Indian Railways Plans Expansion Outlay of More Than $6 Billion for Railway Improvements

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--India's state-owned railway network provider, Indian Railways (New Delhi) has announced that it will spend about $6.33 billion to upgrade and develop the railway network. Indian Railways is operated and maintained by the Ministry of Railways of the Indias government. The ministry stated that among other areas, investment will be made in signaling systems, acquisition of new locomotive units, setting up a power plant, a railway electrification project and telecommunications installation. The confirmation of this major infrastructure project demonstrates India's determination to keep expansion structures in place during the current global financial crisis.

Indian Railways plans to acquire 8,360 new coaches and equip 200 cars with the three-phase propulsion system. The new coaches will include 1,091 mainline electrical multiple units, 2,873 electrical multiple units (EMU) and 216 coaches for Kolkata Metro. Kolkata Metro is India's first underground metropolitan railway system. The total investment will be around $1.94 billion. EMU is a type of coach that is used mainly in suburban trains. Unlike conventional cars which have to be pulled by a locomotive, EMU coaches have multiple electric motors that make these cars self propelling. MEMU cars, an extension of EMU cars, were developed to meet the increasing traffic and growing commuter demand in industrial towns and state capitals of India. The 3.65-meter-wide EMU used on suburban rail routes could not be utilized since platform levels were low, electrical systems were not compatible, and route and line limitations existed. The MEMU is 3.25 meters wide and has six trailers and two driving cars. Each trailer can accommodate multiple units of eight coaches.

The target during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007--2012) for railway electrification has been increased to 3,500 kilometers of electrification. Some of the routes that will be electrified include Gondia-Ballarsha, Ghaziabad-Moradabad and Shornur-Mangalore. The investment will be around $211.2 million. Indian Railways will also set up a 1,000-megawatt joint venture power plant with NTPC Limited (BOM:532555) (New Delhi). The power project will be located in Nabi Nagar, Bihar, and will be built at a cost of $1.13 billion. A 300-ton coal block will be allocated soon.

Indian Railways is planning to purchase 200 electrical locomotives from Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BOM:500103 ) (New Delhi) at a cost of $1.16 million per unit. The bidding process is also in progress to set up a joint venture company to manufacture 100 locomotive units per year in Madhepura, Bihar. Plans exist to increase production of both diesel and electro motive diesel locomotives at the Diesel Locomotive Works in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

As part of the expansion scheme, Indian Railways will upgrade 2,941 kilometers of railway track, which will require 339,288 tons of steel. Renewal of sleeper sheets along 2,382 kilometers will be carried out, for which 38.59 million pre-stressed concrete (PSC) sleepers will be procured. In order to revamp 44.5 million PSC sleepers, 88,200 tons of steel will be used. This fiscal year 5,000 tons of steel will be used to manufacture channel sleepers, which are used to build railway bridges.

Investments have also been planned for the modernization of railway stations. About 300 stations across India will be developed as model stations, providing waiting lounges for passengers, internet kiosks, medical facilities, ATM banking, railway platform interconnectivity, parking lots for vehicles and access to other modes of transport. Certain stations will be upgraded to the status of "world-class stations." Work on four of these stations has already commenced. A world-class railway station will consist of separate terminals for departures and arrivals, underground multi-level parking for vehicles, uniform length and width of platforms and multi-cuisine restaurants and cafes. The number of platforms will be increased from 12 to 18 in all world-class stations.

Railway signaling systems will also be revamped. Over the next three months, modern electric signaling systems will be installed in 400 stations, 200 of which will receive the intermediate block signaling (IBS) system. The IBS technique provides an additional signal in the section between two neighboring stations. This arrangement is beneficial in routes that have reached capacity limit, as it increases the number of trains that can run on the same line. Automatic block signaling (ABS) systems will be made available along 400 kilometers of routes. The total estimated cost for the signal system project is around $63.3 million. In 2009-10, more than $380.3 million will be utilized to enhance the centralized panel operations in 500 stations and IBS in 200 block stations. Modern electronic locking systems and train anti-collision systems will also be installed in many sections and divisions.

For upgrading of the telecommunication system, $591.5 million has been allocated. By 2011-12, Indian Railways plans to replace the overhead alignment of more than 10,000 kilometers with optical fiber and a quad-cable network. Dense wavelength division multiplexing, a fiber optic data transmission technique, will also be used with modernized networking and switching systems. Mobile train radio communication system will also be installed across many divisions. By 2009-10, Indian Railways plans to develop and strengthen its network to allow heavier trains. The investment is expected to be around $106 million.

Production will be also be enhanced. The manufacture of axles and wheels will be increased 60% compared with production in the last fiscal year. Manufacture of steel bridge girders reached 5,294 tons in October 2008, and this is expected to exceed 8,615 tons by the end of this fiscal year. In 2008-09 3,000 coaches will be manufactured, a 12.5% increase over the last fiscal year.

The Indian Railways employs more than 1.54 million people and runs 11,000 trains every day, including 7000 passenger trains.

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