By Nabayan Datta
Posted one year ago

Rake Allocation System of Indian Railways

General

Share
banner image

The first step in the reliability and accountability of the railway authorities with the consumers in the transportation of goods is an improved rake distribution process, which despite a lot of heavy criticism and dirty politics in the country, I personally believe that the modern distribution process has been able to make this step very much corruption free. I think It is the right of a consumer to expect a transparent and certainly regular distribution arrangement from the Railways, in return for paying service charges to the Railways. So this Rake distribution system is a huge chapter of Rails and very complex too.

Allocation i.e. distribution of empty goods for rake loading as per customer demand. Since passenger coaches have nothing to do with Rake Allocation System (RAS), we are not going in that direction.

System i.e. the way in which all the empty rakes are distributed among the customers and brought to the pre-planned stations for loading. This time the question may come to our mind, exactly how this entire distribution system is done? Generally, this entire rake distribution process is done by calculating the Oldest Day of Regulation (O-D-R) or the oldest day of regulation based on the date and time of the form or indent received by the customer. The process can be simply said, under the same Priority, the customer who will submit the form first, the railway will have to distribute the rake first by receiving his form.

Priority

In case of rake distribution, this single word carries two meanings, 1. In case of coal transportation, the purpose for which the coal is to be used, ie for power generation in thermal power plants (ELC), for pesticide production plants (FTZ), for steel plants (STL) etc. 2. Preferential Traffic Order(PTO) issued by the Railway Board to mean the preferential arrangement of traffic. We know that a total of 8 fields in the country are divided into Core and Non-Core. They are coal, steel, pesticides, cement, crude oil, refinery solvent and electricity. Except these fields all other fields are considered as Others in railway parlance. According to PTO there are total 4 classes of traffic, A, B, C and D. All military traffic in the country is treated as A, as we all know how close the relationship between Indian Army and Indian Railways is. All traffic is treated as B on a temporary basis. All traffic under Core Industry belongs to C Class and Non-Core Industry and Others all traffic belongs to D Class, most of which class is subject to "Capturing new stream of traffic" as the main goal of modern goods transport management. Railways mainly divide their customers into these categories.

> Liberalize Wagon Investor(LWI)

> General Purpose Wagon Investor (GPWI)

> Core customer

> Others D priority and Non-Core customers

> Military

> Various Railways

In all these parts, various government-owned and private institutions of the country have chosen the country's railway system for transporting their goods.

Methodology

Let's come to this time, what arrangements are made by Indian Railways to distribute rakes among all the above categories of customers? I am starting with the end of Wagon Investor customers, Core, Non Core and Others customers. But before that, you need to know, how many different places are rake loading in the country? Rake loading is done from a total of 7 locations, 1. Goods Shed Siding (GSS) 2. Container Rail Terminal (CRT) 3. Private Siding 4. Assistance Siding 5. Brownfield Private Freight Terminal and 6. Greenfield Private Freight Terminal. So, considering the different indent accepting capacity and rake loading capacity of each siding in terms of day and month, it is recommended to distribute rake as a percentage of each month in Core, Non-Core and Others category. But from where the loading is done under only one category, there is no need to distribute the percentage of rake in different categories, there is usually distribution of rake by ODR method. Again in some cases this ODR method is observed direction wise. For that, the form (Indent) must be of Non-Core category and the traffic must be more than a certain kilometer. As a hypothetical example of this, South Eastern Railway's Haldia port via ECR-bound via Dankuni, ECoR-bound, ER-bound indent will prevail in that order.

Allocations made to Wagon Investor

Lets come to the context of distribution and loading of private category rakes under these two schemes GPWIS and LWIS. In this case also ODR procedure is followed. These rakes will remain stable on their sidings until the owner issues a form for their transportation to the railways. The rakes will reach the loading point only through the route issued by the Railway Board after the railway authorities accept their form. Needless to say, the dominance of private rakes never matches the dominance of rakes under Indian Railways, two different perspectives.

