Indian Railways to Build 200-kmph Train Coaches at Chennai Coach Factory

NEW DELHI: Indian Railways will build coaches to run at a 200-km per hour speed at its Chennai facility in keeping with the Modi government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.Introduction of AC rakes in the inter-city services to make the journey more comfortable will also be proposed in the Rail Budget 2015-16.As per this year’s Rail Budget proposal, it will manufacture a prototype rake consisting of 20 coaches for the 200-km per hour speed train at its Chennai coach factory.
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At present, the railways builds coaches to run at a maximum speed of 160-km per hour.Besides indigenous manufacture of semi-high speed coaches for 200 km per hour, Railway Ministry will make a concerted effort to give fillip to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.Manufacturing of many locomotive components like cranks shaft, alternators and forged wheels will also be proposed to be undertaken indigenously instead of importing these parts from outside, sources in the railways said.In his first Rail Budget, Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu would be pitching for improving financial health of the ailing public transporter as well as passenger services.Prabhu, in his bid to make the railways disabled- friendly, is likely make proposal to prove for Braille signages in all new coaches to facilitate vision-impaired passengers.Customer satisfaction will be a focus area of this year’s Rail Budget as a series of steps including air-conditioning of Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) trains for inter-city services and noise reduction in diesel locomotive cabs are likely to be proposed, the sources said.An inter-city service covers up to 160-km distance and caters to mostly daily commuters.An attempt is being made to make the inter-city travel more comfortable and faster in the Rail Budget 2015-16, the sources said.In order to promote north-east connectivity, Prabhu will also announce introduction of DEMU services in north eastern states as a national project.The Rail Budget to be presented on February 26 will also propose world class manufacturing facilities in the country. Use of latest technology and automation to reduce manpower and better quality control at railway factories and workshops are likely to be announced.Since many Premium trains with higher fares have been introduced to boost revenue collection, the railways will undertake an exercise for upgrading of coach interiors including redesigning user-friendly toilets.National Institute of Design (NID) is likely to be roped for redesigning the interiors of coaches, the sources said. The Rail Budget will have provision for dustbins in all type of coaches as most non-AC coaches are at present not provided with this facility.In line with the ‘Swachh Bharat’ campaign, the railways will propose to cover 100 more trains under ‘On Board Housekeeping Services’ and proliferation of bio-toilets in trains and stations. Besides, six more stations will be covered under the Clean Train Station Scheme.(PTI)

Chennai Metro: CMRL launch unlikely in March

Chennai Metro Rail may not get going in March as the State government is yet to give a date for the launch of the service between Koyambedu and Alandur.

According to Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), though they had sought dates from the State government a while back, there has been no response.

“Nearly 90 per cent of the construction is complete. The finishing work can be done 10-15 days before the launch. We are ready to begin commercial operations by late February itself. But there have been no talks at the government level, with regard to a launch date,” an official said.

Meanwhile, a senior government official said there is no conclusive deadline at present, but the inauguration, in all probability, ‘may not happen in March’.

A final call on dates can be taken only after the required safety approval is given. That apart, uncertainty prevails because of the ongoing court case against AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa, the official said.

“We have no clear idea yet on the way forward,” he said.

CMRL officials plan to invite the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) — whose clearance is required to begin commercial operations — for inspection by the end of this month or early next month.

“The CMRS has asked us for some additional documents which we will submit next week. We may get clearance a week after inspection is conducted. If the State government had indicated a probable date, we could have arranged the inspection accordingly,” an official said.

Now, owing to this delay, contractors have slowed down the pace of work, officials said.

