IRFCA Mailing List Archive
Messages 5141 - 5160
From: Krishnan Anand <>
Subject: Re: [Fwd: 2C Cab]
Date: 20 Jan 1999 19:35:12 -0500
Hi Apurva,
>I think what you are referring to is the 'Stanchion' bar found on all
>the
>four corners of a WDM 2. (meaning in the dictionary : upright posts
>for
>supporting, bars for confining cattle in stalls etc)
You have got it right Apurva. Thats what i meant.
>The reason for this delay seems to be the lack of platforms at Pune >in
the morning rush hour for this
>train. There is also an unofficial reason that the CR (which operates
>Pune
>Jn) does not care much for SC trains of Hubli division.
You are absolutely right pal. There is an inherent rivalry between
different zonal railways. Its the same situation in Chennai too. Though
other-zone trains from the BZA side also have an arrival time
at around 5.30 - 6.00 a.m they are stalled at Basin bridge. All in
coming SR trains are let in first like Nilgiri exp(..well SR has given
it a matching livery, dark blue with thin cream stripes), Bombay ,
Bangalore, Howrah mails etc.and then non SR trains come in.
>God knows what future holds for Pune Jn with no space for expansion
>either
>lengthwise or widthwise.
Is there any plans to have another terminal for Pune. For the amount of
load it handles i am sure it deserves one more.
Kind regards,
Anand.K
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From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: Tidbits from early IR issues (Feb. 1970 - Aug. 1972)
Date: 21 Jan 1999 00:44:08 -0500
Balasubramanian, Vijay wrote:
> Next in the series.
>
> Feb. 1970
> --------------
> -Manufacture of elec. locos was taken up at CLW in 1960. First DC
elec.
> loco. was commissioned in Oct. 1961 - named 'Lokmanya' [a WCM5?].
Yes, a WCM 5, the one with the square glass windows of the control
cubicle, I
will get serial number, the next time I see it.
> -11 Dn./12 Up Bombay-Madras exp. dieselized between Poona and Madras
from
> Dec. 25, 1969. Four coaches added. Train now starts from Dadar
instead of
> Bombay V.T. [it has gone back to starting from V.T.(now CST)]. Train
will
> have 14 coaches upto Poona and one more coach from there. No. of
coaches
> for Cochin has been increased from 2 to 5 and a coach for Madras has
been
> added.
Were the Cochin carriages carried by the 11 Dn. till Arkonam and then
attached
to some Madras - CHTS train ? Something linked to the MAS - CHTS mail
mentioned
below ? -Cochin-Madras Mail inaugurated on Dec. 25, 1969.
> April 1971 (Annual)
> ----------------------------
> -Prototype for WCG2 has already rolled out of the shops and the
prototype
> was WAM4 is under testing. Prototype for WCAM1 is expected to be
ready by
> end of 1972.
Before the advent of WCAM 1, what was the WR using ? Did they have pure
DC locos
running between BCT and Virar ? I guess not. What were the steam sheds
on the WR
for Mumbai area ?
Parel ?, Udhna ?. What was located in the place of Bandra diesel and
electric
shed ? What was the Valsad shed doing in those days ?
> -Bombay-Allahabad-Howrah Janata Exp. now runs daily [this train was
> discontinued in the mid-80s]
Was the 4 Dn/ 3 Up running in those days also ?
> -
> -Both Rajdhani exps. making substantial profits ranging from Rs.
21,000 to
> 30,000 per trip.
A lot of money in those days !
From: Krishnan Anand <>
Subject: IR Mag.
Date: 21 Jan 1999 03:38:32 -0500
Hi all,
Can anyone tell me if there are rail mags that i can subscribe.
If ther are please give me the subscription rates. What about the much
talked about IR mag issues?? Need details on that too
Thanks in anticipation
Kind Regards,
Anand.K
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From: Pushkar Apte <>
Subject: Re: Tidbits from early IR issues (Feb. 1970 - Aug. 1972)
Date: 21 Jan 1999 07:36:44 -0500
Vijay, thanks for posting these interesting titbits - they do make one
nostalgic about the "good old days". This is sad, because the world
generally progresses, while IR generally regresses :-(. Most of the
trains introduced in the 60s and 70s have lost their lustre in speed,
livery, services etc. True, we now have many new Rajdhanis and
Shatabdis from Delhi, but the lines connecting other important cities
have deteriorated terribly. For example, Mumbai-Calcutta cannot connect
at average speeds greater than 60 kmph (so one infers from the new AC
train) , and Mumbai must connect to the entire South by a pathetic
single line at avg speeds ~ 50 kmph! I don't know the speeds on the
Calcutta-Chennai line, but I'll bet that they are in the same ballpark.
