Thiruvananthapuram-Kasargod Semi High Speed Rail Line Proposal Clearance Received-KRDCL

NEW DELHI/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd (KRDCL) has received the clearance of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for the conduct of the aerial survey of the proposed Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod Semi High-Speed Rail (SHSR) line.

The Ministry of Defence had already given its go-ahead for the survey by deploying helicopters, based on strict standard stipulations such as skipping photography of specified strategically significant sites and installations.

The survey marks the prelude to deciding the alignment of the ambitious project Silver Line, to be executed by KRDCL a joint venture of the State Government and the Ministry of Railways.

The exact alignment of the Silver Line will be finalised based on the Aerial survey and the boundaries for the line on both sides will be determined only with the approval of the State Government. The process of land acquisition for the greenfield project will start only after that.

The Defence Ministry’s clearance is mandatory for the survey as certain strategically significant sites fall within the ambit of the aea to be covered, said Mr Ajith Kumar.

KRDCL has chosen the Hyderabad-based Geokno India Private Ltd to carry out the survey through the bidding process. It will be completed within a week after getting off the ground. GeoKno had conducted similar surveys for Ahmedabad-Mumbai Bullet Rail Line.

The survey will yield a wide range of three-dimension images and data of the ground it covers such as Digital Elevation Model, Digital Terrain Model, Digital Surface Model, L-sections and Contour, Topographical Mapping, volumetric calculation of the river cross sections, quantity calculation of the earth works etc. These are required for the engineering design of the line.

As part of the work, helicopters installed with laser scanners and sensors will have to land at different sites across the state, for which permission will be sought from the district collectors concerned.

The work of marking the ground-points and central points for the survey has already been completed. The ground-points are being marked at a distance of every 25 km and with as much width.

The State Cabinet has given green signal for SHSR after thoroughly considering the feasibility study that has fully taken into account every minute aspect of the project including the passenger potential and financial viability.

This study, which has found that the social, economic and environmental benefits to be derived from the project are substantial, is under consideration of the Ministry of Railways. After further studies, the Detailed Project Report of the project will be drawn up.

Seen as a game-changer in Kerala’s infrastructure and economic development, SHSR is to be implemented with minimum possible land acquisition. Besides drastically cutting short the travel time, SHSR will go a long way in reducing atmospheric pollution caused by road traffic besides bringing down road mishaps.

Trains on the track, which cuts through 11 districts, will run at a speed of 200 km per hour, covering the distance between the state capital and up north Kasaragod by four hours.

Source:RailNews

Talgo Semi-high-speed train is expected to complete the journey of 1,384 km in 12 hours and 35 minutes -

Talgo train from New Delhi expected to arrive at Mumbai Central by 8.30am

The Spanish semi-high-speed train Talgo, which left New Delhi railway station at 7.55 pm on Monday, will cover the journey in 12 hours and 35 minutes

New Delhi: Spanish train Talgo left the New Delhi railway station for Mumbai at 7.55pm on Monday evening, its first long-distance journey in the country, aiming to reach its destination by 8.30 am.

The semi-high-speed train is expected to complete the journey of 1,384 km in 12 hours and 35 minutes, while present super-fast trains such as the Rajdhani Express takes around 16 hours. The New Delhi-Mumbai Central Rajdhani Express has an average speed of around 90-100 km/hr and can attain a maximum speed of 130 km/hr.

The semi-high-speed train will undertake four journeys between New Delhi and Mumbai on 1, 5, 9 and 14 August on different speeds ranging between 130 kmph to 200 kmph. “This is the timing trial and railway will find out how much time it is likely to save if we allow such type of coaches to run on our tracks,” a railway board member said. The train consists of nine coaches, two executive class, four chair car, a cafeteria, a power car and a tail-end coach for staff and equipment.

Indian Railways has already held trials for shorter distance in May and July.

Vijay Kumar, executive director infra (mechanical) at Railways who was responsible for the first semi-high-speed train Gatimaan and is overseeing the trials of Talgo, said the initiative reflects the transformation at Indian Railways. He spoke of the light-weight composition of Talgo trains, their energy efficiency, and the smooth ride, courtesy fewer wheels, and no axles.

“The train is being experimented on four parameters–its track worthiness, time saving, energy efficiency and savings. We would be able to give final decision only once these trials are over,” said Kumar, adding that it was in July 2015 when the Spanish company had approached the Indian Railways to try its coaches and it’s a first for the Indian Railways too.

