IRFCA Mailing List Archive
Messages 1681 - 1700
From: S Pai <pai@apollo.email
Subject: (forwarded) Info request
Date: 01 Dec 1996 11:15:00 -0500
------- start of forwarded message (RFC 934 encapsulation) -------
From: vinod@sdt.email (Vinod Reddy)
Date: Fri, 29 Nov 1996 15:11:25 +0100 (MET)
Subject: Info request
Satish:
Do you have any information about Indian Railways
newly implemented passenger reservation system called CONCERT ?
I heard it is developed by Center for Railway
information systems. I would like to get more information
about this. Any pointers would be appreciated.
Thank you,
- --
Vinod Narapareddy
E-mail: vinod@sdt.email
Office: (331) 44 15 76 56 (France)
Fax: (331) 44 15 76 61 (France)
------- end -------
From: db2adm <db2adm@vnet.email
Subject: Railway News
Date: 02 Dec 1996 04:25:00 -0500
New GMs for WR, CR
N Krithivasan has taken over as the General Manager (GM) of
Western Railways. Prior to this, he was working as the chief
administrative officer (construction) at Bangalore.
He joined the Indian Railway Services of Engineers in 1963 and
held important posts on Southern, South Central and Northeast
Frontier Railways.
Nirmal Chandra Sinha has taken over as the new General Manager of
Central Railways. Sinha started as a special class railway
apprentice in 1958 with the Indian Railway Service of Mechanical
Engineers. He has worked in various capacities with the Western
Railways, including member of an Indian team for Nigerian Railway
Corporation from 1979 to 1982.
From: S Pai <pai@apollo.email
Subject: (forwarded) Concert
Date: 02 Dec 1996 09:58:00 -0500
I got this reply about "Concert" from Dr. Harsh Kumar and wasn't sure if it
went out to the whole list. By the way, there was some extra MIME-style
attachment to the end of the message which my mail reader could not decipher.
-Satish
------- start of forwarded message (RFC 934 encapsulation) -------
From: HARSH KUMAR <harsh@krcl.email
Date: Mon, 2 Dec 1996 10:20:33 +-5-30
It was developed by CRIS, Delhi and SC Railway. At present it allows =
Delhi PRS Terminals to issue tickets of SCR - PRS and vice versa.
It will be extended to other PRS systems also.
I am sure that you know that in Pre-CONCERT days only selected terminals =
of any given PRS systems could issue tickets for other PRS systems. PRS =
had developed at 5 locations - Mumbai, Delhi, Madras, Secunderabad and =
Calcutta. Each place had nominated terminals which could issue tickets =
for the other 4 stations. These terminals were directly nected to the =
other PRS stations through leased lines.
Concert is an attempt to integrate the 5 systems so that from any =
terminal you could get ticket from any PRS system.
With best wishes.
- ----------
------- end -------
From: Jishnu Mukerji <jis@fpk.email
Subject: Re: (forwarded) Info request
Date: 02 Dec 1996 10:27:00 -0500
Excerpts from personal.IRFCA: 1-Dec-96 (forwarded) Info request Satish
Pai@apollo.email (659)
> Do you have any information about Indian Railways
> newly implemented passenger reservation system called CONCERT ?
> I heard it is developed by Center for Railway
> information systems. I would like to get more information
> about this. Any pointers would be appreciated.
Take a look at the URL <A HREF="http://cmchome.cmc.stph.net/CMC/arts/arts.html">http://cmchome.cmc.stph.net/CMC/arts/arts.html</A>.
While it does not specifically talk about CONCERT. It does talk about
ARTS (Advanced Railway Ticketing System) and IMPRESS (Integrated
Multi-train Passenger REServation System). A good place to start from.
Happy hunting, and please post anything interesting that you find.
Thanks.
Jishnu.
==================================================================
Jishnu Mukerji
Rm. D-283 Email: jis@fpk.email
Hewlett-Packard Company
New Jersey Laboratories Phone: +1 201 443 7528
P. O. Box 949 Fax: +1 201 443 7602
180 Park Avenue, Bldg 103
Florham Park, NJ 07932-9998
U. S. A.
==================================================================
From: Kandaswami, Auroprem* <Kandaswami#m#_Auroprem*@msgate.email
Subject: Salem-Bangalore BG line
Date: 02 Dec 1996 05:09:00 -0500
Salem-Bangalore BG line likely by mid-Dec.
