IRFCA Mailing List Archive
Messages 1261 - 1280
From: S Pai <Pai>>
Subject: Train numbering
Date: 04 Sep 1994 18:54:00 -0500
Can anyone make any sense out of the (newer) numbering scheme used by IR? Is
there any way to guess in what direction or between what areas a train runs,
from its number? Or are the numbers assigned randomly?
Is this true: no express train has a 3-digit number? (But some passenger
trains have 4-digit numbers, e.g., Miraj-Vasco Passenger is "7898" though
this seems to be rare; most of them have 3-digit numbers.)
Which sections have letters of the alphabet in the train designations? I can
see trains "DH7", "DH9", etc. running between Dharwad and Hubli, "MV1" between
Marmagoa Harbour and Vasco da Gama, "SB17" etc. for Secunderabad to Bolarum
suburban trains, and so on. I guess all "shuttle" and "suburban" services
have such designations.
Some trains have a suffixed 'A' or other letter, apparently to indicate that
it is the same route extended or changed a bit. E.g. "9165" is the Ahmedabad--
Muzaffarpur Sabarmati Exp. and "9165A" is the Lucknow--Muzaffarpur Link Exp.,
or take the Amarnath Exp. that runs from Jammu Tawi to either Gorakhpur or
Barauni on different days of the week (respectively "5088" and "5088A").
-Satish
From: venkatar <venkatar@egr.email
Subject: Re. Train numbering .....
Date: 06 Sep 1994 01:07:00 -0500
> there any way to guess in what direction or between what areas a train runs,
> from its number? Or are the numbers assigned randomly?
>
> -Satish
Each train now has a unique number. This was presumably done to facilitate
computerised reservation. The first digit represents the zonal rly. to which
the rakes belong, i.e. 6 for S.R. and so on. All superfast exp. start with 2,
followed by zonal rly. 41/42 Cochin exp. is now 6041/6042. Kovai exp. is now
2675/2676 being a 'superfast' exp.
As for the AWS on the Delhi-Jhansi sector, I believe it works something like
this: a bell sounds in the cabin when the loco passes a clear signal, and a
buzzer sounds when it passes a caution/distant signal. I am not sure if the
brakes are applied automatically.
Regards,
Sridhar Shankar
From: Vijay Balasubramanian <vbalasub@mail.email
Subject: Train numbering, etc.
Date: 05 Sep 1994 11:50:00 -0500
Thanks a lot for the info, Satish.
>>Devagiri Exp.
>Manmad Jn. -- Rotegaon -- Parsoda -- Lasur -- Potul -- Daulatabad --
>Aurangabad -- Jalna -- Partur -- Selu -- Manwat Rd. -- Parbhani Jn. --
>Parli Vaijnath -- Udgir -- Bhalki -- Bidar -- Zahirabad -- Vikarabad Jn. --
>Begumpet -- Secunderabad Jn. -- Kacheguda.
Funny halt pattern! Almost a passenger train between Manmad and Aurangabad
(stops at all stations between Rotegaon and Daulatabad) and decently fast
after that.
>> Konark Exp. " Wadi and Secunderabad
>Wadi Jn. -- Tandur -- Begumpet -- Secunderabad Jn.
Same as the Hussain Sagar Exp. (can you confirm this, Satish?). Why Tandur
and not Vikrabad?
>> Okha - Puri Exp. " Balharshah and Visakhapatnam
>Balharshah -- Sirpur Kaghaznagar -- Manchiryal -- Ramgundam -- Warangal --
>Vijayawada Jn. -- Rajahmundry -- Samalkot Jn. -- Anakapalle --
>Visakhapatnam Jn.
Ignores Khammam, Eluru and Nidadavolu. I believe Machiryal has a cement plant.
Is there a fireworks factory at Annakapalle?
>> Also, from the map, could you find out the extent of doubling between
>> Wadi and Renigunta?
>It seems the following parts on this section are doubled:
> Wadi Jn. -- Krishna
> Yeramaras -- Matmari
> Kosgi -- Kupgal
> Nancherla -- Rayalcheruvu
> Tadipatri -- Muddanaru
> Cudapah -- Bhakarapeta
> Balapalle -- Renigunta Jn.
