Railways require 200 electric locos with 9,000 horse power (HP) each to haul double-stack containers in the upcoming 1,534 km long Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) from Dadri to Mumbai, passing through Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

According to the tender conditions, the selected manufacturer will make 190 locos at the Indian Railways’ Chittaranjan Locomotive Works facility in Asansol, with transfer of technology provision and import of only 10 engines. The company will also set up a maintenance depot at Rewari.

Showing interest in the project, five international players — Siemens, Bombardier, Alstom, BHEL-EMD and Toshiba-CRRC — have submitted applications on March 15, the last date for submission of pre-qualification bids. “These companies will submit their price bid by the end of April and the awarding the contract is expected by December this year,” said a senior Railway Ministry official.

The Railways had floated the global tender for high power locomotives after revising the loan conditions with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as the Western DFC is fully funded by Japan. Procurement of locos for Western DFC had to be from Japanese companies, as per the earlier agreement and, accordingly, the Railways had floated the tender two years back inviting Japanese companies for the project.

However, the bidding process got stuck on the pricing front as the Japanese companies quoted Rs 50 crore per locomotive which was considered too high and the Railways sought reduction by almost half. While the Japanese consortium did not agree to reduce the price as desired by Railways, a fresh global tender was floated after renegotiating and suitably revising the loan conditions.

With five global players in the fray, the Railways is expecting to get a competitive price this time. The 3,373 km long DFC, a flagship project of the Railways, aims to augment rail transport capacity to meet the growing requirement of movement of goods by segregating freight from passenger traffic.

The Western DFC (1,534 km) will be from Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Mumbai to Tughlakabad and Dadri near Delhi, and would cater largely to the container transport requirements between the existing and emerging ports in Maharashtra and Gujarat and the northern hinterland.

The Eastern DFC (1,839 km) will be from Ludhiana in Punjab to Dankuni near Kolkata — to be extended in future to serve the new deep sea port proposed in the Kolkata area, and will largely serve coal and steel traffic.

Laying of the foundation stone for the multi-crore rail coach factory at Latur is scheduled to take place on March 31. The project is expected to generate direct and indirect employment for more than 50,000 people.

Harangul budruk located on the outskirts of Latur has been identified for setting up the project. Rs.500 crore will be spent during the first phase as announced by the authorities.

Latur district collector G Shreekanth said that the central and state authorities have finalised 339 acre of land at Harangul budruk to set up the coach factory.

Shreekanth said, “A special review meeting had taken place at the state secretariat recently for speeding up formalities related to the project and offering necessary clearances.”

State labour minister and guardian minister of Latur Sambhaji Patil-Nilangekar held a special meeting on Sunday.

He claimed that the coach factory will be the first of its kind mega project coming up at Marathwada, which is suffering from a developmental backlog.Within days of the announcement about setting up of the rail coach factory at Latur, the state government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indian Railways to set up the facility in Marathwada town on the sidelines of Magnetic Maharashtra.

The singing of MoU had taken place close on the heels of high level meeting between union railway minister and the chief minister on January 31 at Mumbai.

During the meeting Latur was finalised for setting up the project. BJP spokesperson Shirish Boralkar said that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis must be credited for rail factory project at Latur. He said, “The chief minister from the beginning has paid attention to address the issue of imbalanced regional development in the state.

The project will prove to be a milestone for development of Marathwada and will put it on the national map.”As per the MoU, state government is expected to provide land on concessional rate for setting up the project and facilitate rail connectivity including land required for it.

Indian Railways, which has more than 8500 Stations, has extended internet service to 158 rural stations through WiFi hotspots. In the recent past, the Railways have taken various steps to improve passenger services like lifts and escalators at the stations for facilitating movement across platforms, battery operated vehicles for senior citizens and persons with disabilities, Wi-fi facility at 127 important stations on IR among others.

Wi-Fi services to passengers are being provided under ‘Railwire’, the retail Broadband distribution model of RailTel. Designed to offer users the best Internet experience, Railwire Wi-Fi will be available to any user who has a working mobile connection on a smartphone. Railway stations are the places where the cross-section of the society is available.

The initiative is part of bridging the digital divide & providing high-speed access network to all rail users with the financial inclusion of Local Cable Operators. This facility shall provide our railway passengers to remain connected while waiting for the train. They can also use this facility for streaming High-Density Videos, do their office work online etc.

