Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Mar 2016 21:12

had no idea itanagar is connected to delhi by BG train now!

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 15 Mar 2016 21:21

one part of meghalaya also linked now

A Nandy · Post by **A Nandy** » 17 Mar 2016 00:44

http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/railways ... 020-747032

The connectivity to Mizoram is also very interesting to follow:

http://indianexpress.com/article/explai ... expresses/

Aizwahl is the capital of Mizoram but has no rail connectivity yet. Its a beautiful place to visit and travelling there by train should be an amazing experience.

https://dipr.mizoram.gov.in/press-relea ... 30/lang/en

Bhairabi in Mizoram on the border with Assam has the only rail head which is connected to Katakhal. This is being converted to BG.

Completion of the Bairabi-Sairang in 2018 should bring the railways closer to Aizwahl.

AIZAWL, Mizoram Like Itanagar, Mizoram’s capital too will never see a train. Phase 2 of project will take a broad gauge line from Bhairabi, bordering Assam’s Barak Valley, to Sairang, on the Tlawng/Dhaleshwari river 20 km from Aizawl, with stations at Hortoki and Mualkhang.
Vitals
Katakhal (Assam) to Sairang, 135.38 km
Phase 1: Katakhal-Bhairabi (Mizoram), 84 km
* Conversion from MG to broad gauge
* Estimated cost: Rs 331.40 cr
* Physical progress: 95.37%
* Commissioning target: March 2018

Phase 2: Bhairabi to Sairang, 51.38 km
* Estimated cost: Rs 2,830 cr
* Physical progress: 14.22%
* Commissioning target: March 2018

Strategic
The Railways is surveying a possible route from Sairang to Hmawngbuchhuah on Mizoram’s southern tip, bordering Myanmar’s Rakhine state. Hmawngbuchhuah neighbours Zochachhuah, where the under-construction Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMMTTP) enters Myanmar. The KMMTTP, a road-cum-inland-waterway trade route over Kaladan river, will connect Kolkata with the Myanmarese deep-sea port of Sittwe. NFR is likely to complete the survey by August.

KMMTTP seems to be another strategic project ongoing with Myanmar.

http://mdoner.gov.in/content/introduction-1

The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project is a project that will connect the eastern Indian seaport of Kolkata with Sittwe seaport in Myanmar by sea; it will then link Sittwe seaport to Paletwa in Myanmar via Kaladan river boat route and then from Paletwa on to Mizoram by road transport.

This project will reduce distance from Kolkata to Sittwe by approximately 1328 km and will reduce the need to transport good through the narrow Siliguri corridor, also known as Chicken's Neck.
Initially India had tried to persuade Bangladesh to offer transport and transit rights to the northeastern states.

However, Bangladesh has consistently refused to grant such rights, including access to its Chittagong port, which is less than 200 km away from Agartala, the capital of Tripura.

vsunder · Post by **vsunder** » 17 Mar 2016 00:48

Automated concrete sleeper(railroad ties) production at Bhagega on the Western DFC in full swing. A Harsco NTC machine has also started operating since Jan 25th on Western DFC between Rewari and Iqbalgarh 640km.

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

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 17 Mar 2016 09:41

>> However, Bangladesh has consistently refused to grant such rights, including access to its Chittagong port, which is less than 200 km away from Agartala, the capital of Tripura.

other than a vague islamic hate of india, what exactly do they stand to lose by allowing indian truckers and trains to travel through BD to the NE states? I would imagine it will be a windfall in customs fees, fuel stations and such. I do not think illegal migration from india->BD is a problem

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 17 Mar 2016 10:56

Singha wrote:>> However, Bangladesh has consistently refused to grant such rights, including access to its Chittagong port, which is less than 200 km away from Agartala, the capital of Tripura.

other than a vague islamic hate of india, what exactly do they stand to lose by allowing indian truckers and trains to travel through BD to the NE states? I would imagine it will be a windfall in customs fees, fuel stations and such. I do not think illegal migration from india->BD is a problem

there is nothing vague about the bangladeshi hate for India. It's overt and in your face. Their effing govt always has it's grubby hands stretched out, forever ready to grab what it can for free from India. One has never seen any signs of gratitude from this country except to mouth insincere platitudes during kodak moments.

