ya it will add to the landscape of Goa. And in case of Mumbai ,if we put some brains into it and design a robust structure we can run metro above and the sky bus below the same structure.

What's the need of running 2 sets of rails on the same viaduct, when metro alone can handle the load ?

Western Railway commuters will have to continue to jostle for space for at least the next one year as the WR has no plan of increasing services till March 2011. The ever rising population of daily commuters will have to make space on the existing trains, of which some of the nine-car rakes will be augmented to 12-car ones.
The main constraint, said WR officials, was that the direct current (DC) traction—which powers the trains—had been saturated and new rakes were not available. In fact, the problem is so acute that this financial year, the WR has added just 14 new services. Of them, 12 were made possible following the introduction of a 15-car rake, while two others were added after the railways started running a ladies special. The total number of services on the line today stands at 1,210.
The WR is in the process of switching over from 1,500-volt DC to 25,000-volt AC. At the end of the month, all four lines between Virar and Borivli would be AC powered and by March next year, WR aims at converting the entire section up to Churchgate.
WR chief PRO S S Gupta said the focus right now lay in the augmentation of new services rather than adding any new services. “Every time a train is augmented, it converts into a 33% increase in capacity which also provides the much-needed respite to the commuters. Adding new services is not possible before the entire section is converted into AC as DC can no longer handle the load. New rakes are also not available,’’ he said.
Gupta added that by March 2011, all trains would become 12-car and after that, they would be working towards augmenting those to 15-car ones. He said over the past five years, there had been a commuter growth of 7%-8%, while the capacity has increased by 25%, which they had attained by augmenting the rakes and adding to services. “Between February 2008 and February 2010, we have progressively added as many as 160 services,’’ he said. AC traction would require work on substations and finding technical solutions to low height bridges as AC overhead wires require larger clearances due to its higher power.
By June, the WR will also start services between Virar and Dahanu, but a source said with long-distance trains already running in that section, the number would not be even in double digits initially.

Source: TNN

ya it will add to the landscape of Goa. And in case of Mumbai ,if we put some brains into it and design a robust structure we can run metro above and the sky bus below the same structure.

and who will design such a structure which can bear the load both above and below?

India and Nepal are set to ink an agreement to provide railway connectivity and augment existing lines between the two countries. Once constructed, these rail lines will provide India better access to the Madhes (Terai) region of the Himalayan country. The agreement is likely to be signed during the ongoing visit of Nepal President Ram Baran Yadav to India.

Yadav is slated to meet President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Tuesday.

While India has been exploring the possibilities of setting up new rail lines through five different routes, two of these routes — the 17.65-km long stretch between Jogbani (India) and Viratnagar (Nepal) and the 70 km long stretch from Jaynagar (India) to Birdibas (Nepal) via Baijalpura (Nepal) — are likely to be given top priority and will form the core of the agreement to be signed.

Srinagar: If things go as planned by Omar Abdullah, you will soon be able to take a speed tour of the Paradise on Earth.
The lurking terror threat notwithstanding, the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister is considering starting metro rail services in the state’s twin capitals.

“To overcome traffic jams and congestion and considering the increasing expanse of Jammu and Srinagar, the government is working on a proposal to start metro services in the twin capitals,” Omar said.

The government plans to conduct a traffic analysis by RITES, a government infrastructure development enterprise, and then approach the Delhi Metro Railway Corporation (DMRC) for a detailed project report that will include the feasibility and financial requirements.

“We will soon have the feasibility of metro services in both cities analysed by experts. Ideally, we would like DMRC to send a team and prepare a project report,” minister for urban development Nasir Aslam Wani said.

“Once we have the project report, we will focus on the finances. After that the construction will start. No time frame has been set, however,” Nasir said.

Travel operators were circumspect. “It is [the proposal] good and will boost tourism. But it is a time-consuming process. We first want the state to increase the frequency of flights between Srinagar and Leh to tap summer tourists,” GM Dag, chairman of J&K Tourism Alliance, said.

hehehe :D

:lol:By the way what is the population of srinagar? :blahblah: :colbert:

Ministers don't see population/feasibility etc before announcing things. BTW one avid metro supporter from SSC would be most happy if it gets built :D

ANI
Siliguri, Feb 16 (ANI): The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society (DHRS), a voluntary organization, is on a lookout for the development of the 'Toy Train' West Bengal, with an aim to revive tourism.

Cutting across the steep terrains, the Darjeeling Himalaya Railway or the 'Toy Train' is a two feet narrow gauge railway from Siliguri to Darjeeling run by the Indian Railways. Tourists from all over the world come to visit this place to take ride in this toy train, but for the past few years, the services of the have been affected a number of times due to political movements and the random protests by the ethnic Gorkhas.

As a result, the services were being suspended and the tourists coming from abroad had to suffer.

DHRS, an organization formed by people from 24 countries including India, was on having its annual meeting in India to discuss the development of tourism using the Toy Train.

David Barry, Chairman of DHRS in England, said that they are looking forward to promote toy train worldwide in a bid to attract more and more tourists to Darjeeling.

"We do lots and lots of ways to publicize it in the UK. We have talks, and distribute films about it. We make whole stations on preserve railways in Darjeeling. We decorate the train and we get a lot of publicity and media attention. That is how we hope to promote it and bring people here to visit it and experience the magic for themselves," Barry added.

The head of DHRS India support group, Rajendra Kumar Baid said that they are focussing on the improvement of the DHR services and betterment of the people along the DHR line.

"We are planning and discussing on how to improve the services? How to improve the DHR aspect of the services? Moreover, we want to do more social work for the betterment of the people along the DHR line," said Baid.

Ministers don't see population/feasibility etc before announcing things. BTW one avid metro supporter from SSC would be most happy if it gets built :D

Even the reporters and media jump to conclusion and start telling that a metro is coming here.

TOI
Mamata gets green light for 14 state projects
Mahendra Kumar Singh & Nitin Sethi | TNN

New Delhi: Amid much heated and emotionally charged deliberations, railway minister Mamata Banerjee leaned on the Union Cabinet on Thursday to get around 14 rail projects cleared for her home state West Bengal, ignoring financial and environmental concerns.
With assembly polls approaching, the railway minister, desperate to bag goodies for Bengal in the coming rail budget, rushed for the approval from the Cabinet for around 25 projects, out of which 14 are in Bengal. Sources present in the meeting, however, said most of the projects were “premature”.
With the Trinamool Congress chief wanting fasttrack clearance of 25 projects, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave the green signal to 18 of her proposals ignoring its own decision that the ministry has to come out with detailed funding pattern for the projects which are economically unviable but are taken up on social considerations. The proposals included some for coal carriage and two lines for Meghalaya as well as another for a southern state.

Work on DFC going on in full swing

Kumod Verma , TNN, Feb 20, 2010, 04.38am IST

PATNA: Work on dedicated freight corridor (DFC) on both eastern and western regions has been going on in full swing. The railways intends to complete this project at an estimated cost of about Rs 50,000 crore latest by 2016-2017 to give an impetus to freight and goods loading.

The corridor of the eastern region linking Dankuni in West Bengal to Ludhiana in Punjab is likely to prove a boon for the railways and business community. It will pass through Asansol, Gomoh, Sonnagar, Mughalsarai, Kanpur, Khurja and Saharanpur.

The civil work of the eastern corridor, which was inaugurated by Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi at Dehri-on-Sone on February 10, 2009, will give a boost to railway economy. This ambitious project covering a stretch of about 1,806 km will be completed in a record time at an estimated cost of Rs 23,500 crore while the western corridor is likely to cost about Rs 26,124 crore.

According to a Railway Board official, goods traffic has been the mainstay of the Indian Railways yielding about 80 per cent revenue from freight traffic only. The railways has registered a substantial increase in the goods loading segment, he said, adding the construction of the DFC would attract more market for the railways to carry goods from one place to another across the country.

The proposed eastern corridor will be a rare gift to the business community belonging to West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and Punjab as their goods would be carried to their destination on priority basis. Moreover, the goods trains will run at 100 kmph on this corridor, a Board official said.

According to the official, iron, coal, cement and other minerals are being sent from Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal to other parts of the country. Similarly, these states are the major recipients of other products from Punjab and Haryana to cater to the needs of business community.

According to sources, the railways has already suffered a huge loss due to sudden freight rate discount on various items meant for export. The container traffic has registered about 40 per cent decline during the past few months.

According to a Board official, the railways has set up a Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL) to expedite early completion of the project for which international agencies, including Japan Bank, World Bank and Asian Development Bank, have been providing funds.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/Work-on-DFC-going-on-in-full-swing-/articleshow/5594545.cms

Work on BIA rail link from July

Express News Service
First Published : 20 Feb 2010 06:49:39 AM IST
Last Updated : 20 Feb 2010 08:34:53 AM IST

BANGALORE: Running some seven metres above the many magic boxes along the Bellary Road and going underground to duck the electronic systems of the Air Force Station at Yelahanka, it promises a smart chug to the Bengaluru International Air port (BIA). The work on the 34-km High Speed Rail Link (HSRL) to BIA is set to start in July.

According to the Principal Secretary (Infrastructure) V Madhu, the state government on Thursday received the revised draft of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) on HSRL from the the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).

Madhu said the government has shortlisted five bidders — consortia led by Tatas, Reliance, L&T, ICM and Lanco.

Taking into account the three months time required for the tender process upon the call for request for qualification (RFQ) and the issue of the work order, the project can be expected to start in July, Madhu said. Quoting DMRC chairperson E Sreedharan, he also said that the project could be operationalised in 32 months after the start of construction.

As per the revised estimate, the HSRL linking MG Road in the city and the BIA will cost Rs 6,000 crore; an earlier estimate had pegged it to be at Rs 5,767 crore.

T h e u n d e rground segment near the Yelahanka Airforce Station is one of the issues leading to the increase in project cost, Madhu said.

B e s i d e s t h e clash of the electrical systems of HSRL with the electronic systems at the Yelahanka Air Force Station, the magic box patches calls for an additional seven metres increase in height (the regular track runs 10 metres above the ground), Madhu explained and said that these issues had been sorted out in the revised DPR. The first DPR was prepared in 2007.

The pending finalisation of BIAL’s plans for its second terminal is also an issue that has been delaying HSRL, Madhu added.



RIDE, CHUG AND FLY

* DPR on the 22 km Express Link connecting Outer Ring Road and BIA to be ready in a month.

* HSRL to carry about one-fifth of the passenger traffic between the city and BIA. It will take you to the airport in 25 minutes but does not promise to ease congestion on road. The National Highways Authority of India has appealed for speeding up the 10-laning of the six-lane NH 7.

* An Airport City within the 10 km radius of BIA to be a subcity of Bangalore. Tourism park, an IT-BT SEZ, a 600-800 acre business centre related exclusively to airport operations and a 312-acre business park will be a part of it.

* 300 mld (million litres per day) is the estimate of water required at the Airport City. Supply by BWSSB alone won’t suffice and the watershed areas development department is already working on the details of rejuvenating and recharging the natural water bodies in the surrounding area.

* BIAL alone will come to employ one lakh people in the next 10 years. West of Chord limits and Hebbal are seen as the residential options for those who will be engaged in airport and airport city. Metro rail and mono rail are the connectivity options.

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Work+on+BIA+rail+link+from+July&artid=aYjUih5Jk3Q=&SectionID=Qz/kHVp9tEs=&MainSectionID=wIcBMLGbUJI=&SectionName=UOaHCPTTmuP3XGzZRCAUTQ==&SEO=

What's the need of running 2 sets of rails on the same viaduct, when metro alone can handle the load ?

As a feeder to metro....Metro cannot go into narrow streets so monorail can connect those secondary routes to the main line of metro.

Source (http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/15-more-duronto-trains-may-be-launched/386347/)
The railway ministry is planning to launch 15 more Duronto Expresses in the coming budget, as the end-to-end non-stop train has caught the fancy of passengers.

The ministry has made a list of 40 routes in 28 high-density sectors. Of these, depending on availability of rakes, 15 Durontos are expected to be announced on various routes, including Mumbai-Chennai, Bhubaneswar-Varanasi, Patna-Yesvantpur, Lucknow-Guwahati, Guwahati-Chennai, Amritsar-Darbhanga and Howrah-Chennai.

The railways, which undertook a demand study on some of these routes, say the number of seats is much less than the demand, and it will be profitable to run Durontos on these routes. For instance, on the Howrah-Chennai route, the demand is 48 per cent more than the capacity, while on the Delhi-Guwahati route, the gap is as high as 60 per cent.

The railways have introduced nine Durontos to date out of the 14 declared in last year’s budget that was presented in July — Howrah-Yesvantpur, Sealdah-New Delhi, Chennai-Nizamuddin, Howrah-Mumbai, Pune-Nizamuddin, Nagpur-Mumbai, Ahmedabad-Mumbai, New Delhi-Lucknow and New Delhi-Allahabad.

“Durontos are reporting good occupancy rates. The trains provide faster travel at affordable prices. Services on board have also been appreciated,” said a senior official at the ministry.

According to the railway ministry, the average occupancy rate in seven Duronto trains varies in the range of 72-106 per cent (data for two newly-launched Durontos are not available). While the Sealdah-New Delhi Duronto has had an occupancy rate (the percentage of seats booked) of 100 per cent since its launch in September last year, Nagpur-Mumbai and Howrah-Yeshvantpur Durontos have occupancy rates of around 105 per cent (the number is higher than the total number of seats available because of the reservation against cancellation scheme that allows two people to share a berth).

“Rajdhanis run between the national capital and important cities. Durontos provide services between any pair of important cities. The fare is lower and the time taken for the journey is lesser, which has resulted in the service gaining popularity,” said the official.

The Sealdah-New Delhi Duronto Express, for instance, takes one-and-a-half hour less than Rajdhani. This is because it has no commercial stoppages and halts only at Dhanbad, Kanpur and Mughalsarai for operational purposes.

However, this does not mean that Rajdhani has lost its importance. Unlike Duronto, Rajdhani is a daily train and has more stoppages, and therefore, more cities to get passengers. The average occupancy rate ranges between 83 per cent and 131 per cent.

More importantly, Durontos are making money on some routes. On some routes, the ministry is making more money than estimated. For instance, the ministry is earning 4 per cent more than what it had estimated on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route and 3 per cent more on the Nagpur-Mumbai route. On most routes, the railways have reached an average of 90-95 per cent of its earning targets.

Source (http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/railways-eye-ppp-for-swanky-stations-in-flight-comfort/386544/)
The humble railway stations of India, most unassuming and reflective of their grey colonial roots, are set for a scrub. The state-run Indian Railways will partner private companies to co-brand select stations, to start with, under a new “adopt-a-station” policy.

It will facilitate passengers to view their favourite programmes on Rail TV — an infotainment channel to be on offer in all key trains as well as stations. It will also offer a rail magazine for the avid reader on the lines of in-flight magazines and the icing on the cake will be a railway royalty card for frequent travellers on suburban trains — similar to frequent flier programme — to avail of special discounts at station outlets, or get bargain tickets.

These are part of Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee’s blueprint aimed at increasing non-core revenues of one of the world’s oldest and largest rail networks, through a public-private partnership (PPP). Its target: a whopping 10-fold increase in advertising revenues to over Rs 1,000 crore for 2010-11, from an estimated Rs 125 crore this financial year. A part of the new strategy is expected to be announced in the Railway Budget. A special department to focus on generating the non-core revenue is also being created.

The Railways have over 7,500 stations across the country. As many as 11,000 passenger trains and over 6,000 goods trains crisscross the nation every day, which sources say, “can be leveraged well for their advertising potential”. The non-core revenues constitute 3 per cent of Railways’ total projected revenue of Rs 90,626 crore for 2009-10. The advertising revenue target for this year was pegged at Rs 360 crore.

According to internal studies, the Railways have utilised only 8 per cent of their potential from non-core businesses. In contrast, the Delhi airport alone expects to earn around Rs 100 crore annually from advertising. Banerjee, who has appointed ad man Suhel Seth to put together a plan, has started work on centralising information on inventory (space) that the Railways have across the country under member (traffic). Currently, advertising space is sold in an ad hoc manner by station managers. There are five members — traffic, engineering, electrical, staff and mechanical — under the Railway chairman to look after the entire operations.

Once ready, the Railways will appoint the top three media buying houses to sell the space on its behalf.

Also, to ensure a company can track the impact of its advertisement on consumers and effectively market its products, the Railways will invite a research agency to create a Railways Measurement Index (like TRP for television) and work on a comprehensive demographic profiling at key stations — collecting details like age and profession, among others, of passengers.

Says Suhel Seth: “There are 17 million footfalls that the Railways get every day. We will leverage this footfall and convert it into revenue for them. The model will ensure that the Railways do not have to spend anything, but earn through a revenue-sharing model from the private sector.”

The Railways will put together a tourism board, too, which will focus on opportunities to enhance revenue from tourist destinations. The logic: Eighty per cent of the destinations presented in Incredible India! campaign can be accessed by a rail network and a comprehensive policy is needed with the tourism department to develop the reach. Also on the anvil is a plan to sell passenger data for marketing purposes.

Seth says they are looking at various modules of advertising. For instance, companies could adopt the entire station and use the space inside and outside of it to advertise. The pantry cars could be sponsored by an FMCG company in food business. Companies could also be given an offer to create a brand wrapper around a cargo train. Sampling of products like tea, biscuits and food items could be taken up in trains.

Source (http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/3/2010022320100223020338117f3c5c784/Mamata-gives-Duronto-Express-a-shot-in-the-arm.html)
Medical staff will be deployed on the train from next week
By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Tuesday, February 23, 2010 at 02:03:38 AM


Ahmedabad: Next time you want to reach Mumbai fast with someone who is ill, book tickets on the Duronto Express without a second thought.

For, it will have doctors on board from next week. A general duty medical officer and a paramedical staffer will be on duty on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad-Mumbai Duronto Express with medical kits to attend to medical emergencies for free.

Ashok Gadud, divisional railway manager (DRM) of Ahmedabad, said, “Doctors from Mumbai will be travelling on the Duronto Express.”


The staff will attend to emergencies for free on the train (Pic: Manish Mistry)

The Western Railway took the initiative of deputing doctors on the non-stop train plying between Mumbai and Ahmedabad following the decision of the Indian Railways to depute a general duty medical officer and a paramedical staff on all Duronto trains as a pilot project for a year.

Two berths in an AC Two Tier Compartment of the Duronto Express will be earmarked for the doctor and the paramedical staff.

There will be medical equipment like ECG, ophthalmoscope, glucometer, defibrillators, portable suction apparatus, oxygen cylinders and nebulisers on the train.

The mechanical and electrical departments have been told to make necessary modifications in coaches to provide oxygen cylinder holders, drip set holders, and extra lighting for patient management and extra plug points for resuscitation equipment.

In case a passenger travelling on the Duronto Express shows signs of illness, the doctor and the paramedical staff on board will examine him/her.

The medical team will be allowed to move the person to a designated patient-care sick bay on the train - the two berths earmarked for the medical staff.

PTI (http://www.ptinews.com/news/529668_Govt-for-expanding-capacity-of-railways--President)
New Delhi, Feb 22 (PTI) Government today said it is committed to substantially expanding capacity of Indian Railways along with increasing speed of passenger and freight trains.

"My Government is committed to fulfilling a substantial expansion in capacity and modernisation of railway technology and to increasing the speed of both passenger and freight trains while improving safety," President Pratibha Patil.

Addressing a joint sitting of Parliament, she said commencement of train services in the Kashmir Valley from Qazigund to Baramulla demonstrates the Government's commitment to development of all corners of our country.

She said a special North East Rail Development Fund has been created to provide assured financing for nine major national projects in the North Eastern region.

Besides, Railways have also commenced work on the ambitious Dedicated Freight Corridors on the Eastern and Western trunk routes. "This project would help drive India?s growth".

Express News Service (http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Railway+may+focus+on+Orissa+by+default&artid=lexE6scu4xQ=&SectionID=mvKkT3vj5ZA=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=nUFeEOBkuKw=&SEO=)
First Published : 22 Feb 2010 12:24:00 PM IST

BHUBANESWAR: Railway development in Orissa could see a change of track if the vision document of the Ministry of Railways tabled in Parliament recently is pursued with sincerity .


The document points out that with negative spread in passenger earnings, sustainability lies in freight earnings. Coal, iron ore, pig iron, steel and cement etc. form the bulk of freight earnings. It concedes that much of Railways’ freight earnings from coal by 2020 will primarily come from two coalfields namely Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (Ib Valley and Talcher) and South Eastern Coalfields .

Railways currently transports 50 per cent of the domestic steel products. So to generate more revenue by 2020, the focus is mainly on Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh on the basis of MoUs signed in these states .

The Railways expects to generate more revenue by transporting fly ash to cement plants and iron ore by 2020 and Orissa comes into focus again. Sprucing up the rail network in Orissa is in Indian Railways’ interests as currently the East Coast Railways contributes Rs 6,062 crore of the total Rs 48,000 crore per annum freight revenue nationally .

But the rider is, saddled with 109 new rail projects including five from Orissa the Railways has failed to allocate more than Rs 1,500 crore a year that hardly suffices the escalated costs due to delays. The annual surplus extra budgetary resources could make up for only 64 per cent of the project cost, leaving a gap of 36 per cent .

For the gap, the document has mulled on solutions like bearing of 50 per cent of the project cost by the State concerned and creating a dedicated fund called Accelerated Railway Development Fund (ARDF) etc. Provisioning from State would ensure assured allocation from Railways for the timely completion of the projects, the document mentions .

In Orissa, the balance fund required for completion of the five new rail line projects underway for a decade now stood at a whopping Rs 2,319 crore as on April 1, 2009. For two of its gauge conversions, the amount required was Rs 42 crore and for the 10 doubling projects it was Rs 1,052 crore. Thus, the total capital investment needed as on April 1, 2009 was Rs 3,413 crore. It is seen that strategically important new projects like Talcher/ Hindol -Berhampur/Gopalpur, Bargarh - Nawapara road, Rupsa - Bangiriposi and Gunupur- Theruvali have not taken off despite being revenue potent for the Railways .

Importantly, of the Rs 10,000 crore surplus of Railways, East Coast Railways currently accounts for Rs 2,800 crore per annum. But for new lines, the capital investment in 2008- 09 stood at a paltry Rs 62 crore only - at only around Rs 12 crore per project. And, at this rate the five new projects in Orissa would see completion only by 2050! If the Indian Railways goes by the road map to complete all the backlogs by 2020, the capital investment for the new lines require around Rs 300 crore per annum with the total capital needs of ECoR estimated at over Rs 4,000 crore .

Rakesh Mohan to head national transport policy panel (http://www.domain-b.com/people/in_the_news/20100222_rakesh_mohan_oneView.html)

TOI (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/Bullet-train-Rlys-studying-feasibility-report/articleshow/5600996.cms)
PATNA: The recent feasibility study conducted on a particular route has raised hopes for the introduction of bullet train in the country. Expectations are high among people from railway minister Mamata Banerjee, who has earned credit for introducing the fastest non-stop Duronto trains on some routes.

According to a Railway Board official, the railways has started exploring feasibility of running bullet train on 533 km long Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad route. The feasibility study was recently carried out with the help of technical experts of two foreign firms, Systra of France and Italferr of Italy. Rail India Technology and Engineering Services (RITES) cooperated with these two foreign firms during the feasibility study conducted all along Pune, Lonavala, Kandla, Mumbai, Surat Bharuch, Vadodra, Anand and Gandhinagar recently.

The total cost incurred on the feasibility study on this particular route was about Rs 15 crore shared by the railways and Maharastra government equally, the Railway Board official said, adding the next course of action will be decided after studying feasibility report submitted by the technical experts of railways and foreign firms, he said.

The railways will have to build a dedicated corridor for the proposed run of bullet train first which is likely to cost about Rs 100 to 150 crore per kilometer to the railways. During the feasibility study, technical experts of both (RITES) and foreign firms made an in-depth study of track alignments, fare structure and volume of passengers travelling on the dedicated corridor, the official said.

Besides elevated route, the feasibility study also explored the possibility of underground route for the high speed run of the train which, however, appeared quite expensive and difficult to carry out, the Board official said. According to sources, while feasibility study is being examined by the railways, the Japan Prime Minister has offered his country’s expertize to introduce the run of bullet trains in India. However, the railways has not yet decided whether to seek assistance from Japan at a stage when the feasibility study is being thoroughly examined by the railway experts, sources said.

Bullet trains are specially designed to run at the maximum speed of 250 kmph to 350 kmph in foreign countries. It will cover the distance between Pune and Mumbai in hardly 25 minutes while it will be about seven hours between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

The railways will need at least Rs 10,000 crore to develop the infrastructure to run bullet trains. Though maintenance of bullet trains, particularly locomotives, is costly, the Indian Railways is capable of maintaining bullet train coaches with the help of advanced technology, sources said. Introduction of bullet trains would fill railway coffers as elite class passengers would prefer journey by such high speed trains, he said.

TOI (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/Bullet-train-Rlys-studying-feasibility-report/articleshow/5600996.cms)


Bullet trains are specially designed to run at the maximum speed of 250 kmph to 350 kmph in foreign countries. It will cover the distance between Pune and Mumbai in hardly 25 minutes while it will be about seven hours between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.



They mean 2 hours, it takes about 7 right now.

I'm not buying into any of this until they start inviting bidders.

They mean 2 hours, it takes about 7 right now.

