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Kolkata Metro to resume services from September 14

13/09/2020

KOLKATA (Metro Rail News): Country’s first metro railway network, the Kolkata Metro will resume its services for the general public from 14 September. The metro rail service will begin in a graded manner and initially, the metro services will be available from 8 am to 8 pm.

The services of the Kolkata Metro were suspended in the last week of March after a nationwide lockdown was imposed to stop the spread of COVID-19. The Kolkata Metro will also run special services for NEET aspirants and their parents on 13 September.

This service will be exclusively for medical entrance examinees and their guardians, Metro Railway spokesperson Indrani Banerjee said to media persons. Examinees will have to show NEET admit cards at the gates of Metro stations, said one official.

Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said in a tweet, ” Helping students in this time of need, Kolkata Metro to run special services for NEET aspirants & their parents on 13th September. Enhancing convenience for general passengers, Metro Services will resume in a graded manner from 14th September between 8 am to 8 pm”.

”The passengers can use only smart cards for travel and will have to download the Aarogya Setu App on their phones. It said no tokens will be used. The Metro authorities have decided to allow a maximum 400 passengers in a train at a time and colour-coded e-passes will be dispensed to the commuters through a link in their mobile phones to maintain the number”, said SOP released by Kolkata Metro.

“On successful booking of slots, passengers will receive e-pass on their mobile phone with information of time slot, passenger name, originating and destination stations,” the SOP said.

Entry to metro stations will be allowed only through verification of the e-pass by state police, while RPF personnel at stations will maintain close coordination with the state police and no tokens will be sold according to the SOP.

General Manager of Kolkata Metro, Mr Manoj Joshi inspected all the stations between Park Street and Noapara on Tuesday prior to the resumption of Metro services. THe also inspected the entry and exit gates of all the stations in this stretch. He inspected the markings inside the Metro premises which will help Metro commuters maintain social distancing and he also checked the sanitizer dispensing machines at the stations.

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Introducing the Third Rail system in UPMRC’s Kanpur Metro

M K Rai

12/09/2020

Kanpur Metro has given a contract to Sterling & Wilson for electrification for Third Rail system which is going to be a new experiment in UPMRC’s Kanpur Metro. The scenario of Metro operations is going to change rapidly in the coming years. Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC) which is the nodal agency for the development of Kanpur Metro Rail Project is going to experiment with the technology of the third rail system. As we proceed further, we need to know something about the third rail system and its working mechanism.

Third-rail system is a means of providing electric traction power to trains, and the system uses an additional rail which is known as “conductor rail” for its work. The conductor rail is placed on the sleeper ends mostly located outside of the running rails. However, a central conductor rail is also used in some cases. In the existing system of electric traction for providing power to trains, the electrification is generally done a few feet above the upper body of metro or train coaches. The Third Rail system runs with the rails itself, making it easy to use matter for the trains. However, it is not free from cons as it may create trouble as well if it rains or there is a flood-like situation.

The Third rail system may cause trouble through electric shock because it carries a very high voltage near the ground. The electrified rail also can create a loss of lives, especially when someone falls on the tracks accidentally. As stated above, the flood like situations also may make it a dangerous thing. The overhead system on the other side may be troublesome when there is s higher wind flow or something of the same kind.

Many Countries are using this system as of now. Let us have a few examples here.

France

The new tramway in Bordeaux (France) uses a novel system with a third rail in the centre of the track. The third rail is separated into 10 m (32 ft 10 in) long conducting and 3 m (9 ft 10 in) long isolation segments. Each conducting segment is attached to an electronic circuit which will make the segment live once it lies fully beneath the tram (activated by acoded signal sent by the train) and switches it off before it becomes exposed again.