“In the place of 100 workers, there are only about 30 working now. The contractors know we won’t relieve them if they finish early; so, the work has been rather been slow,” he said. (Source: The Hindu)

East-West Metro: Railway Board to figure out cost escalation on route re-alignment of E-W Metro

Kolkata: Railway Board wants the implementing agency of East-West Metro to figure out the cost escalation that would result from a route alignment as suggested by the state government before considering the proposed change.  The Railway Board has written to the Kolkata Metro Railway Corporation Ltd. (KMRCL), the implementing agency, saying the additional cost involved in changing the alignment should be discussed with the state government before a decision was taken.Sources said it would take at least Rs 350 crore extra if the government’s proposed alignment was accepted. An additional Rs 44 crore will be needed to build a retrieval shaft at Laldighi to bring out a tunnel boring machine.Officials monitoring the project said the railways’ stand would lead to a further delay on the stretch between Howrah Maidan and Sealdah. “This is another example of how the railways is apparently dragging its feet on the state’s offer of land in Laldighi to build a retrieval shaft for the equipment that will be used to bore a tunnel under the Hooghly for the East-West tracks,” an official said.
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The letter to the implementing agency, signed by Railway Board representative A.K. Jha, states: “Jurisdiction of the proposed additional scope of work and cost implementation has to be evaluated by KMRCL as the project implementing authority after necessary discussions with the government of West Bengal.”  “The proposal of retrieval shaft at Laldighi is not on the approved alignment of the Kolkata East-West Metro corridor project as per DPR (detailed project report),” the letter stated.  Jha is also managing director of the metro railway corporation.He had skipped a meeting attended by officials of the corporation and various state agencies to take a decision on starting work on the Howrah Maidan-Sealdah stretch.Calcutta High Court had last Friday directed the corporation to ask the Railway Board whether it would accept the proposal to build a retrieval shaft near Laldighi. The agency has to state its stand in an affidavit to be filed by Thursday. The next hearing is scheduled for Friday.The high court had formed a committee and asked it to discuss and inform it on January 30 how the railways, urban development ministry and the state government planned to start boring a tunnel under the Hooghly.“It was informally agreed after several rounds of discussion that the shaft would be built at Laldighi. Even the state government, which was stonewalling all attempts at getting work started, had promised to shift all underground utilities. Now this letter from the Railway Board representative comes as a surprise,” said a railway official.The railways’ decision is significant because it holds 74 per cent stake in the project, against 24 per cent by the urban development ministry.“The proposed new alignment will ensure less disruption of traffic. Fewer people and hawkers will need to be rehabilitated and lesser number of utilities will require to be shifted,” state transport secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay said.

Lucknow Metro: LMRC approved tender docs for Lucknow Metro Depot

Lucknow:  The board of directors of Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation approved floating of tenders for civil, pre-engineered building and electrical and mechanical works for Transport Nagar Train Depot in the North-South corridor, on Wednesday. The depot will have four lines for daily maintenance of trains, for washing, inspection, repair and stabling (parking of trains).All trains will arrive in the depot each night for cleaning and repair work. Officials said the depot is to be made ready for receiving and commissioning of trains in time for opening of the priority corridor. The last date of submission for the depot’s tender will be March 23.The board, chaired by the chief secretary, also agreed to the need of hiring in LMRC more experts with rich experience in the fields of electrical, traction, signalling, telecom and track, etc, for taking up system works for the N-S corridor.Also, 50 lakh shares of Rs 100 each were issued to the state government with the approval of board members against the equity share money given by the state government in the financial year 2014-15. The board approved the fixation of remuneration of statutory auditor for FY 2014-15.

MEGA Metro: Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project awarded its First Work Order

