Latest news with #MEMUs
New Indian Express
26-06-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
MEMU trains will be manufactured in Telangana's Kazipet, Vaishnaw assures Kishan
HYDERABAD: The Indian Railways will manufacture Mainline Electric Multiple Units (MEMUs) at the Rail Manufacturing Unit (RMU) in Kazipet. Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw conveyed this to Union Coal & Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy when the latter met him on Wednesday. Vaishnaw informed Kishan that the Indian Railways intends to introduce new generation MEMU trains to enhance short and medium-distance train travel. The new MEMU trains, with 16 to 20 coaches each, will be manufactured at the Kazipet RMU and cater to non-urban and semi-urban areas, especially during festive seasons, the Union minister said. The Railway minister on Tuesday announced that 100 MEMU trains will be introduced shortly.
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Business Standard
17-06-2025
- Automotive
- Business Standard
Railways to build 100 MEMUs and 50 Namo Bharat trains for short trips
To ease passenger woes in short-distance railway travel, the government will manufacture new 100 expanded mainline electric multiple units (MEMU) and 50 Namo Bharat trains, Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw said here on Tuesday. 'Yesterday, two major decisions were made. To ease passenger travel, 100 MEMUs will be manufactured with 16 and 20 coaches. Earlier, MEMUs were manufactured with 8 or 12 coaches. A new factory is being set up in Kazipet, Telangana where these trains will be made,' the minister said at the inauguration of India's largest automobile loading facility at Maruti Suzuki India's Manesar plant. A MEMU is a type of electric multiple unit train designed for operation on mainline tracks, connecting city centres with suburban areas for short to medium-distance routes with frequent stops. The minister also added that the ministry of railways will build 50 new Namo Bharat trains. These air-conditioned trains were developed for short-distance travel between cities. The first of these trains was launched last year in Gujarat. The minister also said that the GatiShakti Cargo Terminal, dedicated for Maruti Suzuki's car transportation, will enable greening of logistics as these cars were earlier ferried via road transport. 'In line with the vision of the Prime Minister, railways undertook major reforms in 2021 to strengthen multi-modal logistics, resulting in the construction of 108 multi-modal cargo terminals in a short span of time. The terminal in Haryana, where the announcement was made, is spread over 45 acres and has a cargo handling capacity of up to 4.5 lakh cars,' he said. The minister also said that a pilot project in the Bikaner division of North Western Railway to publish final charts with passenger allocation 24 hours before the train's departure has borne great results. He added that the facility will allow passengers to plan their journeys better. Currently, charts are published some 2-3 hours before the train's departure time, leaving passengers anxious about their travel plans. Maruti Suzuki transported 518,000 units in 2024-25 through the Automobile Freight Train Operator scheme. The railways, in FY25, crossed the mark of one million cars transported through its network. Now, 20 per cent of all cars manufactured in India are transported via rail. At the same event, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said that the government's railway work in the state and the Manesar cargo terminal will ease connectivity to ports on the western coast, enabling better access to export networks.
