THE BRITISH NEVER REALLY CONQUERED INDIA. BUT THE RAILWAYS DID - FOCUS ON EAST CENTRAL RAILWAY
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Volume 9, Issue 46 November 2018 ISSN No. 0976-254X
www.railbizindia.com
THE BRITISH
NEVER REALLY
CONQUERED
INDIA.
BUT THE
RAILWAYS DID.
CHRISTIAN WOLMAR ON RAILWAY HISTORY
FOCUS ON EAST CENTRAL RAILWAY
` 100
FIRST WORDS
America was made by the railroads...
This issue was intended to be one for celebrating the often unrecognized role of the
railways in building India into a nation. Railways have bonded the nation, providing
unprecedented mobility and in the process breaking down many of our national
barriers, that intentions alone would never have. Christian Wolmar sums this up
precisely, putting railways at the prime spot for this nation-building. This issue has
used Wolmars rail-related findings in many locations in the hope that this historical
role in the nation-building process and in the spread of technologies related to the
industrial revolution is better appreciated.
This mood for celebration has been jolted by the tragic accident on Dussehra day at
a level crossing near Amritsar. Some conclusions based on media reports are easy to
draw: the prime cause for the mowing down (even that seems to be a mild phrase)
of the crowd of spectators was due to a chalta hai (anything goes) attitude of the
local civic and police authorities. Even if a formal permission for the event was not
asked for or granted, the local authorities could never have been unaware of the
gathering and the need for safety nets, including on the adjoining mainline tracks. A
political blame game and brownie point scores can never substitute the need to
standardise a safety drill for such events.
IR is legally right in claiming that the ill-fated spectators were intruders into rail space
and no criminal charges lie against rail staff. A little self-reflection and doubt are still
called for. The emerging facts are that a freight train passed by the assembled
trespassers, followed by an express train but the train or the gate staff did not alert
their controllers against a safety risk. It was the third train in this time window that
ran into the assembled crowd near a manned gate, that was protected by suitable
signals.
IR contention that nobody informed us is typical responsibility deflection. Local
staff inspects each IR station every month at least, and there is a grand annual
inspection by the divisional management team every year. IR seems to look only
inwards into their processes, neglecting areas of interaction with externals. Any
internal inquiry would have considered these non-criminal aspects and added to
erasing some of the chalta hai attitudes.
After all, every cloud has a silver lining only if we yearn for one.
It is our case that IR should reflect and carry out an internal reassessment of where
they could have been proactive. We could have celebrated the avoidance of a tragedy.
We can celebrate our failures, often because somebody out thought his strict role.
That did not happen in this case, but lessons need to be learned.
But back to the history. Extracts in this issue have been pleasant reading for me and
I hope they inform and provoke you as much.
(Vijay Raina)
Editor
Cover picture shows a test train with
...they united the country.
new EIR X class loco, bridge site,
Allahabad, 1929. From National Rail
Museum, New Delhi. ...Christian Wolmar : The History of Trains in America
Volume 9, Issue 46 November 2018
CONTENTS
www.railbizindia.com
Focus on Flipping rail history
Editor
East Central Railway 32 Christian Wolmar
Exclusive reports
Exclusive comments
V. K. Raina
1 Freight growth and plans Excerpts from Wolmars
For Advertisements and Circulation 2 Historical growth Railways and the Raj
Dr. Rajni Raina 6 33 The early years in India
RoRo traffic
IR wagon development 33
Business Manager 6 Workshops Who was Jamsetji Dorabji?
Phone : +91 92306 39001 8 Atulya Sinha 14 New steel coil wagons make a 35 Wars and railways
debut
Developing key stations 36 Rail track heritage walk in a
mega city
Disclaimer: Opinions Container traffic
Views expressed by various authors are 7 P Tendulkar
personal and do not necessarily reflect the On distributed power 21 RC Acharya, Naresh Kumar Book review
A successful innovation
views of their corporates. 9 Dinesh Bansal 25 All about bridges
On some crawling trains Industry focus
European Correspondent: 24 Arindam Majumdar
Ms Geetha Munikoti, Berlin SAFT India
Energy storage developments
IT Support International news
Kre8iveminds Technologies INNOTRANS 2018
Kolkata 700012
M: +91 9163363931
26 CIIs Indian delegation :
A better Indian presence in
e-mail: contact@kre8iveminds.com 2020
26 EULYNX and DB :
Interoperability in signalling and
Designed & Printed by train control A business editors
Headliners Advertising Services Pvt. Ltd. Adding to the skill base column
87, Monohar Pukur Road 10 National Railway and 28 Focus on KL Thapar
Kolkata 700 029 Transportation Institute
e-mail: headlinersadvertising@gmail.com
High speed rail INNORAIL 2018
12 Building in new safety layers
16 A premier event in India
Technology A welcoming note from the
Director General , RDSO
CRIS : IRs software arm 22 New WAP5 loco version
18 Mukesh Nigam, MD
from CLW Opinion
An exclusive interview on current 30 Compressing land use and
perspectives earthwork needs 13 On trespassers and safety
Next Issue For subscriptions & a complimentary copy,
please e-mail at railbizindia@gmail.com
January 2019
Rail Business
A206, Rail Vihar, Sector 15-II, Gurugram, India, Pin 122001
Phone : +91 94323 64001, +91 80170 62121, +91 92306 39001, 0124 4271 979
e-mail : railbizindia@gmail.com
Five issues published in a calendar year
FO CU S E AS T CE N T RAL R A I LWAY
ECR records gains in freight as the
network gains strength and a new shape
LC Trivedi, General Manager, East Coast Railway has, pot and converted the network into one of the alternate
perhaps unknown to him, the demeanor of an explorer, routes and huge future potential for rail connectivity.
as he summarises the geographical spread of his net- With the likely conversions of the remaining meter gauge
work. With a large network map, Trivedi layers the lines, the melting pot will be complete. As it is, all MG
ECR network into an explorers chart, with 4 rail sections have been closed for conversions and in months
latitudes, with the CIC (Central Industrial Chord) rather than years, the meter gauge will be consigned to
line, the Gaya chord line, the Patna main line and the the archives.
North of Ganges East-West lines, mostly from the
I firmly believe that within a very short period ECR would
meter gauge network legacy. Each of these network
be top-ranked in most of the key IR performance param-
layers have their own stories and cultures but broadly
eters ...L C Trivedi.
the North bank MG network came up under the Avadh
Tirhut Railway, a large patch work of lines that mostly The future is taking shape
catered to local traffic and that has come into greater The multiple construction projects, for new lines and
reckoning after the gauge conversions process has improvements, place higher responsibilities on Sanjiv Jha,
provided an East-West third line' that stretches from Chief Traffic Planning Manager as he runs through the
Katihar (interchange with NF Railway) to Gorakhpur many plans, estimates, and charts across his table. The
and beyond. With doubling and electrification of these essence is the metamorphizing changes that will shape in
lines well in hand, this route would improve traffic to coming years, converting the ECR into an all BG, mostly
North Bihar and the North Eastern states, removing double line electrified zone, very different from decades
the rather unwelcome tag of a sluggish chotti line. ago when the North of Ganges, Sonpur and Samastipur
The network layers Divisions were single line, MG, often on steam and hardly
carried any significant freight volumes.
