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Showing posts with label 200km train travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 200km train travel. Show all posts

Tuesday, 20 June 2017

08:54

Rajdhani rides to be 30% faster, travel from Delhi to Mumbai in 12 hours

Rajdhani rides to be 30% faster, travel from Delhi to Mumbai in 12 hours

The plan would make each line the fastest in India, running at top speeds of 200 kilometres per hour. The Gatimaan, which runs from Delhi to Agra, is currently number one with a maximum speed of 160 km/h.
The average speed of many Indian trains is slower by over 100 km/h. According to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the premier Rajdhani trains currently average around 75 km/h; the prevalent Express and Mail trains trundle along at 52 km/h; and freight trains are not even half as fast as that, averaging only 22 km/h.
Significantly, the proposal of the new plan is taking the official form of a cabinet note. In the past, hundreds of projects have been announced in railway budget speeches but have languished without approval by the cabinet. An estimated 394 rail projects worth nearly five lakh crore are pending.
According to Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu, implementation of the new plan will begin in January 2018 and take two to three years. An official who was not authorized to speak to the media reckoned that the project will cost Rs 18,163 crore. The Railways will focus on improving the electrical systems that direct trains and on civil engineering projects such as the lifting of tracks and the construction of new fences.
Ultimately, the government hopes to run faster trains throughout the ‘Golden Quadrilateral’, which also includes the Delhi-Chennai and Mumbai-Kolkata lines.
Of the 9,100 kilometers on the Golden Quadrilateral, the tracks along 6,400 kilometers (70% of the total) do not have the capacity to run trains at 130 km/h. Speed restrictions are in effect at 730 locations. These stretches have 2,736 level crossings. “We are working at eliminating these obstacles,” said a ministry official .
Britain has had trains going 200 km/h since 1976, and France is expecting this summer to start running trains that hit and go above 300 km/h. The fastest commercial train in the world, the Shanghai Maglev, tops out at 430km/h. Despite the considerable size and importance of the railways in India, they have been unable to keep up with the standards set by some other Asian nations and by Europe.

Source:RailNews


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Monday, 15 May 2017

08:56

High-speed train between Delhi and Chandigarh soon

High-speed train between Delhi and Chandigarh soon
CHANDIGARH: Passengers travelling between Delhi and Chandigarh will soon have the facilities of Wi-Fi, LCD screen, USB charging facility, and bio-toilets as the first Tejas Express train manufactured in the country— which will travel at a speed of 160 km per hour— will be handed over to the Northern Railway on May 15 by the Rail Coach Factory (RCF) in Kapurthala.
Sources said the train can touch the speed of 200 km per hour. The first rake consisting of 19 coaches including 16 air-conditioned chair cars and two executive chair cars besides one power coach will be handed over to the Northern Railway by May 15. While the chair car coach will have 78 seats, the executive class coach will have 56 seats.
A senior railway official said it is expected the newly designed coaches will run on the track by this month end but the final decision is to be taken by the railway board.
Earlier it was decided that this high speed train will run between Mumbai and Goa but now it is learnt that it will run between Delhi and Chandigarh.
The third train in this series will  run between Surat and Mumbai as the next two rakes are being manufactured and will be rolled out of the factory by March next year. The cost of each coach of this train is Rs 3.25 crore and has been built in six months.
There will be automatic plug doors on this train which will provide better sound and heat insulation and these doors will be controlled from the guard panel.
The train will have the same bio toilets that are installed in airplanes. The flush system will have vacuum evacuation besides sensor taps and soap dispenser will be placed.
The train will have Wi-Fi and bell at each seat like in planes so that the attendant can be called for any help.



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Friday, 31 March 2017

21:25

Indian Railways to procure Locomotives to run trains at 200 Kmph on Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata routes

Indian Railways to procure Locomotives to run trains at 200 Kmph on Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata routes

NEW DELHI: Indian Railways will go for global shopping to acquire high speed locomotives with a Rs 500 crore project to run trains at 200 km per hour on Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata routes.