>Before the advent of WCAM 1, what was the WR using ? Did they have pure
DC locos
>running between BCT and Virar ? I guess not. What were the steam sheds
on the WR
>for Mumbai area ?
>Parel ?, Udhna ?. What was located in the place of Bandra diesel and
electric
>shed ? What was the Valsad shed doing in those days ?
Before the WCAM-1, most trains would run on diesel Mumbai-Valsad and
change locos to a DC electric loco @ Valsad. Delhi bound SF trains like
Deluxe-Paschim, Frontier, Jammu-Tawi etc. did not change locos because
two loco changes @ Valsad and Vadodara were not considered worth it
(Vadodara-Delhi was mostly non-electrified).
>> -Bombay-Allahabad-Howrah Janata Exp. now runs daily [this train was
>> discontinued in the mid-80s]
>
>Was the 4 Dn/ 3 Up running in those days also ?
Yes, most of the "Mail" trains are very old, some dating back to the
beginning of the lines. I believe that initially, the Frontier Mail and
Dehradun Exp were the only trains connecting Mumbai and Delhi via WR.
Then appeared the Delhi Janata (now Firozpur Janata), the Deluxe-Paschim
Express, the Rajdhani and finally the Jammu Tawi SF (now Swaraj) - in
that order. Can someone confirm this chronology?
Also, re: Vijay's question of the Mumbai-Ahmadabad AC Exp of the 70s, it
had the same livery as the Deluxe Exp. (Red-n-white), and would run on
similar timings as the Deluxe - either a half-hour behind or ahead - or
maybe it shared timings since the Delhi deluxe wasn't a daily train then
(I am not sure).
As a general thought, it would be an interesting project to develop a
book on the history of Indian Railways focussed on the introduction and
changes in trains and routes alone. I'm sure "technical" histories
exist, but I have not seen/heard of a history totally focussed on
routes. Maybe it could be interspersed with travelogs on some of the
great trains? All of us are extremely busy, but I wonder if there could
be a way to distribute "this labor of love" and create such a book using
the august reach of IRFCA?
-Pushkar
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From: Balasubramanian, Vijay <>
Subject: Re: Patna Rajdhani.
Date: 21 Jan 1999 08:48:34 -0500
> Patna Rajdhani has been rerouted via Kanpur-Mughalsarai.
> It won't go via Lucknow and Varanasi any more. (I guess
> now that Guwahati Rajdhani provides connection to those
> cities, there was no political necessity of routing
> Patna Rajdhani through them.)
As usual, Varanasi gets the raw end of the deal. The Patna Rajdhani was
the
fastest train between Delhi and Varanasi (11 hrs.) with a convenient
overnight journey - dep. N.Delhi 17.00 arr. VNS 3.55; dep. VNS 23.00
arr.
N.Delhi 10.00. And now they have to contend with a "namesake" Rajdhani
that
takes 12 1/2 hrs. with very inconvenient times in both the directions -
dep.
N.Delhi 12.45 arr. VNS 1.20. Of course, all this is being done for
Bihar -
note that Hajipur / Patna now have overnight Rajdhanis to Delhi.
I never got a chance to find out the quota at Varanasi for the original
Patna Raj. Atleast, I would have known the extent to which Varanasi has
been affected by this rerouting.
>
> Surprisingly, the arrival and departure timings at Patna
> and New Delhi has been retained. I thought this should save
> at least 2 hours. Those who already hold the tickets from/to
How is that possible? The Patna-bound Rajdhani overtakes the Poorva
between
N.Delhi and Kanpur.
The Poorva would have to overtake the Raj. so that it manages to arrive
at
Patna 1/2 hr. before the Raj.
