Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

The 3 block section Bhalwani to Washimbe doubling of 26 km on the trunk route Chennai-Mumbai was commissioned along with electrification on Thursday after a nearly two week traffic block. A 29km 3 block section between Washimbe and Bhigwan is all that is left to double between Chennai and Mumbai. The three block sections left are Washimbe to Parewadi, Parewadi to Jinti Rd, and Jinti Rd to Bhigwan. This piece involves the erection of 3 bridges over the River Bhima and its backwaters over the Ujani dam. Two of the bridges need to get their piers jacketed and strengthened to meet the new 25t axle load standards of IR. The bridge over the Bhima on the Bhigwan to Jinti Rd section is challenging as it is quite long and moreover the spans have to be installed on the piers of the bridge in use now and so RVNL the project authority will also have to deal with traffic. The RE issue Bale to Solapur 12 km is a farmer issue that I have not understood. IR refuses to give any info and turns down RTI requests.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygmARR3ZzNg

It appears from the videos posted today ^^^ post commissioning of the Bhalwani to Washimbe double track, that on the remaining 29km, the piers on the two smaller bridges are indeed jacketed. Spans of the open web girder type bridges have been assembled and painted and are seen lying track side preparatory to being launched. Station work at Parewadi esp. and Jinti Rd. are lagging and not much progress can be seen with the construction of the second platform. Track linking has been done in large stretches. The new developments from the situation a month ago is that OHE poles have been fixed along the track at several places. This remaining 29km section has a number of very deep rock cuttings through an ancient geological formation with high fossil density called the Deccan Traps that continue to Ajanta and Ellora caves and were formed 66 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous period when the dinosaurs started to become extinct and the foundation was laid for coal beds. The rock cutting has been done at all places esp. at a particularly deep one near Jinti Rd., but secondary work like drains along the edges, final leveling, compactification of soil, laying of ballast, construction of shelters for trolleys and track side workers and track linking in the rock cuttings is left. Track linking outside the rock cuttings seem to be in good shape, except for short sections near LCs. The launching of spans on the long Bhima bridge and construction of station yards and buildings at Parewadi and Jinti Road will take the most time. I had wished fervently that they had utilized this downtime and megablock of almost 2 weeks to commission the Bhalwani to Washimbe section, to also launch the spans on some of the bridges in this 29km section. But possibly lack of manpower and various operational constraints prevented this. This is a charitable opinion giving RVNL the benefit of the doubt. An optimistic estimate of completion of doubling between Chennai and Mumbai is 8-10 months from now. I very much doubt that they will open this 29km one block section at a time, if history is an indication, all 3 remaining block sections will be commissioned together. In the Byzantine labyrinth that constitutes current Maharashtra politics, all bets are off regarding RE between Bale and Solapur 12km, nobody not even GOD knows.

PS: One of the outcomes of the topography in this region caused by the Deccan traps and uneven weathering and erosion by the Bhima river and its tributaries was that several stations were built at locations not conducive to laying out proper loop lines. Stations had to be built say 10km apart and this forced the civil engineers of that bygone era to build scissors crossings rather than loop lines. There were 3 infamous ones at Hunsi Hadgil and at Bablad near Gulbarga, and Pophlaj on the recently commissioned Bhalwani to Washimbe section. The process of crossing using these scissors crossings was time consuming with the train on the loop line having to reverse. Fortunately with the recent commissioning all 3 scissors crossings have been eliminated and scissors crossings are now history in IR operations.

I anticipate seeing a substantial improvement in operations and shortening of journey time between Chennai and Mumbai now. If the 12km RE is done between Bale and Solapur elocos can run end to end and traction change at Solapur can be avoided. It is ridiculous that electrification is being held up on a trunk route due to farmer issues for a 12km section.

Yesterday CRS conducted inspection of electric locos on the already doubled line between Yeshwantpur and Tumkur, possibly heralding MEMU services between Tumkur and Bangalore city. By November elocos/MEMU will begin to operate between Yeshwantpur and Devannahalli aka KIA airport of Bangalore too when that line is finally energized and presented for inspection for RE.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

NTC machines that lay track on the DFC are extremely expensive and were imported for the DFC. They lay track to greater precision than manually and make for a smoother ride. Of course track is laid at a faster pace. In addition one needs TPMs track packing machines to pack ballast under the sleepers for finished track and regular maintenance. Plasser is the world’s leader in such machinery. Their Vadodara plant for local manufacture opened in 2019 both for internal use and export.


https://mobile.twitter.com/Sahilinfra2/ ... 9762924548
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