Speed is the latest matra for railways as it is going ahead with the action plan to upgrade Delhi-Kolkata and Delhi-Mumbai rail corridors enabling the track fit for 200 kmph train run.

“We will float the global tender for acquiring 10 high speed electric locomotives, which can haul trains at 200 kmph and beyond, from the market shortly,” said a senior Railway Ministry official.

At present, Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains are running up to 130 kmph. Only one train, Gatimaan Express, is running at 160 kmph between Delhi and Agra.

“The transfer of technology of the high power locomotives and its maintenance will be the responsibility of the successful bidder, besides supplying 10 locos to railways,” said the official.

The Rs 500 crore project involves purchase of high speed locomotives, transfer of technology and maintenance for 13 years as per the bidding requirement.

The high power locomotives are expected to haul 22-24 coaches train at 200 kmph on Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata routes to reduce the travel time.

In order to match the loco capacity, railways has started the manufacturing of Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches with speed potential of 200 kmph.

The high speed LHB coaches are about to be turned out from Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala.

Besides Talgo coaches, which are also meant for higher speed on the existing tracks, are likely to be hauled with these high speed locomotives.

Source:RailNews
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Sunday, 4 December 2016

06:37

Moscow – Berlin Talgo starts on December 17

Moscow – Berlin Talgo starts on December 17
EUROPE: Russian Railways is to launch its Moscow – Minsk – Warszawa – Berlin Talgo train service in December, the national railway confirmed on October 28. The first trains will depart from Moscow’s Kursk station on December 17 and from Berlin Ostbahnhof the following day, RZD said. Tickets are now on sale for the service.

Sharing the Strizh (Swift) brand which RZD has adopted for its domestic Talgo trainsets used on the Moscow – Nizhni Novgorod route, Trains 13 and 14 will be operated using gauge-changing Talgo trainsets able to run on 1 520 and 1 435 mm gauge tracks. Passing through a newly-built automatic gauge changer at Brest on the Belarus-Poland border will take around 20 min, compared with the current 2 h stop to change bogies.

Journey time from Moscow to Berlin will be cut by 4 h 45 min to 20 h 14 min, while the eastbound timing of 20 h 35 min will be 5 h 21 min faster than the current service.

RZD says the Talgo service will initially operate twice a week, departing from Moscow at 13.05 on Saturdays and Sundays and arriving in Berlin at 07.19 local time. The return trains will depart from Berlin Ostbahnhof at 18.50 on Sundays and Mondays, reaching Moscow at 17.25 the following day.

RZD’s inter-city subsidiary Federal Passenger Co ordered seven Talgo trainsets in June 2011, at a cost of €100m. The four broad gauge sets entered service on the Moscow – Nizhny Novgorod route in June 2015, and the three gauge-changing sets began test running on the Moscow – Berlin corridor in October 2015.

Designed for operation at up to 200 km/h, the 20-vehicle locomotive-hauled trainsets are formed of 17 passenger coaches, a dining car and two technical cars. Offering a mix of first and second class seats and two-berth sleeping compartments, each train has a total capacity of 414 passengers.

Source:RG
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Sunday, 31 July 2016

08:56

Multi-pronged strategy for a high speed travel - Indian Railways

Multi-pronged strategy for a high speed travel - Indian Railways

Indian Railways is working on a multi-pronged strategy for running of high speed trains (with a speed of 300 kmph+), semi high speed trains (with a speed of 160 kmph+ - 200kmph), running of existing trains with increased speeds and introduction of faster trains and faster train sets.

A high speed train (300 kmph+) has already been sanctioned on Mumbai – Ahmedabad high speed corridor with financial and technical assistance from Government of Japan. This train is based on Japanese Shinkansen high speed technology. A company for the implementation of this project with the name “National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited” has already been formed. The implementation of this project has already begun and is now targeted for commissioning in 2023-24. The study for this high speed train popularly referred to as Bullet Train has been done by JICA. Government of Japan is providing financial assistance in the form of loan upto 81% of the project cost at a very nominal interest rate of 0.1% per annum to be repaid in 50 years with a 15 year moratorium.

