Indian Railways Thread

Gyan · Post by **Gyan** » 11 Aug 2015 18:31

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 100107.cms

Slightly old news about CNG Locos

vsunder · Post by **vsunder** » 12 Aug 2015 07:02

Here are the official targets for new lines, doubling and tripling and gauge conversion for 2015-2016. The document advises that all the zonal managers extend all possible cooperation to RVNL, ( Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd.) and other construction crew. It will be interesting to see whether these targets are met, exceeded or the Railways falls behind.
Several projects do not appear in this list, it would appear the projects are those that are at an advanced stage of completion. If people know the status of the projects and whether the deadlines are pragmatic perhaps they can post this info here.

http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwa ... 020615.pdf

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Aug 2015 20:31

i miss going on long train journeys. had around 20 during college days. last one was 2006 to goa.
people have time to talk. there is time to reflect on life.

in planes men are busy with laptops and smartphones, women are high end and highly strung and i have seen bitter fights and allegations of harassment over simple things like someone banging their knee on the seat back. no one does any chit chat let alone any involved discussion. everyone jumps up moment the plane is wheels down to report having reached on their cellphones. plus the security, always a vague sense of anxiety around airports.

ManuJ · Post by **ManuJ** » 12 Aug 2015 23:30

Singha wrote:i miss going on long train journeys. had around 20 during college days. last one was 2006 to goa.
people have time to talk. there is time to reflect on life.

in planes men are busy with laptops and smartphones, women are high end and highly strung and i have seen bitter fights and allegations of harassment over simple things like someone banging their knee on the seat back. no one does any chit chat let alone any involved discussion. everyone jumps up moment the plane is wheels down to report having reached on their cellphones. plus the security, always a vague sense of anxiety around airports.

Except that if you go now, you won't go in the sleeper class but in 2nd or 1st AC, and with your family in tow, won't get much interaction with fellow travelers.
But it's still fun and relaxing.
Both my sons are now railway fans and enjoy the whole experience of rail travel, though being spoilt ABCDs, refuse to travel in anything but 1st AC.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 13 Aug 2015 00:15

you mean people have stop being interactive?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 13 Aug 2015 07:07

I did around 15 train journeys warangal - vijayawada - guwahati & back during btech with the 1st leg being usually golconda express and 2nd leg being kochi/triv/blr->guwahati express. this train was usually running late by hrs , 5-10 hrs being very common. only once we took the fast coromandal express to howrah (6 stops only) and then kamrup exp from sealdah to guwahati.

then another few journeys kanpur to guwahati on the rajdhani during mtech.

one gets to see a lot of country ... more than in geography textbooks.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 13 Aug 2015 09:33

Singha wrote:i miss going on long train journeys. had around 20 during college days. last one was 2006 to goa. people have time to talk. there is time to reflect on life.

My longest train journeys were to attend the NCC camps. Today, it is most likely over night journeys. But as you rightly said, more people to people interaction still happens on the trains, when compared to flights (or even buses). I don't know if it is the seating arrangement (people sitting face to face) which gets the urge to interact. And add to it the train compartments are a bit more spacious, people can move around etc. There is a whole lot of "unofficialness" in the trains.

Just for the heck of it, I made a 1st Class AC train journey around 8 months back. Now 1st Class AC is not a preferred by "Aam Admi", and I thought I would just read some books quitely, and dream on the life ahead. But even there my companions (a business man, a senior gentleman who "said" he worked for the DoT, and an IT-Vity fellow.) got into the chatting mode. The topics were mainly political, winding its way through Rajiv Gandhi, the LTTE and Chandra Swami (who only then I knew was a Jain), and Naxalism mainly in Warangal side (where an SI - Yadagiri Reddy was shot when seeing off his wife and daughter at the railway station).

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 13 Aug 2015 09:37

I loved the bleak grassy beauty and hills of western orissa as the train would pass around the rim of chilka lake and then into the night ... on to brahmapur and then the bright lights of the vizag steel plant. the rumbling as the train crossed the godavari...

the lonesome howling of the horn as the WDP loco (khurda rd or kharagpur shed?) rumbled on and on.

ever onward against the fall of night!