(The Hindu: December 02, 1996)
SALEM, Nov. 30.
The newly laid Rs. 185 crore Salem-Bangalore Broad Gauge
section is likely to be thrown open for passenger traffic by the
latter half of December, Mr. M. V. Ramani, Divisional Railway Manager,
Bangalore, told presspersons here today.
He pointed out that the Commissioner for Railway Safety,
Southern Railway, inspected the track exactly a month ago and declared
it fit for traffic. ``Today's process was to test the track and
communication conditions.. We travelled non-stop from Bangalore to
Salem touching the maximum of even 110 km (at even a slightly more
speed than the permissible limit and found the track to be perfect.''
Already freight trains had been operated on the section for the past
10 days.
Mr. Gopinathan Nair, Chief Engineer, Construction, said the
train in which they travelled has a coach fitted with a special
computerised equipment to check the track parameters. He said this
was the latest track with 100 per cent concrete sleepers and the
section had the latest signalling technology. It had been completed at
a record time of one year _ from September 1995 to October 1996.
Mr. S. Ramasubramanian, Chief Signal and Telecommunication
Engineer, Construction, said the communication system had been made
perfect and even the wire which had been pilfered to a length of 30 km
had been replaced.
Asked how many passenger train services are to be operated
through this section, Mr. Ramani pointed out that as the present
Salem-Bangalore section via Jolarpet was overloaded _ to an extent of
165 per cent, _ the new section would be utilised to divert three or
four weekly trains from down south to Bangalore and beyond. This would
cut short the distance between Salem and Bangalore by 40 km. ``We have
been planning three stops _ Dharmapuri, Palacode and Hosur. We will
take the suggestion of having a stop at Rayakottai also. It is likely
to take five hours to traverse this 200 km stretch as every stop
entails a delay of 10 minutes due to deceleration and acceleration.''
Asked whether there is any plan to attach additional bogies
from the trains to be diverted via this route for the convenience of
the Salem passengers, Mr. Ramani said, ``We would rather have an
additional train than attaching additional bogies to the existing
ones. We are likely to have an additional train. Whether it is night
service or day service is yet to be decided.'' Similarly he refused
to commit himself on whether it would be a passenger or express. He
also would not like to respond to the question on electrification of
this new section.
Mr. B. Sudhakar, Chief Transport Planning Manager, pointed out
that the occupancy rate of the Thiruppapuliyar Passenger from Nagore
to Bangalore was good. However, as it emanated from metre gauge, it
had been discontinued due to gauge conversion. The Virudhachalam-
Banaswadi Passenger did not have a good occupancy rate. ``So far
nothing has been finalised except proposing to divert three or four
trains through the new section as it has to be done in consultation
with Madras. Operating additional trains would depend upon the
response of the public. Similarly timings are yet to be finalised.''
From: S Pai <pai@apollo.email
Subject: Re: Salem-Bangalore BG line
Date: 02 Dec 1996 12:04:00 -0500
> (The Hindu: December 02, 1996)
> [...]
> He said this was the latest track with 100 per cent concrete sleepers and
> the section had the latest signalling technology. [...]
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Does anyone have any details on this? Is it in-cabin signalling? Is it
some version of automatic train stopping or control (ATS/ATC)? Which locos
(and how many) have been equipped for this?
-Satish
From: db2adm <db2adm@VNET.email
Subject: Railway News
Date: 02 Dec 1996 08:12:00 -0500
India Train Blast Stirs New Worries in Punjab
Monday December 2 11:16 AM EST
AMBALA, India (Reuter) - A bomb shattered a sleeper coach in
an Indian train early Monday, killing 12 passengers and injuring
37 in what police said could mark a surge in separatist violence
in the volatile Punjab region.
The blast and ensuing inferno destroyed the sleeper
compartment and damaged an adjoining carriage at Ambala
cantonment station near Chandigarh, capital of the northern
state of Punjab.
