TURN AROUND NEWS OF INDIAN RAILWAYS
Subject of the Discussion: Reserach on Solar photo voltaic assistance for LHB Rail coaches
Research Undertaken By: M. Shravanth Vasisht, C. Vishal, J. Srinivasan
and Sheela K. Ramasesha of Divecha Centre for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India
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Report:
Awareness for the need of sustainable and ecofriendly
mobility has been increasing and various
innovations are taking place in this regard. A study
was carried out to assess the feasibility of installing solar
photovoltaic (PV) modules atop train coaches.
Most long-distance trains having LHB coaches do not
have self-generating systems, thus making power cars
mandatory to supply the required power for lighting
loads. Feasibility of supplementing diesel generator
sets with power from solar PV modules installed on
coach rooftops has been reported in this communication.
Not only is there a conservation of fuel, there is
also a significant reduction in CO2 emissions. This
work has shown that the area available on coach rooftops
is more than sufficient to generate the required
power, during sunlight hours, for the electrical loads
of a non-A/C coach even during winter. All calculations
were done keeping a standard route as the reference.
Taking the cost of diesel to be Rs 66/litre, it was
estimated that there will be annual savings of
Rs 5,900,000 corresponding to 90,800 litres diesel per
rake per year by implementing this scheme. The
installation cost of solar modules would be recovered
within 2–3 years. Implementation of this scheme would
also amount to an annual reduction of 239 tonnes of
CO2 emissions.
In recent times, much research is being carried out to
develop sustainable forms of transportation. This is necessary
because transportation sector is a source of CO2
emissions and is a cause of global warming. Solar power
cannot be relied upon to completely replace conventional
fossil-fuel engines. It can only supplement the power
generated by the engine and subsequently reduce CO2
emissions1. Buses and cars have been retro-fitted with
solar panels on the roofs, hoods as well as the boot lids.
The Adelaide City Council has introduced all-electric
buses, with batteries being charged by solar panels
mounted on top of the charging stations. Its operating
cost is found to be less than conventional diesel powered
buses2. Since the hybrid automobiles with solar technology
have been realized, it would be logical to extend this
idea to train coaches. The train coaches have a large roof
area available for generation of energy using solar photovoltaic
(PV) modules. The energy generated from this
scheme in excess of the requirement in the coaches can
be stored in batteries and used to supply electrical lighting
loads even during night, thereby reducing the fossilfuel
consumption. Prototype experimental airplanes have
been made to fly on stored solar energy during the night3.
The coaching stock of Indian Railways includes three
versions, namely ICF (Integral Coach Factory), RCF
(Rail Coach Factory) and LHB (Linke Hofman Busch,
Germany)4. The LHB coaches have a longer span-length
to accommodate higher number of passengers and provide
superior travelling comfort. They are also suitable
for higher running speeds compared to ICF and RCF
coaches. Hence, all the ICF and RCF coaches across the
country will be replaced by LHB coaches in the near
future. Therefore, the LHB coaches would be the focus of
this work. These coaches are not self-generating (alternators
driven by the moving wheels and axles), but have
power cars which provide the required power for the electrical
load in the coaches5. In this study, the power that
can be harnessed on the train rooftop using solar PV
modules is computed in order to conserve the consumption
of fuel (diesel). The feasibility of installing solar PV
modules of suitable characteristics to supplement the present
power generation system is reported. A train that
consists of 5 A/C coaches, 13 non-A/C coaches, a pantry
car and two power cars, one at each end, is termed as a
train-set (commonly referred to as rake) and this train-set
has been considered for calculations in the present study.
Though the study is carried out considering Indian subcontinent,
the findings hold good for any location in the world with similar solar radiation.
Across India, the global horizontal irradiance (GHI) is
high all through the year, with May having the highest
GHI of 6.8 kWh/m2 and the lowest of 4.2 kWh/m2 in
December . There are over 11,000 trains on
tracks plying between 6900 railway stations in India
every day. This indicates the amount of energy that can
be generated during the day on top of the coaches of
trains during all seasons. Having this scheme implemented
in all the trains would result in considerable fuel
savings as well as reduction of CO2 emissions.