Earlier this week, Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said that the number of railway stations with superlative WiFi service has reached 324, helping meet digital aspirations of the country. Contributing towards the fulfilment of Digital India initiative, the Railways decided to provide Wi-Fi Broadband facility to Rail users at major Railway stations.

Here’s the Statewise Status of Railway Stations with Wi-Fi Connectivity:

S.No	State/UT	Commissioned Stations	Coming Soon
1.	Andhra Pradesh	Tirupati, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Guntur,Palasa, Rajahmundry, Kakinada Town, Nellore, Srikakulam Road, Bhimavaram Town, Samalkot Jn., Eluru, SatyaSai Prashanti Nilayam, Anakapalle, Tenali Jn.,Tuni & Vizianagaram	Cuddapah, Guntakal Jn., Renigunta, Anantapur, Chirala, Gudur Jn., Ongole, Tadepalligudem
2.	Assam	Jorhat Town,Guwahati, Lumding, Rangiya Jn.,	Barpeta Road, Kamakhya, New Bongaigaon, Silchar, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh Town
3.	Bihar	Patna, Hajipur, Muzaffarpur, Gaya, Danapur, Mokama, Kiul Jn.,Samastipur Jn., Darbhanga, Chhapra & Bhagalpur	Anugraha Narayan Road, Bapudham Motihari, Barauni Jn., Betiah, Dehri-On-Sone, Jamui, Katihar Jn, Khagaria Jn., Madhubani, Patna Sahib Jn., Siwan Jn., Rajendra Nagar(T), Buxar, Bakhtiyarpur Jn., Ara Jn., Sasaram Jn., Jamalpur, Purnea Jn, Kishanganj.
4.	Chandigarh	Chandigarh	–
5.	Chhattisgarh	Raipur, Bilaspur, Champa Jn.,Bhilai Power House, Raigarh & Durg,Rajnandgaon	Power House
6.	Gujarat	Surat, Ahmedabad, Viramgam, Jamnagar,Bhavnagar Terminus, Palanpur,Valsad, Surendranagar,Udhana, Gandhidham,Navsari, Vapi,Bhuj,Vadodara & Rajkot	Mahesana , Veraval, Anand, Ankleshwar, Bharuch, Nadiad
7.	Haryana,Faridabad New	Faridabad Old,Ambala Cantt., Ballabgarh,Karnal, Rohtak, Panipat, Sonipat, Gurugram, Rewari	Hisar, Jagadhri, Kalka
8.	Himachal Pradesh	Solan, Shimla	–
9.	Jammu and Kashmir	Jammu Tawi	Udhampur
10.	Jharkhand	Ranchi, Dhanbad Jn., Jasidih Jn. ,Bokaro Steel City,Koderma,Madhupur, Hatia, N.S.C.B. Gomoh Jn., Parashnath & Tatanagar
11.	Karnataka	Dharwad,Bangalore City, Bangarpet, Mangalore Central, Hubli, Kengeri, Gulbarga,Krishnarajapuram, Mysore & Yesvantpur (Bangalore),Hospet,Hassan Jn	Bangalore Cantt.,Belgaum, Davangere, Mangalore Jn., Shimoga Town, Raichur, Yadgir, Bellary
12.	Kerala	Ernakulam Jn, Thiruvananthapuram Central, Thrissur, Kollam Jn & Kozhikode	Ernakulam Town, Kanhangad, Kannur, Kottayam, Palakkad Jn., Shoranur Jn., Tiruvalla, Vadakara, Kasargod, Payyannur, Thalassery, Tirur, Alappuzha, Aluva, Chengannur, Kayankulam Jn
13.	Madhya Pradesh	Bina,Ujjain, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Satna, Singrauli, Itarsi,Pipariya, Vidisha,Ratlam, Damoh,Saugor,Nagda, Morena,Hoshangabad,Gwalior & Indore	Habibganj, Katni, Maihar, , Rewa, Burhanpur, Khandwa, Betul
