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Jaipur Metro | JMRC’s efforts to lease out space for advertisements fail

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Jaipur Metro | JMRC’s efforts to lease out space for advertisements fail

Jaipur: The efforts of Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation (JMRC) to earn additional revenue by leasing out space for advertisements inside and outside the Metro trains and stations have entirely failed.

Only one company participated in the tender process. An official said that even the rate quoted by the company was very low.

The JMRC would invite tenders once again. For buying space for advertisement inside trains, two companies had participated in the tender process. Out of which, one company failed to clear the technical bid. The company which won the tender quoted 40% low rates.

Similarly, one company showed interest to use space on rent for advertisements on Metro pillars. This firm also quoted rates 50% less than expected. “Not many companies have shown interest. Moreover, the companies which came quoted less rates and it was not feasible for the JMRC. The tenders will be soon invited again,” said the official.

The JMRC and Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) had earlier locked horns over the right on Metro pillars. The JMRC claimed that it would earn additional income from advertisements which could be utilised for Metro operations. However, JMRC failed to reap the benefits. After witnessing continuous fall in ridership in the second year of Metro’s operations, the JMRC is exploring other ways to earn revenue.

The corporation has also drafted a proposal to lease out the space at all nine stations to open 50 retail shops. The proposal has been forwarded to the state government for final approval. The JMRC is expecting to earn a revenue of Rs 9 crore per annum after leasing out the space for these shops.
Last year, the JMRC was struggling to earn revenue as average ridership in Jaipur Metro dropped from 49,774 per day in the first month (June 2015) of its operations to just 19,390 per day in December 2016.
This has also resulted in revenue loss for JMRC as it could earn Rs 70.44 lakh per month after spending approximately Rs 3.5 crore per month on Metro train operations. The route of phase-I (Mansarovar to Chandpole) has already been criticised by the BJP government several times as it is financially not viable.
Source: TOI

Delhi Metro | DMRC to conduct online Customer Satisfaction Survey

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Delhi Metro | DMRC to conduct online Customer Satisfaction Survey

New Delhi: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is conducting an online ‘Customer Satisfaction Survey’ through its website, from 24th of April till the 21st of May, 2017.

“The questions will try to cover Metro’s functioning to assess how the services can be further improved. The aspects which the survey shall cover are – overall satisfaction, availability, accessibility, ease of use, information prior to and during travel, reliability, customer care, comfort, crowding, security etc.”, published through a Press Release.

This international survey is being conducted by Railway and Transport Strategy Centre of Imperial College London which also coordinates working of CoMET and NOVA group. The survey will be conducted across 24 metros of the world. The questions will be objective type with multiple options so that the respondents can finish the questionnaires within three to five minutes. For reaching out to a larger target audience, the questionnaire will be available in both Hindi and English.

Implementation of Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) is coming to reality

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Implementation of Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) is coming to reality

The next big thing in transportation sector after MRTS in the lives of people of Delhi and NCR is coming to reality. Implementation of Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) is moving quickly to the ground.  

New Delhi: The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) and National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) has organised a stakeholder’s workshop on 22nd April, 2017 at Habitat Centre, New Delhi to discuss various aspects of Delhi-Alwar RRTS Corridor.

The workshop was addressed by Shri B.K. Tripathi, Member Secretary, NCRPB, Shri Durga Shanker Mishra, Addl. Secretary (UD), MOUD and Shri Vinay Kumar Singh, Managing Director, NCRTC.  Detailed presentation on the salient features of Delhi-Alwar Regional Rapid Transit System corridor were given by Team of Consultants.  The important issues were discussed.

The length of the corridor is 180.50 km in which elevated portion is (124.5 km) and underground portion is (56 km) corridor. Total 19 stations in which first 09 stations are underground and rest 10 stations after that are elevated.  The station will have universal access and will have platform screen doors for passenger’s safety. Design speed is 180 kmph while operational speed is 160 kmph and average speed is 100 kmph.

Signaling, Telecommunication and Automatic Fare Collection will have State of the Art technology. RRTS trains will have comfortable air-conditioned cars having business and economy class. This train will be available at the gap of every 5 to 10 minutes and will be very safe. Due to high modal shift RRTS will help in significant reduction of pollution and congestion on the roads of NCR and Delhi.  System will use renewable sources of energy extensively. Once operational, RRTS trains will be the fastest, the most comfortable and the safest mode of travel in NCR. It will facilitate creation of job equitable, dispersal of high end job opportunities in the NCR and improvement in the quality of life all around, thereby, decongesting Delhi and ensuring sustainable urban development.

