Indian Railways’ massive electrification plan may just be the opportunity Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd — the manufacturer of boilers and turbine generators for the power sector — is looking for to make sure it gets 40 to 50 percent of its revenues in some years from now. The start hasn’t been bad. From getting small contracts for sewage treatment and lake cleaning, the company is now in contention for a big one — Railways’ first large electrification tender — this one being of 400 kms.

The company aims to double the share of revenues from non-power sector to 40 percent by 2022. “Internally, the company wants to make it 50 percent but that would be very difficult. Forty percent by 2022 is what looks feasible and we are working towards that,” a senior official with the company told.

BHEL which is a Schedule-A Maha-Ratna PSU, reported sales of Rs 5,607 crore in June quarter with share of non-power revenues at close to 23 percent.

The railways’ 400-km track electrification tender is a prestigious one. It’s the first time in history the monolith is attempting to undertake such an exercise with just one tender, this being 10 to 11 times larger than what the national transporter has been doing all these decades.

BHEL has crossed the first hurdle of technical qualification. The competition is tough — the likes of Tata Projects, Tata Power Ltd., KEC International, Larsen & Toubro, Siemens, Kalpataru Power Transmission being in a queue of 12 bidders.

Even as it hopes to get the contract for “electrifying this running track”, BHEL is also eyeing tracks as large as 1,000 km to execute work “in project mode in non-power area, particularly on public private partnership basis,” the official said. Orders for coaches from the Mumbai Metro are also on BHEL’s agenda, the official said.

The 10-fold jump in the size of the tenders is on the directions of the Railways Minister Piyush Goyal who wants to speed up the electrification process that has become a victim of small tenders being awarded to several parties. He now plans to awards contracts for as large as 1,500 kms in one go.

Consultation process over, the railways is now working on framing a model agreement and a model tender process to carry out its boss’ directions.

BHEL is also eyeing a play in the emerging electric mobility sector. This could include solutions for battery storage as well as supplying electric vehicles though plans for this are at a very initial stage and a framework on what all segments it should target is still some time away, the official said.

“We are looking at storage and battery management systems. We could also make motors and controllers, buy the chassis from Tata Motors or Ashok Leyland and supply the electric vehicle,” he said.

The department of heavy industries under the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises is shepherding ‘Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles in India’ policy. FAME is currently being implemented in six cities.

As a first step, BHEL is hoping to partner Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments for a project on electric mobility.

The official said margins in most of the non-power sector remained in low single digits as there were one too many players operating in these segments.

South Western Railway has decided for continuation of Train No. 06547/06548, Yesvantpur –Ernakulam – Yesvantpur Weekly Tatkal Express Special for 1 more trips in each direction to clear extra rush of passengers.

Train No. 06547, Yesvantpur – Ernakulam Weekly Tatkal Express Special departs Yesvantpur at 22:45 hrs. on 23^rdJanuary, 2018 (Tuesday) and reaches Ernakulam at 12:00 hrs. on respective Wednesday.

Enroute, the train arrives/departs Krishnarajapuram at 23:21/23:23 Hrs., and on Wednesday arrives/departs Bangarapet at 00:13/00:15 Hrs., Tirupattur at 01:55/02:00 Hrs., Salem at 03:27/03:30 Hrs., Erode at 04:40/04:45 Hrs., Tiruppur at 05:23/05:25 Hrs., Coimbatore at 06:45/06:50 Hrs., Palghat at 08:25/08:30 Hrs., Ottapalam at 09:18/09:20 Hrs., Thrisur at 10:02/10:05 Hrs., Aluva at 11:02/11:04 Hrs., Ernakulam Town at 11:40/11:45 Hrs.

Train No. 06548, Ernakulam – Yesvantpur Weekly Tatkal Express Special departs Ernakulam at 14:45 hrs. on 24^thJanuary, 2018 (Wednesday) and reaches Yesvantpur at 04:30 hrs. on respective Thursday.

