Indian Railways Thread

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 26 Oct 2013 15:31

Bade wrote:Better raise fares on trains with HSR levels wherever possible and feasible. Cannot depend on air travel for a long term solution.

They cant , Railways are cost effective way for people to travel in India for long distance and its also a social service provided by GOI.

They can always cut down quota of VVIP , Raise fare for 1st and 2nd AC traveler which they have done , Stop declaring new lines for petty political gains and small things like that

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 26 Oct 2013 18:57

Hence, have a two tier system. Keep the loss making railways in current mode till the poor vanish for good. Build HSR wherever feasible for the rising middle class. That is exactly where the rest of the world is going. We are going to be left behind in this key infrastructure aspect too with spurious economic reasons. We seem to be happy with more KF like fiascos and bailouts as flying is seen as some kind of upward mobility by the middle class.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 27 Oct 2013 00:12

there is no words to describe that we need to really think about hygiene improvements in IR.. actually any expense in this regard is worth and guaranteed RoI.

priorities are that existing facilities, infrastructure upgrade should and must improve toilet system, water purity, better food service, cleaner train travel.

this should not cost really lot., and i wonder if IR really is thinking on these terms. If they are not, then it only means that people accept IR as is, and don't care attitdude or have no measures to compare what is better facility and infrastructure, as they have not experienced better facilities. this has to be #1 priority.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 27 Oct 2013 00:22

the chinese have gone ballastless tracks for their high-speed tracks..however one can't vouche the quality here from this pic on any scale.

Intercity - Germany:

The japanese have put stablilizers on the ballast

good video of japaness bullet train

darshhan · Post by **darshhan** » 27 Oct 2013 07:18

HSR is going to be expensive(compared to conventional rail) for India for the simple reason that India has hardly done any R&D in this field. Consequently we are going to dependent on countries like Japan, Germany etc for the technology. China started late but has caught up now due to focussed efforts(which also includes reverse engineering and Technology Transfer). Now they are on course to build the largest HSR network on this planet.

One of the biggest mistakes that India has committed is ignoring R&D for critical sectors like Transportation and Energy. Because of which India will continue paying through the nose. 60 Years of Nehru Gandhi Congressi rule has been a disaster which will continue to have repercussions for us.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 27 Oct 2013 08:50

Lot of lack of innovation in India is not due to political lethargy or bad policy, there is more of bania mentality rather than an engineering mentality when compared with the developed world. You really do not need to innovate in technology, to make huge profits and succeed as a business.

IMO you can replace center politics, with right politics or left politics but all that shuffling will have little impact on innovation.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Oct 2013 09:53

+1 to Bade. the only centers of r&d in areas like water, energy, transportation, power, material science, inorganic and organic chemistry are govt run or in univs. no real pvt players exist who compete even on asian scale. the usual problems in attracting the best manpower into these difficult fields and getting the freedom and funding to excel ail these I expect. we do not remotely have a Bayer, BASF, Dupont or 3M. RIL is cash rich but have they setup well funded r&d facilities to do basic research in the areas they operate in - all I hear some british co or dutch co like cairn energy being roped in to explore for gas here, setup a plant there, or lay a pipeline ..... in that sense we are not much better than the gulf states who operate in that mould.
even in the case of laying a long bridge somewhere or a long tunnel "foreign consultants" are mandatory to either sell the design and supervise the work or vet the design.

in all these areas the chinese are far ahead now and one doesnt even need to compare to soko, taiwan or japan.

our cos have a relatively protected and politically influenced market and operate in "trading" rather than "engineering" mode. trading is fine but not a long term job, influence or growth creator.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 27 Oct 2013 11:10

I dunno...

Innovation requires surplus capital and risk taking. For every 3M there were a 1000 other small companies that did not make it when their 'innovation' did not pan out. We just don't have the environment to risk capital as it is too expensive and precious in India.

Take for instance the Kaveri Jet engine by GTRE. For years now I have been reading the back and forth on yes/no, great/garbage, etc. But the simple fact is it is just a first step. I suspect we will have to build another 10 jet engines before our R&D starts getting close to world standard. Even the Roosski's had to do this iterative patient improvement to get to world class equipment. Learning what not to do is probably as important as learning what to do.

We lack the financial stomach for this steady investment process.