Ahmedabad: The first work order of Ahmedabad Metro Rail project has been awarded yesterday for Vastral-Apparel park stretch of Metro rail project construction which is likely to start by March 2015.  The value of the Work Order is Rs. 278 crore.Gujarat government arm Metrolink Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad – MEGA company had invited tender for “construction of Elevated Viaduct from Vastral Gam to Apparel Park upto Ramp Start in Reach R-1 (Excluding the portions of Metro Rail Stations) including construction of viaduct for portion leading upto interface location of Metro Depot (East West Corridor) in Khokhra area from diverting point near Apparel Park Metro Rail Station”.  Vastral village – Apparel Park (Khokhra) stretch is 6 km long. It is part of the first phase of Metro rail project connecting Vastral gam and Thaltej gam in east-west direction.The tender was made public on 20 October. It was only for construction of elevated viaduct on 6 km stretch. There will be total 7 Metro stations on 7.5 km route, construction of which will be covered in separate tender. Distance between two stations will be around 1200-1500 meter.A note issued today to media by MEGA said an Estimated expenditure of civil work of a 6 km elevated corridor between Vatral to Apparel park was Rs.266 crore. In response to MEGA notification inviting bids, a total of 9 companies had participated in this tender process. Technical bid was opened on 18 December last year. After scrutiny of technical qualification, 4 agencies were found successful. Later, financial bid was opened on 22 January 2015. After a scrutiny process, Mumbai based J. Kumar Infracon Projects ltd was found lowest-1(L1) in its offer with Rs. 278 crore bid. L&T, Simplex, Soma companies stayed at second, third and fourth position respectively. In a meeting of the board of directors held on 31 January 2015, J. Kumar Infracon Projects Ltd was issued a letter of acceptance. The work will begin by the end of this month and will be completed in 27 months period.MEGA plans to operate 4-6 coaches to begin with at 45-100 km/hour speed.About phase-1Metro rail North-South corridor (APMC market to Motera stadium) and East-West corridor (Thaltej village to Vastral) are part of Metro rail project phase-1.Phase-1 route length is 35.956 km, of which 29.621 will be over surface while 6.355 km route will be underground. 28 stations will be over the surface and 4 stations will be underground.North-South corridor will begin at Motera stadium. It will pass through Sabarmati police station, power house, RTO over-bridge, Ranip 132 ring road, Ranip cross road, Vadaj AMTS bus-stand, Usmanpura, Ashram road, New Gandhigram, Madalpur, Paldi, Anjli, Vasna and end at APMC.East-West corridor will begin at Thaltej village and pass through Doordarshan kendr, Gurukul road, Gujarat University, Commerce six roads, Stadium, Ashram road, Shahpur, Ghikanta, Kalupur railway station, Kankaria east (Gomtipur), Apparel park, Amraiwadi, Rabari colony, Vastral, Nirat char rasta and Vastral village, which will be the last station.The project above is likely to be completed in year 2018.

Delhi Metro: DMRC Phase III has speeded up with the tunneling near Naraina Vihar

New Delhi: Work on one of the new corridors of the Delhi Metro’s Phase III has speeded up with the tunneling near Naraina Vihar starting from Monday.
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The corridor is the Majlis Park (Mukundpur) to Shiv Vihar line.“DMRC has started underground tunneling near Naraina Vihar on the Ring Road Metro stretch which is approximately 2.2km long,” said a spokesperson for the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). The statement comes amidst fears that delays in the phase III could have an impact on the deadline for the corridors. Phase III will have two new corridors—Mukundpur to Shiv Vihar and Janakpuri (West) to Botanical Garden. The stretch is between Mayapuri and Delhi Cantonment and the tunnel will be 1,103m long. “The soil profile of the area is mixed with quartzite rock and silt soil, and therefore, the Tunnel Boring Machine mobilized for the work is capable of tunneling in soil as well as rock and has a special mixed cutter head,” he added

