Traffic police ask Metro to come up with better diversion plan on Ring Road

April 12, 2013

Traffic police ask Metro to come up with better diversion plan on Ring Road

 NEW DELHI: The traffic police have asked Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to come up with a better traffic diversion plan for Ring Road.

The DMRC had recently indicated that Metro construction work on the stretch connecting Bhikaji Cama Place with Hazrat Nizamuddin would barely affect five per cent of city’s traffic. It is part of the 37-km long Mukundpur-Shiv Vihar corridor.

But the traffic police are anticipating major inconvenience. They have asked DMRC to come up with an alternative diversion plan at the busy South Extension market, Vinoba Puri and Ashram. According to traffic police, Metro work will trigger massive snarls on Ring Road, especially at Ashram and Captain Gaur Marg. According to Anil Shukla, additional commissioner of police (traffic), diversions at Ashram and Vinoba Puri are a matter of concern due shortage of space at the construction sites.

Earlier, Delhi Metro had hired a private company (TPA Engineers Consultancy Pvt Ltd) to conduct a survey on Ring Road to ensure minimum obstruction to traffic flow during construction work

Important areas on Ring Road where Metro construction will take place include Azadpur, Shalimar Bagh, Netaji Subhash Place, Shakarpur, Punjabi Bagh West, Rajouri Garden, Mayapuri, Naraina Vihar, Delhi Cantt., Dhaula Kuan, Moti Bagh, Bhikaji Cama Place, Sarojini Nagar, INA, South Extension, Lajpat Nagar and Srinivaspuri.

Source_http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

 

Metro work to hit major shopping hubs

April 12, 2013

  • Metro work to hit major shopping hubs

 NEW DELHI: After facing inconvenience at Janpath for two years due to Delhi Metro construction, shoppers who frequent the Capital’s three major markets — Sarojini Nagar, INA and Lajpat Nagar — are in for a bigger headache from next week.

The construction of five major stations — Bhikaji Cama Place, Sarojini Nagar, INA, Lajpat Nagar and Nizamuddin — as part of Delhi Metro’s proposed corridor connecting Mukundpur with Shiv Vihar in phase 3 is scheduled to kickstart within a fortnight.

The traffic police would divert vehicles on the stretch that connects the Capital’s main markets. Jams are also expected on arterial roads that connect the ring road to south Delhi.

According to Jitendra Tyagi, director (works), Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), construction would largely be completed by early 2015, after which traffic restrictions would be lifted.

“The diversions are going to affect traffic movement on the busy ring road,” said Anil Shukla, additional commissioner of police (traffic). “We would allow partial closure of roads and divert traffic to other roads.”

DMRC will put up barricades next week, after which the traffic police will conduct a trial run to test the stretch.

Traffic police said the diversions would hit Feroze Gandhi Marg, Barapullah to Aurobindo Marg, Africa Avenue to ring road, August Kranti Marg and Green Park, among other areas.

Source- www.hindustantimes.com

 

Get traffic news on your smart phone

April 8, 2013

Get traffic news on your smart phone

Subhendu Ray, Hindustan Times  New Delhi, April 07, 2013

First Published: 00:16 IST(7/4/2013) | Last Updated: 01:43 IST(7/4/2013)

Real time updates on the traffic situation of the city will soon be at the fingertips of smart phone users.

Delhi Traffic Police, after the major success of its SMS updates informing about the congestion on roads, has now decided to come up with a smart phone software on the lines of those used in cities of the US and the UK.

The traffic police, which also provides updates to the residents through its Facebook and Twitter accounts, will introduce the software in an attempt to what it believes is keeping pace with changing times in a smart way.“We are soon going to introduce a software-based mobile application to give real time traffic related information to the road users,” said Sudhir Yadav, special commissioner of police (traffic).

According to traffic police officers, the new system is expected to be up and running within two to three months. Initially, the smart phone application will provide information on distance between two locations, diversions, jam on roads due to breakdown of vehicles or rallies, traffic advisories, parking facilities, available mode of transport and estimated travel time.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Images/Popup/2013/4/07-04-13-pg-04b.jpg

However, officers said, they would later on update the application with other new features such as public transport fare for a particular distance travelled.“The offline application would also have an interactive map for the convenience of the traffic,” a police officer claimed.

Sources said the said application would be available in Iphone, BlackBerry, Android and all Windows-based phones. Once this app is installed, users would be able to access traffic reports of particular areas and know about roads in their neighbourhood, workplace or to any part of the city that they are visiting.