> Lucknow or Varanasi can get full refund. Varanasi passengers
> have an option to catch the train at MGS.
It's a relief that Varanasi is reasonably close to MGS. That is why I
don't
really care if Varanasi doesn't have a Rajdhani to Delhi. Atleast, they
should have an exclusive overnight superfast train to Delhi via
Allahabad-Kanpur with a running time less than 12 hrs. Why don't they
extend the Prayagraj to Varanasi on a few days, if not daily?
Vijay
P.S. Dheeraj, you must have happy with this move. You have always been
an
advocate of Rajdhanis running on the shortest route.
From: Balasubramanian, Vijay <>
Subject: Re: Tidbits from early IR issues (Feb. 1970 - Aug. 1972)
Date: 21 Jan 1999 10:02:55 -0500
> Vijay, thanks for posting these interesting titbits - they do
> make one
> nostalgic about the "good old days". This is sad, because the world
> generally progresses, while IR generally regresses :-(. Most of the
> trains introduced in the 60s and 70s have lost their lustre in speed,
> livery, services etc. True, we now have many new Rajdhanis and
> Shatabdis from Delhi, but the lines connecting other important cities
> have deteriorated terribly. For example, Mumbai-Calcutta
I couldn't agree with you more. I miss the the 70s and early 80s when
we
one could comfortably travel on a non-AC sleeper 3-tier coach with no
overcrowding. We had quite a few superfasts serving other cities
besides
Delhi - Gitanjali, Coromandel, Minar, Himgiri, Ganga Kaveri,
Bombay-Jammu
Tawi superfast, etc - they had very decent commercial speeds with
minimal
halts and distinctive colorful liveries. Traveling on such trains was a
pleasurable affair.
Now, the public is forced to pay 3-4 times more so that they can travel
in
an AC-coach to have some chance of a decent trip. Moreover, if you are
not
from Delhi, you have to contend with crawlers that most probably will
not
reach their destination on time. I feel most sorry for Bombay-Calcutta
passengers - they have to pay 3-4 times more on an all-AC train that
takes
3-4 hrs. MORE than the Gitanjali of the late 70s/early 80s.
> cannot connect
> at average speeds greater than 60 kmph (so one infers from the new AC
> train) , and Mumbai must connect to the entire South by a pathetic
> single line at avg speeds ~ 50 kmph! I don't know the speeds on the
> Calcutta-Chennai line, but I'll bet that they are in the same
> ballpark.
Howrah-Chennai fares no better. The fastest train continues to be the
Coromandel Exp. with a commercial speed of about 58.7 kmph. in both the
directions.
>
> Before the WCAM-1, most trains would run on diesel Mumbai-Valsad and
> change locos to a DC electric loco @ Valsad. Delhi bound SF
^^^
Did you mean AC?
> trains like
> Deluxe-Paschim, Frontier, Jammu-Tawi etc. did not change
> locos because
> two loco changes @ Valsad and Vadodara were not considered worth it
> (Vadodara-Delhi was mostly non-electrified).
Vadodara-Delhi was completely unelectrified. Delhi-Mathura was
electrified
sometime in the late 80s.
> Yes, most of the "Mail" trains are very old, some dating back to the
> beginning of the lines. I believe that initially, the
> Frontier Mail and
> Dehradun Exp were the only trains connecting Mumbai and Delhi
> via WR.
> Then appeared the Delhi Janata (now Firozpur Janata), the
> Deluxe-Paschim
> Express, the Rajdhani and finally the Jammu Tawi SF (now Swaraj) - in
> that order. Can someone confirm this chronology?
I believe this is true. Will check up with my 193x and 194x Bradshaws.
Vijay
From: Harsh Vardhan <>
Subject: WDM2 18233
Date: 21 Jan 1999 10:16:15 -0500
Forwarded by Harsh :-
Today I travelled behind a brand new WDM2
no16887 of the Gonda Shed. It was built in December 1998. Just
cant belive it not in even one month old. DLW is mainly
concentrating on building WDG2 at present but builds WDM2 when
ever there is a specific order.