An executive coach of Talgo has 20 seats while in a Shatabdi, the seating capacity is 50. Similarly, in a Shatabdi, a chair car has 72 seats and in Talgo, the number is 36. So, if the seating arrangement is compared, a Rajdhani train runs with 22 coaches but for a Talgo train, 37 coaches would be required to match the Rajdhani capacity. Despite that, gross load of a Talgo train would be less than a 22 coach Rajdhani.

Since Talgo is made of aluminium, its coaches weigh around 12.3 tonnes, while for a Rajdhani the coach weighs around 41.3 tonnes which makes Talgo to gain speed easily. Due to these features a Talgo coach costs around Rs.5 crore in Europe while a Shatabdi coach costs around Rs.2.5 crore.

One of the nine member Spanish Talgo crew which is part of the trials requesting anonymity said the ride in Talgo is more stable. Moreover, there are a lot of passenger friendly features like LCD screens with special head phone panels on seats, revolving chairs which could move 360 degrees, a specialized cafeteria and more leg space.

Source:LiveMint

APL Logistics brings double-stack Container Train service to India

Chennai: APL Logistics, a unit of the Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines, has extended its famous double-stack container train service — that help customers load double the volume of cargo in a single voyage — to India.

APL (American Presidential Lines) pioneered the concept in early 1984 in US domestic rail operations.

APL IndiaLinx, the rail operations arm of APL Logistics in India, recently stacked 90 forty-foot boxes two-high on a train from Mundra port for an inland container rail terminal at Kishangarh, near Delhi, according to a company official from Singapore.

The double-stacked train operation followed the Indian Railways’ recent decision to allow stacked train access along this rail corridor. This was part of the Railways’ bigger project to provide a freight-dedicated network of railroads with double-stack train access connecting key gateway ports and major North Indian industrial centres before end 2016.

APL IndiaLinx plans to expand its stacked train service network as more rail corridors are allowed double-stack access, the official said without giving a deadline. In 2006 the company was granted the rail operating licence. It owns and operates 18 weekly rail services between inland container rail terminals in northern India and the gateway ports on India’s west coast.

India Infrastructure and Logistics Private Ltd was set up in 2006 as a joint-venture between APL and Hindustan Infrastructure Projects & Engineering Private Ltd to provide rail-based container transportation and related logistics in India. Its service is marketed under the brand APL IndiaLinx.

BENEFITS

When a customer has a huge volume of freight to move between two points, using trains offer traffic and environmental benefits over trucks. With double-stack trains, these benefits are even greater.

With the container boxes stacked two-high, a double-stack train can potentially double the capacity in a train run. This effectively allows the company to move boxes out of the port area at a faster velocity in each train run, thereby easing congestion.

In fact, it also frees up the highways for trucks to move cargoes into other locations not served by rail or that do not have sufficient capacity or distance to justify rail movement. The use of double-stack trains also allow to make fewer train trips. This means reduction in fuel and emission, said the official.

In the US, double-stack trains run regularly over an intricate rail network providing time-predictable and efficient connectivity between the coastal terminals, manufacturing and consumption centres inland, the official said.

Source:RailNews

Proposal for Conversion of Mumbai-Goa section into Semi High-speed Corridor slows down due to encroachments

Mumbai: Work on converting the existing railway line between Mumbai and Goa into the proposed semihigh-speed corridor has slowed down due to encroachments near the Roha Nagothane stretch. The encroached land was required for the expansion of tracks but the affected parties approached court, delaying the entire process. The railways are now planning to change the tracks’ alignment to avoid further delays.

Last year, the railway ministry had announced that it will convert a few corridors, including the Mumbai-Goa stretch, into semi-high-speed corridors to enable trains to run at speeds of up to 160kmph. While Konkan tracks ahead of Roha are can run trains at that speed, Central Railway (CR) had started upgrading its infrastructure before Roha to upgrade to those speeds. “As per the initial plan, the encroachments were to be removed and tracks were to be slewed [joined together] to increase the speed. But now the railways have decided divert the tracks and go by a different alignment altogether,” said a senior official.

Trains on the existing Mumbai-Goa Konkan railway stretch run at 100kmph at certain stretches and it takes about 12 hours to cover the distance. If 160kmph becomes achievable, the distance will be covered in a much lesser time. The railways are also in the process of conducting a final study on the high-speed Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor to start bullet trains.