Why should private trains be right on track?

For those who support the idea, the experience of transformation in other transport sectors, speaks. Had roads and skies not been opened for private players, those mode of travels would have continued to remain lackadaisical.

Let us address apprehensions of the naysayers:

The first one is that the private players will fix the prices too high that common people cannot travel anymore by rail. Before the opening of skies for private players, the monopolised prices of Air India never allowed the proliferation of air travel even among upper middle class, let alone the middle classes. Only after the entry of low-cost private airlines, the metamorphosis took place. As a result, domestic air passengers went up from 1.4 crore in 2000 to 13.90 crores in 2018, which is a ten-fold increase. It is left to private train operators to strategise how they will achieve profitability even in the presence of a price war and attracting passengers by giving value for money. To cut the story short, the unprofessional national carrier is on the way out! Why should the experience in rail traffic should be different?

The next apprehension is on the safety and security of passengers while travelling by private trains. Be it the lease trains from the Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) or bringing state-of-the-art trains which consume less energy and provide a smooth ride even at higher speeds with minimal noise and vibrations, they can operate their trains only after the RDSO certification. The private players may hire drivers from anywhere but only after the certification from the Indian Railways for their fitness to be loco pilots, they would be allowed to steer the trains. The same existing rigours would continue.

The next apprehension is that the existing railway employees will lose their jobs if private trains are introduced. The Indian Railways don’t have excess running staff and hence the question of railwaymen losing their jobs with the introduction of private trains has no basis. On the contrary, the loco pilots and guards who opted either for volunteer retirement or superannuated have no bar in becoming loco pilots in private trains if they are fit enough to do the job.

Competitiveness and professionalism are the hall marks of commercial enterprises worldwide. Perform or perish is the buzz word! It is after all only the innovative and enterprising entrepreneurs who run the world! Don’t cry foul when they make the money for toiling. It is impossible to run State-owned enterprises on commercial terms in the long run as there is no incentive for excellence: where most would contribute only water while you call for ‘milk collection’, thinking anyway others would add milk and the mischievous act could not be reprimanded. It is indeed true that the Marx-model has not survived the test of time!

Indian Railways is owned by the state for historical reasons. It can still co-exist in the new eco system, if it performs! Make a train journey an enjoyable experience! A revolution in this segment is in the offing with a bang…. You may have a more pleasant and responsive TTE or his more dignified equivalent.

Credits:

www.deccanchronicle.com/opinion/op-ed/121019/why-private-trains-may-be-on-the-right-track.html

Should commercial interests supersede passenger safety?

The crash Sunday morning of a jetliner in Ethiopia bears unmistakable similarities to the Oct. 29 tragedy off the coast of Indonesia involving the same model, prompting questions about whether a design issue that arose during the earlier accident could be to blame. It is the second fatal crash of a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in six months.

Experts urged caution about drawing conclusions too quickly, although details of the crashes – shortly after takeoff, at relatively low altitudes with erratic flight patterns – seem similar, the data are insufficient to conclude that the same systems were at fault.

The Indonesian Lion Air Plane air crash report found that a sensor measuring the plane’s “angle of attack” fed erroneous data into the plane’s flight control system, at which point an automatic feature kicked in, sending the plane into a nose dive. The problem lies with “angle of attack” sensors that measure the wind speed over an aircraft’s wings, according to the Boeing notification. Their measurements are meant to detect if a plane is moving too slowly, which can cause it to lose control. The Lion Air plane lost altitude dozens of times before it crashed as the jet’s computers, thinking it was in danger of losing control, continually tried to push down its nose. The pilots countermanded the aircraft’s software over and over, pulling it back into climbs, until they failed to do so and it crashed.

The report stopped short of assigning blame for the crash. However, multiple pilots organizations in the United States criticized Boeing after it disclosed that it had made certain changes to the MAX’s autopilot software – it added a new flight-control feature, the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS). The updated software was meant to account for design changes to the 737 MAX, and was supposed to make the plane operate as closely as possible to older 737 models despite having larger engines placed farther forward on the plane’s wings. While the MCAS system was ostensibly added to make the plane safer, pilot unions in the United States said they had been left “in the dark” about the software update and criticised Boeing for failing to cover the new system in training sessions.

