Kochi Metro Rail requires additional land

Image source: KOMET

Kochi Metro Rail requires a total of 40.409 ha, including parking space for the proposed metro rail project in Kochi, Kerala. The stations of Kalamassery, Edappally and Kaloor other than two terminal stations, namely Aluva and Petta (Thripunithura) stations will get the additional land.  The total land required for all the 22 stations is 9.3941 ha, including minimum parking in 21 stations. For the additional parking 2.7869 ha will be used. The depot at Muttom meant for maintenance and repairing of rolling stock requires 23.605 ha.

DFCCIL has signed a loan agreement with JICA for its western corridor

Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) has signed a loan agreement with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for its western corridor. The pact was signed for the project appraisal for the two routes comprising Vadodara to Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) and Rewari to Dadri in the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor. The proposed funding is under Special Terms of Economic Participation (STEP) between Japan and India. The value of the proposed loan is JPY 295 billion (approx Rs.20,000 crore), which is a soft loan with the repayment period of 40 years. The Western DFC of 1,499 km will be from JNPT in Mumbai to Tughlakbad and Dadri near Delhi and cater to the container transport requirement between the existing and emerging ports in western India and northern hinterland. As far as land acquisition for the Western DFC is concerned, out of total 3,608 ha required in Phase I, 3,186 ha has been acquired. For the Phase II, out of total 2,252 ha required, 1,041 ha have been acquired. Remaining land is expected to be acquired during the current financial year FY13. The Japan Government will offer loan for the Phase II of Dedicated Freight Corridor and an infrastructure project in South India.

The Indian Railways will now take control of the East-West Metro Corridor project in Kolkata. The Railways will own 74 per cent stake in the project, while the Urban Development Ministry will hold the remaining 26 per cent. With this, the West Bengal Government will exit the project. The proposal of initiating the share transfer from the state government to the Railways has already been approved by the Cabinet. Earlier, the corporation was equally owned by the Urban Development Ministry and state government. The Rs.4,874-crore project is already running one year behind its completion schedule of 2014-15. The metro corridor will connect the IT city Salt Lake with the western fringes. Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC), a JV company formed by the Urban Development Ministry and West Bengal Government, was in charge of executing the project. This apart, Indian Railways is all set to begin work on the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) project connecting Punjab with West Bengal and UP with Maharashtra. The Rs.80,000-crore Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) project will come into two phases. In Phase I, DFCCIL will be constructing two corridors — the Western DFC and Eastern DFC — spanning a total length of about 3,300 km. The Eastern Corridor, starting from Ludhiana in Punjab, will pass through the states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and terminate at Dankuni in West Bengal. The Western Corridor will traverse the distance from Dadri to Mumbai, passing through the states of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Around 80 per cent of the land required for the project has been acquired. Soon, tenders for laying of the first 1,000 km of tracks (worth around Rs. 10,000 crore) of the 3,300 km project would be awarded in FY13. The deadline for the project is 2016-17.

Rail Board seeks developer for Elevated Rail Corridor in Mumbai

Image Source: mumbaimetro.com

During August 2012, a total 2,613 project tenders worth Rs. 42,212 crore were floated. Among the floated tenders, 1,999 tenders worth Rs. 10,187 crore were by various State Government entities, 591 tenders worth Rs. 32,002 crore by the Central Government and balance 23 tenders were by private companies.

Image Source: BusinessLine

The most notable tender was issued by Ministry of Railway (Railway Board for development of elevated rail corridor. On 08 August 2012, the board invited RFQs for development of 63 km long, mostly elevated (partially underground/at grade) rail corridor between Oval Maidan-Churchgate-Virar of Western Railway in Mumbai Area. The project will be implemented through PPP on DBFOT basis. The cost of this project is estimated at Rs. 21,000 crore.

Railways projects developments

The Central Government has given in-principle approval for preparing the DPR to introduce metro rail services in Bhopal and Indore in Madhya Pradesh.

The DPR is likely to be ready by May 2013. The Centre and the state will bear its cost in the ratio of 50:50. The Urban Administration and Development Department of the state will float a tender to select a company for preparing the DPR for the two cities. The length of the metro rail track in Bhopal is 28.5 km and for Indore it will be about 33 km. The Bhopal metro rail project is estimated to cost Rs. 6,000 crore while Indore project will cost about Rs. 7,500 crore. The feasibility survey for the two projects was done by DMRC.

The Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) may extend financial assistance upto Rs. 700 crore for the construction of the Kochi Metro project in Kerala. Currently, HUDCO is studying a proposal in this regards. The Kochi metro project is expected to cost over Rs. 5,000 crore and would have 22 metro stations. Earlier, HUDCO had provided Rs. 700 crore to Bangalore Metro and also accorded ‘in principle’ approval to the funding of Jaipur Metro. Also, it is looking at getting equity in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor.

