Mumbai Suburban Railway: Projects & Updates [Archive] - Page 8

gentem

January 28th, 2011, 09:23 AM

we are mumbaikars
we walk, walk walk
we climb up 50 stairs at our home-station, climb down 50 stairs, climb up 50 stairs at dadar, climb down those; climb up 50 stairs at destination, climb down those. Same while returning. everyday 300 stairs climb up;300 stairs climb down. at our homes too, usually our flat is on 4th floor of 4-storey bldg, so add 80 more steps... We wait in the queues of buses, in buses also we stand,stand and push/pull the person in front. Mostly we also walk from our homes. our city has 95%+ humidity most of the time, and temperatures rarely go below 20. now boss doesnt leave us before 5.30, we reach by 8 pm. Wife shouts at us, children cry, teachers complain about children. parents ill. water comes for 20 mins 9.30-9.50 pm. band-baja and election campaign continues till 11 pm everyday below our house. after that its time for dogs. we watch saas bahu serial on star plus, or stuff like Bhagyavidhata, Kunku, char diwas sasuche etc. on Etv marathi in the night. dats d only refreshment we can think of. We are asleep by midnight. next day we wake at 7, to catch 8.03 train. this cycle continues continues continues continues continues.............

In this vicious cycle, isnt it better to have a seat in local trains...:bash:

and i think the probability of getting a seat is more if its 3X3 instead of 2X2

probability is 4/6 times less in case of 2+2 seats... but pushing and rubbing is less when people move around the train.

as for stairs all interchange stations should be provided with escalators. period.

MeMumbaikar

January 28th, 2011, 09:36 AM

as i said earlier.

its not nice to stand for a journey more than 30min.

but the majoirty stand anyway in rush hour for more than 30min.

the solution to this would be to have specific standing high capacity trains in rush hour.

Cause trust me, on the central side, the seating is full from Kalyan itself. Anything beyond kalyan is 99% stand.

Ie the station from which a train originates in rush hour , is the station which which seats are full.

IR also need to be proactive and reccognise that different stations have different quirks and needs.Kurla station for eg gets all the navi mumbai crowd. Might be wise therefore to start trains empty standing only trains from kurla.ie they run trains from thane anyways, so just run an empty train to kurla and the stop from there.

PS gentem, in most cases the 3 by 3 become 4 by 4 hahahaha and the passage becomes even narrower. I remember it being a pain in the ass (litrally) to sit as the 4th person when some fat ass was at the window. It was cool with 3 skinny people.

Bombay2Calcutta

January 28th, 2011, 09:41 AM

Bombay2Calcutta

January 28th, 2011, 09:44 AM

as i said earlier.

its not nice to stand for a journey more than 30min.
PS gentem, in most cases the 3 by 3 become 4 by 4 hahahaha and the passage becomes even narrower. I remember it being a pain in the ass (litrally) to sit as the 4th person when some fat ass was at the window. It was cool with 3 skinny people.

Remembered the ad PLEASE ADJUST ...... :lol:

gentem

January 28th, 2011, 10:13 AM

true. its not really that crowded except in peak hours anyways. considering the majority have long commutes (>30 minutes) i think they prefer the extra seating

besides, it was tried out and the commuters voted for the current arrangement. cant argue with that

as for voting by commuters, steve jobs said - people don't know what they want until you show it to them.

maybe another option is to have 2+2 near doors and 3+3 elsewhere, like in a volvo bus where lot of standing place near door.

MeMumbaikar

January 28th, 2011, 10:22 AM

Remembered the ad PLEASE ADJUST ...... :lol:

hahaha so true man

I was lucky in the sense that i did not have anything to do with dadar when i had to commute daily for college.

but seriously, out of 5000 people per train what % gets to sit down? 10-15%? in rush hour.

so why not have the 4500 standing more comfortably.

Mumbaikar's commuter dont really know what they want. They want good services yet ironically dont want price rises. the standing thing should have happened. If people dont like it then tough shit commute by BEST

Bombay Boy

January 28th, 2011, 10:31 AM

as for voting by commuters, steve jobs said - people don't know what they want until you show it to them.

but it was shown to them

gentem

January 28th, 2011, 10:53 AM

how bout 2+3 seating.. :banana:

anujkb

January 28th, 2011, 11:17 AM

^^ how about this:::

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/9431/napl.jpg

KuwarOnline

January 28th, 2011, 12:01 PM

^^ :lol:

p2p4

January 28th, 2011, 12:19 PM

TADDI MEIN !!! Fungus aroma !!! As if sweaty arm pits are not enough and now you want to propose smelly dangling feet !!!

As for the seating in Locals.. anyone know what is the meaning of the SOOMDI seat :D :D:D:D

HEHEHEHE :D:D:D:D:D

^^ how about this:::

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/9431/napl.jpg

p2p4

January 28th, 2011, 12:22 PM

Ghanta !!

as it is, in locals, a 3 seater normally entails a SOOMDI SEAT (unofficial 4th bum on the edge seat). I wish I had my video camera right now to mimic how the commuters DEMAND the soomdi seat on a 3-bum configuration.

how bout 2+3 seating.. :banana:

anujkb

January 28th, 2011, 02:01 PM

^^ in many of those up-bihar to LTT trains (chappra, ballia, gorakhpur, varanasi, pratapgarh, raxaul, rajendrangr, darbhanga, samastipur, barelli etc)

ive seen many a times people in genl compartment sitting 5 on 1 bench, and 2 on the other (remember the config of that is 1 X 3) :D :D

KuwarOnline

January 29th, 2011, 06:11 PM

Mumbai: Western Railway commuters can look forward to punctual train services as the 15-car train from Churchagate to Virar made its debut on Friday afternoon.The delays were due to speed restrictions with new tracks and change in points and crossings that had been enforced in preparation for the 15-car train services.These restrictions will now be eased.
On Friday afternoon,after two days of test runs,the first 15-car train was formally flagged off from Churchgate station by Western Railway general manager,R N Verma.At 12:46 pm,Preeti Kumari,WRs first and only motorwoman rolled the train out of the terminus.Of the dozen 15-car services,six will ply between Churchgate and Virar.
Speed restrictions will be relaxed on Friday night, said a WR official.Trains have been running late by around 20-30 minutes in the last few days due to teething problems and technical glitches like signal failures.
Officials also said that work on increasing the length of the platform to accommodate 15-car locals at Naigaon station is currently being completed.At Dahisar station,a pre-feasibility study is being carried out.Verma said that WR is exploring the possibility of extending the platforms at Mumbai Central station.Talking about WRs plans for the future,he said that the section between Borivli-Churchgate will switch to alternating current by May.Mumbai Central station will get a new food court.Also on the cards are 30 new foot-over bridges,and a new rail-overbridge at Elphinstone Road station.But what suburban commuters are looking forward to is the sixth line that will run up to Borivli station.This project will be completed by 2013.
Meanwhile,WR has sent a proposal to the Railway Board to build two road-over-bridges between Andheri and Goregaon stations.Verma said that in the next two years,three level crossing gateswhich affect the punctuality of trains will be closed.
Verma retires as general manager of Western Railway on January 31.The 15-car train was his dream project.

Source
http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/mobile.aspx?article=yes&pageid=7&sectid=edid=&edlabel=TOIM&mydateHid=29-01-2011&pubname=Times+of+India+-+Mumbai&edname=&articleid=Ar00701&publabel=TOI

Bombay2Calcutta

January 29th, 2011, 08:01 PM

Source (http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/2011012920110129024837786fece840/Missing-box-replaced-fast-train-project-back-on-track.html)
Missing box replaced, fast train project back on track
Tool box purchased for 4,000 Euros had gone missing from the Chennai workshop

The mystery of a missing tool box that had stalled the making of India's fastest local train has been solved. The tool box, purchased for 4,000 Euros (around Rs 2.8 lakh), contained spares needed to create the local train capable of touching speed in excess of 120 kmph.

It has now emerged that it had gone missing from the workshop of Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF). The company has the contract of creating local trains that are pressed into service in Mumbai. Since October last year, when the tool box was reported to be missing, the most important train project was stalled.

The issue snowballed into a major controversy after railways asked tool box manufacturer Siemens to replace the box after ICF said it never got it in the first place. Siemens insisted the consignment was shipped and refused to send a replacement.

After many rounds of talks between railways and Siemens early this week, the company agreed to send in the replacement. Top sources in railways said the new tool box was shipped from Austria, where Siemens is based, and reached Chennai on Thursday. Officials said another shipment of spares for the train is scheduled to arrive in Chennai on February 7.

The train dubbed the 105th rake by railways is being created under the supervision of Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC). Currently trains in service on the suburban lines run between 80 kmph and 100 kmph. The new train can run as fast as 130 kmph.

The most important factor of this nine-coach train would be the bogies, considered most advanced on suburban commute, an official said. A bogie, unlike the popular assumption, does not refer to the train coach. It is a framework which carries the wheels and on which the coach of a train is mounted. The train's speed depends on the strength of the bogie as much as the electrical and mechanics inside.

A senior railway official involved with the project said, "These are special, bolsterless bogies that can touch speeds of 130 kmph and will also give commuters a far smoother ride than any other train. The problem was, with the tool box missing, the assembling of bogies to make a nine-coach train was stalled."

According to the official, the city will get these faster local trains once the trials are complete. "It was important that this issue was sorted out at the earliest since the World Bank guarantee for the project had expired in 2010, and was given an extension only till June 2011," an officials said. Dr P C Sehgal, managing director, MRVC said talks between various agencies was fruitful and the project was now back on track.

Bombay Boy

January 30th, 2011, 09:46 AM

:ohno:

"only in india"

voryaa

January 31st, 2011, 03:16 AM

they stalled a major project over 4,000 Euro tool box? this can't be serious...:nuts:

bharatiya

January 31st, 2011, 03:24 AM

LOL it was not financially viable to buy a new one.

Bombay2Calcutta

January 31st, 2011, 11:53 PM

Source (http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_bridge-work-will-delay-virar-dahanu-local-by-one-more-year_1501514)
Bridge work will delay Virar-Dahanu local by one more year

As lakhs of Mumbaikars await the opening of the Virar-Dahanu section of the suburban railway, top Western Railway officials said that trains between Virar and Dahanu will not be a reality for another year as work on strengthening two bridges still needs to be completed.

“There are infringements on two rail bridges that still need to be cleared for passing of the local trains. Local trains are 12-feet wide and need wider space to pass. The two rail bridges located between Vangaon and Dahanu stations also need to be strengthened and work on both widening and strengthening would be taken up simultaneously and it has already been started,” outgoing general manager Ravindra Nath Verma said.

Chief administrative officer (construction) Subodh Jain said that work had already begun on the project and shall be complete in a year’s time.

“If we need to run trains to Dahanu before that, it can be done so by imposing heavy speed limits. And moreover we will not be able to run more trains to Dahanu, but just a limited few. The lines need to quadrupled for that purpose,” Verma added.

Verma, for whom it was a last working day as general manager, said that during his tenure he had sent proposals to the railway board to get two roads over bridges built so that level crossings could be shut down.

Speaking on his pet project of running 15-car trains, Verma said, “We have proved that 15 car trains can be brought to Churchgate. The technology has been proved. Now if people demand for it we will introduce them during the peak hours. With its introduction the problem of overcrowding could be solved considerably.”

The Western Railway will conduct a public survey to get feedback of the 15-car trains. Verma has asked the divisional railway manager to get commuters’ feedback on their SMS feedback system. “We shall invite public suggestions and see the response the new train gets,” he said.

The other projects in the pipeline are the elevated road at the Bandra Terminus and complete re-haul of station, the re-modelling of Mumbai Central station to accommodate 24-car trains and converting all 9-car trains into 12-car ones.

Bombay2Calcutta

January 31st, 2011, 11:57 PM

^^ related post

HT (http://www.hindustantimes.com/Virar-Dahanu-line-to-open-by-January-2012/Article1-657034.aspx#)
Virar-Dahanu line to open by January 2012

The much-awaited extension of the Virar-Dahanu line for suburban trains has been delayed by a year. The 60-km line is expected to begin only by January 2012 when the remaining work is completed. Earlier the Western Railway (WR) said that the delay had been caused by the unavailability of trains, which were to arrive by June this year.

However, they now also attribute the cause of the delay to work pending on two foot-over-bridges (FOBs) between Vangaon and Dahanu.

The WR has begun work of widening and strengthening on the two FOBs. “Both the bridges are in distress (poor condition) and need be strengthened. This work is expected to take at least a year,” said RN Verma, general manager, WR, who retired on January 31.

Moreover, the frame of the FOBs would hamper the passage of local trains that are much broader and would also require wider tracks.

Sources from the WR said that they have been waiting for the entire work on this stretch, undertaken by Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC), to be completed before taking up their work.

Recently, the Commission of Railway Safety asked the WR to make changes on this stretch before starting local train services. “If required, we can run local trains by putting speed restrictions, although it wouldn’t be safe,” said a senior WR official.

Further, the fifth and sixth Further, the fifth and sixth railway lines on the Western line received a partial sanction of Rs373 crore. This would allow them to begin the linking of the fifth line between Mahim and Santacruz and the sixth line on the Borivli-Mumbai Central stretch.

Railway officials are also looking at completing the construction of two roads-over-bridges (ROBs) between Jogeshwari and Kandivli in the next two years. Until now, the WR and the BMC were arguing on who would construct the ROBs.

It has now been decided that both agencies will share the cost depending on the work undertaken.

There would also be more foot-over-bridges (FOBs) on suburban line in the months to come. The WR has sanctioned eight more FOBs at stations like Elphinstone Road, Lower Parel and Vasai among other stations. They would also complete conversion from DC to AC by May this year, thereby allowing trains to run faster

fuwad

February 1st, 2011, 06:14 AM

Churchgate station glass ‘upgrade’: Staff skeptical

Published: Tuesday, Feb 1, 2011, 1:30 IST
By Rajendra Aklekar | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA

Western Railways’ plan to convert Churchgate into a glass building has sent jitters down the spine of the hundreds of employees working in the building. They said that the glass encasing without a centralised air-conditioning system would create ventilation problems and would be a fire trap in case of a disaster.

DNA had reported in December about WR’s plan of giving the Churchgate station building a touch of glass and to give it a swanky corporate look. “Most of the officials sit in AC cabins. But we would suffer because of the glass, especially in summer. It could also lead to ventilation problems and other complications,” a senior employee said.

Railway officials rubbished the claims saying that they would make proper ventilation arrangements. Employees now plan to write a letter to the administration to seek redressal. The building is being converted into a hi-tech facade with tinted glasses and aluminum sheets. The work has begun and will be completed in a year’s time.

“There will be no open air and breeze with a glass covering. The lighting in the building could also be affected,” said another employee.

The plan includes reflective tinted glass to cover the building from all sides, false ceilings with illumination for the main concourse, levelling of platforms and new roofs that will be extended over the entire platform.

“There are proper plans for ventilation and air circulation. For improved ventilation, there are plans to place hi-powered blowers to keep circulating the air in the station premise. The hot air will be thrown outside the building and fresh air will be pumped in,” Sharat Chandrayan, WR’s chief spokesperson said.
http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_churchgate-station-glass-upgrade-staff-skeptical_1501548

bhargavsura

February 2nd, 2011, 02:05 AM

Why do some things cannot be completed peacefully?

Bombay2Calcutta

February 2nd, 2011, 03:34 AM

More 12-car trains on WR

Roana Maria Costa TNN

Mumbai: Western Railway (WR) will augment 50 ninecar services to 12-car ones in the Churchgate-Borivli sector this month. However, total number of services in the sector has remained static since 2008, though commuters have increased from around 31.5 lakh per day in 2008 to 33 lakh per day in 2011.
The number of services exclusively between Borivli and Churchgate has remained at 676 from February 2008 till date, though coaches have been increased.
Each WR coach carries an average of around 220 commuters but peak hours have super dense crush loads of around 400 people in each coach. Consequently, though WR recently converted several nine-car services to 12-car ones—45 of them on December 31, 2010 and another 51 on January 26, 2011—trains remain packed as ever in peak hour.
However, the number of 12-car trains in the Borivli-Churchgate sector has grown from 242 in 2008 to 486 till date. All trains beyond Borivli up to Virar are 12-car ones.
WR runs 1,210 services per day in both directions with its fleet of 76 rakes on its 60 km network. Of this, 896 services (61 rakes) comprise 12-car trains, 302 services (14 rakes) are by ninecar rakes while just 12 services are made by the lone 15-car local which was last week extended up to Churchgate.
WR officials said there would be much needed relief after the Borivli-Churchgate sector switches over to 25,000 volts alternating current by May. There are also plans of augmenting at least two 12-car trains to 15-car ones by the end of this year.
“Under MUTP-III 15-car trains are the future,” said an official.
WR is also laying the fifth and sixth lines which would help segregate the slow, fast and express train corridors. “A part estimate of Rs 373 crore has already been sanctioned for preliminary work,” the official said.
Commuters however said a lot more needs to be done during peak hour.
“Getting into a train during peak hours is horrifying. Not being able to enter a local is just one of the worries, the fear of falling off from a speeding local or in between the gap of the train and the platform in the rush is worst,” said Sheila Desai, a commuter.

fuwad

February 2nd, 2011, 05:47 AM

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/5498/getimage16m.jpg

GRABBING EYEBALLS: As part of the plan to refurbish the Churchgate station building, a giant screen was recently installed outside the station.

source : TOI 2-2-2011

p2p4

February 2nd, 2011, 08:18 AM

Why do some things cannot be completed peacefully?

Bhargavji - I'd add "Why can't some things be planned properly". I am sure the employees have a valid case if the plan to do centralised airconditioning has not been communicated to them. Obviously they have the right to protest or raise questions.

On a different note, however, I am always of the opinion that for not so tall buildings (like C-gate) , entire enveloping in glass / aluminum IS NOT the right approach. Whatever concerns they have are valid and I wonder how this new fad for glass facade will stand in the face of power shortages.

I may be wrong in my concerns but valid inputs for this discussion are welcome.

buddy_rohan

February 2nd, 2011, 10:56 AM

p2p4

February 2nd, 2011, 11:50 AM

No need for "EXPERTS". This new trend for glass encassed buildings is nothing but a drain on energy bills - especially when it comes to providing centralised airconditioning. Add to that the need to clean the glass facade almost every day in dusty and air-borne pollutant ridden cities like Mumbai.

I asked this question many posts ago in the same thread - how many litres of water is required to rinse the glass, then apply detergent and finally the sweeping it off with rubber T sliders? The more the surface area of glass, the more water and detergent you are using.

On a personal experience, my office is in a building which is basically a brick and mortar ! When the weather is cooler, we have the freedom of opening our windows wide and allow air circulation in the office. As for maintenance of the glass for the windows, cleaners do a fantastic job.

You do not need totally glass clad buildings to cancel out dangerous and harsh UV rays.

p2p4

^^

i agree no less. glass buildings came up in western countries where they wanted natural lighting and to reduce heating bills. no doubt they look pretty. but we need not emulate it blindly. there are other ways of making buildings look appealing.

any buildings expert out here? do let me know if my thinking is wrong!

Coolguyz

February 2nd, 2011, 12:23 PM

Its not gonna be a complete glass building, there will be 2 types of aluminium sheets used , different designs with gaps in between enough for air to pass in,so it aint gonna be bad as it is made out to be.

Coolguyz

February 2nd, 2011, 12:28 PM

Churchgate station glass ‘upgrade’: Staff skeptical

Published: Tuesday, Feb 1, 2011, 1:30 IST
By Rajendra Aklekar | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA

“There are proper plans for ventilation and air circulation. For improved ventilation, there are plans to place hi-powered blowers to keep circulating the air in the station premise. The hot air will be thrown outside the building and fresh air will be pumped in,” Sharat Chandrayan, WR’s chief spokesperson said.
http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_churchgate-
station-glass-upgrade-staff-skeptical_1501548 (http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_churchgate-station-glass-upgrade-staff-skeptical_1501548)

Those hot blowers are already installed

patentneer

February 2nd, 2011, 04:18 PM

/

... 'dhinchak-dhinchak' ...!

Do ppl. realise that IR, ER, CR, Harbour are all govt. dept.'s; meaning the game is all about patronage, union-baazi and politics, NOT pride-of-workmanship, operational & logistics skill and tech. brilliance in problem solving.

It's no wonder the freebie of nationalisation quashed most of the ardent pioneer spirit of rail in India. IR, like all bureaucracies, is a path-of-least resistance, 0 risk & innovation plus minimum possible effort culture babudom. Sadly, IR & Co. are plain not interested in problem solving as it might end up as 'blame'.

Therefore, unless World Bank, external agencies prod IR from outside only nominal, ongoing change is possible. The rot is multi generational. Tragic for Mumbai, traumatic for India.

patentneer

February 2nd, 2011, 04:37 PM

^^

i agree no less. glass buildings came up in western countries where they wanted natural lighting and to reduce heating bills. no doubt they look pretty. but we need not emulate it blindly. there are other ways of making buildings look appealing.

any buildings expert out here? do let me know if my thinking is wrong!

------------------xxxxxxxxxxxx----------------

Technically speaking, glass is modular, efficient, cheaper for the builder, lighter, better-looking & flexible energy wise depending on reflective coating. Costs are also easy to calculate, may even be funded separately. Quality of waterproofing is better, no leaks;)

Glass cladding, also called curtain walling, enhances property value. Maintenance is an outsorced, low value long-term cost Vs. up-front cost to builder re: other exteriors or cladding for eg. compare it to concrete or bricks. Glass is a hell of a lot easier for a builder as it's tangible Vs. hidden & arbitrary cost of mistry's and 'specialists' who do concrete & brick exteriors.

Hope this helps, I have a b/g as systems engineer (projects) with interest, investment and experience in building systems.

voryaa

February 2nd, 2011, 06:28 PM

No need for "EXPERTS". This new trend for glass encassed buildings is nothing but a drain on energy bills - especially when it comes to providing centralised airconditioning. Add to that the need to clean the glass facade almost every day in dusty and air-borne pollutant ridden cities like Mumbai.

I asked this question many posts ago in the same thread - how many litres of water is required to rinse the glass, then apply detergent and finally the sweeping it off with rubber T sliders? The more the surface area of glass, the more water and detergent you are using.

On a personal experience, my office is in a building which is basically a brick and mortar ! When the weather is cooler, we have the freedom of opening our windows wide and allow air circulation in the office. As for maintenance of the glass for the windows, cleaners do a fantastic job.

You do not need totally glass clad buildings to cancel out dangerous and harsh UV rays.

p2p4

Glass cladding has lot more advantages than disadvantages. Its not just a coincidence that glass is being used in warmer and colder, polluted and non-polluted cities.

Glass will keep the dust OUT of the building. Glass is easier to clean and maintain. Monsoons wont destroy the facade, like it does to Mumbai buildings. Tinted Glass will allow less heat inside the building. Yes, you should have a centralized A/C, if not glass is useless.

I hear what the employees are complaining about, but I think the builders know what they are doing. I am sure they are not planning to create an oven. Let the builders do their job and see what turns out.

Smooth Indian

February 2nd, 2011, 07:22 PM

Glass cladding has lot more advantages than disadvantages. Its not just a coincidence that glass is being used in warmer and colder, polluted and non-polluted cities.

Glass will keep the dust OUT of the building. Glass is easier to clean and maintain. Monsoons wont destroy the facade, like it does to Mumbai buildings. Tinted Glass will allow less heat inside the building. Yes, you should have a centralized A/C, if not glass is useless.

I hear what the employees are complaining about, but I think the builders know what they are doing. I am sure they are not planning to create an oven. Let the builders do their job and see what turns out.

As you said using glass necessitates the central air conditioning which will of course run for 24 hours. That of course means hefty increases the electricity bill which will come from the taxpayers/ticket buyers money.

Also about the glass protecting the building against monsoon. I think we will have to wait and see. And I am not sure that glass is cheaper to maintain than a concrete facade.

I am also bugged by the fact that while all the babus (public servants) in the WR offices will now enjoy air conditioned comfort, we the public will still have to slug it out in crowded trains practically devoid of any creature comforts.

bhargavsura

February 3rd, 2011, 01:41 AM

I believe there's also some cases when a few glasses can open like windows. Why can't they do something like this? Just wondering.

Bombay2Calcutta

February 3rd, 2011, 02:02 AM

^^ yes agree , Windows can still be there in the buildings in the same way as it exists today , if that's true then it definitely reduces the concern of having need to run the AC all through .. May be I am wrong, just a a thought.

