Almost everybody in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi has a railways story to tell these days.
If cab driver Rajesh Yadav talks zestfully about the benefits of the ‘rail cum road’ bridge that will come up on the 51 kilometre-long under-construction Mau-Ghazipur-Tarighat line, betel leaf shop owner Rambriksha waxes eloquent about the upgraded amenities for passengers at the Varanasi City, Sarnath and Manduadih stations.
And it is not without reason that this ancient temple town is gripped by “rail mania”.
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Rail construction activities can be seen all around: A coach washing pit coming up at one location; a Diesel Electrical Multiple Unit (DEMU) shed at another.
The Gorakhpur-based Northeastern Railway zone alone is implementing 53 projects worth a meaty Rs. 3940.02 crore in Varanasi and the adjoining district of Ghazipur – represented by minister of state for railways Manoj Sinha.
Officials at the Varanasi-based Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW) – among the oldest production units –have not been left untouched by the NDA government’s rail fervour. “Long pending capacity enhancement schemes are now at the take-off stage,” VK Srivastava, the unit’s controller of stores, said.
The first lot of 5 “dual mode locomotives”- which has been in the making for 5 years – is scheduled for a rollout by March next year, while the Remote Monitoring and Management of Locomotive and Trains (REMMLOT) will also be shortly unveiled, said Yogesh Mohan, chief quality assurance manager.
{{/usCountry}}The first lot of 5 “dual mode locomotives”- which has been in the making for 5 years – is scheduled for a rollout by March next year, while the Remote Monitoring and Management of Locomotive and Trains (REMMLOT) will also be shortly unveiled, said Yogesh Mohan, chief quality assurance manager.
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The 4500 horsepower dual mode locos will operate under pure electric traction wherever possible, and use the diesel engines to extend the journeys along non-electrified sections which would not be cost effective to electrify.
“Such locos will reduce move operational challenges and reduce transit time for passenger and goods trains that link the main rail lines with the branch lines in the country’s remote areas,” AK Singh, the unit’s chief design engineer, said.
These locos have been in operation in countries including France, Italy, Poland, Russia, Spain and Switzerland.
The REMMLOT is network oriented system, connecting locos in the field with centralised server-based management system through GSM network communication and GPS to provide real-time locomotive health data and location of Locomotives.
The REMMLOT – which will be fitted in 12 locos on a trial basis by July – incorporates the Loco Cab Video and Voice Recording System (LCVR) which will enable a close vigil on loco pilots during train operations.”The systems will be used for effective post analysis after train accidents”, officials said.