Enroute, the train arrives/departs Aluva at 15:11/15:13 Hrs., Thrisur at 16:30/16:35 Hrs., Ottapalam at 18:43/18:45 Hrs., Palghat at 19:18/19:20 Hrs., Coimbatore at 20:37/20:40 Hrs., Tiruppur at 21:23/21:25 Hrs., Erode at 22:10/22:15 Hrs., Salem at 23:07/23:10 Hrs. and on Thursday arrives/departs Tirupattur at 01:00/01:05 Hrs., Bangarapet at 02:18/02:20 Hrs., Krishnarajapuram at 03:15/03:17 Hrs.

The train Composition will have ONE AC 2-tier coach, TWO AC 3-tier coaches, EIGHT Second Class Sleeper coaches and TWO Luggage-cum-Brakevan with disabled friendly compartment.

Activists of Nagapattinam district have urged the Railway Ministry to take steps to revive the Mayiladuthurai-Tranquebar rail link and allocate adequate funds for the project in the forthcoming budget.

If revived, they contend, the rail link will provide connectivity to important tourist destinations and give a big push to the economic development of the delta region.

In a memorandum to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, Arupathy P. Kalyanam, organiser, Mayiladuthurai-Tranquebar Train Restoration Committee, said the rail link served the people residing in the tail-end of the Cauvery delta for more than 60 years — from 1926 until it was closed in 1987. The 30-km section needs to be revived.

In fact, the Railway Ministry ordered a survey in 2005-06 to explore the feasibility of extending the line to Karaikal via Thirunallar for a total length of 47.3 km. Owing to delay in sanctioning the project, a reassessment was done in 2010-11 and the cost increased to Rs. 175 crore, he said.

The section will provide a circular rail route covering the Cauvery delta linking Thanjavur, Kumbakonam, Mayiladuthurai, Tranquebar, Karaikal, Nagapattinam, and Tiruvarur and will be remunerative for the Railways too. “The historical, heritage tourism and pilgrimage project proposal on Mayiladuthurai-Thirukadaiyur-Tranquebar-Thirunallar-Karaikal section is awaiting sanction since 2011,” he rued.

The project is in the recommended list of the State government too. If implemented it will connect major Hindu,Muslim and Christian pilgrimage centres and usher in development in the region.

Off the four old routes constructed during the British period in the region, the Mayiladuthurai-Tranquebar section is the only route neglected by the Railways, and the other three sections have been taken up for development. “The project will entail only restoration and gauge conversion and should be taken up on a priority basis considering its heritage, historic and tourism value,” Mr. Kalyanam said.

With electrification works in the Tiruchi-Karur-Erode broad gauge section over, the Central Organisation for Railway Electrification (CORE), which executed the project, has invited the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) to carry out mandatory inspection of the electrified stretch prior to operation of passenger and freight trains.

Ahead of the CRS statutory inspection, CORE officials have decided to carry out a trial run in the nearly 140 km electrified section using an electric locomotive. The trial run is expected to be conducted next week from Erode to Tiruchi by attaching a tower wagon and service vehicles to the electric loco.

A senior CORE official said the trial run would be carried out at a speed ranging from 60-90 km/hour. Following completion of the electrification works, the CRS had been invited to conduct statutory inspection of the electrified stretch. Only after obtaining sanction from the CRS would the stretch be formally commissioned for operation of passenger and freight trains hauled by electric locomotives.

Visit likely by month-end

CORE authorities expect the visit to take place by this month-end. If everything goes on as per plan, the electrified stretch is most likely to become ready for operation of trains from next month, the official added.

The electrification project wascompleted at a cost of Rs. 140 crore.

At present, passenger and freight trains are being operated in the stretch hauled by diesel locomotives. The Mayiladuthurai-Coimbatore-Mayiladuthurai Jan Shatabdhi Express, Mysore-Mayiladuthurai-Mysore Express, Tiruchi-Palakkad-Tiruchi passenger, Tiruchi-Karur and Tiruchi-Erode passengers are being operated at present in the section

Initially, power will be drawn from sub stations at Tiruchi and Erode for operation of the trains. The ongoing works of establishing electric sub stations as part of the project at Velliyanai, Pettavaithalai and Pugalur are all expected to be completed in the coming months.