New Indian Express
17-06-2025
- Automotive
- New Indian Express
Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw inaugurates India's largest automobile Gatishakti Cargo Terminal in Manesar
CHANDIGARH: The Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw inaugurated the country's largest automobile cargo terminal, the Gati Shakti Multi-Modal Cargo Terminal at Maruti Suzuki's Manesar facility in Haryana. The terminal is expected to significantly enhance freight capacity and industrial logistics. It is connected to Patli railway station via a ten-kilometre dedicated rail corridor, a component of the 121.7-kilometre Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor developed by the Haryana Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation (HRIDC). Vaishnaw noted that 108 Multimodal Cargo terminals are now ready and will soon be in service. Spread over 46 acres inside the MSIL Manesar facility, the railway siding features a fully electrified corridor having four full-length tracks for rakes and one track for engine escape, totalling 8.2 kilometres of track length. The siding also includes a two-floor station building, a dedicated pathway for guards and drivers along the tracks, advanced electronic train interlocking and many more. Models manufactured at MSIL's Gurugram and Manesar facilities will be dispatched to 17 hubs from this railway siding serving 380 cities across India. Port locations of Mundra and Pipavav, used by the company for exports, will also be served. The railway siding will have a dispatch capability of 450,000 vehicles at full capacity. Speaking at the inauguration of the railway siding facility at Maruti Plant in Manesar, Haryana, Ashwini Vaishnav said that to upgrade passenger trains, 16 and 20-coach Main Line EMU trains will be manufactured. Till now, MEMUs were manufactured with 8 or 12 coaches. This project will be implemented in a new factory being started in Kazipet, Telangana. This will provide great relief for short-distance travel. "The number of Amrit Bharat Express trains will soon increase by six more as 50 more trains are under making. Also, Vande Bharat trains are being extended to new routes,'' he said. Vaishnav said, "NaMo Bharat trains have received a great response from the passengers. Now, 50 new AC passenger trains will be added. Earlier, two trains started between Ahmedabad-Bhuj and Patna-Jaynagar. In total, 150 new passenger trains will come into service. So far, the work of 1300 Amrit Bharat stations has been approved. Out of these, 103 stations have been completed recently, and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated them from Bikaner. Now, 100 more such stations will be completed by December 2025, and 500 more stations will be constructed by 2026.'' Vaishnaw said that to prevent misuse of bots in Tatkal ticket booking, only KYC-verified passengers will get the facility of online booking from July 1 and an ID will also be mandatory on window booking. He added that India now ranks second in the world in both freight and passenger traffic. "Last year, 7.2 billion passengers travelled by rail and 1617 million tonnes of goods were carried. The freight corridor is now fully operational and about 400 freight trains are running on it every day,'' he said. Vaishnaw further said that the Bikaner Division has started publishing the chart 24 hours in advance (it was four hours in advance, earlier) as an innovative initiative. It reduced uncertainty among the passengers and facilitated them in making better plans. He said that the Indian Railways has witnessed an unprecedented transformation in the last 11 years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He added that before 2014, Railways remained a victim of neglect for decades, with an annual investment of only Rs 25,000 to 30,000 crores. However, now the investment has increased to Rs 2.5 lakh crores, which is accelerating the development of railway infrastructure and facilities. Vaishnaw said, "Legacy problems prevailing in Railways over the years are now being eliminated one by one. Stations, trains, toilets, tracks, cleanliness, technology -- every sector has been improved comprehensively. New facilities are being provided to passengers and integrated development is being given priority in collaboration with the industry.''
Time of India
02-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Construction work begins to build suburban terminal at Hardinge Park
Patna: The railways have finalised preparations to begin construction of a state-of-the-art suburban terminal at Hardinge Park, with an estimated cost of Rs 95 crore, following the foundation laying ceremony by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 30. Danapur divisional railway manager (DRM) Jayant Kumar Choudhary said the suburban terminal will come up on a sprawling 4.8-acre land at the Hardinge Park area which will help decongest the huge traffic load from Patna Junction. According to Choudhary, the new suburban terminal is envisioned as a modern transportation hub, featuring airport-like facilities. It will have five platforms, each initially 400 metres in length. "However, efforts are underway to acquire an additional 2.5 acres of land from the Posts and Telegraph (P&T) department to extend the platform lengths to 600 metres. This extension will enable the terminal to accommodate and handle mail and express trains with LHB coaches," he said. The suburban terminal is strategically significant due to its location on the Kiul-Patna-DDU route, which is currently undergoing capacity augmentation with the addition of third and fourth lines in the days to come. "Once operational, the terminal will serve as a dedicated hub for passenger trains, including MEMUs," the DRM said. The railways has worked out a plan to make at least 80 passenger trains operational daily from Hardinge Park suburban terminal, connecting passengers to all four cardinal directions — north, south, east and west. "The new terminal will primarily serve as a launch point for intercity and regional trains, offering punctuality and better services," Choudhary said, adding that the terminal will boast a range of modern facilities like a 2,000-seat waiting hall equipped with modern amenities. In addition, 15 general ticket-booking counters will be there to streamline ticketing and reduce waiting time. A parking facility, with a capacity of 1,000 vehicles, will be developed around the suburban terminal area. Direct connectivity to the newly built multimedia hub and the upcoming Patna Metro Rail service will be provided to allow seamless intermodal travel for passengers.