The loco was immaculate with cyclonic blower type air filters for
the compressor chamber and it had beckrest for the drivers. It is an
AC/DC locomotive. It has three cranking contactors CK1, CK2 and
CK3 in comparison to the two cranking contactors CK1 and CK2 in
the usual DC/DC WDM2s. Also spotted a jumbo 17864 working the
5658DN Kanchanjungha Express from Guwahati to Sealdah. 17864
is based at Burdwan shed ER.
Send reply to: "Harsh Vardhan" <hvc@vsnl.email
From: "Harsh Vardhan" <champa@del3.email
To: <pdwc@dte.email
Subject: Re: on 18233
Date sent: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 20:40:25 +0530
>
> Wonderful job Joydeep, and with your permission it is a must for the
next
> newsletter. If the pictures come out fine, let me have slightly bigger
> prints say, 4" X 6" or bigger.
>
> Regards,
>
> Harsh
>
>
From: Balasubramanian, Vijay <>
Subject: Re: IR Mag.
Date: 21 Jan 1999 11:10:34 -0500
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Krishnan Anand [mailto:krish_nand@hotmail.email
> Sent: Thursday, January 21, 1999 6:39 AM
> To: irfca@cs.email
> Subject: IR Mag.
>
>
> Hi all,
> Can anyone tell me if there are rail mags that i can
> subscribe.
> If ther are please give me the subscription rates. What about
> the much
> talked about IR mag issues?? Need details on that too
>
> Thanks in anticipation
>
> Kind Regards,
> Anand.K
Here's the info. about subscribing to the IR mag (from
<A HREF="http://www.trainweb.com/indiarail/irfca.htm)">http://www.trainweb.com/indiarail/irfca.htm)</A>
*********************************
For a hardcopy magazine "INDIAN RAILWAYS" write to:
Mr S.C. Saxena
Buisness Manager
"Indian Railways"
Room No. 311, Rail Bhavan
New Delhi - 110 001
Foriegn Subscriptions:
Rs. 300 sea mail
Rs. 700 air mail
India Subscriptions:
Rs. 50
Rs. 45 for railway employees
**********************************
From: Steven Brown <>
Subject: Re: Locomotive Simulator Software
Date: 21 Jan 1999 19:36:20 -0500
Some time ago there was a question about locomotive simulator software.
There is in fact a commercial product available callled "Trainmaster"
Details and "demo" version : <A HREF="http://www.rails.com/tmaster.html">http://www.rails.com/tmaster.html</A>
Also take a ride on Nepal's railway !
<A HREF="http://www.catmando.com/sl/running.htm">http://www.catmando.com/sl/running.htm</A>
Enjoy ,Steve
<A HREF="http://www.trainweb.com/indiarail">http://www.trainweb.com/indiarail</A>
From: Dheeraj Sanghi <>
Subject: Re: Patna Rajdhani.
Date: 21 Jan 1999 21:58:54 -0500
> P.S. Dheeraj, you must have happy with this move. You have always
> been an advocate of Rajdhanis running on the shortest route.
Of course, I am happy with the move. Next should be merging
of two Guwahati Rajdhanis to follow the same route. :-)
-dheeraj
--------------
Dr. Dheeraj Sanghi (0512) 59-7077/7638
(Off)
Dept. of Computer Science & Engineering (0512) 59-8627 (Res)
Indian Institute of Technology (0512) 59-0725/0413
(Fax)
Kanpur - 208 016 (UP), INDIA. dheeraj@iitk.email
Home Page: <A HREF="http://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/users/dheeraj">http://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/users/dheeraj</A>
From: Doug Cummings <>
Subject: Re: WDM2 18233
Date: 21 Jan 1999 22:17:37 -0500
-----Original Message-----
To: Indian Railway Fan Club Association <irfca@cs.email
Date: Thursday, January 21, 1999 8:40 PM
Subject: WDM2 18233
>Forwarded by Harsh :-
>
>Today I travelled behind a brand new WDM2
>no16887 of the Gonda Shed. It was built in December 1998. Just
>cant belive it not in even one month old.
This bring up a question.
We would very much appreciate those who have the opportunity in India
recording the information off the builders plates for locomotives built
by
DLW at Varanasi. Specifically, we would like to know i) the locomotive
number, b) the date built shown on the builders plate, c) the serial
number
shown on the builders plate. This information is very important to help
us
compile and complete and accurate list of all of the locomotives built
by
DLW. The builders plates should be on the frame or body of the
locomotive
below the cab. Please forward this information by email direct and not
through the newgroup if at all possible.
