Project : Indian Railway IT Interface

7/30/2019 Project : Indian Railway IT Interface

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Ind ian Railways IT Interface

A Repor t

Presented to

Prof G Raghuram

Prof Rekha Jain

Prof Sebastian Morris

In

Partial Fulfillmen t of the Course Requirem ents of the

Infrastructure Developm ent and Financing Course

On

Augu st 24, 2001

By

Abhishek Kum ar

Amit GadgilAnanta Satapathy

Rajesh Upad hyayu la

Sandeep Prabhud esai

Group 3

Section B


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Executive Summary

This report focuses on various aspects of Indian Railways and Information

Technology (IT) interface. Our project has three objectives viz. to examine the

Railway and IT interface from the perspective of Railways, to identify uses of IT for

improving effectiveness and efficiency of Railways and to evaluate issues pertaining

to railways developing and offering IT infrastructure for public use.

We have covered in this report the history of IT interface, various developments in

Railway IT interface till date. We have studied the various uses of IT in railways like

PRS, IMPRESS, CONCERT, FOIS and CRIS. We have also covered the RailNet, its

objectives, various phases of implementation, utility of RailNet and various issues in

RailNet.

In the next part of the report, we have studied the RailTel, the corporation formed for

implementation of OFC network for railways. We have focused on issues like need

for Railtel, demand potential, estimated market share, investment required, debt

equity options available, revenue model on the basis of one of these options, SWOT

analysis for RailTel and competitor analysis.

In the final part of this report, we have looked at the Railway IT interface across the

globe that may be useful to identify the various uses of IT in Indian Railways.


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Table of Contents

Objectives Of The Project ________________________________________________ 1

History Of IT Interface __________________________________________________ 1

Need For IT In Railways _________________________________________________ 2

Background Of IT In Railways____________________________________________ 2

Earlier Developments____________________________________________________ 3

Computerized Passenger Reservation System (PRS) ___________________________ 4

Freight Operations Information System (FOIS) ______________________________ 7

Center for Railway Information Systems (CRIS)______________________________ 9

Need For CRIS _____________________________________________________ 10

RAILNET ____________________________________________________________ 10

Tools Provided By Railnet ____________________________________________ 11

Objectives__________________________________________________________ 11

Architecture________________________________________________________ 12

Problems With Transfer Of Messages & Files____________________________ 12

Phases Of Railnet ___________________________________________________ 12Phase - I (Completed) _______________________________________________ 12Phase - II (Tender to be finalized shortly) _______________________________ 13

Phase III (Sanctioned) _____________________________________________ 14

Utility Of Railnet____________________________________________________ 15Hardware Components (Phase-I) ______________________________________ 16

Software Components (Phase-I) _______________________________________ 17

Internet Access _____________________________________________________ 17

Strengths __________________________________________________________ 17

Limitations_________________________________________________________ 17Remedies_________________________________________________________ 18

Future Scope ______________________________________________________ 18

Issues In Railnet ____________________________________________________ 18

Introduction __________________________________________________________ 21

Communication Requirements for Railways ________________________________ 21

Current Status of Railways communication network _________________________ 22

Potential _____________________________________________________________ 22

Creation of Railtel _____________________________________________________ 23


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Objectives of Railtel ____________________________________________________ 23

Demand Potential______________________________________________________ 23Estimated Sector Sizes ______________________________________________ 24Bandwidth Demand ________________________________________________ 25

Technical Plan for Network Deployment ___________________________________ 25

Introduction________________________________________________________ 25

ISP/NLDO Business _________________________________________________ 26

Estimated Market Share _____________________________________________ 26

Railways Asset Contribution ____________________________________________ 26

Asset Contribution Breakup __________________________________________ 27

Investment ___________________________________________________________ 27

Business Financials and Revenue Model for Railtel __________________________ 28

Implementation Plan ___________________________________________________ 29

Synergy with Railways __________________________________________________ 30

Possible Synergies with PSUs of the Department of Telecommunication__________ 30

Competitor Analysis ____________________________________________________ 30

Facilities Assessment_________________________________________________ 31

Existing OFC Infrastructure __________________________________________ 31

Planned Facilities ___________________________________________________ 31

Right of Way (RoW)_________________________________________________ 32

Main Competitors ___________________________________________________ 32Department of Telecommunications____________________________________ 32

Power Grid Corporation of India Limited _______________________________ 33Gas Authority of India Limited________________________________________ 36

Cellular Operators__________________________________________________ 38Private Basic Services Operators ______________________________________ 39

Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) ________________________________ 40

SWOT Analysis of RailTel_______________________________________________ 40

Railway-IT Interface around the Globe ____________________________________ 42

South and East Africa________________________________________________ 42East Japan Railway Company (JR East) ________________________________ 43

European Train Control System (ETCS) ________________________________ 48

Appendix 1 ___________________________________________________________ 53

Appendix 2 ___________________________________________________________ 54

Appendix 3 ___________________________________________________________ 55


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Appendix 4 ___________________________________________________________ 56

Bibliography__________________________________________________________ 62


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Indian Railways IT InterfaceAbhishek Kumar, Amit A Gadgil, Ananta N Satapathy, Rajesh U, Sandeep R Prabhudesai

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Objectives Of The Project

?? To examine the Railway and IT interface from the perspective of Railways

?? Identifying uses of IT for improving effectiveness and efficiency of Railways

?? To evaluate issues pertaining to railways developing and offering IT infrastructure

for public use

History Of IT Interface

60s

?? A dedicated skeletal communication network was developed by IR, as a basic

requirement for train operation

?? Plan to progressively computerize railways working was accepted in principle by

Management and Labor Unions

70s

?? Pay-rolls, Inventory control and Operating statistics

?? Deployment of Computers for productivity improvement through building up

operational data bases

80s

?? Computerization of Passenger Reservation Arrangement

?? Developing a Freight Operations Information System

?? Replacing the existing Computers at the Zonal Railways

?? Production Units with the State-of-the-art Computer systems

?? Provision of Computers at Divisions, New Production units, Work-shops, Sheds

and Depots and Training Institutes

?? Quantum improvement in the use of Computers in the offices

90s

?? Enterprise wide Computer system

?? IT Applications for Passenger Business Area


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Need For IT In Railways

Transportation Industries such as Railways operate in a dynamic and constantly changing

environment. This requires a continuous update of information about current status and

location of these assets. The optimum utilization of material resources, which they

deploy, would require collection and collation of accurate data on their current utilization

and an inventive analysis of the information collected.

Information Resource is a critical managerial tool for confronting and tackling the

business challenges on a real time basis. Transportation industries are also service

industries and they thrive and flourish on Information - rich soil that provides them the

vitally needed link to their customers and other major stakeholders. Railways being

multi-locational, multi-functional and multi-divisional organization provide an ideal

backdrop for Computer Networks, which can allow sharing of resources across the

Corporation and information with their customers.

Railway Industry, being an age-old industry, finds many of its existing business and

operational practices inadequate for adjusting in the current fast changing business

environment. Unless, Railways also develop capabilities to harness information resources

through the use of exploding information technology, as other industries are doing, its

continued presence as a viable industry in future may become a question mark. On the

contrary, if the railway system can exploit Information Technology to modernize their

operations and practices to suit the needs of their customers, they can gain tremendous

competitive advantage in the present and future business environment.

Background Of IT In Railways

Indian Railways (IR) is the principal mode of transport in the country. IR today has

62,660 route km of rail track. The total investment on IR has been Rs. 356.2 billion. Lastyear, IR moved 390.5 million tonnes of freight, generating a traffic output of 272 billion

tonne kms. At the same time the system carried 4,068 million passengers generating a

traffic output of 339 billion passenger kms. This output was produced with the help of

over 7,000 locomotives and 300,000 wagons. The efficiency index of Wagon utilization

measured in terms of net tonne kms per wagon per day stood at 1,780, which is one of the


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highest in the World. IR's network has 7,050 Railway Stations and its employees number

a little over 1.6 million - making it the largest single employer in India.