A few industries such as Automotives & FMCG & Pharma have started it off but it doesn't help that we are brought up to be a bit risk averse. The Chinese are trying but they don't yet have the capacity to even design a efficient water heater from scratch. They are even more risk averse than India. Having worked with teams from both places, I don't think they have a wild advantage over India yet.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Oct 2013 11:43

the germany rail tracks look more tfta than the japani ones. but perhaps due to signaling failures their ICE trains have suffered some horrific crashes last few yrs, while japani trains have maintained a clean slate...till date I dont think a single fatal incident or derailment of the shinkansen have occured? thats a scary record if you consider they started around 1960.

unless we tighten up our loose lungi civil engg std we better not cast our covetous eyes on HSR . better to clean up the current mess first and make a incremental surge of train avg speeds to 80kmph which => they need to cruise at 110kmph for long periods to make up for braking and stops at stations and certain weak areas.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 27 Oct 2013 17:11

Japanese very likely have reduced the probability of human errors even more than Germany. Their legendary discipline also helps, this is where India frankly has a weak point with a steep learning curve both as a culture and even in modern institutions. Juggad won't work to keep record perfectly clean...it will always leave wide open the possibility of failure.

At a recent alumni meet, the Diro was asked to distinguish between Juggad and frugal engineering when he mentioned the latter. They are not the same.

Peregrine · Post by **Peregrine** » 27 Oct 2013 18:03

India to lay 14 strategic railway lines near China, Pak border

NEW DELHI : As part of preparations to meet challenges from China and Pakistan, India is planning to lay 14 strategic railway lines close to borders with these two countries to help in easier and faster movement of troops.

The railway lines are besides 73 roads being constructed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, sources said in Delhi on Sunday.

Out of the 14 planned railway lines, survey has been completed for 12, they said.

The railway lines have been planned in Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan.

Of the 73 roads with a total length of 3812 km, laying of 61 roads covering 3,404 km have been assigned to Border Roads Organisation (BRO), the sources said.

27 of the 61 roads are being constructed in Arunachal Pradesh, 12 in Jammu and Kashmir, 14 in Uttarakhand, five in Himachal Pradesh and three in Sikkim.

17 roads have been completed, they said. Out of 73 roads, 12 are being constructed by Central Public Works Department (CPWD) for ITBP, they said.

The infrastructure development is being carried out as China has made strides in this regard and India is lagging much behind.

Defence minister AK Antony conceded in Parliament last month that China is "superior" in terms of border infrastructure as India was late in deciding on building roads and other capabilities near the LAC because of the impact of the 1962 war.

He had described it as a "collective failure" of all the successive governments.

Antony, who was answering questions on increased intrusions by Chinese troops, had said all steps were being taken to safeguard national security while seeking a peaceful solution to the long-pending boundary disputes between the two sides.

"I have no hesitation to say that China is in a better position than India in terms of border infrastructure. It is a mistake, it is all of us who are to be held collectively responsible for it. It is a historical legacy," he had said.

After "years of neglect", he said India is fast developing capabilities near the China border, including building of roads, raising of two mountain divisions and setting up many new airfields and landing grounds.

"...If you compare overall, in the last ten years, our government has developed maximum infrastructure in those areas," he said.

The increased incursions by Chinese troops have lately resulted in some incidents of face-off.

Commenting on those situations, Antony had said, "Infrastructure is coming up in disputed areas (along the LAC) also. Patrols are coming closer and as a result, we see there are incursions. They come and go, they come and go and sometimes, situations of face-off also take place. We feel we can go to the areas we feel are ours and they also do so."

Cheers

vasu raya · Post by **vasu raya** » 27 Oct 2013 19:12

A way out of steep capital requirements for new entrants is for govt. to hold a huge inventory of earth moving equipment and give it either on nominal rental basis or profit sharing basis with small and medium enterprises. BEML is their captive institution, need more of those which ensures most civil works in the country use heavy equipment for efficiency and reduce abuse of manual labor. The scale will be like the mechanized corps of IA, maybe even larger.

Same with cloud computing with emphasis on mobile reach, the number of website offerings by individuals will just grow in leaps and bounds

back from OT, why aren't railways using GAGAN receivers which with its 3 meter resolution can differentiate between up and down lines?

Early fog forces Northern Railway to cancel 30 trains in December

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Oct 2013 19:37

they say you can set a watch by the arrival and departure times of shinkansens. and its a matter of personal shame for the driver if the train is 1 min late

Prasad · Post by **Prasad** » 28 Oct 2013 08:07

Their average delays are in seconds sir.