In addition to Mumbai – Ahmedabad high speed (300 kmph+) corridor, five more corridors covering sides of diamond quadrilaterals and semi diagonals in the country are being explored and Consultants have been appointed to undertake feasibility studies as per details given below : -

1. Delhi-Mumbai High Speed Corridor (HSC): Consortium of M/s. The Third Railway Survey and Design Institute Group Corporation (Chinese Consultant) and Lahmeyer International (India) Private Limited, India. Interim report 1 received. Interim report 2 expected in November, 2016. Final Report expected in January, 2017.
2. Mumbai-Chennai HSC: Consortium of M/s. SYSTRA (French Consultants), RITES and Ernst and Young LLP. Interim report 1 received. Interim report 2 expected in November, 2016. Final Report expected in January, 2017.
3. Delhi-Kolkata HSC: Consortium of M/s. INECO- M/s. TYPSA- M/s. Intercontinental Consultants and Technocrats Private Limited (Spanish Consultants). Interim report 1 & 2 received. Final Report expected in January, 2017.
4. Delhi-Nagpur HSC: Government to Government cooperation with Chinese Railway Company. Inception report received.
5. Mumbai-Nagpur HSC: Government to Government cooperation with Spanish Railway companies. Interim report 1 received. Interim report 2 expected in November, 2016. Final Report expected in January, 2017.

Railways has also taken up a programme of running of semi high speed trains (160 kmph+ - 200kmph) in a big way. It has already started running such a train with the name Gatimaan Express between Hazrat Nizammuddin to Agra Cantt Station w.e.f. 05.04.2016 with a maximum speed of 160 kmph. In addition to this Delhi –Agra semi high speed corridor, Indian Railways have also identified eight more corridors for feasibility of semi high speed rail, Zone wise details are as under:

1. Delhi-Chandigarh (Northern Zone): Feasibility-cum implementation study awarded to SNCF (France) on cost sharing basis.
2. Chennai-Bengaluru-Mysore (South, South-western zone): Feasibility Study for upgradation of speed awarded to ERYUAN Group of Chinese Railways at their cost.
3. Delhi-Kanpur, Nagpur-Bilaspur, Mumbai-Goa, Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Chennai- Hyderabad, Nagpur – Secunderabad: Quantum of Technical inputs required for upgradation of speed to 160 Kmph have been identified by the concerned Zonal Railways and KONKAN Railway.

Indian Railways is also currently undertaking field trials for assessing savings in transit time by using special type Spanish Talgo Coaches on existing New Delhi-Mumbai corridor. These are faster trains which may run at around 200 kmph.

Indian Railways is also working on a proposal to acquire modern electrical EMU train sets which will have a good average speed thereby saving travel time substantially.

With a view to increasing speed of existing trains in Indian Railways, ‘Mission Raftaar’ has been announced in the Railway Budget 2016-17. The mission envisages a target of doubling of average speed of freight trains and increasing the average speed of all non-suburban passenger trains by 25 kilometre per hour (kmph) in next 5 years. The present level of average speeds in Indian Railways for non-suburban passenger trains is 46.3 kmph and for freight trains the average speeds is 24.2 kmph. In order to implement this, a cross-functional mission directorate has been created in Railway Board.

Action Plan for improving mobility and increasing average speed of trains, inter-alia, includes removal of speed restrictions, construction of road over bridges (ROBs) and road under bridges (RUBs), right powering of trains, introduction of twin-pipe brake system in wagons, and replacement of conventional loco hauled commuter trains by Main Line Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) and Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) trains.

Some of the important achievements in mobility improvement in Indian Railways are;

o Two pairs of trains between Kanpur-Allahabad section, and one pair of MEMU train between Asansol-Dhanbad section in place of conventional loco hauled passenger trains have already been introduced.
o Two more pairs of trains have been scheduled for switch over to MEMU in Allahabad-Mughalsarai section in July 2016.
o Mobility study of high density Ghaziabad-Allahabad-Mughalsarai section completed. Short term Action Plan under implementation.
o Introduction of twin-pipe brake system in freight trains approved in-principle for implementation in all freight stocks. This will result in faster application and release of brake system consequent increase in speed of freight trains.
o Action Plan for Right powering of freight trains is being worked out. Optimum horse power to trailing load ratio will speed up freight trains and reduce transit time, directly benefitting the customers.
o Removal of Level Crossing Gates for achieving faster speed and improved safety for 2787 level crossing gates targeted for removal in 2016-17.

