IRFCA Mailing List Archive


Messages 401 - 420

From: aravind <aravind@vax135.email

Subject: misc

Date: 11 Jan 1991 09:17:00 -0500


The rail journey across Canada was actually shown in TWO 1-hr segments,
as part of the PBS series "Travels". Among the highlights of the trip
was the "detour" to the settlement of Churchill on Hudson Bay .. summer
home of polar bears! Imagine a train hitting a polar bear ....

Apparently on some trains in Canada one can lean out of the door, too,
as the traveller did on his trip ...

Coming to IR, isn't a special rate charged for the Rajdhanis? more than
what they charge for ordinary "superfast" expresses?

aravind

From: Vicraj T. Thomas <vic@cs.email

Subject: What does this sign mean?

Date: 11 Jan 1991 10:32:00 -0500


There is a sign I've seen besides tracks in India -- it is a black sign with
two horizontal yellow stripes with a circle in the middle. What does this sign
mean. Here's a crude attempt at drawing the sign:



+---------------+
| |
| |
|---------------|
|---------------|
| |
| *** |
| * * |
| * * |
| * * |
| * * |
| *** |
| |
| |
|---------------|
|---------------|
| |
| |
+---------------+



Thanks,

< Vic

--------
vic@cs.email Dept. of Computer Science
..!{uunet|noao}!arizona!vic University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721

From: Ajai Banerji <A.AJAI@Macbeth.Email

Subject: This and that

Date: 13 Jan 1991 19:39:00 -0500


THIS AND THAT

Aravind raised the question about the Rajdhani fare structure. Yes,
it does have a separate fare structure which is higher than that of
other superfast trains. One difference is that the Rajdhani fare includes
meals. Likewise, the Shatabdi also has special fares which include meals.
It may be interesting to compare the Rajdhani and Shatabdi fares on sectors
where they both run(the only example being New Delhi-Kanpur)
There are also separate fares for many sections(mostly the hill railways)
where there is a chargeable distance as distinct from the actual distance.
This is because of the higher costs of construction in the mountains. But
there doesn't seem to be any clear policy: The Ooty line has a chargeable
distance about 2.5 times actual, but the Matheran line charges you for
126 km for the 21-km trip. And not only hill railways have this, even
other sections like Khandwa-Akola have it.
Earlier I had mentioned that there are no passenger services between
India and Bangladesh. However, there are regular goods services. For the
last few years trains have been running through the Gede-Darsana
border. Gede is near Ranaghat and this line used to be the main line
for the pre-partition Darjeeling mail which ran over the Hardinge Bridge.
A few months ago, another section was opened
-------

From: Vijay Balasubramanian <vbs@plumpy.email

Subject:

Date: 16 Jan 1991 11:22:00 -0500


Hi Folks,

Regarding Vickraj's question, I, too, have noticed the sign during my train
trips. I am not sure what it means, though. Some other signs that come to my
mind are the "Speed Restriction", "Whistle-at-Level-Crossing", and "Whistle-at
-curve" signs.

Ajai writes:
> Aravind raised the question about the Rajdhani fare structure. Yes,
> it does have a separate fare structure which is higher than that of
> other superfast trains. One difference is that the Rajdhani fare includes
> meals. Likewise, the Shatabdi also has special fares which include meals.

As far as I know, the Rajdhani fares also include booking charges by the
luggage-cum-brake-van.


Regarding Vinod's query about halt patterns, here are my comments. A
station could serve as a halt (for a particular train) for one or more of the
following reasons :

1. It is associated with a reasonably big city, in which case all trains halt
there. e.g. Kanpur Central, Nagpur

2. It is an important railway junction, in which case all trains halt there.
e.g. Bhusaval, Vijayawada

3. It is associated with a smaller city or town, in which case a subset of the
trains in that section halt there. This subset is determined by the
relative importance of the station or by the demand for the train in
question. e.g. the Kerala Exp. has halts at smaller stations such as
Mathura, Bina, and Wardha because it is the only train to provide daily
service to Kerala. It has fewer halts in the Kazipet-Gudur section
because of the presence of other trains going towards Delhi/Trivandrum.