OT but since I mentioned the Deccan Traps in my post above I want to elucidate as it was a very singular event. The word Trap comes from the Swedish word for steps Trappes. Around 66 million years ago two singular events happened, Earth was hit by a meteor at Chicxulub, Mexico and and tetrapods over 25kgs essentially perished. At about the same time and people are not sure if they are related, the Indian sub-continent which was roughly over where Reunion Island is in the Indian Ocean burst open with massive lava flows and massive plumes of Sulphur Dioxide. The lava flows and resulting basalt cover the area of France or Texas and possibly more and go 5000-6000m deep. Intense lava flows stretching for 1500km ran from Nashik to Rajamundhry. Quarries around Rajahmundhry in AP still bear witness to the river of fire, a flaming Godavari which roughly follows this course. Huge outcrops of basalt resulted from this cataclysm and after weathering form steps or Traps on the high peaks of the Western ghats, the traps. One can see this in a striking fashion from the hill station of Matheran and very clearly if you visit the Ajanta caves. Nowhere in the world is there a comparable basalt field of about 500,000 sq. km of a literal flood of basalt like a river in spate. It must have been a deadly and terrifying sight to behold.
It is unknown conclusively if the Yucatan meteor strike released seismic waves to trigger this event, and if the two together sounded the death knell of the dinosaurs. The flaming Godavari was not the only lava river across India, but there were several, the Godavari one was the most intense of the others. The remains of the traps exhibit abnormal electrical conductivity and sections have names like the Kurduwadi lineament etc.


https://massextinction.princeton.edu/de ... t-link-ktb
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by bharathp »

this was an amazing read. thank you vsunder ji. i ll look this up over the week during boring meetings
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Most likely RVNL will push the spans across the Bhima river bridge on the Mumbai to Chennai route. This is how the Oda river bridge was constructed a few weeks ago as part of the Ahmedabad to Udaipur gauge conversion project. The Oda river bridge and 3 tunnels through the Arravalis are the major works on the remaining section from Dungarpur to Kharwachanda to complete the gauge conversion. Most likely gauge conversion will be over by March next year. Here is a time lapse video of the girders being launched by pushing over the Oda river:

https://youtu.be/jJkcALspwIw
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

The old mechanical frame lever arrangement at Lonavala on the Pune to Mumbai line to set points seen in the BBC documentary of 4-5 years ago, The Bombay Railway is history. Replaced by electronic interlocking with 293 routes over the weekend.

https://mobile.twitter.com/Central_Rail ... 9615209478
Last edited by vsunder on 02 Nov 2021 21:53, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Seems this is preparation to activate the 30 km of third line between Jhargram and Chakulia on the Kharagpur to Tatanagar 132 km section. Kharagpur to Jhargram third line 30 km was activated just before WB elections in Feb 2021. This major EW route Howrah to Mumbai is congested but now third lined in very large segments till Dongargarh. Suresh Prabhu had announced tripling till Nagpur but one does not know progress between Dongargarh and Nagpur. A slew of sections will be triple lined on Balharshah to Kazipet this month as major traffic blocks have been announced. This will add to the 60km tripled there, all of it post 2016.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1454807062320336911
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Zynda »

vsunder saar, any ideas what plans IR has for MYS-SBC-MAS stretch in terms of "upgrades" to compete against road transportation? I think a new expressway between MYS & BLR will be completed and opened perhaps in a year or year & half and work has started (or gonna happen soon) on a true expressway between BLR & Chennai...both of which will may give some serious competition to existing rail routes.

I think you had mentioned that IR is planning to run trains at 130 Kph at least between SBC & MAS but it seems like there may be no to little plans wrt SBC-MYS route (due to a lot of shallow curves and associated LA challenges & expenses involved in correcting the same for higher speeds). Yes, there is a HSR segment planned between Mysore & Chennai via Bengaluru but realization of the same may happen around 2050!

At least on SBC-MYS route, I think there are enough daily travelers & on SBC-MAS weekend travelers, to keep pax occupation levels stabilised and even turn in a profit but casual travelers in future may prefer road option given its convenience. At least for Mysore, we rarely use trains unless traveling solo or in very small groups...anyways just curious about IR plans I guess.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Most of the upgradation has taken place between Bangalore and Chennai. British era masonry bridges in the Bangarapet to Jolarpet section were replaced by RCC boxes in the early part of the pandemic. Electronic interlocking installed at numerous stations and the infamous S-curve at Jolarpet station with a permanent speed restriction of 70kmph removed. Trains like Shatabdi can now run through Jolarpet at 110kmph. Interlocking at Jolarpet was also replaced. This was all part of the attempt to raise speeds to 130kmph between Chennai and Bangalore. In addition between Bangalore Cantt and Whitefield the 3rd and 4th line work is ongoing which will reduce detention of trains which is now almost standard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8byeAPF0Nw

Even here progress is visible on a very short piece, upto Bangalore East.

