ProUI

Konkan Railway’s Sky Bus Technology was dumped on safety considerations while Mumbai Mono Rail is getting delayed due to safety concerns. Even, imported technology Monorail that costs 70% more than the Skybus, is being given preference. Why are we so defeatists towards not adopting Indian innovations?   Engineering innovations such as Konkan Railway’s Sky Bus Technology, costing one-fourth the elevated Metro Rail, is dumped on safety considerations while safety concerns are causing delays in commissioning of Mumbai Monorail. The imported monorail technology, which costs 70% more than the Sky Bus, has been given preference (over Skybus) despite its capacity being barely one seventh of the indigenous Sky Bus capacity. Why are we so defeatists towards not adopting Indian innovations?   Newspapers reports on 6 September 2013...   “Monorail likely to be delayed further, contractors pulled up” … Hindustan Times   “Chembur Wadala Monorail Unsafe: MMRDA Officials” … DNA   “MMRDA raises doubts over monorail safety” … Times of India   “Madan (Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA) spoke about the lack of safety on the monorail while referring to last month’s incident of a panel door falling. Additional commissioner Bhide said that since the monorail was in its first phase (from Chembur to Wadala), there was ample space below, luckily, no one was hurt. The case would have been different if it was in phase 2 – from Wadala to Saata Rasta – where the stretch below is narrow and crowded.”  … Mumbai Mirror   Scene: end September 2004, location Madgao, Goa.   Venue: Test track of Sky Bus Metro, the innovative mode of transport of Konkan Railway.   “Onboard staff has accidental fall from 6m height from the Sky Bus on a test run, meets fatal end.”   This was the news headline at that time. Further testing was totally halted by the investigating agency. The innovator and team leader is not given extension to bring the Sky Bus Technology to logical conclusion. Ministry of Urban Development appoint an expert’s committee comprising of engineers, some from the Railways, including commissioner of Railway Safety and some from Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, competitors to Sky Bus technology, to see the viability of Sky Bus Metro. The expert’s committee was chaired by Prof Indiresan, former director of IIT Madras. It recommended to the Ministry to invest Rs50 crore  to improve certain aspects of design over a period of two years. About Rs50 crore were already spent by industry partners with Konkan Railway for the test track and an additional Rs50 crore would have been very useful in terms of getting the Sky Bus Technology off the ground had Prof Indiresan recommended that the full amount be made available for spending immediately, with outer limit of two years. This kind of recommendation would have helped in giving Indian innovators the signal that government of India is serious in research and development (R&D) that would benefit our nation through indigenous innovations.    The author even spent some time with Dr Mashelkar, the then director general of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) discussing the Sky Bus innovation of B Rajaram, the then managing director of Konkan Railway. CSIR was sitting with funds as much as Rs5,000 crore for R&D then. Perhaps Dr Mashelkar, the advocate of “Gandhian Engineering—Maximum benefit to Maximum number of people with minimum expenditure” failed to recognize such an innovation could compete with the monorail and Metro Rails, with some additional benefits thrown in. Perhaps CSIR did not cover “technological innovations”.   There have been fatal accidents in the construction phase of Mumbai Metro as well as Mumbai monorail. Falling of the door of a monorail could have happened in habited areas of the route and would have had, on its record, some deaths too. It was just a coincidence that it fell on an empty road.   Having stopped further testing for three months in the case of Sky Bus, should not the government have stopped construction or testing of monorail or Metro Rail? Delhi Metro too has had its share of accidents, and not to speak of 3,600 people losing their lives every year on the suburban railway in Mumbai.   Are we not self-defeatists that we allowed the Konkan Railways team of enthusiastic and energised engineers disperse to their respective parent railways, and that we allowed the test track and the rail coach lie idle in Goa to get rusted?   While about 3,600 people get killed every year on the Mumbai suburban railway system, mainly due to heavy overload, the government does not seem to care to work on something like Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), which will cost less than one twentieth of Metro Rail and allow Indian geniuses to develop to serve.   With current prices and sliding rupee-US dollar parity, comparative statements for various modes of mass transits are presented. It is obvious that BRTS should be priority one followed by the Sky Bus. Construction time is also indicated, considering that a highly stressed Mumbai transport infrastructure will not be significantly further stretched during construction phase. Mumbai has to be functional even as infrastructure projects are taken up for implementation.  