4. Locomotive changeovers take place. e.g. Durg (for all trains), Chunar (for
the Tata-Amritsar Exp.)

5. For change of direction. Often, a bypass is provided to avoid this time-
consuming procedure. Trains using this bypass may choose to stop at a
smaller station nearby.

6. For catering purposes. e.g. Ghoradongri for the GT Exp.

7. Other techincal procedures such as crew changes, loco. maintenance, etc.
e.g. the choice of halts for the Rajdhani Exps.

A halt could also be determined by the time at which the train passes
thru' the station. Halts at odd hours (1.00 a.m.-4.00 a.m.) might be avoided.
e.g. the Prayagraj Exp. has its longest run between Aligarh and Kanpur Central;
this section is traversed roughly between midnight and 4.00 a.m.
A classic example is the absence of Allahabad in the halt list for the
Hwh.-Delhi Rajdhani Exp. Both the Up. and Dn. trains pass thru' the station
after midnight. Moreover, there is a sufficient number of trains connecting
Allahabad with either Delhi or Howrah.


Regards,

Vijay

From: Ajai Banerji <A.AJAI@Macbeth.Email

Subject: The Colonial Legacy in Place Names

Date: 20 Jan 1991 21:45:00 -0500


PLACE NAMES ON THE SUBCONTINENT-THE COLONIAL LEGACY

In the years since independence, our governments have tried to erase
signs of the colonial legacy. One standard device has been renaming
'foreign' place names, which has had mixed success. For instance,
Bombay's Flora Fountain has been renamed (to Hutatma Chowk?), but
if you ask any cabbie to go to Hutatma Chowk he may not know the
place. He will be glad to take you to Flora Fountain.
This article primarily deals with the railways of the subcontinent.
Out of deference to our Pakistani brothers, I will take up their country
first.
Many cities in Pakistan with Western names have been renamed. The large
city of Lyallpur has vanished but cricket fans know it better as Faisalabad.
Other cities/railway stations which have been renamed include:
OLD NAME NEW NAME
Campbellpur Attock City
Montgomery ?
Fort Sandeman Zhob
Possibly the only important city in Pakistan which still has a Western
name is Jacobabad.
There used to be a station called Hindubagh near Fort Sandeman. It has
been renamed to-you guessed it-Muslimbagh.
Hope that our Pakistani friends can correct me if I am wrong.
In Bangladesh, the only city with a Western name appears to be Cox's
Bazar.
Coming back to India, there are not many sizable places which still
have Western names (Leave aside stations like Victoria Terminus). Possibly
the biggest city with a Western name is Daltonganj in Bihar.
There are many small stations which still have Western names. For instance,
if you travel by the Amritsar-Tatanagar express, you will pass through
Robertsganj, Wyndhamganj, Daltonganj and Mc Cluskieganj.
Many of these places are named after people who are forgotten completely.
A few exceptions are Sleemanabad Road near Katni which is named after
Major Sleeman who wiped out the Thugs. Clutterbuckganj near Bareilly
is named after General Clutterbuck (who did something in the 1857 war)
There are, however, some interesting stories behind these names.
There is a station called Margherita near Tinsukia, Assam. The name comes from
the days of this line's construction which was supervised by Italian engineers
in the 1880s. The named this place after the then queen of Italy.
Mc Cluskieganj, in a remote part of Bihar, was started by an Anglo-Indian
of that name around the time of independence. His idea was to start a separate
colony for Anglo-Indians who could live off the land (since it would no longer
be easy for them to get jobs in independent India). However, this colony
never prospered.
Some of these erstwhile Western names have been changed to make them
more easily pronounciable:
OLD NAME NEW NAME
Wolseleyganj Waris Aliganj
Mc Donald's Choultry Magudan Chavadi
Palmer Palmar

Some years ago, the list of stations on the Nilgiri railway read:
Mettupalayam, Kallar, Adderley, Hillgrove Runneymede, Kateri Road, Coonoor,
Wellington,Aravankadu,Ketti, Lovedale, Ootacamund. Now Ootacamund has
become Udhagamandalam. Kallar, Adderley, Runneymede and Kateri road are
closed. For some odd reason Hillgrove has become Hillgroove.
A subsequent article will discuss other name changes.
-------

