Interim Railway Budget 2009-2010 (http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/budget-0910/ENGLISH-Speech-0910.pdf) exclusively for Lalu/Velu.:lol:

Lalu permits booking waitlisted e-tickets



NEW DELHI: The Indian Railways is all set to go the hi-tech way. According to the Rail Budet 2009-10 announced on Friday, passengers will now be
able to book even wait-listed e-tickets which was not alowed earlier.

Presently, e-tickets are issued only 6 against confirmed reservation. The Railways expects the number of passengers traveling on e-tickets to increase from one lakh to three lakhs in the next one year, with this move.

The Railways is also exploring the option of issuing reserved and unreserved rail tickets through mobile phones.

There is a phenomenal growth of mobile phones in our country, and presently about 30 crore mobile phones are available with the people of India. This number is expected to increase to 50 cr by the year 2010. We are
therefore exploring the

Modelled on the New York Metro and Rail Transit system, Indian Railways is also planning a trial run for issuing rail ticket, monthly season ticket and platform ticket on Smart Card on Central Railways Mumbai Suburban Service. The multi-purpose card is named "Go Mumbai Card". Sale of bus tickets of BEST on this card has already started.

The Railways have neither commited capital investment in implementing this scheme nor will there be any extra burden on Railways or passengers for buying tickets. Only a marginal fee would be payable upon buying and recharging the card. This ticket distribution scheme will be extended to Western Railway and other suburban services after the success of the pilot project.

The Railways has decided to install on-line coach indication display boards on over-night mail and express trains for passngers boarding at night. These LED boards will display the remaining distance and likely time of arrival of the next approaching station. This facility will be made available in long distance mail/express trains by March 2009.

Source:- http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Transportation/Lalu_permits_booking_waitlisted_e-tickets/articleshow/4123778.cms

Japanese Shinkansen Systems (http://www.railway-technology.com/features/feature1216/feature1216-2.html)

Of the Eight Shikansen Systems the longest ones are Tokyo – Hachinohe and Osaka – Fukuoka

From the looks of it I find that the “Bullet Trains” on these Eight Sections operate within the limits of each System.

I presume that there is no Direct Train from Hachinohe to Fukuoka.

As such I would be grateful if one of our esteem interlocutors can provide the distances of each Shinkansen System.

Many thanks in advance


Cheers:cheers:

Contact Info of the Indian Railways. Unfortunately a lot of these don't exist. I tried emailing some 30 emails from this, I got around 5 back saying message undelivered.

http://indianrailways.gov.in/images/contact1.gif

http://indianrailways.gov.in/images/contact3.gif

DESPITE Railway Minister Lalu Prasad announcing profit of Rs 90,000 crore, Mumbaikars are not happy with the budget.

Subhash Gupta, president of Mumbai Yatri Sangh, said, "Mumbai gives 40 per cent of all the income earned by railway and Lalu Yadav has forgotten Mumbai. He has totally neglected Mumbai's suburban section. Mumbaikar's will give the answer in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections."


Commuters had stalled suburban rail services at Borivli after a train was cancelled.

Deepak Singh from Ghatkopar said, "He should travel by train and then he will understand our problems. We risk our lives while traveling during peak hours, but he has not bothered to increase any services in the suburban sections."

However, by decreasing the fares of tickets above Rs 50 by 2 per cent, he had given some relief. Few train services has been extended and some new trains introduced.

Vandana Singh, a Mira Road resident, was also unhappy with the budget. She said, "I had expected Lalu will at least take care of the increasing population beyond Borivli. Looking at the recent problems, he should have at least proposed some new trains so we that could travel in a little better conditions."

Extended trains
Jabalpur - Mumbai Garib Rath Express to Allahabad
Mumbai - Vadodara Express to Chhotaudepur
Mumbai - Jaipur Garib Rath Express to Delhi

Frequency of Amravati-Mumbai Amravati Express increased from thrice a week to daily.

Newly introduced trains
Mumbai-Karwar Superfast (thrice a week)
Mumbai-Varanasi Superfast (daily)
Mumbai-Bikaner Superfast (twice a week)
Mumbai-Tirunelveli Superfast via Thiruvananthapuram (twice a week)
Machhalipatnam-Mumbai Superfast (twice a week)
Gorakhpur-Mumbai Superfast (daily)
Veraval-Mumbai Link Service (daily)
Mumbai-Jodhpur Express (weekly)

Source: Mid-day

Contact Info of the Indian Railways. Unfortunately a lot of these don't exist. I tried emailing some 30 emails from this, I got around 5 back saying message undelivered.


Totally outdated!

Bangalore is now in new zone called south western railways!!

It should be very old email IDs(before 2000).

And they still have those in 2009??? OMG!!! I seriously am so pissed with this desi babus... Negligence in each and every matter. They don't even find it important to update such things... I mean the website is like National Government website... It's design is the cheapest design ever.... I am sure we have better web developers out there...

They can build atleast a couple of these in segments. The current proposal won't get too much traffic and this project will be shelved because they built it for unpopular routes.

profit of Rs 90,000 crore

This is quite a lot of money in the Indian Context. Just to give you an idea the new Kashmir Srinagar Airport was done with less than Rs 100 crores. Now is the time for IR to use these profits to revamp Tier-1,2,3 city railway stations. A completely new aesthetically pleasing train is also feasible. There is ample money for makeover of the railways infrastructure, only the will and vision are missing. Very disappointing to see no mention in budget of any plans for a complete and thorough makeover of IR.

That's exactly where I think our railways lack some thinking.

I don't think so that 90,000 crore profit means anything for people. What's there for us to be proud about?

90,000 Crore profit means sh8t load... Why can't they spend this complete makeover of the system?

Export to Malaysia for operation in KTM (Kuala Lumpur - Singapore line)..

11 locomotives have been despatched to various countries like Malaysia, Tanzania, Myanmar, Sudan, Senegal, Mali, Mozambique and Benin (in western Africa).

With the current consignment, the GOC has despatched 116 locomotives to various countries.


The locomotives and railcars exported to these countries are a completely different beast compared to the junk that operates in India. Somewhere on the net I saw the inside pictures of a railcar destined for some african nation. These are done superbly, fit and finish, top class material. The railcar had a bar, mahogany panels plush seating. Why is this different. Apparently the cost for these rail cars is much higher than the budget that IR allocates for homeland usage. The division that does export is held to a higher standard. External customers will not accept shoddy stuff.

In other words the same entity is capable of creating export quality goods with high approval ratings from customers but when it comes to producing stuff for internal consumption quality be damned. IR should insist on the same quality otherwise reject such rail cars/ rail engines. Also it would help if the budgets for each unit is appropriately priced.

Laloo recently said that the Indian Railways are investing Rs.55,000 crore in Bihar for execution of various railway projects to usher 'a new era of development'.

All in the family (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/All-in-the-family-for-Lalu/articleshow/4123015.cms)

Obviously trains in America are much better than trains in India in general.

But what i've noticed is that the number of collisions, derailments, and accidents have gone down in the last 4 years. I remember I always used to read about a large Indian train crash every year. For the last few years, these have not happened. Maybe it's just luck. Maybe it's IR.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2009/feb/13train-derails-in-orissa-10-feared-killed.htm

As such I would be grateful if one of our esteem interlocutors can provide the distances of each Shinkansen System.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=shinkansen&l=1 :bash:

The longest bullet train route in operation is Tokyo-Hakata (Fukuoka), which covers 1174 km in five hours. Once the Kyushu Shinkansen fully opens, they'll add another 257 km to that. In addition, there's another 593.1 km of Shinkansen track north from Tokyo, but no through services.

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/Web/HTMumbai/Article/2009/02/14/001/14_02_2009_001_012.jpg

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/Web/HTMumbai/Article/2009/02/14/007/14_02_2009_007_015.jpg

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/Web/HTMumbai/Article/2009/02/14/007/14_02_2009_007_012.jpg

Source: Hindustan Times

The real change is the railway's thinking, not in the balance sheet or services, says minister.

Really? FTW?

That's like a murderer saying.....hey my thinking on this has changed but i'd like to keep on murdering people!

:bash:

Ahmedabad : Apparently, former chief minister of Maharashtra Vilasrao Deshmukh and former chairman of Railway Board J P Batra had
discussed the matter of high-speed trains connecting cities like Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Mumbai at a meeting a while ago.

"Railways were keen on starting high-speed trains connecting these cities, but Deshmukh wanted a route between Mumbai and Pune as well," said a Railway official.

Finally, it was agreed that the train run between Ahmedabad and Pune, which was formally announced in the Railway Budget. Maharashtra and Gujarat will have to get part of the funds and final ownership would be with the Railways.

Railways' Integrated Railway Modernisation Plan 2005-2010 envisages high-speed trains running at 250 to 300 kmph. The Ahmedabad-Mumbai corridor had been specifically identified for the feasibility study and Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) a subsidiary of Indian Railways had submitted a feasibility report.

"RITES had mentioned that such a train can't be run between Mumbai and Pune because of the height of Khandala Ghat. Even if we have two engines, the speed will touch only 50 kmph, so going above 200 kmph will be impossible," said the official.

The report states that the 500-km Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor will help commuters ply between the two cities in less than two hours, against six hours by the existing fast train, Shatabdi Express. However, the project required dedicated tracks, free from roadblocks.

Shot in the arm:

* The first bullet train in India is proposed between Ahmedabad-Pune

* Project to cost Rs 32,500 crore for 650 km

* Speed to be 250-300 kmph

* Travel time between Ahmedabad-Pune to be cut to three hours from 12 hours

* In 1987, a similar project for Ahmedabad-Mumbai was shelved as it was found to be too costly - the estimate was Rs 4.9 crore per km. It was revived in 2001.

* Japan, China, US and Europe have bullet trains

* First bullet train in the world started in 1964 as intercity in Japan just ahead of Tokyo Olympics between Tokyo and Osaka

* In Japan, the cost of travel by bullet trains is similar to flying



http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Ahmedabad/High-speed_trains_Deshmukh_was_keen_on_Pune_section/articleshow/4127022.cms

^^I think Indian Railways needs to first completely revamp and overhaul the infrastructure and technology on the existing network. It also needs to completely overhaul the way it does maintenance and it's day to day operations. Safety is of paramount importance and all the above need to be done to ensure safety. This indicates the pathetic safety levels that are currently in place -

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Feb152009/scroll20090215118594.asp?section=updatenews

If they can't ensure safety and smooth running of trains at such low speeds then how can they run bullet trains? It would be down right scary to be sitting in a bullet train hurtling down at 300kmph run by Indian Railways.

Indian Railways wagon buying to prop steel demand in India

It is reported that Indian steel sector is poised to get a shot in the arm as Railways has increased the procurement target for wagons to nearly 15,000 units from the current annual average of 6,600.

It will also increase the procurement of diesel and electrical locomotives in 2009-10 and step up investments in gauge conversion and laying of new lines.

Railways has proposed to increase its investment outlay by more than three times from INR 70,000 crore during 2004-05 to 2008-09 to INR 230,000 crore in the Eleventh Five Year Plan.

These measures will lead to higher demand for steel in India.

A spokesperson of Ispat Industry said that this will create demand for the steel industry, which at present is reeling under surplus capacity.

A senior official SAIL said that the new announcements will create more demand, helping the industry a great deal.

Industry observers, however, feel that the announcement will help only if the Railways start works at the ground level soon. As steel price is low, Railways can procure wagon and rail at highly competitive price. The fast implementation of the budgetary measures will also help the steel sector fight present downturn.

Source:- http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/02/15/ODI1MTk%3D/Indian_Railways_wagon_buying_to_prop_steel_demand_in_India.html

French Co Bags Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project (http://www.samaylive.com/news/french-co-bags-punemumahemedabad-bullet-train-project/608669.html)

A French rail transport company has bagged the contract for conducting pre-feasibility study of ambitious Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project.

Systra pipped four contenders in the race for the high- speed rail corridor study project, including companies from England, Spain, Germany and China to win the Rs 15 crores contract, said a senior Railway Ministry official close to the development.

The bullet train at 350 km per hour speed aims to reduce the travel time between Pune and Mumbai to just 25 minutes and the travel time from Mumbai to Ahmedabad will shrink to less than two hours.

Travel time between the 93 km Pune-Mumbai is three hours while journey on 440 km long Mumbai-Ahmedabad takes about 7 hours.

The study will focus on technicalities, financial and operational viability of the project. Systra is expected to submit study report within six months.

The proposed corridor will serve the cities of Pune, Lonavala, Kandla, Kalyan, Mumbai, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand and Gandhinagar.

Systra will also suggest possible alignment, fare structure and volume of passengers in the proposed high-speed corridor, the first of its kind in the country.

Besides the elevated route, Systra will also examine the possibility of opting underground route for the high-speed corridor. Railways have decided to conduct pre-feasibility study for high speed corridors in total six routes including Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad and Delhi-Patna.

The other routes selected for the study are Delhi- Chandigarh-Amritsar, Hyderabad-Dornakal-Vijaywada-Chennai, Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore-Ernakulum and Howrah-Haldia.

According to an estimate, it will cost about Rs 50 crores to construct one km of elevated high-speed rail corridor.

States such as Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Punjab, Maharashtra, Kerala, West Bengal have agreed to part-fund the project.

Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar route is the next to be taken up for the pre-feasibility study, the official said.

The pre-feasibility studies will be followed by detailed project reports which will focus on traffic patterns, funding plan, stakeholders' view, among others, before beginning the work.

The study on the bullet train project is required for the involvement of financial institutions and industries, while the government will give stress on viability gap funding.

Im guessing that "Kandla" is meant to be "Khandala"

Id love to see this come to fruition, but cant help but think it just stinks of BS!

French Co Bags Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project (http://www.samaylive.com/news/french-co-bags-punemumahemedabad-bullet-train-project/608669.html)



Im guessing that "Kandla" is meant to be "Khandala"

Id love to see this come to fruition, but cant help but think it just stinks of BS!

Ladies Ji & Gentlemen Ji in General and GJ10 Ji in Particular :

Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad = 533 KM @ USD 10 Million per KM = USD 5.53 Billion

Delhi- Chandigarh-Amritsar = Say again 550 KM = USD 5.5 Billion

Hyderabad-Dornakal-Vijaywada-Chennai, = 790 KM = USD 7.9 Billion

Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore-Ernakulum = Say 800 KM = USD 8 Billion

New Delhi – Patna = 1,000 KM = USD 10 Billion

Howrah-Haldia. = Build above and this one is Free.

Thus total cost on today’s Prices is USD 37 Billion.

To this figure we have to add the Cost of Rolling Stock.

Ladies and Gentlemen : Can India afford this?

Or

Is this a Train Load of Bovine Faecal Droppings with Background Music?

Cheers:cheers:

^^^^
Ladies Ji & Gentlemen Ji in General and GJ10 Ji in Particular :

Please refer to the following :

Interim Railway Budget 2009-2010 – Page 6 : Lines One and Two (http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/budget-0910/ENGLISH-Speech-0910.pdf)

Dividend payable to the General Revenues for 2009-10, is estimated at Rs. 5,304 cr based on the current applicable rate i.e. about USD One Billion.

I need some enlightenment.

Cheers:cheers:

^^ what he said...


Seriously, we do not need high speed trains right now!!! i would love to see those things whizzing around in India, but the simple fact is 37Bn dollars invested on existing IR infra will save so many lives and make a real difference to the people who use IR.....

^^ what he said...


Seriously, we do not need high speed trains right now!!! i would love to see those things whizzing around in India, but the simple fact is 37Bn dollars invested on existing IR infra will save so many lives and make a real difference to the people who use IR.....

skdubai Ji :

In support of your above statement I refer you to the following :

High-speed trains: Deshmukh was keen on Pune section (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Ahmedabad/High-speed_trains_Deshmukh_was_keen_on_Pune_section/articleshow/4127022.cms)

In Japan, the cost of travel by bullet trains is similar to flying

Cheers:cheers:

please use this huge amount or even half of the said amount to change our old dabbas into world standard and for other URGENTLY :bash: required changes which obviously includes safety measures. i think that Lalu's Aam Aadmi will appreciate him more for these purposes rather than giving lolypop of 2% discounts in travel fare:old::wtf::wallbash:

Ladies Ji & Gentlemen Ji in General and GJ10 Ji in Particular :

Is this a Train Load of Bovine Faecal Droppings with Background Music?

Cheers:cheers:

May I ask why you are addressing me in particular Naresh "Ji"?

I thought I made it more than clear that I think this plan is BS... or is this just your way of showing that you are agreeing with me!?

^^
May I ask why you are addressing me in particular Naresh "Ji"?

I thought I made it more than clear that I think this plan is BS... or is this just your way of showing that you are agreeing with me!?

GJ10 Ji :

To support, reiterate and amplify your statement!

It seems you are one of the few who, like me, calls a spade a spade and not an agricultural-digging implement.

Cheers:cheers:

Im not sure if if this will actually happen, but if the do built this high speed route, the Pune Mumbai section will benefit a lot. This section badly needs something to reduce the time required to travel.

Even the with MPE it take 3-3.5 hours to cover this distance of about 170km which is a lot and it is about the same if you take the any of the 6 trains that run specifically between Mumbai and Pune.

I don't know how many of you saw "Slumdog Millionaire", but after I saw the pathetic scenes of tired looking ancient relics called the Indian railway trains I wanted to demolish the Mumbai Railway's Victoria Station built by the British and start over again. Seeing the cruddy stations and the down right ugly commuter trains is quite heart wrenching in a movie screened to the world. Well, the slums of Mumbai should wake up the politicians and bureaucrats of their pathetic mismanagement of large cities in India and India in general. I hope the voters demand action immediately from their elected representatives and light a bonfire under the collective bottoms of the bureaucrats.

Im not sure if if this will actually happen, but if the do built this high speed route, the Pune Mumbai section will benefit a lot. This section badly needs something to reduce the time required to travel.

Even the with MPE it take 3-3.5 hours to cover this distance of about 170km which is a lot and it is about the same if you take the any of the 6 trains that run specifically between Mumbai and Pune.

cncity Ji :

Please note the following Route :

Pune, Lonavala, Kandla, Kalyan, Mumbai, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand and Gandhinagar.

In other words the Pune – Mumbai Sectors has three intermediary stops and one “Arrival” at Mumbai

The slowing down and picking up speed should cause at least a loss of Five Minute for “passing” each of the three stops as also in arriving at Mumbai.

Please refer to the following statement :

The bullet train at 350 km per hour speed aims to reduce the travel time between Pune and Mumbai to just 25 minutes and the travel time from Mumbai to Ahmedabad will shrink to less than two hours.

As such I believe that the total time from Pune to Mumbai sector of 192 KM cannot be “25 Minutes” as stipulated.

The Pune – Ahmedabad distance of about 680 Kilometres has Nine Stops plus one Arrival which should take at least 45 Minutes so I dare say that the statement “shrink to less than two hours” is also “over-ambitious”

Thus one can conclude that the USD Three Million being spent on conducting pre-feasibility study of ambitious Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project will only bebefit the Netas and Babus to visit “Hither, Thither & Yon” i.e. “Phoren Shopping - Sight Seeing Trips probably with Wife and Family”.

Of course there will be pre-feasibility studies of the other Five ambitious bullet train Projects.

The beat goes on and on!

Cheers:cheers:

Ofcourse with these stops there is bound to be some delay. But anything less than 1 hour should be acceptable. They dont really need 2 stops at Lonavla and khandala, one should suffice.

Even if the 25 mins is stretched to 45 mins, i think that is not a hindrance to this project instead of the current 3.5 hours required to travel by normal trains or by car.

Ladies Ji & Gentlemen Ji in General and GJ10 Ji in Particular :

Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad = 533 KM @ USD 10 Million per KM = USD 5.53 Billion

Delhi- Chandigarh-Amritsar = Say again 550 KM = USD 5.5 Billion

Hyderabad-Dornakal-Vijaywada-Chennai, = 790 KM = USD 7.9 Billion

Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore-Ernakulum = Say 800 KM = USD 8 Billion

New Delhi – Patna = 1,000 KM = USD 10 Billion

Howrah-Haldia. = Build above and this one is Free.

Thus total cost on today’s Prices is USD 37 Billion.

To this figure we have to add the Cost of Rolling Stock.

Ladies and Gentlemen : Can India afford this?