"It was a powerful bomb planted in one of the bogies
(carriages)," Ambala police chief Rajbir Deswal said.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility. But police
said they feared the blast could be part of an escalation of
violence before state assembly elections in Punjab due by next
February.
"It could be a revival of militant activity because of
pending elections in Punjab," senior police officer Satyendra
Kumar told Reuters in Ambala town, which is located in Haryana
state near the Punjab border and has a large army base.
Police said they believed the sophisticated explosive RDX
was used but they were still investigating.
For a decade until the early 1990s, Punjab state was torn by
a Sikh separatist revolt in which at least 20,000 people died.
The explosion was believed to be the deadliest attack on a
train in the region since Sikh militants stopped a train near
Ludhiana city in late 1991 and systematically slaughtered at
least 53 passengers, mostly Hindus.
Police said a senior leader of a splinter group of the
regional Akali Dal party was gunned down on Sunday night.
Bachittar Singh, a former state legislator from the Akali
Dal (Badal) faction, was ambushed by five gunmen who opened fire
on the jeep in which he was travelling in Ropar district of
Punjab, about 12 miles from Chandigarh, they said.
The Akali Dal is the political arm of many Sikhs who oppose
separatist violence in Punjab state.
Separatist militancy has largely died down in Punjab, which
held its last state assembly elections in 1992 under tight
security and a boycott by separatist groups.
Gaurav Yadav, police chief in Mohali town near Chandigarh,
said Singh's murder appeared to be unrelated to militancy.
But Haryana police chief Kumar said the bomb blast and
politician's murder had fanned worries. "These two incidents
have put us on alert," he said.
Railway officials said there were 61 passengers in the
second-class sleeper carriage when the bomb exploded.
Witnesses said it took rescuers nearly half an hour to show
up, and that the raging blaze in the wood and steel carriage
prevented them from reaching any victims for two hours.
After battling the fire, rescuers pulled 10 bodies from the
charred carriage. Two injured passengers died later.
Thirty-seven people were taken to hospital. Eight were later
discharged while three were in serious condition.
Brij Lal, a 22-year-old engineering student from the western
city of Pune, said he was sleeping when he heard a loud "thud"
which he took to be a collision with another train.
"Moments later, we saw eight to 10 passengers burning
alive," he told Reuters.
Sneh Lata said she was taking her three sons to Jammu,
winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir state and the train's final
destination, for the wedding of her daughter this week.
Her eldest son, Balbir, was on the platform when he saw
smoke. He then dragged his family members out of the carriage
just before the blast. But Sneh Lata said 75,000 rupees ($2,100)
in dowry was lost.
"I don't know now if my daughter will get married," she
said.
====================================
From: db2adm <db2adm@VNET.email
Subject: Pictures related to Railways
Date: 02 Dec 1996 17:23:00 -0500
Hi All,
I found a site that contains three pictures related to Railways from
Bombay. Two of the are Bombay Central station and CST (VT) respectively
whereas the third one shows a (over)crowded suburban train. The URL is
<A HREF="http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~ssavkar/pictures.html">http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~ssavkar/pictures.html</A>
Prakash
From: db2adm <db2adm@VNET.email
Subject: Railway News
Date: 06 Dec 1996 04:17:00 -0500
The Indian Express
Friday, December 6 1996
Two new lines between Kurla-Thane
MUMBAI, December 5: The Central Railway has decided to add two
more lines between Kurla and Thane to facilitate smoother and
faster movement of suburban services.
In a decision taken yesterday at the co-ordination committee
meeting at the Rail Bhavan at Delhi, the Central Railway General
Manager Nirmal Chandra Sinha announced that the funds required for
the lines between Kurla and Bhandup will be sought from the
supplementary budget of the railways for 1996, while the funds for
the lines between Bhandup and Thane, provisions for required funds
will be made in the budget for the year 1997.
The work of clearing the space alongside the tracks between
Kanjurmarg and Bhandup has already begun, thus the project may be
completed in three years time. At the meeting, the CR authorities
pointed out the existence of slums near the tracks between Kurla
and Thane. There are about 1,783 slums and 483 shops, which may
pose problems for the CR to make the ambitious project fully
operational.
