Harbour line capacity to increase by 33%, trains to be 12-coach by 2014

May 06, 2012 (Hindustan Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Commuters using harbour line trains to travel to the eastern suburbs or to Navi Mumbai can look forward to better services by the end of 2014.

Central Railway (CR) plans to increase the passenger carrying capacity of harbour line trains by about 33% by converting all nine-car rakes to 12-car ones. The Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) plans on appointing Project Management Consultancy (PMC) to supervise the project.

The MRVC is aiming to finish the Rs715-crore project by the end of 2014, so that 12-car train services on the harbour line on both CST-Panvel and CST-Andheri routes can commence within two years.

"Our designs and drawings for relevant work are ready, tenders will be finalised by September. From October, the work will start. Hurdles in converting harbour line trains from nine-car rakes to 12-car rakes have already been studied and solutions have been found. The infrastructure should be ready by end of 2014," said Ravi Agarwal, chief public relations officer (CPRO), MRVC.

The conversion of all trains to 12-car rakes will increase the passenger carrying capacity of the trains by 33%.

Presently, each nine-car train carries about 2,500-2,700 passengers. After the conversion about additional 800-1,000 commuters can be accommodated per train. However, the MRVC has been facing problems relating to extension of platforms, shifting of overhead wires, signalling and other electrical work at six platforms including platform no. 1 at CST.

The corporation plans to appoint the PMC for supervision and management of the project due to a staff crunch. "We don't have sufficient staff to closely supervise the project, but designing and execution will be done by us. All the measures are taken to ensure that work is completed by 2014," concluded Agarwal.

City’s lifeline to make commute easier

Oshiwara will get a new station, rail network to connect panvel and goregaon

DNA Rajendra Aklekar May 16, 2012

The Mumbai suburban railway will soon have additions in its network. The Western Railway will have another station and there will be direct trains between Panvel and Goregaon.

Oshiwara, the newest station on the suburban railway, gathered pace this week. The tracks have been shifted and the island platform complete to the formation level.

The Oshiwara station will cater to the extended Andheri and Lokhandwala area of the western suburbs. A level crossing that splits the station will have to be shut down for the civil work to be completed.

A road overbridge is being built to connect Goregaon east to west.
“Once the road overbridge is ready, we would be able to shut down the level crossing and complete work on the new Oshiwara station,” said Sharat Chandrayan, Western Railway’s chief spokesperson.

Sources said the new Jogeshwari station platform being built to run harbour line trains is in progress and so is the work at Andheri station. Two dedicated tracks are being laid for the harbour line as part of the project to run direct local trains between Panvel and Goregaon. Presently, harbour line trains terminate at Andheri.

Last year, the railways had to abandoned work after residents opposed the plans to shut the level crossing gate, which is the only connectivity between east and west at Goregaon.

Sources said that to meet the long-pending demand of commuters to build a station at Oshiwara, the authorities began work in 2006 on the station that was to be completed by 2008.
Unlike other stations, the new station will not have separate platforms for east and west.

It will only have one platform that can be approached through two foot overbridges on the north- and south-end of the station where the two booking offices will be located.

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?id=17104&boxid=26806138&ed_date=2012-05-16&ed_code=820009&ed_page=5

CR mulls shifting of long-distance trains to LTT
Manthan K Mehta TNN

Mumbai: Central Railway may shift operations of longdistance trains from Dadar to Lokmanya Tilak Terminus within a year, if there is no resistance from commuters.
Apart from decongesting Dadar, the shift will allow CR to run trains with more coaches. CR general manager Subodh Jain told TOI, “The platform at Dadar can only accommodate 16-coach trains. We are keen to shift once the Santa Cruz-Chembur link road is commissioned, thus improving road connectivity to LTT, from where 22 pairs of train operate every day.”
Seven pairs of trains operate from Dadar, of which five are on a daily basis. A CR official said, “Long-distance passengers, who can use suburban services, will not alight at Dadar once all trains are shifted. This will marginally decongest the station.”
The new building, at a cost of Rs 22 crore, will be completed within year. Its circulating area is spread across 25,000 sq metres and it has a concourse area of 3,300 sq metres, the biggest in Mumbai.
Jain, who inspected the new LTT building, platforms and yard for almost two hours on Wednesday, said, “The passenger reservation system has started in the new building. We plan to shift unreserved booking windows from the old station building to the new building within 10 days.”
There are also plans to operate premier trains from platform 5, which is adjacent to the new station building. Jain said, “Retiring rooms and the 32-bed airconditioned dormitory will also be operational within a month.”
Work on the new building will be completed within a year, Jain said, and added, “We also have plans for an underground subway, which is more convenient for commuters. However, before this begins, we will build a foot overbridge within eight months, connecting all platforms.”
TAKING THE PRESSURE OFF DADAR
Circulating area | 25,000 square metres Concourse area | 3,300 square metres Total cost | 22 crore Trains from LTT | 22 Average daily ticket sales at LTT | 14,000, including 9,000 platform tickets

will trains from CST still wait for Dadar ? else I do not like the plan. travelling to Kurla from Bandra/western burbs is not that easy unless metro line 2 is complete

will trains from CST still wait for Dadar ? else I do not like the plan. travelling to Kurla from Bandra/western burbs is not that easy unless metro line 2 is complete

Thats why the importance of the SCLR. The SCLR will go a long way in making commute between eastern and western burbs easier. Currently, its a punishment.

will trains from CST still wait for Dadar ? else I do not like the plan. travelling to Kurla from Bandra/western burbs is not that easy unless metro line 2 is complete

Doesnt matter much. People dont travel everyday. If it provides a little comfort for the suburban passengers, let be it. IMO, it is better to stop all the outstation services at Borivali / Thane and have the tracks inside the city,exclusively for suburban services. As such, the population has shifted north long time back. Island city just has around 15% of total population of MMR, while island city +suburbs have only 60% of population of MMR

IMO, it is better to stop all the outstation services at Borivali / Thane and have the tracks inside the city,exclusively for suburban services. As such, the population has shifted north long time back. Island city just has around 15% of total population of MMR, while island city +suburbs have only 60% of population of MMR

That would be a slightly extreme step IMO. Travelling to Borivli or Thane, despite the highways is still a difficult task. Besides, people taking outstation trains wont be able to take locals as it will be difficult to carry luggage.

Comparing the population of the island city with that of MMR in the above context may not be relevant. If at all, a comparison with the population within city limits is more relevant. People residing beyond thane may board these trains from Kalyan and similar for the western part.

That is not an extreme step. It is the standard across all cities in India. The outstation passengers across all cities travel upto 40 km to a central location to catch a train. For ex in Delhi - New Delhi stn (from Janakpuri, Rohini, Gurgaon, Saket, Noida etc), Chennai central, Howrah, Bangalore Majestic etc. Bombay, being a linear city has the luxury to bring in trains close to many localities with stops at regular intervals. The suburbs will not be affected much as people will head north instead of south to catch a train. Only island city will be affected. Considering the number of people travelling from isalnd city and the frequency of travel and the average luggage they may carry in every trip, I feel that the benefits for having a dedicated suburban tracks is far higher.Further, suburban trains give much better connectivity for outstation passengers compared to other cities if people dont carry much luggage

On the other hand, the suburban passengers travel in inhuman conditions every day. It helps to add few more services in peak hours. If required, a maximum of 15 trains can be allowed in off peak hours (12 pm-4 pm and 10 pm - 4 am) in WR and CR.

TOI (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Anti-trespass-project-to-kick-off-from-Kurla-on-Central-Railway-network/articleshow/13183115.cms)
Anti-trespass project to kick off from Kurla on Central Railway network

MUMBAI: Central Railway (CR) has selected Kurla as the first station where the anti-trespassing project will be implemented on its suburban network.

TOI reported on May 16 that the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) would spend around Rs 110 crore on the trespassing control project in a bid to curb deaths on tracks. The project would involve the installation of escalators and elevators, construction of foot overbridges (FOBs) and fences and erection of railings between tracks to prevent people from crossing the lines.

A CR official said: "Subodh Jain, the general manager of CR, has laid special emphasis on Kurla. For, since 2002, the stretch falling under the Kurla GRP recorded 3,360 deaths due to trespassing alone."

The Kurla GRP's jurisdiction includes the stretch between Kurla and Mulund. The most vulnerable spots are near Kurla, Vidyavihar, Vikhroli and Kanjurmarg stations.

Subhash Gupta, president of Yatri Sangh (Mumbai), said: "Many people cross the tracks with heavy luggage to reach Lokmanya Tilak Terminus and Kurla station. Besides, the absence of an FOB near the Kurla level-crossing is another reason behind the track deaths there."

Kurla, which has eight platforms and caters to both the Harbour and Main lines of CR, is one of the busiest stations on the Mumbai suburban network. "The width of the existing FOB is inadequate in view of the large number of commuters using Kurla station. So, many commuters use the tracks instead of making their way through the congested FOB," said Gupta.

CR has already started work on putting up fences between tracks at seven stations on its suburban network to prevent people from crossing the lines.

TOI (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Anti-trespass-project-to-kick-off-from-Kurla-on-Central-Railway-network/articleshow/13183115.cms)
Anti-trespass project to kick off from Kurla on Central Railway network

MUMBAI: Central Railway (CR) has selected Kurla as the first station where the anti-trespassing project will be implemented on its suburban network.

TOI reported on May 16 that the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) would spend around Rs 110 crore on the trespassing control project in a bid to curb deaths on tracks. The project would involve the installation of escalators and elevators, construction of foot overbridges (FOBs) and fences and erection of railings between tracks to prevent people from crossing the lines.

A CR official said: "Subodh Jain, the general manager of CR, has laid special emphasis on Kurla. For, since 2002, the stretch falling under the Kurla GRP recorded 3,360 deaths due to trespassing alone."

The Kurla GRP's jurisdiction includes the stretch between Kurla and Mulund. The most vulnerable spots are near Kurla, Vidyavihar, Vikhroli and Kanjurmarg stations.

Subhash Gupta, president of Yatri Sangh (Mumbai), said: "Many people cross the tracks with heavy luggage to reach Lokmanya Tilak Terminus and Kurla station. Besides, the absence of an FOB near the Kurla level-crossing is another reason behind the track deaths there."

Kurla, which has eight platforms and caters to both the Harbour and Main lines of CR, is one of the busiest stations on the Mumbai suburban network. "The width of the existing FOB is inadequate in view of the large number of commuters using Kurla station. So, many commuters use the tracks instead of making their way through the congested FOB," said Gupta.

CR has already started work on putting up fences between tracks at seven stations on its suburban network to prevent people from crossing the lines.

Better late than never :cheers:

Are mumbai's local train electricfied with DC current system ?? They were saying, it would increase the train's power and hence, decrease travelling time

Doesnt matter much. People dont travel everyday. If it provides a little comfort for the suburban passengers, let be it. IMO, it is better to stop all the outstation services at Borivali / Thane and have the tracks inside the city,exclusively for suburban services. As such, the population has shifted north long time back. Island city just has around 15% of total population of MMR, while island city +suburbs have only 60% of population of MMR

When I come to Mumbai from Pune I normally get down at dadar. From there I can easily catch any of the western local. Now it will be a change from Kurla to Dadar. So we need to take into consideration people comming towards Mumbai as well. That will not be a big problem though. Again Travelling every where from Dadar via bus is comparatively easy.

Are mumbai's local train electricfied with DC current system ?? They were saying, it would increase the train's power and hence, decrease travelling time
They were talking abt the benefits of AC traction (power, speed and efficiency). The whole of the suburban section was DC at the beginning of this century. As of now WR has been completely converted from DC to AC traction. On CR, CST-Kalyan, CST-Panvel, Wadala-Mahim and Thane-Juinagar-Vashi are still under DC. They are expected to be switched over to AC by the end of this year (though this is by no means a surety).

'High-five’ stunt on Mumbai local train kills bystander

MUMBAI: An attempt by two youths on a Borivli-bound slow local to perform high-fives with another group on a train coming from the opposite direction went horribly wrong, killing a bystander.



The victim, 26-year-old Nepalese youth Maqbool Ansari, was an AC mechanic and was travelling in the same compartment as accused Mohit Singh and Bhavani Singh on Wednesday.

The duo boarded at Santa Cruz and was to alight at Malad, where they stayed. "They were leaning out of the train and trying to touch poles right from Santa Cruz," said Government Railway Police (GRP) senior inspector P M Karyakarte.

Around 2.40 pm, between Goregaon and Jogeshwari stations, they tried their stunt again. Watching them, a man on the other local extended his hand. But Mohit and Bhavan realized that the train was hurtling at a great speed and they could get hurt. They ducked as the train approached. The hand of the traveller on the other train hit 26-year-old Maqbool Ansari, who lost his balance and fell on the tracks.
"The other commuters pinned down Mohit and Bhavan and handed them to our personnel when the train stopped at Malad station. A few of our officers then went to the spot where Ansari had fallen and rushed him to Bhagwati Hospital. But he was severely injured and pronounced dead at the hospital," Karyakarte said.

Mohit and Bhavani have been arrested by the GRP on charges of negligence and Section 304 (A) of the Indian Penal Code, a bailable offence, slapped on them. They were produced before a metropolitan court on Thursday and remanded in judicial custody. The GRP is checking if they have any criminal antecedents.

While Mohit works at an imitation jewellery shop, Bhavani is employed with a private firm. Both hail from Rajasthan's Pali district.

The incident has prompted the Railway Protection Force (RPF) to plan a fresh crackdown against youths performing stunts on trains.



http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/High-five-stunt-on-Mumbai-local-train-kills-bystander/articleshow/13233273.cms

Western Railway goes all out to curb dangerous travel

MUMBAI: Western Railway has decided to intensify its drive against commuters who risk their lives by travelling on the footboard of trains, on rooftops or by performing dangerous stunts. "We will carry out an awareness drive, besides deploying more personnel at railway stations to prevent dangerous travel," a senior official told TOI.

The official added that these dangerous activities are noticed frequently between Andheri and Virar stations on WR. This month, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) has already prosecuted 310 persons for travelling on footboards and on rooftops. In May 2011, they had prosecuted 139 persons for the same offence. "Our focus was more towards curbing rooftop travel after the conversion from direct current to alternate current. We will now instruct our personnel to also focus on youths performing stunts," said an RPF official from the WR.

During the Railway Safety Week in January this year, the Government Railway Police (GRP) had nabbed 29 youths within a seven-day span for performing stunts. The same month, a 19-year-old youth, Hitesh Jha, had died between Elphinstone and Lower Parel stations, hitting a pole while waving at women commuters in a parallel local.

The stunt phenomenon is much higher on the Central line with the Sandhurst Road, Dockyard Road and Reay Road sections being chronic. Alok Bohra, senior divisional security officer of the RPF, CR, said, "Our personnel from Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan outposts have been visiting schools to counsel students against such dangerous acts. So far, our personnel have visited around 30 educational institutions. We plan to re-launch this campaign once schools reopen after the summer vacations."

RPF personnel carry photographs of those injured while performing stunts in a bid to warn students against copying it. "We have also shown students clippings of news reports where people have met with accidents or have died," an official said.

A 13-year-old boy, Zahid Ansari, had got smacked in the face and fallen off a CR local in August last year while trying to perform stunts. He was later operated upon for a facial fracture, and a metal plate was inserted into the right side of his face. So embarrassed was the boy after the incident that he now accompanies the RPF to schools and colleges to warn students against the menace.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Western-Railway-goes-all-out-to-curb-dangerous-travel/articleshow/13233419.cms

They were talking abt the benefits of AC traction (power, speed and efficiency). The whole of the suburban section was DC at the beginning of this century. As of now WR has been completely converted from DC to AC traction. On CR, CST-Kalyan, CST-Panvel, Wadala-Mahim and Thane-Juinagar-Vashi are still under DC. They are expected to be switched over to AC by the end of this year (though this is by no means a surety).

CR is targetting to complete AC conversion from Thane towards Kalyan,kasara. and Harbour linr by year end. Rest wil done in 2013. Platforms on Navi Mumbai stations are being extended to accomodate 12 car rake so that Thane-Panvel, Thane-Vashi route can be run by 12 car rake.
AC conversion has definately helped reduce travel, atleast by 10 mins or so.The difference can be felt when train picks up speed,they are no jerks noticed too

While the Kalyan-Kasara and Kalyan-Karjat conversion is complete.The DC-AC conversion between Thane and Kalyan was supposed to be completed by Feb 15th 2012. There is still no news if this has been completed. As per the original the time table the Thane -Kurla stretch was to be done by August, but this will now be late atleast by 6 more months.

While the Kalyan-Kasara and Kalyan-Karjat conversion is complete.The DC-AC conversion between Thane and Kalyan was supposed to be completed by Feb 15th 2012. There is still no news if this has been completed. As per the original the time table the Thane -Kurla stretch was to be done by August, but this will now be late atleast by 6 more months.

slowly but steadily, dc to ac conversion is happening :cheers: Central railway will take ac/dc hybrid trains from western railway. This should bring uniformity throughout the country to either 25kv ac overhead or 750v dc third rail :banana: easier to procure new trains and improved speed.

After fencing between tracks in stations, next up will be escalators to foot overbridge. Hopefully 1 or 3 air conditioned coaches will be added to all trains or fast passenger trains instead of first class coaches. Once that is done mumbai suburban will be as good as a metro service :cheers:

Name Mumbai Central station after Rajiv Gandhi: Sanjay Nirupam
Press Trust of India

Mumbai: Congress MP from Mumbai North Sanjay Nirupam has demanded that the Mumbai Central station in Mumbai be renamed as Rajiv Gandhi terminus. Nirupam said 50 Congress MPs signed his memorandum addressed to Railway Minister Mukul Roy late last month.
He said he had made a mention of this demand while speaking in Lok Sabha during the debate on grants for railways. "The Railway Minister asked me to submit my demand in writing, so I submitted a memorandum signed by 50 MPs," he told reporters on Sunday.
"The rail minister has approved the decision and he will now forward the proposal to the chief minister. There is no politics involved here. Mumbai is Rajivji's birth place and the area where he was born is situated in Mumbai Central. He was a visionary leader who led the country in its growth in the 21st century and Mumbai symbolises that vision," he added.

Rajiv Gandhi's 21st death anniversary falls on Monday. Nirupam said Rajiv Gandhi had sentimental attachment to the city and during his stint as Prime Minister, and had laid special emphasis on the development of Mumbai.
The 50 MPs include Priya Dutt, Eknath Gaikwad, Milind Deora and himself from Mumbai.
On why former Union Minister and fellow MP Gurudas Kamat was not a signatory, he said he did not get to meet Kamat during his signature campaign. "I am sure he too would have signed," Nirupam said.
Prominent MPs from other states who have signed the memorandum include Mohammed Azharuddin, Raj Babbar and Shashi Tharoor

TOI (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-05-19/mumbai/31777380_1_heritage-gallery-diesel-engine-bogie)
Part of Matunga railway yard now a heritage gallery

MUMBAI: A nondescript space at the Matunga railway workshop has given way to a heritage gallery that is now home to old relics, which otherwise could have ended up in the hands of scrap dealers. The rolling stock and other railway apparatus on display gives heritage connoisseurs a glimpse into the evolution of the Indian Railways. On display are a vintage rail-mounted diesel engine, old bogies, lamps and other stock that have been phased out of service.

Jogendra Yadvendu, deputy chief materials manager at the Matunga workshop, said, "The area around the heritage gallery was cleared of scrap and other material. Employees performed shramdaan (voluntary work) at the site to create a beautiful walk and a garden where the heritage material is on display."

The path to the heritage gallery starts with a beautiful garden where old hand signalling lamps used on the non-electrified train sections is displayed. He said, "These lamps have been retrieved from Currey Road and Kurdwadi and resurrected to preserve the old heritage of Indian Railways."

The most striking historical object on display is the rail-mounted diesel fire engine, which was once used to douse fires in railway areas. Yadvendu said, "It is an old American engine of 1930 vintage and has a diesel engine used on motor vehicles plying on roads then."

The diesel engine is manually started diesel engine akin to the diesel engine generators used for pumping water in the Indian Villages.

Also on display is a 1940 manufactured Indian Railway standards bogie, which was retrieved from the scrap yard where it was to be sold at an auction price of Rs 20,000 per tonne.

Another interesting piece in the gallery is the diamond narrow gauge bogie, designed by Everard Richard Calthrop of the Barsi light railway fame. It was retrieved from Kurudwadi Workshop.

Enthusiasts can also get a glimpse of an old BEML bogie and mercury arc valves. These metallic valves date back to the 1950s and were used at DC sub-stations.

Yadvendu added, "Now, we plan to keep a narrow gauge passenger coach and tank wagon on display at the gallery."

In 6 months, 10 new rakes will join WR’s fleet
Manthan K Mehta TNN

Mumbai: Western Railway (WR) will soon be able to introduce more services, including augmenting some to 12 and 15-car, as it will get 10 new rakes from the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in the next six months. It has also decided to undertake retrofitting of 10 more rakes to beef up its fleet strength.
Western Railway introduced 36 new services on its suburban section before the end of the last financial year. Mumbai’s suburban railway is slated to get 75 new services in this financial year, of which 35 will run on WR. It already runs 1,250 services, including fourteen 15-car and 1,040 12-car services.
Sharat Chandrayan, WR’s chief public relations officer, said, “We will get 10 new rakes from the ICF. The first of this lot is expected to arrive by August. The retrofitting of rakes—to make it compatible to run on 25,000 V alternating current (AC) from 1500 V direct current (DC)—will also be accelerated to run additional services.”
The conversion of traction from DC to AC between Churchgate and Virar has opened up the option of running more trains. “Trains can run faster under the AC system, thus opening the path to squeeze in more services.”
The introduction of more services will further help the passenger per coach load in future. WR said there has been 140% increase in 12-car services in the last five years whereas the increase in suburban passengers has been 11% during the same period. Therefore, the density of passengers per coach has reduced by 16% due to the increase in capacity by 32%.
Meanwhile, WR will send back the two electrical multiple unit (EMU) rakes that had arrived from Howrah for induction in its suburban fleet. WR official felt the decision to introduce rakes from Howrah was not practical because of technical and monetary reasons. The main challenge was to shift the position of the motor coach.
The official said, “Moreover, the compartment reserved for women in these rakes is too small compared to our rakes.”

Woman on phone falls off train, dies (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Woman-on-phone-falls-off-train-dies/articleshow/13368549.cms)
TNN | May 22, 2012, 03.07AM IST
MUMBAI: A 22-year-old woman died after she fell off a speeding train while speaking on her cellphone, and was crushed by a train coming from the opposite direction between Borivli and Kandivli stations on Monday morning.

Neelam Pawar, a resident of Virar who was employed with an IT firm in Andheri, was on the footboard of the crowded Churchgate-bound local when she fell off.

Commuters told the Government Railway Police (GRP) that Neelam received a call and had extricated her cellphone from her bag. She lost her footing and fell off while on the call. A Virar-bound fast train from Churchgate crushed her.

The Virar-bound train motorman informed the station master at Kandivli station, who alerted the Borivli GRP. "Neelam was taken to Bhagwati Hospital, where she was declared dead on arrival. After recording the motorman's statement, it was clear it was an accident," a senior GRP official said.

Neelam's family has been informed about the incident and her body will be handed over to them, officials said.

100 buildings along western line to make way for elevated rail.

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/2012052320120523015520737e3588c39/100-buildings-along-western-line-to-make-way-for-elevated-rail.html

This is easily the largest acquisition of land in Mumbai for a railway project in the recent past and it is going to impact several middle-class, upper-middle-class households with apartments along the Churchgate-Virar rail corridor.

A list of the plots of land that the Western Railway will have to acquire to give shape to the Rs 18,000-crore elevated corridor between Churchgate and Virar is ready and the numbers are staggering. Close to 100 residential will have to be demolished, clearing the way for acquisition of 12.91 hectares (31.9 acres) of government land and 5.47 hectares (13.5 acres) of private land.

There is no information available at this stage about the number of housholds that will have to relocated following the demolition of these buildings. There is also no estimate of the slum dwellings that will be have to be razed.

Though it is called an elevated corridor, of the total 63 km length only 42.72 km will be on stilts. Of the rest, 8.4 km will run underground and 12.51 km (will be at grade, that is at the level the tracks now are. The corridor will have two tracks, 26 stations and will have air-conditioned trains running on it. It will carry 90,000 passengers per hour in each direction during peak hours.

The railways and the state government held a meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday to finalise the state support agreement for the project. The state government was represented by Additional Chief Secretary (urban development) T C Benjamin and the railways was represented by Advisor (Infrastructure) Ranjankumar Jain.

It was agreed at the meeting that the premium on commercial exploitation of land along the elevated corridor will be shared equally between the railways, the state government and the BMC. The railway's request to grant a blanket FSI of 4 for commercial projects along the track, however, was denied by the state government.

The railways will be solely responsible for relocation of all utilities like phone cables and sewer lines as also the rehabilitation of project affected people. The state government, on its part, has agreed to shut down certain key roads leading to suburban stations for short durations during the course of construction of the corridor.

The land acquisition, especially demolition of buildings, is going to prove tricky both for the railways and the state government. The railways had a taste of this when seven buildings were brought down for laying the 5th and 6th lines between Kurla and Thane.

