12-coach suburban trains to be started

Kolkata: Eastern Railway, riding on increased earnings from both passenger and freight for the first eight months of the current fiscal (up to November), has decided to convert all the rakes in the system to 12 coach rakes (from the existing nine) in the next two or three financial years, depending on the availability of new rakes. Infrastructure work for operation of 12 coach rakes is expected to be completed by March 2008.

12-coach EMU

Addressing a news conference here on Tuesday at the Howrah station complex, after flagging off a 12-coach EMU Tarakeshwar local of the Howrah Division, Mr N.K. Goel, General Manager, ER, said even as passenger carrying capacity was being increased substantially through introduction of 12-coach suburban trains, there was also a plan to create an exclusive suburban terminal (at an estimated cost of around Rs 300 crore) adjacent to the Howrah Station complex.

Platform extension

Platform extension work (to accommodate 12 coach trains) at an estimated expenditure of around Rs 10 crore for each section, has been taken up. The GM said “we are working at a great pace to complete the platform extension works for operation of 12 coach rakes”.

He said all rakes in the system were being fitted with ESMONS (energy saving & speed monitoring system), which will enable the energy consumed by a rake to be closely monitored, resulting in both energy savings and also reduction of green house gases emissions.

Mr Goel said during the year, five new rakes have been introduced in the ER system, and five more are planned to be introduced by March 31.

He said all this was part of the plan to turn the Howrah terminal into a ‘world class’ railway station, for which consultants are being appointed by the Railway Board through a global tendering system.

The consultancy for the project will be in all three areas of technical, financial and legal. The Indian Railways has taken up a programme to convert some 22 stations into model ones, and in the first phase, New Delhi, Kolkata and Patna railway stations will be taken up for complete modernisation.