Delhi Metro: DMRC to extend its Blue Line till Noida Sector-62

New Delhi: Delhi Metro is extending its existing Dwarka-Noida City Center corridor till Noida Sector 62 and, thereafter, to Greater Noida. The Sector 52 station will be an interchange station for another Metro line planned for Greater Noida.The alignment of the Noida City Center extension till Sector 62—a distance of 6.6km—will connect Noida with the heart of Delhi. One of the longest corridors in the Delhi Metro network, the extension will pass through sectors 34, 51, 59 and 62 to Electronic City.The proposed extension will start from the dead end of the existing Noida City Center station and run straight along the median of Captain Shashi Kant Marg for about 2.2km before taking a left turn near Sector 52. It will run straight on the median of road leading to Sector 62 and along NH-24 for about 4.5km.“While taking the left turn from Captain Shashi Kant Marg towards Electronic City, it has been kept in view that there will be a need in the future to have grade separator arrangement (with clover leaves) at this crossing,” said a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) official.The length of the extension from dead end of Noida City Center station to the planned dead end near NH-24 is 6.675km. In Noida, the existing corridor has stations in sectors 15, 16 and 18, Botanical Garden, Golf Course and Noida City Center. “Botanical Garden station is planned as an interchange station for the Janakpuri-Botanical Garden line of Ph-III,” the official added. This corridor will be 36km long with over 20 stations. It is one of the two corridors coming up in Phase III of the network.The extension to Electronic City and beyond is expected to give a boost to the connectivity in NCR. What makes the alignment exciting, according to Delhi Metro, is the plan to have Noida Sector 52 as an interchange station for the Metro line planned for Greater Noida.“The recommended network in the ‘Revised Metro Plan for 2021′ prepared by DMRC totalled a length of 413.83km, comprising Delhi and adjoining parts of NCR, and was slated for completion latest by 2021 in phases,” said the Metro spokesperson.

Delhi Metro: Supreme Court asked Delhi High Court to decide on Gammon’s plea on DMRC tenders

New Delhi: Supreme Court today asked Delhi High Court to “expeditiously” decide a plea filed by Gammon India Limited that it has “arbitrarily” been denied contract of a ₹600 crore metro rail project despite its financial bid being lower than the company which bagged it.“The parties (Gammon India, DMRC, Centre and others) agree that the pleadings shall be completed before February 25. We request the High Court to commence the hearing on that day,” a bench headed by Justice T.S Thakur said.It also ordered maintenance of ‘status quo’ with regard to construction and other works in pursuance of award of the contract.The bench, which also comprised Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, said the parties would not seek any adjournment of hearing before the High Court which would expeditiously decide the plea of Gammon India Ltd.Earlier, Gammon India had moved the High Court seeking a direction to DMRC and the government that its financial bid, submitted through a letter on October 13 last year, be considered for awarding the contract.The high court, which issued notices on Gammon’s plea, had however refused to stay the operation of contract awarded to M/s GYT-TPL Joint Venture.Gammon India then moved the apex court seeking ‘status quo’ on the construction and other works in pursuance of award of contract to M/s GYT-TPL Joint Venture.“The financial bid of Petitioner (Gammon India Ltd) is significantly lower than successful bidder. The successful bid of M/s GYT-TPL Joint Venture is ₹665.87 crores whereas the Petitioner has bid ₹639.49 Crores, ₹26.36 crores less than the successful bidder.“There could not have been any justification for giving a go-by to the petitioner in light of the difference in the bid amounts…,” Gammon India alleged.It also claimed it has been “effectively blacklisted” by DMRC by refusing to open its financial bid in connection with “DMRC contract no CC–87 by making allegations which are wholly unconnected with the subject tender without so much as a letter to the Petitioner to explain anything.”

Mumbai Metro: Maharashtra plans for Metro Rail along the proposed Coastal Road in Mumbai