14.	Maharashtra	Ballarshah, Mumbai Central, Churchgate, Bandra, Bandra Terminus, Dadar (WR), Dadar (CR), Khar Road, Kalyan, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Byculla, Panvel, Thane, Borivali, Lonavala, Kurla, Andheri, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Belapur, Vashi, Dombivli, Chembur, , Vasai, Virar, Bhyander, Ghatkopar, Daund, Wardha, Sainagar Sirdi, Pune, Mulund, Kurduwadi,Bhusawal, Nagpur, Kopargaon,Manmad, Badnera, Solapur,Badlapur, Chandrapur, Vadala Road, Ahmednagar,Akola & Aurangabad ,Kolhapur,Miraj &Latur	Gondia, Jalgaon, Nasik Road, Jalna, Nagarsol, Nanded, Parbhani jn., Amravati, Chalisgaon, Shegaon
15.	Nagaland	Dimapur	–
16.	Delhi	Hazarat Nizamuddin, Anand Vihar Terminus, Delhi Cantt.,Adarshnagar delhi, Delhi Shahadra, New Delhi & Delhi Jn	Delhi Sarai Rohilla
17.	Odisha	Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Sambalpur, Berhampur, Khurda Road, Rourkela, Rayagada, Jajpur-Keonjhar Road,Jharsuguda, Balasore, Bhadrak & Puri	–
18.	Punjab	Jalandhar City,Rajpura Jn.,Phagwara, Bathinda Jn., Amritsar &Beas,Pathankot,Jallandhar Cantt., Firozpur Cantt.,Sirhind Jn. & Ludhiana	Chakki Bank
19.	Rajasthan	Sawai Madhopur,Bikaner,Hanumangarh Jn.,Jaipur, Alwar, Ajmer, Udaipur City, Falna, Kota, Jaisalmer,Abu road, Phulera, Pali Marwar,Lalgarh, Marwar Jn. &Bharatpur, Chittorgarh Jn., Jodhpur	Rani, Suratgarh, Bandikui, Gandhinagar-Jp,
20.	Tamil Nadu	Dindigul Jn,Nagercoil Jn,Madurai, Coimbatore, Chennai Egmore, Tambaram, Arakkonam Jn., Tiruchchirappalli, Chennai Central, Udagamandalam (Ooty), Chengalpattu Jn., Coonoor, Rameswaram, Villupuram Jn., Erode Jn,,Karur Jn., Jolarpettai Jn, Kumbakonam, Thanjavur Jn, Katpadi & Mettupalayam,Tirunelveli Jn,Kanniyakumari,Tuticorin, Kovilpatti	Salem Jn, Virudhunagar Jn, Tiruppur, Mayiladuthurai Jn.
21.	Telangana	Kacheguda, Kurnool Town, Khammam, Secunderabad, Kazipet Jn.,Manchiryal, Hyderabad & Warangal	Ssp Nilayam, Nizamabad
22.	Uttar Pradesh	Khalilabad,Fatehpur,Sultanpur,Azamgarh, Jhansi, Lucknow, Lucknow Jn., Ayodhya, Mughalsarai Jn., Gorakhpur, Allahabad, Aligarh, Gonda Jn., Bareilly, Kanpur, Mathura, Varanasi, Agra Cantt., Ghazipur City, Bhadohi, Muzaffarnagar, Basti, Pratapgarh, Etawah, Saharanpur Jn., Moradabad, Hardoi,Mirzapur, Tundla, Janghai, Meerut City,Phaphund, Meerut Cant., Ghaziabad,Agra Fort, Deoria Sadar,Barabanki,Lalitpur,Mau Jn., Shahganj,Raja Ki Mandi, Hapur, Rae – Bareli ,Jn.,Shahjahanpur	Ballia, Belthara Road, Chitrakutdham Karwi, Deoria Sadar, Jaunpur, Rampur, Orai, Unnao, Hardoi
23.	Uttarakhand / Uttranchal	Dehradun, Haridwar, Kathgodam	Roorkee, Rudrapur City
24.	West Bengal	Sealdah, Kharagpur, Asansol, Barddhaman, Digha, Rampurhat, New Jalpaiguri, Malda Town, Howrah, Durgapur, Darjeeling, Siliguri Jn, Naihati Jn., New Farakka, Alipurduar Junction & Ghoom,New Coochbehar,Coochbehar,Bandel, New Alipurduar,Purulia Jn & Ghoom	Kolkata Terminal, Shalimar, Raiganj
24.	Goa		Vasco-Da-Gama
T O T A L		317 Stations	102 Stations

