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2nd Rail Infra and Mobility Business Summit 2021 By Urban Transport News
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Rail Infra & Mobility Business Summit
Summit Theme Investment, Financing and Business Avenues in Railways, Infrastructure and Mobility Industry in India Challenges & Solutions
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Minsters, Secretary level Officers from Key Ministries and Govt. Departments CEO, MD and Experts from Metro, Railways, Transport, Mobility, Infrastructure, R&D and associated Industry Delegates from domestic and multinational companies engaged in Railways, Infrastructure, and Mobility Industry. Key Opinion Leaders, Researchers, Scientists and Academicians from the relevant Institutes, and Organisations.
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Semi High-Speed Rail: A cost-effective sustainable transportation model
V. Ajith Kumar
Managing Director Kerala Rail Development Corporation
Kerala Rail Development Corporation (KRDC) or K-Rail, as it is most popularly known-is a Joint Venture Company of Government of Kerala (GoK) and Ministry of Railways for the Infrastructure Development of Railways in Kerala. K-Rail aims to be a leading organisation in the field of development, redevelopment, operation and maintenance of railway works with passenger amenities of international standards and aims to complete the projects with high standards of safety, comfort, efficiency and value-added services. Silver Line Semi High-Speed Rail Corridor, which envisages world class public transport and sustainable development is the milestone developmental project of KRDCL. Our other major projects are Thalassery-Mysore New Broad-Gauge Line and Nanjangud-Nilambur Railway Line. Apart from these, recently K-Rail has been entrusted the work of updating the detailed estimate of Angamaly- Erumeli Sabari Railway Line.
Kerala is one of the most scenic and popular tourist destinations in India and is among the prime states attracting the largest number of global and domestic tourists. Faster travel offer can attract more tourists to kerala because the current scenario in state is 'more tourist places with lesser transportation system'. The population is distributed across the state of Kerala contrasted with urban conglomerations seen in typical metro cities. The road systems in kerala, though well connected, face severe constraints due to the urban sprawl and the haphazard ribbon development along the routes. In addition to that, about 5,000 people are killed in road accidents every year. About half a lakh people are injured in road accidents each year. The increase in private vehicles creates huge air pollution. In most of the major cities in kerala, there is no adequate space available to expand the existing highway and rail infrastructure, and there is a strong opposition against land acquisition at a wider range. As the development of Highways is very much slow and roads are not capable of bearing the influx of vehicles, most of the
people prefer traveling by trains in Kerala. But due to numerous level crossings and sharp curves, Even the fastest train takes about 12 hours to cover a distance of 560 kms from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod with an average speed of 45km/hr. Because of the excessive train traffic in existing double line, some of the sections have capacity utilization of more than 115%. So one key to solve today's such transportation problems is to develop systems that meet the needs of the markets served poorly by the existing transportation infrastructure. The increasing need for movement of people and products at the local, regional, national, and international level has placed extreme demands on developing an integrated transportation system. It is in this context that a model sustainable project like the Silver Line becomes relevant.
As you know a Semi high-speed rail corridor provides a reliable, safer, faster, comfortable, energy efficient, affordable, least obstructive and sustainable transportation system to bring guaranteed improvement to the economy. The heavy cost and the present infrastructure situation are not practically conducive to high-speed trains and hyper loop systems in the state. The construction cost and travel expenses of the high-speed rail corridor, which is urbancentric and has more tunnels and over bridges, is twice of the semi high-speed rail. Considering the short distance between the proposed 11 stations, the distance that a high speed train can cover at a speed of 350 km per hour is very limited and therefore an average passenger doesn't experiences much difference in the travel time. And hence Semi high-speed rail corridor is the best suited, less expensive and more economical rail project option for states like Kerala. That is why Kerala Government came up with this financially viable ambitious project, to make available the facilities of international standards to the common people with an affordable ticket price.
In order to meet the growing demand of Rail passenger traffic and to resolve the overall transportation problems, 'Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod Semi High-Speed Rail Project (Silver Line) was introduced as a long term solution. The Silver Line, which can attain the speed up to 200 kmph, can reach north to south in just 4 hours. In the current scenario, Silverline envisions public transport at a cost of only Rs 2.75 per km. According to the detailed project report, the cost of setting up the SilverLine is Rs 63,941 Cr. and is expected to be completed in five years. Of this cost, 52% will be met by foreign loans and the remaining 48% by Central and State Governments and other financial institutions. Since connectivity has become an important issue, the project is a real necessity for fast growing Kerala and it will provide a shifting to sustainable and efficient mode of transport. All-round development will be possible with the realization of metro cities and townships in rural areas along with the completion of the SilverLine project. The semi high-speed rail corridor, which opens up huge investment opportunities in the tourism and industrial sectors, will give a new impetus to the economic security of post-COVID Kerala.
