Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

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arshyam
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by arshyam »

Bart S wrote:^Thanks, explanation makes sense.

I was just a bit surprised since MAS and CBE are fairly established metros whereas trains between somewhat less populated locations got 16-car trainsets. It's probably going to be a work in progress, with GOI and IR tweaking their rollout.
Timings are another factor. The return service starts from Chennai around 14:00 - which is an odd time for those coming to Chennai for a day's work. Similar to my point above, this should have left Chennai around 16:00.

Also, they have an option for a middle ground - 12 car sets. If the demand is higher, they can add one set of 4 coaches and make it a 12-car rake. There are multiple tweaks they can do down the line.

Good to see IR has learnt from the poor response for the Nagpur-Bilaspur VB that is mostly empty. They might break the rake into two 8 car rakes and deploy one elsewhere.
Last edited by arshyam on 12 Apr 2023 07:34, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by arshyam »

Zynda wrote:I saw videos on Youtube where SWR has started testing speeds in excess of 130 kph on SBC-JTJ segment. Also saw video today where someone had mentioned VB (not sure which one) doing 130 kph from Basin Bridge-Arakkonam. VB did 110 kph flat through Katpadi & 70 kph @ JTJ (still not allowing MPS I guess). Hopefully in another few months, bulk of the section from SBC-MAS will be certified for 130 kph and trains like VB & Shatabdi can take advantage of the same. Hopefully, IR can start working on achieving 160 kph capability by 2030 (doubtful though)
All LHB-rake trains hauled by WAP-7 locos can do 130 between Chennai (specifically Vyasarpadi) and Arakkonam. Mumbai bound trains can continue at 130 up to Renigunta.

I was in the Shatabdi* (the forgotten child :)) yesterday and these were the speeds it did:
Vyasarpadi-Tiruvalangadu: 130kph on the fast down track
Tiruvalangadu-Arakkonam: 110kph on the slow down track
Through Arakkonam - around 50-60kph
Katpadi: 30kph due to the stop
Arakkonam-Jolarpet: 110kph (this is upgraded to 130, but only the CBE VB is permitted 130 as of now)
Jolarpet station: 30kph to switch tracks toward Bangalore
Jolarpet horseshoe curve: 60kph permanent speed restriction
Somanayakanpatti-Krishnarajapuram: 110kph, with ghat section restriction at 70/100

Overall, 110 is still the max after AJJ, but the AJJ-JTJ tracks are ready for 130, and CRS sanction for the upgrade has been given. But only the CBE VB currently runs at 130 here. One can feel the smoother ride quality as compared to the SWR line beyond JTJ, which is still in the process of being upgraded. SR has set a June target for starting full 130 operations in AJJ-JTJ stretch, and they'll work on upgrading the track to CBE to 130 after that. We can also expect a timetable update after the full MAS-SBC route is upgraded to 130. My Shatabdi yesterday crossed KR Puram at 10:10 itself, then coasted to reach SBC by 10:40 (scheduled arrival time 10:45). A good portion of time can be shaved off with full 130 ops. With Vande Bharat and its superior acceleration, it can reduce even more.

* I booked the Shatabdi since the VB was fully waitlisted. Turned out the Shatabdi was also 100% full in all 15 coaches.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by arshyam »

