Continued from..http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=137250

Drop a coin, dial a number from PCOs on State Transport buses

Passengers can make local and STD calls for Re 1 to any destination, courtesy Airtel

Express News Service

Pune, April 20: COMMUTERS travelling by Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation buses from the city to other places in the state this summer no longer have to rush to find a telephone booth to call up their families and friends on lonely highways to inform them they are safe.

Bharti Airtel Limited, over the next 30 days, will install public coin booths (PCOs) in the 4,500-odd buses of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC). The services will cover 30 major cities including Pune, Mumbai, Nashik, Amravati, Aurangabad and Nagpur including nearly 218 towns.


“Around 1,900 buses have already been fitted with the GSM-based PCOs that have a pre-paid facility. Work on the remaining buses would be completed by May 25. Friday onwards, this facility will enable the commuters to make calls to any destination in India for Re 1. Local calls will be charged at Re 1 for 60 seconds and STD calls at Re 1 per 20 seconds,” said MSRTC chairman Sudhakar Paricharak.

MSRTC has entered into a tie-up with Airtel for a period of two years to offer telephone services to its commuters on long distance and medium distance routes. Depending on the response, the facility will be extended to other buses on other routes as well, Paricharak said.

MSRTC has a fleet of 15,500 buses plying on 85,000 routes across Maharashtra everyday.

Mandeep Bhatia, COO (Mobile Services), Bharti Airtel Limited said Airtel will be responsible for the maintenance of the PCOs while MSRTC will be responsible for the cash management of the PCO operations in the buses. The PCO installations will be undertaken across 248 MSRTC bus depots spread over six regions.
MSRTC will receive 25 per cent of the revenues generated through the new service. “Airtel has appointed a distributor who would supply recharge vouchers of Rs 1,200 that would be given to the corporation officials at Rs 980. This would ensure that the services are not disrupted on long distance routes,” Bhatia said.




http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=232624

Not sure if these have been posted before..

Kolkata Metro
Copyright Saralhanh
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/3266/126963532305fa39e2dboc5.jpg

Copyright Tatsuro
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/8987/45040669175d6be7530oqf9.jpg

Copyright El_chico_438
http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/7874/440884110e86f205713ofn7.jpg

Outside the park street station
Copyright Soumit
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/4138/72951895998f54ab7dbos2.jpg

Time to update Kolkatta metro.

looks neat for an old metro!

:)

Time to update Kolkatta metro.

How many stations of the kolkata metro are underground ?
They are going in for a line extension, right ?

15/17 stations are underground

They planned to extend the metro further south and then make it go east by 2007. But i believe there is something kinda delay. Probably Suncity can explain further.

Anyways,here is an extension pic..I am sure Arijeetb posted this before somewhere.

Copyright Arijeetb
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/3812/264945638aa4ccf4a1foyc6.jpg

Double post

[/COLOR]PUNE: The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) is set to buy 10 Chinese-made 'King Long' buses for operating on routes from Mumbai and Pune that have a heavy passenger load.

MSRTC chairman Sudhakar Paricharak said the move was an follow-up to the experiment of running two King Long 60-seater buses on the Dadar-Pune route.

"We plan to place orders for buying 10 such buses in the next fortnight," he said, adding that the buses would run on routes like Mumbai-Hubli, Mumbai-Indore, Pune-Indore and Pune-Nagpur.

"The Chinese buses with larger passenger-carrying capacity and spacious interiors are expected to cost almost Rs 20 lakh each, which is less than the Swedish Volvo buses," he said.

The MSRTC has 20 Volvo buses running on Pune-Mumbai and Pune-Nashik routes. The MSRTC added 1,250 new buses to its fleet of 16,000-plus in 2006-'07. It has decided to add 2,035 more buses to the fleet in financial year 2007-'08.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Buses_will_now_be_made_in_China/articleshow/1937121.cms


http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/7783/6122lrj7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

How come nobody's buying Tata Globuses for their long-distance routes?

How many stations of the kolkata metro are underground ?

I am not sure boss. Metro in Kolkata isn't the primary mode of transport. So, I believe Kolkata metro doesn't have a wide-spread network.

They are going in for a line extension, right ?

I heard it too. Hopefully, it'll restore to its former glory.

About a month old news..this hasnt been posted before

New Metro Rail Project for Chennai (http://www.railway-technology.com/news/news1025.html)

In line with other Indian metros like Delhi and Kolkata, Tamil Nadu's government on Friday decided to implement the metro rail project in Chennai to solve its traffic problems at a cost of Rs 9,000 crore.

State finance Minister K Anbazhagan, while submitting the state budget for the next fiscal in the Assembly, said that the project, comprising two rail corridors, would have a total length of 49km and would commence operations within five years.

The detailed project report for the project had been prepared by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and submitted to the government recently, he said.

The Minister announced a provision of Rs 50 crore in the budget to undertake preliminary works for the special scheme. Stating that there had been a rapid growth in air transport in the state, he said the government would soon make an appropriate decision on whether it should go for expansion of the existing Chennai airport or establish a new airport near Chennai.

In addition, the expansion of Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli and Tuticorin airports was essential to handle the increasing air traffic in those places, he said. He added that the Airport Authority of India had requested the state government provide the land required for expansion of these airports.

Accepting the request, the government would provide the land required for the expansions works, he said. Anbazhagan said the second phase of the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS), extending from Luz Mylapore to Velachery in Chennai, was nearing completion.

Realising that the full benefit of the project could be harnessed only if it was extended up to St Thomas Mount, the Tamil Nadu government had conveyed its concurrence to bear two-thirds of the cost of the project estimated at Rs 416 crore, he said, and added that an allocation of Rs 20 crore had been made in the budget as a contribution of the state for 2007–08.

Here's Kolkata suburban railway system map from IRFCA

http://www.irfca.org/gallery/Layouts/kolkatarailmap_samitroychoudhury.gif.html?g2_imageViewsIndex=1

and a Metro/Circular Railway map by Sridhar

http://www.irfca.org/users/delhimetro/maps/kolkata_metro_circular_rail.pdf

inside a Bangalore Volvo

Copyright Mark Prichard
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/3672/469306596b8f2fb1f16ogm0.jpg

I am not sure boss. Metro in Kolkata isn't the primary mode of transport. So, I believe Kolkata metro doesn't have a wide-spread network.


I heard it too. Hopefully, it'll restore to its former glory.

Kolkata metro spans a north south axis of about 17km presently. Except for a couple of stations at ground level remaining 15 are underground.

The extn of about 8.7 km is expected to complete by end of the year. This would have 5 ( out of 6) elevated stations.

Hey those Chinese 'King Long' buses look great!

I dont think Tata make big enough coaches/buses for long distance streches however Tata'snew range of inter-city Star buses look very good.

Tata Globus buses seem to be getting popular

An advt from Raj National Express and Grayline

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/474/graylinerajtatagp3.jpg

this grayline, is it the grayline?
hmm.. never thought this would happen. not that they are some great operators. wonder what they bring to this?

Inside a Bangalore Volvo. I like these buses very much and see as a symbol of modern Bangalore.

335 E, from Mayo Hall (M G Road) to SAP Labs, White Field. Distance: 18kms. Fare: Rs.30. (21/04/07, Saturday noon.)

It was pretty good rush in the bus.

http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/3903/dsc03325rk9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/8179/dsc03326ol3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

335 E, SAP Labs to HAL Main Gate. Distance: 12 kms. Fare: Rs: 20.

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/2193/volvoas6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Thanks for that Sudheesh, its great to see pics inside the Volvo buses and that things are chaning fast in terms of bus travel within Bangalore. I just wish other cities esp. Kolkatta take hint.

I just wish other cities esp. Kolkatta take hint.

Actually Kolkata already has "nice" buses for over a year now. The thing is that local public transport is overwhelmingly in the hands of small players in the private sector who are in no hurry to reinvest profits and always claim losses. Thousands of outdated privately run buses choke Kolkata streets back to back and they carry 4 million people daily. 200-300 new buses are going to be a drop in the ocean. They need thousands of new buses but the priavte players are not going to go off the streets. So where is the space?

http://img488.imageshack.us/img488/7278/topbusterminustoibk5.jpg

More on the changes in Kolkata..

Revving up for a style statement

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=12568745&postcount=367

Bus rides are cool this summer
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=12790451&postcount=425

[QUOTE=sudheeshnairs;12815371]Inside a Bangalore Volvo. I like these buses very much and see as a symbol of modern Bangalore.

335 E, from Mayo Hall (M G Road) to SAP Labs, White Field. Distance: 18kms. Fare: Rs.30. (21/04/07, Saturday noon.)

It was pretty good rush in the bus.

^^ Pretty much a symbol of economically changing India...wonder why other cities that are established IT hubs such as Hyd, Chennai, Pune, NCR have not adopted Bangalore's success with the volvo

dada... pretty nicely done bustand. where is it? benches and all.
landscaping. two cops. open. no dark corners. lighting. cool kiosk. slender black fencing.
looks like a small regional hub set back from street. with drop off/pick up area. nicely done.

dada... pretty nicely done bustand. where is it? benches and all.
landscaping. two cops. open. no dark corners. lighting. cool kiosk. slender black fencing.
looks like a small regional hub set back from street. with drop off/pick up area. nicely done.

This is the new town "temporary" bus terminus located in the newly developing and upcoming township at Rajarhat - between Kolkata's IT hub and the airport. In fact it is within walking distance of DLF IT Park.

A "permanent" terminus (http://www.greenfieldrealestates.com/web/terminus/index.html#) is planned to come up about 1km away combined with a multi-storied retail cum entertainment center. But somehow I like the concept of this "green" terminal very much..hopefully they will not demolish it...

I recently travelled on Tata Globus luxury bus from Mumbai to Pune (private operator Raj National Express). It was very comfortable with plenty of legroom.

Besides the bus, the expressway is a pure delight to travel on, truly world class. It is an engineering marvel, passing through mountains and several tunnels. Drivers do stick to their lanes, give a signal while changing lanes, and even truck drivers carrying big container loads are responsible. All this is already well documented, but I travelled on it for the first time, hence these compliments!

More of Bangalore Volvo..

Advertisements on the window panes are fetching good revenue for BMTC.

Malayalam Movie actor Mammootty is seen in the Advt for South Indian Bank.

http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/4509/dsc03345zp1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Thanks for that Sudheesh.....a nice surprise but its a real shame for the people who have to travel on those old buses. The Govt. should really do something about them.

More of Bangalore Volvo..

Advertisements on the window panes are fetching good revenue for BMTC.

Malayalam Movie actor Mammootty is seen in the Advt for South Indian Bank.

http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/4509/dsc03345zp1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

^^ I would reiterate that the volvos have been a resounding success in Banglore in every sense:cheers:

However the roads they tread upon are utter crap. All they need is bangalore municipality to deploy manual or automated sweepers/machines on the roads.:ohno:

Rlys to run triple-decker container
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1947151,prtpage-1.cms

Responding to the demand by the automobile industry, the railways have decided to run triple-decker container trains between Delhi and Pune as a pilot project.

Railway Board’s member (traffic), V N Mathur, said the triple-decker container trains would be pulled by diesel engines. These containers will transport cars, scooters and motorcycles.

“Although experts ruled out any problem in using electric engines, it was decided to avoid the risk in the initial stages,” Mathur said. The height of these containers will be well below the overhead wires.

He said the diesel engines will mainly ply on Western part of dedicated freight corridor connecting Mumbai-Ahmedabad-Palanpur-Rewari. The Eastern corridor between Delhi and Kolkata via Khurja, Shahjahanpur, Lucknow and Mughalsarai will be an electrified route.

He said work on corridors will begin soon, after top officials of the SPV are appointed by the next month.

I am very passionate about Karnataka buses (KSRTC & BMTC).:)

A KSRTC Volvo, IRAVAT; Trivandrum-Bangalore, shot near Trivandrum International School, some 25 kms from TVM, this evening.

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/8880/dsc03388jd1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I am very passionate about Karnataka buses (KSRTC & BMTC).:)

A KSRTC Volvo, IRAVAT; Trivandrum-Bangalore, shot near Trivandrum International School, some 25 kms from TVM, this evening.

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/8880/dsc03388jd1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Are all the long route buses of KSRTC are from VOLVO? or only some major destinations?

I am very passionate about Karnataka buses (KSRTC & BMTC).:)

A KSRTC Volvo, IRAVAT; Trivandrum-Bangalore, shot near Trivandrum International School, some 25 kms from TVM, this evening.

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/8880/dsc03388jd1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Sudheesh - which road is this ?

Nifty buses!

man, Volvo's making a killing in the inter-city luxury bus circuit. Like they say, the early bird gets the worm.

Are all the long route buses of KSRTC are from VOLVO? or only some major destinations?

Karnataka SRTC is having the largest number of Volvos in India, last time in news it was some 160+ or so.

No, not all long distance or Inter-City buses are Volvo. They have the usual Ashok Leyland (Not sure whether it is Air suspension) 'Rajahamsa'. Major destinations, they have the Iravat service.Apart from the Volvo 'Iravat', 'Rajahamsa' also run in Bangalore-Trivandrum route.

Sudheesh - which road is this ?

It is the NH 47.

This is the new town "temporary" bus terminus located in the newly developing and upcoming township at Rajarhat - between Kolkata's IT hub and the airport. In fact it is within walking distance of DLF IT Park.

A "permanent" terminus (http://www.greenfieldrealestates.com/web/terminus/index.html#) is planned to come up about 1km away combined with a multi-storied retail cum entertainment center. But somehow I like the concept of this "green" terminal very much..hopefully they will not demolish it...

thanks sudipta.

Wait for 6 more months to see GPS in city buses

UT Transport dept blames it on private player who backed out at the last moment after tender was allotted a few months ago

Neelam Sharma

Chandigarh, April 29: Chandigarh commuters may have to wait for six more months to see the much-hyped Global Positioning System (GPS) and Passenger Information System (PIS) installed in the local CTU buses and bus shelters here.

Officials at the UT Transport department said fresh tenders have been called in and the applications would be processed for another month before the work on the installation of the systems begin.



“Since the system would be installed here for the first time, in all, 100 buses would be have GPS and 50 bus shelters would be equipped with PIS in the first phase. In the longer run, however, the plan is to place the systems in all buses and bus shelters under the CTU,” said a senior official.

Even as the Chandigarh Administration does its ground work to install these systems, cities like Indore have already taken a lead by installing GPS through public-private partnership model.

The Ministry of Surface Transport has now written to the other states, including the UT Chandigarh, to study the Indore model.

The Administration here had announced its plans of installing both the systems several months ago. The officials said when the tenders were called in for the first time recently, a private player was selected to install the system, but he backed out at the last minute, which further delayed the process.

Installation of the systems like GPS and PIS was in line with the efforts of the Administration to make the public transport more attractive and acceptable to the Chandigarh residents, so that the preference of personal vehicles is reduced. At present, CTU has 116 local buses and is going to add another 50 to its fleet

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=234166


New Delhi, April 30: Overcrowded passenger cars, which double up as school cabs and carry over one lakh children in the city everyday — and are prone to accidents — will now be regulated.

The Delhi Government today approved “strict” regulations for such vehicles to improve the safety of students. Failure to comply with rules will attract a fine of upto Rs 10,000.
Under the new regulations, all cabs carrying schoolchildren will have to be registered with the transport department as “school cabs” and will be allotted a new number series — DL 1K.

The cabs will also have speed governors installed, bringing down their speed to a mere 40 kilometers per hour.

The drivers will be required to undergo prescribed training.

Moreover, the vehicles registered as “school cabs” must be equipped with a first-aid box, a fire extinguisher, amber flashing lights affixed to the top four corners on the exterior, which shall be activated when the cab is stopped.

The vehicle must also prominently display transport helpline numbers.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said the new scheme is open to the existing and new unregistered private motor vehicles plying only on clean fuel.

Under the new rules, in order to curb the tendency of overcrowding, the carrying capacity of the school cab has been limited to one and half times of the seating capacity stated in registration certificate.

It should have a carrier on the roof for storage of school bags and must carry a register of children with full details including telephone numbers.

“Vehicles over 15 years old will not be eligible for registration as school cabs, though they will be eligible as transport vehicles and grant of contract carriage permits subject to fitness, payment of prescribed fees and taxes,” said a senior government officer.

The school cabs will not be eligible for interstate or All India Tourist Permits, though they will be able to operate as ordinary transport vehicle when not transporting schoolchildren.

The cabs should have a readily identifiable horizontal stripe running through the middle.

To begin with, the scheme will be administered centrally from the Zonal Office Burari.

not bad, but limiting them to 40km/h is going too far. With such low maximum speeds, these school cabs wont be eligible for expressway usage, or even for most surface arterials (where the flow of traffic is expected to be 60-70km/h). 130km/h is a better suggestion.

doode....
are you kidding?? you realize the buses are carrying children, within the city & prolly during the peak hours, right?

even if it's during peak hours, what if someone lives on one side of town and his school is on the other side of town?

And what's wrong with taking children on expressways? Everyone does it all the time everywhere where there are a significant number of them.

Besides, if theyre running at peak hours and limited to 40km/h, then they'll cause traffic jams by backing up traffic on main arterials (which DO go through city centers).

And btw, there are arterials good for 60-70km/h in all world-class cities, they feed expressways.

130 km/hr is not possible with schoolchildren in New Delhi at present. This is not realistic, may be 50 km/hr possible. Other things need to change in roads, to enable school buses to improve in their service.
:poke:

dude, we're talking about cabs, not buses.

even if it's during peak hours, what if someone lives on one side of town and his school is on the other side of town?

And what's wrong with taking children on expressways? Everyone does it all the time everywhere where there are a significant number of them.

Besides, if theyre running at peak hours and limited to 40km/h, then they'll cause traffic jams by backing up traffic on main arterials (which DO go through city centers).

And btw, there are arterials good for 60-70km/h in all world-class cities, they feed expressways.
I can't think about expressways other than DND and NH-8 (the Gurgaon one) in Delhi, but we are talking about arterial and other roads, where mostly speed limit is 50-60 km/hr

even if the speed limit is 50-60km/h, then that's still significantly more than 40km/h.

Then there are both the Ring Road and Outer Ring Road. They may not be expressways yet, but they're currently being heavily grade-seperated, and by 2010 (CWG time!) they'll be totally free of stoplights and stuff. Thus, the noly things needed to convert them to expwy status will be a little access control and retaining walls to create frontage roads (which shouldn't be a big deal). Once thata's done, the speed limit on both roads can probably be increased to 80-90km/h.

These new roads maybe expressways,but I would still not recommend really large speeds on them because of the sheer amount of traffic. I drove on the new Delhi-Gurgoan expressway, and while the quality is impeccable, the drivers have absolutely no idea how to drive still.

Everyone was driving quick, but kept cutting each other, kept zigzagging between traffic and had absolutely no lane sense. It took away considerable driving pleasure. Small cars are the worse culprits.

These new roads maybe expressways,but I would still not recommend really large speeds on them because of the sheer amount of traffic. I drove on the new Delhi-Gurgoan expressway, and while the quality is impeccable, the drivers have absolutely no idea how to drive still.