The Kerala Government has approved a proposal for setting up Kerala Monorail Corporation, a fully owned company under the government, to implement the monorail projects in Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram.

With this approval, the state Cabinet has taken the monorail projects out of the control of the Transport Department and handed it over to the Public Works Department (PWD). Thus, Kerala Monorail Corporation, a SPV, will implement the two monorail projects under the overall control of the PWD. The SPV to be headed by the Chief Minister will take up the monorail project in the capital once the DPR is submitted by the DMRC. Kerala Monorail Corporation’s first project will be the 14.5-km elevated rail-based mass rapid transit system (MRTS) from Kozhikode Medical College to Meenchantha in the city. The next in line will be the 41.8-km monorail project from Mangalapuram to Neyyattinkara in Thiruvananthapuram. The 22.2-km Phase I from Mangalapuram to Thampanoor is expected to cost Rs. 2,775 crore while the Phase II of 19.6 km from Thampanoor to Neyyattinkara will cost Rs. 2,324 crore.

The Maharashtra Government on 4 October 2012 accorded approval to the Rs. 900-crore Konkan railway project. The proposed project will connect to all the important ports in the state. While the state government will invest Rs. 450 crore, the remaining Rs. 450 crore will be allocated by the Central Government. The state government will rope in private companies associated with the port development authority to raise the equity to fund the project. The Central Government has begun the process of conducting survey to outline the details and feasibility of the project. This apart, Narayan Rane, State industries minister has sought Rs. 250 crore for a terminal in village Madure in Sawantwadi. Currently, land acquisition is underway and the project is expected to be completed by 2014. Also, in the pipeline is the Rs. 1,200 crore Kolhapur-Vaibhavwadi railway link project. However, details of the project are yet to be worked out.

CIL has decided to spend Rs 2,500 crore to set up a 300 km railway infrastructure in Chhattisgarh

Coal India (CIL) has initiated the process of setting up more washeries during the 12th Five-Year Plan Period. The company is planning to set up 20 washeries with a total capacity of 111.1 million tonne. Of the total, six washeries are of coking coal (19 million tonne) and 14 are of non-coking coal (92 million tonne). It has started finalising tender for four washeries of 22.5 million tonne. Currently, CIL operates 17 washeries with a total capacity of 39.4 million tonne. Out of these, 12 are coking coal with a capacity of 22.18 million tonne, while five are non-coking washeries with a capacity of 17.22 million tonne. Also, CIL may spend additional Rs. 14,500 crore as part of capex during the 12th Five Year Plan period. CIL has decided to spend Rs. 2,500 crore to set up a 300 km railway infrastructure in Chhattisgarh. The rail line will help transportation of 120 million tonne of additional coal. The company is holding discussions with the Indian Railways and states to lay three new railways lines in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa to overcome evacuation problems.

Mumbai women seek help against Railway Romeos

Have you observed a growing number of women commuters covering themselves with scarves while traveling in suburban trains, it's not a fashion trend. But, only a tactic to protect themselves from peeping toms in adjoining compartments.

Nazima Sayed, vice-president of Rail Pravasi Sangh, stated that such incidents are rampant. "I know about this problem since long, and I have also heard such complaints and shared them with my fellow members. We have discussed this problem with the railway authorities, and will be writing to them in a couple of days asking them to solve the problem by putting a proper partition between the two coaches," said Sayed, adding that female passengers have at times telephoned her crying bitterly, saying they don't have an alternative but to take the local train, and can't avoid travelling at night.

Courtesy: NDTV

Increase of fast locals & introduction of 15-dabba rakes on Central Railway from 15th of October

image source: TOI(m) epaper

From mid of the October, Central Railway's of Mumbai suburban will increase the fast local train from 206 to 233, and also it is going to introduce 15 car services.

The some of the coaches are reserved for first class gents, first class ladies, second class ladies & also for disable commuters.

The central railways plans to run this services between CST-Kalyan, CST-Thane, Dadar-Thane, including two new services from Thane to Badlapur and Ambarnath and Kurla to Titwala,  on the fast corridor  which will halt at Byculla, Dadar, Kurla, Ghatkopar, Bhandup, Thane, Dombivili and Kalyan, iaccording to the provided stoppage.

Mumbai unaffected in Bharat bandh over fuel price hike and FDI retail

The nationwide bharat bandh declared today by BJP-led NDA and other oppositon parties against the reform measures announced by the government last week.

According to NDTV: The protests against the reforms began early today morning in some of the areas like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Workers belonging to BJP's Yuva Morcha blocked three trains at Patna railway station and in Darbhanga, CPI(ML) workers stopped the Ganga Sagar Express. In Allahabad, Samajwadi Party workers staged demonstrations on railway tracks. There are also reports of trains being stopped in Bhubaneswar in Odisha. In the national capital, public transport is running smoothly so far. Metro trains are also on time.