Over the last four and half decades, the freight transport has increased by about 5.75

times and passenger output by about 4.2 times. The growth in traffic output has not been

evenly matched by the growth in inputs in the form of track and rolling stock. The high

density has been further accentuated by the imbalance of the traffic flows. The BG routes

though forming 63.2% of the route, carry 95% of freight traffic and 89% of passenger

traffic of IR. Among the BG routes, the six corridors connecting the four major

metropolises of Mumbai, Calcutta, Delhi and Chennai and the two diagonals comprising

15.8% of total network carry in excess of 56% of the total freight transport output and

47% of passenger traffic, thereby causing serious congestion on the golden quadrilateral.

The perennial constraint of resources has adversely affected Railway's development

resulting in diversion of traffic from rail to road at an overall higher cost to the economy.

Currently, Railways carry only 40% and 15% of the overall freight and passenger traffic

respectively. Rapid growth in the demand for bulk transport has compelled the railways

to evolve operating strategies and technology for running unit trains to match this

demand. The emphasis of the railways on running of unit trains is denying the use of cost

effective rail transport to a large number of smaller volume customers and this has been

hastening the decline of market share on the part of Railways.

Indian Railways have reached today a significant phase and are at a threshold of an

uncertain future. IR will be required to make necessary competitive adjustments to deal

with the pressures of market forces in a liberalized economic environment, not only to

remain financially viable, but to be able to satisfy the growth in demand for rail transport.

As Railways stare into the dark-tunnels, the only source that can probably shed the light

to carry it - blazing into the future is the Information Technology tool, which many

successful organizations are using to their profit.

Earlier Developments

Realizing the important role that information plays in Railways operations, IR had

embarked on its Computerization Program, earlier than many other organizations in the

country. Towards the end of 60's, two positive developments took place in Indian


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Railways. Firstly, even though, computerization was perceived by many as a labor saving

measure, IR could realize its potential advantage and the plan to progressively

computerize Railways was accepted in principle by Management and the Labor Unions.

Secondly, a dedicated skeletal communication network was developed by IR, as a basic

requirement for train operation, even though the future development of the merger of

computers and communication to give birth to Information Technology was not actually

visualized at that time. After the early introduction of regular flavor computer

applications such as Pay rolls, Inventory control and Operating statistics, Railways were

poised in the mid 70's for deployment of computers for productivity improvement

through building up operational databases. However, certain administrative issues and

political development came in the way of bringing about any further developments in the

field of computerization. The period between mid 70's to early 80's were however utilized

by IR to develop a blue print for further computerization. During the beginning of the

80's IR decided on

?? Computerization of the Passenger Reservation Arrangement.

?? Developing a Freight Operations Information System.

?? Replacing the existing Computers at the Zonal Railways and Production Units

with the State-of-the-art Computer systems enabling the organization to

computerize more applications and increasing the volume of users.

?? Provision of Computers at Divisions, New Production units, Workshops, Sheds

and Depots and Training Institutes.

?? Quantum improvement in the use of Computers in the offices.

In the last 10 years, IR has made significant progress in Computerization. Out of these

developments, we shall examine some of the systems that are currently being

used/developed on IR.

Computerized Passenger Reservation System (PRS)

Out of the total passengers carried by IR, inter-city passengers constitute a mere 9% of

the total volume. But, this small proportion, out of the total, generated 176 billion

passenger-km out of a total of 341 billion passenger-km, about 52% of the total. They

also bring in a revenue of Rs. 42.9 billion in a total passenger revenue of Rs. 60 billion,


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constituting roughly 72% of the total. It is a matter of comfort for IR that this market

segment is a well-patronized one and in order to meet the situation of demand over

running supply, the customers have been provided with the facility of making their

reservation on these trains, 30 days in advance.

The seats/berths reservation system on trains is a fairly complex activity, not only

because of volume involving more than 600,000 seats/berths reservations per day, but

also because of seven different categories of trains operating, using 72 types of coaches

with seven classes of reservation, more than 40 types of quotas and more than 80 kinds of

concessional tickets. The method of calculation of fare is also quite complex as charges

are based on the distance, comfort level provided and the transit time. Because of this

complexity and sheer volume involved, IR undertook management of Reservation work

through computers.

A pilot project consisting of a few popular trains implemented at New Delhi in November

1985 came out successful and was well received by the customers. By May 1987, the

entire New Delhi Reservation Load was computerized. The stand-alone VAX Computer

Systems were further implemented at remaining three metropolitan cities, namely,

Mumbai (June '87), Calcutta (July '87) and Chennai (October '87) and they account for

over 40% of reservation volume. The last stand-alone Cyber Computer System was

implemented at Secunderabad (July '89), which was subsequently replaced by VAX

computer system (Jan '95).

Many other stations having advance reservation arrangements were connected as remote

terminals to the existing five computer systems for accessing the entire database of the

host computer. In the computerized system, IR decided that technical and service

considerations would be used to determine the hostto which a station would be linked up.

To improve the service levels further, by providing better access to customers, remote

terminals from the host computers are also being provided at satellite locations in the

Metropolitan cities. In some major cities, satellite terminals from five host computer

systems were also provided, thus allowing customers access to reservation databases

residing there. A teleprinter interface to PRS called AUTOMEX, is also in place to

enable those stations which are not connected by remote terminals, to access the

reservation database.


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The Passenger Reservation System Software is given the name Integrated Multi-train

Passenger REServation System (IMPRESS) and consists of roughly 2,700 Sub routines.

Developed through 30 man years of programming effort in the language of FORTRAN,

the software functions as an integrated system of four main modules, which handle the

functional requirements of Reservation, Enquiry, Accounting and Charting. The system

has full scale back up and recovery facilities.

The entire computerized PRS system, thus, functions as five stand-alone systems. The

stand-alone architecture does not allow reservation at a terminal from databases in two

different host computers. The provision of remote terminals at major stations from more

than one host computer partially takes care of this, though the customer has to stand in

two or more queues. IR now plans to inter-link the five host computers using networking

software and distributed transaction processing. This will provide access to databases in

all the five host computers at any terminal in the country. The entire system can then

cover almost all reservation quotas on IR, with the databases distributed over five

computer locations, providing reservation access all over the country.

As a first major step towards the goal of single image passenger reservation system, the

first prototype of PRS Networking Software, CONCERT (COuntrywide Network of

Computerized Enhanced ReservaTion) using FORTRAN (30%) and C (70%)

languages was implemented at Secunderabad in January '95. CONCERT is written,

keeping in mind the Client-Server architecture of Computer System to achieve easy

hardware expansionability in future. Its message routing feature for WAN (Wide Area

Network) implementation is achieved through RTR software and Router hardware,

connected directly to an ethernet backbone. As a first phase of CONCERT

implementation, the IMPRESS software version at the two stand-alone PRS systems at

Secunderabad and New Delhi has been replaced with CONCERT and work is in progress

for networking these two systems, using 64 kbps channels. The network application

modules, once successfully completed, are expected to get extended to PRS at Calcutta,

Chennai and Mumbai. After the full-scale implementation, the requirement of

communication channels will come down, as there will be no need for extending circuits

for connecting remote terminals to particular PRS location only, in view of every terminal


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becoming universal. CONCERT will also add multiple lap functionality resulting in

better customer service.

Freight Operations Information System (FOIS)

The market share of IR in the total freight traffic carried in the country has been declining

in the last 20 years mainly due to the inability of IR to carry all the traffic offered to it.

