Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

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nandakumar
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by nandakumar »

The reservation algorithm does try to put passenger in contiguous seats. But the bane of Railways is this thing called VIP Quota. In addition there are certain seats earmarked for emergency requests (EQs). Taken together, in a 1A coach of 24 berths, as many as 12 are not available till the last date. Any airline like 'seat option' would mean that they have to show these as blocked, that is half the coach. Now that might be somewhat embarrassing for the railway management.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by prahaar »

Recently took Trivandrum Rajdhani 1A coach, while booking it was second last seat for me. After boarding the train, the person in my box of 4 berths said he got a confirmation from WL only yesterday but on the other hand, the coach had ONLY 4 passengers (including a couple returning from honey moon). I understood from the attendant that this is not an uncommon situation.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Singha »

mantris, tantris, IAS officers in north belt and railway higher ups corner the bulk of 1A seats.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Singha »

even on twin WAP5 rajdhani only 1 pantograph is raised despite the barely 20meter gap - oscillation dhoti shiver by cowardly yindu train

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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by JTull »

Do the trains on Mumbai - Delhi route still get delayed a lot once they get close to Mathura? I remember that it used to be a nightmare. It was quite common to lose 1 to 2 hrs.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Singha »

why only mathura? once you enter gurgaon from jaipur side, its a slow crawl via delhi cantt and purani dilli to the NDLS .... 1 hr minimum. line clearance and platforms not available are perpetual issues at major kabila hubs like NDLS.

fortunately I was deeply comfortable in my 1AC chair car and did not want to leave its cozy comfort and huge legroom.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

@Kashi: Your question regarding Line 2, Allahabad-Varanasi and Modi's campaign promise to double it and electrify it. Indeed I find that he has made good on it. Varanasi-Manduadih-Kachwwa Rd. doubling is scheduled to be commissioned by Dec 2018, 27km.(see item 17 below)

http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwa ... ER_CRB.pdf

There are videos of the earthworks on this stretch. The problem is that each of the three lines connecting Allahabad to Varanasi lie in three different rail zones. Line 1 in your nomenclature, via Phulpur is under Northern railway, fully electrified but partially doubled, Line 2 via Madho Singh, under North eastern railway(neither electrified, nor doubled) and the main one Allahabad to Mughalsarai under North Central railway. In general there is a very strong push for rail projects in backward parts of eastern UP and western Bihar.

https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll ... ur/1066219

Doubling and electrification of many lines and more bridges across the Ganga and its various tributaries. Ghazipur will be a LNG terminal on IW-1(Inland Waterway route 1) that comprises, inland ports on Ganga at Hazira-Farakka-Sahibganj-Ghazipur-Varanasi, with barge traffic. So there is a push to double and electrify Varanasi-Aunrihar-Ghazipur-Ballia. Here is a video that shows new bridges across river Varuna(outside Varanasi, Varanasi gets its name being sandwiched between the two Ganga tributaries Varuna and Asi and near Varuna is the Trailanga swami ashram ghat and Asi is Assi ghat of Tulsidas) and river Gomti(which flows through Lucknow also). You can see electrification going on( all this will help when the new intermodal IW-1, LNG terminal comes up in Ghazipur, bringing employment to a place which has not seen anything for centuries)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51wqnKkbpOg


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
In more news, after 10 long years, funds have been sanctioned to fully gauge convert Madurai to Bodinayakanur. 10-11 years ago they uprooted the old MG tracks and trains stopped. Bodi lies at the foot of the Western Ghats and Munnar tea(from Kerala) and also cardamom is transported along this line. Now the merchants have to use road transportation which is costly and there is apparently lot of pilferage. The first stretch of this route, Madurai-Usilampatti is scheduled for commissioning in Feb 2019. This is 35km. Next Bodi will be connected by a 4 lane highway with Madurai. So Feb 2019 the railways part to Usilampatti will be commissioned providing respite to tea and cardamom merchants:

http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwa ... SR_CRB.pdf

Commissioning is scheduled for Madurai-Usilampatti ^^^^ So about 50km still left to gauge convert to Bodi.

This was the measly state of affairs with funds of previous governments:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/t ... 216394.ece

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBnw2W_2pyA

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
In Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram-Kochi doubling: block sections Changanaserry-Chingavanam, Chingavanam-Kottayam, Kottayam-Ettamanur and Ettamanur-Kurrupuntara are left. Out of these Changanassery-Chingavanam is at an advanced stage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFDf2L-y3bY

Most likely commissioning by Dec 2018 for Sabari season. Monsoon slows work here.

Other sections: Kurrupuntara-Ettamanoor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27jufbLhE04

Ettamanoor-Kottayam involves a bridge across the Meenachil river (0:58) near north Kottayam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKXIeAL1f-w&t=96s

Also one can see a new ROB being built (3:29)^^^ and an old one has to be demolished to make way for the double line.

