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High Speed Train | Indian Railway to start trial run of high speed Talgo train very soon

Narendra Shah
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High Speed Train | Indian Railway to start trial run of high speed Talgo train very soon

New Delhi: Passengers will now be able to cover the 1200-kilometers Delhi-Mumbai journey in just 12 hours as compared to over 17 hours at present with the high speed Talgo train.

Known for its high speed and light trains, Spanish train maker Talgo’s nine state-of-the-art train coaches have already reached Mumbai and will undergo crucial test run by the Railways next month.

Dispatched in a cargo ship from Barcelona on March 27, they will be put on trial on the existing tracks for validation test.

“Talgo coaches have arrived at the Mumbai port. These coaches will be transported to Izzatnagar Depot after getting customs clearances,” a senior Railway Ministry official said.

The Spanish train-maker has offered to test run its lighter and faster trains free of cost on the existing Indian Railways network.

“The first Talgo train trial will be conducted between Bareilly and Moradabad rail route at a maximum speed of 115 kmph for oscillation test. This will be followed by another trial between Palwal and Mathura route at a maximum speed of 180 kmph,” the official said.

The third one will be carried out between Delhi and Mumbai at a maximum speed of 200 kmph.

According to Railways, Talgo trains are capable of running at speeds varying between 160-200 kmph on the existing infrastructure without any upgrade.

Barring minor changes, there will be no need for overhauling the tracks for the trial run, the official said, adding, the cost of import of coaches and customs clearances will be borne by Talgo.

Besides reducing travel time, Talgo’s lighter trains consume 30 per cent less energy which will help railways reduce the power bill as well. (With inputs from PTI).

Bullet Train Project | Indian Railway to start construction work of Rs 98,000 Crore project

Narendra Shah
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Bullet Train Project | Indian Railway to start construction work of Rs 98,000 Crore project

New Delhi: Government of India is going to launch the first high speed train of India between Mumbai to Ahmedabad in 2017. Railway has stepped up ground work for starting construction work of the Rs 98,000 crore project in 2017.

The Railway Ministry said that Our aim is to start the work as early as possible. It would take about seven years to complete the first high speed train after the awarding of the contract for the project. A lot of new technologies would be used to construct the high-speed corridor between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The Railway Ministry has officially involved in the Bullet Train Project.

The Government formed the Special Purpose Vehicle(SPV) to implement the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed Bullet Train project. The SPV is meeting tomorrow to finalise the technical details include the standardization of construction of tunneling, pillars, fencing and the other requirement for the mega project.

The Special Purpose Vehicle has been named as National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited. It comprises Senior Railway officials and the national transporter is in the process of appointing CEO for the job.

Railway will have 50% equity in the SPV, while Maharashtra and Gujarat will have 25% equity each.

At present, Duronto Express takes about seven hours to cover the distance between the two financial centres Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

Estimated cost of Bullet Train Project about Rs 97,636 crore, 81 per cent of the funding for the Bullet Train Project will come by way of a loan from Japan. The project cost includes possible cost escalation, interest during construction and import duties.

Railway Ministry Officials said that It is a soft loan for the 50 years at 0.1 per cent annual interest with 15 years’ moratorium.

For timely completion of the project, a joint committee has been formed under the vice-chairman of NITI Aayog with the secretaries of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Departments of Economic Affairs and Foreign Ministry as its members along with the Railway Board Chairman.
This is the very big project in the Indian Railway history and it is dreamed by  the Prime  Minister Narendra Modi.

Noida Metro | Nod for art, murals on noida metro pillars

Narendra Shah
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Noida Metro | Nod for art, murals on noida metro pillars

Noida: The Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) has received the go-ahead from Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for painting the pillars and viaduct of the 29-km Noida-Greater Noida Metro corridor.