vsunder wrote:14. Gudur to Chennai Southern Railway now. Still sleeping, good old Southern Railway always asleep and incompetent to triple this section 134km. Though speed on this section is upped to 130kmph.
Sir, SR is lethargic for sure, but was there even a plan for an additional track on this section? At least, I don't recall one. The Vijayawada-Gudur was the last section toward Chennai to have a 3rd track, perhaps because of the extra traffic that diverges toward Renigunta and eventually bound for west TN/Kerala/Bangalore. Beyond Gudur, the only plan was for 2 additional tracks between Chennai Beach and Attipattu (just beyond Ennore, total 4 tracks) to service the Chennai, Ennore and Kattupalli ports, that was completed a few years ago.
vsunder wrote:Speed is upped from Chennai to Vijayawada to 130kmph and Chennai to Guntakal at 130kmph.
SCR has upped the speed in the entire stretch under its control on the Chennai-Mumbai route, which is Renigunta-Wadi. So now Chennai-Wadi (680km) is fully 130 capable. That's some serious capacity addition, but CR is dragging its feet on its side, due to which the timetable updates are pending. The usual excuses of CR preferring max 105 and the old chestnut of Mumbai suburban traffic, I suppose. Even their pride-of-place Rajdhani route between Nasik-Itarsi is mostly 110 still.
vsunder wrote:Brindavan Express starts 5 minutes after VB, makes 11 stops and reaches Chennai 90 minutes later at 21:05. Obviously VB should be able to do much better. More so that the Brindavan rake is composed of really ancient ICF coaches where the speed can barely exceed 110kmph.
Not anymore, sir. Brindavan was upgraded to LHB a few months ago, and is currently cleared for 130 in the Chennai-Arakkonam route. Same for Lalbagh and other dailies like Kovai, Mysore and CBE intercities. They will be cleared up to Jolarpet in a month or so (SR said June for some reason, though the track work is already done and CRS clearance obtained).

It's another issue that Brindavan once used to run to the Shatabdi's timings of 5 hrs end-to-end. Behind diesel, 100-110 max, and mostly since track. A good article that captures some vignettes: https://www.irfca.org/articles/anglo-indian.html
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by durairaaj »

There are many issues with VB service between Chennai & Mysuru. Ideally, If they shunt 8 coach VB train between Chennai and BLR 7 days a week, without stop at Gatpadi, I guess it would have a better patronage. Leave Shatabdi service Mysuru as it is.
1) As mentioned VB should start later and reach early for the premium service it is being positioned. Return train from BLR to Chennai starts at 2:30 PM. which is not useful at all.
2) Shatabdi & VB stop at Gatpadi. Patronage is very less for this junction. They should stop only one of the train, preferably Shatabdi.
3) In general, Shatabdi food is better, VB food is mostly sugar & excess fat. Tea/coffee mix provided in VB, despite high MRP, has just sugar not much tea/coffee in it. One would feel drinking sugary hot water, if one drinks that mix. Shatabdi provides Assam tea bag or Bru coffee sachet, and milk powder sachet, which taste way better.
4) Both trains (Shatabdi and VB) don't have service on Wednesday between Chennai and BLR. The entire traffic for that day is left for Omni buses.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Vayutuvan »

No alc drinks served?!
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Paul »

and have inebriated passengers peeing in the cabin...not advisable!
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Prem Kumar »

The angst about VB between Chennai and Bengaluru is that it starts & arrives at approx same time as Shatabdi but is priced higher. The compartments are newer and nicer. Food I thought was better than that in Shatabdi

But there is no X factor. I think speed can be it but we are not there yet.

But VB has captured people's imagination that we too can look forward to decent looking, clean trains like developed countries. In that sense, VB is a big hit. But it can and needs to do much better
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Ashokk »

Kolkata Metro creates history with maiden run through tunnel under Hooghly river
KOLKATA: Kolkata Metro on Wednesday created history with its maiden run through the tunnel under Hooghly river. For the first time in India, the metro undertook an under-river journey. Metro Rail general manager P Uday Kumar Reddy travelled from Mahakaran to Howrah Maidan station in rake no MR-612 to witness this historic event. This rake crossed Hooghly river at 11:55am.
Additional GM, Metro Railway, and Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRCL) MD HN Jaiswal, as well as other senior officers, accompanied him during this journey. Reddy offered puja at Howrah station once the rake reached there.
Later, rake no MR- 613 was also taken to Howrah Maidan station.
Terming it a historic event, the general manager said that the trial runs from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade will be conducted for the next seven months before regular services on this stretch.
All the staff and engineers of KMRCL under whose effort this engineering marvel could be achieved were happy that “their dreams have finally come true”.
Metro Rail chief public relations officer Kausik Mitra said, “After many hurdles we have succeeded to run rakes beneath the Hooghly river, a revolutionary step in the transport system of Kolkata. This is indeed a special new year gift from Indian Railways for the people of Bengal.”
As the two metro rakes were taken to Howrah Maidan station on Wednesday from Esplanade station, soon the trial runs on the 4.8-km underground section from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade will begin.
It is expected that commercial services on this stretch will begin this year.
Once this stretch is open, Howrah will be the deepest metro station (33 meters below the surface) of the country.
The metro is expected to cover a 520-meter stretch under Hooghly river in 45 seconds.
This tunnel under the river is 32 meters below the river bed.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Atmavik »

