IREEHISTORY OF ELECTRIC TRACTION –R. K. VIR INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS IREE HISTORY OF ELECTRIC TRACTION –R. K. VIR INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS Name of Book : History of Electric Traction Edition : 1st Edition, July 2010 Author : R.K. Vir Former General Manager Chittranjan Locomotive Works Indian Railway ISBN No. : 8188919-11-X Published by : Institution of Railway Electrical Engineers C/o. Chief Electrical Engineers (Consts.) Northern Railway, Tilak Bridge, New Delhi - 110002 (India) in association with : Shubh Publications M-51, Naveen Shahdara, Delhi - 110032 Designed & Printed by : Maansee Printers B-35D, Dilshad Garden, Delhi - 110095
[email protected] Price : Rs. 500/- All right reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted or spread in any form or by any means without prior permission in writing from Institution of Railway Electrical Engineers, New Delhi. ii DEDICATION This chronicle is dedicated to all workers, staff and officers of the electrical engineering fraternity, whose commitment and toil has contributed to the improvements in the quality of service of Indian Railways, its capacity and financial viability. Some of them are no more. Their efforts which were often beyond normal hours of work and against many odds, have manifested in the infusion of electrical technology right from humble beginnings to the respect which electrical engineering professionals in Indian Railways now command. iii Acknowledgements The very publication of this treatise would not have been possible without the bold initiative by Shri V.K. Dutt (AML) to tell me to go ahead with the writing in spite of bureaucratic hurdles. He also instructed all his senior officers to assist me to gather data from Railways and other sources. It will be difficult task of writing the text without the help of many hands. It will still more difficult to give names of all the individuals, who helped me in the matter. It is however customary to list out a few without whose help the going ahead would have been extremely slow. I will like to mention a few names, whose assistance was extremely valuable. In the Boards office Shri Jaideep DEE (G) helped to get all the information from various Railways. Shri Shalabh Goel was responsible to get me lot of information about CORE. Shri Mayank Tewari Director NRM instructed his staff to render me any assistance, I needed. I got lot of help from the organization of CEE (C) NR, Shri Mehtab Singh I would be hailing in my duty if I do not mention the lot of assistance rendered to me by Deputy CEE (C) Shri Ashok Nakra and his Secretary Shrimati Rajni Bhatt for doing lot of scanning and even typing out large portions of text. Shri Sharat Sharma furnished me the details of DMRC. Shri P C Sehgal responded to my emails in double quick fashion to write about solving the problems of Over Crowded Trains in Mumbai. Shrimati Kavita Sarswat was good enough to let me have the details of Electrical projects being handled by RVNL. I am specially grateful to Shri Pravin Pradhan, CEE/CLW, who furnished all the information I wanted from CLW. I am very grateful to Institution of Railway Electrical Engineers (IREE) for taking initiative in publication of this book. Last but not the least, it I should mention about the patience and tolerance exhibited by my wife Mrs. Chand Vir. She has stood by me in the thick and thin of my career and has always stood by me particularly during the difficult days. She also exhibited extreme patience and tolerance during the period, when I was busy at the computer compiling various chapters of the book I have been her partner in game of Bridge and she had to forgo my companionship during the period. She has always been my mentor and friend, whose benign presence has helped me in my task. B-63, Anand Vihar (R.K. VIR) Delhi-110 092 st 31 May 2010 v Contents Sl. Particulars Page i. Introduction vii ii. Preface ix iii. Prologue x iv. Foreword xi 1. Origin and Growth of Electrical Department 1 2. Initial Activities 6 3. Missionaries and Pioneers 13 4. Evolution of Train Lighting on Indian Railways 18 5. Train Lighting Systems (Modern Phase) 29 6. Evolution of Head Light on Locomotives 46 7. Evolution of Air-conditioned Coaches 49 8. Beginning of RE on Indian Railways 65 9. D.C. Traction on Western Railway 83 10. Electrification on Erstwhile South Indian Railway (1500 V. Dc) 87 11. A Poem about the Electric Traction in India 92 12. DC Electrification in Calcutta 93 13. Solving Mumbai's Problem of Over Crowded Trains 95 14. A.C. Railway Electrification and Creation of CORE 102 15. Role of Chittaranjan Locomotive Works 117 16. Contribution of 'BHEL' to Manufacture Electric Locomotives 127 17. Research and Development 128 18. Indian Railway Institute of Electrical Engineering (IRIEEN) 136 19. Development of Main Line Emus (MEMUs) 142 20. Captive Power Plant - A Joint Venture with NTPC 145 21. Dedicated Freight Corridor Project 149 22. Rail Vikas Nigam Limited 154 23. Metro Railway (Kolkata) 157 24. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation 164 25. Metro Prospects in Other Cities 175 26. Brief CV of Raj Kumar Vir 179 vi Introduction I had written a few chapters concerning Electrical Engineering for publication in “Indian Engineering Heritage (Railways)”. Only a concise version was published. I had thought the effort should not be wasted and handed over the original material to Railway Board for publication in the Souvenir proposed to be brought out at the occasion of Seminar proposed for the celebration of Centenary of Train Lighting System. In January 2003 AML Shri U C D Shreni considered that a book could be brought out by IRIEEN to include the material along with the more matter to complete the entire gamut of all other matters not included in the portion submitted by me. The project however did not take off and when Shri Sudesh Kumar took over, it was considered that RB should bring out a Chronicle at the th Occasion of Golden Jubilee of AC Railway Electrification on 15 Dec. 2009. There were many a bureaucratic hurdle yet to be sorted and I got a green light only in February 2009. According to my estimate, the script should be handed over by end of June to get publisher's Preface and Forewords by ML and CRB The press must be given at least 2 months for initial proof, proof corrections and final printing. This left me less than 5 months to complete the stupendous task. AML however assured me full cooperation and instructed all his officers to help me to furnish what ever data I wanted. Before I got to begin the work, I felt the book should include a chapter on the humble beginning to its present stature. I also felt it should include chapters not only handled by the department itself but also activities of Public Sector Undertakings and also the ones for which Special Purpose Vehicles have been created, involving Railway Electrical Engineers. The scope became much larger than originally anticipated. The cooperation by various agencies was unhesitatingly given to me. The Book therefore includes chapter on DMRC, Kolkatta Metro, Activities of MRVN Ltd. RVNL Captive Power House, Dedicated Freight Corridor Project and a brief about other Metros. Because of its importance a chapter about IRIEEN has also been included The reader may not find the chapters strictly in chronological sequential order. This has been done with a purpose. The book is being issued on the occasion of Golden Jubilee of ac Electrification; I thought it important enough that the initial activities in that connection should get the priority over other chapters. It is followed by “Missionaries and Pioneers”, Later chapters follow the chronological sequential order. One of the main purposes of such publications is to preserve history. After some time passes things get lost sight of and to gather the lost informations almost impossible. As the time schedule to write the book was very short, it is likely that some unintended mistakes would have crept in. It is also likely certain important facts might have been omitted. Historically some dates might be wrong. The author will be obliged if readers point out such omissions and commissions. (R.K. VIR) vii Preface I am really overwhelmed on being asked to write a preface for the present Treatise written and edited by Shri R.K.Vir. He has been the pioneer not only of Railway Electrical engineers but one of the greatest and worthiest officers Indian Railways has had. He joined the Indian Railways when I was just born; therefore to attempt to understand and fathom his work is a great honour for me. In this treatise which I consider as a comprehensive work covering the evolution of Indian Railways alongwith the evolution of Electrical Engineering in Railways. It covers both history as well as technology which is a rare combination. While going through the manuscript one cannot help delving into the nostalgic memories of past and having a vivid run of the events like a movie. One cannot help remember the stalwarts of the Department like Dr. Durairaj, Shri Hattangadi, Shri Natrajan, Shri V. Santhanam, Shri S. Sarath, Shri V.C.V. Chenulu and then all the Members Electrical after Shri V.C.V. Chenulu who was the forerunner. Shri R.K. Vir has been a source of inspiration to all the young electrical engineers who has done many firsts and shown the way to the posterity. Treading in his footsteps many Electrical Engineers have risen and shone brightly in the sky of Indian Railways. This book written by him covers the entire gamut of activities of Electrical Department and the evolution of the technology from train lighting to the Rolling stock, Railway Electrification, EMUs, MEMUs, and the role of Electrical Engineers in each one of the activities. He has also covered the latest developments like the contribution of MRVC in introducing state of art EMUs in Mumbai Suburban System and its role in reducing the over-crowding. Setting up of Power House in joint venture made with NTPC at Nabi Nagar, Metro Railways in Kolkata, DMRC and the Dedicated Freight Corridor. I am sure that this Treatise will be read with great interest by many railwaymen – the retired, serving and new comers. It will be of special interest for the young engineers to know the background behind the present technology and the hard work and dedication of the seniors and stalwarts. It is a great work putting the old and forgotten things together lest it should be lost. Electrical Engineers have a major role to play in meeting the challenges of the future and the vision 2020 which has set the ambitious targets to be achieved by the year 2020. I am sure that railwaymen will be able to achieve targets while working as a team, keeping the interest of the Railways above the departmental interests. We have to take inspiration from the stalwarts like Shri R.K. Vir who despite his advanced years has not let the spirit of a railwayman dampen and has come out with the Great Treatise which deserve to be read and cherished. I am thankful to Shri R.K. Vir for this contribution to the Indian Railways for which he will always be remembered. (S.S. KHURANA) Former Chairman Railway Board ix Prologue Journey by rail in India began with a small and a sure step in April,1853 with a short train of 14 four wheeler coaches hauled by a steam engine from Bori Bunder (Mumbai) to Thane. It must have been a fascinating and an awe- inspiring event then, notwithstanding the time taken, no lights and fans or water on-board. Ever since then, transport by rail continued to grow and become popular. Trains become longer, heavier, faster and with more comfort; availability of trains and on-board facilities is now taken for granted. The aam aadmi of the country enjoys a better life because shorter journey times over longer distances has been made possible by modern electric engines of 6000 horsepower that are now built in-house. Haulage of two-thirds IR's freight and little over half its passenger traffic by electric traction, at less than 42% of fuel cost is very significant for IR's financial health. All this has come about from painstaking efforts of dedicated persons who worked with a missionary zeal during the last fifty years; this book captures almost all events and contribution by all those however many or few they numbered. It would not have been possible to piece together the entire history of electrical engineering in Indian Railways in so accurate a manner without the personal contribution by Shri R.K. Vir who agreed to take up this and to compile the entire story with all its romance, the hard toil and challenges that were met and the success that resulted therefrom in so short a time. I began my career in electric traction under the guidance of Shri R.K. Vir who was then divisional superintendent of that very division, Chakradharpur, from where sprang the supremacy of the freight transport by electric traction and has continued to dominate the transportation scene since then. I remember the challenges which existed then and had the fortune of having been guided by some of the gurus whose contributions find mention in this book. It is indeed impressive that Shri R.K. Vir who was for 36 years in service in IR, has been documenting all the major events which make up this chronicle. I am sure all engineers of the electrical engineering fraternity who read this, will find its contents a valuable gift for which, I on my own behalf and on behalf of all electrical engineering professionals of Indian Railways, record gratitude for the excellent compilation. (SUDESH KUMAR) Member (Electrical) & Ex-officio Secretary, Government of India (Ministry of Railways) x Foreword India missed the third revolution; let us not miss the fourth - Rajiv Gandhi in 1984 when he promised to take India to the 21st Century. The saga of evolution of Electric Traction on Indian Railways is a story of successful managerial change. Electrification has been taken as a synonym with development. Various Ministers of Railways in their Budget Speeches have emphasized the progress of Electrification as a sign of commitment to Development of the area. Increasing awareness of dangers of climate change has revived Railway systems the world over. With use of electric traction, there is opportunity to make Railways more and more green with increased use of New and Renewable energy sources. The author of this Book, Shri R.K. Vir, is a personality who has seen the evolution, progress and coming of age of this modern system from close quarters. In fact, he is one of the architects of this movement. In this valuable volume, the author has described his interactions with world personalities who were pioneers in establishing 25 KV AC electric traction system in the world, a system selected by Indian Railways at a very early stage of development, which became a world standard. He is the first Electrical Engineer to hold the office of Divisional Railway manager on Indian Railways and one of the first few to be elevated as General Manager. This work coming from his pen has got historical value. This is a store house of information regarding events of Electric Traction. At the same time the expansion of Electric Traction in related fields like suburban and urban transport has been widely covered. In the first chapter the genesis of origin and growth of Electrical Department is presented covering some of the little known facts. In the second chapter 'The Initial activities' the advent of 25 kV AC electrification in India is chronicled. The value of this chapter lies in the fact that the author was himself actually involved in the development of activities. His coverage of events and about the personalities including the then Railway Minister Shri Jagjeevan Ram, Chairman Railway Board Shri Karnail Singh and Mr. Nouvion, a pioneer in development of this technology in the world and Mr. Reto Daunser, who was the engineer to commission first locomotives and Mr. Hari Das Awasty the first GM of Railway Electrification are reflections of his own interactions. Train lighting is one of the oldest application of Electrical Engineering on Railways. The author has traced developments since inception in 1872 in New York and since May 1901 in India in Chapter 4. In the subsequent chapter the author has touched on the modern phase of Train lighting systems in Indian Railways. Parallel to train lighting in coaches, Electrical Head Lights in steam locos is another earliest applications of Electrical Engineering. In Chapter 6 development in this field from earliest periods are covered. Provision of Air Conditioning in coaches is after independence development which has greatly helped in making long journeys in India comfortable for the many of passengers by provision of temperature and dust control in trains like Jan Shatabdi, Garib Rath and Duronto. A new phase in comfortable and pleasing travel on very nominal cost has started which has contributed to the growth of National Economy. The developments in this field including technical aspects are described by the author in chapter 7. With the Railway Electrification a boost was given to the progress in providing suburban services on one hand and Heavy freight services on the other which is covered in Chapter 8. xi In Chapter 9 developments in DC traction on Western Railway, and in Chapter 10, Erstwhile South Indian Railway (now Southern Railway) and DC electrification are narrated. In Chapter 11, a reproduction of first poem about the Electric Traction in 1940 is a reminder of the romance of electric traction. Electric traction is closely associated with suburban transport. In chapter No. 13 the author has dwelt on the initiatives in solving Mumbai suburban problems. While electrification started in 1925, it was the advancement of 25 kV AC at 50 cycles from 1959 that ushered in the standard system in India. Chapter 14 is devoted to story of this event. Electric locomotive is one of the most important components of electric traction. CLW is first and till recent times the only works manufacturing electrical locomotives in India. Chapter 15 is devoted to the role of electric locomotives of CLW in making total electric traction system as indigenously produced. BHEL has been closely associated with electric traction in manufacturing all vital electrical components. Contribution of BHEL in manufacture of Electric Locomotives is covered in chapter 16. These achievements were only possible with Research and Development in the field in various areas like Locomotives, Traction Installations. These developments are described in chapter 17. With the complexities of modern systems, the training in electrical traction became a very important field. This gap was filled by Indian Railways Institution Electric Engineers (IRIEEN). These developments are touched by the author in Chapter 18. In carrying the efficiency of suburban transport to all parts of the country Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMUs) have contributed in a big way, since 1994. These developments are summarized by author in chapter 19. For providing true benefits of electric traction in terms of travel at affordable cost, in new Electricity Act which came into effect after 2002, setting up of Captive Power Plants was envisaged. Indian Railways utilized the provision by setting up of first 1000 MW power plant by a joint venture company Bhartiya Rail Bijlee Com. Ltd. In Chapter 20, these important events are described. Need of improving connectivity to the ports and carrying Freight Traffic in line with need for growth of India at more than 8%, Dedicated Freight Corridor Project (DFCIL) has been envisaged. Chapter 21 is briefly covering these events. In addition to DFCIL there was need to strengthen and create railway transport infrastructure on existing net work. For these projects Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) was established. These activities are covered in the chapter 22. Metro Railway is India's first Metro. The Saga of this important development is covered in chapter 23. Though work started on Kolkata Metro in 1972, the development of Metro in India started with setting up of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and opening of first metro line in Delhi in December 2004. Some unique features of DMRC like 25kV AC system, rigid OCS are detailed in chapter 24. Metro prospects in other cities are detailed in chapter 25. I am sure, this work will be very useful to practising engineers, researches as well as organisations involved with electric traction in India. (V.K. DUTT) Addl. Member (Electrical) Railway Board xii Origin and Growth of Electrical Department Before the origin of the department is mentioned, it is felt that the progressive changes made in the organistion of the Railway Board at various stages is mentioned in brief for the reader to understand the place of the Department in the whole set-up. Setting of the Railway Board and a number of Re-organisations The Administrative Report of INDIAN RAILWAYS of the Year 1922-23 mentions the evolution of a satisfactory authority for the administration of varied functions (of the Railways) had proved extremely difficult and the question was referred to Railway Committee (1921-22) presided over by Sir William Acworth. William W Ackworth was appointed by the Secretary of State for India as Chairman of a ten-member Committee in November 1920 to enquire into the administration and working of rd Indian Railways. The committee submitted the report on 23 August 1921. Board was reorganised in 1922 as a result of the recommendations of the Acworth Committee. The Board now consisted of a Chief Commissioner, a Financial Commissioner and 2 Members. The changes came with effect from April, 1924. Four Directors Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Traffic and Finance were also added. The Railway Board as reconstituted in 1924 consisted of the Chief Commissioner as President, the Financial Commissioner and two Members, the Chief Commissioner being ex-officio Secretary to the Government of India in the Railway Department. The proposal of the Acworth Committee that the Indian Railway should be subdivided into three territorial divisions with a Commissioner in charge of each was not accepted, and the work of the Members of the Board was divided on the basis of subjects and not on and not on territorial basis. One Member dealt with technical subjects and the other with general administration, personnel and traffic subjects, the Financial Commissioner representing the Finance Department on the Board and dealing with financial questions. Experience of the working of this organisation during 1924-25 and the decision agreed to by the Legislative Assembly in September 1924 to separate railway finances from the general finances of the country made it necessary to appoint a Deputy Director and an Assistant Director of Finance. An Assistant Director of Statistics was also added during that year. Later a Director of Finance was added to the establishment. In 1929, consequent on the taking over by the Government of the management of East Indian, Great Indian Peninsula and Burma Railways and besides general expansion, an additional post of a Member Staff was created thereby permitting the Member in-charge of Traffic to devote himself fully to transportation and commercial matters. The Railway Board was again reorganised in 1931-32 as an economic measure. Economic depression had gone up and the revenue from traffic was continually falling. So, some supervisory posts were abolished. The reorganised Board consisted of the Chief Commissioner, the Financial Commissioner and a Member assisted by Directors. During 1938, the Government set up a new Department of Communications and the Railway Board was put under the charge of a Member Communication, Executive Council and the Member of the 1 Railway Board's made Ex-officio Secretary in the Department of Communications; a Member of the Department of Communication became an Ex-officio Member of the Railway Board. After some time, the Railway Board was placed under Member-in-Charge of War Transport to meet the additional demands of transport due to war and at the same time the post of Member-in-Charge, Engineering was revived and certain additional posts of Directors were also created on the Board to handle the increased work load. The Secretary of War transport Department replaced the Secretary of the Department of Communication as an ex-officio Member of the Railway Board. This position remained till August 1947. At the end of the Second World War, Indian Railways were faced with great problems connected with the existence of surplus staff, replacement of rolling stock and improvement of workshop efficiency. To cope with these problems a plan was chalked out. But before the plan could be put into effect, on the one hand, India achieved Independence and, on the other, the partition of the country created a lot of difficulties and problems and as a result all management activities of the Railways were disrupted. In April 1951, the post of Chief Commissioner was abolished and the senior most functional member was appointed the Chairman of the Board in addition to his own duties. In 1954, one more member as Member Mechanical was added and the strength the Board restored to five. In 1956, five Additional Members of the status of General Managers of Railways were appointed in nd order to deal with additional work arising out of the 2 five-year plan and other important projects. Without going into further reoganisation of RB, which are irrelevant to the subject under consideration, it is necessary to a talk of the origin of Electrical Department. Some sort of electrical activities like pumping installations lighting in colonies, stations and workshops Diesel Power Plants Diesel Water Pumps must have existed right from the beginning of the Railways in India. It may be relevant to mention that as far as known to the author, there existed 4 major steam power houses at JMP, LKO (parts of erstwhile EIR) KGP (part of erstwhile BNR) and GKP (part of erstwhile Oudh &Tirath Railway). Since all these stations were having workshops staff colonies yards and large railway station buildings, the steam power houses were established. Setting of the Cadre of IRSEE It is however considered that the Department got proper status when the government created a separate Superior Revenue Establishment Cadre for the Department. Study of Indian Railway Annual Administrative Report for the year 1922-23 mentions that the Board had prepare of a scheme for recruitment and training in Indian officers. An officer, Mr. H L Cole was placed on special duty to go into the whole question of training of Indians for both superior and subordinate grades of all departments. Mr. Cole submitted his report in September 1922 In addition to the recommendations concerning other departments, he also put forward as a basis for further examination, tentative suggestions for the recruitment and training of officers of the Stores, Signal and Electrical Engineering Departments. 2 The Administrative Report further mentions that at the close of the year (1922-23) these recommendations were still under the consideration of Railway Board and the Central Advisory Railway Council. Apparently the recommendations were accepted. However there is no mention about these recommendations in the reports for 1923-24, 1924-25 and 1925-26.In the report for the year 1926-27 there is mention of that the Board had under review the preparation of schemes for the recruitment and training in India of officers of Electrical and Signal Engineering. It also mentions that since the Indian Engineers with sufficient experience were not forthcoming, it was considered necessary to complete requirements by recruiting in England. There is also mention that a certain number of Indian will each year be given practical training on Indian Railways. Quote from the report 'The 6 temporary posts in 'other departments' included 2 Electrical Engineers (Colliery Department) 3 probationers in Electrical Engineering Department and 1 Assistant Signal Engineer. Towards the end of the year 1925-26, in connection with filling of certain posts in Electrical Engineering Department, applications were invited in India and a number of youth were interviewed. It was found that these youth were lacking in workshop and practical experience. As it was considered that it was not likely that Indian youths with the requisite experience would be available, the Railway Board in anticipation of recruitment for the next time” One may rightly say that the Department got the full status in 1926-27. It is no coincidence that the first electric had its inaugural run on 3rd Feb.1925 and the need was felt to have a separate Electrical Department. For years the department was treated as one of the Minor departments of the Railway, Major Departments being Engineering, Traffic and Mechanical. When the author joined the Railways in Oct. 1952, the post of CEE carried a grade of Rs. 1600-1800, while the posts of major HODs had a grade of Rs. 1800-2000. There were 9 posts of CEEs and only of 2 Deputy CEEs. At that time according to the estimate of the author he would retire as CEE, after having held that post for 2 years. Posting of First DS (Now DRM) The general Posts of DS (now known as DRM) and GM etc. were not open to the Cadre. Situation changed gradually as the large portion of Railway network was gradually getting electrified. General Manager/SER asked R K Vir to be an Officer of Special Duties during the famous Railwaymens' strike in May 1974 at Bhilai. Bhilai has a steel plant and an important nerve centre of traffic. He was able to handle the situation and the plant worked to its full capacity and movement of essential finished products was not hampered. He was thus picked up to be a DS of one of the most important divisions of Indian Railways. He thus became the first Electrical Engineer to hold such a 3 position. He took charge of the division on 6th Dec. 1974. He was not only the first Electrical Engineer posted a DS but also a non-operating officer to be at the helm of a Division. A number of electrical engineers have manned the post since then, Eminent amongst them being Sarvshri V. Santhanam and J. Upadhyay, who retired as MLs. Establishment of Indian Railways Institute of Electrical Engineering (IRIEEN) The Indian Railways Institute of Electrical Engineering (IRIEEN) was set up based on the acceptance of the recommendations of the Railway Reform Committee 1984. The Institute has been set up in the year 1988 at Nasik Road for imparting training to Electrical Engineers of Indian Railways. With the establishment of IRIEEN which should have happened at lest 10 years earlier. It was a big boost for the department. The opening of Senior General Posts for the Department The honour of an Electrical Engineer being posted as a GM of Open Line Railway goes to Shri S Sarath, st who held the post of GM/WR fromDec.1981 to May 1983. He also became 1 Electrical Engineer to hold th st the post of a Member (Staff) from 4 May 1983 till 31 July 1984. This may be considered as an ad-hoc case. However the posting of Electrical Engineers as GMs and other equivalent posts became a regular institution on IR since 1984. The Department got a quantum jump when seeing the importance of expansion of Electrified Network when the post of Member Electrical (ML) was created in the Ministry of Railways in July 1987 and Shri VCV Chenulu was posted as 1st ML on 29th July 1987. Growth at Railway Board In the meantime the organization also steadily got strengthened to look after the increased work load on Open Line Railways, Railway Electrification and Production Units. When the Main Line Electrification Project was wound up in April1968, administrative work was transferred to RB and post of OSD (RE) of the rank of an Additional Member was created at Board level and Electrical Engineers became eligible to hold this post. Mr. J D Malhotra was one of the first Electrical Engineers to be appointed to this post. Incidentally he had the distinction to be first AM from the department. The post transferred to ALD as AGM/RE, when CORE was created, When the author joined the Railways, there used to be one post of a Deputy Director (EE). A post of Director (EE) was created with the gradually increasing work-load of the department. As far as st author remembers Shri L N Mathur was the 1 Director followed by Shri P N Murthy. The post had also been chaired by Sharvshri DVK Sastry SP Tonse and RL Mitra as well. Because of lack of records it has not been possible to get names of a few more giants of the Department who manned the post. st This post was upgraded to the post of Advisor on 27.12.77 and Shti RL Mitra was the 1 Advisor, and later to that of Additional Member on 02.07.1996. Shri Noel Lobo Prabhu was the first appointee and presently as been mentioned earlier Department has a full fledged Member. 4 As stated earlier the senior most functional member was appointed the Chairman of the Board He looked after the additional charge in addition to his own duties. In 1985 post of independent CRB was created, and Mr. Prakash Narain was posted as 1st CRB from 01.07.1985 till 30.06.1987. First Electrical Engineer to hold this charge as an ad-hoc measure was Shri Ramesh Chandra from 01.08.2007 to 31.08.2007. Shri SS Khurana, an Electrical Engineer, who had earlier held the post of Member Staff from28.12.2007, was promoted as CRB from 02.02.2009. It would be seen from a very humble beginning the Department has made a big stride and is at par with any other Department of the Railways. The credit for the same goes to the earlier generations of Electrical Engineers, some of whom are no longer with us. Opening of Senior posts in SPVs and PSUs As time went by the momentum of could not be stopped from being posted as Senior Managers and even MDs of these organisations. Right from the beginning MD's post of MRVN Ltd. had been headed by an electrical engineer. A number of senior positions in DMRC, RITES and RVNL etc. are now occupied by Electrical Engineers. BIBLIOGRAPHY I) Various Annual Administrative Reports of Indian Railways. II) Indian Railways – Glorious 150 Years by R R Bhandari. 5 Initial Activities It was the 30th November 1959 when the first Indian Railways' AC. locomotive WAM1 (then designated BBM1) No. 20250 supplied by the European 50 cycle Group touched Indian soil in the Calcutta harbour. Indian Railways had selected SNCF (French National Railways) as Technical Advisers because they were pioneers in developing 25kV 50cs traction and since 1954 had lines operating in the Northern industrial belt of France with comparable conditions. "Mixed Traffic" locomotives were ordered from the European 50 cycle Group (a consortium of 8 manufacturers of electrical loco equipment in France, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland associated with 4 mechanical locomo-tive builders).100 units WAM1 Nos. 20200 to 20299 were imported from the above said Group and 10 units WAM2 nos. 20300 to 20309 from Mitsubishi Ltd, Japan. While the locomotive 20250 was shipped to India immediately upon completion, the locomotive No. 20251 was equipped with standard gauge wheel sets underwent a full test program on SNCF tracks. It was delivered later. (The locomotive was based at Strasbourg Shed of SNCF and the author of the book had on many occasions foot plated on the same along with French crew) The electric locos were to be based at Asansol and Tatanagar loco sheds. But when the first locomotive arrived neither of them was ready to receive it as 25 kV AC. Power was not available anywhere. Thus the first locomotive was brought from Calcutta harbour to Howrah car shed (basic shed of the 3 kV DC suburban train sets), unpacked, dried, tested as well as possible and made ready for service. However testing with traction power of course was not possible. On the fixed installation side the electrification work was considerably behind schedule. But Indian Railways had planned to inaugurate AC traction on 15th December 1959 at the occasion of the meeting in Delhi of the International Association of Railway Congress (AICCF)'s permanent commission. To honour this promise emergency arrangements had to be made. Consequently Railways got on loan from SNCF a complete sub-station with high voltage transformer and circuit breakers. This was installed in December within ten days at a site near Kendposi where an existing high voltage power transmission line crossed the "iron ore railway line Dangoaposi - Rajkharsawan". At this location the sub-station could easily be connected on both sides. Efforts were also concentrated to erect quickly a stretch of OHE (overhead catenary equipment) originating from this feeding post. Around 10th December 1959 locomotive 20250 was hauled from Howrah to Kendposi station. There the power from OHE was available on 12th December for the first time. It was an extremely exciting moment when the loco 20250 raised its pantograph. Would its power equipment which had not been energised since the factory tests in France two months withstand the high voltage and operate properly? Good luck - it did. And behold first AC. locomotive in India made its first steps on the loop track at Kendposi. On 15th December 1959 the official inauguration ceremony took place in presence of AICCF officials. The steam special train and the electric loco ran parallel on the 3 km double track between the sub- The contents of this chapter have been based on an article by Mr. Reto Danuser, a Swiss engineer representing 50 cycles European Group, appearing in the Rail Transport Journal (vol. III No.2 April-June 1994) 6 station site and Kendposi marking opticammly the Indian Railways' future, electric traction taking over gradually from steam traction. In 1960 the locomotives continued to arrive, the 2nd and 3rd on 16th January. Till middle of the year approx. 40 units were on Indian tracks. At first none and later only a few of them could operate. Thus stabling them and preventing damages by moisture was the big problem. In spring 1960 Asansol electric loco shed, though only partially erected and still without 25kV power, started to work. Locomotives arriving there from Calcutta harbour were unpacked and commissioned as far as possible then hauled by steam over 250 km to Dangoaposi where a small new electric loco shed offered some shelter. From March 1960 power from 25kV OHE was periodically available on 20 km stretch between Dangoaposi and Kendposi. There commissioning could be completed and if successful the loco handed over to IR for test runs and trial operation. If something failed the loco returned behind a steam engine to Asansol Shed for repairs. On 24th March a group of World Bank representatives paid a visit to this site. By middle of the year the AC system was gaining shape. Between Dangoaposi and Jhinkpani (38 km) trains started to be hauled electrically and the entire line Rajkharsawan - Dangoaposr· was officially inaugurated for electric traction on 11th August 1960. Simultaneously electrification progressed in the Asansol area. OHE masts became visible from July. On 10th August Kumardubi feeding post 19 km west of Asansol was energised, with 11 km line to Sitarampur. Sitarampur - Asansol followed on 29th August. From now the 25 kV commissioning of the locos was much easier. Later in autumn the Electric Loco Shed Asansol itself was wired and energised and thus could take up normal operation. On 25th November again an important event, a congress of ECAFE (Economic Commission for Asia and Far East) visited the site of electrification. Its special train was hauled by the locos 20202 + 20292 from Asansol via Pradhankhunta to Pathardih. One month later, 22nd December 1960 the 58 km Asansol - Dhanbad (Grand Chord line) and the 18 km Pradhankhunta - Pathardih (Branch line) were formally inaugurated with a big ceremony at Asansol honoured by the presence of the Railway Minister Jagjivan Ram and the Chairman Railway Board Karnail Singh The inaugurating goods train from Asansol was typically composed of 70 coal wagons with 2300 t trailing load hauled by the Eastern Railway (black and green livery) locomotive 20270. All 100 WAM1 locomotives belonged to one order and carried the inscription "Indian Railways" they were split into two sub-series. South Eastern Railway locomotives 20200 to 20268 were painted in black and red livery. These were equipped with vacuum, and compressed air and electric couplings to allow multiple operations of two locomotives. While Eastern Railway locomotives 20269 to 20299 had black and green livery. These could only operate as single units. When WAM1 locomotives entered into regular operation in large scale, the appearance of heavy trains became visible. It is pertinent to note that locomotive WAM 1 20202 is an exhibit in National Rail Museum as a nostalgic memory of this crucial period of IR. This Locomotive was named as “Jagjivan Ram” Railway Minister at that time. Problems of fire on the Smoothing Reactors (which came to be known as smoking reactors) set on fire more than one locomotive. Only after repeated modification and finally a complete replacement they worked satisfactorily. Delicate equipment was the Ignitron Rectifier which showed different weaknesses the worst being the loss of vacuum. This led to the erection of a degassing plant at Asansol loco shed. In addition Ignitron tubes were criminally damaged for theft of the mercury. Later on this mercury vapour type rectifiers were replaced by solid state silicon rectifiers. Many other components 7 gave trouble for some time and had to be debugged. But with the dedicated and expert work of Indian Railways' loco shed staff and the assistance of many 50 cycle Group's specialists the locomotives became more and more reliable. Some WAM1 locos met with accidents too. The first was a side collision of 20215 with steam engine WG 8569 at Asansol in September 1960 with limited damage. It was followed a collision at Sitarampur in December 1960 of locomotive 20274 The first heavy accident which partly destroyed loco 20234 occurred on 20th November 1961 at Rajkharsawan. Quite difficult was the change in driving habits for the engine drivers. In the beginning of electric traction, existing steam crews had to be trained as crew for electric locomotives. On a steam engine starting power may be applied indefinitely, and if the load is heavy the loco just works slowly. Such a driving method kills an electric loco. Maximum starting current should be applied to accelerate the train quickly so that after a limited time the current following the motor characteristics drops to the continuous value. Slow starts and excessive loads overheat and damage the electrical traction equipment. After some bad experience and special attention given to this point during driver's training the situation improved. In 1961 the electrification made an important progress: Westwards it was extended from Dhanbad to Gomoh (30 km) on 1st February further eastwards from Asansol to Waria near Durgapur (34 km) on 31st March. Again in two steps on 8th June and 1st July from Asansol to Kalipahari (ER) and further to Damodar (SER), and to Chakradharpur-Sini, Sini-Kandra and Sini-Tatanagar (via Gamharia) on SER were energised totalling 243 km. With the energisation of these sections both the systems got connected by electrified lines. Official inauguration ceremony took place on 21st July at Tatanagar combined with the opening of the new station building by Shri Karnail Singh CRB. Now the iron ore trains could run through from Dangoaposi to Burnpur and Durgapur and the coal trains from Dhanbad and Asansol to Tatanagar. The spine of the electrified industrial rail network was in place. From this time Tatanagar electric loco shed operated in parallel with Asansol and gradually took over the locomotives assigned to it. On the Grand Chord line of ER Gomoh - Koderma (94 km) was energised on 21st August, Koderma - Gujhandi (10 km) 10 days later and the remaining 69 km to Gaya on 13th November 1961. 1962 saw the remaining parts of the initial electrification scheme completion. On 10th January the branch line Dhanbad - Kusunda - Tetulmari was energised. With the inauguration of electric operation Gaya - Sonnagar (76 km) on 30th June, Sonnagar - Chandauli Majhwar (108 km) on 7th July and the remaining 19 km to Mughal Sarai on 25th July an initial steps to the future main line electrification between the capital cities of India were complete. Stepwise during summer the OHE reached the Durgapur Steel Plant too. On South Eastern Railway, energising Chakradharpur - Rourkela (102 km) on 3rd and 12th February completed the industrial electrification scheme. Finally on 4th Jan. 1963 was the start of eclectic operation between Tatanagar and Kharagpur (128 km). This came to be considered as another onset to the future main line electrification. In June 1963 some branch lines around Adra and Burnpur totalling 26 km completed the electric system in this industrial area. 8 By this time the next electrification project - suburban lines East of Calcutta radiating from Sealdah station - had taken shape. Asansol loco shed contributed to the preparation work by equipping and testing a prototype push pull rake. With this ended the first phase of Indian Railways' AC electrification. Thus the path opened for the extension of Railway Electrification in India. Complete Substation equipment loaned by SNCF and erected in record time at Kendposi Locomotive 20251 at Strasbourg shed (SNCF) with Mr. F.F. Nouvion, Mr. H.D. Awasthy and other French and Indian Railway engineers. The author is standing on right of Mr. Nouvion. 9 Kendposi 12th Dec., 1995 10 Kend Posi 15th December 1995. Mr. Nouvion is at Extreme Left. 11 Railway Minister Shri Jagjivan Ram Inauguration of Electric Traction on on his left is Shri H.D. Awasthy, GM/CORE South Eastern Railway Tata Nagar, at TATA on 22.12.1960 July 22, 1961 Loco Jagjivan Plat Loco Wam 1 ( Jagjivan Ram) 12 Missionaries and Pioneers Mr. Karnail Singh Born in Vill. Chhajalwadi, Distt. Amritsar, in 1904, Karnail Singh was educated in the Punjab University and the Thomson Engineering College, Roorkee. In both institutions he distinguished himself as much by his scholastic attainments as by his prowess on the playing field. His winning of the Lion Trophy (Sports Championship) in 1926 and 1927, and the Harcourt Butler Cup in 1928 for the best student at work and play, were a fitting finale Karnail Singh (1904-1976) to his academic career. He joined the North Western Railway (now Pakistan) in 1928. For nearly 20 years he served this Railway with distinction; spending most of his time on special works such as surveys, construction of major bridges, reconstruction of the Railways in Quetta(Baluchistan) after the 1935 earthquake and building of new lines, such as Hindubagh - Fort Sandeman in Baluchistan and Fort Abbas - Hotwala in Bahawalpur State. At the close of the war, he was Deputy General Manager of the North Western Railway, in-charge of post World War II Reconstruction, and later entrusted with the construction of the Rupar Talaura Railway, built to serve the prestigious Bhakra Nangal-Dam Project. He received the title of Sardar Bahadur in 1946 in recognition of meritorious services rendered. After 1947, amongst the significant contributions to the growth of the Indian Railways, perhaps the most outstanding was the completion of the Assam Rail- Link Project connecting West Bengal with Assam, immediately after the partition of the country, when rail connections between Assam and the rest of India were cut-off with the creation of East Pakistan. This 250 km line was built in a record time of less than 3 years, and belied the then prevailing impression amongst senior British engineers that such a line could not be constructed at all, considering the requirement of bridging more than half a dozen major rivers of West Bengal hurtling out from the Himalayas, bringing down boulders and flotsam which made construction of bridges well-nigh impossible. Completion of the rail-cum-road bridge over the mighty Brahamputra river in 3 years was the crowning glory to his spectacular career. When the Northern Railway was formed in 1952, he was appointed General Manager, and under his stewardship, the various integrating units were welded into a strong and efficient whole. The Chittaranjan Locomotive Works of which he became General Manager in 1954, felt the impress of his drive and organizing ability. Within a couple of years the capacity of this locomotive workshop was raised by two hundred percent. In January 1957, he was promoted as Member, Engineering, Railway Board, in which capacity he controlled the entire field of Engineering and Stores administration on Indian Railways. Large scale electrification of Indian Railways on 25 KV A.C. Single Phase, 50 cycles frequency, was introduced by him. In April, 1960, he took over as Chairman, Railway Board. He was admitted direct as Member (M.I.C.E.) of Institution of Civil Engineers, for outstanding achievements in his profession. He was also a Member (M.I. Mech.E.) of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and a Companion (C.I.E.E.) of the Institution of Electrical Engineers for important services 13 to mechanical and electrical engineering in the field. He was a member of the Institution of Engineers (India) and also Member of engineering institutions, Civil and Railway, in U.S.A. His experience in the three main branches of engineering - Civil, Mechanical and Electrical - is almost unique, as such opportunities seldom come in the way of one man's professional career. He finally retired as Chairman of Railway Board and principal Secretary to the Government of India on 16th August 1962 after 35 years of meritorius service on Indian Railways. After his retirement, he was advisor to the Punjab Government for Industry and Electricity, Honorary Chairman of the Punjab State Electricity Board and Head of the Industrial Board of Jammu and Kashmir Government. Alongwith two American experts and four eminent Indian engineers, he was a member of the Consultants Board for design and construction of Bhakra Dam Project and Rs.200 crore ($ 400 million) Beas River Projects. Mr. Karnail Singh was Chairman of Hindustan Cables Ltd. from 1954 to 1957 and a Director of Tatas (Tata Engineering and Locomotive Co. Ltd) for five years. In June 1963 he visited Australia at the invitation of the Government to advise on engineering, development of general industry, timber industry and engineering and management of railways. Later he visited Greece for similar engineering and industrial consultations. In addition to his technical contributions, he was greatly interested in the promotion of sports. His abiding interest in Hockey - which he played in the erstwhile Northwestern Railway - culminated in his being nominated to the selection committee of the 1956 Olympic Hockey team. His lifelong interest in sport culminated in the construction of an Athletic Stadium and Sports Complex in the heart of Delhi, next to Connaught Place in 1954. He was subsequently appointed as the President of Railway Sports Control Board during 1958-62, and in recognition of his contribution to sports, the Ministry of Railways decided to name the Stadium constructed by him as KARNAIL SINGH STADIUM in 1978. He was one of the early Indians who took to the game of Golf, playing to a 2 handicap, and assisted in the early years of consolidation of the now reputed Delhi Golf Club of which he was elected Captain in 1961. The name of Karnail Singh is thus inexorably connected with the promotion of sports in the country and on the Indian Railways specifically. His elder brother, Dalip Singh Saund, was a Member of U.S. Congress from California. Mr. Hari Das Awasty Mr. Hari Das Awasty was born in 1908. After a brilliant school career,he joined the prestigious Thomson College of engineering at Rorkee. On passing out in 1932, he joined undivided North Western Railway, a part of Indian Railways, major of which now in Pakistan. With the creation of East Pakistan the continuity of the Indian Railways was disrupted. He was specially selected to be a part of a team of Senior Railway Engineers entrusted with construction of Assam Link Project to connect the Railways in Assam to the Indian Railway System. In 1957 he was specially picked up to head the Main Line Electrification Project for 25 KV AC Electrification as General Manager with Headquarters at Calcutta. Under his dynamic leadership, the initial phase of Main Line Electrification on Eastern and South Eastern Railway was completed before the scheduled date of completion. He retired fro that post in 1962 and continued to serve as advisor to various organizations and institutions connected with railway electrification. 