Three Chennai Metro stations get their names after Anna, MGR & Jaya

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03/08/2020

Metro Rail’s last stretch to be opened in February first week

CHENNAI (Metro Rail News): The Tamil Nadu government on Friday announced that it will rename three of the Metro stations of the city after the names of late Chief Ministers C N Annadurai, M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalitha. The move was welcomed by the BJP state unit but the party’s state wing also demanded that few other metro stations be named after the late stalwarts like B R Ambedkar and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

A government order states that the Alandur station will be called ‘Arignar Anna Alandur Metro’, the Central Metro as ‘Puratchi Thalaivar Dr M G Ramachandran Central Metro’ and the CMBT station as ‘Puratchi Thalaivi Dr J Jayalalitha CMBT Metro.’

Chief Minister K Palaniswami highlighted the role of late Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha in the development of metro project works and told the reporters that the stations had been renamed after the recommendations made by a high-level committee appointed earlier by the state government. The move was also welcomed by the ruling party AIDMK.

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Ex-Army Official urges Maharashtra Government to not give metro works to Chinese firms

By

M K Rai

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03/08/2020

0

Mumbai (Metro Rail News): After India experienced an aggressive stand-off in Ladakh at LAC with China, a Mumbai-based charitable trust has come up along with ex-Army personnel named Dilip Abhyankar, a retired Colonel from the Indian Army to write to the Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to take actions on the Chinese firms who are involved in the metro development projects in the City.

The media reports are stated saying that Chinese companies, including the Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co Ltd (STEC), China Railway Tunnel Group Co Ltd (CRTG) and Continental Engineering Corporation (CEC), are undertaking civil and tunnel works for Metro-3 (Colaba-Bandra-Seepz). The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC), which is building the fully-underground Metro, has also appointed SJEC Corporation for system works along with other Chinese firms.
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The China based CRTG in a joint venture with J Kumar Infra Projects Ltd is also involved in development of some parts of Metro-2A (Dahisar-DN Nagar) and Metro-6 (Swami Samarth Nagar-Vikhrol. A different Chinese firm, China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC), is building some parts of Metro-4 (Wadala-Kasarwadavali) project in a joint venture with Tata Projects.

In a letter to Mr. Thackeray, Udaan charitable trust was stated saying, “We appreciate Maharashtra government cancelling the contracts with Chinese companies, but the attempt seems insufficient, given we continue to let Chinese companies dominate the Metro space.”

As per the recent media reports, industries minister Subhash Desai was stated saying that status quo was being maintained in the memorandums of understanding (MOUs) signed with the Chinese companies. In his interview to Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana, the chief minister had said that the Centre must clear it stands on the involvement of Chinese companies in metro development works.

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How to implement The One Nation One Card scheme across the Nation

By

Taron Mohan

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02/08/2020

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implement The One Nation One Card scheme across the Nation

The Nation brought in the RuPay QSparc card a few years ago with an intent to make this a “One Nation, One Card” for everyone to use as a transit card and gradually over time will expand it into “The Card” for everyone in the country.

The detailed design of the card involves these two key aspects :-

Enabling a stored value concept for offline transactions
Enabling the concept of multiple service areas ( local data elements) in the card itself

The above 2 concepts were ideal for transit in india and this concept was introduced as “the Card for transit” to start with.

However, due to multiple reasons, this concept has not reached the desired objective/goals of the Government and it’s still languishing as a “one more limited application” card. The objective here of this exercise is to work within the limitations of the basic outline defined and expand the capabilities to expand the card usage and really make it a “one Nation One Card”.

The primary reasons for this card acceptability across the customers is :

It’s a bank driven initiative : misses the card issuance simplicity with the KYC complications and applicability only in the specific transit operator.
Another transit operator – To get another card , one needs to go through the KYC exercise once again.

It also comes to the basic hesitation with anyone – “One more card” and how many cards one need to carry ? With these aspects, a team of experts suggest that we may move forward with a single Card if few things are improved in the existing system. The following things may help to bring changes.

Simplified issuance : why does it have to be at the operator premises, can’t anyone go online and configure any fare media, map a payment rail to it and start using this immediately ?
Simplified acceptance at the transit operators – the system built for a true “One Nation One Card” concept. Take any card to any operator and use it
Simplified Fare media : why only the NCMC card, the objective of the issuing bank is to acquire the customer and acquire transactions. Why does it have to be Card and not another fare media
Simplified Customer and self care : instant and with full clarity on queries, preferably online.