Everyone was driving quick, but kept cutting each other, kept zigzagging between traffic and had absolutely no lane sense. It took away considerable driving pleasure. Small cars are the worse culprits.

Well we are from a country where same people won't mind doing "nothing" on work but cannot wait for 10 minutes in a line.

If someone crosses you like that, force them to stop, give them 2 on the face and it's learned for the life.

From today's TOI:

http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/2797/getimageow5.png (http://imageshack.us)

nice!!

Yeah, really nice stuff. and I believe it has GPS. The tv report said if the cab has to be driven to UP (which would include Noida), they have an additional surcharge of Rs. 150.

There were 4 cab companies in New Delhi and now I think this makes it 5. But all of them combined still have less than a thousand vehicles on road at present.

Yeah, really nice stuff. and I believe it has GPS. The tv report said if the cab has to be driven to UP (which would include Noida), they have an additional surcharge of Rs. 150.

There were 4 cab companies in New Delhi and now I think this makes it 5. But all of them combined still have less than a thousand vehicles on road at present.

So, is the complete fleet going to be Tata Indica.
Anything other than ambi's will look modern on the road.

Also, as with call taxis in chennai which uses "LPG" as fuel, what is the fuel type on these cabs.

So, is the complete fleet going to be Tata Indica.
Anything other than ambi's will look modern on the road.

Also, as with call taxis in chennai which uses "LPG" as fuel, what is the fuel type on these cabs.

It is TATA INDIGO MARINA (Estate model based on the Indica platform)and not TATA INDICA. The price is around Rs. 7 Lakhs.

The diesel option is the most selling of the Indigo range, dunno whether they have introduced a CNG version (CNG seems to be more popular in Delhi).

That taxi is great!

Kol Metro

Copyright Somak_Kolkata
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/7663/472298189d3a75fbd30oon0.jpg


http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/3451/472283138bd25349597oms4.jpg

^^ Not bad.

^^ Not bad.

The 1st stretch of Kolkata Metro ( 3.2 km) started almost 23 years ago in 1984 and the full line (17km) was commissioned in 1994. The stations are very well maintained, however they should replace some of the old stock soon.

London inspires DTC to map its routes
- Times of India, 9 May, 2007 (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/London_inspires_DTC_to_map_routes/articleshow/2020326.cms)

NEW DELHI: Delhi now has its equivalent of the London underground map.

Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has drawn up a map detailing all its major bus routes — about 150 of them — along with the Metro and the proposed ring railways routes. Modelled after the London version, the map, of which the corporation has so far printed 10,000 copies in English, will be available in Hindi too and free of cost.

The corporation is targeting all the ISBTs, DTC terminuses, major bookstores, tourist spots and hotels for making it available. The map will also be put up on the DTC website www.dtc.nic.in

The map carries a list of 200 of the 6,000-odd bus stops around the city and gives details of about 150 bus routes of the 600 that DTC buses operate on. There are separate smaller maps outlining the Mudrika and the Teevra Mudrika routes.

Explained a senior official, "We have attempted to cover the whole city. The idea is that the moment a tourist reaches Delhi, he/she should have a clear idea about all the bus routes. The map, we are hoping, will be of use to Delhi’ites too."

The map has been divided into grids from A to H and each grid into seven zones. Based on these divisions, all 200 bus stops have been given coordinates so that they can be easily spotted. Bus routes have been assigned four different colours — blue, green, pink and mauve — each for a different zone.

Blue is for buses from north to south, green for those from east to west, pink for those from southeast to north west and mauve for southwest to northeast. Bus routes starting and ending at the two main railway stations and the three ISBTs at Kashmere Gate, Anand Vihar and Sarai Kale Khan have been listed separately.


Once the 500 low-floor buses that the corporation has ordered arrive and start plying on various routes, there are plans to add another differently coloured route outline for them. The present map, however, is not without its shortcomings.

For one, the fact that only some bus routes figure in it, means that one might end up walking a long distance to catch a particular bus when another bus, whose route does not feature on the map, may cover the whole stretch between origin and destination. Additionally, if the origin or the destination do not figure on the map, for a newcomer finding his/her own coordinates on the map may be difficult.

Apart from the London underground map, the department studied maps of cities around the world to get an idea about what would be the most user-friendly way to draw it. Apart from the 20,000 copies that will be printed, enlarged versions of the map will be put up at 500 bus stops in the city. "The target is to have the map in all bus stops by the Commonwealth Games," the official said.

The corporation plans to update and reprint the map every three to four years and wants it to be a sort of memento for tourists to take back home.

sort of like
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Delhi_metro_rail_network.svg/800px-Delhi_metro_rail_network.svg.png

sort of like
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Delhi_metro_rail_network.svg/800px-Delhi_metro_rail_network.svg.png

Wow! this is truely world class!
Thanks for the Map PlaneMad. Delhi is setting a good example for the rest of the Indian metros.

^^ Thanks, i made it :D

I actually mailed it to DMRC long back with no reply. I wonder if they copied my schematic.

map guru!! :cheers:

have you read edward tufte?

Well done Plane Mad...couldn't have designed it better myself and is much better than the map currently on DMRC web-site.

I can see better now which lines are under construction and which ones are operating.

Although the blue line for the airport could have had more stations I think even thou construction is going ahead.

In fact every country in the world as took inspiration from the London Underground map as is even been hailed as of the greatest designs of the 20th Century.

PM, lovely map indeed. It is a shame that the DMRC didn't reply to you.. especially if their map resembles something similar to yours

DMRC has never replied back to any of my queries or requests to update their picture gallery section to provide latest construction pics. Their map (http://www.delhimetrorail.com/commuters/images/metro_map_big.jpg) and Plane Mad's map are worlds apart. Seriously PlaneMad,thats one sweet map ;)

Thanks fellas, i will need to update that map one of these days. Anyhow im looking forward to those DDTC maps.

That's a great map PlaneMad. It's a shame that DMRC did not contact you. You shoud have directly contacted Sridharan. This was your invention and copyright!

DMRC has never replied back to any of my queries or requests to update their picture gallery section to provide latest construction pics. Their map (http://www.delhimetrorail.com/commuters/images/metro_map_big.jpg) and Plane Mad's map are worlds apart. Seriously PlaneMad,thats one sweet map ;)

I laugh at the so-called professionals for the DMRC map:lol:

Metro rail projects to get MCA now (http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=164161)


NEW DELHI, MAY 14: To bring consistency and transparency in the execution of urban transport projects, the government is planning to introduce a model concession agreement (MCA) for metro rail projects across the country.

To be signed between the state government and a private player, the agreement will be for a period of 35 years. Of this period, the player will have five years for construction and another 30 years for operation.

The agreement will be for both construction and operation and maintenance of the project.

Commenting on the move, a government official said, “We want to bring about some amount of standardisation in the process of selecting a bidder and in constructing the metro rail system as well.

We hope the MCA will help in this.”

The MCA is in the final stages of drafting and will be adopted by the government soon and will be the standard document to be signed for all metro rail projects.

Line 2 of the Mumbai metro rail project and the Hyderabad metro project will be amongst the first projects expected to use the MCA, the official added.

The decision is significant given the fact that the finance ministry’s reservations on some clauses of the concession agreement for Line 1 of the Mumbai metro rail system.

It is estimated that over 26 cities in the country require a mass rapid transit system. Six cities including Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmdabad and Mumbai have already opted for it. Delhi and Kolkatta have operational metro rail systems.

With this in mind, the government has been working out a number of measures to bring about uniformity in the execution of these projects.

It is planning to bring all metro rail systems across the country under the purview of a single central authority.

TERMS & CONDITIONS

• The agreement will be signed between the state government and a private player for 35 years
• Of this period, the player will have five years for construction and another 30 years for operation
• The MCA, to be adopted by the govt soon will be the standard document to be signed for all projects
• It is estimated that over 26 cities in the country require a mass rapid transit system

http://alexdixon.info/wp-content/uploads/Dsc00618.JPG

BEST’s double-decker buses are here to stay

Express News Service

Mumbai, May 14: In a bid to preserve the essence of Mumbai's transport lifeline over its economical gains, the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking is all set to add 50 new double-decker buses in its fleet.

“Double-decker buses are the pride of Mumbai’s transport and we wish to preserve them. We will buy 50 new double-decker buses this year,” said BEST general manager Uttam Khobragade. The BEST had termed the landmark double-decker buses as uneconomical and were also on the verge of being scrapped off.

According to BEST Committee member Pravin Chheda, “Though double-decker buses are uneconomical, they are an integral part of city’s transport history and cannot be phased out. We will maintain certain number of these buses in the city.” According to senior BEST officials, the 50 new double-deckers will hit the Mumbai roads in around two months. “The tenders have been called and we expect the buses to arrive by mid July,” said an official. BEST officials were working out a solution as to how can they maintain the fleet with minimum loss. “Running double-decker buses is highly uneconomical but we shall find out a workable solution towards it,” official said.

Currently, BEST has over 140 double-decker buses in its fleet of 3,400 buses. In November 2006, BEST finally bowed down to pressure from citizens and its committee members and agreed to maintain a minimum fleet of at least 200 double decker buses, which were introduced way back in 1937 .

“Double-deckers have always been Mumbai's landmark and hence, we had asked the undertaking to maintain a minimum fleet of 200 buses,” said BEST Committee member Ravi Raja.

Source (http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=236416)

MSRTC depots, bus stations may soon get CCTVs, metal detectors (http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=236412)

Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) is planning to install close circuit televisions (CCTVs) and door frame metal detectors at each of its 247 depots and 570 bus stations across the state.

Installation cost for enhanced security system is estimated at Rs 31 crore.

If the proposal is approved, the security system along with the cost of man power, electronic equipment, and its maintenance will cost Rs 120 crore per year.

Cool, wonder how these new double deckers will look?

Hope they follow the example of Hong Kong double deckers as they huge.

Even european double deckers like the ones in London would be good for Mumbai.

Best should now introduce some better quality DD buses

http://www.milesfaster.co.uk/gallery/london-images/london-bus-6.jpg

The city’s roads will soon get a new fleet of public buses to replace the Bluelines. The Delhi Government is set to invite expressions of interest from corporate houses to run 3,000 private buses, Delhi Transport Minister Haroon Yusuf said on Wednesday.

Yusuf said the existing 4,500-odd Bluelines, as well as the ageing DTC fleet, are scheduled to be phased out by 2009, before the Commonwealth Games.

“We will also take a decision on whether buses can become advertising spaces similar to what happens in Singapore,” he said.

Source (http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=236678)

Meanwhile, The Supreme Court today stayed a Delhi High Court order that made it mandatory for all buses in the Capital to have low-floor body as a precondition for their registration with the State Transport Authority.

Source (http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=236679)

New Delhi, May 16: The city’s roads will soon get a new fleet of public buses to replace the Bluelines. The Delhi Government is set to invite expressions of interest from corporate houses to run 3,000 private buses, Delhi Transport Minister Haroon Yusuf said on Wednesday. Yusuf said the idea of private sector participation in running buses was taken in view of the success of radio-taxis.

Calling the Blueline buses “rude and unsafe”, Yusuf said the government plans to phase them out by 2009. “The problem with Delhi’s buses right now is that each owner runs a Blueline — there is no structure, accountability or service in terms of comfort and safety. We have already suggested that all 800-odd private operators form a cooperative to run the (new fleet of) buses. “We will also invite corporate houses to run buses in the manner of radio-taxis. From our experience, service provided is much better when one big firm operates a fleet; the drivers are also more accountable.” And in case something goes wrong, he said, the government would be able to prosecute the company instead of individual drivers, thereby increasing accountability. Officials said once corporate entities come in, public buses are set to become more comfortable and aesthetically pleasing, for the private parties would be allowed to bring in new designs. Yusuf said the existing 4,500-odd Bluelines, as well as the ageing DTC fleet, are scheduled to be phased out by 2009, before the Commonwealth Games. “We will also take a decision on whether buses can become advertising spaces similar to what happens in Singapore,” he said. “The private players will be able to earn revenue from this and can maintain the buses better. “The buses will also look better once we allow advertising on the body.” Meanwhile, the transport department is looking at launching a premium bus service in the city. While the concept already exists, officials said it never took off the way it should have. According to officials, the government is procuring 25 air-conditioned buses that will be used on these premium, or “limited service” routes. The ticket rate would be a flat Rs 10, officials said.

Delhi: High-capacity bus corridors create storm (http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070011598)
Archis Mohan
Thursday, May 10, 2007 (New Delhi)




http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/3103/highcapacitybusdi2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Delhi's new high-capacity buses have landed in controversy as trees are being removed to make room for them.

High-capacity buses, which are being pitched as an alternative to the Metro, currently operate on two routes where there are no traffic lights.

Meanwhile, construction across the city is clearing the way for three more routes to swing into action by December.

But it hasn't been a smooth ride so far. The first route alone will cost Delhi 1500 trees. Environmentalists project that thousands more will be chopped down.

''Cutting down of trees at what cost? Much of this was avoidable if only they had surveyed the area better. The need is to have environment to be an integral part of the planning process which it is not and compensatory afforestation does not work,'' said Ravi Agarwal, environmentalist.

Trees uprooted

And all the government will say on record is that for every tree uprooted, it will plant 10 new ones at a 19 acre plot on the outskirts of Delhi.

''We have taken clearance for 19 acre of land from the environment department. Panchayat stakeholders have also approved the handover. But there are also other concerns about these high-capacity buses,'' said Haroon Yusuf, Delhi Transport Minister.

But there are also other concerns about these high-capacity buses. With nearly a 1000 vehicles being added to the city's streets everyday, the road space is shrinking by the hour and Delhi doesn't have wide enough roads to accommodate them, say experts.

''This is bad planning. It isn't just about the trees. The buses will eat into the existing road space leading to more congestion,'' said HS Suri, Urban Planner.

A ticket on one of the buses currently cost between Rs 10 to 15, that's twice as expensive as a regular DTC bus. But it's slowly winning over some supporters.

''The low floor makes it easier for women and elderly to board the bus. It is expensive, but it is a great convenience,'' said Yuvraj Kumar, passenger.

''It is good for the physically-challenged,'' said Khaled, conductor.

But it may take longer for environmentalists and town planners to get on board.

'City Swaps' tourist buses in Bangalore

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/7900/2006072601190101xw1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

'City Swaps' tourist buses in Bangalore

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/7900/2006072601190101xw1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


Design is almost the same as the open air sightseeing buses of London...good news for Bangalore:)

Design is almost the same as the open air sightseeing buses of London...good news for Bangalore:)

Yeah pretty much comparable with the London tour buses

http://www.londontoolkit.com/Images/original_london_tour_bus.jpg


BTW, here is the website for Bangalore city swaps
http://www.cityswaps.in/

check out the photo gallery

Very nice.

other cities should also have something similair too!

The bus looks great..

Copyright ChaosClaire
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/7651/393860428b7c68d427dopb5.jpg

Copyright PintoAlex
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/4475/34382656091a4ce511boxq5.jpg

Copyright deano977
http://img482.imageshack.us/img482/1347/23848488903aa8427afoen0.jpg

lage raho IU :cheers1:

According to my brother who is in Jabalpur, new low floor buses have been implemented throughout the city. Here is what I believe to be the official website:

http://jabalpur.nic.in/jctsl/bus%20service/default.htm

According to my brother who is in Jabalpur, new low floor buses have been implemented throughout the city. Here is what I believe to be the official website:

http://jabalpur.nic.in/jctsl/bus%20service/default.htm

The Bus looks magnificient

bombay has these tour buses for the last 5-6 years, but they are much poorer versions of the bangalore ones. almost like modified BEST buses, with the top the double decker chopped off. quite popular though. called mumbai darshan

According to my brother who is in Jabalpur, new low floor buses have been implemented throughout the city. Here is what I believe to be the official website:

http://jabalpur.nic.in/jctsl/bus%20service/default.htm

looks cool !

According to my brother who is in Jabalpur, new low floor buses have been implemented throughout the city. Here is what I believe to be the official website:

http://jabalpur.nic.in/jctsl/bus%20service/default.htmone of the better transit sites from india IMO.

While our biggest cities are still looking for answers or sitting on their plans, two cities in Madhya Pradesh are already miles ahead. Bravo MP.

"Yelli Iddira" Service for Volvo Buses Rocking Bangalore..
“Yelli Iddira?” is a service provided to commuters to track BMTC buses (only the VOLVO Bus Service) using GPS data.

"Yelli Iddira?" - in Kannada means "Where are you?"

Regarding the "Yelli Iddira" to find a Volvo Bus:

To know the current location of the buses along the route, send an SMS message to 99456 34666 reading ‘Yi V333P U’, where

Yi stands for ‘Yelli Iddira?’,
‘V333P’ is the route number,
‘U’ stands for ‘up’ (buses heading out of the ’starting station’ are designated to as ‘up’, and buses heading towards the ’starting station’ are designated as ‘down’).


Supposing you are at Airport Road, and wish to go to ITPL. The VOLVO bus route no V333P, connecting KG Bus Station and ITPL, touches MG Road, Airport Road and proceeds to ITPL.

And, within a minute, you will receive a reply stating, for example, “Richmond Circle; MG Road; Marathalli, Kadugodi”, meaning there are four buses on this route currently, each of them approaching the stops listed, after having left the previous stops. The buses approaching Marathalli and Kadugodi is of no use to you. So you can wait few minutes for the bus from MG Road to come to Airport Road.

Jabalpur is in 'former' MP - it is now in Chattisgarh.

Jabalpur is in 'former' MP - it is now in Chattisgarh.

Nope..Jabalpur is still unfortunately in MP..Of the major cities in Chattisgarh are Raipur, Bhilai and Durg..

Guys,

I have travelled in double decker buses in bangalore in the late 70s and 80s between Indiranagar and Majestic (Route 132). I think there are some still around in certain routes.

Overhead cables etc. are not an issue. They are there even on MG road, but are quite high up.

