I have travelled by train a lot – pre 1990s booking ticket was an ordeal – when Computerised Reservation complex came up at Allikulam complex near Central, it was a great boon.It was a conceptual broken barrier that one can stand in any Queue and book ticket for any train from anywhere in India to anywhere else in India.Then came the revolution of booking from home through Internet and the need for not carrying the printed ticket ! .. .. the first attraction in a train of course was its Engine A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, push-pull operation too became common, where the train may have a locomotive (or locomotives) at the front, at the rear, or at each end. Not many would know that in Indian Railways Locomotives are easily identifiable by the classification codes. This code is of the form '[gauge][power][load][series][subtype][suffix]'.In this the first item, '[gauge]', is a single letter identifying the gauge the loco runs on:W = Broad Gauge; Y = Meter Gauge; Z = Narrow Gauge (2' 6") & N = Narrow Gauge (2').The second item, '[power]', is one or two letters identifying the power source.
Another attractive feature
of the locomotive is of course its headlight. Usually this is a single
centrally mounted light near roof level at each end, although some locos have
it at mid-level. Some of the newer locos feature twin-beam headlight fixtures.
The headlights can be dimmed if needed. All recent locomotives also have a
flasher lamp for use in emergencies or special circumstances. This is usually
amber or yellow, and mounted close to the headlight near roof level, or on the
edge of the roof.
Reading Railway history in
IRFCA – in the 19th century and early this century, named locomotives were
quite common. Many were named after administrators ("Lord Clive") or
nobility ("Prince Albert"), or mythical figures
("Hercules"). Indian names were also included
("Tungabhadra", "Shakuntala"), and some whimsical ones as
well ("Moth", "Ant", "Jimpeebuttee",
"Perleewerlee"). Thomason
was the first locomotive ever to be used
in India (1851) & the second one had the name Falkland.The most famous ones were :‘Sahib, Sultan, Sindh’ – the three that
hauled the first passenger train in
India (1853).Another famous one is ‘Fairy
Queen’ a steam locomotive of 1855, working still.
With so much of confusion
and with regular passenger trains not running now during lockdown,Shramik special trains have transported 1 million passengers! For the
movement of migrant workers, tourists, students, pilgrims, and other stranded
people at different places during the lockdown period, Indian Railways is
operating several Shramik Special train services. According to a press release
issued by the Railway Ministry, as on 14 May 2020, a total of 800 Shramik
Special train services have been operationalized from various states across the
nation. By traveling on these Shramik Special trains, more than 10 lakh
passengers have reached their home state so far. According to the ministry, the
train services are being operated by Indian Railways only after concurrence is
given both by the state which is sending the passengers as well as the state
which is receiving the passengers. Indian Railways is ensuring proper screening
of passengers before boarding the train. During the train journey, railway
passengers are being provided with free meals and water.
Another news item in media
states that Indian Railways earned Rs 45.30 crore with passengers booking
tickets for travel on special trains in the seven days immediately the booking
was made open. On Wednesday, as many as
20,149 passengers traveled on the special trains, and on 18 special trains
operating on Thursday, a number of 25,737 passengers are scheduled to travel.
So far, the total revenue generated by the national transporter for these
tickets is Rs 45,30,09,675, according to a PTI report. According to the report,
out of the nine special trains that departed from Delhi on Wednesday, eight
trains that left for Thiruvananthapuram, Howrah, Jammu, Ahmedabad, Mumbai,
Chennai, Dibrugarh and Ranchi, were booked beyond their capacity.
According to an official,
overbooking does not mean that people are standing in the aisles. He said, it
just means that there is a movement of passengers while the train is on the
run. He further stated that passengers are boarding as well as deboarding at
halt railway stations and there have been multiple ticket bookings.
Among the special train
services that departed from the national capital on Wednesday, the only New
Delhi-Rajendra Nagar (Patna) train did not run on its full capacity, which had
a capacity of 1,239 passengers, but carried only 1,077 number of passengers,
registering occupancy of only 87%. According to officials, the reason behind
the train’s low occupancy could be that Bihar has accounted for over 100 trains
already, which carried its workers to their home state since 1 May 2020.
Now comes another positive
news.Amidst nationwide lockdown due to the novel
coronavirus pandemic, Indian Railways’ Chittaranjan Locomotive Works rolled out
the first locomotive number WAG9H 32810 of the financial year 2020-21! The
Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) workshop re-opened with limited staff on 11
May 2020, after a gap of 49 days due to the lockdown imposed across the country
because of the COVID-19 outbreak. According to details shared by the locomotive
manufacturing factory, CLW rolled out the first locomotive of the financial
year 2020-21, within only three days of resumption of work. In the financial
year 2019-20, CLW manufactured a total of 431 locomotives. With this new
record, the locomotive manufacturing factory surpassed its own previous world
record of production of as many as 402 locomotives in the financial year
2018-19.
Recently, the CLW-built
9000 HP freight locomotive WAG 9HH and the freight locomotive had cleared the
trial runs successfully. The locomotive’s trial run was conducted by the
Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) over the Northern Railway
zone network. The locomotive was tested at a speed of 100 km per hour during the
trial run. The loco has been provided with many modern and advanced features.
According to the national transporter, the new addition will make
transportation of goods as well as train journeys more convenient.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
16.5.2020
