Noted architect Hafeez Contractor has offered to design 19 train stations across the country for free, including several in Mumbai, as part of a redevelopment project being rolled out by the Indian Railways.

Sanjeev Kumar Lohia, Managing Director and Chief Executive officer of the Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Limited (IRSDC), the nodal agency for redeveloping 600 railway stations, said Mr Contractor was among four who had offered to design railway stations free of cost.

“We had an open invitation for professionals to work pro-bono for developing concepts and master plans for redevelopment of stations. Hafeez Contractor has shown an interest in 19 stations,” Mr Lohia said.

He said the corporation had received such offers from another noted architect and two firms.

However, we have not finalised any of the designs yet. It is at a preliminary stage,” he said.

Mr Contractor, who recently had discussions with Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, told news agency PTI that the pro-bono offer was his way of “helping my country”.

“The very reason that we (he and his firm) are doing it for free is to show them (the government) what can be done,” the Padma Bhushan awardee said.

“Normally, what happens is that all government jobs are given to those who quote the lowest tenders, who then do a lousy job. That way both the government and the country suffer. This is my way of helping the country and to tell them what standards have to be to be met,” said Mr Contractor, known for his eclectic style and iconic buildings.

Among the others who have offered to do pro-bono work is architect-activist, P K Das, one of the foremost voices on preservation of open spaces in Mumbai. Two other architecture firms have also shown an interest.
After redevelopment of stations, the railways plans to remain in the business of only running trains, leaving the management of stations to private players.

Under the current station redevelopment plan, the railways allocates operation and maintenance of stations to the developers, including of toilets on platforms, vendors, food stalls, parking and waiting rooms.

With the changed eligibility and exam norms it seems the biggest recruitment of the year, will facilitate participation of the largest portion of government job aspirants in the country. Soon after the Ministry of Railways decided to cut down the age limit for few posts advertised through CEN 01/ 2018 notification, it has further decided to reduce the educational qualification required for the posts. As per the recent update given by the Ministry, candidates with class 10th pass or ITI (Industrial Training Institute) degree or NCTVT (National Council for Training in the Vocational Trades) degree would be deemed eligible to apply for the jobs in Level 1 Group C & D.

Online application submission dates have been extended till 31 March for both CEN 01/ 2018 and CEN 02/ 2018 notifications.

More than 89000 vacancies are open for recruitment under various Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) in the country.

GPT Infraprojects has bagged an order worth Rs 129 crore from Eastern Railways. The company has currently has orders in hand worth Rs 2089 crore including cumulative order inflow of Rs 673 crore in the current financial year.

GPT Infraprojects gained 2.84% to Rs 197.30 at 12:45 IST on BSE after the company said that it has bagged an order valued Rs 129 crore from Eastern Railway.

The announcement was made during market hours today, 14 February 2018.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 39.50 points or 0.12% at 34,260.97. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 124.95 points or 0.68% at 18,588.33.

On the BSE, 2,567 shares were traded on the counter so far as against the average daily volumes of 52,281 shares in the past one quarter. The stock had hit a high of Rs 203.90 and a low of Rs 188.25 so far during the day. The stock had hit a record high of Rs 247.25 on 16 January 2018.
The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 101.30 on 2 March 2017.

The stock had underperformed the market over the past 30 days till 12 February 2018, falling 11.96% compared with 0.84% fall in the Sensex. The scrip, however, outperformed the market in past one quarter, gaining 17.7% as against Sensex’s 4.12% rise. The scrip also outperformed the market in past one year, advancing 56.04% as against Sensex’s 20.98% rise.

The small-cap company has equity capital of Rs 29.09 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

GPT Infraprojects said that it has bagged an order valued Rs 129 crore from Eastern Railway for construction of new rail bridge in West Bengal. The contract completion period is 24 months. The company has current orders in hand of nearly Rs 2089 crore including cumulative order inflow of Rs 673 crore in the current financial year.

GPT Infraprojects’ consolidated net profit jumped 91.61% to Rs 6.17 crore on 10.79% rise in total income to Rs 118.66 crore in Q3 December 2017 over Q3 December 2016.

