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It is set to open tender for a delayed metro coach factory at Kanchrapara in West Bengal on Thursday, for which global transportation and engineering biggies including Bombardier Transportation, Siemens, Hyundai, Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles of Spain and Alstom had evinced interest.
So Railbiz was correct, it indeed is a metro rail coach/rake factory.
Although i'm not sure if having 5-6 manufacturers of a same/similar product is going to offer any benefits, in terms of operational capabilities. Yes it offers a wider competition leading to lower prices, but imagine having a cluster of 2-3 cities, one type of product and having 5-6 such clusters, all operating a different product. Not sure as a railway manager, its a nice proposition having to maintain different spares and maintenance staff.
We should consolidate like we are doing in loco sector, example WAP 5 and WAP 7/WAG9 are only two categories being manufactured (some minor changes do remain), but it highly simplfies supply chain side management for not only CLW but also regional railway loco sheds.

In case of Metro trains, i see a situation developing similar to what we had in mid 80s, when CLW was pushing forward its thyristor chopper controlled WAG 5 variants, RM was dabbling with ASEA and Hitachi's TC WAG 6 variants in search of a HHP loco.
 
So Railbiz was correct, it indeed is a metro rail coach/rake factory.
Although i'm not sure if having 5-6 manufacturers of a same/similar product is going to offer any benefits, in terms of operational capabilities. Yes it offers a wider competition leading to lower prices, but imagine having a cluster of 2-3 cities, one type of product and having 5-6 such clusters, all operating a different product. Not sure as a railway manager, its a nice proposition having to maintain different spares and maintenance staff.
We should consolidate like we are doing in loco sector, example WAP 5 and WAP 7/WAG9 are only two categories being manufactured (some minor changes do remain), but it highly simplfies supply chain side management for not only CLW but also regional railway loco sheds.

In case of Metro trains, i see a situation developing similar to what we had in mid 80s, when CLW was pushing forward its thyristor chopper controlled WAG 5 variants, RM was dabbling with ASEA and Hitachi's TC WAG 6 variants in search of a HHP loco.

Kolkata: After awarding a Rs 40,000 crore project to Alstom and GE Transport for locomotive projects in Bihar last month, Indian Railways has embarked on a second major initiative.
It is set to open tender for a delayed Metro Coach Factory at Kanchrapara in West Bengal on Thursday, for which global transportation and engineering biggies including Bombardier Transportation, Siemens, Hyundai, Construccionesy Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) of Spain and Alstom had evinced interest. (Download here the Information Memoradum: INFORMATION_MEMORANDUM

This time the Railways is offering more amenable terms to attract private players, but it it is not yet known if they are still interested given the time and cost overruns.
Initially, the project was for manufacturing just Electric Multiple Units, or EMU, the technical nomenclature for coaches used in city trains, as per the Request for Qualification floated in October. Now, the joint venture partners would be allowed to manufacture metro coaches as well, sources said.
With this, the number of responses is expected to be higher as the closing date for bid draws near.

http://www.railnews.co.in/railway-ministry-to-open-bids-for-kanchrapara-rail-coach-factory-today/
 
INFORMATION_MEMORANDUM_Page_1.jpg
INFORMATION_MEMORANDUM_Page_2.jpg


@anant_s @Nilgiri

What did you deduce after reading the information memorandum?











New Rail Coach (Palakkad-Kerala,Kolar-Karnataka & Kancharapara- West Bengal) at and Engine Factories (Marhoura- Bihar, Madherpura- Bihar & Dankuni- West Bengal)

09/03/2016 By irctcportal Leave a Comment

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New Rail Coach (Palakkad-Kerala,Kolar-Karnataka & Kancharapara- West Bengal) at and Engine Factories (Marhoura- Bihar, Madherpura- Bihar & Dankuni- West Bengal)

Diesel Locomotives: Horse power of Diesel Locomotives has been increased from 2600 to 4500 HP. These locos have state-of-art three phase AC-AC Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) based traction system. Moreover, other improvements like dual cab, Air Conditioner in loco cabs, Auxiliary Power Unit (APU), Hotel load, Distributed Power Control System (DPCS), etc., are provided in locomotives.