Though the alignment of the project is mostly within the existing corridor, there will be minimal disruption of services during the construction. Difficult construction activities will be executed during shut down periods.

At Andheri, the elevated corridor will rise to its highest at close to 30 meters to rise above the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopat Metro tracks.

Project in numbers:

Total length of the route: Over 60 km
Estimated project: Rs 20,000 crore at current rates
Maximum height of the elevated line: 15 to 25 metres

Cool feature
All trains will be air-conditioned

It would be interesting to see what they have in mind and what they plan to achieve as an elevated rail that would go along with metro and the already existing suburban rail system.

why do they need to raze the buildings? The stations were to be above the existing stations as per the plan and alignment is also along the esisting tracks

Couple killed on tracks on first wedding anniversary (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Couple-killed-on-tracks-on-first-wedding-anniversary/articleshow/13400585.cms)
Pradeep Gupta, TNN | May 23, 2012, 12.53AM IST
Comments (204)

MUMBAI: A couple crossing the tracks at Thakurli railway station was killed by an oncoming train on Tuesday morning. The man, Vijay Patil (27), and his seven-month-pregnant wife Priti (23) were to celebrate their first wedding anniversary with a party that evening.

Vijay had gone to fetch Priti, his father Balgonda (55) and mother Chaya (52), who were coming from Kolhapur for the anniversary celebrations to be held at Vijay's rented house in Dombivli East. The trio had taken a local train from Kalyan to Thakurli, where Vijay was waiting for them. They waited for a CST local to pass before attempting to cross the tracks. But a local coming from the opposite direction hit the couple even as Vijay's parents managed to escape unhurt.

The distraught father told TOI that Vijay had never crossed the tracks before. "I don't know why he chose to take us that way on Tuesday," he said. Shivajirao Bagal, senior police inspector from the Government Railway Police (GRP), Dombivli, said that Vijay probably decided to do that because of his father's weak legs, and because they were carrying heavy luggage.

Thakurli is a notorious accident spot, where 16 accidents have been reported in the last five months alone. Indeed, the statistics of the three railway stations within the jurisdiction of the Dombivli GRP in the last five months are grim: fifty deaths have taken place here, of which 24 were at Kopar railway station, 16 at Thakurli and 10 at Dombivli. Another 37 people were injured in railway accidents at these stations.

The railway authorities' response has been to launch awareness campaigns at the accident spots. "The Railway Protection Force (RPF) and GRP, with the help of NGOs, have been staging street plays," said A K Singh, Central Railway PRO. "In fact, just one day before the accident, Satish Menon, an inspector from the Thane Railway Protection Force, had organized a street play in Thane's Kalwa area." Singh added that the railways had now started using multimedia at some stations to show images of imaginary accident victims to alert commuters. "This has had an impact on commuters," he said. "We are now planning to start it at stations like Thane, Dombivli and Kalyan."

Central Railway has been taking more concrete steps as well. "We have constructed a wall at the boundaries of many railway stations," said Singh. "In addition, fencing work between two tracks is on at 37 railway stations, of which five have been completed."

Meanwhile, the police have filed a case of accidental death. On Tuesday afternoon, after the post-mortem report, the family took the bodies of Vijay and Priti to their hometown, Kolhapur, to conduct the last rites.
Fence between tracks and escalators are must..

^^ Probably you don't realise that this thread is for project updates and not for daily accident coverage.

This is for Mumbai Railway Discussion- I see nothing wrong in having these sad events highlighted. For all we know this is going to lead to mroe awareness campaigns to prevent such accidents.

HT (http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/40-new-services-after-monsoon-on-central-railway/Article1-855323.aspx)

40 new services after monsoon on central railway


Commuting on the central railway is likely to get easier and faster, with authorities planning to introduce 40 additional services along the route. The administration is also likely to meet its target of completing the conversion from direct current to alternating current along the route by December 2012. The conversion from 1,500 volts DC to 25 kv alternate current will enable trains to run faster, (up to 100 kmph from current 80 kmph), which means there will be more services. It will also help the railways reduce transmission losses, reducing energy consumption by 35%.


Post monsoons, the railway authorities will introduce 24 additional services on the main line from Thane to suburbs like Kalyan, Karjat and Kasara. There will be six new services on harbour from CST to Panvel and 10 more services on the transharbour line from Thane-Vashi and Thane-Nerul-Panvel.

“The services will be run during both peak and non peak hours,” said Subodh Jain, general manager, CR.

CR has speeded up the retrofitting of trains finish the AC-DC conversion work.

“We are expecting some retrofitted rakes from western railway also,” said an official from central railway, on condition of anonymity.

One hurdle in completing this project by December has been the construction of a substation being carried out by Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) at Sion. MRVC had communicated that this would not be readied till March end.

CR is working on an alternative provision for sticking to their target of DC-AC conversion by December 2012. “We have decided to take feed from Wadala substation till then,” he added.

TOI (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/12-car-trains-on-Harbour-line-by-2014/articleshow/13420426.cms)
12-car trains on Harbour line by 2014

MUMBAI: Twelve-car trains on the Harbour line are expected to be a reality in the next two-and-a-half years as the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) has finalized its plan to extend platforms at various stations to accommodate the augmented rakes. The project will be executed by MRVC.

On Monday, the MRVC made a presentation of the proposed work to Central Railway general manager Subodh Jain. A senior MRVC official said, "There are no serious challenges involved, except at CST, Dockyard Road station and Reay Road station, where length of the platforms needs to be extended. The project work is expected to begin soon after monsoon. We are confident of running the 12-car services on Harbour line before the end of 2014."

At CST, major alterations will have to be made to the yard, signal and telecom and the overhead wire. The official said, "We are exploring two options. One is we may let platform number 1 remain as it is and only extend the length of platform number 2 to allow passengers to board the augmented three compartments from the Panvel-end of the platform. The other option is that we extend both the platforms, where the Harbor line services originate and terminate."

However, in order to extend the length of both the platforms, the MRVC will require more time and will have to take an extended block of 15 days. During this block, Harbour line services will not operate from CST's platform number 1 and 2. Instead, the trains will operate for platform number 3 and 4, thus impacting the frequency of services on both Harbour and Main line.

The work involves removal of stabling line and cross-over (where trains interchange track to enter and exit platforms). The width of platform number 2 will be marginally cut for slewing of tracks.

"The platform number 1 track will come slightly eastward to create more space on the west to build a 3-m wide extension to accommodate the 12-car trains. Similarly, a portion of platform number 3 will be slightly shaved off to bring the track eastward," he added.

The official further said, "We will try to reduce the number of blocks by ensuring faster work. We will be using pre-cast material and will ensure all other stuff is brought to the site well in advance. However, the final decision on the project will be taken only after an approval from the CR."

The other challenge lies at Dockyard Road station where a portion of a hill, adjacent to platform number 1 towards the CST-end will have to be cut to create space for the extension. The second option is to redesign the girder at the Panvel-end to extend the platform northward.

At Reay Road, the authorities plan to demolish the existing platforms to pave way for an island platform. The official said, "Some land will have to be acquired from the Mumbai Port Trust towards the Panvel-end. We will compensate them by handing over an equivalent portion of our land from the north side."

http://www.asianage.com/mumbai/2nd-class-locals-get-fully-cushioned-seats-soon-220
2nd class in locals to get fully cushioned seats soon?


The first fully cushioned rake is all set to be inducted into the suburban services of Central Railway by the end of this month.

The project got the nod after chief minister Prithviraj Chavan requested Union minister of state for Railways, K.H. Muniyappa, to install cushioned seats in second-class compartments during the latter’s visit to Mumbai in October last year.

“The work of providing cushioned seats in the second class compartment of one train is almost done. The train will be inducted into CR’s suburban services by this month end,” said V.A. Malegaonkar, chief public relations officer, CR. This is a pilot project by CR, and based on passenger response, more such trains will be introduced.

At present, passengers of only first class compartments have the comfort of travelling in cushioned seats. Lakhs of passengers travel in second-class compartments, which constitute the highest number of coaches in a train, which is why the CM was keen on upgrading the comfort of second-class commuters too, after which the work was undertaken.

CR sources said, “The colour scheme of the cushions in the ladies’ compartments has been modified slightly to make it aesthetically pleasing.” Material made of coir is being used in this pilot project instead of the more expensive rubber foam currently used in first-class compartments. Coir is considered to be moisture resistant and flame retardant.

However, the pilot project comes with its share of confusions. “We don’t know how the passengers will react. There has also been no word from the (railway) ministry about the pricing for travelling in this particular train. We are also concerned about these cushions being ripped or damaged or written on,” a CR officer said. Moreover, sources pointed out that accommodating four persons on these cushioned seats would be a problem.

^^ Probably you don't realise that this thread is for project updates and not for daily accident coverage.

This will make railways to take up new projects that are related to safety :cheers:

This will make railways to take up new projects that are related to safety :cheers:

So you feel that railways is following this forum.

HAHHHH !!! Not in their lifetime !! Chootads of the worst kind !!!!
At least NOT in MUMBAI !!



Name Mumbai Central station after Rajiv Gandhi: Sanjay Nirupam
Press Trust of India

Mumbai: Congress MP from Mumbai North Sanjay Nirupam has demanded that the Mumbai Central station in Mumbai be renamed as Rajiv Gandhi terminus. Nirupam said 50 Congress MPs signed his memorandum addressed to Railway Minister Mukul Roy late last month.
He said he had made a mention of this demand while speaking in Lok Sabha during the debate on grants for railways. "The Railway Minister asked me to submit my demand in writing, so I submitted a memorandum signed by 50 MPs," he told reporters on Sunday.
"The rail minister has approved the decision and he will now forward the proposal to the chief minister. There is no politics involved here. Mumbai is Rajivji's birth place and the area where he was born is situated in Mumbai Central. He was a visionary leader who led the country in its growth in the 21st century and Mumbai symbolises that vision," he added.

Rajiv Gandhi's 21st death anniversary falls on Monday. Nirupam said Rajiv Gandhi had sentimental attachment to the city and during his stint as Prime Minister, and had laid special emphasis on the development of Mumbai.
The 50 MPs include Priya Dutt, Eknath Gaikwad, Milind Deora and himself from Mumbai.
On why former Union Minister and fellow MP Gurudas Kamat was not a signatory, he said he did not get to meet Kamat during his signature campaign. "I am sure he too would have signed," Nirupam said.
Prominent MPs from other states who have signed the memorandum include Mohammed Azharuddin, Raj Babbar and Shashi Tharoor

Sorry to take this oot, but please don't name everything after Rajiv Gandhi and CS because it would cause confusion and people will reach wrong places. :D

Well! I think the railway stations should carry the names of the places they serve. The terminus buildings may be renamed after famous/infamous personalities. But the trains should display the name of the station (w.r.t location)

e.g. CST Mumbai would be called Mumbai Fort since it lies in the Fort area of Mumbai. Similarly Mumbai Central would be called Tardeo or Mumbai Tardeo Terminus.

Sorry to take this oot, but please don't name everything after Rajiv Gandhi and CS because it would cause confusion and people will reach wrong places. :D

Honestly am so sick of these Gandhi butt suckers ! Am sure even RG is turning in his grave looking at how the Gandhi sycophants behave

I am sick of these entire renaming scheme. Its just needless politics. What was wrong with Sahar terminal, Bombay, prince of Wales museum, Victoria terminus, etc. Why can't they get over it and move on and do something that's ideally more beneficial to people in the city.

there is pride, why would you still call station victoria terminous or a museum after prince wales who looted us for so long. Just making money is of no use.

^^ even tardeo feels foreign to me. That area should be renamed :)


So you feel that railways is following this forum.

There are many ssc people who have contacts in railways :cheers:

there is pride, why would you still call station victoria terminous or a museum after prince wales who looted us for so long. Just making money is of no use.
what pride !!! Mumbai or Bombay whatever you wanna call it is still a shanty town . Same thing goes for prince of wales museum or Shivaji Chatrapati vastu sanghralaya . I feel great abt this museum because of the history ( if you have ever been to the museum)it has on display in the museum not because simple change of name.I am not opposed to any name changing if it is relevant . but the pride thing that you talk abt is just stupid .

^^ even tardeo feels foreign to me. That area should be renamed :)




its already called VASANTRAO NAIK CHWK. and tardeo road is called BHADKAMKAR road.

there is pride, why would you still call station victoria terminous or a museum after prince wales who looted us for so long. Just making money is of no use.

Not to take this out of topic and maybe Mods can move this to another thread. So does this mean that there should be no other places named after Britishers who colonized other countries and used areas for one or the other reasons: London and Thames River in Ontario, Canada, Birmingham (many cities in the US), Victoria (Victoria Falls in the continent of Africa), etc. So all these cities and the river be renamed?

What pride do we get from this?

+1

what pride !!! Mumbai or Bombay whatever you wanna call it is still a shanty town . Same thing goes for prince of wales museum or Shivaji Chatrapati vastu sanghralaya . I feel great abt this museum because of the history ( if you have ever been to the museum)it has on display in the museum not because simple change of name.I am not opposed to any name changing if it is relevant . but the pride thing that you talk abt is just stupid .

depends on how you take the point. I do not like anything to be named after the Britishers (looters). To me its like of giving respect to them by naming places/monuments after them. I hate when someone calls VT instead of CST. Probably some of you should have lived in that era and then your statements might not be the same.
And yes I have been to this museum .

Anyways mods can move this topic.

Not to take this out of topic and maybe Mods can move this to another thread. So does this mean that there should be no other places named after Britishers who colonized other countries and used areas for one or the other reasons: London and Thames River in Ontario, Canada, Birmingham (many cities in the US), Victoria (Victoria Falls in the continent of Africa), etc. So all these cities and the river be renamed?

What pride do we get from this?

I think the canadian experience with the british/europeans has been far more positive than that of Indians. In fact much of present day canadian and many US cities were settled by people of english descent and often after driving away the existing Native american populations. Canada and for that matter Australia or NZ (similar patterns) did not have to struggle hard to become independent. The USA had to fight a war to get free, but most of the people then were of the anglo-saxon ancestry and were not going to give up their cultural leanings easily. Hence the british/european names persisted.
In other parts of the world i.e. asia and africa the attitude of the european colonizers have been more belittling. In fact the colonizers believed that the natives were incapable of taking care of themselves and hence needed to be ruled by culturally superior races. Hence in places like India where the native culture endured the colonial rule, there is still revulsion for the cultural identifiers of the colonizers. And this is expressed in things like renaming which are easily done and can at least temporarily give people a sense of self-respect/pride.
In many other parts of the world i.e latin america, parts of africa or even places like the phillipines, the native culture was completely or mostly subjugated by the colonial culture. If you ever noticed there are few hardly any native names (people and places) in latin america for example.
I will agree that there is a lot of politics, one-upmanship involved in renaming. But the pride factor is also genuine though at times over-rated.

But I feel it is best to have the location of the station in the name of the station. It makes it more convenient for the passengers. Examples:
Elphistone Rd could be Elphistone Rd, Prabhadevi (adjacent area)
Reay Rd could be Reay Road, Mazgaon
Vasai rd can also include Navghar/Manikpur because the station lies next to these towns. Vasai town is actually a few kms to the west.
Charni Road can include Girgaum because thats where the station is located.

depends on how you take the point. I do not like anything to be named after the Britishers (looters). To me its like of giving respect to them by naming places/monuments after them. I hate when someone calls VT instead of CST. Probably some of you should have lived in that era and then your statements might not be the same.
And yes I have been to this museum .

Anyways mods can move this topic.

we shouldn't bother much about such things. british did not do any war crimes. what about ones before that? like golconda renamed to hyderabad and mysore renamed to nazarabad etc. forget past and move on.

and big no to rename mumbai central to rajiv gandhi station :ohno:

^^ even tardeo feels foreign to me. That area should be renamed :)
Doesn't feel foreign to me. Actually the famous Tardeo AC market is near Mumbai Central Station on its western side.

depends on how you take the point. I do not like anything to be named after the Britishers (looters). To me its like of giving respect to them by naming places/monuments after them. I hate when someone calls VT instead of CST. Probably some of you should have lived in that era and then your statements might not be the same.
And yes I have been to this museum .

Anyways mods can move this topic.

I get what you are saying, but here are counterpoints
a) The British may be looters, but a few individuals did contribute to the growth of the city and/or the country. There is no harm in naming bits and pieces of infrastructure after them. For e.g I would name nothing after Gen Dyer, but George Lloyd helped reclaim land for Back Bay, so a road in that area can be named after him.
b) Honour local leaders/historic leaders/community leaders/industrialists who do more for the growth of an area (Dadabhai Nowroji, Lokmanya Tilak, Kirloskar, Shivaji etc.)
c) Honour international leaders (e.g Mandela)
d) Do not go overboard. Name one thing after the individual. Having CSIA & CST makes no sense.
d) By saying that we should rename British names with Gandhi names, we are only replacing one set of looters with another. We can't name every piece of infrastructure after that family.

We can't name every piece of infrastructure after that family.

in fact, there should be a law against that! All they are doing is trying to make development made using taxpayer's money a propaganda/publicity tool!

I dont see what id so British about the name Mumbai Central, so I see no logic in renaming it anything else.

And why can't we just name infrastructure after things other than names? Warden Road, for example. In many other countries you can find roads named after inanimate objects.

http://www.asianage.com/mumbai/new-rakes-be-differently-coloured-camouflage-paan-stains-749
New rakes to be differently coloured to camouflage paan stains


With a view to enhance the appearance of the new rakes coming to the city, the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) has asked the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad to choose a colour scheme that will help hide paan stains.

The MRVC has awarded a fresh consultancy to the NID for designing the appearance and colour scheme of the 72 new rakes that are slated to arrive in the city next year. MRVC sources said the NID has been asked to choose colours like old reddish brown and yellow to camouflage the stains. “The shades should be such that they hide the stains to a large extent,” said an MRVC official.

The paan stains on the external body of coaches have always been a major problem. Several methods have been tried to keep the rakes clean, but to no avail. Even the three stage washing that coaches undergo — first with plain water, then with soap and water and finally wiped down — have proved futile. However, paan stains, dust and grim that settle on these coaches don’t come off even after this cleaning.

The problem is predominantly observed in the white and purple trains currently running on the both Central and Western lines of the city, as the light colour of these trains show up the stains easily.

WR to develop its1.30 lakh sqm landto fund AC corridor

MUMBAI: The city might get its dream elevated air-conditioned (AC) Churchgate to Virar corridor, but, at the cost of Western Railway’s (WR) 1.30lakh sqm stretch from Bombay Central to Borivli.
The Western Railway (WR) plans to commercially exploit its 1.30lakh sqm of land in eight locations to generate funds for the Rs20,000- crore project. While Bombay Central, Bandra, Andheri, Mahalaxmi and Borivli are the five locations, the other three spots have not been revealed.
The administration plans to give the project on built-operate-transfer basis for 20 years. “We don’t want to take financial aid from the World Bank because we will have to return it with interest. We are considering the development of land that is available, to generate funds,” said a senior WR official.
Sharat Chandrayan, chief public relations officer, WR, said: “We have received proposals for the appointment of legal and financial consultants, which are being evaluated. The valuation of land will be done after receiving minute project details from the consultants. Once we get the estimates, we will request the state government to provide us with the corresponding FSI so that we can earn the said amount by developing the land.”
Last week, WR general manager Mahesh Kumar met state chief secretary Ratnakar Gaikwad to discuss the project.
Transport activists feel that the railways should develop the land on its own. “The WR should develop the land and then lease it to private entities instead of allowing someone else to develop it. Also, instead of giving the project on BOT basis, the railways should construct the elevated corridor on their own,” said Jagdeep Desai, transport activist

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/WR-to-develop-its-1-30-lakh-sqm-land-to-fund-AC-corridor/Article1-863247.aspx

I read somewhere that WR will be sending the Kolkata AC locals back to where they came from because the positioning of the engines (they were in the first bogie while the Mumbai locals have the engines in the second bogie). If that is the case, it would not have made much difference IMHO. I am saying this because the only completely AC local in the WR fleet...the red coloured one has only two doors in the bogies with the engine. So if that can run in Mumbai, why can't the Kolkata locals?

http://epaper2.mid-day.com/Drive/mumbai/02062012/epaperimages/02062012/02062012-MD-MN-11/61733635.jpg

http://epaper2.mid-day.com/showtext.aspx?boxid=61733635&parentid=174226&issuedate=02062012&edd123=mumbai

I read somewhere that WR will be sending the Kolkata AC locals back to where they came from because the positioning of the engines (they were in the first bogie while the Mumbai locals have the engines in the second bogie). If that is the case, it would not have made much difference IMHO. I am saying this because the only completely AC local in the WR fleet...the red coloured one has only two doors in the bogies with the engine. So if that can run in Mumbai, why can't the Kolkata locals?

This might be the reason

Converted WR AC locals can’t speed over 50kmph (http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_converted-wr-ac-locals-cant-speed-over-50kmph_1659966)

oooh this kurla terminal isn't looking too bad. Are there more pics of it?

oooh this kurla terminal isn't looking too bad. Are there more pics of it?

Some finishing touches are stil left

[img]http://s13.postimage.org/a1vav6uav/2012_06_03_11_36_11.jpg (http://postimage.org/)

http://i47.tinypic.com/vr3rwj.jpg

SCLR in the background
[img]http://s15.postimage.org/5kbdm02mz/2012_06_03_11_37_05.jpg (http://postimage.org/)

wow it looks goooood :cheers:

Yeah doesn't seem too bad when compared to what we have already. I wonder if they have ACs considering it's a closed buidling? Also has the roof's design got something to do with harvesting rainwater?

Yeah doesn't seem too bad when compared to what we have already. I wonder if they have ACs considering it's a closed buidling? Also has the roof's design got something to do with harvesting rainwater?

Its not a closed building, It directly leads to platforms from entrance, they do have blowers installed on roof to blow the hot air outside. There are AC dorms though. No idea about rainwater harvesting

AC local may be on WR tracks in a year
Manufacture Of First 12-Car Rake On, Design On Lines Of Kolkata Metro
Manthan K Mehta | TNN

Mumbaikars’ longneglected dream of commuting in an air-conditioned (AC) train on the suburban network could become a reality within a year. The railway board recently placed an order for the first such 12-car rake with the Integral Coach Factory (ICF). Each coach will be able to accommodate a “crush load” of approximately 375 commuters, including standees. In effect, approximately 4,500 commuters will be able to travel in one 12-car rake.
Confirming the development, a senior WR official said, “The rake is likely to be delivered within six to eight months. ICF has already begun manufacturing the shell of the coaches and installation of an electric system for the 12-car rake.” If the trial run of the prototype rake is successful, the railways will immediately place an order for more such rakes, said the official, without specifying the numbers.
The railway board has sought suggestions from the Central Railway and the Western Railway on composition of the rakes, which would have longitudinal seating and a vestibule design to allow for movement from one coach to another. The official said, “It will therefore be difficult to segregate exclusive coaches for women commuters. In case a separate coach for women is not feasible, the authorities must seek permission from the commissioner of railway safety (CRS) for departure from the norm.”
A WR official, though, said the AC train will definitely have a compartment for women, unlike the Kolkata metro. “There is still time to design the internal features. Moreover, induction of the services will be carried out only after trials and approval by the CRS. We will take a decision in the best interest of commuters.”
ICF had manufactured coaches for the Kolkata metro when the service started in 1984. The railway board has estimated a capital cost of Rs 9 crore for the manufacture of the AC units and an automatic door-closing system.
On February 9, TOI had reported that a proposal had been forwarded to the railway minister for the manufacture of an AC rake that can be put on trial on the WR after its conversion of traction from DC to AC. The CR, though, as it is yet switch to AC.

COOL COMFORT?
Rake design

Fully AC with a vestibule type of arrangement that allows for movement of commuters from one coach to another No first-class or luggage compartments Proposed seating arrangement: Longitudinal Microprocessor-controlled temperature and humidity inside coaches Low external and internal noise level Multilingual electronic LED sign boards both inside and outside the train Public address system LCD screens inside coaches

Max capacity per coach
375, including standees

Estimated cost of each coach

4cr

Safety

Advanced braking and security features

State push for Virar’s elevated corridor
Sandeep Ashar | TNN


Mumbai: There is some more good news for train commuters along the Western Railway line. The ambitious Churchgate-Virar elevated rail corridor project achieved a crucial milestone on Monday.
At a coordination committee meeting between the state government and the railway authorities, the state said it will sign a state support agreement for the project within a fortnight.
Even as the Western Railway intends to implement the Rs 20,000-crore project, it had sought the state’s assistance in acquiring land for the project, relief and rehabilitation work, shifting of utilities, maintaining law and order during construction work, development of the concourse area and fixing floor space index for commercial development of stations.
At the meeting, presided by state chief secretary J K Banthia, the state authorities informed railway officials that the urban development department had already initiated a proposal in this regard. The proposal is being examined by the finance department, following which it will be put up before chief minister Prithviraj Chavan for approval, state officials said.
The support agreement and the project would have no direct financial burden on the state government and the finance department is expected to give it a go-ahead.
The WR, which has initiated the process for appointment of a consultant to prepare bid document for the project, is keen to initiate work in 2013. It aims to finish it by 2016.