While the above took care of the aspect of the commuter on-boarding with the Fare media and the acceptability at multiple transit operators, there needed a corresponding upgrade at the transit operators end also to ensure the above including inter operator transaction support and cross operator fare media issuance.

Thus with the above as the background, the authorities may upgrade to the existing AFCS design document detailed by CDAC and help the nation accept this card in totality.

We need the building of ecosystem for a wider, simpler acceptance and enabling a smoother experience at the operators :

Why limit to only the NCMC card – we will tomorrow have additional Commuter ID fare media – Face / Bio / UPI QR etc.,
Enabling inter- operators acceptability – tickets and passes
Enabling easy ticket/pass issuance within the operator premises – how to ease travel for a traveller and journey planning for remote ticketing
Enabling “blacklist” management with ease – today its possible only within the acquiring host network – not possible across acquiring hosts. Needs to be enabled for easier travel across networks and across fare media
Customer Care/service: smooth, online and quick redressal
Enabling ticket/pass purchase online / at multiple locations.

These are few things which may help us to bring the One Nation One Card into reality.

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Indian Railways to set to give free hand to private players on ticket pricing

By

M K Rai

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02/08/2020

0

Indian Railways/Representational Image — Representational Image only

New Delhi ( Metro Rail News ) – This was clarified by Piyush Goyal at a recent pre-application meeting that government is not going to interrupt the private firms in fare pricing. The move comes when the government is planning to give out 109 routes to run as many as 151 trains to private players for 35 years, according to the reports. The national transporter while replying to different queries said that the private train fares will be market-driven and the government will not interfere in that matter.

According to sources quoted in the report, Indian Railways may need approval from the Cabinet or even Parliament sanction to make this provision legally tenable.
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Since under the Railways Act, only the Union government or the Railway Ministry can decide fares for passenger trains in India, they said.

According to officials, the fares for the upcoming private trains are expected to be way steeper than existing train services as there is no upper limit for fares and it has a steep project cost because of the expensive, modern rolling stock. The private operator of the train is free to sell train tickets through its website. However, it has been reported that the back end of the website will be tied to the railway passenger reservation system of Indian Railways.

Also, the national transporter did not come out with technical specifications for the upcoming private train sets that it seeks the private players to bring in. According to sources quoted in the report, technical specification contemplated for private operators of the trains is that it requires maintenance after running a distance of 40,000 km or for 31 days.

The matter arises speculations whether we are moving to a fully privatised railway system which will be governed by the rules of market. However, it will depend upon the success of these 151 trains which will decide the future of privatisation of Railways in India.

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DPR Preparation begins for 865-km long Delhi-Varanasi high-speed rail corridor

By

M K Rai

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02/08/2020

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NEW DELHI (Metro Rail News): The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) has started its work for preparing a detailed project report (DPR) for the proposed Delhi-Varanasi high-speed rail (HSR) corridor following directions by the central government.

The 865 kilometers long Delhi-Noida-Agra-Lucknow-Varanasi rail corridor is one of the eight HSR passageways which will transform the Railways systems in the coming years with reducing the time duration of travels within few major cities.

The other seven corridors are Delhi-Jaipur-Udaipur-Ahmedabad (886-km), Varanasi-Howrah (760-km), Mumbai-Nashik-Nagpur (753-km), Mumbai-Pune-Hyderabad (711-km), Ahmedabad-Mumbai (508-km), Delhi-Chandigarh-Ludhiana-Jalandhar-Amritsar (459-km) and Chennai-Bangalore-Mysore (435-km

The proposed rail corridor between Varanasi and Howrah is the latest addition to the government’s HSR corridor plan which is being seen as making Varanasi a key economic hub keeping in mind the importance of Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh.

The corridors have been proposed to optimise high-speed rail connectivity between major cities and give an impetus to the industrial sector, according to a report prepared by The Economic Times.
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Bengaluru’s Peenya may get a metro station soon

By

M K Rai

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02/08/2020

0

BANGALORE ( Metro Rail News ): To improve connectivity in the city, the government is planning to use an unused amount of Rs 40-crore of Basaveshwara KSRTC bus terminal in Peenya, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) was stated saying in media reports. The agency plans to set up a station on the Green Line (Yelachenahalli – Nagasandra).
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Though two stations — Peenya Industry and Jalahalli — are in the vicinity, bus passengers are reluctant to use the terminal because of poor connectivity. The new station will be off the mainline.