Netherlands

To mitigate investment costs, the Rotterdam Metro, basically a third-rail-powered system, has been given some outlying branches built on the surface as light rail (called Sneltram in Dutch), with numerous level crossings protected with barriers and traffic lights. These branches have overhead wires. Similarly, in Amsterdam one “Sneltram” route goes on Metro tracks and passes to the surface alignment in the suburbs, which it shares with standard trams. In most recent developments, the RandstadRail project also requires Rotterdam Metro trains to run underwires on their way along the former mainline railway to The Hague. The light rail vehicles on this line are capable of using both 600 V DC and 750 Volts DC.

London

The North London Line changes its power supply once between Richmond and Stratford at Acton Central. The route was originally the third rail throughout but several technical electrical earthing problems, plus part of the route also being covered already by overhead electric wires provided for electrical-hauled freight and Regional. Mixed services are used in many European countries to make the system more efficient and safe. If one pedestrian walks on these rails, it is for sure that he/she will be no more after getting such heavy electric shock.

Any technology has its own merits and demerits. Nothing in this world is perfect and safe remains in trend when it comes to the Third Rail system. It is the work of the authorities to ensure that proper planning like that of Netherlands is made so that chances of casualties may be reduced.

Its use on a vast scale will surely help to make metros and trains operate even during the heavy winds or similar conditions. The future indeed depends on the way of execution, and if the plans are properly executed, it is for sure that the Third Rail system will prove to be a game-changer.

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Delhi Metro in the New Normal mode

M K Rai

12/09/2020

NEW DELHI (Metro Rail News): The Delhi Metro has started its services which were suspended since 22nd March 2020 due to Corona pandemic, from 7th September 2020 onwards from Yellow Line (Samyapur Badli to HUDA City Centre) in a staggered manner. For next five days, i.e., by 12th September, rest of the Lines will also be made operational with all safety measures in place to check the spread of Covid-19 in the Metro premises which requires everyone to follow a new normal of social distancing, face mask and hand sanitization.

Till 9th September, only the Yellow line (49 KM with 37 stations consisting of 20 underground and 17 elevated stations) will remain operational for four hours each in the morning (7 AM to 11 AM) and evening (4 PM to 8 PM). Trains will be available with a headway varying from 2’44” to 5’28” (at different stretches) with 57 trains performing around 462 trips. The same will be further extended in a graded manner from 9th to 12th September along with other Lines.

The DMRC said, “The resumption of services with a new normal to prevent the spread of Covid-19 desires public to understand and co-operate with DMRC/CISF personnel on few aspects for a comfortable and safe commuting experience”.

The steps being taken by the DMRC are :-

1. USE EARMARKED GATES ONLY: To maintain orderliness and regulate the flow of passengers with social distancing norms, only one or two gates will be kept open for entry /exit of passengers at a station. Therefore, passengers are advised to check the earmarked Gate number/location well in advance from DMRC website www.delhimetrorail.com

2. ABIDE BY NEW NORMS: Apart from regular frontline staff at the stations, DMRC has made additional deployment of around 1000 officials/staff across the line(s)/network to assist and guide passengers in the wake of new norms of Metro travel which may take some time to settle in. All staff have been advised to manage the passengers with a positive and caring attitude in these testing times with an initial focus on sensitizing rather than punitive, on new norms to be followed continuously during the journey for their own and everyone’s safety. All passengers are appealed to co-operate with the personnel on duty and keep listening to announcements on guidelines to be followed or updates on journey/services, if any.

3. TRAIN REGULATION: Though DMRC is making all-out efforts to provide its passengers a continuous and seamless travel experience, however, with the carrying capacity of a train drastically reduced to around 20% of the pre-lockdown period due to social distancing norms, it will be a challenge to regulate the passengers who may head to a station with the expectations of the pre-lockdown travel experience by the Metro. Therefore, in this changed scenario, the public is advised to:-

a. Avoid unnecessary travel as far as possible. Try to stagger travel timings for office/home/other works to the extent possible so that the carrying capacity offered with new norms can be reasonably utilized by creating a travel pattern in which people are not rushing to the station in morning or peak hours only. Rather, they are coming equitably at all hours of the operational timings of the Metro services to ‘break the peak’- a requirement of the present times. Besides ‘Break the Peak’, DMRC appeals to commuters to ‘Talk Less’ during travel in the Metro to prevent the possibility of short-range aerosol transmission.