The crowd behavior during the Indo bangla cricket matches very accurately portrays the true picture and one would be foolish to dismiss that evidence offhand.

If any presstitute foolishly tries to portray the bangla crowd as "competitive or even nationalist", they are doing India a grave disservice.

and yet, we never seem to learn and continue as usual, burying our heads in the sand and harming ourselves over and over again.

Prasad · Post by **Prasad** » 17 Mar 2016 12:53

Compare that to cheen. I imagine they'd have built a KRKM highway type triple tracked, electric line through BD by now by carrot or a big fat stick.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 17 Mar 2016 13:30

yes india is uniquely a top5 sized economy & military power who cannot control BD, Nepal and treads very carefully even with maldives.

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 20 Mar 2016 21:18

Train to Kashmir: A 3-part series that captures the challenges faced in building the line.

Remaining parts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0NmhERYWyg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m30EpEceXks

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 20 Mar 2016 21:20

Afcons has produced a couple of documentaries as well, related to this mammoth project.

Rampy · Post by **Rampy** » 20 Mar 2016 21:25

Heard that Railway employees are planning to go on strike on 7 pay commission. Govt has asked for time till elections are over. Modi two side attack has started

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 20 Mar 2016 21:37

And from the other extreme, geographically speaking:

Some nice visuals of the scenic Pollachi-Palakkad belt, as seen from the eyes of a locomotive.

P.S. Interestingly, one of the Pollachi based traders who is shown on the video refers to Palakkad as "Olavakkodu" in Tamil. I didn't know that it was a local name, and had thought "Olavakkod" was the anglicized name for Palakkad in British times. Perhaps SaiK or vsunder saars might throw some light on this? (I guess this is your neck of the woods..?)

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 20 Mar 2016 22:18

Singha wrote:had no idea itanagar is connected to delhi by BG train now!

(embedded video removed)

Interestingly, these new lines are built to 110 kmph spec and potential 130kmph ops in the future. I saw a video from a loco cab on this line that peacefully hauled the train at 80kmph, but being a straight track, could easily support higher speeds. Gone are the MG days of 60kmph with lots of curves necessitating even lower speeds.

Looks the same on the mainline from Rangiya to Murkongselek, which re-opened only 8 months ago. The video below says coaches on the GHY-Murkongselek intercity train are new and bio-toilet equipped (the coaches are of 2015 vintage). Most locos are the EMD series based out of Siliguri, or the powerful Alcos (WDM-3D and WDG-3A based out of New Guwahati), not the old huffing WDM-2, which are derated and being phased out (I am still a fan of these venerable oldies though

). Add in automatic signalling[*], there are good chances of having faster operations in the near future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ3gXcM8xO8

Now that this line is operational, progressively increasing the speeds and reducing the travel time of this I/C exp from the current 12 hours to 8-9 should be doable.

[*]Looks like 2-aspect signalling though, perhaps due to low traffic density at the moment. I must say I am a bit disappointed by this, since the signals will need upgrading before allowing higher speeds. I suppose it is good only up to 90-100 kmph.

vsunder · Post by **vsunder** » 21 Mar 2016 00:47

arshyam wrote:And from the other extreme, geographically speaking:

Some nice visuals of the scenic Pollachi-Palakkad belt, as seen from the eyes of a locomotive.

P.S. Interestingly, one of the Pollachi based traders who is shown on the video refers to Palakkad as "Olavakkodu" in Tamil. I didn't know that it was a local name, and had thought "Olavakkod" was the anglicized name for Palakkad in British times. Perhaps SaiK or vsunder saars might throw some light on this? (I guess this is your neck of the woods..?)