Once this is done Kochi-Thiruvanananthpuram will be doubled and electrified and more trains can be introduced.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Also earthworks have started to double Kanyakumari-Thiruvananthapuram, between Eraniel and Nagercoil:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQueUuMYVX4
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by arshyam »

JTull wrote:Do the trains on Mumbai - Delhi route still get delayed a lot once they get close to Mathura? I remember that it used to be a nightmare. It was quite common to lose 1 to 2 hrs.
It is still very congested, but not as much as the last leg from Tilak bridge to NDLS, where trains are routinely held up for path clearance and platform availability (NDLS has 16 platforms). It's quite common to see trains halted near Pragati Maidan, Tilak bridge and Shivaji bridge in the mornings, and it gets worse during the fog season as all trains come in late and end up being bunched up in this stretch. I believe the project to add two additional tracks dedicated for east bound trains (UP, BH, Kolkata side) is underway and will help in faster movement of trains. Currently, the 16 platforms merge onto four tracks up to Nizamuddin (the eastern tracks branch off just before Nizamuddin at Pragati Maidan), which is why there is congestion. So the 5th and 6th tracks will help.

Mathura-Delhi is somewhat better after adding the third track between Palwal and NZM, and this third track is being extended to Mathura as well. Not sure if there is a plan for a 4th track, but it will definitely help.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by arshyam »

vsunder wrote: %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
In Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram-Kochi doubling: block sections Changanaserry-Chingavanam, Chingavanam-Kottayam, Kottayam-Ettamanur and Ettamanur-Kurrupuntara are left. Out of these Changanassery-Chingavanam is at an advanced stage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFDf2L-y3bY

Most likely commissioning by Dec 2018 for Sabari season. Monsoon slows work here.

Other sections: Kurrupuntara-Ettamanoor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27jufbLhE04

Ettamanoor-Kottayam involves a bridge across the Meenachil river (0:58) near north Kottayam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKXIeAL1f-w&t=96s

Also one can see a new ROB being built (3:29)^^^ and an old one has to be demolished to make way for the double line.

Once this is done Kochi-Thiruvanananthpuram will be doubled and electrified and more trains can be introduced.
Sir, wasn't the shorter coastal line via Alappuzha going to be doubled first, since land acquisition was supposedly less of an issue? Do you know what is happening there? Wiki says only a 13km stretch between Kayamkulam and Haripad was doubled (out of a total of 100km). This article says that the Kottayam line is targeted for 2020, and no progress on the Alappuzha line.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp ... 453754.ece
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

arshyam wrote:

wasn't the shorter coastal line via Alappuzha going to be doubled first, since land acquisition was supposedly less of an issue? Do you know what is happening there? Wiki says only a 13km stretch between Kayamkulam and Haripad was doubled (out of a total of 100km). This article says that the Kottayam line is targeted for 2020, and no progress on the Alappuzha line.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp ... 453754.ece
In fact I heard it the other way. LA problems on the coastal line via Alappuzha(Alleypey). The target assigned by Railway Board to Southern railway that I have linked in my post above, indeed assigns a target of 18km for this coastal route, Haripad to Ambalpuzzha, see item 5:

http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwa ... SR_CRB.pdf

Progress is really slow for this route. The reason for the 2020 completion schedule for the Kottayam route is as follows. By 2019 everything will be done except Chingavanam-Kottayam. Currently the single line in that block section passes through two tunnels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0VLJTdaznc

The plan is to acquire land to the side and do away with the tunnels altogether and have the double line in a deep cut. The line through the tunnels in the video above will be retained as a shunting neck but closed off. Maybe a pit line inside the tunnel: :rotfl: in the pits that is. However this is Kerala so there are LA problems with this plan. So IR thinks by 2020 Chingavanam-Kottayam will be done and then everything will be done.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Here are more details about the Ghazipur intermodal terminal and LNG bunkering facility there:

https://safety4sea.com/lng-facility-to- ... -terminal/

The short spur railway line from the south that ends at the banks of the Ganga, will actually cross the Ganga on a new road and rail bridge that is being built, called Tarighat bridge. All these bridges have to be built now with enough gap between piers to allow these barges to go through. Here is a description of the first consignment of 300 Maruti cars that were sent down the river from Varanasi in a test in 2016.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india ... n-2987827/

The cost comparison above via water, rail and road is quite interesting and also the data of how many trucks are pulled off the road by barge traffic.

The Tarighat bridge at Ghazipur: (85m spans to facilitate movement of barges,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji8Mc6rzHuQ

A very good narration of the speed at which the Tarighat bridge is coming up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAnDLRb9LpQ

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Two historical notes:

1. Ghazipur has the Indian Government opium factory, built in 1820, the largest official opium factory in the world. At 0:45 in the video you can see the opium factory, looks like a prison.

2. The grave of Lord Cornwallis who lost the war in America at Yorktown and surrendered to George Washington and was then made Governor General of India is in Ghazipur.

3. Swami Vivekananda met Pavhari Baba (during his travels as a parivajraka) on the banks of the Ganga at Ghazipur and for a time toyed with the idea of becoming his disciple.

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

The second historical note is about the Meenachil river, that I mentioned in my last post and which appears in the video I linked above^^, an interesting story of its birth:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meenachil_River
Last edited by vsunder on 17 Jun 2018 08:45, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kashi »

Wonderful roundup as usual vsunderji. I was not aware that the Varanasi-Janghai-Phulpur-Allahabad Line and Varanasi-Madhosingh-Allahabad lines came under different jurisdictions.

