos in BR's colors? The 1958 Alcos you mentioned all came in IR's colors of that time

And your attacks on me dont do justice to your age and experience.....
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Karan M »

If they don't like being informed they are being helped, that's their psychological issue TBH. We have discovered the hard way in multiple topics in India itself that appeasement never works. You best be open about what you do for yourself and others, and let them interpret it whichever way they wish. Being understated and all will not help at all bar some temporary ego boost. The sane folks in that region who can rise above their jingoism will appreciate it.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by hnair »

Avik, why are you being sensitive about what Bangladesh thinks of us? Aren’t we the ones who are visibly helping them and they themselves don’t seem to have a problem with these logos. Vsunder is pointing out the absurdity of that kind of self effacing thoughts In realpolitik with grumpy neighbors

Without such plaques and signs, how else are you going to convey “subtly”? By pulling down each BDIte sitting on the roof of these trains and telling them they are being deodorized by Diesel fumes from a Varanasi engine?

Let their public know that the paki-pasand elites and jihadi sympathizers among them are wrong - India does take care of the Bangladeshi people. US Aid supplies always have star spangled logos as do IPhones that loudly claim assembled in China etc . That works

Edited: Karan M, spot on
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by chetak »

Avik wrote:Sometimes its best to be understated while gifting/helping neighbours. This was one such occasion.
I wish IR had atleast taken the effort to paint the locos in BR's colors. The locos still have the names of IR's host loco sheds on them!
Dont get me wrong, I really like what IR is doing to help our neighbors, but it helps to be understated on some occasions, lest it be construed as 'charity'
if it's not charity, then what else is it.

locos at political prices, repairs just across the border instead of some cheeni moron mechanic turning up months after the complaint, that is if he bothered to turn up at all.

as in any "deal" with us, they benefit much more than us, as always, including their independence.

and all they have even been to us are religious bigots and ingrates.

so, charity it is.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

@Avik: You mention an IR color. You might want to take a look at the locos India has gifted to BD. The locos from Howrah shed and Samastipur shed are deep blue, while the locos given from the holdings of Vizag shed are cream and orange. So what exactly do you mean by IR colors?? Any person with even a cursory knowledge will know that loco sheds around India have different colored livery for their locos and even in a shed there is a lot of variance. It is enough that IR did a major overhaul and painted the locos and gave it to these people, let them paint it green, black or indigo. They even had to reduce the height of the locos so that they would be able to go in the underpasses in BD.
It may also serve to edify you to read the comments on the videos posted on youtube of the locos crossing over into BD. 99.9% are by Indians gushing about the locos and BD-India friendship etc etc. There are some posts by BD based individuals carping that India has given them junk. In fact the locos are 2012 -2014 builds with 28 years of life in them for the oldest one. BD is facing a severe problem with 60-65% or more of their BG locos at the end of their service life. The number of metre gauge locos at the end of their service life is far higher and they even asked for those but India does not make any metre gauge diesels anymore. Most of their locos are Metre gauge. It is pointless to give BD anything other than WDM3A as they have 26 of these locos from an earlier order and so their pilots and maintenance staff are familiar with these locos that are not being manufactured by India anymore. Any different and newer locos like EMD would need a training program and also since the height of the locos given had to be made smaller to ensure passage through underpasses in BD, it would mean another big job for IR. Not worth the effort to give EMDs. Also the tracks there may not be good to handle heavier locos like EMds.

BD railways thinks it will get more Korean and US diesel locos but it will take time. BD thinks many things.

Regarding your other comments I have lived through PL-480 when India survived for the most part on this Public Law 480 Food for Peace program of the US. Every sack of wheat that came had the US insignia on it, not that you got the sack, it went to a ration shop where one had to queue for a long time and hold out a moth eaten ration card to get the weekly quota. President Johnson who was implementing this at one time was very upset with GoI because of its criticism of the Vietnam war and wanted to cut this aid off and teach those Indians a lesson. The US gov used PL 480 to force GoI to temper its criticism of the Vietnam war and to exert pressure on India. In modern times people have forgotten this and the Tashkent agreements of 1966 should be seen against this background. Of course the elite always had good food and the other category was the IIT Kanpur US professors who drew their rations from the US Embassy commissary in Delhi. Years later one of the ladies of the professors of IIT K told me when I was in graduate school at Purdue that the Indian ladies would be in awe to see the smooth, white refined Domino's sugar. The sugar we got then was interesting if one made nimbu pani then the bottom of the glass would have a layer of sand, what with that and the atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons my generation is radio-active and very, very tough, just ask the Chinese they will tell you about me.

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/pl-480
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by SBajwa »

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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by A Nandy »

https://swarajyamag.com/news-brief/indi ... rat-trains
Indian Railways has said that it has drafted in not one but three railway production companies to speed up manufacturing of Vande Bharat trains amid reports of delay in rolling out these train sets.

The trains will now be simultaneously manufactured in three production units —
the Railway Coach Factory in Kapurthala, the Modern Coach Factory in Rae Bareilly and the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai, Railway Board Chairman V K Yadav said.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Mollick.R »

A Nandy wrote:https://swarajyamag.com/news-brief/indi ... rat-trains
Indian Railways has said that it has drafted in not one but three railway production companies to speed up manufacturing of Vande Bharat trains amid reports of delay in rolling out these train sets.

The trains will now be simultaneously manufactured in three production units —
the Railway Coach Factory in Kapurthala, the Modern Coach Factory in Rae Bareilly and the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai, Railway Board Chairman V K Yadav said.
Maybe I'm going tangent, but I think MAY BE A PORTION OF delay in further production in Train-18 sets is due to commercial interest (fighting) of various manufacturing units also. Let me write it pointwise :-

1. Success of Train-18 opens door as it being future cash cow for the concern manufacturing unit (here ICF Chennai). Plus glory of exclusive manufacturing unit producing most advanced train sets of India.

2. powerful people (Union leaders, Politicians etc) from RCF Kapurthala & MCF Rae Bareilly may have lobbied hard to get their share of Buzzziness and Glory.