Central Railway to roll out rake with cushioned seats in second class
Manthan K Mehta, TNN (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-06-02/mumbai/31983550_1_coir-fibre-fire-retardant-rake)Jun 2, 2012, 01.26AM IST

MUMBAI: Central Railway is all set to roll out its first Electrical Multiple Unit (EMU) rake with cushioned seats in the second class compartment, promising a comfortable ride to lakhs of passengers.

The cushioned seats have been provided in the white and purple EMU rakes that have been delivered from the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai.

A CR official said, "The rake is lying in the Kurla car shed, where some technicians are trying to sort out some electrical problem. We hope to make it ready to run on the tracks within a week. The 12-car has been provided cushion seats by an in-house technical team at the Matunga workshop at an estimated cost of Rs 10-12 lakh."

The official said, "The cushion has been made of rubberized coir material, which are fire retardant and also provide comfort to passengers. The seat cover is made of artificial leather, similar to the ones used in the first class compartment."

Apart from being heat and moisture resistant, coir is also considered to be moth-proof and flame retardant. Coir Fibre is tough, durable and can spring back to shape even after constant use. In case of a fire, smoke emanating from the coir is considered non-poisonous. Since coir has not much of market value, it will also ensure that anti-social elements do not vandalize the seats.

Coir is cheaper compared to Rubber foam or polyurethane material, which is used for making cushioned seats in the first class compartment. Moreover, foam is expensive and has to be treated with chemicals to make it fire retardant.

There is not much difference between the cushioned seats in the first and second class. The official said, "The first class has cushioned seat with 4-inch density, while the ones in second class will have 2-inch density."

Since it is pilot project, trial runs of this rake will be undertaken after which a final decision will be taken whether to provide such facilities on all the rakes. The existing seat arrangement made of wood/hardboard can accommodate four passengers. Comparatively, cushioned seats will not provide grip for a fourth commuter, a major drawback.

State push for Virar’s elevated corridor

The WR, which has initiated the process for appointment of a consultant to prepare bid document for the project, is keen to initiate work in 2013. It aims to finish it by 2016.

:speech:

who gives this sort of statements

:speech:

who gives this sort of statements

People without foreseeable foresight !

elevated corridor may be one of the most complicated project taken within any city in India. VAG corridor of 12 KMS will take approx 6 years and they are talking of completing elevated corridor of 60 Kms in less than 4 years.
They have to demolish lots of foot over bridges, having very less construction hours allocated and rebuilding of platforms over the existing ones.
Regardless its good news that now they are atleast pushing for the project.

Don't know what these jokers are thinking. As I have mentioned it before, I would like to see a schematic or a render if they have one out there to find out how in the world are they going to manage this.

^^
I agree man. :nuts:
First of all under MUTP-3 they have to create space foe a 6th line between Mumbai central and borivali which it self is a complex task. And how on earth are they going to manage putting the pillars for the elevated corridor.

I wouldn't say the project is not feasible just that every few days a different announcement is done and some of these seem to conflict each other

So far we have just seen them talking and reading stuff in the newspapers. But we haven't seen any single illustrations coming from either the railways or any newspapers. So based on their wild imaginations I can bet that this is never going to happen.

SMOOTH APPROACH
Proposal for flyover to Bandra Terminus
Sandeep Ashar TNN


Mumbai: The approach road to the Bandra Terminus could get smoother and better with the Western Railway (WR) proposing the construction of a flyover connecting the Western Express Highway to the terminus.
The agency has already approached the government
and the proposal was taken up for discussion at the coordination committee meeting of the state administration and the railways on Monday.
At the meeting, presided over by state chief secretary J K Banthia, it was decided to consider the feasibility of the proposal. Banthia reportedly told railway officials that civic officials would soon be asked to accompany them for a joint inspection of the proposed route.
Claiming that expansion plans were being explored for the terminus, the WR highlighted the “difficulty faced by people to enter the station” and as an alternative route, it proposed to set up a flyover along Pipeline Road. The officials added that the flyover was needed as passenger traffic to the terminus could go up manifold after the expansion.
During the meeting, railway officials also discussed the proposal of phasing out all level-crossings along the route, including those in the city. An NOC from collectors was sought for the construction of underpasses and overbridges to enable this.

^^
I agree man. :nuts:
First of all under MUTP-3 they have to create space foe a 6th line between Mumbai central and borivali which it self is a complex task. And how on earth are they going to manage putting the pillars for the elevated corridor.

I wouldn't say the project is not feasible just that every few days a different announcement is done and some of these seem to conflict each other

This is Indian Railways we are talking about. The pillars are nearly there. There is enough human excreta and garbage around the tracks. They just need to pile it up to form the pillars.

One of the main reasons why the railways have floated the plan of the elevated corridor is to create bottle necks for other infrastructure projects in the city. Now if MCGM or MMRDA wants to build any flyover across the tracks, they will have to increase the height to cover the elevated corridor.

The railways aim is to create an equal society. If you cannot push the living standards upwards, bring the living standards of everyone down so that all will be equal.

....In the railways sector, the meeting to be chaired by the Prime Minister will consider a proposal for setting up high speed corridor (bullet train) between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, elevated rail corridor in Mumbai and two new locomotive manufacturing units....

Full Article: http://zeenews.india.com/business/news/economy/pm-to-review-economy-at-high-level-meet_49020.html

The elevated corridor is one of the three points on the agenda on railways. And this meet will be chaired by the PM. They are also focusing on the fact that major projects get stuck due to clearances. I am hopeful. :)

Mumbaikars’ longneglected dream of commuting in an air-conditioned (AC) train on the suburban network could become a reality within a year. The railway board recently placed an order for the first such 12-car rake with the Integral Coach Factory (ICF).

Agan ICF :ohno:

HT (http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Green-signal-for-bullet-train-from-Mumbai-to-Ahmedabad/Article1-867042.aspx)
Green signal for bullet train from Mumbai to Ahmedabad

Mumbai: Two ambitious rail projects - proposed elevated rail corridor in Mumbai and a bullet train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai - got a boost on Wednesday as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh finalized the targets for key infrastructure projects in PPP model in railways.


At a meeting with ministers and secretaries of key infrastructure ministries, it was decided to flag off the elevated rail corridor project for Mumbai suburban service with a total investment of Rs 20,000 crore in 2012-13.


The elevated rail corridor is crucial for Mumbai as it aims to give a faster service to daily commuters in the metropolis.
However, Railway Minister Mukul Roy was not present in the meeting. Chairman Railway Board Vinay Mittal attended the high-level meeting chaired by the PM.


It was also decided to finalise the action plan for the 500-km high-speed corridor from Mumbai to Ahmedabad, said railway sources. The project is estimated to cost about Rs 60,000 crore.


Known as bullet train project, the train is expected to run at 350 km per hour speed reducing the travel time to four hours between the two cities from seven hours by Duronto, the fastest train at present.

Soon, Thane halt for LTT long-distance trains
Manthan K Mehta TNN


Mumbai: You will soon be able to board from Thane the 32 long-distance trains originating and terminating from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) every day.
Besides these 32, as many as 87 long-distance trains have already been provided halt at Thane, while around 18 services have to take double halt as the existing platform is not able to accommodate 24-coach trains. These services halt at platform no 7 and 8. Central Railway has also drawn up plans to extend platform no. 5 and 6 to accommodate 24-coach trains.
Due to demands from elected representatives, the railways had provided halts to 9 pairs of trains at Thane in June year.
A CR official said, “We aim to provide halt to at least two to three long distance trains from LTT. The halt for the remaining services will be provided in a gradual manner within the next one year.”
Providing halt at Thane will serve a dual purpose. The official said, “As many as 9,000 platform tickets are sold at LTT every day. We plan to bring down this figure to the minimal. This will happen once we start providing halt to long-distance trains at Thane, which offers better connectivity compared to LTT.”
Long distance commuters from any part of Mumbai and Navi Mumbai can find it more convenient to board a train from Thane. The official further said, “All trains from LTT will be provided halt at Thane station once the two new foot-overbridges are thrown open to commuters.”
Work on building one FOB at the centre of the platform has already begun. . The 12-m wide FOB is partially funded by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority. The Rs 4.5-crore FOB is likely to be opened to commuters by March 2013.
Another 6-m wide FOB is coming up at Kalyan-end. At present, there are four FOBs at Thane.
Reservation on demand T he Central Railway will soon initiate a ‘Reservation on Demand’ scheme on an experimental basis in 14 long-distance trains, which includes Madgaon Janshatabdi Express, Deccan Express, Sevagram Express, Dadar-Shirdi Express, etc.
Under the scheme, if an additional coach is attached, Central Railway will first clear the Tatkal waitlisted passengers. Then the balance seats in the additional coach attached will be allotted on the platform to waitlisted passengers. TNN

Safety on fast track, Mumbai’s last nine level crossings set to go
DNA
Thursday, Jun 7, 2012 (http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_safety-on-fast-track-mumbais-last-nine-level-crossings-set-to-go_1699079)

Mumbai‘s last nine level crossings are on their way out with both the Central and Western Railways trying to work out various measures to make the Mumbai suburban railway network a level crossing-free section.

Every year, the International Union of Railways (UIC) observes one day – this year it is June 7 - as International Level Crossing Awareness Day (ILCAD).The Indian Railways has decided to participate in this global campaign to sensitise road users and prevent accidents at unmanned level crossings.

The Central Railway (CR) recently shut down level crossings at Vikhroli and Seawoods station, and the Western Railway (WR) has also shut down a number of crossings. “The effort is to shut down all of them at the earliest,” a railway spokesperson said.
“There are four level crossings between Churchgate and Virar. We are now building road over bridges and completely removing all level crossings from the suburban system. We are coordinating with the BMC and work on the bridges has already begun,” he added.

On CR too, there are just five level crossings remaining, but none between CST and Thane. There is one at Diva on the main line and three on the Harbour line at Sewri, Chunabhatti and Kurla.
The ILCAD focuses on educational measures and the promotion of safe behaviour at and around level crossings.It is built on existing national events which will be held jointly at various locations in every participating country on June 7th, 2012.

‘’The number of unmanned level crossing accidents across the Indian Railways has been a cause of concern. At present, there are a total of 31,846 level crossings in India, out of which 13,530 are unmanned and where accidents occur primarily due to inadequate precautions taken by road users who fail to observe mandatory sign boards, signals and basic traffic safety rules. However, over the last five years, train accidents at unmanned level crossings have remained low,’’ he added.

To enhance safety and reduce inconvenience to road users, busy level crossings are gradually being replaced by over and under bridges.In 2011-12, 879 such bridges were constructed across the country.

Railways to start with Mumbai elevated rail

Disha Kanwar / New Delhi Jun 08, 2012, 00:24 IST

With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh setting the ball rolling for infrastructure projects, long-pending railway projects take centre-stage again. These projects, if implemented within time, could turn around the fortunes of Indian Railways though there is a question mark over the timeline.

According to the target set by the Prime Minister, contracts for the Sonnagar-Dankuni section of the Dedicated Freight Corridor, elevated rail corridor in Mumbai and locomotive factories in Madhepura and Marhowra should be awarded this year.


The first project to take off is the elevated rail corridor of Mumbai connecting Churchgate and Virar, with total investment of Rs 20,000 crore. The project is expected to be funded through passenger fares, real estate development of the nearby area and at most 20 per cent funding could be through VGF (Viability Gap funding). A senior railway official said, “The Request For Proposal will be issued anytime soon and bidders will be shortlisted by July. The feasibility study has been completed. As the documentation for the metro projects is already available, they can be adapted for this rail corridor.”
On the freight side, a senior railway ministry official said, the preliminary project report of Sonnagar-Dankuni had been made, in which the broad contours like its alignment, cost and technical specifications had been finalised. The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation had already started land acquisition work for the 550-km stretch which would require 1,002 hectare. Documentation for the concession agreement that would decide the contours of a public-private partnership (PPP) was yet to be done, he said.

The long-pending projects of locomotive factories in Madhepura and Marhowra are languishing since 2007. The PQ (pre qualification) for these locomotive units has been done. The contract is under revision. After revision, it will go to the Cabinet for approval.

Station redevelopment of four or five stations will be done in PPP mode. Adarsh stations are provided with basic facilities such as drinking water, adequate toilets, catering services, waiting rooms and dormitories, especially for lady passengers, better signage, etc.

A total of 929 stations have been identified during 2009-10 to 2012-13 for development under Adarsh station scheme. A total of 550 stations have been developed under the scheme so far.

“Since this required a lot of support from the state government and consensus has to be built to finalise the concession agreement how long it takes, it is difficult to say,” said a railway official. The PM has also asked the ministry to form a proposal of all the alternatives and approach for the High Speed Corridor (Bullet train) of Mumbai-Ahmedabad. French consultant M/S Systra has given the final report and it is under examination by the stake holders.

Deleted

sorry already posted

Agan ICF :ohno:

The quality will be like Kolkata Metro's AC rakes.

World Bank team in city to review transport projects

A seven-member World Bank (WB) team on Monday began reviewing projects worth Rs. 5,300 crore under the second phase of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP). The MUTP–II aims at improving mass transport in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, and includes improvement of stations, elevated corridor between CST and Panvel, laying additional lines and measures to improve commuter safety.

On top of the WB agenda is railway track deaths because of trespassing. The Railways have already identified 12 stations — Dadar, Kandivli, Borivli, Bhayander, Vasai, Nalasopara, Kurla, Kanjurmarg, Thane, Kalyan, Thakurli – where the number of deaths is alarming.

Students from JJ School of Architecture submitted a study on trespassing, with suggestions on how to curb the incidents at a projected cost of Rs. 90 crore. “Its main aim was to understand the reasons for trespassing to provide practical alternatives to passengers,” said Ravi Agrawal, chief public relations officer, Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation.

Among the recommendations in the study are putting up ramps, building FOBs, building RCC walls, green patches, and reorganising station space and barricading. “The team will visit Dadar and Kandivli to examine the practicalities of the suggestion on Tuesday,” Agrawal said.

Every year, around 3,500 people lose their lives on tracks. “As every year many people lose their lives, we plan to implement the suggestions made in the study and expect the WB to grant the loan for it,” said a senior official, requesting anonymity.

In the city for five days, the WB team will inspect the progress of various MUTP-II works and meet stakeholders. “At the meeting, we are also expected to discuss the financial module for the CST-Panvel elevated corridor,” the official said.









http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/869806.aspx

© Copyright © 2012 HT Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Source: http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/2012061320120613032133315d0bfd4d4/Don%E2%80%99t-grow-veggies-along-train-tracks-BMC-to-Railways.html

The supply of veggies served at your dinner table could get affected if the city’s municipal corporation has its way. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation wants the cultivation of vegetables along railway tracks to be stopped.

The corporation’s contention is that the vegetables are grown using water from drains that run parallel to the railway tracks. And, with the onset of the monsoon, the municipal corporation does not want the incidence of monsoon-related ailments to rise due to consumption of such vegetables.

The civic body will soon write to the railway authorities asking that the farming of vegetables in such unhygienic conditions be stopped. Typically, vegetables like palak (spinach), bhindi (lady’s finger) and mooli (raddish) are cultivated along railway tracks in the city.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) corporator Sudhir Jadhav confirmed that the civic general body plans to ban the growth and sale of vegetables along railway tracks. “These vegetables should be banned as they are not fit for human consumption. The drains along railway tracks carry water from sewage pipes and factories. The water is highly toxic and contains deadly chemicals which are not fit for cultivating vegetables,” said Jadhav.

There are about 100 stations on the Central and Western Railway lines within city limits. Nearly 400 acres of land lies vacant along the railway tracks where vegetables of various kinds are grown. These vegetables are sold in various vegetable markets around the city.

Rahul Shewale, chairman of the standing committee, the civic body’s chief decision-making authority, agreed that drain water used for irrigation is the problem. “But these vegetables are grown on land belonging to the railways and the civic body cannot ban it directly. So, we have to ask the railway authorities to do the needful,” said Shewale.

He added that it is not easy to keep a tab on the distribution of the vegetables from the railway tracks to the markets. “In such circumstances, we cannot stop the sale of vegetables coming to municipal markets,” said Shewale.

A spokesperson of CR said that the main purpose of vegetable-farming is to save the land from encroachment. “We do regular sampling of the vegetables. There are 252 acres of agricultural land with Central Railway of which 188 acres has been allotted to class four employees,” the spokesperson said.

Over the last couple of years, CR has earned nearly Rs 16 lakh as revenue from the employees who grow the vegetables.

http://cms.mumbaimirror.com/Repository/1/publish/2/201206/2012061320120613032133315d0bfd4d4_20120613021014800acf5b741_pic_original.jpg

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_cst-panvel-ac-corridor-to-follow-bot-model_1702007
CST-Panvel AC corridor to follow BOT model.

The funding model for the multi-crore air-conditioned railway corridor between Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) and Panvel will be similar to the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) method under the public-private partnership (PPP) model, which is being used for the Churchgate-Virar elevated corridor.

The funding model was recently given the final shape by the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC), the nodal agency for the project.

Central Railway (CR) general manager Subodh Jain said, “The CST-Panvel AC corridor will be funded on a similar pattern as the (Churchgate-Virar) elevated corridor in which the predominant funding is being done by commercial exploitation of airspace (the space created in the elevated railway station areas) and development of vacant land by the concessionaire.”

He informed that the concessionaire will build and operate the corridor for a specific period and then transfer it to the railways, which will retain ownership of the project.

These details were finalized after a presentation was given by MRVC to the CR recently. According to senior railway officials, the project, which is estimated to cost Rs11, 000 crore, may require a Viability Gap Funding (VGF) of at least 30%.

Once the state support agreement is in place, the Urban Development Department is expected to ensure that all clearances and permissions are provided in time.

11000 crores??? and yet somehow the underground projects are considered too expensive...

Photo copyright: lanscer (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lanscer/7183982135/)
June 13.

L&T's Seawoods staion, Navi Mumbai.

--------->Scroll to see more.
http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/7363/7183982135c11232e37fk.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/543/7183982135c11232e37fk.jpg/)

Sexy pic man. Really lookin forward to this project.The best part of CST Panvel fast track corridor is that CIDCO had already constructed stations in such a way that that the land for layin of 2 additional tracks plus extra platforms are in place,so all MRVC has think about is aquirin land from CST to mankhurd. Plus platforms in NM are being extended to accomodate 12 car rake

http://www.afternoondc.in/city-news/bhiwandi-kalwa-rail-link-will-do-the-trick/article_57907
Bhiwandi-Kalwa rail link will do the trick
Thursday, June 14, 2012

By Kaptan Mali

Commuting between Bhiwandi and Kalwa is a regular nightmare for commuters who have to cope with daily traffic jams that cause delays of 2 to 3 hours.

The residents of Bhiwandi have now demanded a regular local train from Bhiwandi via Kalwa station so that commuters can reach their destinations in Mumbai and other parts along local routes without going through the torture of regular traffic jams.

Bhiwandi is connected to Central, Harbour and Western Railways and several outstation trains for Delhi and other southern states pass through Bhiwandi station.
At present five pairs of shuttle services connecting Bhiwandi with Dahanu and Vasai on the Western Railway, Panvel on the Harbour Line , and Kopar-Diva on the Central Railway line run on this route and these are the only rail services available. But considering the population of Bhiwandi, they are no longer sufficient.

Bhiwandi has been a business hub for power-looms and several companies have their storage facilities there. Thousands of workers travel to the area on a regular basis.

Bhiwandi MLA Abdul Rashid Tahir Momin says, “I have written a letter to MMRDA demanding a railway line connection from Bhiwandi to Kalwa which is a distance of only 7 km. It was forwarded to Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC), which in turn forwarded it to the Union Railway Ministry. I have also written a letter to
the CM and he has redirected the same letter to MRVC and Union Railway Ministry.”

A monorail connecting Bhiwandi via Kalyan and Mulund was also planned, but the plan was scrapped citing the reason of low riding. Momin said, “I don’t know after a Detail Plan Report (DPR) on monorail how they can decide that it would have low riding?”

Virendra Singh, a Bhiwandi resident who works at a hospital in Airoli said, “Since my college days I have been travelling to Thane and other parts of Mumbai.

Travelling for me is a daily nightmare.

I spend at least four hours only for commuting to Airoli. If we get a rail connection directly to Kalwa my travel time will be reduced to 30 minutes

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Mumbai-Rail-Vikas-Corporation-pins-hope-to-World-Bank-to-control-death-on-tracks/articleshow/14126352.cms
Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation pins hope to World Bank to control death on tracks

MUMBAI: Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC)'s trespassing control project, designed to prevent death on tracks may get requisite funds from World Bank.

The world bank officials were given a presentation of the plan on Monday. They also visited the accident prone spots at Borivali and Dadar to get first-hand account of the problem.

After the completion of this exercise, the MRVC officials appeared confident that the World Bank may release funds for the project worth Rs 110 crore, which includes installation of escalators and constructing additional Foot Over Bridge to prevent trespassing.

A senior MRVC official said, "We have loan agreement with World Bank for $ 430 million for up gradation of rail infrastructure projects. There will be saving of $ 110 million even after placing orders for 72 rakes with Bombardier. The money saved can be used to fund the trespassing control project."

A proposal will be now be submitted to the Department of Economic Affairs, who will then formally request the World Bank to allow MRVC to use the balance money for the trespassing control project.

As many as 31 Foot Over Bridges (FOB), 6 escalator, 5 elevators, one sub-way at Khar, a Road Over Bridge at Thakurli will be built before 2014 as part of this project

The project has been prepared after a comprehensive study of the Mumbai suburban network was undertaken by JJ School of Arts and Architecture. It identified six stations,each on Western and Central Railway, where these facilities will come up.

More than 3000 people die every year on Mumbai suburban tracks, primarily because of trespassing and also for other reasons like falling from over-crowded trains, roof-top traveling or getting caught between the gap of platform and foot board of a train.

No ladies’ coach in AC suburban trains (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/no-ladies-coach-in-ac-suburban-trains/961731/0)

There will be no ladies’ compartment in the 12 car air-conditioned local trains proposed on the Western Railway (WR) and Central Railway (CR). Both will be following a uniform layout, which is different from the one on existing suburban trains.

In May, the railway board had suggested that both CR and WR follow a uniform layout for their electric multiple unit (EMU) trains. Even as CR & WR rejected it, the board remained firm.

According to sources, the seating arrangement in AC locals will be like the Delhi Metro’s — seats along the windows. The trains will have only one class and same fare for all compartments. The compartments will be connected to each other and a commuter can move from one to the other. A 12-coach AC local is expected to accommodate 2,272 commuters — 1,136 seated and 1,136 standing.

“Central Railway officials always wanted the seating arrangement in AC local similar to the existing locals as they believe the latter is more comfortable for commuters. They had also asked the railway board to design the AC trains’ layout similar to existing one on CR so that commuters are not confused as the AC local would halt at the same platforms as non-AC locals,’’ said a senior official. Though efforts have been on from 2001 to run AC locals in Mumbai, the first such service is expected to commence on WR in a year, said sources at the railway board.

In this year’s budget, WR declared that it would be the first to have AC locals. However, with the CR pulling out all the stops, the race to be the first has gathered pace.

In April, the railway board asked Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai, to manufacture an AC train for CR. But when WR declared that it had successfully converted its suburban section from DC to AC, the board had to order the ICF to make two.

11000 crores??? and yet somehow the underground projects are considered too expensive...

That's because of its length. If it was underground then cost might have been 25000 crores.

Source: http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/2012061320120613032133315d0bfd4d4/Don%E2%80%99t-grow-veggies-along-train-tracks-BMC-to-Railways.html


The beauty of this argument is that BMC had already protested against this before, and CR came with the same old reason of saving up lands from Encroachment, going upto the length of checking levels of various particulate/Metallic matter.

And they came up with the result as: All Metals well below their permitted levels (which I believe aren't any!) of safe consumption. :bash:
All this just about 6-8 months back, if i'm not mistaken.

How irresponsible of Mumbai Mirror Journos to headline as 'Your Supply of Vegetables could get affected due to the ban' THAN to say 'LOOK: Your Palak or Bhindi has been cultivated on a farm, that is in every possible way contaminated from Gutter ka Paani filled with all kinds of Toxic waste, Janta's daily ablutions and even Excreta !

We are seriously going to the DOGS.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Mumbai-Rail-Vikas-Corporation-pins-hope-to-World-Bank-to-control-death-on-tracks/articleshow/14126352.cms
Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation pins hope to World Bank to control death on tracks

MUMBAI: Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC)'s trespassing control project, designed to prevent death on tracks may get requisite funds from World Bank.

The world bank officials were given a presentation of the plan on Monday. They also visited the accident prone spots at Borivali and Dadar to get first-hand account of the problem.

After the completion of this exercise, the MRVC officials appeared confident that the World Bank may release funds for the project worth Rs 110 crore, which includes installation of escalators and constructing additional Foot Over Bridge to prevent trespassing.

A senior MRVC official said, "We have loan agreement with World Bank for $ 430 million for up gradation of rail infrastructure projects. There will be saving of $ 110 million even after placing orders for 72 rakes with Bombardier. The money saved can be used to fund the trespassing control project."

