IRFCA Mailing List Archive
Messages 781 - 800
From: C. S. Sudarshana Bhat <B536HIND@UTARLVM1.EMAIL
Subject: Broad Gauge from Manmad to Aurangabad
Date: 13 Feb 1992 00:30:00 -0500
The first BG train from Aurangabad to Bombay was flagged off on the 3rd
of this month, according to a letter I got from home today. Wonder why
it did not make it to the news here? Or did I miss it by mistake? Now
I can have a nice sleep at night while travelling from Bombay to
Aurangabad in summer ... :-) :-) :-) :-)
From: Ajai Banarji <banarji@unixg.email
Subject:
Date: 14 Feb 1992 11:56:00 -0500
AMTRAK CONNECTIONS
Hope some experienced Amtrak travellers could advise on this.
Sometime this year I might travel by Amtrak from Seattle to Rochester NY.
This means travelling by the "Empire Builder" to Chicago and catching the
"Lake Shore Limited" from there.
According to last year's timetable, the E.B. reaches Chicago at 3.40 pm
and the L.S. leaves at 6.25 pm. I guess this is a "guaranteed connection"
according to Amtrak. What happens if you reach Chicago late? Do they put
you on the next day's train? How about overnight hotel bills? Or do they
just pay some compensation and brush you off?
Do you feel I should make a reservation for the same day's Lake Shore or
the next day's?
I will probably be travelling on the Amrailpass (or whatever it is called),
if that makes a difference.
From: aravind <aravind@vax135.email
Subject: titbits from misc.news.southasia
Date: 14 Feb 1992 18:35:00 -0500
KONKAN RAILWAY EQUITY ESCALATES TO RS. 400 CRORE
B'LORE - The original equity capital of Konkan Railway of Rs. 250 cr
to be shared between the Indian Railways and three states - Maharastra
Karnataka and Kerala and the Union Territory of Goa - has escalated
to Rs. 400 crore, Konkan Railway sources told PTI here today.
(airline news)
NRI STARTS NEW AIRWAYS
NEW DELHI - A private- sector airlines has been started by a Gulf-
based non-resident Indian to link Bombay with 15 major cities and
later to run a charter air taxi between Saudi Arabia and India to
cater to the increasing Haj pilgrim traffic. The Managing Director of
the East West Airlines, Mr. Thakiyudden A. W., told a press conference
here today that the airlines with its base at Bombay would on Feb. 23
start flights to Cochin and M'lore, Calicut, Madras, Hyderabad,
Coimbatore, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Pune, New Delhi, Madurai, Trivandrum and
Udaipur.
13 NEW TRAINS MAY BE ANNOUNCED
NEW DELHI - Union Railway Minister C.K. Jaffer Sharief is likely to
announce the introduction of 13 new trains in the Railway budget
which he presents on the 25th of this month.
(i guess one of these is his favorite, a "rajdhani-like"
train between bangalore and newdelhi???)
aravind
From: C. S. Sudarshana Bhat <B536HIND@UTARLVM1.EMAIL
Subject: Amtrak
Date: 14 Feb 1992 23:04:00 -0500
This is in reply to Ajai's query. I have NO EXPERIENCE on Amtrak whatsoever,
but I called them, and the guy said that the connection from the Empire
Builder onto the Lakeshore Limited is a guaranteed connection, and they'll
put you on the next available service if there's a delay and the connection
is missed. Now, I don't what they mean by 'next available service'! ;-) ;-)
Anyway, there's a toll-free number you could call from Canada too, and it
is 1(800)4-AMTRAK (This is assuming that you don't have this number, Ajai ...).
BTW, the number within the USA is 1(800)USA-RAIL.
From: Ajai Banarji <banarji@unixg.email
Subject:
Date: 18 Feb 1992 15:05:00 -0500
NEWS ETC.