Silver Line is a total green project which enables 'Drives mode shift' from polluting buses and private vehicles. SHSR will adopt latest world class technology in Rail systems. Modern railway stations, Fully Air-conditioned Rolling Stocks with modern passenger amenities & maximum regeneration capability, Power supply with the latest electric traction system, Transit oriented development, 100 % green energy from renewable energy sources and Last mile connectivity with system driven evehicle public transport system are the other salient features. Each train set to have nine cars those can carry 675 passengers. 2 plus 2 seats configuration in business class and 3 plus 2 seats configuration in standard class will be provided. It is estimated that 80,000 people will travel on the Silver Line every day in the first year of project completion. By 2052-53, the number of passengers using this public transport will exceed 1.5 Lakhs. Eventually by 2052, it is expected that the Silver Line rail system can reduce approximately 5,94,636 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Feasibility Study report and the Detailed Study Report of the Silver Line project were prepared by Paris-based consultancy M/s Systra. The alignment of the Silver Line corridor was determined by conducting an aerial survey using LiDAR remote sensing method. In addition, traffic survey, environmental and social impact assessment study and Scientific Soil test have been completed in connection with the project. The Ministry of Railways has granted Inprinciple approval for the project and K-Rail has been permitted to take up pre investment activities. A Detailed Project Report (DPR) has been submitted to the Ministry of Railways for final sanction and it is under consideration at Railway Board. The NITI Aayog, the Expenditure Department and Railway board have examined and extend their support to the multilateral loan mobilization plan submitted by KRDCL and made a recommendation to the Department of Economic affairs of the Union Ministry of Finance. HUDCO has already sanctioned a loan of Rs 3,000 crores for the first phase of land acquisition of Silver Line from Kochuveli to Chengannur.
The development of infrastructure and transportation facilities especially faster mode transportation, and promotion of new destinations will all go a long way in beginning a new chapter in the growth of tourism. Hence SilverLine will be a game-changer providing a modal shift to sustainable and efficient mode of transport.
Indigenous Technology to Speed up and monitor Delhi Metro’s Phase 4 Project
Vinod Shah
Head-Communications Urban Transport News
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is innovating new things to speed up the construction of ongoing corridors under its Phase - 4 project. A total of six corridors planned under Phase 4. Out of 3 have been approved by the respective Governments and work is being carrying out at full pace. Most of contract of Phase 4 have been floated and some are finalised despite of Covid-19 situations in Delhi-NCR.
U-Girder Launcher with Transporter
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) recently introduced a major innovation in its construction technology by starting launching work on the Janakpuri (West) – RK Ashram Marg corridor with a specially designed Launcher attached with a Transporter for the launch of U-girders on its elevated section. The launcher started work near Majlis Park in the presence of DMRC’s Managing Director, Dr. Mangu Singh and other senior officials. In the earlier phases of construction, erection of U-girders was done with the help of two cranes of capacity 350/400T which were placed at each pier location and the U-girders were transported at each pier location with the help of a long trailer having an approximate length of 42m. In a congested urban area like Delhi, it used to be very challenging to find adequate space for positioning these heavy capacity cranes which occupy a lot of space. In addition, transporting the U-girders of 28m length with such long trailers was also a herculean task as roads in the NCR are either too congested or have massive traffic volumes even during the night time. These limitations often discouraged the use of U-girders in construction in spite of the fact that the U-girders are the most suitable structures for viaducts in terms of cost and time.
This new state of the art Launcher with Transporter is fully electric with much higher output in comparison to the conventional launchers/cranes. The Transporter carries the U-girder from one designated point and moves forward on rails laid on the already erected U-girders to further add more U-girders from the feeding point to the launcher. As a result, the U-girders are to be transported on trailer only up to the feeding point identified at a suitable location and not for the entire length of work. This results in much less requirement of space.
This new Launcher is 62m long having a total weight of 230T. It can negotiate gradients up to 4% and 200m radius curves. The Transporter which transports the U girder is 41.75m long having a total weight of 35T. It can travel with a speed of 3 kmph at no load and 2 kmph at full load.
The output of this new innovation is quite high as compared to the conventional method of launching of Ugirders. On an average, 4 to 6 U-girders per day can be erected with this Launcher whereas with the conventional method, about 2 U-girders can be done in congested working environments like in Delhi – NCR. The erection work of U-girders with conventional cranes can be done only during the night as it requires blocking of roads to position the cranes. Whereas in case of this new Launcher with Transporter, U-girders are transported with the Transporter on the erected viaduct without any interface with road from a single identified feeding point.
Such a technology is being used for the first time in India. The total load of U-girders to be erected is as high as 160 ton and 462 such U-girders are to be erected in the contract. This launcher today has been made operational for the construction of a 9.5 kilometre long viaduct from Mukarba Chowk to Ashok Vihar covering four stations namely Bhalswa, Majlis Park, Azadpur and Ashok Vihar and a connection to depot from Majlis Park.
Integrated Project Monitoring Software (IPMS
In a major initiative towards digitalizing its functioning, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has implemented a custom-made project monitoring software known as the Integrated Project Monitoring Software (IPMS) for monitoring the progress of its Phase 4 corridors and the Patna Metro.