A proposal will be now be submitted to the Department of Economic Affairs, who will then formally request the World Bank to allow MRVC to use the balance money for the trespassing control project.

As many as 31 Foot Over Bridges (FOB), 6 escalator, 5 elevators, one sub-way at Khar, a Road Over Bridge at Thakurli will be built before 2014 as part of this project

The project has been prepared after a comprehensive study of the Mumbai suburban network was undertaken by JJ School of Arts and Architecture. It identified six stations,each on Western and Central Railway, where these facilities will come up.

More than 3000 people die every year on Mumbai suburban tracks, primarily because of trespassing and also for other reasons like falling from over-crowded trains, roof-top traveling or getting caught between the gap of platform and foot board of a train.
Escalators is a good move but no mention of fences between tracks :ohno:

So if they fence the tracks, then they should also stop the railway crossings as well. Because adding fence between the stations won't do any good as yet there would be enough space for people to walk on tracks by entering through the open railway crossings, the stupid (useless) ramps at the end of the stations.

So actually thinking about it, it seems like these ramps were constructed as for people to get on and off the station by walking on the tracks?

Elevated rail corridor pact next week
Manthan K Mehta TNN


Mumbai: The railways will sign the state support agreement with Maharashtra next week for the Churchgate-Virar elevated rail corridor. The agreement will pave the way for inviting tenders before the end of the financial year.
The project is based on the public-private partnership model and will be on design, build, finance, operate and transfer basis. Under the agreement, the state government will provide help on issues related to relief and rehabilitation, floor space index for commercial use of land, law and order among other things.
“After the agreement is signed next week, the request for proposal and request for qualification will be issued and tender will be finalized before end of the financial year,” railway board chairman Vinay Mittal told reporters on Friday. Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation will also submit a proposal for the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus-Panvel elevated corridor by August.
Mittal said the first air-conditioned rake on Mumbai suburban rail will run on Western Railway by 2013. “Few services, that too experimental, will be introduced. Efforts are on to run the Churchgate-Dahanu service before March 2013.”
On extending the deadline for phasing out of CVMs beyond March 2013, he said, “WR and CR are working to link the sale of coupons to the unreserved ticketing system. If we manage to link it, CVMs can continue on the suburban system.” Mittal said they were in touch with Unesco officials for CST’s makeover.
‘Trans-harbour link land acquisition must end by July 31’ T he 22-km long Mumbai trans-harbour link, connecting Sewri in the island city to Nhava in Navi Mumbai, received a fillip on Friday with the state asking the MMRDA to finish the entire land acquisition process by July 31. Of the 97-hectare land which needs to be acquired for the project, about 27 hectares of it is private land. A review of the status of proposal for environmental clearance for the project, was also discussed.— Sandeep Ashar MSRDC keen on Worli-Haji Ali link T he MSRDC has decided to go ahead with the Worli-Haji Ali section of the sealink with or without Reliance Infra. PWD minister and MSRDC chairman Jaidutt Shirsagar said though the sea link project did not come up at the board meet on Friday but they were keen to complete it . — Ashley D’Mello

Criss-cross city on AC train next year

Vinay Mittal, the Railway Board chairman, is happy with the substantial progress in the work on three major projects that are expected to improve commute in the city.

“The Churchgate-Virar elevated corridor, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST)-Panvel air-conditioned (AC) corridor and Mumbai's first suburban AC local are priority projects with the first being directly monitored by the Prime Minister's Office," said Mittal on Friday, after conducting a special review of railway projects declared in the latest budget.

He added that the state support agreement for the elevated corridor is likely to be finalised this week.

“The first AC suburban local will be operational in 2013-14 on the western line. (It will be) on a very limited scale as we don't know the response to the service. There will be a limitation to the number of people it can carry and it will necessarily entail having a different tariff,” said Mittal.

On the progress of the CST-Panvel AC corridor, managing director of the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation SK Saksena said, "By August, a detailed proposal will be sent to the Railway Board."

Mittal also informed that the general managers of both the Western Railway and Central Railway had recommended cancelling the phasing out of the coupon validating machine ticketing system.

"It is very user-friendly and passengers have taken to them well. But it is necessary for the CVMs to be connected with the unreserved ticketing system on the suburban system. If it works out, only then will the system be continued," Mittal clarified.

The board chairman also claimed that crime against women on trains has decreased in the last year and security at eight stations on CR and 29 on WR will be beefed up with integrated security systems in the next 18 months.

When asked about steps being taken by the railway administration to improve online ticket booking facilities, Mittal said the government's official software development agency, CRIS, is working on a massive capacity expansion project.

“Almost 50% of all ticket bookings are done through e-ticketing. The system has not kept been able to keep pace with it (increasing demand) and this causes it to perform poorly when there is too much load. Within a year, this situation should improve," he said.

And these guys want to run an elevated rail network in Mumbai

http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/six-injured-in-mumbai-train-collision-no-casualties-reported-232562

Its the second time something like this happened in decades of operation plus harbour line runs elevated for few kms too so i dont think why they shouldnt execute the elevated plan. Ofcz whether they execute or not its a different Q

So if they fence the tracks, then they should also stop the railway crossings as well. Because adding fence between the stations won't do any good as yet there would be enough space for people to walk on tracks by entering through the open railway crossings, the stupid (useless) ramps at the end of the stations.

So actually thinking about it, it seems like these ramps were constructed as for people to get on and off the station by walking on the tracks?

despite ramps and crossing openings, fencing the tracks either between tracks or sides reduce crossing by 90% as that will increase the distance they have to walk. even then if some people jump they will suffer. but no fence and blaming people for crossing and dying is bad on part of railways.

3000 people die every year means more people are handicapped I guess. sadly, this recent safety project doesn't include fencing :ohno:

Its the second time something like this happened in decades of operation plus harbour line runs elevated for few kms too so i dont think why they shouldnt execute the elevated plan. Ofcz whether they execute or not its a different Q

+1. I believe (or hope) that elevated corridor will have signalling technology comparable to metros if not better.

Its the second time something like this happened in decades of operation plus harbour line runs elevated for few kms too so i dont think why they shouldnt execute the elevated plan. Ofcz whether they execute or not its a different Q

Question is not whether they would execute or not. Question is how? I have only read listings with an elevated railway line. I haven't seen any rendering. When they say they are going to do it along the existing churchgate virar line I feel it would be the most ridiculous looking transportation network in the world.

Plus the metro line is coming up and I feel they should give it a thought only after the second line comes up as well as the third. Then if you need it or not will depend on how much load metro is capable of along with the existing suburban railway system, airport(s), roadways, sea links, etc. Its like you are already being ready for something you perhaps wont need in the future and and overthinking about it and yet it would be menace and waste of taxpayers money. 40,000 plus crores of rupees in development is needless. Better yet overhaul the existing railway system and provide some much needed comforts, improve infrastructure, try to reduce the death caused by accidents, people walking on the tracks, etc. And what not rather than thinking about spending a huge amount of money at a go.

3000 people die every year means more people are handicapped I guess. sadly, this recent safety project doesn't include fencing
There is fencing between tracks in some of the stations on the western side.People still climb over the fence and cross tracks.In some cases the fence have been stolen.

Jolted by mishap, WR makes changes to traffic system
Signal Poles And Track Circuits To Be Shifted
Manthan K Mehta | TNN

Awoken by the head-on collision of two locals on Saturday night near Andheri station, Western Railway has decided to make a number of changes to its traffic system to ensure that such a mishap does not recur in the future.
The changes include relocation of devices called track circuits and possible repositioning of signal poles. “The mishap opened our eyes to the drawbacks in the system,” said a senior official, adding that the new modifications have been approved by the chairman of the Railway Board, who was in Mumbai on the day of the mishap.
To start with, Western Railway (WR) is eliminating the buffer zones between signal poles and track circuits. Attached to rail tracks nine metres beyond a signal pole, track circuits are devices that change signal aspect. So, for a signal to turn red, a train has to cross not the signal pole but the track circuit beyond it. This, officials said, was one of the failures on Saturday night.
Due to an incident of chainpulling, the Churchgate-Virar fast local halted in its tracks. Its motorman’s cabin had crossed the signal pole but not hit the track circuit, which was 13 metre away. The signal, consequently, did not automatically turn red. This made the stationmaster at Andheri believe that the entire train was still behind the signal. He then changed the signal to red himself and gave a go-ahead to an incoming Borivli-Chuchgate to cross over from slow to fast track. Near simultaneously, the motorman of the Virar-bound local, unable to see the change in the signal behind him, decided to set the train off again, eventually leading to the collision.
WR officials said they will ensure that track circuits and signal poles are adjacent so that there is no time difference in signals turning red. “If this concept was there earlier, the stationmaster would not have entered the picture to change the signal from double yellow to red to halt the Virar-bound train,” said the senior official.
The official explained that the nine-metre buffer existed because “in long hood forward diesel engines, the loco pilot’s cabin is situated close to the rear of the engine”. The buffer ensured that the entire cabin crossed the pole before the signal turned red. “This was done so that the loco pilot would not get confused over whether the signal had changed to red due to the movement of the wheels or technical failure,” said the official. Now, though, WR will discontinue the use of such diesel engines altogether.
Another change proposed by WR relates to operation of signals as well. It earlier had a system whereby a written memo would be issued to the motorman of the local that was stopped because of a change in the signal by a cabin controller. Though continued on Central Railway, the system was done away by WR to “improve punctuality as sending a person to hand a memo while the train waits consumes a lot of time”. The system will now be reintroduced. On Saturday, as the Andheri stationmaster changed the signal to red, no communication took place between him and the Virarbound local’s motorman.
Finally, WR has decided to increase by 10 metre the “adequate distance” between two face-to-face locals on the same track. Under the rail traffic system, a train switching from slow to fast track or vice versa travels for a short distance on the intermediate track (called the common portion) that is meant for locals moving in the opposite direction. While it is making the switch, any train travelling on the intermediate track is halted a little distance away at a signal.
WR officials said the distance between signals and common portions will be increased to ensure that a train, when automatically braked on the rare chance of it jumping a red signal, has enough space to come to a halt before reaching the crossover.
GRP may file a criminal case
The Government Railway Police (GRP) may register a criminal case in connection with the Saturday night train collision near Andheri station once the Commission of Railway Safety submits its inquiry report. “The exact cause of the collision, whether it was human error, mechanical failure or something else, needs to be determined. The Commission of Railway Safety will conduct an inquiry and affix the responsibility. We will then take action against the people found responsible,” a senior GRP official said. “Simultaneously, we are also conducting an independent probe of our own into the matter.” TNN
ACCIDENTALLY WOKEN UP
Many factors contributed to the head-on collision of two locals near Andheri station on Saturday night. The railways now promise to take corrective action:
TRACK CIRCUIT MODIFICATION | A track circuit is a device attached to train tracks nine metres beyond a signal pole. A signal turns red not after a train crosses it but after the train occupies the track circuit. The railways have decided to shift track circuits from where they currently sit to right alongside signal poles. This way, signals will turn red as soon as the motorman’s cabin crosses the pole ON ACCIDENT NIGHT | Due to an incident of chain-pulling, the Churchgate-Virar local halted in its tracks. Its motorman’s cabin had crossed the signal pole but had not hit the track circuit. The signal, therefore, did not automatically turn from double yellow to red. The Andheri stationmaster, unaware that the train had crossed the pole, changed the signal to red. The local’s motorman was oblivious to the stationmaster’s action
SUBSIDIARY RULES MODIFICATION | In the past, Western Railway had a rule that, whenever a signal is turned red by cabin control, a written memo would have to be issued to the motorman operating the local on that line. The rule was later dropped. In its place was brought the rule that, whenever a signal is turned by cabin control, the change will reflect on the signal pole after 120 seconds. WR have decided to revert to the memo rule ON ACCIDENT NIGHT | The Andheri stationmaster changed the signal to red, but no communication took place between him and the Virar-bound local’s motorman. This, officials say, may have led to the accident
CROSSOVERS
MODIFICATION | A train switching from slow to fast track—‘Up Slow’ to ‘Up Through’—or vice versa travels for a short distance on the intermediate track (called the common portion) that is meant for locals moving in the opposite direction. While it is making the switch, any train travelling on the intermediate track is halted a little distance away at a signal. The railways have decided to increase the distance between signals and common portions to ensure that a train, when braked on the rare chance that it jumps a red signal, has enough space to come to a halt before reaching the crossover
ON ACCIDENT NIGHT | The motorman of the Churchgate-Virar local braked on realizing that the point on the Down Through track was not positioned to take his train further. This reduced the local’s speed to 9 kmph but did not stop it in time to avoid a collision with the oncoming Borivli-Chuchgate train. Officials say that had the Virar-bound local stopped a metre before, the mishap would not have happened

Survey at WR stns to raise platform height
Manthan K Mehta TNN


Mumbai: Research Design and Standard Organization (RDSO) will carry out a survey and trial to explore possibility of increasing the height of platforms at suburban stations on Western Railwayby 11centimeters.
Following complaints from commuters aboutthe gapsbeing unsafe, a technical committee was set up by Western Railway. The technical committee concludedthattherewasscopetoincrease the height. General manager MaheshKumar hasdecided to take the RDSO’s help to explore the possibility of further raising the platformheight.
Sharat Chandrayan, chief public relationsofficer, WR,said, “It is a first such initiative on Indian Railways. As per the schedule of dimension, the gap between the platform and the train’s footboard should be 35.5 cm. We plan to reduce the gap from the maximum prescribed limitby 11cm to24.5cm.”
Theheight,if increased,will make alighting andboarding the train easier. It will also prevent commuters from falling in the gap between the platform and foot of the train. A team from RDSOwillconductthesurvey in 2-3 days. An official said, “Trials will be carried out with empty rakes filled with sand bags to simulate passenger weight.”
The gaps between the train’s footboard and platform vary as there is difference in design between the old and new trains. The old rakes had coil springs, which would get pushed down whenever the train gets crowded. But the blue and purple new rakeshave air-springs,whichdo not get pushed down even if thereiscrowding in thetrains.”

CR will modify signal poles to prevent accidents
Manthan K Mehta TNN


Mumbai: Central Railway will remove the maintenance platform that is attached to signal poles as they can prove dangerous for commuters travelling either on a train’s rooftop or windowsill.
No fixed structure is allowed to infringe on the Schedule of Dimensions (SOD) of the Indian Railways. Hence,even in a moving train, commuters inside the train-—whether standing or seated—are perfectly safe from externalfixedstructure.
But rooftop travel or travelling on window sill or leaning out of coaches can be hazardous as the SOD does not take into account such unsafe methodof travel.
Subodh Jain, general manager, CR said, “After the April 19 incident in which three persons died and 31 wereinjured after being hitby apartof a ladder hanging lose from a signal pole between Mulund and Nahur, it has been decided to remove the maintenance platforms as they can prove dangerous for commuters. Initially, only those maintenance platforms, which we feel are critical, will be removed.”
SOD indicates an obstruction-free zone within which a railway coach moves during travel. Jain said, “The platform attachedtosignalis not a threatto person standing near the foot-board as they are situated above the height of the train door.Butif a person travels on the window sill, with a backpack on his shoulder, he is most likely to get hit the maintenance platform.”

New-age CVMs to check malpractices
Manthan K Mehta TNN


Mumbai: Western Railway (WR)is planning toinstal microprocessor-based digital coupon validating machines (CVM) to curb fraud. As the CVM is not linked to Unreserved Ticketing System,fraudis rampantin this modeof ticketsystem.
The railway board had set a deadline of March 31, 2013, to phase out CVMs. But both the Central and Western Railway have opposed the idea as CVMs are extremely popular among commuters.
In the new system, the CVMs will be linked to servers andonly bar-codedcouponscan be punched at these machines. A senior official said, “Every bar coded coupon punched will get registered in the system throughservers.”
Meanwhile, Sharat Chandrayan, chief public relations officer, WR, said, “We are planning to procure 490 more ATVMsfor suburban stations.”

New-age CVMs to check malpractices
Manthan K Mehta TNN


Mumbai: Western Railway (WR)is planning toinstal microprocessor-based digital coupon validating machines (CVM) to curb fraud. As the CVM is not linked to Unreserved Ticketing System,fraudis rampantin this modeof ticketsystem.
The railway board had set a deadline of March 31, 2013, to phase out CVMs. But both the Central and Western Railway have opposed the idea as CVMs are extremely popular among commuters.
In the new system, the CVMs will be linked to servers andonly bar-codedcouponscan be punched at these machines. A senior official said, “Every bar coded coupon punched will get registered in the system throughservers.”
Meanwhile, Sharat Chandrayan, chief public relations officer, WR, said, “We are planning to procure 490 more ATVMsfor suburban stations.”


GREAT NEWS! I can't contain my happiness! :banana: :banana: :banana:

Really, there was no logic whatsoever in phasing out a system that took just 5 seconds to validate a ticket, compared to the almost age-old far from intuitive ATVMs. Have they seen how NYC Metro ATVMs work?

Mumbai elevated rail corridor creating a ground for private companies


The first project to take off from the railway portfolio in the government's infrastructure package will be an elevated rail corridor in Mumbai. To be built at a cost of around Rs 20,000 crore, the project may turn out be the railways’ first public private-partnership initiative in the passenger segment, with the responsibility of building the line, its operations, fare fixation and collection being handed to the private partner.

For industry, the project could be both an opportunity and a learning exercise. "Handing over the operations and maintenance to private player will be a significant move. Though one single move would not make much of a difference, yet if the railways adapt this model in other projects, then private players are likely to take railway projects more seriously. Big companies currently do not have a railway division, whereas they have roads and airport on their agenda," said Amrit Pandurangi, senior director, Deloitte.

The preliminary rate of return for the full corridor (Oval Maidan-Churchgate –Virar) was envisaged at 5.10 per cent and for Mahalaxmi–Virar was 8.07 per cent. The fare structure for the corridor would be similar to the one proposed for the Mumbai Metro Line 1 & 2 fare structure, said a railway official who did not want to be named.
Though the western and central corridors of the Mumbai suburban railway network form the backbone of the city’s transport network, there has been a long standing demand for air-conditioned services in Mumbai. Besides, the existing suburban system is unable to handle the passenger volumes. The new corridor is expected to fill this gap by not only redistributing traffic on the mass transit system but also by offloading a part of passenger traffic from the existing suburban system and roads. Mumbai, with a daily sub-urban commuter movement of around 6.5 million, has no integrated planning for the transport system, as is the case in many other cities. Pandurangi, however, said the huge demand could absorb different systems ,though integrated planning is always desirable.

In a technical feasibility report, RITES and Systra have worked out a plan for a double-line elevated corridor capable of running 15-car air conditioned trains every three minutes. The 62-km corridor will run from Churchgate to Virar, along the present Western Railway route, with a 8-km underground section and about 12 km of stretch at ground level between Santa Cruz and Vile Parle.

The railways have called for bids to appoint legal and financial consultants. "They will suggest the project structure and sourcing of funds — how much operation and maintenance cost will be met through fares, how much private partner, state and centre will invest in the infrastructure creation and how the private partner will retrieve its cost. We are targetting that the report will be ready by September,” said the official.

A state support agreement was under discussion between the railways and the state government to lay down the responsibilities and liabilities with regard to the project. This would be crucial for land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation, traffic diversion, improvement in dispersal facilities, redevelopment of surrounding areas and real estate development. The agreement would instill confidence in the prospective PPP partners, said the official.

ON THE TRACK
Mumbai elevated corridor was first conceived in 2008
RITES and Systra were expected to submit the technical feasibility report by Dec 2010 but a final report was submitted in Jan 2012
With no space on ground for additional tracks, the Railways conceived an elevated track
It will cost Rs 17,000 crore without interest
Schedule-Contracts-expected to be awarded by March 2013
Commissioning by 2019

Challenges ahead:
Financial modelling of the project to make it viable
Avoidance of disturbances to the existing suburban railway lines during the construction work
Integration with existing modes of transport.

http://business-standard.com/india/news/mumbai-elevated-rail-corridor-creatingground-for-private-companies/478144/

+1. I believe (or hope) that elevated corridor will have signalling technology comparable to metros if not better.

How good is the current signalling technology? I was of the understanding that while it is not perfect, it is still pretty good (the present silly accident notwithstanding). There are many metros in the world where accidents have taken place inspite of having the state of the art signalling technology.

In anycase, I hope the same signalling technology will be used for the IR-at-grade section as well if and when they use this technology for the elevated line.

Mumbai elevated rail corridor creating a ground for private companies


http://business-standard.com/india/news/mumbai-elevated-rail-corridor-creatingground-for-private-companies/478144/

Some fundamental questions that should be asked from whoever is planning this project (and also the author for not doing sanity checks)

1. 20,000 crore for 62 kms comes to around 320 crore/km which is about 100crore/km more than the elevated section of the VAG line. In this particular case, the work can be realistically done in 3 years since there isn't a lot of acquisition issues.

2. There isn't a stretch of 12 km "at ground level between Santa Cruz and Vile Parle" . It's closer to 2 km. Typo?

3. How are they going to build 2 extra tracks at ground-level at any point along the Western Railway? Where is the space?

4. Looking at the cost of this project and the fact that IR has signed a MoU with the state govt., I think a good idea would be for IR to build an underground line with this money and operate it with the same type of rolling stock and other infrastructure as Metro lines 1 and 2.

I know IR-bashers will call this going back to the stone-age, but at least we are not duplicating infrastructure. The Virar-Churchgate idea, beyond all the implementation difficulties, is fundamentally flawed. There is a huge population surge in areas 2-4 km from existing stations, especially on the Western fringes of the Western suburbs, and we need to have lines going through these areas. If IR builds the infrastructure, then they can tender our operation to private players.

I am with bhargavasura and others on this forum who think this is a waste of time and priority.

^^ Instead why cant IR call it mumbai elevated metro, in lines with kolkata metro operated by them..

Railway board to study south Mumbai connectivity plan


The master plan of a city-based engineer to decongest south Mumbai by creating a network of elevated and underground railway tracks has got a probable push.

Therailway board has approved a technical study of the plan and asking the local railways to look into its feasibility.

In his plan, Ketan Goradia has proposed an arc network by connecting the Western Railway with Central Railway to increase access to south Mumbai. This Churchgate-Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus network will eventually create two fast dedicated tracks — one running clockwise and the other anti- clockwise between Virar and Kalyan.

“We met railway board member (traffic) KK Shrivastava and AP Mishra (member, engineering) on May 16. Theyhave now asked us to meet the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation officials next week,” said Goradia.

DNA had reported on his plan in April.
“Last month we met deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and guardian minister Jayant Patil. Theyexamined the plan and have asked the chief secretary to give a feedback,’’ he said.

“The plan involves getting commuters from Churchgate who want to go to the eastern parts of south Mumbai, such asBallard Pier or Fort, to Masjid Bunder station, which iscloser for these areas,’’ Goradia said.

In addition to the Churchgate-Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus connectivity, the plan also includes a harbour line circular railway. It also proposes accommodating fast and slow trains running in the same direction on either side of a platform.

“This project would cost much less than the elevated railway project. It can increase the carrying capacity of the existing system by 100%and be completed much earlier too,’’ Goradia claimed.

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_railway-board-to-study-south-mumbai-connectivity-plan_1704668

Railway board to study south Mumbai connectivity plan


http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_railway-board-to-study-south-mumbai-connectivity-plan_1704668


God this babu are out of touch with Reality!!!

ask them to try and get into a train between virar and bandra or dadar and kalyan during peak hours, then they will understand whts wrong and why people complain

its more important to get people from eastern surburbs to offices in andheri-bandra-malad. South Bombay is over and passe, wakeup and smell the bloody coffee

We keep dreaming for things like this but the dream can never be a reality in India (http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/22/travel/ferrari-train-italo-ntv/index.html?hpt=hp_c2).

Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-06-22/mumbai/32367854_1_cvms-atvm-automatic-ticket-vending-machine

MUMBAI: Efforts are under way to deploy coin-operated Automatic Ticket Vending Machine (ATVM) to reduce queues at booking windows on Mumbai suburban railway stations.

As of now, smart card operated ATVM are present on both Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR). However, these machines have not proved as much popular as was anticipated because of being less user friendly when compared with Coupon Validating Machines (CVMs).

A senior official said, "We have requested the railway board to speed up the manufacturing, testing and installation of coin-operated ATVMs. It would much simpler to operate as less-educated person can book a ticket by inserting the currency coin equivalent to the fare of his destination."

On WR, six per cent of daily card ticket holders purchase about 32000 tickets per day from ATVMs. As against this, nearly 18% of daily card ticket holders purchase tickets from CVMs.

Around 10 lakh tickets are sold per day on Suburban network of CR. Of these, 5.7 lakh are sold through the Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS), 2.91 lakh through CVMs and1.1 lac through ATVMS.

The official said, "The railway board, which had planned to phase out the CVMs by March 2013, has now come around CR and WR's point of view that these machines cannot be condemned unless other mode of ticketing becomes popular."

Under the CVM system, commuters buy coupon booklet in various denominations. Commuters then punch the coupons, equivalent to the fare of the destination, in CVMs to validate the ticket.

