Indian Railways Junction
- Thread starter Seiko
- Start date
Since station redevelopment with private participation is not happening as expected. Why don't IR create an SPV on a PPP basis as a separate entity? Since monetization possibilities are plentiful they will participate and compared to leased station development risk is minimum.
@Amal @anant_s @Abingdonboy @Ankit Kumar
With Poor Response From Private Players, Railways To Revamp 68 Stations On Its Own
@Amal @anant_s @Abingdonboy @Ankit Kumar
With Poor Response From Private Players, Railways To Revamp 68 Stations On Its Own
Please watch the section between 20:00-24:00 to understand the difference between the previous regime and the present incumbent on why is it most people and I include you in it ( although you have since changed your stance ) had voted this government in and continue to repose trust in it .
@vsdoc
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More info about station redevelopment
Gomtinagar station, Lucknow (by NBCC)
Habibganj Station, Bhopal (by IRSDC)
Charbagh Station Lucknow (by NBCC)
No idea... I also wonder why railways didn't award Kozhikode station development to ULCSS. I don't have much hope about railways own 'redevelopment'.
BTW look at the NBCC's plan for Gomtinagar. I hope they do something similar for Ernakulam.
Gomtinagar station, Lucknow (by NBCC)
Habibganj Station, Bhopal (by IRSDC)
Charbagh Station Lucknow (by NBCC)
No idea... I also wonder why railways didn't award Kozhikode station development to ULCSS. I don't have much hope about railways own 'redevelopment'.
BTW look at the NBCC's plan for Gomtinagar. I hope they do something similar for Ernakulam.
54,000 coaches later, an Indian train factory is hitting reset for the high-speed age
GREEN SIGNAL
54,000 coaches later, an Indian train factory is hitting reset for the high-speed age
Shifting tracks. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Upon entering the premises of the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in the southern Indian city of Chennai, what meets the eye first is not train coaches being built. Instead, it is frenzied construction activity with large land-moving and drilling equipment that blocks the view of the manufacturing lines, which roll out nearly 2,300 coaches a year.
This overhaul is indicative of where the ICF stands today: on the cusp of a transition.
From being a builder of railway coaches using foreign technology, the ICF is turning itself into the builder of India’s first indigenous, high-speed, self-propelled trainsets.
This is a considerable leap, given the state of the country’s railways.
While India has one of the world’s largest rail networks, it is mostly creaky and outdated in terms of speed, technology, safety, and passenger comfort. The trains are mostly filthy and overcrowded. Accidents, caused by both human and technical factors, are frequent. Past attempts to overhaul the system and modernise have been piecemeal and mostly non-starters.
So will this renaissance of sorts finally make the ICF, an organisation that has built over 54,100 coaches over the last six decades—the most by any such facility in the world—world class?
The projects
Since its inception in 1955, the ICF has been running on technology from Switzerland’s Swiss Cars and Elevators Manufacturing and Germany’s Linke-Hofmann-Busch (LHB).
Now, with some handholding by experts, the ICF is setting out to make indigenously-designed coaches using components procured in India.
The first of this kind, Train-2018 or Train-18, is expected to roll out in June this year. These 16-coach, semi-high speed trainsets—a trainset is a group of coupled coaches individually powered by a propulsion system without a separate locomotive—will boast quicker acceleration and world-class passenger amenities, including better seating and improved toilets.
“The entire design and manufacture is in the hands of ICF, except (for) some areas where we felt we needed some help for it to be capable of 160km per hour operation,” Sudhanshu Mani, the ICF’s general manager, told Quartz. Interestingly, the 160km per hour speed Mani refers to is also that of India’s fastest train, the Gatiman Express.
The ICF has also employed a consultant to work on the interiors.
Train-18 is said to be a part of the Indian government’s Rs10 lakh crore (approximately $1.5 trillion) plan to construct 10,000km of high-speed railway corridors between major Indian cities.
Its production officially began on Feb. 09 and the ICF currently has around 30 design experts devoted to this project. It will gradually deploy more workers on this project, Mani said. The trainset should be ready for use by October.
However, what could be key is its next project: Train-2020 or Train-20.
This project, according to the ICF chief, is aimed at achieving what Train-18 could not: primarily a body made of aluminium which is much lighter and more energy-efficient than stainless steel. “Train-18 would be near world standard, Train-20 would be world standard,” Mani said.
The ICF intends to procure the first couple of the Train-20 trainsets from an international firm and then gradually begin manufacturing them in Chennai.