Traffic cops believe that with the introduction of the application, not only the regular city commuters but also those who visit the city from outside.The traffic police had discontinued their popular SMS service a few months ago reportedly due to a revision in the TRAI tariff structure.

http://www.hindustantimes.com

 

17 states pledge cooperation for highways projects

April 19, 2010

New Delhi, April 13 (IANS) Seventeen states and the union territory of Chandigarh Tuesday assured support to the centre for timely execution of highways projects in the build, operate and transfer (BOT) mode.

The governments of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tripura, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and the union territory of Chandigarh signed the State Support Agreement (SSA) with the ministry of road transport and highways.

The agreement was countersigned by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

For the development of highways, support of the state governments is essential in the matter of land acquisition, removal of encroachments, shifting of utilities, rehabilitation and other local law and order related issues.

“The SSA aims at formalising the cooperation arrangement with the state governments to the implementation of the extensive programme of development of national highways on public-private-partnership (PPP) through the NHAI,” an official statement said.

Five states — Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, Puducherry and Sikkim — will also sign the SSA soon, it said.

However, Uttar Pradesh has indicated its desire to withdraw from the SSA it signed earlier.

“Discussions are going on with the government of Uttar Pradesh to resolve the matter,” the statement added.

Source: sindhtoday.net

Cartelisation highway leads to Delhi

March 11, 2008

NEW DELHI: The National Highways Builders Federation, a body representing infrastructure companies, has filed a case in the high court against the ministries of finance and surface transport, and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), stating the recently-announced selection process for infrastructure project bidders is promoting cartelisation within the industry. According to the federation, only bigger players such as GMR, GVK and Reliance Industrial Infrastructure will benefit from the new policies. Fearing cartelisation, smaller players, including Gammon India and Navyug, had lodged an official complaint with the federation. In December 2007, the government had announced a new selection process for infrastructure project bidders. According to the policy, only six bidders with the maximum experience would be eligible to participate in the financial bid stage. However, the policy does not specify the names of the six bidders. Earlier, NHAI had been developing infrastructure projects under another scheme in public-private partnership projects. So far, NHAI had issued a notice inviting tenders that was divided into two parts: technical bid and financial bid. In the technical bid stage, the credibility of the bidder was examined. Those eligible for this round could bid in the financial round. For this, the bidder would either give a grant to the government or give the minimum concession period — the shortest period under which it would return project to the government. “The policies are tilted towards the big players in the industry, whereby the top six companies will always be successful bidders with their kind of experience,” Hammurabi & Solomon senior partner Manoj Kumar told ET. Under the present policy, bidders that do not make it to the top six would automatically be pushed out of the race. “This is unfair and will lead to cartelisation,” sources said. Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com 

4-LANING OF DELHI-DEHRADUN NATIONAL HIGHWAY

March 5, 2008

Delhi – Dehradun National Highway has been identified for 4 laning under National Highway Development Project (NHDP) Phase III on Build, Operate & Transfer (BOT) basis. Widening to 4 lane work in Meerut-Muzaffarnagar section is in progress and delayed due to initial problem regarding tree cutting & land acquisition and is targeted to be completed by March, 2009. Widening to 4 lane work in Muzaffarnagar-Haridwar section could not be awarded as only single bid was received and the same was cancelled. For re-bidding of this section, updation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) as per new Model Concession Agreement (MCA) as decided by Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) is in progress.The Haridwar-Dehradun section is passing through Rajaji National Park and clearance is to be obtained from the Central Empowered Committee constituted by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. After clearance from Central Empowered Committee and PPPAC, bidding process is to be taken up for award of 4 laning work. This information was given by the Minister of State for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Shri K.H. Muniyappa in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.  Source: http://pib.nic.in 

Highways rev into the fast track

March 1, 2008

Fasten your seat belt and get ready to zoom on Indian highways. The FM has increased the outlay for the National Highway Development Programme from Rs 10,867 crore in last Budget to Rs 12,966 crore this time. With the surface transport ministry just having finalised new model concessionaire agreements and other policies, it is set to put implementation in the higher gear. ”We have a big implementation plan for next fiscal that includes six or four laning of highways. The progress will be at a very fast pace now as the Budget gives NHDP a big push,” said Brahm Dutt, secretary, ministry of surface transport and roads. Among the ongoing projects that will get a push — finishing the 5,846-km golden quadrilateral linking Delhi-Mumbai-Chennai-Kolkata that’s already 96.48% complete and making progress on the 7,300-km north-south and east-west corridors that are 23.36% ready. The FM laid emphasis on Northeast and said the existing 180 km would go up to 300 km in 2008-09. Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com 

India’s Largest Toll Plaza – Delhi-Gurgaon

January 28, 2008

Kapsch Metro JV has commissioned the Delhi Gurgaon Expressway with 3 Toll Plazas with a total of 59 toll lanes. The largest toll plaza has a total of 32 + 4 reversible toll lanes.