Between Mysore and Bangalore as you also ask that: I think IR has gone to what it can possibly do for the moment. The shifting of that Tipu armoury at Srirangapatna the saga lasted 20 years was one of the first acts of the Modi govt in 2014. That allowed room for doubling. Next came the new bridges over Kaveri at Srirangapatna and straightening of curves through Srirangapatna that removed speed restrictions. Lastly the long fight with the then Congress state govt of shifting of overhead power lines and the completion of electrification between Bangalore and Mysore. Now even Chamrajanagar and Mysore is to see electrification by mid December and also Mysore---Hassan--Arsikere and Hassan---Mangalore will see electrification next year. A satellite train station at Mysore is being planned but do not know when it will see the light. More trains and services originating in Mysore can then begin.

https://starofmysore.com/naganahalli-sa ... approvals/

Recently SWR ran an Alstom hauled freight on the Bangalore to Chennai section at 60kmph on that 1:100 ruling gradient on the Jolarpet to Bangarapet section. There are limitations and one such is the 180 degree curve out of Jolarpet towards Bangalore.

The expressway from Chennai to Bangalore indeed work has started. APCO started ground breaking after bhoomi pooja on Dussehra day on package 2 of 31km in AP. However this is a pennywise pound foolish project. The expressway is only 4 laned when all expressways in India are 6/8 lanes. The traffic will increase and exceed the capacity of that expressway soon. Then people will shout and blame the govt. But will do nothing for LA issues that impeded a true 6/8 lane access controlled expressway now.

Our rail mantri is a total clown. Everyday I laugh at his antics. I hope you are seeing the stupid things he says and posts on his twitter feed daily. Amazingly nobody comments on his stupidity. It is the total lack of excellence that permeates all such things. His two deputies are even worse, clueless duffers. Modi sadly lacks competent lower level ministers who can carry out his plan. The competent ones are hounded out by shills and p**ps or by not meeting some ideological benchmark.

It is not just replacing old masonry bridges, straightening of curves and electronic interlocking and in cab signalling that will allow raising speeds, but also a stable power supply and improvements in overhead equipment that has to be done.

https://indiainfrahub.com/2021/railways ... -160-kmph/

^^^ From the article "barbed wire is subject to theft...", so fencing cannot be done using barbed wire and we need concrete with a corresponding increase in cost, like in the old days when in the 1970s track side counters and automatic brake application devices were installed on the Howrah--Delhi route, they were stolen for their copper content. 50 years later deja vu for me.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by chetak »

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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

32.5 km of additional doubling has been commissioned on the Guwahati to Lumding route 180km in Assam between Dharamtul and Kampur. This was an MG line that was gauge converted. Sections doubled are


Guwahati---Tetelia---Jagi Rd. Dharamtul----Chaparmukh Jn(to Silghat on the Brahmaputra)----Kampur just commissioned. Hojai----Lumding. These are all projects that gained an impetus under Suresh Prabhu who laid the foundation stone and released money. Sections left to double, Jagi Road to Dharamtul 19km and Kampur to Hojai 27 km and are expected to be completed next year.


This is an important project and traffic will increase soon so capacity augmentation at this stage is good. The new line from Byrnihat/Shillong in Meghalaya joins this line at Tetelia. Next the line from upper Assam, that is Bogibeel bridge, Jorhat and Dibrugarh meet this line along with the line from Sabroom/Agartala at Lumding. The new lines to Imphal in Manipur, Kohima in Nagaland and the new line to Mizoram all feed into the Agartala line. So Lumding is the node from where all trains to Agartala, Imphal, Kohima, Mizoram and upper Assam will pass through from Guwahati and the rest of India. Thus doubling now is paramount. RE is also going on but has only reached Digaru about 32 km from Guwahati. But will pick up pace now that RE is complete till Guwahati from the rest of India and doubling to Lumding is in its last stages. The only worrisome factor is the Tetelia to Byrnihat, Meghalaya new line that shoots off from the Guwahati--Lumding line, where the KSU, Khasi Students Association is waging a protracted battle against the new line.


https://twitter.com/RailNf/status/1456194847887347714


https://twitter.com/RailNf/status/1456194839691739136
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

For a measly few km of track <20km into Meghalaya, these Khasi(cough, cough) buggers are creating problems. ^^^^ Byrnihat the terminal of the proposed new rail line from Tetelia, Assam is 74km from Shillong, hardly the 17 or 18km that will place the new IR stations from the town centers of Kohima, Imphal or Aizawl. They want an Inner line permit ILP before the proposed new line can be built to Byrnihat. Time the Indian state gives them the cactus treatment in their collective rear ends.


https://www.sentinelassam.com/cities/sh ... ion-522444


Report from the end of Jan 2021.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Finally the milords of the Bumbay HC have dismissed various legal challenges posed at Panvel to the acquisition of land for the Western DFC.

