02
Jul
Land transportation in India
Posted by admin
presentation shows all kind of vehicles in India, along with drivers and road. most photos were taken in Punjab, north India
Duration : 0:5:23
Archive for the ‘Transportation in India’ Category
15
Nov
Indian Railroad Tracks - Trains
Posted by adminInstead of car rental India offers a wide selection of railways which is a more interesting way to travel across the country.
The age of steam
Steam locomotives are officially on the scrap-heap. (Rumour had it that the constant pilfering of coal was a major factor in the fate of steam.) Luckily, one famous route has been reprieved, that of the line to Udhagamandalam (Ooty) in the Nilgiris. The famous line up to Darjeeling in the Himalayas has recently been converted to diesel traction but still occasionally runs steam engines. Tweed and Mersey (1873 vintage) unfortunately no longer get up steam each winter to cart sugar cane on the metre gauge east of Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. However Tipong Colliery in Assam still runs two narrow-g gauge steam locomotives, and the Riga sugar ) mill in Bihar sometimes uses a metre-gauge, steam engine to haul sugar cane.
There seems to be a change of heart at the railway ministry as they realize the tourist 3 potential of running steam services (particularly on the popular hill services). There are plans to resume steam traction on the Matheran railway near Mumbai, and as well as “specials” there are the yearly steam-hauled Royal Orient and Fairy Queen luxury tourist trains.
Prime lines
Not all progress is forwards. Until 1994 the traveler could cover the entire subcontinent by one gauge, but since then the metric has been sacrificed to a broader option that does not (nor probably ever will) have such extensive coverage. However, the broad-gauge network stretches from Ledo in eastern Assam to Bhuj in western Gujarat, a journey of 3,776 km (2,346 miles); and from Kanniyakumari in the south to Jammu Tawi in the north, 3,581 km (2,225 miles). The journeys take you through some startling changes of scenery: from the lush rhino tracks of the Brahmaputra, through the rice paddies of West Bengal and the wheat fields of Uttar Pradesh, to the flat desert of the Rann of Kutch; or, from tropical Kerala, over the high Deccan Plateau, down to the Ganga Plain, and then up, through the foothills, to the edge of the Himalayas.
The coasts on both sides of the subcontinent offer some fine scenery but the Coromandel leading to Chennai is more impressive. With the new length of Konkan Railway from Mumbai to Mangalore, a fabulous stretch of coastal scenery has opened up. Probably the most sensational coastal run of all is to Ramesvaram, on the isle of Pamban. Until a storm obliterated it in 1965, this line ran another 20 km (12 miles) along a narrow spit of sand to Danushkodi.
Inland, the hill railways of India are famous for their character and quaintness. Not far from Mumbai is the climb to Matheran by tiny narrow-gauge stock. Darjeeling’s toy railway is well known. Ooty’s also is widely loved but, contrary to popular notions about its “rack” (which only runs as far as Coonoor), this is not a narrow-gauge railway but metric. Whereas the Darjeeling engines were Scottish, those that push up the Ooty train are Swiss, with an extra set of pistons to work the rack mechanism. While the hill line to Simla is famous for its 103 tunnels, a better view of the Himalayan Peaks can be had from its sister narrow-gauge line that runs through the Kangra Valley.
The world’s highest broad-gauge track is notable for the triple-headed trains that carry iron ore for export from Kirinul to the port of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, a modern engineering triumph of Indian expertise. A daily mixed train from Vizag runs up this line and over the Eastern Ghats to the Adivasi capital of Bas-tar. Other impressive crossings, this time of the Western Ghats, are from Tenkasi to Quilon and the newer and more dramatic alignment from Mangalore to Hassan. Yet another memorable ghat line is over the Aravalli range from Jodhpur to Udaipur in Rajasthan, past craggy forests and the highest point on the Western Railway.
15
Nov
Indian Railways
Posted by adminInstead of car rental India offers a wide selection of railways which is a more interesting way to travel across the country.
Indian Railways is a huge state-run conglomerate, the world’s largest employer. It moves 14 million passengers a day yet still remains remarkably efficient and uniquely poetic. There is no better way to get the pulse of South Asia than to view the changing scene from a carriage window. Incidentally, a window in the non-air-conditioned sleeper class comprises several layers to keep out the sun, dust and tick-etless travellers.
British colonialists laid most of the 63,140 km (39,230 miles) of track, and left sturdy Victorian relics - clocks, scales and benches - on platforms across India. Things have moved on since then, however, and now the fast track inter-city services, known as Rajdhani and Shatabdi, run to various state capitals and major cities from Delhi and other centres. In the 1990s, the overnight switch of political power from North India to the constituencies of the South resulted in the conversion of metre gauge to broad gauge, a decision that had been considered unrealistic under North Indian prime ministers.
Yet in spite of political interference the working of the railways is impressive. Serving under the Rail Minister is the Railway Board, whose chairman is invariably a railway engineer. The system is divided into nine zones, which derive in part from the reach of the imperial private companies. For example, today’s Central Railway has inherited the extent and style of the Great Indian Peninsular lines. Zonal profiles vary considerably, with the southern states profitably in command of their assets (borne out by the smart livery of both rolling stock and rail-waymen), while those in the north and east wilt under the burden of saturation.
Reservations are now computerized at most stations of any size and special quotas are available for foreign tourists. Indrail Rover Tickets, bookable in India and abroad, can be very convenient for the frequent rail traveler.
Luxury service
Service on specialty trains such as the Palace on Wheels through Rajasthan is unrivalled, with two turbaned valets for each carriage. For the luxury of service, if not for speed and fittings, the first-class air-conditioned compartments of Indian Railways are as good as any in the world.
When you compare what the railways give you for about the comparable price of a plane ticket with all the delays and charmlessness of airports, then you travel more meaningfully by train. Following a relaxed journey, you arrive in the middle of town. Budget travelers can also go by second class in an air-conditioned or three-tier air-conditioned sleeper coach so that the heat and dust is filtered out.
On board, there are rules and there are rules. Officially, no drinking is allowed, but those most likely to benefit from abstention are the least troubled by warnings. Just as first-class passengers are generally free to indulge, so are they allowed to take their pets on board.