Attached Pic:
SCHEMATIC VIEW OF ALSTOM COACH OF SHATABDI

An "IDEA" for the pilgrims and for people who wants to undertake tour to holy places :
Brief description about Somnath Temple:
Shree Somnath is the holy place of the Aadi Jyotirling of Shree Somnath Mahadev and the sacred soil from where Bhagvan Shri Krishna took his last journey to his neejdham.
Somnath temple stands at the shore of the Arabian ocean...
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on the western corner of Indian subcontinent in Gujarat State. This pilgrimage is one of the oldest and finds its reference in the ancient texts like Skandpuran, Shreemad Bhagavat, Shivpuran etc. The hymn from Rig-Veda quoted below mention the Bhagvan Someshwar along with the great pilgrimage like Gangaji, Yamunaji and Eastward Saraswati. This signifies the ancient value of this Tirthdham.
Somnath is in Prabhas Patan very near to Veraval, in Saurashtra, on the western coast of Gujarat, India.
The temple is considered sacred due to the various legends connected to it. Somnath means "The Protector of (the) Moon god". The Somnath Temple is known as "the Shrine Eternal"having been destroyed many times by Islamic kings and rulers.It was rebuilt in November 1947, when Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel visited the area for the integration of Junagadh and mooted a plan for restoration. After Patel's death, the rebuilding continued under K. M. Munshi, another minister of the Government of India.
Shree Somnath is first among the twelve Aadi Jyotirlings of India. It has a strategic location on the western coast of India.
The "Pran-Pratistha" at the existing temple was done on 11th May 1951 by then President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad.
MY PROPOSAL:
Can IR provide a "Direct Train" to Somnath from Kolkata to connect this "Holy Place" directly from West Bengal...... as it has currently become a favorite tourist spot for pilgrims and many people wants to visit this place directly from Kolkata as well as throughout India.
Attachment:
Somnath Temple

04821/04822 SDAH JODHPUR premium is continued with OLD ICF Rake.
If possible IR can provide Hybrid LHB livery for this train as it is a "Premium Exp".
Lastly the rake currently provided to this train contains expired coaches.
Please see the attached pic:
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GS coach of SDAH JODHPUR Premium having date of return 11-2014
2 WDM 3A the loco of this train

02261/02262 SDAH GHY AC PRM SPL has been started with LHB Rake as I predicted in my Blog Entry Vide No:Entry# 1208634. The loco link has not been captured but probably it is WDM 3D.
Attached Pics:
1 Duronto liveried EOG OF 02261 SDAH GHY AC PRM SPL
2 LHB LIVERY OF SDAH GHY AC PRM SPL(AC HOT BUFFET CAR)
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3AC OF SDAH GHY AC PRM SPL(DURONTO lIVERY)
4 NFR NOTIFICATION OF SDAH GHY AC PRM SPL
It will be a "Very Good Train" from SDAH to GHY in all respect and should be continued by Indian Railways.
Comments are welcome.....

In addition to my Entry# 1222156 I have some information too in favor of the rail boards directive to switch over 100% stainless steel coaches for most of the trains in coming days.
ICF Chennai:
Started in 1952, the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) is located in Chennai, India. Its primary products are rail coaches. Most of the coaches manufactured are supplied to the Indian Railways, but it has also manufactured coaches for railway companies in other countries, including Thailand, Burma, Taiwan, Zambia, Philippines, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Nigeria, Mozambique, Bangladesh, Angola and Sri...
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Lanka.
Production:
In August 2011, ICF has been sanctioned a project for manufacturing stainless steel coaches for the first time in the country. The INR 2,500 million project is for manufacturing technologically upgraded coaches of stainless steel shells and high speed bogies and an increase in capacity from 1,500 to 1,700 coaches. The new bogie facilities and shell manufacturing facilities are likely to be completed by March and August 2013, respectively
The plant manufactures about 1500 coaches per year. In year 2013-14 it manufactured 25 LHB Coaches, 248 Air-conditioned and 1185 non-Air-conditioned coaches. It plans to increase its manufacturing capacity of LHB coaches. It has set a target to manufacture 300 LHB coaches in 2014-15 and reach a capacity of 1000 LHB coaches by 2016-17.
RCF Raebareli
Rail Coach Factory, Raebareli is a rail coach manufacturing unit of the Indian Railways at Lalganj near Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh. The factory is the third facility in India that produces railway compartments besides the Integral Coach Factory at Perambur in Tamil Nadu and the Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala in Punjab. The factory was inaugurated by the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on November 7, 2012
Production:
The factory is expected to manufacture 1000 Linke Holfmann Busch (LHB) coaches annually.
Anubhuti coaches, which are state of the art LHB coaches featuring ergonomically designed cushioned seats, LCD screens, modular toilets and stylish interiors, announced in the Railway Budget of 2013 are to be produced at the Rae Bareli coach factory. These coaches will progressively be introduced on the Shatabdi and Rajdhani Express trains.
RCF Kapurthala
Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala in the Indian state of the Punjab is located on the Jalandhar-Firozpur line.
Rail Coach Factory
Built : 1986 28 years ago
Location Kapurthala, Punjab
Industry Railways
Products Rolling stock
Employees 7000 (Approx.)
Address Kapurthala, Punjab
Production
The output of this factory constitutes over 35% of the total population of coaches on Indian Railways.
The Rail Coach Factory (RCF) has produced record number of coaches in the financial year 2013-14, as it reached the mark of 1701 coaches against installed capacity of 1500 per annum. During the year RCF produced 23 different variants of coaches for high-speed trains like Rajdhani, Shatabdi, double decker and other trains. The factory in association with DRDE also developed a highly cost-effective indigenous technology for treatment of bio waste in coaches. Around 2096 bio-toilets have been fitted in 2013-14.
"Opinions" are welcome..............
Attached Pic:
NewDeli Mumbai Rajdhani AC 2 tier new livery made at RCF Kapurthala