NMRC executive director Saumya Srivastava said the project, costing about Rs 6 crore, would drastically change the appearance of metro pillars, which are usually dull and grey. “After discussions with DMRC, we have proposed that the pillars and viaduct be adorned with wall art or murals can be painted creatively on them, making them attractive,” said Srivastava, who also holds charge of Noida as deputy CEO.

“We are fine-tuning the proposal and will implement it once the track is in place,” he said.

“Through these artworks, the aim is also to provoke conversation and thought besides establishing a connection with commuters,” he said. “The Metro is no longer merely for transportation. Decorating public spaces is the most direct form of art, which we are going to explore,” he said.
Srivastava told Media that currently, the civil work on the track is about 40% complete. “Once complete, the metro is likely to set many world records,” he said. “Besides being the only metro line to be commissioned in a short span of two and a half years, the corridor is also putting in place the longest span of viaduct in a 24-hour span,” Srivastava said.

“Normally DMRC has been setting up eight U-girders in a 24-hour cycle. However, for this track, DMRC is fixing 12 U-girders, which means 152 metres of viaduct will be in place in 24 hours,” he said. “So far we have already completed 2km of viaduct in Noida and Greater Noida,” he said. Out of a total 1,800 U-girders, 200 have been cast till now. Out of a total of 1,000 piers, 400 have already been completed, officials said. The corridor is likely to roll by the end of 2017. Once this track, costing Rs 5,533 crore, is in place it would not only provide a fast link between the two townships but also bring these places closer to the national capital.

Bangalore Metro | BMRC to launch its first underground metro line on April 29

Narendra Shah
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Bangalore Metro | BMRC to launch its first underground metro line on April 29

Bengaluru: The underground (UG) stretch of Namma Metro between Cubbon Road and Vidhana Soudha, the first UG metro line in South India, will be inaugurated on Friday.

BMRCL managing director Pradeep Singh Kharola confirmed to Media that all clearances have been obtained and the launch will be on April 29.

With the inauguration the 4.8km UG line, commuters will be able to travel from Byappanahalli in the east to Mysuru Road in the west. The underground section alone will have five stations and will connect the two corridors with Majestic -the city centre, from where people will be able to access inter-city and inter-state buses from the KSRTC bus terminus and the Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna railway station (City railway station).

The travel time between Baiyappanahalli and Mysuru Road, which otherwise takes nearly two hours will now be reduced to 33 minutes and will cost people only Rs 40. Overall there are 17 stations on the 18.1km stretch.

The underground stretch was expected to be ready by March but got delayed by almost two months; Metro authorities applied for safety clearance during the third week of March.

Smart Cities India 2016 expo to unveil what it takes to build smart cities in India

Narendra Shah
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New Delhi: The 100 smart cities mission launched by the government to inject our cities with the latest infrastructure and amenities is ambitious and unprecedented.

The project requires smart planning and organisation to make Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision a reality. Important factors include, preparing the roadmap  with schedules for completion of each task; allotment of funds and resources; technical provisions to build smart cities; involvement of countries, ministries, associations, etc., and how their efforts  can be leveraged to create “smart cities” in India.

To address these questions, the Exhibitions India Group is organising the 2nd edition of Smart Cities India 2016 expo at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi from 11-13 May 2016.

The expo will attract 350 exhibitors from 50 countries showcasing their capabilities over three days.

Respected names like Logipix Ltd (Hungary) will display high resolution cameras for city surveillance; Cleverciti Systems GmBH  Germany), will display sensors for managing parking; Ecube Labs (Korea), will display IoT based intelligent solutions for managing waste; REC Solar ( Noway), will showcase solar solutions, including integrated manufacturing of polysilicon to wafers, cells, panels and turnkey solar solutions; Sundrax LLC (Russia), will present Intelligent street lights; while Trestor Inc. (Canada), will demonstrate solutions for building smart communities, and many other innovators will demonstrate a wide variety of products and solutions.