I'm not buying into any of this until they start inviting bidders.
+1 Plans will be shelved midway like many other projects

Mamata kept most of her promises
Jayanta Gupta | TNN


Kolkata: Soon after railway minister Mamata Banerjee finished reading out her 2009-10 budget speech in Parliament, there were some who smirked and said: “It is a good budget if she has the next five years in mind to implement all the projects.” Even as Mamata gets ready for the 2010-11 railway budget, those who made the snide remarks have egg on their faces. She has succeeded in keeping most of her promises. It is another matter altogether that new trains, remodelled stations and plans for industry, hospitals and colleges do not necessarily constitute a good railway budget.
“Mamata has been largely successful. She has gone beyond railways and considered the overall development of the state. The people of West Bengal have always felt that the Centre has not done enough for the state. Mamata has given a lot. What she has done is unprecedented,” said Bhaskar Chowdhury, former chief commercial manager, Metro Railway.
To start with, all the new trains gifted to West Bengal in the 2009-10 budget have been flagged off. In fact, the state has got a few additional trains as the year progressed. The most significant among these were the three Duronto Expresses. One of these is running to full capacity between Sealdah and New Delhi. The remaining two are between Howrah and Chhatrapati Sivaji Terminus and Yeshwantpur. The train between Howrah and Yeshwantpur was to be a superfast one. Mamata later elevated its status to a non-stop Duronto.
“Nearly all her plans for South Eastern Railway have materialised. Work has started for a multifunctional complex in Digha. Plans have also been drawn out for a medical college at Garden Reach. The documents have been sent to the Railway Board for approval. Of the 32 Adarsh stations under SER, work has been completed for 11. By March 31, 16 Adarsh stations will be ready. Work has also commenced on the new lines announced in the budget. Laying of a third track between Panskura and Kharagpur — a very important project — is underway,” a senior SER official said.
Officials agree that many projects that commenced recently had been announced years ago. However, they had been relegated to the cold storage with nobody to check the progress. Mamata’s greatest success, possibly, is her efforts to rejuvenate such projects. It was due to her efforts that the Metro Railway stretch between Tollygunge and Garia Bazaar was thrown open. Had she not insisted, officials would have waited till the entire stretch up to New Garia was complete.
“The stretch up to Garia Bazaar has been extremely popular. People from the southern fringes have benefited immensely. Had Mamata not insisted, the stretch would not have been thrown open,” a senior Metro official said.
Her efforts towards industrialization have also been welcomed by officials. There exists a genuine demand for wagons and coaches and they see no harm if the railways tie up with the private sector for manufacturing these. A public sector unit has already expressed interest in Mamata’s plans for a coach-manufacturing unit at Halisahar. If everything proceeds according to plans, the component manufacturing units at Dankuni will also be very successful. The coach maintenance unit at Dum Dum’s Noapara will also be extremely beneficial when Metro gets new rakes, apart from generating jobs.
“These are steps in the right direction. There is no hard and fast rule that the railways cannot look into overall development of a region. In fact, the railways is about development and there should always be an effort to promote industry,” an official said.
Mamata’s stress towards improvement of passenger amenities has also received much acclaim. Railway officials have now been forced to maintain vigil on issues such as cleanliness on trains and quality of food served on board. Cleaning of compartments and toilets at intermediary stations have been taken up seriously and private caterers operating under licence of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) have been made to understand that no negligence will be tolerated.

The total cost incurred on the feasibility study on this particular route was about Rs 15 crore shared by the railways and Maharastra government equally, the Railway Board official said

this tells you all. expect another feasibility study in a couple of years with a new batch of babus/politicos in rail bhavan

cc: ET

With the Vision 2020 document for Indian Railways her guiding force, Mamata Banerjee will present the rail budget for the next fiscal
Budget with ET
Wednesday, which is widely expected to keep passenger fares untouched but rationalise freight tariff in a bid to shore up drying revenues.

At the same time, a bonanza in the form of new routes and higher frequency of existing trains particularly await the people of West Bengal, as the fiery minister is not one to leave an opportunity to appease the people of her home state, particularly when it is scheduled for assembly polls next year.

To Banerjee's relief, though, this fiscal has not been too bad for Indian Railways, the world's second largest under a single management with a network of 108,706 km to ferry some 14 million passengers on 7,000 trains daily from 6,906 stations apart from running 4,000 freight trains to carry 850 million tonnes of cargo.

Data with the ministry suggests its total earnings in the first 10 months of this fiscal was up 8.6 percent at Rs 70,501.65 crore ($14.1 billion) against Rs 64943.32 crore ($13 billion) in the like period last year.

The total goods earnings grew 8.47 percent and the total passenger revenue earnings were up 7.40 percent, ministry data showed -- an indication of a much better performance, given the slowdown in the Indian economy during the larger part of the year.

Yet, the ministry is well aware that the share of Indian Railways in the movement of goods, vis a vis truckers, has fallen from 24.07 percent in 2001-02 to 20.89 percent in 2008-09.

In the first 10 months of this fiscal, this share has further dropped to 19.32 percent, compared with 80.68 percent for trucks, according to the Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training.

Clearly, grabbing a higher share of freight, that accounts for the bulk of the earnings for Indian Railways, will be prime on the minister's agenda.

At the same time, going by the Vision 2020 document released in December, a target has been set of making more than 30,000 km of the routes into double or multiple lines, compared to 18,000 km today. Some 33,000 km will be electrified.

This focus, according to the ministry's paper, will be on the Delhi-Kolkata, Delhi-Mumbai, Kolkata-Mumbai and Delhi-Chennai routes, on which dedicated freight corridors would be created.

Among other main goals are benchmarking the quality of service to the best in the world, zero accidents, utilising at least 10 percent of energy requirements from renewable sources and a foolproof eco-friendly waste management system.

This apart, the maximum speed of passenger trains would be raised from 110-130 km per hour at present to 160-200 km per hour, and for freight operations from 60-70 km to over 100 km.

Banerjee's intention will be to set aside budgetary allocations for several of these measures listed in the document. She has already approached Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and the cabinet with a host of proposals.

Yet, not all of her dozen-odd projects, including more funds for the Special Railway Safety Fund, have the finance ministry's assurance on funding.

Higher private investment and participation, therefore, may be the only long-term solution to better the railroad infrastructure in the country, even if Banerjee has been rather lukewarm to the idea in the past.

cc: ET

Railway mandarins say the minister often keeps track of key railway projects through SMS, something rarely heard of in Rail Bhavan. Yet, for a
Rail Budget
minister who usually spends most of her time out of Delhi, it is also perhaps the best way to monitor her ministry’s affairs.

“If files get stuck, we rush to the concerned official with the SMS and get things moving,” a source says. Mamata Banerjee’s sense of urgency is not without reason.

The next rail budget is due on Wednesday (February 24). And, she is facing the election of her life in the West Bengal polls in 2011. True to her brand of populist politics, she will try to protect her votebank.

In July 2009, her first budget in her second term in the railways, she steered clear of unpleasant rate hikes in terms of freight or passenger fares. Unfortunately for the railways, the previous incumbent Lalu Prasad Yadav, too, was facing an election year and did not tamper with the rates.

The net result: There has been no additional revenue from rate hikes in last two years. And even though railways carried higher freight and passenger traffic in last two years, a 9% rate of inflation has been eating into the incremental gains.

None of it deterred any of the railway ministers be it Lalu Prasad or Mamata Banerjee from announcing “aam admi” sops, a string of new projects, introducing new trains or raising train frequency to appease their respective home constituencies.

So when the next railway budget is presented on Wednesday (February 24), it is obvious that the Railways will be gasping for funds. On the eve of the rail budget, we decided to examine some of issues and the dilemma the minister is facing.

HIKE IN FREIGHT/PASSSENGER FARES

The railways carry nearly 2 million tonne (mt) of freight and 18 million passengers daily. It is dependent on freight traffic for a whopping 70% of its revenue, with the rest coming from passenger traffic.

For an incumbent railway minister, touching passenger fares has almost become taboo. Passenger traffic may be tipped to grow from 660 billion passenger km (bpkm) to 880 bpkm in five years. Passenger earnings may are expected to touch Rs 25,000 crore in 2009-10 against Rs 22,330 crore in 2008-09. Yet given her populist streak, Ms Banerjee is most likely to give it a miss.

That leaves the railways with little option but to hike freight rates. In 2007-08, railways carried 794.21 million tonne (mt) of freight, which increased by over 7% to 850 mt the next year, 2008-09. For 2009-10, the target was 882 mt.

This year, 2009-10, freight revenue is estimated to add up to Rs 59,059 crore, against Rs 54,293 crore in 2008-09. Thus in the last two years, there has been no incremental gains because of inflation, even though railways carried higher volumes. In 2009-10, Ms Banerjee did not increase rates with the economy in a slowdown.

cc: ET

Government on Monday said it is committed to substantially expanding capacity of Indian Railways along with increasing speed of
passenger and freight trains.

"My Government is committed to fulfilling a substantial expansion in capacity and modernisation of railway technology and to increasing the speed of both passenger and freight trains while improving safety," President Pratibha Patil.

Addressing a joint sitting of Parliament, she said commencement of train services in the Kashmir Valley from Qazigund to Baramulla demonstrates the Government's commitment to development of all corners of our country.

She said a special North East Rail Development Fund has been created to provide assured financing for nine major national projects in the North Eastern region.

Besides, Railways have also commenced work on the ambitious Dedicated Freight Corridors on the Eastern and Western trunk routes. "This project would help drive India's growth".

cc: ET

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee during which she is understood to have pressed for additional
Pranab Mukherjee
allocation for the railway safety fund.

There has been a spate of railway accidents recently and the railway ministry is actively considering to install anti-collision devices and train protection warning system in the rail network to prevent the mishaps.

Since it will require huge investment of funds, the railway is seeking additional fund to implement the safety devices.

The railway safety fund came into existence during the tenure of Nitish Kumar as Railway Minister in 2003. Out of Rs 17,000 crore allocated for the safety fund, Rs 12,000 crore was shared by the finance ministry. The rest was raised through cess on railway tickets.

The railways require Rs 70 lakh per kilometre for implementation of safety devices like train protection warning system and Rs 22 lakh per kilometre for anti-collision device.

cc: ET

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has been burning the midnight oil to prepare the Rail Budget, is understood to have accepted
Budget with ET
major proposals from state chief ministers on new trains and enhanced fund allocations for ongoing projects.

"She does not want to be seen as a Bengal-centric Minister and has made a conscious attempt to include major demands of various state chief ministers in her budget," said a source in the Ministry.

Insiders said she remained closeted with top railway officials for hours finalising the budget on Tuesday and left her Rail Bhawan office only at 3.30 am on Wednesday.

The Rail Budget will be presented on February 24. There are indications that she might leave the passenger fares untouched but rationalise the freight rates keeping essential commodities aside.

She is expected announce more non-stop 'Duronto' trains but no more of Garib Raths, a pet project of her predecessor Lalu Prasad. The existing Garib Rath trains, though, will continue to remain in service.

There is also a proposal to construct railway lines on the pattern of national highways involving private players. "The revenue sharing model is being worked out," the source said, adding it might figure in Banerjee's Budget speech.

cc: ET

Keeping in mind the growing patronage of AC three-tier coaches, Railways are planning to increase their number in existing trains to
reduce the swelling waiting lists.

The move comes as the AC-III class has turned out to be most sought after with time, effectively registering a growth of over 21 per cent during the first 10 months of this financial year, higher than any other class.

"Though we are periodically introducing more AC three-tier coaches depending on rush, now we intend to add more of such coaches permanently and increase their numbers in coach composition," said a Railway source.

He indicated that trains with year-round rush could see 10 to 12 AC three-tier coach out of 22 to 24 coaches that make a train rake.

While 3.43 lakh passengers travelled in AC three-tier in 2008-09 fiscal, the number has touched 3.68 lakh till January this year, a growth of 21.01 per cent.

In terms of earnings, the growth has been 19.02 per cent, with Railways making Rs 3.116 crore from AC three-tiers.

In comparison, the passenger growth in sleeper class has been a steady eight per cent, the source said.

Indications are that forthcoming Railway Budget could lay emphasis on accelerating production of AC three tier coaches.

While 3.43 lakh passengers travelled in AC three-tier in 2008-09 fiscal, the number has touched 3.68 lakh till January this year, a growth of 21.01 per cent.


isn't the number a little low?

Looks low to me as well, given the fact that 17 million people travel daily in IR, i.e., 6205 million annually.

also the article says the traffic in sleeper coaches increased by 8% and in AC 3 tier by around 21 %
given the fact that the no in AC3 tier is not that huge as compared sleeper coaches its a modest rise..
8% increase in sleeper class is due to the fact that its already such a huge number that one can't expect a great percentage increase..

Looks low to me as well, given the fact that 17 million people travel daily in IR, i.e., 6205 million annually.

half of those are bombay suburban (and a bit of madras and others). inter-city would be much less than 17 million

^^ cant remember where i read it but, 51% are suburban travelers. Of which 7 mil are use Mumbai suburbans and the rest are Kolkata, Chennai and some other smaller cities....

half of those are bombay suburban (and a bit of madras and others). inter-city would be much less than 17 million

Of course I know that. Even if half of them are inter-city travellers, then the number is 3000 million per year, which itself is so high compared to few lakhs.

Asian Age (http://www.asianage.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3496:mamata-readies-a-bengal-bonanza-5-of-12-durontos&catid=34:top-story&Itemid=59)New Delhi, Feb. 22: It just could be "Jai Ho!" yet again for railway minister Mamata Banerjee’s home state of West Bengal in the Rail Budget. With Assembly elections in West Bengal barely a year away and railway minister and Trinamul Congress leader

Mamata Banerjee’s gaze fixed on the chief minister’s chair, she is expected to shower the state with a bouquet of projects when she presents the Rail Budget in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

The minister is set to increase the number of trains running under her pet project — Durontos Express trains — with West Bengal set to get more of these trains. Sources disclosed that Ms Banerjee could announce as many as 12 Duronto Express trains in her budget of which five might go to Bengal.

The Duronto Express is a non-stop, point-to-point train running between some of the major cities of the country. Of the nine Durontos introduced so far during Ms Banerjee’s tenure as rail minister, West Bengal already has at least three — one each between Howrah and Bengaluru, Sealdah and New Delhi and Howrah and Mumbai.

There are also indications that the Rail Budget could contain an announcement on the use of SIMRAN (Satellite Imaging for Rail Navigation), a train tracking system developed by IIT, Kanpur. This system has been tested as a pilot project on the Rajdhanis and Shatabdis, among other trains, and is learnt to have the backing of the expert committee headed by Mr Sam Pitroda.

There are indications that at least four "world-class" or "model" railway stations could be part of Bengal’s kitty. In the coming budget, Kharagpur railway station could be added to the list to be developed as a world-class station. Not surprising given that even in the last Rail Budget five stations in West Bengal had been identified for development as world-class stations and at least a score for development as "adarsh" stations.

There is also a possibility that Ms Banerjee’s state will see the introduction of a few "Pilgrim Express" trains. Among them could be a train between Katwa in Bengal and Puri in Orissa. Also, to connect north Bengal with the major metros, Ms Banerjee is looking at the possibility of introducing trains linking Siliguri to Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi.

A train between Howrah in Bengal and Durg in Chhattisgarh could also be announced and an extra stoppage added to the Guwahati-Bengaluru Express.

In Bengal there could also be extension of Metro lines in Kolkata. Ms Banerjee might announce the extension of Metro tracks from Dum Dum to Barasat, Majerhat to Maidan and Gariahat, Dum Dum to Dakshineshwar and Dum Dum to Barrackpore. It is also possible that the circular railway between Majerhat and Joka will be extended.

Though track-laying is expensive and time-consuming, Ms Banerjee could announce the laying of new railway tracks across Bengal. To boost tourism there is a possibility of a new railway line between Bankura to Mukutmanipur.

Private participation may be sought for track work given that Ms Banerjee recently wooed the private sector to undertake the work of laying tracks.

The Trinamul leader’s home state is also likely to get more goodies in the Rail Budget in the shape of 10 hospitals on vacant railway land. Her ministry had signed an MoU with the Union health ministry last month for setting up hospitals on railway land.

Sources disclosed that the hospitals could come up in Jalpaiguri, Siliguri, Malda, Asansol, Kharagpur, Burdwan, Kanchrapara, Barasat, Howrah and Garden Reach. Keeping an eye on the minority vote-bank, a hospital on railway land could also be announced in Furfura Sharif in Jangipara.

ET (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/railways/Elections-on-mind-Mamata-to-halt-first-in-Bengal/articleshow/5609226.cms)
NEW DELHI/KOLKATA: Mamata Banerjee may be the country’s railway minister, but after she has presented the Rail Budget in Parliament on Wednesday,
she might well be called the railway minister for West Bengal.

With elections to the West Bengal assembly a little over a year away, Ms Banerjee is expected to use the occasion to shower largesse on her state in an attempt to consolidate her position. As many as 70% of the new projects likely to be unveiled on Wednesday will be, it is learnt, located in her state.

True to her reputation, Mr Banerjee will be presenting a populist budget, with the passengers being spared the spectre of a hike in fares. There will, similarly, be no freight rationalisation, triggering fresh doubts about the ministry’s ability to meet its financial requirements in the next 12 months.

Of the 24 major projects expected to be announced as part of the Rail Budget 2010-11, 10 will be housed in West Bengal. As the department’s financial position continues to be precarious, they will be kicked off under the PPP (private-public-partnership) model.

The railway ministry has already signed an MoU with the health ministry to open hospitals in various parts of the country. As many as 10 such institutions are planned to be opened in next financial year, all of them on railway land, of course. West Bengal will corner a majority of them (7, in fact).

Kendriya Vidyalayas too to come up on railway land.

Some 8-10 new Durontos will be flagged off . Ms Banerjee’s state will once again walk away with at least half of them.

Also on cards: a Peace Express from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and new series of trains to link all major pilgrim centres.

There will be major thrust on expanding the metro connectivity in the Kolkata-Greater Kolkata region. Four new lines are being planned, including Dum Dum-Barasat, Mazarhat-Maidan, Dum Dum-Dakshineshwar and Barrackpore.

The Kolkata circular rail too will be expanded to newer areas such as Garden Reach and Khidderpore.

Among the model stations scheduled to be unveiled during 2010-11, as many as 10 will be in West Bengal.

A Medical Express from Bengal to Vellore could be flagged off.

Kharagpur to be developed as a world-class station.

Jangal Mahal, a poverty-stricken, Naxal-ravaged area falling in the West Midnapore district, will be developed as a major railway hub. Besides being selected as the location for one of the planned railway hospitals, it is likely to be developed as a gateway to the northern parts of the state.

The railway minister, it is learnt, will be announcing several new projects for north West Bengal, a region where the Congress is quite powerful. The underlying theme is to position Trinamool Congress as a major challenger.

Thus, Siliguri will be connected with metropolises such as New Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai. A large workshop will come up on railway land at New Jalpaiguri. In fact, Siliguri will be developed to serve as the entry-point for the entire north-eastern region, and a new railway link to Arunachal Pradesh is being planned.

A new Sealdah-Haldibari daily passenger train will be flagged off during the year.

Construction on two new lines to be kicked off, including the Kalyani-Bangaon and Katwa-Tehatta links.

Kachrapada to be transformed into a major auto hub, with the construction of an over Rs 500-crore factory for EMU coaches through the JV route.

Chittaranjan Loco Works engine component manufacturing unit through the PPP route.

Besides, the Railway Budget is also likely to announce the arrival of several passenger-friendly schemes such as the plan to allow ticket bookings through the internet and mobile. A magazine for passengers, on the lines of the journals brought out by all airlines, is also being considered.

With funds emerging as a major constraint, the ministry has already set up the Amit Mitra Committee to suggest ways for additional resource mobilisation. The cash-surplus situation is not very encouraging as the funds from PPP route have not been as expected. Efforts to woo private, including foreign investment, will be expedited.

Armed with a copy of the Budget, the railway minister is said to have met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here on Tuesday evening to seek his blessings. The latter, it is learnt, extended his full backing to her endeavour.


Mamata Banerjee may be the country’s railway minister, but after she has presented the Rail Budget in Parliament on Wednesday, she might well be called the railway minister for West Bengal.

Source (http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=127634)
Container Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR) has proposed that the government start direct container movement by barge and railway on a trial basis between the two countries.

The Indian state-run agency said container carrying charges and lead-time will come down drastically once the direct water and rail links are established.

Two CONCOR high officials met shipping ministry and communication ministry officials yesterday and placed the proposal.

But the government has asked the agency to place the proposal in detail after a few months, as infrastructure at river ports is not ready for such large-scale operation.

According to the proposal, CONCOR wants to use Khanpur and Pangao river ports in Narayanganj to handle containers between Kolkata and Narayanganj by barge.

The company will bring containers through Delhi-Kolkata-Dhaka route by railway and handle at Kamalapur Inland Container Depot.

Sk Mahfuz Hamid, managing director of Gulf Orient Seaways Ltd, the local agent of CONCOR, said they will be able to operate over one lakh containers a year in both ways.

Currently, businessmen will have to pay around $2,200-$3,000 for carrying a twenty feet equivalent unit (TEU) container from India to Bangladesh through feeder vessels, Hamid said.

The cost will come down to $700-$1,200 once the routes are introduced, he added.

It takes a container around 30 days to reach from India to Chittagong Port, which will also go down to only 7-10 days, Hamid said.

A shipping ministry high official said the company did not place its detailed proposal.

“After submission of a detailed proposal we will assess it and take decision,” the official said, requesting anonymity.

Manoj Krishna Akhouri, group deputy general manager (international marketing) of CONCOR, said there are no barriers to introducing the project. “The direct link will help the government generate a substantial amount of revenue from trade.”

Bangladesh will earn around $100 as service charge from each container, he added.

CONCOR is engaged in transportation, handling and parking of containers. As of March 31, 2009, the company had 13,576 containers and 8,117 high-speed wagons.

The company plans to operate under India-Bangladesh Protocol on Trade & Transit, which is part of a bilateral trade treaty, and has been extended by two years with effect from April 1, 2009. The two-year tenure of the protocol expired in March 2009.

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said the Railway budget, to be presented in Parliament on Wednesday, was dedicated to people.

In an informal chat with journalists, Ms. Banerjee said the country belonged to the people, so any budgetary proposal had to benefit them.

“The common people are the assets of the country. They have to be taken care of and developed,” she said, underlining that the effort was to ensure continuity. But she refused to say anything on the budget.

Later in the evening, she called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and took him into confidence about the budgetary proposals. The visit was described as a customary exercise.

Soon after the meeting, Ms. Banerjee held consultations with senior members of the Railway Board, apparently to work out last-minute revisions.

The BJP said it would not disrupt the presentation of the budget, though it was agitating over the price rise.

VADODARA: In a first of its kind, Gujarat’s second largest dairy — Dudhsagar Dairy of Mehsana — is all set to flag off a dedicated train to transport milk to the country’s biggest milk market, Delhi, on a daily basis by the end of this year.

Sources in the dairy suggest that Adani group that provides integrated logistics solutions for movement of commodities through its arm — Adani Logistics Limited (ALL) — has shown interest in the project for which the dairy cooperative union and ALL are expected to sign an MoU soon, turning it into the first such initiative in the country’s dairy sector.

Mehsana Dairy’s chairman Vipul Chaudhary told TOI on Tuesday that although there are dairies in the country that transport milk through wagons which are attached to other parcel or passenger trains, the world’s largest dairy co-operative Fonterra group is at present the only one that is known globally for running such milk trains in New Zealand.

“We are in talks with a number of players, including GoI undertaking Container Corporation of India Limited (Concor) and Adani group which has already developed Adani Logistics Park at Patli, 15 km away from Mehsana Dairy’s satellite dairy at Manesar in Haryana. The latter is pursuing the project more aggressively,” Chaudhary added.

At present, Mehsana Dairy spends Rs 40 crore annually to transport around 12 lakh litres milk daily via road in tankers from Mehsana to its Dudhmansagar plant in Manesar, where the milk is processed, packaged, transported to Delhi market and sold under ‘Amul’ brand name.

“By sending milk through rail route, we would save 50 per cent of transportation cost,” said Chaudhary.
“Milk will be carried in insulated tankers of 24,000 litres capacity each (50 bogies for 12 lakh litres),” said manager (sales & logistics) of Mehsana Dairy Pulak Mukherjee, adding that the dairy already has the required land for a railway siding which will come up at the land owned by erstwhile Mehsana Regional Telibiya Utpadak Sahakari Sangh
Limited at Jagudan.

Recently, north Gujarat-based Banas Dairy had flagged off a train carrying four lakh litres of milk from Palanpur to Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

TOI (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/-Station-open-but-few-trains/articleshow/5609337.cms)

NEW DELHI: The Anand Vihar railway terminal, which opened with much fanfare in January, still does not have a single express train — apart from specials — originating from it. Northern Railway officials are now counting on the railway minister to bail them out when the Railway Budget is announced on Wednesday. Their wishlist includes the demand for more trains from the newly-innagurated Anand Vihar terminal.

The three trains announced from the station in the last Budget, including the Farakka Express and the New Jalpaiguri Express, are yet to start. Similarly, three other trains — Jogbani Express, Varanasi Express and Motihari Express — are still to be shifted to the new terminal. ‘‘A minimum of 90 days is needed to make the changes because people have bought tickets with the old destination station printed on them. It will be a logistics problem to shift these trains now. All these trains will begin running from Anand Vihar from March 12,’’ said Anant Swarup, CPRO, Northern Railway.
According to Swarup, at the moment, a number of winter and Holi specials are running from the station. ‘‘Since all three platforms are ready, we decided to shift Holi passengers to the Anand Vihar station. This will reduce the burden on the New Delhi, Old Delhi and Sarai Rohilla stations.”

But railway staff at Anand Vihar station are an unhappy lot. ‘‘There are hardly any takers for the Holi specials. Tickets for these trains are usually bought on the same day and the passenger reservation system (PRS) sells only 200 tickets a day,’’ said the official.