Bombay2Calcutta

February 3rd, 2011, 02:18 AM

Source (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Metro-taking-up-PPP-model-again/articleshow/7414500.cms)
Full study of suburban rail system soon

Mumbai: The Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) has shortlisted four companies to conduct a comprehensive survey on the usage of suburban rail system by the commuters.

The study will also check the level of customer satisfaction after the suburban services were upgraded under Phase I of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (Phase I).

Sources in MRVC said four companies — Wilbur Smith Associates, RITES, Leas Associates South Asia Ltd and a consortium of Engineering Services (I) Pvt Ltd, MVA Asia and All India Institute of Local Self Government (AIILSG) — have come forward to conduct the survey. “We are still not done with the scrutiny process,” said a senior MRVC official.

Its not for the first time that the MRVC is conducting such a survey, but it is for the first time that it is planned on a large scale covering various aspects. More importantly, unlike before, when local agencies were hired to do the project, this time international firms have shown interest in conducting the survey.

The work includes survey and analysis of occupancy of passengers in different coaches from origin to destination, an estimation of passenger flow on the entire Mumbai suburban rail system and hourly variations. It also aims to focus on dispersal options available at suburban stations, especially the major ones. It would also study entry and exit at suburban stations as well as passenger counts on Foot Over Bridges (FOBs). It will also look at customer satisfaction.

“Under the MUTP, we have added many services both on the Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR). We will be focusing on the commuters’ response to the developments, especially the new rakes,” said an MRVC official.

“The study will also help us understand passengers traffic at different stations, as over a period of time many growth centres have mushroomed beyond South Mumbai and Bandra. The survey will help us understand the trends as the ticketing revenue from various stations may not always give the exact picture,” the official added.

Ashis Mitra

February 3rd, 2011, 09:38 PM

Bombay2Calcutta

February 3rd, 2011, 09:42 PM

Ashis Mitra

February 3rd, 2011, 09:48 PM

It clearly shows that Mumbai is not so much updated city, at least in the case of train, metro & tram.

Smooth Indian

February 3rd, 2011, 11:30 PM

When all network of IR has started constructing using DC, (even Kolkata converted from DC to AC in sixties), why Mumbai’s Suburban Railway stuck in DC? DC is much backdated.

The progress of conversion from DC to AC is very slow in Mumbai. When it will be completed fully?
The conversion of the mumbai suburban network from DC to AC is no easy task and the process can be disruptive. The whole metropolitian area relies on it heavily and any significant disruption to the service can play havoc with the functioning of the city and ultimately with the economy of the city, the state and the country. Hence the railways are proceeding with caution.

Now why Kolkata converted to AC in the 1960s and not Mumbai. I think you will have to question the railway officials and engineers. They probably thought it was more hassle free to convert the Kolkata region (ER & SER) than the Mumbai region. Maybe even back then the Mumbai suburban region was still crowded and they didn't want to create any disruption in service. Again back in the 60s dual voltage DC-AC locos and EMUs may not have been available. In fact even UK converted many of its DC and unelectrified sections to AC fairly recently ( 1980s and 1990s). Even some main suburban lines in the Paris area run on DC. The TGV trains which run on these sections switch to DC when they leave the LGVs and join the main lines into Paris. All in all the slow progress is due to reasons of practicality.

Smooth Indian

February 3rd, 2011, 11:54 PM

It clearly shows that Mumbai is not so much updated city, at least in the case of train, metro & tram.

Sure Mumbai maybe late in the game as far as the metro is concerned. But then we have a very dependable suburban train system and even a good bus system (BEST) which worked well for us till the early 1980s. It was only after that the need for mass rail transit was felt. But by the 1980s the city and suburbs were really congested and planning a metro system is a formidable task. Then the question of how the system gets funded comes to question. Both the central and state govts tried to avoid the issue as much as they could till they ran out of excuses. so we actually broke ground in the middle of the 2000s decade.

Our train system needed upgradation for a long time. But I believe that the railways are centralized and every significant decision has to be taken in the capital New Delhi. Add to this the fact that the railways also treated the Mumbai Suburban section like a cash cow. Having regional satraps as Railway Ministers exacerbates the situation since these guys are only interested in feeding their votebank which has not included mumbai for a long time. Infact the MUTP 1, 2 and 3 projects (which include railway projects) are being funded by the world bank loans for which the state govt has had to lobby for several years. This at a time when railways have been seeing significant increases in revenue and even has earned handsome profits.

As for the Trams we had a respectable tram network till the 1950s. But increasing road traffic made it very impractical for trams to run and by 1964 all trams were withdrawn. I don't see new tram lines coming up either in mumbai or in your hometown kolkata since the authorities are afraid of worsening the already bad traffic situation.

On the same note, we still have a good bus system run by BEST which at least nationally is second to none.

Bombay2Calcutta

February 4th, 2011, 12:06 AM

^^ Mumbai (BEST) has the best and the largest bus system under one management. DTC is coming close but still not there.

gentem

February 4th, 2011, 05:04 AM

2012

better late than never :cheers:

The conversion of the mumbai suburban network from DC to AC is no easy task and the process can be disruptive. The whole metropolitian area relies on it heavily and any significant disruption to the service can play havoc with the functioning of the city and ultimately with the economy of the city, the state and the country. Hence the railways are proceeding with caution.

u missed world economy :lol: actually mumbai local trains are what dragging mumbai, and holding it back. delhi because of metro is coming closer to mumbai :bash: sooner u reform it or shut it(replace it with metro) better it is.

p2p4

February 4th, 2011, 06:16 AM

Obviously someone has not heard of textured claddings which do not require 'cleanup' ....... no matter what the qualifications... and interests.. and experiences...

------------------xxxxxxxxxxxx----------------

Technically speaking, glass is modular, efficient, cheaper for the builder, lighter, better-looking & flexible energy wise depending on reflective coating. Costs are also easy to calculate, may even be funded separately. Quality of waterproofing is better, no leaks;)

Glass cladding, also called curtain walling, enhances property value. Maintenance is an outsorced, low value long-term cost Vs. up-front cost to builder re: other exteriors or cladding for eg. compare it to concrete or bricks. Glass is a hell of a lot easier for a builder as it's tangible Vs. hidden & arbitrary cost of mistry's and 'specialists' who do concrete & brick exteriors.

Hope this helps, I have a b/g as systems engineer (projects) with interest, investment and experience in building systems.

KuwarOnline

February 4th, 2011, 07:32 AM

^^ Mumbai (BEST) has the best and the largest bus system under one management. DTC is coming close but still not there.

+1, Mumbai has excellent network of public transport... every bus will take u to nearest local station from there you can reach virtually any part of the city, again timing are not the issue in Mumbai. Locals/BEST/TMT/NMMT etc hardly take break of 2-3 hrs at night then rest it always there, n its cheapest... u dont have to pay much like I do in Delhi Metro.

Smooth Indian

February 4th, 2011, 06:15 PM

better late than never :cheers:

u missed world economy :lol: actually mumbai local trains are what dragging mumbai, and holding it back. delhi because of metro is coming closer to mumbai :bash: sooner u reform it or shut it(replace it with metro) better it is.

Actually I didn't miss world economy. Left it out bcoz clearly mumbai doesn't impact the world economy the same way it does the national economy.

And I don't think the local trains are dragging mumbai down. It is the slow upgradation of the suburban network that is creating problems. A complete metro system will definitely take the load off the suburban system. But you forget that the suburban system covers a large area well beyond the municipal limits of mumbai. So a metro cannot simply replace the current trains.

shanware

February 5th, 2011, 05:04 AM

Borivali station

http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/3142/img1210fr.jpg

http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/1927/img1211b.jpg

The more things change the more they stay (stain) the same.

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/6330/img1214fv.jpg

gentem

February 5th, 2011, 06:32 AM

^^ if only our great indian railway cleaned it at least once a week :bash: people dont spit if they find a clean and shining corner..

shanware

February 5th, 2011, 07:11 AM

Thats not true. No point blaming the Railways for this one.

We, as a nation have a long way to go when it comes to civic sense. If anything the picture shows you that you can go from a new building with new walls to a pan stained one in a matter of days.

sumant

February 5th, 2011, 07:15 AM

Actually the cleanliness in trains has improved .Especially since they outsourced their cleaning to private firm. Now you dont find stacks of rubbish dumped under the seats not atleast in the newer trains.

bhargavsura

February 5th, 2011, 07:44 AM

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/1927/img1211b.jpg

Nice..

Nice...

and... Nice...

Professional Indeed.

voryaa

February 6th, 2011, 07:11 PM

not to pick on maharastrans, but they have this really dirty habit. Its like dogs...they have to tag every wall, every pole and pretty much everything with mouth piss... :ohno:

bhargavsura

February 6th, 2011, 08:22 PM

Its not usually the Marathis who do it. Lets end it here.

bharatiya

February 6th, 2011, 08:39 PM

u cant single out any one group. its everyone dude. no one has respect for their city and thats why we see it rotting today. plain and simple. if there were civic sense w both rich and poor we would be alot more developed today.

MeMumbaikar

February 6th, 2011, 08:56 PM

who ever eats paan does it.

clearly the red stuff is paan

so we should be blaming pan eaters like Yagya

Its typical to buy paan from the nearby tapri. then eat it on the go and then spit out the red stuff.

Paan needs to be banned for the good of the city.

Its the same paan stains which caused big issues at the CWG

Paan stains have caused much furore of late in Delhi. No, not that we are unfamiliar with this stuff or the habit of people using any public place to spit, but now it has been shown in pictures on the BBC website in relation to the conditions at the Commonwealth Games Village. Suddenly paan stains have become more revolting than before. The image of the country has been tarnished, according to some, by these photos of dirty toilets and a paan-stained wash basin

No one is making out a case here for people to spit on roads or spit the remnants of paan everywhere…..from staircases, corridors and elevators to bus stops, parks, shopping malls, metro rail stations and cinema halls. If you want to compare choked, stinking toilets, just walk into any government building or railway station in Delhi and look out on the track, full of faeces and muck, made messier by the water being sprayed around in an attempt to clean it.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/26/stories/2010092659780300.htm

and its everywhere, Surat Nashik and even Pune.

The worst thing about the paan spitters is when they are in their cars, open the windows and let rip. I was unfortunate to be on the receiving end of that.

voryaa

February 6th, 2011, 10:18 PM

MeMumbaikar

February 6th, 2011, 10:30 PM

I am sure whole of india, who eats pan, would do that. But, i only said maharastrans cause of my experience. When I did travel in maha, in busses especially in the country side, the bus interiors were tagged red...

Now, i havent seen the same pan spitting in busses in AP, atleast not to the extent of where the bases of walls, pillers, busses are red...

anyway, its nothing to be proud of, and its probably pretty common in all of india, and not just maharastra.

thats cause Paan is more popular in the northern parts of India and the surrounding indo-european language speaking states.

Dont think its popular to the same extent in the south.

wlbkng

February 6th, 2011, 11:40 PM

and the surrounding indo-european language speaking states.

is this one sarcastic or real ?:nuts:

p2p4

February 7th, 2011, 04:35 AM

Even the Taiwanese have their own version of Paan and till the early 80s they faced a similar situation of people spitting everywhere. The govt. cracked down and brought about efforts to educate the public in matters of civic sense.

Banning of Paan in India is not going to help. If it is in the genes of of us Indians to piss / spit / snort and deface every nicely done facade of public utility, we will do it. Someone posted the CWG paan story.... :ohno:

Bombay2Calcutta

February 7th, 2011, 06:35 AM

'Thane station is being given a raw deal'

THANE: Archana Godbole's daily commute from Thane to CST station and back home is a lesson in stress management. Darting through the rush hour crowd outside the Thane station area, and ignoring thepush and pulls heckling of fellow commuters on the narrow foot over-bridge, Godbole lands on the unclean platform and prepares for a short sprint to jump onto an approaching train.

Just like Godbole, train travel is not a pleasant has been one downside experience for lakhs of Thane residents. Most grumble about insufficient foot overbridges, unattended and stinking toilets. Women passengers complain about and rising incidents of harassment and molestation.

Although train travel between Mumbai and Thane started in 1853, commuters say railway authorities have neglected the station.

Though the 157-year-old Thane station commands a place of prominence given the fact that it was the end point of the first train which set from Mumbai in 1853, commuters said neglect by the railway authorities has worsened the situation here.

"At present, over five lakh commuters use Thane station daily. The revenue accrued through the sale of tickets and CVM coupons in the last four years exceeded Rs 223 crore," said Ramchandra Karve, secretary of the Rail Pravasi Sangh. "However, not even 5% of the funds have been ploughed back for the overall development of the Thane station premises."

Karve said the railway ministry earns between Rs 60 crore to Rs 70 crore annually from sale of tickets and CVM coupons at Thane station. This, he said excludes the income from the sale of season tickets.Giving details of the revenue income through tickets and CVM, Karve said the railway ministry annually earns anywhere between Rs 60 crore to Rs 70 crore from Thane station alone. This, he said excludes the income from the sale of season tickets.

In 2009-2010, the sale of tickets (suburban and long distance trains) and CVM coupons at Thane station fetched a record Rs 69.04 crore. During 2008-2009, Rs 61.37 crore was accrued from the sale of tickets. "From April 2010 to November 2010, the collection from sale of tickets and CVM coupons was Rs 41.80 crore, of which, Rs 12 crore was from the sale of the coupons," said Karve.

He added, "However, despite such huge commuter flow, The minimum wait time for purchasing a ticket is anywhere between 15 minutes to half-an-hour. Coupon validating machines are defunct. most of the time and the frustration and stress of those waiting in the long queue is for all to see.''

Shiv Sena MP Anand Paranajape said, the commuters strength is increasing with each passing year due to rapid urbanization. "The railways administration should have tackled basic issues of increasing the number of ticket counters, vending machines and other supporting infrastructure at Thane station to facilitate stress-free travel." However, the railway authorities seem oblivious to these issues," he said.

Paranjape pointed out that in the budget presentation last year, railway minister Mamta Banerjee announced introduction of 32 new services from Thane-Kalyan and Thane-Karjat to help tackle the peak hour rush. "They promised a complete turnaround of Thane station and to bring it to the standards of world class station. All of this remains on paper with commuters suffering in silence,'' Paranajape said.

Read more: 'Thane station is being given a raw deal' - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Thane-station-is-being-given-a-raw-deal/articleshow/7439552.cms#ixzz1DFD0amu2

Bombay2Calcutta

February 7th, 2011, 05:42 PM

Source (http://www.mid-day.com/news/2011/feb/070211-Central-Railway-screen-films-installed-LCD-screens-local-trains.htm#)
Now, movies on local trains
By: Vedika Chaubey Date: 2011-02-07 Place: Mumbai

Central Railway plans to screen films, news on the recently installed LCD screens on its trains

Bollywood may soon make its presence felt in the city's most crowded spaces, the locals. That is what the Central Railway has in mind for making the travel hours for its commuters seem like a trip to the movies.

After installing LCD screens in its trains, the Central Railway (CR) is planning to exploit their full potential by playing pictures on them to, in the words of a senior official, "make the long hours of train travel more entertaining and informative".

The first train the CR ran with LCDs was on January 26 earlier this year.

Currently, the screens play public service advertisements and railway-related information. "At present, we are showing advertisements and informative messages about the railway.

But we are in talks with the same agency that installed the screens to start showing Hindi films," said the railway official, unwilling to be identified.

The movies are meant to alleviate the drudgery of long hours of commuting to the far suburbs. "We can run the movies in trains like CST-Karjat-Khopoli, CST-Kasara, Kurla-Panvel and so on.

We can either play one movie on a loop the whole day, or set a playlist for the day," the official said.

The LCD screens are a regular feature in long-distance trains from Mumbai like Mumbai-Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express and Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani Express.

And while they are at it, railway officials want to make the whole deal a bit newsy for commuters. "We are also planning to use technology to telecast some news channel on the LCD screens.

This may take little time but work is in the process," the official added. The current programming plan includes the railway timetable.

But what's in it for them? Every train with the LCDs will fetch the railway about Rs 6.4 lakh from the ads aired on it.

Playing safe

Back when officials were deciding on the installations of the screens, the telecast of programs was a major discussion point, second only to their safety.

"The screens will be fitted in damage-proof housing to safeguard them against theft. The agency installing the screens will be allowed to telecast selective programs approved by us," said the official.

The only thing to show caution with is the copyright of movies. "The copyright issue of the films has come up during discussions.

We are planning to buy about 20 movies (initially) and they can be played in rotation," the official said.

Moreover, to avoid offending commuters' sensibilities, as had happened the last time when the railways started airing ads (see box), officials say they will pre-approve all the content shown in the trains.

To alleviate the drudgery of long hours of commuting to the far suburbs, the Central Railway plans to show Bollywood movies on the LCD in the trains

"We will keep the volume low initially, but if commuters demand, it can be increased later. The programs will be telecast only after our approval to do away with any vulgar ads or programming," the official said.

However, the spokesperson of CR showed reserve in confirming any such development. V A Malegaonkar, Chief Public Relations Officer, said, "As of now there are no such plans.

We will be showing informative programs in the local trains."

Uncensored

The first LCD screens were installed by Western Railway in 2009, just in one rake for nine months.

The railway discontinued the service because passengers could neither hear nor see the screen clearly. Secondly, the agency couldn't get the money it had expected from the ads.

And most importantly, because the few ads aired were found to be objectionable by people for public telecast.

As reported by MiD DAY, commuters had got enraged over a lingerie ad shown on the screens in a Churchgate-bound train ('Lingerie in the local', February 1, 2009).

2009
The first LCD screens were installed in one rake of the WR for nine months. They were removed after commuters found some of the ads vulgar

Rs 6.4 lakh
The revenue Central Railway can expect to earn from each train with LCDs, from the advertisements aired on it

bharatiya

February 7th, 2011, 11:21 PM

they should maybe do a radio, or some kind of ambient music to relieve people. put it on loudspeakers and have advertisements in between. when station is approaching, they lower music/ad volume and announce arriving station.

p2p4

February 8th, 2011, 04:30 AM

First off, they should broadcast public education programs on Civic Sense !!!! :bash::bash::bash::bash::bash::bash::bash::bash::bash::bash:

bhargavsura

February 8th, 2011, 04:33 AM

Start a massive advertisements on TV and repeat them after every other commercial.

Coolguyz

February 8th, 2011, 11:57 AM

The new facade of Churchgate station under construction. As you can see between each layer glass panel, there are aluminium panels which have enough room for air to pass inside the building, plus there are some mesh like aluminium sheets with smaller holes.
http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/7056/img0633wk.jpg (http://img140.imageshack.us/i/img0633wk.jpg/)

Near the extended platforms, there are pictures like these of the station as it has evolved over the years.
http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/7217/img0635kq.jpg (http://img248.imageshack.us/i/img0635kq.jpg/)

FrankPanaMan

February 8th, 2011, 12:11 PM

Here's a news 4 all Mumbai Locals commuters..from TOI

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Pole-thieves-on-Mumbais-railway-tracks/articleshow/7449791.cms

Watch out !!

World8115

February 8th, 2011, 02:01 PM

Churchgate station should look good after redevelopment

KuwarOnline

February 8th, 2011, 02:10 PM

hmmm will be good once complete.

kronik

February 8th, 2011, 02:25 PM

MeMumbaikar

February 8th, 2011, 02:48 PM

'Thane station is being given a raw deal'

THANE: Archana Godbole's daily commute from Thane to CST station and back home is a lesson in stress management. Darting through the rush hour crowd outside the Thane station area, and ignoring thepush and pulls heckling of fellow commuters on the narrow foot over-bridge, Godbole lands on the unclean platform and prepares for a short sprint to jump onto an approaching train.

Just like Godbole, train travel is not a pleasant has been one downside experience for lakhs of Thane residents. Most grumble about insufficient foot overbridges, unattended and stinking toilets. Women passengers complain about and rising incidents of harassment and molestation.

Although train travel between Mumbai and Thane started in 1853, commuters say railway authorities have neglected the station.

Though the 157-year-old Thane station commands a place of prominence given the fact that it was the end point of the first train which set from Mumbai in 1853, commuters said neglect by the railway authorities has worsened the situation here.

"At present, over five lakh commuters use Thane station daily. The revenue accrued through the sale of tickets and CVM coupons in the last four years exceeded Rs 223 crore," said Ramchandra Karve, secretary of the Rail Pravasi Sangh. "However, not even 5% of the funds have been ploughed back for the overall development of the Thane station premises."

Karve said the railway ministry earns between Rs 60 crore to Rs 70 crore annually from sale of tickets and CVM coupons at Thane station. This, he said excludes the income from the sale of season tickets.Giving details of the revenue income through tickets and CVM, Karve said the railway ministry annually earns anywhere between Rs 60 crore to Rs 70 crore from Thane station alone. This, he said excludes the income from the sale of season tickets.

In 2009-2010, the sale of tickets (suburban and long distance trains) and CVM coupons at Thane station fetched a record Rs 69.04 crore. During 2008-2009, Rs 61.37 crore was accrued from the sale of tickets. "From April 2010 to November 2010, the collection from sale of tickets and CVM coupons was Rs 41.80 crore, of which, Rs 12 crore was from the sale of the coupons," said Karve.

He added, "However, despite such huge commuter flow, The minimum wait time for purchasing a ticket is anywhere between 15 minutes to half-an-hour. Coupon validating machines are defunct. most of the time and the frustration and stress of those waiting in the long queue is for all to see.''

Shiv Sena MP Anand Paranajape said, the commuters strength is increasing with each passing year due to rapid urbanization. "The railways administration should have tackled basic issues of increasing the number of ticket counters, vending machines and other supporting infrastructure at Thane station to facilitate stress-free travel." However, the railway authorities seem oblivious to these issues," he said.

Paranjape pointed out that in the budget presentation last year, railway minister Mamta Banerjee announced introduction of 32 new services from Thane-Kalyan and Thane-Karjat to help tackle the peak hour rush. "They promised a complete turnaround of Thane station and to bring it to the standards of world class station. All of this remains on paper with commuters suffering in silence,'' Paranajape said.
Read more: 'Thane station is being given a raw deal' - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Thane-station-is-being-given-a-raw-deal/articleshow/7439552.cms#ixzz1DFD0amu2

get a monthly pass

thats what mopst regular commuters do.

the peak hour services promised have nopt materialised.

they had promised some 20 (10 slow and 10 fast) trains per hour during rush hour originating from thane. As of today there are only 4 trains originating from thane.

bharatiya

February 8th, 2011, 04:16 PM

Churchgate is shaping up pretty nicely!

Bombay Boy

February 8th, 2011, 05:40 PM

the aluminium grills are not even at the level of the windows

in some situations it doesnt pay to ape the west. surely they could have thought of a smarter way to spruce up the building keeping in mind local conditions and the fact that the building is not airconditioned

i pity the employees sitting inside. they will suffocate in the summers

fuwad

February 9th, 2011, 05:58 AM

A GLASSHOUSE FOR CHURCHGATE

Station’s Exterior Being Redone With Chic, Eco-Friendly UV-Proof Panelling. New Look To Be Ready By Month-End

Roana Maria Costa TNN 9-02-2011

Mumbai: Churchgate has always been CST’s plain cousin. But it is undergoing a makeover, which will show it in sparkling new light. By the end of this month, the station building’s facade and sides will be completely covered in glass, on which will be depicted the complex crisscrossing of tracks near junctions (see artist’s impression in cut-out, below left).
Western Railway officials said Churchgate will be the only station in the country to sport a glass exterior, elevating it to the league of select stations in Japan, Australia, Germany and England (pictured left). “The track pattern on the glass is meant to reflect the dynamism of the railways,” said Sharat Chandrayan, chief PRO, WR.

About 50% of the glass work is over. The covering will filter out 13% of light in the visible spectrum and 90% of ultraviolet (UV) rays. The glass panels will be placed 1.8 metres from the building walls to allow ventilation. A WR official said the UV protection will reduce heat inside the building, bringing down the need for fans and air conditioners. “So, you see, the panelling is an eco-friendly move.”

The glass—which is shatterproof to guard against mobs—will cover a surface area of 16,145 sq ft, providing a kaleidoscopic refraction of the WR headquarters across the road. The building, in the process of being listed as a UNESCO heritage site, is in the Indo-Saracenic Revival style (also the style of the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, the Gateway, the BMC building and the GPO).

“The glass work started in December. Of course, preliminary work, like setting up frames, and temporary support and protective structures so that commuters were not inconvenienced during the revamp process, started much before,” aWR official said.