Yet, to make its railways truly world-class, India needs to go beyond just manufacturing, say experts.
“Design activity also needs to be undertaken within the country. As far as the state of R&D (is concerned) we do have the know-how. It just needs to be synergised,” said Nalinaksh S Vyas, a mechanical engineering professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and chairman of the government’s Technology Mission for Indian Railways.
Indeed, for the ICF to get it right, there are several variables it needs to synergise.
Hit refresh
“We are the world’s biggest manufacturer of coaches. I say it with pride. But to really get counted…we have to improve our quality (in terms of aesthetics and longevity of products),” Mani said.
Today, the ICF’s 473-acre Chennai township has two main manufacturing divisions: the shell division, where the bogies and coach shells are made, and a furnishing division, where the seats, fans, and other fixtures are attached. Their capacities are now being expanded from 2,500 coaches a year to 3,000.
The Train-18 and Train-20 projects are making way for modern equipment and robotics, reducing manual work to a large extent. The ICF’s training arm is working with experts to train and skill employees so that they are prepared for the new designs.
Then there is the overall work culture.
The ICF employs over 11,000 people, and many of them come with the usual drawbacks of a government job. “There are certain baggages and rules which at times pull (the organisation) down,” Mani said without expanding. The workers, he said, are capable of good work, but require motivation and a good work environment.
For instance, with no scrap-disposal system earlier, the factory was badly littered and there were few safety measures in place. All that has now been done up. The organisation has also introduced employee-engagement activities, improving employee loyalty. As a result, it now sees fewer protests. More employees show up for work on time and stay back longer than earlier. So much so that the existing workforce itself is expected to meet the ICF’s raised target of 3,000 coaches a year, Mani said.
Speed breakers
Yet, given the many-armed behemoth that Indian Railways is, several pieces must fit in for such a transformation to succeed.
The support system for the new-age coaches is one such. “You take a new system and introduce it into an existing one, then the rest of the ecosystem must be upgraded. The signalling system needs to get upgraded, the tracks will need to be ready to handle higher speeds,” Manish Agarwal, a partner at consulting firm PwC India, pointed out.
Logistics will have to be looked at in more detail and the connectivity between conventional trains and the high-speed trains remains a factor, Vyas pointed out.
Besides, the fact that Indian Railways will be the sole buyer could lead to complacency. “That becomes a constraint in development, innovation, R&D, and so on,” Agarwal said.
All in all, the ICF’s is undoubtedly a daunting task. But the good bit is that it has set forth nonetheless.
GREEN SIGNAL
54,000 coaches later, an Indian train factory is hitting reset for the high-speed age
Shifting tracks. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Upon entering the premises of the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in the southern Indian city of Chennai, what meets the eye first is not train coaches being built. Instead, it is frenzied construction activity with large land-moving and drilling equipment that blocks the view of the manufacturing lines, which roll out nearly 2,300 coaches a year.
This overhaul is indicative of where the ICF stands today: on the cusp of a transition.
From being a builder of railway coaches using foreign technology, the ICF is turning itself into the builder of India’s first indigenous, high-speed, self-propelled trainsets.
This is a considerable leap, given the state of the country’s railways.
While India has one of the world’s largest rail networks, it is mostly creaky and outdated in terms of speed, technology, safety, and passenger comfort. The trains are mostly filthy and overcrowded. Accidents, caused by both human and technical factors, are frequent. Past attempts to overhaul the system and modernise have been piecemeal and mostly non-starters.
So will this renaissance of sorts finally make the ICF, an organisation that has built over 54,100 coaches over the last six decades—the most by any such facility in the world—world class?
The projects
Since its inception in 1955, the ICF has been running on technology from Switzerland’s Swiss Cars and Elevators Manufacturing and Germany’s Linke-Hofmann-Busch (LHB).
Now, with some handholding by experts, the ICF is setting out to make indigenously-designed coaches using components procured in India.
The first of this kind, Train-2018 or Train-18, is expected to roll out in June this year. These 16-coach, semi-high speed trainsets—a trainset is a group of coupled coaches individually powered by a propulsion system without a separate locomotive—will boast quicker acceleration and world-class passenger amenities, including better seating and improved toilets.
“The entire design and manufacture is in the hands of ICF, except (for) some areas where we felt we needed some help for it to be capable of 160km per hour operation,” Sudhanshu Mani, the ICF’s general manager, told Quartz. Interestingly, the 160km per hour speed Mani refers to is also that of India’s fastest train, the Gatiman Express.
The ICF has also employed a consultant to work on the interiors.