However, CVMs are not linked to Unreserved Ticketing System, which records sale of each and every ticket sold on Indian Railway. WR is now planning to link CVMs to UTS server. Moreover, it also plans to introduce bar-coded coupons to prevent counterfeiting of booklets.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Central-Railway-cautions-motorman-against-flouting-norms/articleshow/14359244.cms

MUMBAI: Following the head-on collision between suburban Electrical Multiple Units (EMU) at Andheri on Western Railway on June 16, the Central Railway (CR) administration took a workshop to sensitize its loco pilots about the safety rules to prevent a repeat of such incident in their jurisdiction.

On Thursday, CR's Divisional Railway Manager Rahul Jain and Chief Safety Officer met the motorman at Kurla to understand their problems, besides cautioning them against flouting of rules and regulations.

A senior CR official said, "The motorman were told that they should not pull the train ahead in case there is change in signal due to manual intervention, unless a written memo is issued by the station master. "

The collision at Andheri between Virar Local and Churchgate bound local had occurred to due system as well as communication failure between the station master and the motorman.

CR official explained, "WR has made amendments in the subsidiary rule as per which the motorman is allowed to pull the train ahead incase there is change in signal due to manual intervention. They had done away with the practice of cautioning the motorman about the change in signal through an issuance of written memo. Had this system been in place, the collision could have been averted."

The CR official has cautioned that motorman should strictly insist on a written memo. They should not even pay heed to instruction conveyed through walkie-talkie as far as this aspect of signaling and safety is concerned. CR official said, "The motorman also brought to our notice the problem related to running room or poor quality of wind screen, which can affect the visibility of the signal."

Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-06-22/mumbai/32367854_1_cvms-atvm-automatic-ticket-vending-machine

Jeez! How are they GOING TO deal with the issue of 10 different type of 1 Rupee Coins, 5 Different types of 2 Rupee Coins, another 5 different type of 5 Rupee Coins currently under circulation ? Oh My Oh My..

Now c'mon, bring on another User-Unfriendly Ticket dispensing system with Jinxed interface, and punch worthy Touch Screens! :bash:

^^ if it's designed as per sarkari mentality, then it will be designed as per the convenience of the designer/bureaucrat and not the user, which would probably mean only certain new coins will be accepted. The common man only then has to bend and adjust to the rules set by his master.
Why can't the system of Delhi Metro be adopted by IR?

Plus the metro line is coming up and I feel they should give it a thought only after the second line comes up as well as the third. Then if you need it or not will depend on how much load metro is capable of along with the existing suburban railway system, airport(s), roadways, sea links, etc. Its like you are already being ready for something you perhaps wont need in the future and and overthinking about it and yet it would be menace and waste of taxpayers money. 40,000 plus crores of rupees in development is needless. Better yet overhaul the existing railway system and provide some much needed comforts, improve infrastructure, try to reduce the death caused by accidents, people walking on the tracks, etc. And what not rather than thinking about spending a huge amount of money at a go.

+1

With better technology, they can easily cater to the traffic in this corrdor. If at all, they are going for elevated corridor (Yes it is hypothetical), they should consider freeing up the space beneath for a N-S Road.

its more important to get people from eastern surburbs to offices in andheri-bandra-malad. South Bombay is over and passe, wakeup and smell the bloody coffee

+100. The sooner they realise this, the better for the city. But then every proposal starts or ends in Churchgate, Colaba or CST, where the traffic is very less.

Piggy Chops and Shahid recently travelled from Marine Lines to Churchgate for the promotion of Teri Meri Kahani. Outsiders might have thought that they would have really toiled to get into the coach. Only people in Bombay would know the reality. Would they dare to travel from Andheri to Bandra, the home of bollywood? Atleast they can make more money from Bollywood promotions and shootings

Jeez! How are they deal with the issue of 10 different type of 1 Rupee Coins, 5 Different types of 2 Rupee Coins, another 5 different type of 5 Rupee Coins currently under circulation ? Oh My Oh My..

Now c'mon, bring on another User-Unfriendly Ticket dispensing system with Jinxed interface, and punch worthy Touch Screens! :bash:

Online booking is the answer. Railways should open even suburban and general bogey tickets on its irctc website :cheers: One day people can book tickets for whole week.. :cheers:

Online booking is the answer. Railways should open even suburban and general bogey tickets on its irctc website :cheers: One day people can book tickets for whole week.. :cheers:

Naah. Too much hassles for an irregular commuter. Just get the same Equipment/Smart Cards that NY MTA has, and NOT some lowest Tender ones. That will do the job.

Jeez! How are they GOING TO deal with the issue of 10 different type of 1 Rupee Coins, 5 Different types of 2 Rupee Coins, another 5 different type of 5 Rupee Coins currently under circulation ? Oh My Oh My..

Now c'mon, bring on another User-Unfriendly Ticket dispensing system with Jinxed interface, and punch worthy Touch Screens! :bash:

Exactly what I was thinking. But there have been weight machines at the stations where only 1 rupee coin of certain designs are being used. As much as this would cause inconvenience to customers of finding the exact coin that the machine would accept (if the same concept is to be used), it would also eliminate the hassle of too much variation which is good. Same thing for a 2-rupee or a 5-rupee coin.

However as a step forward, they can come up with different designs (just as quarters here in the US), but make sure the shape and head-side of the coin remain the same. But of course that's something the treasury has to look into.

The HOK designed new Integrated Seawoods station building is gonna be the BEST structure in railways network
cc http://www.hok.com/design/region/india/seawoods-station/
http://i47.tinypic.com/2q34yfa.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/fkb9qr.jpg

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_not-enough-trains-on-harbour-line-expect-delays-during-rains_1705960

Your commuting troubles caused by service disruptions on the Central Railway, particularly Harbour line, are unlikely to end soon.

On the contrary, there are strong indications that absence of a substantial number of Alternating CurrentCurrent (AC) -Direct Current (DC) trains on the line is likely to cause even longer delays of suburban services once monsoon sets in.

On a given weekday, of the total 35 trains, there are 14 AC-DC type operating on the Harbour line and, of the total 72, at least 42 AC-DC type operate on the main line. “If the Harbour line had more AC-DC trains, the impact of service disruptions could be considerably reduced,” a senior CR official said.

The CR has set a target of December 2013 for complete conversion of its network from the DC to AC system and the first batch of new AC trains is expected to arrive in the same month. At present, the AC system is operational till Kalyan on the main line and on the Harbour line stretches from Mahim to Andheri.

The official said due to the ongoing transition of the suburban network from DC system to AC system, there are some stretches of railway line which are AC while others DC. The fleet of trains also includes older ones which operate only on DC system, and newer AC-DC ones which operate on both.

“This leaves the rake links (which train will run after the other) vulnerable. For instance, trains going towards Andheri, Bandra or beyond Kalyan have to be operational on AC and, in case there is disruption which is more frequent during heavy rains, the rake link is broken and required train unavailable leading to severe service delays. If all the old trains were replaced with the new AC-DC ones before beginning the work of system conversion, this problem could have been avoided,” said the official.

Source: http://www.wr.indianrailways.gov.in/view_detail.jsp?lang=0&dcd=870&id=0,4,268

In order to provide suburban tickets more conveniently and to reduce queues at ticket counter to save time of its commuters, WR is planning to procure

490 more ATVMs for its suburban station. WR has already increased the number of ATVMs from 115 to 171 in last two months. With 24 more ATVMs to be installed shortly, the total number will go upto 195.

Meanwhile, WR has planned to provide 490 more ATVMs for its suburban commuters. Proposal has been sent for 75 new ATVMs to CRIS (Centre for Railway Information System) while a proposal of 415 new ATVMs has been sent to the Railway Board.

ATVMs are a single point of service for various ticketing facilities. o*ne can book single journey ticket, return journey ticket, multiple passengers ticket, platform tickets. Renewal of season tickets can also be done at ATVMs.

WR is also in the process of providing more CVMs for the convenience of its commuters. At present there are 292 CVMs available of WR's suburban stations. WR plans to install 306 new CVMs shortly which are in the process of procurement. These CVMs will have digital display and the printing of tickets will be more clear in these machines. WR's new CVMs will be microprocessor based digital CVMs instead of conventional mechanized type machines.

It is noteworthy to mention here that about 6% of daily card ticket holders purchase about 32000 tickets per day from ATVMs o*n WR while about 18% of daily card ticket holders purchase tickets from CVMs. Looking at the popularity of CVM machines, WR is also examining the possibility of connecting it to o*nline server.

The HOK designed new Integrated Seawoods station building is gonna be the BEST structure in railways network
cc http://www.hok.com/design/region/india/seawoods-station/
http://i47.tinypic.com/2q34yfa.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/fkb9qr.jpg

Looks awesome, as do some of the previous renders and plans. Really hope this one ends up looking close to the images we see now.

I don't know how the Mumbai Railways system works in terms of property ownership but I had written about this many years ago in SSCI , that one of the best ways to increase revenue avenue is to build property ABOVE stations - aka - integrated resi-commercial cum station complexes.

Vashi Station already has such a concept (property above station) which can be replicated in major interchanges like Dadar / Thane etc.

The potential for this is huge and if the railways can rope in property developers and co-own P.A.S, (just like how other international metro rails have done this), there could be a sea-change in revenue earnings.

HOK renders posted by Altan is THE WAY for major (if not all) stations to bring this concept. And I strongly believe this can be done even if someone on SSCI raises the question "how do you build buildings over tracks already laid". It's been done before in many countries... and it CAN be done in India.

I would build such things as far away from public premises as I can. Indians do not have a image of how clean their city should look like. With crowd will come kuda and kachra.

@p2p4- Such structures are impossible to come on Dadar/Thane or any of the stations . You need huge amount of space not just for buildings but for parking of cars/bikes, proper space allocated for bus depots, proper wide approach roads otherwise it would be a chaos. All the stations and its surroundin areas in Navi Mumbai are owned and maintained by CIDCO. The railways has no share in the above project
@bhargav- I dont know if u have visited NM stations but they are far wel maintained by CIDCO than the ones by railways except CST and churchgate. The job has been outsourced to private firms

Seawoods project U/C going on one side of the station.

[IMG]http://i48.tinypic.com/2prbfi0.jpg

[IMG]http://i47.tinypic.com/11jrkw0.jpg

[IMG]http://i49.tinypic.com/vypieh.jpg

Temporary booking office and parking space

[IMG]http://i49.tinypic.com/2iabz9y.jpg

Only " on one side of the station " and that's bloody Ma Ma Massive !!!!
This will be a MAJOR changeof landmark for Navi Mumbai (if the HOK render is anything to go by). I was getting a bit tired of the run-down buildings of Navi Mumbai and this station complex will be a fresh breath of air - architecturally

(My only hope now is that roads and streets in Navi Mumbai get repaired and relaid. The pavements are left threadbare after the interlocking tiles give way ). A major revamp of road surfacing and PAVEMENTs is needed in Navi Mumbai

Check out my pics on Mumbai Duscussion thread. The roads in the pics where in shambles in summer time due to overhaullin of water and sewage lines under JNNURM,now look at them, they are smooth

massive site.... as usual great job cg :cheers:

Central line gets 40 new local trains
Somit Sen TNN

Mumbai: The city will get 40 new suburban trains for the CST-Kalyan route. The trains will include five 15-car rakes, and will be introduced from October, said Central Railway (CR) authorities on Friday.
CR general manager Subodh Jain said there had been an announcement of 75 new suburban trains in the railway budget, of which the introduction of 40 will be completed till March 2013. Six pairs of trains will be introduced in the Thane-Ambernath-Badlaput-Karjat route, five pairs in the CST-Kalyan (all 15-car rakes) route, two pairs in the Wadala-Panvel route, three pairs in the Thane-Panvel-Vashi route and four pairs in the Thane-Kasara route.
“On the Trans Harbour line, we will convert all trains to 12-car rakes; the process will begin within a month,” Jain said. This is being done because of huge passenger volume in this section. It is learnt that in all, 78 trains will be converted to 12-car rakes.
Jain said that in the near future, all trains leaving Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) will stop at Thane. “This will solve the problem of autos and taxis that refuse to ply to LTT.”
He announced an upgrade of the Deccan Queen and the CST-Nagpur Express, the introduction in two months of new AC dormitories at CST and LTT for families, and green toilets in the Mahanagri and Pushpak Express trains on a trial basis.
Assured reservations
A significant decision taken by CR was the introduction of an assured reservation service (ARS) for passengers on 14 long-distance trains. “(In this) till the time the chart is prepared, we will try to clear the waiting list,” Jain said.
The ARS for tatkal passengerswillbestartedin 14trains on an experimental basis. The trains are: Mumbai-Aurangabad Janshatabdi, Mumbai-Madgaon Janshatabdi, Mumbai-Pune Deccan Express, Pune-Nagpur Garibrath Express, Pune-Nagpur Express, Mumbai-Nagpur Sewagam Express, Dadar-Sainagar Shirdi Express, Mumbai-Pune Pragati Express, Mumbai-Kolhapur Koyna Express, Mumbai-Kolhapur Sahyadri Express, LTT-Manmad Godavari Express, LTT-Manmad Rajyarani Express, LTT-Habibganj Express and Pune-Solapur Hutatma Express.
TRAINS SPED UP
In its new time table, to be effective from July 1, CR has increased the speed of 11 trains by 5-30 minutes. Passengers on the LTT-Coimbatore Express will now save 30 minutes in travel time while those on CST-Asansol Express will save up to 10 minutes. Other trains include the Mumbai-Amravati Super-fast and the Vidarbha Express.
INCREASE IN FREQUENCY
CR has increased the frequency of six trains, including Jabalpur-Mumbai Garib Rath from bi-weekly to triweekly, Kanyakumari-Hazrat Nizamuddin Tirukkural Express from weekly to bi-weekly, and Hyderabad-Shri Chhatrapati SahuMaharajExpress from bi-weekly to daily.
NEW TRAINS CR has introduced 19 long-distance trains in a new timetable that will be effective from July 1
Sainagar-Shirdi-Pandarpur Express Pune-Amravati Express Hazur Sahib-Nanded-Amritsar Express Kamakhya-LTT Express Secunderabad-Nagpur Express Malda Town-Surat Express Mysore-Sainagar-Shirdi Express Secunderabad-Darbangha Express Hyderabad-Ajmer Express Porbander-Secunderabad Express Indore-Yeshwantpur Express Jaipur-Secunderabad Express Solapur-Yesvantpur Express Bikaner-Coimbatore Express Dadar-Tirunelveli Express Visakhapatnam-Sainagar-Shirdi Express Visakhapatnam-LTT Express Madgaon-Hapa Express Miraj-Kurduwadi Passenger

Port trust yard may have city’s oldest rail wagons

DNA / Rajendra Aklekar / Tuesday, July 3, 2012 8:14 IST

A rare set of century-old wagons, which were a part of cargo exchange with old British steamships, have been lying abandoned at the Mumbai Port Trust rail yard and could be one of the oldest ones in the city.

Railway officials said the four-wheeled old wagons belong to an era before the port trust lines were commissioned, and could be a part of the old British railway companies that operated in Mumbai then.

According to the book, The Port of Bombay — A Brief History, issued by the trustees of the Port of Bombay to mark the first centenary of Bombay, the port railway was commissioned from January 1, 1915. The port trust lines were not just used for conveying cargo, but also carry passengers and troops during wartime.

“1912 was the time when the docks were not yet completely developed. It was a time when cargo was ferried from and to British steamships and the port rail lines were its sole linkages,” said city historian Deepak Rao.

A scheme for construction of a port railway was first mooted in 1894. However, the project was later referred to a commission of inquiry headed by Sir Arthur Trevor in 1900, who recommended a line from Kurla to a goods depot at Mazgaon, with a connection to Mahim and linkages to the Prince’s and Victoria Docks, with a yard at Wadala. These wagons too were lying at the same yard.

“I think they can be preserved as national heritage. These wagons have been a part of history and witnessed the changeover of the city. I shall try to get the attention of the Mumbai Port Trust chairman and see what can be done,” said Prakash Binsale, former trustee, Mumbai Port Trust.

URL of the article: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_port-trust-yard-may-have-citys-oldest-rail-wagons_1709782-all

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Pragati-Express-to-run-via-Panvel-on-experimental-basis/articleshow/14694360.cms
Pragati Express to run via Panvel on experimental basis

MUMBAI: Here's piece of good news for residents of Navi Mumbai and Pune. Central Railway has decided to run Mumbai-Pune Pragati express via Panvel station for the benefit of passenger of twin city on an experimental basis of nine days.

As of now, there are two trains - Pune-Bhusaval and Ernakulam Express - which travel via Panvel to Pune. Commuter traffic between Pune and Navi Mumbai has increase manifold because but train services between these two cities is inadequate.

A CR official said, "Pragati Express runs between Mumbai and Pune via Kalyan. However, we have now decided to divert this train via Panvel, instead of Kalyan from July 7 onwards for nine days on experimental basis. If the results are good, CR may consider running this train via Panvel on a permanent basis."

Passengers will be able to commute by general compartment between Panvel and Pune on unreserved ticket at Rs 39.

In the absence of adequate train services, people traveling to and from Panvel to Pune have no option but to travel by bus. The fare between these to distance is Rs 100 by ordinary bus and Rs 250 by Volvo bus.

Pragati express take 3 hour and 28 minutes to travel a 191 km distance between Mumbai and Pune. It leaves from Mumbai CST at 4.25 pm and arrives at Pune 7.53 pm. On its return journey, it departs from Pune at 7.50 and arrives at Mumbai CST in 3 hours and 20 minutes, at 11.10 am

A CR official said, "There will not be much difference in running time of train due to change in the route. In fact, the travel time between Mumbai and Pune will be reduced by 5 to 7 minutes."

http://in.news.yahoo.com/cushion-cr-train-awaits-green-flag-183000597.html
All-cushion CR train awaits green flag

Mumbai, July 4 -- Following chief minister Prithviraj Chavan's suggestion to make train travel less strenuous, the Central Railway has readied a suburban train with cushioned seats in all compartments. However, the train is parked at a Central Railway yard for over a month, awaiting suitable VIPs to inaugurate it.

The suburban trains have cushioned seats only in first-class compartments, while those in second-class ones have uncomfortable hard tops. In a meeting with Union minister of state KH Muniyappa last October, Chavan had suggested that seats in all compartments should have cushions.

Accordingly, CR authorities replaced the hard-top seats in second-class compartments in one of the new rakes on pilot basis. The upgrading was done at CR's Matunga workshop at an estimated cost of Rs. 27 lakh.

However, the new seats are gathering dust as the train is stationed at the Kurla car-shed for over a month.

"All field trials of the local train have been completed and it is waiting for commissioning since a long time," said a source.

The source said the CR management is keen to get the train inaugurated by the railway minister and the chief minister, but getting the two VIPs is a difficult task due to their busy schedules.

The CR authorities had planned to put the train on tracks on May 20.

"It will be commissioned soon," said a CR spokesperson, but avoided elaborating on reasons for the delay.

Bullock Balls to VIPS !! The trains are for the service of the people and they are waiting for some dumb F of a VIP to innaugurate? !!! Bhendi ke...

CR begins work for 15-car trains

DNA / DNA Correspondent / Monday, July 9, 2012 8:00 IST


The ground work to run 15-car trains on the Central Railway (CR), India’s oldest rail line, finally started this week.

Construction work on extending platforms at key railway stations, where the 330-m-long train will halt, has begun with stiff deadlines. The 15-car trains are expected to run between Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) and Kalyan in three months from October.

In September 2011, DNA first reported that CR was planning to run 15-car trains on its mainline network.

Railway board chairman Vinay Mittal, on his recent visit to Mumbai, had assured citizens that 15-car locals will begin plying soon on CR. “We will start 15-car services with one rake in October. The services will be available even during peak hours. The train will carry 33% more crowd than the 12-car train. The total cost of the work is estimated at Rs3.5 crore,” said a senior CR official.

The 15-car services will halt at Byculla, Kurla, Ghatkopar, Bhandup, Mulund and Dombivli stations. From CST, the trains are likely to be operated from platform number 7, which is long enough to accommodate 15-car rakes.

URL of the article: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_cr-begins-work-for-15-car-trains_1712468-all

TOI (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Consultant-suggests-10-50-fares-on-CST-Panvel-high-speed-rail-corridor/articleshow/14832514.cms)
Consultant suggests 10-50 fares on CST-Panvel high-speed rail corridor

MUMBAI: The financial consultant for the CST-Panvel hi-speed railway corridor has suggested that the minimum and maximum fares should be Rs 10 and Rs 50, respectively, for a single journey.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the consultant, has also recommended commercial exploitation of space at the proposed stations to partially fund and operate the 11,000-crore project aimed to establish hi-speed rail connectivity between south Mumbai and the proposed Navi Mumbai international airport. Nearly 30% of the traffic on the existing corridor and 20% of road users are expected to shift to the new corridor.

An MRVC official said: "We expect 66% returns from fares on the basis of estimates that the system will carry 21,000 peak-hour, peak-direction passengers by 2019 and 39,000 by 2031." Using the public-private partnership model, the project will be developed on design, build, finance, operate and transfer basis.

The private developer will have to bring in 60% of the funds to execute and operate the project. The state government and the railway ministry will have to contribute 10% each. Besides, there will be viability gap funding of 20%.

"To partially fund the project, the private entity may be allowed to make commercial exploitation of space above the stations. For this, the state government will have to sanction additional FSI," the official said.

Besides, a small percentage of the earnings will come from non-fare sources such as pay-and-park, advertising and licence fees from stall operators. "These are only recommendations. The final decision will be taken after the Railway Board and the state government concur. We aim to submit a formal proposal to the Railway Board by August," the MRVC official said.

The project, said officials, would be easier to execute than the elevated corridor on Western Railway. "On the CST-Panvel corridor, there are no major hurdles in the form of land acquisition or relief and rehabilitation of project-affected persons. Once work begins on the ground, the project can be executed in 4-5 years."

MRVC aims to get all the clearances by 2014 so that work on the project can be completed by 2018.

Mumbai’s Churchgate Railway Station becomes human sea

Zoran Bozicevic Jul 11, 2012 – 12:28 PM ET



http://nationalpostnews.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/people-swirl-mumbai.jpg


This swirl of people rushing to and from trains at Churchgate Railway Station in Mumbai, India, was released to illustrate World Population Day, observed on July 11.

According to the 2011 census conducted by the government of India, Mumbai has a population of more than 12 million with an estimated population density of about 20,482 people per square kilometre.

World Population Day was established by the United Nations in 1989. It was inspired by the public interest in Five Billion Day on July 11, 1987, approximately the date on which the world’s population reached five billion people.

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/201207142012071404002317559bd5d86/CR-works-overnight-to-get-train-back-on-track.html
CR works overnight to get train back on track

A local train from Kasara derailed in a bizarre fashion moments after entering platform number four of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus late on Thursday night. The wheels of coach number 10 climbed off the tracks and ended up a few inches above the ground instead of landing on the side.

The incident - which has puzzled officials - occurred three minutes past midnight. The train was set right and pulled away after a four-hour effort, which required rail workers to step into narrow gaps between compartments and detach them using large hammers and other tools.

“It is very unusual to see the wheels behave this way. We will have to look into the sequence of events," Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Rahul Jain told Mirror on late Thursday night as he marshalled teams trying to get the train back on track.

Some rail officials and 'frontline' workers, who live at Colaba's Badhwar Park and gang huts between CST and Masjid, respectively, arrived at the scene 10 minutes after the derailment was reported.

By 1 am, the north-end of CST’s platform No 4 was swarming with several teams, which promptly began separating coaches 11 and 12 from the derailed compartment, 10. “We are basically trying to split the train into two, and create some space so our men can lower their equipment on tracks and correct the alignment of the affected coach,” said an official present there.

Detaching, or decoupling, the coaches proved to be tricky as workers had to stand with their heavy tools in the narrow gaps between the compartments. By 1.25 am, coaches 11 and 12 were separated from the train. The teams then tried to push the two compartments from the platform. The wheels, however, didn’t budge, forcing officials to get a diesel engine from Kurla to drag them away slightly.

After a gap of two and a half metres was created between the train and the two coaches, trackmen used wooden planks and a hydraulic jack to get the wheels of compartment number 10 back on rails.

“This is the most critical phase of the operation. A single mistake, and a worker can end up with serious injuries,” the official said. The work was completed at 2:35 am, and 15 minutes later, the coaches were joined again. The train was taken to the Dadar railway yard around 4 am.

http://cms.mumbaimirror.com/Repository/1/publish/2/201207/201207142012071404002317559bd5d86_20120714035751816fce5591e_pic_original.jpg

http://cms.mumbaimirror.com/Repository/1/publish/2/201207/201207142012071404002317559bd5d86_201207140358435977a02153e_pic_original.jpg

http://cms.mumbaimirror.com/Repository/1/publish/2/201207/201207142012071404002317559bd5d86_2012071403591353537cc136d_pic_original.jpg

http://cms.mumbaimirror.com/Repository/1/publish/2/201207/201207142012071404002317559bd5d86_2012071403593981182b0855_pic_original.jpg

Churchgate-Virar rail corridor waits for chief minister’s nod

Work on the elevated AC corridor from Churchgate to Virar is all set to begin, and the proposal is only waiting for the CM’s approval.