Mumbai: Maharashtra state government has plans to expand the scope of the ambitious coastal road project in Mumbai, following the Centre’s willingness to modify coastal regulation zone (CRZ) norms for the project. A grand addition is now foreseen: A Metro Rail component and a bus rapid transit (BRT) line along the proposed 34-km freeway connecting south Mumbai to the western suburbs.Senior officials confirmed that the option of setting up two additional lanes for a Metro Rail and another two lanes for a dedicated bus transit network are now on the drawing board for the project that was originally conceived as a six-lane ring road to decongest vehicular traffic.The coastal road plan entails reclamation of 110 hectares of land. The project had hit a hurdle during the previous Congress-NCP regime over CRZ regulations prohibiting reclamation.The breakthrough came at a meeting between Union Environment Minister Prakash Jawdekar and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis last month, with the former expressing willingness to amend CRZ norms on some conditions.On Monday, the CM held another discussion with Jawdekar in this regard in Mumbai.Sources said the Centre was willing to accede to the state’s suggestion that the norms be amended by inserting a clause in the CRZ Notification permitting reclamation for road projects.The proposal to incorporate a Metro Rail and BRT line aims to strengthen Mumbai’s public transport systems. While the estimated cost of the coastal road is pegged at Rs 9,000 crore currently, the addition of the mass rapid transit systems could push up costs by Rs 7,000 crore.At least two of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority’s proposed Metro routes, meanwhile, could return to the drawing board if the coastal road’s Metro Line is okayed, including the Dahisar-Bandra-Mankhurd route and Colaba-Bandra-Seepz route.While the MMRDA’s routes are brownfield projects and partly underground projects requiring complex rehabilitation of project-affected people, a Metro route on the coastal ring road will ensure a larger span in a shorter time frame, officials said. It would also be a cost-effective option. Official estimates say the cost of setting up an underground Metro Rail route is Rs 800 crore per km, whereas an elevated rail can be built at Rs 220 crore per kilometre.In case of the coastal road project, the option of a Metro route “at grade” would cost Rs 70 crore per kilometre, senior officials said.The state hopes to obtain a formal nod from the Centre for the coastal road project soon. It has set its sights on readying the detailed project report and starting work by the year-end.Meanwhile, on the memorial for warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji off the Arabian Sea, following a legal opinion that the bhoomipujan for the project must be taken up only after the Centre’s green nod, Fadnavis has requested the Centre to complete the necessary formalities before May 1. The state has plans to carry out the bhoomipuja on that day.

14 year old boy makes a Demo Metro Project using minimum resources

Muzaffarnagar: You will be astonished to know that a 10th-class student living in Shamli region of Uttar Pradesh have made a demo model of the metro. While most metro models are prepared by renown engineers, Abdul Samad studying in class-10th have prepared a metro model which will use the DC.Even a good technical student will be surprised to see this model. The 14-year-old Abdul has made it using minimal resources available to him. He hails from a poor family and his father works in a private company in Delhi. He studies in an inter-school in his village only.He is always inspired to do something new. However, due to poor financial conditions, he could not fulfill all his dreams. This is why he had to use the sources available in the village to complete the metro project. He has used wood to make the poles and wired to show the DC current flow.Abdul considers former President APJ Abdul Kalam as his source of inspiration. He says “Abdul Kalam is one of the rare scientists who has set standards that his community has to practice. Whatsoever a great man like Abdul Kalam does, the same is done by others as well, whatever standards he sets, the world follows the same”.
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Due to low finances, he has to complete his education in the school located in the village only. His eyes have big dreams and the family hopes that the government lends a helping hand so Abdul can give wings to his wishes like any other student. If he gets a chance to pursue studies in better schools, he can possibly be the pride of the nation.

Delhi Metro: DMRC likely to hike fares after Delhi Assembly Elections

New Delhi: Delhi Metro fares may be hiked soon after the Assembly polls as the government has initiated a process to review the rates which were last raised in 2009.The Union Urban Development Ministry has sent a proposal to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet to set up a fare-fixation panel which will submit its report within three months of getting approved.Retired Justice AK Srivastava has been chosen as the Chairman of the Committee, Delhi Metro sources said.DMRC Managing Director Mangu Singh had recently indicated that a fare hike has become imperative with a significant rise in the operational costs.“Fare hike is long overdue. Now when the committee will be formed and when it will give its recommendations is not in my hand,” Singh had said, clearly indicating that a fare hike was on the cards.Delhi Metro can revise its fares only on recommendation of the three-member committee constituted by the Union government from time to time.Apart from a person who is or has been a high court judge, the committee comprises of the urban development secretary and Delhi’s finance secretary.Fares were last revised in 2009 when the minimum fare was raised from Rs 6 to Rs 8 while the maximum fare was hiked to Rs 30 from Rs 22.During DMRC’s 12th anniversary celebrations, its operations director Sharat Sharma had stated that almost 40 per cent of metro’s overall expenses go towards paying electricity bills with the power consumption rising to around 63 crore units amounting to almost Rs 450 crore in 2014-15.