This inability arises from the fact that the railways have been consistently facing severe

shortage of Rolling Stock for carrying all traffic and serious constraints in line capacity

for moving the traffic.

While considerable inputs are needed for augmenting the capacity of rolling stock as well

as line capacity, the optimum utilization of existing resources is considered more

imperative for carrying additional volume of traffic. It is of common knowledge that

railway systems all over the world have profitably used computerization for improving

the utilization of rolling stock assets of their systems.

Realizing the significant contribution that computerization can make in improving the

utilization of rolling stock assets, Indian Railways have been planning from the early

stages for the introduction of use of computers in the freight operations. In the early 70's

the advance transmission of CONSIST from marshalling yard to marshalling yard was

attempted but the inherent limitations of the hardware available at that time and the non-

availability of reliable communication lines thwarted the early attempts.

The administrative issues and political developments which were responsible for

stagnancy in the area of computerization during late 70's also played a major part in

delaying further introduction of computers in freight operations. Ultimately, Indian

Railways decided in 1986 to go in for an integrated computer communication system

called Freight Operation Information System (FOIS) with an objective to computerize the

information relating to all operational activities and monitor the performance of allactivity centers connected with freight traffic management.

FOIS will maintain data banks of all fixed and rolling stock assets of the IR with their

characteristic features, to help proper evaluation and optimization of their use. All the

data will be captured dynamically, as an event is happening. Such data banks will be used

to improve the quality ofdecision making and for producing management information


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reports on all aspects offreight operations, without the need to collect past data, every

time. For this, FOIS will have many sub-systems for handling individual activities. It was

anticipated that the introduction of FOIS would bring about a minimum of 10%

improvement in Wagon utilization and 5% improvement in Locomotive utilization.

The FOIS architecture is two tier, with a central system at Railway Board level,

processing all identified core functions relating to moving assets and Zonal Systems at 5

locations processing all local functions carried out at Activity Reporting Centerssuch as

Goods Sheds and Sidings, Transhipment Points, Yards, Stations, Interchange Points,

Wagon Repair Depots, Locomotive Sheds, Fuelling Points, Crew Changing Points,

Carriage & Wagon Workshops, Locomotive Workshops etc. While the central computer

system is located in New Delhi, the five Zonal Computer Systems are located at New

Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai and Secunderabad.

For implementing FOIS, after surveying the similar technologies available in world

railways, it was decided to import software from Canadian National Railroadfor the data

processing at the central computer. This software called TRACS (Traffic Reporting and

Control System) ran on IBM compatible machines and had been implemented earlier in

Southern Pacific Railroad, Canadian National Railroad and British Rail.

The Central System handles the core functions like control of wagon movement, control

of train movement, locomotive movement, scheduling and routing of traffic, empty

wagon distribution, container traffic, safety management, marketing applications, total

system performance statistics, corporate planning etc. The Zonal Systems handle

distributed field functions like yard management, local area management (inclusive of

Goods sheds, Transhipment sheds, Invoice preparation and invoicing), maintenance and

repairs of wagons and locomotives, crew management, fuel management, safety

management, statistical (query based, scheduled, off-line and message) reports,

accounting, billing, costing and apportioning of revenue among the Zonal Railways etc.

The assessment of the cost of FOIS Project has ranged from Rs.2.1 billion (1979) to Rs.5

billion (1982), to Rs.17 billion (1986). The cost has since been revised down to Rs.11

billion in 1988, at 1986 prices. The major reason for cost fluctuations were the

uncertainty over creation of supporting communication infrastructure to cater the need of


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reliable and speedy computer communication across the length and breadth of IR,

spanning all over India.

Presently, a pilot projectis under implementation on Northern Railway using Central and

Zonal Computer Systems installed at New Delhi. On the basis of the experience gained

from the field trial, FOIS network will be expanded in future. This, however, will need a

strong organizational will at all levels to accept the project, quickerdecision making at

every stage of project implementation and availability ofadequate funds, in time.

The traditional method of "Repetitive and periodic reporting" being followed at present

by Indian Railways for train operation is unable now to cope up with the ever increasing

demand of public transport coupled together with increase in speed and safety standards.

To reap the benefit of explosion in IT worldwide and also to take the advantage of

liberalized policy of Government of India towards Information Technology, Indian

Railways have establish a Corporate Wide Information System (CWIS) between

Railway Board, Zonal Railways Head Quarters, Production Units and Centralized

Training Institutes, etc. called as ""RAILNET". It will be able to provide smooth flow of

Information on demand for administrative purposes from the important operational

locations up to top level and vice-versa, which will help in taking quicker and better

decisions.

Center for Railway Information Systems (CRIS)

In 1986, the Ministry of Railways established CRIS to be an umbrella for all computer

activities on Indian Railways. They also entrusted it with the task of design, development

and implementation of FOIS, along with its associated communications infrastructure.

The Center started functioning from July 1987. It is an autonomous organization headed

by the Managing Director. CRIS is mainly a project-oriented organization engaged in

development of major computer systems on the Railways. CRIS has acquired specialknowledge and expertise in the field of informatics. With such a rich practical

experience, a dedicated team of professionals and its own R&D effort, CRIS aims to be a

leader in this fast developing field.


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Need For CRIS

A separate organization was considered better suited to take up all computer activities on

IR mainly for the following reasons:

?? To avoid duplication of efforts by individual Railways.

?? To ensure standardization of computer hardware and software on the Railways.

?? To undertake design and development of major applications on Railways

requiring higher levels of expertise, faster decision making and system wide

applicability.

?? To insulate the organization from day to day working of the Railways so that its

objectives are not lost sight of.

??Need for a combined effort of Railways and Computer Specialists, consideredbest suited for the development of the computer applications on Railways.

?? Need for development of expertise in highly specialized fields like Operation

Research, Simulation, Expert System, CAD/CAM, Process Control etc.

?? Need for greater flexibility to keep pace with the fast changing technology.

RAILNET

RAILNET has the potential for transfer of messages, files, e-mails between the important

locations on Indian Railways. In addition, the internal web site in Railway Board and

Zonal Railways Headquarters supports codes, manual procedure orders, policy directives

and other important information for day-do-day use by various officials. Detailed

estimate amounting to Rs.7.81 crore for the work of RAILNET was sanctioned in

Nov.98 by the Railway Board. The structure of RAILNET is as under:


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RAILNET will provide computer connectivity between Railway Board and Zonal

Railways, Production Units, Centralized Training Institutes, RDSO, CORE,

MTP/Calcutta & 46 Major Training Institutes.

Tools Provided By Railnet

?? Email

?? EDI

?? WWW

?? Telnet

?? FTP

Objectives

?? Eliminate the need to move paper documents between different offices

?? Change from Periodic Reporting to Information on Demand


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?? Expedite & facilitate quick & efficient automatic status update between Railway

Board & Zonal Railways

Architecture

?? To have internet access at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai & Kolkata.

?? Capability to monitor & control usage of RAILNET & Internet.

?? Expedite & facilitate quick & efficient automatic status updates between Railway

Board Zonal Railways.

Problems With Transfer Of Messages & Files

??

Manual system of transfer of messages & files are time consuming &unbelievably slow.

?? Sometime the messages are illegible (due to poor photocopy quality or poor hand

writing)

?? The messages sometimes do not reach the concerned person.

?? Sender is not sure whether the message has reached the correct person.