Prem Kumar wrote:
But VB has captured people's imagination that we too can look forward to decent looking, clean trains like developed countries. In that sense, VB is a big hit. But it can and needs to do much better

This is why the PM is launching these trains . One was launched today for Delhi to Ajmer . At this point VB is a smoother Shatabdi but can become much better if we continue the phase of investment in railways. Coupled with Moder stations like the one in Bhopal this will be the face of a Transformed India.

For all this to happen we need to keep building and upgrading tracks . Keep a look out for @vsunder garu’s posts

PS: this is Ongole station . Look at the excitement of people who have come to see the train

https://youtu.be/QJ5t-rQeGdM
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by yensoy »

Prem Kumar wrote:But VB has captured people's imagination that we too can look forward to decent looking, clean trains like developed countries. In that sense, VB is a big hit. But it can and needs to do much better
For city pairs like Chennai Bengaluru, VB's real effect will kick in when multiple daily runs are available, preferably hourly schedules between the cities at say 6am, 7am, 8am, 9am and return at 4pm, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm, with a 4 hour run. And preferably multiple stops in the city area like Krishnarajapuram so people can actually benefit from the time reduction by reducing their drive time to station; and likewise on the Chennai side extension to Tambaram. That will be awesome and basically put a huge damper to omnibuses, individual driving and air.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

---deleted--- double post
Last edited by vsunder on 13 Apr 2023 00:22, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Start of VB trials that I said will begin from today on Bangalore--Hubli--Dharwad route has been postponed since some electrical testing is going on between Karajgi and Savanur on the Bangalore--Hubli section. Anyhow some newspapers have picked up this story today. Today VB between Delhi -- Jaipur---Ajmer was inaugurated by PM Modi. 15th VB so far.

https://www.timesnownews.com/bengaluru/ ... e-99419643

Regarding Bangalore Kacheguda mentioned in the article, Dhone---Kurnool----Mahbubnagar is single electrified and so also Penukonda to Dharmavaram. Penukonda to Dharmavaram will be doubled by Dec 2024, but Dhone to Mahbubnagar there is no word on doubling. Rest of the Hyderabad to Bangalore route is doubled electrified.

The newly launched VB to Ajmer today has a unique feature. It is the first VB where the pantograph is high mast, since OHE equipment on this route Delhi Ahmedabad is built to allow double stack container traffic.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by arshyam »

Ashokk wrote:Kolkata Metro creates history with maiden run through tunnel under Hooghly river
KOLKATA: For the first time in India, the metro undertook an under-river journey. Metro Rail general manager P Uday Kumar Reddy travelled from Mahakaran to Howrah Maidan station in rake no MR-612 to witness this historic event. This rake crossed Hooghly river at 11:55am.
Not sure why this keeps getting repeated again and again. Yes, Hooghly is wide, and tunneling under it is technically challenging. But it's hardly the first system to attempt an underwater connection - Chennai's blue line had operationalized a tunnel under the Cooum river and Buckingham canal way back in 2019. And the Central metro is practically below the canal (station begins off the canal bed, with two levels of tracks connecting to it).
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by chetak »

Sleeper edition #VandeBharatExpress: BHEL-led consortium bags contract to manufacture 80 trains worth over Rs. 9,600 crore.

https://www.financialexpress.com/indust ... e/3043285/
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Pratyush »

It's not often we see the human impact of new infrastructure being built. People often criticise or support the project on the basis of tribal affiliations.

Here is a report published by Swarajya Magazine about daily commuters between Meerut and Delhi. How they are making do today.