GPT Infraprojects is an infrastructure company engaged in the execution of civil and infrastructure projects and manufacture of concrete sleeper for Railways.

GPT Infraprojects Limited, the flagship company of the GPT Group is a premier Infrastructure company based out of Kolkata, India engaged in the execution of civil and infrastructure projects and manufacture of concrete sleeper for Railways. The entity has strong project execution capabilities, a healthy financial base, and enviable growth prospects across all areas of operation.

The shares of the Company are listed on National Stock Exchange of India Limited and BSE Limited.

The manufacturing units of the company are located at Panagarh (Dist Burdwan, West Bengal, India), Ladysmith (KZN, South Africa) and Tsumeb (Namibia).

The Company is an ISO 9001:2000 certified organization. The Panagarh unit of the Company is approved by Research Design and Standards Organization (RDSO), Ministry of Railways, India.

Shri R.K. Kulshrestha, General Manager, Southern Railway called on Smt. Girija Vaidhyanathan, Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu Government today (14.02.2018).

During the meeting, General Manager, Southern Railway updated the Chief Secretary regarding the various development works progressing over Southern Railway.  He also sought the State Government’s support to speed up the various projects and works being undertaken in Tamil Nadu.

The General Manager was accompanied by Shri L. Sudhakar Rao, Chief Administrative Officer / Construction and Shri S. Ramasubbu, Principal Chief Electrical Engineer.

Southern Railway’s Chennai Division has been catering to the demands of short distance commuters by operating over 700 services daily.

The dedicated suburban corridor covers 90 stations in Chennai and its vicinity. There is a noteworthy increase in the number of passengers using train services during January 2018 and there is a 36% growth in the number of passengers who book tickets through UTS mobile App. Using this app, a person can book suburban tickets including season tickets using Net enabled Android/Windows phone.

The UTS on Mobile tickets was launched in January 2015. Mobile UTS paperless ticketing was launched in April 2015 over the Chennai Egmore – Tambaram Suburban section. This was later extended to the entire suburban section in June 2015. Then this facility was extended to Season Tickets also. Later, Geo-fencing (for paperless tickets) were extended upto Tirumalpur, Tiruttani, and Sulurpettah during December 2016. Paper ticket though mobile app extended to non-suburban stations (non-geo fenced area) also from December 2016.

After UTS on Mobile was introduced in 2015, during the month of May 2015, the total number of passengers using UTS on Mobile were 9732. Today, the total number of passengers using UTS on Mobile has crossed 1 Million with 10,31,029 passengers having used UTS on Mobile in January 2018.

OCR machines (optical character recognition) provided at Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Tambaram, Chennai Beach and Guindy stations are the latest in the Mobile Apps. These machines take print out of mobile app paper tickets by recoginising the details in customers mobile. This is an addition to already available avenues like ATVM and Railway UTS counters to take print out of mobile app tickets.

BEML will officially hand over the first set of three coaches to Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd on February 14, said Managing Director and Additional Chief Secretary of Urban Development Department, Mahendra Jain. “The testing of the coaches is over since last 10 days”, he said. BEML has assured a regular supply from May/June 2018, at the rate of 2-3 coaches per month and complete conversion of the existing 50 train sets into 6 coaches by June 2019. 150 more coaches will arrive at a cost Rs 1,421 core.

“It took 10 days for the tests and trials for the first set. The six-coach train will run together. We tested the load it has taken, the alignment, service, etc. The Commissioner of Rail Safety certified the new coaches. Testing is already successful at BEML and Safety trials were given time, before beginning commercial operations,” said BMRCL Chief Public Relations Officer Vasanth Rao. On the official Twitter handle, Rao recently explained, “For conversion into six coaches, Metro will add 2 Driving Motor Car (DMC) + 1 Trailer Car (TC) to achieve 66% motorisation and negotiate sharp and vertical curves of the alignment.”

Given the rush experienced during peak hours, the extra coaches will provide the necessary and overdue relief to commuters. The highest ridership until date was on January 24 with, 2.32 lakh riders on Purple Line and 1.79 lakh on Green Line, totalling at 4.1 lakh. Last December, Bengaluru Development Minister K.J. George had said that BEML opened one more line of production to increase supplies of Metro cars. “Frequency too will increase from 6 minutes to 3, with one coach reserved for women, physically challenged and senior citizens,” he had announced.