The figures shown above may appear to be exaggerated. If there are enough challenging queries on this article, the Author is willing to put the computations in the public domain. Let us be practical, pragmatic in developing our technologies and use them to make “Gandhian Engineering” a reality. Let us not be defeatists.   (Sudhir Badami is a civil engineer and transportation analyst. He is on Government of Maharashtra’s Steering Committee on BRTS for Mumbai and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority’s Technical Advisory Committee on BRTS for Mumbai. He is also member of Research & MIS Committee of Unified Mumbai Metropolitan Transport Authority. He was member of Bombay High Court appointed erstwhile Road Monitoring Committee (2006-07).  He is member of the committee constituted by the Bombay High Court for making the Railways, especially the suburban railways system friendly towards Persons with Disability (2011- ). While he has been an active campaigner against Noise for more than a decade, he is a strong believer in functioning democracy. He can be contacted at sudhirbadami@gmail.com)

MANGALORE: Konkan Railway will run unreserved special trains between Ratnagiri and Roha during Ganpati Festival and between New Delhi and Kochuveli during Onam festival to clear extra rush of passengers.Trains 05009/05010 Ratnagiri - Roha unreserved passenger will run on September 11, 15, 16 and 19 Train 05010 Ratnagiri - Roha train will leave from Ratnagiri at 6.50am and reach Roha at 12.50 pm same day. Train 05009 Roha - Ratnagiri will leave from Roha at 3.30pm and reach Ratnagiri at 9pm same day. The special trains will have total 12 coaches.Train 040906 New Delhi - Kochuveli Superfast Express will leave from New Delhi at 11.30pm on September 12 and will reach Kochuveli at 2:45am on fourth day. Train 040906 Kohcuveli - New Delhi will leave from Kochuveli at 9.40 am on September 17 and will reach New Delhi at 3.20pm on the third day.The special trains will halt at New Delhi, Mathura, Sawai Madhopur, Kota, Nagda, Ratlam, Dahod, Godhara, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat, Navsari, Valsad, Vapi, Vasai Road, Panvel, Roha, Chiplun, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Pernem, Madgaon, Karwar, Udupi, Manglore Jn, Kasargod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Tirur, Shoranur Jn., Thrisur, Aluva, Ernakulam Town, Kottayam, Tiruvalla, Chengannur, Kayankulam, Quilon, Kochuveli. The train will have 15 coaches.

पंजाब से आईआरसीटीसी की पहली पर्यटन रेल 15 सिंतबर को अमृतसर से गोवा के लिए सुबह रवाना होगी। इसमें स्लीपर क्लास का चार्टड कोच होगा, जिसमें 70 पर्यटक अमृतसर टू गोवा के दर्शनीय स्थलों को पर्यटन का लुत्फ उठाएंगे। यह जानकारी आईआरसीटीसी अधिकारी शुभम आर्य ने दी।
उन्होंने बताया कि इसमें यात्रा के लिए प्रति व्यक्ति साढ़े दस हजार, डबल को सत्रह हजार तीन सौ और तीन लोगों के ग्रुप को पचीस हजार तीन सौ पचास रुपए देने होंगे। इसमें दो रात का स्टे गोवा के किसी भी थ्री स्टार रिसोर्ट में एसी डीलक्स रूप में करवाया जाएगा। पर्यटकों को यात्रा के दौरान चाय नाश्ता, लंच तथा डिनर कोच में ही सर्व किया जाएगा। 15 सितंबर को इसका पहला टूर अमृतसर से शुरू होगा, जो जालंधर, लुधियाना, अंबाला कैंट, नई दिल्ली व हजरत निजामुद्दीन से पर्यटकों को बोर्डिग सुविधा उपलब्ध करवाएगा। इनमें से किसी भी जगह से पर्यटक सवार होता है, तो उसे निर्धारित किराया देना ही होगा, उसमें कोई रियायत नहीं होगी।
उन्होंने बताया कि कोच्चिवेल्ली ट्रेन रात में मडगांव जंक्शन पहुंचेगी, रात में ही पर्यटकों को सड़क मार्ग से थ्री स्टार होटल में लाकर ठहराया जाएगा। अगली सुबह सभी पर्यटक साउथ गोवा भ्रमण पर निकलेंगे। इस दौरान डोरापाल, मीरामार बीच, ओल्ड गोवा चर्चेज बेसीलिका आफ बोम जीजस, मंगेशी मंदिर, संत दुर्गा मंदिर, अंक्रेस्टल गोवा और कोल्वा बीच आदि स्थलों का भ्रमण करवाएंगे। चौथे दिन नार्थ गोवा का भ्रमण करवाया जाएगा। इसमें फोर्ट अगुआडा, केलेंगयूट, अंजुना और वैगाटोर शामिल हैं। इसके अलावा पर्यटकों को शापिंग के लिए पंजम शहर ले जाया जाएगा, जहां अपने पैसे से शापिंग करेंगे।
उन्होंने कहा कि पर्यटक अपने खर्चे पर स्पा और आयुर्वेद मसाज का लुत्फ भी उठा सकते है। होटल में स्वीमिंग पूल, जिम, इनडोर आउटडोर रीक्रिएशन सुविधा भी उपलब्ध रहेगी। 15 सितंबर को शुरू हुई यात्रा 20 सितंबर को मीठी यादों के साथ अमृतसर में आकर संपन्न होगी। उन्होंने बताया कि बुकिंग के लिए आईआरसीटीसी की वेबसाइट व 0977240003 व 09915743856 पर संपर्क कर बर्थ बुक करवा सकते है।

