Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Apurva »

https://swarajyamag.com/insta/indian-ra ... two-months
This break through opens up vast versatility in Loco management
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by SaiK »

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... 164348.cms

hang on a minute.. why new corridor to just bump to 200kmph. I'd say, investment needs to be futuristic.. spend billions here and again in the future

this needs deep analysis. We need super-duper hygiene upgrade for existing system, coaches and what not. People are not ready to go advanced even though Team Modi on a Vikas Engine with boosters.

Can someone analyze?

--

ps: btw, Also I don't want this in desh: we are not ready for this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEX8vADhncU
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by arvin »

SaiK wrote:https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... 164348.cms

hang on a minute.. why new corridor to just bump to 200kmph. I'd say, investment needs to be futuristic..
There were reports in 2nd week of feb which says short routes ( <=500 km ) would be more feasible for high speed train based on Chinas experience. Longer distances would need to compete with flight and fares may not be acceptable.
So Shinkansen types may run only on selected routes like Mumbai - Ahmedabad, Mumbai -pune, banglore - chennai, Amritsar- delhi etc.
Rest of the diamond quadrilateral I think will be served by the above mentioned elevated corridors running Indian Train 18 and Train 20 with average speeds between 150 - 200 kmph. More than sufficient for our needs.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Supratik »

This does not seem feasible to me. Elevated corridors will be hugely expensive without the benefits of HSR speed. Best to quad track in high density corridors if LA is feasible or simply bypass existing routes if LA is infeasible. Seems to be an idea from some babu on Sunday evening.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Katare »

SaiK wrote:https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... 164348.cms

hang on a minute.. why new corridor to just bump to 200kmph. I'd say, investment needs to be futuristic.. spend billions here and again in the future

this needs deep analysis. We need super-duper hygiene upgrade for existing system, coaches and what not. People are not ready to go advanced even though Team Modi on a Vikas Engine with boosters.

Can someone analyze?

--

ps: btw, Also I don't want this in desh: we are not ready for this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEX8vADhncU
They are aiming for half the cost of the Bullet train project and the trade off is reduced speeds of 200KM/hr.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kakkaji »

Katare wrote:They are aiming for half the cost of the Bullet train project and the trade off is reduced speeds of 200KM/hr.
At 200Kmph Howrah to Delhi can be done in 6 hours. Add in a couple of stops and still doable in 8-9 hours. A comfortable overnight journey by sleeper cars, or day journey by chair car.

Howrah to Chennai, and Delhi to Mumbai, should be similar. Howrah to Mumbai, or Delhi to Chennai, will be 12 hours max.

Run one pair of chair car only trains during daytime, and another pair of sleeper only trains at nighttime.

And the cost will be half that of bullet trains. This Semi-HSR is is what the French recommended to IR.

Way to go, I say. 8)
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Suraj »

We're confusing peak and average speeds here without explicitly mentioning it. Sure you can do Delhi-Howrah in 6hrs, but I don't think there's any non-stop service planned. With stops, average speed would be <150km/h . But even that would be a huge improvement over current average speeds that are <100km/h even for the fastest trains. Bhopal Shatabdi used to average ~90km/h .

The Nozomi service is the fastest train service on the Tokaido Shinkansen line (Tokyo to Osaka). Max speed 275km/h . But average speed = ~210km/h. The fastest service takes just under 2.5hrs to do 515km . To get ~200km/h average speed with just a few stops, you'll still need HSR capable of 270-320km/h . Especially when you have to run many trainsets in parallel with different stops to maximize revenues, which you can't do with just point to point nonstop services.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kakkaji »

OK, even at 150kmph average, Howrah-Delhi, Howrah-Chennai, Delhi-Mumbai will be comfortable overnight or daytime journeys. At fares 50% above current Rajdhani, I would prefer to travel by these trains than fly.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by nandakumar »

I recently travelled to Kayankulam in Kerala from Chennai. While the train journey is not exactly overnight- Trivandrum Mail leaves Chennai at 19.45 hrs and reaches Kayankulam junction around 09.00 hrs the next day- it was still a preferrable mode of travel compared to air. This was because while Chennai-Trivandrum air fares are comparable to AC 2 Tier fares, if you factor in taxi fares from Trivandrum to any of the principal towns in the Trivandrum-Ernakulam route, the cost becomes higher and more importantly, an overnight journey by train beats air travel during the day with check in and local commute time thrown in. A 25% increase in average speed (not a great deal to ask for) would put a lot destinations in Railways ' hands and they would be premium fare paying passengers.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by arvin »

