Indian Railways News
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Railways bounces back, posts all time high revenues
NEW DELHI: The Indian Railways is estimated to have posted an all-time high revenue of Rs 1.68 lakh crore in the just-ended fiscal year, powered by its focus on boosting freight traffic and innovative steps on passenger fares.
The national transporter hauled 1.107 billion tonnes of cargo in the year ended March 31, surpassing its most recent target of 1.094 billion tonnes for fiscal 2017.
Railways minister Suresh Prabhu said his aim for this fiscal year is to do 1.2 billion tonnes. The performance was remarkable for an organisation that in the early months of fiscal 2017 was witnessing a major slump in freight and passenger traffic. Key interventions by the ministry since helped it get on to the growth track.
The passenger segment is estimated to have posted revenue of almost Rs 48,000 crore last fiscal year, up Rs 2,000 crore from the year before, while freight revenue is estimated at Rs 1.09 lakh crore as against Rs 1.04 lakh crore in fiscal 2016. Non-core revenue, such as from scrap sales and advertising rights, and other income totalled Rs 11,000 crore. "Despite the most challenging environment, we have done very well. Various policy interventions at times when we could foresee slump in demand were taken, which were pivotal in bringing back the traffic," Prabhu said.
The steps the ministry took in the past year included additional discounts on loading of some commodities, doing away with various usage charges on freight, as well as innovative pricing of premium passenger trains, such as dynamic pricing on Rajdhani and Shatabdi.
In fiscal 2016, Indian Railways posted a total revenue of Rs 1.62 lakh crore. After setting a record in fiscal 2017, the financially stressed national transporter is now expecting to improve on that in the new financial year.
"We have put in place the necessary infrastructure. There's availability of rakes and demand from various commodities is already seeing an uptick," the minister said. "The various freight reforms we introduced in last fiscal will show a major impact now."
The Railway Board's member-traffic, Mohd Jamshed, said the railways lost business to carry almost 20 million tonnes (MT) of coal last fiscal year due to weak demand for the dry fuel, but made up for that by transporting more iron ore. It hauled 137 MT of the steelmaking raw material, compared with 117 MT the year before.
"Last time we loaded so much iron ore was during the time of Beijing Olympics [2008] when there was huge demand from China. This time, without any such factor, we have made record loading," Jamshed told ET.
He said loading from the expanded freight basket, which also includes automobile transportation, has also seen an uptick.
However, despite the signs of recovery in financial health of the national transporter, its operating ratio – the amount it spends to earn each Rs 100 – continues to remain high at around 95 per cent, leaving it with little funds for safety and maintenance projects.
In fiscal 2016, the ratio was around 94 per cent. "The operating ratio will be high because our salary bill has gone up significantly in the wake of the Seventh Pay Commission. We spend more than Rs 40,000 crore only towards pensions," a senior Railway Board official said.
The railway ministry has been working on an agenda, set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to transform the organisation. Under it, the ministry has prepared a five-year development plan, which includes a capex of Rs 8.5 lakh crore.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...l-time-high-revenues/articleshow/57980623.cms
NEW DELHI: The Indian Railways is estimated to have posted an all-time high revenue of Rs 1.68 lakh crore in the just-ended fiscal year, powered by its focus on boosting freight traffic and innovative steps on passenger fares.
The national transporter hauled 1.107 billion tonnes of cargo in the year ended March 31, surpassing its most recent target of 1.094 billion tonnes for fiscal 2017.
Railways minister Suresh Prabhu said his aim for this fiscal year is to do 1.2 billion tonnes. The performance was remarkable for an organisation that in the early months of fiscal 2017 was witnessing a major slump in freight and passenger traffic. Key interventions by the ministry since helped it get on to the growth track.
The passenger segment is estimated to have posted revenue of almost Rs 48,000 crore last fiscal year, up Rs 2,000 crore from the year before, while freight revenue is estimated at Rs 1.09 lakh crore as against Rs 1.04 lakh crore in fiscal 2016. Non-core revenue, such as from scrap sales and advertising rights, and other income totalled Rs 11,000 crore. "Despite the most challenging environment, we have done very well. Various policy interventions at times when we could foresee slump in demand were taken, which were pivotal in bringing back the traffic," Prabhu said.
The steps the ministry took in the past year included additional discounts on loading of some commodities, doing away with various usage charges on freight, as well as innovative pricing of premium passenger trains, such as dynamic pricing on Rajdhani and Shatabdi.
In fiscal 2016, Indian Railways posted a total revenue of Rs 1.62 lakh crore. After setting a record in fiscal 2017, the financially stressed national transporter is now expecting to improve on that in the new financial year.