The state support agreement proposal for the corridor has been cleared by the state finance, law and judiciary departments, which is now waiting for chief minister Prithviraj Chavan’s approval.

All parts of the proposal, including the SSA, permissions for utility shifting and land acquisition plans, have been forwarded to the CM. “The proposal has been sanctioned by all relevant departments and is in the final stage of consent,” informed the senior state authority, who requested anonymity as the monsoon assembly session is still on.

The 63-km elevated AC Churchgate-Virar corridor, estimated to cost about Rs20,000 crore, was formally announced in the 2012-13 rail budget. The Western Railway (WR) plans to fund the project by commercially developing 1.3 lakh sqm land in eight locations, of which five plots are Bombay Central, Bandra, Andheri, Mahalaxmi and Borivli.

The corridor will go underground from Churchgate and Mahalaxmi, because of space constraints.

The line will be elevated from from Mahalaxmi to Virar, except for stretches from Santacruz to Vile Parle, and Naigaon to Vasai, where it will be at surface level. Following the fire in Mantralaya building, the state government had asked WR to submit a file containing details of the corridor. WR submitted a file requesting support for land acquisition and other permissions around 10 days ago.

“Now, approvals have to come from the state authorities,” said a WR official, requesting anonymity.


http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/889685.aspx

© Copyright © 2012 HT Media Limited. All Rights Reserved

Rickshaw puzzle: How to build auto lane through the city’s busiest FOB

Railways clueless over the 10-metre-wide obstruction to its ambitious project

Binoo Nair and Virat A Singh mirrorfeedback@indiatimes.com

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/4738/16072012am95049.jpg

When Western Railway planned to build a 100-metre-long dedicated autoriskshaw lane, about 6.4 metres above Andheri railway station, it overlooked a minor detail: one of the city’s largest and busiest railway foot-overbridge (FOB) was in the way.

Now half way through the project – construction on pillars is nearly complete – it is faced with a massive problem: How does a five-metre-wide autorickshaw lane go through and virtually dissect a 10-metrewide FOB?
Some of the finest engineers in the city are now working towards finding a solution to a puzzle that is threatening to derail one of the biggest traffic restructuring moves at a railway station in recent years, but has absolute no precedence.

Planners said that they knew that the autorickshaw deck would have to go right through the FOB, but thought that they would deal with the matter when the need arrived. But now with the 6.4 m high pillars almost ready, they are yet to find any solution. Slated to cost Rs 6 crore, the project is supposed to be ready next year.

The idea was to build a 100-metre-long elevated autorickshaw lane, wherein autorickaws will enter from Swami Nityanand Road, move on to a two-lane elevated deck – 60-metre-long and 34-metre-wide with footpaths on either sides – built between the middle and north FOBs. From there the autos would pick commuters, and then travel down a similar five-metre ramp leading to a road beside the newly constructed railway police building to MV Road, going towards Andheri-Kurla Road.
But as it turns out, the ramps will have to go right through the 10-m wide north FOB.

A railway official said that taking the deck from above or below the FOB is out of the question. “It is a situation unlike we have ever faced. Where else has a vehicle lane made an intersection with an railway FOB? The rickshaws just don’t have the required engine power to deal with the sharp change in elevation,” he said.

And if the lane goes right through the FOB? “How do we control the traffic? What is the system by which we can allow people and rickshaws to cross at the same time?” asked a senior railway official.

He added, “Treating the intersection as a crossroads – having traffic lights or security staff to control the flow of crowds and rickshaws – is wishful thinking, since the crowd flow on the FOB is tremendous. Moreover, when the rickshaws are climbing up the ramp, we cannot ask them to stop since that could stall less powerful rickshaws.”
Sources in WR said that they are planning to rope in traffic integration experts from engineering consultancy RITES.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=MIRRORNEW&BaseHref=MMIR/2012/07/16&PageLabel=8&EntityId=Ar00800&ViewMode=HTML

Lol. How can that go unnoticed?

If this is how Indian railways do its own projects, how can we expect that it would allow the projects executed by other agecies to complete in time.

Their so-called planning is not actually planning and I am not even sure they take all the things that could go wrong into consideration. Lol. It is pathetic.

+1 and now they want to build elevated rail corridor.:lol:
Typical government mentality 'Tab ka tab socheyein ge':bash:

Their so-called planning is not actually planning and I am not even sure they take all the things that could go wrong into consideration. Lol. It is pathetic.

Hats off to the babus of India. This one really takes the cake:
Planners said that they knew that the autorickshaw deck would have to go right through the FOB, but thought that they would deal with the matter when the need arrived.

If you want to see public infra projects being done on time then these Bloody B******S should be made an example of and hanged in Public.

IE (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/mrvc-plans-measures-to-prevent-trespassing/975797/)

MRVC plans measures to prevent trespassing

The Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) plans to spend about Rs 120 crore to prevent incidents of trespassing at some of the accident-prone stations based on the recommendations of a recent study.

The study on accidents on railway tracks, conducted as part of the World Bank-funded Mumbai Urban Transport Project 2A (MUTP-2A), has proposed measures like providing continuous barricades between tracks, widening the existing foot overbridges, providing additional overbridges with staircases, escalators, elevators and ramps, creating adequate passenger exits from stations and decongesting platforms.

“The study undertaken by MRVC is a beginning as similar facilities may be required at many other stations in the system,” said Atul Agarwal, senior transport specialist at the World Bank and task team leader for MUTP 2A.

As many as 11 stations — Kandivli, Borivali, Bhayander, Vasai Road, Nalasopara, Dadar Central and Western, Kurla, Kanjur Marg, Thane, Thakurli and Kalyan — were covered in the study conducted by MRVC in collaboration with Sir JJ College of Architecture.

The corporation on Tuesday discussed the study findings with the key stakeholders like officials from the Central Railway, Western Railway and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, representatives from National Safety Council, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, the state chapter of All-India Institute of Local Self Governance, commuters’ associations and non-governmental organisations.

MRVC managing director Rakesh Saksena said, “We have initiated advance action for the implementation of the major findings.”

Churchgate-Virar rail corridor waits for chief minister’s nod

Work on the elevated AC corridor from Churchgate to Virar is all set to begin, and the proposal is only waiting for the CM’s approval.

All parts of the proposal, including the SSA, permissions for utility shifting and land acquisition plans, have been forwarded to the CM.

The 63-km elevated AC Churchgate-Virar corridor, estimated to cost about Rs20,000 crore, was formally announced in the 2012-13 rail budget. The Western Railway (WR) plans to fund the project by commercially developing 1.3 lakh sqm land in eight locations, of which five plots are Bombay Central, Bandra, Andheri, Mahalaxmi and Borivli.

The corridor will go underground from Churchgate and Mahalaxmi, because of space constraints.

The line will be elevated from from Mahalaxmi to Virar, except for stretches from Santacruz to Vile Parle, and Naigaon to Vasai, where it will be at surface level. Following the fire in Mantralaya building, the state government had asked WR to submit a file containing details of the corridor. WR submitted a file requesting support for land acquisition and other permissions around 10 days ago.

This is absolutely BS and I seriously hope at least the CM reject this stupid proposal. Someone here on the forms with access to the CM's office please show him the article regarding rickshaw-overbridge and tel him that there are N flyovers and FOBs on the said corridor. The plans make no mention of how this corridor will cross those. I doubt they are going to build the corridor 2-levels up anyways. Also have them explain how it will run at-grade between Santa Cruz and Vile Parle and where is the space for ramps to go/come from the underground sections?

Also the project cost is 20000 crore for a 63 km line which works out to 317 crore/km for a largely elevated line. which seems strange considering that initial figures put the cost of the line close to 300/km for underground. In fact going by the figures of this Churchgate-Virar elevated rail corridor (http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Churchgate-Virar-elevated-rail-corridor-not-possible-Study/Article1-493850.aspx), the cost of construction should work out to Rs 7500 crore for the 63 km stretch and budgeting another 2500 crore for rolling stock, signaling and acquisition activities, the total should not come to more than Rs 10000 crore. What gives?

^^ elevated corridor is like a metro line itself, not much difference. Hope they go for delhi metro broad gauge coaches :cheers: Only that it is built on railway land and funds like in kolkata metro.

This is absolutely BS and I seriously hope at least the CM reject this stupid proposal. Someone here on the forms with access to the CM's office please show him the article regarding rickshaw-overbridge and tel him that there are N flyovers and FOBs on the said corridor. The plans make no mention of how this corridor will cross those. I doubt they are going to build the corridor 2-levels up anyways. Also have them explain how it will run at-grade between Santa Cruz and Vile Parle and where is the space for ramps to go/come from the underground sections?

Also the project cost is 20000 crore for a 63 km line which works out to 317 crore/km for a largely elevated line. which seems strange considering that initial figures put the cost of the line close to 300/km for underground. In fact going by the figures of this Churchgate-Virar elevated rail corridor (http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Churchgate-Virar-elevated-rail-corridor-not-possible-Study/Article1-493850.aspx), the cost of construction should work out to Rs 7500 crore for the 63 km stretch and budgeting another 2500 crore for rolling stock, signaling and acquisition activities, the total should not come to more than Rs 10000 crore. What gives?

Dont worry. Nothing is going to happen. We know the capability and track record of Indian Railways

Dont worry. Nothing is going to happen. We know the capability and track record of Indian Railways

^^^^^^ Agreed...

Furthermore, this is nothing but the ploy by IR / central government babus to GRAB the Right of Way (ROW) over the existing IR railway network. Once granted, anything to be built by state agencies, over the existing IR railway lines will have to be negotiated in a really hard way with the IR babus. I just see more opportunities for corruption... Someone needs to file a PIL.

i guess 20k includes cost escalation considering it will take 20-25 years to make (i being optimistic too)

IR is quite frankly incapable and not equipped to do this project.

if they can't stop almost 2000-3000 death a year on the railways tracks of mumbai, and not even have proper ambulance at a station, it only shows unwillingness and lack of dedication to improve the service.

Station area to be called pathetic is compliment, and all of that goes to the british who did most of the groundwork.

lets them plan and discuss and maybe after 10 year, they will actually get started

Churchgate

cc RikkiC1

[IMG]http://i48.tinypic.com/29mr6kk.jpg

Churchgate

cc RikkiC1

[IMG]http://i48.tinypic.com/29mr6kk.jpg

nice pic bro.
:)

Three people died and nearly 80 passengers of the Vidarbha Express were injured after it collided with the derailed coach of a local train near Kasara on Thursday.

The sequence of events leading to the mishap started with a landslide derailing four coaches of a Central Railway suburban train a little before 9.30pm. The derailment happened between Kasara and Umbermali stations.


source:

Source: http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/mumbai-local-train-services-hit-as-100-motormen-go-on-flash-strike-245737

Mumbai: The flash strike by over 100 motormen on Mumbai's Western Railway line, which disrupted suburban services during rush hour today and inconvenienced lakhs of commuters, has been called off. "The services will resume in 30 minutes," said Sharat Chandrayan, Chief Public Relation Officer of Western Railways.

The striking motormen went on a mass sick leave to press for better facilities and security. The motormen had demanded the appointment of assistant motormen so that they do not have to work overtime. Authorities have promised the motormen that their demands will be studied.

The strike had been orchestrated to cause maximum inconvenience. The main suburban railway station of Churchgate in south Mumbai saw unprecedented crowds as people started gathering, owing to lack of train services - which usually run one every five minutes.

The strike started only a couple of hours before the peak travelling time that starts around 6 p.m. as commuters start for home after work hours.

Most local railway stations, however, were alerting commuters with announcements on public address system that the trains are either running late or have been cancelled.

Source: http://www.ndtv.com/album/listing/news/mumbai-trains-stalled-by-motormen-strike-13450/slide/1

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^^
qs5Rn_mNpHI&feature=g-u-u

^^
qs5Rn_mNpHI&feature=g-u-u

August kranti rajdhani was made to halt at every fast-station i heard.... so WR is giving priority more to mumbai suburban commuters than mumbai-delhi commuters.

But ofcz dude, paisa kisse jyaada milta hai railways ko? locals se ki rajdhani se. Not only rajdhani evrry lomg distance train was made to halt

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_shortage-of-trains-hits-railway-projects-not-film-shoots_1719776

The severe crunch of local trains in the city is not just leading to congestion at stations, but also holding up crucial projects that could increase the capacity of the suburban train network, even as the Western Railway (WR) is employing its new-age Siemens trains for film shoots and non-commuter use.

The WR had recently told the Bombay high court that they have been unable to run trains to Dahanu as they do not have enough trains and have been unable to convert all trains from a nine to a 12-car format. Following a shortage of trains in Mumbai, the WR also experimented with sourcing trains from Howrah and putting it into service here, but the plan had to be withdrawn as they were not compatible and were a waste of public money. The WR also upgraded some existing trains to put them to use.

On the Central Railway (CR) too, shortage of trains is a serious problem, leading to a hold-up of the DC-AC conversion project. “There are a host of projects pending due to shortage of trains not just on WR, but also on CR. Making people suffer and using their resources like this is a criminal offence, especially because people are falling off trains due to congestion,’’ said Madhu Kotian of Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh.

National Railway Users Consultative Committee member Subhash Gupta said that he is sending a letter to the railway board and will raise the issue at their meeting. “On the one hand, they say they do not have trains and on the other, they are lending out trains to film and ad shoots to earn money. It is not justified,’’ Gupta added.

WR officials continued to deny that any trains were cancelled due to trains being lent to film shoots, saying that it was misleading to say so. Reacting to the DNA story on Wednesday, WR spokesperson Sharat Chandrayan issued an official clarification stating that the film shoot was scheduled on a separate line which does not have an impact on suburban services. “Four trains were cancelled between 8am and 9am due to the late arrival of some long distance trains due to the derailment of a goods wagon in the Vadodara division.”

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/9951/26072012pm110414.jpg

source : Mumbai Mirror 26-07-2012.

could Goregaon be any more colourful! lol

i wonder how many years they will take....

Real-time tracking till Kalyan.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Real-time-tracking-till-Kalyan/articleshow/15155303.cms

Commuters will now be able to track their trains in real time as Central Railway (CR) activated the train management system (TMS) on stations between Masjid Bunder and Kalyan on Wednesday.

The system, which helps in real-time monitoring of trains in the control room and also reflects on CR indicators, was first started between Masjid Bunder and Vidyavihar stations in April 2011. TMS ensures that when passengers stand at a platform waiting for their train, they will know exactly how late it is.

"We aim to provide the arrival status of trains for the next 10 minutes," said Subodh Jain, general manager of CR. According to CR officials, there will be automatic multi-lingual announcements and information relating to the next five incoming trains on each platform.

"Under MUTP III, it has been envisaged to provide similar facility for services between Kalyan-Karjat and Kalyan-Kasara," said V M Malegaonkar, chief public relations officer of CR. The administration has taken more than a decade to implement the system. Western Railway (WR) has its TMS in place since 2004.

Source: http://www.mid-day.com/epaper/index.htm


http://epaper2.mid-day.com/Drive/mumbai/28072012/epaperimages%5C28072012%5C28072012-MD-MN-1%5C32749759.jpg

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Rickshaw puzzle: How to build auto lane through the city’s busiest FOB

Railways clueless over the 10-metre-wide obstruction to its ambitious project

Binoo Nair and Virat A Singh mirrorfeedback@indiatimes.com

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/4738/16072012am95049.jpg

When Western Railway planned to build a 100-metre-long dedicated autoriskshaw lane, about 6.4 metres above Andheri railway station, it overlooked a minor detail: one of the city’s largest and busiest railway foot-overbridge (FOB) was in the way.

Now half way through the project – construction on pillars is nearly complete – it is faced with a massive problem: How does a five-metre-wide autorickshaw lane go through and virtually dissect a 10-metrewide FOB?
BaseHref=MMIR/2012/07/16&PageLabel=8&EntityId=Ar00800&ViewMode=HTML[/URL]

And they want to build an elevated rail corridor.

Source: http://www.mid-day.com/epaper/index.htm


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Nothing but voyeurism. They will only click pics of the MAAL DHABBA (Ladies Compartment). They photos are proof enough.

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Putting the ambitious Mumbai-Ahmedabad rail corridor on the fast track, the railways will constitute a project steering group to examine options for executing it.

The prime minister's office ( PMO) on Friday announced a roadmap for implementation of flagship infra- structure projects, which include high-speed corridors, the elevated rail corridor for the suburban Mumbai section and redevelopment of stations.

The high-speed rail corridor project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad and other six routes is technologically the most advanced railway project. A pre-feasibility study has been conducted by RITES in association with other experts.

There are various alternatives for implementing the high-speed corridor project but out of all, only the special purpose vehicle (SPV) or the public-private partnership (PPP) options, seem viable, said a senior railway ministry official.

The group will examine options for implementing the project and finalizing the feasible ones, suggesting ways of strengthening the capacity of railways to design and execute high-speed train projects and suggest mechanisms for quickly moving forward on chosen options.

The elevated rail corridor in Mumbai, the other key infrastructure project of the railways, also got the PMO's nod. According to the official, the project will be implemented in PPP mode and a concessionaire will be finalized by March 15, 2013.

Source (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/PMO-clears-roadmap-for-Mumbai-Ahmedabad-bullet-train/articleshow/15215680.cms)

Mumbai local: 72 lakh commuters and a fire disaster in waiting (http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/MAH-MUM-mumbai-local-72-lakh-commuters-and-a-fire-disaster-in-waiting-3595759-NOR.html)

A rather drab article on the situation, but I was wondering if anyone has seen the fire extinguishers often enough on trains for it to be considered as n existing safety measure. I remember seeing them a couple of times on WR locals, but hardly enough number of times to feel that a little safer for their presence.

hey guys ,I am new to this forum although I have been following SSC for quite a few years but never posted anything . Just a few of my tidbits . There was plan by the railways to link Bandra with Kurla . I feel if they can connect the 2 elevated corrridors that they have planned it will give seamless connectivity between all 3 lines .

hey guys ,I am new to this forum although I have been following SSC for quite a few years but never posted anything . Just a few of my tidbits . There was plan by the railways to link Bandra with Kurla . I feel if they can connect the 2 elevated corrridors that they have planned it will give seamless connectivity between all 3 lines .

I think that was the plan but since line 2 of the metro will connect the two stations along that corridor, it was abandoned. I have no idea why it was proposed in the first place since metro line 2 alignment was fixed sometime back.

I think that was the plan but since line 2 of the metro will connect the two stations along that corridor, it was abandoned. I have no idea why it was proposed in the first place since metro line 2 alignment was fixed sometime back.
But line 2 will end at Mankhurd . It wont provide seamless connectivity with Navi Mumbai unless they extend it further upto atleast Vashi . Moreover a broad gauge link will also cut down travel time from Navi Mumbai to Andheri and beyond drastically

But line 2 will end at Mankhurd . It wont provide seamless connectivity with Navi Mumbai unless they extend it further upto atleast Vashi . Moreover a broad gauge link will also cut down travel time from Navi Mumbai to Andheri and beyond drastically

Ideally you would want the line to extend to Navi mumbai or NM metro lines to come to Mankhurd (or both?) to provide seamless connectivity, but its unfortunate that the two lines are being built independently. I hope NM metro at least builds the next few metro lines in conjunction with a greater-mumbai type transport authority.

A suburban link will only offer the advantage of avoiding a transfer at Mankhurd or Vashi, but will not necessarily be faster in travel time. There are two other issues:

1) Alignment in BKC will conflict with the upcoming metro line.
2) Metro trains will offer more comfort in travelling and can potentially run much more frequently than the suburban lines with current signalling techniques.

I don't disagree with your fundamental point BTW - which is that the line should be extended beyond Mankhurd to Vashi.

But line 2 will end at Mankhurd . It wont provide seamless connectivity with Navi Mumbai unless they extend it further upto atleast Vashi . Moreover a broad gauge link will also cut down travel time from Navi Mumbai to Andheri and beyond drastically

Ideally you would want the line to extend to Navi mumbai or NM metro lines to come to Mankhurd (or both?) to provide seamless connectivity, but its unfortunate that the two lines are being built independently. I hope NM metro at least builds the next few metro lines in conjunction with a greater-mumbai type transport authority.

A suburban link will only offer the advantage of avoiding a transfer at Mankhurd or Vashi, but will not necessarily be faster in travel time. There are two other issues:

1) Alignment in BKC will conflict with the upcoming metro line.
2) Metro trains will offer more comfort in travelling and can potentially run much more frequently than the suburban lines with current signalling techniques.

I don't disagree with your fundamental point BTW - which is that the line should be extended beyond Mankhurd to Vashi.

Ideally you would want the line to extend to Navi mumbai or NM metro lines to come to Mankhurd (or both?) to provide seamless connectivity, but its unfortunate that the two lines are being built independently. I hope NM metro at least builds the next few metro lines in conjunction with a greater-mumbai type transport authority.

A suburban link will only offer the advantage of avoiding a transfer at Mankhurd or Vashi, but will not necessarily be faster in travel time. There are two other issues:

1) Alignment in BKC will conflict with the upcoming metro line.
2) Metro trains will offer more comfort in travelling and can potentially run much more frequently than the suburban lines with current signalling techniques.

I don't disagree with your fundamental point BTW - which is that the line should be extended beyond Mankhurd to Vashi.
Line 2 is a non starter . There was news some days back that they may scrap it altogether and even realign the Colaba-Seepz line to Colaba - Bandra seepz although I am not sure how they will do it .
As for comfort , I was talking about the AC locals they are planning to start . Both the elevated corridors are suppose to run AC locals if I am not mistaken . I think if they can use the LHB platform to design a new AC local , it shouldnt be that bad .

cc Gordon t Holmes

Bandrs station

[IMG]http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/1582/7685364890409c6204ffb.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/843/7685364890409c6204ffb.jpg/) Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

[IMG]http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/9222/7685370682e7c5d48f52b.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/100/7685370682e7c5d48f52b.jpg/) Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

Line 2 is a non starter . There was news some days back that they may scrap it altogether and even realign the Colaba-Seepz line to Colaba - Bandra seepz although I am not sure how they will do it .
As for comfort , I was talking about the AC locals they are planning to start . Both the elevated corridors are suppose to run AC locals if I am not mistaken . I think if they can use the LHB platform to design a new AC local , it shouldnt be that bad .

Line 2 is supposed to be scrapped in its current form (elevated). They are thinking of underground. Line 2 is the most important line for the whole of MMR (with extension to Vashi) and scrapping it will be foolish.

You may be the first person who think that IR will finish the elevated lines and run AC trains before MMRDA could finish metro. Not that MMRDA is great. But, it is able to finish both metro and mono line within 3 to 6 yerars inspite of hindrances. IR couldn't finish a single Oshiwara station in the last 10 years, isnpite of holding the land.

Line 2 is a non starter . There was news some days back that they may scrap it altogether and even realign the Colaba-Seepz line to Colaba - Bandra seepz although I am not sure how they will do it .

I think as Indiadreams said the opposition is not to the alignment or the idea, but whether it should be elevated or underground in certain areas. I believe it is very much on and I haven't seen any concrete news anywhere that it has been scrapped.

As for comfort , I was talking about the AC locals they are planning to start . Both the elevated corridors are suppose to run AC locals if I am not mistaken . I think if they can use the LHB platform to design a new AC local , it shouldnt be that bad .

Even if they were to start an AC local, there is really no ROI in an elevated line that is 6km long without extending beyond Bandra and Kurla. Ideally you would need an through connection to Mankhurd/NM in one direction and to either Charkop or SoBo in the other.

The discussion on this started when I said there is a metro line already connecting the two stations - Bandra and Kurla - via BKC. The presence of the metro obviates the need for the other and vice versa. I think the MMRDA is like 'andho main kaana raja' in this situation, and will deliver earlier. Also, I the alignment really should be underground, not elevated, so an IR elevated proposal is not what the doctor ordered I'm afraid.

I think as Indiadreams said the opposition is not to the alignment or the idea, but whether it should be elevated or underground in certain areas. I believe it is very much on and I haven't seen any concrete news anywhere that it has been scrapped.



Even if they were to start an AC local, there is really no ROI in an elevated line that is 6km long without extending beyond Bandra and Kurla. Ideally you would need an through connection to Mankhurd/NM in one direction and to either Charkop or SoBo in the other.

The discussion on this started when I said there is a metro line already connecting the two stations - Bandra and Kurla - via BKC. The presence of the metro obviates the need for the other and vice versa. I think the MMRDA is like 'andho main kaana raja' in this situation, and will deliver earlier. Also, I the alignment really should be underground, not elevated, so an IR elevated proposal is not what the doctor ordered I'm afraid.
+ 1

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_railway-dumps-metro-from-mumbai-corridor-plan_1723742

The railway ministry has goofed up while preparing the final dossier on the 62.26km Oval Maidan-Churchgate-Virar elevated railway corridor project worth Rs21,000 crore.

The Mumbai Metro rail that would intersect the Western Railway at Andheri as part of the project finds no mention in the “project information memorandum” issued on Wednesday. The matter had been extensively discussed at the local level and engineering solutions worked out, but the ministry did not mention any of these in the memorandum that explains the nitty-gritty through maps, engineering and route details, locations of stations and train timetable.