Thanks to those who responded to the Amtrak query. I do have some
of their literature. There seems to be a $299 fare which covers travel
anywhere on Amtrak in a 45-day period. The earlier brochure says there is
a limit of 3 stopovers, but when I called recently they said that there is
no limit on stopovers. I suppose there are many different deals.
Some minor news from India...
Northern Railway announced that all its passenger services are diesel or
electric hauled now. The last holdouts on the Chunar-Chopan section were
dieselised recently.
Computerised reservation is now functioning in 22 centers and will be
started in 8 others soon. There is an additional surcharge for tickets
bought through the computer system.
In Bangladesh, work is to start on the long-awaited bridge over the
Brahmaputra (the locals call it the Jamuna) at Sirajganj. This will
include a metre-gauge line. This will be the only bridge over the Jamuna
in Bangladesh.(As it is metre-gauge, anyone travelling from western Bangladesh
will have to change trains here.) No chance of a Calcutta-Dhaka train yet.
From: VIJAYB <VIJAYB@PK705VMG.EMAIL
Subject: New trains!
Date: 19 Feb 1992 08:59:00 -0500
Thanks for the recent news, Ajai and Aravind. Now that we are aware that
13 new trains are in the works, how about a little speculation?
1. Ajanta Sagar Exp. :- Bombay - Aurangabad
Superfast, completely vestibuled and reserved, has its own distinctive
color (white-n-blue)
Has I class, II class and AC Chair Car service
Halts:- Dadar (Up dirn. only), Nasik Rd., Manmad.
Takes about 7 hrs. Leaves Aurangabad in the morning and arrives at
Bombay V.T. in the afternoon. Same train goes back as Dn. exp.
Is hauled by an AC-DC elec. loco. between Bombay and Manmad (thus, no
loco. changeover needed at Igatpuri)
2. New Delhi - Bangalore "Rajdhani-type" exp.
Name:- Let me take a wild guess........Bharat Exp., Rajdhani Exp.,
The Royal Queen :-)
Halts :- Jhansi, Bhopal, Nagpur, Kazipet, Secunderabad, Wadi Chord
and Guntakal.
How about a new superfast train between Bombay V.T. and Bangalore City,
and another train between Bombay Central and Chittaugarh (via Kota)?!
Regards,
Vijay
From: Ajai Banarji <banarji@unixg.email
Subject:
Date: 23 Feb 1992 13:51:00 -0500
NEWS CLIPS
The government plans to set up light rail systems in 12 large cities. The
first one will be in Hyderabad/Secunderabad. It will be run by an independent
company in which the government will have a minority stake.
The Rajdhani stop at Allahabad is to be withdrawn.
As you know, the railway budget will be released on Feb 25. Details of new
trains etc. may not appear in the local papers like India West, India Abroad
etc. If anyone gets papers from India, please post the details. (I could
do it, but there is a 15-day delay at our place.)
From: VIJAYB <VIJAYB@PK705VMG.EMAIL
Subject:
Date: 27 Feb 1992 16:28:00 -0500
Hi Folks,
Here's an article that appeared on s.c.i., recently.
.....................................................................
From: bala@research.email (Bala Krishnamurthy)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: Steam Engines to Disappear from Indian Countryside
Keywords: Steam Engines Alvida
apnews reports:
NEW DELHI, India (AP) - Long after steam trains disappeared from
many countries, thousands of the picturesque engines have continued
to chug along India's rails. Now, their final stops have been
scheduled.
Under a plan announced Tuesday, the last 2,815 steam engines
will be gone by the turn of the century.
Railway Minister C.K. Jaffer Sharief passed sentence on the
relics during a budget speech in parliament, drowning the news in a
tide of figures on revised fares, freight charges and new lines.
The end of the age of steam is part of India Railways' plan to
boost income. The plan also includes steep fare increases of up to
20 percent for first-class passengers and raising freight charges
7.5 percent.
The anger over the rate increases has drowned out most wails of
sentiment over the demise of the steam engine, which was an
integral element in the development of modern-day India.