A lot of Delhi bound and South bound trains from Varanasi take the Line 2, Varanasi-Madhosingh-Allahabad route. Doubling and electrification will go a long way in speeding up these journeys. So of the 130 odd km, they'll finally commission 27 km of doubled/electrified stretch in December 2018. I wonder what is their deadline for commissioning the entire stretch.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

arshyam wrote:
JTull wrote:Do the trains on Mumbai - Delhi route still get delayed a lot once they get close to Mathura? I remember that it used to be a nightmare. It was quite common to lose 1 to 2 hrs.
It is still very congested, but not as much as the last leg from Tilak bridge to NDLS, where trains are routinely held up for path clearance and platform availability (NDLS has 16 platforms). It's quite common to see trains halted near Pragati Maidan, Tilak bridge and Shivaji bridge in the mornings, and it gets worse during the fog season as all trains come in late and end up being bunched up in this stretch. I believe the project to add two additional tracks dedicated for east bound trains (UP, BH, Kolkata side) is underway and will help in faster movement of trains. Currently, the 16 platforms merge onto four tracks up to Nizamuddin (the eastern tracks branch off just before Nizamuddin at Pragati Maidan), which is why there is congestion. So the 5th and 6th tracks will help.

Mathura-Delhi is somewhat better after adding the third track between Palwal and NZM, and this third track is being extended to Mathura as well. Not sure if there is a plan for a 4th track, but it will definitely help.
5th and 6th tracks Tilak bridge is to be commissioned August 2018 in 2 months. 4th line between Delhi and Mathura is also in advanced stages, many sections to be commissioned this year: (Delhi-Mathura comes under two zones, Northern railway and North Central railway)

Items 3, 8
http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwa ... NR_CRB.pdf

Items 6, 7, 8
http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwa ... CR_CRB.pdf

Also Mathura to Jhansi third line is also sanctioned and Jhansi to Bina third line where serious earthworks are going on and about 50km third line will be commissioned this year. Mathura-Jhansi third line the challenge will be the Datia pass, the preferred route of invaders into the Deccan from olden times. The line Chennai-Delhi, Mumbai-Delhi goes through the Datia pass which has some impressive rock formations and low broken hills. OK there is a bridge across the Chambal and some smaller rivers, but no great shakes. I think on the up line (towards Mumbai) there is a tunnel after Gwalior towards Jhansi, gosh some of these lines I have not been on them in ages, getting old. I have not been in the Jaunpur, Ayodhya, Ghazipur area in a loong time.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by arshyam »

vsunder wrote:
arshyam wrote: It is still very congested, but not as much as the last leg from Tilak bridge to NDLS, where trains are routinely held up for path clearance and platform availability (NDLS has 16 platforms). It's quite common to see trains halted near Pragati Maidan, Tilak bridge and Shivaji bridge in the mornings, and it gets worse during the fog season as all trains come in late and end up being bunched up in this stretch. I believe the project to add two additional tracks dedicated for east bound trains (UP, BH, Kolkata side) is underway and will help in faster movement of trains. Currently, the 16 platforms merge onto four tracks up to Nizamuddin (the eastern tracks branch off just before Nizamuddin at Pragati Maidan), which is why there is congestion. So the 5th and 6th tracks will help.

Mathura-Delhi is somewhat better after adding the third track between Palwal and NZM, and this third track is being extended to Mathura as well. Not sure if there is a plan for a 4th track, but it will definitely help.
5th and 6th tracks Tilak bridge is to be commissioned August 2018 in 2 months. 4th line between Delhi and Mathura is also in advanced stages, many sections to be commissioned this year: (Delhi-Mathura comes under two zones, Northern railway and North Central railway)

Items 3, 8
http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwa ... NR_CRB.pdf

Items 6, 7, 8
http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwa ... CR_CRB.pdf

Also Mathura to Jhansi third line is also sanctioned and Jhansi to Bina third line where serious earthworks are going on and about 50km third line will be commissioned this year. Mathura-Jhansi third line the challenge will be the Datia pass, the preferred route of invaders into the Deccan from olden times. The line Chennai-Delhi, Mumbai-Delhi goes through the Datia pass which has some impressive rock formations and low broken hills. OK there is a bridge across the Chambal and some smaller rivers, but no great shakes. I think on the up line (towards Mumbai) there is a tunnel after Gwalior towards Jhansi, gosh some of these lines I have not been on them in ages, getting old. I have not been in the Jaunpur, Ayodhya, Ghazipur area in a loong time.
Thanks, vsunder sir. I was poking about and came across this document, although slightly dated shows the number of third/quad line projects going on across IR. Looks like the entire Delhi-Chennai and Kolkata-Mumbai routes are being upgraded, among others.

http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwa ... _17_18.pdf
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by SivaR »

vsunder Sir,
Inspite of all these projects, i fear they are becoming white elephants. Since the operations side is not getting improved and infact getting worse.
Take the example of Coimbatore - Chennai, this is one of the oldest FEDL in IR fully welded tracks, the running time of 7 hours 30 minutes for a 495Km journey is increased to 8hours 10minutes recently. This is inspite of Quadrapling of 70km between chennai and Arakkonam and yard modifications in almost all the major stations enroute to remove the bottlenecks, closure of numerous LC's etc.
Currently there are 17 flights/day between chennai and Coimbatore (even MUM-DEL is 64 only for its status), remember the chennai airport is already struggling for key slots and coimbatore airport could not expand for want of runway extension, which is stuck in LA issues for more than a decade and it don't operate in late night hours.Otherwise it would be more.
The Southern Railway oppicers are currently under three payrolls apart from IR.
1. In the early 90's the private omni bus operators were the first to bring SR oppicers under their payroll.
2. A decade back the Toll road operators included them.(Between Coimbatore-Chennai atleast 4 toll gates MUST be crossed, hence to improve the private vehicle they brought SR oppicers)
3. Last 3-5 years Airline Operators included the SR oppicers.
4.Rumour has it that Car pool operators like 'blah blah blah.com' are including them, on every weekend atleast 500 car pool sharing happens between these two cities.
With such a high motivation, SR oppicers are hell bent not to utilise any of these projects. hence they are becoming white elephants.
I have strong feeling that this government has wasted on projects without removing the clogs in IR.The sad thing is I am not seeing any light in this tunnel
Glad to hear other's opinions.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Vips »

Reducing congestion: Mughalsarai-Allahabad third rail line set to get Railway Board nod.