Good to know that doubling has progressed between Wadi and Guntakal in the
last three years. Now the only single line stretches in this section are:-
Krishna - Yeramaras, Matmari - Kosgi and Kupgal - Nacherla. Unfortunately,
there has been no progress in the Gooty - Renigunta section.
>Can anyone make any sense out of the (newer) numbering scheme used by IR? Is
>there any way to guess in what direction or between what areas a train runs,
>from its number? Or are the numbers assigned randomly?
All express/mail trains have 4-digit numbers. The leftmost digit indicates
the zonal railway primarily responsible for maintenance of the rakes for that
particular train. e.g. all trains numbered 9xxx have their rakes maintained by
Western rly. Superfast trains are an exception to this rule since their
numbers start with a 2 and the next digit gives the zonal railway. The last
two digits follow the original numbering. e.g. the 151 Dn./152 Up. Bombay-
Delhi Rajdhani Exp. has been renumbered as 2951/2952.
Vijay
From: S Pai <Pai>>
Subject: Train numbering
Date: 05 Sep 1994 16:24:00 -0500
> Each train now has a unique number. This was presumably done to facilitate
> computerised reservation. The first digit represents the zonal rly. to which
> the rakes belong, i.e. 6 for S.R. and so on. All superfast exp. start with 2,
> ...
Thanks, Vijay and Sridhar, for the explanation.
Perhaps the passenger trains that cross zones have 4-digit numbers (this is
just a guess) allotted in the same way?
Any idea about the 3-digit numbers for passenger trains? Even for trains which
originate and terminate entirely within the same railway zone (I am looking at
the SC timetable right now), I find numbers like "3xx", "5xx", "4xx", etc.
Such a scheme seems like it will almost guarantee that numbers will clash
between different trains in different zones, raising a problem if computeriza-
tion is extended to allow ticketing on all trains everywhere from every point.
-Satish
From: Vijay Balasubramanian <vbalasub@mail.email
Subject: More from the Central Rly. time-table!
Date: 05 Sep 1994 21:41:00 -0500
New Halts
---------
- The Punjab Mail has once again been stained with a few sidey halts:
Khirkiya, Banapura, Sanchi, Ganj Basoda
Surprisingly, its Bombay-Delhi travel times continue to be impressive.
Bombay V.T. to N. Delhi -> 25 hrs. 10 mts. (DECREASED by 5 mts.)
N.Delhi to Bombay V.T. -> 26 hrs. (increased by 55 mts.)
The Up. train gets overtaken by
the Shatabdi Exp. between New Delhi and Faridabad
the Rajdhani Exp. between Sanchi and Bhopal
Hence, the increase in run-time.
It's ridiculous that the train has lost its superfast stamp, since it
travels at 110 max. speed between Bombay and Delhi with high commercial
speeds.
- Dadar - Guwahati Exp./ Shram Shakti Exp. :- Manmad, Harda
- Ratnagiri/Saket Exps. :- Narsinghpur has become a regular halt in the Dn.
direction.
- Lashkar Exp. :- Burhanpur. No longer halts at Jalgaon.
- Kurla - Varanasi Exp :- Burhanpur, Maihar,
Chalisgaon (Dn. only), Pachora (Dn. only)
- Devgiri Exp. :- speeded up version of the Bombay - Aurangabad Exp.
Halts removed are Asvali, Lahavit, Odha, Kherwadi and Summit.
This train has a chequered history. It started off as the rerouted version
of the Bombay - Bhusaval passenger, and later extended to Jalna from
Aurangabad, and now goes all the way to Kacheguda.
- Mahanagri Exp. :- Nepanagar. Narsinghpur is now a regular halt in the Dn.
dirn.
- Jhelum Exp. :- Harsud, Timarni (two more nails in the coffin :-( )
- Karnataka Exp. :- Burhanpur, Kopargaon
- Goa Exp. :- Khandwa, Lalitpur
The train towards Goa has been speeded up nearly 1 1/2 hrs.,
whereas its counterpart has been slowed down by 15 mts.