The glass work, costing Rs 1.99 crore, is part of the Rs 20-crore Churchgate beautification project, which will be wrapped up in a few days. The project highlights are: putting up silver and blue aluminium composite panels in the interior and on the exterior of the building (white and blue comprise WR’s colour code for naming stations); extending platforms three and four to accommodate 15-car local trains; extending the roof to accommodate 12-car trains, the first such extension in 60 years; and revamping toilets, booking offices and the water cooler area.

TRAIN TO MAKEOVERVILLE

Three sides of the Churchgate station building is being covered with 16,145 sq ft of glass The work will be ready by the end of February, making Churchgate the only railway station in India with a glass façade The layout of tracks near junctions will be shown on the covering The glass will offer 90% protection from UV rays, reducing heat and the need for fans and ACs The covering will not affect ventilation, which will be facilitated by blowers

To guard against mobs, the glass has been made shatterproof The cost of the panelling is 1.99 crore, the total cost of the Churchgate beautification project being 20 crore

The project includes extending platforms 3 and 4 to accommodate 15-car local trains, extending the roof to accommodate 12-car ones, and revamping toilets, booking offices and the water cooler area
Pictures on railway heritage will be put up, as will be panels with inspirational verse
http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/9103/getimage20.jpg
source : TOI Mumbai

bharatiya

February 9th, 2011, 06:41 AM

so they WERE thinking :)

siddharthp

February 9th, 2011, 07:34 AM

A GLASSHOUSE FOR CHURCHGATE
http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/9103/getimage20.jpg
source : TOI Mumbai

What a monstrosity.

gentem

February 9th, 2011, 07:40 AM

A GLASSHOUSE FOR CHURCHGATE

Station’s Exterior Being Redone With Chic, Eco-Friendly UV-Proof Panelling. New Look To Be Ready By Month-End

Roana Maria Costa TNN 9-02-2011

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/9103/getimage20.jpg
source : TOI Mumbai

Nice design, all train interchange stations where 2 different railway lines meet should be upgraded.. and escalator in platform 1 in such stations pls :cheers:

KuwarOnline

February 9th, 2011, 09:02 AM

nice... design looks cool

sixsigma1978

February 9th, 2011, 05:14 PM

Wake up call perhaps. First things first - we need to delink IR from politics - crazies like Mamata Banerjee is keeping the railways in the medieval ages. Though some aspects of the article are heartening - especially around how India manages to keep the fares synchronized with the needs of the common man.

The Bullet and the Elephant Express
By Raja Murthy

MUMBAI - While China has begun to earn billions of dollars exporting high-speed bullet train technology to the United States and Europe, the struggle of Indian Railways to manage its financial woes and modernization delays serves as a stark contrast between the operators of the world's two largest railway networks.

Cash-strapped Indian Railways has asked the Indian Finance Ministry for US$8.6 billion in the annual railway budget to be released this month, more than double the allocation of $3.47 billion in the 2010 budget for modernization programs.

Though railway revenues went up by 10.40% for the period
11th to 20th January 2011 - to $570 million from $517 million during the same period in 2010 - unconfirmed insider accounts says Indian Railways faces a $547 million budgetary deficit, with losses of $875 million between April and December 2010, the first nine months of its financial year.

In contrast, China Railways, which will invest $106 billion in railway infrastructure this year, has no money worries, allowing it to expand a high-speed railway network that with a combined length of 7,531 kilometers, is longer than the rest of the world's high-speed networks put together.

China latest fast train, the CRH380A, set a new record on December 3, 2010 by clocking 486.1 kilometers an hour in its Beijing to Shanghai trial. India's fastest trains, the Rajdhani and Shatabdi categories, average about 100 km per hour on their better days.

China's Railway Ministry plans to nearly double the high-speed rail network for its sleek bullet trains to 13,000 kilometers by 2012. In the same year, India hopes only to start basic work on its first high-speed rail track between New Delhi and Mumbai. Indian Railways has commissioned international consultants for pre-feasibility studies.

India might benefit from consulting China Railways for high-speed corridors, but this lack of a neighborly railway partnership only highlights how China and India, both expected to dominate global economy by 2050, have divergent strategies for their vast rail networks, a key to economic growth.

The 157-year old Indian Railways, hauling over 13 million passengers daily and calling itself the "Lifeline of the Nation", is closely linked to the common man, with its heavily subsidized fares; it offers 25% to 75% fare concessions to 50 categories of travelers, from the physically and mentally impaired to patients traveling for medical treatment, war widows, the elderly and students, including those from overseas.

China runs 91,000 km of train tracks, compared with India's 63,327 km, and both the state-owned behemoths are their country's single largest employer. The Indian Railways pay roll has over 1.6 million entries, with an additional 300,000 jobs to be filled in the next six months, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee declared on January 27. China's Ministry of Railways employs nearly 3.2 million people, more than the country's 2.3 million army troops.

In contrast to the flashy, high-speed Chinese train dragon, the slower Indian elephant steadily trudges with a more down-to-earth outlook. The 2011 Railway budget, presented separately to parliament in February ahead of the general budget, is expected to stress enhancing passenger safety, such as improving signaling systems and installing safety-related technology such as anti-collision devices (ACD) and a train protection warning system (TPWS).

China Railways, on the other hand, is being accused of paying more attention to on-rail showboats like the bullet trains, whose tickets cost nearly that of air fares, instead of improving services for the masses.

Such grumbles are reported louder during the just completed week-long Lunar New Year holidays, when around 230 million people have to be transported, the largest annual migration in the world.

Migrant Chinese workers can wait for as much as three days, often braving bitter winter winds and hunger, for train tickets that cost about 400 yuan (US$61), nearly one-third of a blue collar worker's monthly pay.

The stress was too much for migrant worker Chen Weiwei this January, who removed his clothes, except for grey underpants, and ran shouting around Jinhua Railway Station in eastern China's Zhejiang province. He had snapped after waiting third in a queue for 14 hours, only to be told that tickets were "sold out". Later, the station authorities magically changed the "sold out" status and gave Chen five tickets.

In contrast, the equivalent Indian worker need pay only 629 rupees (about $13) for a reserved second-class ticket with a sleeping berth on the Himsagar Express, in its three-night, 3,715-km odyssey between Kanyakumari, in India's southern-most tip, to Jammu city, in India's northern-most Jammu and Kashmir state.

Indian Railways has the world's largest online ticketing service - but insider fraud is often suspected, with tickets in very popular trains sold out almost instantly when reservations opens three months in advance.

For most trains and routes though, India's nationally computerized train booking system ensures that tickets, from anywhere to anywhere within the country, can be bought from thousands of Indian Railways counters nationwide, including in a small one-high-street town like Igatpuri, 150 km from Mumbai.

Internet booking, too, has cut short once daunting queues, saving millions of man-hours. The Centre for Railway Information Systems, created to use the latest information technology, reported 8.8 million online ticket transactions in January 2011, a 75% success rate from 11.7 million transactions attempted.

While Indian Railways benefits from the country's rich software expertise, it continues to import technology, such as coaches from Germany for the fully air-conditioned Rajdhani trains, even though it owns facilities like the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai.

China, in contrast, has done with its railways what it has done in other industrial sectors: import high technology, jiggle it a bit, label it as "advanced Chinese technology" and then export it heavily, undercutting the original foreign technology providers such as Siemens, Bombardier and Alstom.

Not surprisingly, China's largest train maker, CSR, last week said it expected profits in 2010 to have gained more than 50% last year from $254 million in 2009. CSR earned $1.24 billion in overseas sales. CSR is now the world's third-largest high-speed train producer, just behind Bombardier and Alstom.

In December, CSR also signed an agreement with General Electric for a 50-50 joint venture to manufacture high-speed trains in the United States. The $1.4 billion deal is expected to add 2,000 jobs in the US.

China is also competing with Japan, South Korea, France, Germany and Belgium to build a 1,100-kilometer high-speed railway in California, connecting San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Diego in 150 minutes, at a speed of 350 kph.

The Indian Railways suffers no such international competition anxieties as its Chinese counterpart, but with increasing traffic between the two nations, possibilities of a trans India-China rail network, and a New Delhi-Beijing Friendship Express by year 2025 will not be far-fetched.

Source : Link (http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/MB10Df04.html)

Bombay2Calcutta

February 9th, 2011, 11:03 PM

Mahim station to get elevated track by 2014

Hindustan Times (http://www.hindustantimes.com/Mahim-station-to-get-elevated-track-by-2014/Article1-660610.aspx#)

Mumbai, February 10, 2011

If all goes according to plan, then by 2014 platform 1 and 2 at Mahim station will be situated 9.5 metres from the ground and will be used by Harbour line trains. Western Railway trains will then use platforms 3 and 4 for slow trains and platform 5 and 6 for fast trains. The proposed elevated railway track is part of the project of the fifth and sixth lines proposed under the second phase of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP). For this, the existing Harbour line bridge between Bandra and Khar is likely to be demolished. The deadline for demolition and construction of the elevated bridge is 2014.

The elevated track will start from the stretch between King’s Circle and Mahim and will terminate just before the Mahim Causeway road over-bridge near Mithi river.

“Mahim station will be elevated on the Harbour line and on the west side of the station where slow WR trains currently run. The proposal is being studied in detail,” said an official from the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC), on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

For this the current platform 1 at Mahim station will be demolished. The height of the tracks will be at 8.5 metres, while the platform would be 9.5 metres from the ground. Even the ticket booking office will come up near the elevated platform.

As per the plan being discussed by railway authorities, the elevated tracks would start from Mahim east and go over the fast and slow Western Railway lines and end on the west side at Bandra.

Railway officials say a detailed plan is being worked on for the 5th and 6th lines. “The fifth line is missing on the Mahim-Santacruz stretch while a new sixth line will have to be laid,” said Sharat Chandrayan, chief PRO, WR

Bombay2Calcutta

February 10th, 2011, 02:23 AM

WR plans to let you track your train

Roana Maria Costa TNN (http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2011/02/10&PageLabel=5&EntityId=Ar00500&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T)

Mumbai: Commuters may soon be able to track the position of their local trains as they traverse from one station to another. Western Railway (WR) is planning to connect its train management system (TMS), which tracks the real-time schedule of trains, with its revamped website launched on January 28.
WR officials said this feature is in the nascent stage of development and will be very useful in a city always on the move, constantly glued to the internet either through mobiles or laptops. The TMS is already connected to indicators at stations. The website will also be now available in Hindi with unicode fonts.
WR suburban maps, timetables and fare structure have already been uploaded. “This new feature would help tourists to have a one-point link where they can access all the travel information needed to make commuting easier on the city’s railway network, which at first seems very complicated,” said chief PRO, WR, Sharat Chandrayan. Another new addition to the website is a section called ‘Heritage gallery’. “The user will be transported to the bygone era where one can check out old engines and functioning of railways,” he said.
The link would also have a scroll displaying all the latest WR information. “The website will now be able to pack in much more information as the server capacity has been increased,” he said.
In January, the website was revamped to make it user friendly, with the pages being a mirage of the Indian Railways (IR) website. This is being extended, said officials, to all zonal railways to bring in uniformity. There are links to PNR enquiry, train schedule and accommodation availability, train between stations, etc. Under the passenger services, users can access procedures for reservationand procedure for booking special trains.
TRAVEL MADE EASY

• WR planning to connect its train management system (TMS) to its revamped website

• The website will be now available in Hindi with unicode fonts

• WR has uploaded suburban maps, schedules and fare structure

• Heritage section is a new addition to the website

• Scroll with the latest information

• The website will now be able to pack in much more information as the server capacity has been increased

gentem

February 10th, 2011, 04:53 AM

devendra1

February 10th, 2011, 05:05 PM

I am sure whole of india, who eats pan, would do that. But, i only said maharastrans cause of my experience. When I did travel in maha, in busses especially in the country side, the bus interiors were tagged red...

Now, i havent seen the same pan spitting in busses in AP, atleast not to the extent of where the bases of walls, pillers, busses are red...

anyway, its nothing to be proud of, and its probably pretty common in all of india, and not just maharastra.

Probably you are right. I have also seen most stains in Maharashtra than anywhere else. Don't want to start a row but an honest opinion. I think its due to More Gutkha eating habbit( be it Marathi or Non Marathi), but Gutkha eating is more common here in Maharashtra probably even more than UP.
Since Guthkha can be easily carried people eat it whereever they need and spit it whenever they need:lol: God knows when Gutkha will be banned

Bombay2Calcutta

February 10th, 2011, 08:18 PM

Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation asks World Bank to extend deadline
Published: Thursday, Feb 10, 2011, 3:24 IST
By Akshay Deshmane | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA (http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_mumbai-rail-vikas-corporation-asks-world-bank-to-extend-deadline_1505679)

The Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) has requested visiting officials of the World Bank to extend the closing date of its loan to December 30 this year, as 5-10% of the overall work under phase I of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) was forced to stop months ago due to shortage of sand.

The dearth of sand has also forced an upward revision of the deadline for completion of the Virar car shed to April 15 this year.

MRVC managing director PC Sehgal confirmed that problems in acquiring sand have forced the corporation to seek for extension. He also said that an appreciation in the prices of construction material over the past four years has led the MRVC to seek an upward revision of the overall cost to Rs4,501 crore.

When asked if the corporation was exploring alternative arrangements of sand, Sehgal said, “It will be costly and unreliable to get sand from locations outside Maharashtra.”

In October, Sumaira Abdulali, who had filed a petition on the issue, had told DNA, “The natural supply of sand has been exploited for years. The government has not put any system in place to check sustainability, quantity, the rate of extraction, etc.” He added that it had not made any efforts to increase the supply of artificial sand substitutes. “Given the current apathy, perhaps it is only under conditions of crisis that management systems and alternatives are likely to be developed.”

Bombay2Calcutta

February 11th, 2011, 09:40 PM

Source (http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_study-on-setting-up-new-suburban-railway-lines_1505689)
Study on setting up new suburban railway lines

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) wrote to the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) last week to study the prospects of setting up new suburban railway lines or add additional tracks on 10 routes in the MMR. Many of these 10 are new routes, with no railway infrastructure in place.

Chief operations officer, MRVC, Prakash Rao Vazalwar, said, “The authority has asked us to do a Comprehensive Traffic Study (CTS) for 10 proposed suburban rail projects.” The MRVC is, however, unsure about who will finance the study. Since it is not a part of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project, funds cannot be sought from the World Bank.

As per procedure, the MRVC will have to first carry out a technical feasibility study that will assess the possibility of undertaking the CTS. Vazalwar said that the MRVC will work out the funding aspect in its correspondence with MMRDA. He also stated that he cannot give any estimate of how much the study will cost.

Bombay2Calcutta

February 11th, 2011, 09:54 PM

Source (http://www.mid-day.com/news/2011/jan/300111-central-railway-railbus-matheran.htm#)
Railbus may land up at Matheran
By: Vedika Chaubey Date: 2011-01-30 Place: Mumbai

The hill station may soon get a railbus to shuttle visitors provided they decide who will fund the project; CR passes the buck to MMRDA

Following a letter written by the residents of Matheran to the Central Railway (CR) authorities regarding lack of transportation, visitors may soon see a railbus service between Aman lodge and Matheran hill station.

VA Malegaonkar, Chief PRO CR, says, "We have received a request from the residents of Matheran asking for transportation. However, at present we are not in a position to provide this service as this is an environment issue."

"We are trying to introduce a railbus between the Logde and the hill station. In case the proposal gets approved, the residents will benefit a lot as their livelihood depends only on tourism," said a senior railway official.

At present, visitors have to walk or ride a horse till their destination. The hill station houses 15,000 residents.
"We think that a railbus is the best service that can be provided at Matheran.

The railbus has two to three cabs, can carry up to 40 passengers and can be run in both directions. It can use the existing tracks and runs at a fairly decent speed. The mechanisms are such that there is no fear of it rolling back while climbing steep slopes," added the official regarding the safety of the railbus.

However the railways officials claim they are low on funds and want the MMRDA to fund it. At present, CR runs seven toy trains services from Neral station to Matheran on weekends and four on the weekdays.

Motorised vehicles are not allowed after Dasturi naka which is nearly three km before Matheran hill station. Tourists have to shell out Rs 600-800 for a horse or opt for a handcart. This deters many tourists from taking a trip to Matheran.

bharatiya

February 12th, 2011, 07:45 AM

"MRVC will have to first carry out a technical feasibility study that will assess the possibility of undertaking the CTS"

um.....

Bombay2Calcutta

February 12th, 2011, 10:13 AM

8 new rail routes for Mumbai region

Hindustan Times (http://www.hindustantimes.com/8-new-rail-routes-for-Mumbai-region/Article1-661395.aspx#)
Mumbai, February 12, 2011
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region may get some brand new suburban railway routes after the state government recently asked the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) to study eight new corridors spanning 223 km. These proposed routes will connect Thane, Navi Mumbai and Alibaug in Raigad district with the Mumbai. The proposed rail corridors are Thane-Bhiwandi, Diva-Vasai Road, Panvel-Uran, Diva-Panvel, Kharkopar-Jite, Panvel-Karjat, Panvel-Jite-Thal and Thal-Alibaug.

Of the eight corridors, outstation and goods trains currently use two stretches of the Diva-Vasai Road (40.1 km) and Diva-Panvel (26.7 km) Road.

The rest of the routes will be brand new for Mumbai and its metropolitan region.

The longest of these proposed routes is the Panvel-Jite-Thal stretch, which will run along at least 60-odd kilometres, equivalent in length to the Churchgate-Virar route.

The shortest route is the Thal-Alibaug line that spans just 5.4 km.

“We will be carrying out a detailed feasibility study of each of these suburban corridors. These routes are part of a comprehensive transport study projected for 2021,” a senior railway official said on condition of anonymity, as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

The MRVC has already proposed to include a 27.6-km line from Panvel to Karjat and a 26.9-km line from Panvel to Uran under the third phase of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) beginning post-2016. But, these haven’t been approved yet.

These routes will boost development due to better connectivity, apart from enhancing mass transport in the Panvel-Uran-Karjat triangle, with the new airport near Panvel complimenting it.

The distance from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) and Karjat is 100 km, while the CST-Panvel stretch is 42 km. If the Panvel-Karjat line is laid, commuters will be able to cut 30 km from their journey.

The MRVC has also asked the Central Railway officials to give their suggestions and views on the proposed corridors before formulating these projects.

The managing director of MRVC, Dr PC Sehgal said, “These projects are in the nascent stage and needs to be studied.”

Bombay2Calcutta

February 12th, 2011, 10:21 AM

IE (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/options-to-connect-mumbai-navi-mumbai-airports/747767/0#)
Options to connect Mumbai, Navi Mumbai airports

Mumbai: A report by Lea Associates, commissioned by the state government, has suggested seven options to improve connectivity between the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai and the proposed Navi Mumbai airport. Officials of the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and Mumbai Transformation Support Unit of the state government as well as senior officials of the Urban Development Department discussed the report at a meeting on Tuesday.

The options include introducing a separate AC Express train — a concept in use in Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia, improving connectivity by the suburban railway along with an “express bus” service at either end, introducing an AC train that connects the two airports as well as other parts of the city, a hybrid option of a suburban rail, AC express train and express bus, a similar hybrid model minus the express bus service and an option of suburban railway, Metro and an express bus. Interestingly, the express bus service is suggested with a dedicated lane on the lines of BRTS.

The report also gives an option of using the proposed Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) with two options — one with a suburban rail network or an AC express train with a dedicated lane for the express bus, again on the lines of BRTS. Another option is of a Metro connecting the two airports via MTHL. The MMRDA, interestingly, is keen on having a Metro on MTHL as it can be connected to the Navi Mumbai Metro near the Ranjanpada-Seawoods-Kharkopar corridor.

“ We are not only looking it from the passengers’ point of view, but there are factors that will increase the commuting between these two airports. Plus, the connectivity of Navi Mumbai with the airport has to be increased,” a senior CIDCO official said.

Bombay2Calcutta

February 12th, 2011, 10:27 AM

HT (http://www.hindustantimes.com/Faster-trains-by-Feb-end/Article1-660158.aspx#)

Faster trains by Feb-end

Western Railway commuters can look forward to punctual train services by March. At present, trains on the western line literally crawl across a few stretches due to speed restrictions imposed by the ongoing work. The railway authorities are in the process of shifting drainage lines and changing the points of crossover at a few stations. The work will be completed by the end of this month.

Since November last year, the railways have been carrying out micro-tunneling between Mumbai Central and Lower Parel stations to create a drainage system below the tracks. Hence, trains plying on the stretch aren’t allowed to go over 50 kmph.

Currently, the maximum speed at which old trains are run is 80 kmph, and new ones at 110 kmph. “We expect the work to complete in another 15 days. The trains can then run at higher speeds without any restriction,” said S Chandrayan, chief PRO, Western Railway.

There is a speed restriction of 20 kmph on the Nalasopara-Virar stretch where the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation is carrying out drainage work.

Also, track crossovers points are being altered at Jogeshwari, Andheri, Santacruz and Mahim stations. Currently, the crossovers are located on curves, thus affecting the speed of trains.

“It is difficult for trains to move on a crossover if it is on a curve. We will shift them to locations where the tracks are straight and wouldn’t slow down the trains,” said a WR official on condition of anonymity.

MRVC seeks extension
During a meeting between the officials of the World Bank and the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) on Tuesday, the latter asked for an extension for the closing date for loan disbursement to December 30, 2011.

“We haven’t yet got funds under MUTP phase-I from the state government,” said Dr PC Sehgal, managing director, MRVC.

Sridhar

February 12th, 2011, 03:19 PM

MeMumbaikar

February 12th, 2011, 03:41 PM

If they are planning extensions beyond Panvel, they will be forced to consider quadrupling of the Harbour Line, so that fast trains can also run on this line. Already, it is needed, but with the distances involved, slow trains that stop at every station would be meaningless.

I know this is already proposed, but my point is that they need to be considered together. The Panvel-Karjat extension would not really cut commute time from CST even if distance is cut by 30kms, unless there are fast trains.

or

atleast get the quadruple to kurla station.

from there the central line is expected to add tracks 5-6 to cst. So more fast trains can be released from Kurla to CST.

Thats what the harbour line currently does. Dumps the load of navi mumbai on Kurla station.

Kurla station is in shit condition though. Please for god sake improve it IR

darkhorses

February 13th, 2011, 07:00 AM

don't know where to post this.so i am posting it here.
cc-me
http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/5274/picture072g.jpg (http://img691.imageshack.us/i/picture072g.jpg/)

http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/6653/picture073d.jpg (http://img824.imageshack.us/i/picture073d.jpg/)

darkhorses

February 13th, 2011, 07:14 AM

google earth view of the turbhe station.
http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/4682/turbhe1.png (http://img696.imageshack.us/i/turbhe1.png/)

sathya_226

February 13th, 2011, 01:57 PM

Turbhe railway station is the one which i always admired in terms of asthetics and quality wise in the whole of local train stations in Navi Mumbai !

Ashis Mitra

February 13th, 2011, 02:33 PM

As for the Trams we had a respectable tram network till the 1950s. But increasing road traffic made it very impractical for trams to run and by 1964 all trams were withdrawn. I don't see new tram lines coming up either in mumbai or in your hometown Kolkata since the authorities are afraid of worsening the already bad traffic situation.

You can see Mumbai trams in some scenes of Hindi film CHALTI KA NAM GADI and CID.

anujkb

February 13th, 2011, 04:17 PM

Proposal:

We can have air conditioned single rake just the way we have 15 coach rake...

it can make 14 journeys in a day and rates will be as per chair car (ACCC or CC) ticket of IR... i.e. journey of 60 km will cost 155 Rs. i.e. about double that of first class.

Still that train will have high patronage.

the AC system cant be done as it is, on the current local trains. I think the DMUs which have smaller doors can be fit for AC; with the doorspace not airconditioned (ie. like the present ACCC rakes of IR)

Another proposal:

why cant run trams on BRTS routes?

MeMumbaikar

February 13th, 2011, 06:11 PM

btw

read in maahrashtra times (marathi newspaper)

kurla thane 5-6 line is finished and will open in march

testing between vikroli and Mulund currently.

Bombay2Calcutta

February 13th, 2011, 09:45 PM

World Cup launch for Churchgate
Published: Monday, Feb 14, 2011, 1:03 IST
By Rajendra Aklekar | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA (http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_world-cup-launch-for-churchgate_1507513)

Like the Germans opened Europe’s biggest glass station at Berlin to commemorate the ceremonial opening of the football world cup, Western Railway (WR) in Mumbai plans to open its own ‘Glass Cathedral’ — the new-look and swanky Churchgate station glass house — to coincide with the cricket World cup matches that will be held a few metres away from the historic rail terminus.