3. Now production 44 trains sets will be distributed among 3 units, assuming equal participation that is 15 Train sets per manufacturing unit.

4. This is typical Indian defence manufacturing kind of scenario. Only 1 destroyer of this class, 2 frigates of that class blah blah blah at different shipyards. Losing out economies of scale.

5. How will 3 different manufacturing units make money out of so little order at hand (15 train sets for each) for the huge human (training of manpower, quality , SOP etc development) & machine capital (mostly new sets of T&P required) they gonna invest ? :?: :?:
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by A Nandy »

They have to increase the number of rakes, hopefully some sense will come through as these roll off the line.

Meanwhile, the much delayed Chenab bridge:

Image
It is the most challenging project in the post-independent history of the national transporter, according to Konkan Railways. Chairman Sanjay Gupta, Konkan Railway was quoted in a PTI report saying that the world’s highest railway bridge, connecting Kashmir with the rest of India through a rail line will be completed by December next year.
Image

Image

https://www.indiatvnews.com/fyi/chenab- ... mir-633439
According to a PTI report, Indian Railways is also planning to host bungee jumping and many other exciting sports events at the bridge.
Well maybe they are taking commercialization of assets a bit too literally :lol:

https://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDis ... sID=735389

Unsurprisingly, after becoming the head of government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sought reports to understand the cause of repeated delays.

Following this investigation, Modi paid a one-day visit to J&K. In July 2014, while inaugurating the railway's latest link, connecting Katra to Udhampur, Modi declared: "Our aim is to win over the hearts and minds of the people of Jammu and Kashmir through development, soon Kashmir will be prosperous and peaceful. The new rail link will speed up the process of development in the state."

"The journey started by Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be continued...," Modi stressed, describing the railway as a gift not just for the people of Jammu and Kashmir but for the whole of India.

Understanding its critical role, Modi directed officials to progress on the Chenab Bridge without any delay. The Chenab Bridge is being constructed between Bakkal and Kauri in the Reasi district of J&K, India. When completed, it will span 1,315 metres and the deck will be 359 metres above the water level, making it the highest rail bridge in the world.

Modi added that the construction of the Chenab bridge is the most challenging task of the whole Kashmir Rail link project. But at the same time, after the completion of the bridge, it will be recognized globally as an engineering marvel.

The bridge can bear wind speeds of up to 260 km per hour and a minus-20-degree centigrade temperature. Over 5,462 tonnes of steel will be placed high over the river-bed.

The most daunting challenge the engineers face is the wide gorge of the Chenab River. With its headwaters high up in the Himalayan mountain range, the river carves a deep gash that leaves its elevation more than 1,000 feet below the level of the rail line.

The engineers decided that the only bridge type suitable for the location would be a massive steel arch -- the highest-ever built for a railway at 1,056 feet from deck to water. Only an arch is capable of handling the weight of a 300 ton locomotive along with a thousand tons of passenger cars. With a length of 1,532 feet (467 meters), the main span will rank among the world's 10 longest arches.

There have been some false starts as well. In September of 2008 it was announced that the Chenab Railway Bridge has been cancelled despite the completion of the approach viaducts in 2007. Difficult geological conditions on the steep slopes supporting the arch foundations were cited as the reason as well as the development of a lower, more direct route through tunnels. In 2013 this decision was reversed with the bridge being constructed as originally planned.

"This is the most challenging project in the 150-year-long history of the Indian Railways. The highest railway bridge in the world, that will connect Kashmir with the rest of India through the rail line will be completed by December 2021," Sanjay Gupta, Chairman of Konkan Railway said in a statement.

According to the Ministry of Railways, the deadline for the completion of the railway project has been moved ahead from June 2022 to December 2021.

Whenever the Chenab Railway Bridge is finally completed, it will be more than just another bridge but a prestigious symbol of how far India and its railway engineers have come since the country's first mile of railway track became operational more than 150 years ago.

For the people of Kashmir, the railway will provide a magnificent opportunity of integrating with the rest of India for exciting opportunities provided by one of the most rapidly advancing and dynamic economies of the world. In turn, the rest of India will be further enriched by the permeation of Kashmir's magnificent cultural heritage.
Summary of major projects in J&K:
https://www.livemint.com/news/india/che ... 16549.html
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Seriously @ANandy you should know better than quoting news from a mouthpiece of the Catholic diocese of Mangalore----Daijiworld, that is known to be so virulently anti--Modi that they will spread any canard----bungee jumping off the Chenab bridge, next khemta dancing on semi HSR to Howrah. I should know Mangalore is my hometown and to buttress their report they quote PTI, I suppose another credible source. It is not the 1960s and 1970s when relations were cordial between communities in Mangalore and Bishop Alva reigned supreme. Ki golpo korche tumi eesh

Regarding Train-18 or whatchama call it, internal documents and deliberations were leaked to the press that ICF would make all the bogies, and with a timeline of 12 years. Railway board chair VK Yadav then clarified that the raison d'etre( or raisin dieter to the aficionados on this forum) to spread production is that more train sets can be manufactured per year and the time frame can be shortened to 3 years rather than the 12.

No foreign based company bid to manufacture the traction units locally and the only serious name there in the bidding wars is Medha. I have pointed out that transformers and many electrical components for the Alstom locos are being manufactured by ABB in India and likewise brakes are made by a German company at their Faridabad plant.

In addition to the coach factories listed by various individuals above, one should add the new plant at Latur in a backward part of MH. The problem is most established industrial houses will not enter into many GoI schemes due to the stringent requirements that GoI places that plants be sometimes opened in backward areas. This is what numerous top industrial executives tell me. They then face a indifferent power and water supply and an unskilled labor force that they do not wish to train and poor transport connections for finished products and raw materials. Some of my friends have made a go of it and after putting immense effort have turned operations into a stunning success, one such friend did take all the carrots offered and set up one of his plants in Marathwada and has 100 million$ turnover. Raw material for him comes from Fat Man's Patalganga plant and now Marathwada will be connected by samruddhi Marg. So it can be done but lot of effort.
Most engineers etc running plant operations will not want to locate to isolated places as there are no good schools and spouses/wives will not have suitable employment. Only GoI can do all this. Otherwise why start an aircraft engine factory in the 1960s in a god forsaken place like Koraput smack in the middle of a tribal area of Odisha far from everywhere to churn out Mig 21 engines in the 1960s? And then have the airframe assembly at the other end of the sub-continent at Ozhar, Nashik when movement across India occurred at the glacial pace of a bullock cart. But that is how GoI thinks, sabka vikas. So then the GoI will want to distribute work to its Latur plant for example and justify it. Some and to an extent I would want that IR get out of the rolling stock business and only focus on operations. It was fine at Independence and later when Lalaji companies were not willing to enter such things but not now, but GoI views it as providing employment similar to providing employment during a famine by building a railroad or canal.