A long-standing demand to sanction a third rail line between Allahabad and Mughalsarai is likely to get the Railway Board’s approval this week, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said today. Goyal said there are particular sections on the Indian Railways network which are extremely overburdened and Mughalsarai was one of them. “There was a plan for a third line between Allahabad and Mughalsarai, which I have asked the Railway Board to sanction this week itself, so that we can start work on that line,” he told reporters at a press conference. The third line will minimize congestion on Mughalsarai-Howrah route.

Officials say that 250-350 trains operate on the Allahabad-Mughalsarai route daily, making it the “busiest route” in the country. Nearly 200 passenger trains and more than 200 goods trains cross Mughalsarai station daily, getting on around 13,000-15,000 people to and fro. “Similarly, we have asked all zones to take out all those bottlenecks which need infrastructure upgradation so that the Railway Board can take a mission mode decision and work can start on all such projects which will debottleneck the railway lines.

These are corridors where entire railway converges and it causes delays across the whole national railway,” the minister said. The enhancement of infrastructure, Goyal said, will include elevated corridors which will bypass city areas to allow freight and long-distance trains to move faster.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kashi »

It's baffling that it has taken so long to sanction a third line along the Allahabad-Mughalsarai route. This is the busiest route in the country and I am not sure a third line would be enough, a fourth line will be necessary as well.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by disha »

Kashi wrote:It's baffling that it has taken so long to sanction a third line along the Allahabad-Mughalsarai route. This is the busiest route in the country and I am not sure a third line would be enough, a fourth line will be necessary as well.
Even a fourth line will not help. What one needs is a Bullet Train.

Yes, a HSR for

Delhi->Agra->Kanpur->Prayag->Varanasi->Patna->Kolkatta & another Kanpur->Lucknow->Patna

This HSR/Bullet train should have been created as of yesterday!
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Rahul M »

there's only one t in kolkata.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Why 4th line ? Ginti theek say kariye There is already a double line Allahabad-Mughalsarai, EDFC additional two more lines. Tentative third line , number of lines between Allahabad and Mughalsarai adds up to 5. 4 of them are a reality. I have
already posted pictures of the bridge on EDFC over Yamuna with all piers completed, earthworks are going on strongly between Kanpur and Mughalsarai. Bridge over River Tamsa(know your Ramayana) ( one of the rare rivers that joins Ganga from its south bank between Allahabad and Mirzapur/Vindhyachal, the vasini of this place was the patron deity of the thugs) for EDFC is a smaller bridge than over Yamuna and close to being done.

@ I mentioned Line 1 between Varanasi-Allahabad above, that is Varanasi-Bhadoi-Janghai-Phulpur-Phaphamau-Allahabad. This is electrified but being doubled. Anyhow, this Phulpur on this line was the Lok Sabha constituency of Chacha Nehru. He might have changed later in his political life.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

There are two major rail over rail flyovers on EDFC between Khurja and Kanpur.
First one, at Mendu, Hathras bypass. EDFC passes over three NER tracks:

Narrative about this open girder bridge of EDFC

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q0-9e_0O9o


Second rail flyover I do not see much happening, but Google earth is dated here. It will cross the existing Delhi-Kanpur tracks twice, once before Etawah and once after Etawah near Ekdil. You can see the earthworks preparatory to the rail flyover on Google earth but not the flyover yet: Coordinates:(you can see piers being constructed for the future rail flyover, but Google Earth is ancient)

26.770315, 79.089733
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kashi »

vsunderji I meant expanding the existing Allahabad-Mughalsarai section from two to four lines. You are right about the two lines of the EDFC and they should take away a large chunk of the traffic overload on the A-M section. The question is, after that will the three lines be sufficient for speeding up this section, or is it better to go for four lines (as with the Delhi-Mathura section) for future needs.

The A-M mainline passes very close to the famous temple devoted to Vindhyavasini i.e. the Shakti swaroop who resides in the Vindhyachal mountains. The temple is situated on a cliff overlooking the Ganga. One can see the a steady stream of shradhhaalu making their way to the temple via the road underpass as numerous trains chug by overhead.