The Hauptbahnhof, also known as the “Glass Cathedral”, had opened in Berlin in 2006 just in time for Germany’s World Cup. DNA had first reported on December 25 that Churchgate was getting a corporate look. The towering station is being converted into one with a glass facade and aluminum sheets. The upgrade will cost Rs2 crore.

“We will try and finish it by the time of the matches, so a new Churchgate station can welcome the World Cup,” Sharad Chandrayan, WR chief spokesperson, said.

The traffic police and the civic authorities too have begun making detailed parking plans and arrangements for the World Cup matches, including the finals that would be held at Wankhede stadium along the rail lines in the close vicinity of the terminus that sees more than seven lakh passengers per day and trains every three minutes.

“Churchgate has a glorious history. The original station, a small structure with thatched roof, in the 1920s used to have a level-crossing across the road and the lines went further ahead to Colaba. In the 1930s, Colaba was closed with the cutting down of railway lines. Churchgate was then re-modelled as a terminus in 1933. The existing seven storey-station building was built in 1957 and not much has changed since then,” a senior official said.

WR officials said they had received requests from cricket fans, who asked permission to photograph theWankhede stadium from the roof-top of the seven-storey station building.

“We need to check if one can actually see the stadium from our roof-top. After that, we will take a decision whether to allow it or not,” a senior WR official said.

hardcore gamer

February 13th, 2011, 10:24 PM

btw

read in maahrashtra times (marathi newspaper)

kurla thane 5-6 line is finished and will open in march

testing between vikroli and Mulund currently.

By any chance do you reside in Thane?

bhargavsura

February 14th, 2011, 01:30 AM

No more swanky, more like "Indian classic standard"

Bombay2Calcutta

February 14th, 2011, 05:56 AM

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/PUBLICATIONS/HT/HM/2011/02/14/Article//003/14_02_2011_003_001.jpg

Bombay2Calcutta

February 14th, 2011, 06:26 AM

SOURCE (http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/20110214201102140244104976517ec1/CR-staff-gives-thumbs-down-to-15rake-locals.html)

CR staff gives thumbs down to 15-rake locals
Say priority should be to increase number of 12-car rakes on congested CST-Kalyan route

Even as Central Railway (CR) is still thinking over running 15-car rakes, a major chunk of its employees and operating staff are already giving the idea a thumbs down citing that it will not benefit the commuters at all.

National Railway Mazdoor Union (NRMU) which has several motormen under its flag has written a letter to the CR, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) M C Chauhan clearly expressing its displeasure about 15-car rakes.

Top priority to passenger benefits
Venu Nair, Divisional Secretary for Mumbai Division said, “We have studied it and had several unofficial discussion with the operating staff from CR. We have come to a conclusion that running 15-car rakes will only give publicity and not any clear cut benefits to the passengers.”

Need more trains, not longer locals
According to Nair, commuters want more trains per hour and not longer trains. “As per the length of the 15-car rake only around 15 trains can be run in an hour while there can be around 18 trains with 12 cars each can be run in the same time.”

Some motormen feel Central Railways should start running more trains per hour and not longer locals

He added that the only priority for CR should be to increase the number of 12-car rakes and even ply them on Harbour Line even if it means giving double halts to the trains for commuters.

Another senior official said that even technically, CR is still far away from running a 15-coach train since the space between signals is not adequate in most stretches on the congested CST-Kalyan route.

“A 15 coach train will take enough space between two signals to nullify both signals. Simply put, if a train is having an effect on two signals, it slows down the system and trains will take longer to traverse the same distance,” said the official.

A motorman had another simpler reason for disapproval. “At the moment, the motorman and guards are given 7 to 8 minutes to interchange the driving cabs and they still get delayed while navigating through the crowds on the platform. So it’s obvious that motormen and guards will take more time,” he said.

CR and Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) have been having a running feud for some time on the feasibility study of 15 coach trains on CR after CR flip-flopped on a request made to MRVC for a feasibility study.

bharatiya

February 14th, 2011, 06:59 AM

If you calculate by number of cars, 15 of the 15 car trains is more than 18 of the 12 cars.

skdubai

February 14th, 2011, 09:12 AM

and the diff in time is only 30 seconds or so....

Bombay2Calcutta

February 15th, 2011, 01:06 AM

SOURCE (http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_build-foot-over-bridge-before-opening-new-lines-vikhroli-locals_1508038)
Build foot over-bridge before opening new lines: Vikhroli locals

The trial runs of the incomplete tracks between Kurla and Thane on Monday turned out to be dramatic event as Vikhroli residents staged a four-hour protest at the railway station demanding the railways first construct a foot over-bridge (FOB) after a locomotive ran over a commuter during a test run on February 10.

The trials being conducted by the commissioner of railway safety, Chetan Bakshi, were delayed by five hours due to the protest.

A mob of residents and students of a nearby school squatted on the new tracks since 10.30am with the demand that they would not allow the trial convoy of senior officers to pass until they could hand over a petition for the bridge.

The crowd blocked both the new lines till 2pm. The railways then sent a junior officer to deal with the crowd. The mob dispersed after being assured their demand will be met. The convoy passed the Vikhroli level-crossing gate around 3.30pm.

“The railways should build a wider bridge, and one which does not land on platforms as then it will require tickets. The railways should do this before they open the new lines,” said Terence D’Souza, who led the protest.

Central Railway services had come to a complete halt for over three hours after a mob of commuters, residents and NGO activists staged a rail-roko following the death of three people in separate incidents in Vikhroli due to train accidents in November last year.

Over 200 policemen had to be deployed to avoid a law and order problem, as the protesters sat on the railway tracks for two hours in the afternoon. There were minor clashes among rival groups and the police had to detain 32 people.

The railway police registered a case of accidental death in all three cases.

Meanwhile, Bakshi, who reports to the ministry of civil aviation, was not satisfied with the quality of work on the new lines and will oversee a second round of trials on Tuesday.

He conducted preliminary trials on the new fifth and sixth lines between Kurla and Thane, though they are not linked to the main lines yet.

The lines are connected between Thane and Vikhroli and beyond that they are still in isolation and cannot be put to use for trains from Kurla Terminus. Railway officials said that a major block is required at the spot to complete the pending work.

p2p4

February 15th, 2011, 05:24 AM

I won't consider part of the "SWANK"
Toilet tiles on a piece of history speaks volumes on what swankiness is by Indian Standards.

Looks very PWD to me !!!

American English and British English were two cornerstones of the English Language after WW2. Now we will have the Indian version of "SWANK" with a definition, perhaps of a half hearted, low quality, high expenditured un-ergonomic behemoth.

Seriously, our 'barely able to do well and report well' journalists should be shown what swankiness really is by Indian standards (DELHI METRO anyone or DELHI AIRPORT...)

I am quite peeved when these media honcho-journos slap the word "swank" on any and every piece of garbage that has a glass facade with aluminum panels! Spunk would be the right word !

End note - I really do not blame the "COMMON" journalist who is by his / her choice, chose a life of hardship running pillar to post to get and write and report stories. Where every news reporter is a pimp and every editor of his/her story is another bigger pimp, most journos in n/papers are given assignments like reporting a small development on a bigger exaggerated scale. These journos could be living in a small chawl for all you know (NOTHING WRONG IN THAT) .. but for infra projects like these, they have - perhaps - never seen what big developments really are in the rest of the world.

To them, maybe, a facade facelift gives their own deprived spirits a feel good chest up! When PWD Borivali Station is branded as swanky after renovation, you know they (journos) are not to be blamed. They are merely seeing something different than before which they never saw and easily get impressed .

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/7217/img0635kq.jpg[/URL][/QUOTE]

bhargavsura

February 15th, 2011, 05:29 AM

Boss, kya kare, these people are limited to a small vocabulary.

devendra1

February 15th, 2011, 09:46 AM

According to Nair, commuters want more trains per hour and not longer trains. “As per the length of the 15-car rake only around 15 trains can be run in an hour while there can be around 18 trains with 12 cars each can be run in the same time.”

Did the frequency reduced when converting 9 car trains to 12 . If not then it should not reducec when converting 12 car trains to 15

bharatiya

February 16th, 2011, 02:27 AM

^^ not all stations are long enough to cater to 15 car trains.

Bombay2Calcutta

February 16th, 2011, 04:23 AM

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/PUBLICATIONS/HT/HM/2011/02/16/Article//002/16_02_2011_002_005.jpg

Bombay2Calcutta

February 16th, 2011, 04:41 AM

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/PUBLICATIONS/HT/HM/2011/02/16/Article//007/16_02_2011_007_006.jpg

buddy_rohan

February 16th, 2011, 03:47 PM

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/PUBLICATIONS/HT/HM/2011/02/16/Article//007/16_02_2011_007_006.jpg

hate the mentality of our babus -
instead of having doors 'that shut' on trains they had removed the fences so that when people fall off from trains they dont get killed by fences.

hate the mentality of people -
they oppose fences as they want to cross (tresspass) the railway tracks.

i love india...

sixsigma1978

February 16th, 2011, 05:20 PM

^^ No fences in the world can bar human stupidity. Like the geniuses who decided to ride atop the train in UP and were "swept away"!! and the REMAINING gentry decided to destroy 100 crores of property to put a seal on the quality of stupidity exhibited earlier!!

muthu raj

February 16th, 2011, 09:58 PM

Wahat is the status of MUTP-11 New rakes bidding ?

MeMumbaikar

February 16th, 2011, 10:10 PM

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/PUBLICATIONS/HT/HM/2011/02/16/Article//002/16_02_2011_002_005.jpg

12 fcuking years and this is the result.

:bash::bash::bash::bash::bash::bash::bash::bash:

Bombay Boy

February 16th, 2011, 10:53 PM

not that bad if they can fix it in the next 5 days as they claim they can

bharatiya

February 16th, 2011, 11:48 PM

our country is one of the most shameful...

ssusa

February 16th, 2011, 11:57 PM

Does our country do any thing right in first attept??:bash:

Bombay2Calcutta

February 17th, 2011, 01:38 AM

^^ Hopefylly it will be on track soon. Hopfully the can complete in 5 days.

bhargavsura

February 17th, 2011, 03:23 AM

No. They don't. Can you put an efforts to make them realize?

rathibent

February 17th, 2011, 06:30 AM

ne1 with new pics of churchgate??? 50% of cladding is done i guess....

Bombay2Calcutta

February 17th, 2011, 07:58 AM

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/PUBLICATIONS/HT/HM/2011/02/17/Article//002/17_02_2011_002_003.jpg

Bombay2Calcutta

February 17th, 2011, 08:03 AM

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/PUBLICATIONS/HT/HM/2011/02/17/Article//002/17_02_2011_002_004.jpg

gentem

February 17th, 2011, 08:14 AM

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/PUBLICATIONS/HT/HM/2011/02/17/Article//002/17_02_2011_002_003.jpg

Instead of separate railway division, full suburban trains can be brought under single body that is either western railway or central railway :cheers:

World8115

February 17th, 2011, 10:41 AM

Instead of separate railway division, full suburban trains can be brought under single body that is either western railway or central railway :cheers:
Do you think they will agree to that. Mumbai is their HUB.

gentem

February 17th, 2011, 11:34 AM

^^ whose hub? I told full suburban can be added to EITHER western OR central railway. Currently half belongs to each.

Bombay2Calcutta

February 17th, 2011, 05:22 PM

Controversial Bandra plot on the block again?

MUMBAI: Indian Railways is once again trying to market a prime plot of land at Bandra (E). It wants a private developer to finance, design, construct and operate, maintain and market a commercial complex on a 45-year lease.

But the 11-acre plot is embroiled in a dispute with the state government. Three years ago, then Mumbai suburban collector Vishwas Patil issued a stay on the auction process, as the state owned half the land. The dispute is still pending. The inquiry is on, said Mumbai suburban collector Nirmalkumar Deshmukh , who succeeded Patil . The issue was first raised a couple of years ago by then Congress legislator Janardhan Chandurkar, who claimed that the land belonged to the state government. He wanted to know how the railways were auctioning land, which did not belong to them in the first place, and that too without the permission of the state government.

The railways has been trying to exploit the plot for five years. Early this month, the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) invited bids for commercial development of the land, from the Harbour line track of Bandra station to the Western Express Highway. The railways will hold a two-stage bidding system for the developer`s selection.

In 2008, the state government had increased the floor space index (FSI) of the plot from 2 to 4 for commercial use. The notice said, "Shortlisted bidders, based on pre-qualification, will be eligible to participate in the financial bid in the second stage. They will have to quote an amount of lease premium payable either upfront or over a period of five to seven years with interest."

The notice added, "The successful bidder will have to pay the first installment of lease premium and create a n SPV company that will execute the agreement with RLDA and implement the project."

Another stipulation is that the developer must have completed at least one real estate project of 30,000 sq m built-up area or multiple real estate projects with aggregate built-up area of 1.50 lakh sq m. "The applicant must have a minimum tangible net worth of Rs 670 crore for the year ending March 31, 2010... for applicantshaving tangible net worth of Rs 1,500 crore or above, technical Eligibility criteria will not be applicable," it added. In 2008, the railways had to defer its decision to invite tenders following the slowdown in the property market. Virtually no developer showed interest in the plot during that phase because of a liquidity crunch. The railways had set a reserve price of Rs 1,750 crore as upfront lease premium for the site .

The railways had been keen on striking pay dirt through the development of this Bandra plot as they had hoped to use the money for the Rs 5,000 crore Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP-II) which envisages adding an additional pair of tracks on both the western and central suburban lines, besides procuring new trains.

Read more: Controversial Bandra plot on the block again? - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Controversial-Bandra-plot-on-the-block-again/articleshow/7511816.cms#ixzz1EEJq62X4

Bombay2Calcutta

February 18th, 2011, 02:28 AM

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/PUBLICATIONS/HT/HM/2011/02/18/Article//004/18_02_2011_004_007.jpg

Bombay2Calcutta

February 18th, 2011, 03:00 AM

SWANK STATION BUILDINGS AS HARBOUR LINE goes further west

Eco-Friendly Domed Structures In Andheri-Goregaon Stations To Resemble Delhi Metro

Roana Maria Costa | TNN

Dome-shaped ecofriendly station buildings with skylights, elevators and escalators will come up between Andheri to Goregaon as part of the Harbour line’s extension plans.
The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) has in the last two years drawn up plans for swanky station buildings on the west at Andheri, Jogeshwari and Goregaon.
“The new buildings will look very similar to the Delhi Metro buildings, be partly made of glass and be blue in colour. The elevated portion will house all the structures razed on ground level to make place for the new tracks. Parts of the new buildings will also be commercially exploited,” said MRVC managing director P C Sehgal.
MRVC officials said it was part of the second phase of the Mumbai Urban Transport project (MUTP-II) and involves breaking down existing structures like ticket windows, offices of the station master and GRP and the like, which come in the way of extending the tracks.
At Andheri, some utilities have from the western side have already been shifted to the new station building in the east.
The buildings will be double-storeyed elevated structures with escalators and lifts at Andheri and Goregaon. However, the one at Jogeshwari, which will be at the northern end of the station (towards Goregaon) will have only one floor.
Moreover, though the station building at Jogeshwari will sport the same domed look, the plan for that station is a staggered one as all the utilities can’t be accommodated in its proposed singlestorey structure.
Tenders have already been finalised for the buildings.
At Andheri station, the WR platform towards the extreme west would become an island platform (dispersal on both the sides) as track seven would be extended. The tracks would pass through the present circulating area.
The pattern would be replicated with station-specific modifications at Goregaon.
Both Goregaon and Jogeshwari stations will have with new platforms on the western side.
The domed structure would cover the entire length of the platform (about 220 meters) and will be 23.6 meters wide, with a skylight of around 11 metres wide.
“The skylight, which runs along the length of the dome, will help make the building a green one as the electrical load would be much lesser,” said Sehgal.
The new building at Andheri will be most expensive at Rs 20 crore, the one at Goregaon will cost Rs 16 crore and that at Jogeshwari will be Rs 12 crore.
However, the WR platforms would not get any kind of facelift under this project.
“We would use pre-engineered blocks (manufactured elsewhere) which would just be assembled at the spot. Work on the foundation for the new stations has already started,” said Sehgal. He said the lack of space made it essential to have elevated structures.
The deadline for building the stations is three years and will involve rehabilitation of structures along the tracks which is being done by an NGO, work on which has already started

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/TOIM/2011/02/18/4/Img/Pc0040700.jpg

Bombay2Calcutta

February 18th, 2011, 04:15 AM

Churchgate makeover only on the outside

MUMBAI: In a few days from now, Churchgate, which is one of the main terminuses of the Western Railway (WR), will get its much-hyped makeover. Three sides of the historic building will now be gleaming walls of glass. Even as WR officials proudly declare that the terminus would be the first on the Indian Railways to sport such a sleek modern look, hundreds of employees working at the station are a rather disgruntled lot.

It may be world class from the outside, they said, but the interiors are "third class." The building houses 2,000-odd WR employees and several hundred others from various departments.

Employees pointed out the various aspects that are in need of immediate attention: leakages that have caused moss to grow on the walls, heaps of garbage, old files and furniture dumped in passageways, and worst, portions of the ceiling that have given way, exposing the iron beams.

"A few months ago, a huge portion of the ceiling came crashing down. It was sheer luck that I was not in office at that time. Instead of spending large amounts on cosmetic changes, WR should look at making the building safe. However, nothing has been done till now," said an employee who works on the seventh floor of the building.

A memorandum submitted by the Western Railway Mazdoor Sangh to the GM, noted that the drainpipes are more than 20 years old and have become narrower due to the collection of dirt and silt in them. The toilets are dirty and leaking, there is no plan in place to combat fires and there is no water supply after 4 pm. The memorandum also states that the water, supplied by a tanker, is contaminated and not potable. As per the report of the health inspector of Lower Parel in February 2010, the water is unfit for human consumption.

And now, the glass facade is causing more problems, employees say. "There is no cross-ventilation as the glass directly covers the windows. When we asked them to put the solid glass only over the walls and leave the windows open, they refused, saying that the design of the building would be spoilt, said Ajay Singh, divisional secretary, WRMS.

A woman employee on the second floor, over whose window the glass has already been placed, said. "The office has become so dark and warm. I dread to think what it will be like in summer," she said.

Union leaders on Tuesday said that they were even willing to break the glass facade and halt services — unless the authorities agree to renovate the building from inside and make it fully air conditioned.

"Railway officials promised that we would meet to discuss the issue on February 7. However, there was no such meeting. We will now meet them on Monday after which we will decide what action to take," a union leader said.

Chief PRO, WR, Sharat Chandrayan refused to comment on the issue.

Read more: 'Churchgate makeover only on the outside' - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Churchgate-makeover-only-on-the-outside/articleshow/7512229.cms#ixzz1EGvx5DLe

bhargavsura

February 18th, 2011, 05:06 AM

God, please fucking stop using words like swank and world class.

Bombay Boy

February 18th, 2011, 05:41 AM

typical indian work. dress it up from the outside and totally ignore the basics

KuwarOnline

February 18th, 2011, 08:26 AM

finally much need revamps happening to centuries old stations.....I dont know whether it would be world class or not but surely something nice

KuwarOnline

February 18th, 2011, 10:03 AM

Mumbai: A devotee of Shirdi Sai Baba has submitted a Rs-50 crore proposal to the union railway ministry to operate a private train between Mumbai and Shirdi.
Rajesh Nihak,a Mumbaibased businessman,recently sent the ambitious plan to railway minister Mamata Banerjee and railway board chairman Vivek Sahai.Under his proposal,the train will have eight to nine compartments,be able to accommodate around 900 followers of the famous saint,and charge roughly the same fare as that of a Volvo bus.
We have discussed the proposal at length with the railway administration.It is along the lines of the prestigious Palace on Wheels.Against the existing travel time of seven hours,we have proposed to cover the distance in three-and-a-half hours.For Sais devotees,it will be a daylong tripfrom 7am to 11pm.We are sure our proposal will be accepted, Nihak told TOI.
After we conducted a survey,we found that more than 700 Volvo buses :shocked: are operating between Mumbai and Shirdi and the travel time ranges between six and eight hours.If our proposal is accepted,the comfort level of Sais devotees will increase and there will be a drastic cut in the travel time, he added.
Nihak said he has proposed to import state-of-theart compartments for the train.Once our proposal is approved,we will submit details plans to the railways Research Design and Standards Organisation,particularly for the approval of the bogies design, Nihak said.
The businessman is hopeful of a positive response from Banerjee and Sahai,both of whom,he says,are Sai Babas devotees.They liked our concept.The railway board will have to take a policy decision on private sector participation in the operation of trains.In the larger interest of Sais devotees,I am sure,they will accept our proposal, he said.
The proposal has got supporters in agriculture minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil (who represents the Shirdi assembly constituency) and Shirdi Saibaba trust chairman Jayant Sasane.Both say it is the need of the hour.Given the number of devotees,the existing railway facilities are grossly inadequate.A special train between Mumbai and Shirdi will be real gift to the devotees, Sasane said.
Sasane has called on Banerjee and Sahai to demand more trains for Shirdi.Since the devotees come from all over India,we urged the minister to provide more trains from the north of the country in the rail budget.We are in the process of implementing a Rs 1000-crore plan to meet the requirements of the devotees, Sasane said.

Source
TOI Mumbai

Bombay2Calcutta

February 18th, 2011, 10:09 PM

IE (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/cr-ditches-rob-demolition-plan-has-a-better-idea/751505/0)
CR ditches ROB demolition plan, has a better idea

Mumbai: More than five years after deciding to demolish five road overbridges (ROBs) between Dadar and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), the Central Railway (CR) has come up with a technical solution that could help avoid razing of these busy bridges.

The CR had decided to demolish the ROBs to raise their height in keeping with the requirements as the traction along the railway section was changed from direct current (DC) alternate current (AC).

The new solution involves providing insulation to the high-voltage catenary overhead line. During the conversion of the section from Vangani to Kalyan from DC to AC, the CR had effectively tried this method at the Patri bridge between Kalyan and Thakurli.

“After the successful testing, we decided it could be implemented in Mumbai as well,” said Vidyadhar Malegaonkar, chief spokesperson, CR.

The overhead equipment (OHE) consists of a catenary, droppers and the contact wire. These set of parallel wires are connected between the two poles that hold it. The contact wire provides current to the EMU through a pentograph.

According to a senior CR official, it has been decided to insulate the portion of the catenary that runs under these bridges and also raise the main catenary to the height of the bridge and connect it to the base of the bridge. While the insulation will ensure that the ROB is protected, the contact wire remains at the same height, but the required gap between the bridge and the contact wire is thus achieved. “So, one one hand we are providing insulation to the catenary and raising it to the level of the ROB’s surface, we are also maintaining a standard gap between the ROB and the contact wire,” the official added.

Under Phase II of the MUTP, the conversion of traction from 1,500 volts DC to 25,000 volts AC necessitated demolition of ROBs. For a ROB, the separation from the live wire below has to be around 5.5 metres even when the traction is DC, but is currently around 4.7 metres at most bridges.

For an FOB, the gap from the OHE should be around 6.25 metres. The step would also save CR some money. The initial cost of demolishing and rebuilding the bridges was Rs 64 crore. The CR revised the list and added a few more bridges to be demolished and the cost spiralled to Rs 360 crore.

“One of the reasons behind this decision was addition of more bridges that were to be demolished. If these bridges were to be demolished, the deadline would have exceeded. Plus, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the traffic police would have not allowed us to demolish all these bridges at the same time,” the official added.

CR officials, however, pointed out that though the decision to raze the bridges has been put on hold, they are likely to go ahead with the demolition of Hancock bridge near Sandhurst Road. The tenders have almost been finalised, permission from the BMC and the traffic police sought and more importantly, even in the existing conditions (the DC traction) trains have to follow a restricted speed limit along this stretch.

The Western Railway (WR), too, has decided to go ahead with the demolition of Carol bridge, connecting Parel and Elphinstone Road station.