In other news Alstom has bought Bombardier. Funny both bid for the coaches of Kanpur and Agra Metro and Bombardier won, but now Alstom makes the coaches of both Kanpur and Agra metro after the takeover.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by chetak »

Mollick.R wrote:
Maybe I'm going tangent, but I think MAY BE A PORTION OF delay in further production in Train-18 sets is due to commercial interest (fighting) of various manufacturing units also. Let me write it pointwise :-

1. Success of Train-18 opens door as it being future cash cow for the concern manufacturing unit (here ICF Chennai). Plus glory of exclusive manufacturing unit producing most advanced train sets of India.

2. powerful people (Union leaders, Politicians etc) from RCF Kapurthala & MCF Rae Bareilly may have lobbied hard to get their share of Buzzziness and Glory.

3. Now production 44 trains sets will be distributed among 3 units, assuming equal participation that is 15 Train sets per manufacturing unit.

4. This is typical Indian defence manufacturing kind of scenario. Only 1 destroyer of this class, 2 frigates of that class blah blah blah at different shipyards. Losing out economies of scale.

5. How will 3 different manufacturing units make money out of so little order at hand (15 train sets for each) for the huge human (training of manpower, quality , SOP etc development) & machine capital (mostly new sets of T&P required) they gonna invest ? :?: :?:
why would the govt company be motivated by profits when all its expenses are covered and it probably has a 10% return on what it spends on the manufacturing because the contract terms usually say cost + 10%.

that's how MOD contracts with PSUs are made so it is probably the same with railway contracts. I could be wrong.

we are still a "socialist" country where unions have a hugely disproportionate say in how the govt company is run.

the malicious unions and workmen are motivated by subsidized food, regular and ever increasing bonus, free health care above and beyond what is called for, vehicle and housing loans and the gurantee of a job for life. The arrive each morning, while away their time in gossip, eat heartily at every free/subsidized canteen meal, take siestas and then stagger home to further sessions with the bottle. Overtime is rampant and it is considered a god given birthright
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by A Nandy »

Seriously @ANandy you should know better than quoting news from a mouthpiece of the Catholic diocese of Mangalore----Daijiworld, that is known to be so virulently anti--Modi that they will spread any canard----bungee jumping off the Chenab bridge, next khemta dancing on semi HSR to Howrah. I should know Mangalore is my hometown and to buttress their report they quote PTI, I suppose another credible source. It is not the 1960s and 1970s when relations were cordial between communities in Mangalore and Bishop Alva reigned supreme. Ki golpo korche tumi eesh
Oh goodness, I didnt know that actually :P . I ll delete all that.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Mollick.R »

vsunder wrote: Ki golpo korche tumi eesh
:lol: :D
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Vips »

Indian Railways creates new ‘Make in India’ record! RCF achieves its highest monthly production of LHB coaches.

The Rail Coach Factory has produced as many as 151 LHB coaches in the month of July 2020.

Under the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the Modi government, the Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala has created a new record. The Rail Coach Factory of the national transporter has produced as many as 151 LHB coaches in the month of July 2020. Interestingly, this is thrice the production of LHB coaches by the coach factory as against the month of July 2019. According to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, giving a boost to job creation, the production of 151 LHB coaches in July 2020 by the Rail Coach Factory, is its highest ever monthly production.

The modern LHB coaches, that are based on German technology, were first introduced on the Indian Railways network in the year 2000. However, the first indigenous LHB coach was put into service on the rail network in 2003. As compared to conventional ICF- design train coaches, the LHB coaches are considered to be better and safer.

The LHB coaches boast a higher carrying capacity, unlike ICF- design train coaches. Also, LHB coaches have higher speed potential and are lighter in weight. Moreover, they have anti-climbing features as well. The anti-climbing features of these coaches prevent them from getting piled up during accidents.

In the year 2017, the first 100 per cent ‘Make in India’ LHB coach was manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai. In Indian Railways trains, the safer and better LHB coaches are fast replacing the old ICF- design coaches. Moreover, the production of ICF- design train coaches has already been stopped by the Railway Ministry. Over the last few years, many trains have been upgraded with modern LHB rakes including Howrah-Patna Jan Shatabdi Express, Jansadharan Express, Belagavi-Bengaluru Daily Superfast Express, Charminar Express, among others. The national transporter hopes to replace all conventional ICF coaches with LHB coaches in the near future.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Suraj »

Mysuru-Chennai High Speed Line finalized
The 435-km high-speed rail (bullet train) corridor between Mysuru-Bengaluru-Chennai will finally be a reality soon and the route will be among a network of high-speed bullet trains on seven new routes, sources confirmed.

The Indian Railways along with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will start the process to acquire additional land soon. As per different media reports, the NHAI will soon acquire land to lay tracks for high-speed trains along Greenfield expressways for integrated development of the rail transport network in the country.

As per reports, the Indian Railways plans to run bullet trains on 7 important new routes of the country. The seven high-speed rail corridors are Delhi to Varanasi via Noida, Agra and Lucknow; Varanasi to Howrah via Patna; Delhi to Ahmedabad via Jaipur and Udaipur; Delhi to Amritsar via Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Jalandhar; Mumbai to Nagpur via Nasik; Mumbai to Hyderabad via Pune and Chennai to Mysore via Bengaluru.

