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.