In addition to the exhibition, 300 leaders from around the world will converge at the conference including: Anders H. Lier (President & CEO, Enoro, Norway); Dr. Chirine Etezadzadeh (Head of Institute,  SmartCity.institute Germany); Doug Haines (CEO, Haines Security Solutions, United States); Julian Marwitz (CEO, Arineos, Germany); Maria Adahl (Director, Open Arena-Urban Development, Sweden); and Ruben Dubelaar (Project Director, Dutch Sports Infrastructure (FME), Netherlands) , etc.

The forum will host concurrent conference sessions on topics including: “Evolution of connected transport ecosystems”; “Make in India”; “Solar rooftops technologies & engineering”; and “Waste management solutions”; “Debt & equity financing”; and “National and international policies and financing models”, etc.

The expo will be a platform for other nations to share case studies, insights, and technical know-how while building smart cities in their own countries. Individual country pavilions at the expo will be from the Czech Republic, Holland, Norway, Sweden, and Taiwan. One of the largest pavilions at the expo will be hosted by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) and Taipei World Trade Center Liaison Office (Mumbai), with more than 100 companies displaying their technologies, products and services.

Metro Rail News is a proud Media Partner for the Smart Cities India 2016 Expo. For more details about the 2nd Smart Cities India 2016 Expo, kindly visit http://www.smartcitiesindia.com/

Nagpur Metro | French loan deal for Nagpur metro rail in July

Narendra Shah
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Nagpur Metro | French loan deal for Nagpur metro rail in July

Nagpur: After successfully inking a loan agreement for 500 million euros (3750cr approx) with German lending agency KfW, Nagpur Metro Rail Corporation Limited (NMRCL) is now pursuing a 130 million euro (Rs975cr approx) loan from French institution Agence France de Developpement (AFD). NMRCL officials said that the process was in advanced stages and the deal is likely to be signed by July-end.

“A team of AFD officials — project coordinator Juliette Le Pannerer and project manager Priscille de Conick — had recently visited Nagpur. Lengthy technical consultations were held with our team and the two officials expressed satisfaction over progress of the project. AFD will visit the city once more after which the loan agreement would be signed,” a NMRCL official told Media.

KfW has sanctioned the loan for 20 years at an interest rate of 1.6% with a moratorium of five years. AFD’s terms and conditions are expected to be similar. NMRCL needs about 1,000 crore this year for the project and so far the flow of funds has been satisfactory.

“While the KfW loan and government funds would be used for civil works and purchase of wagons, the French loan will be used for purchasing signals and telecommunications systems and for installing an automatic fare collection system,” the official further said.

Meanwhile, the choice of general consultant (GC) for the project has narrowed down to two consortiums — Systra and Deutschbahn (DB) International. The consortium led by Ayesa has been eliminated. Systra is a French firm and has Egis Rail, AECOM Asia and RITES as partners. DB International is a German firm with Deutschbahn Projektbau GmbH, Hill International, Oriental Consultants Global Co Ltd, Balaji Railroad Systems and Padeco as partners.

Once the GC is appointed, it will help NMRCL in supervising the project, preparing tenders, checking bills etc. It is to the credit of NMRCL officials that a lot of work has been done by them without any external help.

On the progress of the project, the official said that civil work on the stretch from Rani Jhansi Square to Lokmanya Nagar (near Hingna) will begin in a month. “The technical evaluation of the tender has been completed and the financial evaluation is in advanced stages,” he added. “The tender for procurement of wagons and engines has been floated. Same is the case with design of railway stations on Sitabuldi-Lokmanya Nagar stretch,” he further said.

Jaipur Metro |Chinese team shows interest in building Metro phase-II

Narendra Shah
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Jaipur Metro |Chinese team shows interest in building Metro phase-II

Jaipur: The Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation (JMRC) has got a new ray of hope for construction of Jaipur Metro phase II, under public private partnership (PPP) as a Chinese delegation has shown interest to invest in the project.

