Anyone? What exactly are we getting under the 'Station modernisation'? Any concepts floated yet?
Striking design brings India's New Delhi station into the 21st century | Daily Mail Online
With its vast indoor platforms, raised glass-panelled walkways and giant, futuristic pillars it is a far cry from the scene that greets India's rail passengers on their current daily commute.
The striking image is an artist’s impression of plans by a global engineering and design consultancy to transform New Delhi railway station into an ‘urban icon for a modern, vibrant city’.
Arup has been appointed to redevelop the 86 hectares that the station covers and make the site fit for 21st century travel.
'Urban icon': The computer-generated plans for the new station include vast indoor platforms, raised glass-panelled walkways and futuristic, sweeping white pillars
Outdated: The new design is a far cry from the current New Delhi railway station where passengers have to wait outdoors on crowded platforms
The proposed station - which is covered by a white ceiling and dotted with trees - will feature 18 platforms and handle in excess of 500,000 rail passengers per day.
The company hopes to completely transform the current overcrowded site, which travellers on TripAdvisor complain is ‘chaotic’, ‘dirty’ and ‘dangerous’.
Just last week, the Indian Government announced controversial plans to hike rail fares and freight rates to pay for much-needed investment in the country's loss-making rail network.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told people who were protesting against the fare rises: 'India must decide whether it wants a world-class railway or a ramshackled one.'
Arup’s designs were revealed today as part of the consultancy’s Future Of Rail 2050 report in which it outlines its predictions on how technology will change the way we travel in 35 years’ time.
The company said it wanted to ‘challenge people’s thinking’ and ‘focus on the forces shaping the future of rail’, including rising passenger numbers and the effects of climate change.
Overcrowded and in need of reform: Passengers have described New Delhi station as 'chaotic', 'dirty' and 'dangerous'
A ticketless future: Gate-lines in the futuristic stations will be removed and payment processed automatically when the journey is taken
The report includes research into driverless trains and intelligent robots, which would help to build rail infrastructure, along with drones, which would carry out maintenance on rail lines.
Swarm robotics - a theory based on behaviour among ant and bee colonies - could see small robots working collaboratively on major railway repair and structural testing.
Monitoring drones would enable rail operators to perform advanced maintenance and carry out safe inspection of bridges, tunnels and tracks. Arup claims that the new technology could even eradicate journey delays and track closures.
Human staff could also be a thing of the past with the introduction of automated systems, driverless trains and ticketless travel.
Crumbling infrastructure: The Indian government is set to raise train fares in order to fund much-needed investment in the country's rail network
Stretched to the limit: New Delhi station is one of the busiest in India and many of its trains are overcrowded
Sleek design: The Mercury's extended nose section is described as 'one of the most extreme in the world' and will help the train reach a speed of 360kph
The company - which has also worked on high-speed rail projects in Beijing, Portugal and Brazil – claims driverless trains speed up rail travel because they increase the average train speed.
It reported that trains can operate closer together, reducing the time it takes a train to slow down at stations, and increasing reliability.
Copenhagen, Paris, Singapore, Dubai and São Paulo all currently operate driverless passenger trains on selected lines, along with London’s Docklands Light Railway (DLR).
In addition, tickets could become a thing of the past as Arup predicts travel that is entirely electronic and tracked by wearable devices. Gate-lines in stations will be removed and payment processed automatically when the journey is taken.
Rail stations will also be powered by new forms of energy. Electricity will be generated from passengers’ footsteps, which will then provide power to the station, while trains will rely on alternative forms of fuel including liquefied natural gas (LNG), hydrogen and even algae.
By 2050 it is thought that hydrogen, or hydrail, could be a primary means of powering trains.
Changing how we travel: Arup's designs were revealed as part of the consultancy's Future Of Rail 2050 report
Ambitious: Elon Musk's Hyperloop would see people transported between cities inside aluminium pods travelling at speeds of up to 1,300km per hour
The report imagines a future where train passengers can contact friends, family and colleagues via "HoloCalls" - holographic image displays - and train windows will adjust automatically to prevent external glare.
Virtual shopping walls – which are already in operation in South Korea and China - will be located in railway stations and even carriages, enabling passengers to purchase products from the wall displays via their mobile devices.
The company also revealed how high-speed trains could look in the future, using an artist’s impression of the Mercury train designed by transport consultancy Priestmangoode.