b. To prevent the overcrowding in trains/stations, situations might arise wherein, DMRC may have to opt for starting certain empty trains from terminal stations or short loop some trains to manage the crowded zones on a particular route/section. This dynamic regulation of train movement will be based on the ground situation at given hours, and one may have to skip a train or two, leading to extra time in completing the travel. Similarly, dwell time is also increased by 10-20 seconds at stations for boarding-deboarding to ensure social distancing.
This may also increase the total travel time in a journey by a few minutes. Because of these factors, passengers are advised to keep the extra time of about 15 to 30 minutes for each travel, to be on time for their desired destinations.

c. Use of ‘AarogyaSetu’ app with regular health status update is advisable for commuters with smartphones.

4.CASHLESS TRANSACTIONS: Be a smart passenger and carry your smart card with you while heading for the Metro. It is contactless, easily rechargeable through online modes and offers a discount of up to 20% on every travel. Tokens will not be available at the stations for the time being as they need a frequent human interface for travel transactions and pose a risk of Coronavirus infection, so a SMART CARD IS A MUST for travel.
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Transactions involving the Exchange of cash for recharge/refund of smart cards will not be permitted for the time being as the physical handling of currency may lead to transmission of coronavirus. The commuters are requested to cooperate with DMRC staff in this aspect to prevent the spread of the virus.

5. NO SERVICE IN CONTAINMENT ZONES: Since Delhi Metro operates in Delhi-NCR, it will not be providing services to such stations which fall under the containment zones for any given day in any of the state(s). State governments of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh notify such zones on a regular basis on their websites. If any of the station(s) happen to fall in such zone, the same will also be made public through announcements at stations/trains and through social media updates as and when brought to the notice of DMRC by authorities concerned or observed by DMRC officials who will also keep a check on the daily updated list of containment zones on respective websites. Since most of the Metro stations lie on the median of the roads, there is a slim chance for stations to fall in the containment zone as a
regular practice.

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Artificial Intelligence: The future ahead

M K Rai

12/09/2020

Before moving ahead on the matter, we must know What artificial intelligence is all about, what does it mean and how it works? The technology has been in the news and uses on a vast level for the last few years.
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As the technological advancements in all fields are growing up with time, let us assess the use of artificial intelligence in future operations of Metro systems. As I have written above, before moving ahead on the topic, let me tell you something about Artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence is also known as AI is a branch of computer science concerned with building smart machines capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. With its introduction to the world, the tech industry has used it rigorously to grow their businesses worldwide.

From social media giants to Google, every firm is dependent on the technology of Artificial intelligence. As the use of technology is growing rapidly, we need to realise its importance in the recent future. For almost every online tech ranging from a cab app to social media platforms to Scientific innovations and the making of aircraft, artificial intelligence has become a necessity, and it’s importance can’t be neglected.

As we will further proceed towards a more digital world, the need for technology will become more and more important. In such a case, it becomes more important for us to know how does it work? We also need to know its history so that we may assess the progress made by people in this field.

In World War II, when the allied forces were able to break the code of Hitler’s Enigma, which subsequently made the Allied victory a huge success, it was argued whether machines were able to think. The success of whole World War II is based mainly upon the code-breaking mechanism of USA, Russia and Britain. Indeed, it was the first such war which showed that machines could fully replace few humans works. Mathematician Turing was later to say, “Can machines think?”
Turing’s paper “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” (1950), and it’s subsequent Turing Test, established the fundamental goal and vision of artificial intelligence. At its core, AI is the branch of computer science that aims to answer Turing’s question in the affirmative. It is the endeavour to replicate or simulate human intelligence in machines. Artificial intelligence works with four major principles which are as follows:-

Thinking humanly
Thinking rationally
Acting humanly
Acting rationally

The list of things where artificial intelligence is being used is autonomous vehicles like drones, self-driving cars, medical diagnosis, proving mathematical theorems, playing games, search engines like Google search, online assistants like Siri, image recognition in photographs, spam filtering and much more. The list is so long that one can’t be able to calculate all.