Sixty-three coaches are expected to be deployed on the Purple Line, including the extension from Challaghatta to Whitefield, and 87 on the Green Line including extensions from BIEC-Anjanapura, due to the longer length of the line.

The first set that arrives soon will be deployed on the Purple Line to ease congestion, especially from Kempegowda to Baiyappanahalli station.

The tie-up between the Japanese conglomerate and BEML, one of India’s top suppliers of subway train cars, could eventually lead to local production at a joint venture.

The governments of Japan and India have already agreed to adopt Japanese shinkansen bullet train technology for a high-speed railway spanning roughly 500km between Mumbai and the western state of Gujarat.

Bidding for the project by India’s national high-speed rail company is expected to start soon. Hitachi, with a tack record of building bullet train cars, is seen as a strong candidate for supplying them.

The project is estimated to cost around 1.8 trillion yen ($16.4 billion). Construction is expected to start this year, with the service likely to launch in 2023.

A number of Japanese companies will take part in the project. Kawasaki Heavy Industries is another promising candidate for supplying train cars. Mitsubishi Electric, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal and Toshiba also are angling to supply components.

If Hitachi does win an order, it would ship train cars built in Japan. But it would also consider building the cars in India at a joint venture in the future, marking the first time that shinkansen bullet trains are built outside Japan. Vehicle assembly would be moved to India by 2023, and key components like undercarriages also would be produced locally.

Globally, European and U.S. companies have been more successful in winning orders for major high-speed rail projects, along with Chinese companies touting cost competitiveness.

Japanese companies, for their part, are strong in delivery time management and quality — part of shinkansen’s appeal for the Indian government.

Japanese companies seek to parlay their experience in India to the rest of the world. Just in India, six more high-speed rail projects are being planned.

Japan first exported shinkansen technology to Taiwan, more than a decade ago. A consortium of seven Japanese companies won orders for the high-speed railway that began service in 2007. Hitachi, Kawasaki Heavy and Nippon Sharyo built the first batch of train cars for the service, but production in Taiwan was not pursued due to concern over the potential for technology leaks.

The recently-released Union Budget has a number of plans for the electrification of railway tracks, including that of Verka-Dera Baba Nanak and Tarn Taran-Patti-Khemkaran. Besides, there’s a plan for doubling the track between Amritsar and Chheharta at the cost of Rs 28.68 crore.

The Railways will spend Rs 175 crore on foot overbridges and raise the platforms to a higher level in the state. Upgrade of stations with investment of Rs 40 crore and lifts and escalators for Rs 50 crore is also in the pipeline.

The railway electrification project includes 301-km Bathinda-Ferozepur-Jalandhar City, including Lohian Khas-Nakodar-Phillaur and Nakodar-Jalandhar, that will cost the government Rs 223.93 crore.

The 339-km Ludhiana-Firozpur City-Hussainiwala, including Ferozepur City-Fazilka-Abohar and Kotkapura-Fazilka, will be electrified at the cost of Rs 235.08 crore.

The 74-km Phagwara-Nawashahar Doaba-Jajon Doaba, including Nawashahar-Rahon, will be electrified for Rs 56.89 crore.

The 38.4-km Jalandhar City-Hoshiarpur track will be electrified at the cost of Rs 31.81 crore.

The 45 kms stretch of Verka-Dera Baba Nanak and 54.4-km Tarn Taran-Patti-Khemkaran stretch will be electrified Rs 33.38 crore and Rs 41.79 crore, respectively.

Besides, Rs 11.35 crore and Rs 116.75 crore has been sanctioned for the 19-km Batala-Quadian and 125-km Bathinda-Abohar-Sriganga Nagar stretches, respectively

Integrated power transmission and distribution company, Transrail Lighting Limited, has forayed in the substation and railways electrification businesses and secured orders worth Rs 395 crore which are now in execution stage.

The substation mandate includes orders from Madhya Pradesh Power Transmission Co. Ltd (MPPTCL) for two 400 kV substations and from Chhattisgarh State Power Transmission Co. Ltd (CSPTCL) for three 220 kV substations.