Phases Of Railnet

Phase - I (Completed)

This consisted of interconnecting LANS at the following locations:

?? Railway Board

?? Existing Zonal Railway Headquarters

?? Production Units

?? Clw / Chittaranjan

?? Dcw / Patiala

?? Dlw / Varanasi

?? Icf / Perambur

?? Rcf / Kapurthala

?? W & Ap/ Bangalore


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The contract for Phase-I was awarded to M/s Tata Infotech Limited. The scope of work

included Supply,Installation,Testing and Commissioning of Servers, Routers, Centralized

Switches, Modems etc. including Internet/Intranet software. The work has been

completed except for NFR, DLW and DCW because of non-availability of

site/connectivity.

Phase - II (Tender to be finalized shortly)

This consists of interconnecting LANS at the following locations:

?? New zones (6 nos.)

?? Rdso / Lucknow

?? Core, Allahabad

?? Mtp , Calcutta

?? Centralized training institutes

?? Rsc/ Vadodara

?? Irieen / Nasik

?? Irimee / Jamalpur

?? Iriset / Secunderabad

?? Iricen / Pune


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This phase will also consist of the following centers to facilitate interconnections:

?? Major training centres (46)

?? Zonal training centres (9)

?? Supervisor training centres(9)

?? S&T training centres (9)

?? Electrical training centres (9)

?? Civil training centres (9)

?? RPF training centre (1)

?? All divisional HQs (yet to be sanctioned)

Phase III (Sanctioned)

This phase will interconnecting LANS at the following locations:

?? All Sub Division Hqs(Aen/Hq Etc.)

?? Workshops

?? Mechnical

?? Loco

?? C&W


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?? S&T

?? Engg/Bridge

?? Stores Depots

?? Major Stations (I.E. Cat Astations)

?? Passenger Complaint Centres

Utility Of Railnet

?? Railnet users can exchange mail

?? Commercial Deptt. is extensively using Railnet for their Complaint Centres

applications

?? Railways have launched their web pages

?? Authorised users can access the internet through Railnet either in LAN or throughRemote Dial-up on Rly. Telephone.

?? Defined users in the LAN can share their resources.


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Hardware Components (Phase-I)

?? Compaq Servers

??

CISCO Routers, Switches & Hubs?? Structured cabling using AMP Net Connect Components

o UTP-Cat 5 cabling (10 Mbps)

o Maximum distance permissible 100 meters between

?? Nodes and Hubs

?? Hubs & switches

?? Switches & Server/Router


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Software Components (Phase-I)

?? MS Windows NT Server

??

MS Windows NT Workstation 4.0?? Internet Information Server 3.0

?? Front Page Express 98

?? Lotus Nodes Clients 4.6

?? Cisco Works with SNMPC

?? Cisco Pix Firewall

?? NMS

Internet Access

Internet Access (128 Kbps) has been provided in Delhi & Mumbai, which will enable the

authorised Railnet users to

?? Exchange E-mail. The Railnet user will have the same E-Mail address for Internet

also.

?? Browse the World Wide Web

Strengths

?? Uses Internet Technology, hence scaleable from PC-LAN-WAN-Internet.

?? Universal browser Interface gives Single Viewing Window.

?? Freedom of Choice enables it to be implemented on dissimilar systems.

?? Saving Money.

?? Reduced Development Time.

?? Performance

?? Improved Business Processes.

Limitations

?? Security, End-user Acceptance

?? Network Security - Major Concern


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?? Possible Hazards

Downloading classified information

Disable network

Corrupt data

Introduce virus etc.

Remedies

?? User authentication- Password

?? Virus scanner

?? Internet access at Delhi & Mumbai provided through Firewall

?? Use of licensed and authentic software

Future Scope

Railnet can also be used for

?? Voice Communication

?? Video Communication

?? Video Conferencing

Voice over Railnet was sucessfully demonstrated during a General Managers conference

in Rail Bhawan. Video conferencing over Railnet was successfully demonstrated between

the Minister for Railways, Chairman & members of the Railway Board and General

Manage, Mumbai on 01.02.99

Issues In Railnet

?? Accessibility of Contents of Web Pages

?? Internet users

?? Railnet users: Unrestricted; Restricted

?? Development, Design & Maintenance

?? Inhouse

?? Through External agency

?? Coordinated efforts

o Similarity


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o Compatibility

o Compilation

?? Various Applications

?? Quasi Static

o Codes

o Manuals

o Gazettes

o Various Status

o Seniority List

?? Dynamic

?? Punctuality

?? Logging of Trains

?? Progress of works

?? Training Schedules/Nominations etc

?? Work Flow

?? Internet Access

?? Uniform Policy

?? Level of Eligibility

?? Time Limit

?? Security - Firewall

?? Bandwidth Constraint

o 128 K - Rs. 8.7 Lacs

o 256 K - Rs. 11.9 Lacs

o 2MB - Rs. 47.0 Lacs

?? Maintenance

?? Proper Strategy for O&M

?? Data Links - Including timely payment of DOT leased circuits

?? Man power - Redeployment and Training

?? Computer Hardware

?? System and Application Software

?? General


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?? PCs, Ethernet Card, Modem

?? Sufficient no. of Dial-Up Ports

?? Railnet Connectivity - On Demand

?? Training of Maximum S&T Personnel

?? Increase usage by putting more & more applications


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Railtel Corporation of India Limited

Introduction

Railways have various communication needs. It is very important for railways to have a

reliable communication system since it is essential for efficient and safe operations of

trains. As such, formation of Broadband Telecom and Multimedia Corporation was

considered by Ministry of Railways. The Corporation registered as Railtel Corporation of

India Limited was incorporated in September 2000.

Communication Requirements for Railways

Railways have various communication requirements as follows:

1. The primary requirement is for control and block communication. Control

communication is required for monitoring from central control office; the running

of trains on a section of 200 to 300 Km. The central control office is connected to

all the stations. Block communication is necessary for safe movement of trains

from one station to the next.

2. Administrative communication requirements that include:

?? Connecting divisional headquarters with important stations

?? Connecting Zonal headquarters with the divisions

?? Connecting Railway Board with Zones

?? Emergency communication for crew of disabled train to talk to section

controllers

3. Use of communication channels for data transmission for:

?? Passenger Reservation System

?? Freight Operation Information System

?? Management Information System

?? Passenger Information System

?? Railnet


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Thus, as can be seen from above, it is very essential for Railways to have an efficient

communication system. Since DOT was unable to meet the stringent requirements of

Railways communication, Railways have started developing their own communication

network.

Current Status of Railways communication network

At present Railways have obsolete and over aged communication systems like overhead

alignment, analog microwave, and underground copper cables. Now, these systems are

being replaced by Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) and digital microwave. Further, OFCs are

to be provided in lieu of overhead alignment on sections that are being electrified (as

OFC is not affected by the electro static and electro magnetic interference caused by25 KV electrified lines).

Railways are now providing for Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) transmission

equipment. This system creates a minimum bandwidth of 155 mbps whereas; railways

are using only 2 mbps at wayside stations. Further, analog microwave links of 120

channels are being replaced by digital microwave links that have 34 mbps system (480

channels).

Thus, it can be seen that OFC and digital microwave links have resulted in generation of

surplus telecom capacity at railway stations as well as at major junctions. However, this

excess capacity is being unutilized at present.

Potential

Railways have uninterrupted Right of Way (ROW) along 62,800 Route Km of railway

track passing through 7000 stations. Further, the stations at major cities are located in the

central business districts (CBDs). OFC is a preferred transmission media for data andvoice over long distance. Right of Way is critical for laying OFC and hence railways are

ideally suitable for laying of OFC for creating nationwide network. Considering these

factors and the resource crunch that Railways is facing, it has been decided by Railways

to use surplus telecom capacity and ROW to build nationwide OFC based broadband

telecom and multimedia network.


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Creation of Railtel

Railway Budget 2000 - 2001 provided for implementation of this plan through a separate

professionally managed corporation viz. Railtel Corporation of India Limited (RCIL).