What they are looking forward to with the new rapid railway system.

https://swarajyamag.com/reports/they-sp ... -transport
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Cyrano »

Good to see business going to Indian companies. Instead of Alstom, LHB, Bombarider etc that extract a premium. With the scale achieved, our Indian companies will be able to export to many countries in the world.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Vayutuvan »

The story is very touching. This used to be the case back in 1980s for folks commuting from Pune to Mumbai for work. But now Pune offers many work opportunities.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by rajkumar »

Indian Railways Semi High Speed Test Track...

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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Train Diplomacy. India has been supplying diesel engines and rakes (Cape Gauge 1067 mm 3 ft 6") to Mozambique. Here EAM Dr. Jaishankar takes a ride with Mozambique minister of transport on a Made in India train:

https://twitter.com/DrSJaishankar/statu ... 9883194369
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

EDFC: 17km left Mughalsarai/DDU yard of EDFC. Another 275km left single line from New Khatauli(UP)---Saharanpur----Ambala----Rajpura---Sirhind---Sahnewal(Ludhiana), target June 2023.Left 292km.

WDFC: Left Sanand(Ahmedabad)----Makarpura(Vadodara) (L&T+Sojitz), Makarpura----Ankleswar-----Surat bypass---Sachin(Tata+IRCON+Mitsui), Sachin-----Vaitarna (Tata+IRCON+Mitsui), Vaitarna -----JNPT Port(Tata+IRCON+Mitsui). Total 560km left Sanand to Vaitarna TDC June 2023, Vaitarna to JNPT TDC March 2024.

Here is a video of progress track linking etc near Ankleswar:


https://youtu.be/5dtqLtmCPnk

On the Punjab section of EDFC bits and pieces are already being commissioned as near Sarai Banjara near Rajpura. Eventhough the 275km section is not formally open.


https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1647239469479731202
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

VB train set has reached Trivandrum for trials on Trivandrum to Mangalore route. Facility for servicing VB coaches at Mangalore was under construction a short while back.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Atmavik »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYcw6DdYuXQ

India's RRTS track will be made of Austrian Precast Slab Tech



@vsunder garu, whats the biggest challenge IR will face in upgrading track for VB to run at 160 ? i know lots of curves need to be straightned but is this even economical or possible to do in the next 5 yrs for a few intercity routes ?
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Vayutuvan »

Paul wrote:and have inebriated passengers peeing in the cabin...not advisable!
These trains must be having good W/C facilities. If not, all is lost. Cleanliness is the key. Amtrak's cleanliness is nothing to write home about, but the IR of the yore was worse in that department.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

@Atmavik: Straightening curves is one aspect. Rails have to be 60 kg/m density at least and head hardened. Sleepers/railroad ties have to be semi-HSR variety. They are recognizable having a dip in the center. Moreover one needs padding to damp out vibrations quickly. Some of this is being done on DFC. On DFC because the loads are heavier you need heavy density concrete sleepers and padding to damp out vibrations and oscillations quickly ditto for semi HSR and HSR.

At speeds approaching 160kmph, one needs in cab signalling and Kavach. A missed signal at such speeds will be catastrophic. Lastly there is the phenomenon of ballast fly where ballast is picked up by the fast moving train and hurled against the rolling stock breaking windows. There are papers modeling this phenomenon. One way to obviate this is to use ballastless track like on bullet trains. 160kmph and above is when the phenomenon begins to be an issue. Shape of the ballast mound deteriorates very quickly and needs more maintenance.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 0515000756

There are many papers and pdf presentation in seminars of this topic which the interested can search. I am just linking one such.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Vayutuvan »

https://www.railjournal.com/category/pa ... igh-speed/

An interesting website. From here I found something called "Tubular Modular Track system" which doesn't need ballast.

https://www.railjournal.com/in_depth/tu ... he-desert/

@vsunder gaaru, could you please comment on this? The article is from 2012. Is this the same as "ballastless track" you alluded to in your post above?
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Vayutuvan »