Through IPMS, all the stages of project planning and implementation right from the tender stage to revenue operation of each corridor will be monitored including the issues of work front availability such as land availability, tree transplantation and shifting of services and design status. For this purpose, corridor wise Master Construction Schedule has been prepared and uploaded in IPMS. The IPMS has the features of integration of other construction related software such as Primavera Schedules for Project Planning and 3D BIM (Three-Dimensional Building Information Modelling) and a Mobile App through which the actual progress at site on real time basis can be uploaded in IPMS.
IPMS will monitor the progress of work of all disciplines Civil, Electrical & Mechanical and Signalling & Telecommunication contract package wise at the Chief Project Manager and Project Manager levels and Corridor wise at the Directors and Managing Director level.
Role Based Access is provided right from Higher Management to the Junior Engineer level through specially designed Dashboards and a Mobile Application. The project progress can be viewed in Dashboards as well as in 3D Models.
The software was launched in April earlier this year and is being used for monitoring the progress of contract packages which are awarded and in progress. As the works get gradually awarded, they are integrated in IPMS.
Till Phase 3, DMRC’s project monitoring was being done offline. With the implementation of this new technology, DMRC’s engineers can now monitor the progress of work through this dedicated platform. Specially designed dashboards will feature progress of all major components of construction and their status can be checked just by the click of a button.
This project by DMRC is an excellent example of the government’s Digital India as Well as Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives. A consortium of three Indian companies has been assigned with this responsibility and the software has been indigenously developed by Indian Engineers.
The implementation of this software will enable easier round the clock monitoring of projects, as the IPMS portal can be accessed from anywhere on mobiles, laptops, computers. This will also help in better record keeping and knowledge sharing among the engineers. DMRC’s Vendor Payment Portal which carries all relevant information regarding payments made to the vendors will also be integrated with this platform in the days to come.
Pune - Nashik Semi High Speed Rail
The Pune-Nashik Semi High Speed Rail project will be a role model for development of new Railway Line networks in Maharashtra. This project is unique because it is the first Broad-Gauge SemiHigh Speed Rail Line in India and in the world. It is designed in such a way that goods train, conventional passenger train as well as High-Speed train can run on the same route.
Rajesh Kumar Jaiswal MD, MRIDC
The dream project of the citizens of Maharashtra especially Pune, Ahmednagar and Nashik will now be fulfilled, as Maharashtra Cabinet approves the proposal of Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (Maha Rail) in the Budget Session of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly held on 8th March, 2021. MRIDC will build a Greenfield Semi High Speed Railway Double Line with electrification between Pune and Nashik.
Anushka Khare
Associate Editor Urban Transport News
Railway is the backbone of economic development of any country in the world. Road and Rail Transport facilities have expanded simultaneously in region and countries like Europe, Japan, South Korea, Russia and China. This has led to an unprecedented opportunity to achieve the sustainability and growth which is required for the 21st century. However, in our country Road infrastructural facilities have been developed extensively as compared to Railway Lines. Need for developing New Railway Line As per the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), prior to 2014, the length of National Highways in the State of Maharashtra was 6,249 km. In 2018, the National Highway length has been increased to 17,749 km. Thus, a tremendous increase in construction of 11,500 km of National Highway roads was found in Maharashtra in just 4 years from 2014 to 2018. In comparison to that 229 km of new Rail Lines have been added in Maharashtra in last 10 years.
Pune – Nashik Semi High-Speed Railway Line
The much-awaited Pune-Nashik Semi-High speed Rail Line would bring down travel time between two cities from present 06 hours to 01 hour 45 mins boosting passenger and freight movements. Thus, it will facilitate the creation of MumbaiPune-Nashik golden triangle as an emerging economic hub. Earlier MRIDC had received “In Principal Approval” (IPA) from Ministry of Railways on 02.06.2020 and approval from Central Railway on 10.02.2020 for implementing Greenfield Semi - High Speed Broad Gauge Double Line between Pune and Nashik.
Rajesh Kumar Jaiswal, Managing Director, MahaRail who has authored a book "Construction and Maintenance of High-Speed Railway" and has good expertise on HighSpeed Trains said – “This project will be a role model for development of new Railway Line networks in Maharashtra. This project is unique because it is the first Broad-Gauge Semi-High Speed Rail Line in India and in the world. It is designed in such a way that goods train, conventional passenger train as well as High-Speed train can run on the same route. ”
The entire cost of the project has been pegged at Rs 16,039 Crore (including taxes) on Debt:Equity of 60:40 basis; wherein Government of Maharashtra and Ministry of Railway shall contribute equity of 20% each of the project cost. While remaining 60% will be raised from the Domestic Financial Institution. MahaRail has estimated to complete the project in 1200 days from the date of its financial closure.