Yes, that is correct, in the bad old days, that station Pallakad Jn. was called Olavvakot Jn., and just outside that station between Olavvakot and Podanur was the Southern railways Creosoting plant, where wooden railroad sleepers were dipped in pitch black, smelly creosote to make them waterproof. That place stank. Incidentally Pollachi-Podanur gauge conversion is almost done, they had to re-align the BG tracks and ended digging a massive cutting through hard rock. Also money has been released this budget to gauge convert, Sengottai-Punalur and enlarge the Arianyakavu tunnel, so a good chance that the famed Kollam Mail(Quilon mail) may run again from Egmore to Kollam by early next year. Other projects that have rapidly been started is

1. Londa-Tinaighat doubling, in the Mormugoa(port)-Hospet doubling. Work started. Some sections have been commissioned this month. Kambarganavi-Alnavar and Harlapur-Bannikoppa last month. Picture of doubling work that has been started between Londa and Tinaighat.

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk18 ... kcvaf7.jpg

Castlerock-Kulem doubling is phase II, though the survey through Dudhsagar Falls is already done. There is some land acquisition issues in Goa and Govt. of Goa has not been helpful.

2. Arsikere-Tumkur, doubling work has started. There are some videos already.

3. Penukonda-Bangalore doubling.

4. Tunnel at Biskur done and new line Bangalore-Hassan to be commissioned after 16 years in June-September, giving the shortest railway path between Mangalore-Bangalore. Only Tippasandra-Solur(16km) had to be completed and that was held up mainly due to tunnel at Biskur.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/685/23583 ... 9709_b.jpg

5. Yellahanka-Chennasandra doubling and electrification also commissioned, so freight can move directly to Bangalore-Chennai line easily.

6. Some sections between Villupuram-Trichy have also been commissioned or will be commissioned in a few days in the doubling project, MAS-Dindigul-Madurai.

Palghat Town in the video always existed as a railway station with that name, Palghat Jn. was Olavakkot, maybe there was a fort "kota" there which is likely as it is in the strategic Palghat gap. Maybe this "kota" ?

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

Other news:
Chervattur(North Malabar)- Kozhikode electrified line energized and ready for CRS. That means beyond Chervattur, one has Nileshwar-Kanhangad-Bekal Fort-Kutikulam-Kasragode and then 20 miles to Mangalore.
There is a substation at Kumbla and one at Thokur(Mangalore)
Poles are already up in this remainder and wiring is done in many sections. Hopefully by the end of next fiscal Shoranur-Mangalore will be fully electrified and doubled. This leaves the Konkan Railway gap which is still on diesel traction, Roha-Thokur(near Mangalore). Also LHB rakes made it to Mangalore for the first time
post budget.

vsunder · Post by **vsunder** » 21 Mar 2016 02:29

Documentary on the rail-road bridge bridge across Ganga at Patna that was dedicated by PM Modi a few days ago:

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

Arunkumar · Post by **Arunkumar** » 21 Mar 2016 08:34

vsunder wrote: ......
This leaves the Konkan Railway gap which is still on diesel traction, Roha-Thokur(near Mangalore). Also LHB rakes made it to Mangalore for the first time
post budget.

Travelled on this stretch by 56666 mukambika road/byndoor - kasargod passenger. Had no idea it has been extended to kannur recently. Lack of double line made the travel a bit boring as train halted for long time at some stations. Hopefully suresh prabhu is right on track to double it as a project has been launched in november 2015. But I think Maharshtra section would be double lined first as the govt there has taken the initiative. Also saw some work in progress near Thokur for double lining. Lot of high-rises in mangalore and udipi skyline.

Hopefully by the end of 2019 we may see a double line konkan railway. This would cut down mumbai to kerala travel from current 24 hours to hopefully 18 hours or less since tracks on this section are rated for higher speeds. Also konkan railways ro-ro service will also see higher utilization.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 21 Mar 2016 09:44

arshyam wrote:P.S. Interestingly, one of the Pollachi based traders who is shown on the video refers to Palakkad as "Olavakkodu" in Tamil. I didn't know that it was a local name, and had thought "Olavakkod" was the anglicized name for Palakkad in British times.