Besides above mentioned measures, Ministry has also announced introduction of faster train services like TEJAS which requires minimal technological inputs and aims at attaining speeds above 130 kmph.

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Sunday, 25 October 2015

07:17

Indian Railways have increased average speeds of nearly 90 trains, including three Rajdhanis and two Shatabdis.

Indian Railways have increased average speeds of nearly 90 trains, including three Rajdhanis and two Shatabdis. 

It’s the world’s fourth-largest rail network that ferries about 23 million passengers a day, but most of India’s colonial-era trains have still been rattling along at an unhurried pace for decades.

Until now. Since the start of this month, nearly 90 trains, including three Rajdhanis and two Shatabdis, have cut running times by up to two hours thanks largely to faster speeds and measures such as reducing the number of halts.

Passengers on the Mumbai Rajdhani, for example, now spend 25 minutes less on a journey that normally took 15 hours and 50 minutes. The Puri-Gandhidhan Express, which took 37 hours and 55 minutes on the journey, now takes just 36 hours to complete the trip. Similarly, travel time on the Yeshwantpur-Ahmedabad Express has also been reduced by 75 minutes from 35 hours and 10 minutes.

It’s a pleasant surprise for passengers on the 64,500-km network. Average speeds on Mail and Express trains on the list have increased from 55 km per hour to 58 km per hour, while those of the three Rajdhanis are up from 74 km per hour to 76 km per hour.

“It is a small but momentous beginning towards the task of scaling up rail operations and taking them to the next level. Travel time reduction -- achieved through faster acceleration and related factors such as reduction in technical train halts – has been attained at a minimal cost of less than Rs 5 crore,” said a senior Railways official said.

“All norms on passenger safety have been complied with. Tracks on the Indian Railways are capable of running trains at speeds of 200 km per hour.”

The ministry’s speed team used a multi-pronged approach to accomplish the task, including the removal of slow speed barriers at certain locations and changes in the course of trains at crossings.

It’s a big change for the Indian Railways where speeds have remained the same for decades and in some cases have come down because of continuous clogging of networks.

“Technical inputs received from the Japan Railways came in handy,” an official said, adding that the speeding up plan would be extended to other trains on the mainline route in the coming months.
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Wednesday, 9 September 2015

17:58

Scrapping Indonesia’s High Speed Bullet Train leaves top Investors confused

Scrapping Indonesia’s High Speed Bullet Train leaves top Investors confused

Jakarta: The $6 billion plan is not commercially viable, and Indonesia has asked bidders from China and Japan to resubmit bids for a slower train for the route between Jakarta and Indonesia’s third biggest city, Bandung, Rizal Ramli, the minister coordinating transport policy told.

Indonesia had decided to scrap plans for the nation’s first high-speed railway. This has sown confusion among top investors China and Japan, potentially undermining the strong foreign investment that has been a rare economic bright spot.

China and Japan had been battling over the multi-billion dollar contract, until it was abruptly pulled in what appeared to be the latest in a series of regulatory flip-flops and erratic policy-making moves under President Joko Widodo.

Indonesia’s chief economics minister was left to explain to the two Asian giants on Friday the reason why Jakarta decided at the last-minute that a bullet train was no longer viable for Southeast Asia’s largest economy.

“It looks like a sudden move because the recommendation was made after a review of both proposals,” Teten Masduki, presidential chief of staff, told. “But the recommendation is in the best interest of the country.”  Tokyo and Beijing had lobbied heavily for the $5 billion contract, each sweetening the terms of their bids up until Monday’s deadline.