There's a two lane roadbridge in the area that connects the opposite banks of the river called the Chilla pul. An alternate bridge is desperately needed.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Delhi to Mathura 4 lines carries both freight and EMU services between Palwal and Delhi and long distance trains. Delhi-Kanpur-Allahabad-Mughalsarai and the banks of the Ganga is some of the densely populated areas on the planet. It has been hell on wheels acquiring land to build the DFC and the process is still not complete. In NOIDA near Dadri, LA problems are holding up construction as well as LA problems near Faridabad for the Dadri-Rewari loop around Delhi.
Some of this is UP govt land and some villagers. Putting in the announced third line which will not have the luxury of bypassing cities like the DFC does but goes into them, will be a nightmare with land acquisition. 5 tracks does occupy space even in the boondocks where they will run together. Putting in 6 tracks is going to be really tough. Yogi, Fadnavis, Rupani have not been very cooperative with LA issues and even transferring over state government land to the DFC. Fadnavis has been the worst with 12 km of track in the Vaitarna-JNPT section of WDFC held up with his intransigence. What sort of a idiot country is this where the PMO has to get consistently involved on the minutae of land acquisition even with state govt to central govt. land transfer? Does Putin or Trump involve themselves with getting extra land say in making one extra lane of I-95? Does Trump call up the Maryland governor and say what is happening with land near Baltimore for that extra lane of I-95?
Should the PM of a big country like India be doing stuff like this? Imagine a casual person like R Gandhi as PM, handling the DFC or future DFC's with multiple problems that Modi faces, day in and day out. Rupani is another useless person, has not transferred land under Sardar Patel sarovar for WDFC and parts of it is held up and also parts between Sachin and Vadodara in Gujarat. Modi has had to make numerous phone calls and work the phones. This is no way a country should be run. It will be some decades before even this 3rd line comes up.

The other plan that IR has and I linked it above is the introduction of ETCS-2 European Train Control system, between Delhi-Mughalsarai. Eventually when the kinks are removed they want to do a Make in India. This will remove block sections and several trains can enter a block about 500m to 1km apart. With DFC and ETCS-2 this will allow trains to be packed together like sardines and may be a short term answer to congestion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_ ... rol_System

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-ne ... SgwbP.html
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kashi »

Sometimes it feels like a miracle that DFC project is actually progressing.

vsunderji, I agree with you that laying lines is not very easy on a busy route, especially with land acquisition along populated sections.

Here's a map of UP population density.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... y_2011.svg

On the Eastern end of the state, The northern side of Ganga is more densely populated than the Southern side- though "less densely populated" is a relative term and UP is highly populated anyway.

The Allahabad-Mughalsarai section of the Kanpur-Mughalsarai mainline passes South of the Ganga through Allahabad, Mirzapur and Chandauli districts (Mughalsarai is in Chandauli district). More than the population density, it may be topology which could cause some issues as it is with EDFC- building through hills and hillocks and diversion of forest land.

Nevertheless, augmentation of this section is very important.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Karthik S »

As far as infra projects go, this guy is very good.


Virgin Hyperloop One to invest Rs 3,000 crore in Pune-Mumbai Hyperloop track
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/techn ... 11831.html
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Vips »

Railways to procure 100,000 wagons for Rs 200-250 billion in 5 yrs.

The Indian Railways is set to procure around 100,000 wagons, worth Rs 200-250 billion at current prices, in the next five years.
Of the 100,000 wagons, Coal India is planning to have at least 50,000, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday on the sidelines of an event of the Confederation of Indian Industry.

With bulk orders coming through the reverse auction method, the prices of wagons are expected to come down by 10-20 per cent.

Asking public sector companies to speed up their supply, Goyal indicated the wagon sector would be opened up for private and foreign players because the requirement would increase once dedicated freight corridors were in place.

“We wanted to bid out 22,000 wagons this year. But about 18,000 wagons we have ordered are yet to be delivered,” Goyal said. Even though the railways sought around 1,000 wagons a month, companies were able to supply, on average, 443 wagons from January to May this year.
Though the ministry had targeted procuring 12,000 wagons in 2017-18, the aim was brought down to around 7,000. :(

The cost of a normal 22.9-tonne axle load wagon is Rs 2-2.2 million, while that of a 25-tonne axle load wagon is around Rs 2.5 million. The use of longer 25-tonne axle load capacity wagons is expected to increase after the commissioning of the Eastern and Western freight corridors. Officials expect with increase in demand for 25-tonne axle load wagons, the price per unit will come down.

In 2018-19, the railways is set to invest around Rs 318 billion on rolling stock, which includes diesel and electric locomotives, wagons and passenger coaches.

The minister also said with the railways planning to go for 100 per cent electrification (by 2021-22), it was poised to become a net zero carbon emitter by 2030. He also urged better participation from industry to make this a realistic target.

Highlighting his achievements in recent months, he said, “We have been able to ramp up track renewal to 476 km every month. Investment in 2013-14 in the capital infrastructure of the railways was slated to be about Rs 460 billion, and it is now Rs 1.41 trillion in 2017-18.”

He also sought private investment in technological upgrade and modernisation. The sector has a huge technology issue. “We are ready to do whatever industry wants,” the minister said, citing the example of station redevelopment. When the railways first invited tenders for developing 20-odd stations, it got a lucrative response from industry.

“We have made changes in policy like increasing the leasing period from 45 years to 99 years, allowing companies to mortgage the property, giving options for sub leasing and doing even engineering, construction and procurement,” he said.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by JTull »

One gripe is why English media converts crores to millions and billions. Let Rupees be counted in thousands of crores.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Pune-Miraj-Londa doubling

Here are some videos that shows progress on Pune-Miraj-Londa doubling.

Bridge across River Krishna complete at Ugar Kudachi(commissioned May 8th, 2018)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyZ8qCca7fs

An earlier view of the bridge prior to commissioning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mY6AHt5Jlwk


The 100+ yr old masonry bridge will be condemned, you can see the piers of a second bridge coming up which will carry the Pune-Miraj-Londa double line. So two new bridges and so all permanent speed restrictions hopefully should be lifted.