Karnataka meanwhile has seen partial effect of the bandh call so far. While buses are off the road, autos are plying.  Trains are also running on time. There have been no protests so far.

Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra is likely to be unaffected by the bandh call due to Ganesh Chaturthi festivities. Both the MNS and the Shiv Sena and even the BJP have said that they will not enforce the nationwide strike in the state because of the ongoing festival. While MNS supports FDI in retail, BJP and Shiv Sena are opposed to it. So public transport, malls, super markets all other services are likely to function normally. Schools and colleges also will stay open.

Urban Transport: Metro Rail

The pace of urbanisation in India has risen tremendously during the last thee decades, resulting in development of not only four metros but emergence of new metro cities. It is projected that India’s urban population would grow to about 473 million in 2021 and 820 million by 2051, as against only 285 million in 2001 and 320 million in 2010.  However, most of the metro cities have failed to create the much needed infrastructure to provide the basic amenities to the rising population. One of the areas where the gap between demand and supply has increased sizably is the urban transport infrastructure.

The lack of adequate public transport system has resulted in growth of private motor vehicles. In some of the metro cities the growth of private vehicles was almost four times faster than the growth of population. To make the matter worse, the city governing bodies have failed to expand the road space because of non-availability of land and funds constraint. Further, the increased number of private vehicles has given rise to air pollution and increased road accidents.

With demand for urban transport expected to double by 2030, the urban planners have come up with Mass Rapid Transportation Systems (MRTS) as one of the alternate modes of transportation. The success of MRTS in Kolkata and Delhi has made town planners of other major cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Jaipur, Pune, Kochi, etc to take up such projects.

In this special feature, ProjectsToday takes a look at the ongoing MRTS projects in various cities of India.

Mass Rapid Transit System: Major Cities
City	Project	Cost (Rs Crore)
Delhi	Delhi Metro Rail - Phase III	35,000
Bangalore	Bangalore Metro Rail - Phase I	11,609
Hyderabad	Hyderabad Elevated MRTS	16,375
Chennai	Chennai Metro Rail	14,600
Ahmedabad	Ahmedabad - Gandhinagar Metro Rail	12,000
Mumbai	Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd Corridor -  Phase I	12,000
Jaipur	Jaipur Metro Rail	9,100
Pune	Pune Metro Rail	8,000
Nagpur	Nagpur Metro Rail	8,000
Kolkata	East West Metro Rail	4,874

Union Funding of Metro Projects: 2011-12

Projects	Funds Released
	(Rs Crore)
Delhi Metro Rail	621.28
Chennai Metro Rail	1250.00
Kolkata Metro Rail  (East-West Corridor)	136.50
Bangalore Metro Rail	1468.00
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)	186.27
Procurement of Buses	68.26

DMRC established a JV between the Delhi Govt. & the Central Govt.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) was established as a JV between the Delhi Government and the Central Government in 1995 to implement the Delhi Metro rail project.

Currently, two phases of the Delhi Metro project are complete and Phase III is under construction. Delhi Metro Phase III, comprises six corridors in total length of 69.57 km to metro network with 31.11 km of elevated section and 38.46 km of underground section, entailing an investment of `35,000 crore. Underground section with extensions to existing lines as follows:

• From Anand Vihar in East Delhi to Dhaula Kuan in Southwest Delhi
• From Noida to Malviya Nagar
• Jahangirpuri to Badli
• From West Delhi's Ashok Park to Delhi Gate in Central Delhi
• Central Secretariat to Red Fort
• Mukundpur to Rajouri Garden

The project comprises total of 28 underground stations. Around 40 per cent of Phase III will be built underground and three different stretches will pass below the existing underground metro corridors in the city. The underground stretches are as follows:

• From Sarojini Nagar to INA on the Mukundpur-Yamuna Vihar corridor,
• From Indira Gandhi domestic airport to Kalkaji on the Janak Puri West to Kalindi Kunj corridor and Mandi House to ITO stretch.

Currently work on the project is in full swing, the entire project is scheduled for completion by March 2016.

Metro Rail: Policy Development

The Ministry of Urban Development launched the National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) in 2006 to ensure, accessible, safe, affordable and sustainable mobility for all. The major objectives of the policy are:

Bring about better integration of land use and transport planning so as to improve access to jobs, education, etc.:

• Encourage public transport and non-motorized transport so that the dependence on personal motor vehicles is reduced;
• Offer central government support for investments in cycle tracks and pedestrian paths;
• Offer central government support for investments in mass transit systems;
• Have a more coordinated approach to urban transport management through Unified Metropolitan Transport Authorities;
• Offer support for capacity building at the state level;
• Design parking facilities in a manner that encourages greater use of public transport and non motorized modes as also financial support for construction of parking complexes;
• Provide concessions for the adoption of cleaner fuel and vehicle technologies so that the pollution caused by motor vehicles gets reduced.