14 Mr. Nouvion A New World speed record for a locomotive was established on March 29 1955, when SNCF's BB9004 attained 331 km/h between Lamothe and Morcenx on the Bordeaux - Dax main line in southwest France. Mr. Nouvion was on the foot plate of the Locomotive Nouvion told the following about the AC electrification of India's railways. After the 1955 Lille Conference on the AC electrification of railways using industrial-frequency power supply, and after witnessing France's SNCF (French National Railways) achieving the world speed record of 331 km/h, the chairman of Indian Railway (IR) Mr. Karnail Singh requested SNCF to visit India, carry out a survey and produce a report into the most suitable methods for the electrification of her railways. This report was produced by a team comprising Boulogne, Lemaire and Nouvion, who spent several weeks studying the railways and submitted a report to IR. The report's recommendation was that India should adopt industrial-frequency AC electrification, and IR agreed to this. In May 1957, India put a plan to electrify 669 miles of its railway using the French AC electrification methods A CLW built dual brake WAG 5 23141 in 1986 was called NOUVION on 19th Nov. 1986 after the name of F.F. Nouvion, the French pioneer of 25 KV AC traction and was baptised by him. Mr. Nouvion was also present at the inauguration of AC traction at Kendposi on 15th Dec. 1959 and at the Silver Jubilee Congress in Delhi, October 1985 where he gave a talk. Mr. Nouvion was also involved in devolpment of The TGV (train à grande vitesse, French for "high- speed train"). This is France's high-speed rail service. It was developed during the 1970s by GEC- Alsthom (now Alstom) and SNCF, the French national rail operator, and is now operated primarily by SNCF. Following the inaugural TGV service between Paris and Lyon in 1981, the TGV services have expanded on many lines of SNCF Network. Mr.Nouvion graduated from ETH (ETH= Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. He was Engineer-in- Chief in the Traction and Materials Directorate of SNCF. He retired in 1970. He was a recipient of Legion d'honour from French Government. He passed away 25th Jan. 1999. Mr. Reto Danuser Reto Danuser (RD) was born on 6th June 1931 in Basel. He spent his youth in his parent's house at Arlesheim, a village 7 km outside Basel. He passed 12 years of school at these places and on the local railway connecting these he gained his first railway experience with practical work during the holidays. In 1950, after nine months practical training in a machine factory (in Switzerland then compulsory for all students in mechanical and electrical engineering) he 15 joined the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH = Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule) in Zurich. In 1955 he graduated as an Electrical Engineer (DipI. EI. lng. ETH). During interruptions of the studies he underwent the compulsory military training in 4 spells totalling 13 months which ended in 1956 as an officer of the Swiss army. He then joined the Swiss Federal Railways as a junior engineer to undergo the usual practical training, in train driving, rolling stock maintenance and operational administration. From 1958 to 1965 he served as a project engineer in the railway sales department of Brown Boveri & Company, Baden, who was one of the members of the European 50 Cycle Group. As an employee of latter he became eligible to be picked as the Group's Chief Commissioning Engineer for Indian Railways' 100 first A.C. locomotives type WAM1. Reto Danuser stayed in India from November 1959 to November 1963 residing at Asansol but being as well in charge of the Group's responsibilities at other places in the 50 cycle electrified network (particularly Tatanagar). On 12th Dec. 1959 he witnessed the first raising of pantograph of an A.C. loco in India at Kendposi on SE Railway, a milestone in the history of Indian Railways. During the next two years he commissioned one hundred WAM1 locomotives. The commissioning of this first batch of A.C. locomotives was the start of large scale Railway Electrification in India, initially serving the industrial belt between iron ore mines, coal mines and steel plants. R. Danuser continued to stay in India taking care of the locomotives' teething troubles, such projects invariably have. In parallel, he contributed to the training of the local maintenance staff and the build up of the necessary infrastructure (Locomotive shed workshop and stores). The success of these efforts is proved by the fact that 35 years later, the majority of these engines were still in service and appreciated by the drivers and the maintenance specialists. In 1965 R. Danuser returned to the Swiss Federal Railways where he subsequently held various posts in traction and workshops. From 1972 to 1982, he was attached to SFR's headquarters in Bern, in charge of planning and administering the motive power fleet of SFR as well as of issuing the signalling and operating rules for the engine drivers. In 1982 he switched to rolling stock maintenance as General Manager of SFR's Main Workshop at Olten from where he retired by end of June 1996. Along with the civil work his military career continued till 1986, holding the rank of a Lt. Colonel. For 7 years, he served as Railway Officer in charge in an army corps. In 1965 R.D. joined the Engineer's Association of Swiss Federal Railways where, besides his professional tasks, he was active in promoting the exchange of knowledge amongst the engineers of different disciplines and developing ideas about the progress in operating the railway systems. From 1986 to1992 he acted as a President of this Association. When in 1991 an umbrella organisation, the "Union of European Railway Engineer Associations" (UEEIV), was founded· he entered into its governing body as a Treasurer. He continued in this position even after retirement until 2004. Since then he is a member of the UEEIV's Board of Advisers. As an official of this Union he is maintaining professional contacts, not only throughout Europe but following his former activities, also with the Institute of Rail Transport (IRT)-India of which he is a Fellow Member. Reto Danuser maintained relations with many of the IR officer colleagues he had worked with from1959 to 1963. He also established regular contacts with the various Deputy Railway Advisors attached to the Indian Embassy in Bern. 16 In 1965 he spent six weeks in India, in order to settle a few questions in connection with the WAM1 locomotives. Then only 15 years later in 1980 he had the next opportunity to return to India, accompanied by his two elder sons. He was invited by IRT to give a lecture on "Electric Traction on Swiss Federal Railways" on 5th Nov. 1980 in Secunderabad. This was the start of a tradition. During all his subsequent visits he informed about the developments on the Swiss Railways in lectures under the auspices of IRT in Bombay, Secunderabad, Madras, Calcutta, and Chittaranjan. In 1985 the Silver Jubilee "25 KV AC Traction" was celebrated with an International Seminar on Railway Electrification. R.D. was invited to participate and presented a paper "Swiss Railways' Electric Rolling Stock Traditions, Experience and Progress". In addition be was requested to express his views about the progress of Railway Electrification in India in an extempore statement at the end of the seminar. His wife took the opportunity to accompany him and touch the Indian soil once again after 22 years. From then on visits to India have followed with certain regularity in the years 1989, 1991, 1995, 1998 and 2009. Every time the tours included a lot of contacts with Indian Railways and their officers and thus went more or less "around India" taking a couple of weeks. It is a mere coincidence that the author during the early electrification period was in Europe, posted as a Deputy Railway Advisor (DRA) at Zurich, the city which happened to have the Head Quarters of European 50 Cycle Group. One of his duties as DRA was the inspection of WAM1 Locomotives, which RD was commissioning in India. He met him for the first time during the Silver Jubilee Seminar held at Vigyan Bhavan New Delhi in 1985. R D is married since 1957 with Doris nee -Kaiser. During 1959 to 1963 she has established very good contacts with India and renewed them during the visits in 1985, 1991, 1995, 1998 and 2009. They have 3 sons; Claudio, born in 1958, spent his early years in India, Andreas was born 1961 in Calcutta. Only later, in 1969, came Gaudenz who is the only of the family, who has no ties so far with India. 17 Evolution of Train Lighting on Indian Railways PRE - ELECTRIC ERA 1. Oil System The train services on Indian Railways commenced with all the amenities as laid down in the 'Cheap Trains Act' passed by the British parliament in 1844. Accordingly the practice of lighting the carriages with oil lamps was there from day one. These oil lamps used either vegetable or mineral oil, and were mounted on brackets fixed to carriage side- walls, except in saloons and 1st class carriages where these were ceiling mounted. Before sunset, at intermediate stations lighted lamps had to be fixed by oilmen to the brackets and removed after sunrise at subsequent intermediate stations. On the other hand, the ceiling mounted lights were accessed from the carriage roofs for which the oilmen had to climb on to the carriage tops. Thus the lighting system was labour intensive and oilmen had to be skilled persons capable of trimming wicks and cleaning the lamps. 2. Gas System The successful use of gas lamps on European railways did prompt Indian railway companies to explore the possibilities of using this system. As early as 1888 the then South Indian Railway did consider a proposal to provide gas lighting on the coaches of one of its important train service but decided not to implement it. It was the East Indian Railway which went ahead and actually installed gas lighting in its 400 carriages in the last decade of 19th century, employing a system known as Pintsch's gas lighting system. In lighting by gas, the initial cost of plant to be installed in coaches as well as the cost of the plant to produce gas at stations and its distribution to the coaches was substantial. In order to ensure good working conditions, it became unavoidable to have a large storage of gas at high pressure at base stations along with extensive distributing pipe network to supply the gas at all points of the station where carriages might be stabled. It was also necessary to fit up certain minor railway stations with distribution pipe system, to serve as auxiliary charging stations, where reservoir-cars filled with compressed gas could be stationed. All this meant that initial cost for provision of the system was high as compared to Oil based system. The carriage fittings that were provided, besides the lamps and pipe connections which fed them, the gas cylinders, the pressure regulator and pressure gauge, and represented a heavier expense than for carriages lighted with vegetable or mineral oil. As a result the tare weight of the coaches also increased by 600 to 700 kgs. The main advantage of the system, however, lay in the quality of the lighting and the facility of modifying its intensity as well as in the simplicity of the maintenance and cleaning service needed and in the rapidity with which the carriage gas cylinders could be refilled. As a result the cost of the maintenance staff required was reduced to a great extant in view of the fact that the task was now limited to cleaning the bowls and chimneys of the lamps, examining the burners and filling the gas cylinders of the carriages. The intensity and quality of the gas lighting was further improved by following means: - lBy the use of lamps with more than one burners to increase the candlepower output. 18 lWith the regenerative system, which permitted additional ventilation and the utilization of the heat of combustion of exhaust gasses to preheat the oil in the lamps. lBy lowering the burners by 50 to 60 centimeters in the interior of the compartment, particularly in the carriages with high roofs, thus rising the intensity of light at the point of its utilization. lThe illuminating power of the gas was also improved by mixing it with highly carbureted products and several such items had been tried. lAcetylene mixed gas in the proportion of from 25 to 30 percent when provided to the flame resulted in greater intensity and steadiness. This system however did not receive wider acceptability because it needed higher initial investment and larger operating expenses. Moreover, there was not much public demand for improved lighting in trains, as only few big Indian cities then had the facility of electric lighting. 3. Electric System (Battery Only) International Scene Electric train lighting was first attempted in USA in 1872 on a sleeping car of the New York Central, by Battery only system. It is worth noting that it antedated even the invention of pasted- plated batteries. The first train to be entirely lit with this system was in 1887. The Paris-Lyon- Mediterranean Railway Company of France had started experimenting with this system in 1890. After satisfying itself regarding the workability of the system, it had decided in 1893 to extend its use to fifty 1st class carriages on experimental basis. In this system each carriage was provided with its own battery to feed its electric lamps. The batteries were charged from stationary battery charging plant located at terminal stations during the lay over period of the carriages. Indian Scene The first and only attempt to provide electric lighting in carriages with this system was made by the Rajputana-Malwa Railway Company in May 1901, when the lighting system of all the carriages of a rake was changed from oil lamps to electric lamps. After about 6 months of successful trials, the company decided with the consent of Government of India to extend this system of lighting to all its carriages. The work of converting all its carriages was completed by December 1904. The electrical equipment was obtained from M/s Bombay Electric Company. The annual operation and maintenance costs of the various alternative systems for lighting of trains were then assessed as under; For oil lamps (actual cost) Rs. 85,000 For gas lighting (estimated) Rs. 74,000 For electric system (estimated) Rs. 50,000 The cost of 1 unit of electric Candle-Power-Hour in trains was found to be actually 0.63 pies (1Rupee=192pies) against an estimated value of 0.71 pies, and compared favorably to 0.89 pies then being charged in Bombay (Mumbai) for domestic lighting. 19 For terminal charging of batteries, an existing 170-amps capacity dynamo, installed in the C&W Workshop at Ajmer was utilized. Later on, on 23rd of September 1903, a second dynamo of 80 amps capacity was also added at Bandikui. Initially only hermetically sealed lead acid battery cells were used, but due to maintenance difficulties it was decided to changeover to open type of cells. This company had summarized the experience gained over a period of 3 ½ years as under: "The system has given every satisfaction, both to the public in the matter of excellent lights and to the company in effecting savings in the cost of train lighting, which has considerably come down to a little over half the cost of oil lighting. There is an additional advantage that we can now attach 'Pankhas' (fans) to the same circuit and so provide additional comfort to 1st class passengers". This system was used for a few more years, but when a decision was taken to go in for Stone's system of self-generation; all these coaches were ultimately converted to the Stone's system in a planned manner. It was however mentioned in a letter written in 1906 that lights and fans provided in officer's saloons occasionally failed due to discharged batteries when the officer's saloon failed to touch a battery charging station for over 42 hours. 4. Axle Driven System International Scenario and Origin of Stone Systems Central Railroad of New Jersey installed the first axle-driven generator in 1894. However in England, almost at the same time, the system of train lighting was invented by one Mr. A.B. Gill an employee in the firm of engineers located at Deptford in England and known as M/s J. Stone & Co. This firm then had purchased the patent rights from its employee and gave the system its own name. In this system each carriage was self-contained with its own dynamo and battery and was thus capable of generating electric energy from the motion of the train to which the carriage may be attached. It differed from the earlier systems tried in England where electric energy for the whole train was generated and stored in the Guard's brake van, which restricted the use of electric lighting to block rakes only. The Dynamo used in the system had to satisfy the following working requirements: lThe rotational speed of the machine was widely variable, while voltage output was required to remain as steady and as close as possible to the one needed by the consuming equipment. lThe direction of rotation of machine was reversible due to change in the direction of train movement, while the polarity of electric supply had to remain the same. lThe machines had to supply a load which was highly variable, and at the same time was required to permit the two battery sets to be connected in parallel to meet the coach load during the train halts. The design of the dynamo used initially was that of a pure dc shunt generator. The rotational speed of the dynamo and consequently its output was limited to its designed capacity through a 20 special suspension arrangement, which allowed the drive belt to slip over the dynamo pulley when the train speed exceeded beyond a certain safe limit. Later on towards the end of the 2nd decade, a design, which used two fields, was evolved to make the dynamo output self- regulating. In this design, the main shunt field was connected to the output terminals whereas the auxiliary field was connected to a third brush located midway between the main brushes. This auxiliary field assisted the main field at low speeds and opposed it at higher speeds. The rocking brush arrangement was used from the very beginning to maintain the polarity of the output irrespective of the direction of train movement. Initially only over voltage protection was considered necessary. This was provided by use of a fuse in the main field supply. A blowing of this fuse would stop further generation and thus protect the lamps, fans and the lead acid cells from over-voltages. This fuse was supplemented by an over-voltage relay during the 3rd decade and by an over current and over voltage relay christened as ROB towards the end of the 4th decade. Indian Scenario Jodhpur-Bikaner State Railway Mr. W. Home, the manager of Jodhpur-Bikaner State Railway was the 1st person to have obtained this system from Stone and Co. and had it installed in his meter gauge saloon during early 1897. He reported on 29th Jan 1898, to the Director of Railway Construction, that he had a small installation of Stone's plant working in his carriage for the last few months but it was too early to pass an opinion as to how this system would last, or what would be the cost of lighting, but opined that so far the lighting quality had been excellent. He further stated that his railway had procured during 1897 itself, an installation of Stone's lighting plant for one complete train set, comprising of nine meter gauge carriages i.e. 1 Brake van, 7 Third and 1 Composite upper- class carriages. The arrangement adopted was to provide dynamo and battery only in the front brake van and to work the entire train as block rake receiving electric power from front brake van. Any extra carriage if necessary could still be attached in the rear. All lamps used in this experimental train initially were of 10 candlepower. Each carriage had only one electric lamp except the single composite carriage, which had three lamps. The estimated cost for the trial train set was Rs. 3376.50. The trial train was operated for a year beginning in March 1898, between Marwar Junction and Hyderabad (Sind), during which following data was obtained; lThat in 3rd class carriages even with a single 8 candle power lamps, the lighting obtained was better than with oil lamp used previously. lThe annual cost of maintenance and renewal, including interest on capital at 7% was Rs 582. lThe initial teething troubles were as under: a) Lights dim on arrival at destination on 4 occasions was attributed to very low train speed. b) Dynamo bearing ran hot on one occasion.. 21 c) Dynamo belt broke on the run on 1 occasion. d) Dynamo belt broke in yard due to over tightening on 1 occasion. After one year of successful trials the balance two rakes on this link were also taken up for conversion to Stone's system of lighting. The main features of the system on these rakes were as under; lBoth guard brake vans were provided with double batteries and axle driven dynamos. lBelts could be tightened on a moving train by the guard by moving a hand wheel located inside the Brake van. lThe automatic cutout (centrifugal type) provided was adjusted to connect and disconnect the dynamo to batteries at 5 mph. lEven though the dynamo dust covers were effective in keeping the desert sand out of the dynamo, the desert sand did cause excessive belt wear. This problem came out to be more serious than what was anticipated. lThe main cables from under-frame were taken to the roof of the carriage from one of the end-panel and were then run along the roof to the other end- panel, where they were brought down and connected to the next carriage by means of brass friction slip connectors located at the level of the buffers. lAll lamps were arranged along the center-line of the roof and the wiring connection to each lamp was made through a hole made in the roof, and by tapping the main cables. lA wooden casing protected all cables. Only 5 candle- power lamps were used. Whereas 1st classes were provided with twin lamp fittings, all other classes used only single lamp fittings. The scale of fittings provided were as under; 1st class 2 twin lamp fittings. 2nd class 2 single lamp fittings. 3rd class, Inter class 1 single lamp fitting. Brake vans 2 lamp fittings. These three rakes involved use of 32 Meter gauge carriages, including 3 Refreshment cars. On 19th July 1905, Mr. Todd the acting manager of this railway reported that all the three rakes had successfully completed 12 months of operation. The actual cost of conversion had come to Rs 27000, and the annual cost of working the system was Rs 2722. South Indian Railway This railway had also obtained in early 1897, a set of Stone's electric train lighting plant, consisting of a 25-amp dynamo and a 16 volt battery. This plant was installed in a bogie composite meter gauge carriage, which went on service trial on a fast mail train during August 22 1897. It had successfully covered 33000 miles by January 1898, when it was reported by Mr. Winter, the agent, that the lights were noted to be bright when train was standing at stations but became dim as soon as the train started moving and the dynamo cut-in. There after, a few days later, the lights had failed totally i.e. both in stationary and running conditions. This carriage was then taken out of service and was moved to workshop for attention and investigation of the defect. The Agent of this railway was however, quite impressed with the quality of lighting obtained in the trials and engaged Sir George Bruce a consultant to advice on introduction of electric lighting over his Railway. The consultant recommended that all the seven meter gauge rakes consisting of 91 carriages and working the Madras (Chennai) - Tuticorin mail service should be provided with Stone's system of lighting. His proposal was to equip all carriages with a dynamo and a single set of battery, with the exception of Composite 1st and 2nd class carriages, which were to have a double set of batteries. Based on his recommendation a proposal was framed and submitted to Government of India in December 1898 to convert in all seven rakes each having thirteen carriages, and involving an expenditure of Rs 98000. The Director of Railway Construction examined this proposal and passed the following orders on 4th March 1899: "According to agent's figures, the cost of fitting 7 trains of 13 bogie carriages, each containing 107 lamps, aggregating to 817 candle power, altogether comes to Rs 98000 with Stone's system and it was estimated to be cheaper than Pintsch's gas lighting system. On Eastern Bengal State Railway, the comparative estimates also showed the same results in first cost for an equal number of lamps, provided that the apparatus will work satisfactorily with single accumulator in all but the 1st class composite carriages, that is 13 dynamos and 15 accumulators to each train. My own opinion is that it is not absolutely essential to have a complete generating plant on each 3rd class carriage. Under the conditions of the South Indian Railway, it would suffice to have such a plant only on half the 3rd class carriages and in all the 1st class and composite carriages. This would mean 9 dynamos and 18 accumulators to a train and this would not cost as much as Mr. Winter's estimate. So that it would seems that Stone's system is likely to be cheaper than Pintsch's gas system". He further recorded that: "There does not seem much to choose between the cost of working the electric and gas systems, but certainly the portion of the production which is due to the extra fuel consumed by the locomotive (estimate at Rs 690 per train per annum, out of Rs 3848 or say 0.0290 annas (one Rupee=16 annas) per lamp hour out of 0.232 annas is quite inappreciable, and can be neglected, the cost of electric light is 0.186 annas per lamp hour against 0.219 annas for gas". With these remarks the proposal was approved. The South Indian Railway then reworked their proposal and reported that the final cost of the train set with double batteries in all the 9 carriages would go up to Pounds 845 FOB instead of Pounds 680 FOB proposed earlier. As in this revised arrangement only half of 3rd class carriages would not be equipped with dynamo and battery, the railway would decide to scale down the level of lighting in all 3rd classes to 1 lamp for every 2 compartments. 23 The plant required for these rakes was received in January 1902, and by October 1902 installation work had been completed in six rakes After completion of all the seven rakes by the year end, they were all put in service on the Madras (Chennai)-Tuticorin Mail. During the service trials the problem of poor charging of carriage batteries was noted. Analysis of this problem revealed that carriage batteries were only being charged when train speed was at least 93% of the full load speed. The problem was eventually solved by reducing the diameter of the dynamo pulleys. Thus the honor of 1st carrying out a large scale service trial of Stone's system goes to the South Indian Railway who carried out this trial in 1903, as against Jodhpur State Railway whose similar trial was carried out a year later in 1904 Bengal-Nagpur Railway The agent and Chief Engineer of this railway stated on 4th June 1900 as under: " We have now had Stone's electric lighting system fitted in a broad gauge carriage for last one year, which is in working order and lighting quality the most satisfactory". No more details about this trial are available except that it was felt that the system was great and economical one. It was only in April 1905 that this system was provided in a bogie saloon belonging to the Chief Commissioner of Central Provinces that was based at Nagpur. Subsequently in September 1905 a similar set was provided in a 1st and 2nd class Composite bogie broad gauge carriage, which had 23 lamps and 4 fans. Later on in April 1906 another 1st and 2nd class composite bogie carriage was provided with 27 lamps and 8 fans. A proposal was also formulated to provide electric lights in 35 bogie carriages under construction. It is stated that this was actually the first recorded instance of provision of fans in India in a passenger carriage. In all these carriages the same capacity of Stone's dynamos were provided but the batteries used were of two different capacities. Both these composite carriages were put in service on Howrah-Madras Mail, with inspection facilities only at Howrah, where these carriages were inspected once every 8 weeks. During inspection, battery cells were topped up with water and the Dynamos were examined. Based on observations made during the trials following conclusions were reached : lAxle and dynamo pulleys should be correctly aligned l2 Belts should be made from best quality canvas, copper riveted and of ample width. lThe pulley ratio should be adjusted for each service such that there is little slip at average train speed. lThe Auto-cut- in- switch should be adjusted to cut in, when Dynamo output is less than 5 amps. lThe maximum Dynamo output should be adjusted to a value of just 10% of the coach load. The average life of Dynamo belt then obtained was 86000 miles and only 6 lamps were replaced in 13 coach-months of service. The lack of inspection facilities at Madras (Chennai) never caused any inconvenience. This railway also made an innovation to facilitate easy adjustment of 24 Dynamo output by any fitter on line by fixing a quadrant to the Dynamo which had a pendulum finger which could move over the quadrant as the angle of suspension of the Dynamo was changed while adjusting the belt tension. The only limitation of this system was that it required calibration of each Dynamo on a test bed in the workshop at Kharagpur. Before proceeding further it is considered necessary to enlighten the reader about the prominent role played by various committees in the creation of the Indian Train Lighting System. VARIOUS COMMITTEES HANDLING THE TRAIN LIGHTING SYSTEMS 1. Locomotive Carriage and Wagon Superintendents Committee (LCWSC) The first committee to play important role was the LCWSC set up as far back 1889. In its 1st meeting an overview of the status of train lighting world over as available in the proceedings of the International Railway Congress held in Milan in 1888, was presented to the members for information. The 8th meeting considered the details of experience gained on battery only system over Rajputana-Malwa Railway as well as with Stones's system of self-generating coaches over Jodhpur-Bikaner State Railway and South Indian Railway. The concluding remarks of the chairman were as under: "The great attraction that there is in India for the adoption of the electric light is that it affords an opportunity of using electric fans; one is reluctant to say that a higher stage will not be reached when such difficulties as have already been encountered and are dared, will be satisfactorily overcome. In England carriages work over very short distances, compared with State and Family carriages in India, the whole conditions are different. The subject is one regarding which we must keep an open mind, merely recording that we have at present scarcely sufficient material on which to form a definite opinion. I think that by the next meeting we shall be able to collect fresh data which will be of very general interest and may be of assistance in enabling us to form a definite opinion in the matter." Final Selection of the System This subject was taken up in the next meeting i.e. 9th meeting held in Calcutta (Kolkata) from 28th to 31st January 1907, when after consideration of all the reports and discussion, it was resolved as under: "That the general feeling of the committee is that gas still holds its own as an illuminating medium, but that electricity is forced upon them in connection with the cooling of the carriages, and so far the general feeling is, that no system has as yet been tried in India which has given better results than Stone's system and it is the best available option, although the experience is that it has defects, which would like to see eliminated". Thus the decision to use electric lighting system was literally forced on the Indian railway companies simply because gas system then could not provide for use of fans, for which there was a pressing demand by the upper class passengers. Provision of electric lighting to third class passengers was incidental as it was found cheaper to extend electric supply from adjoining upper class carriages than to provide oil lamps. The 9th meeting gave a clear signal to railway companies to go ahead with provision of Stone's system in more and more carriages, the 25 decision to adopt the newly developed stone's train lighting system was therefore taken at the 9th meeting of locomotive carriage and wagon superintendent committee held at Calcutta (Kolkata) on 31st January 1907. The LCWSC meeting held in 1916 even recommended standardization of the location of electrical couplers and sockets so that coaches owned by different railway company could be coupled together to form a single block rake. The Administrative Report of the Year 1913-14 of Indian Railways further mentions as under. "The Railway Board have issued orders to all State-worked railways to equip all passenger stock with electric light and to discontinue the use of gas for train lighting. For some years these railways have been carrying out the policy of fitting all first and second class carriages and all dining cars with electric light and fans and the resultant comfort and cleanliness has been so marked that it has been now decided to extend the use of electricity to intermediate and third class carriages. Detailed references show that many of the metre and narrow gauge railways have already adopted electric lighting exclusively." The standardization was followed vigorously followed by the Railway Board as indicated in the Administrative Report of INDIAN RAILWAY for the year 1921-22 mentions as under : 2. Carriage and Wagon Standard Committee (CWSC) - Creation of Electrical Standards Committee In order to speed up the progress of standardization LCWSC was split up into two groups. The group, which was to deal with carriages, was called CWSC. Its first meeting was held in January 1926 when it out lined an ambitious plan for standardization activities with regard to carriages including trains lighting. This committee's membership was similar to that of its predecessor committee and consisted of only mechanical engineers. The committee could however, make poor progress with regard to train lighting work without assistance from electrical engineers. The work done during this phase of first 4 years is hence designated as Phase-1 and that done in next 8 years with assistance of electrical engineers is designated as Phase-2. Phase - I The notable achievements of the committee during its first four years of functioning were as under: lStandardization of the design of a wooden battery box which could accommodate either lead acid or alkaline cells, as may be available, just by merely using different size of wooden packing pieces was taken up and was finalized by 5th CWSC meeting held in October 1927. lThe Location of these battery boxes on the newly developed bogie IRS under-frames were finalized near the out side trusses, and the Railway Board was persuaded to direct the Central Standard Office (CSO) modify the existing design of truss rods to provide a clear gap of 2 feet between the top of truss rods and the underside of sole bars, thus to permit easy loading and unloading of battery cells. This was also finalized in October 1927 by the 5th CWSC. 26 lThe design of suspension arrangement of dynamos for Board Gauge (BG) Bogie under frames was finalized by 8th CWSC meeting held in June 1929, which provided for 5ft distance between the axle pulley and dynamo pulley. The dynamo was suspended from the under-frame and axle pulley was located on the inner axle of one of the nearest bogey. The design catered for Stone's (80 amps and 120 amps) and Mather & Platt (75 amps and 120 amps) dynamos then in use. lThe design of ceiling light was finalized by the 8th CWSC meeting held in January 1929, which was further modified in 9th CWSC meeting held in June 1929 by addition of copper fingers which when bent over held the glass dome in position. lThe 9th CWSC meeting held in June 1929 made a very important recommendation to adopt the Parallel Block Rake Double Battery System of train lighting as standard for broad gauge (BG) and meter gauge (MG) Coaches. It was also decided that dynamo and batteries would be provided only on Upper Class Coaches and Brake Vans, leaving the bulk of Lower Class Coaches as wired trailers with only light fittings. Even though CWSC did make progress with items of train lighting that had mechanical bias, it failed to make any progress with electrical items for which need of electrical engineers was keenly felt. The 9th CWSC meeting therefore recommended to the railway board to nominate two electrical engineers as members of the CWSC to deal with electrical matters. The Railway Board accordingly nominated the 2 officers as members of CWSC. A.R. Gundry, CEE, East Indian Railway. A.H. Chilton, SEE, North Western Railway. Later on Mr. W. Bull also of North Western Railway replaced Mr. Chilton. -These electrical members took their new assignment very seriously and on 11th November 1929 presented to the secretary CWSC a detailed note laying down a road map to be followed to deal with the issues in a systematic manner and proposed its own agenda. The 10th CWSC meeting held in January1930 approved the agenda as proposed. Phase -II This phase started with 10th CWSC meeting held in 1930 and had full contribution by the newly nominated electrical members. This phase ended with 18th CWSC meeting held in March 1937 when Electrical Standards Committee took over this work. The important decisions taken during this phase were: - lThe 10th CWSC meeting recommended for B.G. Coaches, the use of 120 amps dynamo along with 300 Amp Hrs. batteries, as a future standard. lThe 11th CWSC meeting recommended for M G Coaches the use of 80 amps dynamo along with 220 / 250 Amp Hrs. batteries as a future standard. lThe 11th CWSC meeting finalized the design of a slip coupler and socket for use with inter- vehicular electrical coupler. lThe 14th CWSC meeting held in November 1933 carried out a detailed review of the 27 existing practice of charging of coach batteries which involved disconnection of coach wiring at the battery terminal lugs, and connection of battery charging leads of the stationary plant to initiate charging process. At the end of charging, the process had to be reversed and coach wiring had to be reconnected to the battery lugs. The new method recommended involved fixing of battery charging socket near the coach switchboard, where battery charging leads connected to standard slip coupler could be used without disturbing the coach wiring. lThe first IRS specification relating to Train lighting dynamos was finalized and was published in 1934 as specification E -1 / 34. lThe drafts for other IRS specifications were also prepared. 3. Indian Railway Conference Association (IRCA) Almost simultaneously with the splitting of LCWSC into two separate CWSC and LSC, a separate technical committee was set up under IRCA (Indian Railway Conference Association) in 1928 and was called IRCA committee. This committee had an electrical section as well as a mechanical section, each of which dealt in detail about their respective subjects. The respective standards committee considered the recommendations made by IRCA committee and if these were approved, then they were presented to Railway Board for orders. 4. Electrical Standards Committee (ESC) Impressed by the good work done by the two electrical members of CWSC, Railway Board decided to set up this additional Committee, and also simultaneously decided to transfer the work of train lighting maintenance to the electrical department of the various Railway Companies. It was recorded in the proceedings of the 14th CWSC meeting held in 1933 that electrical department was yet to take full charge of the train lighting maintenance and this process must have taken few more years to complete, hence the delay in setting up of ESC. The 1st meeting of the ESC was held at Simla from 23rd September to 26th September 1935 and was attended by CEEs of MSM, NW and EI railways only. There were two special invitees namely Deputy Director Indian Store Department and Asst. Chief Controller (Specifications) of CSO. The secretary of this committee was Deputy Chief. Controller (Standardization) Railway Board, Simla. The recommendations made by the ESC covered all aspects of train lighting. Later on, this committee took over the standardization work for Air Conditioned Coaches. 5. Maintenance Study Group for Train Lighting and Air-Conditioned Coaches (MSG - TL& AC) Initially this review group took up issues connected with air-conditioned coaches only, when it was called the AC Review Committee but later on from 1981 onwards it also started reviewing the performance 110-vdc and 24-vdc non-air-conditioned coaches. Later on in 1985 this committee was renamed as MSG-TL&AC. Since its formation this committee relieved the ESC from its workload relating to these subjects and the decisions of these committees was put up RB for final approval. 28 Train Lighting Systems (Modern Phase) 1. Basic Concept The system as available from Western countries was oriented towards the concept of each coach being a self-contained unit and capable of functioning independently of the block rake, whereas in India there was a vast disparity in the loads between upper classes and lower classes. The load of a typical upper class was six times the load of a typical lower class. Also a rake then had ten coaches out of which upper classes were one or sometime two and the rest were all lower classes. Each rake however had two brake vans. In order to save initial capital investment it was felt that there was no need to provide dynamos and batteries in all the ten coaches, and it would be cheaper to provide these only in upper classes and both the brake vans. the rest of the coaches could be just wired with electric lights and designed to receive power from the few adjacent equipped coaches on the rake. Thus in India a rake was considered as a basic unit and not each coach as in Europe or UK. With only a few equipped coaches on a rake, a strong need was felt to evolve a system which will be very reliable and fail proof. This led to the concept of creating a common bus on the rake to which power from the three or four equipped coaches could be fed and from which all coaches could draw power for lights and fans. There was also a need to ensure charging of batteries on any coach where due to any reason the dynamo provided on the coach failed to generate power. Further in order to avoid over loading of batteries of any particulars equipped coach it was also necessary to ensure simultaneous switching of load on all the coaches by having a group control. These entire requirements were met by creating a five through wire system on the rake. The wires were: - lMain positive called paralleling main (PM) having a thick cable. lMain negative, a thick cable. lLight positive also having a thick cable. l"ON" Wire having a thin cable. l"OFF" Wire having a thin cable. All dynamos were connected to first two wires and all lights were connected to second and third wire. The last two wires were purely used as control wires to operate magnetic load switches provided on each coach. The Indian system where a rake formed a basic unit instead of coach was called as PARALLEL BLOCK RAKE DOUBLE BATTERY SYSTEM, and was thus popularly known as the Double Battery (DB) system. Even though stone's system working at 16 volt was used in the 1st trial coach procured by the South Indian Railway in 1897, M/S STONE & CO. and so affected the changeover to 24-volt system by Indian Railways fairly early. The exact date for this change over is not stated in any proceedings, but it is assumed that it was before 1907. The adoption of Stone's system was preceded by a decade during which many Indian Railway Companies used this system on trial basis to gain first hand experience. 2. Change Over To Single Battery (S.B.) System The Double Battery (DB) System encountered its first serious challenge in 1949 when ESC recommended the adoption of Single Battery System. This system used a shunt dynamo in 29 association with external voltage regulator. The ESC even recommended the provision of SB system in all new builds, but the Railway Board while accepting the recommendation, restricted its provision to only new light weight Schlieren coaches, which were then to be imported from Switzerland. The ESC had anticipated the likely hood of the presence of circulating currents when SB coaches were put to work in parallel with DB coaches on the same block rake. In order to limit this current ESC had even recommended the provision of a small resistance in the negative circuit of the SB coach. To counteract the proposal, since it would mean loss to their business, M/s. J. Stone & Co. therefore set up a bench simulation of a block rake consisting of one SB coach and rest DB coaches on the shop floor of their UK works. They used strip chart recorders to record the current flow to and from the dynamo of the SB coach. This test demonstrated the following points: - lThe dynamos of the coaches with DB system on the block rake were not adversely affected. lA circulating current was seen to flow to the SB coach from the DB coaches through the common negative wire. lThis circulating current was seen to fluctuate, particularly when the battery of the SB coach had reached say about 80% charged state. lThese rapid fluctuations were associated with hunting of the cut-in switch on the SB coach as motoring current was being supplied to be SB dynamo from the block rake. M/s. Stone & Co therefore opined against the parallel operation of SB coaches on a DB parallel block rake and pointed out the following dangers: - lThe cut-in switch contacts which were designed to break only a small current, could get welded while breaking a very heavy motoring current, and once welded may result in burning of dynamo armature subsequently, when coach came to a halt, as dynamo armature in the absence of back emf, would then amount to a direct short circuit across the battery terminals. lIf there was heavy braking simultaneously with hunting of cut-in switch, the motoring current could hold the cut-in switch in closed position, which would also mean a dead short circuit on the battery through the SB dynamo due to absence off back emf. could lead to the burning of the dynamo armature. These observations of M/s Stone & Co. were considered by the 9th ESC meeting held in March 1951, where there was a general feeling of disbelief. After discussion the ESC recommended and Railway Board approved the idea of carrying out service trials to make independent assessment of the dangers. For the next two years no progress could be made in the service trials due to non- availability of SB equipments. This subject was to be discussed at the 11th ESC meeting, which was scheduled for end March 1953. But a few days before this meeting i.e. on 5th of March a meeting was called by Director Mechanical Engineering Railway Board, in his office to discuss a note prepared by CEE of Central Railway regarding SB system. In this meeting in addition to CEEs of Central and Northern Railway, the chief Controller of Central Standard Office was also present. The participants of this meeting came to a unanimous conclusion that there was no justification in changing over from DB system to SB system. The record note of discussions at this meeting was then put to Chairman Railway Board who made the following remarks. 30 "I accept this. In fact the balance (economic and technical angle) is all in favour of DB system." Faced with this decision taken at the highest level of the Railway Board the 11th ESC which met a few days later, could only recommend the abandoning the service trials earlier approved by the Railway Board, and give a quite burial to its desire to introduce SB system for the time being. 3. Thefts and Vandalism Immediately after independence, law and order situation in the country gradually deteriorated. It affected Train Lighting system adversely. The thefts from coaches in service, which were initially only nominal and restricted to dynamo belt and lamps during the period 1947-1954, gradually grew as time passed. The thefts of train lighting components began around 1950 and reached its peak around 1965. The components that were targeted were: l24v lamps lDynamo belts lInter-vehicular couplers lSwitchgear coils made of copper lFan field coils made of copper lDynamo field coils made of copper lComplete fans lBattery inter-cell connectors made of copper lComplete battery cells having large amount of lead lCoach wiring made of thick copper cables lJunction boxes located on coach end panels Theft of lamps meant only temporary inconvenience, whereas loss of belts meant loss of generation till belt was replaced, which could be done during halts if it was available with the train lighting staff. Loss of inter-vehicular coupler alone by itself only resulted in splitting the block rake, but coupled with loss of belts could result in failure of lights and fans if the coach where belt loss occurred was isolated on both sides due to coupler theft. A theft of auto-cut-in- cut-out switchgear coils was more serious as it resulted in making the coach a trailer. Similar was the effect of loss of dynamo field coils, battery cells and battery inter-cell connectors. The theft of switchgear coils was not as serious as it meant loss of remote control of lights and fans of that particular coach only and meant manual operation during train halts where train lighting staff was available. Thefts of coach wiring and junction boxes meant total failure of lights and fans but restoration with temporary repairs was possible in the depots, though many a time in an unsafe manner. Thefts of fans and fan field coils caused inconvenience and complaints. 31 The net results of thefts were: lMaintenance staff available in the depots had to concentrate on restoration of stolen parts, which had to be replaced on priority to avoid complaints, allowing general maintenance to suffer. lRepairs to coach wiring and junction boxes affected by thefts under taken in depots were generally of poor quality and lead to more failures and sometimes-even fires. lThere was a large-scale increase in demand of train lighting components which had to be locally purchased under duress, not to any specification. The Subject of thefts had become important enough to find a place in the deliberations of the 16th ESC meeting held in 1958. These discussions were based on the initiative of the Railway Board, which had asked ESC to evolve new methods of fixing electrical equipments which will make their removal either difficult or if possible, with extensive damage to the equipment concerned. A sub-committee of CEEs formed by ESC went in detail into the problem. The report of this sub- committee was considered by the 17th ESC meeting held in April 1959. The individual railways' responses to recommendations of the sub-committee were as under: lRailways introduced additional items to make removal of fittings time consuming. These items were collectively termed Anti Pilferage Devices. lRailways started sealing or even welding switchgear covers. lAuto-cut-in-cut-out switchgears were progressively replaced with Silicon Blocker Diodes lCopper wiring was progressively replaced by Aluminum wiring during rewiring of coaches. lIncorporation of a longitudinal steel bar in battery boxes to prevent easy removal of cells. lReplacement of battery inter-cell connectors made of copper and bolts and nuts made of brass, by aluminium inter-cell connector and galvanised iron bolts and nuts. lProvision of protective steel clamps over switchgear and dynamo covers and welding them to prevent their loss, and further to avoid unnecessary interference by railway staff and thieves. lReplacement of brass brush boxes by steel brush boxes in dynamos and fans. lEncasing Kent-Coupler cables in a flexible metal conduit. lFixing of Coupler sockets by use of through bolts passing through the coach end-panels, and riveting them. lUse of tumblers switches and fuses without covers, sinking them in wood and providing M.S. cover over them. lReplacement of all copper coils by aluminium coils in dynamos, switch gears and fans. All these efforts only made it possible to start the trains with lights and fans in working condition but in no time thefts caused complete failure of the system. These efforts were only palliative in 32 nature and thieves even became smarter and spate of thefts continued unabated causing consequent failures. The 19th ESC meeting held in 1961, considered placing all switch gear boxes inside a big metal box located on the coach under-frame, but after discussion recommended that all switch gear items be mounted inside the coach, where it was expected to be looked after by the coach attendants. The 22nd ESC meeting held in 1965 again repeated the earlier recommendation of positioning of all switchgear boxes inside the coaches on all new builds. The Railway Board while accepting this recommendation desired the effectiveness of this modification on new builds to be first evaluated before considering its implementation to the bulk of existing coaches. The 23rd ESC meeting held in March 1966, made the following very important recommendations: - lThe use of Silicon Blocking Rectifier in place of auto-cut-in-cut-out switch as a permissible alternative. lProvision of knife / Rotary switches for controlling of lights and fans. These switches were to be operated only by guard / coach attendant / train running fitter / platform T.L. fitter. The Railway Board's Orders were: - 1. Use of Silicon rectifier approved as permissible alternative to auto-cut-in-cut-out switches. 2. The ironclad switches were to be provided for controlling lights and fans in addition to existing magnetic load switches, but as a temporary measure. The lighting circuit were to be split in two parts and each part was to be controlled by a separate ironclad switch. These switches were to be operated only by authorised Railway Staff. The provision of Silicon Blocker in place of auto-cut-in-cut-out switches en mass in existing coaches thereafter made a significant improvement in availability of electricity in coaches. Even though overall position had improved, it could not be called satisfactory due to other weak links in the system. Thus the quest for a better solution had to continue. 4. Evolution of Simplified System The DB system, which had a very large content of copper and other non-ferrous parts, had started suffering extensive damage at the hands of thieves, who targeted the copper and non ferrous components, all of which were easily accessible, being located on the coach under frame. The fate of the system was summarised by CEE of South Eastern Railway in the year 1965, in following words: "The present DB parallel block system of train lighting standardised on our Railway, has resulted in a large number of failures and complaints from travelling public. The switchgear used incorporates contactors and relays, requiring precision adjustments, and which staff on-line invariably interferes with, resulting in mal-functioning and failures. Moreover, these contactors being low voltage, high current type are built with heavy copper coils, which are an attraction for thieves. In view of the above it is necessary to simplify the existing system by replacement of the contactors by static equipment such as. 33 lBlocking rectifier in place of cut-in-switch. lIron clad switches in place of magnetic load switches. lTwo core aluminium cables, in place of five core copper Kent- coupler cable. The last item suggested being meant to link only PM & main negative through wires to provide emergency feed to the adjoining coaches." By 1965, the thefts of cables, switch- gears and batteries located on the under frame had reached alarming proportions and train lighting failures were plenty and uncontrollable and the situation had reached alarming proportions. Only a few Mail and Express trains, which were closely monitored, had some semblance of lights. One could see a large number of entire passenger trains passing through in total darkness at night. Passengers took it in their stride and accepted it as a part of their plight and suffering along with other inconveniences of railway travel. This problem had become serious enough to merit consideration of all the Chief Electrical Engineers and so was taken up for consideration at the XXIII ELECTRICAL STANDARDS COMMITTEE meeting held at Lucknow in 1966. This meeting unanimously recommended that a special duty officer be posted exclusively to deal with train lighting problems and who should work under the guidance of RDSO. And after examining the problems in great detail, he should make suitable recommendations. The Railway Board accepted these recommendations, and in turn asked RDSO vide their letter no. 67/elec/495/1 dated 17th Feb.1967 to take suitable urgent action. Keeping in view the urgency of the matter the Director Standards Electrical of RDSO utilized all the manpower resources available to the electrical directorate and in a short period of four months produced a very exhaustive report. During this time 20 officers and over 500 staff were interviewed and RDSO team examined about 400 coaches. As a result a report titled: "Evaluation and Performance of Double Battery Parallel Block 24v dc Train Lighting System on Broad Gauge", was submitted to the Board by RDSO vide letter no. EE/8/12 dated 30th June 1967. This report became the basis of all future developments in train lighting system. In a way this report became a Historic Milestone and a Bible for Train Lighting. The significant changes that took place as a result of this report are : lIntroduction of silicon blockers in place of the auto-cut-in cutout switches. lThe replacement of magnetic load switches by manually operated load switches. lRewinding of existing dc dynamos as alternators and use of Rectifier Bridge to convert it to dc. A demonstration machine was produced at Alam Bagh shops under RDSO's guidance by rewinding an existing dynamo. lReplacement of copper wiring by aluminum wiring. lReplacement of 24-way Junction Boxes with Metal Clad Boxes with Cartridge Fuses. 