A Chinese delegation led by Nicholas Hou, president of Hupion Sourcing Ltd, met the chief minister and chief secretary and expressed an interest to invest in Jaipur Metro. Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation (JMRC), project director, Ashwini Saxena, who was present during the meeting, said, “The delegation has shown interest in construction of Phase II.

The delegation was briefed about the project.”

This has revived the hope of JMRC as till date it has received no response from six foreign companies, which were approached to construct the Metro under PPP mode.

A senior official informed that despite giving lucrative offers, no company has shown positive response. “The estimated cost for phase II is Rs 10,000 crore. It has been proposed that the state government will provide 40% as viability gap funding to the awarded company. The remaining 60% will be borne by the state government and the company,” he said.

Moreover, the state government is willing to handover the operation and maintenance of phase I and B after spending Rs 3,149 crore. A source said, “As per the proposal, the state government will bear Rs 7,000 crore and the company has to pay Rs 3,000 crore. Additional benefit will be given by transferring operation and maintenance of Phase (I), which means fare will be collected by the company.”

“Equal stakes will be provided to the company in Metro projects in the state. While the total investment of the state government will be Rs 10,000 crore, the company will pay Rs 3,000 crore only,” the source added.

Lucknow Metro | Three labourers injured as Lucknow Metro shuttering collapses

Narendra Shah
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Lucknow Metro | Three labourers injured as Lucknow Metro shuttering collapses

Lucknow: Three labourers were injured, one of them seriously, when a shuttering between two under- construction pillars of Lucknow Metro, a flagship project of theAkhilesh Yadav government, collapsed here on Sunday.

There was however, no loss of life, District Magistrate Raj Shekhar said.

One of the injured, Sohan Lal is in critical condition and has been shifted to trauma centre and put on ventilator, Shekhar said.

The other injured were identified as Hitesh Kumar Srivastava and Junair Ahmad, both from Lucknow, Shekhar told Media.

The DM said Sohan Lal has been given a compensation of Rs 2 lakh by the district administration as he is a registered labourer with the Labour Department.

Earlier reports had said 7-8 workers were at the site at the time of the occurrence of the mishap and most of them were discharged after first aid.

“No one is trapped in the debris,” said Shekhar, who rushed to the spot along with Senior SP Rajesh Pandey to supervise relief operations and removal of debris.

“The incident took place at around 7 AM when a slab of 10×2 metre which was being cast near Alambagh bus station fell down,” the district magistrate said.

Giving details, Pandey said the incident occurred when workers were filling concrete to reinforce the portion between two pillars at the busy Sujapura locality in Alambagh.

An LMRC spokesman said, “Concreting work for the cross arm was going on at the site since midnight and it was about to be completed when the incident took place. The site has been cleared and the traffic has resumed.”

The cross arm is used as a structural base to build the concourse level (middle level) of any Metro station.

“A director-level inquiry committee, including safety experts from the general consultants, has been constituted for conducting an inquiry into the incident. The committee will submit its report soon,” he said.

The Chief Minister said, “All safety precautions will be taken. I will inquire about incident and issue directives to ensure safety of labourers.”

LMRC is facing a tight deadline to complete the 8.5 km- stretch of the Metro rail project from Transport Nagar to Charbagh under the priority section. It has to run trains on trials by November 2016.

Delhi Metro | DMRC to increased more trips of Metro trains during Odd Even phase-2

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Delhi Metro | DMRC to increased more trips of Metro trains during Odd Even phase-2

New Delhi:  Two hundred metro trains will make around 3,248 trips daily during the upcoming odd-even fortnight, a rise of about 56 trips over the existing arrangements, DMRC said today. 15 additional feeder buses, that leave from stations across the city, shall be run while three new routes have been introduced. “The distance they serve have been rationalized to 6-12 km range so as to utilize them to the maximum as last mile connectivity.” DMRC (Delhi Metro Rail Corporation) will be pressing into service the “maximum number of trains possible operationally” during the April 15-30 period keeping only the essential maintenance reserve.