RCIL is set up as a 100% PSU and is registered with the Registrar of Companies under

the Companies Act, 1956.

Objectives of Railtel

Following are the main objectives of Railtel Corporation

1. To modernize railways train control, operational and safety systems and networks.

2. To create a nationwide broadband telecom and multimedia network to supplement

national telecom infrastructure to spur growth of telecom internet and IT enabled

value services in all parts of the country specially rural, remote and backward

areas.

3. To generate the revenues needed for implementing Railways developmental

projects, safety enhancement and asset replacement programs.

4. To significantly contribute to realization of goals and objectives of National

Telecom Policy, 1999.

Demand Potential

Nature of demand: Demand in long distance telecom market is geographically dispersed.

Demand for long distance voice and data traffic is expected to grow on account of the

following reasons:

?? Increase in number of telephone subscribers - both fixed and mobile

?? Additional facilities like internet, WAP being provided to mobile users will lead

to an increase in the demand for bandwidth

?? Opening of domestic long distance traffic for competition and reduction in long

distance tariffs

?? Increase in data traffic due to rise in internet subscribers and due to value added

services like video conferencing etc.


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TRAI and CRIS INFAC study

Cumulative annual growth rate of 11% in 5 years from 1993-98 was observed with total

long distance communication traffic estimated at Rs.12,000 Crores.

As per independent rating agency CRIS INFAC: CAGR of 14% for voice traffic for

Domestic Long Distance (DLD) market. Market size for voice and fax traffic is estimated

to be Rs.20,400 Crores by 2004-05. Following tables show the estimated growth in

various sectors:

Estimated Sector Sizes

CAGREstimated Size (Rs.

Crores)

TRAI Study:

Long distance voice

Communication traffic

11% in last 5 years 12,000

CRIS INFAC:

DLD market for voice traffic

14% 20,400 (by 2004-05)

ISP/data services market1

- Internet access market

- Virtual Private Network

- Corporate leased lines

67% in next 5 years

75% with no. of Internet

users to increase from 1.7

to 18 million

37% in next 5 years

27% in next 5 years

5,891 (by 2005)

5,392

282

216

National inter circle longdistance voice market

12% 5,508 (by 2005)

1Consultants estimates


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Bandwidth Demand

CAGR2

2000

(Gbps)

2005

(Gbps)

2000 (Rs.

Crores)

2005 (Rs.

Crores)

Total Market 59% 18 186 801 3,145

ISP 116% 3 142 286 2,284

NLDO 28% 4 13

Basic intra circle

Demand

17% 10 23 472 680

Cellular 52% 1 8 43 181

Technical Plan for Network Deployment

Introduction

Out of the 155 MBPS bandwidth available, Railways will require 2 8 MBPS and the

remaining capacity will be utilized for providing Internet, STD/ISD services or other

purposes at rural and remote areas.

Under this plan, RCIL will initially provide bandwidth to the service providers as

following:

?? Phase 1: A network connecting the four metros and four other important cities,

viz. Ahmedabad, Pune, Hyderabad and Bangalore will be implemented (10,020

Route Km)

?? Phase 2 4: 25,323 Route Km will be covered in the space of seven years3

?? Out of the above, 4,899 Route Km OFC has been laid, 15,163 Route Km is Work

In Progress

2For the period 2000 - 2005

3Refer Appendix 2


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ISP/NLDO Business

?? To fulfill the roll out obligation of National Long Distance Operations (NLDO),

RCIL has to establish Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) network on 38,000 Route Km

35,000 Route Km along the railway tracks (covering 287 out of the 325 LongDistance Charging Areas (LDCAs)) and the remaining 3,000 Route Km on those

Right of Way (ROW) where it is currently not available with the railways

?? Presently, RCIL plans to lay OFC along 33,000 Route Km only. The remaining

LDCAs will be covered by providing wireless/leasing bandwidth

?? If the communication is extremely poor in certain sections, RCIL will provide the

OFC. However, this will be provided by the corporation and the rentals will be

provided by the Railways on cost plus basis

Estimated Market Share

Segment Market Share Revenue (Rs. Crores)

606

471

52

54

Backbone Bandwidth Sale

- ISP

- Basic/ NLDO operators

- Cellular Services

- Corporate Leased Line

19%

20%

7.8%

30%

13% 29

ISP/Data Services 9.1% (by 2005) 538

Long Distance Voice

Services9.4% (by 2005) 516

Internet Access Market 7.68% 417

Corporate Virtual Private

Network24% 67

Leased Lines 25% 54

Railways Asset Contribution

?? Leasing of ROW will be done. Microwave stations, land and building use will

also be leased to the corporation


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?? The valuation of this lease/transfer of assets by the Railways, the Konkan Railway

Corporation and IRCON International Limited (which has OFC network along the

Ahmedabad Vadodara Surat section) is at Rs. 606 Crores. The decision on

whether this contribution by the two corporations will be a part of their equity in

RCIL or it will be the Railways equity alone with compensation to KRCL and

IRCON is to be taken

Asset Contribution Breakup

Rs. (Crores)

Right of Way 375

Optical Fiber Cable 108

Work In Progress 60

Land/ Building 47

Microwave Capacity and Infrastructure 16

Investment

The total investment required for the proposed 33,000 Route Km of OFC is Rs. 3,461

Crores. However, RCIL intends to adopt the Smart Build Approach wherein another

company will be laying the OFC along the railway track using Railways ROW in return

for the dark fibers to RCIL and thus reducing the cost of building of the network. Though

this introduces another competitor, RCIL hoped to market its telecom products better due

to its reduced network creation cost. With this, RCIL hopes to reduced its investment to

Rs. 2561 Crores and the required year wise investment is as follows:

Year 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Investment 410 146 892 146 547 61 359

RCIL will lay 15,000 Route Km OFC initially on its own and then employ the Smart

Build Approach. This may put in an additional expenditure of Rs. 182 Crores, which

should be partially offset by a reduction in the cost of electronic equipment.


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Initially, Railways will hold 100% equity, which will be reduced to 51% in the short

term. As Railways are transferring their rights and assets worth Rs. 606 Crores, part of

this value of assets will form Railways equity and the remaining will be debt.

Following are the three options of the debt equity ratio that have been considered by

Railways:

?? Option 1: Out of assets worth Rs. 606 crores transferred to Railtel, Rs. 350

Crores is kept as debt and the remaining Rs. 256 Crores is equity. Further the

equity to the JV partner is issued at a premium of 1:2. Thus for issue of equity of

Rs.150 Crores, Rs. 300 Crores will be the premium on equity. The requirement of

bridge financing for paying back the debt to the Railways will be Rs. 350 Crores.

The JV will be 62 38 in favor of the Railways.

?? Option 2: Rs. 150 Crores is kept as debt and the remaining Rs. 456 Crores is

equity. Conservatively estimating the JV equity to be at par at Rs. 150 Crores, the

need for bridge financing will be Rs. 150 Crores. The JV will be 67 33 in favor

of the Railways.

?? Option 3: Entire Rs. 606 Crores is kept as equity. The bridge financing

requirements will be zero no debt is being repaid to the Railways. JV partner(s) is

expected to bring Rs. 150 Crores equity at par. The JV will be 67 33 in favor of

the Railways.After due deliberation and the following considerations, option 2 is considered as the best

suitable:

1. In the initial stages, the expectation that the JV partner will be subscribing to the

equity at a premium of 1:2 may not be achievable. As such, option 1 is not

achievable.

2. If the promoters have less equity, the business proposition will not be considered

attractive by the lenders.

Business Financials and Revenue Model for Railtel


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As seen above, the Option 2 is considered as the most suitable option. As such, the

financial statements have been developed for Railtel considering this option. Following

are the main features of the revenue model developed for Railtel4.

