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