The hop-on-off bus (in the photo) is of course for tourist use.

bus transit is fine, but i think bogota is oversold. the amount land needed for any realistic implementation of bus transit is stagerring.
the basic advantage of BRTS is that it can take advantage of existing roads.
i.e the public carrier can move in and out of Rapid Transit Corridors seemlessly.
while other Rapid Transit options like rails or mono this is not possible.
but for every kilometer of rapid transit corridor, BRTS needs more land and offers lesser capacity than elevated corridors.

that type of land is prolly in available in the new towns but old towns they are an impossibility for it to be really succesfull. hov lanes on three roads in the city dont make a RT.

nelaturi..
the buses used to be gray then. :)

DTC’s Khaki Uniform, Old Fleet To Go In View Of C’Wealth Games


Ambika Pandit | TNN



New Delhi: The crumpled, dull khaki uniform of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) employees is on its way out. Come September and 18,000 DTC staff will don smart new uniforms designed by the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT).
In a letter from DTC, the brief given to the fashion institute is clear: ‘‘Give the employees a corporate identity and a sense of pride in the uniforms. The dress should have a distinctive look for both summer and winter.’’
This ‘‘designer look’’ is part of a larger makeover that the DTC is trying to achieve before the Commonwealth Games 2010. The corporation plans to phase out its existing fleet by 2010. And the image overhaul is being done keeping in mind the colour scheme of the 525 brand-new CNG buses that would start arriving from August. While 25 of these buses will be airconditioned, all of them will have automated doors and low floors, making commuting a lot easier for the disabled and the elderly.
The dress makeover is the first such attempt by the corporation since its formation. NIFT has been asked to design trousers and shirts for drivers, conductors and supervisory staff, and saris, blouses and petticoats for women. ‘‘NIFT has been told that the idea is to dress the staff in a colour scheme that is distinct and goes well with the DTC brand, and is at the same time, durable and easy to maintain. NIFT has already started work on the project,’’ said an official.
NIFT is expected to complete the project, spread over three phases, within 12 weeks. In the first phase, its designers will interact with DTC officials to outline a design concept for the uniforms of all four categories of employees. Based on this feedback, NIFT will make the necessary changes in its final product. Prototypes of the approved sketches will be developed in the final fabric, as per specifications.
The fresh and energetic look will not only be limited to the designer uniform — the corporation will start recruiting about 2,500 drivers from June this year. The DTC had in 1987 made its last recruitment. DTC is in need of 8,500 drivers, against its current strength of 6,000, most of whom are aged between 45 and 50 years. This time, DTC is planning to recruit drivers who have studied till matriculation level and are in the age group of 25 to 35 years.

New Delhi: The Haryana government on Saturday agreed to participate in a joint venture project with the Railways for setting up elevated high speed 500-km rail corridor between Delhi and Chandigarh. The proposed bullet train will reduce the travel time to about one-and-a-half hour.
This was decided at a meeting attended by Haryana chief secretary Prem Prashant and Railway Board chairman J P Batra. Batra said the project would cost Rs 25,000 crore, which will exclude the price of land. He added that the High Speed Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation of the Railways would be the project development nodal agency, responsible for establishment of the network. The train will have a speed 250 kmph.

Its great that India is FINALLY getting serious about HSR, it's absolutely essential in a country that, even with recent increases in road traffic, is still a very rail-dependant nation.

500 km elevated rail corridor?? Sounds crazy. But, that seems to be the best option to keep stray cattle and people off the tracks. If true, it can be very well the longest elevated civil engineering project in the world.

However, the cost of 25000 crores without land cost could very well reach Rs 35000-40000 crores including the land acquisition and the inevitable project delay cost. Even trying to be very optimistic, I cant see how this project with such a huge cost just for a distance of 500 km can ever become financially viable.

500 km elevated rail corridor?? Sounds crazy. But, that seems to be the best option to keep stray cattle and people off the tracks. If true, it can be very well the longest elevated civil engineering project in the world.

However, the cost of 25000 crores without land cost could very well reach Rs 35000-40000 crores including the land acquisition and the inevitable project delay cost. Even trying to be very optimistic, I cant see how this project with such a huge cost just for a distance of 500 km can ever become financially viable.

The Indian Railways have not been able to build 7 kms of elevated track in Calcutta in 7 years. That's for construction. Also the airport track they have built has no takers because after building the tracks they found that they couldn't run trains because the main line was too busy. That's about their planning. In that context such bullet train plans and fancied special corridors sound a bit beyond the capabilities of Indian Railways and the various state governments.

Even if 1% of Rs 25.000 crores is used for bribes and consultancy fees for project analysis (which often get trashed), that's a lot of money to be made though.

Haryana has a huge power and water shortage if some residents are to be believed. The state can better spend the money on down to earth infrastructure stuff rather than dabbling in bullet train projects for now. For starters it can start cleaning up the mess in Gurgaon.

with cheap air travel i dont see how hsr is viable across long distances. projects within 250 kms might make sense considering waiting times at aiports, but asking indians to pay real user-charges on public transport seems to be something most governments seem loathe to do

New Delhi: The Haryana government on Saturday agreed to participate in a joint venture project with the Railways for setting up elevated high speed 500-km rail corridor between Delhi and Chandigarh. The proposed bullet train will reduce the travel time to about one-and-a-half hour.
This was decided at a meeting attended by Haryana chief secretary Prem Prashant and Railway Board chairman J P Batra. Batra said the project would cost Rs 25,000 crore, which will exclude the price of land. He added that the High Speed Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation of the Railways would be the project development nodal agency, responsible for establishment of the network. The train will have a speed 250 kmph.

Sounds great but doesn't seem promising. I remember sometimes back there was news about Railway Ministry's proposal for building high speed Maglev Corridor between Mumbai & New Delhi. 3 years on now & no news further news. Though I seriously hope this elevated HSR project comes true but I wouldn't bet even a dime on it.

Here is that Maglev news..
http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=48769

with cheap air travel i dont see how hsr is viable across long distances. projects within 250 kms might make sense considering waiting times at aiports, but asking indians to pay real user-charges on public transport seems to be something most governments seem loathe to do

Railway interconnects several places between two junctions. Although a HSR might not get enough passengers travelling straight between New Delhi & Mumbai but it can definately get some who might want to travel upto midway. So for someone wanting to travel from New Delhi - Ratlam or from Ratlam-Baroda or Mumbai-Baruch railway would still be a better option over air travel which might not be so cheap between these places.

If Tuesday’s meeting between Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Railway Board Chairperson J.P. Batra in New Delhi is anything to go by, you may soon be able to zip from Mumbai to Pune at 200 km per hour.

A special purpose vehicle will soon be set up to start a world-class high-speed train between the two cities. A feasibility report on the project has been commissioned by the Railway Board.

Deshmukh said this project should be considered on a priority basis by the railway ministry.

Preliminary costs for a high-speed train can be a whopping Rs 20 crore per km of new track and Rs 4 crore to Rs 5 crore to upgrade an old track.

Batra said the railway board had initiated talks with some states to set up high-speed trains in cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Surat.

Earlier, Finance Minister Jayant Patil had dashed off a letter to railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav seeking introduction of high-speed trains.

He had termed it one of the best means to propel economic growth from the current 8.5 per cent to the coveted 10 per cent.

Earlier, the state had worked out a joint venture with the Indian Railways and set up Maharashtra Rail Vikas Corporation for the World Bank-funded Mumbai Urban Transport Project’s rail component.



http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?id=18f7e9ee-6b9b-4b1e-88c3-eb4efa07118b&&Headline=Mumbai+to+Pune+in+1+hour%3f+Maybe

^^

I personally think all these proposed high speed train projects are basically money milking machines for bureacrats and consultancy firms.

^^

Seriously, with the MPE and Ahmedabad-Vadodara freeways almost empty do we need to make such a huge investment?

This might be feasible only if the ticket price dont increase enormously. Considering the heavy rail traffic between Mumbai and Pune, this train will sure shot be a success. There is no shortage of passsengers at all on this route. All the morning trains from Pune to Mumbai are jam packed as most of the people who commute to mumbai dont have cars and cant afford to drive to mumbai everyday. So if the ticket prices are not too high, then the superfast trains will be full in no time as well.

This might be feasible only if the ticket price dont increase enormously. Considering the heavy rail traffic between Mumbai and Pune, this train will sure shot be a success. There is no shortage of passsengers at all on this route. All the morning trains from Pune to Mumbai are jam packed as most of the people who commute to mumbai dont have cars and cant afford to drive to mumbai everyday. So if the ticket prices are not too high, then the superfast trains will be full in no time as well.

There is no shortage of Sardine cans in Indian Railways. so the only way ticket prices can be kept low is by jam-packing the train where you can count the number of nostrils of the fellow passenger standing next to you.

There is no shortage of Sardine cans in Indian Railways. so the only way ticket prices can be kept low is by jam-packing the train where you can count the number of nostrils of the fellow passenger standing next to you.

However, you cannot have a hig speed car packed with sardines so Catch 22??

Once again, inside 335 E volvo at Bangalore.

I noticed an electronic display screen by the side of the Driver, it works as a rear/side view mirror or so. You can see it straight at the end of the aisle.

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/4204/dsc03646uh7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

these Volvo buses are cool, the Generation NEXT buses....
Waiting to see more of these buses on Bangalore Roads.

Nice! Thanks Sudheesh.

These are very much like the ones here in Europe!

I like the arm rests....you dont get that here in the UK.

There is a new policy drafted on 'Road Safety and Traffic Management'.
Found interesting. The plan is to bring an Act in the Parliament and implement the recommendations.
You can give personal feedback on this report. I mailed some thoughts.

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/1774/untitledls4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Chandigarh Hop On Hop Off tour bus
photo copyright pradeepsisaria


http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/4613/chandigarhhoponpradeepsak6.jpg

Hey that's a cool bus!

APL links Delhi, Mumbai in rapid rail service


http://www.cargonewsasia.com/secured/article.aspx?id=3&article=13135

A container rail freight service connecting India's commercial centres of New Delhi and Mumbai and offering last-mile trucking to inland container depots has been launched by global transportation and logistics group Neptune Orient Lines (NOL).

The service, which will trade under the APL IndiaLinx brand, offers solutions to the problems of transportation congestion by providing reliable rail connections with container ships and by significantly shortening inland transit times.

While the initial focus will be on the New Delhi-Mumbai corridor, the Category 1 licence will enable APL IndiaLinx to run trains without limitations throughout India. The first train departed ICD Loni Near Delhi for Mumbai on 31 May.

APL IndiaLinx is the product of a joint venture between NOL and Hindustan Infrastructure Projects and Engineering (HIPE). The JV formally received a Category 1 licence to run freight trains in India for 20 years, extendable by another 10 years, in March 2006.

More details here

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Transportation/Shipping__Transport/HIPE_enters_JV_with_NOL/articleshow/2091818.cms

http://www.livemint.com/2007/05/28001040/APLs-container-train-hits-tra.html

MUMBAI: The privatisation train is gathering momentum, quite literally. After years of talking about it, the ministry of railways has finally given Western Railway the green signal to invite private players to own and operate an air-conditioned local train in Mumbai.

Over the years, more and more cities have been privatising their municipal services — from the sweeping of streets and garbage collection, to healthcare, water, power and even fire stations. But inviting the private sector to run a service that forms the very spine of life in a metro like Mumbai has a deeper significance.

The train, to be run in partnership with coompanies which will own, maintain and operate it, will be introduced on a pilot basis on the 32-km Churchgate-Borivli section. The Railway Board has cleared the proposal. If things work to plan, the AC shuttle could be a reality by early next year, say sources.

When the idea of an AC train was proposed from within the railways a few years ago, it was laughed off as unviable.

The railways even turned down a similar proposal from the Maharashtra government citing the unmanageable 'super dense crush crowd' in the suburban section. Now, the railways has strategically decided to go the public-private participation (PPP) route. "If the railways does it on its own, there will be issues of crowd control, offering subsidised tickets and high capital expenditure on maintenance," said a senior ministry official. A private player, though, will have the option to price tickets at market rates, appoint additional staff to check ticketless travel and bear maintenance expenses by entering into a long-term contract with the railways.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Privately_owned_and_operated_local_train_in_Mumbai_soon/articleshow/2104874.cms

Thats an interesting peice of news. 'A private AC train running in Mumbai's congested rail network' - that seemed like a distant dream. But guess that happening now, I think it will be a point-to-point servive from Churchgate to Borivli. I'm sure there will be lot of takers for it if priced right.

I wonder where the rolling stock would come from? I hope the private player is not going to lease an old ICF 'dabba' and retrofit airconditioning systems. It may well be the cheapest alternative but certainly not the best.

Im not sure if this a good idea. There is already the metro u/c which will have AC. Im sure there is no more space to built a new track and the existing one's are already packed. There's a local train every few mins unless they cancel a train and allot it to the private player.

Safer transport (for cars, buses, trucks...) by 2010:
1. Mandatory Child-seat
2. Mandatory Anti-theft device
3. Better crash tests and others
http://auto.indiatimes.com/quickies/msid-2105843.cms

According to sources in the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) a number of safety regulations that are already mandatory in developed markets like the US and Europe, will be enforced by the time the Euro 4 norms come in three years on.

For instance, before 2010, all car architecture will have to be compatible for fixtures like child seat restraints. While some of the newer platforms that are already driving into the market and are due for debut in the next two years will be compatible, some of the older models would require major change in the styling and architecture to allow this.

Currently, child seat restraints can be put in place in the current crop of cars as well but some of the older models are not technically and structurally compatible for those fixtures. But 2010, they would have to be.
The idea, says Jayaraman, was to make sure the car’s architecture was configured in such a way that the dashboard console or A-pillar did not act like a projectile for the passengers in case of an accident. Other similar regulations that are due in 2008 cover 13 different components like the tyres, windscreen glass and wiper etc.
...

“The auto industry has already approved these ‘type’ regulations and will notify the Indian standards as part of the CMVR,” she says. That will mean, parts like tyres for instance will have to meet the sturdiness required for Indian roads. Ditto for other crucial components in the roster. But perhaps the most interesting safety regulation that will soon be a part of the Indian market will be anti-theft devices. “Beyond 2008, these will be mandatory for two, three and four wheelers,” says Jayaraman.

Even for cutting-edge systems like vehicle alarm mechanisms and immobilisers, the standards will be made mandatory in models that do have them. Already some companies like Maruti are installing them as a standard fitment. Other measures would include stronger bumper anchorage for cars from October this year and upgraded standards for rear view mirrors and head and tail lamps.

monorail for Andaman and Nicobar

The Andaman PWD recently floated a tender inviting consultants to prepare a feasibility report for developing a monorail system in Port Blair, the capital. This project is estimated to cost Rs 1.5 crore per km and the administration is planning to install about three-five km of monorail in Port Blair, informed Balamurgan.
Source (http://www.projectsmonitor.com/detailnews.asp?newsid=13850&secid=18)

I looked around a bit and came to the EOI issued by the PWD-

PDF link (http://www.and.nic.in/Monorail.pdf)
HTML link (http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:P1g3YilvsVUJ:www.and.nic.in/Monorail.pdf+andaman+mono&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us)

http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/08/stories/2007060809810400.htm

Thiruvananthapuram : The Railways and the State Government on Thursday opened discussions on the possibilities of operating high speed "bullet trains" on the Thiruvananthapuram- Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram- Mangalore and Thiruvananthapuram- Chennai sectors.

Addressing a press conference here soon after holding the discussions with a high-level Railway Board delegation, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said the Railways would soon begin feasibility studies on operating the bullet trains which would have an average speed of 250 km an hour.

The Railway Board delegation comprising its Chairman J.B. Batra, Finance Commissioner R. Sivadasan, Chief Operations Manager (Southern Railways) Abraham Jacob, Chief Administrative Officer (Constructions) and Thiruvananthapuram Divisional Manager S. Vijayakumar held discussions with the State Government officials led by Chief Secretary Lissie Jacob prior to their meeting with the Chief Minister and Law Minister M. Vijayakumar who also holds the Railways portfolio. Mr. Batra said the Railways planned to implement the project as a PPP (public private partnership) initiative.

The board had laid out a broad finance package for the project that would involve laying special tracks at an estimated cost of Rs.45 crore a km. The Railways, the State Government and the private players would have a stake in the project, he said.

The proposal was to commercially exploit the land at the various terminals to plough back funds for the project.

The Central Government would be approached for viability gap funding. Mr. Batra was confident that the project would be able to generate revenue within 10 years.

The project was feasible in any sector that had high passenger rider ship, he said. The Chief Minister said the board had given assurance that the foundation stone for the Cherthala bogey unit would be laid within two months. Work on the Multiple Electric Motor Unit (MEMU) workshop proposed in Kollam would begin soon.

Railway TTE's going hi-tech!! :banana:

Railway TTE's 'Computer': Travelling Ticket Examiners (TTEs) of Indian Railways will be equipped with hand-held devices linked to the central computerised reservation system. The device will enable them to instantly allot seats to waitlisted passengers as and when reservations are cancelled. The TTEs will also be able to check vacant seats and berths on the train and accordingly transmit the information to the central reservation system so that the vacancies may be instantly allotted to the next passengers in line. Capable of checking and issuing tickets, the device can also accept cash and credit card payments. The government has sanctioned Rs. 40 million for the pilot project which will soon be launched on some trains.

http://www.baroda.com/glimpses.html#Private

PATH BREAKING PERFORMANCE OF INDIAN RAILWAYS DURING 2006-07

CREATED HISTORY BY GENERATING CASH SURPLUS BEFORE DIVIDEND OF RS. 20153.49 CRORE

The Indian Railways, the lifeline and mainstay of the country’s transport infrastructure, continue to achieve excellent performance in terms of revenue generation especially during the year 2006-07. This has come about through the turnaround strategy adopted by Indian Railways based on a perfect blend of commercial wisdom and empathy for the people. Indian Railways created a history by generating a Cash Surplus before Dividend of Rs. 20153.49 crore for the year 2006-07 as against Rs. 14,709.79 crore in the previous year. According to the latest financial statistics of Ministry of Railways, the gross earnings of Railways were Rs. 62367.55 crore during the year 2006-07 compared to Rs. 54404.56 crore during the year 2005-06. The fund balance as on 31st March 2007 was Rs. 16528.65 Crore.

To add more in its pride, the operating ratio of Indian Railways has come down to 78.68 per cent during the year 2006-07 from 83.72 per cent during the year 2005-06.

Railways have turned in a record breaking performance in goods earnings as well as passenger earnings during the year 2006-07. The total goods earnings have gone up from Rs. 36286.97 crore during 2005-06 to Rs. 41716.50 crore during the year 2006-07. The total passenger earnings were Rs. 17224.56 crore during 2006-07 compared to Rs. 15126.00 crore during 2005-06.

The Net Payable Dividend of Indian Railways was Rs. 4247.52 crore during the year 2006-07 compared to Rs. 3667.92 crore during the year 2005-06 and this has been met fully.

Source: PIB (http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=28513)

:cheers:

Haryana Roadways
photo copyright vikasbye

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/6138/haryanaroadwaysthevikasrr0.jpg

WBSTC Royal Cruiser
photo cc rights suncity

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/391/royalcruiserby8.jpg

Railway stations are getting better. Cladding of the steel pillars look nice and it seems there is going to be 'false ceiling' beneath the roofing sheets:)

TRIVANDRUM CENTRAL >

The new waiting Lounge for the upper class ticket holder( Fully Aircondionted with great Interior work).The sleeper class ticket holder has got a similar one without a/c.

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/7466/ss3od5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Newly laid Floor with granite.The art work at the entrance

http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/6383/ss1ea1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Prototype of the new design.Work is going on>>>

http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/4357/ss6yw7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Very nice developments. Good to hear about the monorail in Port Blair. A&N have great tourist potential, and this should help.

Those in North India, stay indoors!

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/3479/01062007195tl0.jpg

Arijeet - did you go from hyd-blore?