Christopher Sidor · Post by **Christopher Sidor** » 28 Oct 2013 12:32

Think of the per-capita of Japan when it first introduced its HSR. Now do the same for India. Further compare the operating cost and ticket prices of Japanese HSR. Now let us do the same exercise for India. The figures will not add up. We do not need HSR. What we need is something else. This HSR business is turning out to be a case of us competing with some tom-dick-and-harry without analyzing the need for us to go down the path of HSR. A case of so-and-so has it so we should also have it.

saumitra_j · Post by **saumitra_j** » 28 Oct 2013 16:28

Folks here are recommending building HSR but they need a few things:

Capital, and lots of it.

Technology, latest and greatest of engineering to support high speed with safety, making tunnels, laying bridges

Lots of Flat land to lay straight track as far as possible with gentle curves

Where are we going to get all of this from??

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 29 Oct 2013 06:07

Singha wrote:they say you can set a watch by the arrival and departure times of shinkansens. and its a matter of personal shame for the driver if the train is 1 min late

Very much true in my experience. Tokyo Station to Shin-Osaka roundtrip (515km in each direction, 2hr50mins) departed and arrived at the exact minute scheduled, in both directions. This wasn't even the fastest Nozomi service but the Hikari one, which makes way for the Nozomi services by stopping at a few additional stops where Nozomi does not. Amazing that it can make way for a faster service and still not even go a minute outside scheduled departure and arrival times.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 29 Oct 2013 07:17

saumitra_j wrote:Folks here are recommending building HSR but they need a few things:
Capital, and lots of it.
Technology, latest and greatest of engineering to support high speed with safety, making tunnels, laying bridges

Lots of Flat land to lay straight track as far as possible with gentle curves
Where are we going to get all of this from??

better to incrementally increase speed of the regular trains with improving signalling, tracks, tech and most importantly segregating freight service from pax ones.

saumitra_j · Post by **saumitra_j** » 29 Oct 2013 09:05

Rahul M wrote:better to incrementally increase speed of the regular trains with improving signalling, tracks, tech and most importantly segregating freight service from pax ones.

Agree completely. Railways needs to first fix the existing signalling systems, tracks, bridges, unmanned level crossings - what we call bread and butter items before it is ready for a very high capex required for HSR. Route electrification is another area where additional investment will give more bang for the buck. I think the introduction of AC Double Decker trains is a very good one as it builds additional capacity and they can actually make a lot of money on those routes.

With properly directed capex, I think railways can get hold of a lot of low hanging fruits:

Providing reliablero ro services services on additional routes - currently I think they are only provided on Konkan railways. I think this is also strategically very important as it will reduce our Diesel consumption and hence the oil bill

Start additional double decker services instead of long distance trains for commercially profitable routes

Strengthen some of the old bridges to remove speed restrictions. This will reduce the travel time

Convert all unmanned level crossings into manned ones, possibly partially fund the conversion of some of the high traffic manned crossings into under bridges for the road

Upgrade the signalling system,tracks where speed restrictions apply - this will also help speed things up and reduce the travel time

One question that I have for the Gurus: I was in Switzerland for some time, and I could see that in the trains there, the engine could be at the front or the back i.e. it could be pulling or pushing. They never had to detach the engine from the rakes when a train arrived at a terminal station. What is the technical limitations due to which IR is not able to do something similar? The advantage of not having to detach is that the train that arrives is ready to go in reverse direction within no time....so waiting period is simply not there. In India, a shunting engine has to pull the rake from the other end, the main engine has to be detached and only after the rake is moved on some parking track is the engine available for other duties. This locks up the engine and as a result, we are possibly under utilizing them.

saumitra_j · Post by **saumitra_j** » 15 Nov 2013 09:45

Some bad news: Accident of Mangala Express with foure people dead

The mishap took place at around 6.20am today when 12618 Nizamuddin-Ernakulam Mangala Express train was passing through the Ghoti-Igatpuri section near Nashik of the Central Railway, a Central Railway spokesperson said in Mumbai.The cause of the accident is not yet known, he said.

saumitra_j · Post by **saumitra_j** » 15 Nov 2013 11:23

From PTI, it is two dead and not four.

While two passengers were killed in the mishap, 37 others sustained injuries and have been admitted to different hospitals, Ghoti senior Inspector, Bhaskar Jadhav said.

A senior official at Nashik civil hospital also confirmed the death of two passengers so far and said eight injured victims were admitted in the hospital, five were shifted to a private hospital in the city.