According to Rail Bhawan sources, three states — Bengal, UP and Bihar — are likely to get a lot of new trains this year. ‘‘With the Congress an emerging force in these states and with the Trinamool Congress trying to establish its hold over the Left-ruled Bengal, we expect a few trains to these states from the capital. All these trains will begin their journey from the Anand Vihar terminal,’’ said an official. In addition, several other trains are also expected to begin their journey from the same terminal. ‘‘These include trains like the Howrah Duranto Express which is expected to begin its journey from here as it was announced in the last budget itself,’’ added the source.

There are concerns though about completion of the third and fourth lines from Anand Vihar to New Delhi station. ‘‘We have increased the number of platforms from 12 to 16. Consequently, we have also increased capacity at the New Delhi station. We therefore need new lines to meet the growing demand.”

VADODARA: In a first of its kind, Gujarat’s second largest dairy — Dudhsagar Dairy of Mehsana — is all set to flag off a dedicated train to transport milk to the country’s biggest milk market, Delhi, on a daily basis by the end of this year.

Sources in the dairy suggest that Adani group that provides integrated logistics solutions for movement of commodities through its arm — Adani Logistics Limited (ALL) — has shown interest in the project for which the dairy cooperative union and ALL are expected to sign an MoU soon, turning it into the first such initiative in the country’s dairy sector.

Mehsana Dairy’s chairman Vipul Chaudhary told TOI on Tuesday that although there are dairies in the country that transport milk through wagons which are attached to other parcel or passenger trains, the world’s largest dairy co-operative Fonterra group is at present the only one that is known globally for running such milk trains in New Zealand.

“We are in talks with a number of players, including GoI undertaking Container Corporation of India Limited (Concor) and Adani group which has already developed Adani Logistics Park at Patli, 15 km away from Mehsana Dairy’s satellite dairy at Manesar in Haryana. The latter is pursuing the project more aggressively,” Chaudhary added.

At present, Mehsana Dairy spends Rs 40 crore annually to transport around 12 lakh litres milk daily via road in tankers from Mehsana to its Dudhmansagar plant in Manesar, where the milk is processed, packaged, transported to Delhi market and sold under ‘Amul’ brand name.

“By sending milk through rail route, we would save 50 per cent of transportation cost,” said Chaudhary.
“Milk will be carried in insulated tankers of 24,000 litres capacity each (50 bogies for 12 lakh litres),” said manager (sales & logistics) of Mehsana Dairy Pulak Mukherjee, adding that the dairy already has the required land for a railway siding which will come up at the land owned by erstwhile Mehsana Regional Telibiya Utpadak Sahakari Sangh
Limited at Jagudan.

Recently, north Gujarat-based Banas Dairy had flagged off a train carrying four lakh litres of milk from Palanpur to Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

If they do this to all the agricultural products, then inflation can be maintained a lot better because of raise in petrol and diesel prices.

isn't the number a little low?

yes evn it seems to me too less, btw i thought that many people travelled on train:bash:
however this is the estimation of MB...:nuts:

also the article says the traffic in sleeper coaches increased by 8% and in AC 3 tier by around 21 %
given the fact that the no in AC3 tier is not that huge as compared sleeper coaches its a modest rise..
8% increase in sleeper class is due to the fact that its already such a huge number that one can't expect a great percentage increase..

boss evn note on this point:
'He indicated that trains with year-round rush could see 10 to 12 AC three-tier coach out of 22 to 24 coaches that make a train rake.'

this makes me ask a ques...is IR shifting from 'aam aadmi' to 'amir aadmi'?
if ^^ is the case then ord sleeper would be only 9 compartments in both the cases...given the fact that mst trains have 1 AC2 comp, 1 pantry car and a luggage cabin...:ohno:

cc - ET

Mamata Banerjee may be the country’s railway minister, but after she has presented the Rail Budget in Parliament on Wednesday,
Railway Budget 2010
she might well be called the railway minister for West Bengal.

With elections to the West Bengal assembly a little over a year away, Ms Banerjee is expected to use the occasion to shower largesse on her state in an attempt to consolidate her position. As many as 70% of the new projects likely to be unveiled on Wednesday will be, it is learnt, located in her state.

True to her reputation, Mr Banerjee will be presenting a populist budget, with the passengers being spared the spectre of a hike in fares. There will, similarly, be no freight rationalisation, triggering fresh doubts about the ministry’s ability to meet its financial requirements in the next 12 months.

Consider this:

Of the 24 major projects expected to be announced as part of the Rail Budget 2010-11, 10 will be housed in West Bengal. As the department’s financial position continues to be precarious, they will be kicked off under the PPP (private-public-partnership) model.

The railway ministry has already signed an MoU with the health ministry to open hospitals in various parts of the country. As many as 10 such institutions are planned to be opened in next financial year, all of them on railway land, of course. West Bengal will corner a majority of them (7, in fact).

Kendriya Vidyalayas too to come up on railway land.

Some 8-10 new Durontos will be flagged off . Ms Banerjee’s state will once again walk away with at least half of them.

Also on cards: a Peace Express from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and new series of trains to link all major pilgrim centres.

There will be major thrust on expanding the metro connectivity in the Kolkata-Greater Kolkata region. Four new lines are being planned, including Dum Dum-Barasat, Mazarhat-Maidan, Dum Dum-Dakshineshwar and Barrackpore.

The Kolkata circular rail too will be expanded to newer areas such as Garden Reach and Khidderpore.

Among the model stations scheduled to be unveiled during 2010-11, as many as 10 will be in West Bengal.

A Medical Express from Bengal to Vellore could be flagged off.

Kharagpur to be developed as a world-class station.

Jangal Mahal, a poverty-stricken, Naxal-ravaged area falling in the West Midnapore district, will be developed as a major railway hub. Besides being selected as the location for one of the planned railway hospitals, it is likely to be developed as a gateway to the northern parts of the state.

The railway minister, it is learnt, will be announcing several new projects for north West Bengal, a region where the Congress is quite powerful. The underlying theme is to position Trinamool Congress as a major challenger.

Thus, Siliguri will be connected with metropolises such as New Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai. A large workshop will come up on railway land at New Jalpaiguri. In fact, Siliguri will be developed to serve as the entry-point for the entire north-eastern region, and a new railway link to Arunachal Pradesh is being planned.

A new Sealdah-Haldibari daily passenger train will be flagged off during the year.

Construction on two new lines to be kicked off, including the Kalyani-Bangaon and Katwa-Tehatta links.

Kachrapada to be transformed into a major auto hub, with the construction of an over Rs 500-crore factory for EMU coaches through the JV route.

Chittaranjan Loco Works engine component manufacturing unit through the PPP route.

Besides, the Railway Budget is also likely to announce the arrival of several passenger-friendly schemes such as the plan to allow ticket bookings through the internet and mobile. A magazine for passengers, on the lines of the journals brought out by all airlines, is also being considered.

With funds emerging as a major constraint, the ministry has already set up the Amit Mitra Committee to suggest ways for additional resource mobilisation. The cash-surplus situation is not very encouraging as the funds from PPP route have not been as expected. Efforts to woo private, including foreign investment, will be expedited.

Armed with a copy of the Budget, the railway minister is said to have met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here on Tuesday evening to seek his blessings. The latter, it is learnt, extended his full backing to her endeavour.

cc: ET

Railway minister Mamata Banerjee may not be able to splurge much in the Rail Budget for 2010-11 to be presented on Febraury 24.

Faced with a cash crunch, the railway ministry’s annual plan size is expected to see just a modest 10% to 12% increase from the current Rs 40,745 crore plan size for 2009-10.

This is in sync with the Centre’s move to keep the expenditure in check in the face of a record fiscal deficit, budgeted at 16-year high of 6.8% of GDP for the current year.

ICF may have complete first DMU set for Srilanka railways, Any updated news or photos ???.

cc: RB speech(.pdf)

Keeping in view our continued focus to enhance passenger comforts,
facilities, ambience and aesthetics, the following 94 stations have been further
declared as Adarsh Stations:
Alappuzha, Aluabari Road, Ambalapuzha, Andal, Angul, Ausgram, Badarpur
Jn., Bagalkot, Bally, Ballyghat, Basti, Belpahar, Bethuadahari, Bhadreswar,
Bhatar, Birshibpur, Bobbili, Chakda, Chandauli, Chandrakona Rd.,
Changanacheri, Changrabandha, Chas Road, Cherthala, Chhapra Jn., Chhatna,
Chikballapur, Radhamohanpur (Debra), Dahod, Dantan, Debagram,
Devanahalli, Dhanuvachapuram, Dinhata, Dodballapur, Doikallu, Domohani,
Fuleswar, Galsi, Garbeta, Gauribidanur, Ghatera, Gokak Road, Gourinathdham,
Gudur, Haldibari, Haripad, Hijli, Himmatnagar, Jagdispur, Jakhopura,
Jamalpur, Jamnagar, Jamuria, Jharsuguda, Kalaikunda, Karuvatta, Kashinagar,
Kayankulam Jn., Kochuveli, Kotdwara, Kulgachia, Lanjigarh Road, Lapanga,
Lingampalli, Mavelikara, Maynaguri, Meramandali, Miraj, Narasaraopet, Nasik
Road, Ochira, Parbhani, Purna, Raghunathpur, Ramnagar, Ratlam, Rengali,
Sangli, Shankarpalli, Siddharth Nagar, Solapur, Sonamukhi, Sultanpur, Taldi,
Tandur, Thiruvarur, Thiruvizha, Tikiapara, Titlagarh Jn., Vayalar, Vikarabad,
Vishrambaug and Yelahanka Jn.

cc: RB speech(.pdf)

I have also identified 10 more stations to be converted to World Class
Stations. They are Ambala Cantt, Bolpur, Ernakulam, Gorakhpur, Jammu,
Jhansi, Kharagpur, Kota, Surat and Thane.

cc: RB speech(.pdf)

I propose to take up construction of another 93 Multi-functional
Complexes in the coming year at Abu Road, Agartala, Anara (Adra), Asansol,
Aurangabad, Balasore, Ballyganj, Bankura, Bareilly, Barrackpore, Bathinda
Cantt., Bellary Jn., Belughat, Belur Math, Bharatpur Jn., Bhavnagar, Bhilai,
Bishnupur, Brahmapur, Davangere, Dhakuria, Dhanbad Jn., Dharmavaram (near
Puttaparthi), Dibrugargh Town, Dimapur, Durgapur, Erode Jn., Gondia,
Gorakhpur, Gulbarga, Hisar Jn., Jamalpur Jn., Jhargram, Jharsuguda Jn., Jhusi,
Junagadh Jn., Kalyani, Karimnagar, Kasaragod, Katihar Jn., Kishangarh, Korba,
Krishnanagar City Jn., Kurnool Town, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Mumbai,
Ludhiana, Madarihat, Majerhat, Malda Town, Mavelikara, Miraj Jn.,
Murshidabad, Nabadwipdham, Nadiad Jn., Nagercoil Jn., Naihati, Nellore, New
Farakka, New Mal, Nizamabad, Orai, Patiala, Patna Saheb, Raigarh, Raja-Ki-
Mandi, Ramnagar, Raxaul Jn., Rayagada, Rewa, Salem, Sambalpur, Sanchi,
Sawai-Madhopur Jn, Shegaon, Shimoga Town, Sikar Jn., Siuri, Somnath,
Sonipat, Srikakulam Road, Tarakeshwar, Tatanagar, Tiruchi Fort, Tiruttani,
Tumkur, Udhampur, Vasai Road, Vijaywada, Vizianagram Jn., Wardha,
Yesvantpur and Zahirabad (Medak).

cc: RB speech(.pdf)

To provide basic facility of clean drinking
water, I propose to start six bottling plants at Ambala, Amethi, Mal, Nasik,
Farakka and Trivandrum through the PPP route with the mandate that bottled
Fresh Water will be provided at stations at much cheaper rates.

Ms. Banerjee has proposed a lot of things in this years railway budget but now we have to see how many of these proposed things actually do get carried out. I have been hearing since the last budget that they will transform stations to world class stations but so far i have not seen any. but well i guess time will tell.

^^Most of the projects have not yet been cleared by the planning commission yet!!!!
So just hope for the best:)

Hey guys,
I think our Honourable Rly. Minister Ms.Mamata Banerjee didnt speak a word about high speed railway. Why dont they just understand that there is a serious demand for such a connection between the metros of such a BIG country. Trains can connect people faster than it is doing now. A trip of 1700++ km can be covered in around 6 Hrs instead of 16...
I dream of having something like this in India in the near future....
http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/2198/theice.jpg

When airlines can provide faster connectivity, then what's the urgent need of HSR ? Such trains are more suitable for smaller sized countries where trains can cover whole of the country in 4-5 hours. In India, such trains will still take more than 12 hours from end to end, while airplanes can cover it in 4 hours.

First priority should be the existing infrastructure. Our existing infra is substandard and we are thinking of HSR so early !!!

When airlines can provide faster connectivity, then what's the urgent need of HSR ? Such trains are more suitable for smaller sized countries where trains can cover whole of the country in 4-5 hours. In India, such trains will still take more than 12 hours from end to end, while airplanes can cover it in 4 hours.

First priority should be the existing infrastructure. Our existing infra is substandard and we are thinking of HSR so early !!!

They can be cheaper than airline tickets and in addition half of the current travel time will attract even the people travelling by air to rail.

They can be cheaper than airline tickets and in addition half of the current travel time will attract even the people travelling by air to rail.

The money which can be used to build 1 high speed line will be enough to improve railway facilities on 10 times longer length. Which one will you think is better ? We need to reach a particular level after which we start thinking of luxury. Right now the thrust should be on improvement of existing parts and covering the remote regions of the country. HSR will look suitable after 20 years when we will be much richer than today and we will (supposedly) have better basic railway infrastructure.

Another boring social oriented Railway Budget that saddles India with myopic vision and non-progress. I don't know why we have such numbskull ministers with narrow vision and regional favoritism. When is India going to have dynamic young people ruling the nation.

The railway infrastructure is creaking. Just look at this overloaded train in Bihar (which incidently has been shafted by Mamta).

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/02/24/images/20100224.jpg

All the railway stations are old British relics. Indian Trains are ancient in design, their upkeep is very poor. Yet these ministers and babus go around smug in their conclusions and bombastically claim some social nonsense. Enough of the charade. Yes, China has leapfrogged India, their high speed design is sleek and will shortly be the norm throughout China. India keeps struggling with morons like Mamta. The private sector is rearing to contribute, Indian youth have forward vision and would like the nation to be modern and progressive. We are being shackled by these low class, idiotic people who rule the nation.

The money which can be used to build 1 high speed line will be enough to improve railway facilities on 10 times longer length. Which one will you think is better ? We need to reach a particular level after which we start thinking of luxury. Right now the thrust should be on improvement of existing parts and covering the remote regions of the country. HSR will look suitable after 20 years when we will be much richer than today and we will (supposedly) have better basic railway infrastructure.

Totally agree man. You have a very good point. Till now i kept thinking why she (Ms. Banerjee) dint include it but then again your point makes sense. They need to fix up things before introducing new things.

@Barrykul: Is this a regular feature in this train or a one-off case ?

Totally agree man. You have a very good point. Till now i kept thinking why she (Ms. Banerjee) dint include it but then again your point makes sense. They need to fix up things before introducing new things.

They need to fix things but it doesnt appear she is doing that.
A wishlist of things:

- Get out of idiotic crap like water-bottling business.
- Spin off rail manufacturing and corporatize it. Let them compete with private companies for rail tenders.
- Spin off suburban sections to respective state/local govts.
...

^^ Start privatizing the railways in phases with an ultimate aim of privatizing all the operations and maintenance, while govt is only the owner of the property.

@Barrykul: People are changing. They are getting smarter day by day.. Now they have access to lot more information abt what's happening in their village, in their state, in their country and in this world. Thanks to the Media and Mobile. Although our media sometimes look like junk but as I mentioned before people are getting smarter... I'm very optimistic about the coming days... We would see more radical changes in india. Also the current time is not good for bold decision.
I also believe that this budget is not giving enough for developing india. But hey, take some good points... at least she is doing something though it is mainly for Bengal... Laloo has done much for Bihar in past... And I do agree with Abhishek901 that we don't need high speed railway today. Average people in india don't need to travel that fast. May be after a decade or two it will be different scenario. Spending more time on road/tracks means more business for some different class of people. And for people who have time crunch, another mode of transport is available for them. For rest, enjoy Duronto trains and Double Decker railway coaches... :)
Regional favoritism is bound to happen in country like India where there are vast differences in different part of country. People have different culture, language and even mindset. People sometime complain that their language is getting killed. I'm gujarati and everyother day i hear the same. But i'm happy that people are adopting english as their language though it's foreign language. Regional problems are mainly due to different language. Once we have one language to speak, many problems will be resolved. Can't wait to see that day, well may be next generation would see it. sorry for going off-track.. :)

^^ Start privatizing the railways in phases with an ultimate aim of privatizing all the operations and maintenance, while govt is only the owner of the property.

In my opinion, Railway should not be privatized. When it gets privatized, it will become profit oriented instead of people oriented. In the country like India where the majority are below poverty line and there is a significant middle class, privatizing the crucial mode of transportation doesn't sound like a good option. You can see some PPP model in highways and bridges where they charge significant money for using those services. One class of our society can afford it, but majority just can't. And you can see private transport services too which charge really high.

Indian Railways profit falls 93 pc in two years (http://www.ptinews.com/news/534323_Indian-Railways-profit-falls-93-pc-in-two-years)

New Delhi, Feb 24 (PTI) Indian Railways will earn a profit of Rs 951 crore in 2009-10, down 93 per cent from the 2007-08 level.

While the 2009-10 Railway Budget presented in July last year projected profits at Rs 2,642.26 crore, the estimate has been revised downwards by 64 per cent to Rs 951.03 crore.

For the next fiscal, the budget estimates a profit of Rs 3,173.09 crore.

India's largest employer that employs 14 lakh people had registered a record profit of Rs 13,431.09 crore in 2007-08.

From FY'08 to FY'10, the fall in profit is 93 per cent, as per the Railway Budget presented in Parliament today.

Profits had started showing a decline even in 2008-09, when it come down to Rs 4,456.78 crore. Year-over-year the fall in profit is about 79 per cent.

Profit fell 93 percent???? HOW???

In my opinion, Railway should not be privatized. When it gets privatized, it will become profit oriented instead of people oriented. In the country like India where the majority are below poverty line and there is a significant middle class, privatizing the crucial mode of transportation doesn't sound like a good option. You can see some PPP model in highways and bridges where they charge significant money for using those services. One class of our society can afford it, but majority just can't. And you can see private transport services too which charge really high.



I agree...railways need to be owned by the government otherwise they will turn out like Amtrak, which charges insane rates for all their trips!!

Profit fell 93 percent???? HOW???

It was 13,431.09 crore in 2007-08 and Rs 951 crore in 2009-10. Reduced to 7% of the 2 year old figure, so fell by 93% !!

It was 13,431.09 crore in 2007-08 and Rs 951 crore in 2009-10. Reduced to 7% of the 2 year old figure, so fell by 93% !!

is it because of sixth pay commission

^^Mamtha claimed that all the profit been manipulatedin in Lallu's period..

The new railway budget is again a big disappointment. No wonder the profits are declining.:bash:

There are few ambitious targets like 1000 kms of new lines and 800 km of gauge conversion per year. Quite a few trains have been proposed. The proposal to eliminate all unmanned crossings is also commendable.

Other than this, I dont see anything good in the railway budget.
- A namesake proposal to form a committee for high speed rail corridor. How many times they will propose a committee?
- Establishment of six bottling plants: This is the age of privatization and lean companies. All around the world, companies are shedding their non-core competencies and concentrating on their main business. Why the hell should you invest in all these things, when all you need is a transparent mechanism to award contracts and ensure that quality water is supplied? :bash:
- Establishment of sports academies: Why is this the job of a railway ministry? If it wants to encourage sports, it should rope in private sponsorships. The academies it sets up will not be of world standards and be half-baked.

As far as I noticed, there are not many investments in improving the efficiencies of the organization - No big proposal on mechanization, improvement of train traffic systems etc. which will improve efficiencies and increase profit at the same freight and passenger rates.

This is the 'Bhoomi' budget - a slew of trains named 'Matribhoomi', 'Janmabhoomi', 'karmabhoomi' etc.

No big mention of the sub-urban systems except a promise to 'increase' services in Kolkata and Chennai. I would've favoured the decoupling of the sub-urban systems from the regional zones and creating new Sub-urban bodies that will integrate all sub-urban rail systems in each city. This body should form a constituent of the Unified Metropolitan Authority set up in each city. This way, the sub-urban rail will have more autonomy and will be more integrated with the other modes of transport in the city.

We have a complete populist politician at the helm of affairs who does not have the vision and the courage to go for it. Railways is a corporate style body and should be run by an efficient business man or an economist. We do not need a politician here.

The UPA government has made it a habit of not touching the passenger rates as a favour to the 'Aam Aadmi'. This is the 7th year in a row. This practice is fast becoming a tradition and an expectation. If the government continues, this is like shooting itself on its legs. Or it is the headache of the next government, of course. This is going to cause a huge uproar when the time comes for an increase. The level of increase may be sharp and the opposition will create a huge hue and cry shouting that the government is anti-poor and does not care.. blah... blah... blah They should have had modest adjustments to the fare every year (increase / decrease) just to keep the thought alive.

We are coming out of recession. Most major economies in the past have made use of recessions to give a huge thrust to infrastructure. And I dont see anything happening like that. No wonder the profits are declining. :ohno:

^^ the railways seriously need to get out of the manufacturing business!! let those divisions fend for themselves! concentrate on the core task!!! run the railways, not the support services!

Imagine how much could have been invested in Infra development if all the money was not wasted the way it is now!!!

Another boring social oriented Railway Budget that saddles India with myopic vision and non-progress. I don't know why we have such numbskull ministers with narrow vision and regional favoritism. When is India going to have dynamic young people ruling the nation.

agreed..
but the minister alone can't be blamed..
its the whole ministry.
the babus specially who think that taking time to take decisions is "in" (for the past 100 years now :ohno:)

The railway infrastructure is creaking. Just look at this overloaded train in Bihar (which incidently has been shafted by Mamta).

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/02/24/images/20100224.jpg


This is certainly not a one off case..
also nothing much can be done about it..
the burgeoning population is to be blamed here..

^^ Start privatizing the railways in phases with an ultimate aim of privatizing all the operations and maintenance, while govt is only the owner of the property.

unless and until the private sector is given part ownership they won't be willing to take up the operations and maintenance..
it would just not be worth it..
for instance the Airtel/Max Newyork Life Rajdhani rakes have now gone back to normal as these companies were allowed to advertise in lieu of upkeep of the trains which surely mustn't have benefited them..

Indian Railways profit falls 93 pc in two years

This sums up everything about the Neta Mamta, she reminds me of a chimpanzee (the perpetual scowl on her face). There is saying in Tamil: giving a flower garland (railways) to a monkey (Mamta) is useless.

There have been a lot of ridicule about Lalu Prasad Yadav, but no one can take away the fact that he did produce profits. It takes a crook to beat a crook, they say and Lalu exemplified the dictum. He turned the crooked babus who overloaded freight trains and pocketed the difference, into the norm for freight trains. In other words he overloaded freight and made the business legit. Profits soared. Running IR on profitable lines does not take rocket science. There is huge demand for public transport in India, people love the convenience and cost effectiveness of train travel. A little bit of business acumen can make passenger train travel a profitable business. There is no need to appease every social need in the country. Just run the core business as efficiently and charge a comfortable operating margin for fares. Increased service, convenience, speed can command a little more premium in fares and the Indian public will gladly pay for it. Similar to how the Delhi Metro is turning a profit on a modest fare basis. There is no magic in being profitable, simple common sense and adhering to sound business principles.

This sums up everything about the Neta Mamta, she reminds me of a chimpanzee (the perpetual scowl on her face). There is saying in Tamil: giving a flower garland (railways) to a monkey (Mamta) is useless.

There have been a lot of ridicule about Lalu Prasad Yadav, but no one can take away the fact that he did produce profits. It takes a crook to beat a crook, they say and Lalu exemplified the dictum. He turned the crooked babus who overloaded freight trains and pocketed the difference, into the norm for freight trains. In other words he overloaded freight and made the business legit. Profits soared. Running IR on profitable lines does not take rocket science. There is huge demand for public transport in India, people love the convenience and cost effectiveness of train travel. A little bit of business acumen can make passenger train travel a profitable business. There is no need to appease every social need in the country. Just run the core business as efficiently and charge a comfortable operating margin for fares. Increased service, convenience, speed can command a little more premium in fares and the Indian public will gladly pay for it. Similar to how the Delhi Metro is turning a profit on a modest fare basis. There is no magic in being profitable, simple common sense and adhering to sound business principles.

All the politicians are same. But we should rational in comparison.

1. At Lalu's time there was no recession, the large scale shipments for Olympic related projects in China resulting in profit from fright.

2. Read today's Times of India's business page the fall in profit is due to 6th pay commission where railways have to bear more than Rs. 2000 crores.

As for delhi metro being a delhite i know more about Delhi Metro. Even before fare hike they were in profit and their quality deterioration day by day. The passengers are cramped inside trains with only 4 coaches where in developed countries they have 8-10 coaches.

for a government monopoly its debatable whether large profits are desirable, especially when service quality is so low. they should be spending all that money on upgrading infra, not parking it in a bank

HSR may not be the urgent need of the hour and, as many of u have pointed out, that there are many things to fix now like stations, operations, etc. However, if HSR becomes a need in 20 years time, we need to plan now. For once, Indian govt. thought of planning in time rather than wait when the need becomes almost an emergency. and they are only doing feasibility and other studies now. i doubt they would start building anythin in next 4-5 years (remeber the financial closure for HSR will be one of the toughest to achieve), and then another 4-5 years to build. so we dont have HSR for a minimum of 10 years already.