Vadivel · Post by **Vadivel** » 13 Aug 2015 09:47

Sachin wrote:
Singha wrote:i miss going on long train journeys. had around 20 during college days. last one was 2006 to goa. people have time to talk. there is time to reflect on life.
Just for the heck of it, I made a 1st Class AC train journey around 8 months back. Now 1st Class AC is not a preferred by "Aam Admi", and I thought I would just read some books quitely, and dream on the life ahead. But even there my companions (a business man, a senior gentleman who "said" he worked for the DoT, and an IT-Vity fellow.) got into the chatting mode. The topics were mainly political, winding its way through Rajiv Gandhi, the LTTE and Chandra Swami (who only then I knew was a Jain), and Naxalism mainly in Warangal side (where an SI - Yadagiri Reddy was shot when seeing off his wife and daughter at the railway station).

I always remember this when unknow guys interact in train or bus and give a 'build-up' about themselves, and some of the unsubstantiated data they spew is so funny, that i get blood in my ears.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 13 Aug 2015 09:54

and there was always the potential excitement of finding groups of college girls of similar age travelling in or around our area, or with any luck even batchmates or juniors.
while I slept people often engaged in palm-reading and antyakshari late into the night with such girlie groups. for some reason claim that you know palmistry and girls are always willing to offer their hand - if not in marriage atleast to divine their "future" as they seem to be very worried about their future

I know a munna who made a career out of being a train palmist for such ladies.

vsunder · Post by **vsunder** » 13 Aug 2015 09:57

It is really unfortunate that the reporting in the English media about IR projects is non-existent. There are a number of extremely important projects that are being implemented and all we hear are Domino's Pizza and KFC. Perhaps the most important line tripling projects are occurring on the erstwhile South Eastern Railway( the old Bengal Nagpur Railway BNR), which traditionally has hauled a lot of heavy freight. In the old days they even had Beyer-Garatt steam locos which were the heavy duty freight haulers in India.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM__uZa_0z4

The area is dotted with steel plants Bhilai, Rourkela on the Class A line Howrah-Mumbai and several NTPC super thermal power plants, collieries, cement factories and other steel plants on branch lines like Bokaro etc. Thus doubling and tripling of these sections is a big priority of the Govt. With this view Bilaspur(on the Howrah-Mumbai line) to Katni( a major junction with massive electric and diesel sheds on the Itarsi-Allahabad line) is being tripled.
Also Jharsuguda to Champa(140km) on the Howrah-Mumbai line is being tripled since 2011, but the project languished and new blood has been infused. This passes through major steel and cement factory areas. Progress on these lines is not reported, but one can see indirectly that things are moving by following tenders for tripling.

Here is a tender issued last month for cabling and laying of fiber-optic cables for the third line, Jharsuguda(in Odisha) to Champa(Chattisgarh):

http://www.secr.indianrailways.gov.in/s ... .06.15.pdf

This is June 2015.

Here is another video July 2015, near Durg of a bridge being constructed for third line on Howrah-Mumbai route. Durg-Bhilai-Raipur are literally triple cities. These massive bottlenecks near important steel plants, collieries and super thermal power plants have to be erased. These projects are in tribal areas, involve legwork on the part of the reporters and need a modicum of technical understanding. There is no Chelmsford club nearby to have a relaxing swim after punching out your 1000 words on a laptop of a pfft type of cheesecake article, followed by gin and tonic with the Delhi chatterati.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSZLitR-9kU

Suresh Prabhu had announced 1273 crores for tripling Nagpur to Durg in the budget(228 km) again on the Howrah-Mumbai line. So already the video above shows that things are beginning to move. It is the occasional video that gives a clue to what is happening on the ground.