Looks like commie pet project of Thalaserry rail link is all set to be scrapped and would soon be dumped by central govt. The ecological cost wont be worth the investment and people in coorg and mysore are not happy with it.
Also yesterday KA refused to relax the road timings ( closed between 9pm - 6am) thru bandipur forest despite intense pressure from KL.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Capacity augmentation:

Drone view: Bridge across Yamuna river, Allahabad bypass Eastern Dedicated freight corridor:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIM-uKP ... e=youtu.be


Tungabhadra bridge completed Hospet-Hubbali doubling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tsi-FOsHSdE


Bridge across Krishna (at Kudachi) complete, Miraj-Londa doubling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mY6AHt5Jlwk


Hotgi-Gadag doubling progress in several parts: This is for Kudgi super thermal plant and also various
steel plants in North Karnataka, notice the Hotgi bypass line for coal rakes:(videos provided by a Baker street irregular)

Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_4UWSk ... gS&index=7

Part 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGwTC9e ... gS&index=6

Part 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB3BKPa ... pL2i-CjDgS


Part 4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCLDFLa ... pL2i-CjDgS

Part 5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHP4s-A ... gS&index=3

Part 6

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxA6Kgc ... gS&index=2

Part 7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sPcBhk ... pL2i-CjDgS
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

More progress on Chennai-Mumbai doubling "danda" has been waved by Piyush Goel. Othe projects completed are Bidar-Gulbarga new line(inaugurated by PM), Gauge conversion Pilibhit to Tanakpur(Nepal border), gauge conversion
Jabalpur-Nainpur from narrow gauge to BG and electrification providing a faster and shorter link between South India
and Allahabad/Varanasi/Gorakhpur and Jabalpur. Mysore/Bengaluru electrification and doubling. CRS inspection on March 24th for a 23 km section of Madurai-Chennai line. If approved entire Madurai-Chennai is now electrified and doubled. Doubling between Thanjavur-Trichy done and CRS inspected, line blocks in a few days for commissioning.
Erode-Trichy via Karur electrified and CRS inspected e-locos running. Kerala is languishing, Kollam-Sengottai gauge conversion is done but CRS has pulled up SR for a number of a issues on this line through Western ghats.

Sections on Gulbarga-Akkalkot road( Chennai-Mumbai) awaiting commissioning by May:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBIJ7aIHWkM


Other sections: (first one has a scissors crossing as you can see and so will involve serious earthworks)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75V4pWXNmow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNx3Q_UvYIA


Makali Ghat(Bangalore) Bangalore-Penukonda doubling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BhgHHmAgS0


Londa-Miraj doubling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3beOoHAW3U

Pune-Miraj doubling(Shindwane ghat)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etkf--ILWmI

Arsikere-Tiptur doubling/ Bangalore-Hubbali (awaiting commissioning soon)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf0IO3wsz3s

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

Earthworks are going on in full swing from Tumkur to Tiptur and some places track linking.
Similarly from Chikjajur to Hubli, rest is already doubled and commissioned.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kashi »

Great to see you back vsunderji!!

It seems the DFCC deadlines have been pushed back to 2020. Any news on that?
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by JTull »

One video has a quote of some segments starting to become operational from Nov-2018.

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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

I only believe things I see in video footage shot by amateurs. DFCC consistently bluffs people and so does IR,
Piyush Goyal or otherwise. There is quite a bit of hype and though the pace has picked up, it is nowhere near
what the public has been fed for consumption. Take the western DFC, it is on record one year ago that Ateli-Phulera 190km would be commissioned and handed over to IR March 2018. For example this is one of many links attesting to this:

http://www.dnaindia.com/jaipur/report-f ... ar-2533638

^^ In the link above even the reporter does not understand track and route km, he has multiplied the 190km
distance from Ateli-Phulera and says the distance is 380km that is track km since it is a double line from the outset, dummy!!!