RailTel was entrusted the task of providing fast Wi-Fi for the use of passengers at A1, A category Railway stations. RailTel roped in Google as the technology partner for setting up fast Wi-Fi network initially covering 400 stations for providing fast Wi Fi to millions of passengers everyday.

The Wi-Fi service shall provide high speed connectivity for viewing uninterrupted high definition video, download of movies, songs, games by the passengers at Railway station. RailTel shall be providing high speed end to end network connectivity on Fiber, Google shall be providing the Radio Access Network along with Technology support.

It has always been the endeavour of the Railways to provide adequate amenities to the passengers at the stations. Certain amenities are provided at the time of construction of new stations based on anticipated volume of traffic. Amenities are further augmented from time to time with growth in passenger traffic handled at stations, on the basis of the need felt, expectations of the travelling public and availability of funds.

The passengers of the Delhi-Chandigarh section will soon enjoy a comfortable high speed ride as the Rail Coach Factory (RCF) here is all set to roll out the second rake of 19 coaches of the Tejas Express by April 20, a senior-most official of RCF/Kapurthala said.

The first rake of Tejas coaches capable of running at 200 kmph was rolled out in June last year and was successfully running on the Mumbai-Goa section.

RCF General Manager Satya Prakash Trivedi, who recently took charge of the factory, confirmed the roll-out of the coaches by April 20.

These coaches would be handed over to the Northern Railways and the Railway Board would decide the date and time of its running, he said.

The roll-out date of the coaches was scheduled in March but got delayed due to problems faced by vendors in importing fire retardant fabric material and infotainment systems, Trivedi said.

He said two more rakes of Tejas coaches would be rolled out by June.

The coaches would have features like remote-controlled venetian curtains, provision of vacuum toilets like in aeroplanes and sensor-based automatic sliding doors inside the compartment.

Other features include luxury chair cars with LCD screens and personalised infotainment systems.

These coaches are also fitted with improved couplers that would provide a jerk-free and comfortable ride at a high speed, Chief Mechanical Engineer P C Gupta said, adding that facilities like wi-fi and a mechanism where passengers can call attendants by using the bell attached to panel have been added.

The RCF would also roll out one rake of double-decker ‘Uday’ coaches with automatic doors, infotainment systems and vacuum toilets in July, the GM said.

Safety Training Programme at RCF successfully held

A safety training programme on general engineering which was organised jointly by Director of Factories Punjab, Chandigarh, Punjab Industrial Safety Council Chandigarh and Technical Training Centre/RCF at RCF (Rail Coach Factory), Kapurthala has successfully concluded. In this training programme, 60 supervisors and technicians of RCF participated.

RCF has got the first prize of Punjab State Safety Awards-2017 for the first time for “Largest reduction in accident frequency rate in light engineering Industry more than 4 lakh man hours” and for compliance of all the 31 inspection points raised by directorate of factories. He appreciated the effort of the staff, supervisors and officers of RCF on getting the top prize among 200 participants of different industries of Punjab.

NK Nandanwar, Factory Manager, emphasised that the staff of RCF should follow the all safety procedures, safety techniques and the use of personal protective equipments at workplace. During the programme, lectures were delivered by experts of industrial safety.

Gurjent Singh, Assistant Director of Factories/Phagwara, stated that safety is a collective responsibility and everyone should be aware of safety at workplace and in all forms of life. During the valedictory session, certificates were issued to all participants.

Khurda Road division of the East Coast Railway (ECoR) transported soft drinks from Khurda Road station for the first time. This is a new traffic for the division which traditionally carries bulk items like coal, iron ore, cement, wheat and rice in goods trains.

It had dispatched the first train on Saturday from Khurda Road station to Fatuha station in Patna of Bihar. With the success of the first parcel express, the soft drink company has now placed order for the second parcel express, this time to Purnea in Bihar.

Railway sources said a local bottling plant of a branded soft drinks manufacturer has requested the ECoR for the transportation. “Faced with lots of difficulties in dispatching soft drinks by road, the manufacturers approached Railways through their logistics provider,” said an ECoR statement.

ECoR had provided a parcel train with 20 parcel vans for carrying soft drinks from Khurda Road to Fatuha. Each parcel train is expected to fetch the Railways an amount of more than Rs 12 lakh as revenue, said an ECoR spokesperson.

Transportation of such consumer products assumes significance for ECoR. It will bring about a sea change in the logistics scenario of the state. “Rail movement is generally preferred over road traffic as it can carry twenty times the volume and deliver the goods in less than half the time compared to road traffic,” said an official statement.

Transportation of soft drinks by parcel express has given a new source of income for the Railways. Carrying the goods manufactured in Odisha to other states is a good sign for industry.

APSRTC has opened its help desk and ticket counter at Tirupati Railway Station on Monday. This will facilitate the rail passengers bound for Tirumala to take tickets at the counter and board the bus here itself. Passengers can also show their road-cum-rail ticket here to board the bus for Tirumala.