Since the first 21-mile trip from Bombay to Thana in 1853, the
railroad has been a vehicle of social as well as commercial
transition for India.
A nation of diverse peoples and languages, India began to be
welded together by the iron highways laid by the British colonizers
and by the nizams and maharajas of the princely states.
In more recent years, the railroad spurred migration to the
cities.
Although diesel engines came to India in the 1960s, India
manufactured steam engines until 1971. At one time, 12,000 of the
huffing trains plied the rails.
Only the branch lines still have steam engines, which mostly
have been replaced by diesels and a few electric engines on the
trunk lines.
India's railroad provides affordable transportation to a rural
nation with a per capita annual income of $360.
Even with the proposed fare hike, an Indian can make a 40-hour
ride from New Delhi to Madras - 1,360 miles - for $8.
He'll have to ride on a wooden bench in a crowded carriage, but
for $86 - after the proposed fare increase - he can have one of
four berths in an air conditioned compartment.
........................................................................
I am dying to know the details of the rly. budget, esp. info.
regarding introduction of new trains, any changes to existing schedules
and new projects (new lines, doubling and electrification).
Ajai writes:
> The Rajdhani stop at Allahabad is to be withdrawn.
How about removing other politically "instigated" halts such as Kota
for the Bombay Rajdhani exp. ?! (the AC exp. could halt there, instead)
IR issues '69 and '73
---------------------
Here's some interesting info. from past issues of Indian Railways,
as far as I can remember.
1. The Golconda Exp. was introduced between Vijayawada and Secunderabad
and was the fastest steam-hauled train at that time. Avg. speed ->
~70 kmph., with ~9 coaches.
2. The Rajdhani exps. had no passenger halts at the time of introduction
The Howrah Rajdhani used to travel at a max. speed of 120 kmph. which
was later increased to 130 kmph. in 1972. I guess this has been
brought back to 120 kmph., which is the speed potential of a WAP1
elec. loco. hauling an 18 coach train. The Bombay Rajdhani travels
at a max. speed of 120 kmph.
3. The Howrah Madras Mail was the first train to be dieselized, way back
in 1965. The GT exp. followed suit. The Howrah-Bombay Mail via
Nagpur was dieselized sometime in '69. Just before that, it used to
be hauled by elec. locos. between Bombay V.T. and Bhusaval and
Chakradharpur and Howrah.
4. The first batch of WAM4s appeared in 1971, before which mainly
goods trains used to be hauled by elec. locos (except in the Mughal
Sarai - Howrah section, where WAM2/3s were being employed).
5. In 1972, a comparison of speeds of the fastest trains in various
sections showed that the Brindavan Exp. was the most efficient in
terms of the avg. speed to max. speed ratio (75 / 100). The Howrah
Rajdhani Exp. was next with 63% (82 / 130).
6. One of the articles compared the "twin queens" of the Central Rly.,
The Deccan Queen and The Taj Exp. The elec. hauled Deccan Queen
used to travel at a max. speed of ~95 kmph. with ~14 coaches. The Taj exp. had
steam-hauled Taj exp. had a max. speed of ~90 kmph. with ~10 coaches
More info. from these issues, later.
Regards,
Vijay
From: Dheeraj Sanghi <dheeraj>>
Subject: AP news report on the budget.
Date: 28 Feb 1992 16:11:00 -0500
Vijay had posted an article from SCI which was AP news item on the
Indian Railway budget.
I found the article very annoying as it seemed to have been written
by someone who had no knowledge about IR.
> Under a plan announced Tuesday, the last 2,815 steam engines
> will be gone by the turn of the century.
The plan is really a 20 year plan as the reporter himself has noted
later on that IR stopped manufacturing steam engines in 1971. Life
time of a typical steam engine is about 30 years. So, it was decided
then that we will get rid of all steam engines by year 2000. There
have been demands from electrical engineers' lobby (supported by
many economist, environmentalists etc.) to phase them out faster,
but mechanical engineers' lobby (which is numerically lot stronger)
has opposed such plans. In almost every budget, the Railway minister
present his estimate of the time when the last steam engine will be
retired, and except on rare occasions the date has been 2000 or 2001.