IRs zonal reorganisation in 2002 created ECR as of con-
venience rather than operational or commercial synergy, Jha lists the stellar works nearing completion : doubling
as it combined the mainline divisions Dhanbad and of the balance patches on the CIC route (in Trivedis
Mughalsarai, hewn from the Eastern Railway (that provide terms the the first ECR latitude) along with the Singrauli/
the links to Kolkata via Eastern Railway) with two rather Katni link, a double line to Katihar with the doubling of
sleepy chotti line Sonpur and Samastipur divisions, drawn the Sonpur-Bachhwara Hajipur portions, Hajipur
from the Gorakhpur based NE railway. This was a mar- Muzaffarpur doubling and the Eastern DFC link at Dehri-
riage of political convenience that is slowly maturing into on-Sone.
a common work ethos, particularly as a third mainline
Pen and paper come out as Jha draws a map to reveal the
takes concrete shape.
Eastern freight corridor plan that will provide an alterna-
And in an explorers effort, Trivedi points out that succes- tive freight route from MGS to Dehri. The important
sive bridges across the Ganges have stirred the rail melting third bridge on the Son has been completed and its third
The Hajipur Honchos: Sitting from left: Ravindra Verma, Principal Chief Security Commissioner, KC Sainsi, Principal Chief Engineer, Alok Kansal, Chief Admin. Officer,
construction, Anil Sharma, Principal Chief Mech Engineer, Vidya Bhushan, Additional General Manager, LC Trivedi, General Manager, Vishnu Kumar, Principal Chief
Commercial Manager, Choudhary, CAO, Yash Pal Singh, Principal Chief Signalling and Telecom Engineer, Salil Kumar Jha, Principal Chief Operations Manager, and
Dhruv Singh, Principal Financial Adviser Standing from left: 4 office bearers of recognised unions & associations; 5th onwards in Team ECR (Blue Shirts): Alok Kumar Jha,
Dy GM,Pravin Kumar, Personal Secretary, SK Sharma, Chief Safety Officer, Atulya Sinha, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Sonpur, RK Jain, DRM Samastipur, Ajit Kumar
Jha, Secretary to GM, Ranjan Prakash Thakur, DRM Danapur, Rajesh Kumar, Chief Public Relations Officer, Anil Kumar Mishra, DRM Dhanbad, Pankaj Saxena, DRM
Mughal Sarai, Bijay Kumar, Principal Chief materials Manager, Shailendra Kumar, Principal Chief Personnel Officer, and JR Meena, Cheif Electric loco Engineer.
Rail Business [Focus-India] November 2018 1
F O C U S EAST CEN TR AL R AILWAY
A technological lead on the Soane river,
many decades ago
flood and finding the best crossing point was a matter of
considerable debate and controversy. Initially, the East Indian
Railway considered running tracks across the river during the
dry season, with a small bridge over what was essentially a
stream, and then operating a ferry service in the wet season
to avoid the massive and expensive task of building the bridge.
However, the cumbersome, costly, and potentially dangerous
nature of such an enterprise convinced the company that a
When history sounds passe, the new rail bridge over River Soane. fixed crossing was essential and a site involving a bridge of
just under a mile long was eventually found. After considering
Major rivers, such as the Ganga, or the Brahmaputra would a brick arched viaduct, the railway decided to opt for a wrought-
require wells of up to 50 feet to ensure the bridges safety. By iron lattice-work superstructure supported on brickwork piers.
the end of the century, novel techniques such as using divers- The bridge required 28 sections of identical 150 feet long
who often ruined their health as the effect of the bends, the girders which, when assembled, had to be manhandled on to
result of rapid depressurization, was not known - connected the piers. This became the preferred method of fording rivers,
to an air supply and steam-powered dredges, but in the early which was to the great benefit of British engineering compa-
days primitive methods inevitably led to many collapses as nies, who invariably supplied the ironwork (and the steel that
the wells were simply not dug deep enough . was used later). The iron was transported in kit form, with
great difficulty if there was not yet a suitable railway between
The foundations for the intermediate supports or piers had
the port and the work site, and assembled at the river. Hun-
to be totally secure to protect them from the effect of scouring
dreds of railway bridges across India were built this way and
by the fast-flowing water and lead to the weakening and pos-
many survive today.
sible collapse of the bridge support.
...(after the Rebellion; the first Indian War of Independ-
As Samuel Power, the engineer of the Soane Bridge (now in
ence 1857 editor) Worksites on the EIR were attacked and
Bihar) and the most difficult river crossing in the early stages
trashed, partly built bridges pulled down and half completed
of the East Indian Railways, EIR), lamented nothing is more
lines destroyed. European engineers working on these projects,
trying of the patience than the passage from the sand into the
particularly in remote areas, had to flee or be killed. Work on
clay although the curb shoes, (the outer bulwark for the
the Soane bridge on the EIR was halted in the spring of 1857
protection of the piers) may appear to be touching the clay at
and much of preparatory work was destroyed. The delay was
almost every point of its circumference, the sand will force its
costly as wages for the European engineers still had to be paid
way through some small crevices and nearly fill the well again
and much material had to be replaced. It was not until Dec
and again. It was a slow but effective learning process which
1858 that work could restart, and the bridge was not completed
eventually led to a safe network of bridges on the Indian rail
until the end of 1862, allowing the 430-mile railway from
system.
Calcutta to Benares to be officially opened by the Governor
The Soane bridge was particularly challenging because it had General, Lord Elgin, in March 1863.
to ford a river that stretched three miles across at times of
(Extract from Railways & the Raj)
line must be factored into the signal- complete and an Oct 2019 opening and the route is complete with a con-
ling plans at Dehri, in hand at present. to Chirallepothee is planned. The nection to the main line at Chiralle-
Of the three lines, the outer lines will DFC lines cross over to the North of pothee and a flyover to Bagha Bis-
be unidirectional with a reversible existing chord line about 6 km from hanpur that would connect GHD.
middle line. We learn that a 66 km MGS at Ganj Khawaja, then the Ara- ECR has to provide all surface cross-
patch from Sasaram to Durgavati is Sasaram line, before reaching Dehri ings and all other construction is by
DFC Co.
The remarkable surge in ECR freight performance (` Cr.)
Freight operations
Reserved Other Freight Total 142 mt!
passenger passenger
services services ECR has an ambitious target of
achieving loading 142 mt in the cur-
Year 2017-18 757 681 6250 7848 rent fiscal. Till Sep 2018, ECR had
YOY 2018-19 815 ( +7.8%) 676 7497 (+20%) 9139 (+ 16.4%) achieved 65.5 mt, 7.16% more YOY.
