Archives for February 2018

Indian Railways inducts two State-of-the-Art High Horse Power Locomotives.

These High Horse Power Locomotives are designed & developed under the Make in India Program under PPP Agreement with M/s General Electric

First Fully Digitally Enabled Locomotive with greater Reliability, Maintainability and Availability.

Indian Railways in collaboration with M/S General Electric (GE) under the Public Private Partnership initiative has inducted two Digitally Enabled Locomotives based on the state of the art insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) technology which enables the combined advantages of high efficiency and fast switching. As a gesture of inducting the two HHP locomotives on the Indian Railway system, GE handed over the symbolic reverser keys to Chairman, Railway Board, Shri Ashwani Lohani at a ceremony held at Northern Railway’s Diesel Loco Shed, Alambagh, Lucknow.

The two HHP prototypes locomotives were wholly designed in India under the Make in India program and manufactured under the Public Private partnership through a MOU with GE. The total investment amount is Rs.13000 crore and under the agreement Indian Railways has a 26% stake. The first GE manufactured Diesel locomotive No 49001 for Indian Railways, shipped from USA, landed in the country on 11th October 2017 and was put to extensive trials. The Salient features of the GE Locomotive are four stroke engine, 12 cylinders, 06 traction motors, AC Dual Cab locomotive; Safety features for self load, toilet facility, Upgraded Computer Controlled Braking (CCB system), Electronic Fuel Injection system, Fuel Efficient locomotive, IGBT based traction technology, Compliant with India’s UIC emission norm. The locomotive is also the first fully digitally enabled locomotive with greater reliability and availability and is also provided with a device to manage disasters. In a bid to setting higher benchmarks in maintenance of its assets for better reliability and safety, the Indian Railways had set up maintenance sheds at Roza, UP and Gandhidham, Gujarat.

GE is providing locomotive technology to Indian Railway and by 2025, through a joint venture company it will manufacture 1000 fuel-efficient locomotives (100 per year) that will be used for freight traffic hauling. Amongst these 700 locomotives will be 4500HP WDG4G and rest 300 locomotives will be of 6000HP. Initially 40 fuel efficient diesel locomotives will be manufactured in GE facility at Erie, Pennsylvania, USA and the rest 960 diesel locomotives will be manufactured in Marhoura, Saran District, Bihar. This production unit spread over 9.15 hectares, with township facility with a total area of 200 acres. This factory will start loco manufacturing from October 2018. Locos will be maintained in Roza, UP and Gandhidham, Gujarat.

IGBT Technology has a three-terminal power semiconductor device primarily used as an electronic switch which and was later developed to give the combined advantages of high efficiency and fast switching. It offers greater power gain than the standard bipolar type transistor combined with the higher voltage operation and lower input losses.

Source: PIB

Bhatni-Aurnihar Line Doubling with Electrification

CCEA approves 116.95 Km long Bhatni-Aurnihar line doubling with electrification at a completion cost of Rs. 1300.9 crore Likely to be completed by 2021-22 Doubling project will ensure higher speed, reduce train delays, enhance safety by allowing more time for track/block maintenance, and provide additional capacity for future increase in traffic Decongestion of Mughalsarai-Allahabad route thereby benefiting passengers traveling to Eastern India especially Bihar, West Bengal and North East By easing the connectivity in Varanasi district, often referred to as the Spiritual Capital of India it will give a boost to pilgrimage, tourism and the local economy Electrification will lead to faster trains, reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainable environment. Further, it will reduce fuel import dependence, and result in energy costs savings for Railways and forex savings for the country. Generate direct employ
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved 116.95 Km long Bhatni-Aurnihar line doubling with electrification at a completion cost of Rs. 1300.9 crore and is likely to be completed by 2021-22. The project will cover the districts of Deoria, Ballia, Mau and Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh.

Aurnihar is junction station of Varanasi division having connectivity towards four sides namely Aurnihar-Chhapra, Aurnihar-Bhatni, Aurnihar-Jaunpur and Aurnihar-Varanasi. Present line capacity utilization of the section is 118% leading to congestion and slower train movement. The doubling project will ensure higher speed, reduce train delays, enhance safety by allowing more time for track/block maintenance, and provide additional capacity for future increase in traffic.

Allahabad-Mughalsarai route of North Central Railway is over saturated and there is heavy congestion at Mughalsarai. Doubling of this route will allow shifting of traffic from Mughalsarai-Allahabad route to this route thereby decongesting it. This will benefit passengers traveling to Eastern India especially Bihar, West Bengal and North East.

Further, by easing the connectivity in Varanasi district, often referred to as the Spiritual Capital of India it will give a boost to pilgrimage, tourism and the local economy

Electrification will lead to faster trains, reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainable environment. Further, It will reduce fuel import dependence, and result in energy costs savings for Railways and forex savings for the country.

In addition, the project will generate direct employment during construction of about 28.07 lakh mandays.

Source: PIB

Approves lines Doubling with Electrification on Jhansi-Manikpur and Bhimsen-Khairar

Jhansi-Manikpur and Bhimsen-Khairar lines Doubling with Electrification

CCEA approves 425 Km long Jhansi-Manikpur and Bhimsen-Khairar lines doubling and electrification projects at a completion cost of Rs. 4955.72 crore Likely to be completed by 2022-23 Improve punctuality, and better safety through improved availability for maintenance blocks Will be important feeder route for Dedicated Freight Corridor Improve connectivity to Khajuraho which is an international tourist destination Generate direct employment during construction of about 102 lakh mandays

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved 425 Km long Jhansi-Manikpur and Bhimsen-Khairar lines doubling and electrification projects at a completion cost of Rs. 4955.72 crore. These are likely to be completed by 2022-23. The projects will cover the districts of Jhansi, Mahoba, Banda, Chitrakut Dham in Uttar Pradesh and Chhatarpur in Madhya Pradesh.

The present line capacity utilization of Jhansi-Khairar, Khairar-Manikpur and Khairar-Bhimsen is 126%, 160% and 107% respectively, which leads to congestion and slow movement of trains.

The doubling will provide for easy movement of trains going/coming from Jhansi/Kanpur and coming/going to Allahabad without any stoppage for crossing of trains of opposite direction. It will improve punctuality of passenger trains and smooth running on the routes of Jhansi-Satna and Kanpur-Satna. It will also help in better safety through improved availability for maintenance blocks. It will also result in overall development of Bundelkhand region.

It may be noted that DFC (Dedicated Freight Corridor) connectivity will be near Bhimsen. Thus, this route will also act as a feeder route of DFC and help in economic and industrial development through swift movement of goods especially agricultural produce to consumer areas, and to ports for export. The cement cluster in Satna and infrastructure sector will be another major beneficiary from this development through smoother movement of cement.

It will also improve connectivity to Khajuraho which is an international tourist destination. This will also lead to economic prosperity and employment opportunities through tourism in the region.

Electrification will lead to faster trains, reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainable environment. Further, It will reduce fuel import dependence, and result in energy costs savings for Railways and forex savings for the country.

In addition, these projects will generate direct employment during construction of about 102 lakh mandays.

Source: PIB