(I remember once it was suggested as 1995.) So there is no novelty
in the plan announced Tuesday.
> Railway Minister C.K. Jaffer Sharief passed sentence on the
> relics during a budget speech in parliament, drowning the news in a
> tide of figures on revised fares, freight charges and new lines.
> The anger over the rate increases has drowned out most wails of
> sentiment over the demise of the steam engine, which was an
> integral element in the development of modern-day India.
The reporter seems to be suggesting that if the rate increases were
not proposed, there would have been a huge outcry over the plan to
phase out steam locos. Any basis for such assumption ??
> Even with the proposed fare hike, an Indian can make a 40-hour
> ride from New Delhi to Madras - 1,360 miles - for $8.
> He'll have to ride on a wooden bench in a crowded carriage, but
Is any train on New Delhi - Madras route still left with wooden
benches. I would have thought that most long distance trains now
have cushioned 2nd class coaches. They stopped making non-cushioned
coaches in 1978.
-dheeraj
From: Dheeraj Sanghi <dheeraj@cs.email
Subject: A question about IIIrd class.
Date: 28 Feb 1992 16:13:00 -0500
I would like to know what was the difference in amenities in a 2nd clas
coach and a 3rd class coach before the 3rd class was discontinued on
Indian trains in 1972 (??). If the difference between different classes
was significant, then what did they do with the coaches of the lower
class. Clearly they couldn't dump them all, nor should they charge
2nd class fare for the 3rd class coach.
-dheeraj
From: aravind <aravind@vax135.email
Subject: ap news
Date: 28 Feb 1992 18:25:00 -0500
i agree wholeheartedly with Dheeraj that the ap news guy was just
like any other western reporter (assuming he is one)... one who
has only a cursory knowledge of what he's writing about.
The Madras-NewDelhi journey on the TNexp takes only 33 hrs.
in fact, the madras-newdelhi trains have the distinction that the
two fastest trains run daily, and the slowest trains like Madras-
Jammu exp and Himsagar exp don't run on all days.
Is this true of some other pair of terminii?
aravind
From: aravind <aravind@vax135.email
Subject: 3rd and 2nd class
Date: 28 Feb 1992 18:33:00 -0500
If my memory serves me right, IR discontinued in ~1972 the THEN second
class, which consisted of cushioned coaches without privacy. The THEN
third class was re-designated as "second" class. The cushions in the
THEN second-class coaches were pulled out so that all "lower-class
passengers" could have the pleasure of traveling on wooden benches.
The fare structure for the THEN second class was also replaced by the
fare structure of the THEN third class ...
(Ajai: you probably remember this exercise. correct me if I'm off the
mark ..)
aravind
From: Shriram Revankar <revankar@cs.email
Subject: Re: AP news report on the budget.
Date: 28 Feb 1992 22:44:00 -0500
From dheeraj@cs.email Fri Feb 28 17:27:39 1992
To: VIJAYB@pk705vmg.email
Cc: irfca@cs.email
Subject: AP news report on the budget.
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 92 17:11:11 -0500
From: Dheeraj Sanghi <dheeraj@cs.email
Status: R
I agree with all the previous points.
> The anger over the rate increases has drowned out most wails of
> sentiment over the demise of the steam engine, which was an
> integral element in the development of modern-day India.
The reporter seems to be suggesting that if the rate increases were
not proposed, there would have been a huge outcry over the plan to
phase out steam locos. Any basis for such assumption ??
I had read about this in Deccan Herald a few years back (1985). At
that time there was a strong push to phase out Steam Locos by 1995.