- Nizamuddin - Sambhalpur Hirakud Exp. :- Gwalior
- Ganga Kaveri Exp. / Madras - Patna Exp. :- Pandhurna (Up. only), Chandrapur
- Varanasi - Cochin/Tirupati Exp.:- Chandrapur
- Bhopal - Bilaspur Mahanadi Exp. :- Amla, Pandhurna
- Pushpak Exp. :- Orai
- Pragati Exp. :- Karjat (Dn. only), Lonavla, Shivajinagar (Dn. only)
It now has the same halt pattern as the Deccan Queen
- Kurla - Cochin/Mangalore Netravati Exp. :- Lonavla, Shahabad
- Kurla - Bangalore Exp. :- Kurduwadi
New lines
---------
- Roha - Veer - Dasgaon :- The time-tab;e shows one passenger train going
beyond Roha till Veer.
- Satna - Rewa :- One Jabalpur - Rewa Shutle
Conversions
-----------
- Daund - Baramati is under conversion
Doublings
---------
- Jukehi - Amdara (between Katni and Satna) has been doubled
Other info
----------
- The Nizamuddin - Mangalore Mangala Exp. and the Kerala Exp. have identical
halt patterns and similar run-times. It's as if one is the time-shifted
version of the other.
- The Nizamuddin - Jabalpur/Nagpur/Bilaspur Exp. has the following halts:-
Agra Cantt, Gwalior, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Bina, Bhopal, Itarsi,
Betul, Amla, Pandhurna, Narkher, Katol, Nagpur.....
N'muddin - Jabalpur Link Gandwana Exp.
..., Bina, Sagor, Damoh, Katni, Jabalpur
- The Tamilnadu and AP exps. do not halt at Itarsi as was incorrectly
indicated in an earlier TAAG.
Regards,
Vijay
From: S. Kumar <kumar@quandsn.email
Subject: Re: Project Unigauge: An Update (From April 1994 issue of I
Date: 06 Sep 1994 09:46:00 -0500
Vijay writes:
(The Madras-Kanyakumari BG express)
> The train does better when compared to its peers via Ernakulam,
> since Erode - Kanyakumari via Madurai is nearly 240 kms. shorter.
> than the route via Ernakulam . e.g. the Himsagar Exp. takes about
> 19 hrs. between Katpadi and Kanyakumari whereas the new train
> finishes it off in 14 hrs.
>
> Can we expect a few of the Trivandrum/K'kumari
> bound trains to start using the new route? What surprises me is that
> the longer route continues to be in the limelight, with plans to double
> Ernakulam - Trivandrum (and subsequently electrify it).
Since the Bombay/Delhi - K'kumari trains cater to many Keralites the
longer route via Ernakulam is probably considered more important.
However rerouting via Madurai could save 128 km to Trivandrum (about
3 hours).
> Project Unigauge
> ----------------
> IR's plan to convert 6000 km. of MG into BG during the VIII plan. 2997 kms.
> were converted in the first two years. Target of 1600 kms. has been set
> for the year 1994-95.
>
> New BG routes / by-pass which have become available:-
> Allahabad City- Varanasi [not quite, b'coz Allahabad City - Jhusi is open
> only to goods traffic]
Probably the tracks over the Ganga bridge are still under test. I
believe that this route is somewhat longer than the existing BG route
via Janghai.
> Bangalore City - Mysore
Is Mysore-Chamarajanagar planned for conversion? There are plans for
a line between Chamarajanagar and Mettur. This could potentially
create another route between Bangalore and Salem (a Mettur-Salem BG
line already exists).
> Guwahati - Lumding
I believe that this BG conversion will go all the way to Dibrugarh
Town. Are there any plans to bridge the Brahmaputra at Dibrugarh to
link up with the lines on the northern side of the B'putra? As far
as I know there is no bridge over the B'putra east of Guwahati. On a
similar note has the Bridge over the Ganga been constructed near
Patna? I still remember that Indira Gandhi laid a ceremonial stone
marking the proposed project aeons ago.
> Bellary - Rayadurga - Chitradurga - Chickjajur - Arsikere - Bangalore
Was a new line constructed between Chitradurga and Rayadurga/Bellary?
The MG route was via Hubli.
> Dindigul - Madurai - Tuticorin
I assume that Maniyachi-Tirunelveli is also BG.
> Following BG routes would become available during 1994-95:-
> Bhatinda - Hissar - Rewari - Alwar - Mathura
Is it going to be Alwar-Bandikui-Bharatpur-Achnera-Mathura? What about
Achnera-Agra Fort?
> Miraj - Hubli - Bangalore
About time!
> Delhi - Rewari - Jaipur - Ajmer [we can expect a Delhi - Jaipur Shatabdi
> Exp.]