?? Revenues: Revenues to Railtel comprise of Wholesale Bandwidth sale revenues

and Services Revenues. Wholesale Bandwidth sale revenues constitute revenues

from sale of capacity for long distance voice, sale of capacity to ISPs, sale of

capacity to Cellular operators and sale of capacity for corporate leased lines.

Services revenues include revenues derived from services to NLDO, Corporate

leased lines, Corporate VPN and revenue from retail ISP to corporates. Total

Revenues for Railtel are expected to be 61.66 crores in 2001 and are expected to

grow to Rs. 1660 crores in 2005 and to Rs.2372 crores in 2007.

?? Profits: Railtel is expected to have negative EBITDA i.e. cash loss to the extent

of Rs.39 crores in 2001. However, it is expected to have cash profit from 2002

onwards. EBITDA is expected to rise from Rs.298 crores in 2002 to Rs.1137

crores in 2005 and to Rs.1680 crores in 2007. Railtel is expected to suffer total

loss to the extent of Rs.201 crores in 2001. It is expected to have Earnings after

tax of Rs.53 crores in 2002 that are expected to increase to Rs.389 crores in 2005

and to Rs.779 crores in 2007.

??Net Present Value (NPV): The potential of RCIL in terms of NPV has beenassessed at Rs. 2,775 Crores

?? Return on equity: On the basis of revenue plan developed on the basis of option 2

as mentioned earlier, return on equity is expected to be 24% by Year 2005.

Implementation Plan

1. The telecom assets and the ROW will be immediately transferred/leased to the

Corporation

2. The Corporation will start completing the missing links for connecting the four

metros viz. Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata as well as the four important

cities viz. Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune and Bangalore.

4For projected income statement of RailTel, refer Appendix 3


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3. The Corporation will take IP II Licence immediately so as to sell the surplus

capacity available on the existing OFC links, which will be transferred, to the

Corporation. The surplus bandwidth on the microwave links will also be

leased/rented to the service providers. This will be transferred to OFC in due

course of time as and when commissioning takes place.

4. The Corporation will apply for NLDO licence as soon as Phase I is completed

Synergy with Railways

RCIL will be serving the communication needs of the Railways by modernizing

Railways communication infrastructure. The availability of bandwidth on the railway

stations will facilitate Railways in providing passenger amenities like informationsystem, reservation through Internet, Internet and STD/ISD kiosks on stations, etc.

Possible Synergies with PSUs of the Department of

Telecommunication

RCIL will have the right of way for creating nationwide optical fiber cable backbone for

becoming a long distance operator. In case of a JV with Mahanagar Telephone Nigam

Limited or with Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited there will be synergies between the

infrastructure, technical know how and customer base of MTNL for basic services,

VSNL for internet services and OFC based backbone of RCIL. Such a venture may also

utilize the NLDO licence available with VSNL for providing long distance services.

Competitor Analysis

The following parameters will be utilized to evaluate the competition that RCIL may facein the future.


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Facilities Assessment

The facilities for long distance communication are switches, transmission media and

transmission systems. Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) offers advantages over other

transmission media for DLD carriage. Technological developments are making it

possible to create higher capacities over a single pair of fibers, resulting in connectivity

acquiring greater significance than system capacities. Further, an entity requires Rights

of Way (RoW), if it has to deploy OFC along a route. RoW is a critical asset since it

entails costs and time spent on obtaining approvals from various authorities.

Existing OFC Infrastructure

At present, most of the DLD infrastructure in the country is with DoT, which has

76,000 Rkm of OFC in comparison to 3,000 Rkm with other agencies. The Railways

have approximately 1,500 Rkm of OFC. Basic and cellular licensees have also

established limited infrastructure in their circles, since they are allowed to carry long

distance calls of their subscribers within their service areas. Further, there are certain

organizations that use captive telecommunication networks, mainly for their internal

operational purposes. Railways, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (PGCIL) andGAIL are principal among these.

In comparison, the state-level infrastructure of private operators is tuned to telecom

traffic requirements. Bharti Telenet Ltd (BTL), the basic operator in Madhya Pradesh,

has around 1,700 Rkm within the state.

Planned Facilities

If plans of all the private network owners (including utilities and operators) fructify by

2003, alternative OFC network in the country will be around 70,000 Rkm. Meanwhile,

as per its perspective plan, DoT plans to add 1,36,000 Rkm of OFC by 2003.

NTP 99 permits usage of existing backbone networks of public and private power

transmission companies, Railways, GAIL, ONGC and others immediately for national


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long distance data communication and from January 1, 2000 for national long distance

voice communications.

Right of Way (RoW)

Deployment of OFC requires access to space along the routes, since it is a terrestrial

medium. OFC can be laid underground or strung along poles and either option requires

access to ways along routes.

DoT has the RoW due to the statutory authority granted to it by the Indian Telegraph Act.

There are several other organizations with transmission and distribution networks such as

Indian Railways (Railways), State Electricity Boards (SEBs) and, Ministry of Surface

Transport (MOST), which have the RoWs by virtue of their existing networks.

RoW represents an important asset, which the owner could either sell for a price or

leverage to enter the telecom business. MOST charges private operators for deploying

their cables along the National Highways. With organizations such as MOST charging

Rs. 50,000 per km, access to RoW offer considerable cost advantages. Power Grid

Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) is entering into an arrangement with SEBs to

utilise their RoW for creating telecom transmission infrastructure.

A few organizations have access to RoW and therefore are better placed to build

facilities. Also the technological developments are leading to availability of much higher

capacities on a single fiber.

Main Competitors

Department of Telecommunications

DoTs long distance infrastructure is presented in the following table.

DoT Infrastructure

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998Transmission SystemsCoaxial (Rkm) 28,439 29,287 30,526 30,957 30,957


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Microwave

(Rkm)40,347 43,730 48,697 51,753 54,597 72,592

UHF (Rkm) 28,716 33,808 39,177 49,301 62,670Optical Fibre

(Rkm)9,960 16,891 23,333 36,639 52,439 76,261

Long distance

Circuits (000s)247.1 294.5 297.2 309.4 365.5 417.2

DoT has stopped using coaxial in its LD infrastructure, and only OFC and Digital

Microwave (DMW) is being used. The standard configuration of OFC deployed by DoT

is 12 and 24 fibres.

As per DoT Perspective Plan, the OFC deployment in the country is envisaged to double

over the next five years. Capacities planned in long distance infrastructure during the plan

period are indicated in the following table.

Planned LD Capacities of DoT

Facility 2000 2002 2005Microwave (Rkms) 170,054 203,054 241,054Optical Fibre (Rkm) 123,632 188,632 238,632

Power Grid Corporation of India Limited

PGCIL operates over 31,000 Circuit kms of electricity transmission systems across the

country, which offers 15,500 Rkm of RoW. Currently, the corporation does not have any

optical fibre links, except the Itarsi- Jabalpur link. It has a low capacity (4 kHz) dedicated

Power Line Carrier Communication (PLCC) system for operational use. It also has a


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VSAT based closed user group (CUG) network covering 14 sites in the northern regional

grid for voice transmission and MIS.

PGCIL is implementing a communication network to operate the proposed nation-wide

Supervisory Control and Data Acqusition (SCADA) system under a Unified Load

Despatch Scheme (ULDS). The scheme has been drawn up after consolidating the

requirements of all the SEBs. Around 6,700 km of optical fibre and 7,800 km of digital

microwave is planned for the SCADA requirements of PGCIL. The proposed network

will utilise both PGCIL and SEBs RoW. PGCIL will manage the network for 15 years,

during which period the SEBs will pay PGCIL a tariff for using the network. After 15

years, the infrastructure will be transferred to the respective SEBs. Details of the

proposed facilities along with the system and spare capacities are given in the following

tables.