34 lProvision of Fuses both in positive and negative mains and light and fan distribution circuits. lRecommendation of simple testing procedure by use of two lamps method for detection of earth on any polarity of coach wiring. lUse of wire gauges to select correct fuse wires for use in various circuits. lReplacement of copper field coils by aluminum coils in dynamos and fans. lSegregation of Positive and Negative Mains on new builds. Railways were also advised to carry likewise during their next POH of coaches. lUse of PVC cable instead of VIR cables and that too of nominated colors for each polarity. lEach polarity of wire to be fixed on different wall of the coach in formed cleats of treated wood or of PVC to replace untreated parallel wooden cleats lWiring on coach body sidewalls to be secured by PVC insulated aluminium clips. lLarge-scale introduction of anti pilferage devices to make it difficult to remove the components targeted by the thieves. lReplacement of under frame mounted Dynamos/Alternators with flat belt drive by Bogie Transom mounted Alternators with endless V- belt drive. lCodes of Maintenance practices was also issued which among other things particularly specified the simple testing by two lamps the detection of short circuit of any polarity of battery and use of gauges to fit correct fuses in various circuits lSegregation of Positive and Negative Mains on new builds. Railway was advised to carry likewise in their next POH of coaches. lPositive and Negative wiring mains to be separated and each to be fixed on two different walls of the coach in formed cleats of treated wood or of PVC to replace untreated parallel wooden cleats. lWiring on coach body sidewalls to be secured by PVC insulated aluminium clips. lRDSO felt that it was not necessary to go in for 110-vdc with the existing loads With the replacement of auto-cut-in-cut-out switches by the silicon blockers the system changed to Single Battery System even though two battery sets were still provided, but now permanently paralleled, and for all purposes, behaved as a single battery. This system differed from the earlier SB system, as dynamos were all inherently regulated and there were no external regulators. The location of lamp resistance was shifted to be in series with the load, but this resulted in dim to very dim lighting in the coaches. In order to overcome this situation, as a first step the value of the resistance was altered to provide a 3 to 4v drop at full load. These were later replaced by a selenium rectifier, which offered a 4 to 6v drop in the forward direction from no load to full coach load. These were called the Selenium Lamp Ballasts. Only a limited number of these were put in service during the period in 1968 to 1970. Although initially thieves still tampered with 35 Aluminum wired coaches, fans and Dynamos with Aluminum field coils. It was decided to paint in bold letters that Aluminum had been employed. Treating it as a bluff they still meddled with them but ultimately finding that railways were not bluffing they gave up. The 24th ESC meeting held in September 1967, at Lucknow, recommended that simplified system should be adopted for general application, by the coach-builders such as ICF, BEML and railway workshops, both on existing coaches as well as new builds, The RB's orders on this recommendation were issued on 20th March 1968, after which all existing coaches were taken up for modifications and new builds started rolling out with this system. RDSO did not stop after submitting the report. The implementation was closely monitored with Production Units, Railways and Equipment Manufacturers. All these resulted in a very significant improvement in the availability of lights and fans. This resulted in all round improvement almost overnight and whole image of train lighting system on Indian Railways altered dramatically in a couple of years. The improvements continued and the system could sustain itself till the railways changed over to 110-vdc System to meet the ever-growing loads and demand for improved fanage and better lighting. 5. Electrical fires in coaches Wooden body coaches This problem was dealt with in the 21st meeting of mechanical section of IRCA held in 1936, where after discussion, specifications relating to coach wiring. to maintain good insulation. and separation of polarities was adopted. The 2nd ESC meeting held in 1937 took a note of this report but deferred any discussion. The subject next came up in the 8th ESC meeting held in March 1950, where after discussion following recommendations were made: - lAll 5 nos. through wires should be run in steel conduits located on the sole bars of the underframe, all the way from 24 way- junction box on one end-panel to the 15 way- junction box on the other end panel. Drain holes were required to be provided in the conduits at the lowest point to drain out water. lWhile wiring inside the coach, positive and negative wires were all to be run separately in grooved wooden casing. All lights and fans circuits were to be adequately protected by fuse cutouts located as near to the tapping points as possible. lSwitches controlling lights and fans were permitted to be connected either in positive or in negative leads, as the case may be, with a view to avoid unnecessary crossing of wires of opposite polarity. lThe 15 way-junction boxes to be constructed similar to 24 way-junction boxes, were to be provided on the other end of the coach, to link through wires. This was necessary to provide two sets of Kent couplers in BG coaches and thus replaced the existing 5 way- junction boxes. lA push button control switch was required to be provided on each coach, to remote control all the lights and fans of the rake. 36 lProvision of additional fuses near the lights and fans were not considered necessary, as each sub-circuit would then be adequately fuse-protected. lIn the absence of sufficient experience with PVC cables, the committee felt that it would not be possible to recommend the use of PVC cable for coach wiring. Committee also noted that all VIR cables presently used for coach wiring were of flameproof quality. The Railway Board approved all the changes suggested by the ESC but desired limited trials of coach wiring to be undertaken with indigenous PVC cables of flameproof quality on 1 or 2 Railways to gain experience. The 9th ESC meeting held in March 1951 after considering the trial reports received from E.I. Railway, G.I.P. Railway and M.S.M. Railway recommended that: - lNothing will be gained by pursuing the trials with PVC cables. lThe trials as directed by Board at the last meeting need not be proceeded with. The Railway Board approved these recommendations. Suddenly in 1960 the Railways became interested in PVC insulation for the simple reason that the supply position of VIR cables had become very acute. In this connection the following remarks of CEE Eastern Railway are relevant. "Considerable difficulty is now being experienced in procuring suitable cables for use in coaching stock due to vide prevalence of thefts of train lighting cables, the situation has aggravated. There are only two firms in India who are manufacturing cables now considered suitable for train lighting use and their production is unable to meet the demand" The 18th ESC meeting held in April 1960 took up this subject under item 28 of the agenda. The RDSO's comment were that certain indigenous firms had undertaken the manufacture of PVC cables and this insulation was claimed to be fire resistant and frame proof, and being used in coaching stock by other countries like Germany. The prices of PVC cables compared very favourably with other types of cables, and since PVC insulation was also claimed to be non- aging, it was anticipated that its use would reduce the necessity of re-wiring of carriages after every ten years. The 21st ESC meeting held in 1964 recommends the use of these cables as permissible alternative for use in lieu of VIR cables, restricting the use to only those PVC cables having fire resisting properties. The Railway board approved this recommendation and permitted PVC cables to be used as alternative to VIR cables for coach wiring. Metal Body Coaches It may be thought that metal is less vulnerable to fire but in the case of metal coach, the metal of the coach itself becomes a conductor of either of the polarity and ensuing short circuit current can result can engulf the entire coach instantaneously thus can create havoc and huge loss of life. 37 In 1953-54 when Indian Railway started furnishing the imported shell of Schlieren Coaches and later completely manufacturing these at ICF the principles of wiring as laid down in Para 11 of the 8th ESC meeting was given a go by. This thoughtless decision had by mid sixties created a serious problem of fires in these metal body coaches. The fires in such coaches assumed endemic and epidemic form. Hardly a week would pass when an ICF coach (Schlieren design) would not be involved in serious case of fire. Fire could be such that the entire coach would engulf simultaneously and would turn the whole coach into ashes in a matter of few minutes. Many a Precious lives were thus lost. Reticence and reluctance to accept departmental responsibility did not let the real reason come up. A sigri or kerosene stove could always be planted to confuse the investigators. The investigations would thus reveal nothing. It would go to the foresight of Director Standards Electrical of RDSO that he sou motto took the responsibility to go into this problem in depth and find out the real causes of these fires. The causes of these fires were brought out by RDSO who in 1968 came up with a report titled "Fires of electrical origin on all metal coaches". Some of the important recommendations of this report were: - lUse of PVC insulated cables in place of VIR cables. lProvision of fuses on the negative circuits even those of fan and light sub-circuit. lRe location of fuses so as to leave no part of the cable unprotected. lUse of colour code to indicate the polarity to which a particular wire being used. lNegative and Positive wiring mains to be separated and each fixed on two different walls of the coach in formed cleats of treated wood or of PVC to replace untreated parallel wooden cleats. lWiring on coach body sidewalls to be secured by PVC insulated aluminium clips. lPVC grommets and bushes to be used to protect the wires against abrasion when passing through metal parts of the coach or light and fan fittings. lPVC sheathed cables to be used exclusively on under frame wiring to give maximum protection from abrasion. In addition these cables will be run through flexible armouring conduits or toughing. Fixed type of fans and berth light fittings to have connectors to make connection with coach wiring. lAll fan frame and light fittings to be insulated from coach body. In addition to the above changes in the coach wiring practices, the importance of following items was stressed in the open line maintenance: - lPeriodical checking of all coaches for Earth with Earth Fault Indicator. lProvision of only correct sizes of fuses. lUse of good quality PVC adhesive tape for line repair. lReduction in exposed area of the terminal. 38 lProper methods were laid down for frequently required emergency repairs to 24 way junction boxes where all internal components has been stolen. In addition, portable inter-vehicular couplers of lighter design were introduced. These were kept with the station train-lighting staff and with the mobile train accompanying staff. As and when required they were fitted on the vehicles and were removed as the defects were rectified in run or in maintenance depots. The design of fans and light fittings were changed to make them less vulnerable to pilferage. The earliest batches of coaches produced by ICF had provided false ceiling made out of the following quality of hard boards 3 (three) mm thick: - lMasonite tempered quality. lInsulated hard board. lThermotaxic hard board. lTreetex hard board. The lavatory area of these coaches was found to be very vulnerable to electric short-circuiting than the rest of the coach. All Railway workshops were instructed to replace the hard board ceiling in this area by Limpet asbestos sheets 3 mm thick which were available indigenously from M/s. Hindustan Ferodo Ltd., and in the rest of the coach the existing hard board ceiling was required to be protected by three coats of fire resistant paint as an interim solution till the hard ceiling was ultimately replaced by Limpet asbestos. The implementation of all these recommendation by the coach- builders, Railway workshop and open line staff was closely monitored for a number of years by RDSO till the staff got into the habit of following them. As a result there was total disappearance of fire of electrical origin from the metal body coaches, which then had formed the bulk of coaching stock and till date one does not hear of such fires. 6. Self-Generating Coaches at 110-volt dc This system was used on Indian Railways for the first time during 1950 when the first lot of fully air-conditioned coaches were built. These coaches had used imported Stones-Carrier equipment and were put in service in 1951 on Bengal Nagpur, Central, East Indian and Southern Railways. An axle driven 18 K.W. dc generators powered these. They were provided with a carbon pile voltage regulator for controlling the lighting circuit voltage. The idea, of using 110v dc system for train lighting in conventional coaches was considered for the first time by the 14th ESC meeting held in 1956. This proposal was supported by four CEEs but was opposed by three CEEs. Later on in 1969, a special committee was appointed by the Railway Board, which after carrying out a complete review, including the performance of this system in air-conditioned coaches concluded that: - lThere was no need or justification for any change in the existing 24/32 v dc system, which was still the most suitable and capable of meeting the requirements for train lighting. The double battery system working in Parallel Block Rake gives greatest flexibility of operation. 39 lThe inherently regulated type of dynamo is preferable to a shunt wound dynamo with an external automatic voltage regulator. This issue was discussed at the 24th ESC meeting held in September 1967 where after discussion the committee recommended as under: lPresent system had proved troublesome and unreliable in recent years, due to increase in theft and unauthorised interference on the one hand, and increase in electrical loads on the other hand. lTime had therefore come for an immediate decision on the choice of a new system, to over come the defects, with least possible delay. The committee recommended that specifications of the new system of train lighting equipment for110 v should be prepared by the RDSO & tenders invited early. These recommendations were accepted by Railway Board in March 1968, and after the specifications had been drafted by RDSO the Railway Board ordered ICF to produce 6 (six) rakes working at 110v dc. These rakes were turned out by ICF in 1976-77 and were allotted to S.E. Railway 4 (four) rakes and C. Railway 2 (two) rakes, which were put to work as Geetanjali Express and Minar Express respectably. These coaches had used KEL (Kerala Electrical Ltd.) make alternator-regulators of 3KW and 4.5KW. Capacity and SPE (I) (Stone Platt Electrical India Ltd.) make alternator regulators of 3KW capacity. The KEL machine had magnetic amplifier to control the output whereas SPE (I) machine had transistorised regulators. All regulators were set to 130-v dc. There was no lamp resistance or Selenium lamp ballast in the lighting circuit. The battery cells provided were of 90 amps Hrs. Capacity. A coach battery had 55 cells and was formed with 11 nos. 5-cell monoblock units. The lights and fans circuits were controlled by miniature circuit breakers (mcb). The service experiences on these rakes were reviewed regularly from 1982 to 1986 and following problems were noticed and modifications made. I. These coaches experience a problem of high voltage and fusing of lamps, which was over come by reducing the number of cells from 55 to 50 and simultaneously lowering the regulator voltage setting to 117v. II. The Hymeg brand mcbs used were failing very frequently. The manufacturer of mcb when consulted advised that 130-v dc is high for their mcbs, as they were not designed for this voltage. After lowering of the alternator output voltage setting this problem disappeared. III. The 5 cell mono-block batteries had a high rate of failure. After studying the problem the battery manufacturers came up with a new design of 3 cell mono-block unit The provision of this new design battery could not be made due to the need of battery box modification. These modifications were finalised by ICF only in 1986 till then the battery problem had persisted. IV. The SPE (I) make regulators had a very high rate of failure during 1981-1982, but after the problems were analysed and modification implemented on the regulators the failure rate came down. 40 Based on the satisfactory report about the performance of this system on these 6 rakes, the Railway Board ordered ICF to build seven more rakes using this system. These rakes were also to be provided with air brakes and were meant to be used as captive rakes on southbound trains. ICF had planned to turn them out during 1987-1988. During 1988 Railway Board appointed a special committee of CEEs to work out the modalities of extending this system to all the coaches so that this system could become the future standard. By mid nineties Indian Railways was able to phase out 24-vdc system from its BG coaches by replacing it with 110-vdc system. IMPROVEMENT IN TRAIN LIGHTING SYSTEM 7. Use of endless V-belt drive i. Air-Conditioned Coaches In order to pursue this idea further, the RDSO developed a fresh proposal of suspending the dynamo from the bogie transom and driving it with endless V. belts. This arrangement was fitted on a coach and was found workable. The RDSO also carried out oscillation trials on this coach during 1967/1968 and found the results satisfactory. There after the coach was put in service trial where the life of belt obtained was considered sufficient. This new drive arrangement was there after used by RSDO in the newly produced 2 Tier Second Class air-conditioned coaches built by ICF in 1974 to drive the 18 kw. alternators. This arrangement thereafter had been used as a standard drive for all self- generating air-conditioned coaches. ii. Non-Air-Conditioned Coaches The use of endless V-belt drive in ordinary coaches had to wait another 10 years till it was established that the endless V-belts provided in air-conditioned coaches could last 8 to 9 months in service and required only one change of belts from one POH to the next POH. This drives with endless V-belts and bogie transom mounted alternators was used on trial basis in 1984 in 2nd batch of 110v dc conventional coaches. During the 2nd MSG meeting held in October 1986, the Advisor Electrical Railway Board stated : "As reported by various railways, performance of transom mounted alternators on conventional coaches with endless V belts is quite encouraging and we could go in for more such coaches, may be 25% of new coaches being manufactured by ICF" The 3rd MSG meeting held in February 1988 confirmed this view and recorded "There is no need to reconsidered the decision taken for using transom mounted alternator with endless V. belt drive. But V. belt manufacturers should be impressed upon to supply belts in matched sets with correct marking of grade". The meeting also asked ICF and RDSO to develop suitable equipment for MG coaches with the object of using bogie transom mounted alternators with endless V. belt drive for all M G coaches. 8. Brush less Alternators M/s Best & Compton, a firm based in Chennai, produced the first lot of these machines along with Transistorised Regulators, in early seventies by using reverse engineering on a Japanese Imported machine received by ICF for fitment on coaches manufactured for export to Taiwan. Later on other manufactures entered this field. By 1987 following firm were manufacturing these 41 machines in India. a. Best & Compton (Beacon) e. Compton Greaves b. Stone India f. HMTD c. Beni g. Delmot d. KEL The Beacon and Stone Regulator had used transistors, Beni regulators had used Thyristor, M/s KEL and M/s Compton Greaves Machine had used magnetic amplifier. Most of these regulators had facility to reduce the alternator output to prevent over charging of batteries. Initially each machine had to be used with its own brand of regulator, later on design parameter were laid down and it was made possible to work any alternators with a regulator of any other make in the same voltage rating. The regulator cum rectifier unit had following functions to perform: - lRectifying 3-phase ac output of alternator to dc using full wave Rectifier Bridge. lRegulating the voltage generated by alternator to a set value. lRegulating the output current to a set value. lReducing output current of the machine depending on the state of the charge of the battery and thus preventing over charging. 9. Prime Mover Based Train Lighting System - End on Generation These systems were used in Western Countries from the second half of the 19th century i.e. before the advent of axle driven self-generating system. After India gained independence in 1947, the Railway Board sought the opinion of M/s Rendel Palmer & Tritton of U.K., who were then the consulting engineers for Indian Railway; on the question of prime mover based versus axle driven train lighting systems The consultants in their report, came to the following conclusions. lFrom engineering considerations, the diesel system was quite practicable, but was more expensive and its adoptions would introduce difficulties in train marshalling. lIn India, the electric loads stipulated were well within the capacity of axle driving and with the co-commitment advantage of cheaper operation, a uniform system, greater flexibility and simplicity. It was therefore advisable to adopt axle driven system. The axle driven system had its own limitations, particularly on slow speed passenger trains. With a view to over come these limitations, the CEE of the North-Eastern Railway suggested in 1952 that End-on-Generation (EOG) systems should be considered for adoption on Indian Railways. This was followed by an article titled "End-on-Generation of electricity on Railway trains", by Shri Ranga Rao Ex-CEE of Northern Railway, pleading for adoption of this system. This article was circulated by the CSO in early 1954 to all the Railways. This was followed by initiation of service trials with EOG system on Eastern Railway and North-Eastern Railway. The trail reports from these Railways were considered by the 13th ESC meeting held in 1955. After discussion the committee recommended the formation of a sub-committee of CEEs to examine all possible alternatives for supplying the increased electrical loads of the trains. The report of the sub- committee was considered by the 14th ESC meeting held in March 1956, where no uniformity of 42 the views could be reached. Just before this meeting the Railway Board on its own initiative issued instructions for fitting up of six number slow speed rakes on each Railway with EOG equipments for trials. The voltage to be used for such equipment was standardised at 110v by the 15th ESC meeting held in March 1957. The CEE of North-Eastern Railway in 1957 summarised its experience and enumerated the difficulties faced with EOG system as under: - i. Theft and sale of Diesel Oil by Railway's Power Car Staff. ii. Increase in operation cost due to the use of diesel oil and other consumable stores, in the power cars, but without any practical saving in the consumption of coal by the steam locomotives, which provided power for axle generation system. iii. The Diesel generating sets were imported and involved expenditure in foreign exchange, while axle driven dynamos were available from indigenous sources. iv. Operating staff had to travel along with the train in EOG system, while no such staffs was required for axle driven system, thereby increasing cost. v. Maintenance of diesel engine required highly skilled staff. vi. Maintenance of diesel engine required elaborate workshop facilities, which were not readily available in the electrical department. vii. Shorter life span in the case of diesel engine, ranging between 10 to 15 years, as against a life of over 30 years for axle driven dynamos. viii. Sacrifice of useful luggage carrying space for mounting diesel-generating sets, which caused loss of revenue. ix. Necessity to maintain complete set rakes, and difficulties in attaching and detaching slip-in coaches. x. Practical difficulties during the transition period in changing over from one system to the other. In 1958, Indian Railways introduced the first experimental air-conditioned train popularly known as Deluxe Expresses operating between Chennai-Delhi and Delhi-Kolkata. In these rakes EOG system was used to supply power for both air-conditioning and train lighting loads. Electric power was generated in two power cars at 400v 3 phase 50hz located at either end of the rake. The lights and fans inside the coaches worked at 110vac the entire electrical and air- conditioning equipments for these trains were imported supplied and installed by M/s J. Stone & Company. The 23rd ESC meeting held in March 1966 considered the performance reports on the deluxe train and made the following recommendation, "That special rakes which worked as set rakes and have more than 30kw load, which is difficult to be satisfactorily met by conventional train lighting system, can be adopted for EOG system with 400v 3 phase, 50hz. As standard system for power generation and 110vac, 50hz as standard for consuming equipments inside the coaches." 43 The first rake for Rajdhani Express using EOG system was introduced in 1969. This rake was designed by Indian Engineers of RDSO and was built indigenously at ICF. The entire electrical and air-conditioning equipments were supplied by M/s Stone who's Indian Engineers supervised the installation and commissioning work at ICF. In this rake air-conditioning compressors made by M/s Krisloskar in India were used for the 1st time for Railway applications. The Second and subsequent Rajdhani rakes were also built at ICF a few years later and had the role of M/s Stone reduced to only supply of materials. This system was further extended to cover Shatabdi Expresses that were introduced as Inter City Trains in 1988. The use of EOG system was restricted to special set rakes composed of air-conditioned coaches. The Railways still faced a Herculean task of providing electric lighting to slow passenger trains, during sixties For this purpose a system of mid-on-generation (MOG) was evolved in which one of the second Class general compartment located in the middle of the rake was converted as a temporary power car by provision of one number diesel generating set, generating power at 110.vdc or if generating at 400 vac 3 phase 50hz had a rectifier set installed to convert the power to 110v dc which supplied electrical power to coaches located on both sides of the temporary power car. This system, which came into use in early sixties, was in use till late seventies when position was eased by the replacement of the dc dynamos by brush less alternators. For BG coaches a 4.5 kW alternator was used in place of 100amp dynamos and for MG coaches a 3 kW alternator replaced the 60amp dynamo. Thus there was a very substantial increase in generation capacity of the block rake. So the use of MOG system was also given up. The Future The forecast for the future of next 20 years of train lighting would be as hazardous as any such futuristic techno-economic forecast. All the same they are being spelt out here without committing to any time frame. A few major aspects are which come to mind are: I. Stand Alone System 1. The present stand-alone at 110v dc would continue. 2. The 110v dc fans would be converted to 110 v ac fans by use of inverters either for individual fans or by central inverter. 3. If adequate developments take place, the fuel cells could replace the brush-less alternators and the present battery in due course. The present trends of technical breakthrough/innovation along with price reduction power semi-conductor and electrical storage battery technology gives hope of use of solar energy in future. II. End-on-generation/ Head-on-generation 1. Trains of "Rajdhani" & "Shatabdi" class would be run with head-on-generation by conversion equipment located in the locomotives instead of Diesel Driven end-on- generation system. 2. The train line voltage would increase to say about 2000-v ac 3 phases in lieu of 750-v ac 3 phase. 44 III. Safety Aspects --- applicable to all systems. 1. To eliminate "any risk of fire" originating from electrical circuit faults, earth leakage circuit breakers (elcb) would be adopted .To ensure highest reliability these 'elcb's need to cover the following essential design features viz: -- a) They must be of the residual current type. b) An automatic monitoring circuit/device must continuously monitor the working status of the elcb. Any abnormal status must initiate positive remedial action. c) The tripping current setting need be preferably set at 30 mas. This would require the system insulation to be maintained at high level. 2. XLPE insulated copper conductors would be adopted for wiring in all types of coaches. These would be especially fire retardant and would not release any toxic gases when put under fire. BIBLIOGRAPHY for both the chapters on Train Lighting 1. LCWS Committee reports of meetings held in 1889, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1905 and 1907 2. Article on Stone's System published in "Transport" dated 28th October 1898 3. Reports of South Indian, Jodhpur-Bikaner, Bengal Nagpur, Malwa-Rajputana, North Western and Bengal North Western Railways about status of Train Lighting. 4. Article entitled "Power required for Electrically Lighting Railway Carriages with Stone's System" from the July 1904 issue of "Railway Engineer". 5. Reports of the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th and 14th meetings of Carriage & Wagon Standards Committee 6. Reports dated 11th Nov. 1929, 25th Jan. 1930 and 15th Nov. 1933 of the Electrical Members of CWSC 7. Reports of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 24th meetings of Electrical Standards Committees and various sub- committees formed by them 8. Following Reports of RDSO a. "Evaluation of the performance of Double Battery Parallel Block 24-vdc Train Lighting System", issued in 1967 b. "Fires of Electrical origin in All Metal Coaches", issued in 1968 9. Reports of the 1st to 3rd MSG (TL & AC) Meetings 10. Reports of 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th AC Review meetings. 11. Various Administrative Reports of Indian Railways. 45 Evolution of Head Light on Locomotives 1. Introduction The Administrative report of Indian Railways for the year 1928-29 mentions, in “May 1928, the Railway Board issued orders to State-managed Railways that the intends for new locomotives for passenger, goods and mixed trains services should provide for Electric Headlights; the principal Company-managed railways at the same time were requested to make similar arrangements. The intention is that electric headlights should be fitted on all train running engines on main lines and important branch lines from 1st April 1932, and arrangements have been made accordingly.” In the first Electrical Standard committee (ESC) meeting held in 1935 it was decided that specification for certain items are to be prepared and drafts submitted. In these items Locomotive Headlight Equipment was also one of the items. Apparently till 1935 the loco- headlight formed a subject of Locomotive Standards Committee. 2. Developmental Efforts : The committee recommended the adoption of the revised specification based on comments received from Railways and firms in the second meeting of ESC in 1936. The electric headlight equipment consisted of Turbo Generator, Headlight, switches, fuse box and accessories such as lamps, switches, tail lamp indicators, holders and wiring etc. Turbo generator continuous output of 500 watts will be required to operate under the steam pressure varying from 160 to 210 lbs. per sq. inch and max. Steam temperature of 650 Deg. F. The requirements of other items are also mentioned in the specification. The committee also suggested that a trial shall be undertaken on E.I. Railway to determine relative steam consumption of 500 and 350 watt machines at various loads and at 160 and 210 lbs. B.W.P. In the fourth meeting in 1938 the committee recommended the reflector shall be silvered glass, or chromium plate on sheet copper, or silver plated on sheet copper. In the tenth meeting it was recommended that a centralized manufacturing organization should be set up to cater for the manufacture of spare parts for locomotive turbo generator. Metallic reflector as an alternative to glass reflector was also discussed in 14th meeting in 1956 but it was decided glass reflectors are superior hence manufacturing of glass reflectors in the country should be established. The 17th meeting in 1959 the improvements to be effected to obtain increased intensity of illumination was discussed. RDSO carried out investigation and the following short term and long term measures were recommended: Short Term Measures lTo obtain correct focusing practice and tilt the headlight downward in order to obtain maximum illumination on track. 46 lTo eliminate the use of chromium plated reflectors and standardize on glass reflectors until such time alternative type of reflector with equivalent efficiency are available. lTo use suitable cleaning compounds for cleaning the reflector and the front glass. Long Term Measures lIn addition to above, the use of a higher wattage bulb may be considered. Pending procurement of a high wattage bulb, the possibility of increasing the wattage on the existing bulb needs consideration. To this end, necessary alterations to the turbo-generator in order to give out increased voltage required investigation. lTo provide a swiveling arrangement in order to facilitate lighting of track while approaching curves. In the 18th meeting the provision of standby arrangement for loco headlights in the event of failure of its own turbo-generator was discussed. It was proposed and discussed to fit standard kent coupler socket to one end of the loco tender, so that the engine headlight can in an emergency could take its feed through a changeover switch from the block train batteries. th In the 20 meeting the re-location of switchboard of headlight for convenience in maintenance st and standardization was discussed. In the 21 meeting in 1964 the standardization of deficiency record statements for engine headlights was discussed. 3. Reliability Measures : In the 22nd meeting in April 1965 the improved design of loco headlight fitting developed by M/s. Beni limited with assistance of CLW was discussed. CLW developed with collaboration of M/s. Beni a loco headlight to accommodate a standard 14 inch parabolic reflector. Intensity of illumination drops down considerably in silver plated copper reflectors used. Committee recommended acceptance anodized aluminum reflectors produced by Beni as alternative to silver plated copper reflectors. In the 24th meeting in 1967 the replacement of existing wiring of loco headlights in steam locomotives with Pyrotenax wires & cables (mineral insulated aluminum sheath) was discussed. The committee recommended to watch the performance and report in next meeting .In the same meeting the standardization of headlight fitting for steam, diesel & electric locos was discussed and it was mentioned that Tonum, Sun-beam and Pyle-national were being imported, hence the committee recommended 14inch fitting available indigenously be standardised. But it was further mentioned that specifications and drawings should be furnished and discussed in joint mechanical & electrical standard committee. In the 28th meeting of 1976 the revision of specification for steam loco headlight cable was discussed. To arrest theft and pilferage original 28/0.3 mm copper cable of single core was replaced by aluminum conductor of size 20/0.45mm insulated with two layers of cotton yarn with special insulating compound, braided with cotton yarn and served with fire proofing compound. After 47 introduction of aluminum cable cases of engine headlight failure increased due to perishing of insulation and oxidation of aluminum conductor. It was proposed to re-introduce copper cable with CSP insulation which can resist upto 90 ºC ambient. In addition, alternative cable with aluminum conductor and fibre glass insulation with silicon varnish is proposed and will be tried out shortly. RDSO will issue revised specification for headlight cable with aluminum conductor and heat resistance PVC insulation. Cable procured to revised specification will be put to trials. In the 35th meeting handing over maintenance of steam loco headlight to mechanical dept. was discussed. RB agreed to this recommendation, since there is no mention of loco head light in any of the later ESCs. BIBLIOGRAPHY : 1. Administrative Report of Railway Board of 1928-29. 2. Locomotive Standard Committee Report. 3. Electrical Standard Committee Report - RDSO. 48 Evolution of Air-conditioned Coaches 1. Introduction India being the 2nd most populous country of the world and having 64,000 route km of Railway network, the total volume of passenger traffic in India is one of the highest in the world. Bulk of this passenger transportation is by Railways due to higher cost of air travel, and inadequate road infrastructure, especially for medium and long distance routes. In general, medium and long distance passengers prefer rail travel due to higher speed; better level of comfort; and better safety & security. Summer conditions prevail for about 7 to 8 months throughout India (except in mountains). In southern and western India such summer conditions exist throughout the year. Some of these summer months in northern and central India are characterized by dusty winds, and at times with high humidity. Coastal regions are characterized by extreme humid conditions causing profuse perspiration.In contrast winter conditions prevail in North and North Western India. 2. Air Conditioning Systems - International Scene Earliest known air conditioning of railroad coaches was by Pullman Company of their sleeping cars and by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad of their coaches in 1927-29. By 1931 the later put in operation first complete air conditioned passenger train. By 1953 there were 20,000 air conditioned coaches on US Railroads. In Europe heating of coaches has been in use probably since the advent of Railways. Initially it was by bleeding steam from the locomotives and later with advent of dieselisation and electrification from the electric power from the locomotive. Trans Europe Expresses (TEES) introduced in late fifties were the first trains to be air conditioned. Progressively more and more trains are now being air conditioned. 3. Indian Railways 3.1 Comfort to Passengers The first step to provide some comfort to upper classes was taken when fans were introduced in 1905. This facility was extended to Intermediate classes then popularly known as Inter Class in 1936 and to lower classes in 1949. Prior to the 1930's, various arrangements for cooling the interiors of passenger coaches existed, mostly for the first-class coaches. From the 1860's onwards, it was quite common to hang moistened mats of khas to cool the air by evaporation. In 1872, the Saunders system was introduced, which consisted of a long duct running along the length of the coach and beneath it, with a funnel for air intake on one side, and multiple sheets of wet khas matting in the middle, which filtered the dust out of the air and also cooled it by evaporation; the cooled air was admitted into the coaches by apertures in the floor. Often, the simple expedient of placing large blocks of ice (in bamboo or wicker containers) in the compartments was adopted. After electric fans were introduced, this method of cooling continued to be in use, with the ice placed in the path of a fan's air-stream. As late as 1958 on the Vijayawada division, for instance, passengers could rent an open zinc-lined box that carried a hundred weight (114lb, about 50kg) block of ice. The electric fans of the compartments would 49 then be trained on it, and bottles or other containers could also be cooled in the box. The ice could be replenished at any major station en route, and the Conductor/Guard (the equivalent of the Train Superintendent) would check on the ice blocks now and then and notify the station ahead if replenishments were needed. This was a popular service because it was easier and cheaper than riding in the air-conditioned coaches (which often cost almost twice the normal fare). The erstwhile North Western Railway (NWR) served the hottest part of undivided India and ice activated coaches were introduced on Lahore Karachi Mail, running between Karachi and Lahore in late 1930's (the earliest was probably in 1936 or 1937 In these coaches cold water was circulated in the cooling located in the various compartments. A blower fan circulated cool air in the compartment. The cold water was obtained from the tank located below the coach underframe in which ice was loaded at various nominated stations. Erstwhile. BBCI Railways also experimented with air-conditioning at about the same time for erstwhile Frontier Mail (now known as Golden Temple Express runnining between Mumbai and Amritsar), running between Bombay and Peshwar with ice activated coaches. EPR (Eastern Punjab Railway) came in possession of coaches running with Ice-activated air conditioning system probably as apart of division of assets of erstwhile NWR North Western Railway form Pakistan. These coaches were in use on Howrah Kalka Mail but were only running between Delhi and Kalka. 3.2 Electro-Mechanical AC Coaches Prior to 1948 some coaches were also provided with mechanical refrigeration system working at 48-Volt dc.. By the early 1950's, air-conditioning was available on several long-distance trains. For example, in 1952-53 there were air-conditioned services between Bombay and Howrah, Delhi and Madras (Grand Trunk Exp.), Bombay Central and Amritsar (Frontier Mail of erstwhile BB& CI R), Bombay VT and Delhi on Punjab Mail of erstwhile GIP Bombay-Viramgam (Saurashtra Mail), and Bombay-Ahmedabad (Gujarat Mail). These were compartment type coaches (as opposed to corridor). These all used AC units that were mounted beneath the coach body (underslung), interconnected by pipes. 3.3 Recommendations of Various Committees This subject was considered for the first time in the 14th meeting of the Electrical Section of IRCA under and the recommendations made were discussed at the 28th CWSC meeting held in 1948. The 7th Electrical Standards Committee (ESC) meeting held in 1949 reviewed these recommendations concerning air-conditioned coaches and recorded as under: "The committee recommends that as both ice-activated and electro-mechanical systems of air- conditioning have proved satisfactory on Indian Railways, both may be adopted as future standard. Individual railways may adopt either type to suit their particular service conditions. The committee confirms the IRCA resolution that the unit types of conditioners are suitable for MG stock. The Railway Board (RB) pended the decision on the question of selection of a standard type of equipment until it was decided as to what extent air-conditioning was to be introduced. The 8th ESC meeting held in 1950, after discussing this subject recorded that in view of the financial stringency and the fact that there are over 35 sets of air-conditioning equipment were available with railways, the committee felt that it was not an opportune time to embark upon trials for the purpose of determining a standard system for Broad Gauge (BG) coaches. 50 3.4 Refrigerated Vans Before 1949, Indian Railway had been using ice-cooled Refrigerated Parcel Vans for carriage of perishables such as fruits and vegetables. These vans used a straight ice system i.e. the use of wet ice only, without any equipment for pumping cold meltage, as in the case of ice-activated system described earlier. The IRCA resolution had suggested use of a system similar to that used in ice- activated coaches in these vans. Digressing from the subject of Air conditioned coaches 7th ESC also decided as under: - "The committee consider that the straight ice system is best suited for the transport of fruits, vegetables and similar commodities and that any further standard design of Refrigerated Vans shall be based on this arrangement. This system is, however, unsuitable for transporting frozen, meat, fish, etc., which require a much lower sustained inside temperature. Such temperature can only be obtained and maintained throughout the run by the provision of direct mechanical or full electro-mechanical type of refrigerating equipment, with automatic temperature control." The RB approved this recommendation and advised the Central Standards Office (CSO) to base any further designs accordingly. During mid sixties about a dozen Fish Vans were built in various workshops of Indian Railways using diesel engine driven direct mechanical refrigerating plants. 3.5 Standardisation - of Fully Air Conditioned wooden body BG Coaches The decision to build 14 BG fully air conditioned coaches of these self-generating coaches was taken by Railway Board in 1950, and the plant required was ordered on M/S J Stone and Co. on turnkey basis, who inturn imported it from UK. The air-conditioning plants were of 5-ton capacity and had used open type compressors made by Carrier and of type 5F-30, and were coupled directly to a 110 V dc 8.75 HP motor. The power generating plant was rated at 18 kW at 135 V and consisted of a dc generator directly coupled to a 20 kW, 400-v 3 phase ac motor (for pre- cooling) and driven by a propeller shaft and an automatic centrifugal clutch combination from a Bevel Gear Box located on the bogie head stock. The Bevel Gear Box was in turn driven from coach axle using cogged V-belts. The propeller shaft had built in universal joints to take care of any lateral or vertical movement. These coaches were provided with a single battery of 56 nos. cells each of 330 Amp. Hour capacity. The entire plant was of underslung type except for the air handling unit which also carried electrical heating elements. This unit was located in the ceiling over the luggage compartment and passage space and The electrical and air-conditioning control panel was located on the coach floor and was accessible from the common passage. The power supply for the lighting circuit was taken from battery through a carbon-pile type voltage regulator, which ensured a regulated voltage to the lights irrespective of the actual lighting load. In stationary condition the 20 kW 3 phase 400 V ac motor was used to drive the plant for pre- cooling purpose from external power source. These coaches had large underslung water tanks and an electrically driven air pressure controlled Water Raising Apparatus (WRA) was used to raise the water to a small service reservoir located in the roof of the lavatories. 51 These coaches accommodated fourteen passengers (in 3. Coupes and 2 four berth compartment) and were provided with a common corridor into which all air-conditioned compartment doors opened. All the lavatories were located near the coach end-panels and could be accessed through common passage. The layout provided sleeping accommodation for two coach attendants. The work of building these coaches was equally distributed by Railway Board between Matunga Workshop of Central Railway (CR) and Kharagpur Workshop of South Eastern Railway (SER). By May 1952 Matunga had built all the seven coaches, but Kharagpur had still to build four coaches. These ten coaches were then distributed as under: Central Railway (CR) 5 coaches Eastern Railway (ER) 3 coaches Southern Railway (SR) 1 coach Northern Railway (NR) 1 coach The 10th ESC meeting held in March 1952 reviewed the performance of ten of these coaches in actual service condition as reported by BNR, CR, ER and SR. The ESC decided that a sub- committee of CEEs should be formed which should review in detail the performance of these coaches after they have worked through the summer months. RB formed a sub-committee consisting of CEEs of ER, CR and NR. This sub-committee submitted its report on 24th May 1952 in which the modifications carried out by CR on coach no. WJF 2658 to make it reliable were described. The report mentioned that these coaches had been provided with only side-filling arrangement for filling water due to which a number of complaints arose, as the wayside station staff that were only used to top filling, and so had failed to fill water from the side. In order to overcome this problem a filler pipe was required to be provided from the bottom tank to the roof and station staffs were required to be instructed to continue to fill water from the side till it overflowed from the top. Other recommendations by the committee pertained to maintenance and POH periodicity, scale of spares to be kept and scale of staff for operation and maintenance The 11th ESC meeting held in 1953 recommended the use of 110V dc for BG fully air conditioned coaches. The RB approved this recommendation. Since then all coaches of this type have been built using this voltage. ESC meeting held in 1956, when after discussion the Committee recorded that railways have generally been satisfied with the performance of 110-vdc equipment used on these coaches 3.6 Standardisation- of Partial BG and MG Coaches In 1952 a decision was taken by RB to build 36 partially air-conditioned BG and MG self- generating coaches using 24 Volt dc system. These coaches accommodated 8 passengers in air- conditioned portion and 8 to 10 persons in non-air-conditioned 1st class portion. The air- conditioned passengers were accommodated in 2 Coupes and one. 4-berth- compartment. In the original layout there was no corridor and each compartment opened directly to outside and had independent toilet. 52 These coaches were provided with a power generating system similar to the standard Train Lighting system then in use and had 540 Ampere Hours Double Batteries along with 2 dynamos. The dynamos used in BG coaches were of 120 ampere capacity and those on MG were of 60 ampere capacity. The air-conditioning plant was underslung and had used a Carrier compressor type 5F20 directly coupled to a 5 kW dc motor. The forced air-cooled Condenser was also underslung, but cooling units were of compartment type. The 4-berth compartment had an independent cooling unit, while the two Coupes shared a common cooling unit. The refrigerant used was Freon 12 (R-12). The cooling units had electrical heating elements for use in winter months. All these coaches were built in railway workshops under supervision of M/s. J Stone. The 13th ESC meeting held in 1955 however after discussion recommended use of 24-V dc systems for both BG and MG Partially Air-conditioned Coaches. Although the acceptance of this recommendation by RB was conveyed to the committee by CSO only during its 14th meeting held in 1956, but some of the railways had already used the newly procured equipment. From the very beginning NR and NER had felt that these coaches had poor cooling capacity, but were wrongly attributing it to the use of 24-V dc, and were therefore insisting use of a higher voltage. The sub-committee of CEEs formed by the 14th ESC in 1956 had however correctly diagnosed that the 24-v system was satisfactory. But it was only in 1960 that ESC realised that the problem of poor cooling was mainly due to poor layout of the coaches where considerable loss of cooling capacity took place due to compartment doors opening directly to outside hot air instead of opening into a common passage isolated from outside. The new layout was finalised only in 1962, by which time the air-conditioning plant of some of the coaches was nearing its stipulated life. Thus only very few coaches were actually modified to the new layout. ESC accepted 24V dc system with some reservations. The RB accepted this recommendation of the Committee and directed Research Designs and Standards Organization (RDSO), which was the successor of CSO to finalise a revised layout for these coaches, which would reduce the coach heat load. The new layout provided for a corridor into which all air-conditioned compartments opened, instead of opening directly to outside as in the original layout, this corridor in turn opened to outside along with common lavatories, thereby reducing the heat load. This new layout was followed in all subsequent builds of partially air-conditioned coaches. Some of the existing coaches were modified and others, which were nearing the end of their useful life, were condemned. 3.7 Non Standard -MG and NG - Coaches Most air-conditioned stock of recent decades was built with underfloor machinery with blowers located near the ends of the coaches. Newer air-conditioned coaches (since about 1999) have the machinery located on the roof, with an air-distribution duct that goes along the roof of the coach with diffusers in every compartment, providing a much more uniform cooling effect. AC Chair Cars were present on the Tiruchi - Tambaram Cholan Exp., ChennaI- Madurai Vaigai Exp. (1977- 1997), Chennai - Tiruchirapalli Pallavan Exp. (1985-1997), Pink City Exp., Ashram Exp., Bangalore - Mysore Tipu Exp. and Bangalore - Mysore Chamundi Exp. A newer version of the MG AC Chair Car Coach with a roof-mounted AC unit was introduced in 2005. A rarity NG air- conditioned coaches existed for some time, in Gondia-Jabalpur Satpura Express. . 53 3.8 Air-Conditioning of Saloons From the year 1966 onwards the railway had started condemning partially air-conditioning coaches. The released plants were thereafter used to air-condition saloons of GM's and members of the Railway Board. This decision also provided opportunity to individual railways to try innovative ideas in air-conditioning. The notable innovations were use of standard Window type Room Air-conditioners along with DG sets in the saloon MT (Member Transportation) by NR. The use of split Air-Conditioner by SCR (South Central Railway) in the saloon of its GM, during 1967 was an innovation, when the use of such air-conditioners was unheard of even in buildings. In this coach axle power was used through the use of a motor-alternator set, and split air- conditioners were created out of old Window type unit by physically splitting it and providing an additional fan. 3.9 Fully Air-conditioned Trains (Deluxe Trains) The first fully air-conditioned train was introduced in 1956 between Howrah and Delhi popularly known as the Deluxe Train. It ran on the Grand Chord; later there were two such trains, one running on the Grand Chord and the other on the Main Line. This train only consisted of one first AC comartment and 5 chair cars, each of which could accommodate 72 passengers. In addition, there was an air-conditioned Dinning Car which could seat 35 to 40 passengers. It marked the initiation of large scale AC Chair Car service and AC dinning car service for the first time. The luggage compartment and brake van were located in the power car. The only portions of these trains that were not air-conditioned were two brake vans and the Kitchen Car. Kitchen Car however carried electrical cooking appliances and refrigerating equipment. Similar very prestigious services were introduced between Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Madras (now Chennai). These wooden body coaches on IRS under-frames were built in railways their own workshops and involved construction of about 90 air-conditioned coaches. With the intoductions of Diesel Traction the number of chair cars were added. These services were very popular in spite of the fact that over-night travel in a chair car was rather uncomfortable The turn key contract for the supply of equipment and supervision of installation including commissioning was given to M/s. J Stone. All coaches were designed to receive power at 400 V ac 3 phase. The train had 2 power cars carrying Diesel Generating Sets located at either end of the train. Each Power Car had 2 no. DG sets each of 165 kva capacity along with its control panel, and provided sleeping accommodation for the electrical operating staff. The air-conditioned coaches had under slung plant except for control panel, which was floor mounted and Cooling/Heating units, which were ceiling mounted in the entrance/lavatory area. The 1st coach had 5 ton plant with a single 5F30 type Carrier compressor directly coupled to a 10 HP 400 V ac motor. All other coaches had a double plant and had used 5F40 Type compressors coupled to 12.5 HP 400-vac motors. All underslung Condensers were fan cooled. 3.10 End-On-Generation System This subject was discussed by the 23rd ESC meeting held in 1966 & recommended that special rakes which work as a set rake and have more than 30 kW load, which is difficult to be satisfactorily met by the conventional train lighting system, can be adopted (selected) for end-on- 54 generation (EOG) system with 400 volt, 3 phase, 50 Hz as standard system of generation, 3 phase equipment being utilised for the various components of air conditioning plant, while 110 V ac 50 Hz as standard for consuming equipment inside the coach. Adoption of this 3 phase supply enabled the use of ac induction motors. Thus use of these robust motors without any brush and totally enclosed type became a reality giving ample benefits. Having a three phase supply eliminated the limitations of starting torque for the compressors and opened up scope for use of robust sealed refrigeration compressors with higher speed, thus affording lot of system benefits. This policy was laid down after this arrangement had already been adopted for Deluxe Expresses and Taj Expresses. 