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 15 Nov 2013 23:46

man...all these things just continue to show how bad governance in india is.

rahul m wrote:better to incrementally increase speed of the regular trains with improving signalling, tracks, tech and most importantly segregating freight service from pax ones.

saumitra j wrote:Agree completely. Railways needs to first fix the existing signalling systems, tracks, bridges, unmanned level crossings - what we call bread and butter items before it is ready for a very high capex required for HSR. Route electrification is another area where additional investment will give more bang for the buck. I think the introduction of AC Double Decker trains is a very good one as it builds additional capacity and they can actually make a lot of money on those routes.

exactly.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 16 Nov 2013 08:17

even on existing routes it seems there are dozens of major bridges and thousands of smaller ones/culverts that are not designed to take the stress of heavy trains moving at 120kmph.
so even if route is all-clear they have to hold themselves to a lower speed. case in point is the brahmaputra bridge in guwahati built in 1950s by burns and jessop...its a dual deck road and rail bridge made of a grid of girders and trains always creep across at minimum speed. replacing it with a more modern one is a 500cr undertaking minimum. another good example is the old bridge over the godavari at rajamundry which was even older. or the farakka bridge over the ganga in north bengal near malda.

Rishirishi · Post by **Rishirishi** » 17 Nov 2013 07:36

Even if it may be uneconomical, India must start to build Hight speed rail (even if it is limited). Becase it will take at least 5-10 years to create an industrial infrastructure to build such systems in the future.

A start could be short corridors like Mumbai-Pune, Bangalore-Maysore-Chennai, Delhi-Punjab.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 17 Nov 2013 08:01

Its better to improve the over all quality of railways and spend money on the many small big things that railways can improve in service and quality for not just the train service per se but other infra like stations , canteens , toilets , over all ammenites most people would be happy if IR can do that.

HSR would not only cost huge money but would be limited to few , it would be touted as Dekho Mera Bharat Kitna Unnatti Kar Raha hai when the majority of IR service are any where between Average to bad.

GOI will import some fancy trains in name of HSR make money give the infra to Reliance and all and make money and fool the people saying how much progress we made since 1947.

I read our tracks are rated for over 100 km/hr but average train speed is 80 and for suburban trains in Mumbai 40 , if we can gradually increase the average speed to over 100 that itself would save time by 1/3 or may be half

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 17 Nov 2013 10:45

saumitra_j wrote:They never had to detach the engine from the rakes when a train arrived at a terminal station. What is the technical limitations due to which IR is not able to do something similar? The advantage of not having to detach is that the train that arrives is ready to go in reverse direction within no time....so waiting period is simply not there. In India, a shunting engine has to pull the rake from the other end, the main engine has to be detached and only after the rake is moved on some parking track is the engine available for other duties. This locks up the engine and as a result, we are possibly under utilizing them.

IR also has trains which have control cabins at both sides. EMUs and MEMUs have this, and in some cases push-pull rakes also has this feature. It is only for mainline express/mail trains, where a shunting engine pulls a rake to an empty platform and a mainline loco gets attached. If I get it right, locomotives are not kept idle and have a good duty turn planned for them. One advantage of having the loco separate, would be for scheduled maintenance etc. After dropping the rake at a siding, the main line loco could be taken away for maintenance/overhauling etc.

Vriksh · Post by **Vriksh** » 17 Nov 2013 11:17

Ballasted tracks tend to shift with time (x,y,z) specially around curves. Ballast itselves gets crushed under loads imposed. Research has shown for high load density HSR, ballastless continuous tracks are almost unavoidable since there is very small windows of maintenance in once trains are running (typically 2.5 hours between 3am-6am). That is why germany and china have chosen to make it ballastless with the RCC underfloor transferring all the load evenly.

There have been reports of HSR in China running slower than design due to subsidence of pillars supporting the HSR network since even a few cm of deviation in critical location can cause unacceptable oscillations at design speed.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 17 Nov 2013 16:13

the whole concept of IR Loco Sheds where only locos are serviced would need to change if EMUs are used. at present the main complexity and cost is in the loco. the wagons just need cleaning and periodic inspection of the undercarriage which is anyways done before every long haul trip.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 22 Nov 2013 10:40

Very Soon...

http://articles.economictimes.indiatime ... ihal-track

Now Vaishno Devi accessible by train and Kashmir too, albeit with a complementary bus ride

Insiders in Northern Railways said they are busy offering finishing touches to the 23-kms track between Udhampur and Katra that has been problematic ever since work on it started. Tentatively they hope a train must chug on the track on December 17 but it all depends on the availability of the VVIPs, preferably the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. Lighting in the two major tunnels is the last leftover job currently being taken care of, sources said. Once the tamping machines would run over the track, the Commissioner Railway Safety would take over for tests, inspection and final certification.