We made this same appeal several months ago and did not get one
response.
From: Dheeraj Sanghi <>
Subject: Re: Tidbits from early IR issues (Feb. 1970 - Aug. 1972)
Date: 21 Jan 1999 22:21:15 -0500
> I couldn't agree with you more. I miss the the 70s and early 80s when
> we one could comfortably travel on a non-AC sleeper 3-tier coach with
> no overcrowding. We had quite a few superfasts serving other cities
> besides Delhi - Gitanjali, Coromandel, Minar, Himgiri, Ganga Kaveri,
> Bombay-JammuTawi superfast, etc - they had very decent commercial
> speeds with minimal halts and distinctive colorful liveries.
> Traveling on such trains was a pleasurable affair.
In those days, the superfast trains did not have any unreserved coach.
You couldn't board the train, if you didn't have the reservation.
Someone had this bright idea that last minute passengers who couldn't
get reservation should be able to go by the superfast trains as well.
I never understood why such passengers couldn't travel by express/mail
trains. And now that we have the facility of Tatkal reservation,
perhaps unreserved coaches should be removed from Superfast trains.
Also, most superfast trains had distance restrictions. One couldn't
get reservation for less than 400 KM on some trains, for example.
Season tickets were not valid on superfast even if distance
restriction was not there. Now all these restrictions are slowly being
relaxed from some superfast trains. IR must ban season ticket holders
and bring back appropriate distance restrictions on superfast trains.
The superfast charge hasn't kept pace with the increase in fares. As a
result the difference in fare between superfast and other express trains
is trivial. That superfast charge needs to be increased substantially.
And of course number of stops should be reduced.
-dheeraj
--------------
Dr. Dheeraj Sanghi (0512) 59-7077/7638
(Off)
Dept. of Computer Science & Engineering (0512) 59-8627 (Res)
Indian Institute of Technology (0512) 59-0725/0413
(Fax)
Kanpur - 208 016 (UP), INDIA. dheeraj@iitk.email
Home Page: <A HREF="http://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/users/dheeraj">http://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/users/dheeraj</A>
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: Locomotive Simulator Software
Date: 22 Jan 1999 00:35:40 -0500
Thanks Steve,
No sleep for me tonight ! I need a quick lesson on the US signaling.
What is
single Green, green red red in a row, green red red in a row with the
middle red
offset to one side and a single red?
Game is working, unfortunately the office machine (like any good office
machine)
lacks a sound card, I cannot wait to try it at the home machine which
has a
sound card. Is there a game that you know of with the first person
perspective
like Doom, MS flight simulator or the many car driving games ?
Apurva
Steven Brown wrote:
> Some time ago there was a question about locomotive simulator
software.
> There is in fact a commercial product available callled "Trainmaster"
> Details and "demo" version : <A HREF="http://www.rails.com/tmaster.html">http://www.rails.com/tmaster.html</A>
>
> Also take a ride on Nepal's railway !
<A HREF="http://www.catmando.com/sl/running.htm">http://www.catmando.com/sl/running.htm</A>
>
> Enjoy ,Steve
> <A HREF="http://www.trainweb.com/indiarail">http://www.trainweb.com/indiarail</A>
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: WDM2 18233
Date: 22 Jan 1999 00:47:55 -0500
Harsh Vardhan wrote:
> Forwarded by Harsh :-
>
> Today I travelled behind a brand new WDM2
> no16887 of the Gonda Shed. It was built in December 1998. Just
> cant belive it not in even one month old. DLW is mainly
> concentrating on building WDG2 at present but builds WDM2 when
> ever there is a specific order.
> The loco was immaculate with cyclonic blower type air filters for
> the compressor chamber and it had beckrest for the drivers.
Cyclonic blower air filters are fitted to a number of Gooty locos. I
have
always though that they restrict the access to the radiator room as the
blower
is right onto the catwalk. Of course the staff must be climbing right on
the
blower body to get on the other side. But the rounded top of the blower
would
be dangerous to step onto when the loco is moving (and swaying )
> It is an
> AC/DC locomotive. It has three cranking contactors CK1, CK2 and
> CK3 in comparison to the two cranking contactors CK1 and CK2 in
> the usual DC/DC WDM2s.