The bullet train will run at a maximum speed of 320 kilometres per hour and the actual distance from Mysuru to Chennai is over 485 kilometres while the bullet train corridor will be 435 kilometres. Going by the train speed, it can cover the 145-km distance from Mysuru to Bengaluru in just 45 minutes.
Interesting the HSR lines planned:
Mumbai-Ahmedabad (via Surat and Vadodara) - under construction
Ahmedabad-New Delhi (via Jaipur and Udaipur)
New Delhi-Varanasi (via NOIDA, Agra and Lucknow)
Varanasi-Howrah (via Patna)
New Delhi-Amritsar (via Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jalandhar)
Mumbai-Nagpur (via Nasik)
Mumbai-Hyderabad (via Pune)
Chennai-Mysuru (via Bengaluru)
Additional routes not listed in the news report:
Chennai-Hyderabad (further extension to Kolkata)
New Delhi-Dehradun

Total distances
Mumbai-Delhi : 1400 km
Delhi-Kolkata : 1550 km
Mumbai-Nagpur: 883km
Delhi-Amritsar: 450km
Mumbai-Hyderabad: 747km
Chennai-Mysuru: 485km
Chennai-Hyderabad: 664km

The above is about 6200km, which just in this first phase would be the world's second longest high speed network.

These would complete most of the Diamond Quadrilateral except that Hyderabad-Kolkata is missing. Such a route would probably go via Visakhapatnam and Bhubaneswar. The following that, the NSEW part would be the next one - Mumbai-Nagpur extended to Kolkata via Raipur/CG and Ranchi/JH. A more southern route might be Nagpur-Bhubaneswar connecting to the Chennai-Kolkata line. Along North-South, Chennai-Hyderabad connects to Nagpur, Bhopal and Agra.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Prasad »

The Chinese did a feasibility study in 2018 on that route. Will be interesting to see who we deal with to build out all these lines. Ideally you'd have one single system to work economies of scale.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

HSR will come when it comes. But for the here and now:

CRS has approved and issued a certificate for raising the sectional speed between GZB and DDU to 130 kmph that is between Ghaziabad to Mughalsarai. Principally this has been achieved by track and sleeper renewal and replacement and the installation of new electronic interlocking equipment, yard re-modeling and elimination of points at the huge yards at Tundla and Kanpur. Several LCs have been permanently closed courtesy DFC. DFC runs parallel to IR tracks and since DFCs have no LCs, eliminating them on the DFC has a corollary, eliminating them on IR tracks too. That is a helpful spin off for IR. Sectional speed is being increased out of Bangalore towards Chennai to 130 kmph and towards Hubli where already Bangalore to Tumkur now just diesel double lined has been made 110 kmph from 100 kmph a few days ago.

CRS has also approved raising the sectional speed to 120 kmph on the Agra--Jhansi---Bina line. Delhi to Agra is rated at 160 kmph where Gatiman plies. Beyond Bina, Bina to Bhopal is triple lined with thick web switches and rated for 130 kmph. Bhopal to Itarsi is being triple lined and parts of it are already tripled, Budni---Hoshangabad---Itarsi is tripled with a new bridge over Narmada.
Bhopal to Badkhera is being tripled and about 70% done. Barkhera to Budni is through a Ghat section, 5 tunnels are being dug as part of the tripling through the famous Bulb ghat where one of the current tracks forms a bulb shaped alignment. One tunnel:T1 1080 m long is done. Thick web switches are also being installed and out of 71, 7 have been installed. I had seen these line tripling works in January this year near Obaidullahganj as I waited for the gate to open on this Delhi---/Mumbai/Chennnai/Hyderabad line, at a small gate surrounded by mustard fields all an intense yellow as I was coming back after admiring the splendid rock art neolithic paintings at Bhimbetka. Comparable to Lascaux in France and Altamira in Spain(you cannot see the real thing in Altamira etc as human breath is ruining the rock art, but yes you can see the real thing at Bhimbetka since Indians only know Dilli ka Lal kila, Agra ka dalmot, peta(not that animal thingie, this is a sweet made from ash gourd) aur Taj Mahal and never heard of Bhimbetka which is good as hardly anyone there eventhough it is a UNESCO world heritage site). And on returning to Bhopal for that stiff whisky at sun down, do not forget the magnificent temple on the way back to Bhopal at Bhojpur a step in to what Hindu temple architecture could have evolved into and was not arrested due to the invasions. It is a very late period 11th century temple that was left incomplete, due to lack of funds and/or bad engineering( check google why?) Makar Sankranti made the visit to this temple very colorful with throngs of villagers in colorful clothes.

SWR is also trying to raise sectional speed to 130 kmph and doing lot of track and sleeper replacement and replacing British era bridges over the lockdown esp on the Jollarpettai ---Bangalore Cantt. section that gives me the heebeejeebies everytime I go over it on the Chennai Shatabdi and also implementing automatic signalling between Bangalore and Jolarpet. Lot of bridges replaced and cautions removed at Kamasamudram, Malur, Patchur and that infamous Kuppam. So I expect a smoother and faster ride next time I go over that section. I wish I had taken the Bhopal Shatabdi to travel to Bhimbetka and Sanchi stupa, could have done work on the train and enjoyed the train ride, my usual modus operandi, but copped out and took a flight to Bhopal instead and then arranged a cab in splendid January weather with wheat fields and mustard fields to Sanchi Stupa, Udayagiri caves near Vidisha with its magnificent sleeping Vishnu earlier than Srirangam(which I have seen too), and the massive Varaha lifting Bhudevi sculpture and Vikramaditya and his minister cowering in front of Varaha avatar, the Heliodorus column( locally this is known as Khamba baba, if you ask for Heliodorus column you will get blank stares so beware), the ASI museum at Sanchi, small and nice and reminded me of the ASI museum at Sarnath which if you have not seen you ain't seen anything. One crosses the Tropic of Cancer on the way to Sanchi from Bhopal and if you tell the cabby in your clipped British accent Take me to the Tropic of Cancer old chap and put some jaldi into it you will get a blank stare and then you will decidedly see the wheels of the cabby's mind turning thinking ka keh raha hai. Instead ask for kark rekha , tell the cabby to stop at the big marker and if you are into that sort of thing get him to snap pics of you, your progeny, your evil 6th cousin twice removed and so on in front of the marker.
Regarding Chennai--Bangalore HSR the alignment was passing close to a national forest with the only herd of elephants in AP. I suppose it skirts it now or tunnels underneath it. Some of the efforts by SWR to increase sectional speed

https://twitter.com/drmsbc/status/1290864426808090624

Gudur--Vijayawada with SCR was being tripled very efficiently as SCR always is on top of the ball, with Kavali to Nellore going great guns and being the first section heading to be commissioned, but the pandemic intervened. There is a huge bridge before Nellore which was in quite an advanced stage with spans about to be launched. These are all attempts to raise sectional speed to 130 kmph in a year or two on the Delhi--Chennai route and Chennai---Hyderabad route with a goal of 160kmph in a few years eventually.