4. Air Conditioning of Metal Body Coaches 4.1 Metal Body Fully Air-Conditioned BG 1st Class Coaches In 1967, the ICF built and turned out 24 nos. of these coaches, which were distributed to various BG railways. M/s. J Stone supplied the plant required for these coaches, and also supervised the installation and commissioning of the same in ICF. The plant used for this batch of coaches was significantly different from that used for earlier batch of wooden body coaches, as the cogged-V belt drive from coach axle was replaced by a Hypoid Gear Drive, the pre-cooling motor was replaced by a battery-charging Silicon rectifier, and the dc generator was replaced by Brushless Alternator of 18 kW capacity with a transistorised automatic output regulator The fan cooled Condensers and Cooling/Heating units supplied were of indigenous manufacture, and even though there was no false ceiling as with wooden body coaches, the cooling /heating units were still ceiling mounted in the lavatory-passage area. The compressor used was still 5F30 and the control panel was still floor-mounted type. The new drive used gave satisfactory service, and by and large this batch was trouble free. These coaches accommodated 18 passengers in three 4-berth compartments and three Coupes. These coaches had vestibules on both side and a common passage into which all compartment doors opened. 4.2 Metal Body Partially Air-Conditioned 1st Class Coaches The manufacture of ten of these BG coaches was taken up by ICF in 1971- 1972. These coaches were provided with 10-berths in air-conditioned 1st Class and another 10-berths in non-air- conditioned 1st Class portion. The bulk of these coaches had air-conditioning and power supply plant supplied by M/s. J Stone, but installation was carried out by ICF without any major assistance from the supplier. These coaches had used 110 V dc system as used in the earlier batch of fully air conditioned coaches along with Hypoid Gear Drive, but the size of Alternator was scaled down to 12.5 kW. The air-conditioning plant used was also similar but a scaled down version to suit 5F20 compressor. The two of these coaches were with experimental air conditioning systems. Both had underslung DG sets producing power at 400-vac 3-phase specially designed and supplied by M/s. Kirloskar Oil Engines. In one coach the air-conditioning plant had motors working at 400 V ac 3-phase or 230 V ac single phase. The second coach had its conventional air-conditioning plant replaced by 3 number underslung 2 ton package units 55 especially made for Railways by M/s. Shriram Industries. The service experience with these two coaches is not recorded any where, but for sure no more such coaches were ever produced thereafter. 4.3 Metal Body 2-Tier Fully Air-Conditioned BG coaches So far the facility of air-condition travel was available only to those passengers who could afford to travel by the costliest class. With a view to extend this facility to passengers who could only afford to travel in non-air conditioned 1st Class, these BG coaches were developed which could accommodate passengers roughly equal to two ordinary 1st class coaches. Thus against 24 passengers carried in an ordinary 1st Class, air conditioned 2 tier BG coaches accommodated 44 passengers. This was the first time that Indian Railway undertook the responsibility of design and procurement of plant on its own as against the past practice of depending on M/s J Stone for all these functions. The basic design of air-conditioning plant and power generating equipment was successfully carried out by RDSO. ICF too took a very bold decision to prepare all individual equipment specifications and procure each piece of equipment from individual equipment suppliers. The entire effort was very successful and henceforth this new procedure, which saved money, was followed for all air- conditioned coaches built thereafter. Initially twenty such coaches were produced in 1975-76. The air-conditioning and power generation plant used in these coaches was similar to earlier batches of metal body coaches. The major departures were as given below : lFor the first time these coaches were provided with Bogie Transom Mounted 18 kW Brushless Alternators provided with End-less V-Belt Drive from the bogie axle. The Drive was designed by RDSO. lThe 18 kW Alternator along with its rectifier and Transistorised output regulator was designed and built by complete indigenous effort by M/s. Best & Crompton located in Chennai under the brand name of BEACON. lFor the first time indigenous refrigeration compressor manufactured in Ahmedabad under the brand name ACCEL was used in self-generating coaches. lFor the first time air-conditioned self-generating coaches with two sets of underslung air- conditioning plant and two sets of power generating plant were produced. These coaches were well received by the travelling public and seeing the good response, ICF starting producing similar coaches at the rate of 40 to 50 coaches per annum for the next 10 years. 4.4 Two Tier MG Air-Conditioned Coaches A decision to build these coaches was taken by RB in mid eighties, accordingly the designs were finalised by RDSO and coaches were turned out. These coaches accommodated about 22 passengers and so only had a single set of underslung air-conditioning plant. They however had double set of power generating plant with endless V-belt drive, but with smaller size of alternator than their BG counterpart. As RB had already taken a decision for large-scale gauge conversion, only a limited number of these coaches were produced. 56 4.5 Composite Metal Body Air-Conditioned Coaches These self-generating BG coaches were built in mid-eighties to meet specific traffic needs by ICF. These coaches had power generating and air-conditioning plant similar to that used in 2-Tier coaches, but half the coach was 1st Class and the other half was mostly 2-Tier but also sometimes a Chair Car. 4.6 Metal Body 3-Tier BG Air-Conditioned Coaches Rail Coach Factory (RCF) Kapurthala successfully developed a Roof Mounted Package unit of indigenous make in early nineties. This could provide extra head room for third berth. They could thus manufacture 3 tier AC coaches with RDSO's assistance. These coaches were designed to carry 72 passengers, with each passenger provided a seat during the day and a sleeping berth during the night. As the package units could work only from 400 V ac 3 phase supply, the initial lot of these coaches was built to work only on Rajdhani Expresses where this power supply was available from the power cars. The self-generating version of these coaches had to wait for few years more and could be produced only in mid-nineties, by which time the floor mounted version of a forced cooled inverter of 25 kVA rating was successfully produced by Indian Industry, but these coaches could accommodate only 64 passengers. It took another 5 years to produce an underslung version of the invertor and there after the carrying capacity of these coaches could be raised to 72 passengers. 5. Regular Air-Conditioned Trains 5.1 Rajadhani Expresses These trains were conceived to be completely air-conditioned services with limited stops linking Delhi to various state capitals. Against a normal max. speed of 110 kmph these trains were to run at a max. speed of 120 kmph. They were provided initially with only two classes for travel, namely 1st Class and Chair Cars. In these trains fare was inclusive of food to be served to each passenger at his seat. Therefore a pantry car along with sub-pantries in each coach was provided for. Food for 1st class passengers is cooked in the pantry car, which is provided waiter service for each course of meal. The cooking of food for other passengers is carried out in base kitchens from which it is loaded to the pantry at starting stations as well as at suitable intermediate stations. The food packed in aluminium casseroles is then supplied to each sub-pantry where hot-cases are provided to keep it warm. Since these trains run at 120 kmph, both the brake vans as well as pantry cars were air- conditioned to make them dust free. As in case of Deluxe trains, two power cars located at each end of the train equipped with generators which supply power at 415 three phase ac. While designing the construction and layout of equipment of any power car, the usual aspects of axle load, augmentation of dynamic impacts on the track due to extra concentrated loads of diesel- generators, fuel tanks, cooling water tanks etc. had to be considered. The designing of coaches and the air-conditioning/ power supply and train lighting system was done by RDSO at Lucknow. The metal body coaches were built at ICF in Chennai. M/s. J Stone, who also supervised the installation done at ICF, supplied the air-conditioning and power 57 generating equipment of power-cars. This 1st rake went in service in 1969 on 2nd Oct. on Delhi- Howrah route with primary maintenance with ER at Liluah. The 2nd rake was built by ICF in 1972. In this rake the supervision of installation of air-conditioning and DG sets in Power Cars was done by ICF. The max. speed of these trains has been raised to 140 kmph in steps over the last 45 years. These services have been favoured by the travelling public and starting with a single destination bi-weekly service, have now grown to link Delhi with as many as 17 state capitals, Kolkatta and Mumbai having two services each day. Initially a few Chair Cars were replaced by 2 Tier Coaches. A major improvement in these services took place in mid nineties when 3 Tier coaches, who provided sleeping berth to 72 passengers during night journey, replaced all the remaining Chair Cars. This improvement increased the popularity of Rajdhani Services immensely, as over-night journey in a chair was uncomfortable. Initially this service was introduced with 14 coaches, but later on the composition was raised to 22 coaches in late seventies. As the power cars generated power at 415 V, it was not possible to distribute the same to all the 22 coaches even if the generator capacity was raised to suit the new loads. As an immediate measure an additional high capacity power-car was provided in the middle of train. RDSO then proposed raising the capacity of DG sets from 250 KW to 350 KW and generation and distribution voltage from 400 to 750. This recommendation was accepted and implemented in late eighties. 5.2 Shatabdi Expresses This service was conceived as a short distance service. Intercity Service concept is where a train departs in the early morning hours and reaches its destination by lunch time to return to its base station late in the evening. These trains depart generally between 6 am and 7 am and return between 9 pm and 10 pm. These services introduced in 1989 were fully air-conditioned and work on EOG system and a top speed of 140 kmph. They are provided with two power cars, mini pantry, an executive chair car and about 8 to 10 Chair cars and have very limited stops on the way. All passengers are served refreshments en-route at their seats, the cost of which is included in the ticket itself. The 1st service started between Delhi and Agra, which was extended to and later to Bhopal. Presently these services link eleven pairs of cities and some of them are having more than one service. These coaches are also provided with sub-pantries in each coach. 5.3 Jan Shatabdi Expresses These trains are mainly composed of ordinary 2nd class and a couple of air conditioned chair cars. Refreshments are not provided to passengers. These coaches do not have sub-pantries and to that extant have marginally more seats. This service was introduced in late nineties and presently links 16 pairs of cities. All these trains also work on EOG system 5.4 Garib Rath A new type of train consisting only of three tier AC coaches has been introduced, providing overnight connection between major cities. At present there are 20 pairs of such trains. The food is available on payment from the pantry car. These trains have the same concept as Rajdhani expresses with limited stops, the max. speed depending on the track or coach limitation. 58 6. Luxury Trains Mainly to attract foreign tourists these trains provide them lavish comfort and unmatched regal luxury. These trains have been benchmarked with the best trains of the world like Blue Train of South Africa, Orient Express of Europe and Eastern and Oriental of South East Asia. These trains have been designed to suit the modern needs with central air conditioning, wall to wall carpeting 4 channel music telephone inter-com, liveried khidmatgars, a lounge with plasma TV, gym, and beauty parlour, well stocked bar and 2 dinning cars. Most of the travelling is done at night and days are left for sight seeing. Special features and itinerary of each of these trains are indicated hereunder. 6.1 Palace on Wheels The 14 coaches of this train with decor which evokes the age of Rajput chivalry are named after former states i.e. Kota, Jaipur, Udaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikamer, Alwar, Sirohi, Kishangarh, Bundi, Dungarpur, Bharatpur, Jhalawar and Dholpur. Itinerary includes Jaipur, Jasalmer, Jodhpur, Swaimadhopur, Chittaurgarh, Udaipur and Bharatpur 6.2 Deccan Odyssey This train has Business centre with Internet, Fax ISD/STD facilities. The coaches are named after some of the best places and forts of Maharashtra. The itinerary includes Ganapatipule, Ratnagiri, Sindhuburg, Tarkarli, Sawantwadi, Goa, Pune, Aurangabad, Ellora, Ajanta and Nashik. 6.3 The Golden Chariot Karnataka government Tourist Department are running this train as a joint venture with Ministry of Railways. It is named after the famous Stone Chariot in Hampi, a world heritage site in Southern India. In 8days and 7 nights it covers Bangalore Mysore Palace the Nagarhole National Park (Kabini) and historical sites of Shravanabelagola, Belur-the 11th Century cradle of Hoysala architecture a world heritage site, Halebid, Hampi and heritage sites of Badami, Pattadakal, Aihole and finally golden beaches of Goa, before ending in Bangalore. 7. Amenities in AC coaches 7.1 Provision of fans The 11th ESC meeting held in 1953 recommended provision of two 12 inch 110 V fans for each air conditioned compartment in all coaches. The RB while accepting this recommendation directed that only one 12 inch fan was to be provided in each coupe and only 4 berth compartments were to have 2 fans. It further directed that each fan should have its own independent speed regulator. 7.2 Water coolers This subject was taken up the first time by the 12th ESC meeting held in 1954. It suggested that in view of the RB's decision to provide air-conditioned coaches with vestibule and marshal these adjacent to Restaurant cars, cold water could be obtained from restaurant car. The committee therefore does not recommend provision of these in air-conditioned coaches". The RB directed 59 the Mechanical Directorate to examine this recommendation. This subject was again raised in the 13th ESC meeting held in 1955 & observed that in view of the existing load conditions, committee does not recommend the provision of electrically operated water coolers in air-conditioned coaches and dinning cars". The RB approved this recommendation. Subsequently however, when the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) undertook the manufacture of metal body fully air-conditioned 1st Class coaches during 1968/1969 Water Coolers were provided in these coaches on experimental basis by bleeding the liquid refrigerant line before the roof expansion-valve and routing it through an insulated water tank, where an auxiliary cooling unit was created to supply cool drinking water to passengers travelling in the coach. This experimental system did not find favour for use in subsequent builds of air-conditioned coaches. 7.3 Fluorescent lighting This subject was taken up for discussion in the 14th ESC meeting held in 1956, when after discussion following recommendation was made: 'The Committee recommends the use of Fluorescent Lighting in all air-conditioned coaches. The Committee is also in favour of introducing Fluorescent Lighting in other coaches wherever feasible". 7.4 Provision of Plug Socket in Air-Conditioned Coaches The 15th ESC meeting held in 1957 recommended the provision of a 110 V socket in all the lavatories of fully air-conditioned 1st Class coaches. The RB approved this recommendation. Subsequently RB ordered the provision of a 110 V socket in each passenger compartment of 1st Class air-conditioned coaches. The 17th ESC meeting held in 1959 noted this instruction of RB and after discussion recommended that in view of the availability of a 110 V socket in each passenger compartment the provision of the same in each lavatory may not be necessary. RB approved this recommendation. 7.5 Water Supply in AC Coaches The supply of water supply in AC coaches, which has always been intricately linked with power supply system and position of AC equipment. The first generation coaches as described earlier had under-slung water reservoirs. Water was raised by compressed air obtained through a small electrically operated air compressor termed as "Water Raising Apparatus" (WRA). Later water raising apparatus was dispensed with when water tanks were mounted on roof. Subsequently with introduction of roof mounted AC units the water tanks have been shifted to the under-frame and a conventional water pump is used to lift the water to the small sized service tanks. 8. AC Coaches Review Committee and MSG (TL&AC) In 1978, after introduction of 2-Tier Sleeper Coaches, a decision was taken at RB level to start a review meeting between ICF and user railways at interval of six months to discuss the problems faced in metal body air-conditioned coaches and come up with solutions to the same, which could be implemented by ICF on new builds and railways on coaches in service. Director 60 Standards Electrical (DSE) was to preside over such meetings and RDSO was to provide secretarial assistance. Railway Board participated in the deliberations as an observer. After eleven such meetings, the last being in November 1983, a recommendation was made to the RB to convert this group to Maintenance Study Group for Train Lighting and Air-Conditioned Coaches (MSG - TL & AC), the role of ESC in such matters being taken over completely. Initially this review group took up issues connected with air-conditioned coaches only, but later on from 1981 onwards it also started reviewing the performance 110-vdc and 24-vdc non-air-conditioned coaches. It was in these meetings that the concept of failure analysis was improved and the practice of analysing these on the basis of Failure Rate per Hundred coaches in Percentage per Annum (FRPCPY) was introduced. The 1st meeting of MSG TL&AC took place in October 1985 and thereafter this group has been meeting regularly every year. Participants are HODs in charge of train lighting on the railways along with CEE's of coach building units. The RB representative participates as an observer. These meetings have proved very productive in solving reliability problems of metal body air-conditioned coaches, and other non-air-conditioned coaches and substantially reduced the load of ESC. 9. Major technology developments 9.1 Endless V belt drive This type of drive was developed by RDSO for bogie-transom mounted machines in late sixties and was cleared after carrying out oscillation trails. The drive was adopted for 2-Tier air- conditioned coaches built by ICF in mid seventies to drive the 18 kW brush less generator. This drive was very successful and a new set of belts was found to last 6 to 9 months of service. In some coaches the life was even as much as 12 months. These coaches used matched sets of 8 number C- section belts. Poor life of belts was however noticed when after some years of service the pullies had worn-out. This problem was overcome after standards were laid down by RDSO to detect and replace worn out pullies. This drive used all indigenous materials and proved to be much cheaper than imported Hypoid Gear drive used on the first batch of metal body air-conditioned coaches built in late sixties. The success of this drive was one of the major contributory factors for the decision to replace all old non-air-conditioned coaches with 2-Tier air-conditioned coaches. 9.2 Development of bulk inverters The development of indigenous inverters to convert 110-v dc to 415-vac 3-phases, with capacity of 25 kVA, which could supply power to each RMU, was initiated by RDSO in mid nineties. Initially only a floor mounted design with forced air-cooling was taken up for development as a first step. In this development 8 Indian firms were involved, but only M/s Siemens succeeded initially who built 4000 units. The 2nd successful firm who finished much later was M/s HI-REL who supplied 75 units. The other 6 firms could supply only 25 units each. This design had two significant disadvantages namely unreliability of forced air cooling system and loss of valuable floor space which reduced passenger carrying capacity. The RB in 2003 therefore directed RDSO to under take the development of a naturally air-cooled underslung Inverter. This development was completed in 2005, by the three firms i.e. Autometers 450, HI-REL 94, Medha Sarvo, who supplied units. With this development railways could satisfy the demand for self-generating 3- 61 tier self generating air conditioned coaches for use in other trains. Future builds of air conditioned coaches only employed bulk inverters. 9.3 Electronic regulating and rectifying units (ERRUs) Majority of the self-generating air-conditioned coaches now use 2 nos. 18 kw alternators, along with their independent rectifier regulating units. As these machines work in parallel to meet the coach load, there is a problem of load sharing as the regulating characteristic is not designed for parallel operation. These ERRUs developed in 2003 is a combined unit for both the alternators and ensures equal loading for each alternator, and are of underslung design 9.4 Development of Roof Mounted Package Units (RMUs) This type of units was used for the 1st time in early eighties by Hong Kong Metro. Their use was considered when the newly established Rail Coach Factory (RCF) was asked to produce 3-Tier air-conditioned Sleepers for Rajdhani Services for replacing the existing Chair Cars. A specification for these was prepared by RDSO in 1990, which was later modified in 1999 and again in 2005. The developmental orders were placed by RCF on four Indian firms, but only M/s Sidwal and M/s Fedder Lloyds succeeded in producing an acceptable prototype. The refrigerating medium initially used was R-12, which was later replaced by R-22, and presently only R-134A is being used, which is environment friendly. These RMU's initially used reciprocating compressors manufactured indigenously by M/s Kirloskar and Denfoss, but presently use only Scrol Type Rotary compressors which are imported and marketed by M/s Kirloskar Copeland. Each compressor is rated at 3.75 tons. A RMU consists of two sub-units, each with its independent system cooling system, but mounted in the same housing. For winter months each RMU is provided with a common heater of 6 KW capacities. Each RMU is thus rated at 7.5 tons and has a facility to cut-off one of the sub-units under low heat load conditions. Whereas two RMUs are provided in each 2 or 3-Tier Sleepers or Chair Cars carrying over 46 passengers, only one RMU is provided in 1st Classes carrying 20 passengers. 9.5 Control units for RMUs These units are Microprocessor based and developed in the year 2004. They control the temperature of the return air from the coach by switching ON and OFF the compressors in the RMU's in summer and switching ON and OFF the heaters in winter. They ensure that more than one compressor does not start at a time and the next compressor starts after a preset time delay from the starting of the last compressor. These units are set to maintain 19-21degrees C in summer and 17-19 degrees C in winter 9.6 Refrigeration Gas Initially wooden body as well as metal body coaches had used R 12 gas as a refrigerating medium. The RMPU's when initially developed had used R 22 gas as refrigerating medium. As both these gases are not environment friendly, the latest RMPUs built after 2004 now use R 134 A, which is environment friendly. 62 9.7 Electronic thermostats These were developed by a number of Indian firms with total indigenous effort in 1987, and were put in service trials during Feb.1988. These service trail and endurance laboratory trails continued for a number of years and it was only in 2004 a decision was taken to stop procurement of mercury in glass thermostats and go in exclusively for Electronic Thermostats. These thermostats are provided with a single summer and a single winter setting with a differential of 2-degree C. The settings adopted are; Summer : 25 degree C cutin and 23 degree C cut out Winter : 19 degree C cutin and 21 degree C cut out 9.8 Sealed Batteries These were provided on all self-generating coaches, in capacities ranging from 330 Amp. Hrs. in full air conditioned 1st classes to 800 Amp. Hrs. in 2 Tier and 1100 Amp. Hrs. in 3 Tier coaches. From the year 2000 sealed maintenance free batteries are being used. This has considerably reduced running maintenance man-hours required per coach as need to add distilled water has reduced considerably. 9.9 Linke Hoffmann Bosch (LHB) Coaches These coaches are being manufactured at RCF with transfer of technology (TOT) from the German Firm LHB. Initially AC coaches were manufactured for EOG stock of Rajdhani and Shatabdi Expresses but presently self generating type too are being manufactured. Because of space restrictions endless V belt drive has been replaced by Bevel Gear Drive of indigenous make. Roof Mounted Units on these coaches are of altogether different design. Later on these coaches will also be manufactured at ICF. Additional features provided on AC Coaches are: - lRoof mounted Microprocessor based AC package unit for the control of AC plants. lIntegrated single switchboard cabinet based on modular system incorporating complete control of train lighting, Air Conditioning, pantry etc. lLight weight rigid epoxy moulded 60 kva transformers. lFor Rajdhani stock state-of-art integrated modular pantry unit lThe fluorescent lamps have been replaced by CFL lamps. This is being done even in non LBH AC coaches. lAll first class and 2 tier AC coaches are being provided with aircraft type of berth light fittings. lAll 1st class, 2 tier and chair car AC coaches are being provided with 110 v ac sockets for charging of mobile phones and lap tops. This facility is being provided even in non LBH stock. 63 10. The Future Trend The major future developments in the Air-conditioned passenger services as expected in the next 10 to 15 years could be along the following lines:-- lThe number of coaches and services would go up steadily. The ratio of AC stock compared with non AC stock will increase rapidly. lConversion to non-CFC refrigerants would have to be completed in the next few years as per the international commitment. lIncreased application of microprocessors would be made in the control & monitoring as well as fault diagnostics. lThe use of head-on-generation with transformers of suitable rating to meet the hotel load would be introduced progressively in trains running on electrified routes. lWith the easing up of the availability of economical and reliable oxygen level meters, monitoring of the air-quality inside the air-conditioned space would be introduced. The presently available technology of air-ionisation to clean inside air and remove foul odours and micro-organisms may find use in coaches. lThe train line voltage of Rajdhani Express type services could go up to 1250 volts 3-phase 50 cycle ac and train lengths upto 30 coaches. lThe use of on-board fuel cells could be a serious possibility as a source of power. to meet lighting load lSystems for control of temperature, humidity, and air quality in individual compartments would be developed. lAll options, which will save energy, would be used. These may include more efficient lighting, more effective air-circulation, better heating, and cooling application technologies, and more use of air circulating fans to take advantage of chilling effect caused by increased air circulation. BIBLIOGRAPHY th lRecord notes of discussions of the 14 Meeting of Electrical Section of IRCA. th lReport of the Sub-Committee of CEE's formed by the 10 ESC Meeting to review the performance of wooden body air-conditioned coaches. lProceedings of Electrical Standards committees Meetings. lRecord notes of the A C Review Committee meetings. lRecord notes of Maintenance Study Group Train Lighting and Air-conditioning. 64 Beginning of RE on Indian Railways (There is a brief mention of beginning of DC Electrification on BB&CI R -now WR in this chapter but this chapter mainly deals with GIP R- now CR) 1. Introduction 1.1 The inaugural run of the first electric train in India on 3rd Feb., 1925 between Bori-Bandar Later christened as Victoria Terminus and now named as Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus - CST and Kurla via Harbour Branch (H.B) was the second most important development for IR, after the inauguration of the railway network in India on 16th April, 1853. The first EMU train with four coaches of cement flooring 10 feet wide stock was flagged off by the then Governor of Bombay Sir Leslie Wilson at 10-00 hrs from Platform No. 2. The speeches were relayed to the audience through a valve rectifier and also broadcast from the Bombay Broadcasting Station. A few years later, GIP Railway christened one of its Locomotives EF-1/4502 "SIR LESLIE WILSON" in his honour. This locomotive later numbered as WCG-1.20027 is now preserved at NRM, New Delhi. The motorman was Shri Jahangir Framji Dharuwala. With this a new era of electrification began. Some Important VIPs and Dignitaries present in the ceremony were -Mr. C.D.M. Hindley, Chief Commissioner of Railways; Mr. Mclean, Agent and Chief Commissioner for Railway; Mr. Hadow, Member of the Railway Board; Lord and Lady Swaythling, Mr. Lawless Hepper, Director of Development, Bombay and formerly Agent of G I P Railways and Lady Hepper; Sir Henry Free- Land, Agent of BB & CI Railway, Major Shelley, Chairman of the BB&CI Railway Company, Mr. Brayshay, Deputy, Agent of BBCI Railways, Mrs. F.C. Annesly, P.R. Cadell, A. Geddias, M.R. Jayakar, S.T. Shepherd, K. S. Framji, the Honourable Mr. Phiroze Sethnia & Dr. Nadiar Shaw, H.E. Sukhia, Members of G I P Railways Advisory Committee, all the Heads of Department of G I P Railways and M/s Lydall and Gill, the representatives of consulting Engineers of Electrification, and many other distinguished guests. Excerpts from Governor's speech at the time of inauguration - "Great Enterprises often start from small beginnings and although the length of line which is now inaugurated is only 10 miles, the significance of change from the ordinary steam engine to the modern method of electric traction must strike the imagination of the least imaginative amongst us". It was further said that "this is the first line of electrified Railway in India and as usual Bombay is giving lead to other parts of this country in the matter of communications as it did about a 100 years ago." With this development India was 24th country in the world, 3rd in Asia and 1st in British Empire to adopt electric traction on its railways. Later developments proved the importance and necessity of electric traction for railway operations the world over for increase in track capacity, higher productivity, better energy efficiency, clean, comfortable, non- polluting and environment friendly transport, ability to negotiate steep gradients and regeneration of energy. 1.2 City of Bombay was the second largest economically and strategically important city in the British Empire, second only to London. It had phenomenal growth in its industrial and economic activity and expansion of residential areas with fast growing population with consequent 65 necessity for daily commutation. By 1901 the increase of suburban traffic in Bombay was so heavy that electric traction was first proposed almost only a few years later to its introduction in London in 1890 on Southern Railway Suburbs (U.K.) and main line up to Brighton. 1.3 W. H. White, Chief Engineer, Government of Bombay in Public Works Department, in a report of May 13, 1904, proposed that the Railway Companies should introduce a ten-minute suburban service by electrification. Next month, the Government of Bombay asked the BB&CI and the GIP Companies to examine the possibility of electrification. However, serious efforts were made only in 1912 when the GIP and BB&CI invited Chas. M. Merz, of London Underground Railway fame, to investigate and report upon the feasibility of improving railway communication between the city and suburbs by means of electrification. It may be of interest to note that Mr. Merz later formed a company to be later known as M/s Merz & McClellan. 1.4 The population of Bombay city had reached a million marks in 1910 and was growing. Mr. Merz based on his detailed investigations at site, study of the local conditions and discussions with officers of GIP, BB & CI and Port Railways prepared detailed reports on the technical aspects and economics of substituting steam by electric traction on the suburban sections of GIP, BB & CI Railways and BPT lines in 1912. The study included main lines of GIP Railway, on account of capacity constraints of steam traction in negotiating the Bhore and Thull ghat sections having heavy gradients and reversing stations. 1.5 At about the same time, demonstration by Swiss Federal Railways (SFR) in successfully establishing electrification on the Gothard line having a gradient of 1 in 37 and increasing the line capacity was a significant development (Appendix - I). Services of M/s Merz & McClellan were engaged for detailed study for the electrification of suburban services of GIP/BB & CI and Port lines besides the main line services of GIP. They submitted two separate reports in October 1913 and January 1914. Soon after submission of the reports, the World War I erupted in 1914 and U.K. was deeply involved. The electrification plans of the IR were shelved. On cessation of hostilities M/s Merz & McClellan were asked to review their reports for any changes in costs and traffic projections and also consider main line sections beyond Igatpuri. In July 1919, Merz & McClellan submitted revised detailed report (Appendix - II). They recommended electrification of all suburban sections of both Railways and Port lines besides immediate steps for electrification of Bhore Ghat and Thull Ghat main line sections. They proposed 1500 V dc for suburban sections and 3000 V dc for the main line. Some of the additional factors influencing the introduction of electrification of railways in India immediately at the end of World War I were: (i) Export of cheap raw materials out of Bombay port. (ii) World wide recession and worst depression ever after the World War I in UK (iii) Growth of exports from UK while giant industrial rivals like France and particularly Germany lay supine and were struggling politically. (iv) Year 1926 saw one of the most serious strikes in Britain. Since the entire order for the projects on both BB & CI and G.I.P Railways were placed in Britain, it was considerable help in creating thousands of jobs in the major engineering factories. The entire scheme was spread over seven years. No section of British industry was left uncovered... It did to a small 66 way offset the devastating effect of Gandhiji's trade boycott call which shut down a large number of Lancashire mills and put many workers on the dole. (v) while British Industry had knowledge, design and manufacturing capability for establishing suitable suburban and main line electrification with voltages up to DC 1500 V, they had not developed suitable locomotive designs for operating heavy trains on heavy grades. Success achieved by SFR established availability of suitable designs, particularly the mechanical components of locomotives. With joint collaboration with Swiss manufacturers, this major technological gap could be closed. This would enable them to offer expertise on electrification in every part of the world having mountainous regions i.e. Africa, the Americas and South East Asia and thus open up larger markets for British heavy industry. 1.6 The Secretary of State for India gave sanction for the GIP Main Line Electrification in November 1925, the sanction to the estimate of Kalyan Power House was given in March 1926 and the principal contracts were let out during 1927. 1.7 The shortcomings manifested themselves gradually over the years resulting in inability to cope up with the increase in both main line and suburban railway traffic ultimately compelling the railways to go in for 25 kv ac traction. The recommendations were reviewed in 1919 after the war. The recommendation was the adoption of 3000 V dc electrification of main line from Bombay to Bhusaval at one ‘go’ on account of handsome returns on investment (over 20%). GIP approved electrification of main line upto Igatpuri and a small stretch of 80 miles beyond Igatpuri and on NE of main line and accepted the original 1914 report to choose the 1500 V dc overhead system operation on heavily graded sections. It was proposed to use hydro power available from Tata hydro power system for the immediate needs of suburban electric services and to set up a dedicated thermal Power plant near Thana to use lower grade Central India coal. Exploitation of hydro power in western ghats was not even considered. Perhaps hydro generation would have meant longer time frame. In M/s Merz and McClellan's second report for electrification of GIP main line for over coming the constraints of ghat sections under steam operation, a separate thermal plant at Thakurli (Chola) near Kalyan. This came to be known as Kalyan Power House by railway men. Salient features of the plant are given as Appendix III. They also recommended provision of 95 kV transmission lines both on NE & SE sections for feeding track side rotary converter substations. The voltage of transmission was later upgraded to 110 kv. The HV linkage was provided with the Tata Hydro power system at Chola power house site. Special features of the original power plant specially designed mainly for traction supply were: a) Main generators with large short time overload capacity. b) Absorption of the surplus regenerative power of heavy goods trains descending ghat sections. The British consulting engineers had recommended the provision of steam power house at Thakurli (Chola) overlooking the potential of large hydro power in western ghats. It could now be said with hindsight that their decision to recommend steam power station was primarily based to favour British industries. 67 The preliminary works on dc electrification started around 1922 both on Harbour Branch and Victoria Terminus local lines and was completed in Dec. 1924. Even in the early phases, cathodic protection was provided. The foundation bolts and base structures then erected still have a residual life. Care was taken to provide a very low resistance heavy return current path. All fish plated copper return joints were checked with a sensitive ductor set for a stringent joint resistance of 3 microhms. All structures were bonded to the rails so that the catenary insulator failures during and after the monsoons due to frequent lightening did not affect the foundation bolts. Moreover simple arcing horns have also proved surprisingly effective. It may be noted that the bonding of the structures to the rails was not direct; a thin wafer of pure mica was packed in a steel casing so that passage of low voltage stray current was prevented. Because of the thickness of the wafer even several punctures did not affect its working because the punctures provided enough air gaps to prevent a direct short circuit for the stray currents. 1.8 By 5th Nov.29 the entire section from V.T. to Poona on the South East was electrified. The North East section from Bombay to Igatpuri was opened in Dec.1930. Electrification of the main line replaced 57 main line and 82 ghat steam engines (in all 139) and another 27 steam engines for anticipated increase in traffic, i.e. 166 engines were replaced by 31 electric engines for goods traffic. Similarly 24 electric passenger engines replaced 60 passenger steam engines. 1.9 Sir Frederick Sykes, Governor of Bombay, performed the inauguration of the electrified main line section from Kalyan to Poona on 5th November 1929. On that day, GIP bulletins proclaimed that - "George Stephenson who built 'Locomotive No. 1' in 1825 predicted, in 1847, that electricity would become the great motive power of the world. The opening of this main line electric service is another step in the fulfilment of his prediction." 1.10 The main line electrification brought a sea change in operation of trains on the NE & SE ghat sections. Three reversing stations on each of the ghats were necessary to avoid negotiating heavy grades working with steam engines. By eliminating the reversing stations a new direct alignment was possible. It resulted in increasing the ruling grade to 1 in 37, the steepest for broad gauge in the world. The electric engines not only negotiated this grade but also hauled a higher load. The new alignment was provided with three catch sidings and there were 12 tunnels on NE and 26 tunnels on the SE lines. 2. Rolling Stock: 2.1 Electrical Multiple Units (EMUs) It was decided subsequently that 12' wide coaches would be used instead of 10'8" wide coaches which was the All India Standard Moving Dimension. The 12' wide coaches provided 22 % more passenger carrying capacity under dense crush peak hour loading condition. A 4-car unit could carry almost 250 more passengers. The wide bodied 12' stock was not provided with foot boards and it sailed by the platform by a few inches. For the Harbour Branch (HB), a steep fly over of 500 meters with a gradient of 1/33 had to be built to cross over the quadruple main lines at V.T. This became a benchmark section for testing all new generation of 1500 V electric stock for Bombay. 68 2.2 As mentioned earlier the electrification of HB 18 km section between Bombay VT and Kurla was completed in December, 1924. The service was started on 3rd Feb.1925 with 12' wide stock. With no earlier experience of working with suburban electric stock under harsh tropical conditions and almost 100 % humidity, the stock had remarkably a fine debut. The master plan envisaged that removed of infringements to the running of 12' stock would be taken up in phases on the main line as well, but the financial restrictions imposed due to the worldwide depression delayed this work by over two decades. The main line electrification continued as planned. Since infringements remained, the later stock was a standard 10'8" wide. The track beyond Kurla was easier to tackle. All infringements were removed on the quadruple tracks upto Thana. The 12' stock could run up to Thana in 1950. By 1952 all infringements to the running of 12' wide stock were removed from entire Bombay Division (GIP). All postwar stock imported or built in India were of this width only. 2.3 The design and specification for both 12' stock and 10'8" stocks were prepared by M/s Rendele Palmer & Tritton for the mechanical equipment and M/s Merz McClellan for the electrical equipment. Some significant details and a photograph of the same are given below: (a) Suppliers (i) Electrical Equipment M/s English Electric & Metropolitan Vickers for GIP Railway. M/s British Thompson Houston for BB & CI Railway. (ii) Mechanical Equipment Coach Bodies - 12' Stock - M/s Cammel Laird Part - 10'8" Stock - M/s Cammel Laird Part - 10'8" Stock - M/s Isenbahnen Gemeinschaft Bogies Part - M/s Cammel Laird Bogies Part - M/s Societe Franco Belge de Materiel Du Chemin de Fer. (b) Technical particulars: - 12' Stock - 10'-8" Stock 1) Tare weight of motor coach - 70.1 Tons - 62 Tons 2) Tare weight of 4-coach unit - 196 Tons - 169 Tons 3) Sitting capacity 4-coach unit - 441 - 361 4) Length of coach over buffers - 70'6" - 71' 6" 5) Number of motors for motor coach - 4 - 4 2.4 The consultants had recommended 3 coach units comprising 1 motor & 2 trailer coaches. However GIP/BBCI Railways chose a unit composition of 1 motor & 3 trailer coaches. In subsequent years, due to frequent traction motor failures, the composition was altered to 1 motor & 2 trailer coaches. 69 In 1927, Cammell Liard & Co. bagged another order of 160 coaches for BB&CI. These units were supplied in 1928 and came to be known as 1928 stock. One Motor Coach (35B) is preserved in NRM, New Delhi. 2.5 With commendable foresight the bogies, wheels and axles, axle boxes were standardized both for 12' and 10'8" stock with Indian Railways normal rolling stock. This paid off rich dividends later. It even allowed G.I.P. Railway and BB & CI railway not only to manufacture their own trailer coaches to replace the damaged ones in accidents but also build few steel bodied coaches equipped with roller bearings, the latter as a fore-runner for future designs provided some valuable data for future rolling stock design. The use of Standard IRS bogies also came in handy during accidents also when the coach bogies were badly damaged, for it allowed the use of spare accommodation bogies standard equipment on all breakdown trains, with ease, that greatly facilitated clearance of lines. Motor coach bogies however, never had to be manufactured because train formation was such that they were seldom damaged beyond repair. Photo: First EMU Motor Coach-1925 (GIP) Photo: English Electric-Cammel Laird Unit for BB&CI GIP Railway (Post 1952) 70 Operational Experience of Suburban Services The principal objective of electrifying suburban services was purely commercial. The initial capital cost and return on investment were apportioned suitably to the three organisations viz. GIP Railway, BB & CI railway and Port Trust Railing. The scheme worked out ensured completed interchangeability of traffic between the three Railways, the system being uniform. Initially suburban sections included were :- GIP - Bombay-Kurla-Thana. Kalyan on main line and Bombay-Kurla-Harbour line with Wadala to Mahim connection with BBCI Railway. BB & CI - Colaba-Andheri-Borivili-5th Jan. 1928 - Extended to Virar, 1st Sept. 1936 It was assumed that the train mileage of 1911-12 under steam operation would increase by 88% on GIP and by 70% on BB & CI under electric operation, the increase taking place in the year of completion of electrification. It was reckoned that increase would be possible with EMU operation on account of a) Trains of varying length by formation of single, double or triple units could be operated at different times of the day without the need of extensive shunting operations. b) Reversal time of trains at terminals would be determined only by the time taken for exchange of passengers with need for detachment & attachment of locomotive. c) With frequent and regular services assured, greater traffic would be attracted d) Travel time reduction would also attract much larger number of commuters. e) The services frequency proposed was increased. G.I.P. i) Half hourly service between Bombay- Kurla-Main lines. ii) Hourly service between Bombay-Kurla-Harbour lines. iii) Hourly service between Bombay-Mahim-Harbour line. iv) Half hourly service between Kurla-Thana v) Hourly service between Thana-Kalyan BB & CI i) Quarter hourly service between Colaba-Andheri. ii) Half hourly service between Andheri - Borivili. iii) Hourly service between Borivili-Virar 71 In addition 2 Express fast trains between Bombay-Kalyan during morning and evening peaks each and similarly 2 Express fast trains between Colaba-Virar were provided for in the morning and evening peak periods. On GIP (Central) the growth of train services had been much more than anticipated. By the year 1961 traffic had grown more than300% and in 1977 it 900% of the 1925 level. In 1977 it had risen to over 1400%. On BB & CI (Western) growth had even been higher. Similar figures are 400% for 1961, 950% for 1977 and 1700% for 1977.The rate of return on capital investment was estimated at 7.8 to 8.98% However with traffic growing at a higher rate than assured in the project report; the return on investment was much higher. It is also a matter of interest that with concessions given for encouraging travel by suburban trains by issue of cheap monthly/three monthly seasonal tickets, the profitability of suburban service got eroded to such an extent that these services started running at a loss. While the initial main line electrification of BB-PA and BB-IGP carried out on considerations other than purely economical, but even on economic consideration it was fully justified as it gave a return of over 20% on capital investment. 2.2 Locomotives: 2.2.1 Freight Locomotives Merz & McClellan were confident of the success of 1500 v dc system in India with main equipments available from British manufacturers. For a suitable design of locomotive for operation of heavy goods and passenger trains on the 1 in 37 ghat sections {even 1 in34 grades at some places} they looked to the Swiss experience of St. Gothard line having similar grades. Swiss had developed heavy freight locomotive in the initial stages, with designs influenced by the steam loco technology. The traction motors were rigidly mounted on the frame and the torque transmitted by a wheel reduction gear and rod drive transmission. All the main driving wheels were coupled by means of connecting rods. This concept was restricted to freight locomotives on GIP railway although in Switzerland there were two types of passenger locomotives, one for St. Gothard line (max. 75 kmph) type Be 4/6 and one for flat country line (max. speed 100 kmph) type Ae 3/6 II. The vibrations caused by unbalanced mass of the rod drive made this system unsuitable for the fast locomotives for high speed operation. The first locomotive type IC-CI (Be 6/8) introduced in regular service in 1926 for haulage of freight trains on Gothard line was of rod drive type. The loco weighing 126 tonnes was operating at a maximum speed of 65 kmph also operated satisfactorily at slow speeds and could negotiate sharp curves. These locomotives came to be known as "KROKODIL" (Crocodile) in Switzerland. These locos were upgraded to operation at 75 kmph after midlife overhaul in 1950. Merz & McClellan adopted this concept for freight locomotives for operation on Bombay- Igatpuri and Bombay Power Sections. 41 (EF/ I) freight locomotives required for both main line freight train operation and banking duty on the Thull and Bhore Ghat sections also came to be known as "Crocodiles" by railway men. 72 The mechanical design was obtained from Swiss Locomotive Works who supplied first ten locomotive sets, balance 31 being manufactured by Vulcan Foundries (UK). EF/1 was the most powerful engine on the IR in 1932. The regenerative equipment on the locomotive performed well. The EF/1 locomotive bogie carried 2 traction motors which worked the two Herring Bone gears fitted to the driving axle through 2 Jack Shafts and the Gudgeon pin. The driving axle in turn was connected to the other two wheels with 2 side rods. The construction was similar to the Gudgeon pin and driving connection of the driving wheel with cross head of the, steam engine. The 2610 HP locomotive weighting 126 tons could exert a starting attractive effort of 30,500 Kg. under ideal dry rail conditions with a little sanding. The articulated bogies had much more freedom for lateral play than the rigid frame locomotives. The maximum speed was however restricted to only 40 mph (72 km/hr.) which was to prove a bit slow when banking a mail or a express train over the ghats. The regenerative equipment provided on the locomotive performed very well. It would thus be seen that proven Swiss technology with satisfactory experience on the Swiss Railways was found suitable for the ghat section operations. These, locomotives performed very well without any serious problems till the second war, when ability to obtain spare parts from the manufacturers virtually dried up and forced India Railway engineers to use indigenous means to keep the services going, without any hiccup. Operational Experience Mechanical wearing parts of the drive system posed real problem and steam locomotives overhauls as railway workshops at Parel had nothing in common with electric locos. Flexible springs used in drive II passenger locos could not be obtained. Locally produced as a distress measure cast iron blocks were resorted to. This kept the services going but in later years showed accelerated wear of main gear necessitating expensive replacement of worn out parts. Much after the world war II was over; spares could be imported to restore the original design. The design was so solid that full services were maintain, including additional burden of movements related to war effort that locomotives continued to perform well. When ability to obtain spare parts from the manufacturers virtually dried up, it forced IR engineers to use indigenous means to keep them going. After operating on main line these were replaced by WCM5 (CLW built locos) between 1961and 65 (over 40 years). This loco were assigned shunting duties. Last of these locos was EF1 (20063) condemned on 05-02-97. EF/1 on GIP known as `Crocodile' Later classified as WCG-1 73 EA 1-4004, the Great Indian Peninsula locomotive Two early electric freight locomotives hauling a goods train in Western Ghats some time in 1930s. "Decean Queen" 1930 74 2.2.2 Passenger Locomotives For Passenger locomotives, 3 different designs were prototype field tested. I) EA1 (2160 hp) was fitted with mechanical components supplied by Swiss Locomotive Woks Winterthur (Switzerland) and electrical equipment by Metrovicks (UK) II) EA2 was built by General Electric Company (UK) III) EC3 was supplied by Brown Boveri Baden (Switzerland) After field trials, EA.1 type with mechanical, design obtained from Swiss Locomotive Works was found to be most suitable for ghat operation and was approved for the bulk requirement of 22 additional locomotives. These, locomotives performed well till the Second World War. It is relevant to mention that GIP introduced a Prestigious Train known as "Deccan Queen" between Bombay and Poona. This train was very well advertised and consisted of First and Second classes only. It reduced the running time from terminal to terminal from 6 to 4 hours. It became very popular in a short time. Residents of Poona could come to Bombay and return by the evening return train on the same day. At the time of introduction, it was the fastest train in India from terminal to terminal. The train is even very popular today. Operational Experience These 41 goods engines and 24 passenger engines moved all the traffic for the next forty years, including war time military goods and passengers, petrol and oil traffic in addition to normal civilian traffic without even lowering the safety standards of maintenance and operation of rolling stock or motive power. A remarkable performance indeed considering almost all spares could be imported during the war years. The industrial infrastructure in the country was also not equipped to produce them and in any case the little spare capacity they had was absorbed in military production. The maintenance cost of EF/1 locomotive was compared to other current passenger locomotives more than twice. It was still about 2.8 times cheaper than the steam locomotives they replaced. Mr. S.K. Kanjilal who had a ring side view of the operation recalled with nostalgia a few days before his demise on 12th April'98 of events having taken place 57 years earlier. He recalled that these years had in no way dimmed the memory of the efficiency and motivation of the staff of entire Bombay Division who made such a feat possible. 3. Classification and Numbering of Locomotives GIP adopted a two-letter scheme to denote the class of its electric locomotive. The second letter denoted the service, viz.; A, B and C for passenger services and F for freight services. These two letters were followed by a suffix number, which denoted different versions. For the individual number of the locomotive, GIP chose two series - 40XX series for its passenger locomotives and 45XX series for its freight locomotives. After independence, a common method of classification was suggested for all types of locomotives over the different zones of Indian Railway. In this method, 1st letter, W, Y and Z to denote gauge, viz. broad (5' 6"), metre and narrow (2' 6") gauge. 75 2nd letter- A for Alternating Current, B for Battery, C for Direct Current locomotives and D for Diesel Locomotives and 3rd letter G for freight, P for passenger, S for shunting and M for mixed traffic locomotives. 4th number, i.e. I, 2, 3 etc., was meant to denote different versions. 