I own a rare copy of John Mitchell's book "The Wheels of Ind" written by Mitchell when posted in the early 1920's to Bilaspur on the old BNR, Bengal-Nagpur Railway. KGP where in my madarsa days was a BNR town. Mitchell's book is full of lush description of life on the BNR when posted far from civilization in remote wayside stations in the 1920's.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 21 Aug 2015 10:47

Sanjay Mishra #HDL ‏@FastNewsDelhi 9h9 hours ago

Superb performance. I travel between Howrah & New Delhi. Observed phenomenal changes.

niran · Post by **niran** » 21 Aug 2015 12:23

^^^^ what station is that? as clean as al-nipponi station

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 21 Aug 2015 13:53

I am not sure but I think it is Dhanbad station, Platform No 1. someone said it is Asansol. But Rajdhani does not stop at Asansol and Pillar colors are green in this picture so not Asansol which had blue colors.Will try to confirm later.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 21 Aug 2015 15:10

does rajdhani trains have a chemical tank toilet or still the same old same old ?

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 21 Aug 2015 15:39

They have DRDO made Bio-Toilet with pressure flush .

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 22 Aug 2015 03:23

no spit spots, and piss stops !?

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 22 Aug 2015 10:47

Not as good as in planes(sometimes they too are not so clean) but yes far better and gets cleaned before use if you tell the attendant unless you're in a hurry. First AC hhas separate shower room.

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 22 Aug 2015 15:58

Yes, the train journey in India is a character building and nation consolidating exercise. I remember my first was with a couple of friends all over the south for a month or so during school break - 15/16 yrs. I think we stopped at every damn stop. We didn't have much money, lived off station food, and didn't have much clothes or anything else with us either. I still can't believe we did it. Occasionally at stops, parents arranged to pick up cash from relatives. I can't believe our parents allowed it either. Actually, we bullshitted on the extent of it. They thought it was 10 days or something. It was a wonderful experience. Then I did another long one, when a bit older, from Olavakkod station near Palakkad all the way to Delhi - almost trans-India. It lasted 3 days or so. Another wonderful experience and leaves you feeling you've seen the whole country. Some of the landscapes on the way are mind-blowing. I distinctly remember thinking that some parts of Andhra looked almost like another planet. Awe-inspiring beauty. And that is also the time I got hooked on avakkaya pickle. Fiery and fantastic.

The final one I did was over a decade ago, wanted my little son to have a similar feeling about IR that I have. There were three of us in the cabin - me, my son, and a chick maybe in her late 20s who worked for Cognizant (I think that was the name). Very pretty girl, and intelligent. She was going home somewhere in Palakkad district as well. That was when the extent of change in the country struck me. She started a conversation, and played with my boy throughout the 24 hour trip.

I've always believed that a single long trip on IR will make you a better Indian.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 22 Aug 2015 16:57

going home from college we came across a couple of guys from assam engg college on their umpteenth long haul trip. the tales they told around the 'campfire' that night in the II sleeper III tier bogie were very interesting. one claimed to be able to look out of the window in the morning and accurately tell which area of which state the train was passing through

nandakumar · Post by **nandakumar** » 22 Aug 2015 20:04

JE Menon wrote:Yes, the train journey in India is a character building and nation consolidating exercise. I remember my first was with a couple of friends all over the south for a month or so during school break - 15/16 yrs. I think we stopped at every damn stop. We didn't have much money, lived off station food, and didn't have much clothes or anything else with us either. I still can't believe we did it. Occasionally at stops, parents arranged to pick up cash from relatives. I can't believe our parents allowed it either. Actually, we bullshitted on the extent of it. They thought it was 10 days or something. It was a wonderful experience. Then I did another long one, when a bit older, from Olavakkod station near Palakkad all the way to Delhi - almost trans-India. It lasted 3 days or so. Another wonderful experience and leaves you feeling you've seen the whole country. Some of the landscapes on the way are mind-blowing. I distinctly remember thinking that some parts of Andhra looked almost like another planet. Awe-inspiring beauty. And that is also the time I got hooked on avakkaya pickle. Fiery and fantastic.

The final one I did was over a decade ago, wanted my little son to have a similar feeling about IR that I have. There were three of us in the cabin - me, my son, and a chick maybe in her late 20s who worked for Cognizant (I think that was the name). Very pretty girl, and intelligent. She was going home somewhere in Palakkad district as well. That was when the extent of change in the country struck me. She started a conversation, and played with my boy throughout the 24 hour trip.

I've always believed that a single long trip on IR will make you a better Indian.