Bombay2Calcutta

February 19th, 2011, 02:27 AM

TENDERS INVITED
Two level-crossings set to go as WR puts ROB plan on track

Roana Maria Costa TNN

Mumbai: Residents demanding a road overbridge (ROB) between Jogeshwari and Goregaon have finally got a reason to cheer.
The Western Railway on Friday invited tenders for construction of the ROB,eliminating the need for two level-crossings (LCs) in 18 months and,most importantly,putting the plans to build the Oshiwara station on track.
To be built at a cost of Rs 14.07 crore,the over 1-km-long bridge will built on steel girders.The four-laned structureand will connect SV Road and the Western Express Highway.The 21-metre-wide ROB will have a footpath of 1.5 metres on either side.
Tenders for the ROB will be opened on March 22.It will render the Andheri-Jogeshwari as well as Jogeshwari-Goregaon LCs redundant as a result of which trains will run on time and keep away people from crossing the tracks, a WR official said.
In the 50s,WR had 41 LC gates of which only five remain.The LC at Bandra is hardly used while the one at Vile Parle is in the process of being closed.This leaves us with just more more LC between Andheri and Jogeshwari to worry about.Incidentally,plans to build another ROB have been approved and tenders for the same will be awarded soon, the official added.
We had written to the joint police commissioner,traffic,and have been waiting for clearances for the proposed ROB since November.The BMC will pay for the approach roads and WR take care of the portion above the tracks, said Chief PRO,WR,Sharat Chandrayan.

Bombay2Calcutta

February 19th, 2011, 02:29 AM

Tech snag puts rush hour WR commuters on the slow track

30 Trains Delayed,Lack Of Announcements Lead To Chaos
Roana Maria Costa TNN

Mumbai: Thousands of rush hour travellers on the Western Railway (WR) were stranded along the network because a train developed a technical snag.
According to WR officials,at 8.20 am,a Churchgate-bound slow train,from Virar,developed a fault at Goregaon.This problem led to 30 trains being delayed and another 10 trains were cancelled or terminated before they could reach their destination,the officials added.Trains were diverted on the fast line between Goregaon and Andheri station which affected the services.
WR public relations officer Sharat Chandrayan said that the trains were delayed,by 10-15 minutes,due to an electrical fault in a rake.However,according to commuters,the ground reality was entirely different.The absence of announcements on the public address system compounded the confusion.
A commuter from Borivli,who takes the 8:57 am Churchgate local,on the condition of anonymity,said,The train arrived two minutes late and waited at Borivli for nearly three minutes.Earlier a train took only four minutes to reach Kandivli,now after platform seven and eight have been built at Borivli,it takes 10 minutes to travel the same distance.However,on Friday,it took around 20 minutes.
He added,During the journey,the train halted at every station for around five minutes.Initially,I thought it was a case of trespassing,however,the train was slower than usual.It took one hour to reach Andheri from Borivli.Later,the train picked up speed,but the delay was horrible.
Another commuter said,Trains terminated,without notice,at different platforms.Running from one to another wasted more time.Trains were randomly changed from 12-car rakes to nine-car ones.The 12-car 10.33am Churchgate local suddenly became a nine-car rake on Friday.
However,WR officials claim that punctuality on the network was 97% till 4 pm on Friday.

Bombay2Calcutta

February 19th, 2011, 02:32 AM

Smart ads help rlys make a point

Roana Maria Costa TNN

Mumbai: The way in which the Western Railway (WR) is reaching out to its commuters is slowly changing.Gone are the staid messages,the administration is now using creative advertising to communicate.
In December,when the WR imposed a block to extend the platform cover,to accommodate 12-car trains,at Churchgate station,they used a very innovative medium to spread the message.In a print advertisement,WR showed 33 elephants,weighing around 165 tonnes,equal to the weight of the roof structure being raised,to inform travellers about the enormity of the task and the need for cooperation.
In the last few months,the WR administration has changed the way it spreads awareness about rooftop travel,new ticketing methods and trespassing.We have infused a corporate flavour in our print communication to make it eye-catching.The message has been framed in such a way that it leaves an impression on travellers, said a senior WR official.
He added,We are trying to catch up with the changing times.We seek inspiration from the private sector when it comes to creative messages.
According to the WR official,heavy monologues in print advertisements have been phased out.There is use of animation and Hinglish,in the communication,the official added.New ticketing methods like CVMs coupons were introduced.We carried a drive against offences like trespassing and rooftop travel and the need for commuters to use foot overbridges.But direct notices regarding the same didnt yield results, said the WR official.
He added,This is where the teaser campaign and attractive advertisements helped us reach out to the travellers.Many posters had to be rectified till we felt it fitted the bill.
WR officials claim that the change,in mode of communication,has yielded results.We have received appreciation and accolades from the public, said the official.

REACHING OUT

Urging people to use bridges:

A jigsaw puzzle of a family where a piece denoting a family member is missing.The message: Your family is incomplete without you

Rooftop travel:

Birds on an overhead wire,with a caption saying unfortunately humans are not as lucky as birds

Cashing in on World Cup fever:

WR will be shortly releasing print advertisements symbolizing cricket terminology to wish the Indian team.Radio jingles on this theme kicked-off on Friday

http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/TOIM/2011/02/19/6/Img/Pc0061200.jpg

bharatiya

February 19th, 2011, 07:20 PM

put these signs in hindi and marathi if you want to reach the masses

Bombay2Calcutta

February 20th, 2011, 01:58 AM

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/PUBLICATIONS/HT/HM/2011/02/20/Article//002/20_02_2011_002_004.jpg

Bombay2Calcutta

February 20th, 2011, 02:04 AM

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/PUBLICATIONS/HT/HM/2011/02/20/Article//005/20_02_2011_005_002.jpg

Bombay2Calcutta

February 21st, 2011, 07:52 AM

Marathi displays at CR stations in three months time

Roana Maria Costa TNN

Mumbai: Making its infrastructure user friendly, the railways has decided to put up indicators at suburban stations that will display information in Marathi as well.
Earlier, messages on indicators were displayed only in English. Six months ago, the railways introduced them in Hindi. The Marathi displays are expected to be up in three
months.
For now, the plan is primarily for Central Railway stations as the Western Railway said they had not decided to change their indicators yet.
A source said they took the decision following pressure from political parties. “The proposal to have tri-lingual indicators was discussed for a while. It has been given the sanction now,” an official said.
At present, the railways use all the three languages, English, Hindi and Marathi, while making announcements at stations as well as on trains.
In the first phase, the source said, Marathi indicators would be installed at stations from CST to Kalyan and, in the next year, it would be extended to other sections.
“The railways has floated tenders for phase I and the bidding will be opened by February-end,” said the source.
“The plan is in keeping with the official policy of the Indian Railways on the threelanguage formula in government offices and public utilities,” said chief public relations officer of Central Railway (CR) V Malegaonkar.
The project, which will cost Rs 93.92 lakh, will need the modification of existing indicators. “We will tweak the mechanism of the existing indicators to accommodate the new changes; it is technically feasible and no major changes are required,” he said.
The CR also plans to install advanced indicators on all platforms at CST so that the concourse areas are not congested with people milling around the place to get a glimpse of the boards.

Signs Of Change

• Till six months ago, messages on indicators were displayed only in English

• At present, messages are displayed in English and Hindi

• The Marathi displays are expected to be up in three months

• The project, which will cost Rs 93.92 lakh, will need the modification of the existing indicators

• In the first phase, Marathi indicators will be installed at stations from CST to Kalyan

gentem

February 21st, 2011, 08:03 AM

Bombay2Calcutta

February 21st, 2011, 11:51 PM

DNA (http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_mumbai-delhi-rail-distance-just-got-longer_1511153)
Mumbai-Delhi rail distance just got longer

The 1,384-km railway distance between Mumbai and New Delhi just got a few metres longer. It is due to a new rail alignment parallel to the existing one to avoid a bridge in ‘distress’ between Virar and Dahanu Road as trains enter and leave Mumbai on Western Railway.

“Two bridges between Vangaon and Dahanu Road had become very old and had been declared dangerous. The bridges also required major alterations for suburban trains to ply on them. This is when we decided to build a parallel line and two new bridges that would be fit to ferry long-distance and suburban trains,” a senior official, working on the project, said.

“We have built a fresh line of about 3.5-km parallel to the existing line. The alignment separates from the existing one and is on the right side of the line as you move from Churchgate. The distance has increased by a few metres, but it will not take additional time for trains to negotiate the new curve,” he said.

“The increased distance could range between 50 and 100 metres. The increased distance can be covered by trains in minutes and will not make a big time difference in the train’s running time,” he added.

“Work on the new line began on January 15 and will be completed by February 2012 at a cost of Rs33 crore,” WR spokesperson Sharat Chandrayan said.

Once the two bridges over the creek are ready, they will also facilitate plying of direct Churchgate-Dahanu trains in a year. Local trains are 12-feet wide and need more space to pass. The two new rail bridges located between Vangaon and Dahanu stations will allow this.

Bombay2Calcutta

February 22nd, 2011, 02:27 AM

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/PUBLICATIONS/HT/HM/2011/02/22/Article//007/22_02_2011_007_009.jpg

studdmanster

February 25th, 2011, 02:32 PM

With a view to further enhancing the carrying capacity of suburban
services in Mumbai area, 47 additional services on the Thane-Vashi, Thane-
Panvel, Borivali-Virar, Andheri-Virar, Bandra-Virar and Churchgate-Borivali
sections will be run. It is also proposed to augment 107 suburban services in
Mumbai area from the present 9 car EMUs to 12 Car EMUs.

southernman

February 27th, 2011, 12:33 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8waJqyvORY Sorry if Posted Before.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wHmBAh-XLQ

gentem

February 27th, 2011, 06:49 AM

Suburban Services
103. With a view to further enhancing the carrying capacity of suburban
services in Mumbai area, 47 additional services on the Thane-Vashi, Thane-
Panvel, Borivali-Virar, Andheri-Virar, Bandra-Virar and Churchgate-Borivali
sections will be run. It is also proposed to augment 107 suburban services in
Mumbai area from the present 9 car EMUs to 12 Car EMUs.

They should introduce 1 A/C seater coach (AC chair Car Code:CC) in all local trains :bash: It will be success like AC volvo success in bangalore.

directdilse

February 27th, 2011, 05:56 PM

No doubt it will be a success but why make a coach carry 100 odd passengers (assuming a CC coach will carry that much, and if it caries more the comfort of the AC would any way be negated) when it can carry 500-600? It will be a huge wastage of capacity. When the common man of Mumbai is not being served properly you are proposing to introduce perks for the elites.

fuwad

February 27th, 2011, 06:11 PM

WR gets 2.5 cr for new road overbridge

Roana Maria Costa, TNN, Feb 27, 2011, 02.45am IST

MUMBAI: Western Railway (WR) officials were pleasantly surprised on reading the fine print in a document called the Pink Book on the Indian Railways' website after the Railway Budget was announced on Friday.

WR has been allocated a "substantial" amount of Rs 2.45 crore for a road overbridge (ROB), which will come up in place of two level-crossing gates between Andheri and Jogeshwari stations.

The surprise element, they said, was that they had sent the proposal to be cleared by the Railway Board and were given an 'in principle approval'. However, they are still waiting for the formal approval to come in. "We expect the approval soon. This is a positive sign," he said.

Officials said that the railway portion of the project would amount to Rs 14-15 crore while the remainder of the funds would be come from the BMC. The project would need around 21 months to be wrapped up.

WR is in the process of shutting all the level crossing gates on its suburban section. A few days ago WR started work on another ROB between Jogeshwari and Goregaon stations which would be a major boost to the Oshiwara station project which has been stuck for several years. Residents who stayed in the belt refused to let go of the level crossings this was the only short cut for an east-west connection.

"Andheri and its surroundings is a very highly populated area and getting from east to west is very time consuming. In the last fortnight three outlets have got a push ahead- metro over the station area and the two ROBs- which when completed will see decongestion of road traffic and improvement in connectivity," said the official.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/WR-gets-25-cr-for-new-road-overbridge/articleshow/7583316.cms

gentem

February 27th, 2011, 07:44 PM

Bombay2Calcutta

February 27th, 2011, 07:46 PM

LO O K I N G A H E A D

DIDI BUDGETS FOR

MUMBAI'S COMMUTERS GOT LITTLE FROM THE RAILWAY BUDGET, EXCEPT FOR PROJECTS THAT WERE ALREADY ON

Roana Maria Costa | TNN

Harbour Line finally put on fast track

Mamata Banerjee’s budget catered mostly to Kolkata but also managed to spare a thought for Mumbai. But a thought was just about all the city she praised as the “industrial capital” had to be content with. Banerjee’s budget gave new local services, new long-distance trains, more funds for the Mumbai Urban Transport Project and more 12-car rakes, but not radical enough for a lifeline bursting at its seams. Hope however came in the form of announcement of a feasibility study for a fast-track corridor on the Harbour line, a move which indicated that the project may be implemented earlier than expected.
This is not only good news to the more than 30% of Central Railways’ (CR) commuters travelling on the Harbour line but is also significant in view of the new airport coming up at Panvel. The survey was initially to have been conducted under the third phase of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP-III), around 2015. “We didn’t anticipate the survey for a fast track on the Harbour line to be announced so soon since it is proposed under MUTP-III, which is still in planning stages,” managing director P C Sehgal, Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) said. The survey will cost around Rs 5-10 crore.
MRVC however has already conducted a preliminary feasibility study for the corridor that indicates the project can go “under the water, on, above or below the earth’s surface,” depending on how much funds are pumped in. Sehgal told TOI the study considered seven options for a CSTPanvel fast corridor.
The most preferred one comprised stops at all stations till Cotton Green and then at a few select ones, much like the WR fast corridor which has halts at all stations between Churchgate and Mumbai Central. A second proposal was an elevated or an underground route from CST to Cotton Green station as the area leaves little choice due to lack of space. The route beyond this could be tackled by building a pair of conventional tracks. But this option would involve land acquisition and consequently rehabilitation of people. A third route considered was an elevated or underground track from CST through P D’Mello to BPT yard. Sehgal said the existing lines from BPT could be used till Wadala Road and then conventional groundlevel lines built to Panvel. However, this relies heavily on permissions from BPT. Another option was to have an elevated path till Kurla.
A CR official said it will be difficult to add new lines between CST and Cotton Green due to space constraints and sharp gradients. “I don’t see how two more platforms will come up at CST. The yard will need to be completely changed. A quick fix would be to have the corridor after Wa d a l a , where the demand is.” Sehgal said the project would cost Rs 3,000 crore and take 10 years to complete.
CR officials say their main demand — 12-car trains on the Harbour line—has not got a mention in the railway budget. TOI had first reported on February 25 that upgrading Harbour rakes to 12-car topped the CR wishlist. However, TOI has seen documents stating the Planning Commission has ‘in principle’ approved the project.

FEW SURPRISES, FEW SMILES

The mammoth Rs 57,630-crore Union railway budget had just a few offerings for Mumbai’s 70 lakh local commuters
The major announcement was for a feasibility study for a fast-track corridor on the Harbour Line. If all goes on track, the plans could be realized in 10 years
107 local trains would be upgraded from 9- to to 12-car rakes. However, WR had already announced plans to make at least 150 upgrades, and CR 104
No mention of WR’s demand for upgrades to 15-car rakes 47 new local services announced
Rs 638 cr given for the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP)
Rs 190 cr is for wrapping up MUTP-I and the rest for MUTP-II
Kurla terminus and Borivli and Andheri stations will be upgraded
Lower Parel, Ambernath and Diva stations will be upgraded into Adarsh stations, with better facilities “This budget gets a thumbs-down,” said activist Jitendra Vishe

THE NORTHWARD SPRAWL

Many of the new announcements in the Union railway budget are an acknowledgement of the Mumbai metropolitan sprawl growing rapidly to the north

MORE SERVICES

have been announced for suburban lines. Railway sources said that 40 of these services would most likely be on Western Railway and 7 on Central Railway

VIRAR WOULD

get more Western Railway services. The 40 Western Railway services would be mainly between Borivli-Virar, Andheri-Virar, Bandra-Virar and Churchgate-Borivli

TRANSHARBOUR

line would get more Central Railway services. They would be between Thane-Vashi and Thane-Panvel

Bombay2Calcutta

February 27th, 2011, 11:58 PM

C O M M U T E R S P E A K

THE FUTURE

THE CARDS AND PROMISES FOR TIMES AHEAD. A HARBOUR FAST MAY BE 10 YEARS AWAY
Nitin Yashwantrao & Viju B | TNN

Mamata leaves no elbow room for city

The railway budget offers little by way of immediate relief for Mumbaikars who endure the daily commute packed like sardines in a can. Citizens said they were angry and disappointed with Mamata Banerjee’s “paltry offering”, which failed to address issues such as safety measures, upgrading station amenities and introducing more trains. The railway minister’s announcement that Mumbai will get 47 new services has cut no ice with citizens. “Forty-seven services between WR, CR and Harbour lines amounts to 15 trains per line. It’s a paltry offering—not even one train per hour,” said a commuter.
A CR commuter said: “Allocating funds for long-term plans such as MUTP is necessary, but the Centre has failed to address the immediate concerns of millions of commuters.” There were hopes that Banerjee would announce a package to improve conditions at Thane station, which sees a footfall of over five lakh commuters every day. There was also expectations that Kalyan would be awarded the status of a fullfledged terminus.
Jitendra Vishe of the Suburban Rail Passenger Federation said the budget has shown that Mumbaikars do not matter: “This budget gets a thumbs down. It is time for people to rise and take to the streets to be heard.” On Friday afternoon, Suresh Adivekar was among the 50-odd commuters gathered in front of the TV at Churchgate station. “Many of the announcements are on paper,” he said. Other commuters agreed. The subject of clean toilets was a sore point. “Suburban railway stations are worse than cow sheds. The toilets stink and are in a bad shape,” said Piyush Sawant from Borivli.
Dhanajay B Sompura, secretary of the Mumbai suburban railway passenger association, said the budget seemed “people–friendly”. “We had asked the ministry to examine cyclic timetables to reduce delays. This was not done. We need trains every two minutes instead of threeand half-minutes.” It was business as usual on Friday when commuters realized that the Centre had presented a “lacklustre” budget for Mumbai.

TWO SERVICES

each have also been announced between Vasai Road-Diva and Vasai Road-Panvel

A THIRD

up and down line will be built between Kalyan and Kasara. Work will start soon

A SURVEY

has also been announced for a new railway line on the Virar-Diva-Panvel section

HARBOUR

Line may get a new fast corridor between CST and Panvel. A study will begin on its feasibility

Bombay2Calcutta

March 2nd, 2011, 04:48 AM

LIFELINE TO GROW LONGER, FASTER

Western Railway To Phase Out Nine-Coach Rakes By July, Focus On Expanding 15-Car & Introducing 18-Car Ones

Roana Maria Costa | TNN

Western Railway’s first Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) trains that debuted on January 5, 1928, between Colaba and Borivli stations, had just three coaches. Replacing the steam enginetrains with which WR began suburban services on April 12, 1867, between Backbay and Virar, the EMUs then had Mumbai in awe. But the Maximum City soon needed room for more and the EMUs were extended in due course of time to four, six, eight and nine-coach rakes to keep pace with growing population. By July, WR will have only 12-car and 15-car rakes, the nine-coach trains unable to cope with increasing commuter density.
Officials said phasing out nine-car rakes has long been in the works and gathered pace after the new Siemens-MRVC rakes were inducted. “We needed to make way for longer rakes—12-car trains carry 33% more people than nine-car, while 15-car rakes carry 66% more— to keep pace with increasing population and rapid growth of the city towards the northern suburbs,” said WR’s chief PRO, Sharat Chandrayan. WR officials added they are now focusing on 15-car rakes. “We are not ruling out the possibility of introducing 18-car services as the new rakes can be run this long,” said an official.
In fact when they were introduced 50 years ago, the nine-coach rakes rapidly replaced the eight-car ones then in service. The eight-car trains had technical problems as the motor coach could not take the load and accelerate and decelerate as per requirements for faster movement with an increase in commuter traffic. Nine-car rakes remained synonymous with the city’s lifeline for long, even after 12-coach trains were introduced in 1986. The nine-coach rakes crossed the 500 daily services mark on WR in 1972. On October 28, 1986, 12-car trains started on WR between Dadar and Virar and were extended to Churchgate on August 15, 1994.But nine-coach rakes reached their all-time high in 1994. Of the total 956 services run daily, 928 were nine-car ones while the rest 28 were 12-car ones. WR saw a slow but steady growth in 12-car services and in November 2007 for the first time 12-car services overtook nine-car ones. Of the total 1088 services, 551 were 12-car ones while 537 were nine-car ones. Today there are just 302 nine-car services and they too are on their way out as the city’s lifeline grows longer. The first 15-car locals on WR were flagged off on November 21, 2009 between Dadar and Virar, with 12 services per day. The services were extended up to Churchgate on January 28 this year.

A LONG JOURNEY

Central Railways

4-car (Harbour) | February 3, 1925

8-car (Mainline) | 1927

8-car (Harbour) | April 1, 1961

9-car (Mainline) | April 1, 1963

6-car (Kalyan-Karjat/Kasara) | October 1, 1964

12-car (Mainline) | September 1, 1986

12-car (South-East side— Karjat) | June 1, 1987

12-car | (North-East side— Kasara) |
March 7, 2001

12-car| (Trans-harbour) | December 21, 2010

FADING INTO HISTORY

| WR started suburban train services using steam engines between Backbay and Virar stations on April 12, 1867

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=TOIM/2011/03/02/4/Img/Pc0041100.jpg

Electric Start | In 1928, after electrification, three-car EMUs made their debut on January 5 between Colaba and Borivli stations

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=TOIM/2011/03/02/4/Img/Pc0040900.jpg

Adding On | Trains were augmented to four-car and 6-car on the local lines. WR also ran 8-car locals for a brief period, but little data on them is available

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=TOIM/2011/03/02/4/Img/Pc0041300.jpg

Nine’s Right | With the increasing growth and expansion of the city and its suburbs, nine-car trains were introduced on WR on March 2, 1961

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=TOIM/2011/03/02/4/Img/Pc0041000.jpg

Transition To Twelve | 12-car trains started on WR on October 28, 1986, more than 20 years after the ninecar rakes were introduced

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/TOIM/2011/03/02/4/Img/Pc0041200.jpg

Fifteen, Finally | More than another 20 years later, on November 21, 2009, WR started 15-car locals, flagging off 12 services per day

Bombay Boy

March 2nd, 2011, 05:49 AM

its amazing how little the design of the rakes changed between 1928 and the 'millenium' rake

lucky_123

March 2nd, 2011, 08:36 AM

isn't it amazing that British started the suburban service up to virar way back in April 12, 1867 and even after 145 yrs, we are still looking for excuses to extend it.

Also the service was initially till Colaba, which was then reduced till Churchgate

MeMumbaikar

March 2nd, 2011, 02:40 PM

bhargavsura

March 3rd, 2011, 04:51 AM

Bombay2Calcutta

March 4th, 2011, 04:54 AM

SEATS TO MAKE room for more standees
WR Plans Eight Seats Less In Compartments To Decongest Train Travel

Roana Maria Costa | TNN

Western Railway (WR) plans to reduce the number of seats in local trains and create more standing room for commuters. It would mean eight seats
lesser in each general
and first-class compartment, but a lot more standing space and also decongest the door area.
The plan involves reducing one seat each from just near the door so that commuters can enter and exit comfortably and enable more people to travel. However it will not extend to the ladies, handicap, luggage and senior citizen coaches.
WR officials said this new seating arrangement would reduce the number of seats in 12-car locals by 100 and in nine-car rakes by 72 but increase the number of commuters by around 300-400 per train.
Officials said the idea came after a letter 10 days ago from Shailesh Goyal, member of the National Railway Users Consultative Committee, highlighting the difficulty in boarding trains during peak hours due to overcrowding. It mentioned that passengers often stood at the door and footboard blocking the way, even though there was space in the middle of the coach.
“Such an arrangement will mean commuters won’t have to stand at the entrance and can move inside the coach. The project should be done on an experimental basis,” Goyal told TOI.
Chief PRO, WR, Sharat Chandrayan said WR is studying the feasibility of this seating arrangement. “There have been many complaints that commuters lean against the seat support making it very difficult for people to board the train. There have also been complaints that commuters stand at the door several stations before they have to alight, not allowing others to get off.” He said the letter has been sent to the general manager and chief commercial manager, adding the Railway Board’s decision was not mandatory.
P C Sehgal, managing director, Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation, said it was a very good step and if accepted would lead to a more comfortable trip as a space of 4 sq m would be created.
Central Railway general manager, Kul Bhushan, who is also looking after WR, said: “Let WR introduce coaches with fewer seats first, we will then examine if CR can also do the same.”
Total seating in 9-car
950
Total seating in 12-car
1,270
With Lateral Seating

Seat capacity in a 9-car local would be 360 and total capacity 4,500 Seating in a 12-car local would be 480 while total capacity would be 6,000

If A Seat Is Reduced
Total seating in a 9-car train would reduce by 72 and in a 12-car reduce by around 100 Standing capacity would increase by around 300 to 400 people

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=TOIM/2011/03/04/6/Img/Pc0061000.jpg

Smooth Indian

March 4th, 2011, 05:05 AM

bhargavsura

March 4th, 2011, 05:37 AM

Hahaha. Log bhare bhi to kaha bhare. Kaise din aa gaye hai. Logo ke baithne ke bhi nahi, khade rehne ke vaandhe ho gaye hai.