"We have put in place the necessary infrastructure. There's availability of rakes and demand from various commodities is already seeing an uptick," the minister said. "The various freight reforms we introduced in last fiscal will show a major impact now."
The Railway Board's member-traffic, Mohd Jamshed, said the railways lost business to carry almost 20 million tonnes (MT) of coal last fiscal year due to weak demand for the dry fuel, but made up for that by transporting more iron ore. It hauled 137 MT of the steelmaking raw material, compared with 117 MT the year before.
"Last time we loaded so much iron ore was during the time of Beijing Olympics [2008] when there was huge demand from China. This time, without any such factor, we have made record loading," Jamshed told ET.
He said loading from the expanded freight basket, which also includes automobile transportation, has also seen an uptick.
However, despite the signs of recovery in financial health of the national transporter, its operating ratio – the amount it spends to earn each Rs 100 – continues to remain high at around 95 per cent, leaving it with little funds for safety and maintenance projects.
In fiscal 2016, the ratio was around 94 per cent. "The operating ratio will be high because our salary bill has gone up significantly in the wake of the Seventh Pay Commission. We spend more than Rs 40,000 crore only towards pensions," a senior Railway Board official said.
The railway ministry has been working on an agenda, set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to transform the organisation. Under it, the ministry has prepared a five-year development plan, which includes a capex of Rs 8.5 lakh crore.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...l-time-high-revenues/articleshow/57980623.cms
Jagdish58
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Jagdish58
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Inaugural run of long awaited Kudla express 16575/16576 from Mangalore junction to Yeshvantpur and vice a versa via Hassan - sharavanabelagola - kunigal - nelmangala -chikabanavar chugged of from Managalore junction on 09.04.2017 by Shri Suresh prabhu Hon Minister of Indian railway through Video conf . But it will be triweekly service
http://www.udayavani.com/english/ne...er-flags-mangaluru-yeshwanthpur-kudla-express
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These will look great on araku route.
I don't remember if araku route is broad gauged, is it?
the wolf
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Yes Araku is on a broad gauge line and is the highest broad gauge section of Indian railways
Sent from my MotoG3-TE using Tapatalk
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Is their any possibility to change narrow gauge with broad gauge at Kalka - Shimla route ?
mayfair
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I think the pros and cons have to be weighed in.
Does the terrain support the use of broad gauge?
Is the existing route amenable to gauge change?
If not then what alterations would be necessary- tunnels, straightening, levelling the mountains etc.
Is it economically feasible? Are the passenger numbers enough to justify the switch?
The impact on the UNSECO World heritage status.
The steam narrow gauge trains have their own charm and personally I feel it should be retained as much as possible.
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The reason i mention is because i used to travel on that route for more than 4 years at regular basis ..
Its no longer a tourist route but commuter route and trains are over crowded, Dangerously over weighted and getting longer ..
Its no longer a tourist route but commuter route and trains are over crowded, Dangerously over weighted and getting longer ..
sob
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If they make any changes it will loose its heritage tag.
Trinetra
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Indian Railways selects 200 km/h upgrade option
INDIA: The Delhi – Chandigarh line is to be upgraded to permit ‘semi-high speed’ operation at speeds up to 200 km/h, Indian Railways has announced. Reference design studies will now be undertaken with a view to calling a design and build tender by the end the year.
The 245 km route is one of the busiest in northern India, with 100 trains a day and current ridership of 40 million passengers/year predicted to increase by 4% annually.
The decision to upgrade the line for 200 km/h operation follows a study funded jointly by the Indian and French governments and undertaken in partnership with SNCF and its subsidiary Systra under a December 2015 agreement. This looked at three options for the route:
The project would involve traffic segregation, the introduction of new EMUs and new operations and maintenance standards. SNCF said the project would greatly enhance Indian Railways’ knowhow for future upgrades, with up to 6 400 route-km being considered for semi-high speed upgrading.
INDIA: The Delhi – Chandigarh line is to be upgraded to permit ‘semi-high speed’ operation at speeds up to 200 km/h, Indian Railways has announced. Reference design studies will now be undertaken with a view to calling a design and build tender by the end the year.
The 245 km route is one of the busiest in northern India, with 100 trains a day and current ridership of 40 million passengers/year predicted to increase by 4% annually.
The decision to upgrade the line for 200 km/h operation follows a study funded jointly by the Indian and French governments and undertaken in partnership with SNCF and its subsidiary Systra under a December 2015 agreement. This looked at three options for the route:
- 160 km/h running, requiring minimum investment;
- 180 km/h running, to give a 2 h journey time;
- 200 km/h running, using modern electric multiple-units.