As for delhi metro being a delhite i know more about Delhi Metro. Even before fare hike they were in profit and their quality deterioration day by day. The passengers are cramped inside trains with only 4 coaches where in developed countries they have 8-10 coaches.

Even being a delhiite you don't know much about Delhi metro. Crowding is because demand had increased even though no new lines were added after Phase-I till March 2008. DMRC has ordered 484+196 coaches for the second phase. I have explained this in detail in Delhi metro thread numerous times. It's better if you follow that thread regularly. Trains can also be lengthened here to 6-8 coaches like other metros.

Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee sanctioned many long-pending projects for Maharashtra and announced several new trains to increase connectivity within the state and to other parts of India.

She also said her ministry had brought into force the decision to have railway recruitment exam papers in local languages.

The Railway Budget Banerjee presented on Wednesday approved the feasibility study for a Dahanu Road-Nashik and a Belgaum-Sawantwadi line, completing the lines between Lonad and Phalton in Baramati and converting the Pandharpur-Miraj section to run main line trains.

The proposed high-speed Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad rail corridor received a boost with the formation of a separate body to look after its completion. The project envisages trains running at speeds of 250 kmh to 300 kmh.

A wagon repair unit was proposed in Badnera in backward Vidarbha and a water bottling plant at Nashik. Banerjee also announced connectivity plans for Ramtek-Gotegaon, Jalna-Khamgaon, Wardha-Katol and Dhule-Amalner.

The farmer-oriented Kisan Vikas Project will be started at Nashik to help farmers transport produce easily. Banerjee also proposed public-private partnerships for connectivity to the ports of Rewas, Dharamtar and Dighi in Maharashtra.

The long-pending Ahmednagar-Beed-Parli-Vaijanath project link, to be built with the help of the state government, was also approved.

Banerjee also announced a new Duranto express between Pune and Howrah and new trains on the Kolhapur-Solapur, Jaipur-Pune, Nanded-Bangalore and Pune-Ernakulam routes. Some trains have been extended, giving direct connectivity between Vijaywada and Shirdi, Secunderabad and Shirdi, Sangli and Kolhapur, Pune and Baramati, and Pune-Parli-Pandharpur.

Besides this, there would be station upgrades at Miraj, Nashik Road, Parbhani, Purna, Sangli and Solapur. Stations at Aurangabad, Gondia, Miraj, Shegaon and Wardha would be developed as multi-functional complexes with malls, offices, etc,

http://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai/Mamata-smiles-on-Maharashtra/512601/H1-Article1-512614.aspx

All the politicians are same. But we should rational in comparison.

1. At Lalu's time there was no recession, the large scale shipments for Olympic related projects in China resulting in profit from fright.

2. Read today's Times of India's business page the fall in profit is due to 6th pay commission where railways have to bear more than Rs. 2000 crores.



You are missing the point, Lalu was able to reign in the crooked cabal in IR and bring in some discipline into the revenue picture. He was going after greater goals like becoming the PM of India (a very tall order). And being a crook, he was able to discern other crooks very well. He had the political clout to institute his way of governance and ergo he was able to produce profits. Not a bad approach considering the crooked IR officials siphoning of revenue from the IR.

Neta Mamta is always cloistered in W. Bengal and she hardly pays attention to the day-to-day operations of IR. She does not understand the IR well either, relegating control to officials to run the show. This means that there is a carte blanche to the IR officials to go about looting revenues of IR and hence the drop in profits.

In my opinion, Railway should not be privatized. When it gets privatized, it will become profit oriented instead of people oriented. In the country like India where the majority are below poverty line and there is a significant middle class, privatizing the crucial mode of transportation doesn't sound like a good option. You can see some PPP model in highways and bridges where they charge significant money for using those services. One class of our society can afford it, but majority just can't. And you can see private transport services too which charge really high.

Though I feel that the railways should be owned by the government ( matter of national security), I think the rail operations can be decentralized and privatized. Private companies should be encouraged to run services ( for profit). And so can state and local governments. The Central government should focus on maintaining the infrastructure and running services where private/ regional interests cannot connect. It should also regulate the services run on the railways to ensure that the interests of the public and the nation as a whole are met. It also seems unnecessary to me that the railways are investing in non-core functions like water bottling plants. It may also be a better idea for the railways to let the private sector handle most of the railway manufacturing business.

When I think of the Indian railways it appears like a behemoth. One wonders how such a big system is managed and that too profitably. I feel that in a country like india the railways have a certain advantage. High poverty rate and limited infrastructure/reach of other modes like road , air transport meant that there is a high dependency on railways for fulfilling our transportation needs. The British realised the advantages of the railways for imperial reasons and hence build a nation wide network of railways. Successive indian governments have taken up some good projects like electrification and project unigauge e.t.c. But still there is are many areas where service is far from satisfactory.
Since economic liberalization in 1991 there has been a tendency to look at the profitability of the railways. And in 2004 the Railway minister Laloo yadav declared the railways to be a profit making venture. And all the media blitz followed him. However I feel that the profitability of the railways cannot be attributed to any one individual or a single year. Decisions and policies formulated over a period of time allowed the railways to cut costs improve earninigs. This includes those taken by Laloo but is not limited to him. However every Railway minister that I can remember has pandered to his regional base and used his railway portfolio to shower goodies (at times unfairly) upon his voters/supporters. Laloo and Mamta happen to be the most brazen in that respect. Also one wonders how long running railways like fiefdoms will be sustainable. A classic example is General Motors where large size brought large liabilities and misplaced priorities eventually brought down earnings which brought about a near collapse of the company. Indian Railways also shares some factors which lead to the collapse of GM i.e. strong unwieldy unions, misplaced priorities e.t.c. Some populist decisions taken today may become problematic tommorrow. Overloading freight trains, curtailing the quality of service may pay returns in the short term but may cause credibility problems in the long run. The Railways should focus on long term interests like providing sound infrastructure for generations to come. Also the fact that a minister elected with limited regional base controls the decision-making does not bode well for the future of the organization. what is needed is a professional manager regulated by a Railway board (this already exists) which constitutes of experts, elected representatives and some members of the public.

Given the regional bias in railways budgets year after year :(, it is time the state Govts are given control of the projects in their states so that they need not wait for funds from one monopolistic organization at the center. Many states like Karnataka are ready to share the cost of railway projects. This is a good step forward. :cheers:

This way states will compete with each other to improve railway infrastructure just like they compete with each other in attracting FDI investment, growing industries etc. :|

I watched Mamtha's interview to some TV channels yesterday after she presented the budget. She is unwilling to take questions and is outwardly aggressive in defending herself :ohno:. She is talking too fast that no one will be willing to ask her any more questions :lol:

I am particularly upset with the below comments from her,

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/mamata-strikes-back-says-dont-humiliate-bengal/110647-3.html?from=tn

"If you shout, I will lay the speech," Mamata warned the MPs who were shouting while she presented the budget. "If you don't listen, I will cut (the allocation being made to their constituencies)," the minister threatened. :mad::mad::mad::mad:

Banerjee admitted that her sentiments were very much attached to the people of West Bengal. Assembly elections are to be held in West Bengal next year. :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

The money which can be used to build 1 high speed line will be enough to improve railway facilities on 10 times longer length. Which one will you think is better ? We need to reach a particular level after which we start thinking of luxury. Right now the thrust should be on improvement of existing parts and covering the remote regions of the country. HSR will look suitable after 20 years when we will be much richer than today and we will (supposedly) have better basic railway infrastructure.

Though you are right in mentioning the cost of high speed rail, I beg to differ on the need to build HSR. There are some intercity routes which could do with HSR. If we start 20 yrs from now we may be late in the game, Not to mention the increase in cost 20 yrs from now. HSR cannot be seen only from the cost perspective. By its presence it can bring economic advantages to the region it connects. Also HSR is a good alternative for our middle/upper class citizens who increasingly prefer to travel by road or air both of which consume more fossil fuels (per passenger km) and also pollute more.
The cost of building a HSR doesn't have to be borne by the central government alone. The state governments, private sector (including foreign consortiums) can also be involved to fund a HSR line. Konkan railway is an excellent example of state governments sharing the investment to bring railways to a difficult terrain. I cannot see why the same cannot be extended to HSR.

Private companies should be encouraged to run services ( for profit).

This will not work because the profits from higher class services are used to subsidize rail travel for others. Pvt companies will end up cream-skimming making rail travel costlier for all.

But, yes, all non-core operations must be eliminated. But, noone has the strength to fight the unions especially when your political survival depends on them.

Here is an example of Mahindra World City building up Paranur Railway Station...
With an investment of over 1.5 crores, the new station building has modern passenger amenities including:
A spacious ticket counter
Waiting room with modern toilets, including separate toilets for the handicapped
High-Velocity lighting
Landscaping with fountains and flower beds
24X7 security
Steel benches, water fountains and spitoons

If the cost for an upgrade of small railway station is around Rs. 2 crores, the IR should allocate 2000 crores to upgrade 1000 small stations in the nation. Or better still involve the local state govt and private companies to do the upgrade. Private companies will be glad to donate a few Rs to get their name/ad towards building the railway station. These are the kinds of initiatives that the Netas/Babus need to emphasize priority, not endless social appeasement nonsense.

Our railway stations require immediate upgrade, most of them are pathetic ruins, worse than bombed out places of the world. And the trains themselves are ancient crude nightmarish designs. I don't understand these Netas/Babus. They travel the world or at least watch world TV and notice how different the rest of the world is in terms of basic infrastructure. Yet they pretend that all is hunky dory in India and go about like dumb mannequins with some perceived notion of how India ought to be. Disgusting. The station masters at these railway stations come in day and day out, they punch their time and collect their paychecks. None of them is interested in rolling up their sleeves and cracking the whip. How long does it take for them to rebel at the state of affairs and the pathetic conditions of these railway stations. The entire place is one huge pigsty. I would resign my job and call it a day.

Though you are right in mentioning the cost of high speed rail, I beg to differ on the need to build HSR. There are some intercity routes which could do with HSR. If we start 20 yrs from now we may be late in the game, Not to mention the increase in cost 20 yrs from now. HSR cannot be seen only from the cost perspective. By its presence it can bring economic advantages to the region it connects. Also HSR is a good alternative for our middle/upper class citizens who increasingly prefer to travel by road or air both of which consume more fossil fuels (per passenger km) and also pollute more.
The cost of building a HSR doesn't have to be borne by the central government alone. The state governments, private sector (including foreign consortiums) can also be involved to fund a HSR line. Konkan railway is an excellent example of state governments sharing the investment to bring railways to a difficult terrain. I cannot see why the same cannot be extended to HSR.

True, the collaboration between the center, state and Private participation is required to do this .

Also to start with the HSR should be between cities where the current journey takes 8 to 12 hours or overnight journeys like Mumbai - Ahemedabad(Already on Plan). Delhi -Jaipur, Chennai- Bangalore Howrah -Patna. The travelling time between these cities will be reduced to say 2- 3 hours , but the travel cost for this distance will be definitly less than the flight cost. Long distance HSR might not be popular at the moment because they might cost more than the Flight and the travel time will also be more than the travel time in flight .
Eg.HSR will not be feasible between Mumbai and Kolkata because the flight travel time is close to 3 hours bu HSR at it's top speed of 350 KM/Hr will 4 hours . The cost of 3 tier AC on this route is around Rs1500/- approx but on HSR might be close to Rs 4000(approx). Low budget Airline also cost the same on this route.
Now Consider the route between Mumbai to Ahmedabad . By flight it might take an hour , by HSR it might take 2 hours , but the cost will also be less here as compared to the cost of the flight and time saving definitely for 7 to 8hours it takes now .

In US too , Acela Express runs between Boston and Washington DC but not between New york and Chicago. Travelling by train from New York to Boston or New York - DC is more popular and flight is more popular from Newyork to Chicago.

Here is an example of Mahindra World City building up Paranur Railway Station...


If the cost for an upgrade of small railway station is around Rs. 2 crores, the IR should allocate 2000 crores to upgrade 1000 small stations in the nation. Or better still involve the local state govt and private companies to do the upgrade. Private companies will be glad to donate a few Rs to get their name/ad towards building the railway station. These are the kinds of initiatives that the Netas/Babus need to emphasize priority, not endless social appeasement nonsense.

Our railway stations require immediate upgrade, most of them are pathetic ruins, worse than bombed out places of the world. And the trains themselves are ancient crude nightmarish designs. I don't understand these Netas/Babus. They travel the world or at least watch world TV and notice how different the rest of the world is in terms of basic infrastructure. Yet they pretend that all is hunky dory in India and go about like dumb mannequins with some perceived notion of how India ought to be. Disgusting. The station masters at these railway stations come in day and day out, they punch their time and collect their paychecks. None of them is interested in rolling up their sleeves and cracking the whip. How long does it take for them to rebel at the state of affairs and the pathetic conditions of these railway stations. The entire place is one huge pigsty. I would resign my job and call it a day.

To give an idea of what barrykul is referring to, here's a pic of that station posted in one of Chennai sub-forums by Kewl Batty (special thanks to him). This station is on the Chennai suburban route. It is a very small and insignificant station compared to other stations in and around Chennai but it has been modernized because it is very close to the Mahindra World City campus. In fact, this station is the gateway to that campus through rail.

Maslinea Leathers
...
Paranur Railway Station
http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/3948/paranurrailwaystation.jpg

delete

This will not work because the profits from higher class services are used to subsidize rail travel for others. Pvt companies will end up cream-skimming making rail travel costlier for all.


I don't think it quite works out that way. Allowing the private sector will also foster competition. And competition between competitors will work to control the fares. Besides fares will also be controlled by competition with other modes of transport. The government has a dual role to play i.e "to operate services where private sector cannot operate due to practicality/profitability issues" AND " to regulate/monitor all the train operators so that monopolies/fare rigging and other malpractices are curtailed".

As for subsidizing loss making services with profits from profitable services, then this is practised even now. Many single line branch routes in the interiors of the country are not profitable to run. But they continue to be run because it is essential to provide some sort of a connectivity to these regions. The money comes from profitable mainline services and some busy suburban systems. A few years back some railway zones in this country were making losses and had to be subsidized with profits from other zones.

I share your concerns on "cream skimming' by private companies, but I don't think in our country a public sector monopoly really addresses all our railway needs.

Source (http://news.oneindia.in/2010/02/26/indiasfirst-air-conditioned-double-decker-rail-coachdevel.html)
Kapurthala (Punjab), Feb 26(ANI): The Rail Coach Factory (RCF) of Kapurthala boasts of developing a prototype of the country's first air-conditioned double-decker coach.
The officials of the factory claim that the double-decker coach has been completed in a record time of eight months.
The RCF started preparing such coaches after Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee announced in her Railway Budget speech in 2009 that AC double-decker trains will be manufactured to cope up with heavy rush of commuters.
RCF's General Manager Pardeep Kumar said that the preliminary testing of the double-decker prototype has been conducted successfully, and it would be rolled out next month for trials.
"We have made India's first double-decker AC coach in the RCF. We have completed a prototype of the coach and the first stage of testing of the coach has also been completed successfully this month. Earlier also, double-decker coaches were made but they did not have any AC and had some or the other manufacturing problems. So, we have overcome all those problems and made this coach with a completely new design," Kumar said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced that Indian Railways would introduce double-decker trains as a pilot project.
"India's Railway Minister announced that two trains would be running between Delhi and Kolkata as a part of the pilot project. Depending on the response, the project will be further extended in terms of number of coaches," Kumar said.
Kumar further said that after the successful completion of the oscillation trails by the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO), the RCF would start manufacturing double-decker coaches for trains.
The new coach shell design is capable of running at a speed of 160 kilometer/hour, and it will be 1.5 feet higher than the normal coach and will have a seating capacity of about 130. (ANI)

^^ cool.. but am not expecting much in the looks dept. will probably look like the old double decker with sealed windows!

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Railway+staff+take+it+with+a+pinch+of+salt&artid=oQ1yMDEiDqU=&SectionID=lifojHIWDUU=&MainSectionID=wIcBMLGbUJI=&SectionName=rSY|6QYp3kQ=&SEO=

CHENNAI: Not many feel elated by Mamata Banerjee’s Railway Budget gift of providing houses to all railway employees, considering the unkept promises of the past.
“It is most unlikely. The Minister’s promise is practically impossible as it means working in coordination with the Ministry of Urban Development.
At least 14 lakh people work in the railways right now. In the past decade, recruitment has almost been nil.
While the intake is one per cent, the outgoing people constitute three per cent. That way, the number of employees with more than 10 years of service in railways is close to a million,” a member of the railway union said.
“If the quarters are like this, there is no question of houses at all,” said a few employees, complaining about the dilapidated state of the railway quarters which they occupy.
Railway employees also pointed out that last year’s Budget envisioned 122 new trains by March 2010, but very few trains would be able to meet that deadline.
Proposal to set up women’s wing in RPF welcomed
Welcoming the proposal made in the Railway Budget 2010 for a women’s wing in the railway protection force to ensure women passengers’ security, RPF association president Arivazhagan pointed out that women formed less than two per cent of the total Southern Railways RPF. “Out of a total of 21 coaches in a train, there are only four RPF guards. Out of a total of 5,000 to 7,000 RPF officials in the Southern Railway, there are only 40 to 45 women personnel in suburban trains,” he said.
“After 10 pm, men with fully drunk get into the ladies’ compartment. Having a women’s wing will help passengers like me,” said Gayathri, a suburban train passenger.
Besides, the RPF has asked to be accorded more powers. “We have no powers to deal with cases of robbery or dacoity. We only catch the offenders and hand them over to the railway police,” Arivazhagan said.

Railways to soon begin survey for south-south corridor (http://www.littleabout.com/news/75151,railways-survey-south-south-corridor.html)
Published on : Saturday 27 Feb 2010 19:12 - by IANS


Bangalore, Feb 27 : The Indian Railways will soon undertake an engineering-cum-traffic survey for building the ambitious south-south freight corridor covering Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Goa, Minister of State for Railways K. H. Muniyappa said Saturday.

"As freight is a major source of revenue for us, we will conduct the preliminary survey this year for the south-south corridor," Muniyappa told reporters here.

Three days after Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee presented her budget for 2010-11 Feb 24, Muniyappa, who hails from Karnataka, said as part of its commitment to the social sector, the railways transported essential commodities to areas affected by natural calamities free of cost or at a substantial loss.

"We will also undertake survey across the state to extend the rail network to socially desirable areas in four sections - Mysore-Madikere, Gadag-Harihar, Thalasery-Mysore and Tumkur-Davanagere," he said.

Of the total budget outlay of Rs.41,426 crore for the new fiscal, the South Western Railway (SWR) has been allocated Rs.1,450 crore as against Rs.1,026 crore in the current fiscal, an increase of 41 percent year-on-year for new lines, gauge conversion, doubling of tracks and passenger amenities.

"Survey for 12 new lines spanning 1,163 km across the state will be take up at a cost of Rs.3.5 crore. In addition, Rs.1,233 crore will be allocated for four new projects, including electrification of Guntakal-Bellary-Hospet-Vasco da Gama," theminister said.

The state government will contribute Rs.629 crore over the next five years to the four projects while the railways will provide Rs.176 crore in the new fiscal.

"In all, 32 projects are at various stages of execution in the state consisting new lines, gauge conversion, doubling (of tracks), electrification and more amenities for millions of passengers," Muniyappa said.

The Kadur-Chikmagalur section of Kadur-Sakleshpur project, announced by former prime minister Indira Gandhi way back in 1978, is expected to be completed in 2010. The SWR has allocated Rs.40 crore for the final phase of the project with a matching contribution by the state government.

The SWR will also take up doubling of Hosdurga Road-Chikjajur, Hospet-Hubli-Londa-Vasco da Gama, Birur-Shivani and electrification of Shoranur-Mangalore-Panambur in the coastal area.

"We will take up seven new projects in the state at an estimated cost of Rs.4,326 crore on cost-sharing and PPP (public-private partnership) model with the state government contributing Rs.1,313 crore over the next five years. One of the project involves laying separate lines to the Karwar port, which is being expanded and upgraded," Muniyappa said.

The Telegraph
Sevoke: Tracks to Sikkim will start from here
Calcutta, Feb. 24: The construction of a new railway link connecting north Bengal to Sikkim has begun with Ircon International Limited, a public sector undertaking incorporated with the Indian Railways, starting work on the 44km stretch between Sevoke and Rangpo two years after the plan was mooted.

The general manager of the Northeast Frontier Railway, Shiv Kumar, and senior officials of the railways and Ircon, attended the ground-breaking ceremony at Rangpo on the Bengal-Sikkim border on Saturday.

Ircon sources said the estimated project cost is around Rs 3,300 crore.

Ircon’s general manager, eastern region, Anil Kumar Gupta, said engineers were already working on the access roads to reach the proposed track alignment. “The terrain is a challenging one and we have to first reach the areas through which the railway line will pass. After that, we will be able to conduct a survey and arrive at the final estimate,” Gupta said.

He said Ircon had experience in constructing railway lines in Jammu and Kashmir.

“An estimated 70 per cent of the total stretch to Sikkim will have to be either through tunnels or viaducts in order to make progress through one hill to the other, spanning deep gorges. The viaducts will have to be constructed on high pillars,” the general manager said.

The project will take five years to complete once the funds are sanctioned. The first railway link to the Himalayan state will help boost the state’s economy as well as its economic mainstay, tourism.

Senior officials of the NFR said after the Sevoke-Rangpo track laying is completed by 2015, there are plans to take the link up to Gangtok.

“The railway connectivity to Sikkim is important as the India army has deployment along the border with China in the state. The railway line will vastly improve troop movement as they will not have to rely solely on the state’s only road link with the rest of India, NH31A,” an official said.

The Rail Coach Factory (RCF) of Kapurthala,in Punjab,boasts of developing a prototype of the country's first air conditioned double decker coach.The officials of the factory claim that the double-decker coach has been completed in a record time of eight months.

The RCF started preparing such coaches after central Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee announced in her Railway Budget speech in 2009 that AC double decker trains will be manufactured to cope up with heavy rush of commuters.

Source: ANI

ET (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/Burn-Standard-Braithwaite-to-be-transferred-to-railways/articleshow/5631313.cms)
KOLKATA: The Union heavy industries ministry is slated to complete the transfer of two ailing PSUs — Burn Standard (BS) and Braithwaite & Co —
to the Railways within six months to a year. This was indicated by the secretary in the ministry of heavy industries and public enterprises, Satyanarayana Dash said on Monday.

“The Railways has just completed due diligence of both Burn Standard and Braithwaite. It is slated to submit comments in a week, which will then be incorporated in the Cabinet note prepared by the department of heavy industries (DHI) and submitted to the Union Cabinet. The DHI has already prepared the Cabinet note for handing over both companies which will be handed over to the ministry of railways minus the liabilities — on a ‘clean slate basis’,” said Mr Dash.

Elaborating, he said: “Cumulative liabilities of Burn Standard is close to Rs 1,400 crore, while that for Braithwaite is about Rs 120 crore. Since the railways will take over both entities on a clean slate basis, the liabilities will have to be waived off by the government before the transfer is effected. The process will require Cabinet clearance which has been prepared by the DHI in its Cabinet note.”

Incidentally, the Railways has also evinced an interest to take over Bharat Bhari Udyog Nigam (BBUNL), which is the holding company of Burn Standard and Braithwaite, on a standalone basis.

It may be mentioned that BBUNL as the holding company of Burn Standard, Braithwaite and Burn Braithwaite & Jessop (BBJ) owns 100% in all three companies. But since the Railways is only keen to acquire Burn Standard and Braithwaite, it will relinquish ownership in BBJ once the transfer of Burn Standard and Braithwaite is concluded, according to Mr Dash.

Burn Standard now has 1,500 employees on its rolls while Braithwaite has around 500. Burn Standard, at present, has three manufacturing units, each at Howrah and Burnpur where wagons are manufactured. Although its installed capacity is about 1,500 wagons per year, it manufactures only about 800-900 units annually.

Additionally, BS also owns a refractory unit at Salem which is being transferred to the steel ministry. The company owns vast tracts of land at the units which are now closed. All these plots taken together have been evaluated at Rs 350 crore.

Besides, the company also owns a magnesite mine. Braithwaite, on the other hand, has two wagon manufacturing units in Kolkata as well as a steel foundry. It also has a crane servicing unit for cranes it manufactured earlier along with a spare manufacturing unit for these cranes.

Proposed new rail line to bring Mumbai, Kolkata closer

Distance between Mumbai and Howrah via Jabalpur by train will reduce by about 400 km if the 85-year-old Barwadih-Chirimiri rail line project takes shape.

In the rail budget for 2010-11, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced to conduct the survey of new line between Chirimiri (Chhattisgarh) and Barwadih (Jharkhand). The proposal to connect the two mineral rich pockets by rail has been pending for more than eight decade.

Highly placed sources in the railway ministry told Business Standard that the Britishers were the first to moot the proposal way back in 1925 to connect Chirimiri and Barwadih, both coal rich areas, by rail. The plan was aimed to facilitate transportation of minerals.

The Britishers knew the importance of the rail line and the work on the project was started in the early 1930s after conducting the survey, sources added. The required land for the project was also acquired. But the work was stopped during the World War II and the project had been pending since then, sources said.

The new rail line would connect Howrah via Latehar, Dhanbad and Mumbai via Jabalpur, Itarsi. It would help reducing the rail distance between the two Metros. At present, both the Metros are connected by two different rail routes one via Nagpur, Raipur and another via Itarsi, Jabalpur.

The distance between Howrah and Mumbai via Jabalpur is 2,177 km while the same via Raipur comes to be around 1,968 km. The railway runs maximum trains between both the Metros via Nagpur and Raipur. Besides a daily Kolkata mail, a couple of weekly trains chug on Mumbai-Jabalpur-Howrah section.