From: apte <apte@glacier.email

Subject: Strange Publication and Strange Train

Date: 21 Jan 1991 08:38:00 -0500


Hi Folks,

I recently got hold of a strange time-table which my friend brought
back from India. It is a sort of trains-at-a-glance of Western Railway
and Central Railway only, although they do trace routes originating on
these railways and ending up elsewhere in some cases. (e.g.
Ahmadabad-Madras. Also it is a private publication. The idea is not
bad, but the production (as expected) is extremely shoddy and full of
mistakes and contradictions. It has some hilarious bloopers. e.g.
*Windows* (sic) of posthumous national award winners will receive
x% concession. Ignoring the sexism, I wonder why the doors are ignored
:-).

Obviously this is not a very reliable publication, so it could be
wrong, but there was one train in there that intrigued me by its total
lack of logic. The train is the Ahmadabad-Gorakhpur Exp. The stated
route in the time-table is the following:

Ahmadabad-Vadodara-Ratlam-Nagda
Nagda-Ujjain-Maksi-Guna-Bina
Bina-Jhansi-Gwalior-Agra-Mathura-Delhi(!)
Delhi-Tundla -... (and somehow WITHOUT touching Lucknow)
...Gonda-Gorakhpur

If this really is the route, then I just don't get it -

* Why go off to C. Railway if to come back to Mathura? (Places like
Jhansi or Bina are already connected by Sabarmati Exp, and Agra can be
accessed by W.R. thru Bayana-Agra Fort-Agra Cantt.)

* Why go to Delhi ?! (One can get to Tundla directly from Agra like
the Toofan Exp and Avadh Exp do. By the way, is the Avadh Exp. still
alive? This publication did not have it.)

* How does one bypass Lucknow to get to Gorakhpur? (I could not figure
it out from the map at least.)

Most Peculiar Indeed...

Cheers
Pushkar
-------

From: Vijay Balasubramanian <vbs@plumpy.email

Subject:

Date: 21 Jan 1991 13:21:00 -0500


Subject : Ahmedabad Gorakhpur Exp.

Hi Folks,

The route given for the Ahmedabad Gorakhpur Exp. is, indeed, incorrect.
This train does not go via Delhi, rather it follows the Agra-Tundla route.
It, however, does not halt at Tundla but at Etawah instead. It does go via
Lucknow. Even this route is a bit puzzling as a shorter route would have been
via Jhansi-Orai-Kanpur. Well, this train is really an extension
of the original Ahmedabad-Gwalior Exp. The railway authorities
must have decided to link Agra directly with Ahmedabad and Gorakhpur while
chalking out the extension.

I distincly remember Sleemanbad Rd. as being between Jabalpur and Katni,
since I used to travel a lot between Bombay and Varanasi. Thanks, Ajai, for
letting us know about the origin of such stations. Another "western" station
that comes to my mind is Whitefield near Bangalore. Any ideas about the origin
of this one? Nothing to do with the Kolar gold mines, I suppose.

On a personal note, I shall be moving to IBM, Poughkeepsie by the end of thismonth. I hope to have an email address there (although I am not 100% sure at
this moment). My tentative office address is :

IBM Corporation,
P.O. Box 950
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601


Regards,
Vijay

From: Manish Malhotra <malhotra@cs.email

Subject:

Date: 21 Jan 1991 21:35:00 -0500


I was in India this December. A news item caught my eye. It said that
about 6000 steam locos are operational India. By the year 2000, Indian
railways plans to junk all of them. However, due to the oil crisis,
this may not happen and steam locos may be on the tracks for longer
period of time. Now, isn't that good news ?

I travelled mostly by train. One of the journeys I made was
on Ahemdabad-Bhavnagar section. I never knew that Ahemdabad was a
major junction for meter-gauge trains. It is connected to Delhi
, some cities in Rajasthan, and some cities in Gujarat.

