VOSSLOH unveiled its first high-performance rail milling train at an open day at its rail welding and storage plant in Hamburg on September 26. The train was developed in cooperation with MPL.

The three-car HPM1 train is designed to be self-propelled at the work site, but locomotive-hauled between sites, with a maximum line speed of 120km/h, to avoid the need to install multiple signalling systems.

The train is fitted with two 1400mm-diameter milling wheels which can mill at 1.6-2km/h. Vossloh says this is faster than other machines which mill at 0.7km/h. Up to 3mm of material can be removed in a single pass.

The cutting blades are housed in cassettes to speed up the processes of blade replacement, which takes around 10 minutes per cutting wheel.

300mm-diameter face-milling finishing wheels remove any residual waviness after the main rail milling has been completed. This avoids the need to use grinding stones for rail finishing. Metal chips are extracted from the site and stored in a bunker on the train.

The train is built to the W6A loading gauge and is powered by two C18 Caterpillar diesel engines which are certified to the stage 3b European emissions standard and prepared for stage 4.

Harsco Corporation’s railway track maintenance division, Harsco Rail, announced today two orders for international delivery this year totalling close to $25 million.

The first order calls for the production of Harsco Rail’s precision rail grinding equipment for use in Saudi Arabia on the double-tracked 453 km (281 mile) high speed line being built between Mecca and Medina.  When completed, the rail line is projected to carry a maximum of as many as 166,000 passengers per day.  The Harsco-built machines will be used to maintain railhead contours for extended rail life and smoother operation, thus reducing fuel consumption, operating costs and noise.  Grinding also corrects possible surface damage that can potentially lead to rail fractures.  Harsco’s order also includes initial operator training as well as spare parts support.

Under the second order, Harsco Rail will provide two on-track measuring vehicles for the assessment of rail geometry and ballast profiling in the Republic of South Africa, working as an Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) partner in support of Transnet Freight Rail, the heavy haul railway freight system within South Africa.  Harsco will be supplying the vehicles to Molamu Majories and Thari Joint Venture (MMTR), the contractor to Transnet.

Deliveries under both orders are expected to be completed by the end of 2017.

Harsco Rail is a global market leader for railway track maintenance and construction, with a broad range of high quality equipment, cutting-edge technology and support to major railroads worldwide.  To learn more, visit www.harscorail.com.

Harsco Corporation (NYSE:HSC) is a diversified industrial company providing a range of onsite services and engineered products to the global steel, energy and railway sectors.  Harsco’s common stock is a component of the S&P SmallCap 600 Index and the Russell 2000 Index.  Additional information can be found at www.harsco.com.

Hamirpur MP of BJP Anurag Thakur has asked the authorities to complete the detailed survey work of the 50 km broad gauge railway line in Himachal Pradesh between Una and Hamirpur within six months. He said that the rail connectivity is one of the key agenda on his list as it is an important aspect to boost the economy of the state. He also informed that he had held several meetings with the key stakeholders in the ministry to seek their support in expediting the projects.

Thakur said, “The rail connectivity will act as a catalyst and would improve trade and business opportunities and also give a boost to the tourism industry. This will help the state to grow.” He further added that once the rail link starts functioning, it will help the locals to commute.

The tender notice for the project has already been issued.

According to Thakur, the Union government has started the process of geological mapping and final location surveying in six months. He also said that other proposed project includes the Amb-Andaura to Daulatpur Chowk (16 km) rail section. In June 2016, the initial survey for Una-Hamirpur railway link was completed in a record time. In the budget presented on February 1 this year, the construction of this 50 km railway line to be constructed at a cost of Rs 2,850 crore was also approved.

“In a span of six months, the central government has issued a tender for the detailed survey and also gave the estimation of the rail link,” he said.

MP also said that he is making continuous efforts to enhance the connectivity in the state and this can be gauged from the fact that in the union budget 2017-18 close to Rs 400 crore were sanctioned for the railway construction.

The government on Wednesday okayed transfer of 1,899 sq metres of land owned by Airports Authority of India at Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport to Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC).

The first phase of the rapid transport system was launched earlier this month when the 8.5 km “priority corridor” of the total 22-km-long stretch became operational.