If the results of an inspection turn up significant design flaws in the 737 MAX, planes could be grounded worldwide. Six Boeing 737 Maxs are in use in India —five by Jet Airways and one by SpiceJet. The two airlines have also placed orders for over 200. Following Boeing’s circular, India’s civil aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked Jet Airways and SpiceJet to address any issues with their 737 Max aircraft.

After the Ethiopian crash, Only China has so far grounded similar aircrafts: China’s aviation regulator had ordered Chinese airlines, which has 96 737 MAX jets in service, to suspend the operations.

The 737 MAX 8, which was expected to significantly improve the fuel efficiency, has been a major profit driver for Boeing since it was introduced in 2017, and it is critical to Boeing’s broader international ambitions as it competes with Airbus, its European rival in the commercial airline business. Boeing has delivered 354 of the jets globally and has another 2,912 on order. The jet that crashed Sunday was one of five 737 MAX 8 planes operated by Ethiopian Airlines, which has 25 more on order. In the United States, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines have 59 between their two fleets, with 304 on order.

Why should the regulators and the designers soft pedal the Lion Air crash analysis that could have led to a ‘repeat’ incident? Whether commercial interests camouflage the passenger safety?

Mumbai to Pune in half an hour by Train?

With time becoming more and more a valuable commodity, the transportation industry is ready with a new way of thinking.

A company in USA, Virgin Hyperloop One, is testing a system for mass transportation at an astronomical speeds reaching upto 1000 Kmph. This would dwarf the present day rail travel with speeds not exceeding even half of this.

This is one of several companies in the United States, Canada and other countries developing hyperloop technology. The concept was promoted by Elan Musk, of electric-car Tesla and a private-rocket SpaceX tycoon and offered by one of his companies as open-source technology available to all. It works by propelling pods using magnetic levitation through a low-pressure, near-vacuum tube.

The low pressure minimizes friction and air resistance, greatly reducing the power needed. And because the pods travel in a tube, they’re not subject to shutdowns because of harsh weather like snow and polar vortexes.

To avoid making anyone sick, the system would take three minutes to accelerate to the maximum speed, and the train would need to travel 6 miles to turn 90 degrees.

Because of its slow takeoff rate, “you’ll feel only 30 to 40 percent of the acceleration compared to an airplane,” said the spokesman of Virgin, which has raised $295 million. This company is in the developing this concept with projects in India and Ohio.

Last month, Maharashtra declared the company’s proposed hyperloop system between Pune and Mumbai as an official infrastructure project. Passenger operations could begin by the middle of the next decade, cutting travel time between the cities to 30 minutes, from the present few hours. “The trip will be so smooth”, the company spokesman added, that “coffee won’t slide even at 600 mph”. Construction on a 7-mile test track in Nevada desert could start this year.

But one of my friends curtly remarked, “Let the first Bullet train run in India, then we can think of obsolescence etc; கூழுக்கே வழி இல்லை கொப்பளிக்க பன்னீருக்கு ஏம்பா போற” The famous adage in Tamil that is crudely translated into “should one who can’t even have even porridge, dream wine for goggling?”. But I am an optimist to wish belittling Modi’s Bullet! Too fairy a tale…?

Credits:

economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/travelling-at-600mph-indias-hyperloop-dreams-take-shape-in-the-nevada-desert/articleshow/68057638.cms

Do we need Bullet trains?

An interesting and motivating article by the Editor, The Hindu Business Line that appeared in ‘The Hindu’ today: A truly lateral thought that counters the arguments on viability ridiculing its planning….

Here are its highlights..

One needs not only vision to think big and possess indomitable will to withstand the criticism of being megalomaniacal but also pursue unrealistic expensive and fanciful dreams. Take such dreams which the contemporaries must have been critical off: the early Taj Mahal or Great Wall of China or the recent Narmada Dam or the International Space Station (costing $200 billion) or Al Maktoum airport for which Dubai Sheiks are pumping $82 Billion or the South-North water linking project that the Chinese have undertaken which is the world’s largest hydro-engineering project with two 1000km water linking canals. These mega projects help in technologies and services, create tens of thousands of jobs, execution capabilities sparking innovations, shaping the world and the landscape around them. One showcase will trigger the aspirations of others like the Delhi Metro has been able to accomplish in India….