Planned Optical Fibre Infrastructure of PGCIL (for SCADA)

Region Length(Km)

No. of

fibresSpare

Fibres

Transmission

System

Capacity

Mbps

Spare

Capacity

Capital

Cost (in

Rs. Cr.)Expected

Date

North 1,830 24 18 STM 1;155 Mbps

60 85.62 June 2000

South 2,436 12/24 6/18 STM 1;155 Mbps

60 92.50 June 2000

North

East895 12 6 STM 1;

155 Mbps60 51.91 Dec 2001

East 1,143 12/24 6/18 16*2 Mbps 10 46.17 June 2003West 383 24 18 16*2 Mbps 10 13.94 June 2003TOTAL 6,687 289


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Planned Digital Microwave Infrastructure of PGCIL (for SCADA)

Region Length(Km)

Transmission

System Capacity

Spare

Capacity

Capital

Cost (Rs.

Cr.)

Expected date

North 2,590 4*2 Mbps NIL 82.52 June 2000South 944 4*2 Mbps NIL 56.00 June 2000North East 668 4*2 Mbps 2 28.29 Dec 2001East 1,975 4*2 Mbps NIL 54.69 June 2003West 1,643 4*2 Mbps NIL 22.20 June 2003TOTAL 7,820 244

The key features of the proposed plan, relevant for commercial utilisation include:

?? PGCIL is planning a mix of DMW and OFC technology in its network. DMW is

being used to complement the network and not as a supplement with 8 Mbps

capacity. This implies that no spare capacity will be available for commercial

utilization over DMW. OFC is only being planned for short distances of 200 to

400 km and will offer spare capacity.

?? The stations and power plants are scattered over the country away from urbanized

areas and potential users of the network. The proposed Railways network, on the

other hand, passes through most of the major cities and towns making it more

suitable for servicing the long distance user segment.

?? The total length of OFC network planned by PGCIL in the North and South islikely to be in place by the end of Year 2000, in north-east by 2001 and in East

and West by 2003.


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Gas Authority of India Limited

GAIL has an existing 2,000-km HBJ pipeline from Hazira in Gujarat to Jagdishpur in

Uttar Pradesh (UP). This pipeline also passes through Vijaypur in Madhya Pradesh (MP)

and Dadri in UP. Apart from this, GAIL is planning pipelines along the following routes:

?? Loni (Delhi) Jamnagar via Jaipur, Ajmer

?? Mangalore Bangalore Mysore Erode Madurai

?? Hyderabad Vijaywada Vishakhapatnam

HBJ pipeline services the industrial belt in the North and hence passes through locations

where gas-based power and fertiliser plants are located. Since these plants are normally

located away from major population concentrations, the GAIL spare telecom capacity

does not cover major cities except Delhi. GAIL telecom network is well suited, however,

to cater to the communication needs of major industries lying en route.

Digital Microwave System links the HBJ route with existing capacity of 8 Mbps that can

be enhanced to 16 Mbps. However, the existing HBJ pipeline has SDH-based OFC

system only between Vijaypur and Delhi with a capacity of 8 Mbps, which can be

enhanced to 34 Mbps. The OFC network of GAIL has 12 fibres of which six are required

for the SCADA communication needs of GAIL. Besides the requirement for SCADA,

GAIL has voice communication channels for administrative requirements that utilise the

microwave network.

GAILs planned gas pipeline from Jamnagar to Loni covers major towns in Rajasthan

and Gujarat. It will run parallel to the Railways route as well as the HBJ pipeline route,

and will have a spare capacity of 14 STM-1 streams, much higher than the spare capacity

in HBJ pipeline. Besides catering to the communication needs of the industries located

enroute, it can carry long distance calls from major cities like Ajmer, Jaipur, Kandla and

Jamnagar, which are along the pipeline. The planned network will have surplus capacity

that can be leased out to other prospective users. The details of existing and planned

infrastructure are presented in the following tables.


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Existing Telecommunications Infrastructure of GAIL

System Description ExistingCapacity

Length

(Km)Enhanced

CapacitySpare

Capacity

Digital Microwave System;

1.5 GHz band;

From Hazira Delhi

8 Mbps 2,000 16 Mbps 4

OFC-based PDH Network

From Vijaipur (MP) to Dadri

(UP) near Delhi

8 Mbps 550 34 Mbps 12

OFC-based Communication

System

2 Mbps 30 34 Mbps 15

Planned OFC Network of GAIL

System Description Length(Km)

Equipped

CapacityEnhanced

CapacitySpare

CapacityOFC-based STM-16

Network

From Jamnagar (Gujarat)

to Loni (near Delhi)

1,280 2.5 Gbpsbackbone; 3

STM-1

tributaries; 189

E1 circuits;

16 Nos. STM-1

tributaries.

1008 E1 circuits;

14 STM-1

streams;

6 fibres

OFC-based network

Vizag to Secunderabad

550 8 Mbps 155 Mbps; 63 E1circuits

60 E1

OFC-based network

Mangalore to Madurai

710 8 Mbps 155 Mbps; 63 E1circuits

60 E1


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Cellular Operators

Cellular operators have around 9,788 Rkm of digital microwave network. They have

indicated individual plans to lay OFC network in their service areas, which collectively

totals 12,000 Rkm.

Based on information provided by Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), only

RPG, Tata Cellular and Fascel have indicated 50 percent of their existing capacity as

spare. Further, states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana and Kerala have two licensed

operators while others have only one. All the operators have plans for installing OFC

networks within their circles. The planned OFC infrastructure is given in the following

table.

Planned OFC Infrastructure of Cellular Operators

S. No. Circle Operator Proposed(Rkm)

1 Maharashtra BPL US West 3,0002 Gujarat Fascel 1,5003 Andhra Pradesh Tata Cellular 8804 Kerala BPL US West 1,3005 Madhya Pradesh RPG 1,0006 Uttar Pradesh (E) Aircell Digilink 1,0157 Haryana Aircell Digilink 3858 Tamil Nadu BPL US West 1,6009 Rajasthan Aircell Digilink 1,295

Total 11,975


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Private Basic Services Operators

At present, there are six licensed basic operators, of which only Bharti Telenet Ltd.

(BTL) has a sizeable OFC network, with 1,717 km in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The

other licensees have not as yet deployed DLD telecommunication networks. BTLs

network has a spare capacity of two STM-4 streams.

Planned capacity of these six operators is presented in the following table. These

capacities are likely to materialise within two to three years.

Private Basic Services Operators LD Infrastructure

Organization Circle Future plans Spare BandwidthReliance Telecom Ltd. Gujarat 3,300 km OFC

backboneNA

Essar Comvision Ltd. Punjab 3,000 km of OFCbackbone

Large but unable to

quantifyHughes Ispat Ltd. Maharashtra Mix of OFC and

microwave between

Mumbai-Pune,

Mumbai-Nasik, Pune-

Kolhapur-Panjim

4-16 E1 channels can

be spared

Shyam Telelink Ltd. Rajasthan 2,900 km of backbone Not CommentedTata Teleservices Ltd. Andhra

PradeshNot firmed up yet Not Commented

Bharti Telenet Ltd. Madhya

Pradesh1,700 Rkm existing

1,355 Rkm under

implementation

2 STM-4 streams


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Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL)

The network resources of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) within India include

six international gateways at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Calcutta, Jalandhar and

Ernakulam. These gateways are connected through systems leased from DoT.

OFC Infrastructure of VSNL

Sector Type CapacityMumbai Pune Arvi OFC 2, 140 Mbps system; expandableNew Delhi Dehradun DMW NA

SWOT Analysis of RailTel

Strengths:

1. RailTels main strength is the Right of Way that railways have. This RoW covers

a very wide area and connects all the major cities in India. As such, Railways has

advantage over its competitors like PGCIL, GAIL, basic cellular services

operators in terms of the coverage.