Or

Is this a Train Load of Bovine Faecal Droppings with Background Music?

Cheers:cheers:
noone in WB goes from Kolkata to Haldia...why couldn't it be Howrah to Puri or Digha?

^^ it's indian railways futuristic view,full of innovative ideas:nuts:.that's why.

^^


GJ10 Ji :

To support, reiterate and amplify your statement!

It seems you are one of the few who, like me, calls a spade a spade and not an agricultural-digging implement.

Cheers:cheers:

and what if i called the spade a fu****g spade.
i mean we have an already established beautiful train network..
we are already in the process of upgrading our airports..
once that is done i dont think that there will be any need for HSR..
it'll cost the same and the journey may even take more time..
plus the ecological loss..
there would be a severe environmental damage..
though some may argue that the aircrafts burn fuel and the trains would run on electricity but that electricity wud be produced by burning coal/gas itself..

and what if i called the spade a fu****g spade.
i mean we have an already established beautiful train network..
we are already in the process of upgrading our airports..
once that is done i dont think that there will be any need for HSR..
it'll cost the same and the journey may even take more time..
plus the ecological loss..
there would be a severe environmental damage..
though some may argue that the aircrafts burn fuel and the trains would run on electricity but that electricity wud be produced by burning coal/gas itself..

sidney_jec Ji :

Thank you for putting it so succinctly!

Cheers:cheers:

i think HSR should be introduced but only for short distances like around 150-200 km - like between Mumbai-Pune or Delhi-Agra. Atleast these can behave as pilot projects and can be very useful experiments for consumer acceptance for future expansion of the network.

And these short HSRs should be non-stop between the end-points or at most 1 stop - else the whole point is lost.

HSRs can be useful if for example there is an industrial area away from the city and people commute to it from the city daily. beijing-tianjin is a good example.

Such HSRs can actually increase the perimeter of a city. People could live in Pune and work in Mumbai without a hassle or vice versa. Some people do it even today, but it is a big hassle.

Without going into the cost, the HSR should be thought along the lines of golden quad road network. Fast trains to the major Tier-1 cities makes eminent sense. Quick and fast travel from Delhi to Mumbai to Chennai to Kolkatta and Hyderbad/Bluru too would mean a major boost to the economic development of India. Progressively adding other Tier II, III cities would complete the picture. The other small places can have feeder trains that are on conventional means to these major city destination. If the cost is correctly amortized over time (say 30yrs) then it should be possible to pay back the investment amounts for HSR. HSR should be priced below air travel but above the current IR fares (mid-point is okay).

I also think we need HSR as connection between large cities, but on the same routes as the current trains. Look at China. They have HSR, but it is extremely expensive and most cannot afford to take it. If we price it so maybe middle class can afford it, there would be more profits and the process can be completed quicker.
Also very important, full A/C and minimal stops (only at major stations) otherwise the purpose is defeated.

i think HSR should be introduced but only for short distances like around 150-200 km - like between Mumbai-Pune or Delhi-Agra. Atleast these can behave as pilot projects and can be very useful experiments for consumer acceptance for future expansion of the network.

And these short HSRs should be non-stop between the end-points or at most 1 stop - else the whole point is lost.

HSRs can be useful if for example there is an industrial area away from the city and people commute to it from the city daily. beijing-tianjin is a good example.

Such HSRs can actually increase the perimeter of a city. People could live in Pune and work in Mumbai without a hassle or vice versa. Some people do it even today, but it is a big hassle.


I agree with you. Cities closer to each other can benefit more with HSR's. It doesnt make sense to fly between Mumbai and Pune and if you drive, you spend most of the time getting out of one city and then getting into another city than actually travelling in between. It tkaes 1.5 hours to reach the MPE from the mumbai side and then 1 hour to reach inside Pune after the MPE ends on the Pune side, and this is just to get to the middle of Pune and its lot more time you have to go to the other side of the city.

Engineering and construction companies should rush to India as it offers huge opportunities for their future growth, says a new report by professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). According to PwC, construction in India is set to boom as the country plans to spend $167 billion on electricity, $92 billion on roads, and $65 billion on railway in the next three years. Michael Clifford, PwC Canada's engineering and construction expert, said: "The opportunities to develop a significant business in India are extremely promising for construction companies with roads, ports and airports, railways and power standing out as particular bright spots."

Hope this translates into better railway infrastructure in the nation.

for that, IR has to let go of some things... which they are very unlikely to do!!!

1,70,000 posts vacant in Railways


NEW DELHI: Around 170,000 posts are vacant in the Indian Railways, the government said on Thursday.


The vacancies include some 32,600 posts reserved for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes, Minister of State for Railways R. Velu said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

"Filling up the vacancies of reserved as well as unreserved posts is a continuous process. Some vacancies always remain due to non-availability of eligible empanelled candidates in the recruitment and promotional grades," he said.

Velu said when there are no eligible candidates to fill vacancies created by promotions, recruitments are made directly "from open market".

Source:- TOI

65bn$! Then, they can definitely get one or two HSRs!

Book on Railways turnaround story


NEW DELHI: The turnaround story of the Indian Railways is being told once again, this time by the very man who helped Lalu Prasad to script the success story. The book, “Bankruptcy to Billions”, written by Sudhir Kumar jointly with a research scholar Shagun Mehrotra, is scheduled to be released on Saturday.

It chronicles the transformation and the distinct approaches adhered to that have laid the foundation for a new journey. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has written the foreword. President Pratibha Patil will release the book at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

“I’ve not written the book in the first person because it is not a personal story. I’ve not foisted myself and refrained from repeatedly referring to Mr. Prasad. I didn’t want to individualise it. My role was to act as a channel of communication between the Minister and the Ministry and the Railway Board.”

The reforms to balance the commercial and social obligations of the Railways were based on the analysis of 60 years data right from 1947 and Mr. Kumar has sought to document for posterity how recommendations of the World Bank and the Rakesh Mohan committee were not appropriate for a politically sensitive organisation like the Railways.

In the process, Mr. Kumar also answers Mr. Prasad’s critics who suggest that the so-called turnaround is nothing but a sleight of hand. Mr. Kumar feels that the same model could be introduced in other politically sensitive sectors for all-round inclusive growth.

Source:- http://www.hindu.com/2009/02/21/stories/2009022158110300.htm

Debate on NDTV's 'The big fight': Is the railway miracle for real?Tempers fly as the newsmakers of the week face-off in The Big Fight. Anchored by Vikram Chandra, this weekly programme has politicians battling wits in front of a live audience.

Video (http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/video/video.aspx?id=57228)

Another rail accident caused by unmanned railway crossing.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7904726.stm.

Though Indian railways can claim profit of 70,000 crore, there are innumerable railway accidents killing people because of poor infrastructure,unmanned railway crossings . Indian railways need to invest in railway station improvements and other areas that need attention.

Debate on NDTV's 'The big fight': Is the railway miracle for real?Tempers fly as the newsmakers of the week face-off in The Big Fight. Anchored by Vikram Chandra, this weekly programme has politicians battling wits in front of a live audience.

Video (http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/video/video.aspx?id=57228)

I wish there was an education and experience prerequisite to fill Indian government positions. Imagine what an Business Administration or Econ graduate could have done to IR instead of Lalu.

The private sector all over the world has prerequisites for jobs. The Indian government should be run by well educated people who have knowledge and experience about their fields. Instead we are stuck with old babus who can barely speak English.

Part of the reason that smart people are smart is because they know to stay away from such government jobs and politics. Instead they just manipulate those that do. ;)

I wish there was an education and experience prerequisite to fill Indian government positions. Imagine what an Business Administration or Econ graduate could have done to IR instead of Lalu.

The private sector all over the world has prerequisites for jobs. The Indian government should be run by well educated people who have knowledge and experience about their fields. Instead we are stuck with old babus who can barely speak English.

First of all, speaking English is absolutely no measure of intelligence in any way at all.

Second, these guys have to be pretty smart to manipulate the common people to get into power and make money from government funds without "getting caught." :ohno:

Yes, English doesn't have to do with intelligence or ability to do something. China has achieved marvels even though most of its ministers can't speak English.

Still, the people who get jobs in the Indian government must be appointed based on prior experience and knowledge rather than political connections. If this happened, India could achieve miracles!

Experienced and incorruptible, I think would be best.

Railways earnings up by 8 per cent



New Delhi, Feb 23 : Despite slowdown, earnings of Indian Railways have registered a growth in the first ten days of this month.

Railways earned Rs 2,330.01 crores during February 1-10 this year as compared to Rs 2,157.41 crore during the same period last year, showing an increase of eight per cent.

The total goods earnings have gone up from Rs 1,465.47 crores in February 1-10 last year to Rs 1,607.43 crores during the same period this year, registering an increase of 9.69 per cent.

The passenger earnings during this period were Rs 643.79 crores compared to Rs 624.18 crores for the same period last year, which is an increase of 3.14 per cent.

The earnings from other coaching amounted to Rs 56.12 crores during this period compared to Rs 47.93 crores during the same period last year, reflecting an increase of 17.09 per cent.

The total passengers booked during this period were 204.99 million compared to 180.41 million during the same period last year.

Source:- http://www.samaylive.com/news/railways-earnings-up-by-8-per-cent/610269.html

Eco-friendly toilets in Indian Railways


Eco-friendly toilets would add a new favour in the history of Indian Railways. These toilets are developed by IIT Kanpur in the collaboration with Research Designs and Standard Organisations, Lucknow and a private agency in Chennai.


VERY SOON, trains across the country will taste a restoration period in its history with the introduction of eco-friendly zero discharge toilets.

These toilets are developed by IIT Kanpur in the collaboration with Research Designs and Standard Organisations, Lucknow and a private agency in Chennai.

This development in the Indian Railway System will be vigilant for the public. These toilets are eco-friendly. On one hand, these toilets can convert liquid discharges into pure water, which can be utilised as recycled water to flush. And on the other hand, it can convert the solid wastes into odour free paste by certain biochemicals or additives.
“These can be stored for 15 days in a tank and can easily be emptied at the destination point through pressurised evacuation,” said V Carmelus, Chief Mechanical Engineer of Southern Railways. He also added, “The odorless solid waste could yield revenue since the paste would an excellent manure after being dried in the sun. Presently the system has been installed in trains running between Chennai and Jammu Tawi and Chennai-Lucknow.”

In south some trains have already installed these kinds of toilets and people are wowing them.

Indin Railways are vying to include this feature in all the trains throughout the country.

It might become a lesson for many people who don’t mind in harming the environment and only believe in materialistic developments without understanding the true benefits of environment for us. These developments are stating that we Indians are now becoming very serious and cautious towards our environment. Well done Indian Railways!

Source:- http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=15711703

I wish there was an education and experience prerequisite to fill Indian government positions.

What makes you think there isn't one?

Imagine what an Business Administration or Econ graduate could have done to IR instead of Lalu.

Lalu is just the minister of Railways. His is a political position.

The thing is, the country is not run by these politicians. There is a fleet of bureaucrats running the country, the job of a politician is ideally to provide the direction and let these qualified and capable do their job.

We do not live in an ideal world, therefore, the bureaucrats don't give a shyt and are corrupt. They get the benefit of kissing up to the politicians in power and the politicians of course use this to poke their nose where it doesn't belong!!

You can see from the interview with laloo, the point is, even though laloo is a Jackass, he had enough brains to let the bureaucrats do their job!! in reality, politicians are the representatives of the people, and if people are ok with an uneducated person being in power, well thats Democracy!!

All new menu for Shatabdi passengers


CHANDIGARH: With the Indian Railways introducing the changed menus, passengers of Shatabdi, running between Chandigarh and Delhi, can now relish
healthy and balanced food. Though the railways have been kind enough not to burden the wallets, the quantity of food is learned to have been decreased.

Come Sunday, old fashioned sandwich with potato cutlets, soups and aerated drinks will be replaced by juices, varieties of egg omelettes, dosa in morning travels and the choice of food and ice creams while in evening.

“All this has been done on the basis of feedback we got from our passengers. Though it was a tough task, especially in the wake of rising prices, we have been able to do so by rationalising the diet,” Aneet Dullat, the chief regional manager (CRM), Indian Railway Tourism and Catering Corporation (IRCTC), said.

“We have done away with the locally produced sausages, jams and other stuff. Be it be youghart or ice creams we would serve only the branded stuff. So far as cooking is concerned, the licencees (catering contractors) will be using soya oil only,” added Dullat.

Besides changing the menus, IRCTC has also phased out the use of plastics in serving the food. Besides the cups, IRCTC has replaced the plastic service trays with the paper mix plates. “We have not decreased the quantity but have rationalized it. We had been serving around 450 grams of food as compared to the 250-300 grams offered by airlines operators. Lot of food, especially the soup and salad used to go waste, hence we have rationalised the quantity. But it will be enough for a full grown adult,” Dullat said

Source:- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chandigarh/All_new_menu_for_Shatabdi_passengers/articleshow/4202970.cms

Railways harnessing solar energy for electrification


NEW DELHI: Indian Railways is harnessing solar energy for electrification of railway assets and introducing better technologies to reduce
emissions from locomotives in its bid to check environmental pollution and conserve energy, the Lok Sabha was informed.

A consultancy for reduction of exhaust emissions from diesel locomotives has already been sanctioned and the work is in progress, said Minister of State for Railway R Velu.

Besides, various technology improvements are being taken up on diesel locos to improve performance capabilities and reduce unburnt fuels to check global warming, he said a written reply.

The Minister also said solar energy is being harnessed for electrification of manned level crossings, administrative buildings, training institutes, canteens and hospitals and for water heating purposes.

At present, 128 level crossings and four stations in West Central Railway have already been provided with solar panels for electrification purpose, he said.

Source:- http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Pollution/Railways-harnessing-solar-energy-for-electrification/articleshow/4198700.cms

Wanted: A Pied Piper at New Delhi rly station
Dwaipayan Ghosh| TNN

New Delhi: It may be pinching its deep pockets, but the railways — in a desperate search for a Pied Piper to rid the New Delhi station of thousands of rats — is ready to shell out the moolah. The Delhi division of Northern Railway has now tied up with a pest control company for one year, at a cost of a whopping Rs 17 lakh, to check rodents at the station.

‘‘All our attempts have been stop gap remedies and have failed miserably to control the rats. Hence, we have now called a tender and signed an MoU with the firm to help us out of this problem. We have handed over the entire New Delhi station area from Shivaji Bridge to Sadar Bazar to the agency which will now periodically rid the entire running line area and the station buildings of rats in the next one year. We hope for a radical change in the next one month itself,’’ said Rakesh Saxena, divisional manager, Delhi division.

This drastic step followed the fact that the rodent population had almost doubled in the last two years, affecting even train services. Said a source at the New Delhi station: ‘‘The rats are big enough to cut electric wires at the ground level. Even though cementing of the track area initially bore good results, soon the rats were back on the tracks.’’

Railway officials said the worst affected area is the cloak room on platform number 1 where almost 2,500 passengers deposit their luggage on a daily basis. The passengers can keep their luggage at the room for a month for which they are charged Rs 10 per day. ‘‘We have received numerous complaints of rats eating into passengers’ belongings. However, we can do little except tender our apologies at present,” said an official. Sunil Saxena, a passenger from Lucknow lamented: ‘‘I had put up my stuff for five hours as I had to finish some work at CP. By the time I returned, nothing remained of my cloth-bag.’’

However, the railway officials have clearly instructed the agency not to overstep its brief. ‘‘We have asked them not to spray insecticides inside the station complex. If all the rats die at one place, we will need to shut down the entire premises as the smell will be unbearable,’’ said a Northern Railway official. Meanwhile, the Central Warehousing Corporation that has been charged with driving away rats from inside passenger coaches have been asked to step up the gas after frequent complaints from passengers even from elite trains like Rajdhanis.

Source - ToI e paper

Unbelievable... catching the rats will be a tough job and killing them is not a good option...

World class station a distant dream

On September 7, 2007, R Velu, minister of state for railways, had announced in the Rajya Sabha that Nagpur will be among the 22 stations in India to be developed as world-class. Over 17 months later, the promise has turned out to be hollow. ..... Read More (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Nagpur/World-class-station-a-distant-dream/articleshow/4215266.cms)

Commuters can barely dare to believe it. Over the last few weeks, the most common sight across the normally decrepit Central Railway stations has been that of frenetic cleaning, painting and sweeping.

While most station platforms have received fresh coats of paint, large sections of walls along the tracks have been white-washed. At many places, construction debris and rubbish that had been lying piled on the tracks for years, has been collected in polythene bags and are being carried out of the city. ....... Read More (http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/2009030420090304020745810bb8af96e/Have-a-saaf-trip)

Rate hikes allow Railways to record higher earnings

BS reported that rate increases, especially for iron ore exports have allowed the Railways to register a growth of almost 13% growth in freight earnings for April to January 2008-09 against the corresponding period last fiscal, despite the lower growth rate in freight traffic.

The Railways highest increase in rates was on the iron ore loadings booked for exports. These loadings witnessed negative growth of 12.42% and the net tonne kilometer of the commodity also witnessed a negative growth of 20.61%. NTKM is a performance indicator that reflects the combined impact of freight loading and lead.

Thus, though both loadings and the distance over which the ore was moved actually came down in April to January 2008-09, against April to January 2007-08, the Railways managed to increase earnings from it by 42%, mopping up by INR 4,728.81 crore in the process. This accounts for almost 11% of the total freight revenues INR 43,212.72 crore during the period.

For most of the other commodity groups, the revenue growth rate is higher than the corresponding NTKM growth rate during the period. This indicates that the freight charges have gone up during the period. The only commodity that has bucked the trend is coal transported to washeries.

As per report, the Railways recorded a 70.67% growth in such coal loadings, notching up a 94.44% growth in NTKM, whereas the corresponding growth in earnings is at a lower level of 62.82%. This shows that coal transported to washeries is probably the only commodity where the average freight charges during the period moved downwards.

However, at INR 11.3 crore, revenues from coal movement to the washeries account for less than three per cent of total rail freight revenues.

Moreover, transportation of mineral oil is another commodity for which Railways has not effected any significant upward revision in freight charges.

The report added that this must be seen in the context of oil companies shifting to transportation of petroleum products through pipelines. Beside, many of the oil companies enjoy freight incentives owing to long term contracts they had entered into with the Railways, having invested in wagons under Indian Railways’ own your wagon scheme.

For the total freight traffic, the Railways registered almost 13% growth in earnings for the first 10 month period of 2008-09 against the corresponding period last fiscal despite lower growth rate 5.78%in net tonne kilometer.

Source:- http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/03/04/ODQ3NjU%3D/Rate_hikes_allow_Railways_to_record_higher_earnings.html

More facilities on offer as Rajdhani completes 40 yrs


KOLKATA: Very soon, those travelling to New Delhi by the Rajdhani Express will no longer need to take the trouble of booking a hotel room
separately. They will have the option of booking a hotel room while procuring their train tickets.

"Hotel bookings will be linked to the computerised passenger reservation system. Initially, bookings will be offered in Ginger, retiring rooms and other economy hotels. Ginger runs the Yatri Niwas at New Delhi station. Depending on passenger demand, we may offer bookings for deluxe or luxury hotels as well. The service will be extended for other trains as well at a later stage," said Eastern Railway general manager Deepak Krishan on Tuesday. He was attending a programme to mark the 40th year of the Kolkata Rajdhani Express the country's first fully air-conditioned high-speed train.

Revealing that the Indian Railways has plans for more luxury trains like the Rajdhanis to connect state capitals to New Delhi, he said experiments are on to serve more hygienic and filling food to passengers.

"By the end of 2009, we hope to have Wi-Fi connectivity between Mughalsarai and New Delhi," Krishan added. According to him, high-speed corridors for bullet' trains can be possible in five years with help from the state governments.

Passengers, who boarded the Rajdhani from Howrah on Wednesday, were in for a treat. The train and platform had been decorated and they were escorted to their berths by RPF jawans and ER employees. Apart from flowers, a brochure, a special cover to mark the occasion and a souvenir, each of the 822 passengers were gifted three boxes of sweets. The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation had also prepared a special menu.

A 30-pound cake was also cut to mark the celebrations. Among those who flagged off the train were classical singer Rashid Khan, choreographer Tanusree Shankar, percussionist Bickram Ghosh, danseuse Dona Ganguly and singer Usha Uthup. A number of former railwaymen who have served on the Rajdhani were felicitated.