Coal, the main commodity, is loaded
The dip in unreserved passenger service revenues may be partly due to
from different sidings owned by the
closure of many sections for gauge conversion.
coal companies BCCL, CCL, NCL
2 Rail Business [Focus-India] November 2018
FO CU S E AS T CE N T RAL R A I LWAY
ways of achieving loading more than
Per day interchange (both ways combined, in rakes), YOY up to Sep 2018 100 mt. Then SCR was at 4th position
Interchange point, zone /station 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19(YOY) and ahead of ECR. From 2016-17,
ECR has been maintaining the 4th
NCR: Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay
position as a loading zone in the pres-
(Mughalsarai MGS) 73 72.5 73.3
tigious club of IR registering to load
NR: MGS 32 35.9 39.0 more than 100 MT. In 2017-18, ECR
ER: Pradhan Khanta 44.4 41.8 39.7 achieved loading of 128.62 mt against
the loading target of 123.50 mt. Only
Jhajha 21.9 19.6 20.3 ECoR, SECR and SER are ahead of
WCR: Mahadiya 20.4 22.5 21.9 ECR in freight loading.Powerhouses
situated in Bihar, Jharkhand, West
NER: Chhapra Gramin 20.6 24.1 20.9 Bengal, UP, Haryana, Punjab and Ra-
Panyahwa 14.8 13.2 14.2 jasthan are dependent on coal supply
from ECR.
NFR: Katihar 20.7 21.7 21.7
The mobility of freight trains
SER: Barkakana 16.1 15.4 15.5
Loading of coal rakes depends on the
Rajabera 17.8 16.4 20.2 input of BOXN and BOBR empties
Total, over 18 interchange points 308 313 (+ 1.6 %) from adjacent zones particularly from
NCR, NR, WCR & ER, and evacua-
tion of coal loaded rakes is equally
& goods sheds in Dhanbad division. sheds (full rake capacity 106 and a important to maintain a fruitful and
In addition, oil products, cement & half rake capacity 10) handle these smooth cycle of train operation. ECR
clinker, food grains, steel, and other humongous tonnages. has successfully achieved the inter-
commodities (steel plant raw materi- change commitment despite an in-
als, sand, ballast, container, bauxite, ECR is primarily a coal loading zone crease in the number of coaching
finished iron & steel) are also loaded. which constitutes about 90% of total trains in almost all sections. Per day
loading. In 2012-13, ECR first interchange at critical interchange
32 coal sidings (BCCL 12, CCL- 28, achieved loading of 102.53 mt and points with adjacent Railways is a
NCL- 08 & others 04), and 116 goods entered the prestigious club of 5 Rail- matter of appreciation.
The mid-19th century gallop
The story of the origins of the rail network from Howrah (Calcutta) has been recounted often , but we need to repeat some,
as the first lines were not in the direction of future growth and the first chord connecting to Patna grew in stages from 1859
to 1865 via what was later termed the Sahib Ganj loop where EIRs first integrated workshop at Jamalpur came up soon after.
This route was progressively extended beyond Mughalsarai and to Delhi,
with the current Mainline via Patna completed around 1862.
DANAPUR
Initial main line the
That pace was hectic. The Asansol to Mughalsarai (via
BHAGALPUR JN,
(1862) PATNA Sahibganj loop
BAKHTIYARPUR
Gaya, the current Rajdhani route), a shorter to New Delhi (186
5) (1862) (1862)
(1861)
SAHIBGANJ
N
one than the Patna Mainline, was in action much
(1899)
62)
JAMALPUR
(19 (18 (1926)
MUGHALSARAI
later in 1900. The first latitude in Trivedis terminology 00
LUCKEESARAI
) )
79
(18 First Chord later
(1860)
JHAJHA
was the Dhanda Sonnagar loop, mainly servicing the SONNAGAR
Main line BARHARWA
coal mines all along the route, came up around 1925. (1900)
(18
Grand Chord
71)
GAUA JN.
)
02
(1860)
(19
(191
The ECR Current
(1
3)
90
6)
NALHATI (186
latitudes zones
GU
3) J
GARWA ROAD
JH
N
(1913)
GA
AN
IM
(19
AZ
DI
DHANBAD
06
SAINTHIA
1 CIC, via Barkakana 1902-1927 ECR
)
DALTONGANJ
GOMOH
) NG
(18 08 (19
(192 (19 17)
2 The grand chord 1906 ECR
63/6
(1859)
9) (1894)
7) CHANDRAPURA 5)
192
(1865)
(
ASANSOL
BARKAKANA (185
RANIGANJ
5)
5)
(191
3 Main line via Patna 1871 Mainly
NG
N.
ECR
AJ
N
MA
AN
HA
KH
to H
DD
OW
4 Sahib Ganj loop 1859-1865 ER
BAR
RA
H
Presently part of East Central Railway
HOWRAH
Spread of the network 1854 - 1929
Rail Business [Focus-India] November 2018 3
F O C U S EAST CEN TR AL R AILWAY
Terminal management Some other indices such as the
Terminal efficiency by reduction in detention of inward and outward rakes average speed of goods train, loco
is a prime index of freight train operation and ECR has taken steps such utilization need to improve. Excess
as notifying many terminals for 24 hours working and better monitoring block granted for maintenance of
on daily basis . track, OHE and Signal gears has ad-
versely affected and attributed a de-
Detention at terminals YOY (up to September), rounded off crease in the average speed of goods
Outward 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 train and loco utilization. Despite ca-
pacity constraints, ECR is making all-
No. of rakes/day loaded 85.2 94.6 97.5 out efforts to improve many freight-
Detention/rake (in hours) 12:58 12:29 11:46 related indices such as the average
speed of goods trains and loco utiliza-
Rakes released /day 69.5 69.0 72.4 tion.
Detention/rake (in hours) 20:45 20:05 19:04 And miles to go
ECR has the potential of improving
Other freight indices its comparative freight loading posi-
Decreases in terminal detention for both inward and outward rakes have tion from present 4th to 3rd amongst
helped in the improvement of various metrics. IR zones. Completion of the many
doubling projects, gauge conversion,
Metric 2017-18 2018-19 electrification etc. will help immense-
ly in improving the mobility of all
Wagon turn round (days) 2.7 2.5 trains.
Lead (km) 529.7 572.5 Challenges ahead are big, but op-
Traffic in t-km 26939 31798 portunities are more dignified and
a sustained effort of ECR will cer-
Wagon km/ wagon day 151 162
tainly help in achieving splendid
Net t -km / wagon day 5387 6083 goals.
The Tirhut network
The advent of the MG network on the North is often attributed North-South divide has been corrected by 2015 commission-
to the famines of 1973 and the 69 km Dalsinghsarai to Samas- ing of the 2.56 km road-cum rail bridge that connects Patna
tipur line is often called the famine line and was commissioned with Sonpur. The single gauge network will change the 1875
in 1875. It is doubtful if the line alleviated the impact of the story from one of the local additions to that of integration and
famine though it may have provided some subsistence in its efficiency.
construction years and later recovery. The network grew in
bits and pieces, like a mosaic that connected most of North
Bihar on the MG. The Tirhut State Railway (later to combine
with the Oudh (Avadh) developed the mesh across the flood-
prone area of the region, and this will be a BG network some-
time soon. The sorrow of Bihar, River Kosi has added to the
woes with its shifting stands that would put any politician to
shame and often enough, the railway line was the only safe
location for the rural population affected by the floods. Some
have been tamed but many retain their wandering habits.