20 XXX series was assigned for GIP Electric locomotives. Battery Locomotives In 1928, the English Electric Company on an order from BB&CI supplied two 55t battery locomotives, the largest of their kind in the British Empire -. These locomotives of Bo+ Bo wheel notation were used at Carnac Bridge and had a number of batteries to give an output voltage of 440V. Four motors provided the drive to the four axles of bogies. These locomotives were mainly used for shunting purposes. 4. Growth of Traffic The first trains to Poona took approximately 6 hours for the journey and it was anticipated that with the electric traction this timing will now be reduced to approximately 3 hours (of course, the reversing stations were eliminated by realignment of the track, simultaneously). With the electrification of Kalyan- Poona and Kalyan- Igatpuri sections, GIP had at that time the largest length of electrified main line in the British Empire. In 1934, BB&CI submitted the plans and estimates for the electrification of Borivli- Virar Section; it was approved in May 1935. In November 1935, electrification work commenced and on September 1, 1936, the operation of electric multiple units started on this section. With its completion the further growth of electrified routes on Bombay front both by GIP and BB&CI came to a stop for a considerable period. The two railways however continued to increase the frequencies of their train service to meet the ever-increasing suburban traffic. During 1938-39, the total number of trains on GIP and BB&CI was 370 while the annual traffic was 34 and 48 millions respectively. Next year, in 1940, BB&CI crossed 50 million mark in suburban traffic. Four years later in 1944, BB&CI carried 84 million passengers and GIP carried 70 million passengers on its suburban lines. The EMU Stock was so exhaustively used that BB&Cl' had no option other than to ask for additional EMU coaches in 1944. Due to war years, followed by partition of the country and two more years for settling the affairs, the new rolling stock came only in 1950's. In 1949, the Government of India approved the plans and estimate for the electrification of the Bandra Andheri through line. This revitalised the electrification schemes in India. In 1949, GIP placed an order for 64 new EMU coaches. On 3rd February 1950, GIP celebrated the Silver Jubilee of electric traction. The annual traffic was now 144 million on its suburban sections. At the same time, the annual suburban traffic on BB&CI route was over 150 million. The two railways carried almost 300 million passengers within 25 years of its electrification programme. 76 5. Change Over to AC Traction Indian Railways have decided to adopt single system of electrification for the entire network i.e. 25 kv. All the dc electrified lines in Mumbai area are at present under conversion. It was indeed the development of GTOs which enabled development of efficient dual voltage system by having an efficient and cost-effective dual voltage rolling stock. This fact enabled IR to decide to convert the island of 1500 v dc to 25 kv ac to fall in line with rest of the country. Appendix-I Significance & Relevant Factors of Electrification on Swiss Railways 1. History: In about 1890, encouraging results obtained from the electrification of tramways and the first mountain railway as well as from the research work undertaken by E.Huber-Stockar showed technical feasibility of equipping standard gauge railways for electric traction using High voltage ac. On 16th Jan.1905, trials commenced between Seebach and Affoltern of the first single phase locomotive equipped with single phase ac/dc converter. At the same time Mr. H. Behn- Eschenburg had also successfully tried an ac single phase series motor (1903). A second locomotive was built for trials on Seebach- Wettingen line equipped with single phase series ac motors operating at 15 cycles. Loetschberg line and Engadine lines were opened for electric working in July, 1913 on single phase ac. It may be interesting to note that Loetschberg line is standard gauge 15 kv 15 cycles (some years later standardized to 16 2/3cs when the surrounding SFR lines were electrified) but Engadine lines are metre gauge 11 kv 16 2/3 cycles. At about the same time Prussia (1912) Baden and Bavaria had adopted 15 kv 16 2/3 cycles ac single phase for electrification of their state railways. Austrian, Swedish and Norwegian railways also adopted the same system. This paved the way for Swiss Federal Railways to adopt the same for the St. Gothard Line, which had reached capacity saturation with steam locomotives. World War I had erupted in 1914 and impeded all major decisions for investment on railway electrification projects. At the peak of world war I, Swiss govt. and SFR decided to go ahead with the electrification of most difficult mountainous section, Erstfeld-Bellinzona on 15 kv, 16 2/3 cycles ac single phase and to set up dedicated hydro power stations at Ritom and Amsteg for power supply to railways. Severe coal shortage (all imported) during the World War also favoured the decisions to rely on abundant own hydro power. From 1920 onwards, the mountain section of the St. Gothard Line was opened for electric working in stages. On 29th May, 1921, the whole line from Erstfeld to Bellinzona was electrified. SFR had the concluded that for operation on the heavily graded St. Gothard line, single phase, 16 2/3 cycles, 15000v system would be the most suitable system. 77 Appendix-II Extracts from M/s. Merz & Mclellan Report General Features of Electrical Working 1. "It is also certain that whatever be the pressure at which electricity is delivered in the coaches, the current actually used by the motors on the train must be at a moderate pressure. The questions for consideration, therefore, are:- The form in which electrical energy shall be used on the trains, i.e. a selection between the following alternatives:- a) Energy transmitted and delivered to the trains in the form of high tension alternating single-phase current, transformers carried on the trains being used for reducing the pressure to one suitable for use on the motors. b) Energy transmitted as high-tension three-phase alternating current, and converted to direct current, at moderate pressures, in sub-stations located at suitable intervals alongside the track, the trains in this case using direct current and carrying no transformers. c) Energy transmitted as high-tension three-phase alternating current transformed at wayside substations to three-phase alternating current at moderate pressure and distributed as such to the trains- which would, in this case, be equipped with three- phase motors". 2. "The selection can first be simplified by discussing alternative (1c)-i.e. the use of three- phase current on the trains. Several successful examples of this system are in operation on main line, and mountain railways-notably in Switzerland and Italy, but where suburban traffic is heavy and frequent and where the approaches to terminal stations involve any complications of track, the provision of at least two live wires at different pressures over each track-which are essential to this system- is a fatal objection to it. A further disadvantage of the system is that the characteristics of the three phase motor, while very suitable for main line operation at constant speed, are by no means the most suited to the operation of a suburban system where there are a large number of stops to be made. The special characteristic of the three phase motor is that it will run at a nearly constant speed and it is not particularly suited for variable speed work which is a feature of suburban services." 3. "We have satisfied ourselves that, in the case before us, it would not be commercially desirable to adopt the three-phase system. Moreover, it is not the cheapest of the three systems to install for suburban operation apart altogether from the question of its suitability for operating suburban traffic. This leaves the present choice between :- a) The single-phase system, and b) The direct current system. 78 The comparison of these has formed the subject of much controversy. It is, however, generally agreed, that from an engineering point of view, each is capable of dealing with heavy suburban traffic, and, in fact, is doing so successfully - the single phase system in a few, and the direct current system in a large number of instances. The broad difference between the two systems lies in the fact that whereas the single phase motor equipment on the trains is heavier and involves the use of transformers making the equipment on the trains considerably more costly, the direct current system, since it usually involves a number of substations, which are somewhat costly, involves greater cost in transmitting current to the trains. The tendency, therefore, is for the single phase system to appear to be better in relative advantage, the greater the length of track and the lower the traffic density, whereas the direct current system is seen to advantage if the traffic density is high and the lines to be equipped comparatively short." 4. "Where a heavy traffic is expected to develop, the direct current system would, generally speaking, be the correct choice. The denser the traffic becomes, the more justifiable would the choice of the direct current system." 5. "Since the direct current system is both cheaper in first cost and cheaper to operate, we recommend its adoption on the lines considered in this report, more especially as the traffic is growing, and hence the advantages which justify its choice will increase rather than the reverse. From an operating standpoint the advantages are distinctly in favour of the direct current system. We now have to consider the most suitable pressure and the best method for conveying the direct current to the trains. 6. "In the last few years, great advances have been made in the design of direct current motor equipments. Owing to the inherent simplicity of the series direct current motor. it has been possible to increase very much the voltage, which can be used. The voltage, which can now be applied to one motor, is about 1,500 or even 2,000 volts. Another development has been the employment of large power upon the motor coaches, which necessitates dividing the motor equipment into four motors instead of two. Advantage has been taken of this in conjunction with the greater voltage per motor now practicable, to increase very largely the voltage at which power in the form of direct current is supplied to the trains. In fact, it is now commercially possible to adopt a line voltage of 3,000 volts giving a maximum voltage upon the motors of 1,500 volts each." 7. "We have specially investigated both the use of a 1,500 volts overhead wire and a 3,000 volts overhead wire for the lines considered in this report. The higher the voltage, the smaller is the number of substations required upon a given network of lines. While in the case of the 3,000 volt scheme, there is a considerable reduction in the number of substations required, the converter plant in each substation is more costly both in capital outlay and operating charges. There is a saving, however, in the case of the electrical equipment of the track". 8. "For those of your lines under consideration the 1,500 volt scheme is nearly as cheap as the 3,000 volt scheme, and as it is more flexible for multiple units working, we recommend its adoption." 79 Appendix - III Kalyan Power House (Thakurli) 1. History 1.1 The Kalyan Power House situated at 49 Kms from Bombay near Thakurli village and Railway station, was commissioned by the great Indian Peninsula Railway in 1929 to supply electrical energy to the main line electrified sections of the railway between Kalyan and Pune, and Kalyan and Igatpuri. 1.2 This Power House is located on the banks of river 'Ulhas' to facilitate intake of circulating water. The installed capacity was 40 MW. 1.3 In 1939 this Power House was interconnected with Tata's Hydro-electric system to facilitate interchange of power. The then GIP and B.B. & C.I. Railways entered into an agreement with M/s Tatas which was advantageous to all parties for supply of cheap surplus hydro-electric power to Railway when water supply was adequate, and to supply thermal power from Kalyan Power House to suburban section of Central and western Railways hitherto supplied by Tatas. 1.4 With the growth of industrial load in the region, the surplus energy available with Tatas steadily grew less and in 1946-47, Tatas requested the Railways to make their own arrangements for meeting Railways load in suburban section. 1.5 As such the Power House capacity was augmented in 1952 by adding 2 turbo generators each of 12 MWs capacity with associated equipment. 1.6 Around the same time, the then state Bombay Electricity board finalised installation in the Kalyan power House of their plant comprising of 3 Turbo generators, siemens make each of 18 MW and 5 boilers, four of Japanese Nagasaki Mitsubishi make and one of German Babcock make. The coal handling plant, BF pumps were subsequently purchased by the Railways partly as replacement for 40 MW plant installed in 1929. Thus, the installed capacity increased to 118 MW in 1954. 1.7 Due to constant increase in Railway's own load, one more turbo generator set of 18 MW/ added in 1959 was and the total capacity rose to 136 MW. 1.8 Subsequently in 1952 additional power was made available to the state grid from the Koyna Hydel Station in 1969 from the Tarapore Atomic plant and later in 1970from Nasik Power House. Due to the Non availability of adequate power and due to the over aging and uneconomical running of the old plant, it was decided in 1969 to close down the old plant, of 40 MW originally installed in 1929. 1.9 The Power was closed in 1984 but there is a fresh proposal to establish another PH for which a SPV may be floated with Railways as a partner. 2. General Description 2.1 Coal received through wagons are unload by means of a box wagon tippler which was installed 80 and commissioned in 1973 from the coal can be either stacked or bunkered for direct supply in boilers through chain of bucket conveyors and belt conveyors. Spreading of coal or reclaiming of coal in the coal stacking area is carried out by means of a drag scrapper bucket which is operated by 200 HP motor. The angle of the drag scraper with respect to the reclaiming hopper can be changed by removing to tail car is fixed with pulleys to take the wire rope moving the bucket to and from. The tail car is moving on rails and gets electric supply by overhead electric lines through collectors. Necessary crushers are provided for crushing the oversized coal. All the boilers are of chain grate type having oil firing arrangement for augmenting generation to meet the peak demand. 6 of the boilers are equipped with pre air heaters. Generated voltage of 6.6 kv on 2 machines and 11 kv on 4 machines is stepped up to 99.75 kv and fed to a common extra high tension bus bar in the outdoor substation. From this bus bar supply to 4 railway feeders, 2 for supplying energy upto Igatpuri, and 2 for supplying energy up to Pune, is transmitted and Tata's duplicate tie lines are interconnected through this bus bar to Kalyan Power House. Due to low rupturing capacities of the old 110 kv OCBs, this Power House is provided with 3 bus bars, so that a time 2 bus bars- one of low fault level and the other for high fault level are in service, interconnected by a reactor to limit the fault current on the fault level bus bars. There is a proposal to increase the system voltage upto 110 kv and with this view, 2 auto transformers of voltage ratio 95 to 110 kV and capacity 30 MVA each are erected so that existing traction substations which are suitable only for 95 to 99.75 KV can be directly fed by Kalyan Power House and the systems can be interconnected by the auto transformers with higher voltage. Inter connecting of railway's system is absolutely essential so that the heavy fluctuations of traction load will be distributed to the entire system and sudden drop or increase in load of boilers can be avoided, as these are not designed for heavy fluctuation loads. BIBLIOGRAPHY (i) Report upon the Application of Electric Traction for the Bombay Suburban Railway-Merz and McClellan-London-October 1913. (ii) Report on the electrification of part of GIP Railway main line-Merz and McClellan-London-July 1919. (iii) Report on the proposed extension for the mainline by Cook & Gipson-12th May 1934. (iv) History of Bombay Suburban Railways (1853-1985) by Dr. A.K. Arora. (v) The Swiss Federal Railway-Electrification completed. Published by the Swiss Federal Railways (Approx.1960). (vi) Railway Electrification in Switzerland Institute of Locomotive Engineers Journal No.228. (paper presented by H. Loosli-22nd May 1952.) 81 (vii) Railway Electrification in Switzerland-Publication of Swiss Federal Railways. (Approx.1955) (viii) 6 Articles by R.R. Bhandari (Electric traction in India 1925-50) published in SLS Journal (Feb.1983 to July 1983-Vol.59 Nos. 689-694)-Electrification on Indian Railway. (ix) The Electrification of the Suburban and the main line section of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway-April 1932 (Vol.7) By Shri F. Lydall-Journal of the Institution of Electrical Engineers. (x) The Mechanism of Electrical Locomotives by T.D. Twinberrow-Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers-1932 Vol-123. (xi) Kalyan Power House, 1947 Extensions, Central Railway - brochure issued at the inaugural function on 9th Dec. 1952. (xii) South Eastern Railway-March to New Millennium by R R Bhandari 2001 (xiii) Indian Railways - one hundred Years by J N Sahni 1953 (xiv) Indian Railways - Glorious 150 Years by R R Bhandari (xv) Souvenir issued by Central Railway at the Platinum Jubilee of Electric Traction 82 D.C. Traction on Western Railway 1. Introduction 1.1 The BB&CI Company estimated that quadrupling the railway tracks in Bombay would double the transit capacity of the line. However, the scheme did not merely entail the laying of two additional tracks. The process involved a complex system that had to be implemented simultaneously with the continuation of the regular daily service. The BB&CI also recognised the fact that steam powered locomotives would have to be replaced with electric traction as the electric service was expected to have several advantages over steam. Since an electrified train could be worked from either direction, considerable time would be saved in eliminating the process of detaching and attaching engines at terminal stations. It was expected, for example, that an electric 'fast' train would run the distance of 18.25 miles between Churchgate and Malad in 27 minutes compared 36 minutes taken by a steam train. There would thus be increase in the speed, frequency, punctuality and the carrying capacity of the line with reduction in operating costs and cleaner operations. 1.2 The consultants for BB & CIR proposed electrification from Colaba to Borivali. The plans & estimates for electrification of Colaba - Borivali local lines and through lines upto Bandra were approved. Suburban services were scheduled to begin with effect from 1st of April, 1926. However coal miners strike in England delayed the execution of contracts. Electrification of Colaba - Borivali local lines and Bombay Central - Bandra through lines was completed at 1500 V dc. The inaugural ceremony was performed on 5th January 1928 at 10.30 A.M. by Sir Leslie Wilson, the then Governor of Bombay after being received at Mahalaxmi station by the Agent and the Chief Commissioner for the Railways. The Governor commented. that the transport facilities now being provided by the B.B. & C.I Railway are upto the highest standard of suburban railways in any country." The Governor raised the pantograph and drove the train upto Andheri. He detrained at Grand Road station on return journey. 1.3 The lines between Colaba and Churchgate were electrified like tramway, with poles in the centre and contact wire strung on both sides. There was no catenary wire in this section. Later on the electrification lines were dismantled along with the track between these two stations, when Bombay Development Board started work on Back Bay Reclamation. A part of the initial electrified lines between Colaba & Church Gate 83 1.4 Electrification of Borivali-Virar Section commenced in November 1935, completed in June 1936, and commissioned on 17.8.1936. The last steam suburban train ran on 16.08.1936. The electrification programme was implemented with power provided by Tata Sons' Hydro-Electric Power Supply Company. This power was at 2000 Volts, distributed at a voltage of 1500 through overhead lines. 2.0 EMU Stock BB&CI specially ordered 40 new composite EMU coaches for the first and second class, and 40 for the second and third class, 49 luggage vans and 40 motor coaches having third class compartment. To ensure greater comfort the new coaches were built much wider than the earlier stock. Fans were provided only in the first and second compartments. To encourage people to the suburbs, the BB&CI Company gave free season tickets to buyers in Bandra and Khar Town. This was an innovation in orchestrating growth in the sub region that was made possible on account of the existence of a critical infrastructure - the railway. In this case, the incentive was being used extremely efficiently to open up new areas that were connected to the old city and provided an easy, quick and affordable connection between the distant settlements that were now forming the city of Bombay. The whole project had been completed expeditiously and efficiently especially to accommodate the needs of suburban commuters. The Railway now gave further incentives to the new suburban settlers. In March 1928, the BB & Cl Company participated in an exhibition entitled 'Living in the Country' in collaboration with the Bombay Development Department. As an added attraction the BB & Cl pavilion was shaped like the new EMU coaches. People who purchased a plot in the new suburbs worth Rs.10, 000 or more prior to 31st December of that year were gifted one free First Class ticket or two Second Class season tickets. For the buyers of plots worth more than Rs.10, 000 after that date, the BB&CI Company gifted one Second Class or Two Third Class season tickets. The Railways continued to do all they could to lure people to the suburbs. 3. Technical Profile of EMU Stock First train was started with EMU stock imported from M/S British Thomson Houston. The rake had 8 coaches with 2 motor coaches and 6 trailer coaches. In 1951, coaches from M/S Metro Cammel Birmingham, England were received. These units had 2 motor coaches on either side or 2 trailer coaches in between and 2 such units formed one rake. These coaches were equipped with air brakes and had provision of AC oscillating fans. In subsequent years, indigenous stock was introduced. These coaches were built by M/S Jessop & Co., Calcutta and Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Madras. These rakes had three units and each unit had one motor coach and two trailer coaches. The coaches had maximum speed capability of 106 kmph and were equipped with air braking. These coaches has better riding qualities as they employed all coil fabricated bogies. 4. Technical Improvements Western Railway brought many an improvements in EMU services, over the period to enhance the passenger safety and comfort. The' prominent being lIncreasing the rake length from 8-car to 9-car and finally to 12-car for enhancing the passenger carrying capacity & to reduce over crowding 84 lProvision of Auxiliary Warning System for monitoring speed/braking automatically as per the signal aspect for upgrading the safety of passengers lProvision of fluorescent tube-lights with reflectors replacing the incandescent bulbs for enhancing illumination level in passenger compartment. lFitment of protective grills on the windows. lIntroduction of Ladies' Special. lProvision of exclusive compartment for handicapped passengers. lIntroduction of passenger announcing system. lIntroduction of air spring in coach suspension replacing the steel spring suspension for improving riding quality of the coach. Introduction of DC/AC stock, having higher speed capabilities, smooth step acceleration and breaking. lProvision of flasher and buzzer on Alarm Chain Pulling in 1st Class Ladies compartment to summon assistance. Further technical improvements envisaged are : lConversion of all 9-car rakes to 12-car rakes and further to 15 coach rake. lIncreasing the maximum speed from 80 kmph to 100 kmph.' lReplacement of over aged EMU stock with State Of Art dual voltage 3 phase drive EMU rakes. lStainless steel coaches. lImproved ventilation. Comparative Salient Features Features First DC EMU Present DC EMU 1. Length over body 68'0" 68'0" 2. Width 12'0" 12'0" 3. Centres of bogies 48'0" 48'0" 4. Bogie wheel base 10'0" 10'0" 5. Gauge 5'6" 5'6" 6. Height from rail to top of roof 4.11m 4.381m 7. Tare of trailer coach 42 tons 32.7Tons 8. Tare of motor coach 70 tons 56.52 Tons 9. Couplers Automatic couplers Schaku semi permanent of MCB type 10. Brakes Standard AV Brake Electro pneumatic & auto brakes 85 5. Change Over to AC Traction Indian Railways have decided to adopt single phase 25 KV electrification for the entire network. All the d.c. electrified lines in Mumbai area are at present under conversion. DC EMUs have been, hitherto, basically powered by DC series motors by cutting in and out resistances for speed control. Presence of commutator and brushes imposed server limitations on the use and reliability of the traction motors. Electro-mechanical relays and" contactor also needed frequent maintenance. While 3 phase DC/AC EMU now being introduced have GTO/IGBT power converter/inverter, 3 phase AC induction motor, and micro processor based control and fault diagnostic system. 3 phase EMU's offer remarkable benefits in the areas of energy saving, low maintenance cost, higher reliability etc. AC induction motors with VVVF drives are suitable for regeneration, during braking thus reducing the net energy consumption. During braking, the energy returned to catenary by the braking train is utilised by other trains running in the system. This feature greatly helps in energy conservation. Another advantage of the regenerative braking will be less wear of brake shoes which in turn will reduce the maintenance requirement of brake rigs. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Moving Millions in Mumbai - From Line to Life Line (A Souvenir issued at the occasion). 2. Anchoring a City line by Rahul Melhotra and Sharda Diwedi - A Western Railway Publication. 86 Electrification on Erstwhile South Indian Railway (1500 V. Dc) Introduction In 1927, M/s. Merz and McLellan, consulting engineers for Indian Railway Board, concluded their investigations on the Madras hydroelectric schemes with special reference to Railway Electrification in South India. 'The consulting engineers agreed that it is essential and desirable to speed up the hydroelectric programme. At the same time, the education of public opinion on the utility and advantage of electricity should be undertaken. M/s. Merz and McLellan did not advise the extension of electrification to Madras as the high cost of transmission system would necessitate the imposition of prohibitive rates.' However by 1929, South Indian Railway (SIR) firmly resolved for the electrification of the Madras suburban services. The electrification of 29.1 km of double track running from Madras Beach to Tambaram and 11.2 km sidings at Madras Beach, Madras Egmore and Tambaram stations, totaling 69.4 Kms of single track had been completed and inaugurated by His Excellency the Governor of Madras on 2nd April 1931. Extracts of H.E. The Governor George F. Stanley's Address During The Inauguration of MG Electric Suburban Services: "I feel that it is very great privilege that I should have been called upon to perform the ceremony of inaugurating the South Indian Railway Electric Suburban system, because in effect, it does indicate a new era in railway traffic in this presidency and as you, Sir, mentioned in your speech, it leads the way in all India in respect of the electrification of a metre gauge line. I was somewhat startled when you informed us that hitherto the main city of the presidency was served by a single line which had to deal with main and suburban passengers as well as with the goods service and I could not help wondering how the railway was even able to cope with it. Probably when the new system is in actual working order and the passengers realize the added facilities that they will get, they also will wonder how it was done. The South Indian Railway are very wisely looking to the future and the scheme has not been prepared just to meet the necessities of the moment but it makes provision also for the time, when a large proportion of the business population of Madras will no longer both live and work in the city, but will go farther a field for their residence and come in daily for their work. That such will be the case there can, I think, be no doubt; but it will not come suddenly. It is a question of gradual growth and expansion but as you, Sir, have said the exodus has been going on for many years and with increased travelling facilities that this new scheme will provide an added impetus to the movement. I was motoring from the direction of Chingleput yesterday and I visualized the day when the land, which is now somewhat desolate, will become the garden cities from which many of the present population of Madras will travel daily to their work." The first electric train for public however started on 11th of May, 1931. Gradually, the suburban services between Madras Beach and Tambaram were all electric from 1st August1931. They awarded a contract in 1929, to M/S. English Electric Company for 17 three coach articulated 87 units, each consisting of one motor coach and two trailer coaches; and 4 Bo-Bo locomotives with 2 battery tenders. Two battery tenders were also provided to work the locomotives in the sidings at Madras Beach. By November 1934 these sidings were electrified and the batterytenders withdrawn. The service was inaugurated with these three-coach articulated Electric Multiple Units supplied by the South Indian Railway was the pioneer in electrification of their metre gauge lines from Madras to Tambaram in 1929. For operating trains on this system, they procured four Bo-Bo locomotives from M/s. English Electric Company in 1930-31. The photograph shows one of these locomotives. Route Map 88 Metre gauge Electric Train in use on Madras Suburban Service 1931 company. in 1931. Seven more similar units were added to the fleet in 1933 and supplied by the same suppler to meet the additional demand In 1956, a further addition by six four-coach units of Breda Electromeccanica, Italy, in green and yellow livery had also been made. An interesting feature of the 1500 V DC Madras Suburban Electrification Metre Gauge Section, saw the construction of new double track and stations, instead of the conversion of existing lines to Broad Gauge on the 18-mile run from Madras to Tambaram. The existing lines were already congested and it was impossible to run the increasing traffic over them. It thus became the 1st MG electrified section in the world. The line runs more or less parallel to the coast for half the distance. The new line opened new stations and paved the way for new residential development. The suburban traffic multiplied 3 times in a period of 10 years, from less than 3 million in 1927-28 to over 9 million in 1937-38. Madras Suburban electrification accelerated real estate development adjacent to the Railway and value appreciated considerably of the property between Madras and Tambaram and even beyond Tambram. Electrical energy at 5 kv 3 phases, 50 cycles, was supplied by means of 3 cables from the Madras Electric Supply Corporation situated at Basin Bridge Steam Power Station of the Madras Electric Supply Corporationon at Egmore controlling sub-station of SIR (approximately a distance 2 and a half mile). All circuits were in duplicate both for power supply and automatic electric signaling circuits. 89 Basin Bridge It was stepped down to 11 kv, single phase, by oil-cooled transformers. This was then changed into 1500 V DC by two steel cylinder water-jacketed mercury arc-rectifiers, for traction motors and locomotives. South Indian Railway was the first to use large rectifiers for conversion of electricity in India, BB&CI later followed SIR example for their Borivli- Virar electrification scheme. Each rectifier was designed for a maximum temperature of 60°C and rated at 500A, continuous current and could give 1225 kw for 3 minutes and 740 kw continuously. Other transformers of 5000/400 V lowered the incoming high voltage to AC 400/230V for lighting, etc. Another substation was provided at Minambakkam, 7 miles from Egmore. 1168 V, 50Hz, 6 phase current fed by an 1100 KVA star double fork transformer and with an output of direct current at 1500 V DC, 750 kw from each rectifier. From YAM 1 Locomotives Photograph of the Breda Unit 90 Egmore to Madras Beach, a 5000 V 3 phase 50Hz cable provided the supply of light and power to stations and for automatic signalling. Between Egmore and Minambakkam a 5000 V line was also carried over the overhead contact line This substation received power at 33 kV, 50Hz, AC, 3 phase from Egmore sub-station through a high- tension transmission line. It is interesting to note that 33kV power at Egmore was transformed from the 5 kv input supplied by Madras Electric Supply Corporation. From Minambakkam, a 5000 V, three phase AC line ran to Tambaram where the electric section terminated. The car shed was situated here along with arrangements for reducing the voltage to 400/230 V AC and for charging the batteries. At Minambakkam also, transformer and rectifiers were provided to convert A.C. input in to 1500 V DC for traction. The rectifiers were supplied by MI s. Brown Boveri were metal tank type; input. The sub- stations had metal type mercury arc rectifiers employed for the first time in British India. These rectifiers were the latest type, water-cooled by closed circuit re-cooler system. The Power and Traffic Controller from Egmore Sub-station carried out all switching operations at Minambakkam and at Egmore Sub-stations by remote control. BIBLIOGRAPHY : The chapter is mainly based on material furnished of SR and an article by Mohan, Doss (ExCEE). 91 A Poem about the Electric Traction in India rd Railway Traction had its beginning in India on 3 Feb.1925 and till May 1931, only suburban sections had been electrified on GIP, BB&CI and SIR and Ghat Sections of GIP Railway. There was no further Electrification activity till 1956, when Calcutta suburban Electrification was taken up in1956. A poem had been written using the Acronyms of three Railway Systems in the poem. The author thought it relevant to reproduce the poem after the chapters of DC Electrification on these systems. The Source is the book entitled “Indian Railways-150 Glorious Years” by R R Bhandari. Shiv Narain gets the credit of penning the first Poem on Electric Traction in India, way back in 1940. His Poem is reproduced below: India's Electric Train Trio (Pat Bob and Rose of Canada) came seeking peace to India. And having (done) old Calcutta, they hastened thence to New Delhi, Shimla, Lahore and Karachi. "Enough" cried them in agony: Coal dust, heat and noise; smell and smoke issuing From engines still they kept pursuing, instead of ease which they were suing. Someone told them of Trains Electric trains in Southern ports. Then turned they right quick, to put an end to their search frantic. In Bombay, Get In Pat the GIP did cry; Bob Better Come In cooed the BB&CI; In Madras, Step In Rose said the SIR shy. 92 DC Electrification in Calcutta Introduction A number of reports for electrification of Calcutta and its suburban areas were produced from 1914 onwards. The firm Messrs. Merz and MacLellan was the central figure in almost every one of these activities. Their first report submitted in March 1914 recommended electrification of the section Sealdah to Kanchrapara. It was shelved due to the outbreak of World War 1. The matter was reviewed in October 1919, when the Secretary, Railway Board requested the Agents of Bengal Nagpur, East Indian and Eastern Bengal Railways to discuss and submit their views in regard to the desirability of electrifying certain sections of the railway lines in the neighbourhood of Calcutta. The matter was further considered by a committee appointed in the year 1920, to consider the problem of rapid transportation to and from and in Calcutta. The Committee recommended that the Eastern Bengal, East Indian, Bengal Nagpur and Suburban Light Railways should examine the question of electrification with a view to determining its financial viability. The Committee recommended that the Eastern Bengal, East Indian, Bengal Nagpur and Suburban Light Railways should examine the question of electrification with a view to determining its financial viability. In February 1923, the Chief Commissioner of Railways suggested that the opportunity of the presence of a representative of Messrs. Merz & MacLellan in Bombay should be taken to have the original report revised and brought up to date. The Agents of EIR and EBR were in general agreement but considered that the investigation should cover a much larger field than was originally proposed, and they recommended that it should also include the electrification of the EIR and BNR between the Jharia coalfields and Calcutta. The Board of Directors of BNR did not agree to the proposal. M/s Merz and McClellan were therefore instructed by the East Indian and the Eastern Bengal Railways to investigate the possibilities of electrification of certain lines in the neighborhood of Calcutta. The report submitted by the consultants in August-1924 concluded that there was no financial justification for electrification of the suburban and main line sections around Calcutta mainly on account of the low cost of coal, the small volume of traffic and its division between several lines. They observed that after some effective schemes by the Railways to improve the access from the city have been carried out by the extension of the suburban lines into and through the centre of the city, there could be a large increase in the suburban traffic and then only the electrification could solve the problems of dealing with the same and would be justified financially. Shortly thereafter, the Railway Board appointed Major R. H. Stallard, Executive Engineer on Special Duty with his establishment in the offices of EBR to examine the various issues in connection with electrification in Eastern Region. When the final report of the Consulting Engineers was received in 1930, the economic depression had set in and no further· action was taken till 1936, when another investigation of possibility of electrifying Asansol - Gaya was undertaken. The commencement of World War II in 1939 shelved the proposal once again. 93 In 1946, the Government of India undertook a fresh review of the prospects of electrification in Calcutta area and entrusted Messrs. Merz & McLellan with the work of conducting an investigation over the section Howrah to Mughal Serai and later a separate investigation over the entire suburban areas of Calcutta. These reports brought out that the project was not financially justified. Electrification At 3000 - Volt Dc IR again considered electrification in 1953. After world study tour of a group of railway officers, recommended the adoption of 3000-v dc system in preference to the 1500 v dc system, then in operation in the Bombay and Madras areas. The system had proved more economical in Europe particularly in Italy. In July 1953 Shri Sarangapani was appointed as Project Officer to prepare a comprehensive scheme for Electrification of Calcutta Suburban Services and also Kharagpur and Tatanagar. The first phase of Calcutta Suburban Scheme was sanctioned on 4th June 1954. Howrah-Sheoraphali-Bandel including Sheoraphali-Tarakeshwar branch line electrification work was completed in Dec.1957 at 3000 v dc and formally inaugurated by Shri Jawahar Lal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India. On12th December, 1957 Thus the Calcuttans had to wait for nearly 33 years after the first electric train ran on GIP (Bombay VT Kurla Harbour Branch). Howrah was dressed up like a bride for the occasion. To Nehru it looked "better than the best marriage pandal I have ever seen." There was a mad rush for passengers waiting to ride the train. 13 years old Rajiv Gandhi (later to be a Prime Minister) accompanied Nehru on the trip. He got separated from his grandfather, when the PM was mobbed by the crowd. Unfortunately 3 persons were killed and 25 injured in the melee at Liluah and beyond. Bandel-Burdwan electrification was inaugurated by Dr. B.C. Roy on 31.8.58. SER however escaped the short-lived 3000-Volt dc electrification. BIBLIOGRAPHY Vibrant Edifice, Saga of Howrah Station, A Publication of Eastern Railway. 94 Solving Mumbai's Problem of Over Crowded Trains 1. Introduction The Mumbai Suburban Railway network caters to 6.6 million commuters everyday. It has the highest passenger density in the World, ahead of even Tokyo and Seoul. Almost half of the total daily passengers using the entire Indian Railway System are from Mumbai Suburban Railway system alone. Mumbai Suburban Railway system, in spite of heavy demands on it, has provided an efficient and reliable service. However, the pressure continues and today it has reached alarming proportions. Overcrowding has grown to such an extent that 5,000 passengers are traveling per 9-car train during peak hours, as against the rated carrying capacity of 1,750. This has resulted in, what is known as, super dense crush load of upto 16 standing passengers per square metre of floor space. Given the geographical spread of the population and location of business areas, the rail network will continue to be the principal mode of mass transport in Mumbai. A overcrowded Mumbai suburban train To enable the Mumbai Suburban Railway system to meet the demands of the ever-growing passenger traffic, Ministry of Railways and the Government of Maharashtra have joined hands to face the challenge. 2. Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation Ltd Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation Ltd (MRVC Ltd), a PSU of Govt. of India under Ministry of Railways (MOR) was incorporated under Companies Act, 1956 on 12.07.1999 with an equity capital of Rs. 25 Crores shared in the ratio of 51:49 between Ministry of Railways and Government of Maharashtra to implement the Rail Component of an integrated rail-cum-road urban transport project called Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP). The cost of the Rail Component of the project is to be shared equally by Ministry of Railways and Government of Maharashtra. 95 The Corporation is not only executing the projects identified so far, but also involved in the further planning and development of Mumbai Suburban Rail system for improved rail services in close coordination with Indian Railways and Government of Maharashtra. The geographical jurisdiction of MRVC is from Churchgate to Dahanu Road on Western Railway and from CST to Kasara, Karjat/ Khopoli and Panvel on Central Railway. 3. Mission/Vision of MRVC To develop world-class infrastructure for an efficient, safe and sustainable Railway system in Mumbai suburban section to provide comfortable and friendly train services to the commuters. 4. Objectives of MRVC lIntegrate suburban rail capacity enhancement plans with urban development plan for Mumbai and propose investments lImplement the rail infrastructure projects in Mumbai suburban sections. lCommercial development of railway land and airspace in Mumbai area to raise funds for suburban railway development. lResettlement & rehabilitation of project affected households. lTo be an infrastructure company committed to sustainable development and environment friendly construction in Mumbai suburban section. 5. Overview of Mumbai Suburban Railway The Suburban Railway system in Mumbai is perhaps the most complex, densely loaded and intensively utilized system in the world. Spread over 319 route Kms, it operates on 1500 Volt DC power supply from overhead catenary. The suburban services are run by electric multiple units (EMUs). 238 nine-car equivalent rakes are utilized to run 2502 train services to carry 6.6 million passengers per day. Two zonal Railways, the Western Railway (WR) and the Central Railway (CR), operate the Mumbai Suburban Railway system. Two corridors (one local and other through) on Western Railway run northwards from Churchgate terminus parallel to the west coast up to Virar (60 Kms). Two corridors (one local and other through) on Central Railway run from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) to Kalyan (54 Kms), from where it bifurcates into Kalyan-Kasara (67 Kms) in the north-east and Kalyan-Karjat- Khapoli (61 Kms) in south-east. The 5th corridor on Central Railway runs as the Harbour line starting from CST to Raoli Junction (11 Kms) from where the line splits. One line goes north west to join WR at Bandra and goes up to Andheri (11 Kms) and the other goes eastward to terminate at Panvel (39 Kms) via New-Mumbai. New suburban line from Thane to Vashi via Turbhe (17 Kms) has been started in November 2004. At present, the fast corridors on Central Railway as well as on Western Railway are shared by long distance (Main line) and Freight trains. 6. Mumbai Urban Transport Project Rail projects were identified through the project preparatory studies with the objective of bringing down the over crowding in peak hour peak direction 9-car train to 3000 passengers as 96 against existing around 5000 and segregate the suburban train operation from the main line passenger and freight services. 7. MUTP (Rail Component) has been bifurcated in two phases (Phase I and Phase II) for the purpose of World Bank funding MUTP Phase I The restructured proposal for MUTP Phase I has been approved by the Board of Directors of the World Bank. The cost of the rail component is Rs. 4174.40 crore and the likely World Bank funding is US$ 365 million. Project Latest Anticipated Cost EMU procurement/manufacture 1751.00 Borivali-Virar quadrupling 505.00 5th and 6th line between Kurla & Thane 222.80 Virar-Dahanu Road Track Center Work 50.00 Virar Car Shed 191.35 DC to AC Conversion 593.70 Other optimization and service efficiency improvement works 450.55 Resettlement & Rehabilitation 410.00 Total 4174.40 The target for completion of MUTP Phase I is December 2010. All the 15 World Bank funded contracts for the rail component have already been awarded and are progressing satisfactorily. FINANCIAL PROGRESS (incl R&R) (In Crores of Rupees) COST (As per Restructured Project) 4175 Expenditure upto December 2008 2363 Financial Progress % 56.6% Likely Expenditure: January to Mar 2009 300 2009-10 722 2010-11 790 97 WORLD BANK LOAN DISBURSEMEN (including R&R) (In million US $) LOAN AMMOUNT 365 DISBURSED UPTO December 2008 157 DISBURSEMENT % 43% Likely Disbursement: January to Mar 09 25 2009-10 100 2010-11 83 Works lBorivali-Virar quadrupling work has been completed and the section was inaugurated in July 2007. lAfter removal of encroachments, the work on 5th & 6th line between Kurla-Thane has started and will be completed by December 2009. lThe work for extension of EMU services in Virar-Dahanu Road section is progressing and will be completed by June 2009. (Need confirmation) DC to AC Conversion lThe DC to AC Conversion work on Western Railway is progressing as per schedule and will be completed by March 2009. (Need confirmation) lThe work of DC to AC Conversion on Central Railway included in MUTP Phase I will be completed by December 2009. (Need confirmation) EMU Maintenance Shed at Virar lAll the contracts for setting up of EMU maintenance shed at Virar have been awarded and are progressing. It is expected that the maintenance shed will be ready by the time the new additional EMU rakes are received. Other works lAll other optimization and service efficiency improvement works are progressing satisfactorily and will be completed by December 2009. 98 MUTP Phase II (Rs. In crores) Sr. Work Completion Executing No. Cost (Upto 2013) Agency 1 5th & 6th Lines CSTM-Kurla 659 CR 2 5th & 6th Lines Thane-Diva 133 MRVC 3 6th Line Mumbai Central-Borivali 522 WR 4 Extension of Harbour Line from Andheri to Goregaon 103 MRVC 5 DC to AC Conversion 293 CR, MRVC 6 EMU Procurement & manufacture 2930 MRVC, ICF 7 Maintenance Facilities for EMUs 205 CR, WR 8 Stabling Lines for EMUs 141 CR, MRVC 9 Technical Assistance & Institutional Strengthening 62 MRVC 10 Resettlement & Rehabilitation of Project Affected 124 MMRDA, Households MRVC 11 Station Improvement & Trespassing Control 128 CR, WR Grand Total 5300 lThe implementing agencies for the various works of MUTP Phase II have been finalized and are shown in the table above. MUTP Phase II will be implanted in two parts, i.e. MUTP 2A and MUTP 2B. MUTP 2A: lMUTP 2A will be World Bank funded and includes additional rolling stock, remaining DC to AC Conversion work on Central Railway and maintenance facilities & stabling lines for EMUs. lBoth Ministry of Railways and Govt. of Maharashtra have already approached Dept. of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance for World Bank funding for MUTP 2A. lDEA has sent the request for World Bank funding for MUTP 2A on 20.11.2008. lThere is no land acquisition or resettlement & rehabilitation involved in MUTP 2A being posed to the World Bank. lThe World Bank mission for MUTP 2A visited Mumbai from January 28 to February 06, 2009. lDuring discussion with the World Bank officials, the loan for MUTP 2A is planned for sanction by the World Bank by March 2010. 99 MUTP 2B: lFor the new line works included in MUTP 2B, approximately 3,000 households are to be resettled.MMRDA has already agreed to reserve 3,000 tenements for shifting of these project affected households. lThe baseline socio-economic survey is in progress. lMRVC has already finalised two tenders for extension of Harbour Line from Andheri to Goregaon lTenders for 5th & 6th Line between Thane-Diva on Central Railway will be invited by next month. Running Of 12-coach Trains On Harbour Corridor lThe pre-feasibility study for running of 12-coach train services on Harbour Corridor has been finalized by Central Railway. lGovt. of Maharashtra has been requested vide letter No. MRVC.W.19/Pt.XIV dated 25.11.2008 to approve this work to be implemented on the same funding arrangement as for other works of MUTP. lOn receipt of approval from Govt. of Maharashtra, this work will be processed for inclusion in the Works Programme of the Railways. MUTP Phase III works (Proposed) lNew suburban line on Virar-Vasai-Diva-Panvel section l3rd and 4th Line Virar-Dahanu Road lRunning of 12-coach trains on Harbour Line l5th and 6th Lines Borivali-Virar lExtension of Harbour Line from Goregaon to Borivali lIntroduction of 15-coach trains on Central and Western Railways mainline lImproved signaling system for headway reduction lProvision of fast corridor on Harbour Line lBandra-Kurla East-West Link For the first time in the history of Mumbai, 5 twelve-car rakes have been manufactured by Integral Coach Factory, Chennai in September and November 2008. ICF will continue to manufacture 4 twelve-car rakes every month. Till now 43 twelve-car new design EMU rakes have been manufactured by ICF, Chennai. As a result, 122 twelve-car additional services have been provided on Western Railway. Also 36 services, which were earlier run with nine-car rakes, have been converted into twelve-car. 100 On Central Railway 120 additional services have been introduced. Out of this, 96 are nine-car services on Harbour Line and 24 are twelve-car services on the Main Line. In addition to this, 198 services on the Main Line, which were earlier run with nine-car rakes, have now been converted into twelve-car. The summarized position of introduction of new services and conversion of nine-car services to twelve-car is as under: NEW AC/DC UNIT for WR Railway Additional Additional Total Conversion of 12-car services 9-car services 9-car services to 12-car Western Railway 122 1 123 36 Central Railway 24 96 120 198 Total 146 97 243 234 Shift to L BIBLIOGRAPHY The chapter is based on an article of Shri P.C. Sehgal, M.D., MRVN. 101 A.C. Railway Electrification and Creation of Core 1. Adoption of 25 Kv Ac at 50 Cycles With the success of the 25 kv ac 50 cycle electrification on SNCF (French National Railways) and the world wide acclaim received, this technology was considered appropriate for all future electrification programmes covering all the trunk routes on the Indian Railway (IR). A team of SNCF experts led by Mr. F.F. Nouvion visited India in June-Sept. 1956 to study the IR plans. The SNCF team recommended adoption of the 25 kv industrial frequency systems which had already established its superior performance at considerably lower cost compared to 3000-v dc system. Main argument put forward by Nouvion commission was: - "Initially it was considered that although the OHE costs were comparatively lower than 3000 dc system, the loco performance with ac induction motors was inferior to dc motors, particularly their tractive effort. This was overcome with the availability of mercury arc rectifier. With the use of tap changer the necessity of starting resistances was eliminated resulting in savings in energy costs. The industrial frequency ac systems thus held out advantages not only in initial costs, maintenance, and energy costs while at the same time improving the locomotive haulage capacity." With the anticipated growth of traffic the benefits would be even much higher. It was noted that the British Railways too had acknowledged industrial frequency ac as a better alternative. It was also considered necessary to have only one system for the entire railway network Eastern, as 3000-v dc had not been extensively installed, sections already energised could be easily converted to 50 cycle ac system. India was the 2nd country in Asia to have opted for 25 kv 50 cycles for electrification. Japan was the first country to have opted for 50 cycle electrification but at 20 kv. Turkey and Portugal had also experimental short stretches at 25 kv 50 cycles. Hungary had 180 km main line at 16 kv 50 cycles before World War II and Germany had an industrial railway at 6 kv 50 cycles. Many major railway systems such as British Railways, Chinese and Russian adopted 50-cycle ac electrification much later. SNCF provided technical assistance from the very beginning. They helped in preparation of designs and specifications for the fixed installations and rolling stock, purchase of equipment, supervision and coordination during the execution of work. They too helped in preparation of manuals for operation, maintenance, repairs of electric locomotives and EMUs. The agreement with SNCF lasted till March 1966. 2. Electrification in the Industrial Belt 2.1 First Phase of 25 KV Electrification: Work was started both on Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railways. 110 mixed traffic locos, i.e., 100 WAM1 from 50-cycle group from Europe and 10 WAM2 from Japanese group were ordered. The first WAM1 locomotive, then designated as BBM I 20250 (first to be manufactured), 102 arrived at Calcutta harbour on 30th Nov.1959. 