Biometric Ticketing – Is it just a buzz or the need of the hour?

Metro Rail News
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Biometric Ticketing – Is it just a buzz or the need of the hour?

Use of biometric devices for identification, authentication, and access control (security) has been prevalent for a long time. The biometric devices use physiological or behavioral uniqueness of a living human being to identify and then automate a particular task for him or her. The most widely used biometric devices are fingerprint scanners, iris scanners, voice recognition engines, and off late facial recognition. Of all these biometric devices, fingerprints are the ones that have been in use for the longest time.  Finger-prints have been used as an acceptance or authorization of a transaction the world over. They have also been used for record keeping and identification of people with criminal history by the law enforcement agencies.   During the last few years, an increase in reliability of the finger scan readers coupled with the drop in per unit cost has resulted in the adoption of the finger scan technology for various use cases. 

In recent years, the finger scanning is being used for making quick ticket payments less the frills of carrying plastic money and remembering the security PIN. Popularly known as biometric ticketing, the finger scan readers have started appearing on fare revenue collection devices in the transportation environment. Rightly so, we are witnessing a significant shift to Biometric Ticketing with the global Biometrics market forecasted to reach $23.54 billion by 2020.

Advantages:

  • The identity trace is infallible. Each biometric can be traced back to the right person with almost 100% accuracy thus eliminating the scope of any fraud related to ticketing or the use of a physical ticket many times over by different users.
  • Ticketing concessions for specific demographic groups, e.g. students, senior citizens, armed forces, etc., can be linked to the eligible person. The biometric identity is linked to the user’s bank account facilitating easy deposit of cash backs through concessions as against direct concession provided on a contemporary ticketing media.
  • Only the digital representation of the biometric scan extracted (minutiae) with the help of biometric algorithms is stored; the actual scan is not stored or transmitted across the network thus maintaining user privacy. This ensures complete security of the scanned data.
  • People disallowed from entering particular premises can be kept at bay right at the ticket issuing stage and restricted from entering the said premises; e.g. restricted access zones such as hospital visitor access, airports and stadiums vis-à-vis anti-social elements, etc.

Disadvantages:

  • Very high-resolution scanners are required for biometric scanning, including finger, face, iris, etc.
  • Biometrics are sometimes not readable; e.g. unreadable fingerprints due to damage or age; iris scans, which are obstructed by eye lens, cornea reflections, eyelids, and eyelashes; face obscured by hair, hats, glasses, etc.; face not recognized due to change in ambient light and changing facial expressions

Workarounds towards optimized use at the current maturity level:

  • Biometric ticketing with two-factor authentication, wherein one is a contemporary option and the second one is a biometric is the way ahead. It is instrumental in building Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) paradigm, a new regulation for making payments currently under implementation in Europe.
  • Biometric ticketing gets strengthened through repeated usage as the algorithms are current and up to date with the smallest biological change happening as a natural process of aging.

In summary:

Biometric authentication has made inroads into the Identification of individuals for various use cases across the spectrum including automated ticketing and fare collection. Currently, Biometric authentication is on the slope of enlightenment of the Gartner’s hype cycle. Biometric ticketing, which is a direct use case of this technology, is making to the mainstream mode related to payments. It is a fool-proof ticketing method with a majority of pros; albeit with a few cons. The technology has naturally found a foothold through two-factor authentication, with one of the factors predominantly being biometric. It is definitely a strong step towards building a fail-safe and robust mode of ticketing for a heterogeneous society and eliminating social evils.

Authored by

Amarbahadur Singh, Manager – Engineering Solutions, Datamatics Global Services Ltd.

This Article will be published in July 2019 issue. Click here to subscribe

To know more about Automated Fare Collection systems, visit www.datamatics.com 

Munnar likely to get the monorail once more soon

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Munnar likely to get the monorail once more soon

Munnar (Metro rail news): The new project is aiming at drawing tourists to Munnar but earlier the Kundala Valley Light railway was for moving tea leaves and transportation of people.