The DC/DC WDM 2 uses the main dynamo windings to start the Alco engine.
In case
of the AC/DC loco, there is a brushless alternator, so an auxiliary
winding of
the alternator is used like the starter motor. Maybe this is why there
are
three contactors. Almost all the WDM 2s in the last four years are AC/DC
in
nature.
> Also spotted a jumbo 17864 working the
> 5658DN Kanchanjungha Express from Guwahati to Sealdah. 17864
> is based at Burdwan shed ER.
Why - WHY does Joydeep feel that the rest of the IRFCA want to stay out
of such
juicy discussions ? Please mark a CC to the <irfca@cs.email whenever
you
want to vent your thoughts.
Apurva
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Re: Patna Rajdhani.
Date: 22 Jan 1999 00:53:19 -0500
> It's a relief that Varanasi is reasonably close to MGS.
Does BSB/VNS and MGS have a commuter rail service ? How many people
actually
travel between these two centers of humanity on a daily basis ?
Apurva
From: Harsh Vardhan <>
Subject: Delhi or Doom?
Date: 22 Jan 1999 03:19:41 -0500
PLEASE ! Can we put a stop to all those cribbings about Delhi.
Delhi is not the capital of Pakistan or is it !?
Delhites never insisted that it should be the capital.
As far as the memory could be stretched, railways never had a Delhite minister so their decisions cannot be attributed to their love for Delhi.
Almost all these ministers did non-renumerative development work in their constituencies at the cost of railways and over the last fifty years and that has covered the entire country more or less(except the north-east perhaps). Nobody seems to ask any questions about the Banglore-Hubli Shatabdi, the facelift of Pune station or why all trains stop at Gwalior or about the sudden emergence of Hajipur on the railway map.
From: Apurva Bahadur <>
Subject: Backrests in a WDM 2 !!
Date: 22 Jan 1999 04:11:07 -0500
> The loco was immaculate with cyclonic blower type air filters for
> the compressor chamber and it had beckrest for the drivers.
Gang !
I have seen a gradual improvement in the working conditions of the
drivers as well. Even Pune locos sport a padded seat. Earlier the
'seat' of the
driver was a bare round wooden stool with the shed's code 'PA'
drilled into the
wood (must be making quite an impression into into the driver's soft
area ;-)).
The earliest WDM 2s sported a very low back rest for the drivers. I
suppose this seat could be swung right round its base as the WDM 2
is a single
cab loco. But as the legend goes, when IR's tough steam drivers, who
were used to
working upto 12 - 14 hours on their feet, found a seat in the newly
introduced WDM 2, they used to go to sleep. So the seats were made
as uncomfortable as
possible.
I have noticed that WAM 4 drivers habitually drive standing up, EMU
drivers too drive standing. Can anyone else confirm my observation ?
One more improvement I see in WDM 2s is the introduction of larger
engine parameter gauges like Oil pressure, Booster (that is what the
turbo is called) pressure and fuel pump pressure.
There was a mail earlier that the Pakistani locos had a similar
problem of drivers going to sleep, and 'fiendish' devices were used
to keep
them awake. I am curious to know what these devices might be.
The IR is undergoing a gradual change of cab layout thinking with
the introduction of ABB, Hitachi and the WDG 4 locos, which must be
having really comfortable seats. A friend of mine who sat in the
driver's seat of a ABB WAP 5 (?) at BRC for a few minutes did not
want to get off that seat (an airliner's seat - I was told). The ABB
cab has air conditioning ! All these improvements in ergonomics
will
eventually filter down to the rest of the common locos, one hopes.
Anyone footplated these ABB locos ?
Apurva
From: Pushkar Apte <>
Subject: Re: Tidbits from early IR issues (Feb. 1970 - Aug. 1972)
Date: 22 Jan 1999 08:04:58 -0500
Dheeraj,
I agree with you totally about re-introducing restrictions on SF trains
to make the travel of bona-fide, reserved superfast passengers more
comfortable. But in India, as with all other laws, it is usually not
the letter of the law that is lacking, but the enforcement - and I am
not sure how one changes that without a social revolution.