But even the latest pictures of this section by DFC themselves show no OHE equipment, loop lines at stations not there, station buildings not finished, then the communications and systems equipment has to be installed and this is all supposedly state of the art. Now they say June 2018 for Ateli-Phulera. So let us cut the BS and crap Mr. Goyal.
Today DFC announced that they have finished 1000km track linking but conveniently forgot to tell the public this is track km and not route km., so since DFC is doubled except for the Punjab piece which is single line, where only some earthworks are going on, it basically means <400 km (route km) of track has been laid(loop line lengths and yard track lengths are also included in this total so beware). Khurja to Kanpur is 363 km and Ateli-Phulera is 190km, those are the two earliest sections to be commissioned, so 563 km, then OHE, signalling and communication systems and let us not forget testing a totally new system. If the commissioning of both sections are to take place by October say, I think that is no can do.
They say they will not need CRS inspection as it is freight, so there is going to be a tussle over turf too.
Due to replacement and renewal of track there was a shortage of rails for other doubling projects so Hubbali-Bangalore doubling has been hit by this rail shortage. They wanted to import rail I do not know what has happened. Here is a revised schedule for DFC, but I do not believe a word of it:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost. ... tcount=729

Some pictures of the section to be commissioned (Ateli-Phulera Western DFC) come June 2018,

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost. ... tcount=723

Image posted on Jan 30, of Bhagega station on the Ateli-Phulera section that was to be commissioned
March 2018 now June 2018, no trace of OHE, incomplete station building etc etc

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DUycbvHWsAEDetl.jpg

Another image posted Jan 30, no OHE work seen, do I really believe the new deadline?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DUycu1fW4AAGe1-.jpg

I can show many of this type. Line tripling is crawling along. For example on a 16km section, between Chitoda-Sonegaon(Balharshah-Wardha section on the Chennai-Delhi line) line tripling was sanctioned a while back. This was to have been commissioned this month. Contractor did grubbing, removed bushes and small trees etc and then slept, no earthworks on this major bottleneck, now vegetation has grown again and not even earthworks started. But of course Wardha-Vijayawada is to be tripled who knows when it will be completed at this glacial pace.
Last edited by vsunder on 09 Mar 2018 07:49, edited 5 times in total.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by arvin »

Good to see your posts vsunderji!!.

Finallly work moving on pune miraj line after approval in 2015.
This was single line for too long and as a result most south bound trains from western India had to come via wadi gulbarga route. This along with doubling of tumkur to belgaum will allow in introducing more trains to gujurat and Raj from south.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Singha »

i present gentlemen, the immense WAG-12 !!
12000hp of raw power unleashed downrange

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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Singha »



:shock:
Shilpa Tiwari
Published on Mar 3, 2018
DLW has just turned out WAGC3 class of locomotive (Number 001), creating history. This 5,000 hp unit is one half of a 10,000 hp locomotive. What is remarkable about this new series is the bold concept on which it is based, wherein two diesel locomotives of WDG3A class are converted to one permanently coupled 12-axle, electric locomotive of 10,000 hp.

Thus a work which got kicked off on 22 Dec 2017 when the engineering team brain stormed in Railway Bhawan, the WAM4 locomotive was received at DLW just a couple of days later on 24 Dec. By 29 Dec 2017, the 3D models and weight balancing of the locomotive was completed. On 4 January, 2018, stripped WDG3A chassis was received from DMW, Patiala and the work began in right earnest. Unlike a diesel locomotive, electric locomotives have a monocoque design, where the sidewalls are load bearing members. As the removal of engine and alternator resulted in net reduction of 10 tons of weight even after accounting for transformer and its control elements, this was used to put additional strengthening elements. Keenly aware that work was being done using a chassis which has seen active use of eighteen years, suitable changes were made.

Electric control became next challenge as each unit has single cab, whereas all available circuits are for twin cabs (historically electric locomotives had dual cabs and till recently, diesel locomotives had single cab), Thus, control wiring of almost nine kilometres needed substantial adaptation. Surmounting these challenges, as scheduled, the locomotive was successfully completed for despatch on 28 February 2018. The unit would go for safety and rating trials. The prototype unit would be examined for other possible improvements.

Chassis modification for second unit has already started. What began as an audacious dream has borne fruit finally. A twin CoCo, WAGC3 would equal power of almost four WDG3A and go a long way to improve the average speeds of freight trains-a key challenge for IR’s operations.