Also Chennai to Jolarpet there are some sections where the ride is not smooth, esp. between Arakonam and Katpadi( esp. between Chitteri and Mahendravadi), they should fix it.

Since so many of you are plugged into Bangladesh, more news that will gladden you: A big rake reached Panambur port, Mangalore two days ago from Nestle India containing tins of baby milk powder Lactogen. Will be loaded on to a ship for Bangladesh. So 1 lakh tonnes onions, 10, 000 tonnes red chillies, 10 WDM 3A diesel locos, a rake full of Lactogen all in July and first week of August and its not Christmas yet, and they will overtake us in getting business. And if they are like that, how about the western neighbor that is people say a basket case. Oh but I must not write such news of baby milk etc etc mea culpa, mea culpa

https://twitter.com/jaideepSTOI/status/ ... 1893791745
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Traffic on the Konkan Railway has come to a halt due to a serious cave in inside the Pernem tunnel. 6 of the many tunnels on the Konkan railway have a long history of cave ins due to a high water table and poor stability and varying strata overlaying laterite. Pernem tunnel, Old Goa tunnel and others are in this category. Speeds through these tunnels have been capped at 50 kmph with a 20 kmph restriction during monsoons. Due to the heavy and incessant rain a portion of the retaining wall has split and a mud water slurry mix has obliterated the tracks and jeopardized the tunnel lining and stability. Over the last 20 years Konkan railways has failed to find suitable remediation measures and even tried an 85 year old water diviner to find means to lower the water table and stabilize the tunnel. The only silver lining is that the breach has occured close to the south portal. Nevertheless it will take several days to fix the tracks, stabilize the tunnel and re-start traffic on the Konkan railway.

In another incident on SWR, a landslide due to incessant and heavy rain has dislocated services between Tinaighat and Goa at Dudhsagar waterfalls in the Braganza ghat. This is an important line linking Goa port to Vijayawada and Chennai/Bangalore. This incident happened when a passenger train was in the block section necessitating a rescue operation.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by suryag »

Vsunder Sir how does the DFCC operationalizing help the movement of perishables across the country. Are the DFCCs routes suitable for speedy transport of perishables across the country ? I believe a farm to customer timeline of 5-7 days helps transport most of the semi perishables like onions/potatoes/tomatoes. If the routes are structured well it has the potential to move the farm income across the country. For once, I would want IR to privatize this service i.e., a company can lease out the rolling stock and pay toll for the railway track usage and provide solid service to the end customer(farmers)
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

It is pertinent you asked this question today as IR with great fanfare sent off its first train (Kisan rail) today with just fruits and vegetables, flowers and other perishables from Deolali(Nashik dist) to Danapur, Bihar. Deolali as you know has the IA arty school and in British times had a mental sanatorium which give rise to the phrase "Going Doolaly" or going crazy. Here is the video of this train. It is called Kisan Rail which was jointly flagged off by the Rail Minister and the Agriculture minister by videoconferencing. 11 wagons that will run weekly and time tabled and with a focus on perishables. Aim is to double the farmers income by 2022.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5waPiyXDvI

An English version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbMyOioUWBA


In recent days every division inside a zone, like Bangalore division, Mysore division in SWR has been encouraged to set up what IR calls a BDU(Business development unit). BDU members are traffic and operations staff, financial and commercial staff. They meet with the business people, say farmers or tractor manufacturers and find what their needs are and arrange for the appropriate rake(refrigerated, type of wagons etc) and time frame to transport their merchandise. So there was the rake of onions to Bangladesh from MH followed by a rake of chillies from AP to BD and then another rake of onions to BD again from Gujarat two days ago. BD buggers are consuming a lot of onions, does the recipe for Goalundo chicken demand that(you can google Goalundo chicken and its origins)? It is not just perishables but also milk has been sent from AP to Delhi recently.

https://www.financialexpress.com/infras ... i/1911021/

So the short answer is no DFC is not essential and IR is already sending perishables and evolving strategies to do it more efficiently over the existing network. In any case DFC will not reach all the corners of the country. MH and Karnataka are the leaders for horticulture produce in India followed by Gujarat and AP for milk and other products and so these are the states where a lot of perishables originates and DFC does not go to Karnataka for example. NE and Himachal have the potential but not fully exploited.

Another perishable industry is seafood. PM Modi is very aware of this from his days as Gujarat CM. He has talked of the Green revolution, the white revolution and what he wants to do the Blue revolution. Gujarat has many small fishing ports and even in the late 1960s a State fishing cooperative was operational in Gujarat which was far ahead of its time and even given the constraints, change of gauge in those days(Gujarat had a large MG and NG network), fresh seafood found its way through the cooperative and its base at Veraval port to Delhi where it was sold at the stall run by the cooperative in Gole market Delhi. I can attest to the quality and freshness and I wonder the effort to transport it from Gujarat in that era. Similar movement of seafood took place from Mumbai to Kanpur and Lucknow with seafood packed in ice and a wagon attached to Punjab Mail once a week. There are many fishing ports like Ratnagiri on the Konkan coast and ports on the east coast which are fishing ports. There is sizeable income that can be generated if IR uses refrigerated wagons and transports seafood from here to the hinterland. It was done in the 1960s and it can be done now farther afield to Punjab, HP etc.