Source:- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Kolkata-/More-facilities-on-offer-as-Rajdhani-completes-40-yrs/articleshow/4220894.cms

You are right, for the profit it is making the infrastructure of IR is by and large based on obsolete technology. I am especially amazed at the slow pace at which the transition to the eco-friendly toilets (no discharge onto the tracks) is happening. Lalu is only giving lip service to modernisation. Our stations(with few exceptions) still stink, are unhealthy and mostly fly infested and lack basic amenities. There is hardly any capacity management/scaling of facilities as the patronage increases. Improvements are only in patches here and there.
Sorry for the lament but this not an NRI ranting after comparing with the facilities available in his adopted country but the observations of a frequent user of IR.
Let them show huge profits after they have reinvested into better technology for providing better facilities.

India Railways boosts profit by selling scrap

BL reported that the Indian Railways has been selling its scrap as never before and earned INR 2,210 crore in the first 10 months of 2008-09 alone.

However, there’s more to come. But the proceeds so far this year are 7% higher than the INR 2,032 crore for April to January 2007-08. This money directly goes into the surplus. In 2007-08, the corresponding figure was 11% of the INR 25,006 crore surpluses. The Railways expects to close 2008-09 with a surplus before dividend of INR 19,320 crore which means that if the scrap sale targets are met, earnings from scrap sales will account for over 15% of the surplus.

The Railways sells thousands of tonne of scrap over 12,000 to 16,000 wagons, 1,200 to 1,300 coaches, 50 to 100 locomotives, worn out rails, unserviceable items, condemned machinery and plant every year through tenders or public auction.

A Ministry official said that “We have sold about 7.25 million tonne of non ferrous scrap till January in the current fiscal. This constitutes 80% to 85% of the total scrap that the Railways sell.”

The official said that there is also a plan to start selling scrap through online auctions. CRIS, the IT arm of Indian Railways, is developing e-auction software for the purpose. This will be a part of the e-procurement module that is being rolled out.

Meanwhile, a pilot project for online auction for scrap sales was started in 2006-07 in Southern Railway. The software was provided by Metal Scrap Trading Corporation. But the Railways decided to develop the e-auction software internally after MSTC demanded charges of about 1.5% to 2% of total proceeds from scrap sale.

Source:- http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/03/05/ODQ5MTM%3D/India_Railways_boosts_profit_by_selling_scrap.html

OMG where does all that scrap end up. Doesn't the Railways have a social obligation to ensure the scrap does not end up damaging the environment?

OMG where does all that scrap end up. Doesn't the Railways have a social obligation to ensure the scrap does not end up damaging the environment?

^^ nobody will buy scrap and throw it on river or any environment! Will they?!? :nuts:

Railways wants private players for new-gen suburban rail coaches


KOLKATA: Indian Railways has decided to step up its share of procurements from private sector players for new-gen suburban rail (EMU) coaches.
As part of the move which comes under its public-private partnership initiative, the Railway Board is shortly expected to invite fresh tenders for supplying 21 rakes from a clutch of companies.

"We have already farmed out orders to various coach manufacturers like BEML, Jessop and Titagarh Wagons to meet the growing demand for new EMU coaches," Sukhbir Singh, Member (Electrical), Railway Board said. "In the immediate future, the share of private players is only likely to go up," he added.

Mr Singh was speaking here after inaugurating the first batch of prototype stainless steel EMU (electric multiple unit) coaches manufactured by Titagarh Wagons at Howrah Station on Friday.

Titagarh Wagons, which supplied the first coaches within six months of getting the final order and design, claims to be the first private sector player to supply EMU coaches to Indian Railways. "We have set up a new facility at our existing factory at Hind Motor to meet the Railways order," J P Chowdhury chairman, Titagarh Wagons said.

The Railway Board has already placed orders for 15 new EMU rakes on Beml, Bangalore and another six on Titagarh Wagons, while four rakes will be supplied by Jessop. "Our plan to procure 1-2 such rakes every month," Mr Singh said.

Incidentally, each rake consisting of nine such coaches, costs about Rs 9 crore.

Apparently, Railways has a requirement of some 3000 EMU coaches over the next few years which adds up to an order size of Rs 5,000 crore.

On its part, the Railways will continue to manufacture mainline rail coaches on its own under Integral Coach Factory(ICF) at Perambur and Railway Coach Factory (RCF) at Kapurthala.

RCF and ICF are also working 10-15% above capacity to meet additional requirement given the new train services, but clearly demand far outstrips supply. Both these factories will continue to supply mainline EMU coaches to meet the Railways demand.

Source:- TOI

^^ :rofl::speech: Lets see wats on the card!

^^ nobody will buy scrap and throw it on river or any environment! Will they?!? :nuts:

No, No one will buy and just throw away scrap. But they may not be disposed off in a responsible way.

Usually, the buyer will try to extract as much useful products as possible from scrap for recycling. Finally, there will be some totally useless products which will be disposed off. Now, both the retrieval, recycle and disposal should be responsible.

India and China are buying millions of dollars worth of electronic waste from the west every year. In India, for example, there are villages near Delhi where these wastes are heaped in work shop. People including children use Acid and other chemicals to manually leach the precious metals such as gold, lead, copper etc from the circuit boards. They do not have any proper protective equipments. All these metals and toxic chemicals just leach into the nearby soils making them poisonous in nature. And finally, the unusable parts such as the bare plastic motherboards, broken pieces of electronics are just dumped as garbage. The region around these areas are so loaded with toxicity and they've reported increased cases of cancer, birth defects etc. The same is the case in my places in China and other developing countries. The west sends the waste to our countries because the strict laws there require responsible disposal which makes it costly ---- Source: 'Confessions of an eco-sinner' by Fred pierce

^^ thats really sad!! Why dint the govt. ban importing e-waste?

...because they make huge profits from it.

well they should at least do something about regulating disposal!!

I'd imagine if IR didn't do this the scrap would just get dumped somewhere. At least here someone is making use of part of it.

This is what I found about Titagarh Wagons thats supposed to be making stainless steel Emus

http://www.titagarh.biz/emu.html

This is what I found about Titagarh Wagons thats supposed to be making stainless steel Emus

http://www.titagarh.biz/emu.html

^^

Stainless steel EMU coaches roll out

Tuesday, 10 Mar 2009

BL reported that the country’s first batch of prototype stainless EMU coaches, to be used is suburban trains was recently flagged off by Mr Sukhbir Singh member (Electrical) of Railway Board, at Howrah station.

Built by Kolkata based Titagarh Wagons Ltd, each rake, comprising of 9 new type of coaches, costs INR 9 crore.

According to Mr Singh the Indian Railways has an ambitious plan to acquire more such rakes, mostly from private sector coach manufacturers.

The Railway Board has placed orders for 6 such rakes with Titagarh Wagon and 4 with Jessop & Co and there is a proposal to shortly invite bids for 21 such rakes with the hope that more private sector coach builders would respond.

Reports have it that the Railways will be shortly in need of an estimated 3,000 such coaches, costing several thousand crore of rupees. 2 considerations, it is felt, have prompted the Railways to go for larger private sector participation in coach building the present policy of promoting public private partnership model and the overstretched position of public sector coach builders, namely, Integral Coach Factory, Perambur and Railway Coach Factory, Kapurthala.

(Sourced from Business Line)


http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/03/10/ODU1OTU%3D/Stainless_steel_EMU_coaches_roll_out.html

^^ any pics of these new coaches?

^^ any pics of these new coaches?

Try the above link posted by Tintin i.e http://www.titagarh.biz/emu.html

Now train bookings become easier


With air traffic and inward tourist numbers declining, travel portals in India have decided to tap the mass market.
Keeping in mind that the number of people who travel by train every day is equal to those travelling by plane in an entire year, travel portals such as ezeego1.com, yatra.com and cleartrip.com, have tied up with e-commerce web site www.irctc.co.in to offer e-bookings of train tickets to their customers. As of now, if you wanted to book your train tickets electronically, you had to log on to the web site of the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a public sector undertaking under the ministry of railways or book them over the phone or through an agent.
Rakesh Tandon, managing director of IRCTC said, “We will definitely lose our market share, but we are happy that we will succeed in expanding the online booking channels to more cities via the tie-ups with these travel portals (which also sell tour packages, hotel bookings, car rentals and so on).”
Simultaneously, IRCTC is also trying to enhance its brick and mortar reach. It wants more agents to enroll themselves so that it can beef up its market share in the face of competition.
“Over 60,000-70,000 bookings are done per day through our web site and the rest are through other channels. At present, 30 per cent of our revenue comes from travel agents and travel portals,” said Sanjay Agrawal, general manager — operations, IRCTC. The organisation facilitated Rs 594.97 crore worth of railways ticket bookings in February 2009, alone.
Under the present agreement, ezeego1.com and yatra.com will be charging Rs 10 for second-class sleeper and Rs 20 for air-conditioned ticket, over and above the charges of Rs 10 service charge for second class sleeper and Rs 20 for higher class by IRCTC.
Ezeego1.com hopes to see its rail ticket volumes come up to 2,000 to 2,500 tickets per day on all-India basis, initially. Neelu Singh, chief operating officer of Ezeego1.com said, “We will be sending e-mails and undertake below the line marketing activities to educate customers that they can now book rail tickets online through us. We may also look at some advertising campaign in the future.”
Yatra.com, which is eyeing to book 15,000-16,000 tickets per day through IRCTC, is planning to bring down the booking time to three minutes from around 5-6 minutes for its customers.
“Our users can view all available trains, timings, fares and seat availability for five days on a single screen, in addition to being able to book and cancel online. Tatkal seats and senior citizen quotas too are available for booking,” Mudit Khosla, business head, railways of Yatra.com told Financial Chronicle.

Source:- http://www.mydigitalfc.com/companies/now-train-bookings-become-easier-976

^^ Awesome.....

BTW when i was hunting for pics of how the coaches on 1st ac and ac II tier are laid out, i found this site http://www.yatra.com/indian-railways/index.html . Maybe of use to someone else as well....

Leading firms eye railways’ $4 bn logistics parks


New Delhi, March 12 (IANS) Indian Railways’ ambitious $4 billion (Rs.20,000 crore) programme inviting the private sector to build and develop multi-modal logistics parks along the proposed eastern and western dedicated freight corridors has evoked interest from leading players in the field.

State-run Container Corp of India, DHL Logistics, Transport Corp of India, GATI, Adani Logistics, Sical Logistics, World Windows Infrastructure and Mahindra Logistics are some of the companies in the fray, a railways ministry official said.

“So far, based on our invitation for sending us expression of interest, we have received applications from nine companies,” said a senior ministry official involved in the execution of the public-private initiative.

“By the time the deadline ends on March 15, we expect some more companies to respond,” the official told IANS, requesting anonymity. He said each of these logistics hubs would be provided 300-400 acres of land for development.

Currently, two routes have been taken up for the dedicated freight corridors and the logistics parks will come up along them.

These are the 1,483 km western route from the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Navi Mumbai to Dadri in Uttar Pradesh via Ahmedabad, Palanpur, Rewari and Tughlakabad (Delhi); and the 1,806 km eastern route from Dankuni (near Kolkata) to Ludhiana in Punjab via Sonnagar, Mughalsarai, Allahabad and Khurja.

The basic objective of the logistics projects is to enhance the volume of rail freight in the overall transport chain of the country with complete solutions to help companies reduce both the cost and time of transporting goods.

“Private companies can also develop real estate on such land. They can build offices, commercial complexes, trade pavilions, conference facilities, hotels, restaurants and even residential accommodation,” the ministry official said.

According to a study by a leading global realty consultancy Cushman and Wakefield, the Indian logistics business is expected to grow at 15-20 percent per annum over the next five years, attracting investments of $385 billion. ($1 equals Rs.50 approximately)

The study also said that by 2012, about 110 logistics parks will be operational in the country spread over 3,500 acres, with another 45 million sq ft of warehousing space to be developed by various logistics companies by same time frame.

On being asked if any real estate and infrastructure companies had also shown interest, the railway official said there was little hope of this since such companies were themselves facing a funds crunch.

But he was also candid enough to admit that the slow tendering process had perhaps kept away some companies like engineering and infrastructure major Larsen and Toubro and Delhi-based realty developer DLF.

Both these companies had expressed interest in the modernisation of the New Delhi Railway Station and bid for the tender. But they have been waiting for a final outcome for over a year.

“This is obviously deterring some players. But they must understand our compulsions,” the official explained.

Freight carried by Indian Railways has grown at an average of nine percent per annum over the past five years and the ministry has set an ambitious target of hauling 1.1 billion tonnes of freight by the end of the 11th Plan in 2011-12.

“Multi-modal logistics parks will be the hubs for providing end-to-end solutions for the supply-chain management of industrial customers and shall be well-served by rail and road connectivity,” the official said.

Source:- http://www.sindhtoday.net/south-asia/73379.htm

Indian Railways Scraps Joint Venture Plans for Factories

By Pratik Parija and Bibhudatta Pradhan

Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Indian Railways, the state-run network that carries 15 million people daily, abandoned joint venture plans for factories to make locomotives and railcars after failing to identify partners.

The monopoly will now build the factories on its own, Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram told reporters after a cabinet meeting in New Delhi today.

General Electric Co.’s India unit had planned to build a diesel engine factory in collaboration with Indian Railways and state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. if it won the contract for the program.

Indian Railways is seeking to add trains to carry more freight and passengers in the world’s second-most populous nation as more of its 1.2 billion people traverse the seventh- biggest country by area.

The cabinet approved the setting up of a diesel locomotive factory at Marhowra, Bihar, as a fully owned unit of the Indian Railways at a cost of 20.5 billion rupees ($413 million), the minister said. The factory will make 150 locomotives a year.

Indian Railways will also build a wholly owned railcar plant at Rae Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh with an investment of 16.85 billion rupees, Chidambaram said. The factory will build 1,000 railcars a year.

The cabinet also approved the proposal by Indian Railways to set up a factory as a “departmental production unit” to build electric locomotives at Madhepura in Bihar state, following a failed bid to attract joint venture partners.

“In response to the Ministry of Railways Request for Proposals, only one, non-compliant bid was received,” the government said in a release today. “Bidders have represented that the joint venture model represents insurmountable challenges and risks.”

The government didn’t give any details about the bid.

Before the factories start production, Indian Railways proposes to import 50 electric and 50 diesel locomotives over the next three years, Chidambaram said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=akM4nzL_fPqM&refer=india

Indian Railways Scraps Joint Venture Plans for Factories

By Pratik Parija and Bibhudatta Pradhan

Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Indian Railways, the state-run network that carries 15 million people daily, abandoned joint venture plans for factories to make locomotives and railcars after failing to identify partners.

The monopoly will now build the factories on its own, Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram told reporters after a cabinet meeting in New Delhi today.

General Electric Co.’s India unit had planned to build a diesel engine factory in collaboration with Indian Railways and state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. if it won the contract for the program.

Indian Railways is seeking to add trains to carry more freight and passengers in the world’s second-most populous nation as more of its 1.2 billion people traverse the seventh- biggest country by area.

The cabinet approved the setting up of a diesel locomotive factory at Marhowra, Bihar, as a fully owned unit of the Indian Railways at a cost of 20.5 billion rupees ($413 million), the minister said. The factory will make 150 locomotives a year.

Indian Railways will also build a wholly owned railcar plant at Rae Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh with an investment of 16.85 billion rupees, Chidambaram said. The factory will build 1,000 railcars a year.

The cabinet also approved the proposal by Indian Railways to set up a factory as a “departmental production unit” to build electric locomotives at Madhepura in Bihar state, following a failed bid to attract joint venture partners.

“In response to the Ministry of Railways Request for Proposals, only one, non-compliant bid was received,” the government said in a release today. “Bidders have represented that the joint venture model represents insurmountable challenges and risks.”

The government didn’t give any details about the bid.

Before the factories start production, Indian Railways proposes to import 50 electric and 50 diesel locomotives over the next three years, Chidambaram said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=akM4nzL_fPqM&refer=india

:ohno: their designs will be very antiquated..

Yup. We'll be stuck with the old slugs. Imagine that we could have had very sexy GE AC4400CWs and GEVOs running on Indian rails...

Yup. We'll be stuck with the old slugs. Imagine that we could have had very sexy GE AC4400CWs and GEVOs running on Indian rails...

ir desi Ji :

Methinks that it is the US Locomotive Manufacturing Companies putting in certain un-acceptable conditions and possibly “Higher” Royalties payable over a “Longer” Period that is the insurmountable stumbling block.

In addition they must be restricting the “Production” for consumption in the Indian Market and Exports may not be allowed.

You must appreciate that the ALCO locomotives now being Manufactured at DLW do not have to pay any more Royalties or Technical “Charges” to ALCO as possibly ALCO is no more,

Thus the Indian made “ALCO” Type Engines (prime mover i.e. Power Unit) is rather cheap as compared to the new GE-GM-Bombardier-Adtranz etc. Locomotives Imported as well as the ones being built in India under License.

You will appreciate that the "Original" ALCO Engines have had their Power Output Increase by DLW - possibly by increasing the "Turbo Charging" and not by increasing the Size of or the Number of Cylinders.

In addition the ALCO type Engines are being sold in the Indian Market for Standby Power Generation

Of course the GE AC4400CWs and GE would be "Very Sexy" on Indian Railway, but, possibly these Ladies are being priced out of the Market!

Cheers:cheers:

NER cancer centre serves non-railway patients as well



VARANASI: From a 50-bed cancer hospital to 101-bed hospital and cancer research centre, the Indian Railways Cancer Institute and Research Centre
Lahartara under the North-Eastern Railway (NER), Varanasi division, has witnessed it all in the past two decades.

The growing popularity of the centre, being one-of-its-kind in the region, could be gauged from the fact that around 15,000 patients (including 12,000 patients in out-patient department and 3,000 indoor patients) are registered every year for diagnosis and treatment of various kinds of cancers, one of the most fatal diseases in the region.

The centre has also registered a high number of non-railway patients, especially from the North-East regions besides a number of railway patients coming from different railway divisions including Northern Railway (NR), Eastern Railway (ER), East Central Railway (ECR) and North Central Railway (NCR) in the country.

"We are witnessing admission of around 10-20 per cent non-railway indoor patients, making it different from other railway hospitals of the country," said Dr TP Srivastava, medical director, Cancer Research Institute (CRI) while talking to TOI on Friday. "Besides, as many as 70 per cent of the OPD patients coming for consultancy from East UP region and other parts of the country belong to this category," he added.

As per records of the centre, recent developments with sanctioning of Rs 22 crore for purchase of state-of-the-art machines and diagnostic tools has also contributed to the rising popularity of the centre in the region. According to Dr PK Mishra, chief specialist at the centre, purchase of CT-simulator, HDR, linear accelerator and creation of new wards for specialised treatment, have contributed in improving the infrastructural as well as service facilities at the centre. "We already have as many as four different wards for specialised treatment of cancer that included surgical oncology, medical oncology, radiation oncology and pain and palliative care," he added.

The establishment of state-of-the-art pathological lab and radiodiagnosis department has also ensured better health care and early detection of fatal disease at the centre. Besides, the availability of modern machines including auto analyser, histomatic tissue processor, particle counter, IITV and colour Doppler, have made the diagnostic process easy and affordable.

It may be mentioned here that the foundation stone of the centre was laid by late Pt Kamlapati Tripathi, the former railway minister in 1980, and OPD services were started in 1983.

Source:- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Varanasi/NER-cancer-centre-serves-non-railway-patients-as-well/articleshow/4261036.cms

Railways pledges to put new suburban rakes on right track


MUMBAI: Even as Siemens (the company that supplies the new hi-tech rakes) has accepted that the traction motors in its swanky trains are faulty
and agreed to replace them by the first week of April, the railway authorities have started damage control.

The main reasons for failure have been identified as malfunctioning of traction motors, faulty software, pneumatic trouble and auxiliary warning system inconsistency. Traction motor and software failure contribute to 90% of the breakdowns.

Siemens and Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation Ltd (MRVC)-the coordinating body-have come under criticism that the rakes failed less than a few months after they were introduced. Motors are usually built to last at least 25 years-which, incidentally, is the lifespan of a train.

Officials said the rakes were tested before they were commissioned. Obviously, the lab tests didn't take into account the super-dense loads Mumbai's suburban locals are subjected to.