The train was mostly empty because of curfew in Ahemdabad. Besides
it was supposed to be a superfast train. Superfast meter gauge trains
actually run at much slower speeds compared to broad gauge trains.
Besides, the journey was very uncomfortable. At high speeds, the train
was shaking violently and it was hard to lie down or sleep.
I attributed this to meter gauge. Later, I thought that it could also
be because of the train being empty. Has any of you had a similar
experience ? I am certain that empty goods-trains are supposed
to run at speeds 20-30 Km/Hr slower than goods-trains carrying some
goods. (A sign on Baroda-Ratlam section confirms that ).

I was disappointed to find that additional stops had been added to
many of the superfast trains. Sarvodaya express now stops even at
Godhra. Invariably it also makes an unscheduled stop at Dahod
because of chain-pulling by the local Godhra-Dahod passengers.
Also, this train has now been extended to Jammu and it now reaches
Delhi early in the morning around 4.30. The unfortunate part is that
most of the passengers travel only upto Delhi. However, the train
is very popular among Delhi-Jammu section passengers.

More later,

Manish

From: Vijay Balasubramanian <vbs@plumpy.email

Subject:

Date: 21 Jan 1991 21:09:00 -0500


Hi,

Welcome back Manish! I hope you had an enjoyable stay in India. What was
the extent of your train travel?

The July issue of Indian Railways did point out that steam locos. may stay
on the scene longer than expected. It talked about the Charbagh steam loco.
shed in Lucknow, handling locos. for MG traffic from Lucknow (to Bareilly,
Sitapur, etc.).

As far as I know, the maximum speed of MG trains in India is 100 kmph.
and is held by the Pink City Exp. (and the Vaigai Exp.?).
During my trip on the Vaigai Exp., I could sense that the
train was shaking a bit more than usual.
I love the way MG trains clatter over the track joints;
the sound is quite different from BG trains.

The Sarvodaya Exp. always had a stop at Godhra (at least since mid-70s).
Then Nagda was introduced as a halt followed by H. Nizamuddin (only in Dn.
dirn.). The Bombay - Jammu Tawi Exp. was much faster and had only four stops
between Bombay and N.Delhi. Alas, IR had this *brainwave* of extending
the Sarvodaya till Jammu Tawi and having a common schedule for the Sarvodaya
Exp. and the Jammu Tawi Exp. The result: the poor Jammu Tawi Exp. got
slowed down by nearly 2 hrs. with additonal halts at Godhra, Nagda and
Mathura. On top of that, AC First Class and AC Chair Car service were
removed from this train.


Regards,

Vijay

From: Ajai Banerji <A.AJAI@Macbeth.Email

Subject: This and that

Date: 02 Feb 1991 20:58:00 -0500


Friends,
I am sure all of us will miss Vijay. Let us hope he will be back on the
air soon.
I am also likely to go off the air soon, but hope to reappear later this
year.
Here are some news items from Jan issue of Railway Gazette, with comments
in brackets:
The Kapurthala coach factory is entering into a contract with Hewlett-
-Packard (India) for an automated manufacturing system (details not clear)
which will enable it to double its production capacity from 500 coaches/yr
to 1000.
The Environment minister has said that by 1992 only concrete sleepers
will be used instead of wooden sleepers. (OK, but what does the railway
minister say about it?)
Optical fibre cables are being installed as part of the Itarsi-Nagpur
electrification scheme. However, rats seem to be very fond of them and
have caused a lot of damage. The supplier (Hindustan Cables) is unable
to suggest a remedy apart from rat traps. (Sounds odd. I worked in a
cable company (not Hindustan Cables) and a small amount of repellant
mixed in the PVC outer sheath seemed to work fine. However, this type
of cable probably doesn't have a PVC outer sheath)
-------