The second phase of work between Bhandup and Thane would cost
about Rs 1000 crore even while Rs 350 crore is being spent on the
section between Kurla and Bhandup. The issue of relocation of
slums alongside the tracks was also discussed at the meeting. The
BMC and the State Government have decided to extend full co-
operation in the relocation by providing spaces nearby the
existing ones.
Several other important issues like the operating of the extension
ticket windows on the eastern side of the stations and road
overbridges on the railways, among others, were discussed.
Decisions on all these long-standing problems of the commuters are
likely to be taken in the next meeting which is scheduled to be
held in Mumbai in the first week of January 1997.
=========================
From: db2adm <db2adm@VNET.email
Subject: Railway News
Date: 07 Dec 1996 16:12:00 -0500
All India Radio
Eleven coaches of the Lucknow bound Lucknow Mail, were derailed
last night between Kailsa and Hakeempur railway stations in Uttar
Pradesh on the Ghaziabad-Moradabad section. The train was on its
way to Lucknow. According to a Northern Railway Press release
there were no immediate reports of death or injury to any
passengers. Senior Railway officials accompanied by a team of
doctors have rushed to the accident site. Rail traffic on the
section was later diverted via alternative routes. Northern
railways organised a special train to carry stranded passengers to
Lucknow.
From: Kandaswami, Auroprem* <Kandaswami#m#_Auroprem*@msgate.email
Subject: Konkan Rail ride: a distant dream
Date: 16 Dec 1996 04:36:00 -0500
(INDIAN EXPRESS)
PANAJI, December 15: The dream rail ride through the scenic Sahyadri ranges still seems to be a distant happening given the imminent failure of the Konkan Railway Corporation (KRC) in meeting yet another deadline of January-February 1997, thanks to nature's hurdles.
Completion of the remainder work on the 760 km long Rs 2,784 crore west coast rail alignment will take some time as KRC engineers are tasting limited success in grappling with the challenges posed by nature in digging two tunnels through soft soil mountains in Goa. The first and the second tunnels in Goa sector after the rail line crosses Maharashtra border have posed unexpectedly extreme complexities since the work on them started in May 1992.
Considering the rate of progress managed to be achieved by KRC so far, inauguration of the Roha-Mangalore rail line, which will reduce distance and travel time from Mumbai to Mangalore and Cochin and from Mangalore to Delhi and Ahmedabad, could well be at the end of 1997.
Faced with extreme soft and watery soil, KRC engineers have adopted the method of first digging the top 2.8 metre high portion called `heading' and then removing the mud from the lower 4.5 metre high portion.
In the first nine days of this month at the 1.543 km Pernem tunnel, only seven metre of heading from both the north and south ends has been possible and no progress at all in benching. As much as 370.1 metre of heading and 547 metre of benching in the tunnel still remain. In the same period, 0.5 metre of heading and 11 metre of benching was done from the south face of the 542 metre long Old Goa tunnel, leaving 104 metre of heading and 228.5 metre of benching still to be accomplished.
Both the tunnels have had frequent soil collapses rendering a headway near impossible. To prevent the soil above from collapsing, mud is first forked out to carve the `heading' and simultaneously followed by putting up of steel arcs with gaps filled by concrete blocks.
Work on removing mud to form the benching is then taken up in conjunction with steel lining on the sides to hold up the steel arcs above. This follows construction of a thick steel-concrete covering for the base, the sides and the top of the tunnels. KRC Director (Technical), B Rajaram, puts the slow progress in focus saying the maximum progress so far possible in a day has been 1.5 metre.
Even two months after the monsoon season, water is seeping through from the top in both the tunnels complicating the matters. The engineers are now drilling perforated steel pipes pointing upwards from the points reached so far in an effort to drain out the water and eliminate the hardship of digging out slush. Executive Engineer, B N Subudhi said ``Expert opinion holds good for just two to three metre
with problems differing or getting compounded thereafter, making precise prediction of soil condition ahead impossible.''
The target was to complete the Pernem tunnel by December 31, Imported rock drilling machines were lying at the Pernem tunnel in the hope that workers may come across a rock, which will speed up work.