So in summary IR is already moving perishables now with a renewed focus and better business interactions with farmers of horticultural products and DFCs may help in certain sections only.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Vips »

Indian Railways to end colonial-era khalasi system, halts hiring.

First Dak Messenger System and now the Khalasi system is finally out. Good but shameful i took us long to junk it.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Zynda »

vsunder wrote: SWR is also trying to raise sectional speed to 130 kmph and doing lot of track and sleeper replacement and replacing British era bridges over the lockdown esp on the Jollarpettai ---Bangalore Cantt. section that gives me the heebeejeebies everytime I go over it on the Chennai Shatabdi and also implementing automatic signalling between Bangalore and Jolarpet. Lot of bridges replaced and cautions removed at Kamasamudram, Malur, Patchur and that infamous Kuppam. So I expect a smoother and faster ride next time I go over that section.
Any target date set for the above? I stopped believing that SBC-JTJ section speeds will increase beyond the existing 100 Kph. I believe Jollarpettai-Chennai also will be upgraded to either 130 Kph by 2022. The idea is that this is the minimum speed that most express/Superfasts should do and probably trains like Shatabdi will be allowed slightly higher speeds.

I do hope they consider increasing the speeds between MYS-SBC to at least 110-120 Kph. Further similar 130+ Kph upgrades should be considered for other lines in KAR especially the interior since I think most of the lands are flats with relatively shallow gradients (if exists). Bangalore-Hubli-Pune line serves as an alternate route to Mumbai and Northern India and augmentation of capacity and speeds will definitely help.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Zynda »

Condemn 2,500 Diesels ASAP, Make Indian 10-12k hp Electric Locos by 2022: Ministry tells Railway Board
The Ministry of Railways has asked the Railway Board to quickly downsize Indian Railways’ fleet of diesel locomotives. 2,500 diesel units are likely to face the chopping block soon, sources told RailPost.in

Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal wants 100% electrification for the public transport behemoth in the next few years.

As of 1st July 2020, Indian Railways operates two shy of 5,500 diesel locos. They are maintained by 42 sheds spread across the country. Holdings of several sheds will be more than halved as a result.

The Ministry wants this freed up infra to be utilized for maintenance of the rapidly expanding fleet of electric locos. IR has a fleet of more than 7,000 electric locos as of 1st July 2020.

18 diesel locomotive sheds have already made suitable modifications and home approx 800 electric units.

725 electric locos were planned for production this year. The number is likely to decline substantially due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and low rail traffic levels at present.

Make high-power, high-speed electric locos in India by 2022, officials told
The ministry has asked Board officials to adopt the latest technology and produce 9-12,000 horsepower electric locos meant for 120 km/h freight and 200 km/h capable passenger services.

Target for a prototype has been set for June 2022.

Plans for conversion of diesel locos to electric dropped
IR has also dropped much-hyped plans for the conversion of redundant diesel locomotives to electric, according to officials. The cost of conversion reportedly made the exercise infeasible.

Research Development and Standards Organization (RDSO) and Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW) had taken up the project to convert two ALCo based units and several EMD units to electric. All converted prototypes are now based at Bondamunda shed of South Eastern Railway.

Diesels: Sell, Export, Scrap… or Gift?
With the decision to get rid of as many diesel locos as possible, Indian Railways faces tough choices.

A large part of Indian Railways’ diesel fleet has not worked for half of its codal life yet. Units that are due for heavy maintenance are likely to be condemned. The government-owned transporter is likely to take a financial hit on premature condemning of so many locos.

Savings in fuel and maintenance bills have been cited by officials as likely to make up for some of the loss in the long term.

There is a limited market for high power diesel locomotives, especially ones built for broad gauge. Local industrial demand for such powerful locomotives is almost non-existent. RITES has been asked to work with DLW and the Railway Board to find ways to dispose of the surplus units, said an official conversant with the matter.

IR recently gifted Bangladesh Railways 10 ALCo based diesel units as part of a larger agreement on improving railway connectivity between India and Bangladesh.

The GE/Wabtec Conundrum
This still leaves the Railway Ministry stuck with the question of what to do with diesel locos that continue to be manufactured at a plant in Marhowra, Bihar.

Indian Railways awarded a contract in 2015 to then General Electric, which later sold its transportation division to Wabtec, to produce 1,000 units of 4,500 and 6,000 horsepower diesel locos. Over 700 units are to be delivered over the next few years.

Unless Indian Railways finds a way out of the contract, or is able to resell the remainder of the fleet to other railway networks, the fate of most diesel locomotives in India looks bleak.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Mollick.R »

Piyush Goyal pushes to ‘fast track’ merger of railway services, seeks to convince officers
SANYA DHINGRA 6 August, 2020 9:16 am IST

New Delhi: Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal Wednesday met the associations of different railway services to discuss ways of fast-tracking the merger of eight services into one common Indian Railway Managerial Service (IRMS), ThePrint has learnt.

Sources said Goyal met the officials of different services in batches in order to address their concerns regarding the merger, and ways of circumventing bureaucratic hurdles and departmentalism that are slowing down the process.

The ministry is seeking to complete the merger by November this year.
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“The proposal is being met with resistance from officers, and as a result, the inner bureaucratic tussles within the ministry are impeding the process from taking off,” said an official, who did not wish to be named.

“Every officer involved, including the chairman, is being seen as a representative of their own service’s interests, and hence, the minister wanted to weigh in, and find out ways to fast-track the process.”

ThePrint reached railways ministry spokesperson D.J. Narain via WhatsApp for a comment, but there was no response till the publication of this report.
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The cabinet on 24 December 2019 cleared the unification of eight existing railway services into a single IRMS in order to “end the culture of working in ‘silos’ and mark the beginning of a new and unified railway with a coherent vision for the future”.

The eight services to be merged include the Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS), Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS), and Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS), which constitute the transporter’s civil services. The remaining five are technical or engineering services.

The decision was, however, met with resistance, especially from the civil services officers, who objected to the merger with the technical services, whose members are recruited on the basis of the Indian Engineering Services (IES) exam, conducted by the UPSC.

