Rajendra B. Aklekar Profile picture
Journalist @mid_day Author of books on India's rail history & heritage. Biographer of Metro & Railway Man Dr. E. Sreedharan. Museology @csmvsmumbai
Sep 25 7 tweets 2 min read
Alert from inside the train! Slow line locals from Mumbai CSMT worked fine till Vidyavihar after that all lined up due to water-logging between Bhandup and Nahur. Harbour line shut beyond Kurla due to water logging between Mankhurd Govandi #MumbaiRains
#MumbaiRain
@mid_day @SachinKalbag Arriving at Ghatkopar after one hour halt after Vidyavihar station.
Sep 24 11 tweets 7 min read
FIRST RIDE! Mumbai's first underground Metro Aqua Line 3. Let's take a ride. The platform is three floors down.


Image


Inside the train and at Marol Naka and Aarey stations.



Image
Image
Image
May 27, 2023 20 tweets 9 min read
LIVE- To start with, here's an animation of exactly what is going to happen at #Vidyavihar bridge on #MumbaiRailway tonight. The giant open web girder of 99.34m length, weighing about 100 metric tonnes-one of the longest ones on Indian Railways over 10 lines -will be laid over… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… Engineers at the site near the winch under the massive bridge. Image
Oct 16, 2022 6 tweets 2 min read
India’s first all-aluminium freight rail wagons. The gleaming rakes are 180 tonnes lighter than existing steel rakes, can carry 5-10% more payload, consume less energy with relatively negligible wear and tear to rolling stock and rails. #HindalcoRakesItUp 1/n The bottom discharge aluminium freight wagon, specifically designed to carry coal, is tipped to reduce the carbon footprint measurably. The new generation wagons, fabricated by M/S BESCO are based on RDSO-approved design. 2/n
Aug 30, 2022 8 tweets 2 min read
Well, I was taken aback by a query from a section of media that did the underground Metro run at all or was it just a photo opportunity? Well, here is what all happened & what is going to happen. 1/n What was conducted today was a part design proving trial runs. conducted on the Down main line in about 3-km section between the ramp at SEEPZ to Marol Naka. This other tests include static tests. 2/n
May 8, 2022 6 tweets 3 min read
India's rail transport revolution!!!

Country's fastest Metro rail, three times fasterrrrr than regular Metros, is here.

Has been designed & built by @AlstomIndia to run at 180 kmph for NCRTC's 82.5 km phase 1 of Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transport (RRTS) project🚄 Designed at Alstom’s Hyderabad engineering centre & manufactured at Savli (Gujarat), these trains are 100% indigenous with propulsion systems & electricals made at the company’s factory in Maneja (Gujarat). The Savli unit produces bogies, car bodies & undertakes train testing.
Apr 8, 2022 6 tweets 4 min read
Poring over old Bombay and railway maps at the @AsiaticSocMum exhibition this afternoon. Excellent work by team @PastPerfectLive ImageImageImageImage The Bombay railway terminus. Image
Apr 1, 2022 20 tweets 7 min read
What A Day! The city is getting new trains & new rail lines. Back home after walking up along new lines, visiting stations & spotting the classy Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML) Metros, capturing all the excitement before it all formally opens up in a few hours. 1/n #MumbaiMetro22 The two Metro lines cross over suburban railway and nallah at Dahisar over a tall viaduct at this point. 2/n
Mar 4, 2022 6 tweets 2 min read
Railway Minister @AshwiniVaishnaw on board: Anti-Collision Device auto-brakes running loco 380m ahead of another loco standing on same tracks. 'Kavach', which literally means armour, is being promoted as the world's cheapest automatic train collision protection system. @mid_day The two WAG7 locos involved were 27736 (standing) and 27852 (with minister).
Dec 21, 2021 9 tweets 5 min read
Had a blast today, literally. It was amazing to witness the historic final breakthrough of the last of the two western ghat tunnels on the Dedicated Freight Corridor rail alignment near Virar for those mighty double stack container electric trains. @dfccil_india (thread) 1/n Exactly at 12:40pm on Tuesday afternoon, a huge series of blasts in the western ghat mountains near Virar paved way for a new chapter on Indian Railways (Pic @damuNBT) 2/n Image
Dec 17, 2021 12 tweets 7 min read
What a day today! A 9.5 km line coming to life after nearly 12 years. Diva-Thane new lines on Mumbai suburban railway have passed the test. Observing the inspection of Commissioner of Railway Safety in action was a learning process.(thread) 1/n
The inspection specials! Kalwa station, new platforms for fast line. Huge public transport stand and preparations. 2/n
Jun 25, 2021 7 tweets 2 min read
The Presidential train!💐 As per the records from the President’s Secretariat, the country’s first President, Dr Rajendra Prasad, often undertook train journeys.
Sep 14, 2020 15 tweets 7 min read
Could not NOT take pics of the progress of #Mumbai Metro Line 7 along the Western Express Highway yesterday. Metro Line 7 is from Andheri (E) to Dahisar (E), a 16.475 km. long elevated corridor with 13 stations. #TrainsAreComing Thread. Mumbai Metro Line 7 #TrainsAreComing (Pic2)
Aug 24, 2020 8 tweets 3 min read
Mumbai CSMT 2.0!! Too many updates about Mumbai CSMT redevelopment? Here's what exactly happening at Mumbai's mega terminus station, formerly called Bombay Victoria Terminus. Developing area around the station & convert the entire complex into a mega hub, like an airport...1/7 This will involve clearing the space around the station by shifting a few of offices to other places. Like the office of @drmmumbaicr will be shifted to Byculla and other such moves. This will create open space around, mostly behind, the iconic building for free circulation. 2/7
Aug 19, 2020 9 tweets 4 min read
Royal Makeover! The iconic Mumbai-Pune Deccan Queen Express train gets a makeover with new colour shade of 'Restrained Imperium' designed by @NID_India Why the colour was chosen and what does it mean? Read my story here: m.mid-day.com/articles/iconi… Image This is how the train will roughly look... Image
Aug 13, 2020 6 tweets 3 min read
So what's the politics of Ganapati special trains for Konkan from Maharashtra? Here's a sequence of events from beginning. On July 23 @Central_Railway seeks opinion of Maharashtra govt led by @CMOMaharashtra
@OfficeofUT & Transport Minister @advanilparab on it. This is the letter In response, Director, Disaster Management Unit, Maharashtra in their letter dated 7.8.2020 informed that special trains may be scheduled to the Konkan Region for the Ganapati Festival.
Feb 3, 2020 8 tweets 3 min read
CR's AC LOCAL TRAIN TODAY! More discipline, but more crowd in rush hour. The Air Conditioned EMU local at Thane this morning had only ticketed passengers. However, the crowding on island platform increased. @mid_day The train was empty and overflowing crowd on platforms on either side, which could not get in. @Central_Railway has not promoted the train as they should have.
Aug 10, 2019 5 tweets 5 min read
This is why the Mumbai-Pune line is still down. Holes in tunnel due to boulder falls & landslides, displaced tracks and broken overhead wire poles. @Central_Railway teams working 24x7 to get back line on track (1/n) (2/n)
Dec 18, 2018 12 tweets 3 min read
Prime Minister @narendramodi will be laying the foundation stone of three Metro Rail lines in a few hours. Two around Mumbai and one at Pune. Follow this thread for details of those lines 1/n The two lines around Mumbai are Metro Line 5 for Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan area and the Metro Line 9 for Dahisar east to Mira Bhayander, a Metro Line 7 extension. 2/n