From: db2adm <db2adm@VNET.email
Subject: Railway News
Date: 16 Dec 1996 06:56:00 -0500
The Indian Express
Monday, December 16 1996
Konkan rail ride still a distant dream
PANAJI, December 15: The dream rail ride through the scenic
Sahyadri ranges still seems to be a distant happening given the
imminent failure of the Konkan Railway Corporation (KRC) in
meeting yet another deadline of January-February 1997, thanks to
nature's hurdles.
Completion of the remainder work on the 760 km long Rs 2,784 crore
west coast rail alignment will take some time as KRC engineers are
tasting limited success in grappling with the challenges posed by
nature in digging two tunnels through soft soil mountains in Goa.
The first and the second tunnels in Goa sector after the rail line
crosses Maharashtra border have posed unexpectedly extreme
complexities since the work on them started in May 1992.
Considering the rate of progress managed to be achieved by KRC so
far, inauguration of the Roha-Mangalore rail line, which will
reduce distance and travel time from Mumbai to Mangalore and
Cochin and from Mangalore to Delhi and Ahmedabad, could well be at
the end of 1997.
Faced with extreme soft and watery soil, KRC engineers have
adopted the method of first digging the top 2.8 metre high portion
called `heading' and then removing the mud from the lower 4.5
metre high portion. In the first nine days of this month at the
1.543 km Pernem tunnel, only seven metre of heading from both the
north and south ends has been possible and no progress at all in
benching. As much as 370.1 metre of heading and 547 metre of
benching in the tunnel still remain. In the same period, 0.5 metre
of heading and 11 metre of benching was done from the south face
of the 542 metre long Old Goa tunnel, leaving 104 metre of heading
and 228.5 metre of benching still to be accomplished.
Both the tunnels have had frequent soil collapses rendering a
headway near impossible. To prevent the soil above from
collapsing, mud is first forked out to carve the `heading' and
simultaneously followed by putting up of steel arcs with gaps
filled by concrete blocks. Work on removing mud to form the
benching is then taken up in conjunction with steel lining on the
sides to hold up the steel arcs above. This follows construction
of a thick steel-concrete covering for the base, the sides and the
top of the tunnels. KRC Director (technical), B Rajaram, puts the
slow progress in focus saying the maximum progress so far possible
in a day has been 1.5 metre.
Even two months after the monsoon season, water is seeping through
from the top in both the tunnels complicating the matters. The
engineers are now drilling perforated steel pipes pointing upwards
from the points reached so far in an effort to drain out the water
and eliminate the hardship of digging out slush. Executive
enginner, B N Subudhi said ``Expert opinion holds good for just
two to three metre with problems differing or getting compounded
thereafter, making precise prediction of soil condition ahead
impossible.''
The target was to complete the Pernem tunnel by December 31,
Imported rock drilling machines were lying at the Pernem tunnel in
the hope that workers may come across a rock, which will speed
up work.
=====================================
From: Kandaswami, Auroprem* <Kandaswami#m#_Auroprem*@msgate.email
Subject: New-look Karnavati Express
Date: 17 Dec 1996 07:53:00 -0500
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, December 16: The Karnavati Express (2933 Dn/2934 Up) which
runs between Mumbai Central and Ahmedabad will wear a new look within
a fortnight as the Western Railway has renovated its coaches to make
them more passenger-friendly.
Besides maintenance-free hi-finish alkyd exterior paint and
concealed plumbing, the train, which has been done up at the Western
Railway's carriage workshop in Parel, boasts of many new features
including well-lit destination boards near its doors for easy
identification, soft-cushioned round-cornered seats, better
ventilation, sliding doors and a new suspension system.
Speaking to presspersons after the inauguration of the new coaches,
Railway Board member (Mechanical) L K Sinha asserted that Western
Railway will make constant efforts to provide comfortable and reliable
service to its passengers.
The coaches were redesigned in consultation with D consultants,
GTZ, Germany, over the last two years.
Also an agreement has been signed to provide the IR with
state-of-the art coaches in the future in which the bogies will be
made by Fiat Italy and the coaches in Switzerland.