Train-18 is said to be a part of the Indian government’s Rs10 lakh crore (approximately $1.5 trillion) plan to construct 10,000km of high-speed railway corridors between major Indian cities.
Its production officially began on Feb. 09 and the ICF currently has around 30 design experts devoted to this project. It will gradually deploy more workers on this project, Mani said. The trainset should be ready for use by October.
However, what could be key is its next project: Train-2020 or Train-20.
This project, according to the ICF chief, is aimed at achieving what Train-18 could not: primarily a body made of aluminium which is much lighter and more energy-efficient than stainless steel. “Train-18 would be near world standard, Train-20 would be world standard,” Mani said.
The ICF intends to procure the first couple of the Train-20 trainsets from an international firm and then gradually begin manufacturing them in Chennai.
Yet, to make its railways truly world-class, India needs to go beyond just manufacturing, say experts.
“Design activity also needs to be undertaken within the country. As far as the state of R&D (is concerned) we do have the know-how. It just needs to be synergised,” said Nalinaksh S Vyas, a mechanical engineering professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and chairman of the government’s Technology Mission for Indian Railways.
Indeed, for the ICF to get it right, there are several variables it needs to synergise.
Hit refresh
“We are the world’s biggest manufacturer of coaches. I say it with pride. But to really get counted…we have to improve our quality (in terms of aesthetics and longevity of products),” Mani said.
Today, the ICF’s 473-acre Chennai township has two main manufacturing divisions: the shell division, where the bogies and coach shells are made, and a furnishing division, where the seats, fans, and other fixtures are attached. Their capacities are now being expanded from 2,500 coaches a year to 3,000.
The Train-18 and Train-20 projects are making way for modern equipment and robotics, reducing manual work to a large extent. The ICF’s training arm is working with experts to train and skill employees so that they are prepared for the new designs.
Then there is the overall work culture.
The ICF employs over 11,000 people, and many of them come with the usual drawbacks of a government job. “There are certain baggages and rules which at times pull (the organisation) down,” Mani said without expanding. The workers, he said, are capable of good work, but require motivation and a good work environment.
For instance, with no scrap-disposal system earlier, the factory was badly littered and there were few safety measures in place. All that has now been done up. The organisation has also introduced employee-engagement activities, improving employee loyalty. As a result, it now sees fewer protests. More employees show up for work on time and stay back longer than earlier. So much so that the existing workforce itself is expected to meet the ICF’s raised target of 3,000 coaches a year, Mani said.
Speed breakers
Yet, given the many-armed behemoth that Indian Railways is, several pieces must fit in for such a transformation to succeed.
The support system for the new-age coaches is one such. “You take a new system and introduce it into an existing one, then the rest of the ecosystem must be upgraded. The signalling system needs to get upgraded, the tracks will need to be ready to handle higher speeds,” Manish Agarwal, a partner at consulting firm PwC India, pointed out.
Logistics will have to be looked at in more detail and the connectivity between conventional trains and the high-speed trains remains a factor, Vyas pointed out.
Besides, the fact that Indian Railways will be the sole buyer could lead to complacency. “That becomes a constraint in development, innovation, R&D, and so on,” Agarwal said.
All in all, the ICF’s is undoubtedly a daunting task. But the good bit is that it has set forth nonetheless.
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Goyal has said PPP for station redevelopment has been troublesome so they will follow the "smart city" model (create basic infrastructure themselves, manage the railway op side themselves and open bids to pvt sector to take care of the rest of the station facilities and that this has been met with much more positive response from the pvt sector who were uneasy about having to look after the railway ops part
It's good idea. The best part about ministers like Goyal, Prabhu and Gadkari is their pragmatic approach towards solving a problem. So far typical government attitude had been to follow the established process no matter how stupid it might appear. These folks didn't shy away to change the process as per the need and the result has been visible in their sectors. I wish our defense ministry can adapt a thing or two from Piyush Goyal's book!!
Railways inducts 3 track maintenance machines
Railways inducts 3 track maintenance machines
PTI|
Apr 06, 2018, 03.33 PM IST
NEW DELHI: The railways has inducted three state-of-the-art machines into its fleet to improve the safety, reliability and economy in maintenance of tracks.
"The 09-3X Dynamic Tamping Express machines...were flagged off by M K Gupta, Member Engineering, Railway Board at Faridabad. Seven such machines are planned to be included within next six months in the present fleet of 874 track maintenance machines...for deployment on heavy density routes," according to an official statement.
