Bharat Rakshak

Chatterjee said the nickle-cadmium batteries are targeted for use in bullet trains, the first of which is scheduled to come up between Ahmedabad and Mumbai by 2023.

"We have a technical tie-up with Furukawa of Japan, which supplies batteries to Hitachi for bullet trains. So, I find no reason Furukawa will not source batteries from us," he said.

Almost 800 km of the Dedicated Rail Freight Corridor is set to open this fiscal, with the remaining stretch of 1,500 km to be commissioned next year.

The project is only 50 per cent complete in terms of civil and electrical works, according to an official source.

However, the “percentage progress” does not mean the project cannot be completed by next year, as a lot of time was taken for project preparation, the source said. Against its earlier plan to open the entire network at one go, the Railways has now decided to open it in phases.

The first phase of about 200 km — between Ateli (in Haryana’s Mahendragarh district) and Phulera (near Jaipur) — will be opened later this month. It will use diesel engines, as the North Western Railway is not yet electrified.

Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL), the infrastructure owner and manager, has handed over this set of tracks to the Railways, the operator. The Prime Minister, in his Independence Day speech, is likely to talk about this development, said an official. The government’s move to bring into effect the new land acquisition law had Railway officials in a quandary over the extent of compensation to be paid to each land-owner.

Land acquisition
The total land acquisition cost also doubled to ₹16,000 crore from the initial estimate of ₹8,000 crore after the new law came into force. This prompted a tweak in the routes.

The initial plan was to build new tracks away from the existing ones. After the new Act came in, to rein in land costs and prevent disputes, the Railways decided to build the freight corridor closer to the existing tracks.

Though many of these tracks run through railway stations — which could cause further project delays — the plan on the whole reduced complications as a lot of land parcels were already owned by the Railways, and DFCCIL could bypass negotiations.

More hurdles

Removing the level crossings proved another major challenge as several locals were opposed to it. The Railways involved the local governments to overcome this hurdle.

As it happens with most infrastructure projects, there were disputes on land acquisition, and with numerous contractors. “One of the big challenges was to ensure the bills were paid to contractors within the contract rules,” said a source.

The cost of the project, conceptualised in 2006, rose from the estimated ₹28,000 crore to about ₹81,000 crore, which was approved by the Cabinet.

The cost of funds from Japanese agency JICA and the World Bank also soared, effectively increasing the interest cost of loan repayment, which the Centre will have to bear.

Removing the level crossings proved a major challenge as the locals opposed the move

A standard 8x8x40 feet ISO container does not make use of the 4-feet additional height available up to the 25kV OHE catenary wires, but a double-stacked dwarf container service does so, enabling almost 30% savings in freight charges. This could prove to be a game-changer for the Railways, winning back bulky low-density traffic such as plastic granules, white goods, FMCG products, PVC fabric, even automobiles.

New ‘dwarf’ containers are lower in height by 662-mm (26 inches) and wider by 162-mm (6.3 inches) than standard ISO containers. Inside space has been maximised by adopting FRP (fibreglass reinforced plastic) flooring—only 9-mm thick, as against ISO’s 28-mm thick hardboard flooring.

The ‘dwarf’ container provides 67% increase in volume when double-stacked and can carry a weight of 71 tonnes, against 40 tonnes by an ISO container. This maximises the available envelope of moving dimensions under the catenary as well as the permissible axle load.

The saga of the ‘dwarf’ began in 2006 when Kumar was on deputation to the Pipavav Rail Corporation, a JV company of Indian Railways, when he conceptualised running of double-stack ISO containers only on non-electrified sections since it would permit a height of 19-feet from rail. These trains have been running on the Rewari-Pipavav/Mundra non-electrified route for almost a decade now. The idea of ‘dwarf’ container was soon born, which Kumar designed with elongated corner castings so that the standard locking arrangement on container flat wagons could be used, even when the container is wider. So far, 90 units have been made, 180 more are on order, and the tally could reach over 2,000.

Construction of the High-Speed Training Institute, an integral part of the bullet train project, is underway in Vadodara. The Rs 600 cr project of building the institute is crucial because as per the agreement with the Japanese, continuous training of manpower in the technical efficiency of the Shinkansen is essential to run the system smoothly. By 2023, around 3,500 manpower needs to be ready with adequate skills so that the system can roll out.

Already around 1,500 Indian officials have received short-term training from Japan and about 60 have received long-term on-the-job training there. Another batch for long-term training will leave in October. The training institute with facilities for 334 beds and 166 rooms also has a 50-meter track of the bullet train for simulation.

In February 2019, two floors of the five-storey hostel building will be ready. Currently, the campus site is full of around 100 labourers and heavy engineering equipment working to meet the deadline. “We’re on schedule and start from two floors in February,” said Pradeep Ahirkar, Chief Project Manager (Vadodara), NHSRCL.

SaiK wrote:So which are those 18 bullet lines? Anyone?

https://swarajyamag.com/amp/story/insta ... -agreement

Supratik wrote:Initial off-the-shelf order is for 18 trainsets but if there is going to be TOT and Japanese manufacturing plants chances are high the rest of the network will be Japanese. I think the Chinese thing didn't materialize and the Europeans don't have money or don't want to finance it.

Karthik S wrote:Very intelligent and thoughtful idea sir. Hope they think of it.

MALIGAON: The Bogibeel bridge will be ready for inspection by Commissioner of Railway Safety by 2nd week of October.