______________

Remember the Kolkata airport train which not many people use?
Copyright Suncity
http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/2064/20771075403b71b6f21bwb0.th.jpg (http://img181.imageshack.us/my.php?image=20771075403b71b6f21bwb0.jpg)

There is good news -

Soon, you may take the Metro to airport

This news will cheer fliers. Very soon, you may get a Metro train straight to the NSCBI airport — much like London’s Heathrow.
Metro Rail officials are planning to extend operations till the airport by using the existing track for suburban trains. Now, the circular rail plies a train along this track twice daily but no airport-bound passenger uses this service. The realisation that the existing service is of no use to air-passengers has finally dawned on both the railways and the airport authority.
The proposal of extending Metro operations by using the circular railway network seems a real possibility because it is the airport authority which actually mooted the idea. Now, the proposal will be placed before the railways so that Metro can zoom up to the airport. “Since there is a ready infrastructure, Metro railway will find it useful. They might need to add a few things to get it operational, though. Once that is done, Metro would be a major transit system for passenger dispersal at the airport,” said an airport official.
On Friday, the Airport Authority of India chairman K Ramalingam met senior state government officials and MPs, where the Metro-extension was mooted. This was in view of the massive increase of air-traffic in the airport.
Kolkata airport is one of the busiest airports in the country. Soon, there would be a third runway, which would lead to a 60% increase in airtraffic — and consequently passengers. This calls for an overhaul of the passenger dispersal system.
The circular railway was extended till airport last year in the hope that it would benefit air passengers. But it has turned into a ghost train. The timings of the airport-bound train also do not match with airline schedules so it has been reduced to worse than a suburban train. Not a single air passenger uses the train. However, if the Metro service is extended from Dum Dum to the airport, a large number passengers would be benefited.
The Metro service would be especially handy for passenger of low-cost airlines. Once the east-west corridor is ready, airport would be much better networked.
However, the execution of the concept of extending Metro to the airport is subject to clearance from the ministry of railway and technical feasibility. At Dum Dum station the Metro line has to be linked with the circular track. Moreover, a ‘third-rail’ is to be laid to power the Metro —which is no mean challenge for Metro rail engineers. “But is not an absurd proposition. It’s a very workable idea,” said Dum Dum MP Amitava Nandi.


via TOI

[QUOTE=indiansunite;13659966]Arijeet - did you go from hyd-blore?

Yes, indiansunite ...and I would say that the overall experience was a shade better than traveling by normal inter city volvos

Soon, you may take the Metro to airport
Since they have referred to London, I am of the opinion they will model it on the Heathrow express that starts off from Picadilly.

In Kolkata's case it makes sense to connect Dalhousie square/Park Street CBD and touch both Sector V and Action town before it reaches the airport..will have to wait for the detailed plan

Soon, you may take the Metro to airport
Since they have referred to London, I am of the opinion they will model it on the Heathrow express that starts off from Picadilly.


I do understand your point. But to be more accurate, Heathrow Express is not a metro but an overland train that starts from Paddington. The metro line that connects Heathrow with London is called Picadilly Line, and it doesn't start at Picadilly but does pass through it.

I do understand your point. But to be more accurate, Heathrow Express is not a metro but an overland train that starts from Paddington. The metro line that connects Heathrow with London is called Picadilly Line, and it doesn't start at Picadilly but does pass through it.

Oh yes - it is paddington and not part of the tube but an overland train. On reading the article again it states they would extend it till the airport - which means the existing metro till Dum dum will now be till the airport..will have to wait for further news to come out

Kerala State RTC Fast Passenger, Trivandrum-Kollam (70 km)

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/1492/dsc03833zs4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Bangalore-Mangalore train service may be delayed again.

It is purely because of technical reasons, says Minister Sriramulu
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
‘Private bus operators’ lobby not behind the delay’
Commissioner of Railway Safety inspected the stretch in April
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BANGALORE: Commissioning of the passenger train service between Bangalore and Mangalore is likely to be delayed due to technical reasons.

Minister for Infrastructure and Tourism B. Sriramulu told presspersons on Wednesday that the Commissioner of Railway Safety (Southern Region) had submitted a report to the Railway Board suggesting some improvements on the safety front before the operation of train services between two cities started.

Earlier, the Minister held a meeting with officials of the Infrastructure Department and Railways (South-Western Region) and handed over a cheque for Rs. 13.50 crore to the Railways for construction of 45 railway underbridges and overbridges in the State.
“The issue is before the Railway Board. The board should give the green signal for commissioning of services.” To a question, Mr. Sriramulu said the private bus operators’ lobby was not behind the delay. The reasons were purely technical, he said.
The Commissioner of Railway Safety had inspected the stretch in April. The gauge conversion work however, took a very long time. The work was completed in 2005.

The State Government has requested the Railways to commission high speed passenger trains between Hubli and Bangalore and between Hubli and Pune for the benefit of people of north Karnataka. The Railways had agreed to undertake the feasibility study for commissioning the services, Mr. Sriramulu said. The meeting also discussed the progress of Sholapur-Gadag, Kottur-Harihar, Shimoga-Talaguppa, Ramanagaram-Mysore gauge conversion works. The Government had urged the Railways to share the cost of Kottur-Harihar gauge conversion equally.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/14/stories/2007061450970500.htm

'Smart Card’ initiative of the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC).

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jun152007/city200706157604.asp

The annual rigmarole associated with the issue of student concessional passes at bus terminals are a thing of the past, going by the success of ‘Smart Card’ initiative of the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC).
So far, 41,000 students have availed of passes from 83 counters across 31 BMTC centres. To make issue of cards a pleasant experience, the BMTC is distributing free of cost either a toffee or a chocolate to each student....

Kolkata Metro to run under Ganga.

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jun152007/national200706147522.asp

An underwater metro ride, for the first time in India, is no longer a pipe dream. The much-awaited East-West Metro Corridor Project (EWMCP) connecting Howrah station with the city’s IT hub Salt Lake received the green signal.......

Kolkata Metro to run under Ganga.

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jun152007/national200706147522.asp

An underwater metro ride, for the first time in India, is no longer a pipe dream. The much-awaited East-West Metro Corridor Project (EWMCP) connecting Howrah station with the city’s IT hub Salt Lake received the green signal.......

who is building the next phase of kolkata metro, is it Indian Railways or a separate metrorail entity like DMRC. I know the current metro was built
and maintained by IR.

Vasai-Virar tramway planned.

MUMBAI: Commuters living in the Vasai-Virar and Mira-Bhayandar areas can look forward to more avenues of public transport with light rail systems or tramways now being planned for the region.
Tramways are being considered for the smaller cities around Mumbai by planners at the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to solve acute transport problems cropping up in these areas. Trams are being seen as a viable supplement to buses for intra-city travel on the outskirts of the Mumbai metropolitan region.
MMRDA planners say tramways are relatively cheaper to install than other modes of transport and do not need much except a wide road.
This is not too difficult to get in these new areas. Under the plan envisaged for the development of townships like Vasai, Virar, Thane, Kalyan and Bhiwandi, transport infrastructure development would receive a boost if the plan is taken up.
“Trams are certainly on the cards for such areas, mainly because of the cost factor. It’s cheaper to set up such systems—they come at 25% of the cost of a Metro,’’ said MMRDA commissioner T Chandrashekhar.
Incidentally, tramways were in use in the city of Mumbai till the mid-1960s. They were taken off because they were too slow and obstructed road traffic.
Planners said the tramways being talked about now would be modern light rail systems with the latest technology. They would not be the slow-moving vehicles of yesteryear.
Trams are even being considered for reintroduction in Mumbai. Maharashtra’s secretary, special projects, Sanjay Ubale is among those who feel that trams could be used in certain sections of the city.
A team of experts including transport consultant Beena Balakrishnan were sent to Kolkata recently to study trams and their effect on the city’s transport infrastructure.
Balakrishnan said tramways could be used for mass transport and favoured their use in areas around Mumbai.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Vasai-Virar_tramway_planned/articleshow/2124314.cms

Railways to install automatic Ticket Vending Machines

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jun172007/national200706177971.asp?section=updatenews

The Railways is contemplating to introduce "Card System" to facilitate people to buy tickets from various outlets including banks, petrol pumps and post offices.

As part of the "Ticket at doorsteps" concept, the Railways has proposed to install automatic Ticket Vending Machines in the 11th five year plan and is contemplating to introduce "Card System" to facilitate people to buy tickets from various outlets including banks, petrol pumps and post offices.

"The concept will be extended to automatic Ticket Vending Machines for suburban, long-distance unreserved, as well as reserved passengers," a top Railway Official said.

He said over 5,000 ticket Vending Machines were proposed to be installed in parking lots, waiting halls, station concourses, as well as in universities, offices and shopping malls to take the ticket-booking facility to the door steps of people.

Besides, he said the Ministry in collaboration with Mobile Service Providers was planning to introduce Card System on line, to facilitate desirous passengers to book their ticket through e-ticketing.....

^^ grt news (both of them) there Lakshmi! Thanks

Short video on scenes from Kolkata Metro :D

mH5zgoaWY3k

India discusses rail links to thai, Hanoi.

http://www.asianage.com/presentation/leftnavigation/news/india/india-discusses-rail-links-to-thai,-hanoi.aspx

New Delhi, June 18: As part of its Look East Policy, New Delhi is holding discussions for implementing the trilateral highway project, which will connect Moreh in Manipur to Mae Sot in Thailand via Bagan in Burma.

New Delhi is also toying with the idea of a rail link from Jiribham in Assam to Hanoi in Vietnam through Burma, ministry of external affairs sources said.

The sources said that after minister of external affairs Pranab Mukherjee returns from his two-nation tour of Indonesia and Singapore, India will get another opportunity to intensify her relations with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) when New Delhi plays host to two high-level delegations from Thailand and Vietnam.

Thailand Prime Minister General Surayud Chulanont will visit India from June 25 to 27. Gen. Chulanont, who is the head of Thailand’s interim government, is expected to visit Varanasi and Hyderabad, besides meeting with the Indian leaders in New Delhi. Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will visit India early next month.

Gen. Chulanont assumed office on October 1, 2006, after Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin overthrew the government of Mr Thaksin Shinawatra in a coup on September 19, 2006. The sources said that the Thai Prime Minister would visit Sarnath, where Lord Buddha delivered his first sermon. His itinerary in Hyderabad was still being drawn up. In New Delhi, the Thai PM would call on President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He would also meet with the ministers of external affairs and commerce.

Mr Mukherjee met with the foreign minister and the deputy foreign minister of Vietnam on the sidelines of the Asian-Europe Meeting (ASEM) foreign ministers’ meeting at Hamburg in Germany in May.

They reviewed bilateral relations and looked at concrete steps that needed to be taken to expand these relations. In particular, they hoped that India and Vietnam could reach the bilateral trade target of $2 million by 2010. Mr Mukherjee reiterated India’s desire to cooperate with Vietnam in the hydro-carbon sector and the power sector. He has suggested that this cooperation could be facilitated by offering soft loans to Vietnam as well as credit loan.

Thailand and Vietnam are members of the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation.

India is currently the chairman of the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation. Thailand is also a member of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).

Mekong-Ganga Cooperation was established on November 10, 2000 at Vientiane.

It comprises of Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Laos PDR, Vietnam and India. The BIMSTEC comprises Bangladesh, India, Burma, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.

KSRTC in its bid to go green, proposed to run 2,000 of its buses on an ethanol-based fuel.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Bangalore/KSRTC_may_bail_out_MySugar/articleshow/2129816.cms

BANGALORE: While the industrial sector is gung-ho about the public-private-partnership module, some old school ideologies are being revisited.

Even as various methods are being experimented with to revive sick industries in the state, a government agency has stepped forward to rescue its counterpart that is sinking deeper by the day.

MySugar, a government enterprise that is ironically witnessing a bitter phase the past few years, will have something to smile about - provided things go its way.

After many attempts at a turn-around, MySugar finally hit upon a feasible idea recently. This, when the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), in its bid to go green, proposed to run 2,000 of its buses on an ethanol-based fuel. (Ethanol, a popular bio-fuel, is produced by fermenting sugar with yeast).

The KSRTC, which requires 20 lakh litres of ethanol per month, is looking at MySugar and five other private companies for the supplies.

MySugar managing director P K Garg said, "For two years, we were deliberating on setting up an ethanol facility. Since the costs were high, we were sitting on the idea. It approximately requires Rs 3 crore. If the KSRTC signs a three-year long-term purchase agreement, it would help us some. We can produce more than the KSRTC's requirement."

KSRTC environment head Anand Rao said it is comfortable buying ethanol at Rs 19.5 per litre before taxes.

"Negotiations are still at the preliminary stage. But yes, we are keen on MySugar. If the deal comes through, then MySugar will be making profit of Rs 10 crore to 15 crore annually, which will put it in a slightly comfortable position," he said.
MySugar, with its three divisions - sugar, distilleries and co-generation (power) - has been limping its way through by selling rectified spirit that is used for medicinal purposes or as a household solvent.

K. Raghu and Pankaj Mishra font size

Bangalore: Mahesh Rathod, a steel trader, used to travel from his house in Infantry Road, a tiny neighbourhood in Bangalore’s heart, to S.P.Road, the crowded wholesale trading hub of the city, a mere 4 km away, by car. It used to take him nearly 45 minutes of driving through clogged streets to get there.
Since April, however, Rathod has abandoned the car in favour of a bus, an air-conditioned (AC) one. It still takes him 45 minutes to get to work, but he says he is no longer stressed from having to drive in bumper-to-bumper traffic, and that he prepares for the day ahead on the bus.
Rathod is part of a small but growing number of commuters in India’s technology hub that has made the shift from driving or riding their cars and bikes to travelling on the AC buses, built by the Indian unit of Scandinavian auto maker Volvo AG, and run by the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), the state-run local bus operator.
A survey of 900 passengers in April conducted by BMTC found three out of four passengers on its AC buses had chosen the mode of transport over travelling in their own scooters, motorcycles, cars or using an auto-rickshaw. Fares on the AC buses range from Rs10 to Rs50 for a one-way trip.
BMTC began its AC experiment with a few business establishments in February 2006. It now operates 49 buses on eight routes, half of them to Electronics City and Whitefield where firms such as Infosys Technologies Ltd, IBM Corporation, Dell Inc. and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd are located. “People are taking our luxury buses. It was our intent to make them leave their cars and two-wheelers at home and take our buses, it is happening,” said Dastagir Sharieff chief traffic manager (operations) BMTC.
The corporation and many of Bangalore’s residents see the buses as one solution to the city’s traffic problems.
Bangalore has a population of 6.5 million people and three million vehicles. By some estimates, the vehicular population increases by 1,000 a day. And over 4,500 buses on 1,400 routes transport 3.7 million passengers across the city’s 800 sq. km area.
The average speed of vehicles in the city’s centre, areas such as Krishna Rajendra market, Kempe Gowda Road and Mahatma Gandhi Road, is less than 10km per hour, according to the city traffic police. Of the city’s population, 6.5 lakh people are directly employed in the technology sector.
Even as the city gets ready for a metro rail project, it has been trying to cope with increasing traffic through a system of one-way roads—by one estimate, more than half the important roads in Bangalore are one-way, or allow traffic to move in only one direction. Some residents see the buses as temporary relief till the train service kicks in. M.N Srihari, chairman of Traffic Engineers and Safety Trainers, a non governmental organization that works in the area of traffic management, said the buses would attract passengers only till the metro begins service in 2011. “The service can target the elite users, but will the BMTC see viability in running these buses in Rajajinagar or Malleswaram?” asked Srihari, referring to two middle-class neighbourhoods and questioning the viability of the service in suburbs that do not have technology firms.
BMTC’s success in Bangalore has prompted local transport corporations in Chennai and Pune to operate similar services in their cities and they have placed orders for 10 buses each, said Eric Leblanc, managing director Volvo India Pvt. Ltd. “Instead of a metro rail, the entire local transport system can be designed on Volvo buses and it would cost only 5% of the cost of a metro Rail,” he added.
To do that BMTC will have to make the service profitable. Each bus costs around Rs74 lakh, and BMTC loses around Rs3 per km (it costs Rs49 per km to run the bus and the corporation earns Rs46 per km, including revenue from ticket sales and ads on the bus).
“The losses are bound to happen in the initial days, this service is still small,” said Sharieff. He added that increasing the number of buses and routes could help turn the service profitable.
In 2006-07, BMTC earned a Rs224 crore profit on revenue of Rs888 crore. Sharieff claims it is the only profitable public transport corporation in India. The corporation has ordered for 20 more buses from Volvo. In comparison, the 1,000 ordinary buses it plans to buy from bus makers such as Ashok Leyland Ltd and Tata Motors Ltd cost Rs12 lakh each.
Samuel Paul chairman of Public Affairs Centre, a non- government organization that works in the area of governance, and a former director of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, said that according to a survey done by his organization in 2003-04, Bangalore’s citizens rated BMTC’s services better than those of other local service providers such as the water board and the electricity board. It’s among the few government-run bodies in Karnataka that seeks to be open and transparent, he adds. What of the AC buses? “They cater to those who can afford them,” he says.

^^ nice article.. :)

but please post the source as well dude..

i should have pasted only the link instead of whole article....ok next time.

this is the source.....
http://www.livemint.com/2007/06/21001142/AC-buses-will-make-for-cool-ri.html

The railway ministry has approved electrification of rail lines of 3,500-4,000 km under the 11th Plan. The Railway Board has sanctioned Rs 317 crore from Rs 425 crore allotted for 2007-08 for electrification of 500 km.
The sections that cover the 500 km electrification scheme include Villupuram-Tiruchirapalli Junction sector of 170 km entailing Rs 97 crore, the section between Thiruvananthapuram and Kanyakumari of 87 km, 154 km section between Tiruchi and Madurai, 22 km section between Thrissur and Guruvayur.
The electrification project will also cover Pakala-Peyanapalli (40 km), Yeshvantpur and Yelahanka (46 km), Karepalli-Bhadrachalam (45 km) and Lingampalli-Godamgura (50 km) under the South Central Railway.
The Railways Board is expecting Villupuram and Vridhdhachalam segment by September this year, and the segment up to Ariyalur by January 2008, thereby covering Tiruchirapalli junction by April 2008.
The Central Organisation for Railway Electrification is expected to submit DPR to the Board for 154 km section between Tiruchi and Madurai by June-end.
The tender formalities for 22 km section between Thrissur and Guruvayur are almost complete and the board will execute the work before December-end. The Board has floated tenders for procurement of overhead equipment and Rs 54 crore project will commence by October this year.

BEML making stainless steel EMU coaches for Mumbai, Kolkata
http://www.blonnet.com/2007/06/22/stories/2007062204330700.htm

Public sector "Mini Ratna" Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML), which has supplied coaches to the Delhi Metro, will now manufacture stainless steel Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) coaches for local trains of Mumbai and Kolkata. The company is designing these coaches with a stainless steel body which would cost around Rs 86 lakh a piece. The existing coaches in the two metropolitan cities' local trains will be slowly replaced by stainless steel coaches. These coaches would be supplied in phases.

Will these BEML coaches replace the suburban trains? I thought ICF had won that contract, but it'd be nice to get those DMRC style trains running from Churchgate to Borivli :)

The ICF prototype trains look pretty dreadful btw

^^

Not sure that these will look like DMRC. They will probably look like the current EMUs. Hopefully I am wrong and they will look sleeker than the dibba stuff of today/

It would be overambitious to expect a DMRC type coaches. But, I atleast hope this time they try to keep the doors shut when the train is moving.