From: Ajai Banerji <A.AJAI@Macbeth.Email

Subject: This and That

Date: 10 Feb 1991 18:30:00 -0500


THIS AND THAT

Strange how quiet this net has become!
I don't know how often you used to look at goods trains, but sometimes
you get interesting ideas from them. When you see a metre-gauge wagon of
the NF railway in the deep south (say at Quilon), think of the tortuous
route it must have followed to get there.
As recently as 1989 I saw goods wagons marked PW and PE, ie Pakistan Western
and Pakistan Eastern. These wagons must have been stranded in India since 1965
when goods traffic between the countries was cut off. Similarly, there must
be Indian wagons stranded in Pakistan.
Although there is some goods traffic between India and Bangladesh, I am yet
to see any wagon of Bangladesh Railways. Have any of you seen one?
Some stations which have been recently renamed: Waltair is now called
Visakhapatnam. This is only logical as Waltair is only a suburb of Vizag.
Maniyachi junction in Tamilnadu is now Vanchi Maniyachi, named after a freedom
fighter Vanchinathan who assassinated a British official (I think it was the
collector of Tirunelveli) at this station.
A few other places which ought to be renamed: Tatanagar could be called
Jamshedpur, as there is no place called Tatanagar; it is only the station name.
Ernakulam Town and Ernakulam Jn should be renamed as Cochin North and Cochin
Central, as Ernakulam is just one part of Cochin. Any other suggestions?
-------

From: clarinews <clarinews@clarinet.email

Subject: Train derailment in India kills 11

Date: 15 Feb 1991 13:15:00 -0500


NEW DELHI, India (UPI) -- A speeding express train jumped the rails
Friday in the northern Uttar Pradesh state, killing at least 11 people
and injuring 38 others, the Press Trust of India news agency said.
The engine and 11 coaches of the New Delhi-bound Kalka Mail derailed
in the morning accident near the Hindu holy town of Allahabad, 345 miles
southeast of the capital city.
The cause of the derailment was not known.
The news agency said at least three of the 11 coaches suffered
extensive damage. The accident disrupted rail traffic on one of the
busiest railroads in the country.
Senior railway and medical officials rushed to the site of the
accident, the news agency said.
State-run Indian Railways announced compensation payments would be
made to family members of the dead victims.

From: Ajai Banerji <A.AJAI@Macbeth.Email

Subject: News

Date: 23 Feb 1991 18:18:00 -0500


The Railway Budget may be delayed this year, since even the general budget is
being delayed due to political problems. However, the railways seem to have taken a decision to make major timetable changes only once a year (on July 1).
An interesting book "History of the Indian Railways" by G. S. Khosla was
published a few years back. It can be obtained from the Director, Public
Relations, Railway Board, Rail Bhavan, New Delhi-110001. Price in India is
Rs 200.
Our guru Vijay is likely to be back soon as he will get an account in a few
days. Perhaps this net will wake up then!
-------

From: vijayb <vijayb@pk705vmg.email

Subject: Address!

Date: 26 Feb 1991 13:16:00 -0500


Hi,

IBM follows the VM system which uses userids and nodeids. Vijayb is my useri
d and pk705vmg is my nodeid (in the mainframe IBM m/c). IINUS1 is the system
node-id. IIN manages the Internet gateway wrt email access to and from IBM.

BTW, I received the August issue of Indian Railways and learnt that a second
line has been inaugurated from Tambaram to Chengalpattu in the Madras Egmore -
Villupuram section. This caters especially to commuter traffic between Tambar
am and Chengalpattu. This line is also electrified.

Vijay

From: T.K. Lakshman <lakshman@cs.email

Subject: Re:Re: Address!

Date: 26 Feb 1991 14:06:00 -0500


welcome back vijay,

about railways in iraq: well, I'm sure they have a few. In fact I believe
its one of the big indo-iraq joint ventures : rail-expertise for oil.
However, I guess it would be hard to build and maintain rail lines in
deserts especially the broad guage (1.69? m) variety. That is one of the
reasons I've heard being cited for there being so many metre guage lines in
Rajasthan that have NOT been converted to broad guage.

lakshman

From: Dheeraj Sanghi <>

Subject: Re: I'm back!

Date: 27 Feb 1991 11:28:00 -0500


I am back too after a six week vacation in India. I did not travel
a lot by train but did go to Bombay (Rajdhani both ways), Agra
(Shatabdi both ways) and Kanpur (Shatabdi both ways).