Electric Locomotives: It has been decided to produce only new generation state-of-art three-phase electric locomotives in future. These new generation locos save up to 20% electricity consumption due to regenerative braking features.


screenshot-irctcportal.in 2016-08-22 15-02-34.png


This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on 09.03.2016 (Wednesday).

http://irctcportal.in/index.php/201...a-bihar-madherpura-bihar-dankuni-west-bengal/
 
So Railbiz was correct, it indeed is a metro rail coach/rake factory.
Although i'm not sure if having 5-6 manufacturers of a same/similar product is going to offer any benefits, in terms of operational capabilities. Yes it offers a wider competition leading to lower prices, but imagine having a cluster of 2-3 cities, one type of product and having 5-6 such clusters, all operating a different product. Not sure as a railway manager, its a nice proposition having to maintain different spares and maintenance staff.
We should consolidate like we are doing in loco sector, example WAP 5 and WAP 7/WAG9 are only two categories being manufactured (some minor changes do remain), but it highly simplfies supply chain side management for not only CLW but also regional railway loco sheds.

In case of Metro trains, i see a situation developing similar to what we had in mid 80s, when CLW was pushing forward its thyristor chopper controlled WAG 5 variants, RM was dabbling with ASEA and Hitachi's TC WAG 6 variants in search of a HHP loco.
It's a fair point bro but I think that the IR structure/mandate is so fundamentally different to the metros of different cities so as to make the lack of commonality irrelevent. The IR is a single network spanning a vast nation with standardised coaches/rakes and thus the need to keep spares across depots for a limited number of trains all across India.

However, these metros are all independant of one another, they are not being operated by a common entity and are all run as self-contained units by their respective state governments. As such, they will be required to keep spares locally of whatever systems they have and can't rely on a city metro nearby for spares (although as the metros become more commonplace for smaller and smaller cities/towns you may start to see joint bids for geographically close cities/metros). Thusly any OEM that makes a bid for a city metro has to include support infrastructure and through life service which would include the city metro network's own spares within their own network.

I can only see more competition benefiting India (lower costs, more employment, more scope for export revenue, increased manufacuturing base and hopefully a trickle down effect to the IR to adopt some of their world class manufacturing practices).
 
@anant_s @Nilgiri @Ankit Kumar 002 @PARIKRAMA @Abingdonboy

ICF’s response to quality issues

AUGUST 22, 2016


I had raised a grievance regarding these quality issues on pgportal, as well as on Twitter. CME (Chief Mechanical Engineer) at ICF was very prompt to reply on Twitter. He informed that brainstorming sessions were conducted at ICF for improving paint quality, apart from a few other things.
The pgportal grievance was also forwarded to ICF for resolution. ICF’s reply is as follows:

The grievances of the applicant have been studied in detail with concerned departments. The points given on both Interior Exterior of MUTP(EMU) rakes also thoroughly studied. It is to be mentioned here that, all the item have details specifications drawings. The materials supplied by various manufacturers are based on our drawings specifications which are inspected by M/s.RITES before supply. ICF also strictly following the despatch targets given by Railway Board to Western Railway till date. All the coaches are manufactured as per strict QAP with stage inspections wherever needed. Post despatch, ICF is getting feedback on each rate at the time of commissioning at Western Railway. Board on the commissioning reports all the vendors ICF staff whoever involved in manufacture of MUTP (EMU) rakes have been asked to visit Western Railway and to rectify the defects then there. This is a continuous process and a system is in existence for addressing all the commissioning issues raised by Western Railway. Anyway ICF is taking all the points given by the applicant giving special attention to it. All necessary preventive /corrective action on despatched rakes as well as future rakes are initiated and ensured.
From their reply it is clear that ICF has taken efforts to patiently go through everything before replying. They made a sincere attempt to understand the issues. I would like to thank the team at ICF for the sincere efforts they have taken to resolve the grievance & for devoting time to listen to a layman. I am eagerly waiting to see the positive changes in rakes manufactured from now!
I would also take this opportunity to congratulate ICF for reaching milestone of 50th Bombardier rake. It is definitely not an easy task to manufacture 600 coaches in such a short duration.

https://mrvcmania.wordpress.com/2016/08/22/icfs-response-to-quality-issues/
 
Army, Rlys moot major strategic plan to develop border stations

http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/army-rlys-moot-major-strategic-plan-develop-border-stations/

JAMMU, Aug 21: In a significant strategic decision taken keeping in view the future requirements of the troops in border States especially to meet with any eventuality, the Railways and Defence Ministries have joined hands to jointly develop some important Railway Stations, located close to the borders, which would meet long term requirements of the Army in case of some major terror attacks or hostilities.


Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu have already held meetings in this regard in the Union capital, which were followed by series of meetings by the officers of the two Ministries to give final shape to the proposal before undertaking the strategic projects in hands.