[T]rack doubling on the Guntur-Tenali stretch is going on at a brisk pace and would be completed in the current financial year. New trains would be introduced after the project ends.
..
Electrification works in the Guntur-Guntakal railway line has been completed; works at the Nadikudi-Sri Kalahasti stretch is also in an advanced stage
..
Nadikudi-Srikalahasti railway line laying work is in progress and said that to speed up the work, they will start the work from Sri Kalahasti side also, he said that land acquisition was pending at Udayagiri in Nellore district

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during the ‘Lucknow Metro Diwas’ said that after Lucknow, Ghaziabad and Noida, more cities will get metro connectivity. The Uttar Pradesh government decided to start metro services in Agra, Kanpur and Meerut cities by 2024 at a total estimated cost of Rs.50,000 crore. There would be two metro corridors in Agra, the Taj city, and the project will cost more than Rs.13,000 crore.

“The Kanpur project will have 31 stations and it will be 30-km-long costing over Rs.17,000 crore, while Meerut Metro project will be of 33 km costing over Rs.13,800 crore,” he said.

“During 2009-2014, Rs 5,500 crore were invested on new rail infrastructure in UP while Modi regime allocated Rs 27,000 crore for building facilities in the state by 2019,” said Goyal.

“During one estimate, it was determined that in 65 years since independence, rail infrastructure in UP increased only by 25% while the passenger load increased 15 times and freight demand grew by 12 times,” said railway minister.

While inspecting the ongoing construction work at Gomtinagar railway station, Goyal said that the project is likely to be completed by 2020.

The project of remodelling the Gomtinagar railway station which includes construction of six tracks, 10 platforms, concourse halls, twostorey terminal building, foot overbridges, shopping mall, multilevel parking, connecting dedicated road for arriving and departing passengers, etc, would cost Rs 1,800 crore.

Prasad wrote:The same old crappy ladder steps still in place? They couldn't design something better?

Yet another interesting feature of Train 18 would be its automatic doors and footsteps! Yes, you read it right, the automatic doors will come with the facility of a sliding footstep that will open when once the train arrives at the platform.

nam wrote:Call me cynical,

the trainset is been produced by some other company and "assembled" in Chennai. They were removing the packaging, as if it arrived from another place.

M_Joshi wrote:These are steps for maintenance crew I suppose. It will have automatic steps & automatic doors.

M_Joshi wrote:The trainset is designed & manufactured by ICF, Chennai. For the covering on the rakes, they could be 'outsourced' from a vendor just like ICF cannot & does not manufacture 1000s of parts that goes into making them, like any manufacturing facility worldwide. Just like I-Phone XS was designed in US, screen & some chipset come from Taiwan, Jpaan & SK & final assembly with many other parts are done in China, thus you see 'Made in China' sticker. It's not that all the parts 100%, including mining of rare earth minerals that go in the I-Phone XS are done in Shenzhen Apple factory.

nam wrote:Call me cynical, the trainset is been produced by some other company and "assembled" in Chennai. They were removing the packaging, as if it arrived from another place.

Pathetic! Indian Railways suffers losses as passengers steal towels, bedsheets, blankets from trains

In the last fiscal alone several items were stolen from long-distance trains including 1.95 lakh towels, 81,736 bedsheets, 55,573 pillow covers, 5,038 pillows and 7,043 blankets

Indian Railways passengers, it seems, will never learn! From vandalizing railway properties to stealing items from trains, so far, Indian Railways continues to face several challenges in maintaining its infrastructure. According to a Mumbai Mirror report, in the last fiscal alone several items were stolen from long-distance trains including 1.95 lakh towels, 81,736 bedsheets, 55,573 pillow covers, 5,038 pillows and 7,043 blankets. Sunil Udasi, CPRO Central Railway was quoted in the report saying that between the months of April and September this year, items worth Rs 62 lakh approximately were stolen including 79,350 hand towels, 27,545 bedsheets, 21,050 pillow covers, 2,150 pillows and 2,065 blankets.

Earlier this week, a Ratlam resident, Shabbir Rotiwala, who boarded a long-distance train from Bandra Terminus was arrested for stealing six bedsheets, three pillows and three blankets. He was travelling in an air-conditioned coach and was spotted stuffing the bed linens in his bag by the train attendants before alighting at Ratlam railway station, where he was arrested. According to railway sources quoted in the report, last fiscal, items worth Rs 2.5 crore were stolen excluding the damaged properties. They further stated that the cost of each bedsheet is Rs 132, while each towel costs Rs 22 and each pillow costs Rs 25.

Over the last three fiscals, Indian Railways had suffered a loss of nearly Rs 4,000 crore, thefts being one of the major reasons. Last year, on Tejas Express, whose cheapest ticket costs Rs 1,185, passengers stole its Jaguar fittings from toilets, headphones and also left several LED screens damaged. Not only that, last month it was reported that the vandalism and theft caused by passengers on Mumbai-Manmad Panchavati Express train, left Indian Railways with a repair bill of around Rs 9 lakh. The rake of that train had recently been upgraded with new swanky LHB coaches, but alas, passengers were careless while using the new amenities!

Mukhi wrote:Would Admins be Ok if I start a seperate thread to monitor the progress of Bullet train?? Please advise.

Zynda wrote:

Over the last three fiscals, Indian Railways had suffered a loss of nearly Rs 4,000 crore, thefts being one of the major reasons. Last year, on Tejas Express, whose cheapest ticket costs Rs 1,185, passengers stole its Jaguar fittings from toilets, headphones and also left several LED screens damaged. Not only that, last month it was reported that the vandalism and theft caused by passengers on Mumbai-Manmad Panchavati Express train, left Indian Railways with a repair bill of around Rs 9 lakh. The rake of that train had recently been upgraded with new swanky LHB coaches, but alas, passengers were careless while using the new amenities!