Sources said that the new 202-km Barwadih-Chirimiri line would change the rail map route between Howrah and Mumbai. If the new line starts, it will reduce the distance between both the Metros by more than 400 km; making it shortest route between Mumbai and Howrah by curtailing travel time by atleast four hours, sources added.

Source: Business Standard

deleted duplicate post

After watching the success of one man Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Praful Patel, who changed the face of Indian Airports, I am convinced that a leader with dedication and vision can change the Indian Railways.

Indian Railways is a big organization and caters to major travel/freight needs of the country. This is a vital function for the economy. There are too many things that need an immediate fix. One of them happens to be crumbling Railway Stations dotting the landscape. Major Railway stations are old and look like bygone era stuff. However, today's railway station mirrors the same convenience of Airports. There has been fits and starts on changing some of the railway stations to modern era ones. These efforts are going nowhere. We need a person like Minister Praful Patel, and they need to be at the helm for 2 or more terms and chart a course of steady change.

Fixing the Indian Railway station is a great way to invigorate the economy. Every station requires a major upgrade. The various railway divisions can be authorized to start the process. A minimum set of guidelines can be published for every station small, medium and large. Private enterprise can be tapped to sponsor the upgrades. Just imagine Infosys station, Wipro Station, Tata Station, Reliance Station, etc. Local talent can be tapped to design and build these stations. There are lots of graduating young college students who require jobs in the growing economy. Architects, civil engineers, fashion designers, electrical engineers, etc. are yearning to contribute towards building of a new India. Hiring and nurturing local talent fulfills a lot of goals. The local economy is stimulated, people have pride and ownership and the local tradition/norms can find an expression in the station. Contest for best designed, best executed, best maintained railway stations provide the spark for competition. This activity will beat any NREGA goals and would be more enduring. For the next five years there is a rebuilding boom in Indian railway stations and the economy supplies the raw materials, talent and energy. GDP growth increase by 1-2%.

Next major task for the railways is to come up with the next generation Indian Railway train. This is a crash program that could involve Engineering Institutes like IITs, NITs and other engineering colleges. The goal is to revamp the Indian Railway Engine, Coach and simultaneously improve the tracks and signaling system to accommodate high speeds. A better suspension system, more HP engines, coaches that are balanced and light and easy to maintain. And maybe try to build a system that is the fastest in the world, beating any other prevalent system. This is completely within the realm of possibility of Indian Engineering. There is so much young talent and entrepreneurship in India that assembling such a team with clear goals is a no-brainer.

All it takes is a new leader with dedication and vision. The billion plus people of India deserve this.

After watching the success of one man Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Praful Patel, who changed the face of Indian Airports, I am convinced that a leader with dedication and vision can change the Indian Railways.

Indian Railways is a big organization and caters to major travel/freight needs of the country. This is a vital function for the economy. There are too many things that need an immediate fix. One of them happens to be crumbling Railway Stations dotting the landscape. Major Railway stations are old and look like bygone era stuff. However, today's railway station mirrors the same convenience of Airports. There has been fits and starts on changing some of the railway stations to modern era ones. These efforts are going nowhere. We need a person like Minister Praful Patel, and they need to be at the helm for 2 or more terms and chart a course of steady change.

Fixing the Indian Railway station is a great way to invigorate the economy. Every station requires a major upgrade. The various railway divisions can be authorized to start the process. A minimum set of guidelines can be published for every station small, medium and large. Private enterprise can be tapped to sponsor the upgrades. Just imagine Infosys station, Wipro Station, Tata Station, Reliance Station, etc. Local talent can be tapped to design and build these stations. There are lots of graduating young college students who require jobs in the growing economy. Architects, civil engineers, fashion designers, electrical engineers, etc. are yearning to contribute towards building of a new India. Hiring and nurturing local talent fulfills a lot of goals. The local economy is stimulated, people have pride and ownership and the local tradition/norms can find an expression in the station. Contest for best designed, best executed, best maintained railway stations provide the spark for competition. This activity will beat any NREGA goals and would be more enduring. For the next five years there is a rebuilding boom in Indian railway stations and the economy supplies the raw materials, talent and energy. GDP growth increase by 1-2%.

Next major task for the railways is to come up with the next generation Indian Railway train. This is a crash program that could involve Engineering Institutes like IITs, NITs and other engineering colleges. The goal is to revamp the Indian Railway Engine, Coach and simultaneously improve the tracks and signaling system to accommodate high speeds. A better suspension system, more HP engines, coaches that are balanced and light and easy to maintain. And maybe try to build a system that is the fastest in the world, beating any other prevalent system. This is completely within the realm of possibility of Indian Engineering. There is so much young talent and entrepreneurship in India that assembling such a team with clear goals is a no-brainer.

All it takes is a new leader with dedication and vision. The billion plus people of India deserve this.

thank you i hope ur vision will come true and i suggest you be the leader

copied Image from Indian rail pictures from Sidney jec

http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/6536/dsc6519.jpg


Why Can't they change these heavy duty and ugly looking fans in all second class compartments?? There is so much noise whenever I turn these monsters on.

Use of light weight and efficient fans will reduce electricity comsumption and reduce the noise levels to a great extent.

This shouldn't cost much to replace.

Also smell from the train toilets in 2nd class compartment is disgusting. They can easily put a glass door like in A/C compartments.

Those fans are like that for a reason :lol: They are made of hardy steel with big bolts so that they don't break or get stolen easily. But yeah, a technological upgrade would be welcome :yes:

^^ the root cause of all problems in the Railways (and many other govt. run organizations) is that people do not have the need to work hard!!!you can sit, do nothing and still due to the basic biological fact of ageing can still get promoted and have a job for life! no one can do anything to you! so under these circumstances, what possible need do they have to work hard? be creative? try to change things?

The Indian railways will not change as long as the Indian govt. is running it! that's all there is to it! We are praising praful pater, but the fact of the matter is, a large reason for his success is that the private sector has a huge impact on the aviation industry today!! this will never happen to the railways because successive governments will always consider it s social tool to win elections!!!

i think theft is the main reason why its still the way it is (the fans and indian railways both)

Those fans are like that for a reason :lol: They are made of hardy steel with big bolts so that they don't break or get stolen easily. But yeah, a technological upgrade would be welcome :yes:

^^ the root cause of all problems in the Railways (and many other govt. run organizations) is that people do not have the need to work hard!!!you can sit, do nothing and still due to the basic biological fact of ageing can still get promoted and have a job for life! no one can do anything to you! so under these circumstances, what possible need do they have to work hard? be creative? try to change things?

The Indian railways will not change as long as the Indian govt. is running it! that's all there is to it! We are praising praful pater, but the fact of the matter is, a large reason for his success is that the private sector has a huge impact on the aviation industry today!! this will never happen to the railways because successive governments will always consider it s social tool to win elections!!!

i think theft is the main reason why its still the way it is (the fans and indian railways both)

Theft can be easily controlled by embedding the fans(smaller) in the ceiling of the trains. They can use air blowers instead of fans which may also prevent theft.

Another reason may also be because of lazy or corrupt contractors who supply these fans to the railways. The extra fittings in all trains are sourced from contractors. The Coach factory only makes the body and seats.

Iam seeing these same type of fans for the past 20 years:nuts:

hmm privatisation my friends. Privatisation.

Also smell from the train toilets in 2nd class compartment is disgusting. They can easily put a glass door like in A/C compartments.

What is the connection between the design of the toilet door and the stench from the toilets?

Also, I have never seen glass doors on the AC loos, or for that matter for any loo :lol: The loos in all coaches have nice opaque fibre doors :)

What is the connection between the design of the toilet door and the stench from the toilets?

Also, I have never seen glass doors on the AC loos, or for that matter for any loo :lol: The loos in all coaches have nice opaque fibre doors :)

^^
Dude, I didn't mean the Toilet doors itself. I know they are opaque:lol: . I meant the door which leads from the A/C compartment to the Toilets. A/C compartments have a door which does not allow the air- conditioned air to get out, but the 2nd class does not have it and the stink from toilets reach the passengers.

The Indian Railway Coach has not changed much in the past 30yrs+. The same old crappy design from ICF peddled repeatedly. The time has come for a complete overhaul. Regarding theft there are ways to prevent these sort of things. Quite similar to public fittings elsewhere, the screws and nuts are non-standard and regular tools cannot be used to remove fittings easily. Special tools are needed.

Coach designs elsewhere have solved all the routine problems that the ICF made coaches have. Quite easy to adopt such designs. Fans are embedded or done away with in A/C coaches. The toilets usually have double rooms to prevent smell etc. Modern fittings like those in Aircrafts are available and they manage to be free of major odors. The coaches need to be designed and manufactured by private entities. ICF and other railway PSUs can be transferred to private entities. Railways become a master coordinator of suppliers instead of design/building. This is the only way forward from the mess created by IR. Trains and coaches are ancient design, badly maintained and the Indian Public is at the receiving end.

^ totally agreed!!

I still dunno why the Railways needs to be in the business of making all the things it does! i can understand wanting to be involved in the loco manufacturing industry, but coaches? wagons? bottles????

it seriously has lost its focus because of all these. Concentrate on what your job is (i.e., transportation) . improve the tracks, run the railways not the support industries!

I am sure if they set proper specifications and invited competitive bidding(and put a condition that they should be manufactures locally), it would create a lot more jobs than would be lost if these divisions are hived off! not to mention bringing in huge investments!

Is anybody know that when direct connection of trains will start from Kolkata/Delhi/Mumbai/Chennai/Bengaluru to Shrinagar, Gangtok, Shillong, Itanagar, Kohima, Imphal & Aizwal? What is the target?

disgrace :ohno:

just saw the prototype of double decker ac coaches on CNBC ,
they looked like the sideney cityrail coaches
these coaches would be chair-cars and not sleepers and the first double decker train would run between delhi and -------(had to be) kolkata , by the year end
the coaches are being made in jalandhar
seating capacity of each coach would be 130-132

Maharajas’ Express, a pan India super luxury train has begun its journey as it left Mumbai for New Delhi `Princely India Tour’ on March 6. The train is being operated by Royale Indian Rail Tours Ltd. (RIRTL), a joint venture between Cox and Kings (India) Ltd and Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).

The luxury train has a total of 23 coaches with a passenger capacity of 84.

It is the first luxury train that boasts of four distinct configurations. It has five Deluxe cars each with four cabins; six super deluxe cars with three cabins; two Suite cars with two cabins each and finally the Presidential Suite that occupies one ent ire car.

Dining options include two fine dining restaurants—Mayuar Mahal and the Rang Mahal that can seat 42 persons in each at a time, so that everyone on board dines together. There is also one observation lounge called the Rajah Club with its own bar, game tab les and Treasure Chest—the gift shop.

Itineraries: 1. The Princely India Tour: This is a seven—night itinerary that will follow the Mumbai—Vadodara—Udaipurjhodhpur—Bikanerjaipur—Ranmambore—Agra—Delhi route.

2. The Royal India Tour: This operates as the Princely India journey in the reverse with minor changes.

3. The Classical India Tour: This is a six—night itinerary that will follow the Delhi—Agra—Gwalior—Khajuraho—Bandavgarh—Varanasi—Gaya—Kolkatta route.

4. The Celestial India Tour: This operates as the Classical India Tour in the reverse with minor changes. - PTI

HYDERABAD: The South Central Railway's first non-stop bi-weekly Duronto Express from Secunderabad to Nizamuddin (Delhi) will be operational from March 14 and passengers can book tickets from Tuesday. The train will be flagged off by Chief Minister K. Rosaiah on Sunday.

The Secunderabad-Nizamuddin non-stop express departs Secunderabad at 1.30 p.m. and travels faster than the Rajdhani Express by 40 minutes. It reaches Delhi around 12.50 p.m. the next day. The fare is less than that of Rajdhani Express and the train would be operated on Sundays and Thursdays, said the SCR spokesperson.

Passengers will have to book tickets from Secunderabad to Nizamuddin and they cannot alight or board at intermittent stations. The train will have only operational halts and passengers who do not reserve tickets, i.e. general class would not be allowed to board the train, the spokesperson informed.

The other Duronto Express sanctioned for SCR would be operated between Secunderabad and Mumbai and would be made operational before March 31, 2011, added the spokesperson.

Source: The Hindu

just saw the prototype of double decker ac coaches on CNBC ,
they looked like the sideney cityrail coaches
these coaches would be chair-cars and not sleepers and the first double decker train would run between delhi and -------(had to be) kolkata , by the year end
the coaches are being made in jalandhar
seating capacity of each coach would be 130-132

Will definitely love to see some pics

Sydney Cityrail train picture from wiki

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/25/Cityrail-millennium-M32-ext.jpg/800px-Cityrail-millennium-M32-ext.jpg

I would be surprised if the fit and finish of Indian Railways PSU works is close to this.

...

lol! maybe in 2200, but then the world would have moved ahead by then

http://videosfromindia.smashits.com/view/12098/punjab-rolls-out-countrys-first-double-decker-ac-coach

Doesn't look anything like the Sydney train. If anything it looks like the NJ Transit Bi-Level but even that is reaching.

it looks like the old coach with sealed windows!! nuthin ground breaking!

Yup. Nothing new. And why does new trains have to first go to Kolkatta only?

Western Railway:

http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/1723/20100304a019100007.jpg

Central Railway:

http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/6304/getimage.png

Yup. Nothing new. And why does new trains have to first go to Kolkatta only?

is that a rhetorical question? it should be

The Rail Coach Factory (RCF) of Kapurthala,in Punjab,boasts of developing a prototype of the country's first air conditioned double decker coach.The officials of the factory claim that the double-decker coach has been completed in a record time of eight months.

The RCF started preparing such coaches after central Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee announced in her Railway Budget speech in 2009 that AC double decker trains will be manufactured to cope up with heavy rush of commuters.

Source: ANI

Yaay. What a marvelous achievement. :ohno: They should be awarded Nobel Prize.

^ totally agreed!!

I still dunno why the Railways needs to be in the business of making all the things it does! i can understand wanting to be involved in the loco manufacturing industry, but coaches? wagons? bottles????

it seriously has lost its focus because of all these. Concentrate on what your job is (i.e., transportation) . improve the tracks, run the railways not the support industries!

I am sure if they set proper specifications and invited competitive bidding(and put a condition that they should be manufactures locally), it would create a lot more jobs than would be lost if these divisions are hived off! not to mention bringing in huge investments!

Indian Railways is much more than transportation. Its also a social-safety net of sorts. It employs the most number of people in the world. In order to make it an efficient organization centered around transport, the whole mindset will have to change. I don't think that is likely to happen in the near future.

http://videosfromindia.smashits.com/view/12098/punjab-rolls-out-countrys-first-double-decker-ac-coach

Doesn't look anything like the Sydney train. If anything it looks like the NJ Transit Bi-Level but even that is reaching.

Can somebody post the pic ? This site is blocked here.

Can somebody post the pic ? This site is blocked here.

It's a video...maybe try from home or through a proxy.

Source (http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/orissa-wbap-may-jointly-operate-luxury-train/386840/)

The Orissa tourism department may team up with two neighbouring states- West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh for jointly running its proposed luxury train for tourists to be modeled on the Palace on Wheels.

“We had given a proposal to the Union tourism ministry for starting a luxury train for the tourists. Of late, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh have evinced interest in partnering us for this venture. We have asked these state governments to come out with the details of the partnership like sharing of revenue and operational costs”, an official source told Business Standard.

The proposed luxury train project for tourists involving an investment of Rs 37 crore is to be taken up on the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

Earlier, the state tourism department had negotiated with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) for working out the modalities of the proposed luxury train.

Apart from providing catering services, IRCTC will also be responsible for designing the interiors of the train.

The luxury train will provide the tourists with a flavour of the state's wildlife, beaches, Buddhist sites, exquisite temples, arts and crafts, dance forms, Chilika lake and the tribal culture. Unlike other luxury tourist trains operating in the country like Palace on Wheels, Deccan Odyssey and The Golden Chariot which cater to high end tourists, the luxury train planned by the state tourism department would also be affordable for the middle income groups.

It may be noted that Orissa, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh are also set to come together for the country's first inter-state cruise tourism project.

The proposed project involves cruise connectivity from Visakhapatnam to Kolkata via Orissa.

The project was to be implemented on the PPP mode and a private operator was to operate the cruise. The state tourism department has completed the first round of negotiations with a private player for this project.

The cruise tourism project has been mooted by Debi Prasad Mishra, the Orissa tourism minister who has earlier negotiated with his counterparts in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh on the project.

As part of efforts to revamp its services, Railways have decided to take over the catering charge of two prestigious trains from Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation.

The move, which could set the ground for effecting a major change in the catering service of railways, will be implemented in a Duronto and a Rajdhani express train originating from Sealdah and Howrah.

Initially, Railways will only supervise the catering services in these two trains till it has its own staff in place, railway officials said.

During this transition phase, IRCTC will handle catering operations.

IRCTC has come under mounting criticism for the quality of food served on trains.

IRCTC MD R K Tandon has said that it received nearly 4,000 complaints about the quality of food and has initiated action in 500 cases so far. They have realised penalty of Rs 1.04 crores from contractors.

Source: PTI

Earlier, the state tourism department had negotiated with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) for working out the modalities of the proposed luxury train.

Apart from providing catering services, IRCTC will also be responsible for designing the interiors of the train.



:ohno:

As part of efforts to revamp its services, Railways have decided to take over the catering charge of two prestigious trains from Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation.



Source: PTI

:banana:

-deleted-
don know why the posts are getting published twice

Coach layout drawings and design details for an Air Conditioned Double Decker coach have already been finalized by Research, Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) of Indian Railways supplemented by the design organization of Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala. Manufacture of the prototype coach shell has been completed. This is presently undergoing tests for validation of the structural design parameters.

Development of coach interiors and furnishing work shall now be taken up, followed by detailed oscillation trials for track worthiness. Such AC Double Decker coaches are likely to be available for trains to be introduced during 2010-11.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways, Shri K.H. Muniyappa in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

Source (http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=59459)

Railway Budget 2009-10 envisages development of about 50 world class stations and 375 Adrash stations.

With respect to world class stations, master plan has been prepared for New Delhi Railway Station. For Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal Mumbai and Patna, development of master plan and feasibility report has been taken up. Action has also been taken up for appointment of Consultants for Secunderabad, Howrah, Anand Vihar (Phase-II) and Chennai Central.

As regards Adarsh Stations, work of development has been taken up and 145 stations have already been developed as Adarsh Stations up to February 2010.

The process of setting up of Medical Colleges on railway land as announced in Railway Budget 2009-10 has already started including the appointment of a consultant and completion of various formalities in this regard.

Sixty-Seven stations were identified for development of Multi-functional Complexes. Whereas preliminary works have been taken up at all locations, construction has been taken up at 7 stations.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways, Shri K.H. Muniyappa in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

Source (http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=59436)

Attachment of general class coaches in train services is done keeping in view the traffic pattern of different class of passengers and operational feasibility. Efforts have been made to provide adequate number of general class bogies in trains on the North Eastern Railway system. Some of the steps taken are :

„« The number of general class coaches has been increased from four to six in the newly introduced trains except in special type trains like Rajdhani, Shatabdi trains etc.

„«New trains like Jan Sadharan, Janseva, Jannayak and Inercity trains with only general second class accommodation, meant for the travel by second class general passengers, have been introduced.

„« Existing train services have been augmented by more general class coaches.

„« Special trains are run and extra coaches are attached to clear extra rush of passengers during festivals, melas etc.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways, Shri K.H. Muniyappa in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

Source (http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=59459)

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah on Sunday flagged off Secunderabad-Hazrat Nizamuddin (Delhi) Duronto Express, a bi-weekly non-stop train service.

The Secunderabad-Hazrat Nizamuddin is the first Duronto Express from the South Central Railway (SCR) and was announced in rail budget last year.

Minister of State for Railways K H Muniyappa presided over the function while Andhra Pradesh Minister for Health and Family Welfare Danam Nagender, MLAs M Shashidhar Reddy, P Shanker Rao and Hyderabad Mayor Banda Karthika Reddy were among those to be present at the function.

Train No 2285 Secunderabad-Hazrat Nizamuddin Duronto bi-weekly express will depart from Secunderabad on Sundays and Thursdays at 1.30 pm and reach Hazrat Nizamuddin at 10.35 am the next day.

On return journey, Train No 2286 Hazrat Nizamuddin- Secunderabad Duronto Express will leave Hazrat Nizamuddin on Mondays and Fridays at 4 pm and arrive in Secunderabad at 2 pm the next day.

Another Duronto train from Secunderabad to Mumbai was announced by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee in the rail budget last month.

Source: TOI

China wants to build a high-speed rail line connecting its south-western city of Kunming to New Delhi and Lahore, part of a 17-country transcontinental rail project, officials familiar with the plans told The Hindu.

After years of much talk and little progress, China has finally reached agreements with several Central Asian countries and given the green signal to its ambitious pan-Asian high-speed rail link, which envisages connecting cities in China to Central Asia, Iran, Europe, Russia and Singapore.

One proposal involves a line running from Kunming, in south-western Yunnan province, to New Delhi, Lahore and on to Tehran, according to Wang Mengshu, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and one of the country's leading railway consultants.

“India is a relatively small country with a huge population,” he told The Hindu in an interview. “It will be too costly to build highways for India, so our high-speed rail link project will improve transportation efficiency and resources. I am confident we can finally reach an agreement, which will greatly help exports to the Indian Ocean direction.” He said talks with Indian officials were “friendly,” and they had been “welcoming” of the idea

. The pan-Asian high-speed rail link has been talked about by Chinese officials since 1995, but appears to have finally begun to gather momentum following negotiations last year, and after China's own success in launching a domestic high-speed rail network.

In December, China opened what it described as the world's fastest rail link, between Wuhan and southern Guangzhou, where a 350 kmph-speed train covers the 1,068 km journey in three hours, down from 10.5 hours. By 2012, China will have opened 42 high-speed lines, covering 13,000 km of its total railway coverage of 110,000 km. When completed, China's will be the world's largest high-speed railway network.

Source: The Hindu

FOR A SMOOTH RIDE

CR to instal train tracking device

TNN
Mumbai: If all goes as planned, train passengers travelling to Konkan and South India can expect a smoother journey this monsoon. Central Railway (CR) is in the process of installing the advanced Remote Monitoring and Management of Locomotives and Trains (REMMLOT) system, which will not only track a train after it leaves the station but also evaluate its performance. To start with, on a pilot basis, the system will be installed in two diesel trains at a cost of around Rs 10 lakh.
Currently, there is no way a train’s position can be monitored once it leaves the station. “There are cabins along the journey which keep a track of trains. However, if there is an unusual delay in between, there is no way of knowing it on a real-time basis. The system will keep a continuous tab on the train and in the process there will be no time lag between a train being held up, for any reason, and the control room getting the information,’’ an official said.
“The system will use the GPRS technology. An instrument box along with a microprocessor will be fitted in the engine and connected to the server through a satellite link via an antenna fixed on the train roof. The performance of the train will be monitored every 10 minutes and the same would be fed to the control room,” said a senior CR official. He added that this communication will help the staff at the nearest workshops to be ready to handle any situation.
“Our next step will be to connect the system to the internet so that it can be used internally by officers,’’ the official said. The system will analyse parameters
like acceleration, deceleration, fuel consumption, speed, gradient and pick-up and, importantly, increase efficiency, he said.
“CR is processing tenders and a prototype is being worked on. We expect the first two trains to be equipped with the system by June and, if successful, in the next five years it will be extended to all diesel trains,” he added. CR will be the first in the Western region to have this technology.

KOCHI: Passengers of the Hazrat Nizamuddin-Ernakulam Duronto Express who reached here on Monday recounted their harrowing journey in the non-stop train without water and proper food. Many toilets of the brand-new train did not function.

At the Ernakulam Junction railway station, they bore placards of how the train gave them a ‘duranta' (catastrophic) journey for two days. They complained of not getting sufficient food, water and tea, despite it being included in the travel fare.

Very often, the passengers were given stale food. The supply of water was limited to a bottle per passenger. Since it was a non-stop train, people could not buy food from outside. Worse still, many of the ‘modern' toilets in the train did not function well and even the crew did not know how to operate them. Water too was scarce, they said.

A few passengers spoke of how some Railway officials on board the train threatened those who complained of the shabby treatment meted out to them.

Source (http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/16/stories/2010031661630300.htm)

an entirely different story in Sealdah - Del Duronto..
there was a housekeeping staff mopping the floor with disinfectant, spraying mosquito sprays, room fresheners..
the quality and qty of food was good but the taste wasn't upto the mark..
apart from that a person came with a smile on his face for feedback on the services..
but may be it was all because it was going to kolkata ;)

Even I had a wonderful experience on the Mumbai - Howrah Duronto.. gr8 services.. good food.. lovely toilets.. awesome! :banana:

I recently traveled the California Double Decker train that plys between San Francisco to San Jose.

Coach:
http://railroadpictures.net/Trains/Caltrain/IMG_9067_tn0480.jpg
http://railroadpictures.net/Trains/Caltrain/IMG_6988_tn0480.JPG

Train:
http://www.caltrain.com/images/CEMOF/04_CEMOF_train_dedication_2007_350px.jpg

Not to clutter Indian Railways with foreign stuff. But I must say the train above is so well designed that the IR has a long way to go to catch up. The Inside is better than aircraft comfort, the materials used were innovative, not steel throughout but lightweight aluminum, fixtures well thought out, each seat had moulded handles to grasp onto instead of endless steel bars. The upper deck and lower deck has two seat on either side of the aisle. The stairs are neatly tucked towards the ends of the coach. Now this is a design worth emulating.

Indian Railways can have these short haul trains which connect to major hubs/cities. We can get rid of those boring sleeper coach designs for good. These trains would yield more passengers per train and improve operating margins.