Details of the proposed alignment
• Total length of the Railway Line: 235 km • Maximum Permissible Speed: 200kmph • Proposed Major and Minor Stations: 24 • Total number of Tunnels in the corridor: 18 • Total Viaducts on the Semi High Speed Railway Line: 19
Significant Features of this project
This Semi High-Speed Train will start from new proposed Pune Railway station and it will be going to Hadapsar on elevated deck, from Hadapsar to Nashik the train will run on the ground and will go up to Nashik Road Railway station.
The Semi High Speed Trains will initially have 06 coaches designed to run at speed of 200 Km/Hr with future increment up to 250 Km/Hr on the Broad-Gauge line. The number of coaches will increase to 12 and then to 16.
The proposed alignment is designed such that there will be no compromise on speed. It is the first low cost Semi-HighSpeed corridor in the country with the provision of being synchronised with existing features of Indian Railway.
Private Freight Terminals (PFTs) are planned at major stations like Chakan, Manchar, Narayangaon, Alephata and Sangamner. Also, loading and unloading facilities are planned at various stations.
The proposed alignment will pass through the talukas of Haveli, Khed, Ambegaon and Junnar tehsils of Pune district, Sangamner tehsil of Ahmednagar district and Sinnar and Nashik tehsils of Nashik district.
This Rail Line will certainly augment the revenues from the multi-fold industries like automobile hub, electronics, pharmaceuticals, sugar mills and other agricultural activities in and around the Project Influence Areas.
The passengers of varied travel purposes such as tourism, educations, agriculture and as well as business and daily shuttles will have ample of facilities to connect with the rest of places through this corridor.
All the intercity movements and transportation for both passengers and freight will flourish because of faster movement on Rail Line between Pune and Nashik.
The project is envisaged to yield tangible as well as nontangible savings due to the reduction in the number of vehicles being used for transportation by roads as well as certain socio-economic benefits such as employment generation, reduction in number of accidents and reduction in pollution due to the vehicular traffic.
Other new Railway Line projects in pipeline and approved by Board of Directors of MRIDC are Mumbai - Pune (Semi High-Speed Rail Line), Salwa – Butibori (Chord line), Gadchandur – Adilabad (New Rail Line), Pune Ratnagiri, Aurangabad - Chalisgaon, Rotegaon Kopergaon, Pune – Aurangabad, Pune - Nanded, Chiplun – Karad, Vaibhavwadi – Kolhapur and laying of 3rd & 4th Line between Igatpuri – Manmad. Besides this, Pune –Kolhapur (Semi High-Speed Railway line) is also in pipeline.
3D view of proposed Pune Semi HSR Station
An interaction with H. K . Raghu
In a recent interaction with Metro Rail Today, H. K. Raghu, Executive Director (Urban Transport & High Speed) at Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) - Lucknow spoke on the role of RDSO in achieving goals of various missions initiated by Ministry of Railways and Govt. of India such as ‘Make in India’, Atmnirbhar Bharat.
How do you take your position and responsibility at RDSO? How has been your journey so far?
ANS: I did my graduation from “University of Roorkee” (IIT ROORKEE) in Mechanical Engineering (Honors). It is the First Engineering Institute of India started as “Thomson College of Engineering” in 1848, later became “First Engineering University on India” after independence. Thomson College of Engineering was started, with a noble cause of constructing the famous “Ganga Canal”, main canal of 272 miles and 4000 miles long distribution channels. This was to save the then “Northern Province”, now “Uttar Pradesh”, from the periodical Droughts. The Institute is also having the “History of running the first ever Steam Locomotive Hauled Train in India” on December 22, 1851, for material transportation for the construction of the Ganga Canal. The “Ganga Canal” is itself, a remarkable piece of Civil Engineering, where the canal passes over the “Sonali River” near Roorkee through an “Aqueduct (a Bridge)” of half a kilometer 25m above the Sonali River surface.
I did my “Post-graduation in Industrial Engineering (PGDIE) from “National Institute for Training In Industrial Engineering( NITIE) Mumbai”, the only Institute of its own kind in ASIA and total 6 such institutes in world , opened in collaboration with “International Labour Organization (ILO)”. NITIE is
dedicated to help Indian businesses to make their presence felt globally. NITIE has decided to act as driving force not only in manufacturing sector but all dynamic sectors of the Indian economy. It has aligned its vision and activities in line with the current and future needs of the Indian economy and its vibrant and growing sectors.
After post-graduation most of my colleagues joined multinational private sectors, for plum salary packages, but I did choose to serve the Nation , so I Joined the prestigious Indian Railway Mechanical Engineering Services(IRSME), in Jan 1991. There after working on several locations and posts, starting from “Coach Maintenance Workshop Matunga Mumbai” as “Assistant Works Manager”, “Additional Divisional Railway Manager Dhanbad”, “Chief Workshop Engineer” at, “Modern Coach Factory(MCF) Raiebareli” , then “Chief Project Manager (MCF)” , before joining as “Executive Director Coordination” of “Urban Transport & High Speed at RDSO/ Lucknow”.