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballastless_track
Ballastless tracks therefore offer a high consistency in track geometry, the adjusting of which is not possible after the concreting of the superstructure. Therefore, ballastless tracks must be concreted within a tolerance of 0.5 millimetres (0.0197 in).
Precision concreting is required. Higher initial cost ofcourse. But it doesn't seem to be prohibitive and is recovered due to lower operating costs.
Disadvantages[edit]
The primary disadvantage of a ballastless track is its significantly higher cost of initial construction. While numbers vary depending on construction type and track infrastructure (ballastless tracks are generally more suitable to infrastructures that are also made of concrete, as is the case in tunnels or on viaducts), the Deutsche Bahn estimated in 2015 that construction costs of ballastless tracks are 28 percent higher than those of traditional superstructure.[6] However, the life-cycle cost of ballastless tracks are generally lower than those of ballasted tracks due to significantly lower maintenance.[citation needed]

Further disadvantages of ballastless tracks are the impossibility of adjusting or correcting track geometry once concrete has been set, the necessity of a stable infrastructure (since no adjustments can be made to the superstructure), higher noise emissions, and longer repair times when the concrete slab is damaged (e.g. due to construction faults or wear and tear). The inflexibility of the track has been cited as well.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

@Vayutuvan: I read what you asked me to study. Unfortunately though the modeling is for high axle loads, the speeds they have utilized in their models are hardly high speed, that is for the tubular structures that have been tried out in South Africa. My understanding was that I was discussing semi HSR and HSR in my post. The South Africans have done some finite element analysis( a rather standard numerical analysis and engineering mathematics technique which though has pitfalls if not done with some care). Axle loads of 30 tonnes at low speed has been tried out in South Africa with this alternative method, but at slow speed. IR now is updated to 25 tonne axle loads and DFCs are designed for the international standard of 32 tonne axle load and at 100 kmph.

The problem of ballastless is this: Most Metros have no ballast in India, Kanpur, Bangalore, Lucknow etc. But it is some construction major like L&T who lay such ballastless track. So there is expertise on laying such track with many construction majors in this field. However IR will usually award tenders to small contractors for small stretches of track. No construction major does this sort of chota-mota work and so the question arises how careful will the small contractor be in paying attention to track geometry etc which will now be set in stone as you have also written. Poor track geometry will be a killer for HSR or even semi HSR. Will they invest in appropriate and expensive machines that the majors possess? What if IR decides to shut out small contractors? Will they protest and politics as usual.

Regarding ballast let me repeat some observations I made aeons ago here. First there is the sub base of mud. Then a blanketing layer of crushed stone. IR requires this to be 0.3m while DFCs have a blanket layer of 0.5m due to heavier axle load. The blanket layer is subjected to several rounds of compactification by heavy rollers to compress the blanket layer tight to say 0.5 m. Then comes the ballast layer that cushions track, prevents vegetation growth and allows water to drain away. At a minimum it should be 150mm thick. Studies have shown that ballast has no additional advantage beyond 400mm of thickness Typically IR puts ballast between 350-400mm. You might see places where it is stated that for HSR one needs 500mm. I am not sure how they have arrived at this number.

Next ballast has to be sharp and pointy. The reason is the sharp pointy rocks interlock with one another and move minimally when a train passes over. Due to erosion and this movement of adjacent rocks when trains pass over, the ballast rocks become smooth at which point the ballast has to be replaced. There is no dearth of ballast rock in India unlike South Africa where the new method is being tried out in part to address the problem of non-availability of ballast as the article states. Anyhow the removed ballast can be reused by crushing and applied as the blanketing layer. Clay soil, cotton soil like in the southern peninsula near Tirunelveli it is very important to blanket. In fact a few months ago after doubling in this section, they ripped up the old existing track, re-did the blanketing which was not done properly at gauge conversion years ago and relaid lines with 60 kg/m rails and better quality sleepers in preparation for Vande Bharat to Kanniyakumari from Chennai Egmore.