Of course, the Ganga divides Bihar neatly into two halves and
while the South had its freight and past passenger lines, the
North is the quintessence of the chotti lines that trudged
somehow. Gauge conversion has afforded modernisation and
traffic growth, particularly after the Project Uniguage in 1991.
Many milestones have been recorded in bridging the Ganges,
the first one being that connected Mokamah with Barauni,
providing a vital faster link to the North East via Katihar. The
4 Rail Business [Focus-India] November 2018F O C U S EAST CEN TR AL R AILWAY
ECR has taken new initiatives for the
overall efficiency of freight opera- Commodity wise loading achieved (in mt, rounded off, end of Sep 2018 data)
tions: Commodity 2016-17 2016-17 2017-18 2017-18 2018-19
l 10 new coal sidings have been no- total Apr- Sep total Apr-Sep Apr-Sep
tified; five co-use permission grant- YOY YOY
ed; 18 new goods sheds have been Coal 105.3 47.9 116.2 55.1 58.7
notified
Oil products 1.4 0.6 1.8 0.8 0.9
l 34 sidings/goods sheds notified for
Cement & clinker 1.4 0.7 3.29 1.61 1.8
24 hours working.
Food grain 1.0 0.7 1.09 0.8 0.7
l Induction of 08 diesel Distributed
Power Control System (DPWCS) Others 7.0 3.0 6.1 2.6 3.3
Loco units in Banadag Barh Cir-
Total 116.2 53.0 128.6 61.1 65.5
cuit to minimize detentions be-
cause of engine reversal; Formation
The demise of an experiment quent lack of enthusiasm. This traffic
of 05 electric DPWCS units in the
A significant chunk of modern multi- segment is too precious and full of
process for use in internal electrified
circuits. modal freight services is covered un- potential to be given up quickly.
der Roll on Roll off (RoRo) services Servicing the stock
l Extended crew runs introduced in where trucks (and not the goods
Gaya-Gomoh and Phusro, Barauni- For freight stock servicing, there is
alone) are transported by rail across nothing busier and crucial to the IR
Samastipur and Dharbanga, & difficult or time-consuming stretches.
Barauni-Mansi points network than the Mughalsarai
Such modal bridging occurs over sea, (MGS) intermediate overhaul
l Introduction of multiple unit (DE- hilly terrains, circuitous routes etc. (ROH) and wagon base depot. The
MU & MEMU) rakes in 16 passen- IR has just one limited operation on nearly 200 gondola wagon rakes
ger services. the Konkan Railway to show. In our based here move up and down the
A chronic issue of conflict with cus- interaction with the Member Traffic coal circuits, servicing the power
tomers and train delays occurs over in mid-2016, this effort was men- plants spread over North, East and in
the need to weigh individual wagon tioned as one of the future efforts for Central India. Each day MGS exam-
weights (after loading), often multiple increasing rail transport share, a plan ines and improves 15 gondola wagon
times by the client and IR. There has that has suffered infantile mortality, rakes as these move out on their 7000
been a lack of trust between IR and for lack of care perhaps. km circuits. MGS is augmented by
the clients, with each berating the depot at Barwadih on the CIC line
The Digha bridge across the Ganges
weight accuracy of the other. Delays that bases 55 bottom discharge BO-
was expected to provide another local
in operations are common in many BRN rakes.
success but has failed to kick off after
zones. ECR has now tried greater limited take off in May -Aug 2017, For Anil Sharma, Chief Mech Engi-
trust in client records with the issue when the effort just netted ` 1.38 Cr neer, MGS performance is a key met-
of a notification regarding acceptance in tariff. RoRo services were offered ric. Right now, the predominantly
of results from the clients weight by by ECR from Danapur (near Patna) BOXNHL wagons (in stainless steel
weight meter ex-loading points at Du- to Turki and later to other North of structure) show a decreasing trend of
dhichua and Silo. A similar proposal Ganges destinations. Many reasons attention as the average ineffective
for Bina is under process. Associate have been advanced for the quick de- holding of wagons per day has de-
weighbridge and alternate associate mise for the scheme not taking off, creased YOY.
weighbridge for almost all loading but perhaps lack of adequate pre-
Shiv Kumar points have been notified (few re- launch planning seems to have creat- One cause of concern for his team is
Chief Freight Traffic maining in process) to ensure 100% ed operational blocks and the subse- the many wagons, otherwise safe to
Manager
weighment of loaded rakes ex ECR. run, but poor structural conditions,
ECR, Hajipur
like a bad floor or distorted body,
render these unfit for loading. Often
ECR wagon performance enough operational pressures prevent
Metric 2017-18 2018-19 (YOY) these wagons being moved out of the
circuit, and this factor of embedded
Avg. ineffective wagons/day 1053 667
empties is worrisome. Remedies on
Avg. ineffective %age/day 4.1 2.7 hand include contracting for repairs
Average unloadable wagon holding/day in rail premises and better shopping
performance.
Category A light repairs 35 12
The absent workshops
Category B 184 131 During the 2002 IR reorganisation
Category C heavy repairs 339 213 into 16 zones, the boundaries were
re-fixed on what was politically
Total 558 356 acceptable rather than operational
6 Rail Business [Focus-India] November 2018FO CU S E AS T CE N T RAL R A I LWAY
for its expansion in the second phase
for 1200 coaches per annum, covering
all ICF coach classes. The absence of
a wagon overhaul shop is now being
addressed by the ` 400 Cr project for
setting up a new factory at Dalmiana-
gar (near Dehri-on-Son, Bihar) where
land available with IR makes the plan
feasible. This land has long been
looking for a project as an earlier
Minister had announced the setting
up of a steel casting unit that has since
been abandoned. This project will be
handled on a turnkey basis by RITES,
the IR PSU.
Workshops a plenty: a new electric loco assembly plant by Alstom at Madhepura
is set to supply 12000 hp locos to IR. A new abundance
integrity, leaving a key freight zone construction started in 2003, is now The past absence of workshops
may well now lead to an abun-
like the ECR without any workshops operational, with the periodic over-
dance , with two major private sec-
for wagon and coach overhauls. For haul of 600 coaches p.a. including of tor loco manufacturing plants (by
coaching stock, the deficiency has non-AC conventional ICF coaches GE and Alstom) coming up at
been partially filled by a new facility and corrosion repairs. Ambrish Ku- Marhowra and Madhepura. IR has
at Harnaut, near Patna. The first mar Singh, in charge manager for the already commissioned a wheel
phase of this ` 328 Cr plant, where workshop, added that there is scope casting plant at Chapra.