It is the youngest railway station on the Central line. The Rs 24.90-crore Rabale station on the Thane-Turbhe-Nerul-Vashi railway corridor, inaugurated on Wednesday, has seen a rush of passengers, with a daily sale of 14,000 tickets.

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/5060/rabale1fd8.jpg

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/8365/rabale2rb8.jpg

[HT:Mum]

Brace up for Park and Ride in Blore.

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jun242007/city200706249158.asp

If you are wondering what a TTMC is, its what the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation has decided to call its futuristic bus stations.

In the not so distant future, you can leave your home in your car/two-wheeler, drive into the neighbourhood TTMC (Traffic Transit Management Centre), board a bus and head towards your destination.
If you are wondering what a TTMC is, it’s what the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation has decided to call its futuristic bus stations.
Deciding to give a swanky look to existing bus stations by remodelling them and constructing new bus terminals in other areas, the BMTC will utilise Rs 365 crore from a whopping Rs 3,000 crore transport infrastructure package granted to it under the JNNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission) to improve infrastructure of bus stations and give them a 21st century look.
BMTC Managing Director Upendra Tripathy told Deccan Herald “The TTMC concept is unique in India, but popular in developed nations. It involves construction of swanky bus stations with an ambience reflecting a global feel. These stations will have a ‘Park and Ride’ facility for people to drive in, leave their cars/two-wheelers, board a bus and head for office. The idea is to offer facilities so as to decongest chock-a-block traffic. We would also ply mini buses/shuttle services from every major residential area to the nearest TTMC so that commuters could board a bus of their choice”.
It’s not just that. The TTMC would also house a multi-level parking lot, public utilities like mini-shopping centres, food courts, Bangalore One kiosks, ATMs et al.
Mr Tripathy adds this would enable office goers to board the bus in the mornings and arrive back in the evenings, complete their shopping needs and head home.
While BMTC has planned to construct 45 TTMCs in all, DPRs (Detailed Project Reports) for only ten have been prepared for availing JNNURM funds. “Of these ten, five were sent to the Ministry of Urban Development (MUD), New Delhi, and one was approved for sanction of funds, while four are pending with Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (KUIDFC)” Mr Tripathy said.
The Urban Development Department that approved the TTMC at Jayanagar, to be constructed at a cost of Rs nine crore, has already made headway.
“Construction of the project has already begun and would be completed in 15 months time, while other TTMCs will be taken up on priority basis once approved by the MUD,” explain BMTC officials.

DPRs in appraisal
Four DPRs which are in appraisal stage at the centre are for TTMCs in Bannerghatta, Kengeri, Domlur and Yeshwantpur. Five (Koramangala, Vijayanagar, ITPL, Banashankari and Shantinagar) are being reviewed by the KUIDFC. The DPRs have been prepared by IDeCK (Infrastructure Development Corporation of Karnataka) and Sundaram Architects.
KUIDFC Managing Director Jawed Akthar said, “The DPRs would be appraised by us, before being sent to the Urban Development Ministry. The TTMCs that form part of improving urban transport infrastructure under JNNURM has been included in the Comprehensive Traffic and Transportation Survey (CTTS) that is in its final stages. It would be submitted to the Centre shortly”.
The CTTS, once approved would serve as a guide to all stakeholders, viz BMTC, BDA, BBMP and Bangalore City Police.
The final draft of the CTTS is currently being prepared by RITES after KUIDFC suggested modifications to incorporate the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) and metro rail alignments, added sources in RITES.

Mumbai: New rakes to hit the tracks in Oct

TOI epaper

pic
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/1900/mumbairainff3.jpg

After a delay of almost three years, new rakes for Mumbai’s suburban section wil finally be ready to roll out of the Integrated Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai, in a week’s time. But passengers will get a ride in the first new train only in October, as Mumbai does not have the testing facilities or the expert manpower available in Chennai for various trials.

The new trains, with looks designed by the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, have much more ventilation, better seats due to extra cushion and less jerks due to latest suspensions. The trains will run much faster because it will run on alternating current (AC) mode of power supply. Its motor is powered by Siemens AG, Germany.

The Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) had earlier said that it would get the first of the 157 new trains to Mumbai by June-end itself. However, delays in assembly and testing of each coach in the first train took longer than expected, pushing back the schedule by at least two months. As a result, the first prototype will now come to Mumbai only by August.

Once the train is in Mumbai, it will have to undergo trials under the existing direct current (DC) electrification system, which should end by August, he added.

In true government style, MRVC will have to then submit the train to a team of officials from the Research, Design and Services Organisation (RDSO), Lucknow, for certification of being fit to run with passengers. Officials in the railways said the RDSO takes its own time to give a green signal to pre-empt charges of clearing a new train in haste.


Number of trains: 157

Number of coaches per train: 12-car

Cost: Rs 20 crore per train

Manufacturers: ICF, Chennai, and Siemens AG, Germany

^^

:ohno: -sigh- another eye sore :(

^^ looks just like the current EMUs with a new (and crappy) colour-scheme.. :ohno:

but that station looks awesome!!

:)

as long as the indian railways is involved those dabbas are not going to change. break away the suburban system from the railways, let it support itself as a separate entity

whats the point of the huge railways surplus if our trains continue to be tin cans

whts the problem to have doors for these EMU's..
It will save some lives atleast..
Old EMU's design was without door's. atleast with the new design they shld have come up with door's for the EMU's.

Mumbai: New rakes to hit the tracks in Oct
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/1900/mumbairainff3.jpg

Same old wine, same old bottle.. only the fcuking label has changed. Give it a couple of years & it'll look the same old dabba.

but that station looks awesome!!

:)

Infact all the local train station in Navi Mumbai look grand. Of them all, this is by far the cheapest looking.

whts the problem to have doors for these EMU's..
It will save some lives atleast..
Old EMU's design was without door's. atleast with the new design they shld have come up with door's for the EMU's.

The old EMU had doors but they were always jammed & never fully functioned.

you cant have doors on locals when the thing is jam packed. not unless they increase capacity or make new lines and reduce people per coach

you cant have doors on locals when the thing is jam packed. not unless they increase capacity or make new lines and reduce people per coach

The frequency of locals on Central Lines is 1 every 3 min(peak hrs). Yet the trains run jam-packed.

Another of Deshmukh's bubble dream to turn Mumbai into Shanghai


Maglev trains in Mumbai? It might just be a dream (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/Maglev_trains_in_Mumbai_It_might_just_be_a_dream/articleshow/2145646.cms)
ABHIRAM GHADYALPATIL
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2007 12:30:26 AM]

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government’s dream to run a high-speed train on magnetic levitation technology looks to remain just a dream, officials in the know say. The huge social and economic costs will defeat its perceived advantages, add the officials.

Only China is running the world’s fastest train at 430 kph on magnetic levitation or Maglev technology. Though countries like Germany, Japan, Australia, and the US have either introduced the technology on a pilot basis or have tested it, they are yet to implement it in a commercial way, officials point out.

If countries like Japan or Germany have been sceptical about the cost effectiveness of the technology, India has more reasons to be sceptical,an official said. The government has decided to appoint an international consultant to study the feasibility of running Maglev train in Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Officials are not ready to come on record since the proposal is being pushed through by state finance minister Jayant Patil with chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has virtually latching on to it.

Just because Maglev line of high-speed trains is working in Shanghai does not in any way mean the model could be replicated in Mumbai. The social and political dynamics of the two cities are completely different. And Shanghai’s Maglev train has not fetched any handsome commercial results compared to the huge investments China has made to run the costly line of transport,a senior official associated with the Mumbai vision projects told ET.

In China, Maglev trains began commercial operations between Shanghai and Pudong (more than 33 km) in 2004. People in Shanghai have openly protested against the introduction of Maglev trains because a large number of them had to surrender their residential and commercial properties for the project.

The project has led to massive displacement in Shanghai that has also added to the socio-economic costs of the project,officials point out. The cost of introducing the technology in Mumbai could be phenomenal due to the lack of space, missing resettlement strategies, and investment funding, they add.

Interestingly, Transrapid, the German firm that built Shanghai’s Maglev system, has not been able to build one in Germany though pilot projects have been carried out. Germany, Japan, and Australia have a fairly fast rail system. The cost efficiency of Maglev technology has not conclusively been proved to be better than the existing ones, an official said.

In Maglev technology, powerful magnets lift the train 10 mm above the track which is called guideway. Other magnets power speed and braking. The electromagnets that power the train consume much lesser energy than an aircraft.

Bureaucrats, however, question the high cost of the technology and other factors such as space for laying dedicated corridors. The technology cost China more than $1.2 billion. The estimated cost of building a Maglev line between Shanghai and Beijing (1,490 km) is pegged at $50 billion and the proposal has been delayed in China due to its high-cost, officials said.

What a waste of oppurtunity! MUTP was going to replace all current local trains with imported state-of-the-art trains that were supposed to a commuter's delight and make the city look worldclass. First, the imported angle was lost after only one manufacturer (Bombardier) quoted very high prices. So IR decided to build them indigeniously at ICF with a touch of design from NID.

I wonder what the design process was all about except a new color scheme. The rakes look like more of a souped-up version of the current EMUs similar to the Hyderabad MMTS. I was more optimistic about NID's design inputs....I also have my doubts about the build quality of these rakes.......the exterior metal doesn't look world-class by any standards.

The trains are such an integral part of the city. IR could have given Mumbai a big-facelift using better designs......they blew it!

I believe ( and I am not countering anyone), that if, from day one if the Mumbai Locals had automated doors, then, that would itself had been a deterrant to overcrowded, or what we like to call "jam-packed" coaches.

I am still of the opinion, that given a rake system that has automated doors, they become a deterrant to overcrowding. One of the few examples are the Hong Kong peak hour MTR traffic where crowds can be as unforgiving as the one in Mumbai. Yet, once the doors close, you are forced to wait it out for the next train in.

But then of course, Mumbai Local crowd has evolved itself to be a 'bite-the-steel' type in the most punishing and spartan conditions, whereas Tokyo or Hong Kong crowds have the luxury of waiting in air-conditioned platforms. Patience in HK crowds again is an evolution thanks to such luxuries ... which Mumbai, till date, does not have.

Just my own 6 pence of opinion. You are welcome to debate/discuss my views.

Cheers
P2p4

you cant have doors on locals when the thing is jam packed. not unless they increase capacity or make new lines and reduce people per coach

well there is no space in the next train as well, thats the problem. each coach is built for 1700 or so people, but end up carrying close to 5,000. no amount of pushing or shoving will close the doors with that

there has been severe under-investment in bombay by all authorities over the decades. just closing doors will not solve problems. new lines, new trains, new everything is needed. the bombay metro project will make or break the city

Maglev has been haralded as 'the transportation of the future' because of the speed it generates and also mainly because of the massive advantages in relation to the energy and environmental issues. But apart from China, no other country has come forward to implement the system on a commercial basis, even Germany who invented it. Theoritically, you can reach downtown Mumbai from New Delhi faster than the airplanes, and without the dreaded 'carbon footprint' on the environment.

People are still highly sceptical of the maglev system, which is expected to revolutionise our means of long- distance travel. The economical aspect is a BIG hurdle, and it may not be feasible at all in India. But, still, maglev CAN BE one answer to India's transportation woes, where people travel 3 and 4 days in trains to reach their destination.

Indian Railways plan farm kiosks in 7,500 stations.

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jun262007/national200706269472.asp

After facilitating comfort travel for the poorer sections of society through “Garib Rath” trains, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav is now all set to throw open the railway platforms for the farmers.
Indian Railways plan to start kiosks in 7,500 stations where the farmers can sell their vegetable and other produce. The Railways will provide container service for ferrying the products.
Refrigerators would be provided in these stalls to ensure better shelf life, Mr Yadav told reporters after presenting Nasscom IT User Award to eight organisations that had excelled in IT usage for the year 2006.
“Vegetables, milk and milk products, fruits and pulses will be available in these stalls. We will implement the project through joint ventures,” he said.
By September-October, the Railways also intend to implement a large number of major IT projects costing almost Rs 6,000 crore.
One of the priority areas will be implementing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) package that can cater to 2.5 million staffers of the Railways.
Call for IT support
The Railway minister also invited IT companies to work on the IT and logistics support for the third dedicated freight corridor, which the Railway ministry is planning to operationalise soon.
“But we should look for solutions from within the country instead of importing technologies,” he cautioned.
Mr Yadav who publicly displayed his apathy towards information technology when he was the chief minister of Bihar, said he was not against the technology.
“The technology can bring the backbenchers in the society in the forefront. Look what the mobile phone has achieved,” he told the IT professionals.
Asserting that IT was required to improve the passenger amenities and goods service, the minister said large-scale IT infusion was required to implement the goods train movement tracking system and creating a transport exchange that will monitor the goods movement continuously online.
Other IT challenges for the Railways include full optimisation, ticketing and other passenger revenue enhancement applications including distributing palm tops to ticket checkers for updating the passenger reservation list on-board.

Remove speed governors for Volvos, State to Centre.

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jun272007/state200706279664.asp

If you are a private transporter worried about the proposed Speed Governors, this news may give some relief — you are not alone.

The state transport department is also fretting about it, lest all its high-cost Volvo buses become redundant. “Volvo buses are meant to be run on high speed. It’s only when they run at around 100 kms per hour speed, they will be effective and economical. Otherwise, they will prove to be very costly and will not make any profit,” transport department officials said.

The Union government has directed all state governments to introduce Speed Governors in all transport vehicles (both private and public) from July 1. This move is aimed at limiting the speed at 60 kms.

In fact, the private transport operators are already up in arms against the proposal and have even threatened to launch a stir.

Speed Governor is a device which measures and regulates the speed of the engine. The transport department, as a result, has written to the Centre to relax the new rules for Volvo buses. “We have written to the Centre seeking relaxation to Volvo buses. We will try to convince it,” Transport Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy told reporters.

According to officials, Volvo buses are the main revenue earners for the loss-making Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). All Volvo buses are being plied on long routes at high speed, with a promise to reach the destination at a shortest time. “If we run our Volvo buses at low speed, we will also incur loss like BMTC is doing,” officials pointed out.
Chaluvarayaswamy also said that he will raise this issue at the south India transport ministers’ conference scheduled to be held on July 6 and 7 in Kerala.

Great news. Hopefully this will also put pressure on local manufacturers to increase their production standards.

Quadrupling work ends on Borivli-Virar route, trials on June 28, 29.
Times epaper


For lakhs of Mumbaikars, the wait for an easy commute beyond the suburb of Borivli has finally ended. Western Railway (WR) on Tuesday formally announced that quadrupling of tracks on the 30-km stretch from Borivli to Virar is over.

The two new lines, first proposed in the early 90’s, are ready to handle additional services which are likely to be introduced in the first week of July.

The new tracks leading up to Virar in many ways signifies the emphasis on providing better services for a growing population in the distant suburbs north of Mumbai. As a natural fallout, the project would decongest traffic within the city on Borivli-Churchgate trains.

Most of the work on the line was executed in the last one year. Engineering and logistical challenges included resettlement of slumdwellers, construction of two concrete bridges spanning 1,400 metres and 550 metres over the Vasai creek, and the laying of new railway platforms.

Satya Prakash, Divisional Railway Manager of WR’s Mumbai division, said goods trains would be initially run to test the new tracks on June 28 and 29. “The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) will board an empty rake to test the tracks on July 3 and 4. Once the CRS issues a safety certificate, the lines will be opened for regular passenger traffic,” said Prakash.

Prakash said WR would start by running 20 new services everyday from July. This will include two services between Churchgate-Virar, five services between Bandra-Virar, seven on Andheri-Virar, two between Andheri-Vasai and four shuttles between Borivli to Virar. “Many more services can be added on this path once new trains under Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP-I) arrive,” he said.

The DRM said General Manager of WR would be visiting the Integrated Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai, for a final inspection of the new trains ready for technical tests and trials.
P C Sehgal, MD of Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation, confirmed that the new rakes would come out of ICF, Chennai, by June-end. “There would be tests for a month in Chennai itself. The new rakes should reach Mumbai by July 25,” he said. Once in Mumbai, the first new train will have to go through tests on the suburban tracks and get certified by RDSO, Lucknow, which is a centralised body for approving new trains. The new trains, 157 in all, should start coming in batches for passenger use from October first week, said Sehgal.

Remove speed governors for Volvos, State to Centre.

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jun272007/state200706279664.asp

If you are a private transporter worried about the proposed Speed Governors, this news may give some relief — you are not alone.

The state transport department is also fretting about it, lest all its high-cost Volvo buses become redundant. “Volvo buses are meant to be run on high speed. It’s only when they run at around 100 kms per hour speed, they will be effective and economical. Otherwise, they will prove to be very costly and will not make any profit,” transport department officials said.

The Union government has directed all state governments to introduce Speed Governors in all transport vehicles (both private and public) from July 1. This move is aimed at limiting the speed at 60 kms.

In fact, the private transport operators are already up in arms against the proposal and have even threatened to launch a stir.

Speed Governor is a device which measures and regulates the speed of the engine. The transport department, as a result, has written to the Centre to relax the new rules for Volvo buses. “We have written to the Centre seeking relaxation to Volvo buses. We will try to convince it,” Transport Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy told reporters.

According to officials, Volvo buses are the main revenue earners for the loss-making Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). All Volvo buses are being plied on long routes at high speed, with a promise to reach the destination at a shortest time. “If we run our Volvo buses at low speed, we will also incur loss like BMTC is doing,” officials pointed out.
Chaluvarayaswamy also said that he will raise this issue at the south India transport ministers’ conference scheduled to be held on July 6 and 7 in Kerala.
These are the people who burn down the house to kill the mice. Dear God, someone beat some sense into the airheads at the centre.

I've seen Highway Patrol policemen in Toyota Qualis drink tea and sleep by the road side when people were driving on the wrong side of a divided highway on the Golden quadrilateral (dam near killed me).

The centre does nothing to stop this, but they think they are too smart by slowing down the traffic. Why don't the put speed breakers every 100m on the GQ. Oh wait, I hope they didn't hear that.

Maglev has been haralded as 'the transportation of the future' because of the speed it generates and also mainly because of the massive advantages in relation to the energy and environmental issues. But apart from China, no other country has come forward to implement the system on a commercial basis, even Germany who invented it. Theoritically, you can reach downtown Mumbai from New Delhi faster than the airplanes, and without the dreaded 'carbon footprint' on the environment.

People are still highly sceptical of the maglev system, which is expected to revolutionise our means of long- distance travel. The economical aspect is a BIG hurdle, and it may not be feasible at all in India. But, still, maglev CAN BE one answer to India's transportation woes, where people travel 3 and 4 days in trains to reach their destination.
The French TGV and the Japanese bullet trains run at speeds faster than 250kmph. Why doesn't the railway ministry invest in that instead of Maglev, which is an unproven yet prohibitively expensive technology which even the inventors haven't dared implementing in their own countries?

http://www.asia-traffic.com/ibcsg/traffic/ATNews.htm#1

Times News Network
MARCH 09, 2007
NEW DELHI : The trans-Asian railway project, linking India with Asian countries, will soon take off. The Cabinet on Thursday gave its approval for signing and ratifying the inter-governmental agreement on Trans-Asian Railway which will link various countries from China in the east to Bulgaria in the west.