Also the sub base of mud very often will leak through the blanket and contaminate the ballast like in your article sand was doing that in South Africa. At that point IR employs deep screening machines. A line block is taken and the machine along with an attendant train of machines vacuums up the ballast, cleans it and lays it down. Fresh ballast is added and then a track tamping machine like a Plasser Duomat runs on the track slowly and tamps the ballast down underneath the sleepers. For example here is one traffic block for deep screening taking place on SWR recently:

https://swr.indianrailways.gov.in/view_ ... E94D163477

Ballastless track is being used by IR in tunnels, like the 5 tunnels through Vindhyas on the Bhopal to Itarsi section that is being triple lined as a part of the Golden Quadrilateral Chennai to Delhi route. RVNL is the overseeing agency for this 23 km ghat section.
Washable aprons in station premises are also ballastless.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Vayutuvan »

@vsunder gaaru. Thanks for the detailed response. I am familiar with FEA. I make my living by licensing solvers to CAE companies.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by rajkumar »

RRTS Precast Slab Technology

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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by csaurabh »

https://swarajyamag.com/infrastructure/ ... ck-defects
The tender has been floated with the requirements like the manufacturer having supplied SPURT cars in multiple countries and having an experience of testing more than 300,000 km in different railway networks of the world.

These requirements have been formulated and approved by multiple committees based on the past experience of Indian Railways in running the SPURT car and is expected to ensure that well designed and globally experienced companies and technologies are invited.
This is absurd. Automated ultrasonic testing is not a new or super complex technology. Many companies in India already do it. It would not be hard to adapt it onto a rail car. Easily the R & D could be done in India instead of going for a 'global' tender for a 'proven' product.
On the other hand, the tender is only for 19 cars, which, given the size of Indian Railways is really low. May not be feasible to do internal R&D with such piece meal orders.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Manish_P »

csaurabh wrote:


...
On the other hand, the tender is only for 19 cars, which, given the size of Indian Railways is really low. May not be feasible to do internal R&D with such piece meal orders.
You have answered your own question, sir. As in the military, so also in civilian.. the gravy train (pun intended) must keep rolling on...
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by sanjayc »

These requirements have been formulated and approved by multiple committees based on the past experience of Indian Railways in running the SPURT car and is expected to ensure that well designed and globally experienced companies and technologies are invited.
This is intellectually high sounding way of saying "we will keep importing."
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by JTull »

https://twitter.com/dfccil_india/status ... 39264?s=20
A milestone for DFCCIL! Inaugural run of Double Stack container train on Dadri - New Rewari alignment was flagged off on 20.04.2023. This will reduce the transit time by a further 9 hours.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1649495653507125255


An update of Rajpura to Ambala section EDFC


This person made a video 2 months ago of this same section Rajpura to Ambala. There is progress but it is very unlikely GMR construction will meet the target of June 2023 for the package Pilkhani to Sahnewal(Ludhiana) of which this section is a part. I think about 45 km of track linking is still left between Pilkhani to Ludhiana and some similar amount on the Khurja to Pilkhani section. 100km left out of 400 km between Khurja to Ludhiana.


There is Yamunanagar to Pilkhani and the New Shambhu to Ambala part where tracks are to be laid as seen in linked video. It appears Sahnewal to New Shambhu may be more or less complete ^^^^ see twitter post above. New Shambhu is seen in the linked video. EDFC swings around Ambala and jumps over Delhi to Ambala line via Rail over rail flyover which is done and jumps over the GT road by a flyover also done.


The track bed on the right at the beginning is for a EDFC feeder route from Bathinda---Patiala---Rajpura that joins the EDFC at Shambhu in the video. EDFC starts in the linked video, once it crosses the Ambala to Ludhiana line by means of a flyover in the video(alignment change of EDFC, there is one more alignment change back to left side via rail flyover done after Sirhind and then EDFC remains on the left all the way to Ludhiana). The NTC machines were at the flyover in the last video. So some progress beyond Shambhu towards Ambala in track linking in this video.
Lot of earthwork left for the Bathinda---Patiala----Rajpura to EDFC feeder route, ok that is not main EDFC still June 2023 not possible.


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

On this single lined section of DFC Khurja to Sahnewal, DFC stations are closer like IR to facilitate freight crossing. On double lined section of DFCs the DFC stations are about 40km apart.