The AAI land will be used by LMRC for construction of an entrance to one of its metro stations near the airport, according to a press statement by the ministry of civil aviation.

The second phase of Lucknow metro project is the 11-km- long East-West corridor, stretching from the Charbagh railway station to Vasantkunj. The corridor will have 12 stations.

As safety while using the Indian Railways becomes a matter of raging debate, it appears that the local division of this transport authority has decided to a rather futuristic remedial measure.

Now, two new drone cameras will be deployed soon to keep a hawk’s eye watch on railway tracks and stations in Pune railway division — also incidentally making it the first division in the country to use such a vigilance system.

Recent incidents of derailment and other railway accidents have sparked this decision, and the first trial runs for these cameras will take place next week.

Speaking to media about the initiative, Pune Divisional Railway Manager B K Dadabhoy said, “Train operations, maintenance of tracks, vigilance against untoward incidents and various other initiatives are being carried out round the clock by the railways. When accidents occur on the tracks, our Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel and officials do take some time to reach the spot and verify matters. Often, there are cases of passengers protesting on the tracks, rail rokos and more — all in all, human vigilance has its limitations. So, we decided that drone cameras will aid us immeasurably when it comes to keeping an eye on railway tracks, Pune railway station and other areas under the division.”

Dadabhoy added, “Initially, we will buy just two drones at an approximate budget of Rs 40 lakh. They will be highquality machines to record videos and take pictures at a certain distance above ground level. It will help us get realtime videos and photos if incidents like derailment, accidents, illegal track crossing, passengers’ stunts (especially on Pune–Lonavala local train routes), track maintenance work, law and order situations and encroachments on railway property take place. Next week, we will conduct trial runs for the drone cameras, keeping one at Pune railway station and the other at Miraj railway station to cover nearby areas.”

In October 2016, the Maharashtra Express train derailed at Pune railway station during its night trip; several incidents of youths carrying out stunts have also been observed on Pune- Lonavala locals. While the RPF takes continual action against miscreants and trespassers, they can cover only a limited area.

Meanwhile, commuters have welcomed the drone project. Prashant Sharma, a daily passenger to and from Lonavala, shared, “In the last 20 years, I have witnessed a number of accidents on this route, mostly when passengers are hit by stones thrown from the outside. There have also been issues of trains getting stuck along the route due to technical or other occasions — if this happens at a lonely spot now, the drones will help capture the exact location and help officials reach hapless passengers in case of any emergency.”

Initially, we will buy just two drones for around Rs 40 lakh. Next week, we will conduct trial runs, keeping one at Pune railway station and the other at Miraj railway station to cover nearby areas.

It took eight long years for the Indian Railways to make a mark in public-private partnership sphere, when it awarded two marque contracts for manufacturing locomotives to GE Transportation and Alstom in 2015.  Two years later, the Railways are wondering whether they need the $2.6-billion diesel locomotive contract placed with General Electric (GE), while continuing with electric locomotive contract with Alstom at Madhepura.

In a blow to PM’s pro-industry image, US giant General Electric on Tuesday said any move by the Indian Railways to wind up the company’s Marhowra diesel locomotive factory in Bihar would “undermine the government’s signature Make in India initiative and will put future foreign investment at risk”. “If railways moves forward with changes to the joint venture, they will undermine one of the most promising infrastructure projects in the country and put future foreign investment at risk. This will also undermine the government’s signature Make in India initiative,” the company said in response to a questionnaire.

India could also be on the hook for “substantial fees associated with this project”, the company stated.

The proposal to wind up the project was mooted in a review meeting held by Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on September 7 since the railways plans to become fully electrified. The $2.6-billion deal for supplying diesel locomotives and setting up a locomotive factory was the largest foreign direct investment in the history of railways and also the largest deal in the 100-year-history of GE in India.

In case the government decides to scrap the project, it would be liable to pay GE damages that would include compensating investment made by the company. “The company has placed supply order of about $1 billion with its suppliers who would raise claims on GE which in turn would seek that from the government,” said an official who did not want to be quoted.  The company further added that an alteration of the contract will have serious impact on job creation and skills development and cause “the government to incur substantial costs”.  It, however, said, “We expect the partnership to move forward and the company continues to fully execute towards the plan.” Though in a meeting with Goyal last week, the idea of converting the diesel plant to electric was discussed. GE does not manufacture electric locomotives. “Moreover, GE got the project through a bidding process and the cost of an electric and diesel plant may differ,” a railway official said.