PUNE: The Pune railway division has penalised 911 commuters for littering, at the Pune Railway Station and inside trains, during the first five months of the current fiscal.
The erring commuters paid fines totalling Rs 95,650. "The Pune railway administration conducted a drive to keep a check on commuters spitting and littering at the station premises and in trains.
Those commuters who were caught red handed by the railway staff, were fined,” railway officials added. Railway rules stipulate a minimum fine of Rs 500 on a person throwing garbage or spitting on railway premises.
"People spitting or throwing garbage at the railway station and in trains is not a healthy sign. We have been advising passengers to not dirty the booking counters, reservation counters, platforms and trains through posters and announcements," stated rail officials.
Railway officials have cautioned the commuters that the drive could continue at Pune and other stations, to ensure that the stations and trains are tidy.

मीरजापुर : उत्तर मध्य रेलवे इलाहाबाद जोन के डिप्टी सीसीएम मुदित चंद्रा ने सोमवार को स्थानीय स्टेशन का निरीक्षण किया। इस दौरान उन्होंने ट्रैक पर पड़ी गंदगी देख नाराजगी जताई। उन्होंने कहा कि नियमित साफ-सफाई का अभियान चलाकर स्टेशन परिसर को साफ-सुथरा रखा जाए।
निरीक्षण को लेकर सोमवार को स्टेशन पर सघन चेकिंग अभियान चलाया गया। बिना टिकट यात्रियों को अंदर नहीं आने दिया जा रहा था। तीनों प्लेटफार्म पर बैठे यात्रियों की सघन तलाशी ली जा रही थी। इस दौरान अप में महानगरी, लालकिला, जनता, जोधपुर हावड़ा, इलाहाबाद पैसेंजर, कालका मेल, पुरुषोत्तम एक्सप्रेस में चेकिंग की गई। यह अभियान इलाहाबाद व मीरजापुर के चेकिंग दल की संयुक्त टीम ने चलाया। डिप्टी सीसीएम ने इस दौरान बुकिंग काउंटर को भी देखा। आमदनी बढ़ाने की हिदायत दी। कहा कि स्टेशन पर बिना टिकट कोई यात्री प्रवेश न कर सके। सभी निकास द्वार पर चेकिंग कर्मचारियों की तैनाती की जाए। आमदनी बढ़ाई जाए। उन्होंने हर माह होने वाली आमदनी की भी समीक्षा की। उनके स्टेशन पर पहुंचने पर कर्मचारियों में हड़कंप मच गया। बुकिंग काउंटर पर तैनात कर्मचारी सतर्क हो गए। स्टेशन परिसर में विचरण कर रहे अवैध वेंडरों को भगा दिया गया था। इस दौरान एसएस सुभाष सिंह, सीआइटी जय गोविंद सिंह आदि मौजूद थे।

MANGALORE: Konkan Railway will run unreserved special trains between Ratnagiri and Roha during Ganpati Festival and between New Delhi and Kochuveli during Onam festival to clear extra rush of passengers.Trains 05009/05010 Ratnagiri - Roha unreserved passenger will run on September 11, 15, 16 and 19 Train 05010 Ratnagiri - Roha train will leave from Ratnagiri at 6.50am and reach Roha at 12.50 pm same day. Train 05009 Roha - Ratnagiri will leave from Roha at 3.30pm and reach Ratnagiri at 9pm same day. The special trains will have total 12 coaches.Train 040906 New Delhi - Kochuveli Superfast Express will leave from New Delhi at 11.30pm on September 12 and will reach Kochuveli at 2:45am on fourth day. Train 040906 Kohcuveli - New Delhi will leave from Kochuveli at 9.40 am on September 17 and will reach New Delhi at 3.20pm on the third day.The special trains will halt at New Delhi, Mathura, Sawai Madhopur, Kota, Nagda, Ratlam, Dahod, Godhara, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat, Navsari, Valsad, Vapi, Vasai Road, Panvel, Roha, Chiplun, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Pernem, Madgaon, Karwar, Udupi, Manglore Jn, Kasargod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Tirur, Shoranur Jn., Thrisur, Aluva, Ernakulam Town, Kottayam, Tiruvalla, Chengannur, Kayankulam, Quilon, Kochuveli. The train will have 15 coaches.