The train will be modelled on the monorail, Kundala Valley Light Railway, introduced by the Britishers long ago, and if everything goes well, the chugging sound of a toy train will soon fill the sir in the hilly station of Munnar.
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A preliminary study has been conducted by a team from Munnar to top station, the route of the monorail introduced nearly a century ago, as part of the project. The rail was washed away in the devasting floods of 1924 and portions of the rail could be seen decorating the entrance gate of some landmark buildings of the British era.

Heritage value

The top station of the monorail has now become the name of the place. A wheel of the train is kept ta at the Kanan Devan Hills Plantation’s (KDHP) Tea Museum in Munnar. The Kundala Valley Light Railway was for moving tea leaves and transportation of people but the new project is aimed at drawing tourists to Munnar.

The KDHP official Ajoy and Idukki District Tourism Promotion Council secretary Jayan P. Vijayan has done the preliminary study. It is learnt that the KDHP has show interested in the project to be implemented in public- private partnership (PPP) mode.

The primary study report would be submitted to Railways and their officials would conduct a useful study. The project would be implemented based on their report said by the MLA, S. Rjendran.

People Protesting against BMRCL’s tree-felling plan

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People Protesting against BMRCL’s tree-felling plan

Bangalore (Metro Rail News): Guruprasad member of the Church of South India Association accused the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) of trying to cut the trees without the necessary permission. “The work on the underground metro line will happen below the church,” he reasoned.

Members of the All Saints Church joined hands with environmentalists on Sunday to stage a protest against “damage to be caused on trees on church land” by Namma Metro’s Gottigere-Nagavara line.

Guruprasad said, “We won’t allow the forests to get destroyed in the name of development, but BMRCL officials have decided to cut 100 trees without getting any clearance from the forest officials.”

They will move the high court of Karnataka against the BMRCL’s “unscientific” plan, said Joseph Hoover of the United Conservation Movement.

Hoover said, “A building can be rebuilt, but trees can’t and some of the trees are more than 100 years old and we don’t want to lose them they are part of the sacred grove.” The metro project has so far affected Fatima Bakery and the adjacent building on the church land.

 Hoover stated that, “The distance between the Vellara and Langford stations is only 877 metres. Metro officials should redesign the stretch to maintain an ideal distance of 1 km between the stations.”

BMRCL is refusing to look at the wide space on the government-owned area near the junction and is in fact, forcing the church officials to provide the land the protesters said.

The protesters said, “BMRCL has sought 40,000 square metres of church premises where differently abled children attend school. We have appealed to the chief minister to help us.”

Pune Metro to save more than Nagpur Metro: Brijesh Dixit

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Pune Metro to save more than Nagpur Metro: Brijesh Dixit

Pune (Metro Rail News): Maha Metro aims to increase that cost saving figure and believes it can do for Pune.

The Maharashtra metro Rail Corporation Ltd (Maha -Metro) declares it has the Nagpur Metro up and running with the total project cost seven percent lower than its budget.

Brijesh Dixit the Managing Director of Maha Metro says that “Nagpur metro got commissioned before time and the same will happen in Pune. The Nagpur metro is the first mega project completed in less than its estimated cost. The total project cost was ~8,680 crore and Maha Metro was able to save at least Rs 600 crore on the project.”

Maha Metro is the only public sector organisation in the country that has been able to accomplish this cost saving, as far as Dixit is concerned.

Maha – Metro is carrying out the two mega metro projects in Pune and Nagpur and is the special purpose vehicle (SPV).

The Nagpur metro is already engaged on an 11km route with commercial operations in place. 

Pune metro is scheduled to be lunch by December 2019 or January 2020.

“As per a recent survey, all mega projects in the country with a budget more than Rs. 1000 crore are delayed and there are cost escalations,” said by Dixit.

After State government announced a transit-oriented development policy in 500- meter radius around the metro stations in Pune on March8, it has fixed the maximum permissible floor space index (FSI) to four.

However, not all owners will get the benefit of four FSI under the transit- oriented development zone as it depends on the size of the plot.

How Nagpur was saved by Maha metro

Total project cost – Rs 8.680 crore

Cost saving – at least Rs 600 crore

Global tenders

Saving – Rs 200 crore

– Rakes and wagons order go to China.

