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TN road transport undertakings may buy 3,000 buses this year

Thursday, 30 July 2009 05:01 administrator
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The Business Line 30.07.2009

TN road transport undertakings may buy 3,000 buses this year

Tenders for 1,500 LED destination display boards too.


An airconditioned bus of the Chennai Metropolitan Transport Corporation

M. Ramesh

Chennai, July 29

Armed with funds from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, the various State road transport undertakings in Tamil Nadu are on a buying spree.

On July 1, orders were placed for 1,500 semi-low floor buses, worth about Rs 300 crore. Ashok Leyland got orders for 1,000 buses, Tata Motors for 500.

Now, the nodal agency for the centralised purchases for the TN STUs, Institute of Road Transport (IRT) will finalise another order for 100 air-conditioned buses next week.

The Institute has put out another tender for the buying 1,500 LED destination display boards, valued at about Rs 25 crore. These are modern boards that gives the bus number, route and name of the stopping on their electronic displays.

Bids for led displays

The tender is good news for Chennai, where about 300 buses have the LED displays, on trial basis.

According to Mr P. Rajan, Additional Director (Purchase), IRT, 900 of the 1,500 units under purchase are meant for the buses of Chennai Metropolitan Transport Corporation. The other 600 are to be equally divided between Coimbatore and Madurai. The funding for the LED displays also comes from JNNURM.

Outside the JNNURM-funded purchase programme, the IRT has floated a tender calling for the supply of some 60,000 tyres worth about Rs 36 crore, which closes on August 4. Another tender for supply of lubricants worth about Rs 25 crore closes on August 8.

Mr Rajan told Business Line on Wednesday that within the next fortnight, IRT will finalise orders for the purchase of 1,400 bus chassis. This could be worth another Rs 300 crore. Thus, between JNNURM and otherwise, the TN STUs will buy at least 3,000 new buses this year.

Asked if IRT also buys spare parts for the TN fleet, Mr Rajan said that spare parts are centrally purchased by the Association of State Road Transport Undertakings, New Delhi.

IRT is mandated with the task of purchasing items such as chassis, lubricants, rubber materials including tyres and bus tickets, he said.

Last Updated on Thursday, 30 July 2009 05:06
 

Trial run begins on first standard gauge Metro line

Thursday, 30 July 2009 04:05 administrator
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The Hindu 30.07.2009

Trial run begins on first standard gauge Metro line

Smriti Kak Ramachandran

— Photo: Sushil Kumar Verma

Trial run of the first standard gauge train on the Inderlok-Mundka corridor of the Delhi Metro on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI: On Wednesday, India’s first standard gauge Metro train rolled out for a trial run in the city. And as the sleek, shimmering contraption dashed past on the under-construction Inderlok-Mundka line, India found itself a place in the list of countries that use the standard gauge.

Marginally narrower than the broad gauge lines, the standard gauge, which is being introduced in the city in keeping with international standards, has several advantages. While it assures passengers of comfort and speed, it cuts down on civil and engineering costs of creating wider tunnels and bigger stations required for a broad gauge.

Explaining the reason for the shift from the broad gauge to the standard gauge, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation officials said the standard gauge allows easier access through congested areas. “Since Metro alignments have to pass through heavily congested areas, the standard gauge scores over the broad gauge, as it permits sharper curves and requires less land,” an official said.

Pointing out that the standard gauge was adopted by several cities, including Cairo, Madrid, Bangkok, Manila and Beijing, the official said: “In India, the first train, called the standard gauge prototype Metro train, will run through heavily built-up areas for optimal passenger utilisation. The Metro systems coming up in Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai will also have standard gauge.”

During the trial, the train will run 6.8 km between five stations, from Mundka to Peeragarhi, and it will initially undergo dynamic testing for about a week to check its suspension, safety, reliability and passenger comfort.

“After clearance is obtained from the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO), Lucknow, probably by the first week of August, more trial runs will be conducted during which the train’s integration with system equipment such as signalling, telecom and platforms will be tested,” said a DMRC spokesperson.

The extensive train testing procedures are being carried out, since it is the first time the standard gauge Metro trains are being introduced in India. Listing the features of the new train, the spokesperson said: “The front of the standard gauge train has a single glass pane as can be seen in cars instead of two separate panes as in the existing trains. Other features include Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in and outside the coaches, power supply connections inside coaches to charge mobiles and laptops; better humidity control and microprocessor-controlled disc brakes.”

The train will also have external display boards on side windows of each coach so that passengers can view the terminal stations while standing on platforms. Digital route maps will be provided inside coaches instead of stickers and four passenger information boards will be used in each coach.

For the DMRC’s second phase, standard gauge tracks have been provided on the Inderlok-Mundka, Central Secretariat-Badarpur and the Airport Express Line. “These three lines are being built on standard gauge — 4 feet 8.5 inches — as per the international norms. The Corporation will procure 48 standard gauge trains from a consortium of Mitsubishi, ROTEM, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and Bharat Earth Movers Ltd. Of these, three, including the prototype being tested, have already arrived at the Mundka depot,” the spokesperson said.

The Inderlok–Mundka line is 15.15 km long and has 14 stations. It is scheduled to be opened by March next, but the DMRC is confident that the line will be ready for commissioning by the end of this year.

Last Updated on Thursday, 30 July 2009 04:11
 

Security for city bus shelters

Wednesday, 29 July 2009 12:36 administrator
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Deccan Chronicle 29.07.2009

Security for city bus shelters

July 29th, 2009
By Our Correspondent

Chennai, July 28: Security personnel are now guarding the stylish new stainless steel bus shelters in the city.

They are not guarding them against possible terror strikes, but are only keeping vigil to protect ceiling fans, money vending machines and public telephones besides the vinyl advertisement billboards.

There are two security guards at each shelter working on shift basis. Sources said they were being paid Rs 4,000 per month.

The new bus shelters are part of the 500 such facilities planned by the metro transport corporation and built by a private firm. It is expected that all shelters will be ready in another three months.

According to senior executives of the firm, the bus stop might also have facilities like surveillance cameras, FM radio, water vending machines and ATM machines soon.

Advertisers are being charged between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh per month for putting up their displays in the bus shelter.

The new bus shelters are coming up on Anna Salai, Poonamallee High Road, Nungambakkam High Road, NSC Bose Road, Kodambakkam High Road and Sardar Patel Road.

The MTC is expected to get a royalty of Rs 1.7 crore per year for providing pavement space for the bus shelters.

 
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