Good!
> Muzzafarpur - Raxaul
I wonder if there are any plans to extend this line into Nepal.
> Substantial progress would have been achieved during 1994-95 towards
> completing the conversions of the following routes, which are scheduled for
> commissining during 1995-96 and 1996-97:-
> Adilabad - Mudkhed - Purna - Parbhani
> [Adilabad should be linked with Majri (a station in the Wardha - Balharshah
> section) in the near future, which means that we would have an alternate
> route between Manmad and Wardha]
Also, an alternate route from Nagpur to Secunderabad by-passing
Balharshah and Kazipet.
> Guntur - Nandyal - Guntakal
Wonder how Bombay-Guntakal-Guntur-Vijayawada-Vizag compares with the
existing route via Secunderabad.
> Gondia - Chandra Fort
This must be from NG. Does this spell the imminent demise of the
Satpura express?
> Madras - Trichy - Dindigul [the pair of MG lines between Madras Egmore and
> Tambaram would probably be retained]
Sridhar writes that Madras-Beach-Tambaram suburban section is now BG.
Why retain the MG lines?
> Miraj - Bangalore
> Hopefully, we'll have a decent Bombay - Bangalore
> superfast Exp. with no interference :-) from Delhi.
I believe that Bombay-Guntakal-Bangalore is shorter than Bombay-Hubli-
Bangalore. But considering the sorry state of the Bombay-Guntakal
line any decent superfast express would probably have to be routed
via Hubli.
It is annoying to note that while every village close to Delhi gets a
Shatabdi, important routes such as the ones between Bombay-Ahmedabad,
Bombay-Pune, Madras-Bangalore, Madras-Secunderabad, Howrah-
Tatanagar/Raurkela etc. get ignored or get trains masquerading as
Shatabdis. And what about Bombay-Howrah? Surely, it must have
sufficient traffic to justify a Rajdhani-like train.
That's all for now
Kumar
From: Sridhar Venkataraman <sridhar@asuvax.email
Subject: Re: Project Unigauge: An Update (From April 1994 issue of I
Date: 06 Sep 1994 10:39:00 -0500
On Tue, 6 Sep 1994, S. Kumar wrote:
>> Madras - Trichy - Dindigul [the pair of MG lines between Madras Egmore and
>> Tambaram would probably be retained]
>
> Sridhar writes that Madras-Beach-Tambaram suburban section is now BG.
> Why retain the MG lines?
Lest people get confused, the "Sridhar" above is a different person. :)
I doubt if the Beach-Tambaram suburban section is going to be BG in the
near future. It is the lifeline of S. Madras commuters and the conversion
if it takes place has no alternatives for those commuters until BG lines
come into operation.
From what I observed last year only a single BG line is available. There
is a single long distance line and two more for suburban trains. There
were plans to transfer the point of departure of all South bound trains
from Egmore to Tambaram (which has lots of existing lines to accomodate
the rakes) but I am not sure if it is one of the Railways' options now.
I am a bit curious as to how the Railways is going to find space for
the conversion of the MG long distance line if they are going to leave
the suburban MG lines alone. All in all, I foresee a very messy
conversion process for the Beach-Tambaram section.
Sridhar,
a resident of Tambaram.
From: Vijay Balasubramanian <vbalasub@mail.email
Subject: Rajdhanis and Shatabdis
Date: 06 Sep 1994 21:20:00 -0500
Hi Folks,
Here's some interesting statistics on the nine Rajdhanis and six Shatabdis.