The distance between Alwar and Delhi has been planned to be covered just in 104 minutes, Delhi-Mahipalpur (Aero city) in 12 minutes, Delhi-Manesar in 30 minutes and Delhi-Rewari in 57 minutes. The total project is planned to be completed in about 6 years’ time after approval of the DPR.  The cost of the project on the basis of year 2016 is about INR 37,539 crores, to be funded by Government of India, concerned State Governments and funding agencies

Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) consists of three prioritized corridors, which are-

  1. Delhi – Ghaziabad – Meerut – 90 km
  2. Delhi – Gurugram – Rewari – Alwar – 180 km and
  3. Delhi – Sonipat – Panipat – 111 km

In these the DPR for first corridor (Delhi – Meerut) has already been approved for construction by the board of NCRTC.

Source: NCRTC Press Release

Siemens launches Digital Rail Service in the United States

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Siemens launches Digital Rail Service in the United States

SIEMENS has announced that it will launch a new digital rail service in the United States, which will use sensors and software platforms to put intelligence behind billions of data points created on the country’s rail network.

The software aims to help operators reduce unplanned downtime, improve efficiency, planning and performance, and generate energy and cost savings.

Siemens will build its digital services hub in Atlanta, Georgia, and a new east coast locomotive service headquarters in New Castle, Delaware, later this year.

The city of Atlanta and Charlotte Area Transit System (Cats) will be among the first transport providers to put the data to use from their existing fleets to improve operations and safety.

Siemens will collect information captured by onboard systems used on the Siemens-built Atlanta streetcar and analyse data points to make best use of the fleet. Potential data points include:: slow vehicle movements to identify traffic bottlenecks in order to reduce delays, passenger comfort, and horn usage by cars or pedestrian traffic warnings to determine possible infrastructure improvements that could increase safety.

In Charlotte, Cats is working with Siemens on a pilot programme for near real-time diagnostics and analysis of light rail system data to assist with maintenance recommendations.

The digital services offered are based on Railigent, a cloud-based industrial data analytics platform which features smart monitoring for real-time insight on vehicle state and location.

Source: Rail Journal

Delhi Metro | DMRC’s ITO-Kashmiri Gate (Heritage Line) to open in May 2017

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Delhi Metro | DMRC’s ITO-Kashmiri Gate (Heritage Line) to open in May 2017

New Delhi: After many breached deadlines, the Delhi Metro’s ‘Heritage Line’ from ITO to Kashmere Gate is finally set to open by next month. DMRC officials say that they have applied for the safety inspection of the line to the Commissioner, Metro Rail Safety (CMRS).

“Once the inspection is done and we get the go ahead, we will start operations on the line. It will certainly be thrown open to the public by the next month,” said a senior Metro official.

The 5.17 km-long line, which is entirety underground, will connect four heritage stations including — Jama Masjid, Delhi Gate, Lal Quila, and Kashmere Gate. Delhi Metro officials said that the opening of the line will bring respite to commuters, as the overall frequency of trains will improve. Besides, reaching Old Delhi will not be a hassle anymore.

The corridor is an extension of the Delhi Metro’s Violet Line — Escorts Mujesar (Faridabad) to ITO.

“Once the line is open, the operational constraints won’t be there, as trains will go directly to Kashmere Gate. So far, the frequency was low, as initially ITO was not supposed to be the originating station for the trains. But it was opened to public early, as it was a busy area and the rest of the line was not ready by then,” the official said.

Delhi commuters welcomed the move. Anisha Agarwal, a commuter said, “At present the frequency is very low at ITO. At times there is a gap of 15 to 20 minutes for the next train to come and it becomes too crowded. We need the new line to open soon.

”

The corridor, which was slated to open by December 2015, was postponed to October 2016 and later to February this year. However, according to officials, the delay was because of multiple challenges that cropped up from the beginning, since these were heritage areas.

“Earlier, it took some time to get approvals from all heritage committees to start work. Later in October, construction work was stopped for a while because of pollution-control measures in which our machinery and labour had to be removed,” said the official.

Delhi Metro | Metro services to begin from 4 AM on MCD polling day

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New Delhi: The metro train services in Delhi will commence from 4 AM on April 23 in view of the municipal polls, the DMRC today said.