Mumbai Metro : Maharashtra Govt sets up War Room for faster clearances of rail & infra projects

Mumbai: The seriousness of the new government over clearing pending infrastructure projects for Mumbai and Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) can be observed as Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has created a ‘war room’ in his office to expedite such projects. The war room has been monitoring the progress of projects to ensure their completion on time.Senior bureaucrats and experts have been involved to create a war room to fast track top projects for Mumbai and MMR as well. The basic objective of the war room is to clear the bottlenecks in the projects resulting in delays.Chief minister himself is heading the war room that was set up with the help of ‘Bombay First’ an NGO and global consultant McKinsey. Besides, two senior IAS officers Milind Mhaiskar and Pravin Pardeshi, both principal secretaries to the chief minister, are also monitoring issues that come up.The team of the war room also comprises two officers on special duty (OSD) working round-the-clock that were personally chosen by the chief minister.The responsibility of each of the OSDs is to coordinate with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). They also have subordinates called ‘associates’ to achieve specific targets.“The war room was set up to clear up important infrastructure project that were held up for different reasons for years. We have to remove bottlenecks of the projects after doing a detailed study,” a senior officer working in the war room revealed.Navi Mumbai International Airport, a proposed coastal road from Kandivali to Nariman Point, the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), Mumbai Metro and development of Mumbai Port Trust land are the projects on which war room has been working.

Nagpur Metro: Maharashtra Govt clears Draft Plan for Nagpur Metro Project

Nagpur: Maharashtra state Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis cleared the draft plan of Nagpur Metropolitan Area (NMA) at a meeting held on Saturday. The draft will be published by the government in a few days and made public.Citizens will get an opportunity to submit suggestions and objections for 60 days. After taking these comments into consideration the final plan will be published. The development of the metro region will take place as per the plan. While the Nagpur Metropolitan Area Development Authority (NMADA) is yet to be formally constituted, the CM held the meeting of its members.The government has ordered divisional commissioner Anup Kumar to hold elections to Nagpur Metropolitan Area Development Committee (NMAPC) by March 31. Kumar told that Nagpur district collector will be the returning officer and the election process will take four weeks and likely to be held by February end.NMAPC, comprising officers, MPs, MLAs and NMC corporators, councillors of municipal council and Nagpur zilla parishad members will finalize the development plan of NMA. It will be headed by the CM.Addressing the media after the meeting, Fadnavis said that the metro area land will be used for thirteen purposes. “Eight will be for urban and five for rural areas. In urban areas, more than 50% land will be for residential purposes followed by transport (16.9%) and industrial (13.4%). Only 1.15% will be for commercial purposes. The transport area is so big because all roads and railways come under it. In rural area, 54% is for agricultural. Our metro area has 14.25% forested land. This has a tourism potential,” he said.“The development of metro area will be done on the basis of this plan for coming 20 years. The requirements of the area for coming 50 years have been taken into account. An investment of Rs 41,215 crore will be made in the metro area over the years,” the CM said.Fadnavis claimed that land acquisition will not be a problem because land pooling will be done. “Funds will not be a problem as NMADA will collect development charges. This will help it in getting loans too. It can also use transfer of development rights (TDR), accommodation reservation and public-private partnership (PPP) for developing the metro area,” he added.The area of NMA is 3,567 square kilometre. Some urban areas falling within it have been excluded from NMA jurisdiction. They are: Nagpur, Kalmeshwar, Mahadula, Koradi, Kamptee, Mouda and Mihan. The population of metro area in 2011 was 10.3 lakh. It is expected to reach 17 lakh by 2032.Fresh line of action
  • Draft plan will be published within a few days
  • Citizens can give suggestions and objection regarding it for 60 days
  • The final plan will be made by NMAPC
  • NMAPC elections will be held in February or March
  • NMAPC will have NMC corporators, ZP members and members of municipal councils
  • The development of NMA will be done for coming 20 years on the basis of the plan
  • The plan will be made on the basis of requirements of the area in coming 50 years
  • It will require an investment of Rs41,000 crore
  • NIT will soon become NMADA