From: Kandaswami, Auroprem* <Kandaswami#m#_Auroprem*@msgate.email
Subject: Funding Borivali-Virar Quadruplication
Date: 17 Dec 1996 07:56:00 -0500
WR to hawk prime real estate to fund quadruplication
(Indian Express, Dec 17, 1996)
MUMBAI, December 16: The railways have decided to commercially
exploit the railway stations between Borivli and Virar to raise funds
for the quadruplication project on this stretch. Though the real
estate market in Mumbai is going through a lean phase, officials are
optimistic that the proposal would get a good response.
The decision was taken after the railway's bid to rope in private
investors for the project failed. Railway Board Financial Commissioner
R Shivkumaran told Express Newsline that a few proposals they had
received quoted very high rates.
As the massive cut in budgetary allocations has had a crippling
effect on the railways, he said attempts were being made to raise
funds from other sources. ``While the reponse to our BOLT (Build
Operate and Lease and Transfer) scheme has been lukewarm, we expect a
lot of investors to come forward to invest in the rolling stock
(coaches and wagons),'' he said.
Shivkumaran said that after some modifications in the `Own Your
Wagon' scheme, it has worked well and has attracted the cement, oil
and the fertiliser manufacturers.
Under the scheme the railways has to assure availability of wagons
to the institutions that `own' them, failing which it has to pay a
penalty. The railways now have 5,000 wagons and the scheme has been
successful.
He said the railways is taking steps to improve the suburban
services in Mumbai. ``We are co-ordinating with the Government of
Maharashtra for the removal of slums along the tracks. However, we
have decided to submit a paper to the Union Cabinet also in this
regard. These slums could be shifted to properties owned by the
railways any other party,'' Shivkumaran said.
Answering a question if the reduction in budgetary allocations have
affected railway's development projects, Shivkumaran said the railways
is self-sufficient. However, he added, for new projects a heavy dose
of foreign investment is badly needed.
From: Kandaswami, Auroprem* <Kandaswami#m#_Auroprem*@msgate.email
Subject: Tunnels delay Konkan Rail
Date: 17 Dec 1996 11:51:00 -0500
PANAJI, Dec 17 (DHNS)
Crippling fund shortages and difficult tunneling work in Goa has delayed the completion of the 760 km-long Konkan railway line beyond the scheduled date of March this year.
The Konkan Railway Corporation (KRC) chairman-cum-managing director, Mr E Sreedharan, stated in the sixth annual report presented to the State Assembly that out of nine troublesome tunnels, three in the Goa sector are yet to be built.
These are the 542 metre-long tunnel at old Goa, the 1.87 km-long Padi tunnel and the 1.54 km-long Pornom tunnel, which is the most critical. The progress in the work was also hampered by five serious tunnel collapses during the monsoons at old Goa, Padi, Bhatkal and Byndoor, he said.
The cost of the project has escalated to Rs.2,230 crore because of the replacement of a portion of the Cortalim bank in Goa with six bridges. In February 1995 the project cost had been revised to Rs.2,034 crore, he stated.
The bridges are being built following protests by villagers, who complain that the sinking embankment at Cortalim has inundated fields.
Correspondingly, the financing cost has gone up by Rs.100 crore, bringing the total fund requirement of the project to Rs.2,780 crore, which is up by Rs.296 crore over the previous year`s estimate. Due to these delays, the rail line will be commissioned only in January next, the KRC chairman said.
From: Kandaswami, Auroprem* <Kandaswami#m#_Auroprem*@msgate.email
Subject: Paswan turns Nelson's eye to South
Date: 19 Dec 1996 09:47:00 -0500
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, December 18: While Union Railway Minister Ram Vilas Paswan
has kept his promise of forming six new rail zones all over the
Northern and North-eastern part of the country for "better
management", railway unions and passengers claim that the southern
part of the country which earns a large chunk of revenue for the
Indian Railways has been neglected.
This allegation stands as the south bound trains plying especially
on trunk routes like Chennai and Andhra Pradesh have been forced to
use the conventional system of having a single track which is used for
both the up and the down trains between two major stations thus
causing perennial delay.
The journey time to the southern part of the country is prolonged
due to halting of these trains at numerous stations made only for this
change-over process.