“The Intergovernmental agreement will formalise the co-ordinated development of Trans-Asian Railways. This will help the movement of rail traffic, improvement of trade and tourism among Asian countries,” Minister for Information and Broadcasting P R Dasmunsi said after the Cabinet meeting.

Indian Railways will construct a 350-km link between Jiribam ( India) and Moreh ( Myanmar) for the proposed link-up. The Myanmar government will also share part of the project cost. The project cost for India is estimated at around Rs 1,800 crone and the total cost is expected to be around Rs 3,000 crore.

The inter-governmental agreement on Trans-Asian Railway Network was adopted at the 62nd session of the united Nations -Economic and Social Commission for Asian and the Pacific held in Jakarta on 12th April,2006. It was opened for signature on the 10th and 11th November, 2006 and has already been signed by 18 countries.

India discusses rail links to thai, Hanoi.

http://www.asianage.com/presentation/leftnavigation/news/india/india-discusses-rail-links-to-thai,-hanoi.aspx

New Delhi, June 18: As part of its Look East Policy, New Delhi is holding discussions for implementing the trilateral highway project, which will connect Moreh in Manipur to Mae Sot in Thailand via Bagan in Burma.

New Delhi is also toying with the idea of a rail link from Jiribham in Assam to Hanoi in Vietnam through Burma, ministry of external affairs sources said.

The sources said that after minister of external affairs Pranab Mukherjee returns from his two-nation tour of Indonesia and Singapore, India will get another opportunity to intensify her relations with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) when New Delhi plays host to two high-level delegations from Thailand and Vietnam.

Thailand Prime Minister General Surayud Chulanont will visit India from June 25 to 27. Gen. Chulanont, who is the head of Thailand’s interim government, is expected to visit Varanasi and Hyderabad, besides meeting with the Indian leaders in New Delhi. Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will visit India early next month.

Gen. Chulanont assumed office on October 1, 2006, after Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin overthrew the government of Mr Thaksin Shinawatra in a coup on September 19, 2006. The sources said that the Thai Prime Minister would visit Sarnath, where Lord Buddha delivered his first sermon. His itinerary in Hyderabad was still being drawn up. In New Delhi, the Thai PM would call on President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He would also meet with the ministers of external affairs and commerce.

Mr Mukherjee met with the foreign minister and the deputy foreign minister of Vietnam on the sidelines of the Asian-Europe Meeting (ASEM) foreign ministers’ meeting at Hamburg in Germany in May.

They reviewed bilateral relations and looked at concrete steps that needed to be taken to expand these relations. In particular, they hoped that India and Vietnam could reach the bilateral trade target of $2 million by 2010. Mr Mukherjee reiterated India’s desire to cooperate with Vietnam in the hydro-carbon sector and the power sector. He has suggested that this cooperation could be facilitated by offering soft loans to Vietnam as well as credit loan.

Thailand and Vietnam are members of the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation.

India is currently the chairman of the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation. Thailand is also a member of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).

Mekong-Ganga Cooperation was established on November 10, 2000 at Vientiane.

It comprises of Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Laos PDR, Vietnam and India. The BIMSTEC comprises Bangladesh, India, Burma, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.

First bus corridor in Delhi to go live in September

If you thought it was meant only for low-floor, high-capacity buses, you are wrong. The HCBS corridor is slated to be the first bus corridor of the city. The traffic police may be opposing it for hogging road space, its creators say it will help by segregating traffic

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/3325/pc0020600kn8.jpg

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/2317/pc0020700gm9.jpg
WORK IN PROGRESS: The design of an HCBS bus stop (1); construction work going in full swing (2 & 3)

With the commissioning of the 6-km long section of the first corridor for High Capacity Bus System (HCBS) from Ambedkar Nagar till Moolchand in September, the city will be witnessing a new traffic arrangement which could work as a model for transport planning in future.
Once the entire 14.5-km corridor is completed, it will stretch right upto the Delhi Gate crossing with 21 bus stops on the way, located mostly at traffic intersections.
The main feature of the project is a dedicated corridor for buses in the extreme right lane — the fast lane — of the carriageway, both ways. These lanes will be physically segregated from the rest of the traffic through medians. ‘‘Lane segregation for different types of vehicles has been done to increase the passenger carrying capacity of the corridor, making it a mass transit system for buses. It also facilitates smoother movement for cars, with the main nuisance creators — Bluelines — out of the way,’’ explained Dr Geetam Tiwari of IIT Delhi’s Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Programme (TRIPP), which has designed the corridor.
The bus stops will be located at the intersections, before traffic lights, to facilitate commuter access to and from the bus shelters. The concept hinges on the fact that people should be able to use the red light to get off from the buses. After the traffic signal, a setback of 30 m will be provided before lane segregation starts again.

more info
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/6681/busjn2.th.jpg (http://img169.imageshack.us/my.php?image=busjn2.jpg)

First bus corridor in Delhi to go live in September

If you thought it was meant only for low-floor, high-capacity buses, you are wrong. The HCBS corridor is slated to be the first bus corridor of the city. The traffic police may be opposing it for hogging road space, its creators say it will help by segregating traffic

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/3325/pc0020600kn8.jpg

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/2317/pc0020700gm9.jpg
WORK IN PROGRESS: The design of an HCBS bus stop (1); construction work going in full swing (2 & 3)



more info
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/531/buscorridorqm5.th.jpg (http://img201.imageshack.us/my.php?image=buscorridorqm5.jpg)
This design causes a lot of weaving before and after the flyover - will be very inefficient and cause severe traffic congestion.

Also, it will have 1 lane for general use and 1 lane exclusively for buses on the flyover. Since the bus stops will be at the intersection, they should set up the ring road's dedicated bus lanes on the sidewalk side of the road, perhaps on a frontage road if one is present. Otherwise, there will be too much weaving and inefficient road space wasteage.

New railway time table released

http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/29/stories/2007062955491500.htm

NEW DELHI: Indian Railways on Thursday released its new time table for the season starting on July 1. The time table has a whole lot of new user-friendly features, including colour coding of trains, to depict their category and options such as route map and station index.

“Trains at a Glance” was released by V.N. Mathur, Member (Traffic), Railway Board, at the Rail Bhavan here.

A total of 131 mail/express trains would be speeded up by 30 minutes, 29 trains by 30-59 minutes, and 13 by one-two hours and five trains by more than two hours.

As many as 78 passenger trains would be speeded up by less than 30 minutes, six each by 30-59 and one-two hours respectively and three trains by more than two hours.

Also, it will have 1 lane for general use and 1 lane exclusively for buses on the flyover. Since the bus stops will be at the intersection, they should set up the ring road's dedicated bus lanes on the sidewalk side of the road, perhaps on a frontage road if one is present. Otherwise, there will be too much weaving and inefficient road space wasteage.

true man,I just realised..the traffic flow before & after is going to be screwed big time. I don't really think the whole idea of lane switching would work. Many cars would end up going in the bus lane from the flyover if they don't know about switching lanes. Lets see how it plays out though..

_________
anyways more on Mumbai's new rakes earlier posted (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=13904367&postcount=154) by Sun

looks better :D
http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/7119/mumbaitrainbr1.jpg

How it is different
High-powered blowers for better ventilation
Computerised manage ment system that can manage up to 18 coaches
Energy worth Rs 60 crore will be saved per year
Improved lighting levels
Pneumatic springs to take Mumbai's dense load and minimise effect of jerks


[HT]

anyways more on Mumbai's new rakes earlier posted (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=13904367&postcount=154) by Sun

looks better :D
http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/7119/mumbaitrainbr1.jpg


Yeah!!! Looks decent in this pic. But still not world-class. The doors are similar to those of previous local dabbas. But nevermind, with Metro-One coming up there'll be less to complain.

true man,I just realised..the traffic flow before & after is going to be screwed big time. I don't really think the whole idea of lane switching would work. Many cars would end up going in the bus lane from the flyover if they don't know about switching lanes. Lets see how it plays out though..

_________
anyways more on Mumbai's new rakes earlier posted (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=13904367&postcount=154) by Sun

looks better :D
http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/7119/mumbaitrainbr1.jpg

How it is different
High-powered blowers for better ventilation
Computerised manage ment system that can manage up to 18 coaches
Energy worth Rs 60 crore will be saved per year
Improved lighting levels
Pneumatic springs to take Mumbai's dense load and minimise effect of jerks


[HT]
It needs to have more windows to maximise the use of daylight and reduce lighting expenses. This also creates a better ambience inside the train.

Rlys to save 20 cr power units

TOI epaper

http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/4144/localtrainmumbaigm8.jpg

Mumbai: Indian Railways is going great guns by cutting down on harmful emissions. The World Bank, in its role as an advisor, has agreed to help MRVC in drafting a project idea note (PIN) on energy savings to claim the carbon credits. The World Bank, one of the main financiers of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP), may itself purchase some of the carbon credits from MRVC, railway officials say.

MRVC managing director P C Sehgal is ecstatic at the prospect of earning carbon credits through a railway project in Mumbai. “We can actually earn Rs 5 crore every year for the next 25 years. This will help since the MRVC will be spending over Rs 3,000 crore to get these 157 new trains,’’ he explained.

The present fleet of 204 trains consumes 55 crore units of electricity every year. But the number of suburban trains with Central Railway and Western Railway will go up to 254 by the end of MUTP-I in 2009. “A 254-train fleet running on old technology would have consumed more than 75 crore units of electricity every year. But, thanks to the new-generation trains, the same fleet will use less than 55 crore units,’’ Sehgal said, explaining how the railways would save on power and be eligible for carbon credits.

Power is an expensive commodity now, costing an average of almost Rs 5 a unit; so the railways will be saving Rs 100 crore by shifting to the energy efficient trains.

But how does new technology save so much energy? Well, it uses the re-generative braking system. Whenever brakes are applied to halt the train, the traction motors in it work as generators and feed power back to the power supply system. Since, on an average, there is a station after every 1.5 km it is expected that the traction motors will re-generate 30% of the electrical energy already consumed and feed it back to the system. The present rakes, using pneumatic brakes and rheostatic control, just guzzle lots of energy.

The nose on that thing is quite a pleasant surprise. As for the doors, they're probably passable if the new trains have automated doors.

Any chance of these being used on Hyd's MMTS in addition to the upcoming (and delayed) Hyderabad Metro?

^^ yeah that nose looks pretty sweet.. too bad about the rest of the rake though.. if they're capable of making a modern-looking front-end like that, why wouldn't they apply the same level of modernity to the rest of the train?

:ohno:

Kerala SRTC A/C bus to Bangalore. (Ashok Leyland make), at NH Bypass, Trivandrum.

I was standing close to the road, clicked to get the front view of the bus, but since it was speeding, got only this much.

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/4688/dsc03980wf3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Shot with K750i (http://profile.imageshack.us/camerabuy.php?model=K750i&make=Sony+Ericsson) at 2007-06-29

Currently, automatic doors are simply not feasible on the Mumbai suburban network, even though it should be a number one priority for safety reasons. Once capacity is built up on the railway system through the MUTP (and followup MUTP-II), along with the metro corridors, it will become feasible to have automatic doors in these trains. At that time, it will not be that hard to retrofit automatic doors in these trains, along with sealed windows. Until then, this feature will have to wait.

looks better :D
http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/7119/mumbaitrainbr1.jpg



Not really an improvement except for the better paint job and the nose. The rakes look a choking coffin box with so few windows. The rakes need more natural light inside.

The rakes need more natural light inside.

It may not be the case in India though where people want shade. just my thought.

^^ I guess this article relates to the new trains shown above..

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai_to_get_eco-friendly_trains/articleshow/2162699.cms

Mumbai to get eco-friendly trains
30 Jun, 2007 l 0000 hrs ISTlDevraj Dasgupta/TIMES NEWS NETWORK

MUMBAI: Indian Railways is now set to reap the rewards of introducing clean technology. The latest Siemens-powered suburban trains- the first of which is expected in Mumbai by July 25 -may end up earning it some hard cash by way of carbon credits.

The new trains, which will be put into passenger use by September-end, will save the railways 20 crore units of electricity every year in running locals. Lower electricity consumption will mean reduced fuel consumption in power plants and automatically lead to reduced carbon-dioxide emissions.

And it is here that the concept of carbon credits comes in. They are certificates awarded to companies that succeed in reducing emission of greenhouse gases and can be traded in the market; so companies that reduce emission get carbon credits which they can sell in the international market.

The nodal agency getting the 157 new-generation trains to Mumbai from July, the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC), has already written to the World Bank, claiming carbon credits for saving electrical energy and reduced CO2 emissions.

The World Bank, in its role as an advisor, has agreed to help MRVC in drafting a project idea note (PIN) on energy savings to claim the carbon credits. The World Bank, one of the main financiers of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP), may itself purchase some of the carbon credits from MRVC, railway officials say.

MRVC managing director P C Sehgal is ecstatic at the prospect of earning carbon credits through a railway project in Mumbai. “We can actually earn Rs 5 crore every year for the next 25 years. This will help since the MRVC will be spending over Rs 3,000 crore to get these 157 new trains,'' he explained.

The present fleet of 204 trains consumes 55 crore units of electricity every year. But the number of suburban trains with Central Railway and Western Railway will go up to 254 by the end of MUTP-I in 2009.

“A 254-train fleet running on old technology would have consumed more than 75 crore units of electricity every year. But, thanks to the new-generation trains, the same fleet will use less than 55 crore units,'' Sehgal said, explaining how the railways would save on power and be eligible for carbon credits.

Power is an expensive commodity, costing an average of almost Rs 5 a unit; so the railways will be saving Rs 100 crore by shifting to the energy efficient trains.

'Moitree Express' to serve Indo-Bangla rail route

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jun302007/national2007063010293.asp?section=updatenews

The first ever train service between India and Bangladesh is expected to begin by next month with the inter-country 'Moitree Express' ready for operations, officials said today.
The train has already made several trial runs within Bangladesh with a speed of 150 km per hour after it was fitted with modern facilities, Railway officials said adding it was expected to start operation from next month.

Bangladesh Railway officials earlier said there would be three categories of fares of USD 8, 12 and 20. Bangladesh will keep 78 per cent of the revenue while India will get the rest, as the distance between Shialdaha and the Bangladesh border is 120 kilometres while the length of the rail track in Bangladesh territory is 418 km.
A 10-coach train with the capacity of carrying a total of 760 passengers is expected to commute everyday and it would start at 7:45 am from Bangladesh towards India and at 7:00 am from Shialdaha to Bangladesh while it would take nearly 11 hours to reach the destinations including the time for immigration checking........

The trains are a massive improvement on the old but agree the carriages could have been a better design though.

Not really an improvement except for the better paint job and the nose. The rakes look a choking coffin box with so few windows. The rakes need more natural light inside.

Not surprised by the quality since its built by ICF. They are way too adamant on not thinking out of the (dented,tinkered)box.

India signs trans-Asian railways pact.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India_signs_trans-Asian_railways_pact/articleshow/2163921.cms

UNITED NATIONS: India has signed the Inter-Governmental Agreement on Trans-Asian Railways along with Bangladesh to strengthen rail linkages in the region, especially with South Asian countries and boost trade between Asia and Europe.

The agreement was signed here on Friday by JP Batra, chairman of the Railway Board, Indian Railways, on behalf of India.

With India and Bangladesh signing the agreement, 20 countries have become signatories of the pact. The 18 other countries had signed the pact at Busan, South Korea in November 2006.

The 80,900-km railway network covers 28 countries including 22,600 km in South Asia, Iran and Turkey. The southern corridor of the network, as decided in an expert group meeting held in Dhaka in 1999, commences from Kunming in China and Bangkok in Thailand and ends in Kapikule in Bulgaria.

The total length of the route between Bangkok and Kapikule is 11,460 km and it provides trans-continental rail connectivity to China, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Iran and Turkey.

The network will provide an opportunity for improving rail linkages to India's northeastern states and harmonise the rail network in the region.

The route will enter India at Tamu in Manipur, bordering Myanmar, before going to Bangladesh and re-enter India at Gede in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal.

On the western side, the route is proposed to enter Pakistan at Attari. This route has a missing link of 315 km between India and Myanmar of which 180 km is in India between Jiribam and Tamu in Manipur.

The railway network will improve transport linkages between Asia and Europe and facilitate movement of goods and containers among the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, resulting in enhanced trade.

^^ i hope they all are going to improve their respective railway infra. before going ahead with this grand-linkage...

originally posted by PlaneMad

new model vestibule buses in Chennai with digital LED scroll display for the first time in the city..

http://www.dinakaran.co.in/epapertamilmurasu/2662007/TM_26-06-07_E1_03-02%20CNI.jpg

Hey thats a cool bus & the LED display is a great idea.

Its still alive -

Kochi metro rail in three years: Sreedharan (http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IER20070702030529&Page=R&Title=Kerala&Topic=0)

If everything goes right, the work of Kochi metro rail project will commence within a span of six months and the project will be completed in the stipulated three-year period, said E Sreedharan, Chairman, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd.

He was speaking at a discussion organised by Malabar Chamber of Commerce on suburban railway for the development of Kozhikode region here on Sunday.

He said Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, Minister for Law M Vijayakumar and Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister T K A Nair held a meeting in Delhi last week to discuss the issue.

He said the plan of the Kochi metro rail project has been given to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd, and a draft in this regard is being under preparation.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd will submit the draft before the cabinet to take a final decision on the proposed Kochi metro rail project, said Sreedharan, who is also the Advisor, Transportation, Government of Kerala.

He said survey work on the possibilities of suburban rail at Kozhikode and Kochi is on, and the project on suburban railway at Thiruvanthapuram has already been submitted.

He also favoured a suburban railway from Thalasseri to Tirur in Malabar region.

A short video of the BRTS in Pune. You can see the separate lane for the BRTS buses.


7Ud69mGK8hg


BRTS route planned for Karve Road.
dM3dDfroOLA

^^ So instead of a median, they have a parking space in the middle of the road? What are people going to do after parking there? are they going to have a walkway on top?

Don't miss the driver taking a turn for parking from leftmost lane. Thats an "official" turn! Imagine what such a thing could do to traffic..delays, accidents...

The rendering is not final. There is a flyover planned in the middle, and the space below might be used for parking. Already the space below some of the flyovers in the city is used for parking and people cross the road at the signals.

A short video of the BRTS in Pune. You can see the separate lane for the BRTS buses.

BRTS route planned for Karve Road.
dM3dDfroOLA

BRTS on Karve Road !!

I never knew this.

But Iam afraid that current width of the road is not sufficient to provide a dedicated BRTS lane.

are they going to raze down the buildings for widening or else going to separate a lane from existing road for BRTS?

^^ I dont how they are going to do it. But the final BRTS plan for Pune is for 26 routes covering 118 km. So im sure Karve road has to be one of them as this is one of the busiest routes in the city. There is an underpass planned at the intersection too.