Also I agree that the SF surcharge should be raised - but IR should be
held accountable for providing superior service in terms of speed,
facilities etc... to extract this SF surcharge. For example, they
should raise the speed threshold of SF trains to 60 kmph avg speed
minimum, and also introduce a speed threshold for Rajdhani/Shatabdi
trains (say 75 kmph). That way trains like the Mumbai-Howrah AC Exp and
some of the more pathetic Shatabdis will not be able to charge
unreasonably exorbitant fares. Also, minimum service requirements in
terms of cleanliness, food, drinking water etc., and enforcement of
restrictions discussed above must be part of the SF/Raj/Sh deal. And
money-back guarantees if these standards are not met. This sounds
almost hilarious in terms of IR, but these are minimum standards of
customer service that most global corporations are required to provide
in today's world! Most likely IR is incapable of transforming itself in
this way - maybe the best we can hope for is an external body like the
courts forcing this to happen, like they did with the 55 kmph SF min.
speed.
I am into wishful thinking here, but just maybe, this will set off a
virtuous cycle: such HARD REQUIREMENTS in terms of, say, speed will
introduce an economic incentive for IR NOT to slow down fast trains -
because if they do, and the train falls below the 75 or 60 kmph
threshold, they directly lose corresponding revenue! The same applies
for maintaining good services!
-Pushkar
>In those days, the superfast trains did not have any unreserved coach.
>You couldn't board the train, if you didn't have the reservation.
>Someone had this bright idea that last minute passengers who couldn't
>get reservation should be able to go by the superfast trains as well.
>I never understood why such passengers couldn't travel by express/mail
>trains. And now that we have the facility of Tatkal reservation,
>perhaps unreserved coaches should be removed from Superfast trains.
>Also, most superfast trains had distance restrictions. One couldn't
>get reservation for less than 400 KM on some trains, for example.
>Season tickets were not valid on superfast even if distance
>restriction was not there. Now all these restrictions are slowly being
>relaxed from some superfast trains. IR must ban season ticket holders
>and bring back appropriate distance restrictions on superfast trains.
>The superfast charge hasn't kept pace with the increase in fares. As a
>result the difference in fare between superfast and other express
trains
>is trivial. That superfast charge needs to be increased substantially.
>
>And of course number of stops should be reduced.
>
>-dheeraj
>--------------
>Dr. Dheeraj Sanghi (0512) 59-7077/7638
(Off)
>Dept. of Computer Science & Engineering (0512) 59-8627
(Res)
>Indian Institute of Technology (0512) 59-0725/0413
(Fax)
>Kanpur - 208 016 (UP), INDIA. dheeraj@iitk.email
>Home Page: <A HREF="http://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/users/dheeraj">http://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/users/dheeraj</A>
>
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From: Balasubramanian, Vijay <>
Subject: Re: Patna Rajdhani.
Date: 22 Jan 1999 08:39:12 -0500
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Apurva Bahadur [mailto:iti@vsnl.email
> Sent: Friday, January 22, 1999 3:53 AM
> To: Balasubramanian, Vijay
> Cc: Dheeraj Sanghi; irfca@cs.email
> Subject: Re: Patna Rajdhani.
>
>
> > It's a relief that Varanasi is reasonably close to MGS.
>
> Does BSB/VNS and MGS have a commuter rail service ? How many
> people actually
> travel between these two centers of humanity on a daily basis ?
>
> Apurva
>
>
MGS is a small town and mostly serves the railway colony. IMHO, most of
the
commuters are Varanasi dwellers who want to make use of train services
from
MGS.
I am not sure whether they have introduced DMU / Push Pull services
between
VNS and MGS. Someone with a recent NR timetable could tell us. VNS
and
MGS are just 17 km. apart - too close for a DMU service? Maybe, they
should
have such a service between Allahabad(ALD?)-MGS via VNS.
In any case, Varanasi station is towards the north end of the town. It
is
more convenient to catch a bus from Beniya Bagh (centrally located) to
Mughalsarai. Buses run every hour during the day and a little less
frequently past midnight - it takes about an hour to get to MGS. Of
course,
one can pay a little bit more and travel by taxi / auto. During
off-monsoon
months they link the south end of the Ganges to Ramnagar via a floating
pontoon bridge - this makes it all the more convenient for folks in the
south side (including BHU).