"There has been chaos at the divisional and the zonal levels. Carshed resources are pooled in and this has overburdened the staff. One technician escorts every train. The staff work under immense pressure. Indian Railways has put pressure on Siemens to sort out the issue,'' said S S Gupta, chief public relations officer, Western Railway (WR).

Senior railway officials headed by WR general manager R N Verma inspected the carshed during the fag end of February and re-drafted maintenance patterns. "Every time a rake failed, it would take at least 20 minutes for it to clear. With a frequency of three minutes, this would cause serious repercussions as trains would end up bunching along the entire line,'' said Gupta.

At present, 17 new rakes run on the Western line. Each rake has 16 motors. All operations are carried out by computers that also monitor the rakes. So far, 56 motors have been replaced, 36 of which had failed. Twelve were changed before they could break down, thanks to monitoring message No 145. This failure number refers to an abnormal ratio of current drawn to speed. Bearing failure is directly related to the speed of the train. Event downloading is carried out every three days.

"Siemens will send modified motors by April 1; 100 motors are expected per month. These will be changed in our carsheds,'' Gupta said.

Eight motor failures were detected by rolling examination, which is done by checking for abnormal sound of the rake when it runs on the tracks. Trained technicians are placed 24x7 at Mumbai Central, Borivli and Virar to check for unusual sounds from the motor. "If a sound is detected, we immediately pull the rake out of service,'' explained Gupta. It takes a day or two to replace a motor.

A software malfunction can also bring the train to a halt. It was noticed that after the system was re-booted, the problem would disappear. Officials admit they still don't know why software problems occur.

Source:- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Railways-pledges-to-put-new-suburban-rakes-on-right-track/articleshow/4262340.cms

ir desi Ji :
You must appreciate that the ALCO locomotives now being Manufactured at DLW do not have to pay any more Royalties or Technical “Charges” to ALCO as possibly ALCO is no more,
ALCO became part of MLW, which in turn was acquired by Bombardier.

Indian Railways earnings up 12.02 pct in Apr-Feb 2009


NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian Railways' earnings rose by 12.02 percent to 717.66 billion rupees during the first eleven months of 2008/09, a government statement said on Monday.

Railways earnings from goods' transport were up 12.75 percent from 432.83 billion rupees during April 07- February 08 period to 488 billion rupees during April 08 - February 09 period, the statement said.

Total passenger revenue earnings during first eleven months of 2008/09 rose by 11 percent to 199.07 billion rupees compared with 179.34 billion rupees during the same period last year, it added.

However, in February freight traffic carried by the Railways fell 0.86 percent in February though goods traffic grew by 5.03 percent on-year to 751.30 million tonnes during the first eleven months of the current fiscal.

Source:- http://in.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idINIndia-38528420090316

Railways looking for contract doctors


The Railways are now mulling the idea of hiring doctors on contract to meet requirements as creating new posts took time and failed to get the best talent.
“There are around 400 vacancies now for doctors and we have instructed all the divisional and zonal railway hospitals to hire doctors on contract if need be to meet immediate requirements”, said V K Ramteke, director general of Railway Health Services of the Railway Board, inaugurating the 4th Annual Conference of Indian Railway Orthopaedic Association here.

“We are bullish on developing infrastructure in Railway hospitals as well as improve the quality of service”, he claimed adding that the remuneration of these contractual doctors would be different from the railway pay-scale.

Some of the railway hospitals offered speciality care, like specialised treatment for cancer at Varanasi.

There were over two dozen divisional railway hospitals in the country that employed around 3,000 railway doctors.

Kolkata’s B R Singh Hospital would soon have a Cardiac Center. “The Railway Board had sanctioned around Rs 100 crore for infrastructure development and buying equipment at these hospitals last year.”, Ramteke said.

The Board is waiting for the final Railway budget to decide on this year’s expenditure plans.

Ramteke said the rail administration was keen on developing infrastructure in railway hospitals and Rs 100 crore had been allotted for improving infrastructure and providing new facilities of treatment with new equipments in the railway hospitals recently.

Some railway hospitals will be updated to make them as the state of the art hospitals.

Dr M S Ghosh, ex-medical director of the Orthopaedic Hospital at Howrah, said the railway orthopaedic hospital was one of the best hospitals in the country, a claim also made by K K Srivastava, Additional General Manager of Eastern Railway.

About 100 railway and non-railway practitioners from all over the country were present at the 2-day annual conference which covered subjects like trauma, arthroplasty and arthroscopy.

Source:- business-standard.com

Over 8500 Railway officers booked for fraudulent practices

In a drive to check corruption and bring in transparency in its administration, Indian Railways has ordered departmental action against more than 8,500 officers for their alleged involvement in various fraudulent practices.

The data updated till November 2008 shows that in 25,845 drives carried out by the Vigilance Directorate of the Railway Board, 8,638 officers including 117 gazetted ones, were booked for various charges including making of traffic undercharges and fraudulent payment to staff.

There are about 13,000 gazetted officers and nearly eight lakh non-gazetted officers in the world&'s largest employer which has a total strength of 14 lakh approximately.

Of the staff booked for fraudulent practices, a maximum number of them - 1,403 -�including 1,395 non-gazetted and eight gazetted officers were from South Western Railway, followed by 1,334 in Northern Railway, 760 in Southern Railway and 728 in North Eastern Railway zone.

"The Vigilance department carries out regular checks to bring in transparency and accountability in administration. It will intensify its drive in the coming months to check leakage of revenue," a senior ministry official said.

In another development, the Railway Ministry has identified 10 sectors as thrust areas for intensive vigilance, to monitor misuse of various concessions, implementation of various schemes to boost traffic and checking in general coaches to detect fraud in the unreserved tickets.

"Railways, in line with the instructions of Ministry of Home Affairs, every year prepare two lists - Agreed and Secret list - as a measure to combat corruption and to keep a watch on the officials whose integrity is suspected," the official said.

The Agreed List, prepared in consultation with CBI, includes names of officers whose integrity are doubtful. While, the Secret List are of those officers of doubtful integrity on the basis of accepted inquiry reports or proved charges of corruption.

" Persons in Agreed and Secret List are not assigned any sensitive posts and their working is kept under constant surveillance," he said.

Source:- http://www.indopia.in/India-usa-uk-news/latest-news/524958/National/1/20/1

Rae Bareli to house eco-friendly rail coach factory

COACHThe upcoming rail coach factory in Rae Bareli will present the eco-friendly side of Indian Railways, sporting smokeless chimneys and neutralising effluents from the plant.

As many as 14 types of coaches including 'AC double decker day cars', would roll out from the factory. The factory will represent the environment-friendly side of Indian Railways, adhering to highest standard of pollution safety norms. There will be no emission of smoke or spillage of oils, while vapour exhaust arrangements would ensure efficient removal of pain vapour simultaneously, they said. The plant will use lightweight stainless steel in producing the coaches with improved comfort level. The eco-friendly approach of Indian Railways will also ensure that there is little contamination of the discharge from the factory. Besides, fume extraction system will be used in areas where acids will be used in acid handling areas used for welding and cutting machine.

The coaching complex will be spread over an area of 543 hectare and set up at an investment of Rs 1,685 crore.

Source:- http://news.alibaba.com/article/detail/metalworking/100071500-1-rae-bareli-house-eco-friendly-rail.html

IISc to study safety of railway bridges

TOI reported that the India Railways which is turning to the 100 year old Indian Institute of Science for its civil engineering capacities, in understanding structural engineering and safety. The premier institute is undertaking an intensive study on the condition of railway bridges in the South Western division to help the Railways decide whether bridges can take additional load.

However, South Western Railways are receiving heavy and additional freight loads from other parts of the country and plan to carry additional loads to different regions. Given that bridges in the division are used to taking a certain load, Railways was keen to have IISc study the bridges and tell them whether they could take additional load.

IISc and railway engineers selected 5 bridges between Hospet and Vasco that see a lot of load transfer. Railway officials said "The selection of bridges has been done on the basis of type of bridge, span and life term. This includes bridges like arch bridge, steel girder bridge, concrete bridge, stone arch bridge and the like. IISc will study how safe these bridges are to carry additional loads. As freight load increases, axle load too goes up. Once the entire recommendations come in, we will decide on the load to be carried."

An official said that it clear the study was not being undertaken because something was wrong with the bridges. "Some bridges are over 100 years old others are around 50 and some 25 years old. We want to ascertain that additional loads can be carried on bridges with different spans, in terms of time. Even the length of the bridge is a crucial factor. Bridge behavior clearly indicates how safe it is.

Meanwhile, IISc researchers will look at 5 bridges in the first study and an additional 5 in the second study, covering Hubli Arasikere, Tumkur and Mangalore region. A sample of 10 bridges has been selected for study as it would be impossible to study the nearly 3,000 bridges in the entire South Western Railways division.

Source:- http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/03/19/ODY3MDg%3D/IISc_to_study_safety_of_railway_bridges.html

Rae Bareli to house eco-friendly rail coach factory

COACHThe upcoming rail coach factory in Rae Bareli will present the eco-friendly side of Indian Railways, sporting smokeless chimneys and neutralising effluents from the plant.

As many as 14 types of coaches including 'AC double decker day cars', would roll out from the factory. The factory will represent the environment-friendly side of Indian Railways, adhering to highest standard of pollution safety norms. There will be no emission of smoke or spillage of oils, while vapour exhaust arrangements would ensure efficient removal of pain vapour simultaneously, they said. The plant will use lightweight stainless steel in producing the coaches with improved comfort level. The eco-friendly approach of Indian Railways will also ensure that there is little contamination of the discharge from the factory. Besides, fume extraction system will be used in areas where acids will be used in acid handling areas used for welding and cutting machine.

The coaching complex will be spread over an area of 543 hectare and set up at an investment of Rs 1,685 crore.

Source:- http://news.alibaba.com/article/detail/metalworking/100071500-1-rae-bareli-house-eco-friendly-rail.html

double decker coaches??? we have those in India????

^^ Double decker coaches for freight is coming up in the Delhi-mumbai dedicated freight corridor! And those double decker cars must be for export!

double decker coaches??? we have those in India????

Double decker trains have been around for decades. I remember seeing them in India (even traveling in one if I remember right) when I was a little kid (I'm 34) visiting. My uncle always pointed them out to me.

To be honest, I don't know if any still operate but I am sure I have seen them in the 80s. I remember my uncle always talking about them, he was a big railfan.

Let's see if the resident railfans can confirm.

^^ possibly you could have seen double decker trains in 1980s in Souther railways. But nothing runs now and plans are there to introduce a/c double decker trains.

^^ possibly you could have seen double decker trains in 1980s in Souther railways. But nothing runs now and plans are there to introduce a/c double decker trains.

Double decker passenger trains are used in India, not sure if they are in use right now. I've travelled in one as recent as 5 years ago. I had posted a pic here more than a year ago as well.

I have seen double deckers too, much more recently that the 80s.

the one used in pune

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/1177/ddcars.jpg (http://img17.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ddcars.jpg)

^^ actually it looks like underdecker!! :lol: not a doubledecker

^^15 yrs ago, Flying Ranee between Mumbai and Surat on Western Railway used to be double decker. I don't know now.

cooollll...... never saw those b4. cant wait to travel in one of those new coaches when they r out!!

I went on Alibaba news link that was posted in the earlier posts and saw the picture of the 'new' a/c coach.

If dented, badly beaten sheet metal is what they use for new coaches, then it is a questionable statement on the Railway's workshop standards. I've been watching trains since childhood (Dombivali .. oh Dombivali !) but that picture in Alibaba is less impressive than the many train rakes that were manufactured in yesteryears. What happened, I wonder.

p2p4

Who's crazy now, Kewl Batty? :tongue2:

p2p4, c'mon, those dents add character! :D

cooollll...... never saw those b4. cant wait to travel in one of those new coaches when they r out!!

These double deckers are very spacious. Sometimes i wonder if they could use these instead of the regular coaches they use for local trains in Mumbai/Pune. A lot more people would be sitting instead of hanging outside the doors.

Southern Railway witnesses rise in bookings for this summer season



The Southern Railways has witnessed a rise in bookings for this summer season. There has been a ten per cent increase in the number of passenger bookings from last summer to this summer. The rise is significant in the E-Ticketing segment, a rise from 10.03 lakh passengers to 18.74 lakh passengers, resulting in a near doubling of earnings for Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) from this segment. According to a report in Economic Times by Niranjana Ramesh, till last year, railways allowed bookings two months in advance, which meant trains running in April and May were filled by March. This year, it has allowed bookings three months in advance, anticipating summer crowds and has not been disappointed. Its earnings for February 2009, three months before the peak summer month of May 2009, stands at Rs 198.25 crore, compared to Rs 182.04 crore in March 2008, two months before March 2008.

“The South is definitely passengers’ intensive market for the railways, though the earnings from passenger and freight trains would be equal owing to the higher tariffs on freight,” said a Southern Railways spokesperson. 80 per cent of railway traffic in the South is from passenger trains. “The popular destinations down south are Coimbatore and Madurai, which lead to the hill stations of Ooty and Kodaikanal respectively. Then there is Trivandrum and Palghat, for people travelling to Kerala. In trains from Chennai to other metros, air-conditioned three-tier coaches have reached waiting list levels of 80-100,” stated the spokesperson.

Echoing similar sentiments N Ravi, spokesperson of Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) said, “Tamil Nadu is definitely a summer destination, even for passengers from the North, who are looking for novelty in travel and safety. Elections have not dissuaded people from travelling south; our Ooty and Kodaikanal tours are already fully booked for April.”

Source:- http://www.travelbizmonitor.com/southern-railway-witnesses-rise-in-bookings-for-this-summer-season-5657

Who's crazy now, Kewl Batty? :tongue2:

p2p4, c'mon, those dents add character! :D

Hahaha.. Sammy, good one. Yes.. reluctantly agree with you though.

Cheers - p2p4

Who's crazy now, Kewl Batty? :tongue2:

p2p4, c'mon, those dents add character! :D

LOL.. you said double deckers were running in India! They're not running anymore.. thats very old pic.

^^^^

To be honest, I had seen double decker trains in 2006. Not sure about the latest though.

LOL.. you said double deckers were running in India! They're not running anymore.. thats very old pic.

I said they've been around for decades. As others have mentioned, they have even seen them as late as 2006 and I found some photos from 2007 on irfca.org.

Anyone know if they still run, even if it's just one?

EDIT: Found one from August 2008 on irfca.org.

^^ Oh, thats news to me.. I've never seen them!! thanks for the info.
But that doesnt look like a double decker train at all!! they juzz made the lower empty space be occupied and it kinda looks suffocating to me!

^^^^


:|

^^ ;) I dont think IR is gonna introduce these double decker coaches again. are they?

I said they've been around for decades. As others have mentioned, they have even seen them as late as 2006 and I found some photos from 2007 on irfca.org.

Anyone know if they still run, even if it's just one?

EDIT: Found one from August 2008 on irfca.org.


sammy, Can u please post those pics here? I couldn't access IRFCA. It seems to be a yahoo group.

i often wonder why they can't use the double decker trains more for commuters in the mumbai area. let most of the trains beyond thane (CR) and borivili(WR) use double decker trains. They terminate in dadar and very few spots in between. This will help the commters from borivili etc as they can have more trains terminating at borivili.

Double deckers are still running in Western railway. Two trains, the Flying Ranee and Valsad Fast Passenger have these coaches. These are sometimes also found in some Mumbai - Gujarat passenger services.

^^ Oh, thats news to me.. I've never seen them!! thanks for the info.
But that doesnt look like a double decker train at all!! they juzz made the lower empty space be occupied and it kinda looks suffocating to me!

If you look at bilevel cars in the US they are built in the same manner, the lower space between the wheels is used. They just build them with a little more style. ;)

i often wonder why they can't use the double decker trains more for commuters in the mumbai area. let most of the trains beyond thane (CR) and borivili(WR) use double decker trains. They terminate in dadar and very few spots in between. This will help the commters from borivili etc as they can have more trains terminating at borivili.

I think they don't like people hot linking their photos. Go here: http://www.irfca.org/gallery/main.php and then enter "double-decker" (with the hyphen but without quotes) into the search. The picture with the two trains side by side says it was taken in 2008.

BTW, the Deccan Queen that comes up in that search is most likely the double decker I rode on in the past.

^^ Oh, thats news to me.. I've never seen them!! thanks for the info.
But that doesnt look like a double decker train at all!! they juzz made the lower empty space be occupied and it kinda looks suffocating to me!

I think the double decker coaches production were stopped long back citing following reasons

1. Suffocation for the people in lower floor since there was not enough air circulation

2. Exit during emergency.

I think the double decker coaches production were stopped long back citing following reasons

1. Suffocation for the people in lower floor since there was not enough air circulation

2. Exit during emergency.

These exact things came to my mind. I have never traveled in such trains but I was just wondering that how can the lower people see outside the train when the train halts at the station.

These exact things came to my mind. I have never traveled in such trains but I was just wondering that how can the lower people see outside the train when the train halts at the station.

The windows in the lower section when at a station are just above the platform level, so any1 sitting below basically gets a look at all the shoes n chappals of people walking on the platform.:lol: Its like sitting in the front row seat in a movie theatre.

I think the double decker coaches production were stopped long back citing following reasons

1. Suffocation for the people in lower floor since there was not enough air circulation

2. Exit during emergency.

Interesting. Bilevels are used in a lot of places outside of India so they must have found a way to resolve such issues. I guess they have done so in India too if they are going to produce new ones.

The windows in the lower section when at a station are just above the platform level, so any1 sitting below basically gets a look at all the shoes n chappals of people walking on the platform.:lol: Its like sitting in the front row seat in a movie theatre.

lol.. that is understood.. however bombardier makes double decker trains that are used a lot for commuter rail in Toronto as well as Boston area.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Go_Train_046.jpg
Obviously there are a lot of structural differences in the coach. and the platforms are also much lower here. they are also much taller than the single decker coaches used by long distance rail (Like Via). So theoretically IR could design a double decker coach which is about as high as double stacked container (or 1.5 times) and try to lower the centre of gravity by weighing down the under carriage. Obviously bridge clearances do matter so I don't know how feasible it is. But double decker coaches are very practical for commuter rail.

^^ NJ Transit uses special bilevels that are a bit lower than normal due to the smaller Hudson tunnels. So if height is an issue I'm sure they can find a way.

Here's a couple of photos from railpictures.net:

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/7158/bilevel1.jpg

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/2218/bilevel2.jpg

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/2776/bilevel3.jpg

Same with Chicago Metra. Except for one line rest of the lines uses Diesel engines.
Based on my experience travelling by double decker trains(every day) I personally think
single level trains with more frequency would be a much better option for urban commuter trains than double deckers incase of navigating very steep curves. Double deckers loose atleast 10 mins of commuting time trying to navigate them.

The problem with the Indian double decker coaches was dust. Double decker A/C coaches should be fine.

here are some posts on the related topic being discussed in SSC around 2 years ago.
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=464500

For Information :

Transib container train arrives early in Moscow (http://www.container-mag.com/displaynews.php?NewsID=1502&)

On March 22, 2009 the first ‘Transib in Seven Days’ container block train from Nakhodka-Vostochnaya to Moskva-Tovarnaya Oktyabrskaya (9,361 kms) comfortably beat the seven day journey target by arriving six hours early. The Transib project aims to develop an alternative delivery schedule for cargo from South East Asia to Europe.

The container train, operated by TransContainer carried 55 x 40 ft boxes loaded with electrical machinery. Initially shipped from Pusan Portrt (Korea) to Vostochny Port, the containers were loaded onto the train after clearing customs at the Vostochnaya Stevedoring terminal.

The total time taken for the entire journey from Pusan to Moskva (Moscow) was 12 days which was around three times faster than by sea to the European ports. Another train will be shipped this week.