Olavakkode is the actual area in which the railway junction was built. But it is like a suburb of Palakkad, and thus the station became Palakkad Jn. But I remember reading it some where that there was a time when Olavakkod Jn was referred as just that (and even had a different station code. Not PGT). Another trivia I have heard is that Cheruvannoor was renamed as "Shornur" when the British decided to setup a big junction and steam loco shed out there (SRR).

vsunder · Post by **vsunder** » 21 Mar 2016 15:53

Patch doubling on Konkan Railway has already started between Roha and Veer. Maybe some pieces in Goa too.
The rest will not be easy.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 716587.cms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmvZ_9O ... Xiek4mRVzQ
On Central railway, after Roha towards Diva, Panvel I think doubling is just over, here is a video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY_hKwVy0pk

Roha is the start of Konkan railway. Maybe one can double Mangalore-Udipi but there are many rivers, Pavanje, Gurupura and other reasonably big rivers come to mind and also there will be some deep cuttings. In Kerala there is land issue, the substation of Tirur is mired in a land acquisition dispute though they are using current from Shoranur sub-station.

Karthik S · Post by **Karthik S** » 22 Mar 2016 03:02

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-15 ... es-2191458

In one of the biggest moves in the passenger train segment, the railway ministry has allotted Rs 2,952 crore for the purchase of 15 train sets, for use on Rajdhani and Shatabdi routes. Train sets are technologically advanced versions of local trains that run in Mumbai's suburban network and can touch a speed of 200 kilometres per hour. One of the advantages of a train set is that, unlike conventional trains, it has a driver's cab on both ends, and can be reversed without loss of time.

I wonder which train set has been chosen though.

vsunder · Post by **vsunder** » 22 Mar 2016 05:01

Sachin wrote:
arshyam wrote:P.S. Interestingly, one of the Pollachi based traders who is shown on the video refers to Palakkad as "Olavakkodu" in Tamil. I didn't know that it was a local name, and had thought "Olavakkod" was the anglicized name for Palakkad in British times.
Olavakkode is the actual area in which the railway junction was built. But it is like a suburb of Palakkad, and thus the station became Palakkad Jn. But I remember reading it some where that there was a time when Olavakkod Jn was referred as just that (and even had a different station code. Not PGT). Another trivia I have heard is that Cheruvannoor was renamed as "Shornur" when the British decided to setup a big junction and steam loco shed out there (SRR).

Shoranur was an ideal place because of plentiful water from the Bharathappuzha river, you catch sight of the river for the first time between Palghat Jn. and Shoranur on the left when going towards Shoranur. Similarly Bhusawal became a big loco shed because of plenty of water from the Tapti river. Ditto for Bitragunta in AP and Jhajha in Bihar. Diesel traction basically killed Bitragunta( on the Chennai-Delhi line) and Jhajha( on the Howrah-Mughalsarai mainline via Patna). Bitragunta and Jhajha were massive loco sheds and workshops with a huge number of steam locos homed there. Bitragunta roundhouse was massive as I recall it.

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 22 Mar 2016 05:39

^^

On that note, so was Erode. It was one of the luckier ones to survive post dieselisation, given its geographical location. And now has an electric shed as well, to boot. I am guessing Golden Rock (GOC) in Tiruchi was another similar shed chosen for its proximity to water.

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 22 Mar 2016 05:43

arvin wrote:Hopefully by the end of 2019 we may see a double line konkan railway. This would cut down mumbai to kerala travel from current 24 hours to hopefully 18 hours or less since tracks on this section are rated for higher speeds. Also konkan railways ro-ro service will also see higher utilization.

2019 is impossible saar. Perhaps some sections doubled, but north of Madgaon is going to be difficult and time consuming. But even patch doubling will help given the congestion.

vsunder · Post by **vsunder** » 22 Mar 2016 05:57

arshyam wrote:^^

On that note, so was Erode. It was one of the luckier ones to survive post dieselisation, given its geographical location. And now has an electric shed as well, to boot. I am guessing Golden Rock (GOC) in Tiruchi was another similar shed chosen for its proximity to water.

