A Comprehensive review of Safety was undertaken at the meeting.
The Minister emphasised on according top most priority to Safety.
The Railway Minister directed to undertake 5 immediate measures to address the problem.
Mumbai Locals have this system I think for quite a few years now, developed by Konkan Railways, IIRC...? Remember to have seen a demo of it where the engineer who made it stood between two trains to show the effective anti-collision system.Vivek K wrote:Why is there no GPS based collision avoidance system? If the system finds two trains near each other headed in the same direction, it should send a warning starting at 25 miles and then halt the trains when 10 miles apart. And they need to have a rail management system to provide a snapshot of age and condition for the entire network.
Salient Point : The total cost of this rail line is estimated to be around $17 billion, with over 80% of it coming from Japan in the form of an extremely friendly loan -- which is highlighted by a 0.1% interest rate over a 50-year repayment cycle that's topped off with a 15-year grace period.
CheersAlong with financing the bulk of the project and providing the know-how, Japan, reportedly, also intends to transfer their HSR technology to India. While the first set of rolling stock will come from Japan, the ones following are slated to be manufactured in India, positioning the economic giant of South Asia as a potential developer of HSR technology.
In looking for business opportunities in the MAHSR project, one should not miss the woods for the trees. It is the cornerstone of a new era of strategic engagement between Japan and India. Both nations have come to recognise that in the backdrop of emerging Asian geopolitics and geo-economics, their partnership would not only benefit both countries but also create a more stable, prosperous and peaceful Asia.
(The writer is secretary-general, Ficci)
NEW DELHI: Indian Railways has offered General Electric an option to manufacture electric locomotives at its upcoming factory in Marhowrah in Bihar instead of diesel engines since it no longer envisages requirement for diesel engines.
The government on Thursday told GE at a meeting of railways minister Piyush Goyal with the top brass of the American conglomerate that the railways will not require diesel locomotives in the future since it is switching fully to electric traction.
However, the government doesn’t want GE to lose any investment and so it has offered several options to the company, a senior railways ministry official said. These include manufacturing electric engines, locomotive maintenance shed or any other related facility, with the railways offering an assured contract, he said. “We don’t want to hamper the investment environment in the country. We have offered GE various options. They will work with our officials to find out the right solution. Even if they want to manufacture electric locos with some other company in a joint venture, they will be welcome to do so,” the official said.
In 2015, the railways had awarded the contract to GE to set up the factory on railways’ land. The railways would have procured 1,000 engines worth Rs 14,600 crore in 10 years from the company. The railways was offering 200 acres land as its equity in the project, which was touted as the biggest foreign direct investment in India’s rail sector.
Railways stands to save at least Rs 50,000 crore in fuel bill in the next 10 years if it runs only electric trains on its entire network, along with cutting its carbon footprint. The railways has already signed an agreement with Alstom to manufacture electric locomotives in Madhepura in Bihar. “We will procure from Alstom as per our commitment. Since we will have a 100 per cent electrified network in a few years, the demand for electric locos will also go up. Those additional engines can be procured from GE. They won’t lose any money,” the official said.
Depends on how the contract is drafted. Generally the GOI as well as PSU contracts are extremely one sided in favour of the client. This is how the govt/psu clients are able to preempt any successful litigation from contractors.Zynda wrote:Just curious, can GE sue GoI for going back from 2015 diesel-loco contract?
If I remember correctly, these are setup as 50/50 (or is it 51/49) JVs with the cost of land and factory determined as the equity of the Indian partner. Full ToT to the JV is required in exchange for assured orders.darshhan wrote:Depends on how the contract is drafted. Generally the GOI as well as PSU contracts are extremely one sided in favour of the client. This is how the govt/psu clients are able to preempt any successful litigation from contractors.Zynda wrote:Just curious, can GE sue GoI for going back from 2015 diesel-loco contract?
GE can still sue Indian Railways but will it be able to put a winning case. Only if the contract contains clauses that are favourable to GE in case of sudden termination.
AGRA: Snaking through the country, several 'Pythons' and 'Anacondas' are helping deliver a small revolution for the railways.
Looking to optimise existing infrastructure to boost freight operations as well as ease congestion on the tracks, the transporter is employing trains over 1.4 kilometres long with as many as 118 wagons.
North Central Railways' 'Python', Western Railways' 'Anaconda', Central Railways' 'Maruti' and other long-haul trains are not only helping deliver goods quicker, but are also efficient and cost-effective, said officials.
Each of these trains is made up of two rakes (59 wagons in each), two brake vans and two to three locomotives, and travels nonstop to its destinations.
Long-haul trains were identified as a focus area in the railways' passenger and freight sector action plan for 2017-18, "to meet freight traffic demands requiring movement across already congested sections and to reduce the per-unit cost of operation..." Sanchit Tyagi, divisional commercial manager, Agra division said, "The concept of long-haul trains was mooted some years ago as a pilot project to halve the time required for the journey of two trains, and increase the goods trains operation within the current infrastructure, which is heavily congested."
An average of 15 to 25 such trains run across the country every day. The target is to increase the number to 50 by the end of March 2018, said officials.
These trains require longer loop lines, a railway branch line that leaves the main line and rejoins it after a short distance, where trains wait while others can pass. Three such long loop lines have been commissioned, and a total of 109 have been sanctioned across India.