– Other material being imported from Japan and other countries too be assembled in China.

Tie-ups

Saving – Rs 200 crore

Ticketing system – contract with the State Bank of India (SBI) for multi-mobility card.

– SBI bears cost of installing ticket machines and entry exit points at all metro stations.

Pune forecast

 “The same will happen in Pune. Pune metro will save even more cost.”

Said by – Brijesh Dixit, MD, Mahametro

Swargate-Katraj was delayed due to “route suggestions”

 The Pune’s Swargate to Katraj metro rail extension will miss its deadline and now only be completed as part of the second phase of the Pune Metro.

Pune metro’s first phase is expected to go live in 2021 and is on track to meet the deadline.

Maha Metro managing director Brijesh Dixit said that, “the route will be finalised, but now it will happen in the second phase of the Pune metro implying phase one will not be delayed for any reason.”

Political interference is being quoted by Maha-Metro authorities as being the cause of Pune’s Swargate to Katraj.

 “Maha-Metro has asked for the financial report on the route between Swargate and Katraj. Maha-Metro has prepared three options, including an underground metro, an elevated track on Satara road, and a third option that runs via market yard and Gangadham chowk,” metro rail extension being delayed said by Dixit.

MahaMetro was asked by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to prepare a development project report (DPR) for the Swargate to Katraj route, but local leaders are suggesting various route options, instead of opting for the straight route, on Satara road.

Maha-Metro is not able to finalise the DPR and the final route will now be delayed.

On the other hand, the Chinchwad to Nigdi metro extension is expected to be granted the central government’s permission before the onset of the state assembly elections, three months from now.

The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation’s DPR request for the Chinchwad to Nigdi line has been submitted by Maha-Metro and has the state government’s nod.

E Sreedharan resigns as Principal Advisor to Lucknow Metro

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E Sreedharan resigns as Principal Advisor to Lucknow Metro

Lucknow (Metro Rail News): Padma Vibhushan E Sreedharan known as Metro Man has submitted his resignation as the Principal Advisor to Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) on Monday.

The former Chief of Delhi Metro handed his resignation citing health issues. The LMRC has forwarded the resignation letter to the state government for approval. Another senior officer of LMRC, Mahender Kumar, who is currently the Director of Rolling Stock, is also set to leave the LMRC on June 30, 2019.

Sreedharan was appointed as LMRC’s Principal Advisor on February 2014 is known for his experience in handling big Metro projects in the country. He is a retired Indian Engineering Service (IES) officer who has served as the managing director of Delhi Metro from 1995 to 2012.

“Sreedharan personally monitored the construction work of the North-South Corridor. His valuable guidance was crucial in the construction of the underground section. I requested him not to resign but he said his health was not supporting him at this point of time,” said LMRC Managing Director Kumar Keshav.

The former Chief of Delhi Metro advised Chief Engineers to implement austerity measures and cut expenses on maintenance and operations.  

Sreedharan is known for supervising the construction work of elevated tracks on the East-West Corridor to be built on a single pillar using lightweight technology. It brought down the total budget of the project by 15.9 per cent from Rs 5,396 crore to Rs 4,538 crore.

Separately, following Delhi CM’s proposal of giving free rides to women on Delhi Metro, Sreedharan wrote to PM Modi and made it clear that he was not in favour of such a proposal. In his letter to the Prime Minister on June 10, Sreedharan wrote, “One shareholder cannot take a unilateral decision to give concession to one section of community and push Delhi Metro in to inefficiency and bankruptcy.”

NHSRCL to acquire Most of the land for Bullet Train project by Dec 2019

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NHSRCL to acquire Most of the land for Bullet Train project by Dec 2019

New Delhi (Metro Rail News): – A major chunk of land is required for the 508-km-long Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet train project to be hopefully acquired by The National High-Speed Rail Corp Ltd (NHSRCL) by the end of this year.

“The land will be taken over once the tenders for the project were finalized,” Said the spokesperson Sushma Gaur of NHSRCL.