Analysts believed that whoever had won would likely have been the front-runner for future high-speed rail projects in Asia, including one linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

“It was the recommendation from independent consultants that suggested to the government that a medium-speed rail was a better option because the cost is cheaper and the time of the journey isn’t much longer,” Masduki said.

President Widodo announced late Thursday that a bullet train between the capital Jakarta and the textile town of Bandung was unnecessary, since it would never reach its maximum speed of more than 300 km (188 miles) per hour in between station stops.

The administration instead advocated a slower train and asked China, Japan, and others to submit new proposals.

“Consequently, both proposals extended by our government and the Chinese government are not accepted,” Yasuaki Tanizaki, Japan’s ambassador to Indonesia, told reporters on Friday. “I have expressed my regrets.”

A Chinese embassy official in Jakarta declined to comment until more information was provided by Indonesia.

“The project was a priority for China because it would have been one of the first and most visible manifestations of President Xi Jinping’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ overseas investment drive,” said Tom Rafferty, Beijing-based analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

“Chinese firms have not always been sensitive to political risk in foreign markets but on this occasion the lobbying and marketing effort was extensive. The decision therefore seems likely to dim China’s confidence in the Indonesian market.”

Japanese ambassador Tanizaki said he did not think Thursday’s decision would affect Japan’s investment in the country. He said Tokyo was waiting for details on the medium-speed rail project before deciding whether to participate.

The road to Thursday’s decision was particularly bumpy for Tokyo, which had initially believed it won the contract in March after completing a more than $3 million feasibility study. But Indonesia decided to invite other offers in order to get the best deal.

Japan is Indonesia’s second largest investor and is no stranger to the uncertainty surrounding major infrastructure projects in the world’s fourth most populous country.

Japanese firms have been waiting four years to build a $4 billion coal-fired power plant, Southeast Asia’s biggest, and were told by President Widodo last week that construction was now set to start.

But obstacles still stand in the way with dozens of landowners refusing to give up their paddy fields, leaving investors still uncertain on when ground will finally be broken.

“The cumulative effect of delays on a number of projects could send a bad signal to investors,” said Paul Rowland, a Jakarta-based political analyst. “It’s clear that the president is frustrated with the pace of things.”

The HSR is expected to cut traveling time on the 150 km stretch between the two cities from the current three hours to less than 40 minutes. The two Asian giants have repeatedly sent high-level envoys to lobby the Indonesian government in what has been an unprecedented battle to build the 150-km (93-mile) link between the capital, Jakarta, and the textile hub of Bandung. Two government sources have earlier expressed that Indonesia is leaning toward awarding the multi-billion dollar contract to China because its proposal is seen as “less financially burdensome”. Indonesia’s state enterprises minister said that if China were to win the contract, state-owned companies PT Wijaya Karya, PT Jasa Marga, PT Kereta Api, and PT Perkebunan Nusantara VIII would be involved in the consortium with China. “There is truly no burden on the government,” the minister, Rini Soemarno, told reporters even on Wednesday.

Japan competes with Singapore as Indonesia’s top investor in Indonesia, while China is the Southeast Asian nation’s biggest trading partner.

The new proposals, which he hopes will be 30% to 40% cheaper, will take several weeks, Ramli told.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Darmin Nasution told the South China Morning Post that Indonesian president Joko Widodo has decided that the high-speed service is not needed. The 150km route is not long enough for the train to reach its top speed of 300km/h, Nasution told.

Cancellation of Indonesian high speed rail plan sends damaging signal, says experts. Singapore-based infrastructure expert Nicholas Brown of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com said: “If these reports are to be taken at face value then the damaging signal that this change of heart sends to foreign infrastructure investors could unwind much of the PR gains that the central government had been seeking through its open-for-business campaign.”

“What makes the volte-face so unexpected is that both the length of the link and the likely range of capex required for it were known from the start,” Brown said.

The ‘medium-speed’ train is expected to travel at 200km/h and will only be 11 minutes slower, the South China Morning Post said.