Against this push there was a very sentimental article that covered
several routes -- the route I remembered was Chandigharh(sp ?) to
Simla. It was a well written article and I finished the article with
an impression that a few of them can be kept on non-commercial lines.
Is any train on New Delhi - Madras route still left with wooden
benches. I would have thought that most long distance trains now
have cushioned 2nd class coaches. They stopped making non-cushioned
coaches in 1978.
----I have traveled in GT in 1986 to DELHI on Wooded seats -- those
bars with gaps. May be I am different, I prefer them (sleeping only)
over the synthetic cushions especially on a hot day, and the days are
hot most of the time.
-dheeraj
Shriram
From: Ajai Banarji <banarji@unixg.email
Subject:
Date: 29 Feb 1992 17:01:00 -0500
This and that
I agree with Sriram that it is quite possible that some 2nd class coaches
on long-distance trains may still have wooden seats. By and large, most
prestigious or semi-prestigious expresses have cushioned seats. But trains
like the Madras-Jammu are quite slow and certainly not prestigious. I would
not be surprised if it still had wooden seats.
The renaming of 3rd class to 2nd class came into being on April 1, 1974.
There was no big deal about the demise of 2nd class since there very few of
them anyway. As far as I remember, the new 2nd class had the same fare
structure as the old 3rd class.
Things were more complicated earlier on. During the British days there were
actually 4 classes (first, second, inter and third), which rose to 5 when
AC services started in the late 1930s. The AC chair car came in the 1950s
and the AC 2-tier in the late 1970s. The first class of those days was
considerably more luxurious than that of today; probably most of you are
too young to remember the 6-berth compartments with attached washroom and
no corridor. The first class of today actually corresponds to the second
class of those days. In general, the first class was meant for the big bosses
like the army officers while the second class was meant for the less affluent
Europeans like soldiers. Similarly the inter class was meant for "the better
class of natives" and third class for everyone else. In the early 20th century
third class coaches generally did not have luxuries like lights, fans or
washrooms.
Anyway, soon after independence the government decided to make a symbolic
gesture by abolishing first class. What this meant was that no more first class
coaches would be built, while the existing 2nd class coaches were renamed
1st class. This was in the early 1950s, but the old 1st class coaches were
still around till the early 1970s.
I thought they were all gone long ago, but I was mistaken. In late 1987 I
travelled in one of them from Jaipur to Delhi. This was actually a combined
1st-cum-ACC wooden coach which ran on the Delhi-Jaipur segment of the AhmedabadMail. I don't remember the date of manufacture of this coach, but remember thatit was built in the Ajmer workshop. Possibly it had survived all this time
since Perambur hadn't yet got round to building metre-gauge AC coaches. In fact, in around 1984 the same Ahmedabad Mail had one of the very few AC 2-tier
coaches on the entire metre-gauge network.
Anyway, the current Bradshaw mentions the new-fangled ACC-cum-Ac 2-tier
coaches on this route, so that old coach must have retired by now.
From: Ajai Banarji <banarji@unixg.email
Subject:
Date: 29 Feb 1992 20:09:00 -0500
The Trains of Bangladesh
(Note: this was aimed at soc.culture.bangladesh)
Quite right, we have had enough of these theological discussions. Perhaps
this will start things in a different direction.
In some ways Bangladesh's railways are more progressive than those of India
and Pakistan, since they got rid of steam engines some years ago.
According to Thomas Cook's overseas timetable, there are a couple of trains
which run non-stop from Dhaka to Chittagong (346 km) and from Dhaka to Noakhali
(257 km). Do these trains really run without stopping? The longest non-stop
run on India's metre-gauge network is less than 200 km.
A question about the ferries across the Jamuna. Do they ferry coaches across,
or do the passengers have to get on the boats themselves?
I saw a report that the proposed Jamuna bridge is to be built at Sirajganj
and will carry a metre-gauge line. This doesn't seem to make much sense, as
the existing line to Sirajganj is broad-gauge. So anyone travelling from, say,
Rajshahi to Dhaka would have to change trains at Sirajganj. It would have been
better to have a broad-gauge line on the bridge and conversion of the existing
line to Dhaka, but I suppose funds are a constraint.