Set up a faster pace for distributed power DEAR EDITOR
Distributed loco power is not a new concept. Harris Control, that are 150 km or less. Things are different for longer passen-
now GE, introduced LOCOTROL some 50-years ago. The ger and freight trains.
result was increased hauling capacity, throughput, better rail
Well, Advanced has taken a different approach. While setting
adhesion, improved fuel Efficiency, increased system through-
up the DPWCS, a screen asks how many wagons are in this
put, lowered brake pipe charging time and reduced rail wear
rake and what the length of the train is. This establishes a
on curves. And reduced operating costs.
distance between a master and a single slave loco (if it is on
This all worked fine for diesel-electric locos. With AC locos the trailing end only).
in driving power (DP) mode (with or without DC traction
North American railroads use a distance counter to let loco
motors), one more factor was added; negotiating neutral
section when the master loco is separated from slave loco by drivers know when the last wagon of his rake has cleared the
a considerable distance. The private sector came in to help IR fouling point when taking a loop line. The next screen, how-
as Radio Remote Control / Distributed Power Wireless Con- ever, allows entering parameters for multiple slave locos, if
trol System (RRCS/DPWCS) was developed by a Bangalore needed.
based Advanced Electronics for IR. WR has successfully run trials on 18-coach Rajdhani (16-
When 25 KV AC EMUs (with DC TMs) were introduced, coaches and 2 end-on generation coaches) between Mumbai
trackside magnets were used to isolate individual motor coach- and Nizamuddin using one WAP5 at each end. It was success-
es while navigating neutral section individually. This method ful and increased average speed from 89.2 kph to a little over
had one drawback. The motor coach also supplied auxiliary 100 kph. Looking at features, DPWCS is a good start in elec-
power to trailer coaches for lights and fans. Relevant coaches trical locos. It, however, is not a match for LOCOTROL in
experienced dead fans and emergency lights during a transition. features and capabilities. LOCOTROL works universally,
whether it is a GE or EMD loco, AC or DC TMs and can the
Siemens and subsequent vendors (not Alstom which provided remote unit be idled and other functionalities.
AC 3-phase traction on WR before Siemens came in) solved
the problem by feeding aux circuits from a live neighboring DPWCS works only on electric locos with AC TMs and man-
motor coach. There is a flip switch in the motor coach to ufactured using Bombardier design. Their scope is limited,
provide such power. If someone forgets about it, trailer coaches though. This design cannot have WAP5 leading andWAP4
receiving aux power from that motor coach, face blackouts trailing or vice versa
while passing neutral section. One can see that in Mumbai Keep the fingers crossed. Passengers will benefit from a faster
occasionally. That is a different story anyway. train service.
The EMUs are less than 300 m long and they traverse tracks (P Tendulkar, a life long rail fan, from California)
Rail Business [Focus-India] November 2018 7F O CU S EA ST CEN TR AL R AILWAY
Gates to the glorious and the unknown:
improving passenger experiences
platform and all passengers must access various platforms
through the lone foot over bridge (FOB), a heritage structure
dating back to 1884! The ongoing ` 17 Cr development work
envisages a new station building and home platform towards
the North of the existing platforms, with a new 6 m wide FOB
Atulya Sinha connecting existing platforms and providing exits towards the
Divisional Railway
Manager, Sonpur North and the South sides of the station. Another major part
is provision of adequate parking space for 4-wheelers, 2-
Railway termini are our gates to the glorious and the wheelers, auto rickshaws, etc. by a small diversion of the road
unknown. Through them we pass out into the adventure and running along the North of the station. Achalesh Nandan ,a
sunshine EM Forster. leading Patna architect , has been engaged for the detailed
designing , including of the waiting rooms and other amenities
IR has laid emphasis on development of stations to improve
passenger experiences. On ECR Sonpur and Hajipur stations, Hajipur station layout has remained largely unchanged since
the divisional and zonal headquarters respectively, have been the single line era of meter gauge track operated by steam
identified for concentrated development and extensive efforts traction. The ongoing ` 20 Cr station development will greatly
are being made to upgrade the existing infrastructure and to improve passenger accessibility by provision of a new 6-m
introduce new facilities, keeping in view passenger conven- wide FOB with escalators, ramps and stairs connecting all the
ience, economy and environmental. platforms with exits at both ends of the station. The existing
FOB is being upgraded with elevators for each platform.
From sleepy semi-urban locations to centers of modern local
cities, both are steadily evolving as preferred habitats and local The circulating area is being enlarged with increased parking
commerce centers and the efforts at the station re-dos reflect areas for various vehicles, befitting the station as a zonal
this evolution. Short term inconveniences during the devel- headquarter. The national flag will be displayed on a high
mast in the circulating area. For station amenities, new air-
opment phase apart, passengers will certainly benefit from
conditioned waiting rooms have been constructed, train indi-
improved infrastructure at these stations.
cation boards and coach indication boards are being provided
A bridge dating back to 1884 and a paperless charting display system for passenger reserva-
The annual cattle fair shows the weight that Sonpur carried tions has been introduced. One food plaza is already functional,
for the local rural economy. Sonpur station lacks a home and a fast food unit is to be launched soon.
Sonpur and Hajipur stations now and planned. From left: Sonpur now and as planned; Hajipur now and an artist's impression of the future.
Easing recruitment worries has now been mitigated and should Smaller niche inductions, like those
Technology is now assisting speed up set a good practice for the future. for 89 gatemen from the ex-
the recruitment processes. This has servicemen category have been
One negative aspect is the time taken
been amply shown by the centralized speeded up and the last batch proc-
for the initial centralized recruitment:
Railway Recruitment Board process- essed in just a month . Technology
on the ECR the last assistant driver
ing induction of a near 1,00,000 per- has also come in for biometric work-
(designated pilots for some social
sons, something that should be com- place attendance recording, some-
reasons!) was sometime back, and
pleted later this year. The burden of thing needed deeply in many govern-
lack of physical addition to this critical
multiple applications and test appear- ment officials not linked to train
category can only hurt operations.
ances in regional Recruitment Boards operations.
8 Rail Business [Focus-India] November 2018FO CU S E AS T CE N T RAL R A I LWAY
Crawling trains hurt capacity & speeds
A summary enumeration study of Delhi Bhopal Shatabdi train Bhopal Shatabdi, sample survey in mid-2018
speed charts indicates 2 to 3 hours crawling at 30kph or below, Average of 10 trips
out of the timetabled 8.5 hours for the 700 km distance. The
Stoppages
average train speed is 85 kph while the maximum is 150 kph
that is maintained for only a fraction of time. The train typically Train 12002: 170 min. (avg)
has 20 crawling instances in its run for a 36 minutes journey 12001: 115 min. (avg)
between Mathura and Palwal. IR coaching trains broadly fall
into three speed categories, stopping passenger trains, express SpeedH U M A N RESOURCE TR ANSP OR TATION U N I V E RS I T Y
NRTI for the much-needed skill base
October 2018 at the formal inauguration of the National Rail and Transportation Institute, from left to right : Lily Pandeya, Executive Director, Railway Board, Dr. Pramath
Raj Sinha, Founding Dean of ISB, Hyderabad and Consultant for the rail university project, Alka Arora Misra, Executive Director and Nodal Officer, Ashwani Lohani, Chairman,
IR Board and Chancellor, SN Agrawal, Member Staff, and Interim Vice-Chancellor, Pradeep Kumar, Director General, NAIR, Dr. Anurag Meshram, Registrar, Dr. Jagjit Kaur,
Visiting Professor, and Dr. Mathai Fenn, Visiting Professor
The National Rail and Transportation Institute, NRTI, Transportation Technology and BBA program in Trans-
a deemed university under a de novo category, is now a portation Management) have started with 103 students
reality in Vadodara as it opened its doors to the first batch from Sep 5, 2018. The first batch has been selected
of 103 students drawn from 20 states of India. The idea through an online test conducted in 25 cities.
of setting up such a university was conceptualized by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014. Earlier a required These three-year degree programs have interdisciplinary
notification was issued by the HRD Ministry in July 2018. curricula consisting of foundation, core and elective cours-
es and are benchmarked with leading institutions in the
SN Agarwal, Member Staff, IR Board, and current Vice- world.