Railway Board asked E-W Metro to make clear stance on Laldighi

Kolkata: A role reversal is the latest twist in the saga of the stalled East-West Metro. The railway ministry, which had so far been at the receiving end of the Mamata Banerjee government’s stonewalling tactics, has apparently started dragging its feet on the state’s offer of land in Laldighi to build a “retrieval shaft” for the equipment that will be used to bore a tunnel under the Hooghly.The change comes days after the railways had informally agreed to a change in the route alignment, as insisted on by the state government to avoid evicting people and establishments.The railway board  was directed by Mr Justice Soumitra Pal of Calcutta High Court today to state its position by next Friday on the spot near Laldighi where the retrieval shaft for the construction of East-West Metro will come up. The direction came  after the state additional advocate general, Lakshmi Kumar Gupta, submitted that the representative of the railway board were not present at the meeting held to discuss the matter on Tuesday. The meeting held on Tuesday was attended  by representatives of the West Bengal government, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), CESC, the traffic department and  other stakeholders. The representatives of these agencies have agreed that the spot where the retrieval shaft would rise over ground shall be located near Laldighi, it was submitted.
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 Transtonnilstray  Afcon JV, the contractor’s firm, had  suggested three sites for bringing the retrieval  shaft above the ground, Ranjan Bachawat, appearing for the firm, submitted. These are a site beside the river Hooghly, near Lal dighi and on Brabourne Road.  But Afcon has not been  specified any exact location for the retrieval shaft  by the railway, it was submitted. Moreover, the contractor’s firm is clueless as to how the escalated cost will be met.The court’s order for an affidavit containing the railways’ stand is significant because all of a sudden its role has become a little ambiguous.On Wednesday, its representative had skipped a meeting attended by officials of the KMRC and various state agencies to take a decision on starting work along the stretch between Howrah Maidan and Sealdah.On Thursday, railway officials said they needed “further discussions” to decide whether a retrieval shaft or station could be built there.“We need further discussions on the issue before starting work. We want to go about it carefully to ensure that work doesn’t stop after resuming due to some problem,” A.K. Jha, managing director of the KMRC, told. “Besides, the Centre has to take the final decision (on changing the alignment) after considering a lot of issues,” he said.Railway ministry officials said they were waiting for the detailed project report on the new alignment being prepared by consultant Rites. The report is likely to be submitted in February.Until last week, it had appeared that the railways was more keen on the project and the state government was the one putting up all the hurdles. At Wednesday’s meeting, the state government said it was ready to shift the tram depot and underground utilities from Laldighi within six months of the railways agreeing to change the route alignment.Since the railways is the majority stakeholder in the project and would need to arrange for additional funds to change the alignment, no decision can be taken without its nod. The railways holds a 74 per cent stake in the East-West Metro and the Union urban development ministry has 26 per cent.An additional Rs 44 crore would be required to build the retrieval shaft at Laldighi to bring out the tunnel boring machine, sources said. The overall project cost would go up by a few hundred crores of rupees if the alignment is changed.The high court had formed a committee and asked it to discuss and inform it on January 30 how the railways, the urban development ministry and the state government planned to start building a tunnel under the Hooghly.On Friday, the KMRC and representatives of the state government told the court that the railway ministry’s opinion was yet to be known since the official designated by the Railway Board didn’t attend the last meeting.Jha, who is the railways’ representative in the committee set up by the high court, had skipped Wednesday’s meeting. Sources said Jha had told other members of the committee that he had an important meeting to attend in Delhi on the same day.State government officials said that if the railways was keen on starting work, it should have agreed to build the retrieval shaft in Laldighi by now.“If that decision was taken at the last meeting, work would have started immediately. It was informally decided that by the time the tunnel under the Hooghly is created in about six months, the decision on what alignment to follow would have been taken. But the railway official skipped the meeting and the ministry now wants another one,” a state government official said.The government had assured KMRC officials that it would shift the tram depot and various underground utilities from Laldighi within six months if the Centre agreed to realign the route.