Only a freak like me would want to catch the Up Rajdhani Exp. at MGS
(around
1.30 am). Back in winter of 1986, we were scheduled to return to Bombay
on
the Mahanagri Exp. And then I decided to kill two birds with one stone
-
take the Calcutta Raj. from MGS to NDLS and the Bombay Raj to BCT. They
had
increased the quota to 4 AC chair car seats at MGS so I had no problems
getting tickets for my mother and grandmother. My "rly" uncle was
stationed
at Delhi so he got me tickets for the Bombay Raj. At that time, there
were
just two Rajs. so traveling on them was a prestigious affair. Since
this
was my first trip on the Calcutta Raj. (and my only trip so far), I was
ecstatic. I vividly remember the WAP1-hauled Raj. pull into Platform
no. 3
- I was so lost in the moment that I did not realize my tickets had
slipped
from my hand and precariously hung at the platform edge. Fortunately,
someone retrieved them in time - this was followed by a nice scolding
from
my mom :-) A memorable moment was the Allahabad skip; unfortunately,
the
windows were fogged up and I had to witness this event through a small
clearing created by rain streaks. The train halted briefly at the outer
signal of Shikohabad but went through Etawah, Tundla and Aligarh. We
had
about 6 hrs. to relax at my uncle's place before boarding the Bombay
Raj.
It was cool to see two Rajdhanis standing on either sides of the
platform -
one with a WAP1 and the other with two WDM2s. The Bombay Raj. made two
irritating halts - Kota and Godhra (Kota was not in its halt list at
that
time) - but skipped Mathura, Bharuch, Surat,... and reached BCT bang on
time. Vadodara-Kota was being electrified and the traction masts were
in
place. A couple of photos from this journey appears in one of my train
pages - <A HREF="http://www.xula.edu/~vbalasub/train4.html">http://www.xula.edu/~vbalasub/train4.html</A>
Two nights in a row on Chair Car seats was a pain, though!
Vijay
From: Balasubramanian, Vijay <>
Subject: Re: Tidbits from early IR issues (Feb. 1970 - Aug. 1972)
Date: 22 Jan 1999 09:02:20 -0500
> Also I agree that the SF surcharge should be raised - but IR
> should be
> held accountable for providing superior service in terms of speed,
> facilities etc... to extract this SF surcharge. For example, they
> should raise the speed threshold of SF trains to 60 kmph avg speed
> minimum, and also introduce a speed threshold for Rajdhani/Shatabdi
> trains (say 75 kmph). That way trains like the Mumbai-Howrah
> AC Exp and some of the more pathetic Shatabdis will not be able to
charge
> unreasonably exorbitant fares. Also, minimum service requirements in
I think that's a fantastic idea. Increasing the SF threshold to 60
kmph.
will cause quite a few existing SF trains to lose their status and
motivate
IR to increase their commercial speeds. Providing a threshold for Rajs.
and
Shatabdis will knock out all the pathetic ones. In fact, very few of
them
are presently above the 75 kmph mark - Mumbai Raj., A.K. Raj, Calcutta
Rajs.
via Gaya and Patna, Chennai Raj., B'neswar Raj.(Up only), Patna Raj.(?),
Bhopal / Lucknow / Chandigarh / Kalka / Amritsar Shatabdis.
Some of the Rajs / Shatabdis travel on a high-speed section for a major
portion of their journey but are forced to lower their "standards" on a
small section. Examples are ADI Shatabdi between BRC and ADI, Bokaro
Shatabdi between Gomoh-Bokaro. Should these be treated differently?
Or
should IR increase speeds on these sections to bring them upto the 75
kmph.
mark?
> I am into wishful thinking here, but just maybe, this will set off a
> virtuous cycle: such HARD REQUIREMENTS in terms of, say, speed will
> introduce an economic incentive for IR NOT to slow down fast trains -
> because if they do, and the train falls below the 75 or 60 kmph
> threshold, they directly lose corresponding revenue! The
> same applies
> for maintaining good services!
I couldn't agree with you more!
Vijay