Chancellor summed up the vision and urgency for this
university. NRTI is envisaged to be Indias first rail and The Institute will follow a demand-driven curriculum
transportation university, specifically established to create while aligning with industry priorities. To ensure best-in-
a resource pool of best-in-class professionals for the railway class delivery of education, NRTI will aim to provide a
and transportation sector. NRTI will aspire to be a leader highly experiential and unique inter-disciplinary pedagogy
in transportation-focused applied education, training, and incorporating the latest technologies, i.e., live classrooms
research, creating graduates and postgraduates who are and online programs delivered by high-quality faculty
uniquely qualified to pursue and excel in careers in railways with global exposure.
as well as all other transportation-related industries.
The Institute will also focus on developing global and
Two under-graduate fully residential programs (B.Sc. in national partnerships with relevant world-class academic
These three-year degree programs have interdisciplinary curricula consisting of foundation, core and elective
courses and are benchmarked with leading institutions in the world.
Foundation courses Core courses for Bachelor of Core courses for BSc
l Dynamics of the transportation Business Administration
l Intelligent transport systems
ecosystem l Essentials of business
l Information systems
l Critical thinking and writing
l Principles of accounting and
l Design thinking l Linear and non-linear dynamics
finance
l Fundamentals of economics l Green logistics and mobility
l Principles of marketing
l Environmental sciences and l Strategic information systems
sustainability l Supply chain planning and
control l Transport operations and tech-
l Communication and
nology
negotiation l Operations management
l Ethics strategy l Technology, law and ethics
l Data analytics l Transport systems
l Leadership management
l Project management
10 Rail Business [Focus-India] November 2018FO CU S E AS T CE N T RAL R A I LWAY
institutes, universities and industries. ment, efficient and transparent con- l Memorandum with Cornell Uni-
This will be done to ensure exchange tract procurement, administration, versity, USA in June 2018.
of the latest pedagogy and program and operation and management.
design, and prevailing transportation- NRTI is a key contributor to this l Memorandum with the University
related domain knowledge, innova- need. of California in August 2018.
tions and research developments. NRTI students will graduate not only
Begin with a select faculty
NRTI will also adopt an interdiscipli- with a solid grounding in their disci-
nary approach for research of trans- The concept will be high end as the
pline but also with a set of core values
port systems it will bring together University has contracted visiting fac-
dedication to nation building, com-
academicians, scientists and engineers ulty with excellent credentials, for
mitment to innovation and academic
from various backgrounds, and lever- example
excellence, compassion towards peo-
age its academic and industry partner- l Dr. Usha Mohan, Professor of Sup- ple and society and responsibility to-
ships and collaborations. ply Chain, Operations & Risk Man- wards the environment. Students will
Much needed skills agement at IIT Madras to teaching take charge of their own learning - an
Transport in India is rapidly increas- Dynamics of Transportation important design principle at NRTI.
ing and the share of transportation Systems
They will be problem solvers, crit-
and logistics to GDP is forecasted to l Dr. Jagjit Kaur Singh, on Introduc- ical thinkers, effective communica-
increase from 5.8 percent in 2015 to tion to Critical Thinking tors and versatile leaders.
6.8 percent in 2025. The National
Skill Development Corporations rel- l Dr. Mathai Fenn, XLRI, Jamshed- NRTI will offer programs in fields
evant report indicates that India will pur introducing the young minds such as transport economics, opera-
need a workforce of around 2.51 Cr to Foundations of Leadership tions, technology and policy, materi-
by 2022, a significant increase from als science, sustainable transportation,
l Prof. Tushar Jaruhar on Essentials
0.73 Cr in 2008. The sector is expect- systems engineering and design, and
of Business.
ed to witness one of the highest incre- data science for transport some of
mental HR requirements across the NRTI has begun its earnest efforts at the larger educational and research
24 mapped sectors. India urgently excellence by forging collaborations requirements currently not met in
requires people adept at infrastructure in faculty and student exchange and India. The programs will focus on
development, especially planning, joint research with reputed global uni- enabling 21st-century skills and
project identification and develop- versities and institutions: breadth of knowledge.
JSPL commences long rail supply to IR
The first rake of 1000 t 260 m long rails
from JSPL Raigarh was despatched in Au-
gust to Roorkee, starting the regular supply
against IRs development order of 0.1 mil-
lion t placed earlier this year.
JSPL had bid in response to an IR tender
along with 7 other large international rail
producers. JSPL is one of the 7 internation-
al companies equipped to produce head-
hardened rails and has already shipped to
Bangladesh and Iran as also for the new
Indian dedicated freight corridors. JSPL
can produce single rails up to 121 m and 3
rail welded panels up to 480 m.
Supply of rails to IR is like a dream come
true. We saw this dream of rail supplies ex
Raigad two decades ago and we have this
fulfillment after quite some hard work and
a long wait. This is but a beginning and we
are sure of continuing rail supplies to IR.
This is a moment full of emotions and some
pride. Navin Jindal, Chairman, JSPL.
Rail Business [Focus-India] November 2018 11H I G H SPEED RAIL SAF ETY
Gearing up for 100% safety;
no ifs and buts, ever
The Mumbai Ahmedabad high speed link, now well on its preparatory stages of planning, designing, and pre-tendering
stages, will use integrated safety warning systems for external factors, never deployed so far on Indian rail network.
IR uses weather and flood warnings based on the archaic patrol man and track washouts have occurred rather too
frequently due to local reservoir bursts and natural features. Immediate train control based on preset threshold limits
will be a key part of the system .
The Indian HSR link will have a built-in comprehensive disaster safety management system covering monitoring
of earthquakes and automatic stoppage of trains on detection of primary waves and continuous monitoring and
control of train speeds for rail temperature, wind pressure and rain.
Even if the route, all away from the coastal regions, is not
known for threatening air movements, 14 anemometers
will continuously monitor wind speeds at susceptible
points locations where strong winds are expected. The
threshold values decided is that for wind speed beyond
30 m/s (108 kph), an alarm can be sounded in the OCC
so that train can be stopped (for wind speed less than
30 m/s, the train operation regulation shall be fixed).