Realisation of WAGC3 is testimony to the new work culture and ethos of IR that of silo-less working, matter of fact designs, senior leadership sharing the trenches with frontline staff and leading from the front.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Singha »

is a pax version of the WAG12 on the cards like WAP12 ?
it should be able to catch a 25 rake TN/coromandel express by the scruff of its neck and haul it at 200kmph, tracks and god willing!
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Zynda »

I think as of now no such plans are in place although RDSO have been known to do such conversions. As Arshyam saar had mentioned a while ago, I think currently there is an issue with 2nd pantograph contact and/or vibrations of trailing loco as speeds exceeding 160 Kph. But WAG-12 has onlee one pantograph...so such a conversion could be possible and I hope so it happens. BTW, I had posted on this thread Bombardier's pitch presentation to IR about its latest TRAX-3 electric pax/freight locos. They are offering a Co-Co single pax loco with power rating of ~12,800 HP and like you have mentioned, capability to haul 24 LHB coach rakes at 200 Kph on IR tracks. I doubt IR would select another loco currently.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Singha »

nice test footage from factory and kazakhstan.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Suraj »

Singha wrote:is a pax version of the WAG12 on the cards like WAP12 ?
it should be able to catch a 25 rake TN/coromandel express by the scruff of its neck and haul it at 200kmph, tracks and god willing!
I don't think so. These are Alstom Prima II based, for DFC. the Prima II gearing tops out at 160km/h I think.

They're among the most powerful engines in the world. There are only a handful of 12000hp locos out there.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Most of us do not realize that IR is still the main mode of transportation for a lot of India. You could see the jubilation when I posted that video of inauguration of Bangalore-Hassan new line. This is the inauguration of Pilibhit-Tanakpur(gauge conversion), Nepal Border recently. The old MG line was shut for 2 years and now the new BG line provides connections to parts of Uttarakhand and Rohilkhand (Bareilly, Pilibhit) to Delhi, Dehradun etc. It also provides better access to pilgrims to visit the temple of Purnagiri Devi Ma, one of the 108 Shakti peeths. This is in district Champawat(remember Jim Corbett and the Champawat tiger),

http://www.travelnthrill.com/mata-purnagiri-temple/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybhT4jyauX8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5o68hSgYrw

News like this does not make it big time, what with twitter wars, this that and the other, but it is gratifying to see such changes being welcomed by common people who after all are the real stakeholders of India.

Furthermore, deep in Mowgli country (Seoni Hills) gauge conversion is going on in full swing and the old Satpura narrow gauge replaced by Broad gauge. Chindwara is even under electric traction and even Nainpur-Jabalpur. Once Nainpur-Gondia is connected by next year, there will be another route to South India that is electrified via Balharshah that will bypass Itarsi. Also one can see that the second bridge over Bagra Tawa and the Prince Albert viaduct is coming up, finally doubling the last section of single line left on the route of the old Imperial Mail, Kolkata to Mumbai(via Jubbulpore and Allahabad).

Gauge conversion works at Seoni
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvGej9oAVZw

Jabalpur Nainpur after gauge conversion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz9FhBWCzTg

CRS was to inspect electric and OHE works last month but some bad guys stole overhead copper wires. It is good that gauge conversion and electrification took place together.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Karthik S »

Why are we not looking for TGV from the French, was hoping something will happen during Macron's visit. Looks like we'll stick to Japs and Germans, who are conducting feasibility study on Chennai-Bang HSR corrdor.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by arvin »

Karthik S wrote:Why are we not looking for TGV from the French, was hoping something will happen during Macron's visit. Looks like we'll stick to Japs and Germans, who are conducting feasibility study on Chennai-Bang HSR corrdor.
Systra did the study for delhi Amritsar line. French might come on that line.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Karthik S »

But from Systra's site: https://www.systra.in/projects/hsr-delh ... r-corridor
It seems the study report was submitted in April 2016. Nothing much after that. I really hope atleast 1 more line will see the light before Mumbai Ah'bad line opens up in 2022.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Singha »

>>conducting feasibility study on Chennai-Bang HSR corrdor.

the chinese at their own cost conducted a feasibility study of the mysore-blr-jolarpettai-chennai line for HSR and rightly declared it unfit even for semi HSR. too many sharp turns , too steep slopes etc .....

so any blr chennai HSR will need to be new route parallel to the proposed expressway via chittor route....
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by chetak »

Singha wrote:>>conducting feasibility study on Chennai-Bang HSR corrdor.

the chinese at their own cost conducted a feasibility study of the mysore-blr-jolarpettai-chennai line for HSR and rightly declared it unfit even for semi HSR. too many sharp turns , too steep slopes etc .....

so any blr chennai HSR will need to be new route parallel to the proposed expressway via chittor route....
from sealevel to 3000ft is the run from chennai to bangalore.