I had once travelled on the Kacheguda express from Secundreabad to Ajmer. After the barren Telengana landscape the train passes through Maharashtra and later into Madhya Pradesh and Central Rajasthan. The stretch through Narmada river kissed Madhya Pradesh is the most beautiful landscape that I had experienced. This was just in the flush of South West Monsoon. Mid August or thereabouts. I would urge every BRF member to experience the Narmada country train journey.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 23 Aug 2015 04:34

we don't want to miss the middle-class experience.. and that is where we need to focus as a nation. we need to bring the poor people along to middle-class, and the 2/3 tier sections must be all converted to A/C as a sign of advancement. better still is all coaches get solar panels above to suck up the heat from above as added benefits. seats and toilets must change.. tracks, especially the coach design to take higher speed at curves shows the maturity of the technology as well. IR must have a wing in DRDO labs to cater to their needs. the unique ubiquitous IR must advance keeping these in mind.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 24 Aug 2015 07:08

https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/635636484775657472

Bangalore-Nanded express train accident: Helpline desk at Bangalore Railway station- 08022354108,0731666751, 08022156553

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Aug 2015 07:43

a 45 ton granite lorry at high speed crashed through the closed manned level crossing and smashed a 1AC compartment travelling through the crossing at 70kmph. the truck disappeared into the coach.

IR can do nothing about such accidents. the cleaner has been found. the driver is missing. its not clear if the cleaner was driving or there was even a driver...since cleaners of buses and trucks drive at night and early morning for practical learning.

kvraghav · Post by **kvraghav** » 25 Aug 2015 07:50

^^
The irony of this is, it will result in a MLA by election in Karnataka and Congis here were cribbing about a planned murder.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 25 Aug 2015 13:28

That has to be very meticulously planned murder timed to nano seconds and executed by The Cleaner. Seems Congis are losing karnataka big time.

Altair · Post by **Altair** » 25 Aug 2015 13:47

Even Jason Bourne cannot pull off that assassination if a train travelling in excess of 120 KPH with a loaded truck.
120 KPH = 33.33 Meters per second
LHB coaches(Used by Indian railways for AC coaches) has a length of 23.54 meters.
Width of railway crossing is 30 Feet ~ 10 Meters
So you have a window of 300 milli second to ram your granite truck into train? You need a space tech precision to pull that off!! Or is my calculation off?

Or the train was conveniently stationary and the AC coach was exactly exposed at the crossing.

srin · Post by **srin** » 25 Aug 2015 14:47

Singha wrote:a 45 ton granite lorry at high speed crashed through the closed manned level crossing and smashed a 1AC compartment travelling through the crossing at 70kmph. the truck disappeared into the coach.

IR can do nothing about such accidents. the cleaner has been found. the driver is missing. its not clear if the cleaner was driving or there was even a driver...since cleaners of buses and trucks drive at night and early morning for practical learning.

They can start eliminating level crossings and creating over-bridge or underpass. Of course, given our construction times, unless there is a pre-fabrication method available, it will take another 20 years.

No level crossings also means that trains don't have to slow down near them.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 25 Aug 2015 15:45

srin wrote:
Singha wrote:a 45 ton granite lorry at high speed crashed through the closed manned level crossing and smashed a 1AC compartment travelling through the crossing at 70kmph. the truck disappeared into the coach.

IR can do nothing about such accidents. the cleaner has been found. the driver is missing. its not clear if the cleaner was driving or there was even a driver...since cleaners of buses and trucks drive at night and early morning for practical learning.
They can start eliminating level crossings and creating over-bridge or underpass. Of course, given our construction times, unless there is a pre-fabrication method available, it will take another 20 years.

No level crossings also means that trains don't have to slow down near them.

And what about cost, where is the money for this. IR passenger will pay or people agree to pay tax. GOI is neck deep in Debt. If we have the funding bridges can be built much faster.

But we are not addressing popular culture for masses where overworking others, drinking and driving is considered as cool.

vsunder · Post by **vsunder** » 25 Aug 2015 19:12

Moffusil expresses like Bangalore-Nanded have ICF rakes. Look at the pics, no LHB.