As “Executive Director Coordination” of “Urban Transport & High Speed Directorate” RDSO, our prime duty is to ensure, provision of safe and comfortable Urban Train Transportation System through Metro Rail Organizations. Our directorate is working as a regulatory body for all the Metro Rail Organizations, as per the Metro Act 2009. We are committed to our task of planning a safe/comfortable and affordable urban transport system for our citizens and the foreign tourists, by monitoring it from the very planning stage itself and up to its final execution and operation.
What are some recent developments at RDSO? What is the role of RDSO in the development of infrastructure related to Urban Transport System in India?
The main role of “Urban Transport and High Speed Directorate” at RDSO is to ensure that all the Metro Rails being planned in India, must be safe and comfortable, while following the international standards of safety in Metro train Operations and the Paramount PassengerSafety and Riding-Comfort.
As already said , RDSO is the regulatory body, to ensure the Urban Transport (Mainly the Rail Transport) is planned and designed to give long lasting safe and comfortable services to our citizens. While following various directives like “Make in India” & “Atmanirbhar Bharat” to make our country self-reliant, we need to ensure that “No compromise is done in the planning as relates to the “Safety of the Structures” and the “Operations of the Trains”.
With our sustained efforts, together with Metro rail organizations, Delhi Metro and Nagpur Metro has identified 18 Sub - Systems and 17 Unit Exchange Spares costing about 18.7 lakh US$, and 34 subassemblies costing about 3.83 Lakh US$ for Indigenization and “Make in India”, without a bit of compromising on the quality of system/product and the Safety of Train Operations. “Nagpur Metro” has also identified 28 different items for indigenization costing about Rs 13.74 Crores per Trainset. First and foremost effort towards “Make in India” is done by “Pune Metro” by giving its order of manufacturing and supply of its “102 Ultra-Modern Rolling Stock”, to a newly formed Company, “TITAGARH FIREMA” through an international bid. Its various design basis documents are under the scrutiny and approval of our Directorate at RDSO.
RDSO has recently become the first Standard Developing Organization. How do you take this achievement?
History of RDSO started as early as 1903, as “Indian Railway Conference Association (IRCA)” to provide for Standardization and Coordination amongst various State Owned Railway Systems, followed by the “Central Standards Office (CSO)” established in 1930 for preparation of Designs, Standards & Specifications and then as “Railway Testing Research Centre (RTRC)” established in 1952. In 1957, the Central Standards Office and RTRC were integrated into a single unit as Research Design & Standards Organization (RDSO) at Lucknow.
Recently Government of India has notified BIS Act 2016, after which Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has become the nodal agency to give recognition to all the Standards making Organization in India and the recent development is nothing but giving formal recognition by BIS to RDSO as a Standard Making Organization for Railway Standards. After this all RDSO Standards will be given identification as BIS-RDSO Standards. In this regards a newly developed procedure for framing Standards by RDSO following the international guidelines , aligned with “WTO-TBT”, will come into force, giving more emphasis, on the “Active participation of all the Stake Holders”, especially the Indian Industries in framing the “Standards for Railway Products and Manufacturing Processes” .
The Central Government has recently launched Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative. What are the different things being done by RDSO in tune with this initiative? Please explain.
RDSO has got a huge Vendor Base of industry partners , who actively participating in the process of Product Development.
The First and foremost Atmanirbhar Bharat Initiative is “Vande Bharat Express- Train 18” produced and launched by Indian Railway in December 2018. This is the first Semi High speed Train of India, fully conceived and manufactured in India under the great leadership of the
then GM/ICF, Shri Sudhanshu Mani, who acted is a father figure for the Team ICF for making it a reality of producing fully Indigenized “Semi High Speed Train” for India to world standards. RDSO remained closely associated from the concept design to the finally testing of prototype of this train. Maximum Design speed of this first Train-18 is 180 kmph and now specifications are being prepared for making it capable of achieving speed of 200 kmph.
The second big step is, in the field of Railway ATP (Automatic Train Protection) System. i.e. “Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS)”. This is a notable “Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat” effort of RDSO.
It has been developed successfully and presently under implementation in South Central Railway. For this effort our Industry Partners are M/s HBL, M/s MEDHA and M/s KERNEX and the academia partner is IIT KGP. RDSO and IIT KGP are working together for upgrading this ATP system to match the requirements of the High speed Operations also.
The third big step will be, starting of production of world class Metros Coaches, by Modern Coach Factory (MCF) Rae Bareli. The required infrastructure to produce Aluminum Coaches with latest state of art manufacturing facilities is available and manufacturing will be taken up with Transfer of Technology (TOT) with the world leading Rail Coach Manufactures, it will be a reality in near future i.e. with in a year or two.
RDSO is actively involved in all these efforts, giving its technological inputs and developing standards /specifications/process of manufacturing and its further proliferation in India, with export potential to ASIAN countries.
Train 18: India’s first indigenous engineless semi high-speed train)
What do you think about the make in India initiative? What has been the journey so far of RDSO when it comes to make in India initiative?