Do the chinese expect it to be without some steep slopes??

It is not critical that every city pair be always connected by some sort of HSR.

People are looking for frequent, timely, reliable, safe and reasonably comfortable trips with internet and mobile connectivity with assured and safe transport connectivity at the station ends to major residential/commercial centres, without being at the mercy of rapacious auto/taxi wallahs, whatever the time of arrival/departure.

many a time speed is over rated.

Somewhat like being toll taxed and shelling out 1200 bucks to get home after arriving by flight at the bangalore airport.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by arvin »

Karthik S wrote: I really hope atleast 1 more line will see the light before Mumbai Ah'bad line opens up in 2022.
Loan terms need to be as attractive as Japanese have offered us. Guess french or any one else are not ready to give with such conditions.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Picklu »

The speed is highly over rated. What most of the Indians need is a comfortable night journey which already exists for CHN BLR. Increasing capacity there via push-back chair car and double-decker arrangement would be lot more beneficial. IR should consider bringing in a sleeper class with lower price for push-back chair car config and charge a premium for proper sleeper berth config.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vikasdangi »

i think Mumbai-Ahmedabad is too short a distance for passengers to prefer a high cost HSR. The minimum distance you need is Delhi-Mumbai. Mumbai-Bangalore, Mumbai-Chennai, Delhi-Chennai are also viable IMHO.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad will have to be extended to Pune and Bangalore to the south, and Jaipur and Delhi to the north, before it will show a profit IMHO.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Picklu »

Agree, whatever used to be more than 12 hours journey before, would become a night journey via HSR now and would get lot of passengers.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kashi »

Picklu wrote:The speed is highly over rated.
Time is of essence to many, especially businessmen and those on a tight schedule.

Now imagine you are living and working in Bangalore and you need to travel to Chennai for important business. Would you rather

A. Take a morning high-speed train to Chennai,
B. Arrive at your destination 2 hours later, finish you business,
C. Take the train back home, well in time for dinner.

or

A. Take the overnight train from Bangalore,
B. Arrive in Chennai in the morning, look for a place to freshen up, change of clothes,
C. Finish your business,
D. Take the overnight train back to Bangalore and arrive home next morning.
vikasdangi wrote:i think Mumbai-Ahmedabad is too short a distance for passengers to prefer a high cost HSR. The minimum distance you need is Delhi-Mumbai. Mumbai-Bangalore, Mumbai-Chennai, Delhi-Chennai are also viable IMHO.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad will have to be extended to Pune and Bangalore to the south, and Jaipur and Delhi to the north, before it will show a profit IMHO.
Actually Mumbai Ahmedabad is right within the sweet spot for an HSR at about 508 km. The busiest HSR route in the world Tokyo-Osaka is 515 km; Barcelona-Madrid HSR route is 620 km; HSRs in France and Germany with best usage are about 500-600 km in distance.

Chinese HSRs are longer journeys and they work well as well.

The route if it has to be extended to Pune and Delhi (and even Bangalore), will not be done so because Mumbai-Ahmedabad will be nonviable. It'll be done so because it would make sense to cater to passengers travelling from Delhi to Ahmedabad via Jaipur or Surat to Pune via Mumbai. Rarely will people take the HSR all the way from Delhi to Mumbai, when flight options are available and the airports not THAT far from the city centre.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Bart S »

vikasdangi wrote:i think Mumbai-Ahmedabad is too short a distance for passengers to prefer a high cost HSR. The minimum distance you need is Delhi-Mumbai. Mumbai-Bangalore, Mumbai-Chennai, Delhi-Chennai are also viable IMHO.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad will have to be extended to Pune and Bangalore to the south, and Jaipur and Delhi to the north, before it will show a profit IMHO.
At those distances flight is the best option and HSR is largely a waste, the exception being the Chinese economic/production model (which is also a waste in the bigger picture).