L&T has Rohana Kalan to Pilkhani for track linking which is about 45km. These are the two packages between Khurja and Ludhiana.
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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 vsunder »

This Day in History

Kazipet Jn is an important station on the Chennai to Delhi route, where the line to Hyderabad branches off. The Diesel Loco Shed at Kazipet was established on April 21, 1973, 50 years ago with a holding of 20 WDM-2 ALCO locos. Today the holdings consist of 150 HHP( high horse power WDGs) diesel locos and 70 WAG-7s elocos for freight hauling. North and South of Kazipet that is 206km North to Balharshah, 135 km of the Delhi trunk line is tripled. South to Warangal and Vijayawada about 50 km is tripled to alleviate the intense congestion of this trunk route. Line tripling south towards Vijayawada consists of 34 km in Telangana and rest in AP. All the line tripling has taken place in AP.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Two sections remain Aralvayamozhi to Nagercoil 16km and Nagercoil to Kanniyakumari 14km to double. Once this 30km distance is doubled, there will be a continuous electrified double line from Jammu to Kanniyakumari. In the main part of the spine Chennai to Delhi tripling is taking place very fast. Supercritical sections here are getting tripled to ease congestion. See my post ^^^ which sections are already tripled.

Here is the section Aralvayamozhi to Nagercoil(this is on the Tirunelveli to Nagercoil section)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woQJD3aybgE

New line when operational will become the Down line. Aralvayamozhi is at 15:30 in the video after which the line is doubled and electrified all the way to Jammu. Speed of the train increases on the doubled section in the video. Kanniyakumari--Nagercoil---Aralvaymozhi is single electrified.

CAPE(Kanniyakumari) to Nagercoil (NCJ)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPQ5Ko0TXzk

This project is scheduled to be wrapped up by this fiscal March 2024. Doubling of this 30km will facilitate VB from Chennai Egmore to CAPE.

Station at CAPE is getting re-developed to international standards with soil testing already started. This will facilitate visits by pilgrims and tourists. Render of the station at Kanniyakumari:

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Ma ... 489767.ece
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Vadivel »

The manufacturing should be more automated for faster production better quality control, looks like many parts are assembled by hand.

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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Vijayawada(BZA) to Kazipet (KZJ) Triple Lining on Chennai to Delhi Trunk Route

Total distance 216 km with 34 km in Telangana and 182km in AP. Operational third line 40km from Vijayawada west reception control cabin to Eruppalem. Tripling construction going on the full length esp. near Dornakal and track bed and blanketing ready in many places, Madhira, Warangal, Gundratimadugu etc. VB Secunderabad--Tirupati travels on this route and MPS will eventually be upped to 130kmph. This video is 5 months old. Station code for Vijayawada BZA stems from Bezwada the name Vijayawada was known in Colonial times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3KKh23DpeA

You can see the large number of cautions in the video where the speed of the train is restricted to 75kmph and below. Some may be temporary. This is the problem. That you have VB that is forced to run on a road meant for bullock carts. Secondly there is still a dearth of systems on IR which can electronically record defects of rolling stock. Every other day wagons derail and I surmise there is a sizeable number of them due to hot box issues, or hot wheel issues and flats. IR usually has a manual inspection by someone squatting track side like taking a s***t position as the passenger or freight rolls in. At night a powerful searchlight is trained on the wheels as the train rolls in, and the inspection has to happen in seconds as the wheel passes you in the dark. With higher speeds you will have a second to see what the situation is. IR is moving to electronic inspection, using pyrometers trackside to determine wheel and bearing temperatures, think of FLIR that people talk about in the military thread. 30 such smart yards were to be ready by now. Panipat yard in the Ambala division of Northern Railway was the trial one and the trials were successful. Eventually all yards should be converted o a smart yard.

A central facility was to be built at Delhi Kishenganj for monitoring all data acquired by such instruments and sensors at smart yards, in addition to data being sent to the local monitoring facility.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Atmavik »

A twitter Thread with before and after photos of Indian railway stations. amazing work

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1650 ... 12673.html

https://twitter.com/Gujju_Er/status/165 ... rAvuYtAAAA
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