Make in India is one of the most Important and bold initiative of Government of India , to create skills and job for our youths and providing world class products to Indian as well as International market at comparatively affordable prices.
We as a country are very rich in its natural resources, like unused Land, ample waste land, and the huge potential of renewable energy, which is required for setting up technologically advanced manufacturing industries, complying with Industry 4.0 standards. We also have a large, capable “Human Resource” to support these Industries. As regards RDSO journey, so far, it is basically little ahead of time. RDSO has already designed its Indigenized “Head Hardened Rail”, its “TCAS”, its “12000 HP Electric Locomotive”, its “Semi High Speed Coaches” and its “Passenger Traffic Locomotive” to haul the trains at 200 kmph. Though this journey is pretty long and full of challenges, but RDSO is confident to achieve the targets. For this RDSO has already entered in MOU with three international Railway Research Universities/Institutes viz: i) VNIIZHT and ii) NIIAS of Russia and KRRI/ South Korea.
How does RDSO play crucial role in certification of Rails? What is the process for this?
Rail is the Road for Train operations; it becomes further more crucial when it comes to the High Speed Train Operations. RDSO has got a rich source of its “Testing Labs”, where Rails and other Track Components and full “Track Structures” are being tested and certified, including for the High Speed Train Operations. RDSO has already made its standards for “Semi High Speed Rails” and working in tandem with the “Indian Rail Manufacturing Firms” for developing the Rails for future “High Speed Train Operations”. Initial trials are very much encouraging and efforts made by industry partners are very promising.
In near future, RDSO will also have the Test Track, which is to be used not only for the testing of Track Components and the “Newly Designed Rails”, but also the “Newly Designed Locomotives” and “Newly Designed Coaches/Wagons”. Construction of this test track is already started and it is expected to be ready for testing by end of year 2022.
What are the major challenges which the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic has brought about? What has been your strategy in combatting these challenges?
Both the first and second wave of Covid -19 pandemic, imposed various restrictions Host/Co-Host:on RDSO Normal Working, but while dealing the first wave itself , RDSO has reformed itself and went digital. The inspection and approval processes are made online to deal with the second wave. Though during the second wave we have lost a large
number of our officials and staff, the jolt which cannot be forgotten, but then the moto was that “The Wheel Must Keep Rolling”.
During the first wave of pandemic, when most of the Metro Train operation and construction work came to almost stand still, RDSO has started the work of development of its “Online Portal” for “Safety Certification &Technical Clearance of Metro Systems” and by the time the wave was recessing, the portal was ready and made Go-live on 06.11.2020. This portal provides for “Online Submission of the Technical Documents by Metro Rails” to RDSO, its scrutiny by RDSO and Conveying the Technical Inputs to the Metro Rails which are required to modify its documents for making these fit for the Approval of the “Ministry Of Railways”. The entire process is made online and completely paperless.
RDSO has also modified its ISO Procedures to enable the various directorates to switch over to remote inspection procedures, using latest electronic gadgets and video conferencing methods to resolve the technical issues with the industry partners.
What is the role of RDSO in the upcoming metro projects, RRTS, High Speed Rail Projects and Semi High Speed Rail Projects across the country?
As per the Metro Act 2009 , RDSO represents the Ministry of Railways for the statutory “Technical Approval and Safety Certification” of various Metro Rail Systems, starting from its planning stage itself to its final approval for operations ,ensuring the safety of train Running as well as the safety of passenger during travel and while waiting on stations . It is mandatory on part of Metro Rail Authority, to construct and operate its Metro Train, as per the safety advises of RDSO and take the approval of its systems from the Ministry of Railways.
As regards RRTS, which are also governed by the Metro Act, the rules are the same as stated above. For “Semi High Speed Train Operations”, the “Testing and Safety Certification” will be done by RDSO including for the “Private Operators”, who are willing to operate their own trains. “High Speed Train Operations” will also require the approval of the “Ministry of Railways” from the planning stage itself, for which international consultants and certifying bodies are deployed to act as a third party for certification and the approval of “Ministry of Railways” for its operation and maintenance.
What are the future plans of RDSO ?
Future plan of RDSO is to make it, as world class “Railway Research Organization”, to deal with future challenges and shifting the existing “Preventive Maintenance Regimes” to the “Predictive Maintenance Practices” . For this plan is to shift its design from existing ones to smart ones, like “Smart Coaches”, “Smart Yards” and “Smart Signaling Systems”. The project report is submitted to the “Ministry of Railways” for consideration and approval. “The New Avatar of RDSO”, will have a collaborative approach with the “Strong Industry Partners”, “Leading Academia” and the “Leading International Railway Research Units”.
Please share a message for our readers.
From my last 30 years of experience, I can firmly say that India is having all the capabilities to achieve the “Five Trillion Economy Goal”. INDIA generates the “Excellent Engineers” and the “World Class Mangers”. Our Entrepreneurs are remarkable challenge takers. Time is now to consolidate our industries and support these, by “Reforming” our rigid framework of various rules and regulations, “Transforming” the government setup, resulting into “Performance” by providing support to our industries with a mission of “Minimum Government with Maximum Governance” in our minds.