25 kv installations i.e. OHE and substations were still not ready. The second loco 20251 was specially equipped with standard gauge bogies and underwent full scale tests and trials on SNCF tracks for over a year before being delivered to India. Mr. R.K. Vir had the privilege to footplate on the said loco during his tenure as Deputy Railway Advisor (Zurich). The electrification work was considerably behind schedule. However IR had committed itself to inaugurate ac traction on 15th December 1959. IR got on loan a complete sub-station with high voltage transformer and circuit breakers from SNCF. This was installed in December within ten days at a site near Kendposi (SE Railway) where an existing 66 kv power transmission line crossed the "iron ore railway line" Dangoaposi-Rajkharsawan. Efforts were concentrated to erect quickly a stretch of OHE originating from this feeding post. On 12th December 1959 power was switched on and loco 20250 made its first steps on IR track. On 15th December 1959 the official inauguration ceremony took place. The special steam train and the electric loco ran parallel on a 3 km double track stretch between the sub-station site and Kendposi marking the initial step of 25 KV electric traction taking over from steam traction. In the spring of 1960, Asansol electric loco shed started to function. Locomotives started arriving from Calcutta harbour were unpacked and commissioned there. These were hauled by steam engines over 250 kms to Dangoaposi. From March 1960, power from 25 kv OHE was made available on 20 kms between Dangoaposi and Kendposi and the loco commissioning could be completed. By middle of the year the ac system was gaining shape. Trains began to be hauled electrically between Dangoaposi and Banspani (38 kms) and the entire line Rajkharsawan- Dangoaposi was inaugurated for electric traction on the 11th August 1960. Simultaneously, electrification progressed in the Asansol area. On 10th August, Kumardubi feeding post, 19 kms west of Asansol, was energised along with the 11 kms line to Sitarampur. Sitarampur-Asansol electrification followed on 29th August. Later in autumn the electric loco shed at Asansol it was wired and energised to take up normal operation. On the 25th November, the special train for the congress of ECAFE (Economic Commission for Asia and Far East) was hauled by loco Nos. 20202+20292 from Asansol via Pradhankhunta to Pathardih. A month later, on 22nd December 1960 the 58 kms Asansol-Dhanbad (Grand Chord line) and the 18 kms Pradhankhunta-Pathardih (Branch line) were formally inaugurated by Railway Minister, Shri Jagjivan Ram flagging off a goods train from Asansol composed of 70 coal wagons with 2300 t trailing load hauled by the ER green locomotive No.20270. Of the 100 locos, 69 WAM1 locomotives for SER were equipped for multiple operations with hose pipes between locos for vacuum and compressed air brakes and the jumper cables for control circuits. Initially they carried screw couplings. These were later modified to centre buffer couplings gradually on SER. The other 31 WAM1 locomotives for ER had only the normal equipment for single operation. 2.2 Conversion of 3000 V Dc System on Howraw-burdwan Section to 25 kv ac: 2.2.1 Strategy for conversion: As mentioned earlier the Howrah-Burdwan main line and part of Howrah Yard were electrified at 3 kv dc in 1957/58. In keeping with the proposed electrification of the Howrah-Kharagpur line 103 and the Howrah-Burdwan Chord line at 25 kv ac, a part of Howrah Yard was energised at 25 kv ac. Electrification of the Howrah-Burdwan chord was completed by early 1965. The change over had to be executed for the first time in India. There were no precedents elsewhere in the world for similar work. Extensive on-going work of remodeling and modernisation of signaling on the Howrah Yard made it impracticable to undertake the entire conversion in one `go'. Therefore the conversion and was proposed to be done in two stages: (i) First from Burdwan to Bandel by December, 1964, and (ii) Finally from Bandel to Howrah by the end of 1965. The items of work consisted of the following: (1) Modifications to the overhead equipment: (i) Augmentation of insulation (ii) Increase of clearances (2) Provision of booster transformers and return conductors. (3) Modifications to the power supply system and sectionalising arrangements, the latter involving development of special heavy-duty section insulator suitable both for ac and dc working. (4) Modifications to ancillary equipment affected by induction (including signaling, telecommunication and remote control equipment), and low tension general electrical services. (5) Modifications to electric rolling stock. 2.2.2 Execution of Work: The work on the overhead equipment, viz. augmentation of insulation, increase of clearances, replacement of section insulators, isolators and the stringing of return conductors was carried out without disrupting the train services. Most items of work were carried out well in advance of the actual change over of the system of supply. However, there were items of work, which had necessarily to be completed simultaneously with change in the system of supply. On Burdwan- Bandel section the critical work was to be carried out at approximately 30 locations at the time of change over. The first section between Burdwan and Memari was energised on 25 kv ac on 23rd May' 65 and Memari to Bandel on 27th June' 65. Once the entire section of Burdwan-Bandel was converted to ac system, ac push-pull WAM 3 hauled trains started running over this section starting from Sealdah/Naihati. After energisation of Burdwan-Bandel section at 25 kv ac, it was essential on Howrah-Burdwan to utilise dual system rolling stock. Out of a total of 47 dc-electric units (emus) in service, 31 emus were modified for dual voltage operation for through services. The remaining 16 emus were used for Howrah-Bandel main line trains till the conversion of the entire system to 25 kv ac. These were later converted for 1500 v dc operation in the Bombay suburban area. 104 The additional equipment to convert 25 kv ac power into 3000 v dc powers was mounted on each emu in the luggage compartment of motor coach along with a separate pantograph. It was possible for the emu to collect power at 25 kv ac and feed 3000 v dc to the traction motors. These emus were suitable for working both on 3000 v dc and on 25 kv ac systems. An additional sensing device was provided to prevent any inadvertent operation of wrong pantograph. 2.2.3 EMU Stock for Calcutta Suburban Sections: SNCF, who were IR's Consultants for ac electrification, recommended the use of push-pull loco hauled trains for the Calcutta suburban area. Coincidentally, at the same time British Railways had transformer failures on their new emu stock. Recommendation of SNCF was, therefore, not overruled and push-pull trains were employed for Sealdah suburbs. Since economics favoured the operation of emu services, Howrah suburban services commenced with emus. RDSO prepared key designs for this stock and emu coaches were built by ICF with imported equipment from UK and Japan. Gradually push pull operation was withdrawn even on Sealdah suburbs. Locos were modified for main line trains and were replaced by motor coaches built at ICF A photo of the EMU in operation is shown in the photo. 3. Organisational Set-up and Creation of CORE (central Organisation for Railway Electrification) On 1st May 1958, the organisation ·formed for 3000-v dc electrification PORE (Project office for Railway Electrification) was set up under GM/ER. .For electrification of the main lines on the Eastern and South Eastern Railway, covering, steel; coal and iron belts, it was considered that Calcutta would also be an ideal place for the location of the headquarters of the railway electrification organisation. Consequently, in 1959, an independent organisation 'Main Line Electrification Project' of Eastern and South Eastern Railways, placed under the administrative control of a General Manager was set up. PORE was also merged in the former. Since initially the work of electrification was entirely concentrated in and around Calcutta and as such the field organisation and the Headquarters worked more or less with the same officers. By 1966-67, the electrification around Calcutta had been completed, therefore in April 1968, Calcutta based 105 "Main line Railway Electrification Project" was wound up. Further execution of electrification schemes was left to individual Railways with the assistance provided by RB and RDSO. An OSD (RE) with a team was posted at RB. In 1961, Northern Railway Electrification office was set up at Allahabad for electrification of Mughalsarai-New Delhi section. This office was headed by an Engineer-in-Chief. On recommendation of J. Raj Committee report in 1978, a number of Electrification works were included in the Pink Book. For proper controlling, monitoring and execution of Railway Electrification works in different Zonal Railways, the concept of Railway Electrification headquarter came into being. Since most of the sanctioned electrification works were falling in the Central and Southern regions of the country; the Headquarters of electrification was set up at Nagpur and functioned under the charge of Additional General Manager from 1982 to 1984. The Railway Electrification office was shifted to Allahabad under Additional General Manager. Since January, 1985, a regular General Manager was posted at Central Organisation For Railway Electrification (CORE), Allahabad from July 1987 on wards which is continuing till date. It has Electrical, S&T, Civil, Stores, Personnel, Vigilance and Finance departments. Presently, Nine RE project offices are functioning viz. Ambala, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Lucknow, Kota, Secunderabad, Gorakhpur, Hajipur and New Jalpaiguri headed by Chief Project Managers. Appendix 2 gives the names of various officers who headed RE Set-ups at various times. 4. Progress of Energisation: In 1961, the electrification was extended from Dhanbad to Gomoh (30 kms) on 1st of February and eastwards from Asansol to Waria near Durgapur (34 kms) on 31st March. Asansol/Kalipahari-Damodar-Chakradharpur and Kandra-Tatanagar-Sini sections were energised in two stages on 8th of June and 1st of July respectively, totaling 243 kms. The official inauguration ceremony took place on 21st of July at Tatanagar. Thus the iron ore trains from Dangoaposi to Burnpur and Durgapur and the coal trains from Dhanbad and Asansol to Tatanagar were hauled by electric locos. The spine of the electrified industrial rail network was in place. From this time Tatanagar electric loco shed operated in parallel with Asansol and gradually took over the locomotives assigned to it. On the ER Grand chord line Gomoh-Koderma section (94 kms) was energised on 21st of August, Koderma-Gujhandi section (10 kms) 10 days later and the remaining 69 kms to Gaya on 13th November, 1961. The year 1962 saw completion of the remaining parts of the initial electrification schemes. On 10th of January the branch line Dhanbad-Kusunda-Tetulmari was energised. With the inauguration of electric operation on Gaya-Sone Nagar section (76 kms) on 30th June, Sone Nagar- Chandauli Majhwar section (105 kms) on 7th of July and the remaining 19 kms to Mughalsarai on 25th of July, thus initial steps to the future main line electrification between the capital cities had been taken. During summer the OHE reached the Durgapur Steel Plant. On 106 South Eastern Railway, energising Chakradharpur-Rourkela section (102 kms) on 12th February completed the electrification of the industrial belt. By this time the next electrification project for the suburban lines east of Calcutta radiating from Sealdah station had been finalised. Asansol loco shed contributed to the preparation work by equipping and testing a prototype push pull rake. On 4th of January, 1963 the electric operation on Tatanagar-Kharagpur section (128 kms) section started and can be considered as the onset to the future main line electrification. In June, 1963 electrification on South Eastern Railway of some branch lines around Adra and Burnpur, totaling 26 kms, completed the system in this industrial belt and the first phase of ac electrification on IR as well as the commissioning of the WAM1 locomotives. Gradually the ac electrification spread to Northern, Western, Southern, South Central and Central Railways. Progress of electrification on IR since its inception in 1925 till 31.3.2008 is given in Appendix 1. With this progress both diagonals linking 4 Metros have been electrified and 3 sides of the quadrilateral have also been electrified. 4th side Chennai to Mumbai is likely to be completed by 31st Dec. 2012, when the section Pune to Nandalur is completed. Appendix 3 gives the various land marks of Railway Electrification. 5. Southern Railway Adopts 25 Kv Ac: The erstwhile South Indian Railway drew up a scheme in 1947 for the electrification of the main line from Madras Egmore to Villupuram and the branch line from Chingleput to Arkonam in the post-war programme. This was reviewed by the Consulting Engineers Messrs, Merz and Mc.lellon and a revised report was prepared by S.I. Railway in 1949 with further proposals to electrify beyond Villupuram upto Tiruchchirappalli via the main and chord lines. The traffic over the Madras Beach-Tambaram suburban section was increasing rapidly. The scheme of electrifying the third track from Madras Egmore to Tambaram was sanctioned in April 1954 on the newly regrouped Southern Railway (SR). The main line electrification upto Villupuram was approved in March 1955. The Electric Traction Advisory Committee, however, recommended the adoption of 3000 V dc systems both for this section and the third line between Madras Egmore and Tambaram. This scheme was reinvestigated for adopting the 25 kv ac systems towards the end of 1956 after a study of Nouvion's Report on the Electrification of Eastern, South Eastern and Central Railways. Considering the relative cost, and economics after detailed investigations a decision was taken in November 1960 that Madras Egmore-Tambaram-Villupuram section should be electrified on the 25 kv ac, single phase system. Tambram- Villupuram section was energised first. (The first electrically hauled goods train ran on 26th March, 1965 and the first express train on 14th August, 1965.) The first section where indigenous (BHEL built) 110 kv transformers were utilised for the substation was on this section. 5.1 Conversion From DC to AC in Record Time : The Madras Beach-Tambaram section was converted from dc to ac on 14th /15th January 1967 (Makarsankranti) in a single operation during the night. The challenge in changing over from dc 107 to ac traction lay in disconnecting the dc feeds and making the ac connections along with booster transformers while keeping the suburban service going with minimum disruption. With meticulous planning, training of staff and officers and rehearsals this was achieved in a record time of one hour and twenty minutes. While the last service on the 14th of January ran on dc traction, the very first service on 15th January morning ran on ac traction. Not a single train was cancelled or rescheduled. 6. IR Adopts Single System for Electrification: 6.1 By the time extension of electrification on main line on Central & Western Railways came up for consideration, decision had already been taken to adopt a unified system of 25 kv ac. The issue of converting the then existing dc system on Mumbai Divisions of CR & WR was also considered. However, the enormity of the task, with possibility of disruptions to sensitive suburban sections, deterred the decision-makers to convert this system into 25 kv ac. The changeover would have been possible in smaller sections calling for availability and deployment of dual voltage rolling stock (locos and emus) for the period of conversion. At that time, efficient and cost effective dual voltage rolling stock was not in sight and the traffic levels too were considered manageable with the dc traction. It is probable that decision makers expected that the future foreseeable increase in traffic could be handled by laying, additional stand-alone suburban corridors, which did not fructify. It was decided to keep this area as an island dc system rather than go in for conversion. This necessitated that certain adjoining isolated sections, though came up for new electrification were kept on dc traction for continuity and flexibility in operation. Mumbai area remained an island of 1500 v dc traction while the contiguous sections, both on Central and Western Railways, were electrified on 25 kv ac. 6.2 The traffic levels in Mumbai area continued to grow almost exponentially, demanding high amount of dc power and reduction in the inter sub-station distances. For handling higher suburban traffic more and more 12-car rakes were introduced posing even higher demand on power requirement, necessitating manufacture of high capacity circuit breakers in Europe where special testing facilities had to be set up for routine tests. Inter sub-station distances were to be reduced to almost unmanageable levels of less than 500 m. It was realised that the dc traction system had reached its limitations in handling such power levels as it became increasingly difficult to discriminate between fault levels and load currents increasing the propensity of fire hazards. The development of GTOs enabled development of efficient dual voltage system by having an efficient and cost-effective dual voltage rolling stock. IR decided to convert the island of 1500 v dc to 25 kv ac to fall in line with rest of the country. 6.3 It is planned that both Central and Western Railways will gradually convert to 25 kv ac. In addition changing the insulation level special features for conversion are: (i) Existing catenaries and contact wires i.e. 242 sq. mm at 193 sq. mm are being retained (ii) No neutral section is proposed in Thane-MBCST and Borivili-Churchgate-areas 108 (iii) Circuit Breakers are proposed in SPS (Sectioning Posts) and SSPS (Sub Sectioning Posts) (iv) Gas insulated switch gear proposed in substations with space constraints. 7. Strategy For Conversion: While taking up the conversion of 1500 V dc traction system to 25 kv ac traction system the phasing of conversion had to be planned: This work is monitored & coordinated by MRVC with CR & WR. 8. HV Transmission line used for traction purpose in Indian Railways. The first Transmission lines (95 kv later upgraded to 110 kv) for traction system in Indian railways was commissioned by GIP Railway (Central Railway) between Kalyan (Chola Power House and Igatpuri (NE section) and to Poona (SE Section) in 1929, with the electrification of these 2 sections. The total length of transmission lines is 497.17 km. Later till 1975 Railways had no transmission lines of their own. To avail of better tariff at High Voltage Railways opted to own the lines at HT. The Detailed position of transmission line used in traction system in Indian Railways is as given in the following table:- Rly. Div. Voltage Comm. Section Length Maintained by Level(kv) Year KM CR BB Originally 1929 Chola PH to Igatpuri 497.17 Railways 95 now 110 and Chola to Poona NR DLI 132 1996 Diwana-Sahabad 115 Railways 66 1995 DSIDC-NUR 3.9 Railways NCR AGC 132 1984 Shikanrabad-Pitholi 34.27 Railways 66 1984 BBH-Hodal 49.4 Railways JHS 132 1987 Lalitpur- Roara 12.5 Railways ALD 220 2002-03 Dadri-Dadri GS 25.43 Railways 132 1975-1998 SBB- Panki 527.29 Railways 9. Special-features of Electrification on IR: 9.1 Indigenous Development of OHE Fittings and Accessories: CR Railway Electrification Organisation laid great emphasis on development of OHE (Over Head Equipment) fittings locally due to shortage of foreign exchange. With the help from RDSO and SNCF engineers based at Calcutta, local industry produced fittings some of them in 109 workshops rigged up under tin roofing and bamboo matting. These compared favourably with LUCEAT of France, BICC of UK and SAE of Italy. Had the local resources not been tapped, the electrification would not have progressed at a pace and cost to be economically a success. 9.2 These following innovations were adopted for the first time on IR. (a) Provision of ac/dc switching yards: On WR haulage of goods and passenger trains continued with steam traction and later by diesel traction as the change of traction at Virar (terminal station for operation at 1500 V dc) was not desirable operationally. CLW built ac/dc dual system locos were introduced for the first time on WR. On CR it was economical to make use of ac locomotives beyond Igatpuri while operation on existing dc sections continued with dc locomotives. There are necessary sectioning and safety devices for facility of changing locomotives in ac/dc switching yards at Igatpuri. (b) Electrification of Waltair section (isolated from the electrified network): This section has long and continuous stretches of steep grades and numerous curves of 5 and 8 degrees. It was built between 1960 and 1967. The advantage of electrification is obvious mainly because of movement of loaded heavy trains in down-gradients, contributing to regeneration of electricity for light trains carrying empties on the up-- gradients. A 3-electric loco consist in multiples was used, for the first time mainly for controlling the trains on the down gradients and employs a contact wire section of 150 sq. mm as against 107 sq. mm for standard OHE. The isolated section got connected to Chennai trunk route on14th Jan.2000 and to Kolkata trunk route on 27th Oct.2005. (c) OHE in Aluminum Alloy: (i) For the first time on the 25 kv ac electrified railway tracks in India a composite Overhead Equipment composing of 19/ 2.79 mm Aluminum Alloy catenary wire and standard 107 sq. mm grooved copper contract wire have been installed, which after some initial minor problems, continue to give satisfactory service over 500 route kms i.e. about 1250 single track km. The use of this composite OHE was subsequently discontinued due to comparative advantages with all copper OHE, especially for ease of maintenance and sharp fall in copper prices. This composite overhead equipment, its design and development has been a pioneering work. It is not known if any where else in the world this type of overhead equipment has been used. (ii) Between 1971 and 1981 a trial of the first all Aluminum Overhead Equipment comprising 19/2.79 mm Aluminum Alloy catenary with two standard 107 sq. mm grooved aluminum contact wires and Aluminum Alloy fittings was carried out at Bamrauti station of Northern Railway. This was abandoned due to short life span and copper prices coming down in the international market. 110 (d) Techno-economic evaluation of 2 x 25 kv system on IR: IR has introduced 2x25 kv auto-transformer feeding system of power supply on Bina-Katni- Bishrampur/Chirimiri coal route of Central and South Eastern Railways as distinct from the conventional 25 kv systems. This pilot project was executed in 1993-94 with the technical guidance from Japanese Railways Technical Services (JARTS). This 2x25 kv traction system is already in vogue on the TGV routes of France and Shinkansen routes of Japan. The system has also been adopted in Australia, Russia and China. With this system, the advantage of high voltage transmission i.e. 50 kv ac is realised permitting at the same time inter-running of standard 25 kv ac electric locomotives. An additional power conductor on top of the overhead equipment masts achieves this with 50 kv being obtained between the overhead equipment and the feeder. Use of return conductor and booster transformers was eliminated completely. The system was intended on IR on the premise that the 9000 t trains would normally run on these sections. Till 2000 AD not a single train on this description has run and the system has not been extended to any other section. It is understood that DFC proposed 2x25 KV system for their corridors. (e) Use of Prestressed Concrete masts and wooden masts: Experimental pre-stressed concrete masts were erected on 37 track km at 3 kv dc during 1957 between Sheoraphali and Tarakeshwar on Eastern Railway. This line was later converted to 25 kv ac. Such masts were also erected along about 1.5 km track km of 25 kv main line near Rourkala. During an attempt by miscreants to steel OHE wire in 1958 between Haripal and Nalikul, structure in the whole tension length of 1.6 km collapsed due to shock load. The entire length of 37 km was later replaced by steel structures. This resulted in a set back to the use of RCC structures for 25 years. Wooden poles, 7.9m long and 250-270mm in diameter, were in experimental use near Rourkela. They had not been treated against white ants or dry rot but had a steel cap to exclude moisture. These were not implanted in the ground but attached to steel or reinforced-concrete frames embedded in concrete foundation blocks. Steel masts later replaced all these along with the concrete masts. The use of PSC masts was again taken up in 1983 by CORE (Central Organisation of Railway electrification) because of corrosion of steel masts in coastal areas and aggressive environment and consequent problems of high cost of maintenance. Spun PSC masts are comparatively maintenance free and cheaper. CORE placed developmental orders on two firms in November 1983 for 1000 spun PSC masts each on two firms: The designs and drawings of required fittings were developed by RDSO. Spun PSC masts are mainly in use in some yards, loco sheds, branch lines and private sidings on N, W, S and SC Railways. However following problems are still experienced. (i) Difficulty in transportation, handling and erection due to heavy weight. (ii) Different type of fittings and separate earthling arrangements are needed. 111 (iii) Spun PSC masts usually get totally damaged and need replacement in case of accidents. (iv) Some masts got broken from their top upper corners during erection/transportation, and rain water enters the mast. (v) Wasps and honey bees make their honey comb in the hollow portion of the masts causing problems for maintenance staff. (vi) Metal running inside the mast can not be seen; hence continuity of earthing from top to bottom cannot be assured visually. In view of these difficulties, the use of spun PSC masts has been limited. Appendix 1 Progressive Electrification on Indian Railways Year RKM Electrified Progressive Total 1925-26 529 529 1956-61 216 745 1961-66 (3rd Plan) 1678 2423 1966-69 814 3237 1969-74 (4th Plan) 953 4190 1974-78 (5th Plan) 533 4723 1978-80 195 4918 1980-85 (6th Plan) 1522 6440 1985-90 (7th Plan) 2812 9252 1990-92 1557 10809 1992-97 (8th Plan) 2708 13517 1997-2002 (9th Plan) 2484 16001 2002-03 455 16456 2003-04 504 16960 2004-05 320 17280 2005-06 170 17450 2006-07 361 17811 2007-08 502 18145* 2008-09 797 18603 2009-10 1112 20059 *168 RKM MG OHE dismantled 112 Appendix 2 Railway Electrification Organisation Re Organisation at Calcutta Sl.No. Name Designation From To 1. Shri H.D. Awasthi GM/CE 1959 1966 2. Shri G.B. Singh CAO/R 1966 ---- 3. Shri P.N. Murthy CAO/R --- 31.3.67 Centralised Re Organisation At Ngp/ald Sl.No. Name Designation From To 1. Shri K. P. Ramalingam AGM/NGP --- 1982 2. Shri A. Nandkeolyar AGM/NGP --- 1983 3. Shri S. Nagrajan AGM/NGP 31.12.83 30.11.84 4. Shri A.K. Roy AGM/ALD 07.01.85 11.08.85 5. Shri N.D. Gupte AGM/ALD 13.09.85 03.07.87 General Manager / Core / Ald Sl.No. Name Designation From To 1. Shri V. Ramasami GM 13.07.87 31.08.89 2. Shri Yogendra Singh GM 01.09.89 11.10.89 3. Shri Jagdish Chandra GM 12.10.89 31.08.91 4. Shri D. P. Joshi GM 31.08.91 30.06.93 5. Shri L. Thyagrajan GM 02.07.93 31.10.93 6. Shri V. Santhanam GM 01.11.93 15.06.95 7. Shri M. R. Bhaskaran GM 16.06.95 14.11.96 8. Shri S.K. Khanna GM 29.11.96 29.08.97 9. Shri N. P. Srivastav GM 29.08.97 31.01.01 10. Shri A.K. Chopra GM 15.02.01 07.11.02 11. Shri Om Prakash GM 08.11.02 10.01.93 12. Shri C.R. Kalsi GM 11.01.03 31.12.04 13. Shri I.P.S. Anand GM 31.12.04 05.01.05 14. Shri Budh Prakash GM 06.01.05 30.12.05 15. Shri R. Mohandoss GM 30.12.05 31.01.08 16. Shri Vivek Sahai GM 31.01.08 30.04.08 17. Shri G.K. Vij GM 30.04.08 29.04.10 18. Shri H.C. Joshi GM 29.4.10 -- 113 Appendix 3 Important Landmarks of Railway Electrification SN Date & Year Railway RKMs Landmarks 1. 3.2.1925 Central 16 First electric train on 1500 Volt DC from Bombay VT to Kurla. 2. Up to 1947 Central, Eastern & 388 RKM electrified on Indian Railways at the South Eastern time of Independance. 3. 1954-58 Eastern 142 3000 V DC electrification on HWH-Burdwan and Sheoraphulli-Tarakeshwar sections. 4. 14.12.1957 Eastern 142 Inauguration of EMU services on Howrah - Sheoraphulli section by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, first P.M. of India. 5. 1957 - - Adoption of 25 KV AC single phase electrification on Indian Railways. 6. 11.8.1960 South Eastern 75 First section electrified on 25 KV AC Raj Kharswan - Dongoaposi. 7. 14.10.1961 - - Inauguration of first 1500 V DC electric locomotive (Lokmanya) for Bombay area by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, first P.M.of India. 8. September - - Introduction of first indigenous Electric Multiple 1962 Unit (EMU) for services. 9. 1966 &1968 Eastern & - 3 KV DC converted in to 25 KV AC. South Eastern 10. 7.1.1977 Eastern & Northern 1445 Commissioning of electrified trunk route of Delhi-Howrah. 11. 31.3.1987 Northern, 1388 Commissioning of electrified trunk route of Central & Western Delhi-Bombay via Western Railway. 12. 31.01.1991 Eastern, South 1976 Commissioning of electrified trunk route of Eastern & Central Howrah-Bombay. 13. 31.3.1991 N, C, SC & S R 2190 Commissioning of electrified of Delhi-Chennai route. 114 14. 31.01.1992 Northern & Central 1542 Commissioning of electrified trunk route of Delhi-Bombay via Central Railway. 15. 1994-95 Central & 770 Commissioning of 2x25 KV OHE system of South Eastern Bina - Katni and Katni - Anuppur - Bishrampur Chirimiri. 16. 03.02.2002 Eastern & East Central 534 Inauguration of electrified HWH-DLI route via Patna by then Prime Minister Shri A.B. Bajpayee. 17. 30.05.2003 East Central 92 Inauguration of Patna-Gaya section by Hon'ble President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. 18. 29.08.2003 Central & Western 306 Inauguration of Udhna-Jalgaon section. 19. 26.01.2004 Northern 137 Inauguration of Ludhiana-Amritsar section. 20. 29.11.2005 South Eastern, East 1117 Commissioning of electrified trunk route of Coast & South Central Howrah-Chennai (Missing link Kharagpur- Waltair). 21. 06.08.2006 Southern 37 Inauguration of Villupuram - Pondicherry section by Hon'ble Chief Minister of Puducherry, Shri N. Rangasamy. 22. 30.12.2006 Southern 320 Commissioning of electrified route of Ernakulam-Trivandrum by Hon'ble Minister of Railways Shri Lalu Prasad. 23. 24.11.2007 Eastern 127 Commissioning of electrified route of Krishnanagar-Lalgola by Hon'ble Minister of Railways Shri Lalu Prasad. 24. 08.12.2007 South Central 103 Commissioning of electrified route of Tirupati- Pakala-Katpadi by Hon'ble Minister of Railways Shri Lalu Prasad. 25. 07.07.2008 East Coast 24 Successful Trial of Highest OHE in the world (7.45m high contact wire) in Jakhapura - Tomka section for Double Stack Container Train operation. 115 BIBLIOGRAPHY (i) Report on the electrification of lines in the neighbourhood of Calcutta (East Indian Railway and Eastern Bengal Railway) by M/s Merz and McClellan, London (August 1924). (ii) Railway electrification on the Eastern Railway by M.N. Mukerjee, Dy. CEE/RE, Calcutta. Paper presented on the occasion of Golden Jubilee of Electric Traction in India, 1975. (iii) Conversion for 3000 volt dc to 25 kv ac traction by A. Nandkeolyar, Dy.CEE/RE, RE Journal, Vol.5-No.3, August-September 1964. (iv) Electrification of Indian Railways-Report of Nouvion Mission (SNCF) June-Sept., 1956. (v) Railway electrification in India by H.D. Awasty, General Manager & Chief Engineer Railway electrification-RE Journal, October, November1964. (vi) My recollections of the very beginning of 25 kv, 50 cycles ac traction in India by Reto Danuser (Swiss electrical engineer), Rail Transport Journal, Vol. III-No 2, April-June 1994. (vii) Scheme for ac/dc working at Igatpuri by Parmanand-RE Journal, Vo.5 No.3-August-September 1964. (viii) Alloy-alloy conductor for ac traction overhead equipment by M.N. Mukerjee and CA Sankarnarayanan-Proceedings of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (UK) Vol. 126 No.7 July, 1979. st (ix) Railway Board letter No.72/RE/141/1 dated 21 July-1992 (x) Techno-economic evaluation of 2x25 kv ac system on Indian Railways-RDSO Report No.TI/Report/PSI/00047 (xi) Annual Reports of South Indian Railways (Trichy) Section-I from the years 1930-31 to 1940-41. (xii) Book let brought out by CORE in December 2004 (xiii) AC Traction comes to S Railway by D.V.K. Shastri CEE/S/Rly.-RE Journal Vol.8-No.6 February- March 1968. (xiv) Over night conversion from dc to ac on the Suburban lines. By D.V.K. Shastri CEE/S/Rly.-RE Journal, Vol.8 No.6, February-March, 1968. (xv) Conversion of Madras-Beach-Tambram sector from 1500 Volt dc to 25 kv ac by S.S. Narayan, Distt. EE/S. Rly. RE Journal, Vol.8-No.6, February-March 1968. (xvi) SOUTH EASTERN RAILWAY- March to New Millennium by RR Bhandari. (xvii) Indian Railways-150 Glorious Years by R R Bhandari 116 Role of Chittaranjan Locomotive Works 1. Introduction : Railway Board had taken a historic decision in December, 1947 to locate manufacture of locomotives at Mihijam in West Bengal, situated 32 kms. from Asansol Jn. On 9th January, 1948 survey of the proposed area was completed and a total 4.15 acres of land was acquired at a cost of Rs. 28 lakhs. The locoworks was initially established for production of 120 average sized steam locomotives with the capacity to manufacture 50 spare boilers. The production activity started on 26th January, 1950, the day when India became Republic. The initial product of Chittaranjan Locomotive Works was steam locomotive and during the period 1950-1972 Chittaranjan Locomotive Works turned out a total number of 2351 steam locomotives. The production of diesel hydraulic locomotives was taken up during 1968 . Seven types of 842 nos. diesel hydraulic locos were manufactured & the same were discontinued from 1993-94. The production of electric locomotives commenced in 1961. In the process, fifteen versions of electric locomotives were produced by CLW. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, commissioned the first 1500 V dc Locomotive named "LOKMANYA' on the 14th October, 1961. The production of 25 kV ac loco commenced on 16th November, 1963. The first electric loco turned out from CLW, christened as 'BIDHAN' was a Broad Gauge 25 kV a.c. Freight Locomotive (WAG-1) of 2840 up with maximum speed of 80 km/hr. Subsequently, CLW gradually upgraded the horsepower of electric loco from 2840 up to 6000 hp and maximum speed from 80 Km/h to 160 km/h. CLW also built 25 kV ac/1500 V dc, ac/dc Loco, WCAM-1 for hauling Mail/Express Trains from BRC to BCT on W.Rly. and the latest in that series is the freight locomotive WAG-7 and passenger locomotive WAP-4. 2. Electric Locomotive Production Although the production of WAG1 locos had been planned, the first Electric Locomotive, which came out of CLW in 1961, was a dc loco, meant for ghat sections of Central Railway and 21 locos of this (WCM5) class were turned out during 1961-63. These locos had been built with imported equipment from English Electric under the supervision of their engineers. DC and AC/DC locomotives built to RDSO design similar to the lay out followed in the AC locos. 3. French Design WAG1 and WAG4 Locomotives Indian Railways had imported two makes of the mixed traffic locomotives initially for their newly electrified line at 25 KV ac, i.e. 100 (WAM 1) from the European Group and 10 (WAM 2) from the Japanese Group. In addition 26 WAM2 and 2 WAM3 (WAM2 with Silicon Rectifiers) locomotives were imported for push pull operation of suburban services on Sealdah Division. These too were used for main line operation after the introduction of EMUs for suburban operation. Both the types were fitted with Ignitron type Mercury Arc rectifiers. Later, for the haulage of heavy goods trains, need was felt for a locomotive with higher adhesion coefficient dedicated only for goods traffic. Three types of these locos were imported with an option for TOT for each of them. All these were Monomotor bogie locomotives, i.e. 42 WAG1 from European 117 Group (consortium of European firms comprising of BBC, Oerlikon, Siemens, Alsthom, AEG, ACEC and Krauss Maffie), 45 WAG2 from Japanese Group (consortium of Japanese firms comprising of Mitsubishi, Toshiba and Hitachi) and 10 WAG3 also from the European Group. WAG3 were similar to WAG1 but were fitted with Silicon Rectifiers for dc auxiliaries instead of 3 phase auxiliaries. All these types were fitted with Excitron type of Mercury Arc rectifiers. Ultimately WAG1 was selected in preference to the other two for series production in India at CLW. First locomotive was turned out in 1963. Since the locomotive power fell short of the requirement the traction motor was upgraded i.e. MG-1420 (1420 Kw) to MG -1580 (1580 Kw), this had the maximum power, which could be fitted within the existing monomotor bogie of WAG1 loco. The rating of the transformer was also suitably increased from 3000 Kva to 3460 Kva. On WAG-1 locomotives, Excitrons with regeneration were used as rectifier devices. At this time, rapid developments started taking place in the field of solid-state electronics and silicon rectifiers came into being. RDSO was also quick to identify it and replaced the excitrons with solid-state silicon rectifiers at CLW. With these changes CLW started producing WAG-4 an upgraded version of WAG-1 locomotive. The first WAG-4 locomotive was turned out in 1967. CLW started in-house production of traction motors and of major assemblies and sub-assemblies of electric locomotives, like smoothing reactors, master controllers, bogies, wheel set assemblies, E.P. contactors, E.M. contactors, reversers, etc. Some other major equipment like transformers, Arno converters, auxiliary machines, blowers, compressors, exhausters, circuit breakers, pantographs, tap changers etc. were developed through Indian industries. The initial lot of locos produced for SER was of WAG1 type. Later lot was designated as WAG4. This had both the traction motor and locomotive transformer upgraded, for the steeply graded sections for heavy freight haulage. This was taken for bulk production. There was however a real crisis in the performance of ac Electric Locomotives produced at CLW. Adoption of Monomotor Bogie Loco i.e. WAG4 as a Standard Loco for heavy haulage was based on the recommendation by French National Railways (SNC.F) Technical Consultants to Indian Railway for Electrification. The recommendations were based, firstly on the experience of the French Railways and secondly it is presumed was to cover the commercial interests of French industries this had been tied CLW to the manufacture of Monomotor Locomotives. Both the WAG1 Locomotives and the successor WAG4 Locomotives did not cover themselves with glory in the field. In the first age, while CLW did manufacture considerable numbers, they did not perform well - mainly due to the work culture of the steam days with lack of appreciation for the precision of manufacture needed for the Monomotor Bogie Locomotives. Transmission of tractive effort through the coupling of the axles by gears driven by one traction motor per two axle bogie led to "Juddering" under conditions of wheel slip with high tractive effort demands with adhesion subjected to its limit. This phenomenon led to fatigue failures of transmission components - gears, couplings and shafts. The manufacture of Monomotor bogies needed watchmaker's precision and the components, especially rubber elements had to be of exacting standards. The foreign exchange crisis compelled indigenisation to be carried out with undue haste .The exacting standards demanded of the product could not be kept. The tendency by the operating department in the field to overload wagons and to haul them over the prevailing 118 grades of the SE Railway - even steeper than the specified 1/100, with severe curves aggravated their performance still further. Although the locomotive could haul the load in good adhesion conditions, the same led to juddering in poorer conditions (due to slip-grip phenomenon) all this and more led to catastrophic failures of the locomotives in the field. During the sixties and seventies, the development of heavy industry like steel plants, super thermal power stations etc. in the Industrial Ruhr of India - the Coal-Steel belt of the present Jharkhand state, Bengal and Orissa caused a rapid growth of bulk movement by rail of industrial raw materials, coal, iron ore limestone etc. and finished products like steel. The increase in traffic was rapid and was ahead of development of railway infrastructure - track, bridges and even length of loops to halt freight trains. While there is no doubt that electrification of these lines was a great boon in operation, there was no significant and expected gain in throughput as compared to haulage by diesels. This was mainly due to severe limitations on permissible axle loads of locomotives thus limiting the maximum tractive effort. Of course, the higher power availability of the electrics gave better balancing speeds on long continuous grades, but this had a limited effect on average speeds of freight trains. The substitution by electric haulage was generally seen by operating officers as just another motive power, with more complexities of overhead systems and lack of flexibility. The undoubtedly poor mechanical construction of locomotives by CLW like not being able to maintain gear geometry during manufacture, non-interchangeability of many sub-assemblies, compounded the problem by providing alibis to the designers and consultants for the premature locomotive failures and inadequate performance. The maintenance sheds where bulk of staff had steam locomotive maintenance background faced a sea change and it took considerable time for assimilation for new maintenance practices. 4. RDSO Designs It took great courage to undo the incorrect selection of WAG-4 locomotive for the actual haulage requirements of the graded sections, and to say unequivocally that loads should be reduced when these were used - the one man who could say it effectively against the obvious protestations of the erstwhile technical collaborators i.e. SNCF was Kanjilal, Director (Standards) Electrical at RDSO at this crucial period. It may not be an exaggeration to say that a weaker personality than him, might have well avoided a difficult decision of changing the very designs of the locomotives being built at CLW, which meant that he had also to take on the onerous responsibility of designing them himself. Considering that Indian Railways had not gone beyond writing simple performance specifications before, and the obvious hostility of the collaborators and some of their admirers in this country, this was a daunting task, by any standard. A few words about Kanjilal would not be out of place. His field experience was in dc 1500 v traction on Central Railway as a maintenance engineer. He like many others had been trained in France in ac traction. The story would not be complete without looking at this phase of our technical development that had a vital bearing on not only the growth of CLW but of Electrification itself. Let us look at it now with the benefit of hindsight and without getting cluttered up with too many details. Kanjilal saw that the problem was essentially one of working to the limits of mechanical strength, adhesion between wheel and rail etc. He also saw that the operating conditions in the field as well 119 as staff capabilities and technical aptitudes in manufacture and maintenance could not be changed easily or quickly. The axle loads had already been pushed to the maximum possible limit of 22 tonnes and the maximum tractive effort possible with a 4 axle loco was falling short of the actual requirements of unit load of the wagon fleet. Operating too near adhesion margins caused juddering at many a time. There was no alternative but to go in for more driving axles on the Locomotive. However, before Kanjilal could convince Railway Board to accept RDSO design to manufacture six axle locomotive at CLW, tenders for import and TOT of six axle locos were invited. It will be necessary to recall that during the period, the foreign exchange position was very tight and India could only import locomotives from the countries that could accept rupee payment. When the tenders were called for, the only acceptable offer was from SKODA, (Czechoslovakia) and the tender was sent to RDSO for evaluation. The quoted price was at 6 to 8 times of the estimated cost of RDSO design justifying the adopting RDSO design for first series of 6 axle locos for Indian Railways. In order to changeover expediently to the new design, Kanjilal selected WDM2 bogie, which was by no means an optimal design for electric locomotive. This bogie had the reputation of poor adhesion, and on account of restricted space it was not possible to accommodate more powerful traction motors. But the choice of this bogie helped CLW to change over to manufacture of 6 axles much faster than it would have been possible with any other design. Since the existing imported WAM1 and WAM2 locomotives were inadequate for haulage of long passenger trains, Kanjilal was particular that first series of 6 axle locomotive should be of the mixed traffic type suitable for both freight and passenger haulage i.e.WAM4, a-la WDM2 Diesels This design was at best a poor compromise both for passenger as well as for freight operation. Locomotives built to RDSO design, I believe, though not of the best contemporary designs even in their time, did pull the chestnuts of Indian Railways' electrification projects out of the fire and are still hauling the majority of traffic (both freight and passenger). Some original concepts were followed like the introduction of series connections in AC locos (equivalent to gear changing for starting) an expediency necessitated due to the use of available transformer - BOT 3460 followed by SP and Parallel connections. Available transformer voltage used resulted in under -performance of the locomotives but it turned out to be APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY at that time. The transformer of higher rating was introduced in the later series of locos. The concept of mixed traffic operation insisted upon in the first batch of six axle locomotives however, resulted in another constraint - the size and weight of the traction motor. Global tenders were invited for pulsating current Traction Motor with maximum power that could be accommodated in the chosen bogie. The tenders also included clauses for TOT for manufacture at CLW. The French Traction Motor (Alsthom - TAO 659) was chosen. It was very light for its power, having been optimised to the limits. It was also found difficult to maintain in service. This motor was also replaced by a more generous and reliable design in a few years. Kanjilal's basic approach was sound, that IR needed a six-axle Locomotive to get optimum electric locomotive designs. His choice of the bogie was however dictated more by expediency of immediate availability and performance under Indian track conditions, and the benefits of interchangeability with Diesel locomotives. 120 The choice of the bogie and mixed traffic concepts though based on the tried and proved diesel locomotives forced a number of design compromises such as use of a transformer with lower than required power ratings. The provision of series and series-parallel groupings of traction motors, increased costs due to provision of higher insulation levels than needed on the equipments. Lower power ratings affected tractive efforts and balancing speeds on the gradients. The use of WDM2 bogie indeed proved useful when with the large scale of failure of TAO 659 Alsthom traction motors. At one time, all the TAO 659 motors had to be withdrawn from service and rewound with winding of a new design. All the imported motors were sent to France for rewinding resulting in non-availability of any traction motor for some time. At one time 98 locos were stabled at CLW and on SE Railway. A few of the stabled locos were put back into service by using BHEL 165 Traction Motors then in use on WDM2 locos and under manufacture at BHEL and services could thus be maintained. The compulsion of events and performance requirements soon made RDSO abandon the Mixed Traffic concept and series connection of traction motors and brought in new designs optimised for freight and passenger/express haulage - the former with better all weather sustained tractive efforts and higher power levels and the latter giving superior balancing speeds over grades of long lengths. 5. Further Evolution of Six Axle locomotives For more power, major equipment such as transformers, smoothing reactors etc. were upgraded. BHEL and NGEF developed HETT3900 (3900 Kw) transformer replacing BOT-3460 (3460Kw). CLW Smoothing Reactor SL-30 in place of SL-42. The comparative technical parameters of SL-42 and SL-30 are given in Table - 1.With these development 3900 HP WAG5 locomotives came into existence, all the traction motors are connected in parallel thus improving the adhesion. Table - 1 : Smoothing Reactors Type Rated Rated Inductance Resistance Class of Weight of SL Voltage (U) current (I) (MH) (Ohm) insulation (Kgs) SL-42 1270 1000A 7.00 0.00707 F/H 1385 SL-30 1270 1350A 3.35 0.00359 H 1400 Inadequate design resulted in large-scale failures of TAO 659 Traction Motors. Indigenous production of these motors commenced in 1971. There was need to look for another traction motor for 6 axle locos. CLW entered into another TOT with M/s Hitachi, Japan in 1974 for manufacture of HS 1050 traction motors. The initial lot was imported. Subsequently in 1983, the agreement was amended to manufacture superior version of the same traction motor designated as HS 15250A. Indigenous manufacture of this motor started in 1990. With the change over from TAO 659 to HS 15250A traction motor and HETT5400 (5400 Kw) transformer developed by BHEL, CGL and NGEF, 5000HP WAG7 was evolved in 1991. RDSO designed high adhesion fabricated bogies have been used. On these bogies, the traction motors are facing in one direction and load transfer at the time of loco starting is minimum. This locomotive can haul a 4500 tonne train and has capable of maximum speed of 100 kmph. 121 The comparative ratings of the transformer are indicated in Table II. Table - II : Locomotive Transformers 3460 KVA 3900 KVA 5400 KVA BOT HETT 3900 HETT 5400 Primary Voltage 22500V 22500V 22500V Secondary Voltage (no load) 1700V 865V 1000V Auxiliary voltage 1 X 389V 2 X 415V 2X415V Primary current 166.0A 185.0A 252.0A Secondary current 2 X 2000A 2 X 2254A 2 X 2700A Auxiliary current 694A 650A 650A Passenger Locomotives As earlier mentioned, CLW initially manufactured WAM4 to haul passenger trains capable of maximum speed of 110 kmph. However, for higher speed trains like Rajdhani Express and Shatabdi Express RDSO developed 3900 HP WAP1 locomotive in 1980 this loco retained the features of WAG5 loco with change in gear ratio. On this locomotive, double suspension flexi coil high-speed bogies have been used. The shell is also specifically manufactured giving it aerodynamic shape to reduce the air resistance. An improved version WAP3, a 3900 HP loco having Mark II fabricated bogies having speed potential of 160 kmph was manufactured in 1987. Another version WAP6, a 5000 HP loco was manufactured using Mark IV bogies. Simultaneously, a 5000 HP WAP4 (Passenger version of WAG7 class only involving change in gear ratio) loco was also manufactured in 1994, using flexi coil cast bogies. After gaining service experience and feedback from the user Railways, CLW has started series production of WAP4 class of passenger locomotives. Comparative parameters of passenger electric locomotives are given in Table III. Table III : Comparative Parameters of Passenger Electric Locomotives. Type of Type of Bogie Type of HP TE Max. Speed Axle Weight Total Weight Loco TM (KMPH) (tonnes) in (tonnes) WAP-1 Co-Co (cast) Flexi coil TAO 659 3900 13.8 130 18.80 112.8 WAP-3 Co-Co (Fab.) MK IV TAO 659 3900 13.8 140 18.88 112.8 WAP-4 Co-Co (Cast) Flexi coil HS 15250 5000 19.0 140 18.80 112.8 WAP-6 Co-Co (Fab.) MK IV HS 15250 5000 19.0 160 18.87 113.2 DC and AC DC Electric Locomotives CLW had also been entrusted with the task of manufacturing DC locomotives to work on Central and Western Railways. CLW manufactured 80 such locomotives comprising 57 WCG2, 21 WCM5 and 2 WCM-6 and 53 AC DC WCAM1 electric locomotives for Western Railway. Both the class of locos incorporated the RDSO concept of six-axle loco. 122 6. Modern Age In order to keep pace with the technological advancements taking place internationally, CLW entered into TOT agreement with ABB/ Switzerland (later known Adtranz and now Bombardier Transportation) in 1993 for manufacture of 3-phase WAP5 passenger locomotives and WAG9 freight locomotives. The first indigenous WAG-9 locomotive (NAVYUG) rolled out from CLW on 14th Nov. 1998 and first WAP5 (NAVJAGARAN) on 31ST May 2001. Advantage of Technology Leap Three phase locomotive use state of art technology in all the equipment and sub-systems. This also got cross fertilised into the current fleet of WAP4 and WAG7 class tap-changer locomotives like usage of their walled cubicles, Polyutherene painting, 6mm thick side walls, swim-beam headlights, stainless steel pipes and fittings etc. CLW further improved the WAG7 and WAP5 class of locomotives and produced their modular versions simplifying equipment and cable layouts for ease of maintenance. These locomotives are now in regular production at CLW. For passenger trains WAP 4 types of locomotives are manufactured. Comparative parameters of electric locomotives manufactured at CLW are listed in Annexure - I, Naming of Locomotives. Naming of CLW Built Locos (Some Typical Names) CLW has carried forward its tradition of naming locomotives and still continues to name all its landmark locomotives built. The first B-B AC electric locomotive WAG1 20710 built by them in 1963 was named BIDHAN in memory of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, The chief Minister of West Bemgal. The first dual voltage locomotive WCAM1 21800 built in 1974 was named VALLABH, commorating Vallabh Bhai Patel, Home Minister of India and the first WCAM2 21861 called BALWANT (Powerful). CLW built a dual brake WAGS 23141 in 1986 was called NOUVION after F.F. Nouvion, the French pioneer of 25 KV AC traction and was commissioned by him. WAP3.22005 JAWAHAR (Jewel) the first name of India's first Prime Minister Jawar Lal Nehru) is a first of its type hig h-speed passenger class locomotive that initially hauled the Delhi-Bhopal Shatabadi (Centenary) Express (hauling fully Air Conditioned Chair Cars) on the occasion of 100th Birth Anniversary of his birth. All such trains introduced later carry the name Shatabadi Also worth mentioning here are ASHOK, after the Emperor CLW LOCO STAMP WAP 4 LOCO hauling Rajdhani Express Train 123 th (first 5000 HP WAP4 locomotive), SWARNANJALI (Golden Offering) at the occasion of 50 years of th India' independence (15 August 1997), WAP4 22242 the 165th electric locomotive built in 1997-98), AJAY (Undefeated), WAG5HA 23357, first loco built in 1989-90), JANMASHATI (Century) WAG5HA 23356, 100th electric locomotive built in 1988-89), SHANTIDAN (Gift of Peace, First WAG7 No. 27001 christened by Mother Teresa on August 3, 1992), SWARNABHA (Golden Maiden), WAG7 27371, the 25OOth loco built by CLW), AGRASAR (Forward Bound), first uprated version of WAG7 called WAG7H), KARAMVIR (Duty-bound, 5000 HP modular freight locomotive WAG7), GAURAV (Pride, first WAP5 locomotive flagged off by CLW). Annexure - I COMPARATIVE PARAMETERS OF ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVES MANUFACTURED AT CLW TOTAL TE TYPE OF TYPE OF TYPE OF TYPE TE CONT. SL PERIOD OF LOCOS S.NO. LOCO HP START LOCO BOGIE TM OF TFP TONNES TYPE MFG. upto TONNES 31.03.02 A. IMPORTED DC LOCOS DESIGN 1. WCM5 Co Co EE 3170 31 21.7 - 1961-64 21 (Fa) 314/2C AC LOCOS 1. WAG1 BB MG 1420 BOT 2900 30 23.7 1963-66 82 3150 2. WAG4 BB MG 1580 3460 3150 30 23.2 1967-71 186 B. RDSO DESIGN DC/AC-DC LOCOS 1. WCG2 Co Co 4939AZ - 4200 30 21.9 1970-77 57 (Ca) 2, WCAM1 Co Co TAO 659 BOT 3640 ac 30 ac 18 SL 42 1976-80 53 (Fa) 3460B 2930 dc 23 dc 3. WCG3 Co Co HS - 4600 39.6 30.7 - 1995-97 2 WCM 6* (Fa) 1520A Goods Goods AC LOCOS 1. WAM4 Co-Co TAO 659 BOT 3400 30 17.6 SL 42 1971-84 500 (Fa) 3460A SL 30 2. WAG5/5A Co Co TAO 659 HETT 3900 33.5 20.6 SL 30 1983-98 1145 (Ca) HS 15250 3900 3. WAG7 Co Co HS 15250 5400 5000 41 27 SL 30 1991-2000 627 (Fa) 4. WAP1 Co Co TAO 659 HETT 3900 22.2 13.8 SL 30 1984-97 88 (Flexi 3900 Cast) 5. WAP3 Co Co HS 1050 HETT 3900 22.2 13.8 SL 30 1984-87 6 (Fa 3900 Mk IV) 6. WAP4 Co Co HS 15250 5400 5060 30.8 19 SL 30 1998-2000 189 (Flexi- Cast) 7. WAP 6 Co Co HS 15250 5400 5060 30.8 19 SL 30 1996-97 12 (Fa Mk IV) C. THREE PHASE TECHNOLOGY 1. WAG9 Co Co FRA 6531 6120 47 32 1998-2000 27 (Fa) 6068 2. WAG9H Co Co FRA 6531 6120 47 32 2000-2001 1 (Fa) 6068 3. WAP5 BoBo 6FXA 5440 26 22 2001-2002 5 (Fa) 7059 4. WAP7 Co (Fa) FRA 6531 6120 47 22 2001-2002 5 6068 Ca = Cast TFP = Transformer Fa = Fabricated · Same as WCG3 only with different gear ratio. BIBLIOGRAHY The Story of Chittranjan Locomotive works by R.K. Vir. 124 WAG I and WAG 4 had similar livery WAG 5 WAG 7 WAG 9 WCAM 1 WAM 4 WAP 1 WAP 4 125 WAP 5 WAP 7 WCAM 1 WCG 2 WCM 1 WCM 2 WCM 5 WCM 6 126 Contribution of 'BHEL' To Manufacture Electric Locomotives To supplement the manufacture of CLW, Railway Board placed developmental order on BHEL for manufacture of WAG5 Locomotives in 1985. All the manufacturing information & specifications were supplied by CLW. Subsequently, 'BHEL' used its in-house capability to develop AC/DC locomotive type WCAM-2 & WCAM-3 for Western & Central Railways. The population of electric locomotives supplied by 'BHEL' Jhansi is as under: - Electric Locomotives YEARS WAG5HB AC WCAM-2 AC/DC WCAM-3 AC/DC 86-87 87-88 88-89 4 89-90 7 90-91 12 91-92 12 92-93 12 93-94 18 94-95 20 95-96 10 96-97 20 97-98 30 98-99 11 99-00 04 00-01 01-02 TOTAL 75 20 65 In addition, BHEL has also entered into lease agreement with Indian Railways for supply of 53 Nos WCAM-3 & 12 Nos.WCAG-1 AC/DC Locomotives for Central Railways. Suggestion : It needs updation. 