Rake distribution to military and Departmental traffic

The rake distribution of military traffic is the first row dominant and vice versa the rake distribution of departmental traffic of various railways is the last row dominant.

Stone rake allocation for Bangladesh Railway 

For movement of stone rake to Bangladesh from different policy decisions have been formulated for increase in loading from Eastern Railway. Such allocation are done in two different ways.

 A. Except Out of Turn Quota i.e a loading station wise cyclical quota. Suppose a zone have 10 stone loading station, allocation of rake will be made up on these 10 station, serial wise in rotational way

B. Out of Turn Quota i.e. a special priority quota given to all quoted consignor-consignee listed by Rail board based on their turnover. They are given a particular no. of rake to load on monthly basis from any nominated station.

To continue reading Register Now or Login

Suggested Articles for you

Jyoti TV - Posted 3 years ago

Have a job interview coming up? Pre-interview preparation Step

    Are you getting ready for a job interview?  A practice run can provide you with the necessary preparation to ace the real thing. A quick read-through of the Article published in RailFactor may also help you. Your success in a job interview is heavily reliant on how well you prepare for it. Interview preparation primarily entails researching the job and the company, as well as carefully considering your responses to interview questions. Listed 5 Pre-interview preparation Steps which may help to grab your dream job. PRE-INTERVIEW PREPARATION - STEPS TO GET YOUR DREAM JOB Review the job description Review the keywords and key phrases in job description Refresh your skills and add certification Are you eligibile Ask the questions. Am I right fit. Why the employer should hire you.  Know the company Find out vision, mission, management, work culture and types of products/service.  Prepare a list of expected interview questions Tell me about yourself. Why are looking for a job change? What are your strengths and weaknesses? Update your social media profile Employers may look at your social media presence to get a sense of your personality and history.

Read Full Article

Suman Pathak - Posted 3 years ago

Basic of MEP

  Basic of MEP MEP, or mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering, are the three technical disciplines that encompass the systems that allow stations/building interiors to be suitable for human use and occupancy. MEP construction must require all types of commercial, residential, and industrial purposes where services and facilities are required. MEP consists of installing air conditioning systems, water supply & drainage systems, firefighting systems, electrical power, and lighting systems including transformer substations and emergency power generators, fire protection and alarm systems, voice & data systems, security access, and surveillance systems, UPS, public address systems, Mast antenna TV system, and building management systems. MECHANICAL WORKS IN MEP PROJECT In MEP, major works are to be handled by Mechanical people because of HVAC or air conditioning system and that has piping work for cold and hot water, fabrication works for ducts, dampers and controllers, thermal/cold insulation works, and erection of machines like chiller unit, air handling units, grills, diffusers, etc. along with works of Drinking water, Drainage, and Sewerage systems. Other important Mechanical works are Firefighting works that included piping, sprinklers, and Pumps. ELECTRIC WORKS IN MEP PROJECT Electric works mainly included Electrical Power and Lighting but others like Transformer substations, Emergency power, UPS/Central battery, Voice/Data communication, TV, Security systems like CCTV surveillance system, Access control System, Public address system, Building management system (BMS), Fire alarm system, Surge Protection system, and Lightning protection system. PLUMBING WORKS ON MEP PROJECT Plumbing is a system of pipes and fixtures installed for the distribution and use of potable (drinkable) water, and the removal of waterborne wastes. It is usually distinguished from water and sewage systems that serve a group of buildings or a city.