Smooth Indian

March 4th, 2011, 08:38 AM

^^ isme nayi baat kya hai?

SSCaddict

March 4th, 2011, 07:00 PM

^ sahin mein isme naye baat kya hain "lulz"

Bombay2Calcutta

March 4th, 2011, 09:23 PM

SOURCE (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/thakurli-power-plant-revival-rlys-dumps-mmrda/757462/0)
Thakurli power plant revival: Rlys dumps MMRDA

The railway administration has decided against a partnership with the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for the revival of the Thakurli power plant. Railway officials said they have decided not to tie up with any state government agency, a decision that would be a setback for the MMRDA, which was looking at a partnership to revive the now-defunct plant as an additional source of electricity for upcoming infrastructure projects such as the Metro rail and the monorail systems.

Senior officials from Central Railway said the Railway Board is yet to inform them regarding any possible tie-ups with other government agencies. However, collaborating with the state government has been ruled out. “We have an in-house experience of setting up a power plant and have successfully done so at three places. As of now, we plan to set up a power plant there on our own,” said CR’s chief spokesperson Vidyadhar Malegaonkar.The railways already has three power plants.

MMRDA officials claim to have first approached the CR for jointly reviving the Thakurli plant (see box). The CR, however, showed little interest in the proposal as the land was initially earmarked for setting up infrastructure facilities for the Railway Protection Force (RPF).

Maharashtra, which has a large power deficit that increases every year, is expected to face an even more acute pressure on infrastructure as more electricity will be required for mega transportation projects.

MMRDA officials said the agency should have its own power plant. In the 2009-10 budget, it even allocated Rs. 10 crore for jointly setting up a gas-based plant with Cidco, which is also coming up with a power plant in Navi Mumbai. The excess power was to be transferred to the state grid.

The decision to revive the 80-year old defunct power station in Thakurli in Thane district came after Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee announced it in her railway budget for 2011-12.

After feeling the pinch of buying electricity from different sources, the railways decided to revive the plant. It is to be noted that the CR requires 300 MW a day with an annual expenditure of over Rs. 600 crore on electricity bills, while the WR (suburban) requires 200 MW every day.

The railways then asked the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) to do a feasibility study that suggested that a gas-based project was more feasible, considering the growth of population around Thakurli and the requirement of coal and subsequent pollution.

Bombay2Calcutta

March 6th, 2011, 03:17 AM

CR to roll out its retrofitted local soon

Roana Maria Costa TNN

Mumbai: The Central Railway (CR) will introduce its first retrofitted local train in a day or two.The rakeisundergoing test runs at present.
Painted the same colour as the new generation Siemen’s rake, the unit as been converted by the CR engineers to run on direct current (DC) as well as alternating current (AC).
‘‘You won’t be able to differentiate between the retrofitted locals and the new age rakes as everything, right from the under frame to the stainless steel partitions, flooring, will be the same,’’ a CR official said.
If the rakes were not redone then they would have to be scrapped as the CR is switching from DC to AC traction. The total cost is between two to three crore. The work was carried out at the Kurla EMU car shed. ‘‘The major work was changing the transformer and rectifier circuits,’’ an official said.
CR’s chief PRO V A Malegaonkar said that they would every month roll out one retrofitted rake.
The Western Railway (WR) introduced its first retrofitted local in 2002. At present they have eight to ten such trains.

vsonline

March 6th, 2011, 03:39 PM

They should go for longitudnal seating, like Delhi metro. It will increase the capacity massively.

bharatiya

March 7th, 2011, 04:25 AM

They tried that, it wasn't popular with many as alot of commuters have long commutes from far flung areas of the MMR and want a seat. Though I think they should have maybe half the cars with longitudinal seating, at least until people learn to adjust.

Usually longitudinal seating is for trains with shorter distances covered. Perhaps Borivali bound WR trains, Andheri bound Harbour trains, and Thane bound CR trains (slow track) can have such seating while longer distance trains ie. Virar/Dahanu bound WR, Borivali/Panvel bound Harbour, and Kalyan/Ambernath/Karjat bound CR trains (especially fast track) maintain current seating pattern.

himmat113

March 7th, 2011, 09:31 AM

There used to one 9 car rake with WR which had such a seating arrangement. It was also distinct with a shiny pista green-white interiors. That particular rake was also peculiar. Eight of its cars including the two end cars were ICF made. The odd one was the Jessop made car (usual seating) which was positioned 2nd from virar end. And as if this was not enough this rake had 4 pantos. The 4th one was over the car right behind the solitary jessop made car. The good part of these cars felt really spacious.

Yeah, it had a unique numbering 701A 701B 701C..........703C. It was my favorite on the WR during my VIRAR-ANDHERI commuting days. Best part was that the First class was one row longer than the regular First Class on other trains.

Bombay2Calcutta

March 8th, 2011, 05:17 AM

Source (http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_matheran-station-revamp-may-get-mmrda-touch_1511992)
Matheran station revamp may get MMRDA touch

The long-pending demand to build a functional Aman Lodge station, where services in the Matheran Light Railway (MLR) stretch terminate, has finally got the required push.

In a letter sent recently to the Central Railway (CR), the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has expressed it’s willingness to fund the station revamp. Presently, no train stops at the station.

This development should bring back on tracks the plan to revamp the existing station, which does not have a platform or signals and a host of other basic infrastructure needed. Once operational, it will help those tourists who travel precariously to Matheran by roads. For years, they have had to reach Aman Lodge in taxis and then ride a horse or trek the remaining 2.83 km. The new station will enable them to board a train to Matheran from Aman lodge.

Matheran residents, too, will be benefited once the station comes up. They have also been insisting on getting a fully functional station for decades.

A senior MMRDA official said the authority has asked the CR for a timeline for the implementation of the work and the stages in which funds will be needed. He said that the project is likely to cost more than Rs9 crore. A senior CR official, however, estimated that the project is budgeted at a maximum of Rs5 crore. He said that the project will involve construction of an additional railway line between Aman Lodge and Matheran.

Bombay2Calcutta

March 9th, 2011, 11:54 PM

DNA (http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_central-railway-removes-new-kurla-thane-track_1516567)
Central Railway removes new Kurla-Thane track
Published: Monday, Mar 7, 2011, 3:22 IST

Central Railway (CR) engineers on Saturday began removing stretches of the newly laid track between Kurla and Thane to re-lay them as per proper specifications.

The commissioner of railway safety (CRS) did not approve the city’s new rail corridor that was supposed to boost the suburban railway’s carrying capacity.

The CRS completed inspection of the new lines in February but suggested certain technical improvements before they are opened for passenger trains.

The CRS is an independent body and falls under the ministry of civil aviation to maintain its independence from railways.

“We are incorporating the safety changes suggested by the CRS. It will take three weeks to complete these changes and we will soon open the lines,” a senior railway official said.

It has taken more than 15 years for the 18-km stretch to complete due to several complications, including encroachments and rehabilitation problems. Moreover, the lines need to be linked to the main lines at Kurla end.

Conceived in 1995, the project is divided into two phases — Kurla-Bhandup (Rs102.9 crore) and Bhandup-Thane (Rs56.79 crore). The project has seen delays with the cost escalating to Rs166 crore.

The Kurla-Thane additional lines project is part of the World Bank-funded Mumbai Urban Transport Project. The railways have recently opened astretch between Vikhroli and Thane for goods traffic.

KuwarOnline

March 10th, 2011, 05:53 PM

http://cms.mumbaimirror.com/portalfiles/1/2/201103/Image/100311/02-02.jpg

With the work on draping its Churchgate building almost over, WR realises employees inside will swelter in absence of ACs. But the dilemma is while the facade cost it Rs 2 crore, airconditioning bill could be Rs 10 crore

Cosmetic changes can sometimes prove costly, and the planners at Western Railway (WR) are realising it the hard way.

WR which till recently was flaunting its soon-to-be complete swanky office building at Churchgate station with a glass façade, is now staring at an estimated bill of Rs 10 crore to get the sprawling building centrally air-conditioned, as per their employees’ demand.

Just the glass panelling will cost a staggering Rs 2 crore. Around 2,600 people work in the seven-storey building which was built in 1957.

The makeover that included covering the building exterior of around 16,145 sq ft with shatterproof glass, began in December last year amidst protests from staff.

The unions came down heavily on WR for spending crores on aesthetic changes while ignoring crumbling staff and public amenities including dirty and leaking toilets and lack of clean drinking water.

Around 2,600 people work in the building
While General Manager Kul Bhushan has promised the employees that leaking toilets and peeling plaster would be taken care of at the earliest, the issue of centrally air-conditioning the building will have to be forwarded to the Railway Board.

“Centrally air-conditioning a building is an elaborate process. Apart from the obvious things like false ceilings and AC ducts, it will be necessary to bring the workstations closer or give them a modular look to make the air-conditioning effective,” said a senior WR official.

At the same time, the official conceded that if this tricky part was taken care of, there would be a lot of free space. “We can accommodate more departments in the building.

Moreover if the offices look good and the temperature is optimised, productivity will definitely increase,” he said. At the moment, with the mercury hovering around the terrible thirties, the plan is to have forced ventilation for the building.

The unions seem satisfied with WR’s response. “The general manager has promised us he will resolve all the issues that could crop up once the glass panels are up.

A committee has been formed to look into what changes can be made in the existing structure,” said Divisional Secretary, Western Railway Mazdoor Sangh (WRMS) Ajay Singh.

source
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/2011031020110310053754987c17242fc/WR%E2%80%99s-glass-facade-is-too-hot-for-it-to-handle.html

bhargavsura

March 11th, 2011, 06:10 AM

Looks alright. Lets wait until everything's covered up.

p2p4

March 11th, 2011, 10:47 AM

Looks alright. Lets wait until everything's covered up.

:lol:Bhai Bhargav,:lol: baad mein complaint na karna ki Churgate ke Railway employees nange khade beithe phirte hein (a/c na lagne ke kaaran).

Iska nateeja "Bahar se cover up, under se open" !

Bombay2Calcutta

March 17th, 2011, 05:07 AM

TOI (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thane/CR-plans-12-mega-blocks-between-Thane-Kalyan-from-today/articleshow/7716864.cms)

CR plans 12 mega blocks between Thane-Kalyan from today

THANE: Train services on the main line will be severely affected for 15 days starting from today, March 16, due to work on the line between Thane and Kalyan stations. The Central Railway (CR) has planned 12 major blocks in a phased manner between March 16 and April 1. During this period, the CR will carry out maintenance on technicalities and conversion of DC/AC.

The work will take place on all platform numbers and corridors which will be available for train services but with a delay of 35 minutes to one hour. Outstation trains are expected to be the most affected.

"Work on this block will help us in running trains without disruptions," said the office staff of chief PRO, Malegaonkar.

Work on the block will also result in delay of 10 up and 7 down outstation trains, apart from affecting the Karjat CST route. Timings of most of the trains on the route are also rescheduled.

Bombay2Calcutta

March 17th, 2011, 07:34 PM

TOI (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-02-26/mumbai/28636808_1_cst-and-andheri-virar-wr)
Lion's share of 47 new services will go to WR

MUMBAI: Western Railway (WR) will get a chunk of the 47 new suburban services, which were announced by Mamata Banerjee in her third railway budget on Friday afternoon, said senior officials on the condition of anonymity. Sources told TOI that 40 services will be started on WR, leaving only a mere seven for Central Railway (CR).

The additional services will run between Thane and Vashi, Thane and Panvel on the Trans-harbour line, and Borivli-Virar, Andheri-Virar, Bandra-Virar and Churchgate-Borivli on the Western line. But CR's Harbour line between CST and Panvel, CST and Andheri and the mainline from CST to Kalyan and beyond have been sidelined.

The railway minister announced that 107 nine-car trains will be augmented to 12-coach ones. But she did not make any announcements regarding WR's 15-car project. "These announcements are important from an official standpoint as they will help get us sanctions for infrastructure and rakes," said a senior official. Though he admitted that the announcements have little impact on what happens at the "ground level". While presenting the budget last year, Banerjee had announced 101 new services for CR, but nothing for WR. That did not stop WR from augmenting more than 120 rakes from nine to 12-car ones.

This year, WR and CR will be augmenting more than 107 services. Of the total 1,210 services on WR, 243 are nine-car ones. Officials said that a conservative estimate of not less than 150 services will be increased to 12-coach ones in 2011-2012. All fast local services on CR's mainline use 12-car trains, and about 104 services on the slow track are nine-car ones. CR officials have set a deadline of August 15, 2011, for all their mainline services to become 12-car ones. "This announcement means that almost all of CR's 104 services will be run by12-car trains," said an official. For the city, it adds up to more than 250 twelve-coach services.

Bombay2Calcutta

March 21st, 2011, 07:18 PM

TOI (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/WR-travels-back-to-WW-II-era-with-timetables/articleshow/7749483.cms)
WR travels back to WW II era with timetables

MUMBAI: Over half a century ago, well before the concept of super dense crush loads in local trains came into being, suburban railway timetables, a staple for today's city commuter, were not as Plain Jane as they are today. They were like magazines, with advertisements of not only railway-related announcements but also those of cigars, and dance, movie and theatre showings.

For example, the makers of the movie Chandralekha revealed its shows as well as its production cost of Rs 35 lakh.

The booklets were also favourites with advertisers of hotels, newspapers, fabrics, leather work and watches, ghee, fairness cream and sweets, with local trains themselves being taglined 'A vital link between work and home'.

Western Railway (WR) officials have found timetables dating back to the World War II era, though officials acknowledged that there were timetables much before that too, but they are not available.

Leafing through an old railway journal, a senior WR official showed an extract from the TOI (December 1923) which stated that "WR local services started in 1867 and for the first three years there was only one train each way between Back Bay and Virar, presumably because there were then no suburbs worth speaking of". The services increased with time. "Initially, when there was only one service in either direction, there was no use of a timetable," he said.

The oldest timetable with WR in 1939 shows that there were 102 services, including 14 to Virar. There were 77 services on holidays and the timetables were monthly. Timetables from that year show that two-route tickets and return weekend tickets existed.

Till 1948, mainline trains and suburban locals featured in the booklet, which was then converted into a quarterly. At that time, WR ran 110 services; 92 on Sundays and holidays. In 1956, WR started a booklet for commercial and in-house use. Also that year, on October 15, eight-coach trains were introduced.

The timetables, which silver fish made inroads into, throw up trivia like the fact that there used to be separate refreshment rooms for Hindus, Muslims and the English in 1939. Most items were priced in annas (16 annas were a rupee). For example, tea cost two annas in general rooms and one anna for Hindus and Muslims. The disparity in pricing depended on whether it was served in a tray or not. Soldiers and their families got discounts.

"In the Hindu canteen, 12 puris and two vegetable dishes cost 10 annas, while at the Muslim canteen, chicken curry with rice cost eight annas," the official added.

Earlier, WR had day excursion tickets which were for arranged trips to nearby tourist spots like Vasai Fort, then called Bassein Fort. They cost Rs 2 and one anna in 1939.

There were also 'cheap shopping tickets' which commuters could avail of at 11.45 am, for travel during non- peak hours. The cost of a second class ticket was seven annas from Churchgate to Andheri and double for a return journey.

In 1941, around 1.2 lakh passengers used WR each day, of which a third traveled during peak hours. The official said the city's population was then 14.86 lakhs.

The year 1961 saw many changes. Fast trains were introduced, timetables turned half yearly and nine-car trains were introduced. The peak hour frequency increased to four minutes and six lakh people were travelling by WR.

"Few know that WR wagons used to carry small aeroplanes and motorboats, which have been mentioned in the timetables. Advertisements petered out in 1956 and are rarely seen now," he said.

WR plans to make all this information public by scanning and putting interesting timetable pages on its website. The booklets will also be kept in its heritage gallery. A lot of railway history is undocumented.

Bombay2Calcutta

March 23rd, 2011, 05:52 PM

HT (http://www.hindustantimes.com/CR-to-connect-two-more-lines-with-existing-route/Article1-676091.aspx)

CR to connect two more lines with existing route

Mumbai, March 22, 2011 All those who travel on the Central line of the suburban rail, should leave their house early from March 27 onwards, because, the Central Railway (CR) will begin work to connect two additional lines on the Kurla-Thane corridor. The CR plans to connect the fifth and sixth lines with the Kurla Lokmany a Tilak Terminus (LTT) at Vidyavihar this weekend, 16 years after they first started work in it.

The work on connecting the lines will take around 10 days.

The first block will begin on the Saturday night at 12.30am and will extend till 2.30 pm on Sunday.

During this time, trains will run at slow speeds between Mulund and Matunga.

For suburban commuters, train services from Monday onwards may get affected, because work will be carried out during the night.

“The block can be extended on weekdays too because the quantum of work is huge and cannot be left incomplete,” said a senior CR official on condition of anonymity.

From Monday, all suburban trains running on the fast corridor will either be diverted or will run at a speed restriction of 20 kmph.

“The preparatory work has already begun and all the required raw materials like tracks, and cables are being taken to the site,” said Vidyadhar Malegaonkar, chief PRO, Central Railway.

This will also affect the Mail Express long distance trains because during the block period, none of these trains will leave or arrive at Kurla LTT.

Another major block will be between April 2-3, when a 30-hour block will be implemented.

The first six hours will be a continuous block during which all four lines — two each on fast and slow corridors — will be shut for operation.

The remaining 24 hours will affect only the fast corridor, because the fast lines from both ends of the CR (Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Kalyan) are connected to the lines along the Kurla LTT.

Only last week, the commissioner of railway safety (CRS) inspected the entire Kurla-Thane stretch and finally gave CR permission to operate trains.

Bombay2Calcutta

March 28th, 2011, 01:49 AM

HT (http://www.hindustantimes.com/New-train-lines-on-Thane-Diva-delayed/Article1-678396.aspx)
New train lines on Thane-Diva delayed

If you commute daily from Diva to Thane, and wish for a faster and convenient travel, you wait may just get a little longer than expected. The Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) officials fear that the Thane-Diva fifth and sixth line under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) phase II m ay get delayed as the project is yet to get land clearances and resolve issues on rehabilitation of the project-affected people.

Under the MUTP-II, the additional fifth and sixth line between Thane-Diva, which will be used for long-distance trains, will be constructed at a cost of Rs287 crore. The stretch between Thane and Diva is about 10 km and the MRVC needs to acquire about 9 acres.

The Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) regulations made acquiring land a tedious process, say MRVC officials. There are about 700 project-affected families between Thane and Diva that need to be rehabilitated.

According to the chief public relations officer of the MRVC, Prakash Rao Vazalwar, the detailed report about survey of number of families had been submitted to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) in February 2010.

“The land acquisition usually takes about one-and-a-half year, but in this case even the rehabilitation of the project-affected people given to MMRDA, have not been progressed since a year. We fear that the land acquisition will further delay the project,” said an MRVC official requesting anonymity.

According to MMRDA officials, the detailed proposal for the rehabilitation of about 700 families has been sent to the state government for evaluation and a final decision on this is awaited. “We have given two options for rehabilitation of those affected by this project. The rehabilitation should be done either under the MUTP or the Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project (MUIP),” said Dilip Kawathkar, joint project director of the MMRDA.

Vazalwar also raised the issue of CRZ regulations being implemented on this stretch between Thane and Diva. The new CRZ rules prohibit construction within the 100 m from the coast.

“According to the Railway Act, the railway project can not be objected under the CRZ as it is not a private construction. We had a meeting with the forest department last month and now they will have to pass the proposal to the state government,” said Vazalwar.

Work on Diva station has already begun. “If we get all the land, we will be able to keep our deadline. Our plans are ready,” said an MRVC official.

Bombay2Calcutta

March 28th, 2011, 01:59 AM

Source (http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_suburban-stations-of-mumbai-to-get-global-look_1525210)

Suburban stations of Mumbai to get global look

The 133 suburban stations in Mumbai are set for a makeover. The phase-II of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project will undertake a $0.5 million study to get the stations in Mumbai at par with any global railway station. The World Bank-funded technical assessment study is a part of the MUTP-2A with a September 2013 deadline.

A senior official associated with the project said that there are 36 suburban stations along the city’s Western line from Churchgate to Dahanu and about 97 on the Central line. The stations are presently divided into categories like A-1, A, B to F as per railway board guidelines which are allotted according to passenger crowd and usage.

“Most of these stations have public amenities like train information systems, clocks, audio announcements, signages. But in the present system, things are disorganised with each technical amenity requiring separate operation and control, wiring and other features. Also the station signage for passenger guidance is not up to international standards,” the project document states.

“The station and platform area illumination, including concourse at major stations, also needs to be upgraded, keeping in mind the optimum level of illumination to meet both aesthetic and energy saving requirements,” it adds.

“For video surveillance of station entrances and exits from security point of view, an integrated system needs to be designed with both central and remote video surveillance monitoring features,” it adds.

The study will identify the deficiencies in the existing system and taking into consideration the experience of comparable foreign suburban rail systems, will recommend an integrated state-of-the-art passenger information and guidance, station and platform area illumination and security surveillance system. It would then prepare technical specifications and cost estimate for the recommended solution.

While the MUTP-A project includes several crucial projects, including conversion of the railway system from direct current (DC) to alternate current (AC) between Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) to Thane and CST to Mankhurd, construction of new stabling lines an extension of few existing lines and procuring additional train sets, MUTP-B will look at building additional capacity.

devendra1

March 28th, 2011, 05:01 PM

1.5 years to study how to Improve stations :bash:, then 5 years to look for funding and then 15 years to actually work on implementation out of which only 50% will be completed.

World8115

March 28th, 2011, 05:03 PM

Atleast they didnt use the word World-class this time. Global is the new world-class :cheers:

bharatiya

March 29th, 2011, 11:40 PM

i have some hope at least in terms of signage. that shouldnt be too difficult

p2p4

March 30th, 2011, 09:06 AM

Atleast they didnt use the word World-class this time. Global is the new world-class :cheers:

Next round of terminology will be - mind you .. this is COPYRIGHT material from brains of p2p4.

"UNIVERSAL LOOK"

sathya_226

March 30th, 2011, 09:11 AM

^^^ :lol: :lol: :lol:

World8115

March 30th, 2011, 08:17 PM

:lol:

Coolguyz

April 6th, 2011, 02:02 PM

Front facade of Churchgate station is done,even back side is done, now remains is one facing eros.Also seen is the new Volvo of BEST

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/115a72286a.jpg (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/)

World8115

April 6th, 2011, 02:30 PM

Cant see the pic :ohno:

KuwarOnline

April 6th, 2011, 02:32 PM

wow nice... far better than old one.... looks like western country station with volvo in front.... great cg :)

World8115

April 6th, 2011, 02:36 PM

Now can see the pic and looks amazing really with Volvo in the front :cheers:

darkhorses

April 6th, 2011, 06:34 PM

cc-http://hatimglazing.com/projects.html
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/2134/churchgatebig.jpg (http://img17.imageshack.us/i/churchgatebig.jpg/)

darkhorses

April 6th, 2011, 06:43 PM

i have a doubt...is the above pic a render or is it completed? @coolguyz is your pic latest?

Coolguyz

April 6th, 2011, 06:49 PM

i have a doubt...is the above pic a render or is it completed? @coolguyz is your pic latest?

The above pic is rendering.
I took the pic today, the glass part is complete .now work on the top portion is started

darkhorses

April 6th, 2011, 06:52 PM

^^ok that solves it then..

sixsigma1978

April 6th, 2011, 10:30 PM

The above pic is rendering.
I took the pic today, the glass part is complete .now work on the top portion is started

Not bad - they could put some curves on the boxy design - but otherwise - no contest over the previous!!

Bombay2Calcutta

April 7th, 2011, 01:20 AM

Source (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/15coach-rakes-mrvc-to-carry-out-study-on-cr/772267/0)
15-coach rakes: MRVC to carry out study on CR

Mumbai:Energy drinks lead to diabetes?'Irresponsible' Rakta charitraLearning Point Illumina at MDI Even as the Western Railway (WR) has already extended its 15-coach services, the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) is all set to ask the RITES to conduct a study on the introduction of the 15-coach services on the Central Railway (CR). The study by RITES, the consultant, will be completed in six months. But the project is facing opposition even before it can kick off.