https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/ ... t-corridor

This was a real cliffhanger and I had lost hope. OK something good, praise the lord for small mercies.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by chetak »

vsunder wrote:For a measly few km of track <20km into Meghalaya, these Khasi(cough, cough) buggers are creating problems. ^^^^ Byrnihat the terminal of the proposed new rail line from Tetelia, Assam is 74km from Shillong, hardly the 17 or 18km that will place the new IR stations from the town centers of Kohima, Imphal or Aizawl. They want an Inner line permit ILP before the proposed new line can be built to Byrnihat. Time the Indian state gives them the cactus treatment in their collective rear ends.


https://www.sentinelassam.com/cities/sh ... ion-522444


Report from the end of Jan 2021.
how are these guys working in the rest of India without the registration of their migrant labor
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Regarding Pune to Miraj doubling 278 km: Initiated by Suresh Prabhu. This line is an alternate to the Konkan railway and offers another route to Mumbai from Bangalore and Hubli. Was MG in British era and then gauge converted and now being doubled and electrified. Passes through Belgaum, Miraj/Kolhapur, Sangli, Karad and Satara(the capital of the Chatrapatis under the Peshwas and site of Sajjangad fort given to Sant Ramdas by Shivaji, story of the frog etc, etc)

1. Pune to Shindawane FEDL 32km. Done 26th Dec 2020.

2. Ambale to Rajewadi, double tracks linked, wiring done in some places. Station works remaining, see video Part 1.

3. Daundaj to Walha, CRS done 3rd Nov 2020 and commissioned for doubling.

https://youtu.be/mBXdxjkD5gw

4. Shenoli--Bhavaninagar--Takari---Kirloskarwadi 21km CRS done and commissioned for doubling ( sections lie between Karad and Miraj). Rest of the sections doubling work going on esp. on Adarki ghat section see latest situation on video esp. Part 2, rest of Shindwane ghat and Satara etc.


Beyond Miraj--- Miraj to Londa on SWR

1. Kudachi to Ghataprabha is doubled and commissioned. Bridge over Ghataprabha between Gokak Rd.(gateway to the famous Gokak waterfalls) and Ghataprabha to carry the second line is done.

2. Yard remodeling and brand new station building coming up at Belagavi preparatory to doubling and RE.

3. Next sections to be doubled are Khanapur to Belagavi and Papchapur to Gokak Rd. Track linking going on. This was the wish of Suresh Angadi, the late MoS Railways that Belagavi be connected by double tracks to Hubli as soon as possible.

4. New bridge commissioned to replace the 100+ yr old bridge over Krishna at Ugar Khurd to carry the existing line and remove permanent speed restrictions. Second bridge was coming up in great speed pre-pandemic to carry the double line, but no new info about the situation for the second new bridge.

Part 1, Pune to Lonand

https://youtu.be/I39sHTci9IA

Part 2 Lonand to Karad
This video shows the tunneling and viaduct construction at Adarki, Part 2 of the video above

https://youtu.be/Gs_VCNLqDxw

New Belgaum station replacing the colonial era jail like building:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1457011139771047937


In other news SWR announced that eloco trials took place between Hulkoti and Hubli East. That means elocos can run from Chennai---Guntakal---Hospet----Gadag-----Hubli East(freight bypass of Hubli)----Unkal-----Dharwad----Londa ----Alnavar FEDL all the way to the Goa border. Then single line as milords of the SC and NGT has denied permission for doubling in Braganza ghat. Then doubling resumes at Kulem all the way to Vasco. Madgaon to Sanvordem on this Kulem to Vasco section doubling was just commissioned and I gave links earlier. RE is going on in Goa now that is all that remains. Kulem to Sanvordem doubling works are going on but there is LA issues in some parts. Doubling remains between Madgaon---Dabolim---Vasco (works ongoing) and Kulem to Sanvordem, rest done. That is the doubling works and RE works left are just exclusive to Goa.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1456438921273831431

So electrification from east to west coast is almost done on another route possibly freight heavy esp. iron ore and bulk goods from Mormugoa port, and almost doubled except for Tinaighat to Sanvordem where Goanese are creating LA problems in one piece Sanvordem to Kulem and the two together Goanese +SC in the Tinaighat to Kulem piece. Doubling is in fact done beyond Alnavar to Tinaighat at Karnataka/ Goa border.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Huge fight at Indian Railway Board Meeting between Rail Mantri and Member Rolling Stock. Member Rolling Stock kicked out of boardroom and asked to go home and take voluntary retirement.