Things are changing today. Everything has taken a new shape. The Coronavirus spread is playing a critical role in changing the ways which we used to live, and a lot more is expected to change in the near future as we try to adopt the New Normal.

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DMRC collaborates with Delhi Police to start pre-paid auto service at Shivaji Stadium

M K Rai

12/09/2020

NEW DELHI (Metro Rail News) :

Delhi Metro, in coordination with Delhi Police, have started pre-paid auto service at the Shivaji Stadium here. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said on Saturday that passengers travelling via the airport line can avail of the pre-paid auto services from today.

“In coordination with Delhi Police, DMRC starts Pre-paid Auto Service at Shivaji Stadium. Passengers of Delhi Metro Airport Line can avail Pre-paid Auto Service at Shivaji Stadium from today,” stated DMRC.
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Earlier today, Delhi Metro opened all its operations with the resumption of its Airport Express line. All the services shall now be available from 6 am to 11 pm on all Metro lines.

Delhi Metro services continued to function for the sixth consecutive day post resumption of services in a phased manner in three stages beginning from September 7, after a gap of more than five months. The metro, which had suspended its services in March due to the COVID-19 outbreak, reopened with caution putting into place a series of measures such as closed token counters, limited entry and exit points, thermal scanners, and sanitisers among others to enable commuters to adhere to COVID-19 protection protocols.

Apart from regular frontline staff at the stations, the DMRC has made the additional deployment of around 1,000 officials/staff across the line(s)/network to assist and guide passengers in the wake of new norms of Metro travel, which may take some time to settle in.

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Railways lose over Rs 7 crores in Kashmir in a single year

M K Rai

12/09/2020

SRINAGAR (Metro Rail News): The trains in Kashmir valley have remained suspended for over 8 months since last year resulting in revenue losses to the tune of over Rs 7 crores.
The back-to-back lockdowns that the Valley witnessed last year upset the train services on the 135 Kilometer Banihal-Baramulla railway line in the Valley. “We restarted the services on November 12, 2019 and the train chugged uninterruptedly for the next four months,” a Railway official told.
The train services were then suspended because of the COVID-19 on March 20 this year and have remained stalled. In between, an official said, a four day special run of Vistadome coach was conducted for shooting a documentary. “The run commenced on August 31. A special service was likewise provided to the students who were appearing in exams in Jammu on Monday,” he said.
One of the reasons behind the heavy losses was the timing of both the lockdowns, as the operations remained suspended between May and October which is viewed as purple patch. “During this period the revenue increases in the Valley and for the rest of the time the revenue remains at an average of Rs 3 lakh per day,” an official said. He continued that if rough calculations are drawn, the Railways suffered a loss of around Rs 7.2 crores in eight months.
Except for one day of the week, 15 pairs of train ferry nearly 30, 000 commuters, usually students and employees between Banihal and Baramulla. The officials said since the railways here generate revenue from the sale of passenger tickets, snapping of services caused huge losses to the department.
“Railways in Kashmir generate Rs 10 crore earnings annually, but the expenditure for the same period is more than Rs 70 crore. And with this loss the income further declines,” said an official wishing anonymity.
Officials said the worst part is that they have to pay off the salaries of the employees irrespective of the situation. There are around 2800 railway employees, including the 1500 security personnel whose salaries have to be paid. “We have 25 officers here who get a pay of around Rs 1.5 lakh per month. Similarly, 1500 grade-3 employees receive an average pay of around Rs 80,000 and grade-4 employees receive Rs 30,000 per month,” he said, adding that approximately Rs 14-crores are spent on salaries alone.
Apart from these employees, the railways have to pay salaries to an additional 1000 youth, with an average salary of Rs 30,000, who were given jobs against the land that came under the railway line. “This puts an extra Rs 3 crore burden on us,” the official said, adding that a huge amount goes into the repair of unused railway tracks.