According to sources at the CR and South Central Railway (SC), the
coupling of lines between Wadi Junction to Guntakal Junction on the SC
Railway, a distance of over 500 kilometres has not being done even
while budgetary provisions are being made every year. They assert that
this work must be done immediately as it will drastically reduce
running time between the states of Maharashtra/Karnataka and Andhra
Pradesh.
The stretch from Wadi upto Guntakal is a `trunk' section (section
which has heavy passenger load) through which trains from Southern
States pass to Maharashtra, Gujarat and New Delhi everyday and
transport nearly five lakh passengers in over 82 mail/express and
passenger trains plying criss cross to these places.
The absence of a double track between the two places has also led
to a situation in which almost all the trains are side-tracked at
remote places thus spreading fear among passengers of being robbed by
tribals.
Railway unions have alleged that most of the union rail ministers
have catered only to their constituencies and states neglecting the
rest of the country. This allegation, however, seems to have lost
ground as former rail minister C K Jaffer Sharieff, who hails from
Andhra Pradesh, hardly cared for the improvement of the railways in
the South.
During his tenure, no new lines were laid for improving services in
AP, nor in Tamil Nadu. Suresh Kalmadi, his successor too did not pay
any heed to the system except for introducing the heavy loss making
Shatabdi Express between Mumbai CST and Pune, they allege.
Railway sources blame the politicisation of railways and finance
crunch for the neglect. According to them, the ``Indian Railway dances
to the whims and fancies of the Rail Minister''.
Senior officials of the Indian Railways are of the opinion that the
South-Central Section will soon be catered to for smoother
movement. They however could not give any reasons for the neglect of
the section. They further stated that the railway lines are doubled
only after the passenger load exceeds 100 per cent.
However, according to R Shivkumaran, Financial Commissioner of the
Indian Railways, the track doubling of the Wadi-Guntakal route has
been taken up and it will be completed in some years for which a
special planning cell has been set up at the Indian Railway
headquarters at Delhi in which sophisticated computer machinery is
being used to monitor the developments.
From: GITA MODGIL <gita@giasbma.email
Subject: New design coaches introduced by Western Zone of
Date: 23 Dec 1996 04:25:00 -0500
Indian Railways
Last week member mechanical and finicial commissioner of indian
railways inaugrated a rake of new design coaches built in the Lower
Parel carriage works at Bombay.The coaches have bogie mounted
brake cylinders,concealed plumbing in the bathrooms,decorative
wallpaper in the compartments,bogies made to close dimensional
tolerances etc. All this has been carried out under the Indo-German
aid project.The rake is capable of running at 120 kmph.This leap
forward in rail technology has been possible due the tremendous
inputs given by a band of dedicated german technicians over the past
couple of years.At a grand function organized at the workshop at Lower
Parel on the 16th december the member mechanical hoped that this
novel upgradtion of craftmanship may result in increasing the
periodic overhaul period from the present 12 months to 18 months.
The Times of India carried an article on this event.It reported that
while the press party was being taken around the new rake one of the
officials anonymously remarked that all this could easily have been
done by Indian engineers
gita@giasbma.email
********************************************************************************
From: Anurag Acharya <acha@cs.email
Subject: New design coaches introduced by Western Zone of Indian Railways
Date: 22 Dec 1996 10:42:00 -0500
We have a new member, Gita Modgil, who is a mechanical engineer with the
Indian Railways. I am forwarding her first message.
anurag
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Date: Sun, 22 Dec 1996 18:55:32 +0530 (IST)
From: GITA MODGIL <gita@giasbma.email
Subject: New design coaches introduced by Western Zone of Indian Railways
Last week member mechanical and finicial commissioner of indian
railways inaugrated a rake of new design coaches built in the Lower
Parel carriage works at Bombay.The coaches have bogie mounted
brake cylinders,concealed plumbing in the bathrooms,decorative
wallpaper in the compartments,bogies made to close dimensional
tolerances etc. All this has been carried out under the Indo-German
aid project.The rake is capable of running at 120 kmph.This leap
forward in rail technology has been possible due the tremendous
inputs given by a band of dedicated german technicians over the past
couple of years.At a grand function organized at the workshop at Lower
Parel on the 16th december the member mechanical hoped that this
novel upgradtion of craftmanship may result in increasing the
periodic overhaul period from the present 12 months to 18 months.