Tyagi added, "Almost every second day, we make a long-haul train out of empty wagons (used to ferry coal) near Baad station (next to Mathura). We have a maximum of 45 minutes for this... Since the trains look like long snakes, they are named after the reptiles."
On December 15, 2014, Southern Railways created a record by operating a longhaul freight train for the first time. The total weight of the formation was 3,000 tonnes.
http://www.livemint.com/Politics/CdXcuW ... lectr.htmlRailways to get Rs6,000 crore loan from Japan for 200 electric locomotives for freight corridor
New Delhi: Japanese government’s official lending arm Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on Friday said it will extend a Rs6,000 crore loan to India for procuring 200 electric locomotives for Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC).
“Japan International Cooperation Agency signed an agreement with the government of India to provide official development assistance (ODA) loan of 108,456 million Japanese yen (approximately Rs6,000 crores) for procurement of 200 electric locomotives for the WDFC Project,” JICA said in a statement.
“The ODA loan’s conditions are very concessional, i.e. JPY LIBOR + 10 basis points interest rate (Japanese yen London inter-bank offered rate + 0.1%) for project activities and 30 years of repayment period (including 10 years of grace period),” according to the statement.
JICA is currently supporting the construction of civil and track works, electrification, including signalling and telecommunication system for WDFC between Delhi and Mumbai.
JICA-assisted WDFC project aims to cope with the increase of freight transport demand in India, thereby promoting comprehensive regional economic development along the freight corridor, JICA said. Inter-modal logistic handling systems are expected to improve and modernise through WDFC.
The new locomotives together with the dedicated railways, will enhance current freight capacity, catering increase in container traffic between the international container ports on the western coast and inland demand areas, it said.
The loan will also support the construction of a depot at Rewari, Haryana, for maintenance of the locomotives. The supplier of the locomotives is also expected to provide transfer of technology for indigenisation.
The ODA loan agreement was signed between Takema Sakamoto, chief representative, JICA India office and S Selvakumar, joint secretary, department of economic affairs, ministry of finance.
Speaking on the occasion, Sakamoto said, “JICA is fully committed towards the construction and completion of this initial logistical infrastructure of the DMIC (Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor). The DFC project will enhance freight capacity, making it a revolution for the industrial corridor”.
“JICA will continue to play an important role in the development of WDFC and will provide necessary assistance in the near future as well,” he added.
The ministry of railways would be responsible for procurement and maintenance of these electric locomotives, while Dedicated Freight Corridor Corp. of India Ltd (DFCCIL) would be responsible for operating them, the statement said.
JICA has so far extended concessional ODA loans of ¥443 billion (approximately Rs26,000 crore) for development of the western DFC project in India.
The project will focus on constructing about 1,500 kms track of the western corridor between Delhi and Mumbai, connecting major cities in the Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Haryana, as well as introducing new electric locomotives capable of high-speed, high-capacity transportation.
Here is the deal for India., extend the HSR from Mumbai-Ahmedabad completely all over India. In some case replace the existing rail infrastructure. This expansion will amortize capital investment.This has led to lower unit costs as a result of the development of multiple competitive local sources for construction - including earthworks, bridges, tunnels and rolling stock - that adopted mechanisation in construction and manufacturing. Furthermore, large volumes and the ability to amortise capital investment in high-cost construction equipment across a number of projects also helped to reduce costs.
Other factors include a relatively low cost of land acquisition and resettlement, localisation of the design and manufacture of goods and components as well as the standardisation of designs for embankments, track, viaducts, electrification, signalling and telecommunication systems. For example, the slab track manufacturing process was imported from Germany but the cost of the Chinese-made product is about a third lower than the German product as a result of large volumes and lower labour costs. The technology developed for construction of tunnels not only resulted in a low unit cost but also enabled tunnels to be constructed at a rate of 5-10m per day. High-speed tunnel construction costs in China are about $US 10-15m/km, a fraction of that in other countries. Tunnel costs are heavily influenced by geology and labour costs and, in the case of China, the latter has certainly helped to keep costs down.
The machine in question: SLJ 900 / 32 (I guess for a 32 m span) watch video 1 at 2:32 for how a new span is picked up an taken for laying. Fantastic foresight. Very admirablen the projects supported by the World Bank, the estimated cost of viaducts in China ranges from Yuan 57m to Yuan 73m/km for a double-track line. Such costs are kept low through standardisation of the design and manufacturing process for casting and laying bridge beams on viaducts. The span of viaduct beams has been standardised at 24m and 32m. Bridge beams are cast in temporary facilities along the route of the line and transported over a distance up to 8km by a special beam carrier vehicle. The beams are then launched over the viaduct columns by specially-designed equipment. The cost of a 32m-bridge beam ranges from Yuan 800,000 to Yuan 1m.
Even better leverage Bombardier rail technology in India by buying the rail division ? The Chinese have been strategic in this method of stepping in and buying assets that are distressed with a long term view of leveraging technology and markets.arvin wrote:Siemens and Alsthom have merged their Rail business today to counter Chinese moves in rail.
Since GE doesnt manufacture electric engines only hope they can do is tie up with bombardier for marhowra plant.
if our national interest say diesel is bad for rail, no point in making engines here irrespective of what GE is saying.
Great! Some of them will be available for lease for our own bridges soon. We will not even have to construct such bridge laying machines for a while.tandav wrote: The machine in question: SLJ 900 / 32 (I guess for a 32 m span) watch video 1 at 2:32 for how a new span is picked up an taken for laying. Fantastic foresight. Very admirable