Cheers:cheers:

L&T, DLF, GVK, 5 others in race for New Delhi station project



Eight companies have cleared the first round of qualification for the Rs 5,000-crore New Delhi railway station’s modernisation project.
L&T Transco, DLF and GVK Developmental Projects, Mumbai-based Trif Infrastructure, DB Reality and Nishok Realities are among eight companies, besides Hyderabad-based VNR Infrastructure and KMC Constructions.
More than a dozen companies, including Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure and Kolkata-based Srei Infra were in the race for a slice of the Indian Railways’ world-class railway station project. However, only eight companies submitted requests for qualification (RFQs) after the Railways changed the qualifying criteria around two months back.
According to a senior railway ministry official, “We are in the process of evaluating these bids. Once its over, we will invite technical bids. We are looking at a maximum of six bidders for the project.” To fasttrack the selection process, the ministry has handed over the technical bid documents to qualified bidders as it finishes the evaluation.
The railways have appointed a consortium of business and design consultants — Hong Kong’s Terry Ferrell & Partners, London’s Ove Arup & Partners and Smec International of Gurgaon — to finalise the business plans for project.

Source:- http://www.mydigitalfc.com/news/lt-dlf-gvk-5-others-race-new-delhi-station-project-297

Tatanagar turns passenger-friendly


Jamshedpur, March 27: Passenger comfort is top priority for authorities at Tatanagar railway station.
And so, beautification and construction of a waiting hall for upper class passengers, extension of sheds on platforms and reopening of the flood plaza are on the cards.

“We have drawn up elaborate plans for renovating the railway station and its surrounding areas. The South Eastern Railway has sanctioned funds for the project, too,” said Vivek Srivastava, the senior divisional commercial manager of the Chakradharpur railway division.
As a part of the renovation plan, a new overbridge at platform No. 1 was opened recently. It connects the reservation centre to other platforms. The bridge was constructed to reduce congestion at that platform.

“Portions of the station area need urgent renovation. The floors of booking counters will be reconstructed. We also plan to relocate kiosks on platform No. 1 to avoid congestion during arrival and departure of trains,” said a railway official at Tatanagar station.

Passengers will not have to stand in the sun any longer, as overhead sheds on platforms 3, 4 and 5 will be extended for their convenience.

The food plaza, run by Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation, will also enable passengers to enjoy quality food. It has been lying closed for the past six months due to the non-renewal of tender. Railway authorities at Tatanagar said fresh tenders would be invited by March-end and the plaza would become functional by April.

Senior railway officials of Chakradharpur, led by divisional railway manager Ravindra Gupta, had inspected the Tatanagar station earlier this month to prepare the renovation blueprint. During the inspection, Gupta directed railway officials to complete extension work of platform sheds and relocate stalls at the earliest. Last year, a private firm was assigned the job of maintaining the railway station.
According to statistics, on an average 80 mail, express and passenger trains cross Tatanagar everyday, carrying over 40,000 passengers.
With the increase in the number of trains and passengers, the authorities are laying stress on improving amenities at Tatanagar.

Source:- http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090328/jsp/jharkhand/story_10735168.jsp

Hope this link will be useful for those want to clarify with PIO's in railways - zone

I dont know about other zones how they are responding, but southern railway APIO is replying to most of the mails.

http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/rti-act/List_RTI_Officers.pdf

The list looks to be recent one and updated just last year.

Express pilgrimage



Within a year, the popularity of the route has won the railways a national tourism award for the most innovative tourism product and thousands of domestic & foreign tourists are lining up to book seats
New Delhi: The Indian Railways has discovered a real crowd-puller in Gautam Buddha. Launched in 2007, the Mahaparinirvan Express is an air-conditioned tourist train that takes people on an eight-day tour of places that became milestones in the lifetime of Siddharth (who later became Budhha).
Also See Trip Planner (PDF)
Within a year, the popularity of the route has won the railways a national tourism award for the most innovative tourism product and thousands of domestic and foreign tourists are lining up to book seats. A railway official, who was in charge of the project, says the train gets a regular stream of passengers from Thailand, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Japan, the US, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and Sri Lanka.
Navel of the earth: The Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya. A.P. Dube / Hindustan Times
Navel of the earth: The Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya. A.P. Dube / Hindustan Times
“We have tied up with Vipassana meditation centres across the globe to promote this route and the train usually runs full,” says the official on condition of anonymity.
The railways now plans to focus on China to draw more tourists. “We believe that the potential for this circuit is immense. We are providing a focused trip that goes to almost every significant Buddhist site in India,” the official says.
For Rama Dadeech, who travelled with her three-year-old son Adi Sundaram, it was an unforgettable experience. “The train is as good as the Palace on Wheels. Security was tight and we could safely leave our valuables in the train as the railways had provided at least two security guards per coach. We had to travel through some places in Bihar and Nepal which are not really safe. The trains were also clean and the service world-class,” says Dadeech, who works as a financial analyst. Dadeech opted for this train ride because she was curious about Buddhism and also wanted to see the remote areas of Bihar.
Fifty-eight-year-old Kishore Saigal recently undertook a journey on the Mahaparinirvan Express with his wife. “It was a once in a lifetime experience. The service on the train was very good. We went to some really remote areas but never felt unsafe,” says Saigal, a Mumbai-based import-export consultant.
Also See (Graphic)
The tour provides an all-inclusive package, including rail and road travel, accommodation, sightseeing, insurance, security and medical assistance. Coaches are equipped with modern shower cubicles and environment-friendly toilets; tickets are available in three classes: first class AC, two-tier AC and three-tier AC.
The fare ranges from $95 (around Rs4,800) a night for three-tier AC to $125 for two-tier AC and $150 a night for a berth in first class AC. The railways also runs three Bharat Darshan trains for the benefit of domestic budget travellers. The journeys—all between 10 and 16 days—are part of the railways’ efforts to promote domestic tourism at a reasonable price. The tariffs, which start from Rs5,670, include the cost of food and visits to places of religious, cultural and historical significance.
The Mahaparinirvan Express runs two Saturdays a month from October to March each year. Bharat Darshan trips start from 11 April.

Source:- http://www.livemint.com/2009/03/31003344/Express-pilgrimage.html

IRCTC becomes the largest contributor to e-commerce



With the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) pushing electronic booking of tickets and scores of online travel portals entering the business, the share of tickets sold online in the total ticket revenues of the railways has doubled to nearly 30 per cent this year.


“Until February, we sold 38.7 million tickets. This is already a 104 per cent increase over the total number of tickets sold online in (the whole of) 2007-08, which stood at 18.9 million,” said an Indian Railways official.

The estimated gross sales for 2008-09 stand at Rs 3,400 crore, which makes IRCTC the largest contributor to e-commerce in the country, accounting for over a third of the total e-commerce of Rs 9,000 crore.

“I won’t be surprised if IRCTC is the biggest contributor. Last month alone, it did Rs 412 crore. I am sure it has a better margin than online air ticketing agents and the non-travel e-commerce players may not have similar revenue potential as a train ticketing website,” said Mrutyunjay Mishra, co-founder of JuxtConsult, an IT consultancy firm.

There are about 7.9 million active online buyers, of which 80 per cent buy travel products.

The entry of travel portals like Cleartrip, Ezeego1 and Yatra into the fray has given customers more options, besides enhancing the customer profile. These portals have tied up with IRCTC and customers can buy railway tickets through these sites, too. The portals charge Rs 10 to Rs 20, in addition to IRCTC charges, as service fee.

Cleartrip, which is the largest player in railway bookings, has grown 100 per cent between January and March. According to Noel Swain, vice-president (marketing), Cleartrip, the company sells 3,000 tickets every day. Yatra, which started online railway bookings a month ago, has grown from 8-10 tickets a day to about 1,000.

On booking railway tickets from a travel portal, a customer now gets offers similar to those on air tickets.

“We have launched a 10 per cent cash back offer on railway tickets for all Master Card users on our website from April 1,” said Cleartrip’s Swain.

Mudit Khosla of Yatra added: “All the offers that were given on airline tickets are now being tried on railway tickets also. For instance, various consumer durables companies are now trying to push vouchers to rail tickets as well.”

Neelu Singh, COO of Ezeego1, said that although the margins on rail tickets were not very high, she pushed the sales of other products.

Although the travels portals together account for a minuscule chunk of the overall e-bookings of the railways, they enhance the customer profile. For instance, both Cleartrip and Yatra have an AC to Non-AC bookings ratio of 70 to 30, while for IRCTC, the ratio is the opposite.

The scope for expansion is huge. According to the JuxtConsult study, only 9 per cent of the 35.09 million internet users buy products online as most of them do not have credit cards or do not trust the medium.

Source:- http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/irctc-becomeslargest-contributor-to-e-commerce/353951/

Steam locomotive makes a rare appearance at Khadki station


PUNE: Steam locomotives have nearly become extinct from the engine sheds of the Indian railways. All that remains now are scrapped and
non-functional structures mute reminders of the memories of yesteryears. One such steam locomotive, mounted on a goods train, was seen at the Khadki railway station on Friday.

Railway officials said the locomotive was brought from Himachal Pradesh and was being taken to Lonavla for keeping it as one of the exhibits at the proposed world-class railway museum, which is to be developed in the next one-and-half-years.

According to the officials, the steam locomotive was manufactured in 1938 and was used on the Kalka-Shimla line in Himachal Pradesh since 1940. The engine was in use for nearly 40 years and was scrapped in early 1980.

Officials said the locomotive is among the four engines still in India. These engines, which run on coal, were used for the hill trains.

The proposed museum at Lonavla has been planned to be developed on the lines of the national rail museum in New Delhi. According to officials, the museum will have old locomotives, saloons, and coaches, besides old machinery, rail equipment, antiques, and historic documents pertaining to the railways. The museum will be one-of-its-kind in the western region and will showcase the history and heritage of railways.

Source:- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Pune/Steam-locomotive-makes-a-rare-appearance-at-Khadki-station/articleshow/4357029.cms

Exhibition on Indian railways in UK museum

London (PTI): The York National Railway Museum has launched a new exhibition depicting the life and times on India's railways.

Titled 'India On The Move', the exhibition uses a combination of images and moving video clips to demonstrate how India's railway infrastructure is its lifeline.

The exhibition explores the human interest stories of the people featured in award-winning BBC documentary-maker Gerry Troyna's Bombay Railway and Monsoon Railway films.

The exhibition describes how railway workers keep the rail system on track, despite the challenges created by Mumbai's urban congestion and the region's torrential monsoon rain.

It also features the tales of the hawkers and street children who virtually live on India's trains and stations.

Source:- http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200904030912.htm

Three-day mega Railway Fair-2009 starts on April 18



VARANASI: A series of programs are lined for three-day mega Railway Fair-2009, to be held in the divisional office of North East Railway (NER) in
the city starting on April 18.

According to Ashok Kumar, public relation officer, NER, Varanasi division, the three-day event would mark efforts to raise funds for various welfare programs carried by NER Women Welfare Association (NERWWA) in the region.

Highlighting the programs that would be organized on the occasion, the president of NERWWA, Manju Jha said that the programs would include display of history and development of Indian Railways through photographs and models apart from other entertaining programs for children including stunts and adventure shows. Some of the special features of the region including handicrafts, Banarasi Saree, wooden toys and stone carved idols of Chunar region would be also exhibited on the occasion.

The fair would also include display of various dishes, some of them being specialties of the region like Banarasi Paan and Thandai apart from South Indian dishes like Dosa, Uttapam, Dhokla and Idli.

It may be mentioned here that NERWWA came into existence in 1949, when women members of the families of railway employees formed the organization. The association has launched various programs for upliftment of non-gazetted railway employees, women empowerment, rescue operations during calamities and other programs to hone natural talent and creativity in children.

Source:- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Varanasi/Three-day-mega-Railway-Fair-2009-starts-on-April-18/articleshow/4359564.cms

French firm to redesign Mumbai CST railway station

New Delhi (PTI): Indian Railways has chosen a French firm to redesign the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, one of the targets of the 26/11 Mumbai terror strikes, as a world class station.

AREP, a subsidiary of the French Railway (SNCF), will conduct the architectural and feasibility study for redesign and redevelopment of the terminus as a world class station on Public-Private-Partnership mode, a senior Railway Ministry official said.

The French engineering and architectural agency will be paid about Rs 10 crore by the Railways for carrying out the study and to suggest a new design for the station, which is a World Heritage Site, by the end of 2009.

According to the proposed redevelopment plan, the station, popularly known as Victoria Terminus, will undergo a massive transformation with facilities like underground parking, better passenger amenities, food plazas and separate terminal for arrival and departure among others.

The Railways has identified 26 stations across the country, which will developed as per international standard.

Besides the Mumbai CST station, New Delhi, Howrah, Agra, Chennai Central, Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Pune, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mathura, Patna, Secunderabad and Thiruvananthapuram railway stations will also be developed as world class stations.

Railway stations are on the threshold of undergoing a massive transformation with world class facilities and passenger amenities.

"With most stations built decades ago and the number of passengers increasing rapidly it is important that these stations are upgraded," said the official.

While the Hongkong-based Terry Farrel has submitted a design for the New Delhi station, railways is considering to seek Chinese help for the redevelopment of Bhubaneswar and Bangalore stations.

The Railways is conducting a traffic study of the area to finalise the redevelopment plan of the New Delhi station.

Source:- http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200904051054.htm

Rlys new facility veiled in obscurity



LUDHIANA: To provide some measure of relief to the railway passengers, Indian Railways had initiated an SMS service in collaboration with
Google, from where they can get information related to the confirmation of their seats. However, the passengers are hardly making use of this facility in absence of proper awareness. Leave aside the commoners, even the railway employees are unaware of this facility.

For finding the status of seats, earlier, the passengers had to depend either on the site of the Indian Railways or the PNR machines installed on station premises, but now, with the service available on mobile phones, which are used extensively throughout the country, it can prove highly beneficial to passengers in easily getting information regarding the current status of their seats.

The passengers just need to send an SMS at 97733-00000, and without any extra charge, just at the normal rate of one SMS, they can derive their reservation status.

The service is aimed at helping the passengers in getting the exact status of their seats along with other information like seat number, date of journey and the boarding station. The service is already functional, but is hardly proving helpful to the passengers due to the lack of publicity.

The PNR machines installed at the city railway station are hardly coming handy as most of the time they remain unfunctional and apart from it most people find it difficult to handle them in absence of proper knowledge about them.

“If there is some facility of getting information regarding seat confirmation through SMS, it is a great relief,” said Anupam Arora, one of the passengers, who was unaware of any such facility.

Expressing ignorance about any such service, one of the railway employees said he is not aware about any such kind of SMS service available for the passengers. However, he said this service would also prove beneficial to them, as they too need to reserve their seats in trains. With this facility, it would become easier to check confirmation of seats, he added.

When contacted, the area manager of Indian Railways Catering Tourism and Corporation, Jagdish Goyal said there is no information with him about this service. He said it might be possible that there exist such service for the passengers, but he was clueless in this regard.

Source:- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Ludhiana/Rlys-new-facility-veiled-in-obscurity/articleshow/4363116.cms

Railways starts special services to meet demand


MUMBAI: Waiting-lists on the railway booking charts are only getting longer, a clear indication that the holiday season has kicked in, and
Mumbaikars are fleeing the city in droves, heading to popular destinations or hometowns. In a first for Indian Railways, CR will run as many as 1,512 summer special trains, which is 85% more than last year's 818.

On its part, WR, is adding another 934 services. The summer specials will run from April to June. "All the sectors have been booked to capacity,'' said chief PRO of CR, S C Mudgerikar.

But it's trains to Benares and Gorakhpur (UP) that have recorded the highest bookings with people heading to their hometowns. Other popular destinations include Goa, Nagpur, Ernakulum and Chennai.

"There are three major sectors on WR - North India
, Gujarat and Punjab, and we have seen nearly 100% booking.We have decided to increase the specials to Delhi and Ahmedabad,'' said chief PRO, WR, S S Gupta.

Source:- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/Railways-starts-special-services-to-meet-demand/articleshow/4390130.cms

Railways may save Rs 69 cr on diesel discount in 2009


New Delhi, April 11 Indian Railways, the country’s largest high speed diesel (HSD) buyer, is likely to obtain a significant discount for 2009 from oil retailers.

After a long drawn negotiation, the Railways seems have extracted a discount of Rs 300 a kilolitre on HSD, against the Rs 150 in the previous year, said an official source.

This will save the Railways about Rs 69 crore during the year. Besides, the Railways will also make some savings on tax.

The discount to Railways is over and above the rate at which the oil retailers despatch the fuel to their retail outlets. The despatch price varies across location and time period.

“However, the actual impact of the discount will be felt only when the retail price variations are taken into consideration as we consume about 2.3 million kilolitres. A higher discount accentuates the benefits from a price cut and absorbs the hit from any rise,” said a Railway Ministry official.

A senior Indian Oil Corporation official said: “This calendar, we were able to consider a higher discount as the crude prices have softened as compared with last year.”
Lower discount

IOC is the major HSD supplier of Railways with a supply of over 70 per cent.

However, this discount of Rs 300 a kilolitre is lower than what the Railways had managed in 2007.

They had got a discount of Rs 1,125.27 a kilolitre of HSD from most of the oil marketing firms.

Oil marketing companies such as IOC, BPCL, HPCL and MRPL offered this discount to the Railways over and above the rate at which they dispatch HSD to their retail outlets.

This discount becomes a reference point for other bulk consumers of oil retailers.

The negotiations for the current calendar have been going on since six months. The Railways will seek a nod from the Election Commission before it firms up the rate contract.
HSD rate

For HSD procurement, the Railways enter into rate contracts with various oil marketing companies for the year.

The rate is generally the same for all companies and when finalised, the Ministry informs all zonal railways about the agreed rate.

Various zonal railways are free to procure diesel from various companies as and when the need arises.

Source:- http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/04/12/stories/2009041250820500.htm

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/04/12/images/2009041250820501.jpg

Indian Railways earns 9% more on scrap in 2008-09


According to initial estimates, high commodity prices in the first half of 2008-09 fiscal and increase in scrap volumes have helped the Indian Railways earn about INR 3,005 crore by selling rail scrap in 2008-09. This is almost 9& higher than the corresponding figure of INR 2,770 crore in the previous fiscal.

In volume terms, the Railways sold approximately 1.1 million tonnes of scrap in 2008-09 up by 10%.

A Ministry official said that “Steel rails are re used in construction activities. They are used as reinforcement bars in buildings. So, the revenue realization from scrap sale saw significant growth in the range of 20 to 30% in various railway zones in the first six months of the 2008-09 fiscal. But in the subsequent months, the realizations softened.”

Money from the sale of scrap directly goes into the surplus of the Indian Railways. The Railways expect to close 2008-09 with a surplus before dividend of INR 19,320 crore. So, at the current levels earnings from scrap sales will account for about 15.5% of the surplus.

The Railways sells thousands of tonnes of scrap over 12,000 to 16,000 wagons, 1,200 to 1,300 coaches, 50-100 locomotives, worn-out rails, unserviceable items, condemned machinery and plant every year through tenders or public auction.

Railways is also working on a plan to start selling scrap through online auctions. CRIS, the IT arm of Indian Railways, is developing e-auction software for the purpose. This will be a part of the e-procurement module that is being rolled out. A pilot project for online auction for scrap sales was started in 2006-07 in Southern Railway. The software was provided by Metal Scrap Trading Corporation. But the Railways decided to develop the e-auction software internally after MSTC demanded charges of about 1.5 to 2% of total proceeds from scrap sale.

Source:- http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/04/15/OTAxOTc%3D/Indian_Railways_earns_9%2525_more_on_scrap_in_2008-09.html

I've been in Touch with a Railway engineer in Switzerland who met me in SSC becuase I posted his Indian locomotive pics. He gave some valuable information about our WAP and WAG locomotives: The engine is built in Switzerland and the Chassis is modeled after an Australian one.
Here's some news relating to that:

GE and Siemens no longer involved in the Indian locomotive projects
03-03-2009 17:10


The Indian authorities abandoned the plans to build factories for the construction of locomotives in partnership with foreign companies and will initiate these plans by themselves, announced Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram. The decision was taken because the offer submitted by General Electric for the construction of a diesel locomotive factory was not “appropriate”, while the offer made by Siemens for the construction of the electric locomotive factory was not adequate. Thus, the Government approved the construction of a diesel locomotive factory in Marhowra (Bihar state, Eastern India), which will be the property of the Indian Railways. The project was estimated at 20.5 Billion Rupees (EUR 311.9 Million), the factory producing 150 locomotives annually.
The Government also approved the construction under the same conditions of an electric locomotive factory in Madhepura (Bihar state). The factory will produce 1.000 annually, many of them being destined to the Western and Eastern freight traffic corridors. The Indian Railways will also build a wagon factory in Rae Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh state, Northern India), following an investment of 16.85 Billion Rupee (EUR 256.4 Million), with an annual production of 1.000. Before initiating the internal production, the Indian railways will buy 50 electric locomotives of 12.000 horse power and another 50 diesel locomotives of 4.000-6.000 horse power. The Ministry will launch tenders for choosing the companies that will deliver these locomotives and will have to sign agreements for technology transfer for each production unity.