The Project has a total of 24 ETC with some of them mixed type with cash and smart card facility ; the remaining being cash and smart Card type.

All lanes are equipped with Automatic vehicle classification systems . All the three plazas are interconnected through a WAN.

India’s Largest Toll Plaza -Delhi-Gurgaon is in operation!

The First Kapsch Toll System In India Finalized: Toll System For One Of The Most Frequented Highways Is Up And Running.

Kapsch
Since End of January 2008 runs the operation of the first road toll project of Kapsch TrafficCom AG in India with no problems. Within a joint venture structure – the Kapsch Metro Joint Venture – Kapsch TrafficCom alongside the Indian Metro Road Systems Ltd. fitted one section of the National Highway No. 8 with a modern manual/electronic toll system. This highway covers the route from Delhi to Gurgaon and is one of the most frequented roads in the region. The central toll plaza with altogether 32 toll lanes is one of the largest toll stations in all of Asia.

Since January 2008, the road from Delhi to Gurgaon features a modern manual/electronic toll system based on microwave technology (CEN 278). Completion of this toll system marks the successful finalization of the first road toll project of Kapsch TrafficCom in India. The principal, licensee DS Constructions Ltd., decided to award the contract to the Kapsch Metro Joint Venture in September 2006.

“For us, the selection of KapschMetro JV as a technology partner was an important step in the management of the traffic volumes on the project. The technology selected is stable, secure and has processed over 3 million transactions to date with no problems. The installation of the equipment was done in difficult circumstances with live traffic of over 130,000 per day travelling through the lanes during the installation period. The equipment implementation of the Delhi-Gurgaon toll project is a success story, Kapsch Metro JV delivered the project on schedule and to our complete satisfaction“, explains Allan Le Roux, Chief Operations Officer- Tolling of DS Constructions Ltd.


“Kapsch has already performed successful projects in India in the past, contracting GSM-R work for Indian Railroads, the Indian national railway system. With this commission, we were able to enter the Indian toll system market within an extremely short time, owing our success largely to our staff’s wealth of know-how and to the many years of experience we have in the Asian area. For me, the route that has now been completed is just the beginning of numerous further business ventures in Asia“, says Erwin Toplak, Board Member of Kapsch TrafficCom AG.

The Toll Road project is constructed on a 20 year BOT basis and has a length of 27 km long and rates among the most heavily trafficked projects in the region and provides important connectivity to the Indira Gandhi International Airport of New Delhi and the “New Millennium City” Gurgaon which boasts as having one of the worlds biggest shopping malls! The three toll plazas on the project have a total of 56 toll lanes. The main toll plaza located on the Delhi Haryana Border has 32 toll lanes. Motorists are able to use cash or use a Smart Card in at all lanes except the 4 dedicated non stop lanes with exclusive payment via microwave TAGs.

Kapsch TrafficCom AG is a global provider of innovative road traffic telematic systems, products, and services. Kapsch TrafficCom develops and supplies electronic toll collection systems, in particular multi-lane free-flow (MLFF) systems, and is also able to act as the technical and commercial manager for operating these systems. Further, Kapsch TrafficCom offers traffic management solutions (with the focus on road safety and traffic control), electronic access control systems, and parking space management. Kapsch TrafficCom has established itself among the global market leaders for ETC systems with more than 140 installed toll systems in 30 countries in Europe, Australia, Latin America, the Asian/Pacific Area, and South Africa, which altogether feature more than eleven million transponders and about 11’000 fitted lanes. Kapsch TrafficCom is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and has subsidiaries and representative offices in 18 countries.

Vienna on 27th March, 2008

For further information, please contact:
Brigitte Herdlicka
Public Relations & Sponsoring
Kapsch Group
Phone: +43 (0) 50 811 2705
1120 Vienna, Wagenseilgasse 1
E-Mail: [email protected]
www.kapschtraffic.com
www.kapsch.net

A K Bhattacharya: India`s infrastructure puzzle

December 19, 2007

National highways in India have seen a dramatic improvement over the last decade. Improvements are more evident in shorter stretches. For instance, Jaipur, Chandigarh and Agra are now well-connected with Delhi. Similarly, the highway that connects Mumbai with Pune can easily compare with the best anywhere in the world. This is true of many other national highways connecting major cities in southern and eastern India.

Many of these roads can be used only on payment of toll charges. Going by the available statistics on toll collections, these roads have become the preferred option for motorists and even heavy vehicle drivers. In fact, the toll charges are quite low compared to the benefits they offer to the road users. There is a clear case for raising these toll charges so that the maintenance of the roads can be ensured without any funds constraint. Not surprisingly, the National Highway Authority of India is planning to build more such toll roads connecting different cities across the country.