Note:-
1. Halts for these trains are:
Bhopal Shatabdi :- Agra Cantt, Gwalior, Jhansi
Howrah Rajdhani :- Kanpur Central, Allahabad, Mughal Sarai, Gaya,
(via Gaya) Dhanbad
Howrah Rajdhani :- Kanpur Central, Allahabad, Mughal Sarai, Patna
(via Patna)
Bombay Rajdhani :- Vadodara, Ratlam, Kota
A.K. Rajdhani :- Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Sawai Madhopur, Mathura
Ahmedabad Shatabdi :- Borivali, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara
Mysore Shatabdi :- Bangalore City
Lucknow Shatabdi :- Kanpur Central
Bhubaneswar Rajdhani:- Kanpur Central, Mughal Sarai, Dhanbad, Asansol,
Howrah, Cuttack
Chandigarh Shatabdi :- No intermediate halts
Amritsar Shatabdi :- Ludhiana, Jallandhar City
Jammu Tawi Rajdhani :- Ludhiana
Guwahati Rajdhani :- Kanpur Central, Mughal Sarai, Patna, Barauni,
Katihar, New Jalpaiguri
Trivandrum Rajdhani :- Jhansi, Bhopal, Nagpur, Vijayawada, Madras Central,
Erode, Ernakulam Town
Bangalore Rajdhani :- Jhansi, Bhopal, Nagpur, Secunderabad, Raichur,
Dharmavaram
2. I have assumed the following technical halts:
A.K. Rajdhani :- Kota
Bangalore Rajdhani :- Balharshah
Trivandrum Rajdhani:- Balharshah
Howrah Rajdhani :- Madhupur
(via Patna)
3. Only the last column considers technical halts.
Train Travels Max. Commercial Average Max. Max possible
Between Speed Speeds Inter-halt Inter-halt Non-stop
(in kmph) (in kmph) Distance Distance Run
(km) (km) (km)
Shatabdi N.Delhi 140 90.45 90.45 175.25 291 291
Bhopal (Jhansi - Bhopal)
(701 km)
Shatabdi N.Delhi 120 86.82 79.78 246 246 246
Chandigarh (?) (N.Delhi - C'garh)
(246 km)
Rajdhani N.Delhi 130 83.94 82.34 240.17 435 435
(via Howrah (N.Delhi - Kanpur)
Gaya) (1441 km)
Rajdhani N.Delhi 130 83.88 81.41 346 469 469
Bombay (Kota - N.Delhi)
(1384 km)
A. K. N'muddin 130 79.88 79.50 229.67 636 518
Rajdhani Bombay (Vadodara - (Vadodara
(1378 km) S. Madhopur) - Kota)
Shatabdi N.Delhi 130 79.01 79.01 253.5 435 435
Lucknow (N.Delhi - Kanpur)
(507 km)
Rajdhani N.Delhi 130 78.49 77.17 307.4 545 435
(via Howrah (Patna - Howrah) (N.Delhi
Patna) (1537 km) - Kanpur)
Rajdhani N.Delhi 130 75.62 74.38 268.29 435 435
B'neswar (N.Delhi - Kanpur)
(1878 km)
Shatabdi N.Delhi 120 74.5 71.52 149 313 313
Amritsar (?) (N.Delhi - Ludhiana)
(447 km)
Shatabdi Bombay 120 72.89 72.89 98.4 233 233
Ahmedabad (Borivali - Surat)
(492 km)
Shatabdi N.Delhi 120 72.00 66.12 90 200 200
Kalka (?) (N.Delhi - Ambala)
(270 km)
Rajdhani N'muddin 130 71.73 70.17 345.86 583 403
Bangalore (Nagpur - (N'muddin
(2421 km) Secunderabad) - Jhansi)
Rajdhani N'muddin 130 69.75 69.10 388 667 455
Trivandrum (Nagpur - (Balharshah
(3104 km) Vijayawada) -Vijayawada)
Shatabdi Madras 100 68.97 68.97 250 361 361
Mysore (?) (Madras -
(500 km) Bangalore)
Rajdhani N.Delhi 130 68.79 68.79 275.14 435 435
Guwahati (N.Delhi - Kanpur)
(1926 km)
Rajdhani N'muddin 120 65.17 62.32 296 313 313
Jammu Tawi (?) (N.Delhi - Ambala)
(592 km)
1. The highest ever commercial speed for the N.Delhi - Howrah Rajdhani Exp.
(via Gaya) is 86.03 kmph. -> on Novermber 1, 1971, it's max. speed was
raised from 120 kmph. to 130 kmph. It would leave N.Delhi at 18.10 and
reach Howrah at 10.45, the next day. In the return dirn., it would leave
Howrah at 17.10 and arr. N.Delhi at 10.00
2. The Bombay - N.Delhi Rajdhani Exp. achieved it's best commercial speed
during 1990 - 91 -> 85.17 kmph. It would depart from Bombay Central at
17.00 and reach N.Delhi at 9.15.