Sources told the Excelsior that important Railway Stations, being developed with strategic considerations in mind in the Phase-I included Jammu Tawi and Pathankot apart from Mhow, Agra Cantonment, Jabalpur, Ambala, Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Jodhpur and Barmer.


“Not only the Railways Stations of border States but some others, which have Army Cantonments and high presence of troops, were also being taken up for development in the Phase-I. They would help mobilization of the troops in surrounding areas within no time,’’ sources said, adding that the two Ministries would work on more Railway Stations once the stations, which were being undertaken in hands in Phase-I were completed and the experiment was proved successful.


“The Engineering wing of the Army would conduct survey of strategic railway stations first and list requirements of the troops during any kind of build-up before the projects are given final shape and construction work launched on them. However, the Railway Stations would be developed in such a way that both during normal times as well as during build-up, the normal activity of the passengers was no way affected,’’ sources said, adding for the purpose the officials of both the Ministries—Defence and Railways will work in close coordination with each other during the construction period.
Sources said the Indian Railway Station Development Corporation and Rail Land Development will assist the Army in the survey, which would be carried out before undertaking construction work in the hands as everything has to be done keeping in view the Army requirements—both during peace time as well as any kind of hostilities but, at the same time, the Railways had to ensure that normal activities of the passengers and movement of trains go on unhindered during and after the construction and passengers didn’t face any kind of inconvenience.


Sources said with Army becoming a partner in the ambitious station redevelopment project, the stations will also have adequate infrastructure for the Army’s strategic needs and requirements.

“Many of the Railway stations cater to mobilization of troops and ammunition. If the Army takes up redevelopment of these stations, they can create infrastructure that suits their purpose on all occasions,” sources said.
Sources said the Railways Ministry has found four other funding partners to redevelop the railway stations.
They included partnership with private parties (PPP), country-to-country cooperation, financial assistance from the World Bank and joint ventures with the State Governments.

It may be mentioned here that the Defence Ministry had recently take up a major initiative of converting strips along National Highways and Expressways, falling along the borders and other strategic areas, into air strips to use them for immediate build up of the troops to counter any terror threat or in case of any hostilities on the borders.
The surveys for identification of such air strips has already begun, sources said, adding that the Indian Air Force has also conducted trial at one place for landing its chopper along the air strip of the National Highway.
“The experiment was successful,’’ sources said.

 
Mumbai will have to wait until 2025 to get next AC local

By Shashank Rao | Posted 22-Aug-2016
Following troubled trials of the first air-conditioned rake, railway officials want to change the way air-conditioned trains are procured. This means the city may not get its second AC train before 2025

If you’re waiting for the day when you can finally catch an air-conditioned train to work, don’t hold your breath. Turns out, the next AC train won’t be here before 2025, thanks to all the glitches in the first rake, which officials have been struggling to fix ever since it got here in April.

22-AC-train.jpg

Cooling its heels: The sole AC train is languishing in the Kurla car shed. The train’s doors, AC and motor are not working simultaneously and authorities are planning to install new inductors to fix this problem. file pic

Multiple hiccups
As per the original plans, nine more AC rakes were to join the first one, depending on its success. But ever since it got here, the AC train has been plagued with problems. That’s because the railways have been penny wise, pound foolish. Originally, the estimated cost of the rake was R110 crore, but the railways managed to bring this down to half by assembling the train with parts from different agencies. “This AC rake was assembled to make it cost effective. But it is giving lot of trouble even before the trial runs have begun,” said a railway official. Even now, the authorities have not managed to ensure that the train’s doors, AC and motor can function simultaneously – they are now waiting to install new inductors to fix this problem. All these repairs are likely to take the final cost of the rake up to Rs 60 crore.These problems have now forced the railways to reconsider its plan. “We have already burnt our hands by getting an assembled AC rake. Ideally, these should be procured through proper tendering process,” said another official. The manufacturers have already been informed about the issues that have cropped up, and only after the problems are rectified will the officials order more trains.


22-AC-train-1.jpg

Not coming soon: Even the existing AC rake won’t start running until two years later. File pic

Long process
Central Railway, which is currently working on the rake at the Kurla car shed, is going to install new inductors in the rake at the end of this month, and will probably only begin the trial runs after a few months. Another reason for the delay is the fact that the taller AC train won’t fit under the old, British-era bridges towards CST. mid-day had reported last week that this might mean the train will be given to Western Railway. Either way, the trial runs and tests are likely to go on for at least two years, during which more issues will probably crop up. Once all the glitches have been fixed, the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) and Railway Board will have to give the final clearance before the train can run — another lengthy process.