Sometime ago some forumer wanted to know why his LHB coach was jerking a lot from Ludhiana to Delhi(??). I think Arshyam answered him. LHB coaches are fitted with CBC( Center Buffer Couplers) couplings as opposed to the screw type couplers and hooks on ICF coaches. The most significant advantage of CBC couplers are two in my opinion.

1. Coaches fitted with CBC couplers do not have a tendency to climb on top of each other in an accident, and in case of an accident when one turns to the side the tendency of forcing coaches coupled to also turn over is lesser than a screw type coupling.

2. There is no shunting assistant needed to get between the loco and coaches to do the physical coupling. Lives have been lost in coupling by inattention of the loco pilot or the shunting assistant while coupling with screw type couplers.

3. Having said (2) above watch the video I link. AJJ WAM4 makes several tries to couple with Mysore Shatabdi and fails with a CBC coupler. Eventually a shunting assistant needs to get down and prime the coupler and then the coupling is complete. So automatic coupling is not always a given with a CBC coupler.

The downside as the forumer noticed is, that sometimes the CBC coupling is not snug due to wear and tear and this causes the jerk on LHB coaches. I have linked a video of the CBC coupler on a Duronto that is running and you can see the gap or play that could cause jerks. Another source of jerks on a CBC coupler is the gear assembly. See the video of the LHB CBC coupler close up, and the slide show which shows the detailed cutouts and overhauling process. The gear lies inside the part of the coupler that goes inside and attaches to the underframe. Amsted corporation( that will supply the new light and heavy haul wagons) supplied a large order of these gears to IR, but these are obsolete and IR is using Dellner gears for the LHB coaches now. The gear has buffers to absorb the shock and if this is worn out then bumps are transmitted to
the underframe far more effectively than a screw coupler where the side buffers take on a substantial amount of shock. Quite frankly though, I would have more peace of mind with a CBC coupler and it's safety aspects, than with a screw coupler and would not mind the bumps so much.

Dellner couplers

http://www.dellner.com/

Slide presentation of CBC couplers on IR

http://www.irimee.indianrailways.gov.in ... 61-cbc.pdf

CBC coupler on a Duronto; looks snug but there is room for play there:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4uc-L1PI0Q

CBC coupler on a double decker, shunting assistant uses gloves
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7de47zg38OU

Details of CBC coupler on an LHB coach. Note the connection with
the underframe, the gear assembly is in there. Also the spring assembly'
to damp out vibrations. If these weaken you will feel the bumps as the forumer did:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F62lH0vnG0c

Lastly a comparison with screw type couplers and CBC couplers. Notice the shunting personnel
use no gloves,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Kg11OBsXtw

The forumer in particular should study page 45 of the slide and he will see the reasons for the jerks he felt.

vsunder · Post by **vsunder** » 25 Aug 2015 19:20

This is a graphic of capacity utilization (CU) on IR on different sections and the number of rakes run on them each day. Other than Chennai-Howrah running at 85% CU and having no red zones,( places on that section where the CU exceeds 100%) all others have substantial critical sections with CU exceeding 100%. Lengths of the critical sections, the red zones are also stated in the graphic. If there is no significant downtime on sections, there will be little time to make repairs, check the track for defects and perform needed maintenance. One little thing can have significant impact across far flung sections like the Itarsi fire. I think Prabhu should hold the line. As he builds capacity, he should NOT sanction new trains and quickly exhaust new found capacity. Capacity building takes long and is tedious, many factors come into it, adding new trains is cheap and ruinous and is cheap political gain with disastrous consequences for the future if not done properly.

http://www.railnews.co.in/ir-needs-to-f ... e-players/

Brad Goodman · Post by **Brad Goodman** » 25 Aug 2015 19:56

JE Menon there was TV serial on Doordarshan where they had train journeys and how people meet there and bonds are formed. The first journey they covered was the Kashmir to Kanyakumari train (Him Sagar Express I think)

shravanp · Post by **shravanp** » 25 Aug 2015 20:22

From childhood till teenager, for every Diwali we would take train from Mumbai to Allahabad(UP) to visit my grand parents. Miss those days sorely. And on all the trips, as the train approaches Yamuna river, we would have 25 paisa coin ready to drop in the river and make a wish. At times, I have been alone in train to Allahabad, my mom would see me off in Mumbai and entrust me to neighboring travellers (UP-bhaiyyas) and tell them to take care of me. Totally random, but extremely high level of trust and confidence on our fellow Bharatiyas. The bhaiyyas would say "Koi nahi ji aap befiqar rahiye. Munne ka khayal rakhenge". (Don't worry, we will take care of the kid). When I remember these nice people, it does make bit emotional moment.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 26 Aug 2015 09:37