All of this is possible if we have a dedicated Neta/Babu combine to drive the staid organization towards better stuff. The billion plus people of India are asking how much more time should they wait to get modern cost effective trains and stations.

All of this is possible if we have a dedicated Neta/Babu combine to drive the staid organization towards better stuff. The billion plus people of India are asking how much more time should they wait to get modern cost effective trains and stations.

Not happening unless (second class) fares are jacked up, which no neta in the recent past seems to have had the guts to do. For the current fares which are ridiculously underpriced, one can't expect much more. :ohno:

Not happening unless (second class) fares are jacked up, which no neta in the recent past seems to have had the guts to do. For the current fares which are ridiculously underpriced, one can't expect much more. :ohno:

Yes, you have a point. But these are imaginary redlines drawn by Babus/Netas. There are no holy cows when it comes to operational efficiency and advancing the status quo. As of today, the railway freight business subsidizes the railway public travel. There is no reason why this should continue. Indians are paying for better stuff, air travel has gone up, real estate is being snapped up at exorbitant rates, gold shops are jammed with crowds and hence spending is not the issue. If the Indian public is given a choice of better comfort and travel options they would gladly pay for the extra charges.

The Babu/Neta clan have used the price card as an excuse to sit on their behinds and do nothing. Peddle the same crap year on end, with myopic railway budgets, make a few cosmetic changes here and there and sit back pleased as punch. No major criticism, everyone hi-five each other claiming what great social progress has been made by not changing rates, a few extra crappy trains are introduced, some great heights in statistics are published like 1000 crappy coaches in 2 years. All of this has left India with infrastructure which can be best described as stone age compared to what other nations have.

The Indian economy is going great guns, consumer optimism is up and the ever growing middle class population is upgrading their lifestyle. Staid institutions like IR need to change with times. Designing and creating a better train in India is perhaps the cheapest option. There is oodles of talent, young people are dying to contribute and according to Purchasing Power Parity, India happens to be low cost. What more can you want, the ingredients are there. India can create high quality coaches and trains at perhaps the lowest world costs. All it takes is a crash program a la Nano to create possibly the best and lowest cost coach and train engine. Make them at the highest quality and unleash them on the Indian public, raise the rates for such comfort and in no time we have a viable IR.

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/2654/calcutta.jpg

Gandhidham-Howrah train which was declared in 2009-10 Railway budget would be on track from 20th March.

The train has already departed from Howrah and will reach Gandhidham on Monday. However the train will be operated regularly from 20th March according to sources in Western Railway.

Sources told GujaratMoney that the train would be a weekly service. It will depart from Howrah on Monday and reach Gandhidham on Wednesday from where it would depart on Saturday and reach Howrah on Monday. The train will have six general coaches, seven sleeper coaches, one AC three tied coach, one second AC coaches. The train will pass through Samkhiali, Dhangadhra, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Ratlam, Kota, Agra, Tundava, Kanpur, Allahabad, Mugalsaray, Gaya, Dhanbad and Asansor on route to Howrah from Gandhidham. The Gandhidham-Howrah train no.2937 super fast will depart from Gandhidham on 17.00(5pm) and reach Howrah at 13.05(1.05pm). On return journey, the train no.2938 will leave Howrah at 23.00(11pm) and reach Gandhidham at 17.25(5.25pm).

It should be mentioned here that central Railway minister Mamata Banerjee had declared this train in her budget speech of 2009-10. However the train could not be put on track even after the next budget of 2010-11. The railway minister clarified in her budget speech of 2010-11 that the train would be on track before 31st of March. The railway department worked hard to keep the minister’s promise, because of which the train is now all set for launch on 20th of this month.

The train will pass through Samkhiali, Dhangadhra, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Ratlam, Kota, Agra, Tundava, Kanpur, Allahabad, Mugalsaray, Gaya, Dhanbad and Asansor on route to Howrah from Gandhidham.

Why is the train taking such a long route ?
Ideally it should have passed through Gandhidham - Ahmedabad - Jalgaon - Nagpur- Bilaspur- Tatanagar-Kharagpur -Howrah. I doubt there will be any end to end jurney takers for this train.

Yes, you have a point. But these are imaginary redlines drawn by Babus/Netas. There are no holy cows when it comes to operational efficiency and advancing the status quo. As of today, the railway freight business subsidizes the railway public travel. There is no reason why this should continue. Indians are paying for better stuff, air travel has gone up, real estate is being snapped up at exorbitant rates, gold shops are jammed with crowds and hence spending is not the issue. If the Indian public is given a choice of better comfort and travel options they would gladly pay for the extra charges.

The Babu/Neta clan have used the price card as an excuse to sit on their behinds and do nothing. Peddle the same crap year on end, with myopic railway budgets, make a few cosmetic changes here and there and sit back pleased as punch. No major criticism, everyone hi-five each other claiming what great social progress has been made by not changing rates, a few extra crappy trains are introduced, some great heights in statistics are published like 1000 crappy coaches in 2 years. All of this has left India with infrastructure which can be best described as stone age compared to what other nations have.

The Indian economy is going great guns, consumer optimism is up and the ever growing middle class population is upgrading their lifestyle. Staid institutions like IR need to change with times. Designing and creating a better train in India is perhaps the cheapest option. There is oodles of talent, young people are dying to contribute and according to Purchasing Power Parity, India happens to be low cost. What more can you want, the ingredients are there. India can create high quality coaches and trains at perhaps the lowest world costs. All it takes is a crash program a la Nano to create possibly the best and lowest cost coach and train engine. Make them at the highest quality and unleash them on the Indian public, raise the rates for such comfort and in no time we have a viable IR.

With Huge population and increased services i guess they will be able to maintain the profitability without even increasing the price.all they need to do is,bring in more efficiency and transparency in pricing.

Mamata whip to fast-track projects

Mahendra Kumar Singh | TNN

New Delhi: It wasn’t business as usual for senior officials at the first post-budget meeting called by Union railway minister
M a m at a Banerjee on Wednesday.

Facing criticism from political opponents for going on an announcement spree with an eye on the 2011 assembly polls in West Bengal, the Trinamool chief gave a clear signal to officials that any laxity in implementing her “dream projects” wouldn’t be tolerated. She also asked the officials to fill the backlog of vacancies in railway posts at various levels. “The concerned directorates in the railway board and at the zonal level should undertake a comprehensive exercise to fill up the vacancies in a timebound manner,” she said.

Adopting a “no nonsense” approach, Mamata directed railway general managers to quickly implement all projects and announcements made in her budget.“The minister asked them to prepare a detailed plan of action to implement various projects,” said an official. At the meeting attended by the GMs of all zonal railways, heads of production units and representatives of employees’ unions, Mamata said: “Railway
officers and staff should further work with more dedication and devotion and ensure no laxity is reflected in their work. There is a need for more surprise visits by GMs to monitor the progress and status of projects at various levels.” Decisions taken at the meeting, she added, must reach the grassroot level of departments so that they are implemented in letter and spirit.

The minister called for making tender processes more simple and systematic and also increased the financial powers of GMs.

I have just put forward the following suggestion to Eastern Railways through their website. Don't know if it will be implemented, but if done, it'll change the brightness and look of railway stations.

The brightness and visibility of the railway stations may be enhanced by creating more space for advertisements within the railway station areas.

As all the stations cover a good area in terms of its length, and as human footfall is very high on railway stations and trains; there is a huge scope to provide more space for advertisements along the stretch of the stations.

Benefits to Railway: (a) the railway stations will look more colourful and bright through huge lighted advertisements along its length, (b) railways will be able to generate huge income from such advertisements.

On an experimental basis, a pilot project may be initiated in a moderately busy railway station like Ballygunge and Kalyani. Further, the same may be extended to all Adarsh stations.

Jayanta Gupta | TNN

Get ready to tour India like a Maharaja provided you can pay Rs 1 lakh per night. On Saturday evening, railway minister Mamata Banerjee will flag off the Maharajas’ Express from Kolkata station — the next generation Palace on Wheels.

For the next six days and seven nights, the luxury train will move towards Delhi, stopping at Gaya, Varanasi, Bandhavgarh, Khajuraho, Gwalior and Agra.

This train is a joint venture between Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and Cox and Kings India Ltd. The tour is being promoted as ‘Luxury travel like no other’ and not without reason. The Maharajas’ Express will have 88 passengers (a normal III AC coach packs in 72) living in suites fit for a prince. All food and drinks are complimentary.

The cheapest rate per person per day is a whopping US$ 800 for a Deluxe cabin. The next two slabs are US$ 900 and US$ 1,400. And the Presidential Suite comes for US$ 2,500. The operators are clearly eyeing foreign tourists.

“The initial runs are familiarisation trips for the tour operators. Once they are satisfied with the service, they will sell the idea to their clients. Remember, there is a three-month waiting period for the Palace on Wheels. This train will be much more luxurious. We are sure that it will be a very successful venture,” an official said.

Every cabin has large panoramic windows to allow tourists to get a feel of the country. All cabins have individual temperature control, LCD television sets, DVD players, direct dial telephones, internet and electronic safe-deposit box. There’s even live television on board.

The Maharajas’ Express had actually made its first trip in January from Mumbai to Delhi and back. On Saturday morning, the train will be completing a trip from Delhi to Kolkata before being formally flagged off by Mamata in the evening. There will be no trips between May and August. Trips will start again from September.

An added attraction on the Kolkata-Delhi route (christened Celestial India) will be Sir Mark Tully. This eminent journalist and writer will offer expert insights on Indian history and culture in a series of talks en route.

“This will be a very interesting tour that will cover both Buddhist and Hindu religious places at Bodh Gaya and Varanasi, the forests of Bandhavgarh, the rock-cut temples of Khajuraho, the Gwalior fort and the Taj. We believe that this circuit will be extremely popular,” the official said.

Apart from the Celestial India tour, there are the Princely India and Royal India tours. The Princely India tour will start from Mumbai and cover Vadodara, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Jaipur, Ranthambhore and Agra before reaching Delhi. The Royal India tour will start from Delhi for Mumbai, covering the same locations.

Depending upon the patronage, tours through south India will also be planned. The operators have also offered the entire train on charter by corporate houses, institutions or those planning to get married in a royal manner.

Roana Maria Costa | TNN

The aroma during the great Indian train journey may never be the same again.

The Passengers’ Services Committee met in Hajipur last Monday to draft a new catering policy for long-distance trains. Among the recommendations it has made is doing away with the dals and gravy dishes and replacing them with “drier foods” that are less messy to prepare, serve and eat. The recommendations will be put forward to the Railway Board next week and senior officials say the PSC’s suggestions are usually followed when it comes to is-sues affecting passengers directly.

PSC members have travelled long-distance for the past few months and seen how gravy and train do not go together. “Both servers and passengers have to do a constant balancing act. People can stay without gravy dishes and dals for a day or two. And passengers can carry their own food if this does not suit them,” an official said.

Railway minister Mamata Banerjee had announced in her budget speech that the catering policy would be reviewed and a new one would be announced shortly.

PSC insiders also said cooking in pantry cars would be banned. “Like on flights, only heating of food should be allowed. Meals will be cooked at base kitchens and loaded airline-style and heated and served,” one of them said, adding that newer drier food options like noodles could be introduced.

PSC chairman Derek O’ Brien said the new policy would look to expand the base of private licensees to ensure the cartel of only three or four vendors was busted. “We will invite professional, established catering brands to experiment on a few select trains as a pilot project. The whole process of tendering and awarding of contracts needs to be looked at again,” he said.

Seeing these news articles about Poojya Mantriji giving orders to officials or some other forum goading officials to act, makes you wonder about the leadership that exists in the Railways. We have to revamp this coterie of leadership. There is something inherently wrong with how the Railways are administered and run. You would expect the GM of ICF to review the products that they create. Any person of such high standing should be able to discern good product from bad or at least know the current state of the art. It is quite mind boggling to see run down railway stations, with the station master completely oblivious to the state of affairs. The railway coaches are awful in their construction and any GM would instantly know the faults. Why are not these people in positions of power affecting changes to fix the darn thing. They don't need the press to point out the flaws or a minister to come charging in all mad about them. These are things under their control. Same goes with food quality and service. Just what do these officials really do other than sit in their office and collect a paycheck. They hide behind the facts that they have some archaic rules to follow or the minister has not approved or some such lame excuse. None of this proves their leadership abilities for which they have been appointed and paid. I think the Indian Public ought to demand that non-performing leaders should be removed immediately. If they don't perform their jobs, then they should make way for others who can do the job. The IR needs to be run like a tight ship with no room for colossal mistakes.

I've put forward the following suggestion to Eastern Railways:

Sealdah station: The car parking area outside the Sealdah station is underutilized. I understand that as the Subway passes beneath it, no major construction work may be initiated there. However, the parking area may be converted into a Taxi stand whereas a huge multi-storeyed commercial complex having underground car parking facility, shopping complex, multiplex theaters and hotel may be constructed in the present Taxi stand area to make the Sealdah station really world-class. Also, a smooth and convenient traffic movement must be developed to make the area more passenger friendly.

CHENNAI: In a bid to popularise Smart Cards among Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) commuters, Southern Railway is set to begin counselling passengers at railway stations, by having their personnel explain the salient features of the system to them.

The move is aimed at increasing patronage for Smart Cards, by which tickets can be availed using the Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVM) installed in suburban railway stations.

Smart Cards were first introduced in 2008, in order to reduce long queues in front of ticket counters at the stations. The explosive growth in passenger traffic in the suburban sector led to crowding at counters and serpentine queue lengths, often exhausting passengers and leading them to miss their trains.

“At present, only four per cent of EMU passengers are using this facility. We want to increase this number by 15 per cent in the next two years,” Divisional Railway Manager, (Chennai), S K Kulshrestha told Express. Only 7,749 of the 1.96 lakh commuters travelling by suburban trains every day possessed smart cards, he said. “As part of our drive, railway employees will have a faceto- face interaction with passengers to create awareness about the Smart Cards. In addition, we have put up huge posters about the Smart Cards,” he said.

A modified scheme of Smart Cards for Automatic Ticket Vending Machines was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Railways E Ahamed at the Egmore railway station in June last year.

Source (http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Southern+railway+to+popularise+smart+cards&artid=IMkYaWBmIfQ=&SectionID=lifojHIWDUU=&MainSectionID=lifojHIWDUU=&SEO=&SectionName=rSY|6QYp3kQ=)

Railway Ministry's ad blooper
NDTV Correspondent, Saturday March 20, 2010, New Delhi

http://www.ndtv.com/news/railwayadstory.jpg

In a major goof-up, an advertisement inserted in newspapers by the Eastern Railway showed Delhi in Pakistan and Kolkata in the Bay of Bengal.

The advertisement was to announce the inauguration of luxury tourist train 'Maharaja's Express' by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee.

A small box inside the advertisement panel showed the train route from Kolkata to Delhi via Gaya, Varanasi, Bandhabgarh, Khajuraho, Agra and Gwalior.

As the faint background of the outline of a small map of India showed Kolkata in the Bay of Bengal and Delhi in Pakistan, ER Chief Public Relations Officer Samir Goswami said, "It is a great mistake. We apologise for this. The advertising agency has been suspended."

When contacted, owner of the advertising agency said the route alignment had been given for the benefit of passengers. "The map and the alignment are an artist's impression and not to scale. It is never our intention to create a controversy," he said.

A senior Railway official told us they have blacklisted the ad agency.

(With PTI inputs)

http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/railway-ministrys-ad-blooper-18139.php

They have shown Nepal and Bhutan in India :bash:

The maps not to scale

The maps not to scale

the map is to be scaled:lol: bigger

MUMBAI - India's most luxurious tourist train started its maiden journey from an eastern city on Saturday evening.

The train , which is called "Maharajas Express," launched at Kolkata station at 10:10 pm by Indian Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, Indian media reported on Saturday evening.

For the coming six days and seven nights, the train will stop at six stations before reaching the destination of New Delhi.It will be a unique pan-Indian tour, and tourists could visit many famous destinations, such as heritage cities and wild forests , where visitors may have the opportunity of a glimpse of tigers, said Banerjee.

The train only carry 88 passengers in 23 well-decorated carriages, which are equipped with individual temperature control systems, environment-friendly toilets, live TV sets, DVD players, internet and direct dial telephones, and all food and drinks are complimentary, according to the report.There are four categories of carriages—junior suite for US$800 per person per day, deluxe cabin for US$900, suite for US$1400 and the Presidential Suite for US$2500.
The new move created history in Indian railways, and will promote the development of the tourism industry, the minister said. Enditem

New Delhi, Mar 18 (PTI) As part of efforts to increase its interface with passengers, Railways have decided to redesign its website, which receives about 1.5 crore hits per day.

Railways said the purpose behind the exercise is to "inform, inspire, invigorate" as the PSU behemoth is the principal driver of tourism and travel in India.

"We have already invited web designers to recast and redesign the website and hope the job will be taken up soon," said a Railway official.

Railways claim that their website is the second most searched in the country.

The final presentation is due to take place on March 30.

The move comes close on the heels of Railways stepping up its efforts to overhaul its 139 passenger information service.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/21/images/2010032160680201.jpg
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Adding another dimension to holidays in God's Own Country, Golden Chariot, Karnataka's opulent train, chugged into the State on Saturday with tourists as part of maiden three-State tourist circuit ‘Splendour of the South.'

The inaugural run of the luxury train on the seven nights/eight days' tour covering Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala with 35 tourists commenced on March 15 from Bangalore.

The tourists and the Principal Secretary, Tourism, Karnataka, K. Jyothiramalingam and the Managing Director of the Karnataka Tourism Development Corporation, Vinay Luthra, who were accompanying them, were greeted by K. G. Mohanlal, Managing Director of Kerala Tourism Development Corporation Hotels and Resorts, Tourism Deputy Director Suresh and railway officials at the central railway station.

The tourists were mainly from Switzerland and Germany. Immediately after lunch, the tourists left for a city tour and to the beach resort of Kovalam and a gala dinner in a luxury bus.

After an overnight halt, the train will proceed to Alappuzha on Sunday. The tourists will be taken on a houseboat cruise on the backwaters of Kumarakom. The final stopover is Kochi.

Mr. Luthra said the tourists can also opt for short tours in the Golden Chariot starting from Bangalore to either Madurai or Kochi or Alappuzha and to other places.

The luxury train has 19 thematically designed coaches and is a monument of luxury. Its 44 cabins are fully equipped with modern amenities like wi-fi, plasma TV and attached baths.

The train has two restaurants (Nalapaka and Ruchi), a lounge bar (Madira) and a gym.

The tariff for the 7-night ‘Southern Splendour', including accommodation, meals, transport, entrance fees, and guide fees is $3,150 per person for double occupancy and $2,695 per person for triple occupancy.
Source (http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/21/stories/2010032160680200.htm)

Another Source (http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=%E2%80%98Golden+chariot%E2%80%99+rolls+into+capital+city&artid=RuYFN6GFa8g=&SectionID=lMx/b5mt1kU=&MainSectionID=lMx/b5mt1kU=&SEO=&SectionName=tm2kh5uDhixGlQvAG42A/07OVZOOEmts)

KANCHRAPARA(WB): Railway minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday laid the foundation stone for a Rs 860-crore state-of-the-art EMU and Metro rail coach manufacturing unit here, promising it will be one of the best in the world.

"This will not only be the best in India, but it will also be one of the best coach factories in the world," Banerjee told a packed audience at the foundation-stone-laying ceremony at the Kanchrapara railway stadium in Nadia district.

Describing the project as the biggest in the state after the Chittaranjan Locomotive Works set up in 1947, she said the project would be executed in the Public-Private Partnership model and the 153 acres of land required for it was already in the possession of the Railways.

According to Railway sources, prospective bidders are being given two months' time from March 31 this year to submit proposals for participation as a joint venture partner. Once operational, the factory will supply 500 EMU and metro coaches over a period of 10 years, they said.

The Railways now have coach manufacturing units at Perambur and Kapurthala.

Source (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Rs-860-crore-rail-coach-factory-to-be-set-up-in-West-Bengal/articleshow/5708875.cms)

Maharaja express leaving Kolkatta to New Delhi, dance team during inauguration:

http://dkn.dinakaran.com/pdf/2010/03/22/20100322a_008101006.jpg

DKN

Railways to manufacture 2.9 lakh wagons in 2010-20

NEW DELHI: Outlining the roadmap for the growth of Indian Railways, government on Monday said plans are afoot to double the existing fleet of wagons, coaches, electric and diesel locomotives by 2020.

"It is planned to add 2.9 lakh wagons, over 5000 diesel locomotives, over 4000 electric locomotives and 50,000 coaches in the next decade," said Chairman Railway Board (CRB) S S Khurana.

Khurana was speaking at the "Transport Infrastructure Summit-Belgian solution for India" here.

Spelling out the envisaged expansion of rail network, Khurana said massive capacity augmentation of fixed infrastructure and rolling stock, upgradation and modernisation of assets and equipment are being planned. Referring to the bullet train project, he said 2,000 km of route for the high speed passenger rail corridor is being planned in the next ten years. Feasibility studies for Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed passenger corridor are nearing completion, he said.

Total investment requirement for realising the capacity augmentation and modernisation works is estimated to be $280 billion. Indian Railways is conscious of the fact that a sizable portion of this is to be secured through private participation. We have identified several project areas for execution through public private partnership (PPP) and joint venture mode," said Khurana.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/railways/Railways-to-manufacture-29-lakh-wagons-in-2010-20/articleshow/5712669.cms

Assam put on fast track - 2012 date for two delayed projects - Handique flags off Rajdhani specialGuwahati,

March 24: DoNER minister B.K. Handique today said both the Bogibeel rail-cum-road bridge and the Lumding-Badarpur gauge conversion project will be commissioned by 2012. Handique’s revelation assumes importance, as this is the first time that such a categorical assurance has come from the Centre over the two projects, one of which, the gauge conversion, had been severely affected by insurgency in the North Cachar Hills district.

Flagging off the 2235/2236 New Delhi-Guwahati Rajdhani Express here today, Handique said there were problems earlier on the projects but “work is now progressing well and both the projects should be commissioned by 2012”.

Both the projects have already overshot their original deadlines by two to three years. The Bogibeel rail-cum-road bridge was slated to be commissioned by 2008 and the Lumding-Badarpur gauge conversion project by 2009.

The Bogibeel project, which will connect the north and south banks of the Brahmaputra in its upper reaches in the state thus improving communication, was delayed mainly on account of funds not being allocated on time besides non-availability of boulders in the early days. Adverse weather conditions like flood, which is a regular feature in the area, also affected the pace of work.

The gauge conversion was affected mainly by militancy with the DHD (J) targeting tracks and trains in NC Hills. Extortion and threats forced firms executing the project to suspend work from time to time. The work has started picking up now.

Railway minister Mamata Banerjee had said in her budget speech that the Lumding-Badarpur gauge conversion project had been given special priority for expeditious completion. Handique said the railway ministry was working hard to extend connectivity to all the states of the region. There are 11 national projects in the Northeast and the Centre is anxious to complete them on time. “The day is not far off when there will be train connectivity between Guwahati and South East Asian countries,” he added. He, however, did not provide details as to how it will be done and when.

NF Railway general manager Shiv Kumar said 216km of railway lines would be added in Assam this year, which is the biggest post-Independence addition. Of these, 156km have already been added and the rest would be completed soon.

“This is a big landmark for Assam as no state in the country has been able to make such a huge addition in a single year,” he added.

Kumar said a consultant would soon be appointed for making Guwahati a world class railway station with an escalator and other facilities. He said the assurances given in the railway budget would help in the development of railways in the region.
The new train that was flagged off today will leave Guwahati every Friday and depart from Delhi every Wednesday. It will follow the Guwahati-New Jalpaiguri-Katihar-Muzaffarpur-Varanasi-Lucknow-Moradabad-Delhi route.Guwahati MLA Robin Bordoloi urged the NF Railway to make use of the railway land available in the city.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/110032...y_12259177.jsp

Japan to provide ODA of Rs 10,500 crore to India in FY 2009

Japan today agreed to provide an Official DevelopmentAssistance (ODA) package to India in the form of soft loans amounting to more than Rs 10,500 crore (Yen 215.611 billion) for the financial year 2009.



An official press release said the notes in this regard were exchanged between Dr Alok Sheel, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, and Mr Hideki Domichi, Japanese Ambassador to India here this morning.



The release said the loan would fund six major projects, including Rs 4422.84 crore (Y 90.62 billion) for Phase I of the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) project. The total cost of the project appraised by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is Y 498.565 billion and the Government of Japan has committed Y 92.868 billion for Phase I.



The project is aimed at coping with the increasing demand for freight transport in India by constructing a new dedicated freight railway system, thereby promoting comprehensive regional economic development along the freight corridor, through improvement and modernization of inter-modal logistic system handling considerable freight traffic and poised for massive growth.

The package also includes a loan of R 2932.70 crore (Y 58.851 billion) for the Chennai Metro Project, which has been appraised by JICA at Y 378.138 billion. The Government of Japan has committed Y 21.751 billion for Phase I and Y 59.851 billion for Phase II of the project.



The project is designed to cope with the increasing traffic in Chennai metropolitan area by extending the mass rapid transportation system. It is expected to promote regional economic development and improve the urban environment through mitigation of traffic jamps and decrease of pollution caused by the increasing number of motor vehicles.



The assistance package includes a loan of Rs 1648.36 crore (Y 33.640 billion) for the Delhi Mass Rapid Transport System Project (Phase II). The total cost of Phase I of the project was appraised by JICA at Y 274.612 billion and the Japanese government has committed Y 162.751 billion. The total cost of Phase II of the project has been appraised at Y 388.670 billion and the Japanese Government has committed Y 211.976 billion. The first phase has been completed and the second phase is being implemented.