2. Railways have considerable experience in handling the communication networks

since it has been handling the communication and signal equipment for internal

use.

3. RailTel has been established as a separate corporation under the Companies Act.

As such, it has advantage of operating as a corporation separate from Railways.

Weaknesses: Though railways have the experience of handling communication network,

it does not have the prior experience of commercial handling of telecommunications

network.

Opportunities: RailTel has a good opportunity in terms of the projected growth in the

market.


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Threats:

1. Technological obsolescence due to newer technologies evolving in OFC

2. Government Policies may not remain favorable


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Railway-IT Interface around the Globe

The study of railway-IT interface in developed and undeveloped countries has great

implications for the Indian railway industry. The knowledge about use of information

technology in railway operations around the globe would help us improve our rail

transportation and would enhance prompt commodity movements. Thus there is a great

need to enhance and put into effect such information technology, adding that cooperation

in unifying different national railway systems would be a valuable advance for the

globalisation and liberalization processes. Three different systems have been studied here

and they have very interesting applications that could be used in the Indian context.

South and East Africa

About the use of information technology in railway operations in South and East Africa,

the Deputy Managing Director of TRANSNET, says the national railway operator of

South Africa, SPOORNET, has developed a rail computer network from which all the

countries of the region were benefiting. The southern railways operate a common rail

system based on the "Cape gauge". About eleven southern and eastern African countries

were linked and long-term strategies for those railways are in major flux, due to plans for

restructuring, commercialisation, and privatisation. The boom in mining in Tanzania and

Congo, economic growth in Kenya, Uganda and Mozambique, and increased global trade

through the Indian Ocean have resulted in large volumes of rail-friendly traffic to and

from inland destinations where road transport was often not viable.

There are rail strategies aimed at providing reliable, cost-effective means of gaining a

share of that traffic. Intermodal operation through alliances with road carriers to provide

door-to-door service is also being pursued. Of late, there has been consensus that

railways would not survive if they continued to take for granted their previous privileged

status as national carriers. Diagnosis of the long-term future of the transport industry

worldwide had indicated a slow but steady decline in the types of commodities, which

had traditionally sustained railways. Effective responses to this included aggressive cost

reduction, extending reach to value-added services beyond the railhead, and penetration


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of growing markets for intermodal higher-value finished goods, with alliances playing a

key role.

Thus was proposed the introduction of a computer-network rail tracking technology

system, in which an expeditor could trace the destination and full information on any

merchandise until delivery. Such hour-by-hour inspection of commercial containers

would enable exporters to assure the security of their merchandise and guarantee its

prompt arrival. Likewise, the network was beneficial for goods transported by ships and

transferred to rail or road carriers.

The necessity of creating intermodal systems and the cost pressure behind the trend

would require more rational rail transportation and transhipment. Intermodal systems

need electronic media, globalisation of economic rules and information, and the removal

of customs barriers. Rail transportation had been improved thanks to high technology

introduced by such companies as Siemens and TSS. Such firms had built integrated

systems providing solutions for locomotive transport and satellite guiding systems. New

regulations by States had also promoted the creation and adoption of new technology.

East Japan Railway Company (JR East)

The utilization of information technology for innovations in railway operations and

improvements in customer service has been one of the main driving forces behind the

establishment of computer systems at JR East. In July 1987, under the direction of the

company's first president, Mr. Yamashita, the "Office Automation Promotion'' project

was launched and work for the establishment of a "Integrated Management Information

System'' was begun. Operation of the three main systems, "Station based Point of Sales

System'', "Expense Management System'', and "Integrated Railway Operation System''

started in 1989 - 90.

The scale of JR East computer systems has increased by leaps and bounds ever since.During the 10 years since its establishment, the company has rapidly developed computer

systems for business management. With the computer system supporting the

administration of the company topping the list, computers at present are utilized in

various sections, including general affairs and accounting, business operations,

transportation and facilities related areas and related businesses. The large scale of the


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company's overall computer system becomes apparent when expressed numerically. The

total system comprises 29 host computers, 16,000 terminals, approximately 70 megasteps

of software, and approximately 2 terabytes of files.

To give a brief overall outline of computer systems at JR East, the computers in operation

at JR East can be categorized by system into the following three groups:

1. Train operation related systems:

Systems in this category are employed for the daily operation of trains, and for the

operation and maintenance of facilities along railway routes. In these systems the

train operation transmitting operation schedules to the respective sites, as well as

for the daily management of transport operations, the operation of trains, the

supervision of operation staff and for other transportation service related tasks. In

other words, the overall system is constructed with the railway operation schedule

database at the center of all transportation-planning operations.

In addition, all data pertaining to the tracks and the facilities along the railway

routes, including electric power facilities, signals and communication facilities,

are compiled into a database and used by maintenance personnel for management

of facilities during daily inspections and repair work. A command system capable

of such functions as sending out alarms during emergencies and supporting

recovery work in case of accidents has also been set up, to be used by the

facilities supervisory personnel who control facilities management operations

from the centre.

2. Customer related systems:

The second category comprises computer systems employed in areas within the

railway business and related businesses, which involve dealing with customers.

These systems, in which customer related information is compiled into databases,

are utilized in carrying out business related operations such as the introduction

and sale of travel related products and services, introduction of the various

projects connected with the "View card'', business credit card issued by the

company, the sale of commuting tickets to business customers, and so on.


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The system also makes possible the management and calculation of revenues, on

a per day basis, by adding the total amount of sales proceeds from all the stations

in JR East area as put together by the Station based POS (Point of Sales) System

and the total amount of income from the sales of various types of reserved tickets,

compiled by MARS (Multiple Access Reservation System). It also enables the

enterprise to settle accounts with other companies on a daily basis and calculate

the company's net earnings. It is expected that marketing tactics, using the above

mentioned customer information database, will play an important role in the

future, as the company pursues its various strategic business policies.

3. Business operation related systems:

The last of the three categories comprises systems, which support the planning of

management strategies and decision-making processes, directly tied to the

administration of the company. The overall system comprises a management

related database containing information considered necessary for the management

of the company, extracted from the two above databases. In addition to providing

company executives with the information necessary to run the company, the

system also provides each of the departments in the headquarters and the branch

offices with the various data necessary for carrying out office business.

Systems in this category include the executive data management system which

stores data pertaining to executive meetings, a system for tracking expenditures

by the various sections of the company, a database capable of constantly

providing information in areas such as the company's current status of earnings,

the number of passengers getting on and off trains, and so on. In addition, there is

also an office based computer network providing offices with e-mail services,

bulletin boards, as well as the means to reserve meeting rooms and carry out other

daily tasks.

To outline a few examples of Systems in Operation, we have the following

(i) COSMOS (Computerized Safety, Maintenance and Operation Systems of

Shinkansen) In this system computers are employed to assist in a series of

Shinkansen related tasks, such as Shinkansen operation planning, operation,

supervision, management of facilities, and control of electric power systems.


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The system is used daily to ensure the safety and reliability of Shinkansen

services.

(ii) Green Information System

The system compiles a database from information pertaining to needs and

opinions expressed by customers, obtained from such sources as stations and

newspapers. The information is made available at all times, through computer

terminals at the company headquarters and other locations, and is utilized and

reflected in improvements made to station facilities, train accommodations,

and in the way the staff deal with customers, as well as in making

improvements in the planning of transportation and other services and

operations.

(iii) Travel Operations Related System

The System enables JR East to carry out its travel related business operations

in the same manner as large travel agencies. The syste

Project : Indian Railway IT Interface

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