Rlys to go for new bidding for Bihar loco units

Cancelling the previous tender finalized during Lalu Prasad’s tenure as Railway Minister for setting up two multi-crore rupee locomotive projects in Bihar, government today decided to start a afresh bidding process for them with changed terms and conditions.

The proposal for Rs 1,293.57 crore modern electric locomotive factory at Madhepura and Rs 2,052.58 crore diesel locomotive factory at Marhowra was finalised in 2006-07 during the then Railway Minister Lalu Prasad.

However, the projects got delayed for various reasons and finally all issues were resolved and the Cabinet approved the proposal for setting up the factories in joint venture with locomotive manufacturers to be selected through a fresh bidding process with limited equity contribution from railways.

New bidding documents will be finalised with the approval of the Cabinet, said a senior Railway Ministry official.

Earlier six leading companies — two for Marhowra and four for Madhepura — were shortlisted in 2010 through pre-qualification bidding process.

“However, now there will be fresh bid for shortlisting the bidders for the projects,” said the official adding “since there were changes in various clauses fresh bidding documents will be prepared.”

The scope for maintenance contract was changed drastically from the earlier one as per the recommendations of railways.

Earlier, it was the manufacturer’s responsibility to maintain all locomotives but now it was restricted to 250 locomotives each for diesel and electric and rest will be maintained railways itself.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/logistics/rlys-to-go-for-new-bidding-for-bihar-loco-units/article4673774.ece

New Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani becomes India’s first Wi-Fi express

Now, book a berth from Howrah to the capital on India’s first Wi-Fi express.

Starting tomorrow, the New Delhi-Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express will become the country’s first Wi-Fi-enabled train to offer connectivity to passengers free of cost initially.

Currently, tech-savvy commuters access the Net through mobile handsets or by using a broadband stick that plugs into a USB drive. But getting a strong signal throughout a train journey is just too much to ask for. That could change now.

Jagdip Rana, director, Techno Sat Comm, said the technology firm would provide the Wi-Fi solutions so that passengers could experience seamless Internet connectivity of 4MBits/sec without data cards. If all the 250 passengers log in, the minimum speed would be 2mbps, he told The Telegraph.

The facility, which would see India join countries like Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Canada, Italy and Germany, will be extended to other trains, depending on the success of the project.

A railway ministry official said the project’s estimated cost was Rs 6.3 crore, with the satellite link-up accounting for more than Rs 1.75 crore.

“Both business travellers and commuters will be interested in using wireless services on trains as that would enable them to productively use the nearly 24-hour travel and be in touch with the global community,” the official said.

Rana said his firm would use satellites as a primary medium to backhaul Internet traffic from trains to networks. When the train travels through long tunnels or covered stations, the automatic switching technology switches the backhaul link from the satellite to any available terrestrial technology for seamless Internet access.

To access the Internet facility, Rana said, passengers would have to register by providing their PNR number and other details like mobile number, PAN or Aadhaar number. On validation of the data, the log-in ID and password will be sent through text messages to the registered mobile numbers. The log-in ID and password will remain valid for the entire journey.

The Wi-Fi trials were conducted successfully on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express. There are plans to extend the facility to 54 other trains during the current financial year.

http://justsamachar.com/national/wi-fi-books-a-berth-on-rajdhani/?r=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130402/jsp/nation/story_16737026.jsp

Bio-Toilets: Railways to Set Up Three Bacteria Plants

Railways will set up three bacteria generation plants as part of its effort to equip more coaches with bio-toilets in trains for eco-friendly waste disposal.

Railways have set a target of installing bio-toilets designed by DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organization) in 2,500 coaches in the current fiscal.

Bacteria plants will be set up in Kapurthala, Chennai and Nagpur as there is a huge requirement for anaerobic bacteria for an increasing number of coaches with bio-toilets, said a senior Railway Ministry official involved with the bio-toilet project.

“Currently we are procuring bacteria from DRDO but we have to generate on our own to meet the requirement for all coaches,” he said.

Bio-toilets are being fitted in all new LHB (Linke Holfmann Busch) coaches manufactured in Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala and conventional coaches will also be equipped with these toilets in a phased manner, he said.

In bio-toilets, anaerobic bacteria converts human waste into water and gases (methane and carbon dioxide).

Currently bio-toilets have been provided on trial basis in Gwalior-Varanasi Bundelkhand Express, Jammu Tawai-Indore Malwa Express, Chennai-Guwahati Egmore Express, Nizamuddin-Indore Intercity Express, Indore-Gwalior Express, Mumbai-Varanasi Mahanagri Express, Lucknow-Mumbai Pushpak Express and Kochuveli-Bangalore Express.

The first train to be fitted with bio-toilets was Gwalior-Varanasi Bundelkhand Express in January last year. The latest train to be equipped with these new toilets is Kochuveli-Bangalore Express. Field trials on these trains are successful, the official said.

The problem of environmental degradation and corrosion of tracks has been a cause of concern for the Railways. Corrosion costs Railways more than Rs 3,500 million every year.

Railways have set up a core committee which is working out details to undertake fitting bio-toilets in about 50,000 coaches of the national transporter. (PTI)

http://www.indiajournal.com/archives/30748

Green signal from ISRO for rly’s Internet in train proposal

Surfing the Internet in trains without using data card seems to be a distinct possibility now as the Railways have got the much-awaited clearance from space agency ISRO for using the satellite for the purpose.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has given the clearance for using the frequency from KU band for using the satellite for Internet, said a senior Railway Ministry official, adding it will be for the first time that Internet will be operational in moving trains through satellite.

Though Railways had proposed two years back to provide Internet in trains, the project could not take off due to the absence of ISRO clearance.
http://www.business-standard.com/generalnews/news/green-signalisro-for-rlys-internet-in-train-proposal/3401/

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“ISRO’s clearance for using frequency from satellite for Internet is mandatory. Now that we have got the clearance, work on the project will commence soon,” said the official.

As per the proposal, three rakes of Howrah Rajdhani will be uplinked with satellite for facilitating Internet in coaches on a pilot basis.

Since it is a pilot project the Internet service will not be charged from the passengers, said the official.

Railways have sanctioned Rs 6.30 crore for providing Internet facility in Howrah Rajdhani. The work will be executed by a Mumbai-based company.

Now custom-made antenna will be installed on the locomotives of the train and coaches will be linked through Wi-Fi connectivity, he said.

According to the procedure to be followed, passenger will get a password in his mobile phone after dialling a number given by the TTE. The passenger can make the Internet operational with the use of the password.

If the pilot project becomes successful then other trains will also be linked with satellite for Internet purpose. PTI ARU