The reservation facility at the New Delhi Rly Stn has been much improved.
There are about 50 counters at ND and lots more at the Delhi Jn and
at a dozen different locations all over Delhi. At ND, you do not stand
in the queue anymore. You get a coupon on which your number and the
counter number is written. You wait for that number to be displayed
on the counter. People would usually take more than one coupons and
whichever counter is faster, you use that coupon. This was very
convenient for me, since I had to make lots of reservations while I
was in Delhi (there was lots of guests at home because of a family
function and they had asked me to get the reservations). Previously,
one could get only one reservation done after 45 minutes in the queue.
Now I could get 3-4 coupons at intervals of few minutes each, and
then get all the reservations I want one after the other.

There were some counters which were exclusively for women, and where
no coupon was necessary. There were some counters exclusively to give
information on availability of seats, fares, confirmation of waiting
lists and other information. There were enough of them to ensure that
one could get such information in a few minutes. There were some
counters where one could get reservations in trains starting at
other towns. One could reserve seats in trains starting from Bombay,
Calcutta, Madras, Ahemdabad, Hyderabad, Bhopal and some more I don't
remember. This was very convenient. They have even started accepting
charge cards for train reservations. There was only one counter, and
they only accepted Bob-card and Andhra-bank card.

Security at the reservation building was tight. No hand bags allowed
inside. One goes through the metal detectors, and random manual
searches. There were even counters to listen to your complaints which
were usually solved right then. There were TV screens showing availabilty
of seats/births in all important trains in all classes for the next
one month. (This has been there for over two years now.)

Since I travelled only in the most prestigious trains, I cannot comment
on the quality of service provided in general. I was mostly satisfied,
except on my return journey from Bombay when most of the train staff
was on strike. No food in Rajdhani, no music or news, no TT etc. They
did refund 40 Rs. to everyone on the train. There was some temporary
employee who checked the tickets and gave money to every ticket holder.
The train stopped at every major station so that the passengers can buy
their own food.

In the Shatabdi Exp to Kanpur, they had a 1-minute tape about every
town on the way. I thought this was a neat idea. They even kept telling
us that the train is on time, or late by so many minutes etc.

I had an opportunity to see the new automated signalling system at
a local station in Delhi. No heavy levers to be pulled. Complete signalling
is done by push of a few buttons, and the computer won't let you make
mistakes.

The gulf-war had a very negative effect on the Indian Railways. Apart
from stopping of projects in the Gulf, there were problems at home.
The diesel was in the short supply. (I suspect this was more due to
shortage of foreign exchange than due to non-availability of diesel
in the world market. In fact the world prices had crashed after the
war started.) IR had to cancel many trains, including some long-distance
trains like Ferozepur Bombay Exp. AC services were curtailed on some
trains.

Railways have got a very bad deal in the proposed next 5-year plan
The budgetary support has dwindled, and Railways will have to generate
more resources internally. They are borrowing from the public, and
are asking state govts. to support Railway projects in their states.
Work on the Konkan Railway has started with support from Kerala govt.
and some public financing.

The situation of coaches and engines is quite bad. In fact there is
hardly any spare capacity. Whenever a new train is introduced, some
goods train has to be cancelled elsewhere. Now they have decided not
to introduce any new train for some time now, cancel trains where
the loading factor is very low, and give more priority to goods train.
(Lets see how long the Railway minister can resist the pressure of
his constituents for new trains.) There was some talk about increasing
the production of both engines and coaches, but the current plants
have very little room for extensions, and new plants are out of
question in the current financial state.

-dheeraj

From: vijayb <vijayb@pk705vmg.email

Subject: This and that!

Date: 27 Feb 1991 15:44:00 -0500


Hi,

Welcome back, Dheeraj, after your "luxurious" train travel in India.
As far as the Bhopal Shatabdi is concerned, could you feel the differenc
in speeds when compared to other trains (~ 40 kmph). Also, what is the
maximum speed of the Kanpur Shatabdi? 120 kmph. or more?