The train (from Yelechenahalli side) will take the depot track from Peenya Industry station and those coming from Nagasandra will have to change at Peenya station.

The completion of the work may take upto an year if KSRTC, BMTC and transport department show green signal for the use of the terminal, The media reports reveal that the new station will facilitate an integrated transport hub in Peenya with entry and exit w through an FOB which will connect the new station and the bus terminus across the road.

“The idea is that KSRTC, BMTC and inter-state public and private buses (coming from Nelamangala side) should use the terminus. The two-acre vacant land can be used for private buses,” an official said. KSRTC prior to this had shelved the plan to shift buses heading to Tumakuru, Pavagada, Davanagere, Hassan and Chikkamagaluru to the terminal due to poor patronage from different agencies and state government.

In response to the above developments, an expert of the urban transport industry told that it was not going to be viable at all to build a new station from an operational line. “The station with the signalling system will cost Rs 250 crore. Instead, the terminus can be linked to Peenya Industry or Jalahalli stations using tram system which may cost Rs 80 crore,” he said. It could be either a monorail or tram feeder service, the person added.

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Mysuru-Chennai Bullet Train route gets finalised

By

M K Rai

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02/08/2020

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The Mysore-Chennai High-Speed Rail corridor — image is used for representation purpose copyright: Respective Authority

NEW DELHI (Metro Rail News): The 435-km high-speed rail (bullet train) corridor between Mysuru-Bengaluru-Chennai will finally be a reality soon and the route will be among a network of high-speed bullet trains on seven new routes, sources confirmed.

The Indian Railways along with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will start the process to acquire additional land soon. As per different media reports, the NHAI will soon acquire land to lay tracks for high-speed trains along Greenfield expressways for integrated development of the rail transport network in the country.

During an Infra Sector Group meeting held recently, it was decided that the NHAI will take over land acquisition and a four-member committee was formed to look into the matter. The committee will work on the modalities for acquiring land and its cost estimation.

As per reports, the Indian Railways plans to run bullet trains on 7 important new routes of the country. The seven high-speed rail corridors are Delhi to Varanasi via Noida, Agra and Lucknow; Varanasi to Howrah via Patna; Delhi to Ahmedabad via Jaipur and Udaipur; Delhi to Amritsar via Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Jalandhar; Mumbai to Nagpur via Nasik; Mumbai to Hyderabad via Pune and Chennai to Mysore via Bengaluru.

The Railway Board has recently written to the NHAI and given details of seven high-speed rail corridors for running bullet trains for which the detailed project reports are being prepared. NHAI has also been asked to depute a nodal officer for this purpose for better integration of the mammoth planning exercise

The bullet train will run at a maximum speed of 320 kilometres per hour and the actual distance from Mysuru to Chennai is over 485 kilometres while the bullet train corridor will be 435 kilometres. Going by the train speed, it can cover the 145-km distance from Mysuru to Bengaluru in just 45 minutes.

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Plan for three RRTS stations back on drawing board for Delhi-Gurugram

By

M K Rai

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02/08/2020

0

DELHI (Metro Rail News): The metro work has gained pace after the three months long nationwide lockdown and the NCRTC is future trying to work without delays.

As the nationwide lockdown hampered the works for three consecutive months, now works on the Delhi-Gurugram-SNB Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor is gaining pace. Its Pre-construction phase has already begun at multiple locations in the city which will help in the detailed structural design with saving time and reducing chances of further delays.
NCRTC which is the concerned agency implementing RRTS has started a detailed designing of three RRTS stations of the Delhi-Gurugram-SNB RRTS corridor.

Work on multiple preliminary stages of the RRTS such as project office setup, road widening, geotechnical investigation, shifting of utilities among others has already begun in areas such as Udyog Vihar, Atul Kataria Chowk, IFFCO Chowk, Dharuhera, among others.

For the faster implementation of works, the NCRTC is first trying to complete most of the pre-construction activities for the corridor so that the civil construction of the corridor can start immediately. It has brought on board L&T Infra as the Detailed Design Consultant (DDC) for civil, architectural, and other design-related works for an elevated viaduct between IDPL complex Ramp to Rajiv Chowk Ramp and the three elevated stations in the city — Udyog Vihar, Sector 17, Rajiv Chowk.

Sudhir Kumar Sharma, chief PRO of NCRTC, was quoted by the media agencies saying “We did lose around three months due to the lockdown. In May, once lockdown was eased, we began the work but now the project is catching momentum. Just like the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor, we are expediting pre-construction work on Delhi-Gurugram-SNB segment. Once this phase is completed, there’ll be a proof-check of the design. We are also working out supervision and quality-check mechanisms.”
With simultaneous development of the Dwarka expressway, the RRTS will not only ease traffic woes in the city but will also bring down accidents, experts feel.