She also added that “major chunk of the land acquisition is likely to be completed by December 2019.
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”

A train travelling on the route takes over seven hours to travel the distance while planes take about an hour of flying time.  In comparison now, the bullet trains are expected to run at 320 km per hour covering the 508 km stretch in about two hours.

The National High-Speed Rail Corp Ltd has acquired 39% of the 1,380 hectares of land till date.

This comes to 537 hectares: 471 of 940 hectares required in Dadra and Nagar Haveli. “The bullet train project was progressing at a good place,” said Sushma Gaur.

She said, “Two or three months back the total land acquired was 33%. And within 90 days we were able to acquire over 6% more land.”

Prime Ministers Narendra Modi of India and Shinzo Abe of Japan on September 14, 2017, laid the foundation stone for the ambitious ₹1.08 lakh crore ($17 billion) high-speed rail project.

A MoU was signed by The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Railway Ministry with Japan to partially fund the project.

“The railways had floated tenders for tunnelling work, including testing and commissioning of the double line high-speed railway using tunnel boring machine (TBM) and New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM) between the underground station at the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai and Shilphata in Maharashtra,” said by Gaur.

“A 21-km tunnel will be dug between Boisar in Maharashtra and the Bandra-Kurla Complex, 7 km of which will be under the sea,” according to the official.

“The design and construction of civil and building works, including testing and commissioning of 237 km of length of rail line corridor between Zaroli village on the Maharashtra-Gujarat border and Vadodara in Gujarat, have been floated,” said by Sushma Gaur.

This accounts for 47% of the total length of the project and will include a mountain tunnel of about 280 metres, 24 river crossings and 30 road and canal crossings.

She also stated that the tenders to construct the stations in Gujarat’s Vapi, Bilimora, Surat and Bharuch had also been floated.

The construction of the Sabarmati hub in Ahmedabad to be linked to the bullet train station has started.

New MRT-3 Rails to arrive from Japan By August 2019

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New MRT-3 Rails to arrive from Japan By August 2019

MANILA (Metro Rail News): On Friday the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said, the new rails from Japan are expected to arrive in the Philippines within July-August this year amongst the current rehabilitation of the Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT-3).

The Nippon Steel-made rails after arriving at the Port of Manila will be delivered and prepared for installation at the tracks’ laydown yard near the Parañaque Integrated Transport Exchange.

The DOTr said,“Over 50 percent of the rails are ready for shipment from Japan, and are expected to arrive in the Philippines in the third quarter of this year (July – August 2019) — several months earlier than its arranged date of delivery,”

The DOTr said it expects the MRT-3 trains to be running smoothly with the repair of its wheel lathe machine last March and the future replacement of all its mainline tracks.

Last Thursday the DOTr’s Factory Acceptance Test team headed by MRT Director for Operations Michael Capati, accompanied by Asian Development Bank rail expert Peter Raeside and TES Philippines chairman Kiyoshi Morita, visited Japanese steel firm Nippon Steel in Fukuoka, Japan to inspect the new rails that will be installed on the MRT tracks.

In a statement the DOTr said, “With the repair of MRT-3’s wheel lathe machine last March and the future replacement of all of MRT-3’s mainline tracks, MRT-3’s will be running smoother and with less vibration. Vibration has been one of the enemies of any mechanical and electrical equipment, and is one of the causes of MRT-3’s breakdowns in the past.”

Parts of the light rail vehicles for the railway system will arrive early in July while tracks and signaling components are set to be delivered in August, stated The consortium of Sumitomo, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and TES Philippines (Sumitomo-MHI-TESP)

Sumitomo-MHI-TESP will undertake the overhaul of all 72 light rail vehicles of the MRT-3, replace all mainline tracks, rehabilitate power and overhead catenary systems, upgrade the signaling system, communications and CCTV systems, and all the escalators and elevators will be repaired, and repair other system for improvements.

The MRT rehabilitation project is seen to increase the number of operating trains from 15 to 20 at peak hours, double the train operating speed from 30 to 60 kilometers per hour, reduce by half the headway or waiting time from 7-10 minutes to just 3.5 minutes and increase train capacity from an average of 300,000 passengers per day to 650,000 passengers daily.