The official said electrification works in the 71-km Karur-Dindigul broad section, which are also being carried out by CORE, was expected to be completed between March and April.

The railways in India is often called as the lifeline of the country. For decades, railways have been the great connector for Indians, offering long-distance travel at affordable pricing. For a long time, rail travel in India was just a means of going from point A to B, with little focus on comfort and safety of passengers. However, as India continues its march to transform its infrastructure, upgrade of railways has received investments and attention of the current establishment. On 30^th November, the railways ministry of India announced it will be revamping its Rajdhani express trains. Earlier, the rail ministry had also upgraded another of its premium trains known as the Shatabdi Express.

The present dispensation in India has been focusing on providing a boost to the country’s infrastructure, with railways receiving particular attention. In February 2017, it was announced that the government will be spending nearly US$ 59 billion to modernize its airports and railways. In addition to expanding the existing airports, the government announced that it will lay new tracks to boost the connectivity between towns and cities.

Rail equipment manufacturers and suppliers are investing in building factories to provide an impetus to growth. The country is also proposing a new metro rail policy, which is likely to acceleration the much-delayed modernization of the railways. According to the vision document of Indian Railways, the government is committed to create 3X bigger Indian railways that is economically viable. Some of the key initiatives that the government is focusing on include integrated corridor approach and best in class rolling stock. To build terminal infrastructure, the government is focusing on upgrading good sheds.

According to the vision document, convenience to passengers also remains a key focus area for the government, with punctuality, cleanliness & beautification, and safe catering among the key initiatives. The approach of the railways is consumer-centric, with seamless passenger services receiving the attention of the government. The development of mobile apps that provide affiliated services such as ticketing and taxi, along with passenger feedback and grievance redressal are among the other services that the government is offering to improve customer experience.

To offer passengers comfort during the long journeys, the government is also focusing on improving the quality of materials used to manufacture the interiors of railways. From fire-proof curtains to comfortable seats, the railways ministry in India is taking initiatives to improve the overall functionality and design of railways. The focus on upgrading seat materials is not only limited to Indian railways, as can be gauged from the steady growth in the global train seat materials market, which was valued at nearly US$ 1.61 billion in 2015, and is on course to grow at over 5% CAGR through 2024.

Overall, the focus on modernizing Indian railways is likely to create opportunities for parts manufacturers and suppliers. The recent collaboration between India and Japan on the high-speed bullet train is an example of the focus of the present dispensation towards railways.

Courtesy: Abhishek Budholiya: Abhishek Budholiya is a tech blogger, digital marketing pro, and has contributed to numerous tech magazines. Currently, as a technology and digital branding consultant, he offers his analysis on the tech market research landscape. His forte is analysing the commercial viability of a new breakthrough, a trait you can see in his writing. When he is not ruminating about the tech world, he can be found playing table tennis or hanging out with his friends

The Patna High Court on Thursday accepted the request of the Railways that train services on Patna-Digha route should not be withdrawn for the time being as it might lead to encroachments on the land.

The petition seeking withdrawal of train services and transformation of the land owned by railways into a four-lane road connecting the north and south Patna came up for hearing before the Division Bench of Justice Ravi Ranjan and Justice Prakash Chandra Jaiswal. The train between R-Block Railway Station and Digha passes through the busy Hartali Mor at peak hours, triggering traffic jams and leaving commuters stranded.

Sources said earlier the High Court was inclined to withdraw the train services on the 2km-long track as the railways had made it clear that it was not interested to run the “lossmaking” passenger train. The train runs despite loss of over Rs 6 lakh per month. It earns just Rs 7,800 per month.

The matter will now come up for hearing in the high court after four weeks.

Indian Railways is firming up a proposal to develop a Railway Heritage Theme Park, a first-of-its-kind in the country, at Rewari, in cooperation with the Union Tourism Ministry and the Haryana government.

The rail theme park, to be developed on the pattern of UK’s Devon Railway Centre, would comprise of narrow gauge toy train, model train stations, railway exhibits and a convention centre to host corporate events.