Transrail bagged the Railway Electrification order from IRCON International Limited for electrification of over 200 track km in Madhya Pradesh.

Commenting on the market opportunity, Mr. D.C. Bagde, Managing Director, Transrail Lighting Limited said, “With Government’s focus on bringing down the aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses, T&D spending is expected to gravitate towards substations. An estimated 300,000 MVA of substation capacity addition over the 13th Five Year Plan (2017-2022) represents a huge opportunity for T&D players and Transrail is hoping to corner a meaningful part of it.”

Elaborating on the opportunities in the railway electrifications, Mr. Bagde added, “The government has proposed to run India’s entire rail network on electricity to cut down on pollution and its diesel bill. The government’s plan of working towards electrification of over 30,000 km of tracks over the next five years is expected to augur well for the company. Further, laying of new tracks also presents a vast opportunity for the sector and Transrail.”

Mr. Bagde further added, “Substations and Railway Electrification have become Transrail’s key business verticals. We have been focusing on diversifying into new sources of growth by capitalising on our knowledge, capabilities, experience and existing infrastructure related to turnkey EPC project management. Leveraging on these competencies, we choose to expand in promising business spaces within the adjacencies of our existing business.”

About Transrail Lighting Limited

Transrail Lighting Limited (Transrail) is a leading EPC company with over three decades of experience in providing comprehensive solutions on the turnkey basis globally. Transrail has presence across power transmission and distribution, lighting infrastructure, substations and railways. The company has in-house manufacturing facilities for towers, conductors and poles. Transrail’s solutions range from design, testing to fabrication, supply of materials, erection, stringing and commissioning. Transrail’s lighting infrastructure solutions business designs and installs engineered polygonal galvanised poles for power T&D, high mast, street lights and stadium mast, among others. Transrail caters to customers across India, Africa, Americas and Asia.

 

The Chennai Division of Southern Railway is gearing up to induct 3 phase EMUs into service in the Chennai – Tambaram – Chengalpattu – Tirumalpur route.  Trial runs of this 3 phase EMU rake are being conducted between Tambaram – Chengalpattu.  After completion of statutory trial runs, this 3 phase EMU rake will be introduced for passenger services.  The date of introduction will be notified later.Shri R.K. Kulshrestha, General Manager, Southern Railway accompanied by Shri A.K.Kathpal, Principal Chief Mechanical Engineer, Shri Naveen Gulati, Divisional Railway Manager, Chennai, and other Railway Officials, inspected the EMU Car Shed unit located at Tambaram for commissioning of the new EMU Suburban rail coach manufactured at ICF/S.Rly and handed over to EMU Car Shed, Tambaram, for public services.

The new 12-car rake comprising of 4 units with solid state IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors) based 3 phase propulsion drive system, all the coaches are provided with many additional features for better passenger journey and additional safety features in ladies compartment.

Salient features of 3 phase EMUs:

• Manufactured by ICF, Chennai.
• Coaches are fabricated with stainless steel body and provided with electronic sensors for computer monitored speed control and braking system.
• Energy efficient and Higher hauling capacity
• LED indication for chain pulling.
• Regeneration of 30% power during braking for conservation of energy.
• Smooth speed control by VVVF technology for comfortable riding.
• Event Recorder for recording the data of train operation and other train control systems.
• Surveillance cameras (CCTV) in ladies coaches to strengthen security for women passengers.
• In Addition to fans, Modular Roof Mounted Forced Air Ventilation System which supplies 16000m3/hr fresh air into the passenger area is provided.
• GPS based Passenger Information System for announcement of stations and display as well.
• LED based lighting for better illumination and energy conservation.
• Maximum speed – 105 kmph.
• Stainless steel body coaches for aesthetic appearance, better durability and safety.
• Corrosion resistance stainless steel pipelines for more reliability and minimal maintenance.
• Passenger carrying capacity:  Seats – 1168 nos. and standing passengers – 4852 nos.
• Air-conditioned cab for crew comfort.
• PA system for private communication between crew and also for in-coach announcement.
• Emergency stop button in cabin for immediate stop, during emergency situations