Three Weekly special trains, between Kamakhya (Guwahati) -Chennai Central & between Kamakhya (Guwahati) -Yesvantpur and between Santragachi-Kochuveli will be run in order to clear extra rush of passengers during Durga Pooja / Diwali festival as per the following schedule:-
Kamakhya (Guwahati) – Chennai Central Weekly Special Train (24 services):
Train No. 02508 Kamakhya (Guwahati) -Chennai Central Weekly special train will depart Kamakhya (Guwahati) at 14 00 hrs o­n Mondays from 9th September to 25th November 2013 and arrive Chennai Central at 14 55 hrs o­n Wednesdays.
In the return direction Train No. 02507 Chennai Cetral –Kamakhya (Guwahati)  Weekly special train will depart Chennai Central at 11 00 hrs o­n Thursdays from 12th September to 28th November 2013 and arrive Kamakhya (Guwahati) at 12 30 hrs o­n Saturdays.
Enroute, these trains will stop at Rangiya, Barpeta Road, New Bongaigaon, New Alipurduar, New Coochbehar, New Jalpaiguri, Kishanganj, Barsoi, Malda Town, Rampurhut, Durgapur, Asansol, Adra, Bankura, Midnapur, Hijli, Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Khurda Road, Brahmapur, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Duvvada, Vijayawada, New Guntur and Gudur stations in both the directions.
These special trains will have 15 coaches viz., o­ne AC II Tier, o­ne AC III Tier, seven Sleeper Class, four General Second Class and two Second Class Luggage Cum Brake van Coaches.
Kamakhya (Guwahati) - Yesvantpur Superfast Weekly Special Train (18 services):
Train No. 02552 Kamakhya (Guwahati) -Yesvantpur Superfast Weekly special train will depart Kamakhya (Guwahati) at 14 00 hrs o­n Wednesdays from 2ndOctober to 27th November 2013 and arrive Yesvantpur at 18 30 hrs o­n Fridays.
In the return direction Train No. 02551 Yesvantpur - Kamakhya (Guwahati) Superfast Weekly special train will depart Yesvantpur at 08 30 hrs o­n Saturdays from 5th October to 30th November 2013 and arrive Kamakhya (Guwahati) at 13 30 hrs o­n Mondays.
Enroute, these trains will stop at Rangiya, New Bongaigaon, New Alipurduar, New Coochbehar, New Jalpaiguri, Kishanganj, Barsoi, Malda Town, Rampurhut, Durgapur, Asansol, Adra, Bankura, Midnapur, Hijli, Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Khurda Road, Brahmapur, Palasa, Vizianagaram, Duvvada, Samalkot, Vijayawada, New Guntur, Gudur, Chennai Central and Katpadi stations in both the directions.
These special trains will have 17 coaches viz., o­ne First AC, o­ne AC II Tier, o­ne AC III Tier, six Sleeper Class, six General Second Class and two Second Class Luggage Cum Brake van Coaches.
Santragachi – Kochuveli (Trivandrum) Weekly Special Train (18 services):
Train No. 02851 Santragachi - Kochuveli (Trivandrum) Weekly special train will depart Santragachi at 16 05 hrs o­n Saturdays from 5th October to 30th November 2013 and arrive Kochuveli (Trivandrum) at 10 30 hrs o­n Mondays.
In the return direction Train No. 02852 Kochuveli (Trivandrum) - Santragachi Weekly special train will depart Kochuveli (Trivandrum) at 04 15 hrs o­n Tuesdays from 8thOctober to 3rd December 2013 and arrive Santragachi at 03 00 hrs o­n Thursdays.
Enroute, these special trains will stop at Kharagpur, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jaipur Keonjhar Raod, Bhubaneswar, Khurda Road, Brahmapur, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Samalkot, Rajamundry, Eluru, Vijayawada, o­ngole, Nellore, Gudur, Renigunta, Katpadi, Gudiyattam, Vaniyambadi, Jolarpettai, Salem, Erode, Tiruppur, Coimbatore, Palghat, Thrisur, Aluva, Ernakulam Town, Kottayam, Tiruvalla, Chengannur, Kayankulam and Kollam stations in both the directions.

          These  special trains will have 16 coaches viz., two AC III Tier, eight Sleeper Class, four General Second Class and two Second Class Luggage Cum Brake van Coaches.