Haha what great fun. There was a board meeting of the Railway Board. There was a huge fight that took place between Rail mantri and member Rolling Stock Shri Jain. It might be related to Train-18. Jain was booted out of the meeting unceremoniously and told to take voluntary retirement. Rail Mantri is busy tweeting about all sundry matters under the sun except the Railways. Recently he tweeted a months old video that I had linked earlier here about the arrival of the first eloco as a trial into Guwahati. Long after that CRS happened and even Brahmaputra mail is running on eloco and DRMs had tweeted about it. But Shri Mantri remains blissfully unaware, distracted or he is just dense and tweets of a months old event as a recent happening. Now this. Let the wrestling match begin. I do not sympathize with Shri Jain either.

https://www.indianmandarins.com/news/a- ... eave/23492

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwUkqyQ0iAk
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

^^^ Shri Rahul Jain is also a Rangila Rasool. About a decade ago he advanced to being DRM(Divisional Railway Manager) of Mumbai division/Central Railways. Soon there were a spate of derailments of local trains. One of his underlings an engineer was also fired for trying to influence a junior to give misleading statements to the board of inquiry. So Shri Jain instead of being fired was quietly shifted to being DRM at Hubli before his term at Bumbay ended. After that I suppose because he knew how to derail trains, he was appointed Director of Safety of IR and then GM of the Integral Coach Factory where the Train-18 lafda took place. So here we have a nut job on one side who probably now has the bureaucracy up in arms and a slimy Rangila on the other side who has managed to climb up the ladder in spite of toothless leadership.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by ks_sachin »

vsunder wrote:^^^ Shri Rahul Jain is also a Rangila Rasool. About a decade ago he advanced to being DRM(Divisional Railway Manager) of Mumbai division/Central Railways. Soon there were a spate of derailments of local trains. One of his underlings an engineer was also fired for trying to influence a junior to give misleading statements to the board of inquiry. So Shri Jain instead of being fired was quietly shifted to being DRM at Hubli before his term at Bumbay ended. After that I suppose because he knew how to derail trains, he was appointed Director of Safety of IR and then GM of the Integral Coach Factory where the Train-18 lafda took place. So here we have a nut job on one side who probably now has the bureaucracy up in arms and a slimy Rangila on the other side who has managed to climb up the ladder in spite of toothless leadership.
vsunder - really enjoy your posts and great to see all the progress. Also you insights are great. So kudos to you. TWo questions through;

1) What is Rangila Rasool?
2) IF the IR has systems and processes in place in managing the network / trains etc etc how does a DRM cause derailment of local trains?
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

The Rangila Rasool incident occurred in 1927 when this book Rangila Rasool or The Promiscuous Prophet was published in Lahore. The publisher of the book Rajpal was murdered and the British then enacted laws to ban "hate speech". Laws on the statute today against "hate speech" can be traced to the law enacted to ban this book. Rangila Rasool can be used to describe someone who leads a colorful life or a career like what Shri Jain has had.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangila_Rasul
The book is easily available on the Internet though it is banned in India. Mohd. Ali Jinnah was the defence lawyer for the murderer of Rajpal, one Ilm-ud-din.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by ks_sachin »

Thanks vsunder - the second questions if you could please respond to?
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by shaun »

Sunder Saab, your posts r fabulous, do give a thought about writing books.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by chetak »

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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1458704468329963520

LA problems hound Pune to Miraj doubling. State Govt in MH is completely inept. Unfortunately LA is a state issue.
Two petitions are before the Bumbay HC. They took 2 years to dismiss the WDFC LA issue as I posted above. Who knows how long this will take.

Thanks Shaun. I simply have no time currently.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by arvin »

This would be the only blocker to make Mumbai Bengaluru Rail journey into a over night one. So apart from the Bullet train land acquisition in Palghar, this south bound line has also been jeopardized.
Currently Udyan and Chalukya both take 24 hrs for covering the distance. Once Train 18 or Shatabdi types are deployed journey can be done in 10 to 12 hrs with doubling and electrification.
Hubbali - Bengaluru doubling and electrification is doing good loooks like.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

^^^ Oh I only wish. The “farmer agitation” that prevents railway electrification on that 7-8 km stretch between Solapur and Bale on the Chennai to Mumbai route on which Udyan runs is due to LA again. The line is doubled but the farmers who gave up land for doubling in 2009 have vowed to stop all RE uproot poles etc if they do not get additional compensation. No poles are seen till 5 days ago on this stretch. Doubling will be over on the remaining stretch of 29 km by next June. RE finished except for this 8 km stretch and State Govt is doing nothing. Trains are being hauled by both diesel and elocos double headed and at Gulbarga the diesel disconnects and the eloco hauls it to Chennai.

There is also another weird issue. RE is done between Hotgi the industrial suburb of Solapur and Solapur a distance of 9 km. But no CRS performed. Reason is State govt is not forthcoming of connecting the traction substation to the power grid. Some people say it will take another 3 months. So for 18 km MH govt is taking the country for a ride.

KA govt under Congress did something similar and held up Bangalore to Mysore RE.