The 107-km long Delhi-Gurugram-SNB corridor will be elevated for about 72km (11 stations), the remaining 35km (five stations) will be underground.

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Sheel Kumar Mittal appointed as Director (finance) of UPMRC

By

Narendra Shah

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31/07/2020

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LUCKNOW (Metro Rail News): Shri. Sheel Kumar Mittal has been appointed as Director (finance) of Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Limited (UPMRC) with effect from 31st July 2020. He graduated from Delhi University in Commerce and a Cost Accountant with an MBA (specialization in Finance) having vast professional experience of more than 25 years in finance and accounts. Previously he served the organization (UPMRC) as GM (finance) since 8th December 2014. During his tenure as GM (finance) at UPMRC, he was assigned overall control and management of Finance Section of UP Metro and CVO.

With the working experience of 25 years, Shri. Sheel Kumar Mittal had the privilege of working with prestigious organizations like DMRC, UPMRC, NBCC etc. During his service at the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation as Additional General Manager (finance), he was responsible for the finances of property development, property business, land section and Contract management of various projects.

Apart from this for implementation of Kanpur Metro Rail project and Agra Metro Rail project has appointed Project Directors for each Metro project in Agra and Kanpur as per the approval of Government.

Shri. Arvind Singh selected as Project Director, Kanpur Metro Project. Shri. Arvind Singh is presently working as Chief Project Manager in Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation. He has been working with Lucknow Metro Rail Project from initial stages of project implementation since December 2014 onwards. He has done exceedingly well in the implementation of Lucknow Metro Phase-1A Project in a very strict timeline and ahead of schedule. He was Chief Project Manager for construction of underground section and CCS Airport underground Metro station and completed this work of underground construction in just fifteen months. Presently he is posted as Chief Project Manager for Kanpur Metro project Priority Section and there also works are very well organized for implementation in this difficult time and civil construction of viaduct and stations is progressing fast.

Shri. Arvind Kumar Rai is selected as Project Director, Agra Metro Project. Shri. Arvind Kumar Rai is presently posted as Chief General Manager in Chennai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. Prior to that for nearly five years he worked in Dubai Metro and nearly five years in Delhi Metro Rail Corporation through General Consultants. He has also worked with the Land Transport Authority for Singapore Metro.

UPMRC invited applications for the post of Project Director for Kanpur and Agra Metro Projects (one for each project) in UPMRC vide advertisement No. LMRC/HR/Rectt./17/2019, dated 25th October 2019. Total fifteen eligible candidates have been shortlisted for the posts against the above notification.

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EU gives nod to Alstom for acquisition of Bombardier Transportation

By

M K Rai

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31/07/2020

0

BRUSSELS (Metro Rail News): The European Commission has given its clearance to the acquisition of the rail business of Canadian engineering firm Bombardier by French train maker Alstom. Alstom, which makes the French TGV high-speed trains had signed an agreement this year to buy full control of Bombardier transportation for a price 5.8-6.2 billion euros ($6.3-6.7 billion) paid via a mix of cash and new Alstom shares.

The Commission had launched an investigation and initially found that the transaction raised serious competition issues. The bloc’s competition authorities cleared the acquisition on Friday after Asltom offered “significantly improved” commitments before the commission.

[Press release] @EU_Competition clears Alstom’s acquisition of Bombardier Transportation https://t.co/z1Zj2pbtHH pic.twitter.com/0phDLjeKNw
— Alstom (@Alstom) July 31, 2020

Both firms are leading train makes and suppliers of the European Union. This move will further make France the second largest producer of the train after China. “It includes a transfer of Bombardier Transportation’s contribution to the V300 ZEFIRO very high-speed train and an offer of IP licence to Hitachi for the train co-developed by Hitachi and Bombardier”, said a press release issued by the firm. The system will be used in future with very high-speed tenders in the UK, the note further added.

The move also proposes the divestment of the Alstom Coradia Polyvalent and the Reichshoffen production sites in France along with divestment of the Bombardier TALENT 3 platform and dedicated production facilities located within the Hennigsdorf site in Germany. However, the deal will continue to provide certain interfaces and products for some of Bombardier transportation, sources said.

The firm hopes for closing of the acquisition by the first half of 2021 according to its press note.

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