The ministry came up with the plan for a two-track elevated corridor above the existing Churchgate-Virar lines because additional tracks cannot be laid to increase the capacity of the Mumbai suburban railway. Air-conditioned trains will run on the proposed corridor that will also have underground stretches. It will terminate near Nariman Point at Oval Maidan.

The metro will run almost at the same height as that of the corridor. A source said there are plans to have the corridor above the metro route at Andheri. “But there is not a single mention of it,” he said.

Local railway officials were surprised at the omission but said a correction would have to be issued. Ranjan K Jain, the infrastructure advisor handling the project, could not be reached as he was in a meeting. Western Railway officials refused to come on record but said the matter would be looked into.

^^
:lol:
it is funny that they forgot metro keeping in mind just elevated corridor project..
but the heading of the news is even funny... they even dumped the metro project..man o man//:lol:

^^
DNA seems to have mastered the art of sensational titles and maintains its lead over other newspapers. Probably they have an internal competition rewarding the writer for the article with the most sensational title everyday. It doesn't matter if it has any relevance to the story in the main body.

^^
i remember when pier of freeway fall,which was said to be monorail's pier initially.
they titled the news as-"monorail dream ends before it starts" :lol:

New Jogeshwari station for harbour line extension

[IMG]http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/5723/20120804174718.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/9/20120804174718.jpg/)

New Jogeshwari station for harbour line extension

[/URL]

Oh !! I was wondering all these days why they constructing another platform right in front to Jogeshwari Station....

TOI (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/MRVC-to-make-presentation-on-high-speed-rail-corridor-project-to-railway-board/articleshow/15355730.cms?prtpage=1)
MRVC to make presentation on 'high speed rail corridor' project to railway board

MUMBAI: Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) will make presentation on ambitious Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST)-Panvel High speed elevated rail corridor project to Railway board next week.

The Board's approval at this stage is necessary for speedier implementation of the Rs 11,000 project aimed decongesting the existing harbour corridor. Besides, the link will establish rail connectivity between South Mumbai and proposed international airport in Navi Mumbai.

A senior MRVC official said, "Once we receive the nod of the board, a similar presentation will be made before the state government, which is willing to share cost of the project."

The project will be implemented through Public-Private Partnership Model on Design, Built, Finance Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis by a private entity.

The official said, "The contribution of the state government and railway in the project will be in the ratio of 50:50. The state government and the ministry of railway will have to contribute 10 per cent each. The concessionaire will have to bring in 60 per cent of the fund to execute and operate the corridor. There will be a Viability Gap Funding (VGF) of 20 per cent to make the project viable."

The board will take view on the recommendation of the consultant that the concessionaire be allowed to undertake commercial exploitation of land to fund the project.

The official sad, "We expect expect 66 per cent returns from fare on the basis of estimated that the system will carry 21000 Peak hour peak direction (PHPD) trips by 2019 and 39000 by 2031. The shortfall will be earned through commercial exploitation of land. We will also be able to earn a miniscule amount from non-fare portion like advertising, parking charge, etc."

IE (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/oval-maidanvirar-elevated-rail-corridor-gets-a-forward-push/984051/0)
Oval Maidan-Virar elevated rail corridor gets a forward push

Indian Railways’ plan to come up with an air-conditioned suburban local train service in Mumbai-where the non-AC suburban railway system is bursting at the seams-has taken a stride forward with the Railway Ministry coming up with the final contours of the Rs 21,000-crore Elevated Rail Corridor Project to link Oval Maidan and Virar.

To be executed through Public-Private Partnership mode on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis, the project envisages a 63.27-kilometre two-track corridor along the existing Churchgate-Virar section.

While 42.72 kilometres of this new corridor will be on elevated track, 8.04 kilometres will be underground and the remaining 12.52 at grade (ground level).

Space constraints and extremely limited possibilities of expanding the rail network at the ground level on the existing route in future have prompted the move to set up this corridor, 68 percent of which will be elevated, 20 percent at grade and 12 percent underground.

The entire stretch, with 26 stations (see box) will be designed for trains to run at an optimum speed of 100 kmph. In the long run, this corridor could be extended beyond Churchgate to go upto Nariman point or Mantralaya.

Railways estimate that around 1.7 million passengers would use the corridor in 2019-20. The Concessionaire executing the project (to be selected through competitive bidding) will have the freedom of setting the tariff.

The project that has been in the works for almost five years finally got the required push from Rail Bhavan with the ministry keen on having its own Metro to compete with the upcoming Mumbai Metro One-a joint venture of Reliance Infrastructure, Veolia Group and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

Indian Railways operates one of the most crowded and overloaded suburban railway systems in the world, that too, as a loss-making venture due to low ticket rates. For long, the ministry has been toying with the idea of introducing air-conditioned trains on suburban routes where better fare tariffs can contribute to revenue.

Of the 26 stations between Oval Maidan and Virar, five would be underground, 19 elevated and two at grade. The 8.04-kilometre stretch between Oval Maidan and Mahalaxmi would be underground. Between Mahalaxmi and Borivali, 25.22 kilometres would be elevated and 2.20 kilometres would be at grade. This 2.20 kilometre section north of Santacruz to north of Vile Parle station will be made at ground level because of height restrictions imposed by the Airports Authority of India.

In the Borivali-Virar section, 17.50 kilometres would be elevated while 10.31 kilometres would be at grade. In the alignment for this section, Railways have kept a provision for two future lines.

While the distance between stations would vary from 1 kilometre to 4.5 kilometres due to traffic and topographic reasons, the average spacing between these stations would be around 2.25 kilometres.

In the underground sections, the rail level will be around 15 metres below ground level. In the elevated sections, presence of 81 foot over bridges (FOBs) and 25 road over bridges (ROBs) has ensured the rail level will vary from 15-20 metres from road level. The plan is to run high quality, 3,660-mm wide air-conditioned coaches having features similar to other metros on this route.

The Railways plans to run services on this corridor for 19 hours a day (from 5 am to midnight). Trains will stop at each station for 30 seconds and will have a transport capacity of 90,000 passengers PHPDT (Peak Hour Peak Direction Traffic).

Railways also plan to set up emergency sidings on the corridor so that trains can be reversed in case of an emergency. A maintenance depot at a location north of Virar station and four construction depots at Mahalaxmi, Jogeshwari, Mira Road and Naigaon have also been planned.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Elevated-rail-corridor-may-run-up-to-Mantralaya-or-Nariman-Point/articleshow/15382463.cms

MUMBAI: The Indian Railways' move to service the ever-growing commuters of this megapolis by running an Oval Maidan-Virar elevated rail corridor may get a further push, as it is now planning to extend it to either Mantralaya or Nariman Point. The railways has set a deadline of March 2013 for finalizing the bidder for the Rs 21,000-crore project and will also integrate Oval Maidan station with Metro's stop at Hutatma Chowk for providing better connectivity.

A project information memorandum along with the request for qualification document for the 62.27-km Oval Maidan-Virar elevated rail corridor has proposed extending it up to the premier business district Nariman Point or the seat of power at Mantralaya to serve thousands of people who come here daily for work.

"Nariman Point is a big catchment area as thousands of people now have to depend on road transport to reach Churchgate or CST station. Although the cost of building underground network beyond Oval Maidan can be enormous, the benefits are huge because of lack of mass transit facility in this part of South Mumbai. It will attract commuters travelling short as well as long distance on this corridor," a Western Railway official said.

A final decision on extending the corridor to Nariman Point or Mantralaya will be taken after a technical and financial feasibility study is done.

"The study will identify the route, the length of extension and location of the proposed station. The elevated option will have to be ruled out because land acquisition is improbable due to real estate prices. Besides, presence of property with heritage value around the proposed corridor limits the option only to underground," a senior railway official said.

"As of now, the board has cleared the project between Oval Maidan and Virar. The call to extend the elevated rail corridor up to Nariman Point or Mantralaya can be taken at a later stage also," the official said.

Currently, the proposed corridor will be underground between Oval Maidan and Mahalaxmi-a distance of around 8km or 12%-and will be at an elevated level for almost 43km or 68%. The rest of the distance-around 12km or 20%-will be at grade or ground level along the existing tracks between Santa Cruz to Vile Parle, Dahisar to Mira Road, Bhayander to Vasai and at Virar, where the service will terminated.

There will be an inter-change connectivity with Colaba-Bandra Metro, which will be between Hutatma Chowk station for Metro and Oval Maidan for the elevated rail. The Metro will run via CST, Chandanwadi, Mumbai Central and Mahalaxmi.

"Due to integration of Hutatma Chowk station of Metro with Oval Maidan, commuters can use a combination of these two or other transport system to move in this part of South Mumbai that boasts of top commercial establishments, the high court and Mantralaya," the official said.

Of the 26 stations, five will be underground, 19 elevated and two at grade level. There will be no stations at Marine Lines, Grant Road and Vile Parle. The underground stations for double-line route have been planned around island platforms, while all elevated and ground level stations will have side platforms.

Mumbai: Soon, hop on to pod cars for the airport

Mumbai: Your usually frantic and anxious trips to the airport to catch flights could soon be things of the past. If the MSRDC’s plans bear fruit, you may soon find yourself cruising in state-of-the-art pod cars moving on raised platforms, high above busy roads and congested highways. These pod cars, which will connect airports to adjacent areas, is the second such venture in the country — the other is under construction in Amritsar.
The pod car system — known formally as Personal Rapid Transit System (PRTS) — is a new-age mode of public transportation designed for swift travel in congested areas. The operation of the pod car network will be similar to that of traditional rail and streetcar networks, moving on raised tracks. A single pod car has a capacity of four to six persons at a time. The pod car project is in the initial stages of planning, and more developments are expected to take place over the next month.
Speaking to MiD DAY, MSRDC chief engineer S Nandargikar said, “We are keen on implementing the PRTS pod car project connecting the airport to nearby areas. At present, passengers on their way to the airport to catch flights often get stuck in traffic. In order to provide them a hassle-free and speedy journey, we are planning to come up with this project in the airport area.”

http://static.ibnlive.in.com/ibnlive/pix/sitepix/08_2012/pod-car630.jpg
The venture is also expected to help authorities save on time and money. “The implementation of the PRTS project needs less money compared to the monorail projects. The best benefit is the fact that it occupies much less space for construction and can pass through congested areas as well.”
If the project is received well by commuters, MSRDC may implement it at other spots in the city, like Churchgate, CST etc. At present, the pod car system is operational at the Heathrow airport as well as at Masdar City in Abu Dhabi.

source-- http://ibnlive.in.com/news/mumbai-soon-hop-on-to-pod-cars-for-the-airport/279695-3-237.html

Central Railway breathes life into dud locos

DNA / Rajendra Aklekar / Monday, August 6, 2012 8:51 IST


In a unique rail project, the Central Railway is giving a second lease of life to as many as 15 metre-gauge diesel locomotives by converting them to broad-gauge locomotives at Parel workshop in the city. “The 15 YDM-4 class locomotives that once ran on metre-gauge tracks will be converted into WDS-6 class engines for use on the main lines of Mumbai, Pune and other divisions of the Central Railway (CR),” a senior official said.

“A number of old lines that used to metre gauge are now slowly being converted into broad gauge, leaving these locomotives obsolete. The best way would be convert them into main line ones and the Parel workshop has the expertise to get this done,’’ he added.

Established in 1879 for servicing steam locomotives, the Parel workshop has over the years diversified into a workshop carrying out different activities, including diesel loco maintenance etc. In a historic step, the Parel workshop began manufacturing locos in March 2007 and sent the Mumbai-made locomotives to a number of public bodies across the country, including Tata Steel and the Bokaro steel plant and also our very own the Neral Matheran Railway.

The YDM-class locos were originally built from American Loco Company (Alco) between 1961 and 1964 and later made by Diesel Locomotive Works. A number of them were also exported to countries like Tanzania and Vietnam.

Since the time the railway board assigned the conversion job (30 locos) to Parel workshop, the latter has converted and tested a few of them as part of a pilot. “Following their success, we are now converting 15 more. This is also a money-saving measure as a new loco costs about Rs6 crore and converting the smaller ones into new ones costs Rs2.5 crore only,” CR spokesperson Ashok Singh said.


URL of the article: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_central-railway-breathes-life-into-dud-locos_1724417-all

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/mumbai-5-underground-stations-in-elevated-rail-corridor/279266-3-237.html
Mumbai: 5 underground stations in 'elevated' rail corridor

Mumbai: It’s official — the planned Virar-Oval Maidan elevated rail corridor will have 26 stations, stretching along 62.26 km, and dipping underground for five stations between Oval Maidan and Mahalaxmi. There will be no stations for Marine Lines and Grant Road on the stretch. According to the detailed project information prepared by the Railway Ministry for this Rs 21,000 crore project, five stations would go underground between the starting point and Mahalaxmi. 19 stations would be elevated, while two would be at ground level on the Mahalaxmi-Virar stretch.

Till recently, there was some uncertainty about the alignment of the proposed new line, which will host air-conditioned local trains. Railways authorities were known to be locked in a tussle with the state government over land acquisition between Mahalaxmi and Churchgate. “Due to several buildings flanking stations on Grant Road and Charni Road, the railways have decided to go underground on this stretch,” said a railway official on condition of anonymity.

While underground stations will be flanked on both sides by the rail lines, the elevated stations will be located on the side of the platforms, which will be separated by the tracks. Due to height restrictions imposed by the Airports Authority, the stations will be at ground level on the Santacruz-Vile Parle stretch.

It's official - the planned Virar-Oval Maidan elevated rail corridor will have 26 stations.
The average distance between stations would be around 2.25 km. In the underground sections, the rails will be placed about 15 metres below ground level, and in the elevated section could rise to nearly 20 metres, crossing 81 foot over-bridges (FOBs) and 25 road over-bridges (ROBs). The trains, running at a top speed of 100 kph, are expected to carry 90,000 passengers every hour in each direction.

Other details about the implementation of the project will be revealed on August 16, when railway authorities are expected to receive queries from prospective bidders. “The details have been framed by the rail ministry and the Planning Commission,” said a WR official. Surprisingly, interested developers have been asked to submit a demand draft worth Rs 10 lakh to the rail ministry. The project is expected to be awarded to the chosen developer by March 2013.

CR to increase the height of Sandhurst Road overbridge

More than a century old, the Hancock rail over bridge (ROB) near Sandhurst road station will be raised to complete the ambitious DC-AC conversion project on the main line of the Central railway. As part of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP), Central railway (CR) is switching from 1,500V direct current to 25,000V alternate current. Work will be completed between Kalyan and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus by the end of this year.

CR sources said that with the DC-AC conversion, suburban trains would able to run at 100kmph, up from the current 80kmph.

There will also be more power in OHE (overhead equipment) for running more trains. A lot of power could be saved with the new regenerative breaking system, CR authorities have identified three structures that were proving to be obstacles in the project. One of these is the Hancock Bridge at Mazgaon.

CR has also identified two British-era foot overbridges (FOB) — one at the Kalyan end of Matunga station and another at Kasaiwada near Kurla station as hinderances to the project.

“The height of Hancock bridge and the other FOBs will be raised to 4.87 metres to meet the safety standards of AC tractions,” said a CR spokesperson. Built in 1879, Hancock is one of the oldest ROBs in the city. “The work is expected to be completed in three months time at the estimated cost of Rs2.75 crore,” said a railway official.

[/B]http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Elevated-rail-corridor-stations-will-have-shops-and-offices/Article1-910047.aspx

Ever wonder why railway stations in Mumbai are not commercially developed or have office complexes like the ones in Navi Mumbai? Then you may feel better with the Western Railway’s (WR) plans.

The WR has planned a 63.27km-long Oval Maidan–Virar railway corridor with as many as 26 new railway stations, of which at least 19 are likely to be in Mumbai. Some of these stations will be turned into station-cum-commercial complexes, which would help the private developer recover part of the cost incurred on building the elevated railway corridor. The details, however, are being worked out, say officials.
Sharat Chandrayan, chief public officer, WR, said, “The concessionaire [private developer] has been allowed to commercially develop the station premises. The project is in the primary bidding stage, in which the bidders will be shortlisted. In the next stage the bidding will be finalised, which is likely to be by May 2013.”

For this, the railways will need more floor space index (buildable area) from the state government. “The cost of the corridor will be Rs21,000 crore, most of which is expected to be spent by the private developer who would recover majority of the money through sale/lease of commercial space of new railway stations and ticket sales,” said an official.

However, travel in the air-conditioned train is likely to come at a high price, as the concessionaire will have the freedom of setting the tariff. “The developer will have to take the railway’s approval before charging the tariff, but we will not have any control as such,” said a senior WR official requesting anonymity.

According to the project information memorandum issued by the Indian Railway for the project, five stations on the 8.04km Oval Maidan-Mahalaxmi stretch will be underground. The remaining will be elevated, except Santacruz, Vile Parle, Naigaon and Vasai, which will be at ground level.

Of the remaining 21 stations, 14 will be between Mahalaxmi to Borivli, and seven will come up between Borivli and Virar.

According to railway officials, the new stations will be built adjacent to existing ones with interconnectivity provided between both the stations. The new stations are likely to come up near Churchgate, Charni Road, Mumbai Central, Mahalaxmi, Lower Parel, Elphinstone Road, Dadar, Matunga Road, Mahim Junction, Bandra, Santacruz, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Goregaon, Malad, Kandivli, Borivli, Dahisar, Bhayandar, Naigaon, Vasai Road, Nalasopara, Mira Road and Virar.

The average distance between stations would be 2.25km, but the inter-distance between two stations could vary from 1km to 4.5km depending on the traffic.

TOI (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Citizens-praise-experts-criticize-railway-plan/articleshow/15382444.cms)
Citizens praise, experts criticize railway plan

MUMBAI: The railways' plan to extend the elevated rail corridor up to Mantralaya or Nariman Point evoked mixed reactions with residents and commuters demanding faster implementation of the project so that it will solve their transportation woes, while experts questioned its feasibility.

"It is a great idea and the railways should try to extend it up to Jamanlal Bajaj Marg. It will benefit lakhs of people who come here," Nariman Point Association secretary Ernest John said.

He said there are 32 buildings in Nariman Point from which hundreds of commercial establishments operations employing thousands of people and the move would benefit all those commuters who come here on a daily basis.

"The project if planned in a proper manner is good. It will help decongest the roads, as many people will prefer to use the train service from Nariman Point," Nariman Point-Churchgate Citizens' Association president Swarn Kohli said.

Most of the commuters believe that if the elevated rail corridor is extended, it will ease their commuting burden. "Commuting is a nightmare. There is no space to park vehicles. The only option is to travel by BEST bus to CST or Churchgate. Though the frequency is good, it is inadequate because buses are finding it difficult to handle the ever-increasing load of passengers," Suresh Mehra, who works at Nariman Point, said.

Some said they do not find transport from the premier business district for short routes. "Usually, it is tough to find a taxi that is willing to travel short distance. Even if I travel up to Churchgate by non-AC train, I will be willing to board an AC train on the elevated rail corridor up to Nariman Point. I am sure it will cheaper and faster," Swati Naik, a Borivli resident, said.

But experts were of a different opinion and felt that it would be expensive and time consuming. "Rather than wasting resources on such projects, the authorities should try to encourage system like Bus Rapid Transport System ( BRTS)," Sudhir Badami, a transportation expert, said.

Another expert Ashok Datar was of the view that the distance from Nariman Point or Mantralaya to Churchgate was not far and people could walk it down. "There is no need to spend such large sums on extension of this project. Instead, railways should think of connecting Churchgate to CST," he said.

HT (http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Elevated-rail-corridor-stations-will-have-shops-and-offices/Article1-910047.aspx)
Elevated rail corridor stations will have shops and offices

Ever wonder why railway stations in Mumbai are not commercially developed or have office complexes like the ones in Navi Mumbai? Then you may feel better with the Western Railway’s (WR) plans.

The WR has planned a 63.27km-long Oval Maidan–Virar railway corridor with as many as 26 new railway stations, of which at least 19 are likely to be in Mumbai. Some of these stations will be turned into station-cum-commercial complexes, which would help the private developer recover part of the cost incurred on building the elevated railway corridor. The details, however, are being worked out, say officials.

Sharat Chandrayan, chief public officer, WR, said, “The concessionaire [private developer] has been allowed to commercially develop the station premises. The project is in the primary bidding stage, in which the bidders will be shortlisted. In the next stage the bidding will be finalised, which is likely to be by May 2013.”

For this, the railways will need more floor space index (buildable area) from the state government. “The cost of the corridor will be Rs21,000 crore, most of which is expected to be spent by the private developer who would recover majority of the money through sale/lease of commercial space of new railway stations and ticket sales,” said an official.

However, travel in the air-conditioned train is likely to come at a high price, as the concessionaire will have the freedom of setting the tariff. “The developer will have to take the railway’s approval before charging the tariff, but we will not have any control as such,” said a senior WR official requesting anonymity.

According to the project information memorandum issued by the Indian Railway for the project, five stations on the 8.04km Oval Maidan-Mahalaxmi stretch will be underground. The remaining will be elevated, except Santacruz, Vile Parle, Naigaon and Vasai, which will be at ground level.

Of the remaining 21 stations, 14 will be between Mahalaxmi to Borivli, and seven will come up between Borivli and Virar.

According to railway officials, the new stations will be built adjacent to existing ones with interconnectivity provided between both the stations. The new stations are likely to come up near Churchgate, Charni Road, Mumbai Central, Mahalaxmi, Lower Parel, Elphinstone Road, Dadar, Matunga Road, Mahim Junction, Bandra, Santacruz, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Goregaon, Malad, Kandivli, Borivli, Dahisar, Bhayandar, Naigaon, Vasai Road, Nalasopara, Mira Road and Virar.

The average distance between stations would be 2.25km, but the inter-distance between two stations could vary from 1km to 4.5km depending on the traffic.

Now for the negative part . Even before it begins . Looks like we are in for a lot of wrangling

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Elevated-rail-corridor-stations-will-have-shops-and-offices/Article1-910047.aspx

Concerned about the effect that the underground portion of the air-conditioned Oval Maidan-Virar rail corridor would have on the existing structures, residents of Oval Maidan area want the authorities to share the plan with them before starting the project.

The residents will be writing to


railway authorities concerned asking them to share project plan and the duration of the project. “The locals should be taken into confidence before execution of such a major project. Care should be taken that while constructing underground infrastructure, other structures above ground level are not affected,” said Ashad Mehta, president, Oval Cooperage Residents Association.
Citizens said the Oval Maidan shouldn’t be affected by the project. “Any physical intervention in the existing Oval Maidan structure will not be supported by the residents. We would like to participate in the planning and execution of the project,” said Nayana Kathpalia, trustee of OVAL Trust.

Residents also demanded clarity on the duration of the project. “The railways should inform us about the time they will need for completing the project and ensure that is ready by the deadline,”said Nilesh Baxi, Society for Improvement, Greenery and Nature.

HT (http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Locals-want-info-on-underground-stations/Article1-910048.aspx)
Locals want info on underground stations

Concerned about the effect that the underground portion of the air-conditioned Oval Maidan-Virar rail corridor would have on the existing structures, residents of Oval Maidan area want the authorities to share the plan with them before starting the project.

The residents will be writing to railway authorities concerned asking them to share project plan and the duration of the project. “The locals should be taken into confidence before execution of such a major project. Care should be taken that while constructing underground infrastructure, other structures above ground level are not affected,” said Ashad Mehta, president, Oval Cooperage Residents Association.

Citizens said the Oval Maidan shouldn’t be affected by the project. “Any physical intervention in the existing Oval Maidan structure will not be supported by the residents. We would like to participate in the planning and execution of the project,” said Nayana Kathpalia, trustee of OVAL Trust.

Residents also demanded clarity on the duration of the project. “The railways should inform us about the time they will need for completing the project and ensure that is ready by the deadline,”said Nilesh Baxi, Society for Improvement, Greenery and Nature.

Metro line 3 is also expeted to connect CST to Chruchgate.

There should not be any duplication, or am i missing something

Metro line 3 is also expeted to connect CST to Chruchgate.

There should not be any duplication, or am i missing something

Actually this line will terminate at either Oval or beyond . It wont have any connection with CST. For people wanting to travel to Churchgate or Nariman point from CST which means basically people coming in to town through the Central or Harbour lines they will be using the metro

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_steel-bird-cage-ready-to-bridge-mumbra-creek_1725183

Here’s some good news. The tunnels are being made, the Thane bridge is nearly ready and now, the huge “bird-cage” steel structure of the Mumbra creek bridge is complete. The two new lines that are being built between Kurla and Kalyan will give Mumbai a dedicated four-track suburban railway corridor for the first time that will boost local train services on Central Railway (CR).

Called so as they resemble a huge bird cage, the structures are being prepared 250-km away at the Manmad workshop of CR, only to be later transported by road to Mumbra, where they will be assembled. The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) has now called for proposals to transport and ferry these bridges and put them up on the lines at the site.

The railway lines between Kurla and Thane are complete and being extended to Kalyan between the Diva and Kalyan. For this, tunnels had to be dug out under the Parsik Hill, and two bridges — over the Thane and Mumbra creeks — had to be built.
“While work on the tunnels and the Thane bridge are progressing, the steel structure of Mumbra creek bridge is ready. Of the two structures needed, one is ready while the other is on the verge of completion,” he said.