Read Full Article

Suman Pathak - Posted 3 years ago

Earthing works in Railway building/Metro Stations or Substation

MAJOR PARTS OF E&M WORKS IN RAILWAY BUILDING/METRO STATION OR SUBSTATION CONSTRUCTION 1.    Earthing 2.    Conduiting 3.    Light Point wiring, Power Point 4.    Installation, testing, commissioning of light fixtures 5.    laying of cables, jointing, termination etc. 6.    laying of Cable Tray, HDPE pipe. RCC pipe Let’s get a short brief about all one by one EARTHING The earthing protection is an integral part of any electrical system and is required to  a.    Protect personnel and equipment from electrical hazards. b.    Achieve a reduction in potential to the system neutrals. c.    Reduce or eliminate the effects of electrostatic and electromagnetic interference on the signaling and Telecom equipment arising from auxiliary electrical systems. The main purpose of earthing in the electrical network is for safety.  i)    When all metallic parts in electrical equipment are grounded then if the insulation inside the equipment fails there are no dangerous voltages present in the equipment case.  ii)    To maintain the voltage at any part of an electrical system at a known value to prevent over current or excessive voltage on the appliances or equipment.  iii)    Lightning, line surges, or unintentional contact with higher voltage lines can cause dangerously high voltages to the electrical distribution system.  The earthing is broadly divided as a)    System earthing (Connection between a part of a plant in an operating system like LV neutral of a Power Transformer winding and earth). b)    Equipment earthing (like motor body, Transformer tank, Switch gearbox, Operating rods of Air brake switches, etc.) to earth. Earthing provides an alternative path around the electrical system to minimize damages in the system.  There are several types of earthing systems such as Earth Mat, Plate Earthing & Pipe Earthing which could be used in an elevated station and Substations.  The selection of earthing depends upon several factors such as: i)    Availability of Land ii)    Type of Soil iii)    Resistivity of Soil Mainly we follow two Specifications for earthing I.    IS:3043 II.    IEEE 80 The most commonly used earthing method is Earthmat or Grid  Earth Mat or Grid The primary requirement of Earthing is to have a low earth resistance.   Substation involves many Earthlings through individual Electrodes, which will have high resistance.  But if these individual electrodes are interlinked inside the soil, it increases the area in contact with soil and creates a number of parallel paths.  Hence the value of the earth resistance in the inter-linked state which is called combined earth value which will be much lower than the individual value. The interlink is made through a flat or rod conductor which is called an Earth Mat or Grid.  It keeps the surface of substation equipment as nearly as absolute earth potential as possible.                                                                                             Picture: Earthmat  To achieve the primary requirement of Earthing system, the Earth Mat should be designed properly by considering the safe limit of Step Potential, Touch Potential, and Transfer Potential. The factors which influence the Earth Mat design are: a.    Magnitude of Fault Current b.    Duration of Fault c.    Soil Resistivity d.    The resistivity of Surface Material e.    Shock Duration f.    Material of Earth Mat Conductor g.    Earthing Mat Geometry Step Potential It is the potential difference available between the legs while standing on the ground. When a fault occurs at a tower or substation, the current will enter the earth. Based on the distribution of varying resistivity in the soil (typically, a horizontally layered soil is assumed) a corresponding voltage distribution will occur. The voltage drops in the soil surrounding the grounding system can present hazards for personnel standing in the vicinity of the grounding system. Personnel “stepping” in the direction of the voltage, gradient could be subjected to hazardous voltages Touch Potential Touch potential is the voltage between any two points on a person’s body – hand to hand, shoulder to back, elbow to hip, hand to foot, and so on. The touch potential or touch voltage could be nearly the full voltage across the grounded object if that object is grounded at a point remote from the place where the person is in contact with it .       The earth resistance shall be as low as possible and shall not exceed the following limits: EHT Substations    -    1.0 Ohms 33KV Stations        -    2.0 Ohms Metro Stations    -    < 1.0 Ohms Specification of Earthing Depending on soil resistivity, the earth conductor (flats) shall be buried at the following depths.             Soil Resistivity in ohms/metre     Economical depth of Burial in metres                                                                      1)        50 – 100                                              0.5                                                                       2)       100 – 400                                            1.0                                                                       3)        400 – 1000                                         1.5 To keep the earth resistance as low as possible to achieve safe step and touch voltages, an earth mat shall be buried at the above depths below ground and the mat shall be provided with grounding rods at suitable points. All non-current carrying parts at the Substation shall be connected to this grid to ensure that under fault conditions, none of these parts are at a higher potential than the grounding grid.      

Read Full Article