Source: www.bloomberg.com, www.thehindubusinessline.com

Guys, any information about when the Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit suburban railway service in Kerala will be inaugrated? The MEMU shed work is going on in Kollam though, in a slow pace. There is no clear information about date of inaugration of the service.

Guys, any information about when the Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit suburban railway service in Kerala will be inaugrated? The MEMU shed work is going on in Kollam though, in a slow pace. There is no clear information about date of inaugration of the service.

It all depends on who would win the election, and the new minister's attitude towards works in Kerala. If the new minister is similar to the Minister of State for Railways, who resigned recently, then the project would continue work at snail's pace

It all depends on who would win the election, and the new minister's attitude towards works in Kerala. If the new minister is similar to the Minister of State for Railways, who resigned recently, then the project would continue work at snail's pace

True yaar. Kerala had a great time of Rail Development during the Vajpayee regime. O Rajagopal has done more than enough that a railway minister could do for Kerala.

The prestgious projects like MEMU suburban railway system, MEMU shed at Kollam, Kollam - Punalur BG conversion, Ernakulam - Kayakulam doubling, Kochuveli Terminal enhancements are all going on in a snail's pace. Hope the new government (ofcourse, want to see new ministers) will take enough steps to complete these projects immedeately.

Railways to start `dial-a-taxi' service for passengers news



Indian Railways is taking passenger services closer home with plans to introduce taxis for travel to and from railway stations. Passengers can book taxis just by dialling 139, the same call centre code that currently provides information about PNR and arrival / departure status of trains.

The `book a taxi' service, to be rolled out soon in about 25 cities across the country, including the national capital, would be offered at competitive tariff rates.

The Railways, which reduced passenger fares in this year's budget, is trying to get a larger chunk of passenger traffic by making train travel more comfortable.

The service would initially be available in Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and 20 other important cities. "The aim of the service is to help passenger get rid of their woes in fetching a taxi and pay the actual charge incurred," a senior railway official said.

The service would then be rolled out across smaller towns in the country, the official added.

The plan is to tie up with authorised car rental agencies at select cities to provide this service. Passengers will be able to choose from various model;s like an Indica, or Wagon R or even a luxury car, depending on the fare he can afford.

The 'book a taxi' service, available round the clock, would be of great help to tourists as this would rid them of the hassles of hiring a car and paying jacked-up fares.

Railways also plan to introduce hotel bookings through dialling 139 in the future. IRCTC will monitor the services to ensure that passengers get taxis on time and do not end up paying more.

Source:- http://www.domain-b.com/companies/companies_I/Indian_Railways/20090422_dial-a-taxi_service.html

they should make it part of the ticket booking process and e-ticketing systems.

off topic: but do these hot lines (like 139) work? when I used to live in India, it was hard to get a reliable answer

Dedicated Freight Corridors

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/04/06/images/2009040650331201.jpg

The two sanctioned Dedicated Freight Corridors are only a part of a larger plan of building a quadrilateral of railway lines connecting the country’s four metro cities. The traffic between Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai is the heaviest, though the total area used by them is just 16 per cent of the entire Indian Railways network in the country.

Further, while passenger traffic is around 52 per cent, freight traffic on the route constitutes around 58 per cent and is slow because passenger trains are given preference over goods carriages, said a railway official.

“The four routes are under severe pressure and, recognising the need to relieve them of at least some freight traffic, the Railways has envisaged a quadrilateral of railway tracks, complemented by other connecting tracks criss-crossing these cities,” said the official.

The two routes sanctioned so far are the Western corridor between Dadri in Uttar Pradesh and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Navi Mumbai, via Ahmedabad, Palanpur, Rewari and Tughlakabad (Delhi); and an Eastern corridor connecting Dankuni (near Kolkata) to Ludhiana in Punjab, via Sonenagar, Mughalsarai, Allahabad and Khurja.

However, as funding is yet to be arranged and land still not acquired completely, construction will commence only from the next financial year, he said. The two projects, being undertaken by the PSU Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd, are expected to be commissioned by 2015 or 2016, if everything runs on schedule, he added.

Under the aegis of the Ministry of Railways, special units have been floated to construct additional railway tracks connecting the four cities, solely for the purpose of transmission of goods carriages. Interestingly, the Western corridor will come up on a radius of 150-200 km on one side of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and is expected to act as a backbone to the much touted DMIC.

The DFC is not aligned with the existing railway network of the country but is being built as a detour to it. This provides huge scope for various industries to develop around it and the Government has invited players for the purpose.
Spurring commercial activity

In collaboration with State governments, the Railways will encourage commercial activity in the region. For instance, the DFC has entered into a joint venture with the Gujarat State government to develop logistics parks along the double-line DFC tracks. It would provide scope for many commercial, banking and manufacturing units to come up along the network. The traffic generated by the activities of industries along the DMIC will also be captured by the DFC.

“We are still looking for land for the corridors and have only just begun construction on some parts on the Eastern corridor and near Surat, in the West. We have also started the construction of bridges in Gujarat. A total of 54 bridges have been planned to be constructed in the State,” said the official. Once land is acquired, the physical construction of work is expected to begin by the next financial year.

The length of the Western corridor is projected at 1,483 km while the Eastern stretch would be around 1,279 km. Of this, the maximum area exposed to a particular State would be in Uttar Pradesh, on the Eastern corridor (1,002 km), followed by Gujarat (565 km) and Rajasthan (553 km).

A total investment of Rs 28,179 crore has been planned for the two corridors, Rs 16,592 crore for the Western and Rs 11,587 for the Eastern, respectively.
The funding

A tie-up with the Japan International Co-operation Agency worth Rs 18,000 crore for funding the 950-km stretch between Vapi and Baroda was finalised in January 2009. Negotiations are on with Asian Development Bank, World Bank and others to fund rest of the project and should be finalised soon, according to the official.

Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd is a special purpose vehicle created to undertake planning and development, mobilisation of financial resources and construction, maintenance and operation of the Dedicated Freight Corridors. DFCCIL was registered as a company under the Companies Act 1956 on October 30, 2006.

source (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/04/06/stories/2009040650331200.htm)

India to build rail line to Ladakh (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/India-to-build-rail-line-to-Ladakh/articleshow/4450628.cms)

NEW DELHI: The ambitious and strategically crucial project to link mountain-locked Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir with rest of the country by
train has moved a step closer to fructification with the Railways finalising the feasibility report in this regard.

The first rail link is proposed to be between Leh and Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh and six passenger trains and nine goods trains are planned on the 498 km-long section.

"The feasibility report of Leh-Bilaspur rail link project is almost ready and it will be submitted to Railway Ministry shortly for scrutiny. After the scrutiny, the report would be sent to the Planning Commission before being sent to Parliament for final approval," said a senior Railway Ministry official involved with the feasibility study.

^^ that would be another milestone achievement for IR after Kashmir.:cheers:

Internet facilities for train passengers on anvil (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Transportation/Internet-facilities-for-train-passengers-on-anvil/articleshow/4478484.cms)

NEW DELHI: Be it booking a ticket or keeping a tab on the stock market, select rail passengers will soon be able to work online while on the move as
Railway authorities are mulling on a proposal to provide satellite-based Internet facility on premier trains.

Besides checking the stock prices on real time basis, passengers of such trains can access bank accounts and also book air and rail tickets while travelling.

A trial run was successfully carried out on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express and the report has been submitted to the Railway Ministry.

The report is being examined and the ministry is likely to appoint a committee for working out the modalities for introduction of Internet in trains, a senior Railway Ministry official said.

Besides Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains, saloon cars and accident relief trains are also to be equipped with the transmission technology for Internet connectivity.

The proposal also envisages provision of LCD screen on every seat of Ist AC coach of Shatabdi and Ist and IInd AC coaches of Rajdhani trains.

It is estimated to cost about Rs 340 crores to implement the ambitious project as it requires VSAT terminal, Wi-fi set up, dedicated VSAT hub among other equipment.

Termed as value addition to passenger amenities, railways is keen to establish High Speed Internet Corridor along all routes to provide Internet, IPTV and other entertainment and utility services in trains.

The plan envisages introduction of onboard audio and video entertainment system for passengers during the journey.

Western Railway has started the renovation work of bandra station. The wooden eaves, arches and doorways that made Bandra Station the monumental
beauty it once was, have become visible from a distance. . Read More (http://www.marathikatta.com/General/bandra-stn-gets-back-old-world-charm/)

But i think along with the renovation they should also pay attention to the cleanness of the railways....in form of fines .....

^^ How can they stop people who're spitting everywhere!! Right when they get up from their bed to when they go to sleep, they keep spitting all over the country! :gaah:

Railway station, platforms, trains, buses, govt building, bus stops, FOBs, Steps, Road medians, ticket counters,etc
:fart:

^^ How can they stop people who're spitting everywhere!! Right when they get up from their bed to when they go to sleep, they keep spitting all over the country! :gaah:

Railway station, platforms, trains, buses, govt building, bus stops, FOBs, Steps, Road medians, ticket counters,etc
:fart:

yes kewl but there can some way to stop this people ...... if we see any person why cant they should be fine ?

the problem is the enforcement of the fines. there have been so many instances when spitting has been banned but when the cops themselves spit everywhere how can we expect them to enforce these laws?
when they are enforced, like in the delhi metro stations, we see people behaving themselves.

I think habits can be changed rather quickly. Take for instance the Delhi Metro or Kolkatta Metro. These places are clean and modern, people using the facilities behave accordingly and adhere to norms. Similarly in modern Volvo buses the crowd/junta behaves quite different from the other run down dingy buses. If the facilities are run down and improperly kept people have a tendency to abuse it further.

I think habits can be changed rather quickly. Take for instance the Delhi Metro or Kolkatta Metro. These places are clean and modern, people using the facilities behave accordingly and adhere to norms. Similarly in modern Volvo buses the crowd/junta behaves quite different from the other run down dingy buses. If the facilities are run down and improperly kept people have a tendency to abuse it further.


Similar in concept to the "broken windows" (http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?STORY_ID=12630201) theory of crime.

but phaedrus and barrykul have u seen the subway of CST ... I think its the only neat and clean pace in Mumbai ..... which is very well maintained.. There are 3-4 watchmen s who looks after the subway cleanness.... I was shock to see that there was not a single piece of paper nor any one spitted .....



Such neatness if we can have at CST subway then why cant on all the stations...I think we need to appoint pvt people rather than public employees.

But anyways now Jaipur is coming up with trains cum hotels ... Yes train may be transformed into a restaurant in Jaipur ..............Read More (http://www.exchange4projects.com/HOTEL/heritage-on-wheels-train-may-be-transformed-into-a-restaurant-in-jaipur)

I think now they have to fine if people start trowing papers or spitting in trains ......

Well now we can just dial toll free number and can order food .... Yes The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) recently forwarded a proposal to the Railway Board, Delhi to cater to the food orders made by passengers prior to boarding their train. If the proposal gets approved then passengers can choose from a wide range of delicacies by dialing toll-free number 139..... Read More (http://www.exchange4projects.com/RAIL/irctc-to-soon-cater-to-food-orders-ahead-of-rail-journeys)

Mamata likely to settle for Rly ministry, five MoS berths
22 May 2009, 0041 hrs IST, Mohua Chatterjee, TNN


NEW DELHI: Having arrived in Parliament with a bloc of 20 MPs, including one from Suci tagging on, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress has settled for a single Cabinet berth, which she will keep for herself. Initially, the offer from Congress negotiators Pranab Mukherjee and Ahmed Patel was for two Cabinet and three minister of state portfolios, according to highly placed sources.

Unless there is a last moment twist, Congress has agreed to Banerjee's demand for the railway ministry, it is learnt.

The offer to Banerjee, who met Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday and was in touch with Patel and Mukherjee over phone through Thursday, was made in two packages. The first offered two Cabinet and three MoS berths while the second package offered one Cabinet and five MoS slots.

Banerjee decided to settle for the second offer since she saw a possibility of accommodating one more MP as minister.

The more important reason, however, is not unknown to those who have followed Banerjee's brand of politics. In a party that she runs single-handedly, she is apprehensive of allowing any other colleague to emerge at par with her or develop their independent relations with the higher-ups.

The probables likely to make it as ministers of state from Trinamool Congress are Saugata Ray, Dinesh Tribedi, Sultan Ahmed, Sisir Adhikari and in all probability, TMC's Rajya Sabha member Mukul Roy. While Sultan Ahmed is the Muslim face of the party, Sudip Bandopadhyay missed the bus as the TMC chief is cut up with him for refusing to be chief whip of the party in Parliament. Gobinda Nashkar, an SC MP, has been made deputy leader of the parliamentary party. Two other members, including Chaudhury Mohan Jatua, are likely to be made chairmen of standing committees that will come the TMC's way.

The ministries she is looking at are those she feels can impact the lives of the poor and the rural populace in West Bengal, with her target being the assembly polls in 2011. With that in mind, Banerjee has given her preferences for health, rural development, urban development, tourism and I&B/culture.

Her idea for not going in for "attractive" ministries is also that there would be less chances of allegations of corruption against her team before assembly polls in Bengal.

Mamata had asked for one seat more than DMK, that is a total of seven ministers including herself, as she got 19 plus one that is 20 members while DMK comes to the House with 18. But now that DMK has decided on outside support to the government, there is pressure on Mamata from her party to get more ministerial berths.

^^ awesome...i hope they use all the national funds to create international standard stations all over WB...like they have been previously doing in Bihar, Mahi Mahi(maharastra), and other such states.

^^ awesome...i hope they use all the national funds to create international standard stations all over WB...like they have been previously doing in Bihar, Mahi Mahi(maharastra), and other such states.

Take this:

Mamata’s flop rail show may haunt her (http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/mamatas-flop-rail-show-may-haunt-her/464154/)

kolkata Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee may be tipped for the top seat in Rail Bhavan, but some of the flop projects that she pushed through during her earlier stint as Railway Minister in the NDA regime could return to haunt her.

One such project is the elevated rail service from Dum Dum cantonment to airport — sanctioned by her in 2001.

The fate of Rs 120-crore circular rail link from Dum Dum cantonment to the airport remains undecided as there are very few takers for it.

“The project incurred a huge cost since the four-kilometer rail track had to be constructed on an elevated ramp. It was constructed over Jessore Road. But hardly any passenger avail the rail link,” said a senior railway official.

The railway official said that no feasibility study was conducted on the project and as a result the project remained a non-starter.

Since it is a local train service and has five elevated stations, the airport-bound passengers do not bear the trouble to get into the trains. Moreover, there are only two pairs of trains that are currently under operation. Adding to this, the timings of the trains do not match the timings of the flights.

According to former Dum Dum MP, Amitabha Nandi, the elevated rail track is obstructing the airport modernisation project.
“The elevated track is coming on the path from where the flyover connecting the Belgharia expressway and the airport will be constructed. We received proposals from the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for demolishing the existing structure of the elevated rail track. In the proposal, the AAI has said that it wants the airport to be connected through the East-West metro corridor,” said Nandi.

At present, the railway authorities feel that Banerjee should focus on the existing projects for which funds have been sanctioned but are not progressing due to the slow release of funds by the Centre.

“At present we have three existing projects. One is the laying of the third line from Panskura to Kharagpur, the second one is laying the double line from Haldia to Panskura and third one is laying a fourth line from Tikiapara to Santragachi so that the bottleneck is eased and access to the Howrah station is greater. All of these projects have been sanctioned but the process of allocating funds is very slow. So, we feel that the state will be benefited if Banerjee can expedite the ongoing projects,” said S Majumdar, spokesperson, South Eastern Railways.

Old project awaits Mamata
If Mamata Banerjee becomes the next Railway Minister, she will inaugurate the Rs 907-crore Tollygunj to Garia Metro rail extension project, which she had mooted in 1999 when she was an MP in the NDA government.

“The date has not yet been fixed. But we have started the trial run on the 8.5-kilometre Tollygunj-Garia Metro rail. If Mamata Banerjee becomes the Railway minister then the project will be inaugurated by her,” said P Dutta, spokesperson, Metro rail. ENS

I wish and pray the DMK don't get the Raiways. Another 5 years of torture to my state :ohno:

I wish and pray the DMK don't get the Raiways. Another 5 years of torture to my state :ohno:

The railways is already gone to TMC. Now the battle is for the Minister of State for Railways.... need to wait to know who grabs this...

^^

Looks AKS Vijayan of DMK grabs MoSR

I wish and pray the DMK don't get the Raiways. Another 5 years of torture to my state :ohno:

India is not in the leagues of nations as far as railways go, trains are old, railway stations are crumbling Central PWD buildings. Hopefully the UPA ministers should measure themselves with international standards. The railways has a long way to go. Unigage project has taken far too long to implement. The railway infrastructure of the nation is crumbling and decrepit, wholesale revamp needs to occur. Major cities, tier 2,3,4 towns require modern airport style railway stations. The trains are bygone era junk. Railroad crossing require a major overhaul. The list is endless.

Mamta will turn out to be disaster, like the number she did on Tata Nano. Lalu to his credit at least turned the railways from red ink to black. If she has 1/2 a brain she would surround herself with smart advisers, the smart Bengali ones at least, and upstage Lalu. She needs to focus on a new image for the railways, especially the passenger side of things. Lalu fixed the freight side. And regionalism will only get you so far, after a while you need to produce meaningful results. If she were to think of the future, a good stint in the Railways means a capture of power in the state. So, an attitude of putting your nose to the grind and getting the job would payoff. Remember, she has competition from the likes of Praful Patel and others.

The railways is already gone to TMC. Now the battle is for the Minister of State for Railways.... need to wait to know who grabs this...
Since we on the topic of ministers & railways I am really wondering why our country needs to stick to this age old tradition of having railway ministers ( in fact the railway ministry itself)? In fact we need to reorganize the poltical-beuraucatic setup this way -

A "Minister of Transportation" :- who would oversee the 3 departments I am going to list below and would have the useless task of playing dirty politics and stay out of the way of people who do contructive work

Departments of the ministry of Tansportation
a) Rail transport : Headed by a professional (not a beauraucrat or IAS officer) who understands the rail transportation sector and who has the qualifications to manage a large national entity. Somebody like what we call as CEO of private companies.
b) Air transport : headed by a similar professional
c) Road & water transport: Headed by a similar professional.
This way we can replace 3 useless politicians with 1 and have 3 professionals who will actually do some useful work managing the respective departments.

The railways has become more of a political tool&pawn at the hands of these useless politicians and had become more of a means of political clout to influence the masses than providing safe, reliable & efficient rail transportation.

^^

Just understand the con of your argument, if we have one bad rotten apple managing all 3 that would be a disaster of the highest order.

The Indian bureaucracy requires a thorough revamp. The IAS was meant for ruling the nation when the British were around. Currently the system has morphed a little bit from the old system. The old system managed to have the best and brightest from the Indian population and they were fearful of any wrong doing. Now, the system of IAS is filled with quotas and the rest are mediocre with the best and brightest have decamped to IT and foreign shores. Add to this corruption and no fear of losing your job for poor execution. There is no option for inducting outside opinions in the system either. It is one happy closed system with back biting and cronyism.

I would rather have the Secretary of each department an open system wherein outsiders can be appointed. The appointment is done by a board and to get into this board only eminent persons with qualification and experience can be inducted. The board is like an advisory system meant for the long haul. IAS people can also be on the board. What this provides is continuity rather the current musical chairs. An IAS of agriculture can become an IAS of Defence which sounds incongruous.

Political appointments are inevitable, that is the only way the democracy can have control. The political system needs to be flushed completely, but that is going to take time. Generations perhaps.

Mamata will be a bit Ctrl-Z on what Lalu did.

I am not denying that the commies screwed Kerala big time. But what R. Velu did as MoSR was much worse. Good riddance for him BTW.

Manorama reports that the PM don't want T. R. Baaalu and Raja anywhere near any infrastructure related job. That says something!

Mamata will be a bit Ctrl-Z on what Lalu did.