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Around 25k commuters board Chennai Metro after resuming services

M K Rai

12/09/2020

Chennai (Metro Rail News): Around 25000 passengers have boarded the Chennai Metro since the Metro Corporation resumed its services. More than 24,000 passengers used the Metro train services as of Wednesday since operations resumed on September 7. On the first day, 5,033 passengers used the metro services.

A total of 18,769 passengers travelled using Smart Card ticketing system and 637 utilised the QR code ticketing system till September 9, a Chennai Metro said in a statement.

“As part of encouraging contactless ticketing measure to minimise the spread of COVID-19, CMRL has decided to extend a 20 per cent discount on QR Code ticketing,” for single, return, group and trip passes from Friday.

This is to encourage passengers to avoid queuing up at stations and they could download the CMRL mobile app for using the QR code ticketing system. Travel card readers have been installed at all Metro Stations for passengers to avoid queuing in front of customer counters and ticket vending machines.

CMRL requested passengers to co-operate with its security, ticketing and other staffers for a safe and smooth travel in its efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and maintain social distancing. Chennai Metro rail services resumed from Washermenpet to Airport on Monday and between St Thomas Mount and M G R Central Metro via Koyambedu on Wednesday.

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KMRL commissions a new electric sub-station at Muttom to fight floods

M K Rai

12/09/2020

_AP_4332 — Inaugaration of the sub-station

Kochi (Metro Rail News) : Kochi Metro Rail Limited has constructed a Combined Auxiliary and Traction substation at Muttom Depot.
The new substation will ensure continuous uninterrupted 415 V AC Auxiliary and 750 V DC Traction Power supply system at its Operation Command Centre at Muttom where the regular maintenance of Metro coaches, troubleshooting of any faults and Operational Controls are taking place.
Kochi Metro Rail Limited MD Alkesh Kumar Sharma, IAS, on Friday 11.09.2020 inaugurated the substation in the presence of metro officials.
“Upon commissioning of the combined substation, KMRL will be equipped with uninterrupted Train operations. The 2018 floods had disrupted the regular metro operations and this facility has been set up to obviate any such eventuality. The sub-station will prevent any financial loss to KMRL due to the damage to assets and spares that can be caused due to floods.” said Alkesh Kumar Sharma IAS.
The combined substation along with a 2-story building was constructed at a total cost of Rs 20 Crores. The auxiliary and traction substation is located at 1st floor of the building which will safeguard the substation from any water logging. The ground floor and the second floor of the building is dedicated for storage of spare parts and sensitive equipment.
The substation has a capacity of 3000 kVA for Auxiliary power supply and 2600 kVA for Traction power with 100 % redundancy. In the substation, the 33 kV Power supply will be converted into 415 V AC for meeting the Auxiliary loads such as lifts, lighting, AC and ventilation etc and 33 kV will be converted into 750 V DC to feed to the 3rd rail for Powering the trains to facilitate the train movement inside the yard for stabling, regular maintenance and troubleshooting of the trains. The substation has been designed and constructed taking into account the future load requirements of Kochi Metro yard at Muttom Depot due to the ongoing Kochi Metro extension project to Thripunithura and proposed phase II project to Kakkanad.

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Indian Railways to float tenders for Vande Bharat Train Project

M K Rai

12/09/2020

NEW DELHI (Metro Rail News): The Railway Board has taken charge of the Rs 1,500 crore Vande Bharat project, and will float the tender shortly after Integral Coach Factory (ICF) failed three times to bid out the train set manufacturing contract. The first two Vande Bharat train sets were successfully manufactured at the Chennai-based ICF.
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“The Board took a conscious decision to take the initiative after the repeated failures on the part of ICF on the tendering process. Moreover, the ICF along with two other production units would be involved in manufacturing the train set after the tender was awarded,” according to a Railway Ministry official.