Between Adarki and Wathar stations earthworks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvJXtOE5LpY

Between Chikkodi rd. and Raibag:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3beOoHAW3U

Targets, under SWR, Ghataprabha-Chikkodi Dec 2018 15km,

Targets under CR, Pune-Phursungi 17km, Bhavaninagar-Takari 5km Feb 2019.

Doubling and electrification will be implemented together between Pune-Londa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSgDtkD8R2A

This project was announced by Suresh Prabhu. There is a ghat section Shindwane ghat that will be the tough challenge.

According to a book I own, IR has 1,38, 912 bridges. Out of these, 54,000 bridges are more than 100 years old, 75, 000 are more than 80 years old. 527 bridges are weak and distressed and 262 have been identified as distressed. These findings of distressed bridges are the work of the Justice H. R. Khanna committee that investigated rail safety and tabled a report in 1999. The original builders of these bridges gave a fitness certificate for these bridges for 100 years. Many bridges are close to 150 years old built in the 1870's like the Tawa river bridge that carries the Mumbai-Howrah line via Itarsi and Allahabad.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by A Nandy »

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... 703450.cms
The Indian Railways will soon start deploying drones to monitor rail tracks, a step that could help the national transporter leap forward on the safety aspect which is an area of special attention for the government.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Sachin »

Now for some humour..
No Rail Coach Factory in Palakkad, Kerala MPs protest at Rail Bhavan :lol:.
The protesting MPs were mainly from a very popular national level party, the CPI(M). IR wanted to start a railway coach factory at Palakkad way back in 1982. The state governments of KL were still drooling over China, Cuba, USSR etc. That coach factory moved to Kapurthala. Then some where in 2008-2010 the proposal was revised. By then IR said that any new factory has to be in PPP mode. Kerala politicians, mainly the comrades wanted this to be a PSU unit. Off course the intention being this could be another opportunity for trade unionism and leftist politics. IR refused. Rae Barelli RCF which started some where in 2010 is now fully functional :). And the current GoI also started another RCF at Sonepat, which most likely would be operational by 2019. Now IR is confident that with the current set of coach factories, their future demands would be fully met.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vasu raya »

Does the IR use AI in any of its operations planning?
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by A Nandy »

https://www.financialexpress.com/infras ... y/1218575/
At a height of 3,300 metres, the Bilaspur-Manali-Leh railway line (498 km), once operational, would be the highest in the world, overtaking China’s Qinghai-Tibet Railway. It is one of the four strategic railway lines being built by the Indian Railways to fortify India’s borders with China, the others being Missamari-Tenga-Tawang (378 km), North Lakhimpur-Bame (Along)-Silapathar (249 km) and Pasighat-Tezu-Parsuram Kund-Rupai (227 km). The lines are aimed at facilitating troop and armament movement to frontier areas at short notice.

With the final location survey (FLS) for the four lines — expected to cost more than Rs 2 lakh crore — in progress, the Indian Railways is expected to submit the final report to the ministry of defence by March, 2020.
This line is expected to be extended to Dromo (close to Doklam) near Sikkim and Nyingtri in north Arunachal Pradesh.
The railways is using advance techniques such as photogrammetry, drone survey and digital elevation models for the survey. It will take another five years for the lines to be constructed once the survey reports are submitted.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by A Nandy »

https://yourstory.com/2018/06/iisc-incu ... ilyCapsule
Last year, the Indian Railways announced it would spend Rs 10,000 crore on technology upgrades. However, at present, most digital technology contracts only go to large global firms like Alstom and Thales.

Sudhir and Sreenivasa began work on IoT technology and a digital transformation stack for the railways. They invested Rs 1 crore of their own money, and have two pilots at present. One of their products measures rail fractures, while the other helps a station master and his team manage the control room for incoming and outgoing trains in a station with tablets. The current method allows information flow, but it is semi-digital. One can see the control room in this video and the amount of paper used. “We want to ensure the entire system goes digital,” says Sudhir.

The railways recently announced it will spend on homegrown ERP technology to track railway purchases, and have a single platform for all divisions.

To get revenue, Sudhir and Sreenivasa, however, chose to first approach private cargo rail network operators before the Indian Railways. The private rail network in India is 8,500 km long, and is operated by big names such as the Adani Group and Reliance Industries, who pay rent to the railways for using the network.

“We have taken the products to the private sector because for them time is money,” says Sudhir. Companies face transportation delays every month due to fractured rail lines or stoppage delays, and companies can lose up to Rs 50 crore annually. LabToMarket seeks to save this money with analytics and IoT. It charges for outcomes, and also an annual maintenance fee. A private cargo fleet spends around Rs 20 crore to maintain five rail lines, whileLabToMarket can help in its maintenance for Rs 3 crore.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Vips »

Bilaspur-Manali-Leh rail line to be highest in the world, overtaking China’s Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

At a height of 3,300 metres, the Bilaspur-Manali-Leh railway line (498 km), once operational, would be the highest in the world, overtaking China’s Qinghai-Tibet Railway. It is one of the four strategic railway lines being built by the Indian Railways to fortify India’s borders with China, the others being Missamari-Tenga-Tawang (378 km), North Lakhimpur-Bame (Along)-Silapathar (249 km) and Pasighat-Tezu-Parsuram Kund-Rupai (227 km). The lines are aimed at facilitating troop and armament movement to frontier areas at short notice.

With the final location survey (FLS) for the four lines — expected to cost more than Rs 2 lakh crore — in progress, the Indian Railways is expected to submit the final report to the ministry of defence by March, 2020.