3. Both the Chandigarh and Kalka Shatabdis perform extremely well between
N.Delhi and Chandigarh. I have a strong feeling that the N.Delhi - Ambala
Cantt section has been upgraded to 120 kmph. The Chandigarh Shatabdi's
impressive performance is due to the following:
- NO intermediate halts
- The high-speed N.Delhi - Ambala Cantt section accounts for a major portion
of its journey.
4. The Bombay - Ahmedabad Shatabdi Exp. performs below par despite a 120 max.
speed. The damage is done by the four halts which consume a valuable 25 mts.
Plus, it has pathetic run-times between Vadodara and Ahmedabad.
5. The August Kranti Rajdhani Exp. has the longest non-stop run among all
trains. Of course, this assumes no unauthorized halts (b'coz of signals,
etc.) Its average inter-halt distance has been brought down because of two
stupid halts - Bharuch and Mathura.
Additions/deletions/corrections/comments are most welcome!
Regards,
Vijay
From: R. Alluri <rralluri@acs.email
Subject: Goods wagons in canada
Date: 07 Sep 1994 07:15:00 -0500
I have noticed that the goods wagons in Canada are very
big in size and the the number of wagons in a rake is
unbelievable. Obviously, there is efficiency and economy in these
measures. Why don't Indian railways have similar systems?
--
Alluri
From: R. Alluri <rralluri@acs.email
Subject: NG rail at Naupada
Date: 07 Sep 1994 07:18:00 -0500
On the northern coast of A.P., there is a NG railway
between Naupada and Gunupur. Is it going to be converted to BG?
--
Alluri
From: venkatar <venkatar@egr.email
Subject: Re: Goods wagons in canada
Date: 07 Sep 1994 13:22:00 -0500
Alluri writes:
> I have noticed that the goods wagons in Canada are very
> big in size and the the number of wagons in a rake is
> unbelievable. Obviously, there is efficiency and economy in these
> measures. Why don't Indian railways have similar systems?
>
Well, SE railway does run some 9000 ton (100-110 box'n' wagons) coal and ore
trains.The problem IR has is mainly due to the precedence accorded to passenger
trains. The sidings (where the freight trains are pulled over to let passenger
trains pass) are not long enough to hold any thing more than a 4500 ton train.
IR plans to run "18000 ton train at speeds upto 75 kmph" before the end of the
century. Don't look for any of these in the south, though.
-------
Sridhar Shankar
From: Anurag_Acharya <Anurag_Acharya@DRAVIDO.email
Subject: Why are shatabdis called shatabdis?
Date: 07 Sep 1994 15:32:00 -0500
1. because their max speed >= 100 kmph?
2. because the first one was started on the 100th anniversary of something
3. because one is introduced every time the someone on the indian cricket team
scores a century :-)
anurag
From: K. Sivakumar <siva@shape.email
Subject: Re: Why are shatabdis called shatabdis?
Date: 07 Sep 1994 16:02:00 -0500
> 1. because their max speed >= 100 kmph?
> 2. because the first one was started on the 100th anniversary of something
> 3. because one is introduced every time the someone on the indian cricket team
> scores a century :-)
>
> anurag
I think the reason is 2 above, but dont remember what that something is.
Someone please add to this.
-Siva
From: Porky <ceindian@utacnvx.email
Subject: Re: Why are shatabdis called shatabdis?
Date: 07 Sep 1994 17:31:00 -0500
> > 1. because their max speed >= 100 kmph?
> > 2. because the first one was started on the 100th anniversary of something
> > 3. because one is introduced every time the someone on the indian cricket team
> > scores a century :-)
> >
> > anurag
>
> I think the reason is 2 above, but dont remember what that something is.
> Someone please add to this.
I was so sure that it was the centennial of the Congress party, but of
course, I might be wrong! :-)
Ciao.
Porky!
--
[.sig has been truncated for lack of space. Steffi's the best! :-)]
From: S Pai <Pai>>
Subject: Re: Why are shatabdis called shatabdis?
Date: 07 Sep 1994 20:32:00 -0500
When was the first Shatabdi introduced, was it in 1989? That would be the
centennial of Nehru's birthday, perhaps? This is a guess.
(Or perhaps it is the centennial of some sort of reorganization of the
railways operating in British India into one body, the precursor of IR??)