> other towns. One could reserve seats in trains starting from Bombay,
> Calcutta, Madras, Ahemdabad, Hyderabad, Bhopal and some more I don't

IR was supposed to have set-up links between Bombay-Calcutta and Bombay-
Madras for return reservations facility. Any idea what stage is it in?

> I had an opportunity to see the new automated signalling system at
>a local station in Delhi. No heavy levers to be pulled. Complete signaling
> is done by push of a few buttons, and the computer won't let you make
> mistakes.

As far as I know, the Delhi-Mughal Sarai "A" Route of the NR railway
is being currently experimented with using modern signalling equipment.
I guess this includes centralized cabin operations including route
interlocking, operation of signals, etc.

> The gulf-war had a very negative effect on the Indian Railways. Apart
> from stopping of projects in the Gulf, there were problems at home.

IR does manage a reaonable no. of projects in Iraq. Two companies,
RITES (Rail India Technical and Educational Services (?)), and IRCON
(Indian Railway Construction Co. (?)) handle the bulk of these projects
In fact, some sectors have Indian personnel handling catering to
passenger traffic (I am not sure which ones, though)

I wonder what the current status of electrification in IR is. It would
be a pity if this has been slowed down due to the war. The Nagpur-
Itarsi section must have been electrified by now. The Bhusaval-Itarsi
and Busaval-Durg sections mist also be nearing completion.


Regards,

Vijay

From: Swami srinivasan <swami@chtm.email

Subject: Calcutta Metro

Date: 27 Feb 1991 11:41:00 -0500


I have a few photos of the Cal metro that i had taken in July'89
before coming over to the US. If anyone wants, i can send a couple of
copies.

"Civilians" aren't supposed to take pictures in the Metro. The
authorities are quite strict about it and cameras have been confiscated
in some cases. i trekked over to the Chief Operations Manager sitting
in the Kalighat station building and sweet-talked him into giving me
permission. So he wrote out a note saying that all metro authorities are
to help me in any way possible! And it worked miracles with the station
masters in Park St and Esplanade! Unfortunately i couldn't afford a good
camera or too many snaps, so i took only four. That's one thing i like
about Cal - you can always reason with people into letting you do what
you want.

Why would deserts be so bad for railway lines?

swami srinivasan

From: vijayb <vijayb@pk705vmg.email

Subject: Taking photos!

Date: 27 Feb 1991 16:53:00 -0500


Hi Folks,

Swami's mail reminds me of a similar incident at Bombay Central. This was
around March 1985 when security had been strengthened at imp. railway stns. in
view of the Punjab crisis. I cooly trotted off to the Rajdhani Exp. twin
diesel locos. and snapped a couple of shots, without realizing the consequences
. The driver was upon me within a flash, and I somehow managed to retain the
film roll with me. I then went to the Western Rly. Public Relations officer.
He was quite happy to 'discover' a train addict. After having engaged in a lo
ng conversation with him, during which I managed to get hold of some photos and
pamphlets as well, I proceeded back to Bombay Central with the written permissi
on. Naturally, I was treated with the utmost respect and I finished an entire
reel that day.

One of my prized photos is an enlarged photograph of the WAP-1 Rajdhani
elec. loco. at the Ghaziabad loco. shed. This was sent to be by my uncle in
Delhi, who was in the Railway Board at that time.


Regards,

Vijay

From: anand <anand@top.email

Subject: Re: Taking photos!

Date: 27 Feb 1991 17:36:00 -0500


I have taken numerous photos of various train from the Tilak Bridge
station near New Delhi. My brother and I would go there every day and
wait for the Howrah Rajdhani which was pulled by a WDM 4 in those
days.

I dont ever remember anyone stopping me. The station master saw me
taking photos but he never seemed to object. I guess that they have
really tightened up nowadays.

On another note, I do find our Indian attitude to photo taking truly
moronic. Apparently according to some ancient British law, it is
prohibited to take photos of *any* government office or civil works
such as dams, bridges or highways. This is clearly an instance of an
unenforceable law in my opinion.

R. Anand
anand@top.email
School of Computer and Information Science
Syracuse University