The mega rail projects were approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security in December, 2015. While a total length of around 1,350 km was initially estimated, the length of the railway line to Tawang would be reduced to 170 km from the earlier 377 km through the use of tunnels. Expected to cost Rs 50,000 crore, the Tawang line would have a tunnel of 30-km length – each tunnel-km of railway line costs around Rs 100 crore to build.

On the other side, China has an operational railway line connecting Shigatse in the Tibet region, around 1,250 km from the Indian border. This line is expected to be extended to Dromo (close to Doklam) near Sikkim and Nyingtri in north Arunachal Pradesh.

“The proposed lines are in difficult terrain and challenging geological conditions given that the Himalayas are young and fragile mountains. Though the projects are very capital-intensive in nature, no traffic is expected on these routes,” says a government official. Therefore, it is the ministry of defence and not the Indian Railways that would be bearing the huge project costs, he says. Of the approximately Rs 350 crore that the surveys are expected to cost, the defence ministry has already paid Rs 150 crore to the railways.

Under the final location survey being conducted, the terms of reference such as grade, loops and station locations are first decided. In the second phase, corridor trajectory is finalised and finally the design, including that for tunnels, is decided and cost estimates made. The terms of reference have been completed for all four routes. “After the surveys are over, the railways will make a cost estimate, for the defence ministry to provide the final go-ahead,” the official says, adding actual spending on the projects would start with geological investigations.

The railways is using advance techniques such as photogrammetry, drone survey and digital elevation models for the survey. It will take another five years for the lines to be constructed once the survey reports are submitted.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by nash »

Do anyone have any information on Train-18, it is supposed to be on track for testing.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Vips »

Indian Railways bets on massive infra boost! SAIL to supply 12 lakh tonnes of rail tracks.

After failing to keep up with Indian Railways’ requirement last fiscal, state-owned SAIL is now optimistic that it will be able meet the enhanced demand of rails from the national transporter this year and will supply 12 lakh tonnes of tracks, a top official said. This assumes significance as the government had last year pulled up the country’s largest steel producer Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) for not meeting the requirement of Indian Railways and had asked the company to increase output from its new rail mill in Bhilai.

“From the past so many years, we have been supplying at the level of 6-7 lakh tonnes per annum of rails as per their (railways) requirement… In 2016-17, there was a little increase in their demand. As per requirement, we have gone to the level of 6.6 lakh tonnes… in 2017-18, it had gone to the level of 8.8 lakh tonnes per annum. But demand was 9 (lakh tonnes) in the last financial year,” Bhilai Steel Plant CEO M Ravi told PTI in an interview.

SAIL’s Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) is country’s main producer of steel rails and supplies the produce to Indian Railways. “The demand (of Indian Railways) has become double…In that condition we could not supply as per their requirement in the last financial year,” Ravi said. SAIL-BSP’s new Universal Rail Mill has enhanced total rail production capacity of the country’s largest steel producer to 20 lakh tonnes per annum. “Even today their requirement is of 12 lakh tonnes that will be fulfilled this financial year,” the CEO said.

“We have gone for new Universal Rail Mill. Earlier our capacity was only 7 lakh tonnes… and we have added one more thing (new Universal Rail Mill) that is 12 lakh tonnes. Combining both, there would be approximately 20 lakh tonnes,” Ravi explained. The public sector undertaking has been supplying tracks to Indian Railways for more than five decades.

Replying to another question, he said, “This year that situation (of last year) will not come after July the graph will be at straight…for Bhilai Steel Plant as far as Railways is concerned,” he said.

Last year, SAIL commissioned its 1.2 MTPA new Universal Rail Mill, and with this, the PSU began the commercial production of world’s longest single rail of 130 metres from the new URM.

The railways had earlier invited a global tender to plug the shortfall in supply of rails from SAIL. Railways had earlier said that it had to invite a global tender for procuring more than 4 lakh tonnes of rails to meet the shortfall of supply from SAIL.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kashi »

IPRCL Report indicates projects worth Rs.187-Bn being carried to connect Railways to Ports this fiscal

NEW DELHI: Aimed at bringing down logistics costs by providing rail connectivity to ports, Indian Port Rail Corporation along with other agencies are implementing projects worth Rs 187.95 billion (Rs 18,795 crore), the government has said.

IPRCL, a joint venture between major ports and Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL), as a dedicated SPV is developing railways as a mode of transport in the port sector under the government’s ambitious initiative Sagarmala – a flagship programme for port led-development in the country.

“More than 50 per cent of the rail connectivity projects identified under Sagarmala are under implementation through various agencies such as IPRCL,” Ministry of Shipping has said in its latest report.

As many as 70 rail connectivity projects for 4,247 km length were identified to be implemented at a cost of about Rs 467.28 billion (Rs 46,728 crore), the report said.

Of the 70 identified projects, 27 projects are currently under implementation for 1,967 km at a cost of about Rs 187.95 billion (Rs 18,795 crore), it said.

Thirteen projects having a length of 426 km have already been completed at a cost of Rs 25.92 billion (Rs 2,592 crore), as per the report.