Bizarre situation. Elocos come to Mohol from Pune 30 km from Solapur as CRS done to there. Elocos come to Hotgi 10 km from Solapur from Chennai. Hotgi and Solapur yard all wired but eloco cannot enter Solapur and cannot cross Solapur to Mohol. Not even foundations for poles are seen in that 8 km stretch. Then poles and wiring done all the way to Pune.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

While most people are focused on KL and WB for similar nokku coolie stuff, like these goons blocking ISRO trucks in KL recently, what people forget is similar thing in MH. Assuredly MH is on its way to becoming WB if not rectified. Parts of AP are also getting there. LA is an issue in Guntur to Goa doubling and in various new lines and Bangalore to Hyderabad doubling.


https://mobile.twitter.com/sudhirmehtap ... 1671923713

A primer on Nokkukoolis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokku_kooli


The ISRO incident in KL

https://www.indiatoday.in/cities/thiruv ... 2021-09-06
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

WDFC near Kopar in Thane distt. Too much work left, they are just starting piling work. No way this project is done by Dec 2022. This is between Diva Jn and Dombivili and they are constructing the rail over rail flyover where WDFC jumps over the CR tracks(in the last stretch to JNPT) to Kalyan and Igatpuri on left and CSMT on right. You can see CR local trains at the lower level (heading towards Kalyan and Igatpuri left and CSMT right) and the diesel at the top hauling freight is moving on top of the CR tracks and heading towards WR and Vasai.

https://youtu.be/udPhURrtFq4
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

It will be a bit of a nightmare constructing that rail flyover over the CR tracks. There are 6 tracks there and they carry all the CR suburban traffic from CSMT to Thane and beyond to Kalyan and Kasara and all the traffic towards Pune and Karjat. Plus all the trains to Pune, Howrah and Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad from Bumbay go underneath. They cannot install the flyover with an active line. So traffic and power block. That means shutting down the suburban system on CR of Bumbay perhaps at night. This I have to see when it comes up. In the mean while they have put the rail flyover over the Grand Chord, DDU/Mughalsarai to Howrah at Ganj Khwaja. This is where the EDFC hops over the Grand Chord line and starts running south of the IR lines in a wide loop avoiding Mughalsarai, comes next to IR tracks at the multi modal terminal at Jeonathpur outside Mughalsarai and then goes towards Prayagraj and Kanpur.


https://twitter.com/dfccil_india/status ... 5565867011


They have still 3 more rail flyovers to finish between Mughalsarai and Kanpur, before linking to the commissioned EDFC at Bhaupur/Kanpur. They have to jump over the Prayagraj to Mumbai line, soon after that cross the Yamuna on the new DFC bridge still being built, and at Kanpur jump over the Kanpur to Jhansi line at Bhimsen on the outskirts of Kanpur. That is 2 rail flyovers. There is a third rail flyover at Chunar(near Mughalsarai) where EDFC will have to hop over the Chunar to Billi and Renukoot line. It ain't over and not by a long shot. Rail Mantri is too focused on rolling stock and 75 vande bharat rakes in one year ka challenge. First complete what you have in hand in a time bound way. Jeonathpur will be the junction for IW-1, Inland Waterway 1, Varanasi port on Ganga, NH-7, IR and DFC, all meet there.


They did the rail over rail flyover over the Delhi to Palwal (Delhi suburb) 4 tracks Delhi---Mathura--Agra cantt route for the Dadri to Rewari WDFC on the night of Jan 26, 2019. It was a smooth operation. So at least they do not have that headache. But that CR flyover will be a major challenge, Mumbai suburban is not a joke. They may launch in pieces and take traffic blocks in between. This is the Jan 26, 2019 launch across the Delhi to Mathura line.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdX4502v8dg


A new type of lawless behaviour is emerging in India. First agree to some compensation for land, then when the machines move in, agitate for more money. You are seeing it in that RE electrification left for 8km between Bale and Solapur on the CSMT to Chennai route and in Punjab and Haryana on the EDFC. SDM and DM has to go and pacify villagers periodically as they threaten to destroy machinery, beat up construction workers etc. The so called farmer agitation is the role model for this goonda behaviour. Latest incidents have occured at Mansurpur near Muzzafar nagar in UP near to Deoband. This is on the EDFC section from Khurja to Ludhiana.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by arshyam »

vsunder wrote:They did the rail over rail flyover over the Delhi to Palwal (Delhi suburb) 4 tracks Delhi---Mathura--Agra cantt route for the Dadri to Rewari WDFC on the night of Jan 26, 2019. It was a smooth operation. So at least they do not have that headache. But that CR flyover will be a major challenge, Mumbai suburban is not a joke. They may launch in pieces and take traffic blocks in between. This is the Jan 26, 2019 launch across the Delhi to Mathura line.
Won't it be easier to assemble a steel truss on the side and simply "push" it over the tracks below? Multiple metro systems have done the same thing when crossing IR tracks, and maybe the DFC has also done some of this in the other locations you mentioned?