A tamping machine or ballast tamper is a machine used to pack (or tamp) the track ballast under railway tracks to make the tracks more durable.
The machine, costing about Rs 27 crore, is a latest high output integrated tamping machine having multiple functions, so far being carried out by different machines.
It can measure pre- and post- track geometry, correct the track to required geometry, can tamp three sleepers simultaneously, stabilise and measure post tamping track parameters under load to ensure quality of work done.
This eliminates the need for a separate stabilisation machine which reduces operating costs and track possession time, the railways said.
"Three operations including manual interface is now combined in one machine. This machine will vibrate and compact the loose stone ballast after tamping for safe movements of trains. These machines have been manufactured in India under 'Make In India' initiative with imported components. 42 more such machines have been planned to be included in Indian Railway maintenance fleet over next three years," the statement said.
One of such 09-3X Dynamic Tamping Express machines, originally manufactured by Plasser American :
One of such 09-3X Dynamic Tamping Express machines, originally manufactured by Plasser American :
They have a plant in Delhi NCR (Faridabad I think)
Yes, Plasser India at 13th Milestone Mathura Road, Gurukul Indraprastha Estate, P.O. - Amarnagar, Faridabad, Hariyana - 121003, as per Company's
website:
Plasser India - Home: Start
The railway ministry has decided to take all its big ticket projects rejected by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month back to him for reconsideration, sources in the ministry said on Wednesday. The sources also said though the prime minister has rejected three of the ministry’s ambitious projects – 100 per cent electrification of the track network, modernisation of signalling system at an estimated cost of Rs 78,000 crore, and plan to convert the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus into the first museum-cum-railway stations in India — efforts were being made to convince Modi that these projects were viable.
indianexpress.com/article/india/railway-ministry-to-take-rejected-proposals-back-to-pm-narendra-modi-5133306/
indianexpress.com/article/india/railway-ministry-to-take-rejected-proposals-back-to-pm-narendra-modi-5133306/
Fares for Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train likely between Rs 250 and Rs 3k: NHSRCL
PTI | Updated: Apr 13, 2018, 17:49 IST
1225HIGHLIGHTS
The design for Sabarmati station for Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project has been finalised. It will be base... Read MoreNEW DELHI: Passengers of the proposed bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad will have to pay anywhere between Rs 250 and Rs 3,000 depending on their destination, a senior official said.
Giving the first official indication of the likely fares of the government's ambitious project, Achal Khare, the managing director of National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHSRCL), told reporters that the fares are based on present projections and calculations.
It would be Rs 3,000 between Mumbai and Ahmedabad and as low as Rs 250 between Banda-Kurla Complex (BKC) and Thane, he said.
Khare said, "The fares have been based on present projections and calculations. There would be one business class and the fares for this is likely to be higher than Rs 3,000."
"The journey will be much more affordable and less time consuming than in a flight, if the trip to the airport, getting boarding passes and security checks are taken into consideration," he said.
An official said, a taxi takes anywhere between one and one and a half hours to travel between Thane and Banda-Kurla Complex and charges around Rs 650.
But with the high-speed train, the journey time will come down to only 15 minutes and Rs 250 in fare, he said, adding the fares would be 1.5 times higher than AC first class fares.
A train set comprises 10 'standard' coaches, one of which will be business class. Food will be complimentary in business class and will be available in other coaches as well.
Khare said construction work under the project could start as early as December this year, by which time land acquisition is expected to be over.
The ministry would require 1,415 hectare of land for the project, and has earmarked Rs 10,000 crore for its acquisition.
"The Maharashtra government has already issued notification for land acquisition and those who give consent for the acquisition of their land will be given 25 per cent more than the circle rate fixed by the state government or the market rate, whichever is higher," Khare said.
The officer also said 3,000-4,000 people will be directly employed by the executing authority while around 30,000-40000 workers would be engaged during the construction phase of the project.
Rubbishing reports about higher Japanese component in the project, Khare said only 18.6 per cent of their components will be involved and their contribution would be limited to a few stretches of the project, like building a corridor between Ahmedabad and Vadodara, and the under-sea tunnelling work.
"Indian contractors would build 460 km, while Japan would be involved in the construction of only 21 km under sea," he said.
Safety and punctuality would be the hallmark of the high-speed corridor and Khare asserted that they will not hesitate from emulating the safety and punctuality standard maintained by Japan's high speed bullet trains, also known as Shinkansen trains.
Khare said 360 people from India will be sent to Japan for training, of which 80 will be given on job training there.