Brad Goodman wrote:JE Menon there was TV serial on Doordarshan where they had train journeys and how people meet there and bonds are formed. The first journey they covered was the Kashmir to Kanyakumari train (Him Sagar Express I think)

That serial was by Shyam Benegal - Yatra, was the name. There are small clippings of this in Youtube. There were two series. One in which Lance Naik Gopalakrishnan Nair (Om Puri), after his honey moon leave proceeds from Kanyakumari to Pathankot. In the next series Naik Gopalakrishnan Nair (of the Signal Corps) is on courier duty from Rajasthan to Guwahati

.

rsingh · Post by **rsingh** » 26 Aug 2015 17:27

skekatpuray wrote:From childhood till teenager, for every Diwali we would take train from Mumbai to Allahabad(UP) to visit my grand parents. Miss those days sorely. And on all the trips, as the train approaches Yamuna river, we would have 25 paisa coin ready to drop in the river and make a wish. At times, I have been alone in train to Allahabad, my mom would see me off in Mumbai and entrust me to neighboring travellers (UP-bhaiyyas) and tell them to take care of me. Totally random, but extremely high level of trust and confidence on our fellow Bharatiyas. The bhaiyyas would say "Koi nahi ji aap befiqar rahiye. Munne ka khayal rakhenge". (Don't worry, we will take care of the kid). When I remember these nice people, it does make bit emotional moment.

That is what I hear from European travelers. They have so many stories about Indian on train.

manjgu · Post by **manjgu** » 26 Aug 2015 18:26

i have also thrown coins many times on that bridge..AF station manauri .... 1971 - 73

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 27 Aug 2015 21:33

Acela @ night 165 mph (265 kmph). Makes quite an impact by the platform. Any of the NJ transit platforms, night is best... ...the horn is not the Acela BTW, it does not sound horn as it goes thru...

vsunder · Post by **vsunder** » 29 Aug 2015 22:37

You can see the difference between a pro-active Railway Mantri and the previous ones. In the previous dispensation if a contract was signed, it would be years before the project got off the ground.

As I have said before, increasing capacity is the key. Bina-Bhopal tripling is coming to an end, by Jan 2016 the entire stretch of 139km should be tripled, taking some load off Delhi-Chennai and Delhi Mumbai via Central railway. We are far from being out of the woods yet on that important section but better than nothing. Now the focus moves to Bhopal-Itarsi tripling. This project has just started to get off the ground. The official start was in July 2015 with DRM starting the project at Misrod( see linked video, first station after Habibganj, Bhopal)
One major piece of work is the bridge that will have to be built across the Narmada outside Hoshangabad( security paper mill factory is located here and also the big logistics and freight terminal at Pawarkheda between Hoshangabad and Itarsi). Other major construction works is the ghat section between Budni( on the North bank of the Narmada across the river from Hoshangabad) and Barkhera. People who were in Agri engg.( Ghas-phus engg.) from IIT Kharagpur will know Budni very well, central tractor testing facility is located here in Tractor Nagar. But the point of this post is to point out that a contract was signed between IR and this company(Rahee) to build this Narmada bridge:( contract signed June 24th, 2014)