A recent article in an Indian paper talked about the problems of defending
Tripura's border against Bangladesh, pointing out that the border line runs
through villages and even houses. It was mentioned that the main Dhaka-Chitta
gong line passes very near the border (less than 100 metres away at a place
called Kamalasagar). So it is easy for Indian spies :-) to go to Dhaka or
Chittagong, as there is hardly any security on the border.
In fact, this station was called Kamalasagar prior to partition. It was
later renamed Quasba. There is a town called Belonia in Tripura, though the
station is in Bangladesh. Similarly, the town of Hili is in West Bengal, but
the station is in Bangladesh. In fact, the Radcliffe Commission deliberately
altered the border here so that the railway line fell in the East, as otherwise
there would be no connection to places like Dinajpur and Rangpur.
Coming back to Tripura. Akhaura station is about two minutes walk from the
border. The Agartala airport runway is within 50 metres of the border.
Some of my relatives used to live at a place near Kulaura. One of them was
studying in a Calcutta college in the years just after partition. You may wonder how people travelled from Calcutta to Kulaura in the 1950s. It was fairly simple; she caught a plane from Calcutta to Agartala (they had those heavily subsidized fares even then), walked from the runway past the border (no immigration or customs in those days, at best there was a lone constable ) and boarded a train from Akhaura. I wonder if this would be possible nowadays.
A long time back there was some talk of Indo-Bangla co-operation in using
the Maishashan-Kulaura-Akhaura rail route as a link between Agartala and
Silchar. This would be convenient for both sides as the Bangladesh railways
would gain a lot of revenue. But nothing more was heard of this.
There are other possibilities. The Darjeeling Mail was the crack train of
the old East Bengal Railway. In the 1930s it took about 9 hours from Sealdah
to Siliguri. Even today, with dieselization it takes over 11 hours over the
Indian route.
In the 1930s, it was possible to travel from Sealdah to Silchar in about
24 hours (involving a boat trip from Goalundo to Chandpur). Today, at best
you can do it in 48 hours. (In the 1950s, it was probably closer to 72 hours
as neither the broad gauge line to Assam nor the Brahmaputra bridge at Gauhati
existed then.
Both India and Bangladesh have a lot to gain if Indian road and rail
transport could pass through Bangladesh on their way to Assam and the other
north-eastern states. Sadly, there are plenty of problems to be solved before
one can think of this.
From: Dheeraj Sanghi <dheeraj>>
Subject:
Date: 01 Mar 1992 13:25:00 -0500
> Things were more complicated earlier on. During the British days
> there were actually 4 classes (first, second, inter and third),
> which rose to 5 when AC services started in the late 1930s.
Didn't they remove third class (and renamed inter class to third
class) before AC service was introduced. My recollection from reading
the IR history is that the 4 class system was only for a very few
years in late 19th century or early 20th century.
-dheeraj
From: Ajai Banarji <banarji@unixg.email
Subject:
Date: 02 Mar 1992 13:39:00 -0500
The Class System on IR
In reply to Dheeraj's question:
I glanced through the 1934 and 1942 Bradshaws. In both of them most of
the railways had first, second, inter and third. Roughly, first class was
6 times costlier than third. Second was about 4 times more, and inter was
twice as high.
A few railways like South Indian (corresponding to MG portion of SR) had
no inter class. Some smaller railways had just upper and lower classes.
The 1942 Bradshaw briefly mentioned AC services on a few trains (Bombay-
Allahabad-Howrah Mail and the Frontier Mail from Bombay to Peshawar). There
was no separate fare table, but there was a surcharge over the first class
fare. Incidentally, for several years after the introduction of AC 2-tier
there was no separate fare table, but just a surcharge over first class
fare. It started at Rs 25 up to 500 km and rose to Rs 75 above 1500 km.