After Satara and solapur roads, BRTS trials began on the Hadapsar stretch last month covering about 12-13 km taking the total to about 21 km.

cool initiative man.

but why are other vehicles going in the bus lanes?
it is well studied across the world, that bays become useless if merge times increase and drivers will avoid the bays.

atleast they are talking of a good scale system.

karve road for kothrud etc... that is the only approach road to the rest of the city no? i remember they used to have wide 'footpath' space especially around puthla upto sndt.
even if they make 3x3 with 1x1 dedicated bus lane and good 40-45 meter bays with acc & decc areas should work.

Smart BMTC set to introduce e-purse.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Bangalore/Smart_BMTC_set_to_introduce_e-purse/articleshow/2179644.cms

BANGALORE: A bus pass with multi-applications? BMTC's smart cards will soon use the e-purse concept with a single card for several functions. BMTC, currently issuing smart card student passes, will extend them for monthly passes as an e-purse. Individuals can transfer cash from debit or credit cards on to the smart card, and buy groceries or other items from agencies which have tied up with BMTC.

Director (security and vigilance) P S Sandhu told The Times of India that the corporation is holding discussions with banks which will be a nodal agency — by holding and managing money being transacted.

"The corporation will be co-branded with the bank and many service providers will be affiliated to us. All formalities will be completed in two months, and the cards will be issued before this year end," he said.

This card is part of BMTC's bigger dream — the Traffic Transit Management Centres (TTMCs), a one-stop shop of park-and-ride.

"Although it'll take time for the centres to be set up, we want to streamline the smart card facility, which will be used in the centres extensively,".......

Not surprised by the quality since its built by ICF. They are way too adamant on not thinking out of the (dented,tinkered)box.

I dont think it is about thinking out of the box...it is about employing people who can think out of the box..why would any smart person work for ICF? The salaries are probably way too low, their IP is probably not protected and the work environment is probably heavily politicised. People make products and you need to have an awesome working environment if you want to have aweosme people. These awesome people then go on to make awesome products when they know that their hard work and intellect will earn them plenty of monetary rewards.

MP

Smart BMTC set to introduce e-purse.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Bangalore/Smart_BMTC_set_to_introduce_e-purse/articleshow/2179644.cms

BANGALORE: A bus pass with multi-applications? BMTC's smart cards will soon use the e-purse concept with a single card for several functions. BMTC, currently issuing smart card student passes, will extend them for monthly passes as an e-purse. Individuals can transfer cash from debit or credit cards on to the smart card, and buy groceries or other items from agencies which have tied up with BMTC.

Director (security and vigilance) P S Sandhu told The Times of India that the corporation is holding discussions with banks which will be a nodal agency — by holding and managing money being transacted.

"The corporation will be co-branded with the bank and many service providers will be affiliated to us. All formalities will be completed in two months, and the cards will be issued before this year end," he said.

This card is part of BMTC's bigger dream — the Traffic Transit Management Centres (TTMCs), a one-stop shop of park-and-ride.

"Although it'll take time for the centres to be set up, we want to streamline the smart card facility, which will be used in the centres extensively,".......

Why does the BMTC have to do this? Have they taken care of most of their basic operation issues including the basic idea of providng a comfortable, safe, on time, clean, modern, relatively less expensive travel to its patrons? I have no idea if they have actually, but if they have not...BMTC is focusing on the wrong areas.

MP

MP,
Pardon the rather long post but as you will see I am like a teenager smitten by his fav starlet when it comes to BMTC J Don’t expect some dream service, it is very much an Indian service but one that is trying real hard and has a vision and here is why…

It provides a selection of service with different quality levels. The most highlighted service is of course the volvo service, which SSCi forumers like Sudheesh have painstakingly and unfailingly chronicled. The service has also caught the imagination of bloggers (http://enidhispeaks.blogspot.com/2007/03/bmtc-volvo-city-buses.html). But Volvo is really a part of a whole hierarchy of bus types including parisara vahini, pushpak, apart from regular chasis buses.

They have also taken initiatives in bio-diesel along with the regional state bus transport corporation.

Towards QoS, they employ GPS for internal tracking of the buses and have recently extended that to provide a service called yelliddira (http://bangalore.praja.in/node/53) (where are you) for the customers to track the buses.

As an assurance of safety they provide minimum insurance for all passengers. This basic service they have now enhanced in a service called gold passes (http://bangalore.praja.in/node/25) which has higher coverage and can be bought and used for shopping in some popular shops.

Towards reach, they are in the middle of a phasing in a grid system, which has been successful where it has been implemented. (In recent public meetings, the people who were not on the grid where the strongest voices.) They have also tried themed services like hospital route and shopping routes, some of these have been successful others have not.

But for me the critical aspect is that BMTC has been so far been very proactive in trying to work with Bangalore’s metro plans in addressing public transport issues in bangalore. If you read their documents, they talk about wanting to attract x% of two wheeler users by z date. (I have to search for exact figures) and they are trying all these things to meet that target. But the bottle neck in BLR is really the congestion to which BMTC buses also are subject to. Even that they have not left unaddressed – BMTC has been pushing the authorities for bus lanes over sewers !! rayya!! rayy rayy!!

Centre will back BRTS in Blore.

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jul72007/city2007070711475.asp

Union Minister for Urban Development S Jaipal Reddy on Friday said farmers should be provided adequate compensation when their land is acquired for development.
Addressing a seminar on ‘Bruhat Bangalore - Our Roles, Challenges and Opportunities’, organised by Bangalore Mahanagara District Congress Committee in association with the Centre for Budget and Policy Studies, he said state governments should ensure farmers are adequately compensated as per the commercial value of the land acquired.
On traffic woes in the City, he said governments had not planned public transport development in tandem with its growth.
“The Metro Rail project has been launched to provide quality public transport, but it alone cannot be a solution to the traffic woes. So, we have decided to support a Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS). An adequate bus feeder support should provide connectivity to the Metro,” he said.
He cautioned against the shrinking green cover in the City. “Urbanisation is an unstoppable phenomena. By 2025, 50 per cent of India’s population will reside in urban areas. It is to meet these challenges of urban planning that the UPA government introduced the JNNURM and spend Rs 1 lakh crore by end of 11th Five Year Plan.”
Scheme
Mr Reddy said the Centre will soon come out with an ‘Urban Integrated Development Scheme’ for small and medium cities.
On Bangalore, Mr Reddy said it would be given priority under JNNURM.
“At the same time, priority would be given to drinking water, storm-water drains, sewerage and waste management projects as they constitute basic problems faced by a growing city.”
Administrative Reforms Committee Chairman Veerappa Moily said the state governments have not accorded importance to urban local bodies as per the 73th and 74th amendments.

‘Golden Chariot’ to be ready in April.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/07/08/stories/2007070855040300.htm

BELLARY: “Golden Chariot”, Karnataka’s own special train on the lines of “palace on wheels” of Rajasthan, covering all the heritage and tourist destinations in the State, will be flagged off in April next, according to B. Sriramulu, Minister for Tourism.

Addressing presspersons here on Saturday, the Minister that the special train was scheduled to be flagged off on November 1.
But owing to certain technical reasons, it was postponed. It was likely to be flagged off on April 1.
The Minister said that final touches were being given to the luxury train and the trial run was likely to be held in September.

The special train service, which was expected to attract many foreign tourists, would start from Bangalore, touching Belur, Halebid, Mysore, Hampi, Badami, Pattadkal, Aihole and Goa. The journey would be for seven days and six nights.

Railways may flag off private stations

Imagine a railway station run by the private sector? In a significant move, the Railways are preparing a blueprint to set up greenfield railway terminals across the country under private-public partnership. The locations which are being looked at include a new terminal in Patna and Bijwasan (near Delhi).

Under the plan, the Railways would acquire and lease out the land to the private concessionaire. The private developer would construct and maintain all facilities during the construction period and run the operations for a specific period. The Railways will repossess all the assets after the concession period

The move is a part of the Railways new thrust to modernise stations and improve facilities for customers through private sector participation as the battle with low cost airlines hots up. The Railways have identified 16 stations which would be modernised under the public-private partnership (PPP) in various parts of the country.

These include New Delhi, Chennai, Howrah, Mumbai CST, Bangalore, Bhopal, Lucknow amongst others.

A senior railway official said that the focus would be first on developing additional terminals at stations in the four metros, as these stations handle a lot of traffic.

Meanwhile, the ministry has selected the UK-based company Terry Farrell and Partners, an architectural firm, for preparing the feasibility report and master plan for modernisation of New Delhi railway station.

The modernisation of stations would include setting up shopping and food plazas, budget hotels and retiring rooms. It also includes setting up spatial segregation of facilities at different floor levels for smooth passenger flow. Other facilities such as segregation of incoming and outgoing passengers, major facilities at first floor or underground concourse level, and direct vehicular access to the concourse would also have to be suggested by the company.

Source: Business Standard (http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&bKeyFlag=BO&autono=290387&chkFlg=)

cool initiative man.

but why are other vehicles going in the bus lanes?
it is well studied across the world, that bays become useless if merge times increase and drivers will avoid the bays.

atleast they are talking of a good scale system.

karve road for kothrud etc... that is the only approach road to the rest of the city no? i remember they used to have wide 'footpath' space especially around puthla upto sndt.
even if they make 3x3 with 1x1 dedicated bus lane and good 40-45 meter bays with acc & decc areas should work.

It is still there. :)

and Karve road , also got new storm water drains, Wide footpaths (according to PMC , they are bicycle lanes) and underground electricity cabling done.:okay:

High-speed rail corridor between Hyderabad-Machilipatnam planned

Project to reduce travel time to just two hours between the two cities

Hyderabad: The State Government has embarked on an ambitious project of introducing a high-speed rail corridor connecting Hyderabad with Machilipatnam via Vijayawada.

The project intends to reduce the travel time between the State capital with the port city to just two hours. Officials have been directed to prepare a comprehensive project report so that the Government could seek Central funds.

According to a press release from the Chief Minister’s office on Sunday, Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy said that once the corridor was established, it would provide a direct link from Hyderabad International airport to Machilipatnam port.

The rail corridor would bring about industrial revolution in Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Nalgonda, Mahabubnagar, Medak, Warangal and Krishna district. The corridor is on the lines of the one proposed between New Delhi and Mumbai. The State Government is planning to seek Central funds for the project.

Free power

The Chief Minister said that the royalty accruing from the natural gas resources in Krishna Godavari basin will enable the Government to provide free power to farm sector on permanent basis.

He said his Government was determined to pressure the Centre to implement the recommendations of the 12th Finance Commission. According to this recommendation, State would get 50 per cent royalty on the gas reserves, which could be directly spent to supply free power to the farm sector.

Twelve million units of power were required for pump sets in the State. He said 16,830 million unit power could be secured from the KG basin.

The KG basin gas would come into use from June next year and if the same was used for power generation and industrialisation, it would be a boon for the State. Dr. Reddy said he would once again write a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue. He hoped that the prices of LPG cylinder would come down once gas was made available to the State.

On the Rajiv Swagruha housing scheme, Dr. Reddy said those who have applied recently would get houses by next year.

Source: The Hindu (http://www.hindu.com/2007/07/09/stories/2007070953480400.htm)

AP seeks high-speed rail link

Hyderabad, July 8: The government has decided to bid for a high speed rail line in the State between Hyderabad and Machilipatnam. It would cost about Rs 25,000 crores, excluding the cost of land. The high-speed trains would travel at speeds of up to 350 kmph. The journey time between Hyderabad and Vijayawada will come down to less than 2 hours. The project aimed at connecting major towns in Telangana to the port town of Machilipatnam. Twelve States have expressed interest in the high speed line. Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy has directed the officials to prepare a report to be submitted to the railway ministry.

“He will meet the Prime Minister and the railway minister in a week and ask for the line,” an official of the Chief Minister’s Office said. The Chief Minister told officials that with the high speed rail, industrialisation which is concentrated in and around the capital could be expanded to places like Mahbubnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Guntur and Vijayawada. “The need is to connect major airports and seaports with major towns and cities. This will enable rapid industrialisation in all the regions,” the official pointed out.

The Chief Minister would press the Centre for a feasibility study at the earliest. The other routes which are being considered at present are Mumbai-Surat-Vadodara-Ahmedabad; Jaipur-Delhi-Sonepat-Chandigarh-Ludhiana-Jalandhar-Amritsar; Bangalore-Chennai and Kolkata-Jamshedpur-Patna.

Source: Deccan.com (http://www.deccan.com/City/Citynews.asp#AP%20seeks%20high-speed%20rail%20link)

So not only has DMRC done all the necessary inspections for the Kochi metro(preparing reports etc), but it would also now execute it.

Kerala to handover execution of Metro project (http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200707080321.htm)

The Kerala government has decided to handover the execution of the Kochi Metro project to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), State Law Minister, M Vijay Kumar said on Saturday.

The Government was keen to get the project going and there would be no delay in commencing and completing the prestigious project, the minister told reporters here.

Wonder when this is going to happen !

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/2936/08072007523002ui5.jpg

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/2936/08072007523002ui5.th.jpg (http://img412.imageshack.us/my.php?image=08072007523002ui5.jpg)


PS: Thanks indiansunite for the imageshack tip!

^^^ just so you know, it might be easier for you if you use the newspaper's website and just paste the link and text of the article instead of scanning and uploading the image.

It is still there. :)

and Karve road , also got new storm water drains, Wide footpaths (according to PMC , they are bicycle lanes) and underground electricity cabling done.:okay:

cool man.. tethe pics Taak please.

WR plans 200 new services in Mumbai by March ’08
From TOI epaper

Mumbai: The Western Railway (WR) plans to introduce at least 200 new suburban locals on its network by end of March next year. With 1,043 services being run every day at present, the 200 new services will mean a 20% jump in the number of locals in a day.

A K Jhingron, general manager of WR, has said that the new rakes expected from October will help them add a substantial number of new services. The Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC), which has ordered for the manufacture of 157 new trains for Mumbai, expects production to begin at the railway factory in Chennai from October. Once production begins, trains will start coming in batches from October. Both Central and Western Railway are expecting to get two new trains every month.

In this backdrop, Jhingron said the new trains received between October to March next year would be enough to introduce at least 200 new services on different sections between Churchgate and Virar. “Given the fact that each new train can run 20 services in a day, WR should be in a position to introduce 200 new services with the trains its gets till March next year,’’ he said. In fact, WR has already started 20 new services between Bandra and Andheri to Virar using an old train.

Ministry for tax cuts on Volvo, Sky bus purchase.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/Ministry_for_tax_cuts_on_Volvo_Sky_bus_purchase/articleshow/2193792.cms

NEW DELHI: Low-floor Volvos and Tata Skies may become an affordable mode of transport in metro cities if a proposal of the Union Urban Development Ministry to cut taxes on them is accepted.

In its proposal to the Revenue Department, the UD Ministry has suggested that a 30 per cent tax load on these buses be removed to reduce fleet investment cost.

Urban Development Secretary M Ramachandran said that cost of a Volvo bus can come down by Rs 15 lakh if excise and the value-added tax on its purchase is taken away.

"If they (Centre and states) can think about this 30 per cent, then a Volvo, which costs Rs 50-60 lakh, will come down by Rs 10-15 lakh," he said.

In Delhi, authorities are set to invite bids from corporates and cooperatives for introducing a fleet of low-floor high-capacity buses as part of plans to phase out infamous Blue Lines.

Likewise, plans are under consideration by state governments of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to improve city bus services.

"Essentially, in the long run, you have to live with low-floor buses ... and with air-conditioned buses which will be on the dedicated corridors. Even otherwise also one has to improve the quality of buses," Ramachandran remarked.

He said commuters would face no additional burden once central and state levies are removed on purchase of the buses.

"Customer would get the advantage of a better fare if the initial investment cost is reduced; and some more comfort," Ramachandran added.

After branded trains, its branded tickets

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jul122007/city2007071212393.asp

After rolling branded trains on tracks, the Indian Railways is set to issue branded tickets. The adver-ticket may come into circulation from the last week of July or first week of August.

Do not get confused when you ask for a railway reservation ticket and get a colourful ‘pamphlet’ carrying advertisements instead.
After rolling branded trains on tracks, the Indian Railways is set to issue ‘branded tickets’. This is the second time in the recent past when the Railways has become a bearer of sales promotion drive of some private firms. The ‘adver-ticket’ may come into circulation from the last week of July or first week of August.
South-Western Railway Zone spokesperson Daasharathi told Deccan Herald the size of the ticket would be bigger than the normal one.
“Presently, the size of the ticket is 15 cm x 9 cm but the new tickets would be 18 cm long and 10 cm wide,” he said.
He said there would be vertical and horizontal strips in the front for advertisements, while the rear would be entirely devoted to advertisements. But there are restrictions on placing advertisements.
Not for all
“Not all can advertise in our tickets. They won’t carry ads on cigarettes, tobacco and liquor. Also obscene ads are not permitted,” said Daasharathi.
The tickets will be more colourful than those being those being sold presently.
The Railways is reportedly receiving tremendous response from companies making Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).
An officer said the tickets may not remain mere tickets in future. It would offer some gifts or concessions on some FMCG products. “It is quite possible, people won’t throw it or hand it over to the ticket collector, but would keep it safely to encash the concession offered on some products,” he said.

Heard a very bad experience about the Garib Raths that lalu has been running across town.

Apparently what the railway gives in terms of air conditioning, they take away in the form of hours and hours of delays. And this is coming across the board. Helping the 'garibs' indeed.

IVe always wondered why volvos are the preferred choice for busses, how come they dont have any competition from other foreign auto companies?

^^
Volvo was the early bird in terms of quality AC busses in India. Its also has 'brand equity' in India where people equate Volvo for a luxury AC bus.

Volvo is now however facing tough competition from Tata Motors' Globus AC busses and more recently from a Chandigarh based company called JCBL which imports the bus chassis from King Long Corp in China and then builds the bus body. The JCBL's are 15% cheaper than Volvo's.

Maharashtra's MSRTC now has many new JCBL and Tata Globus busses for its 'Mahabus' AC luxury fleet besides the older Volvos purchased 3 or 4 years ago. So does Raj National Express.

Have travelled in the MSRTC JCBL... as good as a Volvo.

The market for AC busses @ the price of a Volvo is not that big. This may be deterring other companies like Mercedes or Scania. However, I think there is great potential for cheaper manufacturers.

Yeah, Volvo was the early bird in terms of quality AC buses in India.

There will be a healthy competition between these A/C Buses. Thats a Good news for the Commuters.


Ministry for tax cuts on Volvo, Sky bus purchase.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/Ministry_for_tax_cuts_on_Volvo_Sky_bus_purchase/articleshow/2193792.cms

NEW DELHI: Low-floor Volvos and Tata Skies may become an affordable mode of transport in metro cities if a proposal of the Union Urban Development Ministry to cut taxes on them is accepted.

In its proposal to the Revenue Department, the UD Ministry has suggested that a 30 per cent tax load on these buses be removed to reduce fleet investment cost.