http://www.rahee.com/project_listing.ph ... 1&catid=91

Now watch this video, posted Feb 2015. In particular watch between 6.20-6.49, train crosses the Narmada and there you see two excavators in the river bed, and also you can see the two excavators have already dug the foundations for 4 piers. That is fast work. You can also see the masonry pillars of the original British built bridge, man I shook in my boots to think I have gone over that fragile looking bridge right from the age of a year old baby to till I was 20 regularly. The last time I went over that masonry bridge was 1987 in the company of Air Marshal Matheswaran of LCA fame. That entire trip was really something else, after a 11 year gap. He was a squadron leader with 5 squadron Tuskers flying Jaguars based in Gorakhpur and we spent 24 hours from CSTM, Mumbai to Cawnpore, me going to give an invited lecture in a madarsa, local boy and all and Matty rejoining his squadron. I still have notes he wrote out for me about the IAF and TACDE. My mother who was with me, made two predictions about him and both have turned out correct. She could judge character very well. God bless her. Here was Matty almost telling me that if people listened to him he would demolish the PAF, and I believe we both talked late into the night, Bhusawal is where I turned in.
I have shown scans of Matty's writing in my address book to some forum admins and friends:

The masonry bridge looks it needs to be replaced, carries so much heavy traffic. Lastly you can see the Barkhera ghat( that is the Vindhya range) and what putting in this third line will entail. The project is supposed to be completed in summer 2018. But the point is the speed of execution of projects, which is very welcome. Someone is minding the store.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRVQnDgVF9Y

Narmada is in the valley of the Vindhya and then we have the Satpura( between Itarsi and Nagpur, Dharakoh-Maramjhiri, and Teegaon-Chichonda ghat sections to be tripled eventually, that reminds me of my dog and me who travelled from Cawnpore to Mangalore with me and saw the ghats too, all India puppy dog, 1969 was that trip) The Delhi-Chennai line does not cross the Tapti/Tapi river but passes through the village of it's source Pandhurna, ( Itarsi-Nagpur section) in the valley of the Satpura. Bombay-Itarsi line cuts the Tapti near Bhusawal. Bhowani Junction, the movie and book( Ava Gardener) was modeled on Bhusawal Jn.

vsunder · Post by **vsunder** » 30 Aug 2015 04:55

Also these videos give you an idea of what sort of land acquisition is needed for the tripling. Seems for the most part Bhopal-Itarsi there is fallow land next to the tracks. Also the other issue is mandir, mosque, church which can lead to litigation. Worst is encroachment. For example there is the Kalamna-Nagpur line of 6km. It has to be doubled. Coal and steel carrying freight from Bhilai, Rourkela and the coalfields of the East basically have to go through Nagpur and screw up platform space currently. The idea is to bypass Nagpur completely and go North to Delhi without going to Nagpur Jn. This is the Kalamna-Godhni(Nagpur) link line of 6km. Project was sanctioned in 2008. 7 years into the project nothing has happened. There is a slum of 187 hutments occupying 500m that blocks the way. This slum has encroached on railway land. There is a court order to remove the slum, but the Nagpur police does not act due to politics. I believe there is will now and the solution is some sort of slum rehabilitation project. Even on the Bina-Bhopal tripling there was stone throwing when a ROB was to be replaced and shopkeepers were evicted from Railway property they had encroached on:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 579165.cms

Stuff about the Kalamna saga and Nagpur:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 892014.cms

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 389064.cms

Recently there was a mandir related litigation issue on the Eastern Dedicated Freight corridor(EDFC). The temple was outside Sasaram station on the Mughalsarai-Son Nagar section. This is apparently resolved as Modi announced that Durgauti-Sasaram sub-section(56km) of the Mughalsarai-Son Nagar section ( 118 km)of the EDFC will be commissioned in March 2016, ahead of the Bihar polls. Mughalsarai-Son Nagar is the only section of the EDFC that comes from Govt. budget funds, all other sections of EDFC are World Bank( Ludhiana-Khurja, Khurja-Bhaupur(i.e Cawnpore) and Bhaupur-Mughalsarai) , and the Son Nagar(Bihar) to Dankuni(WB) (538 km) still has not been wrapped up funding wise and the Govt hopes a PPP model for it. Funding for the Western Freight corridor is completely done by JICA(Japanese bank..). Pre Modi, on the EDFC 5000 cu.m of earth was being moved per day. Now it is 80,000 cu.m of earth moved per day. In addition GoI has bought 4 track laying machines, that can lay 1.5km of track a day, as opposed to manually which IR does which is 150-200m per day. Some of the machines are already at work and the rest are being fabricated in the US by Harsco Corp. In addition rail segments used are 270m lengths not the 30m lengths we have discussed above. Further the freight corridors will be able to take 32.5 tonnes axle weights the industry standards in US and Europe as opposed to the 22.5 tonnes IR standard. Thus the spin-off is introduction of modern methods in track laying. The Harsco machines will be used on other tripling and doubling projects once the two corridors are complete.

http://www.harscorail.com/equipment/tra ... ction.html

Another novelty on the western corridor will be double stacked container trains. This means the OHE wires will be higher and so we will have locos with longer pantographs and ROB's have to raised along the track route.