127 Research and Development Research, Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO), the R&D organisation of IR, functions as the technical adviser to Railway Board, Zonal Railways and Production Units. Its manifold achievements in developing new and improved designs and adopting new technologies for use on Indian Railways have attracted world-wide attention. Some of the major activities and projects undertaken/completed by Electrical & Traction Installation, Directorates of RDSO are as under : A. ELECTRICAL DIRECTORATE 1.0 Introduction : The directorate is working under Sr. Executive Director (Electrical) since 2001. Earlier it was headed by DSE (Director Standards Electrical) since 1969. At the time of merger of CSO and RTRC, there was an Electrical Wing under Director Standards (Mechanical) at CLW, Chittaranjan. This was subsequently shifted to RDSO Lucknow and independent Electrical Directorate was created. The directorate has been constantly upgrading the locos to higher horse power with better operating efficiency and capable of running at higher speeds. 2.0 Freight Locomotives For Freight traffic, IR imported WAG1 (2900hp) from European Group WAG2 (3260hp) from Japanese Group. After trials IR decided to select WAG1 for adaptation. These locomotives were upgraded toWAG4 (3150hp). WCG2 (4200hp) was based on the concept of WAM4 for use on 1500 dc electrified lines of Central Railway. This loco used HEIL Make TM4939AZ This loco too was designed by RDSO and indigenously built. Similarly, WAG5A/H was developed from WAM4. WAG6 type 18 Nos. locomotives were procured in1985, 6 Nos. of WAG-6A class (6280 hp) locomotives from M/s ABB, Vasteras, Sweden and 12 Nos. of WAG-6B&C class (6050 hp) from M/s Sumitomo Corporation, Tokyo, Japan Both the types were using thyristor Technology to replace tap changer one. Railway had decided to select one of them for manufacture at CLW after the trials. All these were based at WALTAIR shed and 2 locos in multiple operation replaced the rstwhile 3 loco consist of WAM4 locos. However before the trials could be completed, there was quantum jump in technology and GTO based propulsion came to be used. Out of 18 locos two WAG1have been condemned and the rest are still in use. WAG7 (5000hp) were designed by RDSO and manufactured by CLW with bogie similar to WAG6C. Rest of the concept is the same as that of WAG5A/H but the transformer had been upgraded to make use of full capacity of Hitachi HS15250 Traction motors. These locos at present are the backbone of freight operation of IR. 128 WAG9 (6120hp) imported from ABB (now BOMBARDIER), with TOT agreement Max. speed of 100kmph 3 phase VVVF controlled GTO based Propulsion system having 3 phase induction motors and regenerative braking. 3.0 Mixed Traffic and Passenger Locomotives First AC Electric Loco on IR WAM1 (2870 hp) received from 50 cycle European Group and put into service in 1960, max. speed 112 kmph, two axle fabricated bogie, with Jaquemin Drive and Pendular suspension arrangement, four water-cooled Ignitrons Type SGT, fully suspended traction motors type MG 710A; Control through HT N-40 Tap Changer. WAM2 (2790 hp) locomotives received from Mitsubishi, Japan in 1961; Maximum Speed 112 kmph; Bo-Bo fabricated Bogie, Power transmission through flexible WN Gear Drive; Water- cooled Ignitrons from Mitsubishi, fully suspended traction motor type Mitsubishi MB 3045-A; Control through HT N-40 Tap Changer. WAM4 (3400 hp)New Design Concept fully designed by RDSO having Cast CO-CO Bogie of ALCO design adapted from WDM2 loco; max. speed 120 kmph; Silicon Rectifier with Rheostat braking; Traction Motor - Type TAO-659; Axle hung nose suspended; Control by HT Tap Changer N-32. This locomotive was built by CLW WAP1 (3800 hp) designed by RDSO and indigenously built using Flexi-Coil Cast Bogie & Bolster similar to WDM4 locomotive(General Motors, USA) Double Suspension; Maximum Speed 130 kmph; Silicon Rectifier; Axle hung nose suspended force-ventilated; Traction Motor type - TAO- 659; Control by HT Tap Changer N-32 WAP4(5000hp) designed by RDSO and indigenously built Maximum Speed 140 kmph; Control by HT Tap changer (N-32); Silicon Rectifiers; CO-CO Flexi coil Mark 1 Cast Bogies same as in WAP1; Axle hung nose suspended force-ventilated; Traction Motor type - Hitachi HS15250 having provision of roller suspension bearings . WAP5 Received from ABB, Switzerland (now BOMBARDIER)with transfer of technology; max. speed 160 kmph having speed potential of 200 kmph; Air & Regenerative braking; GTO based Propulsion System; Bo-Bo Flexi float Bogie; 3-phase Squirrel Cage Induction Motor - Type 6FXA7059; Forced-air ventilation, full suspended. WAP7 (6000hp) Designed by modifying the gear ratio of WAG9 loco; Maximum Speed 130 kmph; Regenerative braking; GTO based Propulsion System; CoCo, Fabricated Bogies; 3-phase Squirrel Cage Induction Motor - Type 6FRA6068; Axle-hung, nose-suspended traction motor. 4.0 State of Art Technology The traction equipments used on Electric locos worldwide have undergone tremendous improvements involving use of State Of Art technologies, especially in the field of power and control electronics and material science. The Electrical Directorate has played a pro-active role in monitoring the trends in the electric loco technologies the .world over and has been constantly updating the loco equipments with more efficient and cost effective technology for enhancing their speed potential and haulage power. The important salient developments are as follows:- 129 lIntroduction and indigenous manufacture of Hitachi Traction Motor with roller suspension bearing in lieu of plain sleeve suspension bearing. lUp gradation of the horse power of passenger and freight indigenous built electric locos from 2900 hp to 5000 hp. lIncrease of speed potential of indigenous built freight locos from 65 kmph to 100 kmph and indigenous passenger locos from 100 km/h to 140 kmph. lSuccessful introduction and indigenous manufacture at CLW of high horse power electric locos, with State Of Art technology having 3-phase drive system, WAP5, WAP7 & WAG9 locos having unique feature of regenerative braking enabling retrieval of electrical energy and feeding back to overhead system. lFor traction motors, the class, of insulation has been upgraded to class 200 from class H. lSince 1991, all traction motors are manufactured with roller bearings. o TA0659 traction motors have been modified for provision of roller suspension bearings in place of failure prone plain sleeve suspension bearings and are being provided in WAG5A, W AP1 & W AM4 locos in a phased manner, resulting in better reliability and safety of loco lIntroduction of Rockwell Technology for casting of Co-Co Bogie at CLW to take care of the problem of development of frequent cracks in Co-Co bogies cast at CLW steel foundry; l6P Conversion of locos has resulted in improving the reliability of traction motors leading to over all improvement in reliability of WAM4 loco. lStainless Steel RGR have been developed and provided in the locos to eliminate the problem of melting of Cast Iron RGR. lIntroduction of Vacuum Circuit Breaker (VCB) requiring less maintenance and more reliable, in lieu of Air Blast Circuit Breaker in electric locos since 1987-88. The initial VCBs were having twin bottles, which have now been up graded, to more reliable single bottle VCBs from 1998 onward. lThe introduction of Metallised Carbon Strips in pantograph has resulted in increased life of contact wires and almost nil maintenance of pantograph. lIntroduction of AM-92 High Speed Pantograph having special feature that will not result in damage to OHE in the event of pantograph entanglement with OHE. lIntroduction of 180 KVA Static Inverter to replace Rotary Arno converter of 120 KVA for feeding the 3-phase supply to auxiliary motors. There have been no failures of auxiliary machines which used to take place with Arno Converters due to unbalanced supply. This has also enabled provision of AC-MVRF (AC Ventilation Motor) resulting in availability of higher braking effort on larger speed band and hence improving safety. lDevelopment of Smoothing Reactor (SL-30) in place of earlier SL-42; lThe introduction of low maintenance batteries 130 lRoof Mounted DBR has been developed for provision in passenger electric locos. The introduction and working of DBR (Dynamic Braking Resistance) and their extensive application by running staff has resulted into lesser wear and tear of wheels along with better control of train specially in Ghat sections, thus enhancing safety. The life of brake block and wheel disc has increased leading to less consumption of brake blocks/wheel disc. lWith the continuous technological up gradation in the field of insulating materials, it has been possible to upgrade the transformers from initial 3000 KVA to 5400 KVA which has enabled to increase the horse power of loco to meet the traffic requirement of hauling higher loads at higher speeds. lThe use of high quality (inhibited) transformer oil has reduced the maintenance requirements of transformers as well as tap changers along with the added advantage of less failures and more service life. lThe introduction of Vertical Cable Head Termination in place of conventional paper based condenser bushings has improved the reliability, maintenance requirements and increase the service life and helped in avoiding fire in electric locos which used to take place due to bursting of paper based condenser bushing. lMicroprocessor based Speed-Cum Energy Monitoring system with recording facility of data of speed and energy for 60 days along with other additional features are being provided in place of speedometers with strip chart recording requiring change of strip chart paper after 7 days. lMicroprocessor based control & fault diagnostic system has been developed to eliminate failure prone electro-mechanical relays from the control circuit. This system is gradually being provided on all Electric locos. lThe Electron Beam Irradiated Cross Linked Cables developed by RDSO are being used on all new locos. These cables are thin walled, fire retardant, low toxic, higher temperature withstand capability of l20°C and higher current density and will not require re-cabling during the life of loco. The earlier design of cables with EPR insulation and CSP sheath were suitable for a temperature of 90°C and a mid life recabling was necessary. lTo improve reliability of pneumatic circuit, Panel Mounted Pneumatic Brake panels have been developed and being provided. lElectra pneumatic contactors have been upgraded to 1500 A against 1000 A to improve the reliability. lTwin beam head light with DC-DC converter have been provided in the locos to improve the visibility in the night for enhanced safety. lLED based Flasher Light have been developed and provided on the locos, which gives better visibility to approaching train in the event of any unsafe condition. These lights are more reliable due to elimination of incandescent bulb. 131 lThe incandescent lamp of marker light used to fail, which have now been replaced by LED type marker light ensuring availability, better visibility and reliability. lWith introduction of Air Dryers, the reliability of the pneumatic valves has improved. 5.0 Future Plans The challenges of providing higher throughput with improved reliability of rolling stock have made it necessary to continuously search for better technologies for the locos and equipments. The directorate has been continuously striving to achieve this objective. The major efforts being made in this direction are as follows:- lDevelopment of high horse power IGBT based Electric freight loco: To meet the challenge of requirement of motive power for dedicated freight corridor, development of high horse power (8000 hp or more) IGBT based Electric freight loco has been taken up. The specifications have been finalised. lDevelopment of Crew friendly cab: Development of ergonomically designed crew friendly cab has been undertaken to reduce the fatigue of drivers enhancing safety of operation. lProvision of smaller size rectifier & BA panel: In order to save space on Board to facilitate more spacious cabs, RDSO has finalised the design of smaller size rectifier and BA panel. The development is under progress. lHigh Capacity Reverser: To improve reliability of failure prone CTF (Contactor to change from Traction to Braking) and Reverser RDSO has upgraded the design of Reverser with current capacity of 1500 A instead of existing 1000 A. lVigilance Control Device: To keep a watch on alertness of drivers, Vigilance Control Device has been developed and put on trial. lAir Raised Pantograph: More reliable and maintenance free air raised pantograph has been introduced on few locos, to be provided on more and more locos in phased manner in future. B. TRACTION INSTALLATIONS 1. Introduction: The directorate was established in October 1968, when the organisation of Main Line Electrification Project at Calcutta was wound up and the construction work was transferred to individual Zonal Railways and the design activities to RDSO Lucknow. Traction Installation Directorate was handling designs & maintain problems of OHE & traction substations. It is presently headed by Senior Executive Director (TI) since April 2004. The power supply taken from State Electricity Boards at 132/110/66 KV is stepped down to 25 KV at traction substations (TSS), spaced at a distance of about 40 to 60 km. The power supply is fed to 25 KV Overhead Equipment (OHE) and monitored by Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) System at remote control centre through switching posts. 132 The electric traction system was originally adopted from French Railways (SNCF) and most of the components/ equipment were imported. There was an urgent need to indigenize various components and save precious foreign exchange. Further design modifications were done to make the equipment suitable for Indian environmental conditions and prevalent maintenance practices. Design changes have been done to increase reliability, maintainability and availability. 2. Laboratories and Testing Facilities: lElectrical Development Lab : It is equipped with Vibration Testing Machine for vibration up to 9g with frequency varying from 10 Hz to 350 Hz and High Voltage Testing Machine for breakdown strength measurement of insulating materials from 0-50 kV. This lab is also equipped with contact wire wear test rig for checking wear of contact wire and Pantograph strips. lTraction Installation Lab : It is equipped with Universal Tensile Testing Machine, FUT 20 for testing tensile strength of insulators. It is also equipped with Hardness Testers NB-250 & NB-3000 for testing hardness of metals. lIn addition to above mobile test facilities viz. NETRA car and Thermo vision camera are also maintained by TI lab. 3. R&D Activities Development and improvements in the following area of power supply distribution & OHE have been done by the directorate since 1970 for indigenous supply of components, improved safety and economy:- lSCADA system; lProtection system; lPower factor compensation; lSwitchgears; lTraction transformers; lLightning arrestors; lCatenary and contact wire; lOHE design; lInsulators; lCivil design; and lAutomatic Tensioning Device (AT D) & Stainless Steel Wire Rope. lTower wagons; These improvements are on-going process and are still continuing to achieve more efficient, economical and safer system along with induction of latest technology. For example the 133 improvements of SCADA system, Traction Power Transformers, Insulators (Porcelain and Composite), Lightning Arrestors, Contact wire and Power Factor compensation equipment have been done during various periods as indicated below and have brought large savings. Traction Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system: Indian Railways have provided SCADA system for controlling 25 kv traction supply. It is done by controlling the switching ON and OFF of circuit breakers & interrupters at traction substations (TSSs), Sub- Sectioning Posts (SSPs) and Sectioning Posts (SP) located at remote site. This control is exercised from a central location called the Remote Control Centre adjacent to Traffic Control Centre. NETRA Car lAutomatic Tensioning Devices (ATDs) and Stainless Steel Wire Rope: ATDs are used with stainless steel wire rope to maintain a constant tension in OHE conductors, irrespective of the variation in temperature due to expansion and contraction. ATDs are provided at both the ends of each tensioning length. Various types of ATDs have been used over IR. Initially, twin block 5 pulley type ATD was introduced in sixties. Winch type ATD was introduced in 1964 with design from SNCF l3 Pulley type ATD was introduced in 1985 to overcome the problem of over sliding of rope, misalignment etc. in winch type ATD. Pulley type regulating equipment with 3:1 ratio were designed and adopted. The pulleys used in this ATD were of 140 mm diameter. Due to smaller bending radius of the rope on these pulleys, caused early fatigue and therefore bigger pulley of 250 mm diameter were introduced in 1999 and from 2000 onwards, all the ATDs being installed over IR are of 3 pulley type with pulley dia. of 250 mm. lIn 2006, RDSO has revised the Specification to improve reliability by incorporating criteria like Tensile strength, increasing breaking load of wire rope and introduction of lubrication during manufacturing. This has yielded enhanced endurance test cycle from 7000 to 18000. Further, RDSO carried out study in the design of pulley of ATD and its groove profile has been modified based upon the practices of other Railways abroad. This has resulted into endurance test cycle of 34000 with an improvement in service life which is 5 times over the existing design. 134 4. Other Salient Achievements The directorate have also carried out major developmental work in the following field:- lDevelopment of Network of Electrification, Testing & Recording Apparatus (NETRA car); lDevelopment of Thermo vision system; lDevelopment of Oliver system; lDevelopment of Carbon strip for use on Pantograph. Development of NETRA car : NETRA car measures and records various parameters of OHE (Overhead Equipment) and pantograph under static and dynamic conditions under live and non-live conditions of OHE at 105 km/h. The quality of current collection is monitored for directed maintenance of OHE and to evolve improved design of OHE and pantograph for field trials. The abnormality reports of recording done on different Railways are advised to the Railways for attending the observations. Development of Thermo Vision System : Infra-red thermal· measurement and image processing system is used for condition monitoring of current carrying joints of OHE and PSI installations. It is available with RDSO since 1999 and used by RDSO and Zonal Railways. The thermal imaging system is capable of carrying out thermal measurement under live line in hand held static condition as well as in mobile condition from OHE Inspection Car. Major applications in railway traction are envisaged for the condition monitoring of different type of OHE joints of various jumpers, feeder wires, earthing connections, crimped/soldered joints on OHE, joints on transmission lines, circuit breaker/interrupters poles, lightning arrestors, current carrying joints of various power supply equipment. Development of Oliver system : The system will be used for overhead line inspection with video recording and GPS marking system for current collection test (Oliver-G) and analyzing current collection test between the 25 KV ac overhead contact line and the pantograph of the electric loco to identify localized irregularities in the. contact line to increase reliability of OHE resulting improvement in punctuality of trains. RDSO prepared a technical Specification and issued to all Zonal Railways in 2006. The Traction Installation Directorate since its inception has been bringing out continuous improvements through its R&D activities and design modifications based on state of the art technology and experience in the electric traction on IR. BIBLIOGRAPHY 50 years of RDSO – Powering Indian Railways by S R Agrawal March 2007 135 Indian Railway Institute of Electrical Engineering (IRIEEN) 1. Introduction The Indian Railways Institute of Electrical Engineering (IRIEEN) was set up based on the acceptance of the recommendations of the Railway Reform Committee 1984. A committee consisting of Chief Electrical Engineer, Southern Railway and Chief Electrical Engineer, Central Railway was set up to study the proposal fully and submit detailed recommendations. The committee recommended setting up the Indian Railways Institute of Advanced Electrical Technology at Bangalore. However, Railway Board in July 1985 decided to locate the Institute at Nasik. The Institute has been set up in the year 1988 at Nasik Road for imparting training to Electrical Engineers of Indian Railways. It is located at Nasik Road, about 188 Kms. northeast of Mumbai. As laid down by the Board the Institute imparts training as a statutory measure to: lThe IRSEE Probationers who are to be given eighteen months training after joining the Railway Service and before taking up the working post. Earlier this training schedule was for a period of two years. lAn integrated orientation course for Group 'B' Officers in all aspects of the working of the Electrical Department on the Indian Railways has to be given before they are considered for promotion to Senior Scale and their absorption in Group 'A' services. lA Senior Professional course to be given to JA grade officers prior to their being considered for promotion to Selection Grade. In addition to the above, short term special courses are also being conducted throughout the year on specialized subjects so as to keep abreast with the latest technology. The course work for the special courses is prepared based on the requirements of Zonal Railways. 2. Mission of Irieen The mission of IRIEEN is to develop the Institute as centre of excellence in the field of Railway Technology especially Electrical Engineering. The Institute should prove to be a catalytic agent in encouraging creativity and original thinking amongst Railway Engineers. We pledge to create entrepreneurship and comradeship amongst Railway Officers in line with our corporate objectives and national interest. 3. Management The Director heads the Institute. Nine faculty members, who are drawn from the field having practical experience, aptitude for imparting knowledge as well as technical qualifications, assist him. 136 4. Training Infrastructure Traction Rolling Stock Laboratory Traction Rolling Stock laboratory is being used for familiarizing the trainee officers with the designs, development, manufacturing and principles of working of various equipments of electric locomotives. They get a chance to understand the constructional features and principles of working of various sub-assemblies, circuits and equipment of electric locomotive. Important facilities are: lModel of dual brake system of electric locomotive. lCut models of equipment like compressors, exhausters etc. lRelay testing panel for Q44, Q118, QTD, relays etc. lSeveral components like valves, relays, flasher light, speedometer, and pantograph are displayed to exhibit principles of working. lA Co-Co bogie with full compliments of brake system. lWorking model of linear induction motor. lD.C. and A.C. Traction Motors. A loco model to give actual feel of a loco is also being built 5. Overhead Equipment Yard An Overhead Equipment (OHE) yard has been developed close to the Institute campus to display various OHE equipment and fittings. The yard consists of 300 meter long Conventional and Tramway type OHE provided with section insulators, high speed OHE cantilevers, and various types of regulating equipments with conventional & PTFE type neutral section. The OHE height is about 1.8 meter from the ground to facilitate close observation of various equipments by trainee officers. Besides OHE, the yard is also provided with SF6 circuit breaker, vacuum interrupter, AT, PT, CT's & LA's 25 kv Drop Out fuse and single Pole Isolator assembly. The most striking feature of the yard is that mast foundations are laid over the ground for the observation of trainee officers. Models are developed to explain the working of 2x25 kv ac traction system by LED display board and Standard 25 kv TSS model. 6. Information Technology Laboratory This laboratory is designed to facilitate the trainee officers to upgrade their knowledge of the latest information technologies for better productivity. The assets available in the laboratory include: l75 Personal Computers of PIII & PIV configuration with accessories such multimedia, scanner, CD writer, printer etc. lAll the Personal Computers are connected on Local Area Network for easy sharing of information and computing resources 137 lInternet connectivity to all Personal Computers through Rail Net and BSNL's leased line for e-mail, accessing Railway & other educational sites lVarious advanced software such as Oracle, AutoCAD, Visual Basic, Visual C++ for trainee officer projects lMultimedia projectors for audio-visual training Training in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint), AutoCAD, and Database Management are given for trainee officers at the Laboratory. Besides the Laboratory is engaged in development of application software such as Gyan Deep for training of locomotive crew. 7. Train Lighting Model Room Full exposure on construction and principles of working of batteries in Train Lighting System is given to trainee officers with the help of cut sections of batteries in the model room. Different types of light fittings, carriage fans and other components are kept in the laboratory to have a clear picture about the functioning of Train Lighting system. Testing facilities to determine airflow of carriage fans have also been developed. Model room has been equipped with working models of different types of coach air-conditioning systems like under slung type, conventional RMPU type and LHB type latest RMPU with microprocessor based control technology. 8. General Services Model Room The model room contains various types of centrifugal pumps, water coolers, window AC units, light fittings and other equipments used for general power supply arrangement. An Air- conditioned tutor is also installed in the room to explain full working of Air conditioning system. Setup is available to explain the colour rendering effect of various types of light sources. 9. Air Conditioned Coach Model Room Working model showing functioning of conventional Air conditioned coach system as well as roof mounted package unit have been set up in the model room. In fact all the actual equipment of the original system has been used for developing the models. A test bed with VVVF control drive has been set up to test the alternators over their complete working range. In short, complete coach air conditioning system is available in the model form for giving overall view of the system. 10. Instrumentation Laboratory There is an increased emphasis on changing the present maintenance philosophy to condition based maintenance. The Institute is contributing in spreading awareness in condition monitoring and non-destructive testing techniques. The Instrumentation laboratory is equipped with wide variety of testing facilities. There are four sections of this laboratory covering the different aspects of condition monitoring and non- 138 destructive testing of various equipments. Following facilities are available in Instrumentation laboratory. Non Destructive Testing: a) Ultrasonic Testing. b) Eddy Current Testing. c) Magnetic Particle Testing. d) Surface Finish Testing. e) Vibration Measurement & Signature Analysis. f) Visual Inspection (Video-scope) Condition Monitoring: 1) Liquid Insulation Testing: The testing facilities, for transformer oil testing as per IS 335 & 1866 such as Acidity, IFT, BDV, Tan Delta, Resistivity, Flash Point, are available in Oil Testing Laboratory. Dissolved Gas Analysis for Condition Monitoring of transformer has recently been upgraded. 2) Solid Insulation Testing: Following test facilities for condition monitoring of solid insulation are available. a) Insulation Resistance, Polarization Index, Dielectric Absorption Ratio and Dielectric Discharge Testing. b) DC Step Voltage Testing. c) Partial Discharge Testing. d) Tan Delta Testing. e) Harmonic Analysis. The condition-monitoring laboratory available at IRIEEN is one of its kinds in all CTIs and the facilities are of unique type 11. Electronics Laboratory Electronics has invaded all spheres of our life, be it home or the office. State-of-Art facilities have been developed to keep the Railway Engineers abreast of the latest technology. A large number of experiments showing application of Electronics in Railway working have been set up. Training kits to explain working of rectifier, chopper, inverter and drives have been developed. Training kits of different microprocessors are also available for conducting practical on fundamentals of microprocessors. The demonstration kits have been developed to explain the practical applications of the PWM controllers, IGBT based regulators, coach inverters, LEM sensors used on AC coaches and locomotives. 139 Keeping in view the widespread application of 3 phase technology, facilities in the area of Analog and Digital Electronics are being upgraded. 12. Amelioration Course For Sag Officers SAG Officers of Electrical Department from all over Indian Railways are being enlightened through the Amelioration Course on latest technologies, Role of Senior Electrical Officers in Operations for Corporate Mission and the participative management. In addition, health care and stress management issues are also being addressed. Some visits to the original manufacturers of the equipments are also being provided for value addition. The participants are being assigned individual projects, based on the MSG/ESC items or the immediate need of their respective Railways, projected by their PHODs so that the issues could be taken to logical conclusion. At the end of the course, they are required to make detailed presentation of their projects to the Faculty and the Project Reports are kept in Library for reference. 13. Library The Institute library has a collection of 7,582 books including 820 Hindi books, 18,130 technical papers, project reports and reading material, 3903 standards/specifications, 1132 video cassettes & CD ROMs and various audio visual aids for reference purposes. The library is also subscribing/receiving complimentary issues for 75 Indian and foreign periodicals. The library also holds institution membership for the following: 1. National Safety Council, Mumbai. 2. Tata Energy Research Institute, New Delhi. 3. British Council Library, Mumbai. An Audio Visual room has recently been developed for conversion of VC to CD and also viewing video cassettes/CD ROMs. Functioning of the library is fully computerized with the aid of Library Management Software and bar-coded of books/document are available with issue/return. 14. Irieen Journal This journal is dedicated to various aspects of design development, manufacture, operation and maintenance of vital assets of Electrical Engineering as applied to Railways. 15. Residential Accommodation 77 Self-contained, furnished rooms (12 AC double, 44 Non-AC double and 21 Non-AC single occupancy) are available in FARADAY HOUSE (The Hostel). A Rest House having 4 AC suits is available for serving officers and the invited faculty. 16. Recreational Facilities Sports facilities consisting of Outdoor Lawn Tennis, Basket Ball and Volley Ball and indoor Badminton, Table Tennis, Carom, Billiards, Bridge and Chess are available in addition to 140 Gymnasium. For recreation TV with Cable, VCR and Music System are available. An auditorium with seating capacity of 250 with special acoustic effects is available for various functions. 17. Senior Supervisors Training Institute Railway Board have sanctioned the work to create facilities for training of supervisors at IRIEEN. The aforesaid work will include working modules and training packages for 3 Phase locos and EMUs and also on SCADA and RMPU. Proposal also includes provision of hostel cater for 200 trainee supervisors. The required land is available in IRIEEN campus. Bibliography This chapter is based on the material supplied by IRIEEN/Nasik 141 Development of Main Line Emus (MEMUs) For carrying the high-density suburban commuters in the Metropolitan cities of Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Delhi, Electrical Multiple Units or Emus had been developed and are in service since ever since the electrification started on IR. These services are very popular with the commuter passengers. They have faster acceleration and braking as compared to loco hauled trains. They are highly suited for short inter station distance sections. Since they have driving cabs on both ends, there is no loss of time for reversal at the terminal stations. The Emus also give flexibility in operation since length of the train can be increased or decreased by addition or reduction of Units, without affecting the performance. On the main line sections on Indian Railways, for catering to the commuter passengers between two major cities / towns, till early 1990s loco hauled slow passenger trains were being run. These trains had the disadvantages of slow speed, low acceleration and braking, less passenger capacity due to having normal main line coaches, and lower efficiency as one loco was hauling only 8 to10 coaches. The average speed of these trains was very low. Being slow and having frequent stoppages, these trains were reducing the sectional capacity. It was therefore felt that EMU type trains should be run for catering to the commuters and which would be more suited to the requirement of frequent starts and stops and more passenger capacity. : It was, therefore, decided in early 1990s to go for 10' 8" vide EMU stock to replace the existing slow moving loco hauled passenger trains in the busy electrified routes of Indian Railways. Keeping the main line requirements in mind, 10' 8" wide main line Emus were developed in 1993-94. Main line EMU services were introduced for the public in September 1994 in Eastern Railway for Bardhaman - Asansol section. Very soon these services became very popular due to the above inherent advantages of EMU type services. The services were progressively extended to other sections of Eastern Railway and further to Northern Railway, South Eastern Railway, Western Railway, Southern Railway, South Central Railway, etc. The further advantages of these trains as compared to loco hauled passenger trains were experienced by the Railways such .as less consumption of brake blocks due to lower wear, no water taps in the MEMU coaches s hence less maintenance required, higher coach utilisation and passenger earning per day, etc. In addition these trains have vestibules connecting the coaches hence passengers can go from one coach to the other unlike in loco hauled passenger trains. Advantages of Memus : (a) Higher acceleration and braking. (b) Lower inter station running time. (c) Higher average speed. (d) Better reliability, as failure of one motor coach does not affect the train running. (e) Quick reversal, as driving cabs is at both ends. (f) Better seating capacity as compared to normal passenger coaches. 142 (g) Better efficiency, due to better adhesion, lower losses, better utilisation of power available and less auxiliary and train lighting load (h) Lower capital costs Optimisation studies by computer simulation of MEMU vs. loco hauled passenger train services in Tundla - Kanpur section of Northern Railway (taking it as a representative main line section) were carried out in October 1999 by ROSO and it was found that there is a saving of 24 mins. in total run time in MEMU trains as compared to loco hauled trains. When actual trials were conducted the same year in Tundla - Kanpur section with a 12-car MEMU train and 12 coach loco-hauled passenger trains, a saving of 60 min. in total run time with MEMU was found. This was including the greater stop and start time, and frequent detentions of loco-hauled train due to hose-pipe disconnection etc. which caused disruption of traffic. 1. Lesser travelling time between stations - there is a saving of 11 minutes per 100 kms. in travelling time as compared to loco hauled passenger trains. 2. Higher passenger capacity per coach - 230 passengers per MEMU coach as compared to 185 passengers in normal passenger train coaches. 3. Better ventilation within the coaches - as there are no partitions inside the MEMU coach unlike normal passenger coaches. 4. Handholds available for the standing passengers 5. Faster turn around at the terminus stations - these trains can start back within 5 minutes of arrival at the terminus stations. 6. Better riding quality for the passengers - due to smooth start, acceleration, braking and stops. 7. Better illumination inside the coaches - MEMU coaches have fluorescent lights. A modification for providing weak field arrangement in the traction motors. This will further reduce the running time by 15 minutes obtained by computer simulation of the Tundla - Kanpur Section. All these factors have resulted in much greater passenger satisfaction and this is the reason for the very high popularity of the MEMU trains wherever they are running on Indian Railways. Presently the MEMU trains have been approved for a max. service speed of 90 kmph. RDSO are carrying further studies to reduce the running time of these trains still further Passenger Response The response of the travelling passengers to MEMU services has been very positive and encouraging. The MEMU services are very popular with the passengers in all the sections wherever they have introduced. There is more and more demand for replacing loco-hauled passenger trains by MEMUs. In view of the advantages in MEMUs to the travelling public as well as the Railways enumerated above, it is not surprising that the MEMUs are fast replacing loco hauled passenger train in the electrified Main Line sections on Indian Railways. With the encouraging response from the 143 passengers, very shortly all the loco hauled passenger trains will be replaced by fast and efficient Main Line EMU trains on Indian Railways. RDSO is committed towards bringing about further improvements in these trains for the safe, faster and more comfortable travel for the people The present population as on 31.03.09 was 292. Each Unit consists of I MC and 3 TCc. There is proposal to air condition the Driving cabs of all MEMUs. The 1st such unit is in service on WR and has been working since 09.02.09. A photo of a unit on SER is shown below. 144 Captive Power Plant - A Joint Venture with NTPC at Nabinagar (Bhartiya Rail Bijlee Co. Ltd.) Based on the material furnished by Electrical Directorate of Railway Board 1. Introduction : Minister for Railways during the budget speech 2000-01 made the following pronouncement: "Sir, a very high tariff is charged by various State Electricity Boards, imposing undue burden on rail users. I had taken up the issue with the State Governments recently but the response is not very encouraging. It has, therefore, been decided that in addition to making further efforts in accessing more power from the 15% unallocated central share of power, Indian Railways will also consider going in for exclusive power purchase agreements through joint ventures with public/ private power companies, provided the tariffs offered are more attractive." Ministry of Railways signed a MOU (Memorandum Of Understanding) with NTPC in Feb. 2002 for setting up power projects as a Joint Venture with NTPC to meet traction power requirement. The MOU had outlined activities to be pursued by Railways and NTPC so as to complete the exploratory exercise of identifying location, capacity and other associated issues of availability of land, water, forest clearances, etc. The outcome of above mentioned exploratory activities were discussed in a joint meeting between Ministries of Railways and Power after discussions following consensus emerged: a) The capacity of power plant would be 1000 MW. b) The power plant would be located at Nabinagar in Aurangabad District of Bihar. The proposed site is close to river Sone where the availability of land and water has since been confirmed by the respective authorities of State Govt. c) The project would be implemented through a joint venture (JV) company of Railways and NTPC christened as. Bhartiya Rail Bijlee Co. Ltd. Vide an agreement signed on 6th November 2007. After appraisal by Planning Commission and Public Investment Board (PIB), the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the proposal. 2. Formation of Company Bhartiya Rail Bijlee Co. Ltd. was set up with Headquarter in national capital region with seed capital of Rs.10 crores and authorized capital of Rs.1605.75 crores, with 74% NTPC limited equity (Rs.1188.26 crores) and 26% Railway equity (Rs.417.50 crores) for setting up a 1000 MW captive power plant for Railways with mega project status at Nabinagar, Bihar. 90% of its power will be used by Indian railways. As per the schedule the first unit of 250 MW will be ready by July, 2010 and Unit IV by April, 2011. 145 3. Special Features The generated power shall be made available by BRBCL ex-bus at Nabingar at 400 KV Double Circuit and the power shall be made available through the Power Grid Central Transmission Utility (PGCIL) and State Transmission Utilities and be drawn by Zonal Railways (ECR, ECOR, SER, ER, WR, CR & NR) at their traction substations. The power generated at Nabinagar will be metered at ex-bus at Nabinagar, the injecting point of Central Transmission Utility, the drawl point of Central Transmission Utility and State Transmission Utilities and at drawl point at traction substations in different Railways. These drawl points will fall in different States. For this purpose, Railways will have to make payment to i. BRBCL for metering at ex-bus Nabinagar for generation cost of power. ii. PGCIL for wheeling of power on the Central Transmission grid i.e. dedicated line from Nabinagar to Sasaram and inter regional transmission. iii. State Transmission utilities for wheeling of power to the power tapping points by zonal railways at various traction substations. The JV agreement for Nabinagar has been signed at the level of Railway Board and NTPC Ltd. For utilization of the power generated by BRBCL, following contract agreements need to be executed: i. Power purchase agreement with BRBCL ii. Transmission/ evaluation of power agreement with PGCIL in terms of long term open Access Agreement for both dedicated line and interregional Transmission lines. iii. Long term open access agreement with State Transmission Utilities for drawl of power at Traction substation tapping points by different Railways. As agreed under Clause 11.4 of JVA, a special cell shall be formed in BRBCL who will assist in the evacuation of power from the project to various load centres and for fall back arrangements in case of shortfall in generation from the project. This cell shall include two officers of suitable grade from Railways. Present status is as under : 1. Memorandum of Understanding 18.2.2002 (MOU) signed on 2. Approval of Project by the Cabinet 01.02.2007 (CCEA) 3. JV Agreement signed on 06.11.2007 4. Registration of Bhartiya Railway 22.11.2007 Bijlee Co Limited 146 5. Structure of Board 1 Director Railway 3 Directors from NTPC 6. Chairman Director/Operation, NTPC 7. CEO A nominee from NTPC 8. Current status Steam Turbine and Generator package ordered on BHEL in Jan. 2008 at Rs. 2025 crores 9. Capacity 1000 MW (4 X 250 MW) 10. Location Nabinagar, District. Aurangabad, Bihar 11. Fuel Coal 12. Cost of the project Rs.5352 crores 13. Debt to equity ratio 70:30 14. Equity participation a) Railways 26% (Rs. 417.5 crores) b) NTPC Ltd. 74% (Rs. 1188.25 crores) 15. Coal linkage North Karanpura Colliery, 250 Km from site 16. Land requirement 1389 acres acquired - 10.51 acres 17. Estimated coal consumption per annum 5 million tones 18. Water requirement 6100 cubic meter/ hour 19. Source of water Indrapuri Barrage on Sone river 20. Levelised cost of electricity per kwhr 213 paisa 21. Project period 4 years 22. Estimated traction tariff after paying 338-363 paisa for kwhr wheeling and transmission charges 23. Status Mega status 24. Expected saving per annum Rs.400-600 crores 25. Total load points where energy 164 Traction Substations (TSS) located in will be supplied Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal, MP, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa 26. Payment made towards equity portion Rs. 129.69 cr. of Railway upto 1.4.08 147 27. Land acquisition lSection 7 & 17 & Sec.9 issued for 393.7 acres. lSection 4 & 6 issued for 161.73 acres. lSection 4 & 6 initiated for 530.95 acres. l292.37 acres Govt. land to be transferred lPossession of all land expected by June'09 28. Transmission of power For open access application filed in PGCIL - 10th June'08 Dedicated transmission line between Nabinagar-Sasaram to be built by PGCIL. 29. IR officials 2 officials one each at New Delhi and Patna 30. Role of IR officials To coordinate with CERC, CEA, PGCIL, concerned SERCs, SEBs and State Power Utilities for proper arrangement for evacuation of power 31. Expected commissioning of Plant First unit by 30.08.10. Balance units after every six months. 148 Dedicated Freight Corridor Project 1. Introduction : Dedicated Freight Corridor is the most ambitious and biggest project of the Ministry of Railways. Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation (DFCC) is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) created to undertake planning & development, mobilization of financial resources, construction, maintenance and operation of Dedicated Freight lines covering approximately 2800 route kilometers on two Corridors - Eastern Corridor from Ludhiana to Sonnagar, which has now been extended upto Dankuni and Western Corridor from Jawahar Lal Nehru Port, Mumbai to Tughlakabad/Dadri along with interlinking of the two corridors at Dadri. The project envisages 'State of the Art' Construction Technology, upgradation of transportation systems, increase in productivity and reduction in unit transportation cost. 2. The Corridors Eastern Corridor The Eastern Corridor covers a route length of approximately 1280 kms. - Double Line corridor from Sonnagar to Khurja (820 km) and Khurja to Dadri (46 Km) and Single line corridor from Khurja to Ludhiana (412 Km). The salient features of the Freight Corridor are: Route Length 1280 kms Bridges Important bridges 7 nos.(total water way 5540 m) Major bridges 127 nos. (total water way 6930 m) Minor bridges 1300 nos. (total water way 3840 m) Length of longest bridge 3050 meters (Sone bridge) Road Crossings Road over bridges 67 nos. Road under bridges 433 nos. Rail fly-overs 21 Stations Terminal Stations 2 nos. Junction Stations 11 nos. Crossing stations 57 nos. 149 The Eastern DFC shall now be extended upto Dankuni (Sonnagar to Dankuni = 530 kms.) Western Corridor The Western Corridor comprises of approximately 1483 route kms of double line from Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) to Dadri via Vadodara-Ahmedabad-Palanpur-Phulera-Rewari and single line connection of 32 km from proposed Pirthala Junction Station (near Asaoti on Delhi-Mathura line) to Tughlakabad. The salient features of Western Dedicated Freight Corridor are: Route Length 1469 kms Bridges Important bridges 19 nos.(total water way 6948 m) Major bridges 454 nos. (total water way 12300 m) Minor bridges 2011 (total water way 8781 m) Length of longest bridge 1409 meters (Narmada River) Tunnels 3 Road Crossings Road over bridges 77 nos. Road under bridges 536 nos. Rail flyovers 33 nos. Stations Terminal Stations 3 nos. Junction Stations 10 nos. Crossing stations 33 nos. Dedicated Freight Corridor shall act as a backbone for the proposed Delhi-Mumbai industrial Corridor: A band of 150 km has been chosen on both the sides of the Dedicated Freight Corridor (Western) to be developed as Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor. The vision for DMIC is to create strong economic base in this band with globally competitive environment and state of the art infrastructure. 150 3. Nucleus of Industrial and Economic Growth The two corridors pass through a number of States which will facilitate quicker movement of freight traffic thereby accelerating the industrial and economic growth. Passing through the following States, the two corridors join the Eastern to the Western extremes of the country: State Length of DFC (Kms) Bihar 93 U.P. 1002 Haryana 274 Punjab 150 Rajasthan 553 Gujarat 560 Maharashtra 150 In order to give a boost to the Industrial activity in the areas traversed by the DFC, it is proposed to set up Multi Modal Logistics Parks along the Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridors. These Logistics Parks are proposed to be set up in Public Private Partnership mode, wherein the Concessionaire shall be selected on the basis of open competitive bidding based on a techno-economic feasibility report prepared by reputed consultants for each proposed site. Consultancy contract for the development of a logistics park at Rewari in National Capital Region has already been awarded. 4. The Project - Basic Design Features lA dedicated freight corridor-exclusively for running freight trains at a maximum permissible speed of 100 Kmph lPrimarily Double Line corridor lHigher Axle Load - The track sub structure like formation, bridges, sleepers etc to be planned for 32.5 tonne axle load. lLoop Length - 750 metres with provision for extension upto 1500 metres to facilitate running of long haul trains lProvision of ROB/RUBs (with 50,000 TVUs) at important Level Crossing Gates - to avoid any detention to either road or rail traffic lElectric Traction System - 2 x 25 KV OHE system lSignaling - Automatic with 2 km spacing. Station interlocking with provision for future upgradation to CTC operation lTelecommunication - Independent OFC system. GSMR system for mobile train radio communication lInfrastructure to be fit for heavy/long haul operation up to trailing load of 15,000 tonnes 151 5. Financing of the Project and its takeoff The DFCC has been set up with an authorized capital of Rs.4,000 crores. All the shares are vested with the representatives from the Government of India. Discussions are at an advanced stage for funding of the project with international financing institutions for different sections are as under: (a) Rewari-Vadodara Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) (b) Mughalsarai -Dadri World Bank (WB) (c) Khurja -Ludhiana Asian Development Bank (ADB) However, pending finalization of the financing arrangement, decision has been taken to start work on Eastern and Western Corridors in order to honour the commitment made by the Hon'ble MR in the parliament to start work on both the corridors during the current financial year. These works are proposed to be funded from equity to be contributed by MoR. Two Design and Build (lump sum/ turnkey) tenders have been awarded for the purpose. These are: (i) Civil Works from New Karwandiya to New Ganj Khwaja between Mughalsarai-Sonnagar on Eastern Corridor (app. 100 kms.) (ii) 54 Important and Major Bridges between Vaitarna-Utran on Western Corridor. There are over and above a number of consultancy tenders finalized for final location survey, geo-technical investigation, hydrological survey of rivers, design of major bridges for heavy haul operation and project construction management. 6. Land Acquisition Land acquisition is quintessential to the success of the project and, as such, a lot of thrust is being given on the subject by the organization. As a result, DFC has been notified as one of the Special Railway Projects (vide Ministry of Railway's Notification dated 19.02.2008). The amendment to Indian Railways Act, 2008 on 21.03.200 for such projects has paved the way for land acquisition on a fast track. Land acquisition on this project is to be done in 7 states of Bihar, U.P, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra involving 51 districts. The approximate area of land required is 12,530 hectares. Out of this, about 6165 hectares is to be acquired on Eastern Corridor and 6365 hectare on Western Corridor. Within a short span of the inception of DFC, a landmark has been achieved with regard to land acquisition, with the issue of Notification under Section 20E of the Indian Railways (Amendment) Act, 2008 for about 100 kms (land area of 208 hectares in the States of Uttar Pradesh, between Bhaupur-Mandrak on Kanpur-Aligarh section. Now, the notified land has now vested with the Ministry of Railways. 7. The Road Ahead It is hoped that the financial year 2009-10 will witness full-fledged construction activity on the entire project. DFCC is committed to its motto of '3Ss' - 'Sincerity, Speed and Service' which 152 would lead to fulfillment of the immediate core objective of timely completion of the project. Needless to mention it is bound to bring a paradigm shift in freight movement thereby, ensuring Railway's continued pivotal role in economic renaissance of the country. Railway Electrification Trials For Running Double Stack Containers With Electric Locomotives Under High Reach Ohe lIndian Railway has witnessed the increase in traffic by about 400% from 197 million tonnes in 1981-82 to 794 million in 2007-08. lAnother 40% increase is expected by 2011-12 to reach 1100 million tonnes. lTo meet the ever increasing traffic, IR has decided to use 30-tonne axle load flat wagon carrying double stack containers (DSC). lTo run these double stack containers on flat wagon at high speeds and increased throughputs with electric locomotives, overhead line equipment to carry electric current were required to be installed at 7.45m and pantographs of locomotive modified accordingly. lThis involved lot of indigenous efforts on part of officers and supervisors involved in this project. lThe mission was successfully achieved and trials conducted successfully in Jakhapura-Tomka section of East coast Railway in July’2008 in presence of Japanese team of JICA. lThis cleared the route for hauling double stack containers with electric locomotives and thus also paved the way for electrification on Western DFC. lIt is worthwhile to mention that OHE at a height of 7.45 m is the highest in the world, thereby beating the earlier standards set in USA (7.1 m) and China (6.6 m) 153 Rail Vikas Nigam Limited 1. Introduction Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), a SPV under Ministry of Railways, was incorporated on 24th January, 2003, and became fully functional by March 2005, after full Board was appointed. The Mission of RVNL is "Creating rail transport capacity to meet growing demand". Its Vision is "To emerge as most efficient rail infrastructure provider with sound financial base and global construction practices for timely completion of projects". 2. Objectives lTo undertake and execute successfully the project development pertaining to "Strengthening of Golden Quadrilateral, Port and Hinterland connectivity" and other viable railway projects. lTo mobilize financial resources for project implementation. lTimely execution of bankable projects of New Lines, Gauge Conversion, Doubling and Railway Electrification lTo maintain a cost effective organizational set up. lTo encourage public private participation in rail related projects. lTo be an infrastructure Project Management Company committed to sustainable development and environment friendly construction of rail related projects in the country. lTo acquire, purchase, license, concession or assign rail infrastructure assets including contractual rights and obligations. 