Government of India is now taking very bold steps towards relaxing its various policies, “Make in India” and “Atmanirbhar Bharat” are the two very big initiatives in this direction. Industries have to come up to the expectations of the “NITI Aayog Policies for Industry 4.0”, so that these industries are future ready for any change in the design requirement of a product and develop capabilities for export in addition to full filling the local market requirements.
Host/Co-Host:
Dr. Ramanath Jha Retd. IAS Officer (1977 Batch)
It would be a truism to state that large public transportation projects that are freshly conceptualised and cover large tracts of land are likely to have several difficult issues to contend with. This article looks at four high-speed rail (HSR) projects that were taken up in four different countries in four different decades and draws conclusions and lessons that emerge from them. The four projects are Japan’s Tokaido Shinkansen between Tokyo and Osaka, France’s TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) between Paris and Lyon, China’s Jinghu Railway between Beijing and Shanghai and India’s ambitious HSR project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The first three are operational and the fourth is under construction.
The Tokaido Shinkansen, spanning 515 kilometres (km) between Tokyo and Osaka, pioneered high-speed rail travel in the world. While the Japanese engineers had begun backing such a project in the 1950s, the Japanese government accepted the concept in 1958 and construction commenced in 1959. Originally, its total estimated cost was put at 200 billion yen; but it soon became clear that this was way off the mark. The actual cost turned out to be 380 billion yen (US $1 billion). The project, however, continued to move ahead and became operational in 1964, showcasing Japanese technology during the first Tokyo Olympics. Running at a speed of 220 km per hour, it cut travel time between the two cities from 6 hours 40 minutes to 3 hours 10 minutes. Today it carries about 159 million passengers annually. The Tokaido Shinkansen also marked a move from narrow gauge to standard gauge, a significant advance in technology, signal system, electrical systems, and improved traction configurations.
In the 1960s, the Shinkansen inspired France into contemplating its TGV HSR. But it was only in 1976 that the French government agreed to finance it. This delay was because of a technological debate in France—whether to go for gas turbines or to switch over to electric traction. The debate was finally settled in favour of electric traction despite several technological changes and higher capital costs. In September 1981, the TGV began operations between Paris and Lyon. The train covers a distance of about 427 km in about two hours four minutes at an average speed of about 280 km per hour and carries about 110 million passengers per year. Built at a cost of around
US $4.8 billion, it is operated by SNFC (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français), France’s national state-owned railway company.
The Beijing-Shanghai HSR project was first proposed in the early 1990s. The initial design was completed in 1998. However, the appearance of a newer maglev technology entered the design debate that led to a delay in feasibility studies. The debate ultimately was settled in favour of the maglev technology. China Railway began the construction in 2008 and was completed in 2011. The train went operational in June 2011. Amongst the cited projects, this comprises the longest rail corridor of 1,318 km and runs at the fastest speed of around 350 km per hour, covering the entire distance in about four hours. The initial estimates put the cost of the project between US $16.25 and 21.25 billion. However, the end cost came to US $34.7 billion. Today, the Jinghu Railway carries 533 million passengers annually.
The 508 km Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail, unlike the first three, is as yet under construction. The project was proposed for a feasibility study in the National Rail Budget of 2009-2010. This corridor originally included Pune as a section that was later dropped on account of several factors—the hilly terrain and high costs being two of them. The Mumbai-Ahmedabad section continued to be pursued and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed with Japan for feasibility studies in 2013. Several issues arose, some of them were technical and others administrative, that needed to be sorted out between the state governments of Maharashtra, Gujarat, and the Ministry of Railways. To fast track the project, an SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle), the National High-Speed Railway Corporation Limited, was created in 2016. The project needed many clearances and work could start only in 2020. The train’s operational speed is likely to be 350 km per hour and this ‘bullet train’ will cover the distance between the two cities in less than three hours. The estimated cost of the project is US $15 billion. The project’s initial completion schedule was 2023. However, with the land acquisition being delayed, there is some ambiguity about the project’s completion date.
One could pick out several significant issues that appear common to all these large public transportation projects. The first is that all four had a long conceptualisation period. In all these four projects, this period was more than a decade. The questions that emerged at this stage were whether there is a case for the project; what would be the appropriate technology; whether it is sufficiently proven; what could be the best route that it could traverse; and whether its overall environmental and socio-economic benefits would outweigh the costs. Once an overall agreement was reached on these matters, questions of prefeasibility and more detailed feasibility studies arose. And once these studies yielded satisfactory results in terms of the ‘doability’ of the project, the execution began. The lesson is that the basics of such large projects must be got right before they are undertaken. Mistakes made may cost the country dearly and all care needs to be taken to avoid them.