In the 19th century there used to be a fourth-class which was probably
nothing more than a goods wagon-even seats were not felt necessary. I
think that gradually they changed 3rd class to Inter and 4th class to
3rd.
Coming back to the old Bradshaws, one sometimes gets insights into the
conditions of society in those days. For instance, in the time-table for
the Tuticorin-Colombo ship there was a fare table like this:
First Class Second Class Reserved Deck Unreserved Deck
With meals Without With meals Without With meals Without With meals w/o
Thus there were 8 different fares. There were footnotes like:
Only Indians are entitled to pay for first and second class tickets with
the no-meal option.(i.e. the Europeans had to pay for the meals anyway)
European and Anglo-Indian ladies are not allowed to travel below second
class.
The Reserved Deck with meal option was only available to Anglo-Indian males.
Mind you, this was in the 1930s. British racism in India was even worse
earlier-remember the opening scene of "Gandhi" where he is ejected from a train. That used to be fairly common in India earlier.
From: aravind <aravind@vax135.email
Subject: news from m.n.s.
Date: 05 Mar 1992 08:38:00 -0500
>From : G.N. Reddy
Source : The Deccan Chronicle (Hyderabad)
Date : Feb 28, 1992
Country : India
Status: RO
* * *
New Delhi: Feb 27:
New Trains to be introduced from July 1, are:
Sealdah-Haldibari/New Cooch Behar Express (tri-weekly)
Vadodara-Valsad inter-city Express
Varanasi-Gorakhpur Inter-city Express
Guwahati-New Bongaigaon Passenger
Bombay-Bangalore Superfast Express
Virar-Dahanu Road Passenger
Secunderabad-Vijayawada inter-city Express
Madras-Bangalore Superfast Express
Vijayawada-Madras Inter-city Express
A new train between Hyderabad and Bidar and link Express between Bidar and
Bangalore to be combined with Hampi Express at Guntakal
Mysore-Tirupati Express
Nizamuddin-Kota-Indore Express
Trivendrum-Gandhidham Express (weekly)
Sikar-Loharu-Delhi Express
Bhadrachalam-Secundrabad Passenger
The following trains are to be extended:
A direct train service between Kumarghat and Guwahati by extending the
Lumding-Dhrmanager Passenger Train up to Kumarghat and linking it to the
Barak Valley Express at Lumding.
Samdari-Palampur Passenger up to Mahesana.
The frequency of Howrah-Jamalpur Express to be increased from three days
a week to daily.
A weekly Rajdhani-Express from New Delhi to Secunderabad and Bangalore
proposed to be introduced in 1992-93.
The projects for new lines and sections totalling 277 km targetted for
opening in the current year are:
Trichur-Guruvayoor
Amguri-Tuli
Allepy-Kanyakulam
Telapur-Patancheru
Adilabad-Pimpalkutti
Gwalior-Panihar of the Guna Etawah project
Lakshmikanthapur-Kulpi
Jammu-Bajalta
Rampur-Bilaspur
Damanjodi-Lakshmipur
Sections of new lines programmed to be opened in 1992-93 are:
Rampur Road-Rewa of the Satna-Rewa Project
Bilaspur-Lalkua of the Rampur--New Haldwani Project
Gwalior-Sanichara of the Guna-Etawah Project
Mathura-Deeg of the Mathura-Alwar Project
Challakere-Rayadurg of Chitradurg-Rayadurg Project
Dindigul-Madurai of the Karur-Dindigul-Tuticorin project
Lakshmipur-Singapuram road of the Korapur-Rayagada project and
Talcher-Angul and Sambalpur-Maneswar of the Talcher-Sambalpur project.
With the Opening of these sections, totalling 367km, three projects,
Satna-Rewa, Chitradurg-Rayadurg and Koraput-Rayaguda would be completed.