The IMF said this week that transport infrastructure is vital to growth in Indonesia.
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Wednesday, 24 June 2015

09:40

Ahmedabad-Mumbai Bullet Train to run on Elevated Tracks

Ahmedabad-Mumbai Bullet Train to run on Elevated Tracks

Mumbai: The Bullet train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai will run on elevated corridor for most part of its journey. The track would be along the existing railway track.

India’s ambitious plan to construct the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail corridor reached a decisive stage on Tuesday, following the Japanese government’s offer to fund the Rs 988,050 million project at a low interest rate of 0.25% at Tuesday’s meeting of the Indo-Japan Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC).

The Japanese government’s loan offer comes with the rider that 30% of the rolling stock for the project would be sourced from Japanese firms, sources said.

A financial rate of return (RoR) of 4% and an economic RoR of 12% has been projected on what will be India’s first high-speed rail line, which is estimated to have a daily ridership of 40,000 passengers.

From the initial estimated cost of Rs 650,000 million, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) — which recently completed a feasibility study on the line — has indicated a substantial cost escalation by factoring in components including price escalation during construction (estimated at Rs 172,212 million ) and interest during construction (estimated at Rs 115,709 million). Basic capital cost has been projected at Rs 700,129 million in the draft JICA report.

If work begins in 2017, the line can be completed in 2023 and made operational in 2024.

An official told that the feasibility study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) suggested that the track for the Bullet Train on elevated corridor will constitute 60 per cent of total track on the route.

The senior official said, the JICA has estimated 40,000 passengers per day. The cost of the ticket has been estimated to be one and half times more than that is being charged by the Rajdhani Express for the same distance. The distance from Ahmedabad to Mumbai will be 543 km to be covered by Bullet Train in less than 2 ½ hours i.e. at an average speed of 200 Kms per hour on this route. However the track shall be built to cater to a speed of 600 Kms per Hour for future operational requirements.

The JICA, which has submitted its draft report and made presentations before the Railway Board, on Tuesday gave a presentation before the joint monitoring committee comprising of Railways and other ministries.

“China has also offered to fund the project. The political leadership will need to take a call on funding options,” a senior official said.
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Saturday, 30 May 2015

20:16

Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala all set to rollout 200 Kmph Coaches by next year

Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala all set to rollout 200 Kmph Coaches by next year

Kapurthala (RCF): In sync with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign, the Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, is contemplating to roll out the first rake of coaches which can run at a speed of 200km per hour. While its design has been prepared, RCF has already ordered a prototype of upgraded brake system, the most crucial component in this high speed train.

“If things go as planned, after getting the prototype of the new brake system, we shall prepare a prototype of the new coach by December. After the in-house testing, the first rake can be rolled out by the end of this financial year or in the beginning 2016-17 fiscal,” said RCF General Manager Alok Dave who is also holding the charge of RCF, Rae Bareli.

Pointing out other major changes in the high speed coaches, he revealed that those bogeys would have automatic sliding doors on the sides, improved design of the vestibule area, which would end the externally visible gap between the coaches, LED TVs, WiFi and a better passenger information system. “According to the design prepared for the upgraded disc brake system, it would have steel brake disc and sintered brake pads,” Dave said.

He said as RCF had already rolled out a Shatabadi train rake of 17 coaches, which can run at a speed of 160kmph and which is still being tested on the tracks, they had also manufactured an observation car which can run at the same speed for testing the railway track and overhead electric equipments. The 160kmph rake has automatic compartment doors and GPS-based public information system.

Dave manager said they had rolled out 1,582 coaches in 2014-15 against the target of 1,500 and those also included 102 coaches for RCF. He said that they were also starting large scale manufacturing of non-AC LHB coaches which would be used in high speed trains.

RCF gets biggest export order from Bangladesh

RCF, Kapurthala has also has also bagged an order of 120 LHB coaches from Bangladesh, which is largest export order of coaches the Indian Railways has received. The order comprises 19 power car, 17 First AC chair car, 17 Second AC chair car and 67 non-AC coaches. Forty coaches each will be supplied in three years. Meanwhile, RCF will manufacture 90 AC 3-tier coaches for defence forces and these will be supplied in batch of 30 each in three years. This is the highest order from the defence sector till now.
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Wednesday, 27 May 2015

06:43

Govt mulls minimum 200 Km between two halts for Mail, Express trains

Govt mulls minimum 200 Km between two halts for Mail, Express trains

Bareilly (BE): The government today said in order to ensure smooth and safe travel by the rail passengers, it was planning that mail and express trains travels a minimum of 200 kms between two stations.