Thanks, yes it brought back memories. That is the Bitragunta roundhouse. It was located on the left, soon after you pulled out of Bitragunta, towards Chennai. There was a big sign over the Roundhouse "Bitragunta, Home of the Iron Horse". Yes Erode and Golden Rock(Ponmalai) had the ready supply of Kaveri water. Golden Rock even did some overhauling of Spitfires during WW2, I am not sure if this was true, but it was and still is a massive workshop.

hanumadu · Post by **hanumadu** » 22 Mar 2016 09:36

GE is setting up a diesel locomotive plant in India. What's the point when all railway track is being converted to electric in 3 years, unless its for exports only.

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 22 Mar 2016 21:10

Commuters' tales: No room to sit

jayasimha · Post by **jayasimha** » 23 Mar 2016 20:17

Print ReleasePrintXClose
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)
23-March-2016 16:28 IST
Doubling of Kiul-Gaya Railway line

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for doubling of Kiul-Gaya Railway line of 124 km with a completion cost of Rs.1354.22 crore.

Doubling of this line will greatly ease the ever increasing freight traffic between these sections. The project is likely to be completed by 2019-20.

Lakhisarai, Sheikhpura, Nawadah and Gaya districts of Bihar will be benefited through this project.

Background:

The Kiul-Gaya section falls in Danapur Division of East Central Railway. At present traffic utilization of the section is 135.5%. Since the existing section capacity is almost fully utilized and to cater to the continuously increasing freight traffic, the work of Kiul-Gaya doubling project is essentially required. The project will serve the freight traffic for Super Thermal Power Plant at Barh which is likely to be completed shortly. Daily requirement of Coal for this plant will be 18 rakes of coal and 14 pairs of goods trains are likely to move on this section. Average number of trains handled on the section per day is 13 trains each way. This includes 11 pairs of Passenger Trains and 2 pairs of goods trains. Five pairs of Mail/Express is expected to be augmented after commissioning of the Koderma-Tilayia section.

***
VBA/SH

vsunder · Post by **vsunder** » 24 Mar 2016 03:02

Automated flash butt welding of 270m head hardened rails at Bhagega plant on Western DFC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvnG8vx6M1o

vsunder · Post by **vsunder** » 26 Mar 2016 18:04

A night in the life of a trackman(At Ghaziabad Jn.)

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/ ... -trackmen/

vsunder · Post by **vsunder** » 26 Mar 2016 19:54

Updates on previous news posted above:

CRS has in principle approved Chervatur-Kallayi( Kozhikode) Railway electrification. Though in principle it will be difficult to run electric locos to Chervattur. Maybe upto Kannur and then wait for Chervattur-Mangalore electric line to be energized. Even this may be difficult as Cannanore does not have a trip shed either diesel or electric.

http://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/ker ... s-1.935248

https://goo.gl/photos/SvKKwxZcLF1mrhXN9

On this section, Mangalore Central to Netravathi bridge cabin 1.5km is still single line, but poles are up with no wires. Poles are up Chervatur to Mangalore with wires on most of the remaining 92km between Chervatur to Mangalore-Panambur(Mangalore port).

Also CRS has approved Kambarganavi-Alnavar on Hospet-Tinaighat doubling project.

http://www.swr.indianrailways.gov.in/vi ... ,1044,1206

Also same CRS has approved the Ariyalur-Mathur doubling on Villupuram-Trichy line. CRS(Southern circle, Shri Mittal) has been running around South India a lot these days. In fact he was in Chervatur and Ariyalur back to back days. A whole slew of such projects are coming up for inspection in Central India, in western India and the first DFC segment Durgawati-Sasaram (56 km). This was supposed to be commissioned this month. Engine rolling took place June 2015 and OHE is up and commissioned on this first DFC segment.

http://www.railnews.co.in/work-on-villu ... r-by-2017/

Also the Indore-Mhow gauge conversion is to be commissioned soon, in time for Simhastha festival at Ujjain beginning in the third week of April when the crush of pilgrims will be enormous. CRS inspection Indore-Mhow took place on March 21st evening with the train hitting 100kmph+.
In late November 2015 I have seen the facilities and infrastructure at Indore and Ujjain that the State govt. has set up to combat the flood of pilgrims for Simhastha. They are great. Unfortunately the Army has not given land to the Railways at Mhow and so for the moment it is not possible to have rakes more than 17 bogies between Mhow and Indore, as the platforms at Mhow are too small to hold a regular 22-24 bogie rake. Completion of the Indore-Mhow-Khandwa-Akola gauge conversion will provide a faster and cheaper route from Bangalore to North India and from Indore to Mumbai and Indore the commercial capital of MP will cease to be a terminus.

