Indian Railways Junction

Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw inspects production of Vande Bharat Trains
Flags off the 12,000th LHB coach at ICF, Chennai
Minister reviews the Station Redevelopment plan for Chennai Egmore
Appreciates ‘Hyperloop' Champions at IIT Madras​

Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister of Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India inspected the production of the indigenous Vande Bharat trains at Integral Coach Factory, Chennai. During his visit, the Minister interacted with the employees and motivated them for their work.

The Minister tweeted:

“Vande Bharat manufacturing on fast track at ICF Chennai.”

Vande Bharat manufacturing on fast track at ICF Chennai. pic.twitter.com/goBhEMUqZZ
— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) May 20, 2022

image001G13U.jpg


As an excellent example of the 'Make in India' success story, the Indian Railways launched India's first indigenous Semi High Speed train, Vande Bharat Express, The first Vande Bharat Express train was flagged off on 15 February, 2019 on the New Delhi Kanpur-Allahabad-Varanasi route." Speed, Safety and Service are the hallmarks of this train. Integral Coach Factory (ICF). Chennai, a Railways Production unit, has been the force behind a completely in-house design and manufacture, computer modelling and working with a large number of suppliers for system integration in just 18 months.

During his visit to Chennai, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw flagged off 12000th LHB coach of ICF, Chennai. LHB coaches are anti-telescopic, safer, lighter, and more comfortable and jerk free. Replacement of ICF conventional coaches phase wise with LHB coaches is being done from safety point of view.

Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw also visited the Egmore Railway Station in Chennai during the night hours of 19th May 2022. He inspected the facilities at the station and reviewed the Master plan of the Chennai Egmore Station redevelopment project. The Minister discussed in detail about the proposed redevelopment plans for Chennai Egmore and facilitation of inter-modal connectivity with CMRL. While interacting with media persons, the Minister stated. “Prime Minister has the vision of transforming Indian Railways as he believes that transformation of Indian Railway will pave way transformation of Indian Economy Redevelopment of various categories of stations are part of that vision. He further elaborated about Chennai Egmore redevelopment, “Chennai Egmore will be redeveloped duly maintaining the heritage and simultaneously revamping its amenities at par with world class standards. On redevelopment, the station will become the hub of economic activity."

Post Station redevelopment, Chennai Egmore, the second largest terminal of Southern Railway, will house world-class amenities and airport-like features such as separate arrival and departure corridors, bright illumination and hassle-free access to platforms by escalators, lifts and skywalks.

During his visit, Railway Minister Shri Vaishnaw applauded the efforts of “Avishkar Hyperloop”, a passionate student led team at IIT Madras, committed to changing the future of mobility in India by developing scalable Hyperloop technologies. Hyperloop is a new innovative mode of transport which disrupts the paradigm of conventional transport where speed and comfort are carbon-heavy. It is a transportation solution for a sustainable, fast and connected future with a minimal carbon footprint. Concept is based on levitating pods travelling at near sonic speeds in vacuum tubes built between cities. A maglev in vacuum tube.

Indian Railways has joined hands with IIT Madras to indigenously develop Hyperloop technology based transportation system which runs faster than bullet trains, and has considerably low operating cost. Indian Railways will extend financial support of Rs. 8.34 cr to IIT Madras for this project.
 

Indian Railways inducts 100th 12000 HP WAG 12 B Locomotive
Built in one of India’s largest integrated greenfield manufacturing facilities, these are the Nation’s most powerful ‘Made-In-India’ Electric Locomotives. The locomotive has been produced under Make in India programme. The locomotive is manufactured by Madhepura Electric Locomotive Pvt. Ltd. (MELPL). These WAG 12B e-Locos have already clocked over 4.8 million kilometres hauling a wide range of commodities across 17 States & 2 Union Territories. These locomotives are state of the art IGBT based, 3 phase drive and 12000 horse power electric locomotive. These high horse power locomotives will help to decongest the saturated tracks by improving average speed and loading capacity of freight trains.

It is a proud moment for Indian Railways as 100th 12000 HP WAG 12 B has been inducted in Indian Railways fleet. The loco is named WAG 12 B with number 60100. The locomotive is manufactured by Madhepura Electric Locomotive Pvt. Ltd. (MELPL).


Number60100OFLK.jpeg



These locomotives are state of the art IGBT based, 3 phase drive and 12000 horse power electric locomotive. These high horse power locomotives will help to decongest the saturated tracks by improving average speed and loading capacity of freight trains.

This locomotive is capable of maximum tractive effort of 706 kN, which is capable of starting and running a 6000 T train in the gradient of 1 in 150. The locomotive with twin Bo-Bo design having 22.5 T (Tonnes) axle load is upgradable to 25 Tonnes with design speed of 120 kmph.

These superior electric locomotives built under the ‘Make-in-India’ initiative, are playing a key role in revolutionizing the freight movement in the country. It will help to decongest the saturated tracks by allowing faster, safer and heavier freight trains to move across the country, as well as improve the loading capacity. So far, these e-Locos have traversed across all Railway divisions and are performing well. We look forward to more such delivery milestones.”

These locomotive are proving to be a game changer for further movement of coal trains for Dedicated Freight Corridor. The locomotives can be tracked through GPS for its strategic use through embedded software and Antennae being lifted through the servers on ground through microwave link.

These WAG 12B e-Locos have already clocked over 4.8 million kilometres hauling a wide range of commodities across 17 States & 2 Union Territories.

It may be noted that Indian Railways has entered into Procurement cum Maintenance Agreement with Madhepura Electric Locomotive Pvt. Ltd. (MELPL).

First 12000 HP Made in India Locomotive, manufactured by Madhepura Electric Loco Factory situated in Bihar, was put into operation by Indian Railways from Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Jn Station on 18.05.2020.
 
#NewsAlert

PM Modi to lay the foundation stone of Bengaluru’s Suburban Rail Project on June 20

Several delays later, PM Modi finally fly down to Bengaluru on June 20 to lay the foundation stone for the much-anticipated suburban rail project. The estimated cost for this project is Rs 15,000 crore and is expected to be completed by 2026. A long-pending dream for Bengalureans since 1983, this project will connect the city centre to its suburbs via a rail-based rapid transit system. Spanned across 57 stations, it will have four corridors in six directions of Bengaluru which includes Kengeri (Mysuru side), Chikkabanavara (Tumakuru side), Rajanukunte (Doddaballapur side), Devanahalli (Kolar side), Whitefield (Bangarapet side) and Heelalige.

News Source: The Indian Express
 

Integral Coach Factory: a global success story from Chennai​

The unit now rolls out over 4,000 coaches annually, catering to both domestic and international demand

The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai, one of independent India’s earliest indigenous production units inaugurated by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in October 1955, is on a roll. From manufacturing all-steel, all-welded shells with a capacity of 350 train coaches per year, the production unit, spread over 511 acres, which employs about 10,000 persons, now rolls out over 4,000 coaches annually, catering not just to domestic demand but also to international railway operators.

Arguably the largest coach making facility in the world, the ICF’s Furnishing Division was commissioned in October 1962.