Wind sensor locations have been based on past records,
simulation and field survey carried out by the Japanese
Quake warnings research center RTRI . 8 of the 14 locations are around
The HSRC link will often mirror Japanese practices and major rivers.
expectedly, earthquake warning system will permeate to
the ground level, taking care to eliminate any disastrous Wind Monitoring
effects. The HSR route crosses some quake prone areas
in Western India, which witnessed a major disaster in Instantaneous wind speed
Stop train operation
1993 due to an earthquake induced dam burst in Latur. 80
Speed restriction (160kph) 30min
The Japanese have almost perfected the art of earthquake
Wind speed (m/s)
Speed restriction (70kph)
60
warnings for all sectors, the Shinkansen included. Any Stop train operation
quake warning leads to immediate operations stoppages. 40
And their record has been perfect.
20
Prashant Mishra, General Manager with the HSRC, indi-
cated that the Early Earthquake Detection System will 0
Resume train operation
feature 22 along-track seismometers, with six more in the
three most vulnerable seismic zone (Kutch, Koyna-Warna
region and Latur-Osmanabad) installations. These will
detect any primary waves that often precede physical The threats from above
damage and enforce immediate shutdown of power supply Six rain gauges at vulnerable locations will continuously
and stopping train movements at threshold values. measures rainfall and compile moving total data for 1-
hour and 24-hours. The critical area is the tunnel mouth
Maximum design rail temperature of the Mumbai-Vapi 22 km long tunnel section .The
70º rainfall threshold value for the train operation regulation
40º below maximum temp. shall be fixed based on experience.
Range of
rail neutral 35º
temperature
30º 350
for continuous
welded rail
40º above maximum temp. 60 300
Hourly Rainfall (mm/h)
24 hour Rainfall (mm)
-5º 250
Maximum design rail temperature
40 200
150
Care on those hot days Hourly rainfall
20 100
Rails will be continuously monitored through 5 sensors 24 hour rainfall
100 km apart at locations where temperature is expected 50
to be maximum and alarms sounded in the Operation 0 0
Control Centre (OCC) in case of temperatures beyond
the threshold levels of -5oC to 70oC .
12 Rail Business [Focus-India] November 2018O PI N I O N SA F ET Y
Rail trespassers: a solution certainly not suggested
Neither IR nor its train driver was responsible for the accident Prime Minister Nehru phoned the Divisional Superintendent
at Amritsar. It is the responsibility of the individual citizen to (DS, as he was designated then) in Danapur and asked about
follow the safety rules. the other express trains that stopped there. On a reply that
only Upper India Express stopped at Barh, he asked the DS
Standing in on a track in use is dangerous and illegal.
to cancel that stoppage also. Today political parties are ap-
The cases of runover of trespassers, people travelling on train peasing the masses and supporting wrong actions by our
roofs and getting injured or killed are excluded from the citizens to get few extra votes.
definition of serious accident as per IR classificationon of a
Anthony (Tony) Cracker of Jhajha Steam Shed was the driver.
train accident. These are not mandatorily required to be
They hosed down the locomotive immediately on arrival at
inquired into by the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS).
Jhajha. Tony was under orders not to stop the train at any
As per the extant statutory investigation into railway accident
cost at Barh. For a few months afterward, he was only booked
rules, an inquiry shall be obligatory only in cases where the
in the other direction towards Asansol as somebody at Barh
passenger is killed or grievously hurt when travelling in the
would have killed him if they could lay hands on him.
train. A person traveling on roof, footboard or buffers is ex-
cluded from the obligatory category. However, the Commis- In this case instructions were specific, and a special envoy was
sioner may inquire into any accident which in his opinion on footplate to ensure that the train did not stop irrespective
requires an inquiry. of size of crowd on tracks. I had heard then from my foreman
Supabitra Bose, a young Chargeman then at Jhajha, that there
Many a time we hear that Minister has ordered an inquiry by
was a government representative, possibly a magistrate, on
the CRS. This is a mis-representation as, in terms of provisions
the loco footplate. Cracker had confirmed his instructions on
in Railway Act, the Minister cannot order such an inquiry. IR
seeing the crowd and then, blowing his whistle, he put the
is mandated to give notice of the accident (as in Section 113
regulator full-on, turned his back to the track ahead and, facing
of the Act) to the Commissioner who decides further.
his tender, ran through.
I remember one incident way back in 1850, people of Barh
(Content based on posts by Benu Munshi, Debashis Ray and
(near Patna) were demanding stoppage of Toofan Express (a
Sudesh Kumar, all retired senior IR/industry executives, has
prestigious train then) at Barh and 21 people were squatting
not been verified by us).
on the track to press their demand. The Up Toofan Express
crossed the station without stopping, killing these 21 people.
Perform, Reform, Conform and Transform
Rajesh Agarwal, now Mem- Rajesh Agrawal is a go-getter to achieve the targets set. I was
ber Rolling Stock, earlier particularly impressed by the commitment to make a 'leakage
General Manager in the free' diesel locomotive, where not even a drop of oil would leak
Modern Coach Factory, Rae from anywhere. The engine-room was to be dry and clean. This
Bareilly looks forward to a was a task given to Itarsi shed when he was the Chief Mech
period of taking the IR visions Engineer on the West Central, and I was not very hopeful of
further. His message to his anyone in IR to achieve it. I was pleasantly surprised to see a
colleagues is simple and locomotive nearly meeting with whatever I had specified in
powerful: Perform, Reform, about one year after the task was given. That is Rajesh Agrawal
Conform and Transform . for you. ...Hemant Kumar, ex Member, IR Board
Agarwal, a second-generation railway-man, from the 1982 I had the privilege of working with Rajesh in his formative years
Mechanical engineering batch, has seen varied positions in as a loco officer in the Bilaspur division. I was struck by his quick
his IR career. I am fortunate to be familiar with the challenges responses and total loyalty to the best interests of the organisa-
and circumstances in units across the country. Baselines and tion. Most importantly he was never overawed by authority and
strategies on computers/cloud will start taking shape now, did whatever was right and proper in fulfilment of his tasks and
translating into early results. The departmental reorganisation responsibilities without fear. I am sure he would bring these
for rolling stock is being firmed up with the creation of a enviable traits to his present assignment.
Trainset Directorate. ...AK Banerji, Ex GM, Central Railway
Agarwal has seen through projects varying from the UNESCO As a trainee at Jamalpur, Rajesh was forthright in what he had
heritage tag for its 4 locations, IRs IT systems in CRIS and to say. I have not had too much contact with him since, but I
the many positions spread over eight IR zones . He comes in believe he is still as straight forward in his speech as he was then.
with a brilliant academic career too that includes degrees in More power to his elbow!
mechanical, electrical, and metallurgical engineering. ...Debashis Ray, Ex-Professor, IRIMEE, Jamalpur
Rail Business [Focus-India] November 2018 13F R E I GHT STEEL C OIL WAG ONS
40% payload plus with steel coil flat wagons
68.6 t, leading to a total rake payload of approx. 4000 mt
(an expected 40% increase over the old BFNS wagon
rake). Each BFNSM wagon can accommodate three to
five coils of varying size and weights, subject to the max
weight limit. Since all wagons may not be able to be loaded
to exact capacity, the idle freight is expected to reduce
with this new wagon design (IR tariffs are levied over the
chargeable capacity of the wagons and not actual loading).
These wagons can be loaded up to an axle load of 25 t,
while the earlier versions were limited to 22.9 t axle load.