It is also time to say goodbye to 1500V DC in Mumbai. The last vestige, the suburban Harbour line has been converted to 25,000 V 50Hz AC and with this we have 14 coach rakes and better service and integration with the rest of the suburban network.

vina · Post by **vina** » 29 Mar 2016 04:57

Pretty cool. I didnt know that IR had these enclosed car carriers. I thought it is the "open" type. This seems to be for Namma Bengaluru markets. Glad that our recently bought Ciaz arrived this way (the MRF tyres we got as OEM fitment are kinda iffy though).

vsunder · Post by **vsunder** » 29 Mar 2016 05:50

^^^^^
In fact IR has set up a dedicated car transport hub at Wallajahbad, Arcot, Conjeevaram district etc etc. for loading cars for shipment. The same Road end of kirket commentaries of yesteryears at Chepauk, Road end being Wallajah Road end.

http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/ ... 305923.ece

I did not think this was important to post here. But ok here it is. Had driven through Walajabad while proceeding from Kanchipuram to Mahabalipuram in 2013.

vsunder · Post by **vsunder** » 31 Mar 2016 00:10

One of the serious issues faced by IR is land encroachment. This will go some ways to combat it.

http://www.railnews.co.in/indian-railwa ... d-records/

Here is a classic example of land encroachment. Banaswadi ( Northeast Bangalore) platform cannot be properly expanded due to land encroachment: See the recent picture( a few days old):

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk18 ... c45hj7.jpg

The new platform shown above is part of Yard remodelling and doubling of Chennasandra-Yellahanka line,
loop line around the Northern suburbs of Bangalore and perhaps the foundation of commuter rail for the future.

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 31 Mar 2016 05:34

vina wrote:Pretty cool. I didnt know that IR had these enclosed car carriers. I thought it is the "open" type. This seems to be for Namma Bengaluru markets. Glad that our recently bought Ciaz arrived this way (the MRF tyres we got as OEM fitment are kinda iffy though).

Come on saar, give the 'baboons' some credit

. IR has had car carriers since the nineties itself. They were called NMG (unofficially, New Maruti Goods) - jugaagified old passenger wagons with the windows sealed shut with wider doors at either end for loading. I have seen open air car transporter on IR, only thing close to it is Konkan railway's Ro-Ro service.

Shankas · Post by **Shankas** » 31 Mar 2016 12:28

travelled last week to Bangalore from Chennai by Bindavan express. It was a Double Decker train.
1) The train was filthy from outside as well as inside.
2) Windows were dusty and grimy with stains. Several windows were cracked and was taped with ordinary packing tape.
3) The luggage rake is too small (not to standard) thus one can not fit a standard hand carry suitcase
4) Leg space is tight and with the hand suitcase under the chair, the ride was excruciatingly painful. There is space to keep the suitcase near the doorway, but risk of theft prevents anyone from doing so.
5) Bathrooms were decent and I saw a cleaner empty the dust bin.
6) Train left on time and reached on time
7) Myself, wife and daughter got assaulted by mosquitoes. Repellant cream had no effect.

We saw spiders, 1 roach and many species of bugs we could not identify.
9) People seem resigned to all this.
10) Food and beverage choice was excellent
11) Ticket Checker was professional and treated everyone with courtesy.
12) There was a young women who boarded without tickets. She informed the TC and he told her the charge is Ticket price + 100% fine for a total of INR 700. She tried to play cute and her friends tried to plead with him to make an adjustment. He was courteous, professional and told her that he will not deviate from the rules. She eventually paid up.