The 15-coach rake was introduced on WR in November 2009 and a section of officials want the services on CR as well. The 15-coach rakes would help carry more crowd especially during the peak hours. The 12-coach rakes are estimated to carry more than 4,000 people each while the 15-coach rakes are expected to carry more than 5,000 commuters during the peak hours.

A section of CR officials are, however, against it. There are two major technical hitches, if 15-coach rakes are introduced on the CR. First is the length of the platforms. Three stations, Thane, Dadar and Kalyan, are equipped with platforms to accommodate 15-rake trains. Other stations where fast trains halt include Kurla, Byculla and Dombivili, but they do not have these facilities and would need extension of platforms.

The officials also pointed out that in the current scenario where trains run on Direct Current (DC) traction, introduction of 15-coach service would mean drawing 25 percent more power.

Plus, the stations where these trains halt do not have required infrastructure. For instance, station like Thane that is in dire need of more Foot-Over-Bridges. When commuters get down from 12-coach rakes, leading to a stampede-like situation, one can imagine the situation if more number of people are allowed to use the facilties like FOBs at the same time,” said a senior CR official. “The project can work only after the conversion from DC traction to AC traction).”

“The project cannot be done in stages and it needs heavy investment ,” said an MRVC official.

Bombay2Calcutta

April 7th, 2011, 01:24 AM

IE (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/finally-rail-vikas-corp-to-prepare-mutpiii-concept-plan/771086/0)
Finally, Rail Vikas Corp to prepare MUTP-III concept plan

The Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MVRC) has, after much talks, decided to prepare a concept plan for Phase III of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP). The decision came at the Board of Directors’ meeting held early this week.

“Till now, there was only talk on what would be in the Phase III of the MUTP. But all these needs to be on paper. With a document and details in place, it can be forwarded to the Railway Board and the state government,” said Prakash Rao Vazalwar, chief operations manager, MRVC.

The document is expected to have a detailed plan and estimates of every work that is expected to be undertaken under the phase, which is expected to cost over Rs 30,000 crore.

Interestingly, the Phase I is far from completion while Phase II is yet to get into full swing. “The Phase II work is expected to get over by 2014. If we don’t start the work now, Phase III could be delayed,” an MRVC official said.

Officials said apart from the fast track corridor on harbour line — for which a study was announced by the Railways Minister in this year’s budget speech, Phase III would include the extension of Harbour Line till Borivali. Under Phase II of MUTP, the line would be extended from Andheri to Goregaon.

The state government has already conveyed to the MRVC that it wants an additional pair of lines between Vasai and Diva so that the Diva-Panvel-Vasai stretch could be used at the optimum level. It plans to have growth centres in Bhiwandi and Kalyan on the route.

The phase is also expected to include fifth and sixth lines between Borivali and Virar and quadrupling of Virar-Dahanu stretch.

busfan

April 7th, 2011, 06:23 PM

Front facade of Churchgate station is done,even back side is done, now remains is one facing eros.Also seen is the new Volvo of BEST

That is one heck of a pic! Awesome.

bhargavsura

April 8th, 2011, 02:43 AM

The above pic is rendering.
I took the pic today, the glass part is complete .now work on the top portion is started

For the first time, I have felt the rendering has been awesome. I thought it was a real structure.

Bombay2Calcutta

April 9th, 2011, 03:47 AM

New tracks set to open on Sunday

Thane-Kurla Lines Roll Out After Years Of Delay

Roana Maria Costa TNN

Mumbai: This Sunday will see the culmination of efforts spanning nearly 20 years when the much-delayed and eagerly awaited fifth and sixth lines between Thane and Kurla will finally be commissioned. The lines will be connected to Lokmanya Tilak Terminus and the first train will roll along the newly opened tracks. The extra lines will mean the introduction of new services and also improved punctuality.
As per the original plan, Central Railway was to have commissioned the lines on April 3, but chose to delay the inauguration because of the cricket World Cup. “Vikhroli residents had protested as the World Cup final was on April 2. Also, the railways could not take the risk of cutting down on police protection, so the opening was pushed back by a week,” said a railway official.
CR will undertake its first major block between 12:30 am to 3:30 pm on Sunday, to connect the lines, following which there will be separate lines for fast, slow and mail express trains. The demarcation will increase CR’s capacity. Fast lines—used also by the mail trains—will be freed up to increase services. The changes will be reflected in the annual railway timetable released in July. But officials said the introduction of new services will depend on the number of rakes pumped into the existing fleet.
CR will undertake around five such long mega-blocks to complete the work.
“Work at the site is going on at a frantic pace and will continue for a month at least,” said an offficial.
Vikhroli residents, however, have criticized authorities for opening the tracks before the completion of the footover-bridge (FOB). Last year, more than 325 people were killed at Vikhroli, making it the second most dangerous crossing after Jogeshwari.
Terence D’Souza, a member of the Bombay Catholic Sabha, Vikhroli unit said: “As the project has taken 15-20 years to complete, the authorities could have easily waited another two months for the construction of the FOB. Vikhroli is on a sharp turn, and you cannot see the train approach.” There will speed restrictions to prevent accidents. Trains will run between 20 and 25 kmph for around 50 metres at Vidyavihar for a few days after which the restrictions will be progressively relaxed.
Chief PRO, CR, V Malegaonkar said: “People wanted that the FOB be completed before the tracks were opened. However, we will be sticking to our deadline of June 30. Such an important project cannot be held back now.”

Fast Track From Kurla to Thane

Benefits | CR will undertake its first major block between 12:30 am to 3:30 pm on Sunday, to connect the lines, following which there will be separate lines for fast, slow and mail express trains. This demarcation will in turn improve punctuality and increase CR’s capacity, should new services be added A Decade’s Delay | Work on the fifth and sixth lines between Thane and Kurla started nearly a decade ago. A senior railway official said the work was to be carried out in two phases. In 1995-1996 the 10-km Kurla-Bandup stretch was approved
In 1997-98, the 7-km Bandup-Thane stretch was also approved. Work started a year later on land that was not encroached upon

bhargavsura

April 10th, 2011, 07:23 AM

X-posting.

u/c virar depot for local trains

http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/8476/08042011300.jpg

http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/8959/08042011301.jpg

p2p4

April 10th, 2011, 08:30 AM

Churchgate station building's new look looks like it has a whole big complete railway network map out in the open :)

bhargavsura

April 10th, 2011, 03:47 PM

Lol. It does, doesn't it?

bhargavsura

April 10th, 2011, 04:19 PM

devendra1

April 12th, 2011, 11:41 AM

New tracks set to open on Sunday

Thane-Kurla Lines Roll Out After Years Of Delay

I some what do not like the idea of dedicated tracks for long distance trains. Because the tracks will be under utilized. I feel they can run some more local trains on the new tracks atleast in the peak hours, this will only add frequency. Even if this will reduce the speed of long distance trains fine we need to run more trains to reduce the crowding.

MeMumbaikar

April 12th, 2011, 12:07 PM

I some what do not like the idea of dedicated tracks for long distance trains. Because the tracks will be under utilized. I feel they can run some more local trains on the new tracks atleast in the peak hours, this will only add frequency. Even if this will reduce the speed of long distance trains fine we need to run more trains to reduce the crowding.

we need more connections/trains to the south especially which CST serves

leave mumbai central for the norther part.

Bombay2Calcutta

April 13th, 2011, 05:43 PM

HT (http://www.hindustantimes.com/More-12-car-trains-on-western-line/Article1-684583.aspx)

More 12-car trains on western line

The Western Railway (WR) plans to augment its services and introduce more 12-coach train services from April 14.

Those living at Borivali and Andheri will benefit most from this upgrade. The Western Railway (WR) is also in process of converting four nine-car trains to 12-car that would add 10 6 services.

The maximum of these services would run on the Churchgate-Borivali stretch with 61 services, followed by between Churchgate-Andheri with 27 services.

The total number of 12-car services would be 1,002 of the total 1,210 services run by the WR. This would also leave them with only five old trains while rest all are violet-white trains.

This would only help in accommodating 1.25 lakh additional commuters on this section, which carries 33 lakh commuters daily.

“The density of passengers per coach has reduced by 17% while the capacity addition in terms of number of coaches has been 27.7% in the last four years,” said Sharat Chandrayan, chief PRO of the WR.

The number of coaches rose from 528 in December 2009 to 768 coaches in February 2011. In the last four years, the number of passengers has witnessed a growth of 8.02%, while the addition in coaches has created room for 8-lakh commuters per day.

Although there have been an increase in number of coaches and trains, the power consumption has surprisingly gone down. “The WR has saved over Rs40 crore by saving on power consumption from these trains,” said a senior official from Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation that procured the Siemens-make trains on behalf of WR.

rathibent

April 13th, 2011, 09:05 PM

HT (http://www.hindustantimes.com/More-12-car-trains-on-western-line/Article1-684583.aspx)

More 12-car trains on western line

Although there have been an increase in number of coaches and trains, the power consumption has surprisingly gone down. “The WR has saved over Rs40 crore by saving on power consumption from these trains,” said a senior official from Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation that procured the Siemens-make trains on behalf of WR.

wonder where all these power savings go....dun understand y stations are nt improved with such savings...

Bombay2Calcutta

April 16th, 2011, 07:46 PM

Tracks being laid for extension of Harbour line

Hindustan Times (http://www.hindustantimes.com/Tracks-being-laid-for-extension-of-Harbour-line/Article1-685890.aspx)
Mumbai, April 16, 2011

The Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) has laid the first set of tracks on a small stretch between Jogeshwari and Goregaon. This laying of tracks between Andheri and Goregaon is being undertaken as part of the extension of Harbour line. Trains on the Harbour line currently terminate at Andheri. These tracks are now being placed as part of the phase-II of the Rs5,300 crore Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP). At Oshiwara station, the ground has been levelled. This would be extended after the alignment has been decided.

“Laying of tracks is done once the entire alignment is set and minutest of details such as installation of signals and columns for erecting overhead cables is known,” said a senior official from MRVC. It’s been more than a year since groundwork on the Rs130-crore Andheri-Goregaon Harbour line extension began.

As per the plan, platform number 6 and 7 will be further extended towards Goregaon. This would require demolishing several structures coming on their way such as foot overbridges, food stalls, rail booking counters, Government Railway Police (GRP) building, parking stand at Jogeshwari and cutting trees. “We are in talks with the civic body to hand over the space where vehicle parking stand exists. In return, we would be providing the plot on the east side of Jogeshwari to them,” said Prakashrao Vazalwar, chief operating manager and spokesperson, MRVC.

They are also building pillars over a creek on the Jogeshwari-Goregaon stretch, over which two new tracks would be laid. Work on construction next to the creek is complete while work on demolishing the ticket booking office, creating path for extending lines and other work is now underway at Andheri

Bombay2Calcutta

April 16th, 2011, 07:48 PM

TOI (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/CR-to-start-installing-train-management-system/articleshow/7994410.cms)
CR to start installing train management system

MUMBAI: Central Railway (CR) local train services are slated to see higher punctuality in the coming days.

The train management system (TMS), which helps in real-time monitoring of trains in the control room and is also reflected on CR platforms indicators, will be inspected and partially inaugurated on Saturday by Vivek Sahai, chairman of the Railway Board. It will be operational when work at Vidhyavihar on the newly-opened fifth and sixth lines is complete.

TMS ensures that when you stand at a platform waiting for your local train you will know exactly how late it is, if it is, and how long you can expect to wait for it.

The project, more than a decade in the making, comes at a cost of Rs 48 crore. Western Railway (WR) has its TMS in place since 2004.

Bombay2Calcutta

April 16th, 2011, 07:51 PM

HT (http://www.hindustantimes.com/Elphinstone-Rd-foot-overbridge-ready-in-June/Article1-685888.aspx)

Elphinstone Rd foot overbridge ready in June

The Western Railway (WR) has extended the deadline for the foot overbridge (FOB) at the Elphinstone Road station by a month. This means, the bridge will now be open to commuters by end of June. The previous deadline of the project was May 31. However, looking at the current status of the bridge, the chances of the WR achieving it were bleak.

The foundation and the pillars of the FOB have been placed, but it will require a major block of train services to connect the pillars.

According to Sharat Chandrayan, chief PRO of the WR, the bridge will be commissioned by June-end. The FOB will be 22m in length and 6m in height. It is expected to cost around Rs25 lakh.

Chandrayan said the WR had not carried out any major block to construct the FOB and work was being carried out for two-three hours in night.

“It takes time to build a FOB. We have to dig land near the tracks and that may affect the geometry of the tracks and may affect train services. Work is in progress and it will be commissioned by June,” said Chandrayan.

Along with the Elphinstone road station, FOBs at Nalasopara and Bhayandar are also under construction.

In 2010, the WR had announced that it would build 30 new FOBs of which eight were sanctioned in Mahalaxmi, Dadar, Lower Parel, Matunga Road, Vile Parle, Kandivli and Goregaon. Last year three FOBs were commissioned by WR at Jogeshwari-Goregaon, Goregaon and Vasai road.

The WR had also proposed to build a cable-stayed bridge to replace the more than 100-year-old road overbridge at Elphinstone Road. “The old bridge will be demolished by next year,” said Chandrayan.

Bombay2Calcutta

April 17th, 2011, 08:48 PM

158 years on, central railway bridges vital gap
Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA (http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_158-years-on-central-railway-bridges-vital-gap_1532413)

Even as the railways celebrate 158 years of the first train run in the country, on Saturday, the Central Railway has fast-paced a new bridge along the historic Thane creek bridge to extend the newly-opened fifth and sixth lines.

“The bridge for the new lines between Thane and Diva is almost ready as most of the foundations are in place. It is important to connect the fifth and sixth lines between Kurla and Thane to those between Kalyan and Diva so that there is seamless travel between Kurla and Kalyan for outstation trains,” CR spokesperson Ashok Kumar Singh said.

He said with the major work on the bridge in place, the only important engineering work remaining is tunnelling. “The lines are being laid along the slow corridor and tunnelling work along this side of the mountain is lesser,” he added.

There are six pairs of lines between Kalyan and Diva and Thane and Kurla. The railways are now filling the gap between Diva and Thane under the World Bank-funded Mumbai Urban Transport Project.

The first train had run between Bori Bunder (now CST) and Tannah (now Thane) on April 16, 1853, at 3.35pm after a 21-gun salute. Though the journey ended at Thane, work on the bridge had already been complete on its way to Kalyan.

The Thane creek bridge has been historically linked to the opening of the first railway line in the country and the famous sepia-toned photograph of a 14-coach steam engine pulled-train is quite famous.

“The bridge has been expanded and upgraded several times, but this is the first time that any construction has taken place on its east side. The original bridge will now be flanked with parallel bridges on both sides,” a senior official said.

The Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation that is coordinating the project said that it will have to bore through the Parsik Hills and build viaducts similar to the existing ones over the Thane creek bridge. The proposed tunnel will be about 165 metres long and 13 metres wide. The original line was built by the British in 1853.

A senior official said, “The slow line will have an additional pair of rails so that the existing fast train tracks can be exclusively used by outstation and goods trains. The new tunnel will be adjacent to the old one between Mumbra and Kalwa.”

Currently, the slow trains take a detour along the Parsik Hills, while the fast trains take the Parsik tunnel route skipping Kalwa and Mumbra stations. Both lines separate before Kalwa and meet few metres before Diva.

Bombay2Calcutta

April 17th, 2011, 09:22 PM

Mumbai's CST is the cleanest station

Mumbai: Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) has already been accorded the status of a heritage structure. But this station is not one to rest on its past laurels.

After eight years, the CST station has again been conferred the distinction of being the cleanest among the 477 railway stations in the Central Railway.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and G S Joshi, station manager, CSTM, receives Best Station for Cleanliness shield from Kul Bhusan, general manager, Central Railway, on the occasion of the 56th Railway Week celebrations 2011

General manager of Central and Western Railway, Kul Bhushan, awarded the CST stationmaster for his commitment and hard work on Tuesday.

G S Joshi, senior station manager of CST railway station, is also being awarded a cash prize of Rs. 5,000, along with a memento.

CST station is arguably the most bustling of all stations. Statistics suggest that this station records the highest footfall, and a record number of trains ply on its tracks everyday. There are seven suburban platforms and 11 mail-express platforms at the station.

A senior railway officers' committee surveyed all the 477 Central Railway stations to evaluate overall cleanliness. It inspected tracks, platforms, retiring rooms, drainage systems, surrounding areas, booking halls, toilets and offices.

CST was last given the cleanliness award way back in 2003. "It was more difficult this time, as the number of services and passengers have increased greatly," said Joshi, who has been working as a stationmaster for the last one-and-half year.

"The greatest challenge we faced lay in the fact that the maximum number of people commute here, resulting in a lot of filth and garbage. Apart from this, I had to shoulder the uphill task of maintaining the cleanliness in the toilets. I am happy that my efforts have been recognised. I will definitely try to ensure that this award goes to CST next year as well," added Joshi.

The second prize for overall cleanliness was given to Sevagram station, Nagpur.

A K Singh, PRO, CR, said, "It is a matter of great pride that CST, the busiest and most historic station of the Central Railways, has received the cleanliness shield from the general manager. Our efforts are on to maintain the cleanliness at other stations as well."

Did you know?

• Nearly 37.5 lakh passengers commute daily in the suburban section of the Central Railways alone.
• There are 1,573 services on the suburban section and 84 up-down trains run on the main lines.
• Nearly 1lakh passengers commute daily through the CST station.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/mumbais-cst-is-the-cleanest-station-98368?cp

Bombay2Calcutta

April 17th, 2011, 09:30 PM

IE (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/cr-demolished-heritage-structures-at-matheran-station-founders-kin/775817/)
CR demolished heritage structures at Matheran station: Founder’s kin

Mumbai: Where can you find happiness? Energy drinks lead to diabetes?Energy drinks lead to diabetes?'Irresponsible' Rakta charitra

Ali Akbar Peerbhoy, the great grandson of Abdul Hussein Adamjee Peerbhoy who built the heritage Matheran Railway more than 100 years ago, asked the Central Railway on Wednesday not to destroy heritage artefacts belonging to his family. His daughter Sarah lodged a police complaint alleging that heritage properties of her family were being demolished and has sought a status quo on the action until a Bombay High Court decision on their dispute.
Abdul built the Matheran Railway at a cost of Rs 16 lakh in 1907.

Sarah wrote to the CR on April 9, listing the heritage properties, some of which have been demolished. She also enclosed letters from the state government, Matheran police station and the Raigad District Collector, urging the CR to stop demolition of the disputed properties until the HC decides the matter.

On April 2, CR officials allegedly demolished the billiards room, dining hall and executive kitchen at Matheran Railway station, according to Sarah’s letter sent to the general manager of CR.

According to Sarah, the historic arch at Aman Lodge Railway Station in Matheran erected in 1957 to celebrate its golden jubilee had been pulled down in March 2009. The billiards room, dining hall and executive kitchen at Matheran railway station were also demolished despite the petition being pending for final hearing in the HC. In the petition, the Peerbhoys have claimed ownership rights to portions of the Matheran Railway.

“The luxury kitchen was rented by the CR earlier and now Rs 13 lakh is due on the caterer, but the CR never tried to recover the money. We are fighting to get our right in the court of law. So the CR should not do such things till the final hearing in the HC. The CR has not paid the purchased money as per the agreement made in 1904,” stated Sarah

Bombay2Calcutta

April 17th, 2011, 09:34 PM

TOI (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-14/mumbai/29417371_1_class-commuters-tickets)
Commuters train sights on 1st class

MUMBAI: A comparative study of suburban passenger traffic on the Western Railway has revealed that more people opt to travel first class on the metropolis's lifeline.

In the last two financial years, first-class card tickets sales soared while more passengers chose to pay a little extra for a comfortable travel.

According to the study, the percentage growth in originating passengers and earnings in 2010-11 has been around 25% more than the previous fiscal in case of first-class card tickets. Even first-class season tickets have shown more than a 5% growth. The disclaimer, however, says that the number of first-class ticket travelers is much smaller than that of the second class.

WR officials attribute this trend to the city's changing demographical contours and the mushrooming of highrises in the suburbs. Said a WR official, "The number of first-class seats per train has also increased with the augmentation of close to 300 services from nine to 12-car ones since January last. Each augmented train has an additional partial first-class coach. WR carries around 33 lakh commuters daily."

"I have seen and know a lot of people who stay beyond Bandra leaving a little early so as to avoid the morning peak hour rush so that they can save time travelling to work. Even if they share a vehicle the time spent is the same," he said. Adding that with every year the trend is only getting stronger.

Bombay2Calcutta

April 18th, 2011, 10:50 PM

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/mmrda-and-mrvc-spar-again-this-time-over-credit/777833/0
MMRDA and MRVC spar again, this time over credit

There seems to be no end in near sight for the feud between the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC), both keenly involved in implementing the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) and are now squabbling over funds and sharing credit.

In a letter written last month, the MMRDA has pointed out to the state government that the administration of the Railways has not ensured that the new Siemens-designed trains for the suburban section are clearly credited, for viewing by the general public, to the joint efforts of various departments implementing the MUTP.

The letter, signed by Additional Metropolitan Commissioner SVR Srinivas, states, “Despite huge contribution, none of the rakes have MUTP inscribed or painted, though funds have been met out of MUTP.” Like older trains, the new Siemens rakes simply mention which zonal railway they belong to, on either side of each train’s body.

Sources said the MMRDA barb is in response to a letter sent by the MRVC to the Urban Development Department (UDD) about the former not paying up its share for works undertaken as part of MUTP I and II.

Under Phase I of the MUTP, a project that is being equally funded by the Government of Maharashtra and the Ministry of Railways, the city is to get 123 new rakes. The project did make an impact on daily commuting — additional trains not only helped reduce crowds, but are also more airy, well-ventilated and colourful.

“The Railways have earned some goodwill with this, but people should also know that the state government has invested equally in this. With the mention of MUTP, people can at least know that is jointly funded,” said a senior MMRDA official. The MMRDA till 2010-11 paid Rs 1,897 crore for MUTP.

Earlier, when the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking controlled by the Shiv Sena-led Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation procured buses under MUTP, the word MUTP was inscribed on all buses too.

“I have to check on this, but all these issues are irrelevant and the common man does not care about what is written on the rakes. The purpose of the project is to provide comfort to the commuters. Also, the Railways has its own set of rules. They cannot write anything on the rakes expect things which indicate the class and basic information,” said T C Benjamin, Principal Secretary, UDD.

“We need to check our rule book on whether the word ‘MUTP’ can be added on the trains,” said Prakash Rao Vazalwar, Chief Operations Manager of MRVC.

The MMRDA and MRVC have been at loggerheads over who should pay for the rehabilitation and resettlement work of slumdwellers displaced by the rail component of MUTP

World8115

April 23rd, 2011, 08:33 AM

Central Railway to repair signals in May
Source (http://www.hindustantimes.com/Central-Railway-to-repair-signals-in-May/Article1-688195.aspx)
Taking note of the repeated signal failures, the Central Railway (CR) will begin an exhaustive repair and maintenance work of signals and other subsidiary works between Sion and Kalwa stations from May. The entire work, that would be carried out over a period of one year, would cost approximately Rs
72 lakh. As part of the work, the authorities would check every signal on the stretch, location boxes connecting wires and also those connecting the tracks with signals.

“Signals play an important role in train operations. So, it needs to be maintained regularly,” said V Malegaonkar, chief PRO, CR.

While on April 19, the train services got disrupted due to the accidental damage caused to the signal wire by a track-shifting machine, on April 4, there was a signal failure near Dombivli station. “Nearly 30% cases of disruption of services occur due to signal failure,” said a CR official on condition of anonymity.

“There have been cases where slum dwellers staying close to the railway tracks even burn garbage near the signalling system. A minor spark too results in failure of the system,” said another senior CR official.

Though the CR authorities have replaced the signals with LED bulbs, which they claim are durable and emit brighter light, they are finding it difficult to prevent the theft of wires in areas near Kurla, Thane and Kalwa.

eco_friends

April 25th, 2011, 03:49 PM

Indian Railways took 16 years to construct 20 km patch for 5th and 6th line between kurla and thane , even though the encroachment were only on 15 to 20 % land .

Comparatively METRO line 1 is build at much faster pace , altogether new project ,new stations 11 nos , new line . The work has been delayed of mumbai metro 1 mainly due to govt and politicians hurdle...

We should feel happy atleast a private party has been hired for building the metro. Yes the cost is high , the developer will make good returns in long run .. but ultimately it will be returned back to stake holders but in the other case the maintenance cost in 10 years is more than the actual capital expenditure , also we have to make compromise on quality of construction.