Yet, better highways have not led to a reduction in the total travelling time. This is ironical. If you are travelling from Jaipur to Delhi, you will take at least 45 minutes to an hour to cover a distance of about 10 kilometres within the city before reaching the national highway. Once on the highway, the journey is smooth and fast with about 250 kilometres being covered in about three and a half hours. The problem starts again once you are about to enter the city of Delhi. And depending on your final destination point, this might mean an additional travel time of a couple of hours. It is the same story if you were to travel by road from Chandigarh to Delhi.

So, national highways have made driving easy once you get out of the city. But to reach a destination, you need to travel through the city. And the bottleneck is at the entry point of the city. Nothing much has been done in any of these cities to decongest the arterial access roads. The city of Delhi may have seen more flyovers in the last few years, but the impact has been marginal because the growth in the vehicular population in the city has also been phenomenal.

Airlines should have gained from this increasing vehicular congestion at the entry points of all cities. But pause for a moment to reflect on what is happening to airport congestions in almost all the major cities, you will notice a virtual re-run of what has already happened to Indian highways. The flying time between Delhi and Mumbai is only about an hour and a half. But the wait on the tarmac (in addition to the early check-in requirements because of security reasons) before the aircraft can take off is almost half an hour. There is another 30-45 minutes of hovering in the skies before the aircraft can actually land and you can be taken to the arrival terminal building. In effect, you end up waiting for almost the same time that you take to cover the actual distance. All this is due to airport congestion. Gone are the days when once you were airborne, you could confidently estimate the time by which you would be home. Consequently, there is little to choose between taking a Delhi-Chandigarh flight and travelling this sector by car.

In any other country, the railways should have benefited from this immensely. Since most railway stations are located in the heart of these cities, there is no long wait before one can reach the final point of destination. But the irony is that the Indian Railways has failed to take full advantage of this situation. The Shatabdi trains that run on these sectors could have easily become a preferred option for those who fly or travel by road on such sectors. But the quality of service and an erratic punctuality record are major problems for the Indian Railways.

Things might change though in the next couple of years. Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore would get new or completely refurbished airports with a capacity to handle more passengers without causing congestion and delays. There might be more expressways connecting more cities. Even the Indian Railways is planning to launch faster trains to connect different cities in all the regions.

But the worries might still remain. India’s infrastructure problems arise not just from its inability to create facilities with adequate capacity. Equally frustrating is the failure of most managers of these infrastructure projects to identify the last-mile problems and fix them before they become unmanageable. Even the country’s best-managed infrastructure project, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, is not free from this malaise. And the solution does not lie with these individual project managers. There is an urgent need for the civic authorities in each of these cities to move in tandem with the infrastructure project managers and create necessary facilities within the cities to resolve the last-mile problems and remove other bottlenecks so that the full benefits of these huge projects accrue to the people.

Source: business-standard.com

From Delhi to Gurgaon in 15-20 mins

December 19, 2007

NEW DELHI/GURGAON: If you spend hours fretting and fuming while trying to get from Gurgaon to Delhi and vice versa, here’s some good news. On December 31, all flyovers on the 27-km Gurgaon-Delhi expressway will be opened. That includes the one curving across the road to IGI airport, which means going to catch a flight would also become less of a pain.

National Highways Authority of India claimed this deadline is final — there will be no extension. Toll on this expressway — which will reduce Delhi-Gurgaon travel time to 15-20 minutes from the current hour-long agony — will not be charged right away. In fact, talks are still on to fix the toll amount as well as its modalities.

While the final toll amount will be announced shortly, indications are that it will be Rs 15-16 for the entire stretch, but 50% less for vehicles regularly commuting between Gurgaon and Delhi and the other way round. In other words, Gurgaon residents working in Delhi and Delhi residents working in Gurgaon would have to shell out Rs 7.50 or Rs 8 — possibly not such a high amount considering the convenience.

Two-wheelers, three-wheelers and all slow-moving traffic will not be allowed on the expressway. These will have to take the service lane adjacent to the expressway.

NHAI’s member, technical, Nirmaljeet Singh said: “As of now all the flyovers except the one at Palam are operational. This too will be open before 2008.” Said another official, “We have put the expansion joints and now curing is in progress. Just a few things remain to be done and they will be done in the year’s last week when traffic will be less on certain days because of government holidays.”

Singh added that the loop connecting to the domestic airport would be operational by the year-end. This means the current jam in the approach to the airport would ease up somewhat. It will fully clear up once the new domestic terminal being constructed between 1A and 1B is completed.

While toll tax on vehicles will be levied only after the independent consultant gives a satisfactory report of the working of the toll plazas, the one near Delhi is a state-of-the-art 32-lane plaza, designed for easy traffic flow.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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