Only after the train is cleared to run and is declared successful will the authorities call for new AC rakes. At present, the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) is already getting 72 new Bombardier rakes by December under phase two of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP-2). It is now too late to merge AC trains in this order, so MRVC is thinking of getting them under the Rs 11,000-crore MUTP-3.

New corridors

It is possible that the nine AC rakes that were supposed to follow the first one, will now be merged with the MUTP-3 rakes. However, the Railway Ministry and Niti Aayog have been fighting over permissions for the project since early this year. “Presently, we have planned 47 non-AC rakes under MUTP-3. This proposal is with the Niti Aayog and hasn’t got the approval yet,” said Prabhat Sahai, chairman and managing director, MRVC.


The AC trains will probably be introduced on the two new elevated corridors — CST-Panvel Fast corridor on the Harbour line and the Bandra-Virar corridor. Both are set to be completed by 2021-22, but it will probably be another five years before they are ready for public use.

An official from Railway Board said, “These are multi-crore projects and are being looked into thoroughly. Both these elevated rail corridors are likely to have AC trains running on them. But this also depends on the success of the existing AC rake.”

Rs 60

The minimum fare being considered for when the AC train finally starts to run

2018

The year before which even the existing AC rake is unlikely to be pressed into service

screenshot-www.mid-day.com 2016-08-22 23-06-56.png


http://www.mid-day.com/articles/mumbai-will-have-to-wait-until-2025-to-get-next-ac-local/17548165

@anant_s @Nilgiri
 
Railways To Create Rs. 30,000 Crore Fund For Remunerative Projects
Press Trust of India | Last Updated: August 22, 2016 23:16 (IST)

rail-budget-650_650x400_51456401271.jpg


The RIDF will invest only on those rail projectswhich have high rate of return.

New Delhi: To attract investors for expansion and modernisation of rail infrastructure, Railways is setting up a Rs. 30,000 crore fund, a first-of-its-kind for the national transporter, for implementation of remunerative projects across the country.

"We are creating a fund of Rs. 30,000 crore for setting up Railways of India Development Fund (RIDF)," said a senior Railway Ministry official.

Investors like the World Bank, the National Infrastructure Investment Fund, the pension and insurance fund and other institutional investors are expected to be part of the RIDF.
x

However, the RIDF will invest only on those rail projects which have high rate of return.

"RIDF will focus on new lines for freight movement or redevelopment of stations. It will not invest in those projects which are not remunerative," he said.

A survey will be carried out before taking up the project. Projects with minimum rate of return ranging between 14 per cent and 16 per cent will be taken up by the RIDF. Railways will seek the cabinet nod before setting up the infrastructure fund.

Since freight lines are more remunerative than passenger line, RIFD will focus on goods movement.

Currently, railways has undertaken many new lines projects which are socially desirable but economically non-viable.

Certain projects in the hilly and remote areas are being taken up to provide rail link to the people of those regions.

Railways is facing about Rs. 32,000 crore shortfall in the passenger operation as it is heavily cross-subsidised from freight business.

http://profit.ndtv.com/news/infrast...-crore-fund-for-remunerative-projects-1448793
 
@anant_s @Nilgiri @Ankit Kumar 002 @PARIKRAMA @Abingdonboy

ICF’s response to quality issues

AUGUST 22, 2016


I had raised a grievance regarding these quality issues on pgportal, as well as on Twitter. CME (Chief Mechanical Engineer) at ICF was very prompt to reply on Twitter. He informed that brainstorming sessions were conducted at ICF for improving paint quality, apart from a few other things.
The pgportal grievance was also forwarded to ICF for resolution. ICF’s reply is as follows:

The grievances of the applicant have been studied in detail with concerned departments. The points given on both Interior Exterior of MUTP(EMU) rakes also thoroughly studied. It is to be mentioned here that, all the item have details specifications drawings. The materials supplied by various manufacturers are based on our drawings specifications which are inspected by M/s.RITES before supply. ICF also strictly following the despatch targets given by Railway Board to Western Railway till date. All the coaches are manufactured as per strict QAP with stage inspections wherever needed. Post despatch, ICF is getting feedback on each rate at the time of commissioning at Western Railway. Board on the commissioning reports all the vendors ICF staff whoever involved in manufacture of MUTP (EMU) rakes have been asked to visit Western Railway and to rectify the defects then there. This is a continuous process and a system is in existence for addressing all the commissioning issues raised by Western Railway. Anyway ICF is taking all the points given by the applicant giving special attention to it. All necessary preventive /corrective action on despatched rakes as well as future rakes are initiated and ensured.
From their reply it is clear that ICF has taken efforts to patiently go through everything before replying. They made a sincere attempt to understand the issues. I would like to thank the team at ICF for the sincere efforts they have taken to resolve the grievance & for devoting time to listen to a layman. I am eagerly waiting to see the positive changes in rakes manufactured from now!
I would also take this opportunity to congratulate ICF for reaching milestone of 50th Bombardier rake. It is definitely not an easy task to manufacture 600 coaches in such a short duration.

https://mrvcmania.wordpress.com/2016/08/22/icfs-response-to-quality-issues/

Glad to see a concerted dedicated response from ICF. I doubt this attitude was there jsut a few years ago. Excellent development and change in mindset!
 
Caterpillar Train gets Railway official global award at MIT

http://indianexpress.com/article/in...odel-indian-railway-global-award-mit-2991429/

caterpillar.jpg



Caterpillar Trains, an idea meant to take the train system to residential areas, has just won an Indian Railways engineer a global competition on innovations at Boston’s Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Ashwani Kumar Upadhyaya, 43, a 1997-batch officer of the Indian Railway Traffic Service, will now present his idea to academicians and town planners at a global conference in MIT in September.

In a nutshell, the Caterpillar Train, or C-Train, envisages a citywide network of lightweight, elevated train coaches running at about 100 kmph on a track supported by poles bent into arches.

The idea, which won in both the popular choice and the judges’ choice categories, was picked over 500 entries from across the world at the Climate CoLab contest.

“The strength of the concept is its simplicity and its practicability. Some ideas are very good on paper, but not practicable. I guess we won because ours was both,” Upadhyaya told The Indian Express.

Posted at the Centre for Railway Information Systems in New Delhi, Upadhyaya has been developing the idea for the last few years as a PhD scholar in MIT while on study leave.

Instead of large coaches, the C-Train envisages a series of small, seating-only cars that would be “as high as an SUV” and capable of accommodating 20 passengers at a time. The coaches would have wheels both below and on top, so they can travel on the track and under it — giving it the appearance of a caterpillar.

Unlike the conventional metro system, which relies on heavy pillars and corridors, the C-Train would run on poles joined together to form an arch. The system would run on electricity, with each car equipped with a battery in case of emergencies. The traction mechanism is such that both acceleration and deceleration are fast.

Since coaches are smaller and lightweight and the poles require little land, the system is capable of penetrating residential areas, Upadhyaya said. Plus, it should cost a fifteenth of a conventional metro system. Each passenger will be able to choose his destination station by clicking on a console in front, he said.

“Currently, all urban mass transit systems are developed on the hub-and-spoke concept — the transport system is the hub and users have to travel from various parts of the city and converge there to use it. But the C-Train goes wherever there is at least a five-metre road,” he said.

Since coaches are seating-only, the load in each car would be limited. The stations, he said, would be designed as simple platforms accessible by elevators. The plan is to stack coaches on top of each other so that less land is required as compared to bus or metro depots. The “vertical depot” concept, he said, is a first for any urban transport system.

The idea has been dubbed the ‘internet of urban transport’, because of the fact that it could bring a mass-transit train system within a kilometre of residential areas.

Upadhyaya said he and his collaborator, fellow PHD scholar at MIT Emil Jacob, a Romanian-American, had to make several presentations and answer some tough questions before their idea was selected.

“A robust system at such a low cost, with a hardened glass body for coaches, etc… obviously there were many doubts raised about technical feasibility as well. There were even questions like, ‘What if strong winds blow the cars away from the rails?’,” he said. “But I guess we were able to satisfy all eventually.”

“Let’s hope the idea does not stay only on paper and we can build at least a prototype somewhere in the world. The next chapter will come after that,” he said.

The contest was organised by MIT’s Centre for Collective Intelligence, which aims to offer a crowd-sourcing platform where people work with experts to create, analyse and select detailed proposals on how to tackle climate change.
 

DNA : Know about the green initiatives of Modern Coach Factory

@anant_s

at 10:15 the guy says we import wheels of the bogeys. Is he right or was smoking something strong?

and then he says there are 28 parts of the coach that we import. I wonder what would they be?
 
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