This track involving some of the youngest belts of the Shivalik range envisages 11 kms of tunneling, nine major and 29 minor bridges, besides 10 rail over / rail bridges. The tallest bridge on the track is 85 meter high and the longest tunnel is 3.15 kms long. Apart from Katra and Udhampur, there will be only one station in between - Chak Rakhwal.

The track to Katra was ready as early as 2007. As the officials were busy making preparations for its inauguration, one of its major tunnels started sinking for about 800 meters. Soon after, the Railways detected seepage in three other tunnels also. This forced a review and the Railways engaged an Austrian firm Geo Consult International (GCI) to salvage its three kilometers tunnel. GCI was associated with Delhi Metro and has designed over 11-Kms long railway tunnel in Pir Panchal being implemented by IRCON. Now all the problems have been addressed and the track is ready for use.

Once formally inaugurated, Northern Railways is planning a mix of existing and new trains to the shrine town that is visited by more than 10 million pilgrims a year. Indications suggest two Delhi trains already terminating at Udhampur - Jammu Mail and Sampark Kranti would be extended to Katra besides Delhi Pathankot Express. New trains that would be chugging on the track include Katra-Kalka (Chandigarh), Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Udhampur and Ahmadabad-Udhampur. The new trains are expected to ply twice a week. Udhampur houses the Northern Command of the Indian army.

However, what makes things interesting is that Northern Railways is negotiating with the J&K government to introduce a single train ticket that will help anybody from anywhere to visit Kashmir. Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge is personally working on the idea. If implemented, tourists will disembark from the train at Katra and board J&K's State Road Transport Corporation bus to Banihal and then catch a train to Srinagar or Baramulla.

Kashmir Rail project coming up at a whopping cost of more than Rs 25000 crore is facing the only handicap between Katra and Banihal, a stretch of 131 kms which is the most crucial and challenging. This track is being laid with near ninety percent in tunnels or on high altitude bridges. It was delayed by a decade after its alignment was changed for safety reasons a few years back. Till this stretch is ready, visitors to Kashmir using rail will have to have a bus ride in between.

SBajwa · Post by **SBajwa** » 26 Nov 2013 19:02

Travelling to Amritsar is now just Rs. 95 and four-and-a-half hours away. That is the price you will be paying to travel via second- class of Chandigarh-Amritsar Superfast Express that was flagged off from Chandigarh railway station by UT administrator Shivraj Patil on Friday.

This is the sixth new train which has connected the city to several destinations in the past three months. These trains were announced by the then railway minister and city member of Parliament Pawan Bansal in the rail budget this year.

Bansal, presiding over the inaugural function, said the new train had been introduced keeping in mind the need of city residents.

With the Amritsar-Chandigarh Superfast Express, people of Punjab and Chandigarh would be able to return after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple and Durgiana Mandir on the same day, Bansal added.

The Chandigarh-Amritsar Express will comprise 10 coaches, with one AC chair car and eight non-AC second sitting coaches. The train will depart from Chandigarh at 6.55am, stop at SAS Nagar railway station at 7.13am, and reach Amritsar by 11.25am. It will depart from Amritsar at 5.30 pm to reach Chandigarh at 9.55 pm. The fare for AC Chair Car is Rs. 385.

The train will halt at SAS Nagar, New Morinda, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Beas stations.

MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, while travelling in the train, said, "The people of the constituency have given me an opportunity to serve the birth place of the Khalsa. With the starting of the train, the long-standing demand of Punjabis has been met and their dreams realised. The enthusiasm of the people for the train was such that they were seen waiting in large numbers for its arrival at the SAS Nagar and Morinda railway stations to greet the pilgrims."

Chandigarh is now well-connected via train to many important destinations of the country such as Howrah, Chennai, Ajmer, Jaipur, Amritsar, Una, Lal Kuan, Allahabad, Dibrugarh, Goa, Mumbai, Hazur Sahib, Shirdi, Banaras and Indore.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 05 Dec 2013 15:05

dibrugarh station..