It also said that 30 more projects entailing an investment of Rs 253.41 billion (Rs 25,341 crore) are under pre-implementation stage to provide 1,967 km connectivity.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Karthik S »

nash wrote:Do anyone have any information on Train-18, it is supposed to be on track for testing.
Last saw that it may hit tracks in Sept.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Kashi »

vsunder wrote:@Kashi: Your question regarding Line 2, Allahabad-Varanasi and Modi's campaign promise to double it and electrify it. Indeed I find that he has made good on it. Varanasi-Manduadih-Kachwwa Rd. doubling is scheduled to be commissioned by Dec 2018, 27km.(see item 17 below)

http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwa ... ER_CRB.pdf
vsunderji, I came to know recently that when the Manduahdi-Madhosingh-Allahabad line was still metre-gauge, there used to a spur from Madhosingh towards Chilla ghat across the river. The line was decommissioned after gauge conversion.

Do you have any more information about this particular spur?
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by Prasad »

Vips wrote:Indian Railways bets on massive infra boost! SAIL to supply 12 lakh tonnes of rail tracks.
Last year, SAIL commissioned its 1.2 MTPA new Universal Rail Mill, and with this, the PSU began the commercial production of world’s longest single rail of 130 metres from the new URM.
We discussed this sometime back here didn't we? About India not manufacturing longer rails for HSR or something. No more such constraints given this news then I guess.
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Re: Indian Railways Thread (Dec 2015)

Post by vsunder »

Kashi wrote:
vsunder wrote:@Kashi: Your question regarding Line 2, Allahabad-Varanasi and Modi's campaign promise to double it and electrify it. Indeed I find that he has made good on it. Varanasi-Manduadih-Kachwwa Rd. doubling is scheduled to be commissioned by Dec 2018, 27km.(see item 17 below)

http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwa ... ER_CRB.pdf
vsunderji, I came to know recently that when the Manduahdi-Madhosingh-Allahabad line was still metre-gauge, there used to a spur from Madhosingh towards Chilla ghat across the river. The line was decommissioned after gauge conversion.

Do you have any more information about this particular spur?
No I know nothing, the spur is short maybe a mile. There is a CONCORS container terminal at Madho Singh that caters to the rug, dhurrie industry for Mirzapur across the river. Containers are sent to JNPT for export. That rug industry was in the spotlight after Satyarthi, as it had issues with child labour.
On a similar note, there was a spur from Brahmavart/Bithoor which was the place where the last Peshwa, Nana Rao/Dhondu pant (of 1857 fame) had his palace. This spur too was closed at gauge conversion. The British had exiled Baji Rao II to Bithoor on the outskirts of Kanpur. The palace is in ruins, burnt down in the aftermath of 1857, while Bithoor is a favourite picnic and cycle trip destination for bored IIT Kanpurites. A rail bus gave connectivity from Brahmavart to Mandhana(on the Kanpur-Kannauj NER line) 8 km and then Mandhana-Kalyanpur(IIT Kanpur main gate)-Rawatpur-Kanpur. This was a meter gauge track. Mandhana-Brahmavart went across the GT road. When gauge conversion of Kanpur-Kannauj-Kasganj-Mathura took place in 2000's they stopped the Brahmavart service. Kanpur has exploded so much that Bithoor has become part of Kanpur now. All the open space between Kanpur and Bithoor has gone. The Subedar family who I knew very well still live in the old rambling house that belonged to the East India company and claim to be descendants of the Peshwa family. In my IIT days legend had it that the best house of ill fame was in Mandhana, and many of my batchmates who have since risen to high position in Silicon valley and elsewhere, frequently extolled the charms of a certain Haseena a denizen of this "house of the Rising Sun".
The old Brahmavart station roof had even fallen down. I was there last in 2015, IIT K had asked me to give a series of lectures, and one evening I hired a auto guy and asked him to drive me to all my old haunts in the city as a child and later in IIT days, Bithoor was one of them. Brahmavart derives its name for a nail in a temple at Bithoor that is considered the center of the universe. Close by is Dhruv ka Tila, where Dhruva sat in meditation and also Valmiki ashram where you will be shown the kund where Sita sank into the Earth and her rasoi ghar.(kitchen).

But surprisingly NER has rejuvenated this spur and by Dec 2018, NER will convert Mandhana-Brahmavart to Broad gauge. It makes little sense to me. Unless they have some plan of introducing a EMU service, that line and neither is the Kanpur-Kannauj line electrified. The latest noise is building a ring road around Kanpur and decongesting the city by diverting traffic that does not need to come into the city. Of course a Metro is also on the anvil. Also on the anvil is the closure of the Sisamau ganda nala, the largest sewer in all Asia, as part of the Namami Ganga project. You can google it and find out all the dirty statistics associated with the mother of all untreated sewer systems.

One of the great saints of Maharashtra in the Dattatreya pantheon, Tembe swami spent many chaturmas in Brahmavart. The room where he spent his sojourn is still there in Bithoor. Very few Indians know of him and in Kanpur, Tembe swami's name will draw a blank. Only the cognoscenti know.

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

A more detailed biography is available too:

http://www.shrivasudevanandsaraswati.co ... hy2016.pdf

This is the same Tembe swami who appears in a story in the very last chapter of the Sri Sai Satcharitra.

Since I talked of a rail bus, a rail bus or rail motor ran on the Kalka-Shimla route, made the trip in 5 hours while the train took 8 hours. More recently a rail bus was introduced on a new line from Bagalkot-Kudachi-Miraj. 30km of this new line is constructed from Bagalkot and will provide connectivity to people from North Karnataka to Pune and Mumbai when fully constructed.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dft3jHkW4AAFgCC.jpg
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