Similar theme parks exist in other countries, like the Edaville Park in the US and Ferrymead Heritage Park in New Zealand.

The rail theme park will be part of the development of the Madhogarh-Mahendragarh-Narnaul-Rewari heritage route being developed by the Tourism Ministry under the Swadesh Darshan scheme.

“Since the Railways has a heritage steam loco centre at Rewari, the development of a rail theme park on the adjoining land can convert the place into a tourist hotspot,” a senior Railway Ministry official told.

Rewari, being easily accessible from the capital and Gurgaon, can become a major crowd-puller — in the process developing its local economy and promoting tourism, he added.

The Railways has earmarked 8.8 hectares of land adjoining Rewari steam loco centre for the rail theme park.

The Rewari steam loco centre has been recently renovated with many tourist facilities being provided for the purpose.

There is a steam loco simulator where tourist can enjoy the feel of driving a Darjeeling Himalayan Railway steam locomotive, a 3-D virtual reality coach simulator depicting evolution of passenger coaches over time, a toy train, and a garden-scale model train system to educate visitors about various aspects of a train’s operation.

In addition, the Rewari steam centre has an indoor exhibition gallery, a 35-seater projection room to display videos and conduct visitors’ orientation, a century-old dining car and a cafeteria with a souvenir shop.

Besides, it is also on the itinerary of the steam-hauled tourist special train which runs between Delhi Cantonment and Rewari every second Saturday during October-April.

Currently the footfall at the Rewari centre ranges between 250 and 450 a day, primarily comprising domestic and foreign tourists, students and local visitors.

Once the rail heritage theme park under Swadesh Darshan comes up, the place will become a tourist hub, said the official.

The Swadesh Darshan scheme has finalised five circuits — heritage, Ramayana, Buddhist, eco and spiritual — to promote tourism across the country.

The development of the Madhogarh-Mahendragarh-Narnaul-Rewari heritage circuit will be executed by the Tourism Ministry at an estimated cost of Rs 147 crore, including the Haryana government’s share of Rs 48 crore.

“We have written to the Haryana government for including the rail heritage theme park in the heritage circuit under the Swadesh Darshan scheme,” the official said.

An affiliate of China Communications Construction Company and three Malaysian consortiums have submitted turn-key tenders with financing for Malaysia’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Circle Line, said the MRT project owner Friday.

Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) said in a statement, the four tenderers are China Communications Construction Company LimitedChina Communications Construction Company (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd; SapuraTIEC Consortium; MMC-Gamuda-George Kent Joint Venture; Pacific-Mudajaya-JEC Consortium.

An evaluation will be made by MRT Corp based on best evaluated tender from the three main evaluation criteria; technical, financial standing and the financing package. A recommendation will then be submitted to Malaysia’s Finance Ministry for decision and approval, according to the statement.

“Adopting the turn-key tender allows MRT Corp to seek the best option for funding the project, as we will try and get the lowest cost in financing,” said MRT Corp Circle Line project director Zohari Sulaiman.

However, he added, if the financing package options are not favorable, the company will revert to the old financing structure that is through Danalnfra, a Malaysian government funding vehicle.

The MRT Circle Line is expected to be 40 km in length, of which approximately 32 km will be under the ground with 26 stations planned along the alignment.

The line, which will run around the periphery of Kuala Lumpur city center, will intersect with all of the Klang Valley’s urban rail network, expanding its coverage significantly and providing greater mobility to commuters.

The contract is expected to award within the first quarter this year.

In a good for railway passengers, they could get cheaper deals if they plan their journey in advance. The proposal can turn into reality if the recommendations of a fare review committee are being approved by the Railway Board.

In a report submitted this week, the committee has suggested graded discounts on the basis of number of vacant seats in a train, sources said. Similar to airlines, committee officials have recommended discounts from 20 per cent to 50 per cents depending on the number of vacant seats available at the time of booking.

In an another proposal, the panel has suggested discounts for tickets booked after charting. It has added that discounts can be offered in slots from two days to two hours before the departure of the train.