I am not denying that the commies screwed Kerala big time. But what R. Velu did as MoSR was much worse. Good riddance for him BTW.

Manorama reports that the PM don't want T. R. Baaalu and Raja anywhere near any infrastructure related job. That says something!

They did something good for TAMILNADU,
I guess,that is what your problem.

You see the past how kerala's railway infrastructure was developed....

I think every minister is biased in their own ways trying to lure more for their own state.
Although its eventually benificial for the people of a particular state , i think its high time
these guys start looking at the country as a whole rather than more towards their
elected constituencies/state. That said, Lalu wanted bullet train to patna, he had a lot more railway projects going to his state. So Velu is not the only one to be blamed.

Lets move on.

Mamata favours cheap passes for unorganised labour

New Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said her priority in the ministry would be to provide "economic freedom" to marginalised sections of the society to travel by rail and take up modernisation with"a human face".

Mamata said her ministry would contemplate providing monthly travel passes for unorganised labour, vendors, domestic workers and landless labourers besides students at a nominal cost and the technicalities would be worked out later.

"It is a social obligation we have to fulfill for the humanity. We will try to give economy freedom to these sections for train travel," Banerjee told reporters hours after she was given the railway portfolio.

"One cannot sacrifice the human face for commercial interest," she added.

source timesofindia (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mamata-favours-cheap-passes-for-unorganised-labour-/articleshow/4569837.cms)

looks like she's going to go back to old way of doing things in the railways. i have a very bad feeling about this. i really hope modernisation doesnt take a back seat :ohno:

^^ Friend, the ghost of so called Humanity has struck her mind again. It's just the starting point and it happened within hours of accepting her post. We didn't use to enjoy tauntimg her but it was her deeds of being so called Messiah of poor which totally takes her out of the track. Actually no one gets the benefit at last, neither the rich nor the Poor for whom she fights.

Well, more hawkers and vendors on the trains now. F**k Mamata. This happens when you take someone from Slums and appoint them as a Minister. She will take the IR 10-20 years back in time.

what other choice did we have?

I am furious to see someone kicking project like Tata Nano out of the state, filling in for a position like Railways Ministries...

Well, more hawkers and vendors on the trains now. F**k Mamata. This happens when you take someone from Slums and appoint them as a Minister. She will take the IR 10-20 years back in time.

this is kinda your fault.

you had the chance to ask the central government to intervene during the TATA Nano crisis.

you didn't do anything so now bare the consequences. what goes around, comes around. my far fetched friend.

this is kinda your fault.

you had the chance to ask the central government to intervene during the TATA Nano crisis.

you didn't do anything so now bare the consequences. what goes around, comes around. my far fetched friend.

Your comment has been ignored. I don't waste my time getting into brainless conversations.

Your comment has been ignored. I don't waste my time getting into brainless conversations.

nah...you obviously care enough. and i got my point across...so its all good.

They did something good for TAMILNADU,

At the expense of Kerala, and THAT is my problem. Every project in Kerala is moving in snail's pace, and resources were being moved to TN.

Green signal for Nagpur-Mumbai high speed train ... read more (http://www.exchange4projects.com/RAIL/green-signal-for-nagpurmumbai-high-speed-train)

At the expense of Kerala, and THAT is my problem. Every project in Kerala is moving in snail's pace, and resources were being moved to TN.

Dilip,

Not at all.

In TN the state is concentrating on gauge conversion under uni-gauge policy.
Kerala was having just less than 140KMs in metre gauge, but TN was having more than 1000KMs metre gauge in 2003-2004!!

Project's moving in snail pace is common is all states, many gauge conversion projects delayed for more that 3yrs in TN and projects like Coimbatore-Irugur 18KM doubling has take 10years but just 1KM was doubled. It is a shame on IR!!

The pre-feasibility report on the high-speed train project initiated by the state for travel between Mumbai and Nagpur via Pune, submitted to chief minister Ashok Chavan, says while the project is feasible, the construction cost, and therefore the fares, would be higher than earlier anticipated.

According to German consulting firm Vossing, which was appointed by the Maharashtra government to prepare the report, the distance between Mumbai and Nagpur could be covered within three and a half hours, with the Pune stretch taking just one hour. Currently, the journey takes 14 hours.

The project envisages trains running at a speed of 300 km per hour in the 850 km corridor between Mumbai and Nagpur. The study comes after many months of discussions about the need for superfast rail corridor linking different parts of the state to Mumbai.

Nagpur is already being developed as an international air cargo hub. Reports say the the superfast train corridors would be in addition to the expressways being planned to connect various regions.

Vossing has found that while the long-distance routes are viable, it said that shorter routes, such as the one proposed between Mumbai's Santa Cruz airport and Nariman Point (18 km), Goregaon (15 km) and Kalyan (50 km), are not viable.
Former State finance minister Jayant Patil, who has had first-hand experience of bullet trains in Germany, had mooted the proposal of high-speed trains between Mumbai and Nagpur via Pune before the state Cabinet. The proposal was later approved by the cabinet and a feasibility study was initiated.

The fares for the bullet trains are expected to be higher than upper-class train fares but lower than air fares. ''It is finally up to the commuters whether they would be ready to pay the high price for the service. If that aspect is not feasible then the entire project might have to be scraped,'' one official noted


http://www.domain-b.com/economy/infrastructure/railways/20090525_bullet_train.html

i somehow doubt this will ever happen. if it does though it will turbo-charge the bombay-pune area, which could in time become the world's largest urban conurbation

its a big NO from me for the high Speed trains..
we already have air travel for that...

air travel competes with hsr only at distances above 1000 km. below that door to door hsr is faster, more convenient and a lot less stressful

then why not upgrade the existing infrastructure..
already India is starved of the essential grrenary..
the HSR could well be an ecological disaster..

?? hsr is probably more eco-friendly than cars or planes

what i am trying to say is that a completely new line thru the beautiful greens (whereever they exist) would be a great problem..
it would literally mean clearing out large part of forests and tunneling/bridging the oh so b'ful mountains..

Sometimes that is the cost of progress.

This section does need a HSR. Even with the expressway, the time taken to travel is almost 3 hours which is a lot for the short distance between the cities and all the 6 trains run that run between the cities are packed.

Mamata takes charge in Kolkata

Raktima Bose

Announces Rs. 20-a-month railway pass for poor for travel on specified routes

http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/27/images/2009052759921001.jpg

— Photo: AFP

ON THE JOB: Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee travels by a train from the Sealdah station in Kolkata on Tuesday to inspect cyclone devastation.

KOLKATA: In a break from convention, Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday formally took charge of the Railway Ministry here instead of doing so at the Rail Bhavan in New Delhi.

“That I am taking charge here does not mean I will work for West Bengal only. It is only because of the current circumstances that I’m doing so and will work for the betterment of the Railways across India,” she said.

In one of her first announcements as Railway Minister, Ms. Banerjee said a special identity pass, costing Rs. 20 a month, would be issued to the poor for travel on specified routes, especially for workers of the unorganised sector who earn less than Rs. 500 a month.

“The Railways wants to give the poorer section economic freedom. The departments concerned will work out the technicalities… and it will come into effect soon.”

Ms. Banerjee opted to complete the formalities here in view of the damage caused by Cyclone Aila in West Bengal.

After taking charge, she left from the Sealdah Station here to the storm-hit areas. The function was shifted to the B.C. Roy Institute near the station from the Eastern Railway headquarters.

Thousands of people gathered to have a look at her. Supporters waved the Trinamool Congress flags and shouted slogans such as “Mamata Banerjee zindabad.” Three party MPs accompanied her.

Special trains


Expressing concern over the violence in Punjab, Ms. Banerjee said the Northern Railway would run special trains to bring back those stranded in the violence-hit Amarnath and Jalandhar.

The Howrah-Ludhiana Eastern Freight Corridor project would be completed in “record time,” she said. “The project will help generate commercial, industrial as well as employment opportunities in States such as Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.”

Moving to fulfil her party’s promise to turn the seaside tourist spot of Digha in Purbo Medinipur district into “a Goa,” she announced that the weekly train from Howrah to Digha would run thrice a week within a month, and named it Kandari Express.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/27/stories/2009052759921000.htm

Isn't that way to cheap? I am waiting to see if in next year we get to read the news "Railways lost $300 million".

Isn't that way to cheap? I am waiting to see if in next year we get to read the news "Railways lost $300 million".

If the misuse is not too much, it still might bring in some cash. The reason being, is most of India, these people would go without tickets. Now if the low cost motivates them to stay within the limits of law, then that would be great. However, there is bound to be a level of misuse - the critical question is how much. Time only can answer that.

Isn't that way to cheap? I am waiting to see if in next year we get to read the news "Railways lost $300 million".

Just wait until she turns the Railways into a socialist experiment. God, sometimes I wonder why Indians deserve such muck. Tis our destiny to be saddled with such losers. When you compare the state of Indian Railways with other nations you cringe at the junk heap that is being operated. On top of this we have ministers who want to drive backwards with their retarded thinking.

For once, I would like to see a minister who says how can I modernize IR, how can I make railway stations look like modern airports, how can I make it safe, fast and efficient, how can I improve customer satisfaction with services etc. Not the tired old junk of I want to introduce 3 time daily express to timbuktu because there is 1 day service, or I need to provide my constituency people more jobs, or I want to relocate some tin pot workshop of IR in my constituency, or I want to provide Rs 20 tickets. None of these bozos know what it takes to run a business which is what IR is all about.

Yeah too bad. If one minister can set example of modernizing the railways, we will always want him to stay. Just like E. Shreedharan. Shouldn't he be the best example for our Railway Ministers.

Just wait until she turns the Railways into a socialist experiment. God, sometimes I wonder why Indians deserve such muck. Tis our destiny to be saddled with such losers. When you compare the state of Indian Railways with other nations you cringe at the junk heap that is being operated. On top of this we have ministers who want to drive backwards with their retarded thinking.

For once, I would like to see a minister who says how can I modernize IR, how can I make railway stations look like modern airports, how can I make it safe, fast and efficient, how can I improve customer satisfaction with services etc. Not the tired old junk of I want to introduce 3 time daily express to timbuktu because there is 1 day service, or I need to provide my constituency people more jobs, or I want to relocate some tin pot workshop of IR in my constituency, or I want to provide Rs 20 tickets. None of these bozos know what it takes to run a business which is what IR is all about.

Absolutely agreed. These kind of things frustrate me like hell too. She has taken first step towards making IR admin a socialist regime by announcing Rs 20 tickets. Like everyone in this thread have been saying, wait a couple years to see a huge loss on IR's balance sheet. India has some serious problems in it's democratic system. Hell, I would not even call India a fully democratic country. Partially I would blame Indian people for electing such idiots to run an organization. I don't even live there so it does not affect me directly but still I feel anger towards India's socio-political issues. I really feel bad for a billion plus people of India. Screw her. I am done talking for now. :puke:

Absolutely agreed. These kind of things frustrate me like hell too. She has taken first step towards making IR admin a socialist regime by announcing Rs 20 tickets. Like everyone in this thread have been saying, wait a couple years to see a huge loss on IR's balance sheet. India has some serious problems in it's democratic system. Hell, I would not even call India a fully democratic country. Partially I would blame Indian people for electing such idiots to run an organization. I don't even live there so it does not affect me directly but still I feel anger towards India's socio-political issues. I really feel bad for a billion plus people of India. Screw her. I am done talking for now. :puke:

^^This is all very frustrating. Democracy or freedom means nothing at all to the poor and more of a joke to the educated. The years of being crippled under a socialist regime has given a different dimension to democracy where the common man thinks democracy starts with and ends with a fight for one's rights. Politician's fully well exploit this. Sad state of affairs:mad:

With reference to MB, all she has done so far is opposing the CPM and have never ever been successful at implementation. This role is a acid test for her. Let us see what she manages to do.

Mamata is going to turn India into a freaking welfare state like England and Canada. And we know how those countries turned out to be.

India needs to get rid of such European thought processes asap and adopt the good ol American ways if it wants any credibility in the future.


Alas, if they are going to make special arrangements for the poor, then they better come up with better bogeys for the rich. I don't mind paying Rs 100 for daily train fare if I can be seated in an AC plush seating compartment with glass windows that cannot be opened. (eh..this is india, thats too much to ask for)

If Mamata manages to make Indian Railways even 1/10 of Canada's, Europe's, or America's, we will all be grateful regardless of her method.

England and Canada fare million times better in Infrastructure than America. There's only a handful of cities in America that even have a Metro. The good ol American thought process is BS. For India to reach the levels it wants to a lot of things has to be done and we can't sit back and enjoy like the good ol Americans who have little to enjoy.

^^^^

I am hoping you would improve that "BS" thought process for the Americans, right? :)

I'm with ImBoredNow. Don't look at the American passenger rail system for a second if you want big ideas. I've already elaborated on this forum about how IR and the DMRC are a breath of fresh air compared to the crap we call the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. If you want freight though, welcome to the land of the GEVO and SD70MAC.

Todscreen, as reflected by your misunderstanding of the nature of English, Canadian, and American systems, you have a lot of reading to do in the field of economics before anyone here can take your writing without a grain of salt.
Either that, or get out of your redneck-infested peach tree. :-)

I'm with ImBoredNow. Don't look at the American passenger rail system for a second if you want big ideas. I've already elaborated on this forum about how IR and the DMRC are a breath of fresh air compared to the crap we call the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. If you want freight though, welcome to the land of the GEVO and SD70MAC.

Todscreen, as reflected by your misunderstanding of the nature of English, Canadian, and American systems, you have a lot of reading to do in the field of economics before anyone here can take your writing without a grain of salt.
Either that, or get out of your redneck-infested peach tree. :-)
excuse me?

India is a big country like the united states. I suggested that India follow the American model which advocates more air travel than rail. That way, Indian railways will become more exlusive and the rich can once again own their own train bogeys. I want my own carriage.

^^ :rofl:

excuse me?

India is a big country like the united states. I suggested that India follow the American model which advocates more air travel than rail. That way, Indian railways will become more exlusive and the rich can once again own their own train bogeys. I want my own carriage.

dude no matter what the other forumers have to say..
but u'r smart at least when it comes to weird thoughts..

We now have the complete Kangress NPA political team in charge of Railways:

Mamta Bannerjee - Minister of Railways
E Ahamed and K H Muniyappa Minister of State of Railways

Hope they do a good job and not screw up railways further into the stone age.
And, I hope the Minister of State for Railways tempers the mad socialist Mamta Bannerjee and quietly go about the businees of reform and modernization.

Bannerjee

I guess you meant. BAN HER JEE :)

^^ Yes...


Here is another funny statistics...

47 crorepatis in new Manmohan Singh govt (http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/000200905290373.htm)

With nearly Rs 90 crore, Praful Patel is the richest member of the Manmohan Singh government while Mamata Banerjee ranks at the bottom of the table.

There are 47 crorepatis out of the 79 ministers in the new government with Congress, which has the largest share of ministries, having the largest number of crorepati at 38.

NCP's Mr. Praful Patel, who was sworn in as a Minister of State with Independent charge on Thursday, boasts of assets worth Rs 89.90 crore while Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who has assumed charge of the Railway Ministry has declared a modest wealth Rs 4.73 lakh.

Mr. Patel, elected from Bhandara-Gondia constituency in Maharashtra, is followed by Congress' Preneet Kaur from Patiala, with Rs 42.30 crore assets. Kapil Sibal has declared assets worth Rs 31.9 crore, independent organisation Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has claimed in a report complied from the details furnished by the candidates in affidavits filed along with their nomination papers during the elections.

Among the less rich ministers, Ms. Banerjee is followed by Trinamool colleague Adhikari Sisir Kumar with Rs 10.8 lakh of wealth and Kerala MP Antony with Rs 14.24 lakh worth of assets.


If you believe the declared assets of Politicians then you believe in the tooth fairy. I don't know whether I should laugh or cry when Mamta claims a few lakhs as net worth. It takes 1000's of crores to contest and win elections and Didi wants us to believe this nonsense. Most politicians are $ multi-millionaires and those who are in plum ministries have become $ billionaires. Looting in the old days was a few lakhs here and there, nowadays the order of magnitude has jumped to the thousands of crores. The Kangress Party must have collectively stashed away $100s Billions in Swiss Bank accounts over the few decades of its rule. It is safe to say around 10% of project amount is going into pockets of Indian ministers, babus and officials. Yes corruption has eaten into the fabric of daily living in India in staggering amounts.

Damn, BTW what does Praful Patel do? He has officially declared his assets at $18M.

beedi king of maharashtra. worth multiples of that

^^

Just understand the con of your argument, if we have one bad rotten apple managing all 3 that would be a disaster of the highest order.

Understood and I agree :). But I am still game for that system being tried, we currently have n number of rotten apples and things are pathetic :eek2:..it probably can't get any worse with one rotten apple who would give speeches, wear galrands & smile for photographs but not interfere with planning, design&construction, procurement & operation of transportation infrastructure. Setting policies and passing legislations to regulate stuff is anyway not one man's show and is done by the parliament.
These quazi good for nothing IAS folks have to go. These IAS folks are the neither here nor there kind of characters who are neither jack of all trades nor masters of anything.

I guess you meant. BAN HER JEE :)lmao

Mr. Buddhadev would have liked you!

KERALA RAJADHANI EXP will run 4 times a week as per the minister. Expecting Daily service in the near future from E. Ahamed (Minister of states for Railways)

KERALA RAJADHANI EXP will run 4 times a week as per the minister. Expecting Daily service in the near future from E. Ahamed (Minister of states for Railways)

I am not faulting you for your enthusiasm for train service, but I find this business downright annoying and stupid. Why should a minister be involved in capacity planning for traffic. If they have enough traffic for the week the IR planning team should run the trains howsoever frequent it deems. That is the only logical way to do business. Every tom, dick and harry minister comes up with inane pronouncements as if they did in-depth capacity planning. We have to put an end to this regionalism crap. I wish, for a change, Indian states were drawn up based on geographically natural boundaries like rivers or straight lines instead of linguistic chauvinism.

Indian Railway has so many immediate priorities to work upon. Firstly the uni-gauge project needs completion immediately. Electrification is the next priority. Then comes the upgrade to all major railway stations. The Indian Railway train needs a complete revamp for modern times - a Tata Nano like project should address this venture. On time, safe journeys is highly important. A good plan to remove any and all artificial constraints for unfettered railway travel from anywhere in India to anywhere. A complete rationalization of travel, perhaps a hub and spoke model or a golden quad fast corridor with plenty of feeder lines, something that makes sense and caters to convenient travel options for the public. Modern day surveys, opinion polls, market research are all available tools that should be used to come up with feasible plans and tweak them if needed.

Indian Railways evaluates new methods of disposing waste

Mumbai (PTI) In an attempt to go green over garbage handling, the Indian Railways is evaluating new methods to ensure that it is disposed only at designated locations, a senior official said here.

"We are trying to think of new methods of solid waste management and are looking at some methods to crush solid garbage on the train itself to make it more manageable," Rakesh Tandon, MD Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) said.

"We are also evaluating non-burning methods to deal with the garbage and some firms have shown interest (in such projects). We are exploring the possibilities," Mr. Tandon said.

Indian Railways, which is the largest rail network in Asia, operates close to 11,000 trains daily of which at least 7,000 are passenger trains.

Each passenger train generates approximately 150 kg of garbage daily, only part of which is bio-degradable, and there were problems in managing such large quantities of garbage, he said.

IRCTC was also considering to introduce garbage disposal units on the train itself which would able to dispose vegetable and other bio-degradable waste.

The Railways has already designated 600 stations across the country which would be responsible for the handling of garbage and caterers are instructed to carry sufficient material on board train to ensure cleanliness, Mr. Tandon said.

Source:- http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200905311607.htm

Railway revenue earnings up by 5.28 per cent during the period 11th – 20th May 2009


The total approximate earnings of Indian Railways on originating basis during the period 11th May – 20th May 2009 were Rs. 2267.43 crore compared to Rs. 2153.79 crore during the same period last year, registering an increase of 5.28 per cent.

The total goods earnings have gone up from Rs. 1475.24 crore during 11th May – 20th May 2008 to Rs. 1525.72 crore during 11th May – 20th May 2009, showing an increase of 3.42 per cent. The total passenger revenue earnings during the period 11th to 20th May 2009 were Rs. 661.58 crore compared to Rs. 608.40 crore during the same period last year, reflecting an increase of 8.74 per cent. The revenue earnings from other coaching amounted to Rs. 63.21 crore during this period compared to Rs. 52.22 crore during the same period last year, showing an increase of 21.05 per cent.