Around 80 Japanese nationals are already working along with Indian officials, he said, adding, "As far as delays are concerned, it would not be more than 40 seconds."
PTI | Updated: Apr 13, 2018, 17:49 IST
1225HIGHLIGHTS
- Achal Khare, the managing director of NHSRCL, told reporters that the fares are based on present projections and calculations.
- It would be Rs 3,000 between Mumbai and Ahmedabad and as low as Rs 250 between Banda-Kurla Complex (BKC) and Thane, he said.
Giving the first official indication of the likely fares of the government's ambitious project, Achal Khare, the managing director of National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHSRCL), told reporters that the fares are based on present projections and calculations.
It would be Rs 3,000 between Mumbai and Ahmedabad and as low as Rs 250 between Banda-Kurla Complex (BKC) and Thane, he said.
Khare said, "The fares have been based on present projections and calculations. There would be one business class and the fares for this is likely to be higher than Rs 3,000."
"The journey will be much more affordable and less time consuming than in a flight, if the trip to the airport, getting boarding passes and security checks are taken into consideration," he said.
An official said, a taxi takes anywhere between one and one and a half hours to travel between Thane and Banda-Kurla Complex and charges around Rs 650.
But with the high-speed train, the journey time will come down to only 15 minutes and Rs 250 in fare, he said, adding the fares would be 1.5 times higher than AC first class fares.
A train set comprises 10 'standard' coaches, one of which will be business class. Food will be complimentary in business class and will be available in other coaches as well.
Khare said construction work under the project could start as early as December this year, by which time land acquisition is expected to be over.
The ministry would require 1,415 hectare of land for the project, and has earmarked Rs 10,000 crore for its acquisition.
"The Maharashtra government has already issued notification for land acquisition and those who give consent for the acquisition of their land will be given 25 per cent more than the circle rate fixed by the state government or the market rate, whichever is higher," Khare said.
The officer also said 3,000-4,000 people will be directly employed by the executing authority while around 30,000-40000 workers would be engaged during the construction phase of the project.
Rubbishing reports about higher Japanese component in the project, Khare said only 18.6 per cent of their components will be involved and their contribution would be limited to a few stretches of the project, like building a corridor between Ahmedabad and Vadodara, and the under-sea tunnelling work.
"Indian contractors would build 460 km, while Japan would be involved in the construction of only 21 km under sea," he said.
Safety and punctuality would be the hallmark of the high-speed corridor and Khare asserted that they will not hesitate from emulating the safety and punctuality standard maintained by Japan's high speed bullet trains, also known as Shinkansen trains.
Khare said 360 people from India will be sent to Japan for training, of which 80 will be given on job training there.
Around 80 Japanese nationals are already working along with Indian officials, he said, adding, "As far as delays are concerned, it would not be more than 40 seconds."
Indian Railways rolls out first ‘paint-less’ coaches.
Imagine an Indian Railways train without paint! A train where the exterior stainless steel coaches are visible without any colour coating on them. Well, Indian railways has just rolled out one such Antyodaya Express that has no paint on its exterior
Indian Railways rolls out first paintless train The first-of-its-kind paintless Antyodaya Express has been handed over to the Southern Railway division of Indian Railways.
The first-of-its-kind paintless Antyodaya Express has been handed over to the Southern Railway division of Indian Railways. The 22-coach LHB (Linke-Hofmann-Busch) stainless-steel rake has been manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai. This new ‘paintless’ Antyodaya Express will be operated as an unreserved train for “superfast service” on dense routes at a speed of 120 kmph, says ICF. On Tamil New Year, the train had a special run between Tambaram and Tirunelveli.
According to a senior ICF official, Railway Board had asked the coach factory to experiment by rolling out a few coaches without paint, but an entire rake was made. “The advantage of a paintless exterior coach is that it saves the cost of paint and that of refurbishing it when it is time for a upgrade,” the ICF official told FE Online. “Also, the waste from paint used for a train rake is hazardous and requires a lot of caution while disposing. With no paint on the exterior, that is also taken care of,” he said.
The paintless coaches have a “corrugate side wall” with duplex stainless steel that is 2 mm thick. “It also has paint-less finish and fleet graphic and hydrophobic anti graphic stickers,” says ICF. The roof top of the paintless Antyodaya Express has been coated with solar heat resistant paint. Antyodaya Express is a train that has been envisaged for unreserved passengers, yet aims to provide better journey comfort at no additional cost to people. The first Antyodaya Express train started service early 2017, with a colourful paint scheme of red and yellow.