Urban Development Secretary M Ramachandran said that cost of a Volvo bus can come down by Rs 15 lakh if excise and the value-added tax on its purchase is taken away.
"If they (Centre and states) can think about this 30 per cent, then a Volvo, which costs Rs 50-60 lakh, will come down by Rs 10-15 lakh," he said.

Lifeline Express flagged off

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jul132007/national2007071312620.asp

The new and expanded “Lifeline Express” is here. In a unique gesture, the Indian Railways on Thursday flagged off the “hospital on train” to extend medical facilities for the poor in rural India.

The train was donated to Impact India Foundation which is promoted by organisations such as Unesco and Union Government.

Speaking on the occasion, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad disclosed that the IR was planning to introduce a similar train – Red Ribbon Express – in cooperation with National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) to launch a countrywide awareness campaign to control the spread of the most deadly disease AIDS.
The Minister said since 1991, Impact India Foundation with the cooperation of the IR was providing medical service free of cost to lakhs of poor and needy people in remote and rural areas of India where medical facilities were almost non-existent.
The new hospital train, which has inspired several countries including China to take up similar projects, consists of a main operation theatre with three operating tables for conducting surgeries free of cost like cataract, squints, micro surgeries of the inner ear, cleft lip correction and orthopaedic surgeries for deformed limbs.
It has another self-contained operation theatre with two operating tables and four recovery beds and also an ophthalmic testing room. The new coaches are designed and manufactured by Integral Coach Factory, Perambur at a cost of five crore rupees. The cost has been shared by the IR and Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.
It also boasts of an auditorium and training facilities for 50 medical personnel.

didnt maharashtra have that hospital on wheels running in the late 80s and early 90s? or is it the same train with new branding. I was under the impression it had actually shut down earlier.

MOBILE MEDICARE: UPA chief Sonia Gandhi, accompanied by railway minister Lalu Prasad, inaugurates the Lifeline Express (right) in New Delhi on Thursday. The five-coach train has a hi-tech OT , a medical store, an office and a six-bed post-operative ward. As it weaves its way through the length and breadth of India, surgeons will conduct free cataract, inner ear, cleft-lip and limb operations for people particularly in the remote areas. One of its coaches can be detached from the rake and used as a stand-alone OT, a feature that comes in handy during disaster management. The build-up to the inauguration saw a controversy as RJD supporters wanted Lalu to do the honors but Impact India Foundation, which is behind the medical train, wanted Sonia to cut the ribbon as the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation is associated with the project. Savvy Lalu saved the situation by reining in his backers, earning Sonia’s praise in the process

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/9940/pc0111200ag8.jpg

[QUOTE=nashcode;14232669Have travelled in the MSRTC JCBL... as good as a Volvo.
[/QUOTE]

I travelled in JCBL-KING LONG bus of Parveen Travels to and fro in Trivandrum-Chennai sector in 2005. I felt it perhaps better than a volvo, appeared to be speedier. Got the same feedback from the Driver also. The bus is not as tall as Volvo B7R, and seems to be a little wider.

Nowadays I see a VOLVO in the place for KING LONG for the Parveen Travels service.

I travelled in JCBL-KING LONG bus of Parveen Travels to and fro in Trivandrum-Chennai sector in 2005. I felt it perhaps better than a volvo, appeared to be speedier. Got the same feedback from the Driver also. The bus is not as tall as Volvo B7R, and seems to be a little wider.

Nowadays I see a VOLVO in the place for KING LONG for the Parveen Travels service.

Where is KING LONG buses from, china? Volvo has a worldwide presence
in bus and truck market. I have seen a lot of them in UK and looks like they are slowly capturing the market in US.

Ya, China, nashcode had mentioned it in his earlier post. I think there is considerable price difference between the VOLVO and JCBL-KINGLONG.

Volvo prices are coming down by 10-15 lakhs..
The price differences wont be too much going forward..

Volvo prices are coming down by 10-15 lakhs..
The price differences wont be too much going forward..

That is only if they cancel the extra taxes of 30% on these buses. I doubt they will reduce the taxes to that extent. maharashtra govt. has also ordered about 200 King Long buses for its fleet as they the Volvo buses have been giving them lot of problems and require too much maintenance

Private funds for rail freight

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070716/asp/business/story_8063607.asp

Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), a Singapore-based transportation and logistics company, plans to invest around $60 million in APL IndiaLinx (http://www.aplindialinx.com/)— the container rail freight service of APL, its wholly owned subsidiary.

The fund will be used to acquire rail licences, roll out rakes and build inland container depots. APL IndiaLinx was launched in May in an alliance with Hindustan Infrastructure Projects and Engineering.

The company operates through a container depot between Delhi and Mumbai. The depot offers shippers and third party transportation providers a point of contact to coordinate inland and marine freight.

Kenneth Glenn, NOL’s president for South Asia, said, “We are seeking land for depots, and have ordered more rolling stock. We are also in the process of constructing our own depots. By the end of the year, we plan to boost our railway capacity to nine rakes, which will enable us to make 11 round trips every week between the depots in north India and the ports.” Glenn added that the Indian container market has been growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 16 per cent over the past five years.

In the next three years, APL IndiaLinx will set up container terminals at various places in north and central India, including Delhi.

The company also said that its second train would start operating by July 20. It will start moving refrigerated cargoes from the end of the month.

It is also planning to enter container terminal business, landslide logistics, and core liner business. APL IndiaLinx’s service between Mumbai and Delhi will save up to two days in transit time for customers moving goods within the country.

I heard that BEST introduced new double decker buses for Mumbai.

Any pictures anyone?

Plus does anyone know how many old buses have been replaced by the new Starbuses?

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/17/stories/2007071750600100.htm
Railways seeks private participation to introduce high-speed trains
CHENNAI: The Railways is looking for public-private partnership to in introduce ing high-speed trains in select corridors.

As such high-speed trains can be operated only on dedicated elevated corridors, costing at least Rs. 70 crore a per kmilometre, private participation has become imperative, according to Southern Railway General Manager Thomas Varghese. There are demands for bullet trains from Chennai to Ernakulam, Bangalore, Coimbatore and Madurai and from Trivandrum to Mangalore.

The Railway Board Chairman recently held detailed discussions with Chief Secretaries of Tamil Nadu and Kerala on this issue. As heavy investments are needed to realise these demands, an in-depth market survey on possible clientele who could afford to pay fares on a par with those of airlines would have to be carried out.

A bullet train between Chennai and Bangalore would be ideal in view of the increasing passenger patronage between the cities, Mr. Varghese said in an interview on Monday.

The Railway Board recently decided to have at least one high-speed corridor in each zone...

^^

A very good move indeed!

Rlys launch hassle-free enquiry service.

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jul182007/national2007071813470.asp

Extending the Bangalore experiment to Delhi, the Indian Railways on Tuesday began an endeavour to provide modern and improved facilities to the passengers by launching a new landline enquiry facility, — No. 139.
The service can be used by passengers to know the reservation status, the arrival and departure time, the accommodation at Yatri Nivas hotels, etc. There will also be human interaction as call centre executives respond to your queries.
The facility, which will be available only from the MTNL/BSNL landlines at present, would be extended to cover mobile phones too. Costing Rs 1.20 for three minutes, it would be made toll-free after sometime. The new system, based on the public-private partnership model, will be available for the entire country by September.
Calls will be handled in four centres (north, south, east and west) under the Integrated Train Enquiry System (ITES). Each centre will comprise of a zonal hub and a call centre.
Zonal hubs
The zonal hubs will be located at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Howrah (the Chennai call centre will be located at Mysore).
This is where the servers and the IVRS (Integrated Voice Response System) equipment is located and the place where all calls land.
The site for regional call centres is provided by the franchisee, who will also bear the entire expenditure of setting up of the regional call centre. No capital or operational expenditure will be incurred by the IR for implementation of this work.
This service will be available to all customers in the country shortly, who may subscribe to any telecom service provider. This will include mobile phone operator in due course of time. The existing computerised service of 1335 will continue for sometime.
Besides English and Hindi, multi-lingual service would be available shortly in Marathi/Gujarati for western region, in Bengali/ Oriya/ Assamese for the east and in Tamil/ Telugu/ Malayalam/Kannada for south India. Other language options will be added on as per requirement.
Inaugurating the first phase of the implementation of the ITES, titled “Rail Sampark”, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad said, initially the facility would be available in eight states.
The complete network, comprising of interactive voice response system and regional call centres, is based on state of the art technology and associated processes.
“This shall enable railways to deliver vastly improved quality of service to our esteemed customers”, the minister added.

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/17/stories/2007071750600100.htm

wow that is definitely a step in the right direction
I would love to see something similar to the Japanese Shinkansen high speed rail network.
There are several cities close together in order to make high speed rail feasible like ike Delhi-Chandigarh, or Delhi-Agra. A Bangalore - Chennai high speed rail link is a really neat way to connect two large cities.

wow that is definitely a step in the right direction
I would love to see something similar to the Japanese Shinkansen high speed rail network.
There are several cities close together in order to make high speed rail feasible like ike Delhi-Chandigarh, or Delhi-Agra. A Bangalore - Chennai high speed rail link is a really neat way to connect two large cities.
^^ Chennai <-> Bangalore <->Hyderabad => "Deccan Angle" (like Golden triangle) :)

Cities in Gujarat are also close enough to make high speed rail feasible
surat - baroda - ahmedabad

every state has many big cities where high speed rail is feasible. I think IF, and thats a big IF, there is going to be a highspeed rail project, they should first focus on the busiest routes and also where people can actually afford to ride. There should come up with a survey showing busiest transporation routes in india and also where most business men/women travel/commute.

does anyone have any info on that?

German coaches for Patna train.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/German_coaches_for_Patna_train/articleshow/2218905.cms

The Danapur division of the East Central Railway (ECR) has received a rake of new LHB German coaches to facilitate the daily run of the prestigious bi-weekly Patna-New Delhi Rajdhani Express (2309-2310) from the first week of August.

The railways had delayed its daily run since railway minister Lalu Prasad was keen to run the train with the ultra-modern LHB coaches.Sources said that the railways intend to replace the existing Swiss technology-based ICF coaches with that of LHB German coaches to enhance safety and riding comforts of passengers.

The greatest advantage of the LHB coaches, which are being manufactured at Kapurthala, is that these coaches can run at a speed of 160-180 kmph on the existing railway tracks.The toilets of these coaches are on a par with the ones found in flights.

The doors of these coaches are based on the latest technology. Besides, these coaches do not turn turtle in case of any mishap and their brakes are highly sensitive, the sources said, adding that the LHB coaches are also fireproof.
The railways had first introduced these coaches in 2002 during the tenure of former railway minister and present Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. The LHB coaches were used for the first time in Swarn Shatabdi Express, which was introduced between New Delhi and Lucknow.

Subsequently, the LHB coaches were run on the Mumbai-New Delhi and New Delhi-Kolkata routes. As such, the Patna-New Delhi segment will be the fourth route on which the LHB coaches would be run, the sources said.
A senior railway official at Danapur said that though the load combination of the Rajdhani Express would be the same, ie 14 coaches, including pantry, journey in the ultra-modern LHB coaches will be a new experience for passengers.

While it will run at the speed of 110 kmph between Patna and Mughalsarai stations, its speed will be exceeded to 130 kmph between Mughalsarai and New Delhi, he said.
The railways have already built a new washing pit at the Rajendra Nagar Terminal for the proper maintenance of the LHB coaches.

Currently, the ECR has about 2000 old model coaches, which would eventually be replaced with LHB coaches in future.It has also been decided to manufacture about 2500 new LHB coaches each year to fulfil the needs of the railways.

Pls check the folllowing "virtual guides" to wdm2 and wp

www.geocities.com/sheeju12

www.geocities.com/wp_loco

rgds

sheeju

Development plans
Terry Farrell would have to submit its report in five months.

The project size to be roughly in the range of Rs 5,000 crore.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Mamuni Das


New Delhi, July 3 The Hong Kong office of Terry Farrell and Partners have bagged the bid to advise the Indian Railways on the architectural design for modernising New Delhi Railway station. The Railways would issue the letter of award in a few days, said official sources.

Terry Farrell and Partners, registered in the UK have designed several stations and transport centres including the integrated transportation centre, Inchon international airport, Korea; Kowloon station masterplan, Hong Kong; South Kensington station, London and Parramatta rail link, Sydney.

Station Modernisation

The Indian Railways had invited requests for proposal from consultants to advise Railways on the detailed design parameters, technical, financial and legal aspects of the process to be adopted for modernising the station.

At present, New Delhi station handles 3.5-lakh passengers per day on an average. Every day, 256 trains, including 78 suburban trains arrive or depart from 12 existing platforms of this station. Four new platforms are being constructed on the ground, which will be ready by end of 2007.

Terry Farrell, which would get about Rs 7 crore for this work, would have to submit its report in five months.

Other consultants in race to advise the Indian Railways for the modernisation include France based-Arep Ville, German firm Von Gerkan Marg and Partners, Hok International (Hong Kong), Aedis Ltd (Hong Kong) and Rites from India.

The Government hopes to award the New Delhi Railway station modernisation project by December this year so that the project is ready by 2010 Commonwealth Games. The Union Railway Minister, Mr Lalu Prasad, expects the project size to be roughly in the range of Rs 5,000 crore.

Standard Document

The Prime Minister’s Committee on Infrastructure has appointed an inter-ministerial group under the Railway Board Chairman to evolve a model concession agreement for the Railway station modernisation by October 31. The group would have Secretaries of the Planning Commission, Department of Economic Affairs, Department of Urban Development and Department of Legal Affairs as members. Planning Commission would be preparing the draft MCA and submit it to the IMG for further deliberations.

The agreement would be the standard document for inviting bids from developers to redevelop the identified Railway stations on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer mode.

Cities in Gujarat are also close enough to make high speed rail feasible
surat - baroda - ahmedabad
Given the pace at which the economy is growing, high speed trains are feasible in at least 10 states in India.

How ever, much depends on the respective state govts, as the land has to be aquired and provided by the state govts for building high speed train systems ...
Delhi, MH, Kal, TN, KA and AP are likely to be the front runners...

Railways have plenty of un-utlized land along the current tracks.

Can they use it? Is there a safe distance (perimeter) that is recommended for high speed trains?

5000 crores is lots and lots of money for a railway station. You can build 3 airports with that money. Instead railways should focus on building smaller modern stations that are spread out.

As more and more people use air as their preferred mode of transport why spend so much money on just one station. Why not spend on signalling, safety, basic amenities, cleanliness in railway stations across India.

Looks like the govt wants to showcase Delhi for the games...

ha... may be it is 500 crores, I do not trust this stupid journalists who mess up the numbers all the time..


Development plans
Terry Farrell would have to submit its report in five months.

The project size to be roughly in the range of Rs 5,000 crore.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Mamuni Das


New Delhi, July 3 The Hong Kong office of Terry Farrell and Partners have bagged the bid to advise the Indian Railways on the architectural design for modernising New Delhi Railway station. The Railways would issue the letter of award in a few days, said official sources.

Terry Farrell and Partners, registered in the UK have designed several stations and transport centres including the integrated transportation centre, Inchon international airport, Korea; Kowloon station masterplan, Hong Kong; South Kensington station, London and Parramatta rail link, Sydney.

Station Modernisation

The Indian Railways had invited requests for proposal from consultants to advise Railways on the detailed design parameters, technical, financial and legal aspects of the process to be adopted for modernising the station.

At present, New Delhi station handles 3.5-lakh passengers per day on an average. Every day, 256 trains, including 78 suburban trains arrive or depart from 12 existing platforms of this station. Four new platforms are being constructed on the ground, which will be ready by end of 2007.

Terry Farrell, which would get about Rs 7 crore for this work, would have to submit its report in five months.

Other consultants in race to advise the Indian Railways for the modernisation include France based-Arep Ville, German firm Von Gerkan Marg and Partners, Hok International (Hong Kong), Aedis Ltd (Hong Kong) and Rites from India.

The Government hopes to award the New Delhi Railway station modernisation project by December this year so that the project is ready by 2010 Commonwealth Games. The Union Railway Minister, Mr Lalu Prasad, expects the project size to be roughly in the range of Rs 5,000 crore.

Standard Document

The Prime Minister’s Committee on Infrastructure has appointed an inter-ministerial group under the Railway Board Chairman to evolve a model concession agreement for the Railway station modernisation by October 31. The group would have Secretaries of the Planning Commission, Department of Economic Affairs, Department of Urban Development and Department of Legal Affairs as members. Planning Commission would be preparing the draft MCA and submit it to the IMG for further deliberations.

The agreement would be the standard document for inviting bids from developers to redevelop the identified Railway stations on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer mode.

5000 crores is lots and lots of money for a railway station. You can build 3 airports with that money. Instead railways should focus on building smaller modern stations that are spread out.

As more and more people use air as their preferred mode of transport why spend so much money on just one station. Why not spend on signalling, safety, basic amenities, cleanliness in railway stations across India.

Looks like the govt wants to showcase Delhi for the games...

ha... may be it is 500 crores, I do not trust this stupid journalists who mess up the numbers all the time..


I think it is 5000 crores. I have seen this news of spending 5k crores
on delhi railway stations atleast a couple of times earlier starting probably
from this years Railway Budget.

does it mean the tussel btn the Planning Commission and IR has been resolved about train station modernization...
the last heard news:
URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/03/15/stories/2007031504641000.htm
Railway station modernisation plans may be delayed
New Delhi March 14 Indian Railways' plans to modernise its stations may be delayed with the Planning Commission asking Railways to change the manner in which it has been pursuing the issue.

The Railways had decided that it would define the detailed design parameters for passenger facilities with the help of renowned consultants and then invite developers to build the station as per the design. However, the Planning Commission now wants Railways to define broad parameters only and let developers design the stations, as was followed in the airport modernisation plan.

Railways' case: The Railways has pointed out that passenger access to railway stations is much easier than airports and that two work on different parameters. In this backdrop, developers are more likely to give less priority to creating passenger facilities, curbing revenue generation for the station developer and operator, it says.

Moreover, the Railways says that its method has been adopted in the modernisation plan of several stations worldwide, including London's Victoria station, the Dubai Metro, China's Shenzhen, Melbourne's Southern Cross, Berlin's Central station, Paris' St Lazare, Milan's Central Railway Station and Turin's Central Railway station in Italy.

Service portfolio: Since the Railways had decided that it would invite engineering consulting firms to advise it on preparing a detailed design report including that of passenger operational area, it has already short-listed world-class consultants for the New Delhi Railway station after a technical qualification round.

It has recently technically qualified about seven firms for providing advisory services that include the Italy-based Grandi Stazioni SpA Via, Chinese firm East China Architecture and Design Institute (ECADI) and the UK headquartered Mott Mac Donald. However, the entire process may now get delayed with the Planning Commission wanting a change in the method.

The Railways has identified about 18 stations to convert them into world-class ones. The tentative list includes New Delhi, Chhatrapati Shivaji Station (Mumbai), Howrah, Chennai Central, Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Mathura, Pune, Patna, Secunderabad and Thiruvananthapuram. It has sought status reports from the engineering, mechanical and commercial departments in-charge of the stations.