The total approximate number of passengers booked during the period 11th to 20th May 2009 were 205.24 million compared to 190.96 million during the same period last year, showing an increase of 7.48 per cent. In the suburban and non-suburban sectors, the number of passengers booked during 11–20 May 2009 were 105.85 million and 99.39 million compared to 100.79 million and 90.17 million during the same period last year, registering an increase of 5.02 per cent and 10.23 per cent respectively.

Source:- http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=48984

Railways to start paid service for travel info



MUMBAI: Soon you will be able to know details of your long-distance train journey by simply dialling a number or sending an SMS. You will also be
able to book a taxi or hotel room. However, a fee will have to be paid for the service.

The Indian Railways will be introducing a paid 138 inquiry number in three to four months to complement the free 139 number presently in use.

Presently, if you dial or send an SMS to 139, you can get basic information like train arrival and departure times and PNR status. You can also get the tentative arrival time of a delayed train.

The 138 service, for which you must register and pay a fee, will help commuters find out their seat number, the platform the train will be at and position of their coach. Travellers can also book hotels, tourist taxis and tours, and get information on the railway timetable. In Delhi, travellers are already booking taxis on the 139 number, a service that will be later shifted to 138.

Travellers will be able to register for the 138 service either online or through the mobile. "The 139 service has been overloaded with inquires and it is impossible to start any new services on it. So we decided to start 138. We will have a tie-up with network providers,'' said Rakesh Tandon, MD, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).

Tandon also said that by March 2010, all control-rooms are expected to be computerised, so travellers will then get more specific information about delayed trains.

Meanwhile, after the immense success of the low-cost non-air-conditioned Bharat Darshan special tourist train, which has made nine trips and carried 4,000 passengers, the IRCTC has decided to start an AC chartered train from Mumbai to Jammu and back. The 13-night, 14-day trip will include both religious as well as sight-seeing spots, including Vaishnodevi and Amarnathji.

The IRCTC has said it is also focusing on keeping trains cleaner. The IRCTC has chosen 600 locations across the country where contractors deposit garbage generated on trains.

"We started this project in 2007 and 600 points have already been nominated. This will ensure cleaner trains,'' said Tandon. He added that they may reduce the points in the future.

Every long-distance coach generates 15 kg of garbage a day. Considering that on an average each train has 14 coaches, each train generates 210 kg of wate per day. If around 1,000 trains run daily, then nationwide 210 tonnes of garbage is generated.

Source:- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/Railways-to-start-paid-service-for-travel-info/articleshow/4590898.cms

LATEST NEWS
Protest in Bihar as Mamata stops train halts ordered by Lalu
1 Jun 2009, 1352 hrs IST, TIMES NEWS NETWORK & AGENCIES


PATNA: An angry mob in Bihar torched a train and a station Monday to protest a new rail schedule that has trains skipping stops at their station, railway police said. No injuries were reported. ( Watch )

Television footage showed orange flames and black smoke billowing out of the train that was stopped just outside the Khusrupur train station. ( Watch )

Around 200 protesters set the train station on fire and pulled up train tracks, causing delays to dozens of trains, said senior railway police officer Rajender Singh.

The new schedule is the result of a political reshuffle following last month's national elections, with the new Railway minister Mamata Banerjee overturning the policy of the outgoing minister Lalu Yadav, a Bihar political strongman.

Yadav had major trains stopping at dozens of smaller stations in his home state.

The Railway Board had also asked the ECR authorities to withdraw stoppages of as many as 33 trains, including Howrah-Patna Janshatabdi Express, Rajgir-New Delhi Shramjeevi Express and Toofan Express at smaller stations.

The change angered Khusrupur residents who watched in vain as the Patna-Calcutta train sped by. Khusrupur is about 18 miles (30 kilometers) east of Patna, the capital of Bihar.

``That train did not stop there, so they went berserk and attacked the Dhanapur intercity express,'' Singh said.

Lalu Prasad, meanwhile, is likely to face another setback with the Railway Board putting all the nearly 250 halts, including 100 unauthorised ones, created during his stint as Railway minister, under scanner.

The Railway Board had asked the East Central Railway (Hajipur) to examine the economic viability of these halts and if found commercially unviable,to initiate steps to close them down, ECR's General Manager Girish Bhatnagar said here.

The halts, under five divisions of the ECR, are creating hurdles in the smooth running of the trains, Bhatnagar said.

"We have received a communication in this regard a week ago and have identified nearly three dozen such halts, which are generating almost negligible revenue," Bhatnagar said.

Bhatnagar, however, tried to downplay the Railway Board's move saying its decision had no relation with change of guard at the Rail Bhavan.

"Most of these halts have been opened on an experimental basis and the railways review their viability every six months," he said.

"This again has nothing to do with the change as these stoppages have been introduced on trial basis and some during Kosi floods on humanitarian measure," he pointed out.

Against 89 stations in ECR's Danapur division, there are 140 halts and at least four-dozen illegal halts, while Samastipur division has 106 stations and 57 halts followed by Dhanbad division — 104 stations and 25 halts.

According to Railway officials, Mugalsarai division of the ECR has less than half-a-dozen halts, while the Sonepur division, has less than two-dozen halts.

The mob also destroyed several electronic and other railway operation equipment and signal system, besides the ticket booking counter, Singh said.

Reinforcements were sent to Khusrupur station to control the situation, he said.

Senior railway and police officers have reached the spot and patrolling was intensified as tension ran high in the area, Singh added.

good luck to Railways with Mamata at the helm!

ummm ok, you don't give in to this kind of bullshit. if an angry mob comes and destroys a railway line and disrupts national trains and signalling, they need to not only all be arrested and face a reasonable amount of punishment, but these fuckers need to never do this again. the only way to insure this is by upping security. i hear that in Bombay they prevented another terrorist attack a few days ago. the problem with the railways (in addition to its being over half a century behind in most aspects) is the lack of security. in case you have forgotten, 26/11 did involve terrorists attacking CST, which they luckily responded to (hopefully not just from international pressure).


Change is coming, hopefully with this new minister that everyones been complaining about.

business as usual in india. collect a mob, get violent, destroy public property, beat up a few people and the government will put you in jail and throw away the key, oops, i mean they will do whatever you demand

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/Web/Article/2009/06/04/001/04_06_2009_001_004.jpg

Source: Hindustan Times

Contd Here

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/Web/Article/2009/06/04/015/04_06_2009_015_003.jpg

Source: Hindustan Times

Mmm.. Macher Jhol. Yumm.
What next Mammaji? Mishti Dhoi, Ghoogni, Bandhakopir Dalna, Chola Dal, Aloo Post ? No sarcasm here guys but Bengali cuisine is simply... a food lovers heaven ! Not to mention those sweets.

p2p4


Source: Hindustan Times[/QUOTE]

If she will keep "FRESH BENGALI SWEETS" in the menu, it would be just awesome.

Not sure about the Machher Jhol part - might be a torture to a lot of people - let people and not Mamata choose what they want to eat.

Nice part was removing the halts in Bihar - she has got rid of a lot of nonsense there. And if she introduces something similar in West Bengal then she will be simply shifting the nonsense instead of removing it - hope she does not do it.

______________________________________________________
Online literature (http://www.webliterature.net)

Nice part was removing the halts in Bihar

for a few hours. cue a riot, some train burning and the halts have been restored. mamata has washed her hands off the episode saying she didnt authorise stopping the halts

MORE COMFORTS FOR RAILWAY PASSENGERS

Mysore, June 3 (DV&HT)-Henceforth, passengers of Mysore-Bangalore trains can have entertainment during journey to come out of their travel fatigue.

In addition to entertainment, the passengers can have complete information about the journey during the 3-hour journey.

The South Western Railway has decided to provide entertainment to passengers through satellite-based GPRS (General Pocket Radio Service) tracking system in addition to frequent display of journey particulars, stations reaching and Railway time-table on the small screen.

The new technology of GPRS tracking system developed by Focus at Global Inc. of Bangalore, first of its kind in the country, is being tried on an experimental basis in one of the Mysore-Bangalore train.

The passengers can hear songs and watch cinema recorded in DVD and VCD in addition to information on Railways. Under this system, action is being taken to instal 22' LCD TV in each bogie at a prominent place.

Trail run

The system was introduced in one compartment on an experimental basis in the Chamundi Express train from Mysore to Bangalore which left Mysore at 6.30 am today, Sr. Divisional Commercial Manager Dr. Anup Dayanand told Star of Mysore.

After eliciting the opinion of the passengers about the new system, if the opinions are positive, the system will be introduced in all Mysore-Bangalore trains, he said.

http://www.starofmysore.com/main.asp?type=news&item=20777

Double-decker AC coaches soon

K. Balchand


NEW DELHI: In a major decision aimed at upgrading railway facilities, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has ordered designing, developing and manufacturing of AC double-decker coaches.

Ms. Banerjee said both national and regional cuisine would be served on trains. While idli would be served in the southern zones, sattu would be served in zones covering Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and fish curry for Bengalis.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/06/05/stories/2009060559471200.htm

Chennai-Mysore Shadabdi express to get LHB coaches:

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=TOICH/2009/06/05/5/Img/Pc0050800.jpg

CHENNAI-MYSORE SHATABDI TO GET NEW-LOOK COACHES
Hi-Speed, Hi-Capacity Compartments Designed In Germany
V Ayyappan | TNN

Chennai: Soon, passengers travelling on the Chennai-Mysore Shatabdi Express will have a comfortable and faster journey with Southern Railway planning to introduce new-look, high-speed and high-capacity coaches, of German design, in the train. A rake of 14 coaches, including the luggage van, made at the Rail Coach Factory (RCF) in Kapurthala under transfer of technology from Alstom LHB Germany is being introduced for the first time in south India.
As the bogies are better designed, the train can achieve speeds up to 150 kmph without affecting comfort, officials said.
According to officials, the superior design of the stainless steel coaches ensures better amenities and high capacity without cutting down on leg space. A chair-car can seat 78 passengers while an executive chair-car coach can seat 56. This means the train with the new coaches will be able to carry 70 more passengers. Each LHB coach has a stainless steel body, advanced pneumatic disc brake system for efficient braking at high speeds, modular interior that integrates lighting into ceiling and luggage racks, state-ofthe-art interiors with wider windows, attractive upholstery, ergonomical seats, air-conditioning system with microprocessor-governed humidity control and in-coach pantry.
“The interiors have been designed with screw-less panels to improve aesthetics. Windows will have roller blinds instead of cloth curtains,” said a senior railway official. The coaches have been brought to Basin Bridge Train Care Centre for pre-induction trials. Commissioner of Railway Safety K J S Naidu inspected the coaches on Thursday.
“Anti-graffiti coating on the trains will make it easier to clean. The stains can be easily wiped away. Graffiti scratched on to coaches often deface a conventional painted coach,” an official said.
Sources said the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) had received the design and would make only such coaches in the future. Once production starts, all Shatabdi coaches will be replaced with LHB model coaches in the future as “railways wants such coaches to be made widespread across the country,” said an official.
Indian Railways imported LHB coaches for some time before technology was transferred in 1999 and production was assigned to the RCF. Similar highspeed coaches are currently running on Delhi-Lucknow, Delhi-Amritsar, Delhi-Kolkata Shatabdi trains and Delhi-Patna, Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Guwahati Rajdhani trains.
Southern Railway chief public relations officer Neenu Ittyerah said the coaches would be inducted after Commissioner of Railway Safety certified them.

TOI

^^wow, somes good news coming from railways. shatabdi getting new look and india getting double deck AC coaches hehe:banana:

nice.. now just dont mess up with the paint job

I wonder why the regional media in Karnataka is so ignorant of things which are happening in other parts of India.

I am seeing ‘First of its kind in India’ the second time today regarding Mysore. First about the semi low floor buses+ electronic ticket machines and now this ‘GPRS’ tracking.

First of all, the reporter doesnot know the difference between GPS & GPRS.

Secondly for him, it is 'TRAIL' RUN and not 'TRIAL' RUN. Anyway it is more apt if we go exactly by the word meaning:lol:

‘GPS’ and not ‘GPRS’ is there in trains from around 2006. (General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is related with mobile telephony where as GPS is the Global Positioning System based on satellites. It was introduced in Trivandrum- Ernakulam Jan Shatabdi in 2006 or so. I had even posted photos of that in this thread itself, somewhere back. I have recently seen the LED display boards for GPS in Bangalore-Trivandrum Garib Rath also.

Similarly the entertainment system of TV/ DVD Players in coaches were introduced in some commuter trains in Kerala about 2-3 years back. I had seen it in Trivandrum-Ernakulam Intercity exp. I think it was discontinued about a year or so, not much sure.




The South Western Railway has decided to provide entertainment to passengers through satellite-based GPRS (General Pocket Radio Service) tracking system in addition to frequent display of journey particulars, stations reaching and Railway time-table on the small screen.

The new technology of GPRS tracking system developed by Focus at Global Inc. of Bangalore, first of its kind in the country, is being tried on an experimental basis in one of the Mysore-Bangalore train.

The passengers can hear songs and watch cinema recorded in DVD and VCD in addition to information on Railways. Under this system, action is being taken to instal 22' LCD TV in each bogie at a prominent place.

http://www.starofmysore.com/main.asp?type=news&item=20777

Chennai-Mysore Shadabdi express to get LHB coaches:

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=TOICH/2009/06/05/5/Img/Pc0050800.jpg

TOI

are thesee ALSTOM LHB rakes??
or has the ICF done the damage??
the coach looks battered to me.. :ohno:

are thesee ALSTOM LHB rakes??
or has the ICF done the damage??
the coach looks battered to me.. :ohno:

These indeed are Alstom coaches. The battered look is a result of a botched attempt to make stainless-steel finish coaches (a.l.a DMRC style coaches). However, the attempt failed and what resulted were coaches without Putty on them. Putty is used to "make-up" the finish, and minor dents/weld marks are camouflaged using Putty.

These coaches do not have putty finish, and hence the steel gives a battered look. These coaches are coated with anti-rust treatment, and anti-graffitti treatment. I heard that they are given a single coat of silver paint, with blue lines across. These coaches would perhaps get the Putty finish at the time POH (after two years).

The exterior finish quality is pathetic. Even hand hammered look (the ones on steel utensil vessels) look better. The original LHB coach looked much better. IR retained the look of its existing coaches (which are crappy) and botched up the entire coach look. Wonder if these LHB coaches have fixed the "open toilet" problem.

I feel Bombardier can be contracted to come up with a sleek Indian coach at its Gujarat plant. Close down IR's junky coach factory and send those guys into retirement, maybe Bombardier can hire the better ones. IR designed coach is a true relic, out of balance with so many accessories slapped on willy nilly, just peer underneath one to see what I am talking about. Suspensions are the worst design. There is so much cross movement at high speeds.

If Indian designers can come up with Tata Nano concept, I don't see why IR can't do a similar project. Completely redesign the Indian train from Engine to coach. I am sure the young engineers can come up with something spectacular, something to be proud of. The design would be state of the art, rides would be smooth, etc. Instead we have a bumbling IR, bumbling ministers and bumbling babus.

I agree with barrykul. ICF is pathetic. Crude welds, zero comfort, water leaks, cross movement etc. Time to privatize or close down.

i say nuke the icf. we are never going to use our nukes in war anyways, so why waste them

Govt lines up Rs 1 lakh cr for Metro projects (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Transportation/Govt-lines-up-Rs-1-lakh-cr-for-Metro-projects/articleshow/4623402.cms)

VADODARA: The government will pump in over Rs 1 lakh crore in the Metro rail projects that are under consideration for major cities in the country.
Currently, Metro rail projects are in progress at various stages in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, while projects are under evaluation for Pune, Lucknow, Kochi, Ludhiana and Jaipur among others.

With increasing number of projects under implementation for modern mass transportation, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is now eyeing to offer its consultancy to other nations.

Managing director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) E Sreedharan said: "DMRC will expand its network to 190 km by 2010, making it one of the largest networks in the world. Metro rail projects are progressing in various other cities, where we are expected to pump in Rs 1 lakh crore in the days to come. India will require 250-300 coaches per year."

Mr Sreedharan was in Vadodara on Friday to roll out the first metro coach manufactured at Bombardier’s facility at Savli near Vadodara. He added that with the increasing scope of work, the cost of executing Metro projects has gone down 4-5%, despite the surge in inflation in recent years.

Its always been my wishful thinking that they close ICF for churning out coaches
that are pathetic in quality or make them learn how to make modern rail coaches, just
like how AAI has learnt the hardway to build some modern airports with some level of sleekness.

bottomline is maintenance of these coaches should also be contracted out to a reputed infras. company.

Secondly for him, it is 'TRAIL' RUN and not 'TRIAL' RUN. Anyway it is more apt if we go exactly by the word meaning:lol:


What is a TRAIL run?

^^ 'TRAIL' as in 'Follow', 'Tail' etc. (Meaning it is not leading, but tailing)

^^ 'TRAIL' as in 'Follow', 'Tail' etc. (Meaning it is not leading, but tailing)

I'm not asking the meaning of the word TRAIL. I'm asking what a "TRAIL run" is. What is the purpose of this (test?) and how do they do it.

^^Ya, I too don't know what the reporter meant:lol: It could be TRIAL run.

NEW DELHI: Nothing seems to be working for Lalu Prasad these days. The RJD chief, who is reeling from the humiliating defeat in Lok Sabha elections
and the subsequent loss of power, may soon suffer another damage as the railway ministry under Mamata Banerjee is considering to shift to West Bengal the two locomotive factories worth Rs 30,000 crore he planned for his home state of Bihar.

Sources confirmed that the ministry was exploring the possibility of moving the two projects -- a diesel locomotive factory at Chapra and an electric locomotive factory at Madhepura -- to Banerjee's West Bengal.

A senior railway official said, "The ministry is exploring the possibility of shifting the project to West Bengal, but the final decision will be taken at the highest level -- Union Cabinet." He added, "The decision on shifting the location will be a political one."

If the plan comes to fruition, it will mark a crushing blow to Lalu, at a time when he is fast losing his supporters to his adversary, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.

The former railway minister managed to get around serious problems about the viability of their location to get the two loco plants sited in his Lok Sabha constituencies of Chapra and Madhepura.

The relocation of the mega projects in investment-starved West Bengal will give the Trinamool chief a huge bragging point over her rival, the CPM. It will also compensate her for the loss that she suffered under NDA when she failed to prevent the bifurcation of Kolkata-based Eastern Railway to allott a significant part of its jurisdiction to East Central Railway which is headquartered in Hajipur, Bihar.

Interestingly, in that instance, Banerjee was outmanoeuvered by Nitish Kumar, the then railway minister. Nitish had rallied state governments of diverse stripes, using their desire to have railway zones located within their boundaries, to get around the objections raised by Banerjee.

It was just before Lok Sabha elections that Lalu, recognising the heavy odds stacked against him, managed to get the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs to greenlight the Chapra and Madhepura projects with an estimated cost of Rs 30,000 crore.

Sources said that after taking charge of the ministry, Banerjee is understood to have asked Railway Board officials to review all pending projects, including the two Bihar projects.

The fate of the two projects was uncertain even before the change of guard at Rail Bhawan as the mode of implementation was changed many times. The projects, which were initially to be implemented on PPP basis, were hurriedly changed to joint venture. Planning Commission officials handling infrastructure sector were of the view that railway ministry would find it difficult to attract private players even in joint venture mode, considering problems associated with the location -- like law and order, land acquisition and recurrent floods.

Lalu realised this and managed to get Cabinet approval to implement these projects as departmental units.

Elated at the possibility of these projects coming to their home state, a Trinamool functionary described this as a "welcome move".



http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Lalus-projects-may-move-to-Bengal/articleshow/4693967.cms

ah. indian politics at its best. why do we have a railways ministry again? cant it be corporatised? oh yes, buying votes. forgot that bit

In last years budget Lalu had set up funds for Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri project , thus connecting Bilaspur, Himachal to Kiratpur Sahib (I think), Punjab thus to Chandigarh, Ambala etc...

Does anyone have any updates/information on progress in this segment ?