The new Antyodaya Express, however, as the story points out is sans the exterior paint. The interior features remain the same. The train has bio-toilets with enhanced features and better fittings, more comfortable cushioned seats and luggage racks, LED lights, more mobile and laptop charging points, water purifiers, more dustbins etc among a host of passenger-friendly features.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not the first, older paintless rake (Chennai Mysore Shatabdi)
Imagine an Indian Railways train without paint! A train where the exterior stainless steel coaches are visible without any colour coating on them. Well, Indian railways has just rolled out one such Antyodaya Express that has no paint on its exterior
Indian Railways rolls out first paintless train The first-of-its-kind paintless Antyodaya Express has been handed over to the Southern Railway division of Indian Railways.
The first-of-its-kind paintless Antyodaya Express has been handed over to the Southern Railway division of Indian Railways. The 22-coach LHB (Linke-Hofmann-Busch) stainless-steel rake has been manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai. This new ‘paintless’ Antyodaya Express will be operated as an unreserved train for “superfast service” on dense routes at a speed of 120 kmph, says ICF. On Tamil New Year, the train had a special run between Tambaram and Tirunelveli.
According to a senior ICF official, Railway Board had asked the coach factory to experiment by rolling out a few coaches without paint, but an entire rake was made. “The advantage of a paintless exterior coach is that it saves the cost of paint and that of refurbishing it when it is time for a upgrade,” the ICF official told FE Online. “Also, the waste from paint used for a train rake is hazardous and requires a lot of caution while disposing. With no paint on the exterior, that is also taken care of,” he said.
The paintless coaches have a “corrugate side wall” with duplex stainless steel that is 2 mm thick. “It also has paint-less finish and fleet graphic and hydrophobic anti graphic stickers,” says ICF. The roof top of the paintless Antyodaya Express has been coated with solar heat resistant paint. Antyodaya Express is a train that has been envisaged for unreserved passengers, yet aims to provide better journey comfort at no additional cost to people. The first Antyodaya Express train started service early 2017, with a colourful paint scheme of red and yellow.
The new Antyodaya Express, however, as the story points out is sans the exterior paint. The interior features remain the same. The train has bio-toilets with enhanced features and better fittings, more comfortable cushioned seats and luggage racks, LED lights, more mobile and laptop charging points, water purifiers, more dustbins etc among a host of passenger-friendly features.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not the first, older paintless rake (Chennai Mysore Shatabdi)
Reliance Infra debuts in railway space, bags EPC contract
Reliance Infra debuts in railway space, bags EPC contract
IANS|
Updated: Apr 19, 2018, 12.56 PM IST
Reliance Infrastructure Limited is keenly pursuing project
opportunities worth around Rs 2 lakh crore to increase
its EPC order book to Rs 50,000 crore by FY19.
MUMBAI: Reliance Infrastructure Limited EPC has received the Letter of Award (LOA) from Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) for its maiden railway project worth Rs 774 crore for the construction of third rail line between Jimidipeta and Gotlam on East Coast Railway on Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) basis, the company said on Thursday.
The 105 km-long line will run in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. The scope of work includes civil, track, electrification, signalling and telecom
works of the rail line. The work also includes construction of 13 railway stations and staff quarters.
"RInfra has strong credential in successful execution of complex EPC projects in various sectors including railway and metro space. This order marks our foray into Railway EPC segment and further strengthens Reliance Infrastructure Limited's bona fide to lead in construction of rail transportation systems. The company is well positioned in the emerging railway market and poised to capture a sizable share," said Arun Gupta, CEO, Reliance Infrastructure EPC.
The railway line between Jimid
ipeta to Gotlam is part of Titlagarh-Vizianagaram section. At present, Titlagarh-Vizianagaram is a double line (electrified) track section of Jharsuguda- Visakhapatnam line.
It is an important rail link between Jharsuguda and Visakhapatnam, and serves as a bypass rail link to Howrah-Mumbai trunk route and Howrah-Chennai main line of East Coast region.
It also caters to the goods and passenger traffic from Bhubaneswar, Sambalpur and Raygada with Koraput on the Kottavalsa-Kirand
aul line. The line traverses through western Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. This line will lead to development around the entire area, the statement said.
Indian Railways has a plan outlay of more than Rs 7 lakh crores in the coming five years towards decongestion of railway line (doubling), new railway line, high speed railway, station development and others.
Reliance Infrastructure Limited is keenly pursuing project opportunities worth around Rs 2 lakh crore to increase its EPC order book to Rs 50,000 crore by FY19.