-Satish
From: S Pai <Pai>>
Subject: Unigauge : a news report
Date: 07 Sep 1994 21:33:00 -0500
India seeks foreign investment in railway project
NEW DELHI, Sep 6
The Indian government is seeking foreign investment to complete the
railway's unigauge project ahead of schedule. According to sources from
the Railway Ministry, the ministry will explore the possibility of
foreign assistance so that the first phase of the project involving
conversion of 12,000 kilometers of track from meter gauge to broad gauge
could be completed in less than the targeted 10 years. The sources said
that though the unigauge project, launched in 1992, comes on top of the
railway's agenda, the authority has slowed down its implementation due
to a resource crunch.
The ministry is also contemplating increasing its transport capacity
to meet the growing demands of passenger and freight traffic, according
to the sources. Freight traffic, which had increased to 315 million tons
in 1992-93 from 93 million tons in 1950-51, is expected to double by the
turn of the century. The railways carried 4,050 million passengers in
1992-93 as against 128 million in 1950-51. In the country's eighth five-
year plan (1992-97), the target is to convert 6,000 km of meter gauge to
broad gauge at the rate of 1,200 to 1,600 km each year, the sources
said.
[Sorry, I got this without any attributions of origin or author. -Satish]
From: venkatar <venkatar@egr.email
Subject: rec.railroad
Date: 07 Sep 1994 22:13:00 -0500
Hi, I found this on rec.railroad. I am not sure what exactly he is looking for.
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: pmliebe@inter.email (P.M. Liebeton)
Subject: New projects in India
Date: Wed, 7 Sep 1994 10:19:45 GMT
Hello,
Can anybody update me with info about rail projects in India?
Thanks!
Peter Liebeton
P.M.Liebeton@Inter.email
---------------
Sridhar Shankar
From: Pushkar Apte <apte@spdc.email
Subject: Why Shatabdi
Date: 08 Sep 1994 07:07:00 -0500
NO NO NO, you are all wrong! Shatabdi was not to commemorate
anything, rather it was the statement of a goal.
"Connect Delhi to 100 cities/towns/villages by high-speed
air-conditioned trains, and let the rest of'em eat cake"
They're doing pretty well, near as I can tell ;-).
Regards,
Pushkar
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From: S. Kumar <kumar@quandsn.email
Subject: Re: gauge conversion (contd.)
Date: 08 Sep 1994 10:09:00 -0500
Satish writes:
> 1. Gauge conversion of Arsikere--Hassan--Mangalore and Yelahanka--Bangarapet
> sections has been approved and will begin in two weeks' time.
The Hassan-Mangalore line is illustrative of the lack of foresight on
the part of the Indian govt. While it was being planned, the
railways requested the govt. to sanction enough funds for a BG line.
The govt. refused and on the infamous principle of "get an elephant
to carry an elephant's load but a donkey is sufficient to carry a
donkey's load" (put forward by one of the former British Governor-
generals in India to justify MG lines) sanctioned only sufficient
funds to construct an MG line. However, the railways were successful
in convincing the govt. to fund the construction of bridges and
tunnels capable of accepting BG tracks. This should speed up the
conversion process. I got this info from my father-in-law who was
one of the engineers involved in the construction of the Hassan-
Mangalore line.
> 2. From an editorial in The Observer of Bombay:
>
> "The Indian Railways' decision to divert all its resources towards gauge
> conversion has resulted in the total neglect of track renewal programmes
> on the Bombay--Delhi trunk route and jeopardised the running of superfast
> trains like the Rajdhani Express."
In my opinion the conversion is more important than superfast trains
like the Rajdhani and Shatabdi. I think that the railways have their
priorities right.
> Vasco da Gama--Londa
This is probably going to take a lot of time considering the numerous
tunnels/bridges which are probably on this line. Has anyone travelled
on this line? If anyone has could he/she give us a feel of how many
tunnels etc. are on it? Thanks.
Regards, Kumar
From: S Pai <Pai>>
Subject: Konkan Rail tunnel
Date: 08 Sep 1994 14:10:00 -0500
KONKAN RAILWAY'S LONGEST TUNNEL
The Konkan railway's longest tunnel, the 4.4 km long Natuwadi tunnel across
Kashedi ghat bridge near Mahad, was made through on Tuesday with the last
blast being done by Konkan Railway Corporation chairman E.Sreedharan, reports
PTI from Bombay.