There is a similar headache for SR in Chennai where they need to connect the final stretch of the MRTS line to the St Thomas Mount station - the tracks would need to cross over the Tambaram side main line with 4 tracks and 2 of them busy with locals through the day, and would need to curve a bit to maintain a smooth alignment. To add to it, a metro line would also need to be accommodated as it would terminate a level above the MRTS station here, so this may end up being a double-decker steel truss rail-over-rail bridge.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

@Arshyam: Yes true and in fact in the twitter video I posted in my post they are doing exactly what you suggest but over 3 lines of the Grand Chord. Here there are more. For sure they have to take a power block. If a piece of equipment inadvertently touches 25kV, there will be sorry many sheesh kebabs that day. Say one of the cables that are being used to pull snaps and hangs on the traction equipment of CR below. A power block just kills all traffic. Locals, long distance trains all run on electric in that area.

Someone @Nandakumar had asked about that Velachery St. Thomas Mount connection and I did not answer him. I am glad you said this as it highlights the issues. There will be another issue in the area you mention. What about the new Elephant gate bridge? That will be over more than 4 lines, there are stabling lines from Basin Bridge to Chennai Central to cross. I think its getting close to launch this ROB. The spans of the DFC should be more rugged as the DFC is designed for 32 ton axle loads. so it should be heavier than a ROB or standard IR 25 ton axle stuff or any light rake Metro stuff. Very likely it will be underslung as the WDFC is to use double stack container and so that open web girder design over which that diesel hauled freight passed will not be suitable for double stack container traffic to JNPT. They have used open web girder on WDFC like on that rail flyover whose video I linked and bridges over Yamuna and Hindon on the outskirts of Delhi. It is more expensive to build such bridges for double decker container traffic and there is a weight penalty too that complicates launching. So let us see what design is favored. Open web girder is ideal for pulling though and my guess is so for operational reasons they will use that, pull and be done with it in stages. Underslung launching is more involved with cranes and traffic blocks etc. This last maze around Mumbai will be very challenging on multiple fronts.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

1. Rail flyover at Chunar on EDFC. Seems incomplete.


https://www.google.com/maps/place/25%C2 ... 82.8864084


2. Rail flyover 2 at Prayagraj over Prayagraj---Manikpur---Itarsi----Mumbai line, seems incomplete


https://www.google.com/maps/place/25%C2 ... 81.8404067


3. Railflyover 3 at Kanpur over Kanpur to Jhansi line with spur to Kanpur to Jhansi line from EDFC, seems incomplete.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/26%C2 ... 80.2360214


All these flyovers have to be designed for 32 ton axle loading. So not the light flyovers for light rail/Metro over IR tracks, nor the current IR flyover overs of rail over rail at 25 ton axle loading.


I have not given locations of flyovers on Khurja to Ludhiana section where are there many about 7. Nor the rail over flyovers on WDFC which are sizeable.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by nandakumar »

Thanks arshyam for the clarification on extending Velacheri MRTS to St Thomas Mount. Earlier the problem on its extension was land acquisition. That has now been resolved. Hopefully the technical issues would get resolved as well. The Chennai Metro has, if I am not mistaken, made a provision for a lower level terminal to accommodate the MRTS. But the problem would be how to accommodate the long distance trains from the east coast to use the surplus capacity on the MRTS line so that it can continue to offer the services for destinations down South using the existing . Seems a tough challenge, if not altogether impossible. One solution would be to provide an extended grade separator beyond St Thomas Mount so that long distance trains can join the mainline at say, Meenambakkam or even Pallavaram. Of course the MRTS extension was conceived primarily as a way to integrate the suburban train network in Chennai. But the larger issue of CMRL taking over the MRTS is making no headway as the Railways are demanding that compensatory land through the densely populated Villivakkam, Anna Nagar be given so that Railways can expand their network on the West bound passenger and goods traffic. The TN Government is not agreeable as the land acquisition cost is prohibitive.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by yensoy »

Has the EDFC derailment and damage been cleared & fixed? It was some months ago and they were saying it would take a long time to rectify.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

SCR to operationalize additional sections of Kavach, the locally made train protection device. Some sections of SCR were fitted with this device as a test and to generate data and to train loco pilots and track and equipment maintainers. I suppose the outcome is positive if they have decided to expand the network to 630 km by March 2022.


https://mobile.twitter.com/SCRailwayInd ... 99/photo/1

They rejected ETCS-II on trunk routes due to its cost and awaited trials of the locally made Kavach. However ETCS-I was installed by Thales on the Chennai to Arrakonam route which also carries suburban traffic and is four lined. This was successful.
For 160 kmph speeds one needs in cab signalling that Kavach provides. Medha Servomotors which made the first set of Kavach which is operational and also makes wheel sets for Train-18 is one of the approved manufacturers by RDSO for follow on orders.