The Sumitomo-MHI-TESP took over the maintenance and rehabilitation of the MRT-3 last May from the MRT Maintenance Transition Team of the DOTr. The project is expected to last for 43 months with rehabilitation works slated for completion within the first 26 months.

Free Metro Rides for Women is a poll gimmick says E Sreedharan

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Free Metro Rides for Women is a poll gimmick says E Sreedharan

NEW DELHI (Metro Rail News): Calling Delhi government’s plan to allow free travel to women in Delhi Metro an election gimmick, ‘Metro Man’ E Sreedharan has told deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia that if the government is flush with cash, it should help Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) get more trains and build new lines instead of subsidizing free travel.

The former managing director of DMRC had earlier written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him not to agree to the proposal. Reacting to that letter Sisodia had written to Sreedharan, stating that he was “surprised and pained” by the view. He also requested Sreedharan to reconsider his stand as DMRC was running 65% below its capacity.

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Letter to Manish Sisodia by E Sreedharan (PART 1)


“Your letter dated 14.06.2019 addressed to me has not so far been received, but I got a copy from the media,” Sreedharan wrote in the letter to Sisodia dated June 20.


“Everybody knows this is an election gimmick to win votes of women in the next assembly election,” he wrote, adding that he is against the very idea of allowing free travel to any section till the loans taken by DMRC, of which Rs 35,000 crore is still outstanding, are paid back. “Your government may compensate DMRC but successor governments may not. DMRC will not then be able to reverse and charge women commuters.”


Sreedharan said the AAP government’s decision would set “alarming precedence” for other metro services, which also carry heavy debt burdens at a time when their growth rate was slow. “I am not opposing Delhi government’s proposal to bear the cost of free travel for women but objecting only to the concept of free travel in a metro.”

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Letter to Manish Sisodia by E Sreedharan (PART 2)


If the Delhi government is so concerned about women, it can reimburse their cost of travel directly to them, suggested Sreedharan. The money that will be used as the subsidy is taxpayers’ money and they have a right to question why only women are being given free travel, he added. “If we allow free travel for women, what about more deserving categories such as students, disabled persons, senior citizens?” Dismissing Sisodia’s claim that the metro is utilizing only 65% of its capacity, Sreedharan wrote that the system was so heavily crowded during the peak hours hat even with trains running every two minutes, commuters found it difficult to board for lack of space.

Allowing free travel to women will only worsen the situation, he pointed out.

Prashant Pawar claims Maha Metro for favoring L&T

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Prashant Pawar claims Maha Metro for favoring L&T

NAGPUR (Metro Rail News): Prashant Pawar leader of Jai Jawan Jai Kisan alleged that Maha Metro had favored L&T which runs Hyderabad Metro, in leasing coaches. However, Maha Metro trashed his claim citing directives of Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS).

Quoting a preliminary audit report “Maha metro had leased six coaches from L&T for Rs.15 crore a year. Moreover, the coaches were leased for four years when they were required only for one year, “, Pawar said.

Brijesh Dixit, the MahaMetro managing director stated that the coaches have been leased for 3 years and not four. He also added that “After using them in Nagpur, we will take them to Pune and later maybe Thane if state Government awards the project to us. It takes weeks for new coaches to be tested and so the ones leased were vital for the trail run and inspections of Research Design and Standards Organization (RDSO) and Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS).

He further added that,” We had earlier contacted Chennai Metro, a government owned one, for two trains. However, they are four coach trains and our platforms are not that long. Secondly, they have side evacuation facility against front evacuation of our coaches. CMRS asked us to lease only those trains that are similar to ours.”

The cost of Nagpur Metro train is around Rs. 30 crores, including taxes. However, L&T has charged Rs. 7.5 crore per train per year.  Brijesh Dixit said that, “Even Chennai Metro has asked for Rs.7.10 crore per train. The rent is on the higher side but it’s a suppliers market. We didn’t contact other Metros after CMRS directive.”

Dixit said that,” There was a delay of about four months in finalizing the contract as one of the bidders had approached High Court and then Supreme Court.” Pawar also claimed that there was a delay in delivery of coaches from China. Dixit responded it saying Nagpur Metro was the fastest in ordering the rolling stock.