The project would involve traffic segregation, the introduction of new EMUs and new operations and maintenance standards. SNCF said the project would greatly enhance Indian Railways’ knowhow for future upgrades, with up to 6 400 route-km being considered for semi-high speed upgrading.
Special double-decker overnight AC chair car trains to be launched in July
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...-be-launched-in-july/articleshow/58337129.cms
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...-be-launched-in-july/articleshow/58337129.cms
pmaitra
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New "Tejas" semi-highspeed train will run between Mumbai and Gov starting this Monday.
pmaitra
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India’s first underwater rail tunnel completed ahead of schedule
The critical job was completed in less than half the time allocated for it.
KOLKATA Updated: May 23, 2017 19:03 IST
Afcons Transtonnelstroy is an Indo-Russian joint venture. The machine was brought from Herrenknecht AG plant in Schwanau in Germany.
Work of the tunnel is progressing satisfactorily claims the authorities.
The entire project is 16.6 km long, out of which 10.8 km runs under the ground. Of this 10.8 km, 502 metres is under the water. The project connects Howrah to the west and Salt lake to the east.
Digging this tunnel was the most difficult and critical task in the entire project. The job was completed in a time of one month and six days, about 50 days ahead of schedule. The project is built by Afcons Transtonnelstroy and implemented by KMRCL.
A senior official of KMRCL, who did not wish to be named, said that the work digging the tunnel started on April 14, 2016. “The entire credit for completion of the work much before scheduled deadline goes to the 250 odd engineers, technicians and workers, who have worked day and night to complete the task. On an average we have dug 35 to 40 metres every day, following which the digging of the entire tunnel length of 520 metres was completed in little more than a month,” the KMRCL officer said.
The stretch of 16.6 km will have 12 stations, six of which will be under the ground, while the remaining six stations will be on elevated tracks. The final commissioning of the project commissioning of the project is expected by December 2019, following which it will be operational.
“Considering the pace at which we completed the most difficult task of creating the underwater tunnel, we hope to meet the deadline of final commissioning,” the KMRCL official said.
The total project cost is $750 million, which roughly comes to around Rs 5,000 crores. Since the beginning, the project was held up several times mainly due to land allocation, slum relocation and route alignment problems among others.
The project was originally slated to be completed by 2012. It was first postponed to 2015 and finally to December 2019.
_________________________
Schematic diagram of the tunnel under the river Hooghly.
The critical job was completed in less than half the time allocated for it.
KOLKATA Updated: May 23, 2017 19:03 IST
Afcons Transtonnelstroy is an Indo-Russian joint venture. The machine was brought from Herrenknecht AG plant in Schwanau in Germany.
Work of the tunnel is progressing satisfactorily claims the authorities.
The entire project is 16.6 km long, out of which 10.8 km runs under the ground. Of this 10.8 km, 502 metres is under the water. The project connects Howrah to the west and Salt lake to the east.
Digging this tunnel was the most difficult and critical task in the entire project. The job was completed in a time of one month and six days, about 50 days ahead of schedule. The project is built by Afcons Transtonnelstroy and implemented by KMRCL.
A senior official of KMRCL, who did not wish to be named, said that the work digging the tunnel started on April 14, 2016. “The entire credit for completion of the work much before scheduled deadline goes to the 250 odd engineers, technicians and workers, who have worked day and night to complete the task. On an average we have dug 35 to 40 metres every day, following which the digging of the entire tunnel length of 520 metres was completed in little more than a month,” the KMRCL officer said.
The stretch of 16.6 km will have 12 stations, six of which will be under the ground, while the remaining six stations will be on elevated tracks. The final commissioning of the project commissioning of the project is expected by December 2019, following which it will be operational.
“Considering the pace at which we completed the most difficult task of creating the underwater tunnel, we hope to meet the deadline of final commissioning,” the KMRCL official said.
The total project cost is $750 million, which roughly comes to around Rs 5,000 crores. Since the beginning, the project was held up several times mainly due to land allocation, slum relocation and route alignment problems among others.
The project was originally slated to be completed by 2012. It was first postponed to 2015 and finally to December 2019.
_________________________
Schematic diagram of the tunnel under the river Hooghly.
pmaitra
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It will have to be a new alignment. Narrow gauge is 2' 6" wide and allows for sharper curves. Broad Gauge is 5' 6" wide and needs wider curves. Broad Gauge is not possible along the existing route along which the Narrow Gauge runs.