Since I mentioned Sasaram, the cognoscenti will know of the mausoleum of one Sher Shah Suri in Sasaram on the right when the train goes towards Howrah from Delhi on the Grand Chord. It is imposing. Lastly the western corridor passes near the current alignment of Jaipur-Ahmedabad line and that means through Marwar Jn., you know Peachy Carnahan and Daniel Dravot who you will have to meet as he will be coming on the Bombay mail to Marwar Jn. Isn't that how the famous story starts in an IR railway carriage? I say no more, Michael Caine and Sean Connery. And another story also starts in a railway carriage Burmese Days by George Orwell. If you want IR literature, then the finest exponent is a Scotsman, now a naturalized Indian one William(Bill) Mckay Aitken who lives in Mussoorie where Ruskin Bond another IR aficionado lives. Ruskin Bond has edited a collection of IR stories from old issues of The Competition Wallah etc. Two of Aitken's books on IR I own are " Branch Line to Eternity" and "Travels on a Lesser Line"( which exclusively is about the now slowly vanishing MG network on IR).

http://www.amazon.com/Travels-lesser-li ... 8172230869

http://www.amazon.com/Branch-Line-Etern ... 0141005378

He also has a book on traveling by motorbike in the Deccan.

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

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 30 Aug 2015 14:11

Recently I had to see off someone going to HWh and visited NDLS for 12304 Dn SF on PF16.
My first hand impression was PF was clean. Floor was even but not even SDRE std befitting a capital Cosmetic changes like hiding ugly scenes outside by putting up green ( what fascination they have with this) Sheets on the boundary.

Stalls and all amentities , nothing to talk about.

It seems ICF rakes are replaced by LHB rakes . Seemed older, perhaps brought from Rajdhani as they are given new ones.
As Vsunder explained about CBC couplings I gave some attention to it. LHB rakes have CBC and it seemed bogies are closely spaced .

Coaches were clean, a welcome departure from the Congi Standard of Cleanliness(CSC) as opposed to Swacccha Bharat Standard of Cleanliness (SBSC).

If Airport style trollies are provided ( like it used to be at Chennai Central long back) and access to platform in a user/pedestrian friendly way things could improve further and stranglehold of Coolies could be broken. Already wheels on luggage helps passengers.

Baggage screening (XBIS) area is not so convenient. Security checking is for namesake only. But given the number of passengers and accompanied persons /family members it is difficult.

Saw a very long queue of my fellow Biharis manned by few policeman. GRP, standing to enter two general coaches. Inadequate. I hope they increase the number of general coaches to at least four in SF trains. Queue was also manned by some plain clothes man wielding latthi. I sure some charges are also being collected as they performed duty very dutifully. Sad for Bihar as years of misrule has reduced employment opportunities and educational opportunities to zero in Bihar. May Niku and Laloo burn in hell. I had seen similar scenes of arriving Biharis in Chennai Central , early morning from Gorakhpur chennai express. Railway employees/GRP/sundry assorted touts salivate at the thronging mass like piranha.

I hope that they put LCD Screens to display reservation list for the coach. I saw someone tearing the paper chart from the coach. Seems coach was not fully booked and many AC3 passengers were upgraded without notification and there were howls of protest as they arrived in their AC3 coach finding someone else occupying the designated seat.

I really hope they they develop Delhi as Model railway station at least to showcase to others. With multimodal transport system with easy access to them , eg, metro, bus, taxi , three wheelers, private cars, bi-cycle stand all aarranged in easy to access layout and easy access to platform through ticket gates and passenger area with shopping complexes and several entry exit points .