The bid was allotted to GE on November 9, 2015. Other than the GE, US-based Electromotive Diesel (EMD) and two Chinese firms were also in race to bag the Marhowra project. “We are on track and actively fulfilling our contract with Indian Railways to develop and supply 1,000 fuel-efficient diesel-electric Evolution Series locomotives,” GE said. GE said two locomotives have been built and tested and the first locomotive has been shipped and will arrive in India on October 10.  The project was expected to create a robust supply chain ecosystem in India, constituting 60 new local suppliers and 10 global suppliers to achieve over 70 per cent localisation.

The company had already hired 1,000 roles in the factory and maintenance shed and 5,000 jobs created and sustained in the supplier network.

Emphasizing the need for safety of passengers, T P Singh who took charge as the new General Manager, North Western Railway (NWR), on Tuesday said that he will ensure periodic maintenance of all large infrastructure. The GM also underlined the need for appreciating innovation in safety, maintenance and engineering and their implementation.

Singh is a 1980 batch officer of Indian Railways Mechanical Engineering Services who had earlier served in many capacities including Divisional Railway Manager (DRM). Prior to his appointment at NWR, Singh was serving in East Central Railway (ECR) as GM.

After marathon rounds of meetings with his officers, Singh sat for a candid interaction with the media persons at the NWR headquarters.

“For the safety of our passengers I think the first and foremost thing is boosting the morale and motivation level of the staff,” Singh added while felicitating two loco pilots(train drivers) and a gate man with a cash award of Rs 5000 and appreciation letter.

Aiming at improving the operational safety of the trains, he said, “We are also planning to connect every trolley and patrol team who are responsible for checking the tracks on regular basis with the global positioning system (GPS) in coming months. This will enable the nearby station to upkeep the tracks properly to avert accidents. Not only that the gangman too would be connected with GPS.”

Talking about the welfare of the employees, he said, “We are coming up with an online system where the railway employees residing in various railway colonies in our various divisions would be able to register complains relating to housing, drinking water problems, telephone connection problems and others.”

In a commercial circular dated September 5, the Railway Board instructed all general managers to ensure that such books are found in railway stalls under the new Multi Purpose Stall (MPS) Policy.

“Zonal railways shall ensure that all MPS must display and sell books pertaining to Indian tradition, culture, values, morals and history,” the circular, a copy of which is with PTI, stated. All miscellaneous, curio stalls, bookstalls, chemist stalls will now come under the multi-purpose stalls, it said.

The policy supersedes the Bookstall Policy of 2004 which mandated that stalls will keep books on varied subjects like literature, history, children’s literature, fiction, travel, light reading, art, culture, current affairs, professional interests, national integration, etc. in English, Hindi and regional languages.

The MPS Policy was drafted after it was felt that there was a need to have a single outlet at platforms from where passengers can purchase non-catering items required during travel.

The stalls will also sell artefacts and items of local and regional importance, proprietary article depot items, drinking water, over-the-counter medicines and non-pharmacy items like dry milk powder, the circular said.

The policy also states that it will be mandatory for all such stalls to display and sell prominently the zonal railway timetable as well as the ‘Trains at a Glance’ publication and any other official publications of the railways.

Retailers, individuals, self-help groups can apply for a licence to run these stalls. The allotment will be done after a tendering process, the policy states.

The new policy has also made it mandatory for such stalls to have a point of sale or swipe machine for acceptance of credit and debit cards from all customers without charging any additional transaction charge for any sale above Rs 100. For amounts below Rs 100, payments through e-wallet would be acceptable, the policy said.

The Kanyakumari District Railway Users’ Association (KDRUA) has appealed to the railway minister and Southern Railway authorities to divert few long distance trains from and to Kanyakumari that now pass through Kerala and re-enter Coimbatore, to be run fully inside Tamil Nadu so that it benefits a large section of people in the southern districts.

Secretary of the association, P Edward Jeni said they have been giving representations to the minister and railway authorities for at least three years, whenever they received information that new trains would be plying from other parts of the country to Kanyakumari through Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam in Kerala. “But, we have not received a proper reply for our representations over the years,” he rued.