Just like air travellers who are being charged more for front-row seats, passengers will have to pay more for choosing lower berths, the committee said. However, senior citizens, people with disabilities and pregnant women could be allotted the seats free of charge, the committee added.

The committee has also suggested that fares of trains which reach their destinations at “convenient” times should be increased as against those that arrive at “odd hours” for example between 0000 and 0400 hours and 1300 and 1700 hours, the officials said.

The Railway Board is likely to make changes before approving the recommendations, the sources said.

Instead of having a flat fare around the year, fares should be increased during the festive season and reduced during lean months, the committee suggested.

The committee consists of some Railway Board officials, NITI Aayog adviser Ravinder Goyal, Executive Director (Revenue Management) of Air India Meenakshi Malik, professor S Sriram, and Iti Mani, Director, Revenue, Le Meridien, Delhi.

A one-day Mega Conclave called ‘Nirman Samvaad’, a first ever interaction between the Ministry of Railways and the Construction Industry concluded here. This Conclave was organized by Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd. (RVNL), a dedicated arm of Ministry of Railways for fast track implementation of railway projects. This Mega Conclave was an initiative taken by Hon’ble Minister of Railways and Coal, Shri Piyush Goyal as a step to streamline procedures and remove bottlenecks to ensure the fast track implementation of projects on the railways.  It was a major event aimed at taking measures to ensure expeditious implementation of ambitious Railway Infrastructure Development Plans.

The Conclave was chaired by the Hon’ble Minister of Railways & Coal, Shri Piyush Goyal who had a personal interaction with the participants. The conference was also attended by Chairman Railway Board, Shri Ashwani Lohani and Railway Board Members, Chairman & Managing Director, RVNL, and senior officers from Railway Board, Zonal Railways, CPSEs etc. The event was attended by the top management of 400 construction & consultation companies. During the ‘Samvaad’, 6 representatives from major construction and consultancy companies i.e. M/s KECInternational; Siemens, Larsen & Toubro, Systra MVA Consulting India Private Limited, Tata Projects Limited and Afcons Infrastructure Ltd gave presentations.

The meeting was thrown open and all participants were given opportunity to raise their respective issues and suggest remedies. The highlight of the conclave was a lively interaction session conducted by Hon’ble Minister of Railways.  The issues raised covered concerns on contract management, improving cash flows, execution of projects, expediting the inspection of various items to be procured from RDSO approved vendors, adoption of FIDIC documents by Railways, delay in acquisition of land, problems in obtaining licenses of minor minerals,  suggestions for reducing the time and cost over-run, expediting the payments of the contractors, risk sharing between the employer and the contractor, increased requirement of training of technical manpower,  availability of traffic and power blocks, proper estimation of quantities at the time of inviting tenders were discussed.

Minister of Railways gave directions that the suggestions made by the participants should be followed up and necessary changes in the systems and procedures be made to ensure that the pace of project execution is improved to implement the Ministry’s ambitious investment programme.

Backgrounder:-

Ministry of Railways has ambitious plans for development of Rail infrastructure to meet the ever increasing transport needs of the nation and a huge investment in this sector has been planned. The main focus is on:-

• The pace of augmentation of railway network needs a quantum jump. The speed of execution of doubling/tripling and quadrupling which is about 800 kms per annum for the last 5 years, needs to be  accelerated 2 to 3 times to meet the increasing demand.
• Completion of electrification of the full rail network in the next 3 to 5 years. So far out of 63000 RKM, 25201 RKM have been commissioned on electric traction till 31^st March 2017. The  average pace during last five years is about 1300 RKMs per annum which needs to be increased by 6 to 8 times to  electrify remaining 38000 RKMs to meet the ambition of complete electrification.
• Taking up of Hill Rail Projects, including Rishikesh – Karanprayag, Char Dham rail connectivity, Bhanupalli – Bilaspur and on to Leh.
• Completion of ongoing and proposed Dedicated Freight Corridors.
• Mumbai- Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor and other projects on Diamond Quadrilateral to link the major Metropolitan Cities.