There is a Rs 1146.75 crore (Y 23.403 billion) loan for the Kolkata East-West Project Phase II. The total cost of the project has been appraised by JICA at Y 140.199 billion. The Japanese government has committed Y 6.437 billion for Phase I and Y 23.403 billion for Phase II.



The package also includes Rs 263.82 crore for the Sikkim Biodiversity Conservation and Forest Management Project and Rs 150.53 crore for the Rengali Irrigation Project.



With today's Exchange of Notes, the cumulative commitment of ODA from Japan has reached Rs 155840 crore (Yen 3116.81 billion). India continues to be the highest recipient of ODA from Japan

http://netindian.in/news/2010/03/29/0005940/japan-provide-oda-rs-10500-crore-india-fy-2009

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, minister of state for railways KH Muniyappa said the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) would commission six new food plazas at Palghat, Calicut, Dhone, Mangalore, Kota and Puri by April 2010.

According to the ministry of railways, currently there are 52 food plazas operating at Patna-first floor, Patna-ground floor, Howrah (new & old complex), Vishakapatnam, Ranchi, Bilaspur, Raipur, Mughal Sarai, Sealdah, Jharsuguda, Delhi Main, Nizamuddin, Allahabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Varanasi, Tirupati, Vijayawada, Vijayawada-II, Kacheguda, Rajamundry, Secunderabad, Coimbatore, Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Chennai Beach, Chennai Park, Bangalore, Thrissur, Madurai, Tiruchchirappalli, Shoranur, Ernakulam North, Ernakulam South, Katpadi, Cannanore, Pune, Mumbai Central, Mumbai CST-suburban concourse, Mumbai CST-main line bldg, Mumbai Churchgate, Mumbai Churchgate-II, Nagpur, Agra, Habibganj, Jabalpur, Ahemdabad, Bhusawal, Akola, Surat and Bhopal.

Besides the current 52 and upcoming six food plazas, 25 food plazas of IRCTC are under construction at Pune, Manmad, Nashik, Thane, Vadodara, Ahmednagar, Matheran, Rajkot, Solapur, Daund, Ghaziabad, Amritsar, Salem, Erode, Yeshwanthpur, Bangalore Cantt., Dharmavaram, Guwahati, Darjeeling, Ghum, Ranigarh, Kharagpur, Tata Nagar, Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack. “There will be no loss of job for existing catering staff since food plazas are provided in addition to the existing catering units,” the minister added.

Railways, water and highways to see least private investment (http://www.livemint.com/2010/03/28233739/Railways-water-highways-to-s.html)

Estimated private investment in railways has declined from 19.23% of total expenditure to just over 4%.

In railways, long gestation periods led to projects not taking off at all, and ended up reducing private investment.

“PPP in railways is not likely to take off,” said Siddhartha Das, infrastructure analyst with audit and consulting firm Ernst and Young Pvt. Ltd.

3 new Duronto trains from Mar 31

http://business.rediff.com/report/2010/mar/30/new-duronto-trains-from-mar-31.htm

Three new non-stop Duronto trains will be launched on Wednesday, the last day of the current financial year. They are the New Delhi [ Images ]-Bhubaneswar, New Delhi-Howrah, and Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Jammu Tawi Duronto expresses.

Eleven Duronto trains have already been launched to various parts of the country out the 14 Durontos announced in the 2009-10 interim Railway Budget last year.

Why is the train taking such a long route ?
Ideally it should have passed through Gandhidham - Ahmedabad - Jalgaon - Nagpur- Bilaspur- Tatanagar-Kharagpur -Howrah. I doubt there will be any end to end jurney takers for this train.

There are already two express trains between Amdabad & Howrah via Nagpur. So this other route is unique, because it will touch Kota & Ratlam, which have no other trains from Howrah.

I'll soon travel Ahmedabad by this new Gandhidham Express.

When we can go from Kolkata to Gangtok directly by train?

Assam put on fast track - 2012 date for two delayed projects - Handique flags off Rajdhani specialGuwahati,

March 24: DoNER minister B.K. Handique today said both the Bogibeel rail-cum-road bridge and the Lumding-Badarpur gauge conversion project will be commissioned by 2012. Handique’s revelation assumes importance, as this is the first time that such a categorical assurance has come from the Centre over the two projects, one of which, the gauge conversion, had been severely affected by insurgency in the North Cachar Hills district.

Flagging off the 2235/2236 New Delhi-Guwahati Rajdhani Express here today, Handique said there were problems earlier on the projects but “work is now progressing well and both the projects should be commissioned by 2012”.

Both the projects have already overshot their original deadlines by two to three years. The Bogibeel rail-cum-road bridge was slated to be commissioned by 2008 and the Lumding-Badarpur gauge conversion project by 2009.

The Bogibeel project, which will connect the north and south banks of the Brahmaputra in its upper reaches in the state thus improving communication, was delayed mainly on account of funds not being allocated on time besides non-availability of boulders in the early days. Adverse weather conditions like flood, which is a regular feature in the area, also affected the pace of work.

The gauge conversion was affected mainly by militancy with the DHD (J) targeting tracks and trains in NC Hills. Extortion and threats forced firms executing the project to suspend work from time to time. The work has started picking up now.

Railway minister Mamata Banerjee had said in her budget speech that the Lumding-Badarpur gauge conversion project had been given special priority for expeditious completion. Handique said the railway ministry was working hard to extend connectivity to all the states of the region. There are 11 national projects in the Northeast and the Centre is anxious to complete them on time. “The day is not far off when there will be train connectivity between Guwahati and South East Asian countries,” he added. He, however, did not provide details as to how it will be done and when.

NF Railway general manager Shiv Kumar said 216km of railway lines would be added in Assam this year, which is the biggest post-Independence addition. Of these, 156km have already been added and the rest would be completed soon.

“This is a big landmark for Assam as no state in the country has been able to make such a huge addition in a single year,” he added.

Kumar said a consultant would soon be appointed for making Guwahati a world class railway station with an escalator and other facilities. He said the assurances given in the railway budget would help in the development of railways in the region.
The new train that was flagged off today will leave Guwahati every Friday and depart from Delhi every Wednesday. It will follow the Guwahati-New Jalpaiguri-Katihar-Muzaffarpur-Varanasi-Lucknow-Moradabad-Delhi route.Guwahati MLA Robin Bordoloi urged the NF Railway to make use of the railway land available in the city.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/110032...y_12259177.jsp

PLEASE WRITE DETAIL ABOUT BOGIBIL BRIDGE, NEW MAINAGURI - JOGIGHOPA RAIL LINK, & RAIL LINKS TOWARDS GANGTOK, ITANAGAR, KOHIMA, IMPHAL, AIZAWL & SHILLONG WITH THEIR COMPLETION DATE.

I'll soon travel Ahmedabad by this new Gandhidham Express.


Good Luck and have a safe trip :ohno:

Indian Railways recorded earnings of Rs 2638.69 crore during March 11-20 this year as against Rs 2427.24 crore in the same period of last year, an increase of 8.71 per cent.

An official press release said here today that the total goods earnings went up from Rs. 1650.74 crore during March 11-20, 2009 to Rs. 1775.73 crore during the corresponding period this year for an increase of 7.57 per cent.

The total passenger revenue earnings during the period this year were Rs. 766.34 crore as compared to Rs. 670.58 crore during the same period last year, reflecting an increase of 14.28 per cent, it said.

Revenue earnings from other coaching amounted to Rs. 64.85 crore during March 11-20 this year as against Rs. 57.89 crore during the same period last year, showing an increase of 12.02 per cent, it said.

The total approximate number of passengers booked during the period were 208.04 million compared to 203.99 million during the same period last year, an increase of 1.99 per cent.

In the suburban and non-suburban sectors, the number of passengers booked during the period were 108.83 million and 99.21 million compared to 112.21 million and 91.78 million during the same period last year, registering a decrease of 3.01 per cent and an increase of 8.10 per cent, respectively, the release added.

http://netindian.in/news/2010/03/30/0005960/railways-earnings-871-during-march-11-20

3 new Duronto trains from Mar 31

http://business.rediff.com/report/2010/mar/30/new-duronto-trains-from-mar-31.htm
Three new non-stop Duronto trains will be launched on Wednesday, the last day of the current financial year. They are the New Delhi [ Images ]-Bhubaneswar, New Delhi-Howrah, and Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Jammu Tawi Duronto expresses.

Eleven Duronto trains have already been launched to various parts of the country out the 14 Durontos announced in the 2009-10 interim Railway Budget last year.




another Duronto between Delhi and Calcutta??
will it be run on the days other than the Sealdah Duronto?

all right got the info here
TOI

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/7388/getimageh.png

strangely this will have Sleeper class as well??
how many other durontos have sleeper class??

Double decker coaches produced by ICF Kapurthala

http://dkn.dinakaran.com/pdf/2010/04/01/20100401a_007103004.jpg

Dinakaran

^^ I am not much impressed with this double decker coach. and it seems all new trains and station are getting painted green and yellow.

Double Decker coaches look cool! Not as nice as the western counterparts, but these were probably a lot cheaper to build too than western double deckers.

Double Decker coaches look cool!

You got to be kidding, it is trash. Does it look like a coach build in the year 2010? IR has lost it big time, the designer is proberbly chacha bhatija of some minister.

Compared to what they build currently, this is a step forward.

I have just put forward the following suggestion to Eastern Railways through their website. Don't know if it will be implemented, but if done, it'll change the brightness and look of railway stations.

The brightness and visibility of the railway stations may be enhanced by creating more space for advertisements within the railway station areas.

As all the stations cover a good area in terms of its length, and as human footfall is very high on railway stations and trains; there is a huge scope to provide more space for advertisements along the stretch of the stations.

Benefits to Railway: (a) the railway stations will look more colourful and bright through huge lighted advertisements along its length, (b) railways will be able to generate huge income from such advertisements.

On an experimental basis, a pilot project may be initiated in a moderately busy railway station like Ballygunge and Kalyani. Further, the same may be extended to all Adarsh stations.

The above proposal seems to have been accepted by the Railway Board as the Railway Minister, in a recent railway event in Sealdah, Kolkata; expressed her views to create advertisement space along the railway tracks and station areas to generate more revenues.. The news was aired in various Bengali news channels..

Can the 158-year-old Indian Railways be made to look good? That’s adman Suhel Seth’s latest challenge. And here’s how he wants to do it.

Starting July, passengers will have an in-house Railways magazine to read on the lines of in-flight magazines given free by airlines.

In the next stage, Seth said, people can expect Rail Radio and Rail TV.

“We are working at transforming the Railways brand, to make rail journeys more pleasurable,” Seth told HT.

Seth’s brief is not to clean up the bogies or toilets or to ensure the food served is safe and hygienic.

He will only try and make the Railways look good.

The Indian Railways is among the world’s biggest, carrying 1.78 crore passengers a day. And also perhaps the most maligned.

“The editorial planning has been firmed up and the magazine should start publication by July,” Seth said.

The Railways wants to put itself on the world tourism map by linking up with travel websites and, at home, with the Incredible India campaign.

Web marketing plans are also on the anvil. “We plan to sell advertising real estate on the Railways website in coming months,” said an official.


Source (http://www.hindustantimes.com/Railways-seek-young-happening-look/H1-Article1-525635.aspx)

I have a lot of respect for the railways which will continue to be even if they never come out with their own magazine or radio or television channel.

At the same time, I have a lot of anguish about how they run most of the times. I was traveling Kolkata to Guwahati and back last few weeks, and two thoughts struck me.

While the Guwahati station seems to have been spruced up, it faced the same problems probably facing all the new stations across the country. They are still surrounded by filth and congestion and chaos. That is something that is not in the railways hands.

Second, the new stations seem to have given no thought to the age old problem facing the railways - of people having to spend their nights sprawled inside the station waiting for their train. What every station needs are huge cloak rooms and huge dormitories and cheap retiring rooms for families which they should be zealously encouraged to use. There was some talk a few years ago of using railway land to make such cheap hotels but I don't know if its dead already.

With the risk of sounding elitist, I think our stations are dirty, sometimes downright filthy is because most of the railway users have a lifestyle that has never seen the use of a modern bathroom or trash cans etc. Now there are two things that the railways still makes its users do - make looking for a trash can a tiring task considering how few they put in the station, and not reprimand litterers.

Most importantly, the railways needs to take a leaf out of the Delhi Metro and get tough on teaching people some Metro etiquette. Now how do the railways stop families from peeing on the platform, throwing heaps of dirty plastic in and around the station and even outside the train windows? Starting an information and awareness campaign and getting tough on litterers would be a great way of doing it. There is no point in railway employees scrubbing the stations and the bogeys only for some ignorant traveler to dirty it again. Maybe Suhel can suggest them this as well.

The Kapurthala Double Decker Coaches are an abomination in 2010. Just look at these pictures to get a comparison of what the state of the art is in 2010.

Horrible Metal finish on the exterior, dents galore. The interior looks like a junk yard parts bin refurbishment melange, concocted by some retarded designer who was probably chewing paan and drinking toddy on the job and thinking about Bollywood trash.

http://dkn.dinakaran.com/pdf/2010/04/01/20100401a_007103004.jpg


Here are some comparisons, these are French trains in Morocco. Spot any dent and you can win a contest to go to Europe for vacation.

http://www.moroccosavvy.com/taamarbuuta/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/july-091.jpg

And the interiors more plusher than an aircraft.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/217/474362343_3cf111736e_b.jpg

Source (http://www.hindustantimes.com/Railways-seek-young-happening-look/H1-Article1-525635.aspx)

What the f**k is the point? - It's not like there is a competitive railway line! Its not as if by improving magazines/radio, people will shift from airlines to trains?!

Now that air-travel is becoming a lot cheaper with low-cost-carriers, the railways have no choice but to improve their services.

^^ and yet they still dun give a s**t!

Here's the 'Official" version and photo gallery. As per them these are "futuristic high speed-stainless steel AC coaches". They also think that the green-yellow colour is "pleasing". So they are really patting themselves on their own backs.


http://203.176.113.182/RCF/html/news.jsp?ID=175

Rail Coach Factory (RCF), today rolled out country`s first air conditioned double decker coach for oscillation trials on Delhi- Muradabad section. Hon`ble Minister of Railways had announced the introduction of AC double decker trains in last Rail Budget in June`09. RCF will start manufacturing the double decker coaches after successful completion of oscillation trials. These futuristic high speed-stainless steel AC coaches would be introduced to cater to the heavy rush of commuters in high density corridors offering AC travel at a low cost. The first double decker train would be seen running on rail tracks by end of this year. The new coach with pleasing green-yellow colour scheme has all the features and the comforts of a Shatabdi coach. A totally new coach shell design capable of running at a speed of 160 kmph was developed by RCF engineers in tandem with Research Design and Standard Organisation (RDSO) within a short span of just nine months. In the new design, 128 passengers can be seated as compared to 78 passengers in Shatabdi chair cars, thus increasing the capacity by almost 70 percent. The overall height of double decker coach has been increased marginally (four and a half inches) keeping in view the constraints like overhead structures, bridges, electric traction equipment, platforms etc. so that these coaches can be used without modifying any of the fixed structures except for clearing some minor infringements. Space for the two decks has been generated by optimally using the well space between the two bogies. To save upon space, it was decided to use End-On-Generation configuration where power for train lighting and air-conditioning is supplied by two power cars, attached at both ends of the train. The new air-conditioned design uses many superior technical features like aesthetically pleasing stainless steel body, high speed Eurofima design bogies with air springs for superior ride quality and many other safety related features. This coach is fitted with control discharge toilet system. The successful development of AC Double Decker Coach is a clear illustration of Indian Railways` capabilities in design and manufacturing. Sh. Pradeep Kumar, General Manager, RCF congratulated all the officials of the organisation who worked relentlessly on this project and gave it a final shape in record time of only 9 months. He said that double decker trains would herald a new era in rail travel in the country, because now a common man would be able to afford air conditioned travel at a low cost.


And here is the official photo gallery

http://203.176.113.182/RCF/html/photo_gallery/doubledecker.jsp

^ ^ Only one good thing. atleast they are active enough to put the info on the website and provide high res pics of it.

on the side note, it is painful to watch those high res images in actual size. It exposes more of ICFs uncompetitiveness.

Here's the 'Official" version and photo gallery. As per them these are "futuristic high speed-stainless steel AC coaches". They also think that the green-yellow colour is "pleasing". So they are really patting themselves on their own backs.


Dude you really cracked me up. (The article), Sad but true.

The coaches look handmade (literally).

I dont know why you people expect anything good from IR

their main aim is to be as cheap as possible for the poor.

Now with air travel coming up(lots of new airports being designed and built) and more and more new privately run airports and airlines coming up everybody has an option to avoid the railways and travel quickly.

The third option is obviously to develop the road infrastructure so again those who have the option will be able to take their cars instead of the trains.

A friend of mine was telling me that it takes less time to drive from mumbai to hyderabad on the roads which have been developed (good quality) at faster speeds than that of the fastest train between the cities.(8 hours by car)

If i want to travel to Delhi i will take the flight even if a high speed train comes by cause it would still be quicker.

Looks very congested! :eek:

Look at the stairs to the lower deck. One needs to be 5 foot and thin or get stuck in it :lol: :laugh:
The Kapurthala Double Decker Coaches are an abomination in 2010. Just look at these pictures to get a comparison of what the state of the art is in 2010.

Horrible Metal finish on the exterior, dents galore. The interior looks like a junk yard parts bin refurbishment melange, concocted by some retarded designer who was probably chewing paan and drinking toddy on the job and thinking about Bollywood trash.

http://dkn.dinakaran.com/pdf/2010/04/01/20100401a_007103004.jpg


Here are some comparisons, these are French trains in Morocco. Spot any dent and you can win a contest to go to Europe for vacation.

guys, i suggest you let them know what you think of the coaches (politely). Here are their contact details... http://203.176.113.182/RCF/html/aboutus/contactus.jsp

Maybe there is one babu out there who will actually take notice!

^^as if they would care

they may not, but atleast we can slap them in the face for calling these "world class"!! :) some mental satisfaction atleast!

The "world class" seats are just cushioned chairs bolted to the floor. They don't even seem to have the ability to be reclined :bash:

http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/7049/dd08v.jpg

The Kapurthala Double Decker Coaches are an abomination in 2010. Just look at these pictures to get a comparison of what the state of the art is in 2010.


not to forget the scratching the groin.. :D
this is one of the most horrendous in house (if it is )product to have come out of that half sleeping organisation..
down with them..
may some one from them is following this thread and bowing his head in shame (i can get a lil melodramatic at times ;))

the sticky-tape below the arm rest is a nice touch, as is the unremoved plastic covering which indians seem to love. world class

:lol:

I just had an idea

what if IR sold of 49% of itself and floated it on the stock market as an IPO?

that way GOI will still have a controlling stake with regards to price etc. But more modern practices will be adopted

what do you guys think?

I think you're a genius. That's a win win situation in my mind!

too add the money generated with the IPO can be used to upgrade the network and stations.

the downside is, will anybody buy the stock? Hell IR with its problems hmm i am guessing that its not going to be that popular a stock as say ONGC

no, but the sheer potential of the system to generate revenue if run properly means that people will line up!! but the problem is that it is a biiig political tool, i dare anyone to show me 1 person in the whole political system who has to will to do this!!!

I would like a compromise!! i want ICF and all the loco and wagon making units to be left to fend for themselves and the railways should go for open bidding process for those!! that way those units will shape up or die a quick death!!

no, but the sheer potential of the system to generate revenue if run properly means that people will line up!! but the problem is that it is a biiig political tool, i dare anyone to show me 1 person in the whole political system who has to will to do this!!!

but thats the beauty.

Indian government still retains control. ie it can still potentially adopt consumer friends practises.

Think about it, if the system is run better with more revenue. There are that many more garib raths which can be run on the tracks.

With the money from the IPO i am guessing you can certainly maybe add a 150km per hour -200km per hour line between the top 10 cities of india )population wise)

at the same time any fudging of accounts means that they shareholders can take action and throw babus in jail

hey.. i would love for this to happen, i just do not see the political will for it is all!!

Government wouldnt accept it: people certainly would. We need to mobilize public opinion in favor of this and use the power of our masses to hold protests etc. until the people get what they want.

Too radical? I think it's reasonable, as long as no violence breaks out. :)

I think the best solution is to Nuke IR organization as we know of it. Appoint E. Sreedharan as supreme leader and create something like Delhi Metro. No need for Mantrijis nor Babus nor Railway Boards. Give him $20B to fix the railways, the list is rather long for all the items that need fixing. Once he is done with the transformation and grows very old, we can put the system up for IPO and recover the $20B.

Has anyone noticed the door on the left lower corner of the picture. It is leaking engine oil already and the carpets are aged with dirt, there is an irregular seam in them. The seats are bolted down using nuts from the circa 70s parts bin ISO Bolt-Nut # 7132478 and one of the chairs is not flush with the partition, i guess the area is for keeping paan, toddy and bollywood movie dvds for the Chief Engineer/Architect/Consultant/Electrician/General Manager of the "Fail Coach Factory" of Kapurthala. Kudos to their ingenuity we have a first, stainless steel double decker coach with large windows, maximum number of seats, ergonomically designed stairwells for the short dark rice eating Indian 5 foot or less and skinny as drumstick, carpets that can take any amount of dirt and doors that supply engine oil in a jiffy. Thank you IR!

hey.. i would love for this to happen, i just do not see the political will for it is all!!


hmm I dont think anybody major would stand against it. Its not as radical as full privatisation but a partial step. Maybe full privatisation can happen maybe 20 years down the line.

Maybe you can do it in batches. First 10% then 15% and then 20%

If it was more than 50% then it would be certainly a big issue with riots on the street.

I doubt many of these politicians would understand what an IPO is. If you add a lot of complication jargon a lot of the politcos will not know what to do.

I just had an idea

what if IR sold of 49% of itself and floated it on the stock market as an IPO?

that way GOI will still have a controlling stake with regards to price etc. But more modern practices will be adopted

what do you guys think?

This scenario is possible only on paper. Let's say if IR is making profit, why would the govt. want to let go 49% of the profit (because I don't think the funding is the main issue with IR). On the other hand let's say IR is in loss, why would anybody want to buy stocks of an entity who is in loss. With 51% stake means govt will have the final word in decision making, that means the management/work culture will remain the same. Nobody in their right mind would buy shares of an organization where nothing has changed in 60+ years.

If the purpose of going public is raising money, govt will rather go for IR bonds. People will trust govt bonds more than stocks.

o btw.. we keep forgetting an important part of IR operations. If i remember correctly, IR has to pay a Royalty (or something similar) to the govt. every year! i never got why this is????

This scenario is possible only on paper. Let's say if IR is making profit, why would the govt. want to let go 49% of the profit (because I don't think the funding is the main issue with IR). On the other hand let's say IR is in loss, why would anybody want to buy stocks of an entity who is in loss. With 51% stake means govt will have the final word in decision making, that means the management/work culture will remain the same. Nobody in their right mind would buy shares of an organization where nothing has changed in 60+ years.

If the purpose of going public is raising money, govt will rather go for IR bonds. People will trust govt bonds more than stocks.

thats my fear.

but ask yourself this. What if nobody buys the stock. Has IR or the Indian gov lost anything?

Whats stopping them from issuing bonds if the IPO falls flat on its face. Which I accept is a real possibility.(IPO totally bombing)

With private companies a failed IPO means disaster. With IR it will just stay the same with tax payer money funding it.....

and i will also say this,

My dad owns a brokerage firm. I myself work in the stop market.

There are a lot of scared white folk in the west who are investing like crazy in foreign mutual funds targeting investing in India(be it stock or otherwise) India. there is a hell of a lot of doom mongering in the west going on and a hell of a lot of hype on the Indian growth story.

My gut feeling is people (foreign mutual funds) will buy IR stock simply as a gold rush.

Many times people dont buy stock like IR for profit. Many times they buy it as a way to speak into the ear of the government and gain influence elsewhere to expand their business interests.
Many times they buy a particular stock as a prestige issue to show to their consumers(or investors in the west and say Korea Japan) how big they are in emerging markets. Bank of China (despite being horribly organised) comes to mind. Ie you pay the money as a big advertising campaign.

so IMO its the ripe time to cash in on the hype.....

thats my fear.

but ask yourself this. What if nobody buys the stock. Has IR or the Indian gov lost anything?

Whats stopping them from issuing bonds if the IPO falls flat on its face. Which I accept is a real possibility.(IPO totally bombing)

With private companies a failed IPO means disaster. With IR it will just stay the same with tax payer money funding it.....

I am not sure what you meant by the line in bold.

What I think is, IR doesn't have funding issues. The main issue is governance. If funding is not the issue, what is the point in going public?

I am not sure what you meant by the line in bold.

What I think is, IR doesn't having funding issues. The main issue is governance. If funding is not the issue, what is the point in going public?

well see this is my point

IR needs much much more money (a boost) to overhaul the network than what the GOv gives it etc. IR does have enough money to ply along as it is. But plying along as it does not improve quality.

that money can be raised via an IPO.

By going public they will have to publish accounts in detail(not like what they do currently) . Shareholders can take the babus to court in fast track justice under corporate fruad. Ie they become accountable.

btw.. has anyone used the RTI to get hold of IR's financial records? i mean it is a public sector organization, so it has to accept RTI requests right?

btw.. has anyone used the RTI to get hold of IR's financial records? i mean it is a public sector organization, so it has to accept RTI requests right?

thats actually a good idea

but since they publish (fudged in many cases) accounts every year.

sort of defeats the idea.

CAG do audit their accounts.

well see this is my point

IR needs much much more money (a boost) to overhaul the network than what the GOv gives it etc. IR does have enough money to ply along as it is. But plying along as it does not improve quality.

Thar requires vision, which IR/Govt clearly lacks. They call the green and yellow coaches with dents futuristic, how can any one expect to have vision from them?