Elections to the three civic bodies are due on Sunday and the Delhi State Election Commission is gearing up for the electoral exercise.

“On the day of the MCD elections, the Delhi Metro train services will start from 4:00 AM so that the staff deployed in election duty can avail the facility.

“The trains will run with a frequency of 30 minutes on all the lines till 06:00 AM. After 6:00 AM, metro trains will run as per the normal timetable throughout the day on all lines,” a senior DMRC official said.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) currently operates through various corridors — Yellow, Blue, Violet, Red, Green, Orange Lines — spanning across the length and breadth of the national capital and few neighbouring cities.

The Commission which has come up with special campaigns to raise awareness among voters has also displayed advertisements inside and out of metro premises.

Over 1.1 lakh voters in this polls are eligible to exercise their franchise for the first time.

The total number of electorate for the civic polls stands at 1,32,10,206 which include 73,15,915 men, 58,93,418 women and 793 voters in the other category.

(This article has not been edited by Metro Rail News's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)

 

Reliance Infra, Veolia extends partnership to bid upcoming metro rail projects in India

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Reliance Infra, Veolia extends partnership to bid upcoming metro rail projects in India

Mumbai: Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) is looking to take its partnership with French company Veolia Transport, part of the Veolia Environment Group, to bid for metro rail projects in various Indian cities. Veolia operates in four continents covering 28 countries and has 37,000 buses, tramways, metros, suburban and long-distance trains and ferry boats.

“Here in Mumbai, it is originally a five year contract after which we will extend it on mutual consent. We are very happy with them (Veolia Transport). In fact we are thinking to have a joint venture with them and go and bid for other metro contracts,” told RInfra’s chief executive officer Lalit Jalan to Media.

Through a separate joint venture, RInfra and Veolia Transport will undertake operations and maintenance of the project for an initial period of five years. As per the finer details of the agreement, the contract ends on 7 June 2019, which is five years from the metro line’s commissioning date (June 8, 2014).

In Mumbai, RInfra and Veolia Transport have a joint venture for Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL), wherein they are operating and maintaining 11.4-km long Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar. RInfra holds 69% of the equity share capital of MMOPL, while Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) holds 26% and remaining 5% is held by Veolia Transport-RATP Asia of France.

In the recent past, development authorities from Chennai have called RInfra to participate in the Chennai metro-bidding process. The company is also looking to operate and maintain troubled Mumbai Monorail, the only monorail in India, between Jacob Circle-Wadala-Chembur. Bidding process is under way to appoint an operator for the only monorail line of the country.

“With the entire monorail route likely to be operational from October onwards and ridership picking up drastically due to the monorail corridor alignment, the route will be sought after by the operators,” said government sources.

Due to financial crunch the company has changed its business strategy and will go for only those metro rail contracts that are being offered on engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) basis. “In order to run such operations, the government recently said that it wants world class operators. We will have EPC and operation and maintenance businesses where we will provide our role and services,” added Jalan.

The cities where metro routes are planned includes Mumbai, Pune, Varanasi, Agra, Patna, Meerut, Guwahati, Visakhapatnam, Surat, Bhopal, Indore and Gwalior.

Indian Railways to establish Independent Rail Regulator

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Indian Railways to establish Independent Rail Regulator

New Delhi: In a major policy reform initiative, India’s cabinet approved a proposal on April 5 to establish an independent rail regulator, which will be responsible for setting Indian Railways’ (IR) freight and passenger tariffs and ensuring a level playing field for stakeholders and investors.

The Rail Development Authority (RDA) – which will comprise a chairman and three members – will set efficiency and performance standards for IR on the basis of “global benchmarking parameters”. It will have the powers to engage experts from other fields.

The RDA is expected to revive investor sentiment, as it will ensure greater continuity on the railway when a change of government occurs.

With the setting up of the regulator towards the fourth quarter of 2017, passenger fares on the IR network – which have remained hugely subsidised in recent decades – are also likely to rise.

A focus for the RDA will be addressing the huge disparity in yield between IR’s passenger and freight businesses. According to the 2015 White Paper on Indian Railways, yields from IR passenger services are among the lowest in the world – calculated at $US 0.01 per kilometre, against $US 0.027 cents in China, $US 0.067 in Russia, $US 0.094 in Japan and $US 0.062 in Germany.

Conversely, freight yields are among the highest at 1 US cent per tonne-km, compared with 0.58 cents in China, 0.75 cents in Russia and 0.51 cents in the United States.