“The cost of rolling stock as per the detailed project report (DPR) was Rs 9222 crore while Nagpur Metro had awarded the tender for Rs 718 crore thus leading to a saving of Rs 204 crore,” said buy the MD.

Jai Jawan Jai Kisan had earlier claimed that the contractor for Reach III had been awarded the contract for building some stations of Reach II without any tender. Dixit also added that the DPR nowhere mentioned that construction work had to be awarded  to different contractors,” Our contract for Reach III clearly states that work site means the places where the permanent works are to be executed and any other places as may be specified in the contract as forming part of the site. Our site in the entire city of Nagpur.”

Brijesh Dixit stated that they were held on the request of citizen who had endured a lot of inconvenience during construction work. The coaches from L&T were leased for trial run and not joyrides. Pawar also alleged Maha Metro for holding joyrides saying that there was no provision for it in DPR.

CMRS investigates Nagpur Metro

A team of Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) led by commission Janak Kumar Garg took stock of various works being done by Nagpur Metro in Reach I (Sitabuldi to Khapri).  KL Purthi and Varun Maurya were other members of the team. CMRS is here to sanction the second line of Reach I.

Garg first met Maha Metro managing director Dixit to learn about the progress of Reach I. he then held meetings with senior officials, including Mahesh Kumar, Sunil Mathur, S Sivamathan, Anil Kokate and others.

The commissioner then visited Sitabuldi interchange station. He inspected the security system and various facilities available at the station. They included smoke detection system, emergency lighting, fire safety equipment, scanner, automatic fare collection gates, escalators, etc.

CMRS team will travel by trolley from Sitabuldi to Khapri and inspect Airport and Khapri stations on the way. Morning services in Metro will be closed on Thursday.

Only 39% of land acquired for Bullet train project

Kanika Verma
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Only 39% of land acquired for Bullet train project

NEW DELHI (Metro Rail News): Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project which is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious project is missing on its deadline of land acquisition as till date only 39 percent of the 1,380 hectares of land required has been acquired.

“Till date, we have acquired about 39 percent of the land” said by a senior National High-Speed Rail Corporation Ltd. (NHSRCL) official requesting anonymity said. NHSRCL has acquired 537 of the 1,387 hectares land required in Maharashtra and Gujarat he said.

The NHSRCL has acquired 471 of 940 hectares of land, while in Maharashtra, it has acquired 66 of 431 hectares, in Gujarat. He said, “Of the nine hectares land required in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, the agency has been unable to acquire even a single piece of land”.

The government had set a deadline for December 2018 to clear the land acquisition roadblock.
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Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on September 14, 2017, laid the foundation stone of the ambitious Rs 1.08 lakh crore ($17 billion) 508-km long Ahmedabad-Mumbai high-speed rail project.

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Union Railway Ministry have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the 508-km corridor, with Japan to partially fund the project.

The railways have floated the tenders for the construction of tunneling works, including testing and commissioning for double line high-speed railway using tunnel boring machine (TBM) and New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM) between Mumbai underground station at Bandra-Kurla Complex and Shilphata in Maharashtra, the official said.

According to the official, a 21-km-long tunnel will be dug between Boisar and BKC in Mumbai, 7 km of which will be under the sea.

The NHSRCL official said that the design and construction of civil and building works including testing and commissioning of 237 km length of mainline for Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail corridor between Zaroli village at Maharashtra-Gujarat border and Vadodara in Gujarat, which is 47 per cent of total length of the project, elevated except one mountain tunnel of about 280 metre, 24 river crossings and 30 road and canal crossings have been floated.

He said the tenders to construct the stations in Gujarat’s Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, and Bharuch have also been floated.

The official said that the work on utility diversions on various locations is progressing well while the work at Sabarmati hub in Ahmedabad has started.

The bullet trains are expected to run at 350 km per hour covering the 508 km stretch in about two hours.

In comparison, trains currently plying on the route take over seven hours to travel the distance, whereas flights take about an hour.