The association pointed out that Kanyakumari and nearby districts would benefit if more trains connecting other states ply through Tirunelveli and Madurai as it would help them get easier access to Chennai. “The route through Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam is 150km longer, and takes three to four hours more for passengers from Kanyakumari,” he said.

The KDRUA demanded that train no. 12659/60 Nagercoil – Shalimar Gurudev Weekly Express, train no. 22620/22619 Tirunelveli – Bilaspur Express and train no. 15905/15906 Kanyakumari – Dibrugarh Vivek Weekly Express should be diverted through Madurai and Tirunelveli. “Moreover, the Bilaspur train reaches Tirunelveli at a very inconvenient time,” he said.

Jeni said they have taken up the issue again as they came to know about a proposal to make the Bilaspur train as a bi-weekly. “Since the railways have turned a deaf ear to our pleas we are planning to move the high court the next time the railways announces long distance trains to Nagercoil, Kanyakumari or Tirunelveli through Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam via Coimbatore,” he said.

On platform number one at the Salem train station in south India, a colourful booth stands out amid the chaos of passengers, porters and vendors.

It is a children’s help desk, one of two set up on a pilot basis in India by the charity Railway Children. Here staff are mapping the journeys of thousands of vulnerable children, who have been trafficked, are lost or are runaways.

From the brightly painted booth, officials track the nearly 200 trains that travel daily through Salem junction in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, looking for children at risk on the rail network – the traffickers’ preferred mode of transport.

Campaigners say India’s train stations have become transit points for traffickers, who lure children to cities with the promise of good jobs, but sell them into slavery as domestic workers, to work in small manufacturing units, farming or pushed into sexual slavery in brothels.

“If you travel 45 minutes from Salem junction, you will be in industrial hubs that thrive on child labour or cross a state border into a region with a different local language and culture,” said Valavan Vasantha Siddartha of Railway Children.

“If the journey of trafficked and vulnerable children is not stopped at the stations, the children will simply disappear once they reach their destinations.”

The two 24 hour help desks set up in collaboration with Indian Railways identify children at risk and provide them with shelter and work on reuniting them with their families.

More than 9,000 children in India were reported to have been trafficked in 2016, a 27 percent rise from the previous year, according to government data.

A large number of unaccompanied and trafficked children travel on train across India and many use platforms as shelter or working as hawkers or ragpickers, campaigners said.

“Our officials come across them all the time, travelling ticketless or abandoned on trains and at platforms,” A S Vijuvin, senior railway officer at the Salem station told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Between 2014 and August 2017, the Railway Protection Force rescued 28,057 children including 1,502 trafficked children from stations, according to a statement released on Monday.

On an average, at least 25 children are rescued every day from trains and railway premises, the statement said.

RESCUED

Since the help desk was opened at Salem station in March, 431 children have been rescued, a quarter from northern India.

“Many of the children we rescue were heading for the poultry farms in Namakkal, spinning mills in Erode or truck workshops along the highways,” Siddartha said.

“Since we set up the booth, we have noticed that many are travelling on trains that arrive past midnight, when the surveillance is lower.”

Campaigners estimate there is a vulnerable child entering a railway station every five minutes. Girls are particularly vulnerable and often taken off by traffickers within hours of arriving.

The Salem booth, and a similar one in Darbhanga station in eastern state of Bihar, are connected to shelters run near the station.

“Some come to have a bath or just sit in a clean space. We have counsellors at hand and the idea is to eventually help these children,” said Siddartha of Railway Children. “In many cases we reunite them with their families.”

The Indian government has in the past launched campaigns on India’s vast railway network, while a periodic police drive, “Operation Smile”, screens children in shelters, train and bus stations, and on the streets to find the missing.

Indian Railways has now extended these initiatives to cover 82 stations across the world’s fourth-largest railway network.

Ticket checkers, catering staff and policemen travelling on trains are taught to look for signs of trafficking and be on alert for children in large groups, the body language of the adults accompanying them and dubious documents.

“We are constantly relooking at the process because we realise that traffickers are two steps ahead,” Vijuvin said.

“When big stations are covered, they disembark two stops ahead, at the smaller ones. We hope to slowly link every station with these protocols.”