Civil services officers from 13 railway zones and around 60 divisions had in January submitted over 250-page memorandums against the merger, calling the decision “unilateral” and one that would negatively impact the safety of train operations.

The representations were sent to the Railway Board chairman, the railways minister, DoPT secretary, cabinet secretary and even the prime minister.

Uniform promotion rule opposed
According to the sources, the railway ministry informed officers that fresh recruitment for a merged IRMS will be through the civil services exam conducted by the UPSC from next year onwards.
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Defending the ministry’s decision to merge the services, ThePrint has learnt, a senior Railway Board official told the association members that “specialisation is not very effective”. Even with specialists at the board and the Research and Design Standards Organisation, the Indian Railways is nowhere close to Korean or Japanese technology.

Finally, the officials were told at the meetings that the now eight-member Railway Board will be reconstituted to have just four verticals — a model that will subsequently be adopted at the zonal level as well.

Concerns of officers
Officers from the civil services are also learnt to have raised concerns regarding the age difference between them and those of the engineering services.

“As per the 69th annual report 2018-19 of UPSC, maximum 42.7 per cent candidates selected in ESE examination are in 21-24 age bracket while for civil services maximum 32% are in age bracket of 24-26,” an official told the ministry, according to the sources.


https://theprint.in/india/governance/pi ... rs/475805/
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Mollick.R »

Another article on same subject, with some additional bit of info.

Rail merger of 8 cadres into IRMS likely to be completed by November this year
1 min read . Updated: 06 Aug 2020, 10:31 PM IST

NEW DELHI : The merger of eight major cadres of the Indian Railways into one single service -- the Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS) -- is likely to be completed by November this year, officials said Thursday, adding that the national transporter has hired consultancy firm McKinsey & Company to finalise its modalities.

During the meeting, the Railways informed the cadres that they were thinking of uniform promotion for all services till higher administrative grade (HAG) based on best performing service in the grade for Senior Administrative Grade (SAG).

It has also been conveyed that future recruitment of IRMS would be through UPSC civil service exam while posts requiring technical expertise like those in the Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO) will be filled up by a different process, said an official who attended the meeting.

“We are targeting the merger to be completed before November. All the posts of merged cadre will be open for all members of IRMS. Fresh recruitment to IRMS will be done from UPSC civil service exam. Posts requiring technical expertise like those in RDSO will be filled up by different process like the way it is done in ISRO/DRDO," the official said.


Full Article Here//
https://www.livemint.com/news/india/rai ... 18179.html
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by chetak »

Mollick.R wrote:Another article on same subject, with some additional bit of info.

Rail merger of 8 cadres into IRMS likely to be completed by November this year
1 min read . Updated: 06 Aug 2020, 10:31 PM IST

NEW DELHI : The merger of eight major cadres of the Indian Railways into one single service -- the Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS) -- is likely to be completed by November this year, officials said Thursday, adding that the national transporter has hired consultancy firm McKinsey & Company to finalise its modalities.

During the meeting, the Railways informed the cadres that they were thinking of uniform promotion for all services till higher administrative grade (HAG) based on best performing service in the grade for Senior Administrative Grade (SAG).

It has also been conveyed that future recruitment of IRMS would be through UPSC civil service exam while posts requiring technical expertise like those in the Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO) will be filled up by a different process, said an official who attended the meeting.

“We are targeting the merger to be completed before November. All the posts of merged cadre will be open for all members of IRMS. Fresh recruitment to IRMS will be done from UPSC civil service exam. Posts requiring technical expertise like those in RDSO will be filled up by different process like the way it is done in ISRO/DRDO," the official said.


Full Article Here//
https://www.livemint.com/news/india/rai ... 18179.html
lets hope that the "merger" does not go the air India - indian airlines way and cock up a reasonably well functioning organisation.

a unified cadre increases the competition and fighting for the available "side" business
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Mollick.R »

Just plain aerrogency & feeling of entitlement, nothing else.............
Brown Sahibs of post British era...............

Railway officers resist ‘unilateral, shocking’ decision to end posting of bungalow peons
SANYA DHINGRA 7 August, 2020 9:35 pm IST

A day after the Railways’ announcement to place the practice under review, officers’ associations of the South Western Railway, Southern Railway, East Central Railway and West Central Railway shot off letters to the chairman of the Railway Board, calling the decision “unilateral”, “shocking”, and one that has affected the morale of the officers who are “working hard round the clock during the Covid-19 crisis”.

What does a bungalow peon do?
‘Bungalow peons’ or TADKs are typically picked by railway officers themselves. After working at an officer’s residence for 120 days, a TADK is hired as a temporary employee of the Indian Railways.

TADKs can become permanent employees after a screening test on completion of three years of service.

Formally speaking, TADKs are hired for attending telephone calls and carrying files from the offices to the officers’ homes. But over the years, they have come to be used by the officers to perform household chores like cooking, taking care of young children, etc.


Officers allege ‘insensitivity’ by govt
The decision to tinker with the practice of hiring bungalow peons has caused alarm among the railway bureaucracy, with officers claiming that the government’s decision reeks of insensitivity, as it fails to acknowledge the “extreme intensiveness” of their duties.

The West Central Railway Officers’ Association, for example, wrote in its letter to the Railway Board chairman: “Such sudden and unilateral decisions of Railway Board to pend recruitment of TADK without due consultation with the officers’ associations has severely affected the morale and motivation of railways officers who are working day and night for running and improving railway working.”

The association added: “It is also worth highlighting that the facility of recruitment of TADK to railway officers has also been one of the added attractions for the aspirants to join the elite railway services on preference. If this facility is withdrawn or its nature is changed or diluted, then it will not only have adverse effect on the serving officers but will as well affect the preference of bright prospective candidates to join railway service.” :oops: :oops: :shock:

Addressing rumours that under the reviewed policy, the railways will pick TADKs instead of letting the officers do so, the WCR association said: “In case other modes of selection are adopted, the assigned person may not be having the trust of the officer and may interfere with the officer’s work as well as compromise the safety and jeopardise the security of officer’s family.”