The last tender was floated on 22 December 2019 by the ICF and was opened on 11 July and finally discharged on 21 August. It was the third attempt for floating the tender, which was subsequently discharged as the production of the Vande Bharat trains, also known as Train 18, has been mired in controversy.

The railways maintained that the tender for 44 Vande Bharat train sets was cancelled to maintain transparency as some bidders had revealed financial details of their offer even before clearing the technical evaluation.

“While evaluating the technical bids, the tender committee noticed that some of the details of the financial offer have been wrongly revealed. Financial bids of only those bidders are opened who qualify in the technical bids,” Railway Board Chairman V K Yadav had said after cancellation of the tender.

The railways maintained that in order to have complete transparency, while evaluating the technical bids, financial bids are not available to the tender evaluation committee to enable “evaluation purely on technical conditions”. In the latest cancelled tender, Chinese state-owned CRRC Corporation, in a joint venture with an Indian firm, was among six companies in the race to bag an over Rs 1,500 crore Vande Bharat train project.

It would take about two years to develop the prototype after getting the contract, which the successful bidder would have to roll out by 2023, if the contract is awarded by December this year.

After the cancellation of the tender for manufacturing 44 semi-high speed Vande Bharat train sets, the railways has said in a statement that a fresh tender will be floated within a week as per revised public procurement norms, giving preference to local suppliers.

“Fresh tender will be floated within a week as per Revised Public Procurement (preference to Make in India) order,” the railways has said.

Vande Bharat trains are indigenous electric multiple units and the first train set with world class facilities was rolled out in a record time of 18 months by the ICF.

Currently, two Vande Bharat trains manufactured indigenously at ICF are operational between Delhi-Varanasi and Delhi-Katra.

The first 16-coach Vande Bharat Express, the locomotive-less train between Delhi and Varanasi was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15 February.

Manufactured at an estimated cost of Rs 100 crore, the Vande Bharat service is equipped with top notch facilities, such as automatic doors, Wi-Fi availability and CCTV cameras and many other advanced features.

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Kerala CM inaugurates extension of Kochi Metro

M K Rai

11/09/2020

KOCHI (Metro Rail News): Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan Monday inaugurated a 1.33 km-long section of the Kochi Metro between Thykoodam and Petta, wrapping up phase 1 of operations of the project. The Kochi Metro now runs on a 25-km long fully-elevated section between Aluva and Petta with 20 stations in between.

The chief minister flagged off the first train from Petta station through video-conference from Thiruvananthapuram with Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri from New Delhi. Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden, MLAs PT Thomas and M Swaraj, Kochi Mayor Soumini Jain and Ernakulam district collector S Suhas were present at the Petta station during the inauguration and subsequently rode the first train heading towards Aluva.

The extension of the Metro service till Petta incidentally came on the day that Metro services resumed across the country as part of the Unlock 4 measures of the Centre. The chief minister said the extension till Petta was ready in March, but owing to the pandemic the and the subsequent lockdown, the formal inauguration was pushed to September.

The event also marked the culmination of the association of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) with Kochi Metro as a consulting agency. Subsequent phases, including the extension from Petta till Thrippunithura, and the proposed corridor from JLN station to Infopark via Kakkanad, of construction and operationalisation will be helmed by the Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL), the parent company running the Metro service. While the construction works on the extension till Thrippunithura are already underway, a detailed project report (DPR) on the Infopark corridor is awaiting clearance from the Centre.

MoHUA secretary MR. Durga Shankar Mishra said in a tweet, ”Delighted to participate in the inauguration of 1.33 km stretch of @MetroRailKochi from Thykoodam to Petta by Hon’ble CM, Kerala & Hon’ble Housing & Urban Affairs Minister on virtual platform today. With the completion of this section, Phase-1 of Blue Line is now complete”.

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