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TECHNOLOGY : EPISODE 12 BRITISH TRAINS PLANS TO POWERED BY HUMAN WASTE & DISCARDED FOOD

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  Britain’s  Trains powered by human waste and discarded food could be introduced to its network under plans to phase out dirty diesel engines. The 'Bio Ultra' railcar is the brainchild of a team of engineers led by the Worcester-based Ultra Light Rail Partners and will be able to carry up to 120 passengers. With a top speed of 50 mph, the 66 feet (20m) long car will turn biomethane gas into electrical power which will charge the train's batteries and drive its motors. The development is being support by a £60,000 grant from Innovate UK, the Government's non-departmental research-funding agency. This is the second such grant that the team have been awarded. The previous, for £350,000, was used to build a smaller, 60-person railcar earlier this year. This demo 'mini train' which was around 33 feet (10m) long and weighed some 12 tonnes was put through its paces at Motorail’s Long Marston test facility in July 2020. In the wake of COVID-19, however, the new...

ENGINEERING LESSONS : EPISODE 17 DELHI METRO DRIVERLESS TRAIN CRASHES INTO WALL

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  Driverless Train of Delhi Metro's Magenta Line crashes into wall Incident date: Dec 2017 Location:  Delhi Metro's Magenta line, Kalindi Kunj Metro Station. Fatality  : No Driverless train of Delhi Metro's Magenta line crashed into a wall of Kalindi Kunj metro station. The Kalkaji -Botanical Garden metro line,  the incident happened within the gated boundary of the station.  Delhi Metro's new generation trains that can be maneuvered without drivers are going to run on this route. Movement of these driverless trains would be facilitated by advanced Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) signaling technology. Initially it is planned to operated by drivers for the initial couple of years. 12.64 km Magenta line was given the necessary safety approvals by Commissioner for Metro Rail Safety (CMRS). A trial train was moved from the workshop without testing the brake system as a result of which, while the train was moving up the ramp for washing, it ro...

ENGINEERING LESSONS : EPISODE 18 WHALE CATCHES DUTCH METRO TRAIN BEFORE CRASHING IN WATER

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WHALE CATCHES DUTCH METRO TRAIN AFTER DEADLY CRASH  Date of the Incident:  2 November 2020 Place :  De Akkers station in Spijkenisse, Netherlands Metro train in Spijkenisse, near the city of Rotterdam, Netherlands crashed through a barrier at the end of the tracks. Instead of plummeting into the water below, the train was caught by a sculpture of a whale's tail.  Several meters above the ground, the train was left perched upon one of two tail fins. The sculpture was built around 20 years ago in a park underneath the raised metro  by artist Maarten Struijs , its name a deliberate play on the fact that it is a “tail track” at the end of the line. Experts said it was unclear why the train had not been stopped by automatic buffers at the end of the track. Apparently something went wrong technically, possibly combined with human error. Surprisingly the sculpture built of plastic have saved the train from falling down, even after 20 years the sculpture made of pl...

PROJECTS : SURAT METRO

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 SURAT METRO Project Name: Surat Metro Rail Project Operator: Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation Limited Owner: Govt. of India and Govt. of Gujarat Project Type: Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) Project Cost: INR 12,114 Crores (Phase-I) External Funding Agency: AfD and KfW Total Network Length: 40.35 km Nos. of Corridors: 2 Status: Under-construction Contract Awarded Delhi Metro Rail Corporation:   DPR Consultant. Systra MVA Consulting:   Detailed design consultancy for Corridor-1 from Dream city to Majuragate Elevated Viaduct and Nine Elevated Metro-Rail Stations including Depot at Dream city. Corridor 1 (Red Line): Sarthana to Dream City Route Length: 21.61 km Stations: 20 Stations (Elevated -15.14 km, 14 Stations), Underground -6.47 km, 6 Stations) Station Names: Sarthana, Nature Park, Varachha Chopati, Kapodra Patiya, Laabheshwar Chowk, Central Warehouse, Surat, Maskati Hospital, Chowk Bazar, Majura Gate, Rupali Canal, Althan Tenament, Althan Gam, VIP Road, Women ITI...

PROJECTS: EPISODE 1 - CHENNAI METRO RAIL LIMTED

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 CHENNAI METRO RAIL LIMTED Project Name: Chennai Metro Rail Project Owner: Govt. of India and Govt. of Tamilnadu Operator: Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) Project Type: Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) Project Cost: INR 20,000 Crore (Phase-I) Total Length: 54.1 km Funding Pattern: Govt. of Tamilnadu and Foreign Institution Completion Target: 2021 Phase-II: Future Expansion – 107.59 km Phase-I: Operational – 54.1 km  Major Contractors (Phase I) Delhi Metro Rail Corporation: Consultant for Detailed Project Report (DPR) Egis Rail SA, France: General Consultancy Soma Enterprise: For the construction of a 4.5 km long viaduct along the Inner Ring Road Larsen and Toubro (L&T): For contraction for Elevated viaducts and Koyambedu depot L&T-Alstom JV: For design and construction of track works Johnson-SJEC JV: For supply of lifts and escalators Siemens AG: For the power supply and overhead electrification Alstom: For supply of Roll...

PROJECTS: EPISODE 3 - BANGALORE METRO RAIL CORPORATION LIMITED

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  BANGALORE METRO RAIL CORPORATION LIMITED Project Name:  Bangalore Metro Rail Project (Namma Metro) Operator:  Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited Owner: Govt. of India and Govt. of Karnataka Project Type:  Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) Status: Operational - October 20, 2011 Completion Target:  2023 (Phase-II) Major Contractors Namma Metro Phase II IL&FS-ECC Ltd JV:  Construction of Elevated Viaduct from Mysore Road station dead end to Pattanagere Station including 4 Nos of Elevated Metro Stations of East-West Corridor of Phase II.  (Rs 326.99 Crore) NCC Limited:  Construction of Elevated Viaduct from Puttenahalli Cross station dead end to Anjanapura Township Station and further viaduct for Depot Lines including 5 Nos. of Elevated Metro Stations North-South Corridor of Phase II.  (Rs 508.86 Crore) Soma Enterprise Ltd:  Construction of Elevated Viaduct from Pattanagere station to the beginning of Challagatta Depot inclu...

PROJECTS : EPISODE 5 : PATNA METRO

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  PATNA METRO Project Name: Patna Metro Rail Project Owner: Patna Metro Rail Corporation Limited, Govt. of Bihar Project Type: Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) Project Cost: INR 13,479 Crores Network Length: 32.12 km Funding Pattern: Govt. of India (20%), Govt. of Bihar (20%) and Loan from Foreign Institutions (60%) Completion Target: 2023 Status: Under construction Contract Awarded DMRC Limited:  General Consultancy CEG Group:  Geotechnical Investigation and Soil Testing Works AECOM Singapore - AECOM India JV:  Detailed Design Consultancy  Systra MVA:  Traction Consultancy Civil Contracts Package (PC 01):  NCC Limited Package (PC 02):  Quality Buildcon Pvt. Ltd. Patna Metro Rail Network Corridor 1 (East-West): Danapur Cantonment - Khemni Chak Length: 16.86 km (Elevated- 9.36 km, Underground- 7.5 km) Total Stations: 14 (Elevated-8, Underground-6) Station Names:  Danapur Cantonment, Saguna More, RPS More, Patliputra, Rukanpura, ...