3. Organization : Within a short period, RVNL has taken off well and has set up Project Units at Mumbai, Secunderabad, Bilaspur, Chennai, Bhubaneshwar, Kolkata, Jaipur, Delhi, Pune and Hubli. RVNL is directly executing a number of important Projects on fast track basis with international practices and standards as integrated contracts through Project Management Consultants, for strengthening the Golden Quadrilateral and Diagonals (26 Nos.) and Rail Connectivity to Ports(29 Nos.) i.e. 55. Projects under National Rail Vikas Yojana (NRVY) are estimated to cost Rs.17680 Cr. RVNL has adopted the Public Private Partnership (PPP) funding model in a number of its projects. Palanpur-Samakhiali Section of Gandhidham-Palanpur on Western Railway and Hasan-Mangalore gauge conversion on South Western Railway have been successfully completed through Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), viz. Kutch Railway Company Limited and Hasan-Mangalore Rail Development Corporation, respectively, by March 2006. The Samkhiali- Gandhidham section of Gandhidham - Palanpur Gauge Conversion was completed and commissioned on 26th November 2006. In the case of Kutch Railway Company Limited Rs. 400 crores was arranged through non-budgetary sources. 6 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) 154 have been signed, of which 3 are in Gujarat, 2 in Orissa and 1 in Andhra Pradesh, with respective State Governments and Strategic Partners for formation of project specific SPVs. Shareholders Agreement and Concession Agreements for 4 project specific SPVs of RVNL for implementing Gandhidham-Palanpur Gauge Conversion, Haridaspur - Paradip New Line, Obulavaripalle- Krishnapatnam New Line and Bharuch-Dahej Gauge Conversion project have been signed. Of these, Kutch Railway Company Limited is fully operational, while the other three are under different stages of construction. In the case of Krishnapatnam Railway Company Limited, the portion from Krishnapatnam to Venkatachalam to Nidiguntapalem has been operational before 31st March 2009. A Transportation and Traffic Guarantee Agreement was signed in April 2008 for Haridaspur - Paradip New Line Project between ECoR, SER and HPRCL (Haridaspur - Paradip Railway Company Ltd.) 3 more project specific SPVs are in different stages of project development in RVNL. 4. Execution of Projects RVNL is executing 8 projects funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB), for the first time on Indian Railways. These contracts are governed by stiff International Federation of Contractors (FIDIC) conditions and are also covering Social and Environmental Management plans and Rehabilitation of the Project affected persons. Buoyed by the success of utilization of multilateral funds for fixed infrastructure projects, Government is processing for sanction of the second loan from ADB. RVNL has been nominated as Implementation Agency for the projects being funded under the second loan also. RVNL is adopting state of the art technology and also innovative thinking in final location surveys and bridge works. RVNL developed a new revised alignment around Barang yard in connection with doubling of the section which resulted in saving of Rs. 49 Cr. and recurring saving in operation and maintenance cost due to shortening of route line by 5.5 kms. The total staff strength of the company is 270 (Officers 35, Staff 135, Consultants 60) as on 1st October, 2007. No other railway construction unit or organization can endeavor to deliver so much with such a slim organization. This is also amply reflected in the overheads of the company, which includes the expenditure incurred on project management consultants The Company has been able to keep the overheads lower by more than 2% of the project cost vis-à-vis the bench mark used in railways. RVNL is focusing on fast execution of Projects for establishing a shorter route to Gujarat Ports via Delhi-Rewari, Ringus, Phulera, Ajmer, Marwar, Palanpur and Gandhidham by completing Gauge Conversion. The Delhi - Rewari portion of the Gauge Conversion has been commissioned on 4th October, 07 and further from Rewari to Phulera, 215 KM section of Rewari-Ajmer has been commissioned on 31.3.09. Similarly, a new corridor to connect iron ore mining area of Banspani- Daitari with Paradip Port is being established by construction of a new line. The section was opened on 15.02.07 for Goods Traffic. Electrification of Datari-Banspani is in progress. RVNL has till now completed 155 Kms. of new lines, 898 Kms. of gauge conversion, 350 Kms. of doubling and 1007 Kms. of Railway Electrification as on 31.03.08. 155 5. Railway Electrification : RVNL has till now completed 133 route kilometers of sections - lPanvel-Jasai JNPT - 8 Rkm. l2nd Bridge on River Mahanadi - 3 lPullampet-Nandlur1 - 21 lObulavaripalle-Krishnapatnam N.L. - 21 lTiruvallur-Arakonam 3rd Line - 28 lJakhapura-Tomka-Daitari - 32 RVNL has funded 1007 Rkm of railway electrification projects which have been completed by respective Railways & CORE lPullampet-Balapalle Ph.I of Renigunta-Guntakal - 41 Rkm lBhubaneswar-Kottavalasa Electrifiction - 417 lKharagpur-Bhubaneshwar including Cuttack-Talchar - 496 lBalance section of Kharagpur-Bhubaneshwar - 53 RVNL at present doing R.E. works of about 2116 Rkm. in following Projects : lBarang-Khurda Road, Rajatgarh-Cuttack - 76 Rkm. lHaridaspur-Paradeep New Line - 82 lHaridaspur-Jakhapura 3rd Line - 25 lTomka-Banaspani - 144 lAngul-Sukinda New Line - 99 lPalwal-Bhuteswar 3rd Line - 81 lAligarh-Ghaziabad 3rd Line - 106 lPattabiram-Tiruvallur 4th Line - 42 lVallaparpadm-Idapally New Line - 9 lTiruvallur-Arakkonam 4th Line - 27 lObulavaripalle-Krishnapatnam New Line - 113 lPanskura-Kharagpur 3rd Line - 45 lGoelkera-Manoharpur 3rd Line - 27 lBilaspur-Urkura 3rd Line - 104 lSalka Road Annuppur (Doubling) - 90 lBharuch-Samni-Dahej (GC) - 63 lBhopal-Bina 3rd Line - 145 lPune-Guntakal RE - 641 lNandlur-Guntakal Renigunta-Guntakal - 198 156 Metro Railway (Kolkata) 1. Introduction Kolkata, the capital of India during earlier part of the British rule, never lost its importance even at the stroke of independence. With a major port, well linked rail service and an airport, Kolkata was not only the gateway to the east of India but the nerve centre of economic activity. This attracted people not only from within the state but also people from neighbouring states in search of employment and business opportunities. This led to a huge surge in population which taxed not only the existing transport system but laid bare the lacuna of poor infrastructure. The swelling population spill resulted in over-crowded buses and trams. This prompted the city fathers to look at other means of rapid mass transport systems to off-load the burden from the city's streets. Thus began the thought of a new underground transport system for Kolkata. Dr. B. C. Roy, a great visionary and the then Chief Minister of West Bengal took the first initiative seeing the challenge that lay ahead. He invited a team from the French Metro in 1949. The team, after its survey, presented a feasibility report that suggested two routes of electrified underground alignments, one from Howrah Maidan to Sealdah (3.91 miles) and the other from Paikpara to Kalighat (7.14 miles) with a carrying capacity of 50,000 passengers per hour. This initiated further investigations and could be considered as the blueprint to a future underground transport system in the city. However, Dr. Roy's dream remained a dream till the Planning Commission of the Government of India appointed a team called Metropolitan Transport Team who in its report in February 1969 recommended the need of a high capacity Rapid Transport System for Kolkata. This report led to the signing of an agreement between the Government of India and USSR and Messrs Technoexport of Moscow sent a team in 1970 to conduct the survey. Their recommendation gave a high priority to the construction of a 16.45 km long line from Dum Dum to Tollygunge. Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony - 29.12.1972 *Based on the material sent by Metro Railway Kolkata. 157 The Stone is laid Several hurdles were cleared before work could begin on the RTS (Rapid Transport System) line. Strong arguments for Suburban Dispersal Line were negated by counter arguments that the Circular Rail "bringing traffic from the suburbs and North Kolkata would only congest traffic in the Central Business District, a load, the business district was not in a position to bear. Hence, construction of METRO RTS was given the go ahead and in what is a watershed for the mass rapid transport system in India, the Dum Dum -Tollygunge RTS project was sanctioned for construction on June 1, 1972, with the foundation stone being laid by Srimati Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India on December 29, 1972. 2. Strategy of Construction : Metro construction was of a very complex nature. Indian Railway engineers backed by their own experience and supplemented by their studies abroad adopted new technologies for the first time in the Country: lCut and cover method of construction using diaphragm walls and sheet piles; lUse of extensive decking for keeping the road traffic flow over the cut, while construction was in progress underneath; lShield tunneling using compressed air and air locks; and, lBallast less tracks using elastic fastenings, rubber pads, epoxy mortar, nylon inserts etc. Before actual work got underway considerable soil tests were conducted and seismic data were collected. After the project was inaugurated, the project administration headed by a General Manager started functioning from the rented premises at Martin Burn Building. The Design and Field offices, however, were close to the construction sites. The Design and Drawing office was located at Ranji Stadium (Eden Gardens). This office space was below the visitors' stand of the stadium. To facilitate construction work, a large construction depot measuring 65,452 sq. m was put up at Brace Bridge, to stock bulk of the construction material. This land was rented from Kolkata Port Trust. This was the only available open space close to the construction area served by railway sidings. Other stores depots were set up in the Maidan area. The entire length of the construction site was divided into 17 Contract Sections (CS-1 to CS-17) from Dum Dum to Tollygunge. The first area under construction i.e. Dum Dum and Belgachia met with fewer problems, as the land belonged to the Eastern Railway and was thus easily available. Besides this, construction was conventional in nature requiring concrete piles, reinforced concrete columns, deck girders etc. The maidan area, the second area of construction belonged to the Defense Department who agreed to the construction underground, on the condition that the land would be restored after completion of work. The construction technology was of deep excavation with reinforced concrete diaphragm walls to support the vertical faces of the cut on either side. This technique was not altogether new to the country. This, however, required open space. Hence, the open space of the Maidan away from buildings, utilities and roads, provided an ideal ground for 158 experimentation. The General's tank by the Maidan was dried out to facilitate construction work in the Maidan area. The State Government faced a stiff challenge when construction began in the Central and Northern areas requiring choking of arterial corridors to facilitate work between Shyambazar and Esplanade. During this phase many bus and tram routes along important roadways were diverted to facilitate construction work. While construction proceeded on the elevated structure near Dum Dum and the underground structures in the Maidan, planning was afoot to take the construction into the heart of the city along the arterial corridor of the route between Shyambazar and Esplanade along Chittaranjan Avenue and Jatindra Mohan Avenue, where the complexity of the construction was much more severe than in the south and having done so, gradually expanded their activity towards the south to Tollygunge. Taking stock of the traffic situation and in consultation with the State Government, construction work was divided into two phases. Dum Dum to Shyambazar and Esplanade to Tollygunge consisted of Phase-I while Esplanade to Shyambazar consisted of Phase-II with the latter due to commence once Phase-I was completed. It was realised that there being no alternative other than to proceed with construction as above, one car shed would be required North of Dum Dum and the other South of Tollygunge. As work progressed many impediments came in the way. Fearing loss of business, traders and shopkeepers in and around Bhowanipur moved the High Court through an injunction. The case however, was quashed by the High Court. There was considerable hesitation on the part of the State Government also to the partial closure of Ashutosh Mukherjee Road in Bhowanipur area on account of apprehension of traffic dislocation and the agitation of the local public. But in December 1978, they allowed partial closure of this road and the work on diaphram wall could make a start. The Metro Railway moved into the Bhowanipur area in December 1978 to take up the diversion of utilities and construction of diaphragm wall by suspending the tram services between Hazra Road Junction and Birla Planetarium. However, to facilitate the diaphragm wall construction, carriage ways were widened by curtailing the side-walks. This greatly helped the smooth flow of traffic, with two lanes open for public vehicles. This left the remaining part of the carriage way for the diaphragm wall construction and also enabled tunnel box construction to be taken up on a huge scale. 3. Constraints in Progress While lack of funds prolonged construction works other impediments like late availability of work sites, road occupation, tram line diversion, slum removal etc. contributed to the slow progress. To this was added the shortage of steel, particularly in 1983 forcing Metro Authorities to import structural steel and to procure steel rods from The Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited. However, this prolonged construction work made the public restive and the local press very vocal, as it came to the fore that Tollygunge station alone would take another 2-3 years to complete. 4. Completion of Phase I 159 To obviate public criticism a decision was taken to run the train between Esplanade and Bhowanipur now Netaji Bhawan with five stations covering a length of 4 kms. This decision, authorities felt would give the people a chance to experience a ride on their much awaited Metro, for which they had borne many a hardship. Besides, with Tollygunge not ready, accessibility to the car shed was impossible. To get over this difficulty, it was decided that operation would be on a single line basis and the other line along with the platform area of Park Street and the siding at Maidan would be set apart for the maintenance and stabling of cars. For the introduction of coaches into the tunnel. An opening (4mx23m) was made on top of the box between Park Street and Esplanade, through which coaches were lowered from the surface into the system. All these arrangements worked well and the Metro had its first trial run in the Esplanade-Bhowanipur section in December 1983. Around the middle of 1984, installation of sub-stations, receiving station at Rabindra Sadan Station, ventilation plants, lighting, telecommunication equipments etc. were ready to enable Metro Railway to go into a commercial run in July-August 1984, but a premature and unprecedented 72 hrs. Rainfall (499 mm) from June 4-6 created a deluge. Metro did not escape the wrath of nature that also trapped 16 coaches. It took a Herculean effort from the Metro workers who worked day and night to lift the 16 coaches. These were replaced by 12 new coaches. This delayed the first commercial run by a few months. Mr. Rajiv Gandhi inaugurating the Kolkata Metro D-Day October 24,1984 was not only a red letter day for the Metro Railway and its dedicated 160 The Lay Plan of the system showing the extention to the system A Metro train emerging from the tunnel and approaching Dum Dum Railway Station. Kolkata Metro is having a double line track as seen above. 161 management and staff but also a day of reckoning for the whole city of Kolkata, for whom the Metro was soon to become a much vaunted symbol of pride and honour. The first train rolled out from Esplanade for its ultimate destination Bhowanipur now renamed, Netaji Bhawan. It was not only a day of fanfare and gaiety for all members of the Metro Railway but also a memorable day for the people of Kolkata who turned up in large numbers for a ride on their much awaited Metro! 5. Completion of Phase II : Shield tunnels were constructed for Up and Down track covering a total length of 1205 m between Belgachia and Dum Dum. This technique was adopted in view of the overlying soft clay and the necessity to obviate open cut. The twin shield tunnels are circular with inner diameter of 5.1 metres and external diameter of 5.5 metres and are spaced 11 metres apart. They are in a maximum curvature of 300m radius and 1 in 100 gradient. The tunnels are lined either with precast RCC or Cast Iron Segmental rings. The RCC lining segments were cast in a casting yard and steam cured before being placed in position. The construction equipment consisting of shield erector (for installation of lining segments), grouting equipment and muck loaders were imported from Soviet Union. 19 propelling jacks of 100-tonne capacity each were used in pushing the shield. As the ground water table at the tunnel was fairly high, compressed air was used during tunneling process to overcome the hydrostatic head and achieve better stability of soil at the cutting face. Suggestion : Phase II complete dates to be indicated. 6. Metro Railway -Around the world On January 10, 1863 became an epoch making day in the history of rapid mass transport system, when the world's first underground railway began its commercial run between Paddington (Bishop's Road) and Farrington Street. It all began by the end of the eighteenth century, when traffic congestions in London posed a serious challenge threatening to bring the city to a grinding halt. Today, the London underground carries 3 million passenger journeys a day, serving 275 stations covering 253 miles. After London followed the Istanabul Tunnel in 1875, the Chicago Metro in 1892, The Boston Subway (Massachusetts, USA) in 1897, The Paris Metro in 1900, followed by the New York Subway in 1904. Today there are over 130 Metro Railway systems operating around the world with 27 cites in the USA alone enjoying the underground transport facility. In India, New Delhi became the second "Metro" Railway city in 2002. 7. Proposed Extensions (Tollygunge to Garia) Target confirmation Tollygunge to Naktala PDC June 2009 Full Section PDC June 2010 162 The Extension has been shown in the layout of the system. East West Metro Corridor - Salt Lake SectorV to Howrah Maidan This section will be managed by Kolkatta Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRCL). This section will pass under River Hoogly. East-West Kolkata Metro corridor will be the first ever in the country to run under a river. The project is a joint venture between the centre and the state. The 13.77-km corridor would run from Salt Lake Sector V, the IT hub of the city, up to Howrah Maidan. Of this, around 8 km will be underground with six stations, and the remaining 5.77 km will be on an elevated track. The underground corridor starts from Howrah railway station and will cross the river Hooghly at a depth of 60 feet from the water level. The proposal to extend the metro alignment up to Howrah Maidan from Howrah station. Unlike the South-North Metro which is air cooled, the new section will be air-conditioned and this includes the stations and the coaches as well. There will be screen doors-thick glass doors- all along the platform which will open only when the train comes. Metro rails across the globe have the facility. This will be a standard gauge metro. PDC 31st October 2014. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. The Calcutta Metro Phase 1 Published by Metro Railway, Calcutta 1991. 2. Various issues of “Urban Railway” a publication of Impressions India. 3. Some material supplied by Metro Railway, Kolkata. 163 Delhi Metro Rail Corporation 1. Introduction : Delhi, the capital city of India, has a population of about 15 million, which is expected to reach 200 million by the year 2025. Every day, about 10 million passenger trips are performed in Delhi by motorized modes. In view of this passenger density, the Delhi Metro Project was sanctioned by the Government of India in the year 1996. Implementation of Delhi Metro Project is planned in 4 phases, for a total network of 245 km, most of which (228 km) is elevated with a small underground section of 27 km. The Phase I of the Project comprises of three lines (Line I/II/III) of 65 km section (14 km underground and 51 km elevated rail corridor). All these three lines have been commissioned. Line -I is totally elevated and line - II is underground (11 km), where as line-III is partly underground, with the major portion being elevated. Lines I & III are provided with 25 kV ac. Line-II was originally designed with 1500 V dc and was subsequently changed to 25 kV ac. This line was delivered in two distinct phases. The cut-and-cover portion covering the Vishwa Vidyalaya to Kashmere Gate area was open to revenue operation on 20th December 2004. The NARELA MASTER PLAN JAHANGIR PURI BARWALA RITHALA KASHMERE GATE NAND NAGRI VISHWAVIDYALAY SHAHDARA MADHUBAN NANGLO I A SEEMA PURI INDRAPRASHTA CON PLACE KIRTI NAGAR ANAND VIHAR JANAK PURI RAJA GARDEN C. SECTT SAGARPUR DWARKA NOIDA - Phase I INA - Phase II - Phase III QUTUB MINAR OKHLA Phase IV ANDHERIA BAGH GURGAON Delhi Metro Master Plan Network 164 remaining section from Kashmere Gate to Central secretariat was constructed by a shield-driven Tunnel Boring Machine and cut & covers method, was put into revenue use on 2nd July 2005. All these 3-lines are further being extended in Phase II of the Project. 2. Need of 25 kV ac system in tunnel : Delhi Metro is designed as a heavy metro system to cater to 60,000 PHPDT (Peak Hour Passenger Per Direction Trip), up gradable to 80,000 PHPDT. The Detailed Study indicated that while all 3 Traction System (750 V dc. 1500 V dc. & 25 kV ac) are technically feasible, but 1500 V dc or 25 kV ac is more desirable for such a high level of traffic from the reliability point of view. Normally, 25 kV ac requires a minimum tunnel dia. of 5.8 m. Tunnel dia. of 5.4 m with 1500 v dc was considered from many dimensions viz. Rolling Stock, electrical clearances etc. It was estimated to be economical. However, from reliability and other considerations of benefits of commonality of traction & Rolling Stock, 25 kV ac traction system is well suited for the expansion of the system from 60,000 to 80,000 PHPDT as the elevated sections are provided with 25 kV ac traction. Indian Railway Standards Right in the beginning it was considered that it would not be economical to adapt IRS. A study was therefore undertaken of the international practices. Experience of Other International Railways: A survey of 25 kV ac installations working worldwide inside tunnels revealed the following: a) Heathrow Express Rail Link, London - Contact wire height of 4240 mm with kinematic load gauge of 4015 mm, thus limiting the static electric clearance to 225 mm. b) Kwachon and Bundang Line of Korean National Railroad (KNR), Seoul with clearances as per IEC 913 and tunnel dia. c) London tunnel of St Pancras to Bedford electrification; Contact wire height 3925 mm with static gauge of 3775 mm. Hence, limiting the static electric clearance to 150 mm. d) On East coast main line in Network Rail Infrastructure U.K., contact wire height 4140 mm with static gauge of 3990 mm. - static electric clearance - 150 mm. e) West Rail Works, Hong Kong 3. International standards IEC standards have been adopted by many Railway Systems all over the world. Though these standards do provide scope of further reduction in the electrical clearances and minimum height of contact wire yet it was not possible to maintain these clearances and minimum contact wire height as per IEC in the headroom of 4880 mm as it needed minimum 5130 (270+4570+290) + OHE structure. Further, these standards too are laid down in generic form to accommodate a variety of rolling stock and flexible OHE. Therefore, the clearances will also have to take into account the sag in contact wire and push up under the passage of the pantograph, wind pressure etc. Secondly, these standards are for open as well as tunnel environment. 165 Therefore to study the minimum requirement of DMRC, a further detailed analysis of electrical clearance was imperative. Electrical Clearances - A genesis Fundamentally, the dielectric strength of dry air is 25 kv/mm. Therefore, theoretically, 25 mm of air gap ought to be able to withstand 25 kv i.e. 1 kv/mm. A clearance of 270 or 290 mm. is mm prescribed in the standards. Thus basically, static electrical clearance is provided keeping in view the surges and over voltages (200 mm) and safety margins (70 mm) is kept to accommodate for panto push up, vehicle bounce etc. The minimum push up (measured in France) is 70 mm for 27-meter span with three operational locomotives plying at 160 KMPH. The up lift of OHE during passage of pantographs should not exceed 50 mm, where reduced clearances have been adopted. This may be achieved by special constructional feature of OHE and/or speed restriction, as the case may be. An additional margin of 20 mm is kept for clearance between live parts to vehicle (290 mm instead of 270 mm), to accommodate vehicle bounce due to ballasted track. The electrical clearances are determined based on minimum air gap required between the over- line structure and live conductor, to prevent the possibilities of flash over due to high voltage surges generated on the system either due to lightening or switching surges. These switching surges are generated due to mechanical loss of contact between contact wire and pantograph, while the locomotive/ Power car approaches the over line structure. To check the adequacies of design, the practices followed on other Railways were also examined. It has also been noted that the clearance requirements for 25 kV electrified lines as per British Railway Board Standards are: Particulars Clearance in mm Normal Reduced Static 200 150 Dynamic 150` 125 In Japan, electric clearances of even 115 mm are implemented and to protect the OHE from the lightening strokes, Lightening arrestors are provided. The Lightening Arrestors used there are of 36 kV (peak), which limits the peak voltage impulse to 110 kV generated due to switching surges. The purpose of providing the lightening arrestor on OHE is to clip the impulse voltage of the OHE to a value equal to residual voltage rating of the lightening arrestor. Therefore, it was decided to provide, 42 kV lightening arrestors on DMRC system with residual voltage rating of 151 kV (Peak) at vulnerable locations like traction transformers, feeder breakers or at the entry of the tunnels. Therefore, these lightening arrestors required a reduced short-time clearance and even 160/150 mm would be sufficient. 166 Based on the above study, the following decisions were taken: (i) IEC standards would be adopted, as the Environmental conditions inside the tunnel would be better in the absence of dust and pollution, etc. (ii) The panto push up around (70 mm) can be reduced if 'Rigid OHE System' is adopted instead of flexible system, and (iii) Ballast-less track provided inside the tunnel will limit the track tolerance. 4. Rigid OCS With the adoption of rigid OCS with span length of 10 m, it was calculated that the maximum push up is 1.45 mm. With the ballast-less track, even 20 mm track maintenance tolerance could be reduced. Thus the required mechanical safety margin of 70 mm was reduced to say 2 mm. Further, with the provision of lightning arresters the design provided enhanced safety. Therefore, electrical clearance of 160 mm or so would have been sufficient but keeping in view the permission of the Government with IEC-60913 standards for electrical clearances and EN 50122-1 for safety requirements, it was concluded to design, erect and commission the rigid OCS as per the approved standards. Thus the OCS was to be designed within 562 (5550-670-4318) mm inclusive of electrical clearances. This had put an additional constraining factor of finding an insulator for 150 mm diameter. Sys-2 consortium with their expertise in designing the rigid OCS proposed a design to suit these boundary conditions. The above was possible without much construction tolerance and assuming utmost accuracy in erection, which was a challenge DMRC had to accept to have benefits of 25 kV traction and to have common traction system in all lines. After the detailed study, a conceptual design was prepared for 25 kV ac traction. The design concept was shared with M/s. Furrer and Frey, Switzerland, one of the designers and manufacturers of Rigid OHE. They considered it feasible. Based on the study, DMRC proposed to adopt 25 kV ac traction inside the tunnel with rigid OCS. The approval of the Ministry of Railways, Government of India was obtained, accordingly. The Sys-2 (consortium of M/s IRCON international, M/s Cobra of Spain And M/s Eliop of Spain) contractor in consultation with M/s Railteck of France (the other manufacturer of parts of rigid catenary) did the detailed designing and erection of 25kV ac R-OCS. The design has been reviewed and concurred with for construction by General consultant to DMRC (a consortium of PCI of Japan, PBI of USA, JARTS and Tonichi of Japan and RITES, India, a subsidiary of Railways). Representatives of M/s Railteck of France visited the installation and certified the erection. The design was further audited by M/s ATKINS of U.K. and their suggestions were incorporated. The contractor had also got design audited by their consultants, M/s INECO of Spain. The significant inputs were given by RDSO, which further helped DMRC to adhere to the standards under working conditions. 167 25kV ac Rigid OCS System - Distinguishing Features i. 25kV Rigid OCS system mainly comprises Al conductor rails (hollow T sections), cantilever arm, insulators, section insulators, supporting structures and bracket assemblies. ii. The cantilever arm is universally designed, providing it the flexibility to also be used in an inverted position, if the site conditions so require. The steelwork covers staggering arms, swivelling brackets and extension brackets. All the material used in the assembly of the R- OCS is galvanized. iii. Span Length : Conductor span length is based on the empirical formula validated by proven design of Madrid and Barcelona Metros by M/s. Cobra. Based on the formula, the span length was calculated to be 10.89 m. DMRC adopted upto 10 m span length in cut and cover tunnel; however in bored tunnel the span has been reduced to 9 m due to segment joints. iv. The main steel supports consist of dropdown brackets carrying a cantilever arm with 25000 Volts porcelain insulator. v. Earthing and Bonding design is based on the results of a Simulation Study and this is similar to the flexible OHE without the use of Booster Transformers (BTs). The contact wire used was 150 mm2 copper. The earthing system consisted of Overhead Protection Conductor (OPC) 70 mm2 Copper; return Aluminium Conductor (RC) 240 mm2 and 250 mm2 Tunnel Earth Wire. The anti-creep and overlaps length of conductor beam is roughly 250m fixed at midpoint by two cantilever arms fitted with stop clamps. The extremities of the conductor beam are equipped with 4m ramps to facilitate the entry and exit of the running pantographs and dilation of the conductor rail. The gradient of these rails in overlap portion is 4.66% i.e. 70 mm is 15.00 m of. rail length. vi. Transition arrangement is required in depot/ramp areas where flexible to rigid transition is associated. This being an important aspect, a proven design similar to Madrid and Barcelona for smooth change over was adopted. The anti-creep and overlaps length of conductor beam is roughly 250m fixed at midpoint by two cantilever arms fitted with stop clamps. The extremities of the conductor beam are equipped with 4m ramps to facilitate the entry and exit of the running pantographs and dilation of the conductor rail. The gradient of these rails in overlap portion is 4.66% i.e. 70 mm in 15.00 m of. rail length. Transition arrangement is required in depot/ramp areas where flexible to rigid transition is associated. This being an important aspect, a proven design similar to Madrid and Barcelona for smooth change over was adopted. The contact wire from the flexible OHE side is clamped and further inserted in the conductor rail for at least for 300mm length, to ensure alignment. After this point, the other portion of contact wire ends at the next air gap provided inside the tunnel area. In this manner, the mechanical tension from the OHE is mainly held by the clamp and the rest of the bolts (5 nos.) that are clamping the groove in the rail. In addition, the transition 168 element is anchored to the roof-top thereby avoiding any movement. vii. At most of the feeding locations, Air-Gaps have been provided. This arrangement is similar to the expansion joint minus the connecting jumpers (Insulated overlap). However at certain locations like scissor crossovers, Section Insulators have been used as it was not possible to accommodate Air-Gap there because of limited electrical clearances. viii. At platform ends and under the nozzle the conductor beam is equipped with protection cover to protect it from moisture, since air cooling in station areas may cause sweating. The design and installation was checked by Independent Auditors. Review of the design was also done by Research, Design and Standards Organization (RDSO) of Indian Railways, specifically with reference to design parameters, kinematic envelope and maintainability considerations. Special maintenance procedures of regular cleaning of insulators have been adopted based on the recommendation of the Independent Auditors. 5. Current Collection Performance The train trials were conducted at various speeds to verify the smooth interface between the pantograph and the R-OCS. The passage of the pantographs under the contact wire was monitored through a video camera that was fitted on the roof of the train and the adequacy of the staggering arrangement and the R-OCS ramps, to facilitate the movement of the pantograph from one section to the next, was satisfactorily observed. The performance of the system was satisfactory with a limited number of small sparks occurring at high speeds (i.e. 80 kmph) and mainly seen at the air gaps. 6. Maintenance Regime The key maintenance works relates mainly to:- a) Adjustment of R-OCS air gaps and cleaning of porcelain insulators. b) Locations of restricted mechanical clearances between support insulator of ROCS and Pantograph & periodical cleaning of insulators to be resorted to keeping in view environmental conditions. c) Tolerances specified at critical locations in order that electrical clearances be maintained. d) Periodical cleaning of support insulators, to ensure electrical performance is not degraded. e) Operating instructions issued that if the panto gets damaged and touches the body the coach, the train should be evacuated before taking it to the depot / destinations for attention. f) The evacuation of the passengers to be done through the track and not from the walkway. g) Lightning arresters being checked periodically. 169 A photo of DMRC Train 7. Rolling Stock The Delhi Metro introduced modern 3.2 meters wide, lightweight stainless steel coaches with 3- phase AC drive, regenerative braking and pneumatic suspension. This was done because the traditional 3.66 meters wide Indian Railways type EMU coaches with conventional DC drives were not advisable on the elevated/at-grade corridors for reasons of safety, power efficiency and maintenance. At that time, the country did not have the expertise required to manufacture light-weight rolling stock with advanced features like sensor based automatic door operation and automatic train integrated management system for the Metro. The technology that existed was quite outdated for twenty first century Metro operations. Even the coaches supplied by the Integral Coach Factory of Indian Railways to the Metro rail at Kolkata and elsewhere were completely different from those required by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and it would have taken over three to four years for any Indian company to acquire the technology required to build the rolling stock in India itself. The task on hand was thus quite clear. DMRC had to select a company or a consortium that could custom design the rolling stock and manufacture it under a gradual transfer of technology agreement. Global bids were invited for the supply of coaches for the Delhi Metro. After a transparent bidding process, followed by detailed negotiations, the contract for designing, 170 manufacturing, supplying, testing and commissioning Passenger Rolling Stock consisting of 240 coaches was placed on a consortium compromising of Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan (Consortium leader), ROTEM (previously KOROS) of Korea and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation of Japan in May, 2001. The contractual clauses provided for the technology transfer to an Indian company. Bharat Heavy Earth Movers Limited (BEML), were identified to progressively manufacture world-class Metro coaches in the country. Of the total number of 240 coaches, 60 coaches (15 train sets) were fully manufactured abroad and the remainder manufactured in the country. The decision catapulted India on the road to becoming a major, highly competitive supplier of state-of-the-art Metro rail rolling stock. DMRC's engineers were stationed in Korea to speed up the decision making process. As the civil construction gathered speed, the production of the rolling stock also rolled ahead at great pace. In just 14 months time - believed to be a world record in the redesigning and production of rolling stock - the first train was built and dispatched from the Changwon factory in South Korea in July 2002. The first train was flagged off on its ceremonial trial run on 17th September 2002 by the then Deputy Prime Minister Shri L K.Advani. The rolling stock was' put to stringent tests and trials. Besides tests conducted by DMRC and the manufacturers, Research Design and Standard Organization (RDSO) of the Indian Railways also conducted intensive trials in two stages. The Metro coaches were certified as safe for travel by the Commissioner for Metro Rail Safety, paving the way for their induction into service. All Metro trains were designed for fast acceleration/ deceleration and maximized energy efficiency and are equipped with electronic passenger information displays, audio announcement facilities, uniformly lit interiors and skid and fire resistant floors. All trains permit two-way communication between the driver and the Operations Control and every coach also has passenger emergency alarms communication between the passengers and the train operators. For Phase-II of the Delhi Metro project to be completed by 2010, DMRC have placed orders for 616 coaches. Of this, 424 wil1 be broad gauge coaches and 192 will be standard gauge coaches. The broad gauge coaches will be manufactured by Bombardier Transportation of Germany. There will be 37 train-sets of four coaches and 46 train sets of six coaches. The first train sets (of four coaches) will be manufactured in Germany. The rest will be assembled and subsequently manufactured at a factory being set up in Savli near Vadodara by Bombardier. The standard gauge coaches will be made by a consortium of Mitsubishi, ROTEM, Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and BEML. All 48 train sets will have four coaches each. The first train set will be manufactured in Korea. The rest will be assembled/manufactured at BEML's factory in Bangalore. All the new trains will have additional features such as close- circuit cameras in the train operator's cab and passenger saloons. Thus, all passenger movements inside Metro trains and stations can be monitored as CCTVs are already installed inside the station premises. The Phase- 171 II trains will also have better humidity control, charging points for mobile phones and laptops and more prominent destination display. In addition to the coaches ordered by DMRC for Phase- II, the consortium Reliance Energy - CAF will procure trains for the Airport Express line. Broad Gauge: Coach width: 3.2 m, Coach length: 22.24 m (motor car), 22.60 m (driving trailer car), Axle load: 17 tons, Coach accommodation: 50 passengers sitting and 330 standing per coach, Train acceleration: 0.82 metre/second/second, Average Scheduled Speed: 32 to 35 kmph over an average distance of 1.1 to 1.3 km, Braking rate: 1 m/sec/sec (80 kmph to standstill in 22 seconds in a distance of 250 m) Standard Gauge: Coach width: 2.9 m, Coach length: 22.24 m (motor car), 22.34 m (driving trailer car), Axle load: 16 tons, Coach accommodation: 50 passengers sitting and 292 standing per coach, Train acceleration: 0.8 metre/second/second, Average Scheduled Speed: 34 kmph over an average distance of 1.1 to 1.3 km, Braking rate: 8. Phase II of DMRC Central Secretariat-Badarpur (20.01km), Kirti Nagar- Mundika including KitiNagar- Inderlok link (Total approx. 20km) will be in Standard Gauge and the balance will be in BG. The entire work is expected to be completed before Oct.2010 i.e. before The Commonwealth Games. 172 Phase II consists of a length of 128 kms. of which sections Airport Express Link from Airport to New Delhi RS (18.46 km), link from Airport to Dwarka Sector 21 (3.13km) The Airport Express Link DMRC will provide an Airport Express link that will take just about 20 Mts. from New Delhi Railway Station to Dwarka Sector-21 station spanning a distance of 23 Km, with max. designed speed of 135 Km per hour. It will have check-in facilities at the Boarding stations at New Delhi and Shivaji Stadium. The link is expected to be in place, before onset of the Commonwealth games. It will stop only at four stations on the way - Shivaji Terminus, Dhaula Kuan, NH-8 and IGI. DMRC is also working out the logistics of providing a common ticket for the express link and rest of Metro network. The metro cars will be different in several ways from the other metro cars rail. Each train will have half a coach reserved for baggage. Even the passenger compartments will be designed, keeping in mind the extra room for unbooked baggage. PPP Model The Airport Express Link is the first line being constructed in India on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. As per the agreement between DMRC and concessionaire - a joint venture between Reliance Energy and Spanish firm CAS - the latter will be responsible for designing all the services at stations, signalling, electrification, telecom and O & M, as also for procurement of rolling stock. They will also create a depot near Dwarka station. The line will be underground to start with as it goes under Rajeev Chowk, GPO and central ridge to come up on Vande Mataram Marg, just before Dhaula Kuan station, which will be elevated. It will cross this flyover as well as the one near the domestic airport. The line will be underground again soon before it reaches the runway, to go via the airport to Dwarka. Under the PPP arrangement DMRC will undertake the entire civil work and play a watchdog for 30 years. DMRC is also working out the logistics of providing a common ticket for the express link and rest of Metro network. The metro cars will be different in several ways from the other metro cars rail. Each train will have half a coach reserved for baggage. Even the passenger compartments will be designed, keeping in mind the extra room for unbooked baggage. DMRC to earn carbon credit DMRC has become the first rail sector project in the world to be registered at the UN under the clean development mechanism (CDM) scheme, enabling it to earn carbon credits. Car and bus usage DMRC is also working on a project to claim carbon credits for the carbon dioxide emissions reduced on account of lesser usage of buses, cars by those commuters who have now shifted to the metro rail. Incidentally, Indian Railways also use locomotives with regenerative braking systems and acceptance of this methodology at the UN would make it easier for Railways to get its project registered. 173 A/C buses for DMRC commuters Reaching the nearest Delhi Metro station is going to be easier and much more comfortable for commuters soon. Buoyed by the success of its feeder bus services, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is now planning to introduce air-conditioned feeder buses. When it first began operations in 2002, DMRC depended on Delhi Transport Corporation buses to bring commuters to the stations. The system was not too successful and started using the help of private operators who are plying RTVs as feeder services. As this did not solve the problems of the commuters, DMRC decided to introduce its own feeder buses. These services have been so successful that DMRC is now inundated with requests for similar services in other areas. DMRC proposes more areas to be covered with more routes, more halts and stoppages air- conditioned buses and bigger buses to accommodate more commuters BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Managing 25 kv ac in 5.55 diameter tunnel - An Article by Mr. Satish Kumar - Director (RSE) & Mr. Sharat Sharma - Chief Electrical Engineer, Planning Delhi Metro Rail Corporation 2. A journey to remember 3. Various issues of Urban Railways - A Publication of Impressions India 174 Metro Prospects in Other Cities Keeping in view the success of DMRC, Central Govt. is encouraging for MRTS projects in other cities involving the concerned State Govt. participation. Metro projects in other cities are mentioned below in brief 1. Chandigarh As understood, the required approvals have been given and the underground and elevated Metro for Chandigarh and adjoining areas should be in place in about five years. The decision has been welcomed. The Metro would prove to be a boon to the city and would it boost its already high quality of life. The system will go a long way in helping maintain city's orderly appearance. Two proposed corridors are the Sarangpur-Khuda Lahora to Maheshpur in Panchkula on an east-west access and the second from Motor Market in Manimajra to Mohali Sector 105 via IT Park, Poorvi Marg and various sectors of Mohali, measuring about 87 km. Links to Mohali and Panchkula. This will help ensure that the sub-cities also develop. There was a consensus that an underground plus elevated Metro is the most desirable form of mass rapid transport for Chandigarh and the adjoining areas located in Punjab and Haryana.'' Earlier, RITES, commissioned by Chandigarh Administration, had submitted a feasibility report for two corridors either in the form of mono rail or elevated Metro rail. The ministry of Urban development expert committee appointed to review the proposal recommended surface light rail based system for the two corridors, considering that peak hour direction trip (or load) of 25,000 passengers could best handled by Light Rail Transport system. But the committee also suggested that the choice of the mode can be confirmed after a Detailed Project Report (DPR). A comprehensive mobility plan will be prepared for which Centre will provide the required support and assistance. The sources confirm that finances will not be a problem as both Punjab and Haryana have shown willingness to be part of the funding process and management arrangements for the Metro system 2. Faridabad DMRC's board of directors has given green signal for extending the line being constructed till Badarpur to Faridabad. The board examined the Detailed Project Report and was satisfied with its findings and the feasibility of extending the line. The DPR relates to the 13.87 km long line, which will start from the under-construction metro station at Badarpur and go all the way to Faridabad's YMCA crossing. The line will be elevated and stop at nine stations along the way. The likely date of commissioning this section is likely to be 2012. 3. Chennai The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, has drawn up the project report and is also the consultant for Chennai Metro Rail Ltd, the company floated by the Tamil Nadu Government will execute and 175 manage the project. The state also wants DMRC to be associated with the project right through. It is felt that a unified metropolitan transport authority should be in place by the time metro services become operational. The entire metro network is expected to be operational by 2013-14. With a unified metropolitan transport authority in place, a commuter can hop from any one of the railway networks on to another or on to a public transport bus using the same ticket. The proposed MRTS system will allow the commuters on the Washermanpet to Airport metro line to switch over to the Beach-Tambaram suburban line at Guindy, or from the MRTS to the metro line at St Thomas Mount, or use the link from the Fort to St Thomas Mount metro line to the suburban lines to the northern and western suburbs at Central stations. Similarly those planning to board long-distance buses or alighting from them at the Local terminus in Koyambedu can use the Fort to St Thomas Mount metro line.While preparing the feasibility study the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation studied seven high density transportation corridors and decided on two routes in the first phase. The third phase is likely to link the shopping district of T. Nagar with any one of the two metro lines. The line on the arterial Anna Salai will be underground and the rest will be elevated. About 20 km of the 46-km planned in the first phase will be underground and the remaining on elevated structures. 4. Bangalore Bangalore Metro, christened Namma Metro ('Namma' means 'our' in Kannada), will be built on standard gauge. It consists of two lines with total length of 33 km. Seven consortia, including Alstom, Bombardier, Siemens, Larsen & Toubro, Mitsubishi and Westinghouse Rail Systems, have lined up for designing, supplying and commissioning the signaling and telecommunication equipment systems for the Bangalore Metro. DMRC are consultants to the project. For supply of rolling stock (117 metro coaches), Bangalore Metro has already technically qualified four bidders: Alstom, Bombardier, Siemens and BEML-Mitsubishi-Rotem consortium. The coach will have a passenger capacity of 356 (50 seating and 306 standing). 5. Ahmedabad Te state had decided to have metro rail for the city of Ahmedabad. It has taken the initiative from the upcoming metro rail projects in the country. Consequently, Gujarat has re-approached Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for a modified detailed project report (DPR) for a metro project in Ahmedabad. DMRC had earlier prepared DPR. The project was to connect Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, north-south and east-west corridors of Ahmedabad. The Gujarat chief minister wanted to extend the network to new residential areas that are being developed. DMRC suggested to the state to go ahead with the earlier DPR since the extension of metro network can take place any time later. DMRC chief felt that work on the metro project in Ahmedabad may now move at a faster rate given the CM's enthusiasm. 6. Hyderabad The project envisages building a network of 46 km (2 lines). The work will be done on BOT (Build- Operate-Transfer). DMRC are prime consultants. The work is expected to start shortly. 176 7. Kochi Metro for 25 km, 1line Work is expected to commence in next financial year. DMRC will hadle the project on behalf of the govt. 8. GOA Konkan Railway an offshoot Corporation under the Ministry of Railways have designed a mono- rail system for busy Metropolitan towns. The photograph below shows aprototype of the rail sustem in Madgaon near Goa. 9. Other Cities There are proposals for Metros in Ludhiana, Greater Noida and Pune. 177 Brief CV of Raj Kumar Vir (The Author) The author of this book was born on 04.01.1930 in Rangpur (now in Pakistan). He had studied in various schools in Punjab (now part of Pakistan. Before joining Benares Hindu University, He studied in Government College Lahore. He graduated from in 1949 in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. He joined Indian Railways Service of Electrical Engineering in year 1952 and held various responsible posts such as Deputy Railway Advisor (DRA) at Zurich, Switzerland, Divisional Superintendent (DS, now known as DRM) of an important division, Chief Planning Officer (CPLO), and Chief Electrical Engineer (CEE). He too had a stint, as a Deputy Director and later as a Joint Director at RDSO. He retired as General Manager (GM) of CLW in 1988. During his tenure as DRA for about 4 years he was mainly responsible for inspection of 1st lot of 100 WAM 1 locomotives. Mention of the same has been in the book. He had thus opportunity of visiting important Locomotive Works as well those manufacturing the locomotive components in Europe. He was thus able to acquire knowledge of state of art practices used in manufacture and technology, which he used successfully able to utilize on his return back to India, particularly in his tenure at RDSO. At RDSO he was assigned to look after EMU problems in addition to TRAIN LIGHTING failures and alarming rate of electrical fires in metal bodied stock. At one time the problem was so acute that one could hardly see a train with the lights working in a train, particularly in passenger trains. Two important reports entitled "Evaluation and Performance of Double Battery Parallel Block 24v dc Train Lighting System on Broad Gauge", and "Fires of electrical origin on all metal coaches" were issued by RDSO under his leadership These actions recommended and taken by the railways resulted in quantum Jump in the quality of TL system and incidence of fires vanished. The author considers these two reports as one of the most important contributions of his career. General Manager/SER asked him to be an Officer of Special Duties during the famous Railwaymens' strike in May 1974 at Bhilai. Bhilai has a steel plant and an important nerve centre of traffic. He was able to handle the situation and the plant worked to its full capacity and movement of essential finished products was not hampered. He was thus picked up to be a DS of one of the most important divisions of Indian Railways. He thus became the first Electrical Engineer to hold such a position. Chakradharpur Division had not only the 1st Electrical Engineer as a DS but also a non-operating officer to be at the helm. Since the performance had improve considerably during his tenure the officer fron all departments were selected to hold charge of DS's post. He was picked up for post of CEE of the erstwhile (not divided into 3 zones) South Eastern Railway (SER) which had 9 divisions had the largest electrified route and was responsible for the haulage of the heaviest traffic on Indian Railways. At that time it was a holding of over 300 electric locomotives based 179 in 5 sheds. It had the lowest operating ratio i.e. the ratio of expenses and earnings and had always been considered as a BLUE CHIP railway. This railway was reorganized into 12 divisions and 2 more zones i.e. East Coast Railway (E Co R) and South East Central Railway (S E C R) were carved out of the same. As CPLO he helped his GM in improving various operating indices. As a GM/CLW, he was able to manifest his management skills and was able to more than double the outturn without any additional input in staff. Thus he has wide experience of maintenance, operations & management of diverse electrical technologies like Railway Electrification, Electric Rolling Stock etc., besides general administration. Sri Vir is a fellow of the Institute of Rail Transport, and Institute of Rolling Stock Engineers. He is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers of U.S.A. (IEEE) and he is both a life fellow and chartered engineer of the Institute of Engineers (India). He has written large number of articles for National and International Technical Journals. He was responsible for preparing 4 chapters concerning Electrical Engineering in First Report of Indian Engineering Heritage (Railways), a publication of Indian National Academy of Engineering. He authored a book entitled "the Story of Chittranjan Locomotive Works". The second edition of the book has already come out. 180