With continuing losses in the passenger segment, IR has been diverting profits earned from freight to subsidise passenger services.

Losses in the passenger segment in the last fiscal year were estimated at Rs 320bn ($US 4.9bn).

“The setting up of the regulator means that the culture of populism will vanish and objective decisions in respect of freight and passenger tariffs will be taken,” an official said. “In all probability, passenger fares will henceforth be fixed on calculations of the Consumer Price Index.”

According to the Indian cabinet’s decision on April 5, an initial sum of Rs 500m will be set aside to establish the RDA, which will operate under the 1989 Railway Act.

Delhi Metro | Now recharge your Delhi Metro Smart Cards directly from Ola Money app

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Delhi Metro | Now recharge your Delhi Metro Smart Cards directly from Ola Money app

New Delhi: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and Ola Money on Wednesday announced their partnership towards promoting a cashless digital economy as their integration will allow DMRC commuters to recharge their metro cards directly from the Ola Money app.

In awe of promoting the digital economy, Ola Money and DMRC will now enable commuters to avail the option to pay from their Ola Money wallet at the DMRC website.

“We hope to make the transition smoother for metro commuters by integrating Ola Money as a payment mechanism for metro rides. Other than offering an eco-friendly and affordable daily commuting option, DMRC is committed towards encouraging people to use online payment alternatives,” said Anuj Daya, Executive Director (Corporate Communications) DMRC.

“We are extremely delighted to be working closely with Delhi Metro to take the mission of a cashless India forward. Millions of people travel by Delhi metro and they recharge their metro cards on a regular basis. This integration will make the process simpler and seamless as they would be able to use their Ola Money balance to recharge their cards with just a few taps on the Ola Money app or by visiting the DMRC website,” said Sr. Director-Marketing Communications at Ola, Anand Subramanian.

Both DMRC and Ola share the common vision of building sustainable and convenient mobility solutions for the citizens of the country.

Furthermore, with flagship government initiatives such as “Digital India” acting as key catalysts and enablers of digital transformation, DMRC’s integration with Ola Money is a step towards building a more convenient and hassle free payment ecosystem for millions of commuters.

(This article has not been edited by Metro Rail News’s editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)

Delhi Metro | DMRC’s Mukandpur-Shiv Vihar (Pink) Line completion deadline pushed to April 2018

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Delhi Metro | DMRC’s Mukandpur-Shiv Vihar (Pink) Line completion deadline pushed to April 2018

New Delhi: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has set April, 2018 as the fresh deadline for the completion of its longest upcoming corridor, Mukundpur-Shiv Vihar Pink Line, which has been battling land acquisition woes at certain stretches.

With this, Delhi’s wait for the crucial extension of its signature mass rapid transit, which provides a much needed sheen to its lumbering and inadequate public transport system, just got longer.

However, a major part of the line, from Mukundpur to Lajpat Nagar, will be “completed” by September, a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) official said, adding that its eventual commissioning may take some more time.

The metro’s Phase III, of which the 59-km-long Pink Line is a part, has already missed its December 2016 deadline.

Since then, the metro has revised the new target date of completion several times.

Around 91 per cent of civil works on the line is complete as of March, says the latest available project status report.

Magenta Line, another crucial project of Phase III, that will connect west Delhi to Noida via IGI Airport’s domestic terminal, is likely to be “opened” in three stages – from May to September, the report adds.

Here, the progress of civil works up to March stands at 91.37 per cent.

A small section of the 38-km-long line (Line 8), running between Noida, Botanical Garden and Kalkaji, may be opened by May, before its launch in entirety in December, an official said.

Pink Line will touch portions of the inner-ring road and also drastically cut travel time between eastern and southern flanks of the national capital.

It will connect northwest Delhi’s Mukundpur to northeast Delhi’s Shiv Vihar cutting across various south Delhi areas including Sarojini Nagar, INA, South Extension and densely populated parts of east Delhi such as Mayur Vihar Phase I, Vinodnagar and Karkardooma.

DMRC chief Mangu Singh had earlier said that both these lines will be launched in a staggered manner, meaning, small sections will be made operational instead of the entire corridors being thrown open in one go.

Under the phase-III expansion project being implemented at a cost of around Rs 40,000 crore, a total of 140 km of network will be added to the current coverage of 213 km.

(Except headline, the article has not been edited by Metro Rail News’s editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)

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