The Railway Officers’ Association added: “Since the place of work of the TADK is the residence of the officer, in effect the person becomes like a member of the household during the initial years of appointment. There is a high level of trust, intimacy and personal involvement between the TADK and the officer’s family and a close rapport and cooperation is expected from this relationship. Engaging TADK through a common process and from a common pool negates these principles of personal rapport and intimacy.”

The South Western Railways Association has gone a step further and said that not only should the earlier practice be continued, but also extended for junior scale officers.


Read Full Article Here//

https://theprint.in/india/railway-offic ... ns/477334/
yensoy
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by yensoy »

It's not only the "bungalow peon" that is anachronistic, it is the very concept of a "bungalow". It's time the railways lease out their large land parcels and raised funds internally, and reaccommodate their officers in modern multistory flats. They can lease out land to state and central government entities which have trouble finding large parcels bang in the middle of town, which the railways has in plenty. Let's not forget the origin of the railways during the British times where monopoly powers were bestowed and public lands granted to these monopolies. Railways are a national asset today, and any national asset should be optimally monetized for public good. Bungalow colonies is not public good.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Mollick.R »

Ayodhya railway station to be modelled on Ram temple
ET Online|03 Aug 2020, 05:28 PM IST

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... 331524.cms


Twitter//
Piyush Goyal @PiyushGoyal. Aug 2
देश के करोड़ो लोगो की आस्था के प्रतीक श्री रामजन्मभूमि मंदिर के दर्शन करने आने वाले श्रद्धालुओं के लिये प्रधानमंत्री
@NarendraModi जी के नेतृत्व में रेलवे कर रहा है अयोध्या स्टेशन का पुनर्विकास।

Image

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Mollick.R
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Mollick.R »

Piyush Goyal @PiyushGoyal
PM @NarendraModi जी की विकास को समर्पित सरकार द्वारा अयोध्या रेलवे स्टेशन को भव्य और आधुनिक बनाने का कार्य निरंतर जारी है।
देश भर से श्रीरामजन्मभूमि मंदिर के दर्शन हेतु आने वाले श्रद्धालुओं को अयोध्या की राममय संस्कृति, और यहां की आध्यात्मिकता का आभास यह स्टेशन करायेगा।

Twitter// Visit this twitter link, it has the CGI video of Upgraded Ayodhya Railway Station

https://twitter.com/PiyushGoyal/status/ ... 9544229890
Mollick.R
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Mollick.R »

yensoy wrote:It's not only the "bungalow peon" that is anachronistic, it is the very concept of a "bungalow". It's time the railways lease out their large land parcels and raised funds internally, and reaccommodate their officers in modern multistory flats. They can lease out land to state and central government entities which have trouble finding large parcels bang in the middle of town, which the railways has in plenty. Let's not forget the origin of the railways during the British times where monopoly powers were bestowed and public lands granted to these monopolies. Railways are a national asset today, and any national asset should be optimally monetized for public good. Bungalow colonies is not public good.

yensoy saar, I think it is more of ego battle issue also. a full time domestic help at government cost at the Bungalow is a very difficult perk to forgo.
It is more so when their counterparts from other central services enjoy same in some guise.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Mollick.R »

Bilaspur News : लॉकडाउन का उठाया फायदा, समय से पहले बिछ गई तीसरी रेल लाइन
Updated: | Sat, 08 Aug 2020 11:50 AM (IST)

Bilaspur News: बिलासपुर। पेंड्रा-निगौरा के बीच 26 किमी तक तीसरी रेल लाइन का काम पूरा हो गया है। बिलासपुर से अनूपपुर सेक्शन में प्रस्तावित तीसरी लाइन का पहला सेक्शन है जहां यह महत्वपूर्ण कार्य पूरा हुआ है, वह भी समय से पहले। आरबीएनएल ने लॉकडाउन का फायदा उठाया और लाइन बिछाने का काम सात महीने पहले ही पूरा कर लिया।

बिलासपुर से लेकर अनूपपुर रेलवे स्टेशन तक तीसरी लाइन का काम प्रस्तावित है। बड़ा प्रोजेक्ट होने के कारण सेक्शन के अनुरूप काम को पूरा किया जा रहा है। पेंड्रारोड से निगौरा तक तीहरीकरण की जिम्मेदारी रेलवे के ही उपक्रम आरबीएनएल को सौंपी गई। दो साल पहले उन्होंने कार्य शुरू किया। शुरुआत में काम ने अच्छी गति पकड़ी। इसके बाद धीमा हो गया। इस बीच कोरोना वायरस ने सब कुछ अस्त- व्यस्त कर दिया। रेलवे में भी कुछ दिन काम बंद रहा। इस बीच लॉकडाउन में ट्रेनों का परिचालन नहीं होने से काम के लिए पर्याप्त समय मिला। यही वजह है कि समय से पहले तीहरीकरण का कार्य पूरा कर लिया गया। काम पूरा होने के बाद रेलवे बहुत जल्द इसका सेफ्टी कमिश्नर द्वारा निरीक्षण कराने का निर्णय लिया है। इसके लिए आवेदन भी भेजा गया है। निरीक्षण के लिए इसी माह सेफ्टी कमिश्नर आ सकते हैं।

ये होगा लाभ

- पेंड्रारोड, गेवरारोड लाइन से जुड़ जाएगा। इससे फायदा यह होगा कि चांपा- बिलासपुर की ओर से कोल परिवहन अनूपपुर व कटनी की ओर होता है। अब सीधे होगा। बिलासपुर तक नहीं आना पड़ेगा। दूरी काम होने से शुल्क भी कम लगेगा।

- समयबद्ध में सुधार आएगी।

- बिलासपुर स्टेशन में ट्रैफिक का दबाव कम होगा।

- गेवरारोड लाइन निर्माण के बाद कोरबा के लोगों के लिए सीधे दिल्ली के लिए ट्रेन चलाई जा सकती है। अभी कोरबा से बिलासपुर तक आना पड़ता है। इसके बाद दिल्ली आदि जगहों के लिए ट्रेन की सुविधा मिलती है।


https://www.naidunia.com/chhattisgarh/b ... me-6016754
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