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Showing posts with label AC-DC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AC-DC. Show all posts

Monday, 29 June 2015

20:18

New EMU Rake with indigenous Electrical Systems powered by Medha Servo Drives put for trials

New EMU Rake with indigenous Electrical Systems powered by Medha Servo Drives put for trials

Mumbai: Come August and Mumbai will see the first-ever local train — EMU in railway lingo — whose electrical systems are completely indigenous. So far, all Mumbai locals with the modern Alternating Current 3-phase IGBT transmission technology have been powered either by Siemens or Bombardier.

The new rake, powered by Hyderabad-based firm Medha Servo Drives, will be a major test for the Indian Railways, according to officials, as it looks towards increasing the production of local trainsfor various metros without depending on imported technology. The new rake developed by Medha Servo Drives has been under construction for the past couple of years and is now in its final stages, said officials in the know.

A top-ranking railway official said that the rake, the first of the two being built at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai, should in all probabilities be sent to Mumbai by August. It will be first run on Western Railway (WR). “The Mumbai suburban railway is one of the densest and most demanding railway sections anywhere in the world. If this train, with Indian-made electrical traction motors and train control mechanisms, is successful in Mumbai, then it is going to be a game-changer for the railways. It will truly be the start of the ‘Make in India’ phase in the Electrical Multiple Units (EMU) sector for the railways,” said the official.

The rake will be a completely stainless steel one, like the two Bombardier rakes currently running on WR, but will have some design changes — mostly cosmetic — from both the Siemens and Bombardier rakes, said officials.

While Mumbai’s suburban system has had Indian-made power systems, mostly by Bhopal-based BHEL in the good old days when the traction on both Central and Western Railways was 1,500 Volt Direct Current (DC), conversion to 25,000 Alternating Current (AC) meant Mumbai’s locals either had Siemens or Bombardier power mechanisms, both multi-national companies.

“When it comes to MNCs, there are problems with patents, transfer of technology and the like. It is always better to have local expertise as, apart from ease of business, it leads to huge savings in foreign exchange. The building of local trains that was well and truly local was long overdue and it is good that the railways is moving in that direction,” said another official.

ICF also produced 20 fully furnished LHB Coaches (shells from RCF). 12 of these coaches are now in service on the new Chandigarh-New Delhi Shatabdi Express. Fabrication of LHB shells has started from February 2013. For the first time, a diesel multiple unit with 3-Phase IGBT traction converter has been put into service. It is equipped with ten stainless steel body coaches – two power cars each with 1600 HP on-board engine, and 8 trailer/ vendor cars. The transmission was developed indigenously by Medha Servodrives, Hyderabad.
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Monday, 15 June 2015

10:04

Harbour line to get 11 Western Railway rakes

Harbour line to get 11 Western Railway rakes

Mumbai: Harbour line stands to get 11 rakes following officials thinking of shifting old ones currently running on Western Railway (WR) due to failure to initiate the 5th and 6th lines on time.

Although the lines had been built for long distances, officials were planning to run extra suburban services by running local trains when there was a gap between long distance trains using these 11 rakes however the plan was foiled owing to the 5th line facing encroachment issues and work on the 6th line being a long way from completion.

Officials said these 11 rakes had been fixed to run on both alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) and could run on the Harbour line as well. Besides, they would be available even after 70 of the 72 Bombardier trains had arrived in phases by the end of the year.

“We thought we would run these 11 rakes and increase the number of suburban services by running them between passenger trains on the 5th and 6th line because passenger trains do not run as often as our surburban trains but since the lines have not opened yet, we plan to shift these to the Harbour line instead,” said an official.

The 5th line runs from Mahim to Santa Cruz while the 6th line runs from Santa Cruz to Borivali. “We are planning to run extra services on mainline Harbour as well as Trans-Harbour with the help of these rakes. The issues with the 5th line will be resolved only post Ramzan because of a graveyard near Bandra Terminus and the 6th line will take till end of this year because of severe land procurement issues,” added the official.

