Water is precious. The entire world is facing an acute water crisis. The crisis is more evident in the case of drinking water. The scarcity of drinking water is very often being witnessed across the population. The Govt of India is implementing various schemes to provide drinking water to all. Various Ministries are working towards this goal.
- The Ministry of Railways is also not lagging behind.
- Lakhs of passengers travel daily by trains through the length & breadth of the country all round the year.
- Railways provides water as a passenger amenity in all coaches.
- Watering of coaches is regularly done at nominated railway stations so that passengers do not have to face water crises while making a train journey. But, watering of trains also takes a lot of time.
- Under the conventional system, a train of 24 coaches normally takes about 20 minutes to fill water.
- To reduce the train watering time, a new system called “Quick Watering System” has been installed at nominated watering stations over N. F. Railway.
- By using a quick watering system, a 24 coach train can be filled up within 5-6 minutes. Moreover, multiple trains can be watered at the same time.
- Presently, this system has been made operational in stations like Guwahati, Lumding, New Jalpaiguri Jn, Alipurduar Jn, New Coochbehar, New Bongaigaon Jn and Badarpur Jn.
- In stations like Katihar Jn, Mariani Jn and Rangapara North the system is expected to be installed within the next few months.
Benefits:
- This system is app-based remote controlled.
- In this system, wastage by Spillage of water can be eliminated.
- Water is supplied through a six inch pipe with high horsepower motors to the train coaches through a SCADA system.
- There are 1 set of 3 centrifugal pumps.
- The capacity of each pump is 200 cu.m/hr.
- The motor is 40 HP, 415 V AC which runs at 1450 rpm.
- The SCADA system automatically controls the water flow.
- It also has the facility of monitoring through SMS.
- The valves can also be operated remotely.
- The SCADA system helps to record water consumption and also helps to identify any unauthorized use of hydrants or leakages.
- By implementing this system, N. F. Railway has ensured provision of fresh water to all its passengers and also reduced wastage & misuse of water at all these stations.
Other Projects:
In a commitment towards improvement of passenger amenities and making railway stations more commuter friendly, Northeast Frontier Railway has installed lifts and escalators in stations having large footfalls. N. F. Railway has also decided to provide more lifts and escalators to make it easier for passengers to board trains effortlessly.
- At present, there are 32 lifts and 22 escalators operating in major stations under five divisions of N. F. Railway.
- In addition, N. F. Railway is in the process of installing 11 Lifts and 13 escalators in various stations under its jurisdiction.
- 32 lifts have already been installed in 15 stations include Tinsukia (02), Guwahati (04), New Coochbehar (03), New Jalpaiguri (03), Lumding (03), Katihar (02), Kamakhya (01), Dibrugarh (02), Alipurduar (02), Badarpur (01), Silchar (02), Rangiya (02), New Bongaigaon (02), Kishanganj (02) and New Alipurduar (01) stations.
- 11 (eleven) more lifts will be commissioned in 06 stations namely Jogbani (02), Purnea (02), Katihar (01), Barsoi (02), New Tinsukia (02) and Mariani (02) stations.
- Similarly, 22 escalators installed are operating in 09 stations which include New Jalpaiguri (04), Guwahati (04), New Coochbehar (02), Lumding (02), Kamakhya (02), New Tinsukia (02), Katihar (02), Rangiya (02) and Kishanganj (02) stations.
- 13 more escalators will be installed in 04 stations namely Katihar (02), Kamakhya (03), Guwahati (06) and Agartala (02) stations.
- Lifts and escalators at railway stations have become a necessity in view of the difficulties faced by passengers, especially elderly and differently abled persons in movements across foot over bridges to various platforms at large stations.
- These facilities will provide easier access to passengers, help in providing them a pleasant experience of train journey and make the railway services more user friendly.
Source: Northeast Frontier Railway-Press Release