That is why we need not one project like Bullet train but many such mega projects to raise the technology and quality levels in engineering and develop skilled labours and enterprises that Create the eco-system!!

THINK BIG … DREAM THE IMPOSSIBLE…Make others envious….

It is now a concern that the bullet train project moving at snail’s pace: with the deadline of dec 2018 approaching for acquisition of land, only 0.9 of 1400 hectares have been acquired for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet train project. The Japan funding agency, JICA has stopped the payment on the grounds that the project did not show any progress due to several disputes. JICA, has agreed to provide nearly Rs. 80,000 crore for the estimated at 1 lakh crore. Only the first installment of Rs 125 crore was sanctioned when the Japanese PM visited Gujarat in last September has so far been released.

It is indeed tough to acquire agricultural land in a country where it is the livelihood of the poor. The demand of the land losers is job apart from the monetary compensation. While there are ‘many ways’ for a private entrepreneur to acquire land, the options for a government agency is limited.

Take for example Jamnagar, where RIL has built its world’s largest refinery. The entire complex consist of manufacturing and allied facilities, utilities, off-sites, port facilities and a township with over 7500 acres of land., which more than twice that of the one under acquisition for the high speed train! ‘Nowhere have farmers had it so good as Jamnagar where many have fixed deals for as high as Rs. 3.09 lakh per 2.5 acre for non-irrigated land and Rs. 4.06 lakh per 2.5 acre for irrigated land with Reliance Industries Limited’ wrote Times of India in its 31st March 2007 issue. They lead now a princely life and are envied by those who didn’t have any land to offer!

This could well be a case study for social scientists and agro-economists to understand the acumen and skills of Jamnagar’s farmers who willingly offered their lands for industrial development, make money and still remain farmers by buying farm lands in vicinity. In the process, they not only grow economically but also become partners in growth and economic progress. No less credit to Ambanis!

Land acquisition is not only a social issue but political as well. It has always been a pain in the neck. But, there is much more than just that meets the eye. After all India is not China…..!

Biodiesel in India

This is not Ramar petrol (of Tamil Nadu fame) formula……

Presently there is commotion to reduce the petrol and diesel price on one hand and the increasing foreign exchange outgo on the other as well as arguably restrain from the government to the lowering of excise duties.

It is heartening that Chhattisgarh is taking initiatives to produce biofuel from the plant ‘Jatropha’ by transforming the farming culture in the state. Under its initiative, Seeds from the fields are sent to a biofuel plant in Raipur, run by Chhattisgarh Bio-Diesel Authority (CBDA), where oil is extracted and sent to Dehradun-based Indian Institute of Petroleum, which developed the biofuel. IIP had been working on biofuel for a while but the challenge was a sustainable supply of jatropha.

Now more than 500 farmers, mainly in Pendra-Marwahi blocks of Bilaspur, signed up for producing Jatropha’ the bio-petroleum oil seed. Over 600 tonnes of seeds have been collected in the past 18 months. Only seeds with 32% oil content, 12% moisture and 98% physical purity are used. The crude oil produced at the CBDA plant in Raipur is transported to IIP, Dehradun. While yield of biodiesel from Four kilos of seed ía a kilo of fuel, The remaining 3kg cake is crushed and used as organic manure.

Jatropha incentives in India is a part of India’s goal to achieve energy independence by the year 2018. Jatropha oil is produced from the seeds of the Jatropha curcas, a plant that can grow in wastelands across India, and the oil is considered to be an excellent source of bio-diesel. India is keen on reducing its dependence on coal and petroleum to meet its increasing energy demand and encouraging Jatropha cultivation is a crucial component of its energy policy. However, in recent times the bio-fuel policy has come under critical review, on the way it has been promoted.

Though On August 27, a Spicejet flight flew from Dehradun to Delhi with this biofuel, there is still A long way to go…….!!!!!!!