The new rake will temporarily operate under speed re-
strictions till RDSOs certification trials are completed.
The first high productivity flat wagon for steel coils, BFNSM, under optimised
Since the carrying capacity of this rake is 40% higher
loading in the despatch lines of Tata Steel, Kalinganagar. compared to the BFNS design, use of BFNSM is equiva-
lent to decongesting the rail network.
The BFNSM design has been a game changer and we will A significant TSL investment
see more and more such rakes being inducted for steel
The wagons have been procured and are being operated
coil transportation by other steel manufacturers as well.
by TMILL under IRs Special Freight Train Operations
Ashish Gupta.
[ SFTO] scheme that permits private investment in niche
A new design of steel coil carrying flat cars, the BFNSM cargoes like steel, edible oil, petroleum products, fly ash
coded wagon, is now operational as the first load was & cement through specially designed higher capacity
shipped from the Tata Steel Kalinganagar plant on wagons.
Oct 9. This new design permitting higher loading per
rake came about mainly due to collaboration between Gupta added that TMILL is operating four rakes under
Tata Steel and IRs design center RDSO. This effort has SFTO license and has placed a formal contract for another
now been in process for some years, starting as Tata Steel eleven rakes, making TMILL the largest SFTO operator
Ashish Gupta
Managing Director, (TSL) identified the future trend of manufacturing large with 15 rakes. Nine will be BFNSM rakes and balance
TM International diameter coils, which faced difficulties in transportation new BFNS 22.9 t rakes. By FY 19-20, TMILL expects to
Logistics in conventional gondola BOX or earlier BFNS flat wagon. handle 1.2 to1.5 mt p.a. steel cargo.
a Tata Steel logistics
company
Large coils can now be transported by rail instead of by Modern integrated steel plants have a minimum capacity
road. Gupta credits RDSO with coming up with a new of 3.0 mtpa with 5 to 6 mtpa being the norm. TSLs
manufacturing design in a very short time. Jamshedpur Plant has a capacity of 11 mt pa. Evacuating
The design process involved interaction at various levels this much steel coils is a logistically challenging and rakes
between TSL and RDSO engineers, a successful example like BFNSM help in reducing complexity. TMILL will be
of how such collaboration efforts should go. The rake operating these rakes from Jamshedpur, Kalinganagar &
with 58 wagons max is designed for carrying steel coils of Angul Plants for destinations across India, further improv-
small and large diameters to a max per wagon payload of ing the by-rail coefficient of these plants.
Digital add-ons for passengers
Ixigo, an on-line travel marketplace has introduced offline mode on its trains App for android
users , letting travellers stay updated with live train running status, search for trains and routes
etc. This addition is helpful in view of less than complete connectivity on offer right now on IR
routes. The App does, of course , provide the usual ability for train enquiries, including live status,
reservations etc.
The features for latest train news and popular trains should keep the user engrossed during
journeys and is a useful addition. Network issues during train travel restrict accessibility of
accurate information, which is a common pain point for travellers. Our intent was to provide a
simplistic solution to this issue. It was a big challenge to keep the app light by compressing an
additional 100MB offline train data, within the 10MB size. IXIGO currently has 20 million
monthly active users. Rajnish Kumar, CTO & co-founder
14 Rail Business [Focus-India] November 2018F O C U S CRIS
Multiple ICT projects put CRIS in overdrive
Mukesh Nigam, Managing Director, Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), the
IT arm of IR, has varied experience in various fields, having served in key positions like
Divisional Railway Manager, Mumbai, Executive Director/Coaching in the Railway Board
and in CRIS.
Nigam, from the IR Traffic Service, now has a leading role in directing the ever-growing
digital footprint. His leadership will be enhanced by the premium hands-on experiences in
CRIS as Director Operations when he had overall responsibility for development, implemen-
tation and maintenance of frontline IR applications such as Freight Operations Information
Systems, Control Office Application, Crew Management System, Integrated Coaching
Management System etc.
CRIS has started adopting new technologies and methods. With the general thrust towards
digitalization, CRIS will have an embedded role in development & implementation of the
IR digital bouquet in multiple spheres. We need to provide best-in-class utilities and that is
a challenge and an opportunity for a big footprint. ...M Nigam, MD, CRIS.
The advent of affordable smartphone based telephony zones, that is not truly pan India, but that deficiency is
has led to a quick migration of customers from the PC/ well on the way out too. Nigam adds that this number in
laptop-based ticket bookings to the mobile phone and absolute terms is still low, but this will become the fa-
the trend is sure to continue. voured route in coming years. That will be a boon for the
IR booking counters which often struggle with up to one-
The mobile phone is the emerging prince and the king
hour delays for general ticketing at major stations. The
of the future.
CRIS services are getting flooded with visitors as they
For Mukesh Nigam, MD, IRs IT arm CRIS, the roads to probe the possibilities: the visitor numbers cross 35 lakh
be taken for IR ticketing and other services are clear. In per day, though at present only about 10% convert the
around a span of a year, mobile phone-based passenger visit to a booking.
reservations on the PRS platform have grown to nearly
The UTSonMobile App has been designed to keep local
60%, even though around 30% are still physically trans-
conditions in mind, ensuring that ticket faking is tough.
acted across the counters. The 30% number will shrink
Nigam explained the steps needed for a booking : starting
gradually but a core number will eventually remain due
with a registration through the App (that captures frequent
to literacy and access issues. The other indicator for the
trip data also), a passenger may book a ticket when within
big shift to the mobile phone is shown by the near expo-
about 1 km near a station or by clicking on a static QR
nential growth in general (unreserved accommodation,
code displayed in a station, the source station is populated
often for suburban travel) bookings through the not-too-
based on the GPS location. The limitation of proving
old UTSonMobile platform. Launched as an experiment
physical presence in a station area, but not yet on a train,
in Dec 2014 in Mumbai , the facility extended to Chennai,
is enforced by a geo-fencing tool that determines the
Delhi, Kolkata and Secunderabad up to 2017 and has
customers physical position through the GPS location
since been extended to all but two IR zones (NFR and
link. For this purpose, CRIS has already developed a
WCR, likely to be covered in next 3 months), with current
complete geo-model of the IR stations and the system is
numbers showing booking of above 3.5 lakh tickets per
fairly faking proof. In effect, the smartphone becomes
day. From a mere 1934 tickets per day in early 2015,
the identity of the passenger as well as the ticket repository.
nearly 60 000 tickets are being issued every day now. The
The IMEI is the identification, but a change of telephones
system has 44,05,000 registered users at present.
is offered too. With 10 m resolution presumed for modern
At present the system does not permit booking across IR GPS systems, the system ensures that tickets cannot be
issued once on board. In keeping with modern trends,
The power of the net digital payments through the many means available are
used. The issue of season tickets for suburban services is
enabled too.
Geo-fencing is use of GPS or RFID technology to
create a virtual geographic boundary, enabling software
to trigger a response when a mobile device enters or
leaves a particular area.
That mobile based ticketing is catching up across the
18 Rail Business [Focus-India] November 2018You can also read