Union Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha, who was here to highlight the achievements of BJP-led NDA government and lay foundation stone for shade of DEMU trains, also said that the ministry was sensitive towards safe and smooth travel of passengers.

He said passengers reach their destination safely was a priority and maximum facilities were being provided by increasing the frequency of rail traffic.

Sinha said passengers reach their destination safely was government’s priority and maximum facilities were being provided by increasing the frequency of trains.

He said high-level changes were being made in the internal system to check rail accidents and the Centre has spent Rs 1 lakh crore on railways in the last one year.

The government has set a target of Rs 8.5 lakh crore investment during its tenure of five years.

The minister, who was here to highlight one year achievements of BJP-led NDA government and lay foundation stone of shade of DEMU trains, said the ministry was sensitive towards safe and smooth travel of passengers.

He said that Rs 37.4 crore would be spent on building the DEMU shade.

He said that 10 DEMU trains would operate in place of 32 passenger trains operated by Izzatnagar division and it would be a gift to the people.
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Tuesday, 21 April 2015

07:18

Railways to fix late running of trains with the help of IITs

New Delhi: The Railway Ministry will join hands with Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) to find a way out to solve the problem of late running of trains. The IITs and the Railways’ engineering consultancy company Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) will identify the bottlenecks that delay trains’ timings and work out a solution to ensure the trains can run faster on the “existing infrastructure”.

The first round of meeting in this regard took up the case study of the Frontier Express (now Golden Temple Express) between Bombay (now Mumbai) and Amritsar, which used to take 40 hours before Independence while now the travel time has been reduced only by eight hours. The other exception taken, according to a top Railway official, was about the lone existing 150 kmph train between Delhi and Agra unable to augment its speed by mere 10 kmph even after several rounds of deliberations.

“Frontier now takes 32 hours. Which means in 60 years we could only adjust eight hours. Similarly, we are unable to augment the speed of Taj Express to 160 km per hour even after 10 years when the fastest train was running between Delhi and Agra. These are the things which have been examined presently. The Ministry is very serious since we are looking forward to put trains at 200 kmph before a Bullet Train runs in India,” pointed a top Railway official.

The prime concern was the fact that in the present condition, Railways has been able to meet only 74 per cent punctuality on an average per day with worst coming from the North Central Railway (NCR) and East Central Railways (ECR) at merely 34 per cent punctuality maintenance. The Zonal Railways administration have conveyed to the Railways that it is “impossible” for them to maintain the scheduled timings “in the given infrastructure” as desired.

Last month, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu was in a rude shock to know that punctuality figures used to be fudged by the officials to maintain it at 99 per cent even as complaints were galore about incessant delays of express trains including Rajdhanis and Shatabdis. The Ministry swung into action to address the complaints of late running of trains after the PMO expressed serious concern over the issue.

The PMO had sought explanation from the Railway Minister over trains running late after it received complaints by the passengers. The complaints were forwarded to the Railway Ministry and asked to follow the schedule and fix the problems so that trains were on time. Prabhu had then reacted that as the Railway Minister, it was his duty to ensure regular monitoring of punctuality of trains.

A top Railway official was made to sit twice during the last fortnight at Allahabad Junction for almost a week to examine the delays in the NCR and ECR zone. It was found that maximum number of train delays was tracked to New Delhi- Howrah route and particularly between the Patna-Mughalsarai-Allahabad section due to several asset failures like signaling, engines and track problems.

The initial report submitted to the Railway Minister says that in the event of delay of one train between on the “erratic” section, a cascading effect delays all the trains on the route. Allahabad junction also caters to trains bound to Mumbai and other Central and Southern Indian destinations besides New Delhi and beyond.
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