Proposals for Broad Gauge Lines from:
Peddapalli to Nizamabad via Karimnager
and Raichur to Gadwal are being sent to the Planning Commission.
* End *
From: VIJAYB <VIJAYB@PK705VMG.EMAIL
Subject: Rly. budget!
Date: 06 Mar 1992 17:57:00 -0500
Hi Folks,
Here are my comments on the rly. budget:
>New Trains to be introduced from July 1, are:
>Sealdah-Haldibari/New Cooch Behar Express (tri-weekly)
Would have to split at New Jalpaiguri Jn., from where one portion
would go off to Haldabari.
>Varanasi-Gorakhpur Inter-city Express
I hope its a prestigious train with limited halts, vestibuled rakes,
etc. It would employ the Varanasi-Aunrihar-Mau-Bhatni-Gorakhpur route
>Bombay-Bangalore Superfast Express
Great news! I hope that it is atleast 5 hrs. faster than the
Udyan Exp. and has no more than 3 halts (Pune, Solapur, Guntakal).
>Madras-Bangalore Superfast Express
Maybe just a couple of halts (Katpadi, Jolarpettai). Could be a
Shatabdi-type train similar to what Ajai mentioned earlier. Would
Madras-Bangalore be completed electrified by July?
>A new train between Hyderabad and Bidar and link Express between Bidar nd
>Bangalore to be combined with Hampi Express at Guntakal
Bidar lies on the Parli-Vaijnath Vikrabad line. The Bidar Bangalore
link exp. would employ the Bidar-Vikrabad-Wadi Chord-Raichur-Guntakal
route.
>Mysore-Tirupati Express
Would the Mysore-Bangalore City BG line be operational by July?
>Nizamuddin-Kota-Indore Express
Makes sense to introduce such a train, since Nizamuddin-Kota-Nagda-
Ujjain-Indore is shorter than Nizamuddin-Jhansi-Bhopal-Ujjain-Indore.
One of my fantasy trains is the Indore-Amritsar Exp. which travels along
the former route.
>Trivendrum-Gandhidham Express (weekly)
Most probably shares its schedule with the Trivandrum-Rajkot Exp.
till Viramgam.
It's surprising that there is no mention of a new train between
Bombay V.T. and Aurangabad. Looks like they decide to extend the
Panchavati Exp. after all (tchah!)
Have a nice weekend,
Vijay
From: Ajai Banarji <banarji@unixg.email
Subject:
Date: 06 Mar 1992 18:05:00 -0500
Railway budget and other news
Fortunately there was a railway buff on m.n.s.
To add to Vijay's comments:
Good to see that Bangalore is at last getting the kind of connections it
deserves. Aravind, we expect a treat from you at the next convention :-)
The Mysore-Tirupati express seems to be the only long-distance train on
the Bangalore-Mysore section. Incidentally, a Bangalore-Tirupati train was
proposed in last year's budget but is not seen in the Nov 91 Bradshaw. There
was also a proposal for an Allahabad-Agra express which is also absent from
the Bradshaw.
The Koraput-Rayagada line will be completed this year-it is supposed to
be one of the most difficult construction projects undertaken so far by IR.
Completion of the Alleppey-Kayankulam line will mean a double track from
Ernakulam to Kayanakulam, so some long-distance trains terminating at Cochin
may be extended to Trivandrum.
The first phase of the Jammu-Udhampur line is being opened-perhaps the
Himsagar express will be extended?
Here is some other news from Indian papers in early February:
There is a new Bombay-Aurangabad express. But it is nothing but the existing
Bombay-Bhusaval night passenger. It will continue to run to its existing
timings between Bombay and Manmad. A couple of existing passenger trains
from Pune and Daund to Manmad will be extended to Aurangabad.
The new tourist train of the south is to travel to Bangalore, Mysore, Hassan,
Hospet, Badami, Bijapur and Vasco. Typically it will pick up tourists from
Goa and terminate at Bangalore.