In two of the completed projects, there was a substantial rise in initial financial estimates and the final project cost. In the case of Japan, the cost almost doubled; in China, if the highest initial estimated figures are taken, the final cost rose 163 percent. Whereas the original estimate for the Indian project was USD 15 billion, it is safe to presume that with the project overshooting its anticipated time frame; there would be a steep escalation in costs. Tokaido Shinkansen and TGV took five years to complete and the Jinghu Railway three years. In the case of India, the deadline of 2023 set earlier has now been tentatively pushed to December 2028. The biggest hurdle appears to be land acquisition in Mumbai city. The lesson, especially in the case of India, is that large projects undertaken without conclusive inter-governmental agreement on matters of land puts the project in jeopardy and cost escalation.
Finally, let us turn towards the most striking feature of the three completed projects. Tokyo is Japan’s capital city and also its largest. The Tokaido Shinkansen connects Tokyo to the second-largest city of Japan and its traditional economic hub. The TGV of France links its capital and the largest city of Paris to Lyon, the second-largest urban centre, its third-largest city, and its top banking centre. The Chinese project also connects Beijing, its capital city and Shanghai, the biggest city and its apex financial hub. The choice of destinations in all the three projects was to bring the decision-making centre, the capital city, in travel proximity to the nation’s top business centre. Surprisingly, while the Indian project begins from Mumbai, the financial capital of India, it does not connect it to Delhi, the national capital and largest city. Ahmedabad is neither the top business centre of the country nor amongst the six largest cities. In terms of economic advantages that could have accrued to the country, Delhi would have been the right end-destination.
Integ rated Real-time Enterprise Asset Management System (iDREAMS) for RRTS
RRTS Assets are to be managed digitally through real time Enterprise Asset Management System for optimized performance at minimised cost
Vinay Kumar Singh Managing Director National Capital Region Transport Corporation
The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) is implementing an integrated real - time Enterprise Asset Management system (iDREAMS) for its various assets, systems and sub-systems including RRTS Trains, Automatic Fare Collection System, Platform Screen doors, Lift, Escalators, Signaling and Telecom, Electrical, OHE and numerous civil structures. Through this system of asset management, NCRTC will bring digital transformation in the way rail assets are being managed in India. It will help to be able to predict, identify, rectify or remove any risks or shortcomings related to its wide range of assets, making sure that it doesn’t hamper commuter safety and their experience of a hassle-free comfortable ride to their destination, any time.
As part of its endeavour to leverage state of the art technologies, the iDREAMS system is being designed to ingest crucial data from different sources such as Building Information System (BIM), Geographic Information System (GIS), Internet of Thing (IoT), Operation Control Centre (OCC), Supervisor Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), Building Management System (BMS) etc during design and construction phase itself so that the requirement of feeding additional data is not required.
iDREAMS system will help NCRTC in achieving various tasks important for optimal use of assets and resources such as asset or inventory registration, providing asset capability/capacity information, compiling asset performance benchmarks and testing data as well as calculating the complete life cycle of various assets.
Apart from helping NCRTC achieving their corporate objectives, the iDREAMS system will also help in improving the safety standards of RRTS corridor, supporting economic growth and minimizing environmental impact by reducing any form of wastage. A tender for implementing iDREAMS system in NCRTC has been floated in this connection.
Public Transport projects like RRTS and Metro Rails are capital inventive projects, primarily funded by multilateral agencies. To make these public projects financially sustainable in the long run, it is essential to work on revenue maximization and expenditure rationalization. NCRTC is working on both the fronts since its inception.
RRTS is a public transport infrastructure, being implemented for many decades. Number of assets are being procured/constructed/manufactured for RRTS project. It is imperative to utilize / manage / maintain these high numbers of assets efficiently for longer duration.
Moreover, RRTS consists of multiple sub-systems and assets, which work in synchronization. Performance of one system effects other system as well i.e. fault in one system is correlated to another asset condition and working. For getting optimal performance ensuring best-in-class safety, it is important to manage and maintain assets in an efficient, well-defined and coordinated processes leading to better productivity, significant reduction in operating cost and enhancing the asset’s shelf life as well.
As the project is approaching towards operationalization, the aim behind introducing this system is to optimize asset performance and maximize asset availability for a minimum life cycle cost and risk with an objective to deliver state of the art services to the commuter.
Asset management is a systematic process of developing, operating, maintaining, upgrading, and disposing of assets in the most cost-effective manner keeping all factors in mind such as costs, risks and performance attributes of the asset.
Technology driven organizations are using asset management these days as it enables them to account their assets, help them identify, manage & remove risks in initial stages and improve the usage of their assets and resource in the long run.
The iDREAMS project is aimed to bring about revolution in rail industry and showcase a reference system for others to follow.
Currently, the construction work of Delhi – GhaziabadMeerut corridor is in full swing on entire 82 km RRTS corridor. 800 piers of elevated section have already completed with around 8 km of RRTS Viaduct.
Aerodynamic RRTS trains will run at the speed of 160 kmph and reduce the travel time from Delhi to Meerut from current 3 hours to less than 60 minutes. Commuters will be able to travel in air-conditioned, feature rich trains in safe and secure environment.