The Times of India carried an article on this event.It reported that
while the press party was being taken around the new rake one of the
officials anonymously remarked that all this could easily have been
done by Indian engineers
From: db2adm <db2adm@VNET.email
Subject: Railway News
Date: 23 Dec 1996 05:32:00 -0500
Indian Express
Noise from Indian trains posing health risk
NEW DELHI, Dec 23: Noise from Indian trains is posing health risk
to passengers, railway staff, engine drivers and even people on
the platforms, warns the Indian Council of Medical Research
(ICMR).
Though Indian Railways is the second-largest railway system in the
world, carrying around 11 million people a day over a route
length of 62,300 kilometres, very little attention has been paid
to the problem of noise created by trains, the ICMR stated,
quoting recent findings of the National Institute of Occupational
Health (NIOH), Ahmedabad.
NIOH's study on surface railway revealed that platfrom noise
levels (intensity of unwanted sound) ranged between 71 and 72
decibles (db) in the evening, which was high compared to the
recommended limit for daytime noise of 55 db and could produce
irritation and annoyance in people.
===========================
Financial Express
PATNA, December 22: Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda today laid the
foundation stone of a railway bridge across the river Ganga
connecting Sonepur and Dighaghat at Sonepur.
From: db2adm <db2adm@VNET.email
Subject: Eritrea to put historic railway back on the tracks
Date: 23 Dec 1996 05:33:00 -0500
Although this article may not meet IRFCA criteria, it may be
of interest to you.
Prakash
========================================
London Times,
December 21 1996
Eritrea labours to put historic railway back on the tracks
BY MICHAEL BINYON
PEASANTS and former guerrillas have scoured the barren hills of
Eritrea, collecting the old rails and sleepers from improvised
defensive trenches. Rusting steam trains have been brought out of
old sheds, burnished, oiled and lovingly restored. Retired
railwaymen have been mobilised. Next month President Afewerki of
Eritrea will formally inaugurate the restoration of one of
Africa's most spectacular narrow-guage railways.
In Mussolini's day, when the Italians ruled Eritrea, steam trains
used to puff up the line from the Red Sea port of Massawa through
Asmara, the capital, to the Sudanese border. During the 30-year
civil war between Ethiopia, which annexed the former colony in
1952, and the Eritrean People's Liberation Front, both sides
ripped up the rails and steel sleepers to reinforce their dug-outs
and positions. The railway, a marvel of engineering, lay in ruins.
When Eritrea achieved independence three years ago, an
international consortium told the Government that it would cost
ë250 million to restore the line. There were two options: sell the
remaining track and rusting locomotives to the Saudis for scrap;
or restore the line themselves. They chose the latter.
In August 1995, hundreds were employed to re-lay the sleepers and
haul the rails back to the old trackbed. Wizened old men who once
drove and maintained the Italian engines, built in the 1920s and
1930s, were set to work to forge new parts and instruct younger
drivers how to operate the old steam engines. Two newer diesel
locomotives that have been sitting idle in Asmara were also
stripped down and reassembled.
The first 30 miles of track are already in operation, and the
entire 75-mile section, linking Asmara and Mussawa, is virtually
repaired. The project has cost around ë3 million.
Built in the 1890s, the line, with a gauge of just less than a
metre, is one of the most extraordinary feats of colonial
engineering. Twisting through gorges and over viaducts, it climbs
almost 7,000ft above the hot coastal plain.
The line once ran for 221 miles, linking up with the Sudanese rail
system. But there is no likelihood of recommissioning the entire
stretch: Sudan and Eritrea are at virtual war after the Khartoum
Government's attempts to destabilise its neighbour by trying to
export Islamic fundamentalism.
The railway once owned 18 oil-burning steam engines. They never
ran fast: even the recently renovated ones are limited to 25mph.
Evelyn Waugh vividly described the Eritrean line in Scoop, poking
fun at the trains that lumbered up the mountain so slowly that
passengers had time to get off and pick berries on the way.
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