APSRTC Regional Manager T Chengal Reddy and Additional SP B Sreenivasulu have inaugurated the counter. Speaking on the occasion, APSRTC RM said that they have opened the counter for the benefit of pilgrims with the cooperation extended by railway authorities and Police officials and were ready to extend more services for pilgrims in future. He said that the counter will function round-the-clock.

He expressed thanks to the Chief Commercial Manager (CCM) of South Central Railway Gunasekhar for providing necessary approvals. Tirupati Station Director K Satyanarayana also took part in the programme.

The passengers for Tirumala have to pay Rs 53 for single trip ticket which would be Rs 41 for senior citizens. On return journey ticket, a concession of Rs 10 will be given to the pilgrims and that return ticket will be valid for three days. RM said.

Eastern Railway’s freight loading has gone upto 5.710 metric tons in February from 5.094 metric tons in the corresponding period last year. It registered an improvement of 12.09% over the corresponding month of the last year and 2.33% against the Board’s target which was 5.580 metric tonne. The net tonne per kilometer was also 11.29% higher than the corresponding month of the last year. The net tonne per kilometer is a unit which denotes freight traffic carried in one kilometer. Moreover, the total originating earning was 7.82% higher than February 2017 and 3.37% higher than the target set by the Railway Board. It may be mentioned here that Eastern Railway is best known as a passenger carrying Railway. With this remarkable performance in freight loading, Eastern Railway has also made a mark in Freight Loading in addition to its passenger carrying record as well.

The Katihar Division of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has surpassed the freight loading target fixed for the entire 2017-18 financial year on March 18 itself, an official release informed.

With a target of 3.140 Metric Tonne which translates to loading of 155 wagons per day, the division achieved loading of 3.141 MT or 158.1 wagons per day till March 18, the release from NFR Chief Public Relations Officer said.

“There are a few days left in the financial year, and hence it is expected that the division would surpass the target fixed for it by a good margin,” it added.

Freight loading is a major source of revenue for Indian Railways and the Railway Board, the apex decision making body of the Ministry of Railways, sets freight loading target for each of the zonal railways at the beginning of a every financial year.

“Achieving these targets is an achievement in itself as these targets are often very stiff and high,” the release maintained.

The Katihar Division achieved the feat by loading 800 rakes (a complete train) of petroleum oil and lubricants, 259 rakes of maize, 141 rakes of RMC & 13 rakes of other commodities, it said.

During the last financial year, the division had achieved a loading of 3.003 MT or 148.4 wagons per day, it added.

Motorists on the Rohtak-Delhi and Rohtak-Sonepat roads can breathe easy. A first-of-its-kind elevated railway track project is all set to come up in Rohtak, the 6th most populous city in Haryana.

This aims at decongesting Rohtak city, providing safety to road users by eliminating five busy level crossings connecting residential colonies, and enable operational flexibility for the Railways.

Manohar Lal Khattar, the Haryana CM, formally launched the project on March 17, 2018. The ambitious, 6-km track, costing around Rs 316 crore, is set to come up on the Rohtak-Panipat line in 18 months, and the existing railway track will be replaced by a road, which will be built at the cost of Rs 8 crore.

An elevated railway track will leave the road free for transport.  This is a paradigm shift, from regular construction practices, as the railways will take the aerial route, for the first time. The road will be constructed below the track.

The elevated railway track will be extremely beneficial. It will reduce traffic jams, and since there is no need to acquire land for the project, thousands of residents around the existing railway track would not lose their land.

The corridor will also be financially more viable when pitted against the compensation the landowners would’ve received. Here’s hoping the elevated corridor in Rohtak can streamline traffic, and shorten travel time.

Globally, the concept of elevated corridors is not new. Countries like Japan, Germany and France, have constructed elevated corridors for high-speed trains.

Rohtak Junction railway station is a main railway station in Rohtak, Haryana. The station consists of 3 platforms. There are many trains available for Delhi, Panipat, Rewari, Bhiwani and Jind as well as for long distance journey.

Rohtak is connected to Bahadur Garh through Delhi line, to Gohana through Panipat line and Jhajjar through Rewari line. Delhi and Jind connections are part of the Delhi-Fazilka line, and the line is double tracked from Delhi to Bhatinda, Punjab, India, and is electrified between Delhi and Rohtak. All other lines are single track, and unelectrified. A new railway line from Rohtak to Rewari via Jhajjar became operational from January 2013.

First CNG train of India also runs between Rohtak and Rewari via Jhajjar