The decision also comes at a time when Central Railway (CR) officials have realised that none of the DC trains can be shifted to Harbour after the mainline converted from DC to AC since they had reached their maximum life expectancy.
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Sunday, 14 June 2015

11:06

About 500 to 550 trains on the Central Railway (CR) were delayed by 15 to 20 minutes for the fifth day in a row

About 500 to 550 trains on the Central Railway (CR) were delayed by 15 to 20 minutes for the fifth day in a row

Mumbai: About 500 to 550 trains on the Central Railway (CR) were delayed by 15 to 20 minutes for the fifth day in a row, due to the speed restrictions laid by the conversion from direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC) from CST to Kalyan. The restrictions were supposed to be lifted by Tuesday or Wednesday.

Contrary to CR officials’ information that the restrictions have been put at only three locations, i.e, Byculla viaduct, Hancock rail overbridge at Sandhurst and Mumbra tunnel, an additional block of 30 kmph has been operated at another location at Byculla, two locations at Parel and one at Ghatkopar. A CR official, on the condition of anonymity, revealed that this has been going on since the conversion on Sunday night.

The official said, “On Sunday evening we had been promised that these restrictions would go on for a maximum of two to three days, but it seems after the conversion no one, including the Railway Board, is concerned about what is happening to the trains’ schedule. Around 500 to 550 trains are late every day with the maximum effect felt during morning and evening peak hours.”

According to sources, top CR officials are throwing a ‘conversion bash’ at the plush railway officers’ colony at Nirmal Park, Colaba.

Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee (DRUCC) member Subhash Gupta said, “I am not taking away from the fact that the CR has achieved a big feat, but the celebrations should stop after they realised that punctuality has been hit so badly. Commuters are suffering for five days and there seems to be nothing being done about it.”
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Friday, 15 May 2015

16:58

Overhead Superconducting Electrification Wires on test in Japan

Overhead Superconducting Electrification Wires on test in Japan

Tokyo: Japan’s Railway Technology Research Institute (RTRI) is claiming a world first after successfully completing trials with superconducting wire in the overhead electrification system of an operational passenger line.

The tests were carried out on the Izuhakone Railway’s 20km Sunzu Line from Mishima to Shuzenji, which is electrified at 1.5kV DC.

Superconducting wire was used to link AC-DC transformers at a substation to the traction supply system, and the cable was cooled to -196 degrees celcius.

RTRI says that because superconducting cable has low electrical resistance, significant energy savings are possible and voltage stability can be increased. This is a particular advantage on dc electrification systems because voltage drops as the distance from the substation increases. This can limit the effectiveness of regenerative braking systems, which are only fully effective if there is another train nearby to use the energy generated by braking. With greater current stability, regenerative brakes can operate more effectively.
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Tuesday, 31 March 2015

21:10

AC-DC conversion of the CST–Thane stretch awaits CRS nod

AC-DC conversion of the CST–Thane stretch awaits CRS nod

Mumbai: The AC-DC conversion of the CST-Thane stretch is still awaiting the nod from the Commissioner of Railway safety. The AC-DC test conversion was done by the Central Railway in December and the reports were sent to the Commissioner Of Railway Safety for approval.

Official sources reveal that there are augmentation errors which the commissioner is not in favour off as it raises major safety concerns. However, the final approval would be from the railway board.

Speaking to ADC, Chetan Bakshi, Commissioner Of Railway Safety said, “I have sent the condonation to the railway board and I am waiting for their sanction. Once I receive the sanction, I will inspect the AD-DC conversion myself.”

A Central Railway officer informed ADC, that only after the CST – Thane AC-DC conversion is done, work on Harbour line AC- DC conversion would begin, “New local trains would be introduced in the Harbour line only after the AC-DC conversions.”

    Benefits of Alternating Current (AC):
  •     Number of suburban train services would increase
  •     After the AC-DC conversion, the power would be increased to 25,000 volts
  •     Save electrical energy of nearly Rs.67 crore per annum
  •     Faster, superior and long trains would be introduced


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