For day trains, Bangalore-Chennai and Pune-Bom would probably be the ideal kinds of distances. There are plenty of business people/traders who make a daily up-down trip on the Deccan Queen, rather like the customer-base for the busiest Japanese HSR lines.

In theory it seems attractive to bring down some of the longer routes to an 8-hours overnight trip, but the costs just don't compete with air travel at that point.

The money would be better spent on improving regular passenger trains to semi-high speed, improving safety, building high quality freight corridors, relieving congestion, urban mass rapid transit, and airport infrastructure (especially large greenfield ones that can serve as hubs).

However, eventually, once you have plenty of short-distance HSR built, you can look at networking them and extending them, but perhaps building long distance HSR upfront should not be a priority.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Karthik S »

vikasdangi wrote:i think Mumbai-Ahmedabad is too short a distance for passengers to prefer a high cost HSR. The minimum distance you need is Delhi-Mumbai. Mumbai-Bangalore, Mumbai-Chennai, Delhi-Chennai are also viable IMHO.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad will have to be extended to Pune and Bangalore to the south, and Jaipur and Delhi to the north, before it will show a profit IMHO.
Internationally, the statistics is that distances upto 900 km, HSR is better option than flights. The Japanese have conducted all the feasibility studies and they are building it taking all the risks, let's not worry about passenger preferences here.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Singha »

are there plans for new locos to replace the WAP5 as the premier train loco ? or is it deemed enough with coaches getting lighter?
I am thinking of 25 rake shatabdis and rajdhanis up from 16-20 to add capacity without demanding extra time slots on track.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Singha »

rdso seems to be carrying out many trials to up the cruising speed of all exp trains to around 130kmph

here is one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ4m337PhOc

mashallah accounting for stops, and need to slow down to a halt and speed up, this might move the avg to 100 for long distance trains with not many stops

the del mum rajdhanis are now running with 2 locos i think to improve the acceleration
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by A_Gupta »

http://www.financialexpress.com/infrast ... d/1093976/
Indian Railways goes green with 12,000 HP ‘Make in India’ electric locomotive
Indian Railways has got its first 12,000 HP electric locomotive from Alstom as part of a 3.5 billion euros 'Make in India' deal! This new electric locomotive has been manufactured and assembled at Alstom's factory in Bihar's Madhepura.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Ashokk »

Army and Railways cranking up synergy for swifter mobilisation & operational logistics
NEW DELHI: The Army is stepping-up its synergy in operational logistics with the Indian Railways to ensure it can swiftly mobilise as well as switch forces between the western front with Pakistan and the eastern one with China much faster than what is possible now.

Towards this end, the railways is already building infrastructure for military requirements at different places in the country. This includes construction of concrete ramps for loading of tanks, howitzers and infantry combat vehicles on special trains in areas like Bhalukpong in Arunachal Pradesh, Dimapur in Nagaland, Silapathar, Missamari and Murkongselek in Assam, with an eye firmly on China.

“Concurrently, there is an increased focus on significantly enhancing the speed at which the special military trains run…trial runs are in progress. This will help in faster mobilisation,” said an officer.

One of the harsh lessons learnt during the 10-month long forward troop deployment along the western front under Operation Parakram, launched after Parliament terror attack in December 2001, was that slow mobilisation would not do any longer.

India had taken over a month to mobilise its forces for Operation Parakram, which had given enough time to the US-led international community to intervene as well as Pakistan to shore up its defences.

Since then, the Army has adopted its “Pro-Active Conventional War Strategy”, colloquially called the “Cold Start” doctrine, to practice swift mobilization for multiple offensives into enemy territory.

The Army, incidentally, uses 750-800 trains to re-locate its battalions as well as move tanks, artillery, ammunition and other loads for exercises every year. “The Army pays railways around Rs 2,000 core per year for this. For infrastructure development, the railways in some places is also using its own budget,” said another officer.

The Army is also “tagging into” the railways’ online monitoring system to keep track of the 5,000 train wagons it owns. “Earlier, it was a manual and tedious process. There is also a proposal for railway service probationers to visit forward areas and military stations to get a better idea about the huge logistics involved in military mobilization,” he added.

There is, however, little progress on the long-pending military project for construction of 14 “strategic” rail lines on the fronts with Pakistan and China due to funding issues. The Army had even identified four lines (three in Northeast, one in J&K) as the topmost priority because it was told that all 14 could not be taken up together, as was earlier reported by TOI.
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