In May 2012, the Ministry of Urban Development, constituted an advisory board for metro railways. The board will assist and advise the Central Government on matters pertaining to the metro rail systems coming in various cities in the country. 

Northern grid fails again, Delhi Metro comes to a standstill

Delhi Metro came to a standstill on Tuesday afternoon following the collapse of the Northern Power Grid for the second time in two days, inconveniencing thousands of commuters. 

Metro operations came to a standstill at around 1.10pm after the northern grid failed again, officials said. 

Entry to stations and security checking counters were closed at stations. 

Traffic signals have also stopped functioning affecting smooth movement of traffic. 

Due to Northern Grid failure, all trains services have been suspended. Trains are being brought to the nearest stations for evacuation. DMRC was taking all efforts to ensure the safety and security of the passengers stuck in trains due to power failure. 

Delhi Metro's train schedule went haywire on Monday for at least three hours due to largescale disruption in services owing to a major power failure in the northern grid.

BLACKOUT (The Northern GRID Collapse)

• Delhi Metro began running after 7 am which usually begin at 6 am.

• Out of 19,000 trains, around 300 trains halt, hundreds of passenger stuck between 4 to 11 hours of Indian Railways.

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 Northern GRID Collapsed??

The time saving machine became time consuming machine

When the automated ticket vending machine (ATVM) was installed by the railway authorities, it was meant to be a blessing for those passengers who are waiting in the endless lines for the local train tickets. How far is it true?

According the Railway sources, there are 250 ATVM installed on Central Railway Stations and 115 ATVMs were in Western Railway Stations from Churchgate to Virar. Of which around 40 per cent of the ATVMs were inoperative on the both Western & Central railway lines.

As per the Railways the ATVMs supposed to provide travelers relief from long queues instead they are compounding problems for the passenger.

Flash strike by WR Motormen kill two commuters & injured several

Death on railway tracks is not a new thing in Mumbai. However, most of the time it happens because of the carelessness of the commuters. However, the death of two commuters on 20 July 2012 cannot be ascribed to the above reasons. On that fateful day, the western railway (WR) motorman went on flash strike at 4 pm. without any prior notice. This led to a chaotic condition when offices were closed for the day and Mumbaikers came to the railway station to board train to travel back home.

When the motormen called off their strike at around 8 pm, the crowd gathered at the stations. The commotion was so much that many elderly, week people were injured. The inconvenience caused to the lakhs of commuters including pregnant women, senior citizen and students was unbearable.In this commotion, a 26 year old fashion designer Reema Kulkarni lost her life, when she slipped into the gap between the platforms at Borivali station. Six commuters suffered injuries at different stations while they were trying to board overcrowded trains.

Everyday, the Western Railways carry around 34 lakh passengers from the Mumbai suburbs to the Main land. On that fateful day, because of the untimely strike around 20 lakh passengers had to depend on the limited services of BEST and taxis.

Railways: Needs Private Mind & Money

Indian Railways runs around 11,000 trains every day, of which 7,000 are passenger trains. On an average IR carries 21 million passengers per day and moves around 2 million tonne of freight. In other words, IR carries around 35 per cent of national freight traffic and 20 per cent of total passenger traffic. Over the years Indian Railways has failed to meet the demand for passenger services for want of adequate railway infrastructure [like capacity constraint, low speed, safety, etc].

The Vision 2020 document states that the demand for passenger services will continue to outstrip supply for some time to come and the Railways will have to pay close attention to the issues of speed, comfort, convenience, choice, elimination of shortage, punctuality maintenance, elimination of equipment failures, improved quality of service and a pleasant travel experience overall - right from booking of ticket to disembarkation at the destination point.

The total number of passengers carried grew at a compounded rate of 5.6 per cent from 5,112 million in FY04 to 7,885 million in FY11. Passenger earnings grew at a CAGR of 8.8 per cent over the past eight years. In FY11, passenger earnings stood at `2,600.79 million. During the ten year period ended March 2011, the revenue earning freight traffic carried by Railways increased from 492.5 million tonne in March 2002 to 921.51 million tonne by March 2011, indicating an average growth rate of 6.5 per cent. Among the major goods carried by the Railways, Coal accounted for around 45 per cent of the all freight traffic. Cement (10.5 per cent), Iron Ore (4.9 per cent), Fertilisers (4.9 per cent) and POL (4.4 per cent) were the other major commodities moved majorly through the rail route. Improvement in the highways over the last few years has weaned away some of the freight traffic from the Railways and this was evident from the falling share of Food grains, Fertilsers and POL products carried by Railways. Revenue surplus declined a lot since FY07-08. Pay Hike in FY08-09, inflation, rise in fuel and material prices affected the profitability.