The double-decker train features an extended nose section, which the consultancy describes as ‘one of the most extreme in the world’ and will help the train reach a speed of 360kph.
New forms of transport could also emerge, including ambitious concepts such as Elon Musk’s Hyperloop.
Musk’s design would see people transported between cities inside aluminium pods travelling at speeds of up to 1,300km per hour.
Stockng up on the go: Passengers will be able to buy groceries from virtual shopping walls located in railway stations
Arup's global rail leader Colin Stewart said: ‘The global urban population is growing rapidly and, by 2050, around 75 per cent of the world's population will live in cities.
‘This places huge pressure on transport infrastructure and resources, but also creates a significant opportunity for rail, which relies on passenger density to function most effectively. The challenge will lie in juggling the responsibility of providing reliable travel for millions while simultaneously tailoring each journey for the individual.
'However, by rapidly developing technology and taking bold steps to overcome capacity and cost challenges through maximising efficiencies , the rail renaissance can deliver a future where rail is the backbone of our travel system, linking major urban hubs and feeding into multi-modal transport networks for the benefit of the passenger.’
Virtual world: The shopping walls are already in operation in South Korea and China where passengers can buy products from wall displays via mobile devices
Mick Cash, the acting general secretary of transport union the RMT, said: ‘This report and its proposals are just dangerous nonsense straight out of some barmy work of science fiction.
‘The notion of an entirely de-staffed railway with track workers replaced by drones could only have been cooked up by someone miles out of touch with reality.’
He continued: ‘The RMT is discussing our continued fight against axing guards and gate-line staff at our conference in Bristol this week.
‘Any train company thinking of looking at the proposals in today’s report should be warned that they will face stiff industrial and political resistance from the RMT.’
These are the new coaches of AC1 AC2 AC3 and sleeper classes....will be start adding after diwali
Edit your post and click "full Image"
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@Dr. Sen Above post is the vision, below is what is involved in the current up gradation process...
Upgrade of 400 railway stations, e-way cleared - The Times of India
NEW DELHI: Decrepit and dirty railway stations may soon be a thing of the past, with the Union Cabinet on Thursday deciding to involve private players to redevelop over 400 stations in metros and major cities besides pilgrim centres and important tourist spots.
The Cabinet also cleared six-laning of the eastern peripheral expressway through Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, which, when complete, would go a long way in easing air pollution in Delhi by enabling trucks and other vehicles passing through the region to bypass the capital.
The revamped railway stations will feature business centres, shopping outlets, restaurants and Wi-Fi-enabled waiting lounges.
Reburshed stations will also have luxury hotels, multilevel parking, separate entry and exit levels as the railways looks to leverage its prime real estate in and around these stations, mostly in the heart of cities.
READ ALSO: Private players free to choose any railway station for revamp
Announcing the decision, finance minister Arun Jaitley said, "
The Cabinet has approved the redevelopment of railway stations. Four hundred railway stations are to be redeveloped using the Swiss Challenge method." The decision, the FM said, will encourage innovative ideas from interested parties at no cost to the railways.
Under the Swiss Challenge method, open bids are invited from interested parties. Once someone submits a bid, another party can give suggestions to improve and beat that proposal. An expert committee will accept the best proposal and the original proposer will get a chance to accept it if it is an improvement on his proposal. In case the original proposer is not able to match the competing counterproposal, the project is awarded to the counter-proposer. This system has been used by several state governments.
Railway minister Suresh Prabhu tweeted, "E-bidding process leaves no discretion ... it will be a very transparent method. All bids will be done only through web-based bidding process, it will see evaluation by independent experts. Budget announcement fulfilled."
READ ALSO: Now, pay hefty fines for littering at railway stations
Prabhu added, "This move is a very big step towards passenger service, modernization and job creation." He clarified that land ownership will remain with the railways. "Station will be developed to use land and air rights, no selling of land. Customer service is our priority," he tweeted.
A senior railway official said private players would be engaged to modernize passenger amenities at stations while they would be allowed to commercially exploit the real estate around the stations in the heart of the city. The transporter's earlier moves to modernize stations and transform them into world-class facilities have not been very successful.
The six-laning of the eastern peripheral expressway will cost an estimated Rs 7,558 crore, including Rs 1,795.20 crore for land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities. The total length of the road will be 135km.
The long-awaited highway, along with the western peripheral expressway, will encircle Delhi and ensure that traffic not destined for the capital does not enter the city.
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