ETCS-II was planned to be installed on the Mathura to Vadodara section a trunk route Delhi to Mumbai, when the high cost was decisive in that plan being shelved and an indigenous solution sought. IR will possibly test Kavach some more before installation on trunk routes is approved.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

PM Modi dedicated several completed projects in MP yesterday. No word in MSM. First off he dedicated the new Habibganj railway station that is one of two re-built to international standards. It is now officially Rani Kamalapati train station, named after a Gond queen. The other station is the Gandhinagar train station that has a luxury hotel run by Leela group on top of the station and is already commissioned earlier. In addition PM Modi dedicated several re-gauging projects in MP and electrification projects. Most important of these is the re-gauging of the Indore-Mhow to Khandwa line. The part he dedicated is essentially Khandwa to Sanawad. The old Meenakshi express ran over these MG tracks between Ajmer and Hyderabad. When completely done it will save a distance of about 400km between Hyderabad and Delhi. Right now UThackeray is creating problems near Akola in the re-gauging process. The jyotirlinga at Omkareshwar lies along this route and the re-gauging is being extended a bit beyond Sanawad to Omkareshwar on the Narmada. Tenders have been initiated for a new station building and pilgrim facilities in August 2021 at Omkareshwar. In the meantime the busybody and internet personality and jack of all trades Sanjeev Sanyal has recommended that the IRSDC, the Indian Railways Station development Corp. be scrapped. This entity built the Habibganj and Gandhinagar stations and is/was involved in other station re-development plans at Ayodhya, Chandigarh, Belgaum etc. The govt. listened and did so and now station development will be in the hands of the local zones, with their record of ongoing and past corrupt practices and poor project management. Not that IRSDC had a stellar record, but it was under the direct watch of a central authority. Sanjeev Sanyal should stick to writing stale books like on the Indian Ocean which had not one fact in it I did not know already, or along with that Iyerval guy gives bombastic lectures at IIT Kharagpur to gullible students. Seems that community college I went to is inviting several charlatans and shady guys of late. Even cooks can become experts on Navier-Stokes eqn in India, just like parts of this forum all can give gyaan on aerodynamics. Oh dear, oh dear whatever:

https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... _Vorticity



https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... _Magnetism

How utterly disgusting, cooks and internet personalities like Sanyal preening in community colleges in India.

Saw the work last in Jan 2020 on my way to Bhimbetka caves:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddImPhUB63E

Inside the station
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuJjKBQ56ik

Habibganj is modeled along the lines of Heidelberg station. I know Heidelberg very well.

The next papers to be linked are on stealth, tippy toe, tippy toe etc.

PS: I think airports in India should be named after aviation pioneers and/or distinguished IAF veterans. Frequently they are named after some local chieftain or most likely a member of the Gaundy family. The only comments I have seen about Habibganj in MSM are that Chouhan requested it be named after a Gond queen and the Centre granted approval in 3 days and so it is a "gimmick" to win votes. Nothing about the station.
About time we named an airport after JRD Tata, and S/L Devaiah who shot down an F-104 in a Mystere. All that is named after him is a rat hole of a canteen in Bangalore. Some airport in KA should be named after him. So many are coming up under project Udaan.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by ritesh »

Last week I travelled on Konkan railway and the rake was provided by Southern railway, this was between Mumbai and Mangaluru. Sad to tell, the rake was icf make and too old and noisy even in 2A coach. Returning back, thankfully got NR rake and it was LHB. Newer and much better sound insulation and comfortable as well.

Is there a dashboard maintained by all the zones on the ratio of ICF:lhb rakes in service? Looking at the no.of old ICF rakes I saw while their, looks like 80% of all rakes yet to be upgraded to lhb.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

^^^ That's an easy question, like in easy-peasy. There are 900 ICF rakes in India, so 900x24 coaches as per 2021. The factories are proposing to produce about 5000 LHB coaches at full and efficient production annually when in reality all three produce 1000. so in about 8 years we should see all LHB coaches at current production rates, since ICF coaches are no longer produced. You should have checked the serial number of your coach, committed it to memory and posted that too. For example a number like 99615 will mean that your coach was manufactured in the year 1999 and in serial order was number 615 in that year. Most ICF coaches are post 2009 manufacture. Most zones have a quota as to how many new coaches they receive per year, Konkan railway qualifies as one zone. There are 13,000 odd trains, some trains may have the same rake as rake sharing is done. There are about 15,000 LHB coaches on IR. New coach allotment is piecemeal and haphazard, since you cannot run half LHB and half ICF due to power car and other issues. This is because the Rahul Jains of the world member rolling stock on the Railway board are dysfunctional.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Zynda »

vsunder saar...thanks for ur reply...I read on SSC that IR has come out with a list of routes that should be capable of 160 Kph passenger trains operations by 2030 & SBC-MAS is one among the list. So hopefully one day we in the South also will experience traveling at those speeds on IR network :)
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by chetak »

this photo is just to show what has been done

sorry about the company logo


Image
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by VinodTK »

chetak wrote:this photo is just to show what has been done

sorry about the company logo
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