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government Tuesday appointed Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) as its “interim consultant” for launching the Metro Rail project in the state capital, officials said.The decision was taken at a state cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.Both Rites and DMRC have been asked to submit proposals by sending them terms of reference, an official said and added that for the said work, Rites has submitted a proposal of Rs.19.5 crore excluding service tax while DMRC submitted a Rs.13 crore proposal excluding the tax.“Since the DMRC proposal was financially lesser, the state cabinet approved it,” the official told IANS.DMRC, a joint venture of the railway ministry and the Delhi government, has been involved in the spadework for the Lucknow Metro Rail project and had earlier prepared a detailed project report (DPR) for it.As interim consultants, DMRC would carry out an action plan to select a general consultant, prepare a detailed report on land acquisition for the project, prepare an environment impact assessment report and chalk out a a rehabilitation policy, carry out on-spot surveys for the underground rail lines among others.

सुंदरगढ़ जिले के सबसे पुराने रेलवे स्टेशन कलुंगा में एक्सप्रेस ट्रेन के ठहराव की मांग को लेकर राजगांगपुर युवा कांग्रेस की ओर से प्रदर्शन किया गया तथा स्टेशन मास्टर को चक्रधरपुर रेल मंडल प्रबंधक के नाम ज्ञापन सौंपा। उन्होंने लंबे अर्से से की जा रही मांग पर शीघ्र विचार नहीं करने पर आंदोलन तेज करने की चेतावनी दी है।
राजगांगपुर युवा कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष प्रसन्नजीत सामल की अगुवाई में बड़ी संख्या में कर्मी रेलवे स्टेशन पहुंचकर प्रदर्शन किया तथा यहां एक्सप्रेस ट्रेन के ठहराव की मांग की। प्रसन्नजीत सामल ने कहा कि कलुंगा रेलवे स्टेशन अंग्रेजों के समय से ही जिले के प्रमुख स्टेशन के रूप में जाना जाता है। औद्योगिक क्षेत्र में यह स्टेशन होने के कारण रेलवे को करोड़ों का राजस्व मिलता है। हर दिन बड़ी संख्या में लोगों का इस इलाके में आना जाना होता है पर यहां एक्सप्रेस ट्रेन का ठहराव नहीं होने के कारण राउरकेला या राजगांगपुर में उतरकर दूसरे वाहनों की मदद लेनी पड़ती है। उन्होंने कलुंगा स्टेशन में तपस्विनी एक्सप्रेस, दक्षिण बिहार एक्सप्रेस व राजरानी एक्सप्रेस के ठहराव की मांग लंबे अर्से से करने के बावजूद इस दिशा में पहल नहीं होने पर क्षोभ प्रकट किया। युवा कांग्रेस की ओर से स्टेशनमास्टर चितरंजन बारिक के जरिये डीआरएम चक्रधरपुर को ज्ञापन सौंपा। प्रदर्शन में हरदीप सिंह, पंचम सिंह, जगदीश महंती, डी. नायक, संजू पोद्दार, शिवशंकर राय, विश्वनाथ मिश्रा, गुलजार खान, सुनील यादव, पीतवास प्रधान समेत अन्य लोग शामिल थे।

AHMEDABAD: Research Design Standard Organisation (RDSO), the research wing of Indian Railways, has cleared Jatropha bio-diesel developed by Central Salt Marine & Chemical Research Institute for field trials in locomotives."RDSO has cleared Jatropha bio-diesel of CSMCRI for field trials in locomotives. A few more approvals are required and possibly in next 3-4 months we shall commence the trials on two locomotives in Jetalsar," a Western Railway official said."During initial trials it would be 10 per cent bio-diesel and 90 per cent conventional diesel, but as we progress the bio-diesel content will be scaled up," he said.Railways use diesel-run locomotives on several routes where electric lines are yet to be laid. Jetalsar (Rajkot district) to Dhasa (Amreli district) is one such line."Laboratory tests have been conducted to test locomotives on B-100 bio-diesel (neat bio-diesel), but there are some issues with it. Hopefully once resolved, we aim to run the locomotives on hundred per cent bio-diesel," the official said.CSMCRI Director Dr Pushpito Ghosh said, "Yes, our bio-diesel has been cleared for field trials by the RDSO."Jatropha biodiesel can be produced for between Rs 45-65 per litre assuming all-inclusive dry fruit cost of Rs 8,000 per tonne," an institute official said.Earlier, the institute's US patented technology to extract bio-diesel from Jatropha was successfully adopted by Vehicle Research Development Establishment, a defence laboratory in Ahmednagar to run a few vehicles on this environment-friendly fuel.