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 05 Dec 2013 18:07

since these bottles cannot be resealed on the train, perhaps they will be used for cooking & making tea in the pantry car?

saip · Post by **saip** » 05 Dec 2013 18:36

As long as the water is boiled, it should be OK.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 05 Dec 2013 20:15

IME definitely no. Water in India needs to be fully filtered before people can drink it. There are way too many contaminants in it.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 05 Dec 2013 21:31

Looking at the dress its the dibrugarh to delhi rajdhani exp crew.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 06 Dec 2013 12:00

no, they seems to re-cap it some where , or they are filling for different reason, i dont think it would be easier to fool passengers. they will easily find out

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 17 Dec 2013 09:32

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/o ... 444875.ece

Manmohan’s gift to J&K

The Northern Railways on Monday successfully carried out the trial run of the 16-coach DMU between Udhampur and Katra, the base camp of the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine. The train is the Prime Minister’s new year gift to the people of the State.

Water-logging and intense seepage around the shrine site spoiled years of labour and have made four deadlines elusive for the engineers in the last five years.

A set of local trains from Jammu to Katra and from Pathankot to Katra are also likely to be introduced to cater to the rush of pilgrims, the Northern Railways officials said. With the opening of the Shri Mata Vaishnodevi Katra, the authorities are likely to extend Jammu Mail and Uttar Sampark Kranti to Katra.

Some new trains, including Katra-Kalka (Chandigarh) Express (bi-weekly), Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Udhampur Express (fully air-conditioned) and Ahmedabad-Udhampur Express are also set to be introduced on the route subsequently.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 18 Dec 2013 05:06

back to innovation corrections (ref theo's post).. innovation indeed needs capital and resources, but if it is not tied to a requirement engineering cycle, then those will not be realized. a timed and staged innovation releases always pays.. many a times, India has skipped generation of technology and innovation largely because of the need it drives.

so, per bade goal of moving away from this baniya mentality to engineering mentality needs, social upliftment and good governance that is policy driven, and standards enabled. don't accept anything below a certain standard as policy.

that is the only way out.. in controlled release of innovation and staged products.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 28 Dec 2013 09:41

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 035975.cms
before we talk about high speed rails, we need to first improve safety and security of existing trains, plus improve hygiene setup. this is more vital than high speed rails.

if people can't escape from one coach to another, then we have failed in the very basic requirements.

We have to order the coach connectivity and escape and more advanced security system to automatically stop train on fire alarm, automatically open up windows and doors, emergency exits etc.

i am so sad that none of the billion think like me.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 28 Dec 2013 11:12

Sleeping passengers caught in Nanded-Bangalore Express fire; 23 die, 12 injured

As many as 23 people were feared killed and several others were injured when a fire broke out in a coach of the Nanded-Bangalore Express in Anantapuram district of Andhra Pradesh on Saturday morning.

The mishap took place near the Kothacheruvu railway station in Anantapur district bordering Karnataka at around 3.30am. Passengers told TV channels they were sleeping when somebody noticed smoke in the B1 AC coach and pulled the emergency chain to stop the train.

Passengers then climbed out of the train when it was still dark and the coach was on fire. According to rescue workers and TV channels, 12 injured passengers were being treated in hospitals in Dharmavaram, Puttaparthi and Anantapur.

CS Gupta, a spokesperson for South Western Railways, confirmed 15 deaths and said casualties could rise. Gupta said most passengers seemed to have choked to death in the smoke that engulfed the coach.

Read: Short circuit could have triggered train fire: Kharge

According to NDTV reports, the train had left Bangalore at 10:45 pm on Friday and was headed for Nanded. It had about 64 passengers, mostly from Karnataka, on board. The fire broke out when the train was near the Prasanthi Nilayam ashram.

Sananda Aruna, additional divisional railway manager, said the fire was doused but identifying the dead would take time because the passenger lists were burnt.

"It is a frightening scene inside the coach. Many are charred, beyond recognition, to death," said Raghuveera Reddy, Andhra Pradesh state revenue minister.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has directed Railways and state government authorities to extend all possible help to the victims in rescue and relief operations.

A compensation of Rs. 5 lakh for the dead and Rs. 50,000 for the injured has been announced by railways minister M Mallikarjun Kharg

Over the years, safety has taken a big knock in Railway with likes of Laloo, Mamtadi and NiKuamma ruling the roost in railways.

Esp fire in coaches are reported with alarming frequency. Railway should investigate in depth and must take precaution and book the officials for murder.

No news on TV, all are busy with Kejariwal.