_____________
www.ecofriends.in

sammyk

April 25th, 2011, 04:53 PM

World8115

April 26th, 2011, 12:45 PM

New bogies to bolster speed to 130 kmph
Source (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/CCIS-2504-New-bogies-to-bolster-speed-to-130-kmph/articleshow/8085207.cms)
Thousands of Mumbaikars who spend hours on suburban trains commuting to and from their workplaces can soon hope for a little more comfortable and faster ride, literally.

The railways is planning to introduce "bolster-less bogies"-a bogie is a structure on which a compartment is mounted and it is attached to axles, therefore wheels-on rakes that are supposed to have better suspension, absorb nine kinds of vibrations and boost the speed of trains.

"The first EMU rake fitted with modern and high-tech bogies is ready and will be dispatched from the factory on April 27. The new trains are likely to arrive in the city early next month," said P C Sehgal, managing director of Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation ( MRVC). Test rides for both the Western as well as Central railways have been scheduled shortly.

Currently, trains on the suburban network can achieve a speed of 100 kmph. "A bolster-less bogie has the potential to accelerate the speed of a train to 110 kmph and if needed, they can even touch the 130-kmph mark on the fast track," an official said. With the new feature, passengers will feel less jolt on trains as the ride index will go down. "The ride index is the unit by which 'jerk' felt on a train is determined. Currently, the ride index is 4, but with the new bolster-less bogie, it is supposed to go down to 3. It is also supposed to improve the suspension of a rake. Moreover, the technology will help curb noise pollution, produced by trains," the official added.

The test of bolster-less bogies will be conducted over a period of two to three months to ascertain if the designs of the suburban trains will have to be modified. "Moreover, the bolster-less bogies will be introduced only if they conform to the safety standards," the official added.

The railways also plans a few other modifications and improvements, based on passengers' feedback. "Work is on to increase the leg space on first- as well as second-class compartments," the official added.

During the past three and half year, 123 new EMU rakes having 1449 coaches have been received. With these new coaches, 418 additional services were introduced 944 trains have been converted from 9 cart to 12 car. With new rakes, 30 per cent additional passenger carrying capacity has been created. As a result, the overcrowding level has reduced by 20 per cent, said Sehgal, who will retired at the end of this month.

Hi-speed local set for trial in May
Source (http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_hi-speed-local-set-for-trial-in-may_1536189)
The city’s hi-speed local trains that can achieve speeds of 130kmph are finally ready and will be in Mumbai in a month. A team of senior officials of the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation and the Maharashtra government would be visiting the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai on Wednesday to inspect the new wonder that is the product of six years of research.

The Rs60crore train is expected to break the 100kmph barrier and run at hi-speeds beyond Kalyan and Virar stations, on tracks that are used for hi-speed trains like the Rajdhani.

MRVC managing director Dr PC Sehgal confirmed that the “bogies” (the wheel-sets) were ready and that they would be going for the final inspection. “If everything goes well, the train should be in city by May,” he said. Sehgal, who is retiring at the end of this month, said the new train would be his gift to the city’s commuters.

Once the train is in the city, trials will be carried out and it shall be in service within a month. DNA had first carried a news report in November 2010 that the delivery of hi-speed trains had been delayed due to problems. In fact, five such hi-speed trains are expected.

“Within the city the there are limitations that don’t permit high speeds, but it is possible outside city limits. The tracks too need to be equipped to cater to such speeds,” a senior MRVC official said.

The train was expected to arrive earlier but one of its crucial components went missing at the last moment, delaying the delivery. The bogies frames and technology has been bought from Siemens, Austria.

“They will have bolsterless suspensions, which will give the commuters a jerk-free journey,” Sehgal added.

The new train is being procured under the Rs4,500 crore World Bank-funded Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP). MRVC is co-ordinating the project. While the train will look similar to the other trains, it will be the train’s high-speed bogie (wheel sets) that will make all the difference.

“Once the new train arrives, it will be subjected to heavy trials and oscillation tests. We will be loading them with sacks of sand completely to match the crowding weight and take trials as they would a fully-crowded train run,” a senior official said.

Bombay2Calcutta

April 27th, 2011, 02:58 AM

Rlys promises no disruption this coming monsoon...

WR, CR Authorities Say Desiltation Work Is On Track
Manthan K Mehta TNN

Mumbai: Central and Western Railway have promised commuters a disruption-free ride this monsoon. The railways hopes to complete all the pre-monsoon work by May 31.
Central Railway (CR) said it has cleaned up 33 of 83 culverts in its division. V S Malegaonkar, chief public relations officer, CR, said, “So far, we have cleaned 30% of the side drains and culverts falling under Central Railway.”
Sharat Chandrayan, chief public relations officer, Western Railway (WR), said, “We are desilting 43 culverts and side drains. They will be cleaned in three phases. The first round will be completed by May 20, while the second and third rounds will be completed by mid-July and August.”
The railways has decided to install pumps to force out water from low-lying areas. Malegaonkar said that CR will install 17 pumps, while the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will set up pumps at 16 locations, including Parel, Sandhurst Road, Kurla-Vidhyavihar and Byculla-Chinchpokli.
Chandrayan said 55 diesel pumps will be placed at lowlying areas like Dadar, Matunga Road, Mahim, Andheri, Borivli, Nalasopara, Virar and Mumbai Central. Gauges will be provided at all floodprone locations, he added.
The BMC will pay Rs 1 crore to CR and Rs 32 crore to WR for the desilting work. Malegaonkar said, “We are working in close coordination with the civic administration. Joint inspection is also being carried out by all officials to ensure results.”
The civic administration will carry out desilting, besides providing pumps at vulnerable locations, including the Mithi river, Khar subway, Milan subway, Malad subway, Poisar Nalla (Kandivli-Borivli), Jafri Nalla (Dahisar-Mira Road) and Walbhat Nalla (Jogeshwari-Goregaon), Chandrayan said.
The railways said work has been planned to avoid breakdown in services, either due to water-logging or signal breakdowns.
Since last year, the railways has installed digital axle controls at various locations on the tracks to prevent signal breakdowns.
Malegaonkar said, “The major reason for breakdowns was signal failure. The digital technology has proved to be effective against that.”
Railway personnel have been briefed about their roles in case of crises.
Officials will monitor vulnerable locations round-theclock during heavy rains and watchmen will be deputed to vulnerable spots to alert the railways about any impending crisis.

gentem

April 28th, 2011, 08:29 PM

as for voting by commuters, steve jobs said - people don't know what they want until you show it to them.

maybe another option is to have 2+2 near doors and 3+3 elsewhere, like in a volvo bus where lot of standing place near door.

SEATS TO MAKE room for more standees
WR Plans Eight Seats Less In Compartments To Decongest Train Travel

Roana Maria Costa | TNN

Western Railway (WR) plans to reduce the number of seats in local trains and create more standing room for commuters. It would mean eight seats
lesser in each general
and first-class compartment, but a lot more standing space and also decongest the door area.
The plan involves reducing one seat each from just near the door so that commuters can enter and exit comfortably and enable more people to travel. However it will not extend to the ladies, handicap, luggage and senior citizen coaches.
WR officials said this new seating arrangement would reduce the number of seats in 12-car locals by 100 and in nine-car rakes by 72 but increase the number of commuters by around 300-400 per train.
Officials said the idea came after a letter 10 days ago from Shailesh Goyal, member of the National Railway Users Consultative Committee, highlighting the difficulty in boarding trains during peak hours due to overcrowding. It mentioned that passengers often stood at the door and footboard blocking the way, even though there was space in the middle of the coach.
“Such an arrangement will mean commuters won’t have to stand at the entrance and can move inside the coach. The project should be done on an experimental basis,” Goyal told TOI.
Chief PRO, WR, Sharat Chandrayan said WR is studying the feasibility of this seating arrangement. “There have been many complaints that commuters lean against the seat support making it very difficult for people to board the train. There have also been complaints that commuters stand at the door several stations before they have to alight, not allowing others to get off.” He said the letter has been sent to the general manager and chief commercial manager, adding the Railway Board’s decision was not mandatory.
P C Sehgal, managing director, Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation, said it was a very good step and if accepted would lead to a more comfortable trip as a space of 4 sq m would be created.
Central Railway general manager, Kul Bhushan, who is also looking after WR, said: “Let WR introduce coaches with fewer seats first, we will then examine if CR can also do the same.”

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=TOIM/2011/03/04/6/Img/Pc0061000.jpg
Total seating in 9-car
950
Total seating in 12-car
1,270

With Lateral Seating
Seat capacity in a 9-car local would be 360 and total capacity 4,500 Seating in a 12-car local would be 480 while total capacity would be 6,000

If A Seat Is Reduced
Total seating in a 9-car train would reduce by 72 and in a 12-car reduce by around 100 Standing capacity would increase by around 300 to 400 people

Ask for more trains, get seats taken away (http://www.mid-day.com/news/2011/mar/050311-Western-Railway-plans-demand-12-car-trains-services-mumbai.htm)
By: Vedika Chaubey Date: 2011-03-05 Place: Mumbai

While commuters have been demanding more 12-car trains and services for years, Western Railway plans to modify three-seater chairs in trains to two-seaters

As a rail commuter in the city's bursting locals peerless in herding commuters to destinations here's what you have been insisting on: increased seating capacity, more 12-car trains, more services, all so you could get those precious few inches to sit while in transit.

http://www.mid-day.com/imagedata/2011/mar/map.jpg
The existing seats (darkened spots in the first diagram) will be removed to create more elbow space in Western Railway locals

But here's what the railways plan to give you: eight seats less per coach. Rail authorities' latest brainwave, which involves modifying three-seater chairs in trains on Western Railway to two-seater effectively slashing the capacity by eight seats per coach in a train (see pic) has, thus, elicited incomparable scorn from commuters.

After general manager of Central and Western Railway, Kul Bhushan, cleared the proposal sent last week by a member of National Rail Users Consultative Committee, Shailesh Goyal to dock current seat lengths in WR trains, condemnations were in order.

While railway authorities seemed self-satisfied with the move they think will allow more elbow space to passengers, commuter associations found no reason to restrain from ranting against it.

Said Goyal, "Passengers find it difficult to board the local because people stand on the footboard and the side of the door, blocking the way. If this proposal is implemented, passengers will get more space to stand and can get off and on easily.

The standing capacity per coach will increase by almost 24 passengers by doing away with the seats." Adding the cherry on top, he said, "This is a very good proposal and we should also implement this on the Central line."

'Inverse logic'

The 'goodness' of the plan was lost on commuters, however, as was its logic. As four people share the three seats on a chair, more people are going to suffer if they are turned into two-seaters, commuters complained.
Madhu Kotian, president, Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh, exclaimed that it was a nuisance.

"Even after the proposed changes, the carrying capacity of the coach will not increase. In fact, it will add to quarrels over seats.

People on the seats will have to navigate through a thicker crowd," he said, adding that similar experiments in the past had flopped. "Railway authorities should think twice before implementing. Passengers will get less seats to sit," he said.

Kotian also mentioned a protest against the proposal. "We will protest this. If they are so bothered by overcrowding, why don't the railways convert 9-car trains to 12-car trains, or increase the number of services and trains? Instead, their solution is to decrease the seats," said Kotian.

Other associations are also on the same page as Kotian. Deepak Gandhi, president of Mumbai Suburban Passengers Association, threatened to take the railways to court if they implement the proposal.

"Instead of getting additional rakes, railways are wasting time on such proposals. This is no remedy to ease the rush. We will approach the courts if the decision is implemented," he said.

Voices

We are already facing a seat crunch in the ladies' compartment, thanks to the discrimination of lesser seats in women's bogies. We had been asking for more seats and this is what we get. Travel will be unbearable if the seats are decreased.
Priyanka V, daily commuter between Borivli and Churchgate

Railway should think about the passengers first. The population of Mumbai is increasing by the day and 12-car trains are so few. Why aren't they thinking of increasing these, instead of toying with this rubbish idea?
Pushpa Chauhan, travels regularly from Kalyan to CST

I travel during peak hours everyday. Already the seats are limited. A further reduction will cause more fights between passengers. Those like me who stay in Virar are bound to get mad if they do not get to sit at all because of fewer seats.
Shirish Kumar, a marketing executive

The Other Side
Sharat Chandrayan, chief public relations officer, Western Railway, said, "We will take passengers' reaction to the modifications in account before proceeding further. The feasibility will also be checked and decided on the basis."
While TOI liked the idea midday didn't :cheers: Did anybody actually seen this in in local trains?

Bombay2Calcutta

April 29th, 2011, 03:04 AM

WR’s AC/DC conversion of rakes trial successful

Manthan K Mehta TNN

Mumbai: The Western Railway (WR) has successfully conducted the trial of Alternating Current (AC) traction retrofitted rake. Future trials, if successful, will be a shot in the arm for the WR as it will have more rakes at its disposal when trains services are increased.
This is the first time for the Indian railways that old rakes have been retrofitted. Thirtyrakes that are compatible to run on Direct Current (DC) will be retrofitted to run on AC traction. Sharat Chandrayan, chief public relations officer, WR said, “The target for converting was April-end, but we have achieved this feat a week earlier. Ten rakes are expected to be retrofitted by December 2011. We also plan to convert additional 20 rakes by March 2013.”
He said, “The initial project, which involves retrofitting 10 rakes will cost Rs 45 crore. The work will be undertaken at Mahalaxmi workshop,” he added.
Though the initial trial has proved successful, further tests will be carried on Borivli-Virar sction where the traction overhead supply has been converted from DC to AC.
Chandrayan said, “As of now, the old DC rakes are being converted to run on AC/DC as work on conversion of its traction overhead supply from DC to AC is yet to be completed on Borivli-Churchgate section. This is likely be over within four months, after which all the rakes having AC compatibility will be able to ply the entire section up to Virar and beyond.”

Bombay2Calcutta

April 29th, 2011, 03:05 AM

CR plans 1 cr SMSs to deter trespassing

Manthan K Mehta TNN

Mumbai:The Central Railway (CR) has decided to make use of text messages to warn commuters against crossing the railway tracks at unmanned level
crossing in its division.
VA Malegaonkar, CR’s chief public relations officer (CPRO), said, “We have appointed an advertising agency for this job since other measures adopted by us have not proved too successful in preventing accidents at the unmanned level crossings.” There are 350 unmanned level crossings in five CR divisions namely Mumbai, Pune, Bhusawal, Solapur and Nagpur. The jurisdiction of the Mumbai division extends upto Igatpuri, Roha and Lonavala and there are a significant number of unmanned level crossings in the Diva-Panvel and Roha region.
The CR officials have paid Rs 1.90 lakh to the agency to send text messages to one crore commuters.
A K Singh, CR’s public relations officer, said, “Many unmanned level crossings are in rural areas. Hence, apart from English and Hindi, SMSs will also be sent in Marathi. It is a direct form of communication and will make an impact on the minds of commuters.”
In the past, the railway officials put up banners and made announcements on the public address to alert commuters on unmanned crossings.
“The agency will collect the cellphone numbers of the travellers from the various CR divisions through the service providers. If this trial is successful, the railway administration will use the medium to disseminate messages on other issues,” Malegaonkar said.

Bombay2Calcutta

April 29th, 2011, 04:06 AM

IE (http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/target-for-dc-to-ac-conversion-is-dec-2012/777406/)
Target for DC to AC conversion is Dec 2012

Mumbai Six months since he was posted as General Manager of the Central Railway, Kul Bhushan has earned a reputation of being a tough taskmaster. Having worked in various capacities in the railways, his latest achievement has been overseeing the completion and commissioning of additional lines along the Thane-Kurla route, while holding additional charge of WR too.

The main project on CR, conversion from direct current to alternating current is running behind schedule. Why?

The major constraint was rehabilitation of hutments. It is a very complicated issue involving the state government too. It is a dream project, being done without disturbing train traffic. New designs, innovative methods and modifications are being adopted for this project. The target for DC to AC conversion is December 2012 and CR is progressing systematically in a phased manner. The Kalyan yard is ready now, conversion between Kalyan to Thane will be done by June this year. Then conversion from Thane yard to Kurla will take six months. That means work will be completed by March 2012.

After you took charge, most major projects undertaken have been related to electrical engineering. Are these your choice as you are an electrical engineer?

I am not just an electrical engineer. I have handled diverse responsibilities in different departments. For instance, as director of Railway Board, I dealt with World Bank, Asian Development Bank, etc for funding new railway projects. This experience has enabled me to think globally. On my priority list now are the projects to convert all nine-car rakes into 12-car rakes. From July onwards, all trains between CST and Kalyan will be 12-car rakes. Harbour Line will follow suit. Currently all Karjat, Kasara and Thane-Vashi trains are 12-car rakes. Completing the new terminus building at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) by September will directly benefit commuters. Also, remodelling of the Thane yard and extension of existing platforms 5 and 6 at Thane to accommodate 24-coach outstation trains will be done. To speed up suburban and mail/express trains, the 15 kmph turnouts will be converted to 30 kmph.

When will the Thane-Diva fifth and sixth lines be completed? In the absence of additional lines on the Thane-Diva route, will the fifth and sixth lines on the Thane-Kurla route be of any use?

The MRVC is doing the work of laying fifth and sixth lines between Diva and Thane. These lines between Kurla and CST have already been sanctioned, but the major problem is to remove encroachments. We are working towards resolving the issues in this regard.

Do you think the potential of Kurla and Thane can be utilised without fifth and sixth lines from Thane to Diva?

Of course. At present at LTT, there are three major transportation activities —freight, suburban traffic and mail/express traffic. Coal and fertiliser are brought here from Mumbai Port Trust and commuters’ crowd at LTT, which comes from CST, will disperse towards Karjat, Kasara and Panvel via Konkan Railway and Southern Railway. It is a great relief. There will also be capacity for additional trains.

At present you are looking after two railways. In your opinion, what are the main issues at WR?

Major issues at WR are DC to AC conversion, improving infrastructure at Andheri, Bandra and Borivali, construction of foot overbridges, etc.

What is the status of work on turning CST into a world-class station?

This is a PPP project worth Rs 3,500 crore. A proposal has been sent to the Railway Board and we are waiting for a sanction. On this project, the state government is extending all necessary cooperation

KuwarOnline

April 29th, 2011, 11:38 AM

3,500cr??????? thats too much money for renovation

Bombay2Calcutta

April 30th, 2011, 10:08 PM

Western Railway wins Bandra land case

DNA / Rajendra Aklekar / Sunday, May 1, 2011 0:51 IST The railways on Saturday won the case of the controversial 45,371 sq mts of land in Bandra (East) that is supposed to fund the phase two city’s rail upgrade project, including crucial components like delivery of new trains and the construction of new lines.

The state government and the Western Railway have been stuck in a dispute over the ownership of land. The case was being fought at the collector’s office who has now ruled in favour of the railways. Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation managing director Dr PC Sehgal confirmed the development to DNA.

The Rail Land Development Authority, last year had asked developers to come forward with a plan to commercially develop the land, but it was shelved after the state government claimed ownership over a part of the land.

URL of the article: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_western-railway-wins-bandra-land-case_1538061-all

Bombay2Calcutta

May 1st, 2011, 09:11 PM

Source (http://www.steelguru.com/stainless_steel_news/Mumbai_sets_to_get_first_stainless_steel_local_train/202953.html)

Mumbai sets to get first stainless steel local train

Mumbai Mirror reported that in 2002, Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation toyed with the idea of a fully stainless steel train. A tender was floated, but when Bombardier the only bidder submitted its quotation, the plan was shelved for being too costly. But the dream is finally back on track.

Now about a decade later on April 27th 2011 MRVC managing director Mr PC Sehgal visited the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai to iron out formalities for building Mumbai's first all stainless steel train.

The train with its shell and floor made entirely of stainless steel would be the 130th and last of the rakes that Mumbai is supposed to get under Mumbai Urban Transport Project Phase I.

The city's suburban system has so far received 124 rakes under the first phase with the other six including the stainless steel one are expected to roll in by October 2011.

Officials told Mumbai Mirror that "For MUTP II, all the rakes will be fully stainless steel. Trains across the world are made of stainless steel. Although it will cost more, the benefits in the long run will be immense. It will be great for the city's suburban trains."

According to officials, stainless steel is much better the corten steel which is currently being used for trains across the country. While corten steel becomes wavy and corroded in a few years, stainless does not.

Officials said that the ICF has also been told that the train should have a look like the one sported by the Rajdhani Express. While the finer details are being worked out, officials said that the train would cost almost INR 2 million extra per coach making the overall cost appreciation by around INR 2.5 crore.

One of the officials said that "The fact that MRVC authorities managed to convince the Railways to procure the all stainless steel train as the last train under MUTP Phase I is a feather in the cap for outgoing MRVC chief PC Sehgal who retires today after more than five years at the helm of the corporation."

The first extensive use of stainless steel on passenger trains was in 1934 when Budd Company in Philadelphia introduced a three car train called Burlington Zephyr. The three car train that got built was 196-feet long, and weighed 104 tonnes.

The train had a total of 72 seats, and could carry 25 tonnes of baggage and express freight. The train represented the largest application by far of stainless steel in any structure at that time. The cost of the train was around USD 260,000, which would be about USD 3,640,000 today after adjusting for inflation. Today, almost all developed countries use stainless steel wagons because of their strength and lightness.

The Delhi Metro Rail was the first in India to use all stainless steel coaches.

anujkb

May 2nd, 2011, 08:07 AM

Ask for more trains, get seats taken away (http://www.mid-day.com/news/2011/mar/050311-Western-Railway-plans-demand-12-car-trains-services-mumbai.htm)
By: Vedika Chaubey Date: 2011-03-05 Place: Mumbai

While TOI liked the idea midday didn't :cheers: Did anybody actually seen this in in local trains?

Well

Therw was so called "GARBA RAKE" which was scrapped just recently... 0701 to 0703 (9 coaches). Very old rake. maybe in operation since 1980s. It was 2x2 rake. there was so much space in the middle that in navratri time in ladies coach there used to be GARBA when this local ran from virar to churchgate.

When Virar-churcgate was ACfied sometime in 2005, this local continued to make journeys as slow from borivali to ccg; then andheri to ccg and now scrapped.

About its pros and cons, people said obviously its not good.

gentem

May 2nd, 2011, 08:30 AM

^^ u ve mistaken, this new config is 2+2 seats only near doors, rest all the places it is 3+3 only. so that near door it is easy for people to move around and get in and out of train, like in a volvo bus where lotsa standing place near door and seats elsewhere. so only 8 seats reduced per coach, see midday diagram.

anidel

May 2nd, 2011, 05:27 PM

3,500cr??????? thats too much money for renovation

And on top of that they will not make it like Tokyo or Shanghai because they have heritage building :bash::bash:

Bombay2Calcutta

May 4th, 2011, 03:50 AM

WR plans SMS tickets soon

Manthan K Mehta TNN

Mumbai: Western Railway commuters can soon use their mobile phones for tickets in the form of a text messagefor travelon thesuburban network.
A senior WR official said, “Initial trials have proved to be largely satisfactory. However, there are a few glitches that are being ironed out to make the system foolproof and consumer-friendly.”
Explaining the system, the official said the commuter will have to send a text message to a number provide by Western Railway to buy a ticket. On sending the SMS, a message will flash on the subscriber’s phone within seconds. The text message will be the ticket for the journey the commuter intends to make.”
The official said that apart from making travel more convenient, the railways will save a huge amount on paper to print tickets. ‘‘We expect the technology to help us save costs on raw materials and manpower.”
The railways will tie up with cell phone service providers to make the system workable. “We are confident that all service providers will come on board as the railways are considered Mumbai’s lifeline,” he said.
The official said that those with pre-paid connections will have their money deducted equivalent to the fare assoon thetransaction is done. For post-paid accounts, the fare will be added to the monthly mobile bill.
But the railways have found glitches which can be used to cheat. The official said, ‘‘For example, if a person has to travel between Borivli and Churchgate, he may buy the ticket by sending an SMS only after the train reaches Marine Lines, which will cost him less. The tickerchecker will not be able to determine the length of his actual journey.”
An option under consideration is that the person buying the SMS ticket will be allowed to board the train at least 30 minutes after the making the transaction. He said, ‘In such a scenario, the person will not be able to cheat on the length of the journey. We are working on options to make the system foolproof.”

HOW IT WORKS

• SMS purchase is usually achieved by sending a message containing a short code (eg ‘BO’ for a single adult ticket for Borivli) to a service number

• A return message is sent containing the mobile ticket

• Different ticket types can be ordered with different codes (eg ‘A’ for adult)

• The use of codes enables a variety of tickets, time- or distance-based pricing and different zone systems