This will not only increase railway services, but will also eliminate the existing complex network where the suburban and outstation trains run on the same lines. “Because of the large number of suburban services in the city, the Indian Railways has also limited the number of outstation trains entering Mumbai. Once we have two separate lines, Mumbai will be better connected by rail to all parts of the country,” a senior official said.

The four exclusive lines for suburban trains will boost CR’s suburban services in a historic manner as there will not be any interference from outstation mail, express and goods trains.

Actually this line will terminate at either Oval or beyond . It wont have any connection with CST. For people wanting to travel to Churchgate or Nariman point from CST which means basically people coming in to town through the Central or Harbour lines they will be using the metro

they can introduce flat rate hop on hop off bus service between cst-churchgate :cheers:

they can introduce flat rate hop on hop off bus service between cst-churchgate :cheers:

There already is a bus service which offers a flat rate of Rs 5/15 in ordinary/AC bus which travels between CST,Fort,Regal,Nariman point,Churchgate

^^

Are you talking about that fort ferry??

Those buses are awesome from connectivity point of view

^^

Are you talking about that fort ferry??

Those buses are awesome from connectivity point of view

Yes,fort ferry 1 &FF 2. The 2 AC buses which runs on same route in the afternoon also runs well. Similar services has been started in other parts of city called BKC 1,BKC 2 & JVPD 1 & JVPD 2

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_steel-bird-cage-ready-to-bridge-mumbra-creek_1725183

Fantastic News. Trains headed for Konkan line, and shunted at Thane, can stay on those 2 lines itself before parting ways with the main line between Diva and Dombivali. :banana:

And incoming Out-station Trains can remain on 5th and 6th line between Kalyan and Kurla LTT. Now with the new Facility also open at LTT and SCLR nearing Completion, time to make LTT the mainstay of CR Express Network.

Yes,fort ferry 1 &FF 2. The 2 AC buses which runs on same route in the afternoon also runs well. Similar services has been started in other parts of city called BKC 1,BKC 2 & JVPD 1 & JVPD 2

So they circle BKC and JVPD?? if so then infact its good and cheap compared to taxis

JVPD?? Is it for the more commercial eastern part (Mithibai etc) or does it circle around residential areas of the west? Or it goes around Juhu aerodrome to Juhu beach. I doubt if it would have any patronage for the more upmarket residential areas of western side of JVPD or even Road No 10.

No,it doesnt go anywhere near the upmarket JVPD colony. It starts from Andheri station goes under barfiwala flyover towards JVPD bus stop, right towards Indianoil jn.,takes a right again towards Andhdri station. One goes clockwise and vice versa. For Juhu Beach and for commercial centers on Juhu tara road there is a dedicated bus service from Santacruz station

^^ Figured it out. It is from Andheri station. Makes sense.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-06-28/mumbai/32456277_1_bus-routes-circular-route-ac-bus

DNA
Steel ‘bird-cage’ ready to bridge Mumbra creek

Here’s some good news. The tunnels are being made, the Thane bridge is nearly ready and now, the huge “bird-cage” steel structure of the Mumbra creek bridge is complete. The two new lines that are being built between Kurla and Kalyan will give Mumbai a dedicated four-track suburban railway corridor for the first time that will boost local train services on Central Railway (CR).

Called so as they resemble a huge bird cage, the structures are being prepared 250-km away at the Manmad workshop of CR, only to be later transported by road to Mumbra, where they will be assembled. The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) has now called for proposals to transport and ferry these bridges and put them up on the lines at the site.

The railway lines between Kurla and Thane are complete and being extended to Kalyan between the Diva and Kalyan. For this, tunnels had to be dug out under the Parsik Hill, and two bridges — over the Thane and Mumbra creeks — had to be built.
“While work on the tunnels and the Thane bridge are progressing, the steel structure of Mumbra creek bridge is ready. Of the two structures needed, one is ready while the other is on the verge of completion,” he said.

This will not only increase railway services, but will also eliminate the existing complex network where the suburban and outstation trains run on the same lines. “Because of the large number of suburban services in the city, the Indian Railways has also limited the number of outstation trains entering Mumbai. Once we have two separate lines, Mumbai will be better connected by rail to all parts of the country,” a senior official said.

The four exclusive lines for suburban trains will boost CR’s suburban services in a historic manner as there will not be any interference from outstation mail, express and goods trains.

source: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_harbour-line-starts-spade-work-for-12-car-trains_1726154

Plans to convert all nine-car trains on harbour line to 12-car ones is slowly materialising.

The railways this week began the process to extend platforms on the Western Railway between Mahim and Bandra.

The platforms on stations between Mahim, Bandra, Khar and Santa Cruz would be converted into longer ones at a cost of Rs1,320 lakh. The conversion of Mahim station alone would cost Rs863 lakh.

A total of Rs5 crore has been allocated in this year’s railway budget for conversion of nine-car trains to 12-car ones on the harbour line. The project, being executed by the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation, will extend the platforms from nine-coach length (about 190m to 200m) to 12-coach (about 265m to 270m). The ground work and planning to convert seven stations from Mankhurd to Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar stations for the project’s first phase have begun.

Twelve-car trains on the entire harbour line stretch from Panvel to Mumbai CST should be a reality by 2014-5.

The work primarily involves extension of platforms, related civil works, track work and electrification. There is an urgent need to ply 12-car trains on the harbour line as the number of commuters has grown rapidly after the formation of Navi Mumbai and the shifting of the city’s wholesale market there.

Churchgate-Virar corridor: Land acquisition poses problems [/B]

The state government is getting a bit cagey with the amount of land that needs to be acquired for the multi-billion dollar elevated railway corridor being planned between Churchgate and Virar. Of the 91 hectares that will need to be acquired for the project, around 76 hectares are private ownership land. While 65 hectares of this private land would be required for just one bit of the projecta massive depot north of Virar - which the railways are fairly confident that they might be able to rustle from somewhere, sources said the state government is still a bit apprehensive of the other 11-odd hectares.
While 11 out of 76 hectares look comforting, the ground fact, sources said, is that these 11 hectares encompass over 100 buildings, most of them touching the railway territory and therefore on prime land. According to officials, the state government has asked the railways if the land requirement for the project can be scaled down. "Everyone knows that in this city, acquiring private land is often the most difficult part of any project as a large number of long-pending infrastructure projects will testify. The 5th and 6th line between Kurla and Thane was delayed for over half a decade because some buildings had to be removed and people rehabilitated near Ghatkopar," a senior railway official said. On Saturday, the state government made its first 'route visit' for the multi-billion dollar Churchgate-Virar elevated railway corridor with chief secretary JK Banthia accompanying Western Railway general manager Mahesh Kumar in a special tower-cuminspection wagon which travelled between the two terminal stations. The visit by Banthia was arranged after Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan- one of the prime backers of the mega project- asked for a finer explanation of the project following a full-scale presentation made by WR officials led by Kumar on Friday.
The files of the project, having been cleared by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the railway ministry- which has even called in Request for Qualification proposals inviting firms to show if they had the expertise for the project- are now with the chief minister's office.

Indian Railways’ Mumbai elevated rail corridor on track (http://www.rail.co/2012/08/16/indian-railways-mumbai-elevated-rail-corridor-on-track/)

Indian Railways is to introduce a new air-conditioned suburban train service in Mumbai to boost capacity on the over-exhausted western suburban railway service.
The new $4 billion 63.27 km elevated rail corridor linking Oval Maidan, South Mumbai, and Virar – the northern most railway station of Mumbai Suburban Railway – will have two-track corridor along the existing Churchgate-Virar section, which is operated by the Western Railway (WR) Zone of Indian Railways.
Out of the 62.27 km corridor, 42.72 km route will be on elevated track, 8.04 km will be underground and the remaining 12.52 at grade (ground level).
It will have with 26 stations, which have been designed for trains to run at an optimum speed of 100 kmph.
Out of 26 stations, five stations would be underground, 19 stations will be elevated and two stations will be at grade. In the underground sections, the rail level will be around 15 metres below ground level.
The project has received personal attention of the prime minister office (PMO), who said: “Mumbai elevated rail corridor project which is the most advanced stage. The technical feasibility study has already been conducted and concessionaire shall be finalized by March 15, 2013.”
“The project will be implemented on a public private partnership (PPP) mode on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis and the draft state support agreement has been agreed to between the government of Maharashtra and the Railways Ministry,” a Western Railway official said.
As per Indian Railways estimate, around 1.7 million passengers would use the corridor, when it opens 2019-20. It plans to run 19 hours services daily from 5am till late night and expects the trains will carry 90,000 people.
The Ministry of Railways has constituted a project steering group to monitor the implementation of the project including finalising the documentation, overseeing the bidding process, and awarding the contract in a timely manner.

http://www.business-standard.com/generalnews/news/proposal-to-declare-matheran-railwayheritage-list-in-limbo/43436/
Proposal to declare Matheran railway on heritage list in limbo

Press Trust of India / Mumbai August 13, 2012 04:07 IST

Centre's proposal to UNESCO to confer heritage status on the 105-year-old Matheran toy train railway is mired in controversy with the descendants of its founder Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy moving the Bombay High Court to rename the railway after him.

The Court has expedited the hearing of the petition although it has not come up for arguments, Ali Akbar Adamjee Peerbhoy, the petitioner and great grandson of the founder of Matheran railway, said on the occasion of 167th birth anniversary of Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy falling Monday.

The petition has argued that despite the recommendation of Maharashtra Government to rename Matheran Railway station after its founder, the Central Government has rejected the proposal without applying its mind on the issue.

Justice D D Sinha and Justice V K Tahilramani, while declining to grant interim relief, recently ordered that the petition's hearing be expedited so that it is finally decided.

In 2010, the Peerbhoy family had also written to UNESCO, who said the matter was within the purview of the Indian Government and it would forward their request to the concerned authorities to rename the Matheran railway after its founder.

Meanwhile, president of Matheran Municipal Council Ajay Sawant recently assured the Peerbhoy family that the civic body will honour Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy and his son Abdul Hussain Peerbhoy by exhibiting their photographs in the gallery of distinguished persons, who have strived for Matheran's development.

Long ago, when the palanquin was the only mode of transport from Neral on the foothills of Matheran to the hill top, Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy and his son Abdul Hussain Adamji had set up a railway at a cost of Rs 16 lakh in 1907. Four engines and accessories including the tiny tracks were imported from Germany to lay down the railway.

After Independence, the department of Railways took over Matheran railway from the Peerbhoy family and promised to pay royalty to them. However, the amount still remains unpaid, the family has claimed in a separate petition which is yet to come up for hearing. They have claimed Rs 100 crore from the Indian Government. (MORE)

Inside Bandra station...This can be done in every station, I guess every station has something unique in its part

[IMG]http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/7749/66234337.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/546/66234337.jpg/)

[IMG]http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/6633/66234339.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/269/66234339.jpg/)

Inside Bandra station...This can be done in every station, I guess every station has something unique in its part

[/URL]

[/URL][/IMG][/IMG]

THe way its presented looks cheap.

Seawoods project....
count the number of workers in the pic

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/5381/20120822151009.jpg

Nw count the number if JCBs
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/8273/20120822151019.jpg

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/2838/20120822151126.jpg

^^
workers= 116
jcbs = 9

You are seriously infra despo ;). Anyways this is one side,there is happenin on other side of station too which has just started

ofcouse m serious it took 5minutes to count :lol: .. i can see this is just one side and can imagine what is going on other sides..are they trying to create some record??
and what about your metro updates??

btw very nice pics.. :cheers:

ofcouse m serious it took 5minutes to count :lol: .. i can see this is just one side and can imagine what is going on other sides..are they trying to create some record??
and what about your metro updates??

They are L&T,they dont like to work slow :).

Regarding metro all the work is now happenin on top,from below there nothin much to see. I am waitin for them to start work on roof of stations,the skeleton work is in progress nw. They have taken inspiration from L&T, workers have been workin startin at 7 in the mornin

Seawoods station looks huge :cheers:

huge...site thanks

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_churchgate-to-cst-circular-railway-plan-gets-boost_1731533

Some discussion for free Chai Biskoot for our Babus after a long weekend full of food , booze and feasting

Churchgate to CST circular railway plan gets boost


The city’s proposed circular arc railway plan to connect CST and Churchgate with rail got a probable push on Wednesday when the railways and the state government representatives came together to understand the “plan of decongesting South Mumbai using a network of elevated and underground tracks.

The technical study of the master plan developed by city-based engineer Ketan Goradia has been approved by the railway board, which has asked the local railways to look into its feasibility. Earlier in April, DNA had reported how this plan, which was once approved by railway minister Dinesh Trivedi, was lost in red-tape after his removal from the post by Mamata Banerjee.

Goradia has proposed an arc network to connect the Western Railway (WR) with the Central Railway (CR) to increase access to south Mumbai, apart from eventually creating two dedicated fast tracks—one running clockwise and the other anti-clockwise—between Virar and Kalyan .

“After the railway board chairman in early August asked the local railways to look into the arc network plan’s feasibility, we along with urban development joint secretary Suresh Kakani met CR general manager Subodh Jain at Mumbai CST on the matter,” Goradia said. Also, Kakani confirmed that the meeting was “about understanding the plan proposed by the railways”. The arc network help commuters get from Churchgate to areas like Ballard Pier or Fort, closer to Masjid Bunder.

Besides the CST-Churchgate connectivity, the plan includes a circular railway plan on the Harbour line too. Another suggestion in the master plan is to have platforms with fast and slow trains in the same direction parking on the two sides of an island platform.

Tocost about Rs3,000 crore, the project will augment the capacity expected out of the ambitious Rs40,000-crore elevated railways project. “While the elevated railway will take 10 years to be implemented, the arc network projectcan be completed within two years, thus increasing capacity from the present 70 lakh to 1.2 crore passengers a day,’’ added Goradia.

source (http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_churchgate-to-cst-circular-railway-plan-gets-boost_1731533)

HT (http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Elevated-rail-corridor-gets-green-light-from-developers/Article1-918479.aspx)
Elevated rail corridor gets green light from developers

In a development that augurs well for city’s commuters, a meeting called by railway authorities to discuss the proposed Churchgate-Virar elevated corridor received warm response from prospective developers.

More than 20 companies, including some infrastructure giants, participated in the meeting to discuss the project, which is expected to ease the strain on the congested suburban rail network.

“The road-show was mainly to explain requirements for the project to prospective bidders and to understand their suggestions before bidding takes place,” said Sharat Chandrayan, CPRO of Western Railway.

Infrastructure giants including Reliance infrastructure, Gammon, IL&FS, Essar, GMR and some others have shown interest in elevated corridor project, estimated to be worth Rs. 21,000 crore.

In Thursday’s meeting, representatives of the companies put out a wish list before the railway authorities.

On the list is a floor space index (FSI) of four, a fixed power tariff the way it is for Railways, help with environment and civic clearances, clarity on security management, soft loans and help with land acquisition.

A railway official said that the prospective bidders were told that little commercial development will be permitted at stations, as station access routes are already congested. Instead, commercial development will be permitted at eight open plots at Mumbai Central, Mahalaxmi, Jogeshwari, Lower Parel, Bandra, Santacruz, Andheri and Borivli.

The companies have also asked the Railways to acquire private land, which works out to around five% of total land required for the project.

They even expect the Railways to secure all environment and civic clearances.

“We have informed [the companies] that the Railways have signed a state support agreement with the Maharashtra government to address such issues,” the rail official added.

A representative of one of the companies told HT that the issue of security was raised in the meeting. Some prospective bidders asked the Railways to clarify if the developers will have to rope in private security, or if it would be managed by railway authorities.

Elevated railway link: Use of space above stations 'not advisable'
MUMBAI: The railway board is not keen to allow commercial use of space above the stations to generate funds for the implementation of the elevated rail corridor between south Mumbai and Virar.

A 'road show' to discuss the project's details was held in Mumbai in which representatives of various firms were invited. The interested parties were briefed on the plan's salient features, which is likely to be completed before 2019.

"The road show is important to get feedback from the interested parties before the finalization of bid documents," a senior railway official said.

According to the railways, construction of offices above stations is "not advisable".

HT (http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/15-car-trains-on-CR-from-mid-october/Article1-918486.aspx)

15-car trains on CR from mid-october


The much-awaited 15-car Central Railway (CR) suburban trains will be rolled out by mid-October, the new divisional railway manager (DRM) for Mumbai Mukesh Nigam said on Thursday.

“The introduction of the 15-coach train is important in order to ease commuters’ travelling woes. Our work involves platform extension, shifting of the signal and overhead lines, which we have undertaken on priority, and we will ensure the work is completed within the scheduled time,” said Nigam, an Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) 1984 batch officer who took charge of the Mumbai division in the first week of August.

Other than ensuring comfortable train travel to suburban commuters, Nigam’s focus is on improving infrastructure and passenger amenities.

“Punctuality in train operations remains our priority, but so is cleanliness at stations, construction of more foot-over-bridges (FoBs) and toilets. The commissioning of more FoBs is also top priority in order to dissuade commuters from crossing tracks,” Nigam said.

HT (http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/15-car-trains-on-CR-from-mid-october/Article1-918486.aspx)

15-car trains on CR from mid-october


The much-awaited 15-car Central Railway (CR) suburban trains will be rolled out by mid-October, the new divisional railway manager (DRM) for Mumbai Mukesh Nigam said on Thursday.

“The introduction of the 15-coach train is important in order to ease commuters’ travelling woes. Our work involves platform extension, shifting of the signal and overhead lines, which we have undertaken on priority, and we will ensure the work is completed within the scheduled time,”


WOW...and in my childhood days, I used to think a nine car train was a long one..
Wouldn't a 15 car local span the distance between grant road and mumbai central? :lol:

WOW...and in my childhood days, I used to think a nine car train was a long one..
Wouldn't a 15 car local span the distance between grant road and mumbai central? :lol:

Thats why WRs 15 car rake doesnt stop at mumbai central . From churchgate it halts directly at Dadar in 10 mins and reaches Mira road in 45 mins,the speed it achieves between andheri and borivali is awesone

Western Railway's elevated corridor takes off
DNA / Rajendra B Aklekar / Friday, August 24, 2012 9:00 IST


There is some good news for rail commuters in the Western Line. Finally, the work on the ambitious Rs21,000 crore Churchgate-Virar elevated corridor project, the biggest rail project in the city’s history, began on Thursday with its first-ever “road-show meet” held at Churchgate station to discuss the working and logistics of the project.

Sources said among the prominent infrastructure companies that turned up for the first meet include Reliance Infrastructure, Essar, GMR, SREI, Gammon, IL&FS and Feedback Infra.

Various logistics issues like therate at which the power be supplied to the elevated corridor, offering an additional floor space index of 4 and running of trains were discussed at the meeting, which was chaired by railway board advisor (infrastructure) Ranjan Jain.

Since there are limitations in laying of additional tracks to boost capacity of Mumbai’s suburban railway, the ministry of railways has proposed a two-track elevated corridor running above the existing Churchgate-Virar railway lines that will run air-conditioned trains. The proposed corridor is expected to terminate near Nariman Point at Oval Maidan and would be partially underground.

“The ball has been set rolling and the iconic project will change the face of Mumbai. Thursday’s meeting was about briefing the bidders about the project and getting to know their queries and feedback on it. They have been provided with all the information that was asked for and they are free to do their own studies and assessments before they bid for the project,’’ a senior official said.

Railway officials said after the infrastructure summit by the prime minister in early June, it was decided to give priority to the Churchgate-Virar elevated corridor project following which the railway board chairman Vinay Mittal too visited Mumbai to review it.

The railways are in the process of signing a state support agreement with the Maharashtra government to help sort out various issues like shifting utilities, rehabilitation, land and other such issues that will affect work on the ground.

Once the state support agreement is in place, consultants for financial and legal aspects for the projects will be appointed. WR officials said the work on the ambitious railway project work is likely to be awarded before March 2013.

URL of the article: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_western-railway-s-elevated-corridor-takes-off_1732016-all

If this corridor 'really' takes off and gets completed in my lifetime, I will be forced to re-evaluate everything I thought I knew about this world. Honestly, even if it takes off in any meaningful form, I will probably need therapy.

Not happening.

If this corridor 'really' takes off and gets completed in my lifetime, I will be forced to re-evaluate everything I thought I knew about this world. Honestly, even if it takes off in any meaningful form, I will probably need therapy.

very true . I wonder how will they manage to construct the elevated structure with so many HV lines below plus the underground part from Mahalakshmi .

The ideal solution would have been to have Metro line 3 to travel upto dahisar or beyond along the western express highway with a connector going to the airport and seepz through BKC . WEstern railway could have augmented their services by introducing more 15 car rakes and improving services . Line 2 would have taken care of the connectivity between Navi Mumbai, Kurla and Bandra and also the western side of Mumbai ( areas like Juhu , malad etc ) .

I think this line is just to justify the monopoly of the railways over over public transportation in Mumbai .

Honestly, if monopoly is what they desire they are probably better served by going for a line on a different alignment. Why duplicate an alignment where you already have 6-lines (3 in each direction) for a significant stretch is beyond me. That too, on a stretch that would represent a complex engineering challenge. The only explanations I can come up with are:

1) It is a chai-biscoot exercise.
2) It is another 'plan' that must be considered before providing permission to folks wanting to go over the railway lines, hence requiring another clearance, and providing another avenue for ghoos-taking.
3) They harbor some crazy notion that they would be able to utilize revenues generated from AC trains to cross-subsidize the non-AC train travelers.

Honestly, if monopoly is what they desire they are probably better served by going for a line on a different alignment. Why duplicate an alignment where you already have 6-lines (3 in each direction) for a significant stretch is beyond me. That too, on a stretch that would represent a complex engineering challenge. The only explanations I can come up with are:

1) It is a chai-biscoot exercise.
2) It is another 'plan' that must be considered before providing permission to folks wanting to go over the railway lines, hence requiring another clearance, and providing another avenue for ghoos-taking.
3) They harbor some crazy notion that they would be able to utilize revenues generated from AC trains to cross-subsidize the non-AC train travelers.

quite true I think . I think one more reason for this idea to have actually evolved could be the failure of MMRDA and State govt to have the planned metro lines running in due time .
Thats why I feel Mumbai Metro should have been a joint venture between MMRDA and IR . Coordination and planning could have been better .

IR!!! Never. No doubt MMRDA is inefficient, but in front of IR, the execution speed of MMRDA looks as if it is as fast as China or Dubai.

Line 1 of Metro started construction in Jan 2008 and by 2012, we are seeing trial runs inspite of challenges never seen before in India. And a simple Oshiwara station by IR is under construction for ages.

The need for co-ordination betwen MMRDA and IR would heave been less, if the planning was better. There is no need for high co-ordination with IR for Line 3 , after it was made underground, though it criss crosses railway lines at many points.

A nice map of the suburban network. A few stations are mentioned incorrectly after Kurla on harbour line

[IMG]http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/7196/sokrataus.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/839/sokrataus.jpg/)

TOI (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Vasai-resident-demands-suburban-service-to-Kalyan/articleshow/15769239.cms)
Vasai resident demands suburban service to Kalyan

MUMBAI: A Vasai-based commuter organisation has demanded introduction suburban Electrical Multiple Unit (EMU) services between Vasai and Kalyan station.

Both, Vasai and Kalyan stations are major junctions on Western Railway and Central Railway, respectively.

Ashok Bhatia, Vasai Road Yatri Sangh said, "Many long distance trains heading towards north and south India halt at these two stations.

Passengers staying at Kalyan may book a reserved ticket from Vasai and vice versa. However, there is no direct suburban train service despite heavy movement of commuters in both direction.

As a result, commuting between these two distance is tough." He said an average commuter ends up spending 4 hours to travel between these two destinations by road.

Bhatia claimed, "The distance between Kalyan and Vasai is a mere 52 km, which can be traversed by EMU service in an hour's time." The service will also benefit residents from Borivali and beyond as they can then travel to Kalyan via Vasai by local train to catch long distance train to Southern India. He further said that this EMU service will not cost much as there already exists a rail link between Kalyan and Vasai.

Do suburban trains go to all these places? beyond Virar, Panvel, Badlapur etc??

Suburban train services will be started beyond Virar upto Dahanu Road by 2013.
Currently there is no suburban services beyond Panvel. Suburban services are available beyond Badlapur upto Khopoli. Please refer the map posted by CG for details.

Do suburban trains go to all these places? beyond Virar, Panvel, Badlapur etc??

The local trains which you see generally dont run between virar-dahanu but they have different shuttle trains which run according train timings. Like if you get down at virar there.always wil be a train waiting to go towards dahanu,some are dedicated trains some run to gujurat which halts at stations between virar-dahanu.

The ones on vasai-diva,vasai roha has old MEMUs.

The ones on central route which runs upto kasara,karjat have the new locals running.Karjat-Khopoli has only one track so there is 12 car rake always waiting at karjat station for passengers who get down at karjat and want to go towards khopoli.Timings are planned accordingly .There arent many direct CST-Khopoli locals mostly its til karjat

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/railways-to-contruct-low-cost-houses-to-remove-encroachments-near-tracks-259280?pfrom=home-india

Railways to build low cost homes for encroachments near tracks