Delhi Metro services on all lines begin early on International Yoga Day

Kanika Verma
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Delhi Metro services on all lines begin early on International Yoga Day

NEW DELHI (Metro Rail News): Traffic officials said, on Friday morning on the occasion of International Day of Yoga. The Delhi Police has asked commuters to avoid Rajpath and its connecting roads as nearly 30,000 people are expected to throng the Red Fort.

They said to ensure smooth flow of traffic in and around Red Fort, motorists are advised to avoid Rajpath and its connecting roads as on Friday up to 10 am huge public gathering is expected at Rajnath.

Traffic may be restricted and diverted on certain roads, according to the advisory.

Therefore, motorists and commuters are advised to avoid certain roads such as Netaji Subash Marg, Nishad Raj Marg, Rafi Marg, Janpath (between MLNP and Windsor), Man Singh Road (Between Q-point and Jaswant Singh Round About), Maulana Azad Road, Rajnath (Between Vijay Chowk and Man Singh crossing), Krishna Manon Marg, Rajender Prasad Marg during Yoga day celebrations from 5 am to 9.30 am.

Advisory stated commuters are advised to take alternate routes such as the Ring Road, Mathura Road, Bhairon Marg, Rajesh Pilot Marg, Dr. Abdul Kalam Road, Tuglak Road, Mother Teresa Crescent Marg to travel from south to north and vice versa and from east to west and vice versa the.

The advisory added, approximately 200 buses and 2,000 cars are expected to come at Red Fort. The buses will be parked in the parking lots at Sunheri Masjid, Parade Ground, and Tikona Park. The buses will be parked on the service road of the Ring Road behind Red Fort.

DMRC officials said seeking to facilitate maximum commuters on the International Day of Yoga, metro services will begin from the terminal stations of all lines on Friday from 4 am.

They said trains will run with a frequency of 30 minutes till 6 am and normal services will resume thereafter.

“Metro services will begin from the terminal stations of all lines from 4 am tomorrow (Friday) to facilitate the public in reaching various venues for the celebrations”, A senior DMRC official said.

The government and other agencies have hosted the activities that have been planned to mark the occasion in the national capital.

Fire at Delhi’s Kalindi Kunj, metro service affected

Kanika Verma
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Fire at Delhi’s Kalindi Kunj, metro service affected

NEW DELHI (Metro Rail News): Metro service has been stopped temporarily as a major fire broke out at a furniture market in Kalindi Kunj close to the Delhi metro’s Magenta line on Friday morning. No injuries were reported in the incident.

The call was received at 5.55 a.m. regarding a fire in the market which covered an area of about 2,000 square yards. “A total of 17 fire tenders were pressed into service. The fire was doused around 9 a.m. said by the Delhi Fire Services Chief Atul Garg.

Magenta line, train movement has been stopped temporarily between Jasola Vihar Shaheen Bagh and Kalindi Kunj due to smoke and fire from a blaze underneath the section. “Short loops are being run between Janakpuri West and Jasola Vihar Shaheen Bagh. No service between Kalindi Kunj and Botanical Garden said by an official from The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).

DMRC officials said that “Metro services between Jasola Vihar and Botanical Garden resumed at around 10.30 a.m”. ANI reported a total of 15 fire tenders are present at the spot, and fire-fighting operation is still underway.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, in a statement, said it was running short loops between Janakpuri West and Jasola Vihar Shaheen Bagh. “No service between Kalindi Kunj and Botanical Garden temporarily,” said the authority.


Here are some updates:


11.01 PM: The Metro train services have resumed between Botanical Garden and Jasola Vihar- Shaheen Bagh.
9.39 PM: DMRC said that “Passengers at Botanical Garden please use the blue line to continue with your journey”.
9.00 AM: DMRC said “The firefighters are still attending the fire near Kalindi Kunj. We shall keep you posted when train movement resumes between the affected section”.
7.30 AM: Train movement has been stopped temporarily between Jasola Vihar Shaheen Bagh and Kalindi Kunj due to smoke and fire from a fire underneath the section, says Delhi Metro.
8.12 AM: No service between Kalindi Kunj and Botanical Garden temporarily: Delhi Metro.