All in all I see huge improvement and the above nit-picks I feel will get addressed in the next 5 years. The train ride was smooth with very little jerks.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 31 Mar 2016 12:37

Shankas wrote:travelled last week to Bangalore from Chennai by Bindavan express. It was a Double Decker train.
1) The train was filthy from outside as well as inside.
2) Windows were dusty and grimy with stains. Several windows were cracked and was taped with ordinary packing tape.
3) The luggage rake is too small (not to standard) thus one can not fit a standard hand carry suitcase
4) Leg space is tight and with the hand suitcase under the chair, the ride was excruciatingly painful. There is space to keep the suitcase near the doorway, but risk of theft prevents anyone from doing so.
5) Bathrooms were decent and I saw a cleaner empty the dust bin.
6) Train left on time and reached on time
7) Myself, wife and daughter got assaulted by mosquitoes. Repellant cream had no effect.
We saw spiders, 1 roach and many species of bugs we could not identify.
9) People seem resigned to all this.
10) Food and beverage choice was excellent
11) Ticket Checker was professional and treated everyone with courtesy.
12) There was a young women who boarded without tickets. She informed the TC and he told her the charge is Ticket price + 100% fine for a total of INR 700. She tried to play cute and her friends tried to plead with him to make an adjustment. He was courteous, professional and told her that he will not deviate from the rules. She eventually paid up.

All in all I see huge improvement and the above nit-picks I feel will get addressed in the next 5 years. The train ride was smooth with very little jerks.

Why don't you tweet the journey date and train number with details to Prabhu, the rail mantri.??

Ministry of Railways ‏@RailMinIndia 26 Nov 2015
All complaints, suggestions to be marked to concerned GMs, DRMs for appropriate action and also tag @RailMinIndia

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 31 Mar 2016 12:44

Shankas wrote:travelled last week to Bangalore from Chennai by Bindavan express. It was a Double Decker train.

22626/22625 (SBC-MAS-SBC) is the double decker train. Brindavan Exp is #12639 leaving MAS at 0750Hrs. Double decker leaves at 0725Hrs. I had travelled by this train in early March.

2) Windows were dusty and grimy with stains. Several windows were cracked and was taped with ordinary packing tape.

These coaches are all made at RCF Kapurthala, and yes even I did notice the lack of maintenance. The window next to me had the rubber beeding all coming out. The racks how ever seemed to be wide enough to hold a medium size trolley bag.

6) Train left on time and reached on time

Off late I get a call from +9139 number when right on the train, or a few hours after the journey. It is an automated system to check on punctuality, cleanliness etc. In my journey the train left SBC dot on time, but there was a delay in arrival by a few minutes.

10) Food and beverage choice was excellent

Not so great!! There were a few snacks - chilly bajjis for example. SHQ complained that soda powder(?) seems to have got added to the batter. The whole thing looks big and fluffy, but it causes stomach pains.

Prasad · Post by **Prasad** » 31 Mar 2016 13:17

The double decker train is a/c, brindavan isn't. Leg room on both is atrocious for anyone above midget height.

Karthik S · Post by **Karthik S** » 03 Apr 2016 03:25

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/high ... 33310.html

High-speed Talgo train to begin trial run soon in India

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 03 Apr 2016 05:48

Trains are supposed to be cleaned internally and spray washed exteranlly before every run.
Someone has dropped the ball.on this.

Scarcity of water this summer may lead to less external washes as it needs lot of water but internal unclean is not acceptable.

Long term the external wash booths can be made to reuse the water after removing grit but in most places it's just man with a pipe

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 03 Apr 2016 11:58

Singha wrote:Trains are supposed to be cleaned internally and spray washed exteranlly before every run.
Someone has dropped the ball.on this.

We must also understand that many a time the staff is not getting adequate time to do a thorough cleaning. IR has this concept of "rake sharing". That is the same set of coaches, run as multiple trains. For example, there is an early morning express train which arrives at Guruvayur from Chennai. The express train is return by the night. But IR does not just keep the whole train & loco idle at Guruvayur RS. Instead that train runs multiple trips as the Guruvayur-Ernakulam passenger. Which also means that the train is on the move pretty much of the time, and the staff does not get quality time for cleaning it up.