By going public they will have to publish accounts in detail(not like what they do currently) . Shareholders can take the babus to court in fast track justice under corporate fruad. Ie they become accountable.

Do you think those Babus don't know that going public means they will be accountable for their actions? Why would govt/babus go public when they can run the organization without any accountability?

That's why I said in my first post, this scenario is possible on a piece of paper not in real life.

Thar requires vision, which IR/Govt clearly lacks. They call the green and yellow coaches with dents futuristic, how can any one expect to have vision from them?



Do you think those Babus don't know that going public means they will be accountable for their actions? Why would govt/babus go public when they can run the organization without any accountability?

That's why I said in my first post, this scenario is possible on a piece of paper not in real life.

I dont think politicos care about the plight of the babus.

Look at Maruti, do you think 10 years ago we would be sitting at our comps with a privately owned Maruti?

That was considered impossible even in the 90s is reality today.

Incase you did not know suzuki had to pay off the politicos to privatise Suzuki.


It cant be ruled out that somebody will bribe the Indian politicos gov to have an IPO on IR and then buy a stake in it.....

A lot of gov owned companies have fallen this way. Bribes can get you far.....

If only there were a way to communicate these ideas to the big politicians rather than our simply discussing something that's barely in our control.

Anyone here in the government?

Double decker coaches produced by ICF Kapurthala

http://dkn.dinakaran.com/pdf/2010/04/01/20100401a_007103004.jpg

Dinakaran

JEBes7XwWiQ

With a view to exploit its real estate assets, Indian Railways plans to lease out some of them and aims to rake-in Rs 600 crore through this move this fiscal, a senior Railways official said.

"We plan to lease 15 plots in different metros and Tier 11 cities on long lease this fiscal and hope to net Rs 600 crore through this," Rail Land Development Authority, Member-Finance, F Mehmood, said.

"We have identified a land-bank of 1,900 hectares for development. This will be leased out in phases. We have appointed 15 consultants for this purpose," he said. Most of the land available for lease is in the eastern region, he said.

Leasing its land for residential purposes is not under consideration presently, the official said but added that "if good proposals come, then we may think about it."

In the first phase, railway lands in Bandra in Mumbai, Aurangabad (Maharashtra) and Jamnagar (Gujarat) are among the plots the Railways is planning to lease out to fund its infrastructure development, he said.

Source: TNN

Indian Railways have decided to adopt a European technology in certain busy routes to prevent rail accidents.

"We are installing the Train Protection Warning System (TPWS) in 828-km rail route as a preventive measure against collisions," said a senior Railway Ministry official. TPWS, a state-of-the-art European technology, is estimated to cost Rs 70 lakh per km.

"If the train jumps the red signal then brakes will be applied automatically under the system," the official said, adding a "majority of the recent accidents were due to trains jumping red signals in foggy conditions."

The total cost for installing the TPWS would be about Rs 579.6 crore and the work will be awarded through tendering system. "We are finalising the tendering process," he said.

TPWS would be implemented in North Central, South East,Eastern and Western zones.

Earlier, the TPWS was implemented in a suburban section in Chennai and the Delhi-Mathura non-suburban section on a pilot basis. The trial was satisfactory and now the system would be extended to other zones, the official said.

Railways are also developing "crash worthy" coaches and locomotives and will provide automatic fire and smoke detection system in 20 pairs of long-distance trains on an experimental basis.

"As far as accidents at unmanned level crossings are concerned, we are launching a special drive to man all crossings in a phased manner," the official said.

There are about 17,000 unmanned level crossings across the country. While the work for 3,000 unmanned level crossings started in 2009-10, that for another 1,000 crossings are being taken up in the current fiscal.

Besides TPWS, railways are installing anti-collision device in certain sections to prevent accidents.

Yeshwantpur-Hosur Train : Two Mishaps Mar Inaugural Run (http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=75222&n_tit=Eshwantpur-Hosur++Train+%3A+Two+Mishaps+Mar+Inaugural+Run)
Bangalore, Apr 7 (DHNS): The much-awaited passenger train to Hosur chugged out at 11.30 am from Yeshwantpur railway station on its maiden trip, little aware of what lay ahead.

Just ten minutes later, the Yeshwantpur-Hosur Special (YH-1) came to an abrupt halt even before it could reach the first scheduled stop, Lottegollahalli station, 4 kms from Yeshwantpur.

The reason: an accident involving live overhead lines had taken place on the tracks minutes earlier and a damaged contact arm was still dangling from above. The shocker came within half an hour of another accident on the track, in which a passenger seated near the door of a moving train fell off and suffered severe injuries on his head and hands.

http://www.tvdaijiworld.com/images/chug_040710-1.jpg
http://www.tvdaijiworld.com/images/chug_040710-1.jpg

This reporter was on board the train YH-1 which was nearly empty but for a couple of railway employees and an inspection carriage attached to it in which Union Minister of State for Railways, K H Muniyappa, and top officials were travelling.

Railway technician George said he and six of his colleagues, including the injured victim, Chandrashekhar were getting ready to chop off a tree adjoining the track. While ‘Electric Power Block’ is usually done when carrying out such work, it was bypassed this time.

“The tree is at some distance from the electric wires and the branches are at a considerable height from the overhead electrical wires. So, we did not switch off,” he said. Chandrashekhar was the first to climb the tree. Under the impact of his body weight, a branch swung low and brushed against the wires. “He suffered severe electric shocks instantly as the poles were of a high capacity (25,000 KV) and was thrown off instantly,” George added. He was rushed to a nearby hospital.

The inaugural special was halted 100 metres from the hanging electric pole. A large crowd had gathered at the adjoining road, loudly discussing the terrible happenings and were surprised to see a new train on the track.

Railway officials, in a tizzy, due to the Minister’s presence in the train, made frantic calls to staff to control the situation. A local technician attached the dangling electric pole to another overhead structure with a thick rope.
The train was finally shown the green flag. Slated to reach Hosur in 95 minutes, it took an extra half an hour to complete its first trip.

Y’pur-Devanahalli train timings

Onward journey (YD-1): Leaves YPR at 10.40 am, stops at Lottegollahalli, Kodigehalli, Yelahanka, Bettahalsoor H, Dodjala H before terminating at Devanahalli at 11.45 am. Return trip (DY-1): Departs from Devanahalli at 1.15 pm and reaches City at 2.35 pm.

Two Y’pur-Hosur-Yeshwantpur Specials:

The route from Yeshwantpur to Hosur (YH-1) will pass via Lottegollahalli, Hebbal, Banaswadi, Belandur Road, Karmelaram, Heelalige and Anekal Road during its onward trip. The first trip will leave at 6.20 am and touch Hosur at 7.55 am. Return trip: HY-1 will leave Hosur at 8.10 am and stop at same stops before reaching Yeshwantpur at 9.50 am. The evening passenger (YH-2) will run along the same direction. It will leave at 3.35 pm and touch Hosur at 5.05 pm. Return trip: HY-2 will leave Hosur at 5.45 pm and touch Yeshwantpur at 7.20 pm.

^^ :bash: :bash:.... they're juzz passenger trains :(

Countries queue up to invite Mamata

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee might not be the most popular colleague in Manmohan Singh's council of ministers, but in the international community, she is one of the most sought after Indian ministers.

After UK, US and Japan, now Nicolas Sarkozy-led France too, wants Banerjee to visit. Jeremy Bonnefant, the French ambassador to India, on Tuesday had a half an hour meeting with the minister to discuss various railway projects.

Bonnefant's meeting comes a day after the US ambassador to India, Timothy Roemer, came down to the Rail Bhawan for a "courtesy meeting" with the minister.

Senior railway officials feel this interest of the international community came after Banerjee unveiled policies to seek private investment in rail projects. As the ministry faces a paucity of funds, Banerjee in her Railway Budget laid emphasis on the public private partnership model for developing railway infrastructure.

Banerjee has received invitations from the UK High Commissioner and the Japanese envoy at New Delhi to visit their countries. Banerjee, however, is yet to take a call on any date for any of her foreign visits.

According to sources in the minister's office, the British High Commission has made several calls to the Rail Bhawan to fix a schedule for the minister's UK tour. Banerjee is undecided: she is reported to have told aides that as the UK is headed for a general election, she may like to meet representatives of the new government in London.

After taking charge as the railway minister, Banerjee has so far avoided any foreign tour. She even sacrificed crucial Cabinet meetings to remain stationed in Kolkata and fight the CPI (M).

Her predecessor, Lalu Prasad, visited the UK and France in 2006. During his trip to the UK, Prasad visited railway stations, maintenance depots simulators and the London Underground/Metro stations.

In France, Prasad visited the most-advanced high speed TVG train depot and held bilateral discussions on international cooperation in the field of training of Indian Railway officials, fire simulations in coaches, land development and heritage and development of logistic parks.

He later signed an MoU with French counterpart SNCF International to get technical help and cooperation for high speed railways.

Source: Rediff Business

Countries queue up to invite Mamata

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee might not be the most popular colleague in Manmohan Singh's council of ministers, but in the international community, she is one of the most sought after Indian ministers.

After UK, US and Japan, now Nicolas Sarkozy-led France too, wants Banerjee to visit. Jeremy Bonnefant, the French ambassador to India, on Tuesday had a half an hour meeting with the minister to discuss various railway projects.

Bonnefant's meeting comes a day after the US ambassador to India, Timothy Roemer, came down to the Rail Bhawan for a "courtesy meeting" with the minister.

Senior railway officials feel this interest of the international community came after Banerjee unveiled policies to seek private investment in rail projects. As the ministry faces a paucity of funds, Banerjee in her Railway Budget laid emphasis on the public private partnership model for developing railway infrastructure.

Banerjee has received invitations from the UK High Commissioner and the Japanese envoy at New Delhi to visit their countries. Banerjee, however, is yet to take a call on any date for any of her foreign visits.

According to sources in the minister's office, the British High Commission has made several calls to the Rail Bhawan to fix a schedule for the minister's UK tour. Banerjee is undecided: she is reported to have told aides that as the UK is headed for a general election, she may like to meet representatives of the new government in London.

After taking charge as the railway minister, Banerjee has so far avoided any foreign tour. She even sacrificed crucial Cabinet meetings to remain stationed in Kolkata and fight the CPI (M).

Her predecessor, Lalu Prasad, visited the UK and France in 2006. During his trip to the UK, Prasad visited railway stations, maintenance depots simulators and the London Underground/Metro stations.

In France, Prasad visited the most-advanced high speed TVG train depot and held bilateral discussions on international cooperation in the field of training of Indian Railway officials, fire simulations in coaches, land development and heritage and development of logistic parks.

He later signed an MoU with French counterpart SNCF International to get technical help and cooperation for high speed railways.

Source: Rediff Business


don't let her go she will bring bad name for India.

Solar, wind energy to light up Railway premises (http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/oct/01rail.htm)

Aiming at reduction of carbon emission by using clean energy, Indian Railways has embarked upon a renewable energy action plan as part of the national policy to address the impact of climate change.

According to the action plan, all zonal railway offices, divisional headquarters and Railway ministry headquarters will now have solar power systems to light up the premises.

"The lights at the corridors and control rooms of these offices will draw power from solar panel," a senior Railway ministry official said. Solar panels will be installed at 44 divisional railway manager offices, he added.

While solar geysers will be installed at railway hospitals and running rooms at 115 places, solar street light systems are to be provided at all railway training centres across the country. Railway's Oak Grove School near Nainital will also have solar lights at its campus.

"Solar power is being used at a few level-crossings, but we will now expand the solar network to many more crossings which do not have electricity," the official said.

Railways is also installing a 10-MW wind-power project near Kanyakumari at an estimated cost of Rs 60 crore (Rs 600 million).

An average wind speed of 14 miles per hour is required to convert wind energy into electricity. One wind turbine can produce enough electricity to power up to 300 homes.

According to the Kyoto protocol, all governments are required to initiate concrete action to reduce carbon emission to save the climate.

The national action plan on climate change also focuses on renewable energy to mitigate global warming and reduce greenhouse gas emission.

Railways, which consumes about 2,500 MW electricity per day, spends about Rs 5,500 crore (Rs 55 billion) annually for electricity. It has earmarked Rs 28 crore (Rs 280 million) for the solar project, which aims at generating 440 kw per day

don't let her go she will bring bad name for India.

And what makes u think so?? :colbert:

She is doing good as the Railway Minister..

she is doing good??
that was the joke of the day for me..
for bengal..yes
for rest of India..you kidding me
i went to Kolkata recently..
the moment the train entered bengal i saw every station getting refurbished..
no matter how small it was..
before that (bengal I mean) I could see nothing of this sort..
the Durantos heading their way to kolkata are the only ones providing decent services..
in the rest the services are horrendous..
to say the least..
plus she's hell bent on taking Kolkata Metro under the IR which IMO if happens would be a deadly blow to the infrastructure development in the city

she is doing good??
that was the joke of the day for me..
for bengal..yes
for rest of India..you kidding me
i went to Kolkata recently..
the moment the train entered bengal i saw every station getting refurbished..
no matter how small it was..
before that (bengal I mean) I could see nothing of this sort..
the Durantos heading their way to kolkata are the only ones providing decent services..
in the rest the services are horrendous..
to say the least..
plus she's hell bent on taking Kolkata Metro under the IR which IMO if happens would be a deadly blow to the infrastructure development in the city

Yes she is doing good.. Stations are being developed into World Class and Adarsh.. Duronto has been started and is a phenomenal success.. soon u'll find the double-decker a/c trains plying.. the Yuva Express has also been started.. Shopping Complexes are coming up within the station areas.. North-East is on its revival.. the North-Eastern corridor and the Western corridor are being developed.. Auto hub has been created.. Rail factories are coming up.. Hospitals and stadiums are being built up.. Railway landbank is being utilised under the PPP model.. and all these not just in Bengal.. but throughout the Country..

Also, the Kolkata Metro is already under IR.. and I believe even if she tries, E-W Metro will not be transferred to IR..

there's a difference between announcements and actual ground work..
you are speaking the language of her sarkari babus..
its more political than real..
there was no emphasis on the freight corridors in the present budget..
all she wants and has done is to start new trains..
that laloo did too..
every one wants his or her trains..
which will make them remember to the masses..
yes she IS doing some work in bengal..
but isn't that pretty obvious considering assembly elections in the state next year..
and I was referring to the E-W line when i made that comment..

She is doing good as the Railway Minister..

I have to agree with Sidney. Please, Mamta is a monkey and as the saying goes she is being garlanded by her cronies/fans and she picks the flowers in the garland and lays it to waste just like a monkey would. Duronto is another myopic attempt to change the IR railway train, the paint on the outside should give you a clue about her thinking. W. Bengal seems to have a bunch of leaders who are quite clueless and stupid, in contrast to the average Bengali who is very bright and smart and have done well when outside Bengal. The communist have driven the state down, now it is Mamta's turn to drive it further into the ground. Her recent budget is a disaster. She is not interested in running the Indian railways but seems to be more interested in scoring brownie points for her state W. Bengal and one up the communists.

hmm see thats the problem with a mantri as IR head

they come from a region and most money is spent in that region.

they should give control to the states to control the tracks that ply between them

Yeshwantpur-Hosur Train : Two Mishaps Mar Inaugural Run (http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=75222&n_tit=Eshwantpur-Hosur++Train+%3A+Two+Mishaps+Mar+Inaugural+Run)

Seeing the inauguration, I have to wonder what the Mantriji and Babus had for breakfast. These freaking idiots are flagging a train that looks like it was retrieved from a junk yard. There is no attempt to clean up the train, look at the Engine, its has grease spots all over, the paint finish is horrible, lettering looks like Kindagarten school kid's drawing attempt and the board is a joke. They could have washed the darn thing. But like lemmings/robots they hold the green flag in hand, pose for the camera and smugly feel good about themselves. These are the leaders for IR. How pathetic!

Telegraph (http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100409/jsp/calcutta/story_12318547.jsp)

A STAFF REPORTER
Mamata Banerjee on Thursday announced two new trains — the Commonwealth Express and the Technology Express.

Flagging off the Aurobindo Express to Puducherry at Howrah station, the railway minister said the Commonwealth Express would run across the country. “It will teach the youth about the importance of the Commonwealth Games,” she said.

The Technology Express would highlight the achievements of the Indian Institutes of Technology in imparting engineering education and nurturing innovation. “The Technology Express will touch all the IIT cities,” said the railway minister.

Mamata, who had earlier announced the Epar Bangla Opar Bangla Express to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore in 2011, said the two new trains would house permanent galleries to showcase the opportunities offered by engineering and IT education across India.

The first Howrah-Puducherry Aurobindo Express will reach Puducherry on April 11, the same date Sri Aurobindo first set foot on Pondicherry 100 years ago. The weekly express will cover 2,200km in 36 hours and run via Vellore.

SOURCE (http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article392137.ece)
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday flagged off a Howrah-Puducherry Weekly Express from the Howrah station to commemorate the centenary year of Aurobindo's travel to the erstwhile French colony and establishing an ashram there for preaching ancient Indian philosophy and culture.

The “Aurobindo Express” was one of the several budget proposals of Ms. Banerjee this year.

“Puducherry is a seat of theological learning and Rishi Aurobindo is still loved by the people. The inaugural train will be received at the Puducherry station by members of the Auroville on April 10,” she said.

An interesting feature of the train is a special exhibition coach decorated with photographs of the life and times of Aurobindo and his philosophy

Railway minister Mamata Banerjee’s pet ‘Durontos’ seem to have dislodged the Rajdhanis from their preeminent position as India’s fastest and most sought after trains.
With Mamata launching three more Duronto trains last week, the railways fulfilled the promise of starting 14 Durontos in the current fiscal made in her Budget speech last year.
Durontos are turning out to be more popular among travellers as the rail ministry has ensured that they run faster and are cheaper than the elite Rajdhanis and Shatabdis.
Though Durontos run at the same speed (around 110 km/hr) as Rajdhanis, they take lesser time in reaching their destination as they provide point-topoint non-stop service between two cities with large traffic volume. The newly-run Duronto between Delhi-Sealdah takes one-and-a-half hour less than the Rajdhani on the same route.
More and more rail travellers are opting for Durontos as the fare is lower than Rajdhani trains. “The reason for their popularity is that tickets come at a much cheaper rate than the premium Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains,” said an official.
The favourable treatment does not stop here as doctors on board in long-distance trains scheme was also launched in Durontos with the railways deciding to depute one medical officer and one paramedic in all Durontos for a year.

Source: TNN

^^rupakd was this news in todays TOI??

^^rupakd was this news in todays TOI??



Yes, it's on Page12, under "Times Nation".

they have published this new for the nth time now..
have all the cows stopped giving births to calves or the world is not coming to an end that these people have fallen short of news :bash:

And what makes u think so?? :colbert:

She is doing good as the Railway Minister..


She even not sit in her office in Rail Bhawan, New Delhi. All the time sghhe's in Kolkata.

The bureaucrats are just running the ministry some how.

And if we want progress we the rail minster has to worked really hard.

Being a big country and as people and goods has to travel

1. we can't rely only on roads as it will increase our dependency on imported oil + forex losses.

2. Everybody can't afford air travel also its costly for goods.

3. We need to build high speed trains and dedicated fright corridors between at least the top 30 cities. Like china.

4. And there is need to improve the security, better timing of trains, hygiene etc. basic amenities.

5. All of these required money as every politician looks for his/her image while country goes to hell. They don't increase the fares and cuts the extra expenditures. This is holding our country on ransom and we are loosing good amount of growth rate due to this.

6. Despite huge demand and potential they aren't able to supply and earn.

7. For a simple thing like confirm train ticket one has to contact ministry or touts. And you are saying she is doing good work.

^actually dude railways dont carry not that many people. Most people travel by bus in India. Even if you have world class railways that will continue to be the case.

but i agree that even bus is a dependence on oil and thats no reason not to improve the railways.

Ich, can you back up your stunning statistics (sounds like Shanghai Statistics to me) on travel % by Indian People.

Anidel has very good points. Having a good fast train service, that is a no-brainer to use is the goal. The trains can run on electricity (powered by renewables like Solar, Wind, Biodiesel). India needs to spend at least $20B to upgrade the infrastructure for Railways and this is money well spent. Actually this would recycle back into the economy, provided we don't go on a stupid binge to import from China and other nations. Fixing the infra would also improve GDP by 1 or 2 %.

That PR for Duronto is sickening. The trains have marginal utility and those that were leaders like the Rajdhani and Shatabdi are falling behind. Just tells you how pathetic the IR has become. Improving tracks, signaling, speeds, comfort, amenities, railway stations, operation efficiency, cleanliness are all job #1. I don't think the monkey mamta understands any of these topics and how to go about fixing them.

I think Ichi is right. Trains are not accessible to all parts of the country but the roads and buses are. But the catch is that people travel much longer distance by trains than by bus. We should talk about person-kms than just no. of people. Person-km figure can be higher for trains.

SHILLONG, April 9 – Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Tariq A Karim today said his country was “ready and willing” to reconnect the States of North East to rest of India and also enable Nepal and Bhutan to gain access to sea.
Reflecting Bangladesh’s eagerness to serve as a “natural hub of regional linkages,” Karim said, “we are ready and willing to help to reconnect not only the States of the North East to the rest of India but also enable Nepal and Bhutan to gain access to the sea.”

Emphasising on reconnecting the old riverine routes, he said addition of the Ashuganj (Bangladesh) and Silghat (India) meant that goods destined for the North East and beyond will be able to reach their destination much more quickly.

Stating that Bangladesh has allowed India, Nepal and Bhutan to use the Mongla and Chittagong ports, he committed that his country was seriously engaged in reopening the old rail links in the region.

“Prime Ministers of India and Bangladesh decided to make Rohanpur-Singabad broad gauge railway link available for transit to Nepal and to the conversion of Radhikapur-Birol railway line into broad-gauge to facilitate trade and connectivity with Bhutan. We are also examining setting up of a railway link between Akhaura and Agartala,” he told a seminar on ‘From Land Locked to Land Linked: Northeast India in BIMSTEC’ here.

In terms of extending land connectivity, he said, “we could also consider the possibility of extending the existing Dhaka-Kolkata and Dhaka-Agartala Bus routes to Shillong and Guwahati.”

He said Bangladesh was vigorously pursuing the possibility of establishing new air routes from North East to Dhaka and beyond.

“Many new Land Customs Stations like Nakugaon-Dalu, Meghalaya-Mymensingh (both in Meghalaya border) and Sabroom-Ramgarh in Tripura border are under active consideration of both the governments,” Karim said, underscoring the need for infrastructure development on both sides.

TELEGRAPH (http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100413/jsp/calcutta/story_12330614.jsp)
Passengers on the Calcutta-bound Duronto Express from Bangalore had to go without water for almost seven hours on Monday.

The train, supposed to ply non-stop, had to halt at Bhubaneswar for almost half an hour in the morning as irate passengers pulled the chain twice demanding water.

Once the train left Bhubaneswar, bottled water was kept outside the washrooms for the passengers.

“Between 5am and noon, there was not a drop of water on the train. The cisterns and the wash basins were dry and there was no drinking water,” said Sushmita Kar, a homemaker travelling in coach B1 with her seven-year-old son.

“People could not even brush their teeth in the morning,” said Sabita Chatterjee, another traveller.

The passengers first approached the travelling ticket examiners and RPF personnel on the train requesting them to arrange for water.

“But they pleaded helplessness saying water was not reaching the cisterns and wash basins as the system had developed some compression problems,” said Chatterjee.

Passengers forced the train to stop at Bhubaneswar by pulling the chain and told railway officials that they would not allow the journey to resume unless water was arranged.

“The officials threatened action against us but we did not budge. They tried to start the train but passengers brought it to a halt by pulling the chain again. The authorities were then forced to fetch water,” recalled Kar.

The train left Bangalore at 11.15am on Sunday morning and reached Calcutta at 4pm on Monday.

Asked about the passengers’ allegation, an official of South Eastern Railway said the protest was reported from Bhubaneswar, which was under East Coast Railway.

Officials of East Coast Railway could not be reached for comment.

Source (http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report_railways-moots-4-models-for-private-play-in-expansion_1371513)
New Delhi: Indian Railways has proposed four public-private partnership (PPP) models — cost-sharing freight rebate, full contribution, SPV, and private line — for network expansion.

A meeting is scheduled for April 17 between rail ministry officials and representatives of private sector companies on the issue.
Termed as Railways Infrastructure Initiative for Industry (R3i), the scheme to develop the rail lines is focused on incentivising the private sector to work in tandem with Railways and provide connectivity to the areas that are not covered.
As per the cost-sharing freight rebate model, the contribution of the applicant should not be less than 50%.

“The applicant will recover its investment through a rebate of 10-12% on incremental traffic. This will be valid till the advance contribution made by it is recovered or for a period of 10 years, whichever being earlier. This is, however, subject to the condition that 30% of the advance should be recovered within the first five years after the commissioning of the line,” said the draft policy document on R3i.

In the full contribution apportioned earning model, the applicant will make 100% contribution to the project cost. The applicant will construct and maintain the line for a period of 25 years.

“Railways would levy a licence of 2% from the applicant’s share of earnings net of operations and maintenance (O&M) costs for the first 10 years from the date of commissioning and 4% thereafter till the completion of 25 years,” it said. At the end of the 25 year period, the revenue would accrue to the Railways. In the SPV model, the Railways’ share in the special purpose vehicle will be 26%. “SPV shall be granted a concession, a share in the revenues generated on the project line, in lieu of construction, operation and maintenance of the line,” it said.Private line model would apply when a private line is built by the applicant on privately acquired land and connectivity is sought to the Railways’ network. The applicant will construct and maintain the line for a period of 30 years and pay licence fee of 2% to 4%to the Railways through the period.