The company has a fleet of 220 trains. During the first phase of the road rationing scheme, number of daily trips were taken up to 3,192 and trains to 197, measures that were later made permanent. There was not any noteworthy jump in the ridership figures during the first phase of the drive between January 1-15. The metro system carries around 27 lakh passengers on an average daily. The Metro authorities will also deploy additional ticket operators, guards and customer facilitation agents to handle the expected load on the ticketing system. “80 ticket operators will be deployed per day while CISF, guards and customer facilitation agents will be added at stations to help and guide commuters,” a DMRC spokesperson said.

Lines and stations will be monitored by control room and action taken to ensure that crowd is not built up at booking points, TVMs and security frisking points. “28 teams of officers will be deployed at major stations for monitoring the smooth traffic movement during the drive. Four additional lines are being added to the helpline number 155370. “List of routes and possible vacancies has been provided to DTC for deploying their buses for the last mile connectivity. Feeder buses presently run on 33 routes,” the official said.

Bhopal Metro | Bhopal to get Rs.22000 crore for Metro Rail project

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Bhopal Metro | Bhopal to get Rs.22000 crore for Metro Rail project
“People who come to the state capital get swayed by its beauty. Rs 15,000 crore will be spent on Bhopal’s development in the next five years and a blue-print for this has been drawn,” said Chouhan. He also inaugurated the longest rail-over-bridge (RoB) that has been named after Veer Savarkar.In a reference to opposition of smart city development at Shivaji Nagar, Chouhan indicated there was no going back on location project site. A redevelopment model for smart city development in Bhopal and its impact on the green cover has highlighted by citizen groups in the recent past.

“Greenery will be enhanced by the smart city project. Smart City development will bring about more jobs and development,” he assured. Rs 8,000 crore smart city project pitch was selected in union government smart cities mission. Bhopal is among the 20 cities selected in the first phase.

An additional, Rs 100 crore from the CM infrastructure development was also allocated for BMC. It would cover for additional cost incurred in construction of Habibganj RoB and two other flyovers on Upper Lake and Lower Lake. Habibganj RoB has been built for Rs 82 crore. It was originally estimated to cost Rs 37 crore

Rs 1,500 crore will be spent on development of Hamidia road including a new interstate bus terminal (ISBT) at Old Sabzi Mandi, said BMC mayor Alok Sharma. It would part of the Rs 15,000 crore to be spent on Bhopal’s development in the next five years, as announced by CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday. Speaking on the side-lines of the inauguration of Habibganj RoB, Sharma said, “Development of Bhopal as a whole is being planned. Over the years, old parts of the state capital have not received due attention,” said Sharma.

“Existing bus stand cannot handle the current requirements. Those coming from nearby areas, usually get a connecting train from Bhopal main railway station rather than Habibganj. A new ISBT would cater to this demand,” he said.

Sources said the BMC has put forth the proposal and would be incorporated in the upcoming Bhopal master plan.

Each of the urban bodies in the state capital is out to get a piece of the various development projects in the state capital. In the absence of a master plan, most of the projects like construction of flyover to grid-separators on congested intersections may not be a reality anytime soon.

In the Bhopal Development Authority (BDA) budget for 2016-17, its chairman Om Yadav proposed, construction of flyovers with to unclog Bhopal city traffic. BDA’s main proposal are at Lal Ghati and Board Office square at MP Nagar. Metro rail is proposed to pass through both the places and BDA’s proposal for a grid-separator at the intersection may never see the light of day. Similarly, BMC proposed flyover at Rangmahal remains unlikely given the metro rail project.

Development projects related to the Rs 15,000 crore would be take shape in the days ahead after with between BMC, Bhopal Development Corporation, Bhopal Smart city development corporation limited and Madhya Pradesh metro rail company limited (MPMRCL), clarified a government official.

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