A Free Ride for Women in Metro Rail

Kanika Verma
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A Free Ride for Women in Metro Rail

DELHI (Metro Rail News): On June 3 the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi announced that it was considering making Delhi Metro and Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses free-to-ride for women. While most women’s organizations and women commuters, in general, welcomed the move, it has attracted criticism from the AAP’s political adversaries who have described it as an act of sheer populism with an eye to the Assembly election in Delhi, scheduled to be held early next year.

Hardeep Singh Puri Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was among the first ones to denounce the proposal, calling it “disruptions”. “Mr. Kejriwal has confused people because this is not how you give schemes.

Central government needs to be on board. DMRC [Delhi Metro Rail Corporation] didn’t get any proposal from the Delhi government. Delhi government already is running out of funds; they are in debt. I don’t know how Kejriwal is planning to give Metro rides for free,” the Minister said, sharing the apprehensions of many people, including women, who are wondering whether the scheme is economically viable to implement.

The Delhi government has made it clear that it is not banking on the Centre to bear the budget deficit likely to arise from a drop in revenues of the DMRC, which early estimates put at anything between Rs.700 crore and Rs.1,100 crore a year.

The AAP vociferously justified the announcement, arguing that it would encourage more women to use the Metro and DTC buses, considered safer than shared autos or cabs.

“The safety of women is the most important for the AAP government. Keeping in mind the safety of women, the government has decided that in Delhi all Delhi Transport Corporation and cluster buses and the Delhi Metro will be free for women so that maximum number of women can use public transport.

Public transport is said to be the safest for women. Due to the increase in Metro prices, they are not able to use these services,” Kejriwal told the media recently.

Yet, economic concerns remain. The annual budget has been passed, with the funding for specific departments already earmarked. According to the Delhi government’s initial assessment, it will have to bear an additional expense of around Rs.800 crore to sponsor the fare waiver.

One of the options available to the Delhi government is to use the Consolidated Fund of Delhi for the additional expenditure, but that would require the approval of the Central government. It is improbable that the BJP, which registered a lead in 65 of 70 Assembly segments in the just concluded parliamentary election, would agree to what is likely to bring windfall electoral gains for its closest adversary in the Union territory.
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The Delhi government also faces a likely roadblock from the DMRC board, whose 13 directors take a call on matters pertaining to the Delhi Metro. In the past, the AAP has been unable to get the DMRC board to reduce the Metro fares. Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has stated on previous occasions that the AAP government wishes to slash Metro fares by 25 to 30 percent, but the DMRC board has seemingly given this a red light.

Several women’s organizations have welcomed the fare waiver proposal. Their argument is that women are not equal beneficiaries of economic development and are still struggling for equal pay for equal work.

Mariam Dhawale, general secretary of the All India Democratic Women’s Association, said that women were the “worst hit by economic policies” and they needed some incentives. “It is now official that the unemployment rate in our country is at a 45-year low. What has escaped notice is the fact that women are far more at the receiving end as a result of the loss of jobs. They have been pushed to the unorganized sector where exploitation is very high. In any case, the gender-based employment ratio is tilted heavily against women. In this scenario, any economic relief for women is always welcome,” Mariam Dhawale told Frontline.

Man held with bullets at Aqua Line metro station

Kanika Verma
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Man held with bullets at Aqua Line metro station

NOIDA (Metro Rail News): Officials of the Noida Metro Rail Corporation said, On Wednesday a man was arrested at a metro station of the Aqua Line after he was allegedly found carrying two bullets.

They said the man, identified as Mohammed Shakir, a resident of Loni in Ghaziabad, was arrested at NSEZ metro station.

A senior NMRC official said “When his bag went inside the scanning machine, the bullets were identified and he was held by the security officials on duty. When asked for an explanation, the man had no clear answer”.

Provincial Armed Constabulary personnel, responsible for security of the Aqua Line, later handed him over to the local police and a case was registered against him at the Phase 2 police station, he said.

Carrying firearms and ammunition is prohibited on the Aqua Line, the officials said.

The Aqua Line, which runs between Noida and Greater Noida, began operations on January 26 this year.

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