PROJECT

MANAGEMENT

KONKAN
RAILWAY

INTRODUCTION

The Konkan Railway was the missing link between

Indias commercial capital, Mumbai, and Mangalore.
The 741-kilometre line connects Maharashtra, Goa
and Karnataka States a region of criss-crossing
rivers, plunging valleys and mountains that soar into
the clouds.
It is known as an engineering marvel across the
world. Built across some of the toughest terrains,
Konkan Railways has over 2,000 bridges and 91
tunnels. The project was considered the biggest and
perhaps most difficult railway undertaking during this
century, at least in this part of the world. Mr. E
Sreedharan was Member, Engineering, of the Railway
Board and being a born construction engineer, he
was very enthusiastic about the idea of the Konkan
Railway as it would be a challenging assignment.

THE
BACKGROUND

The Konkan is a coastal strip of land

bounded by the Sahyadri hills on the
east, and Arabian Sea on the west. It is a
land where mythology breathes side by
side with economic growth, a land with
rich mineral resources, dense forest cover
and a landscape fringed with paddy,
coconut and mango trees. The formidable
terrain to be conquered and the short
construction period meant that the
project could only be completed with the
help of several technological innovations.

THE
CHALLENGES

There were challenges posed by the terrain and

the elements. Flash floods, landslides and tunnel
collapses affected work at many places on the
project. The region was also thickly forested, and
construction sites were often plagued by wild
animals.
A major challenge in the area was
landacquisitionas circa 43000 landowners had to
be negotiated with. But though land
relatedlawsuitsare common in theKonkan, when
KRCL began persuading people to give up property
that had belonged to their families for generations,
many gave it up voluntarily, convinced of the
importance of the project. This enabled the entire
process to be completed in just a year.

Since it would take too long to complete the

project using locally available tunnelling
technology, nine hydraulic tunnelling machines
were imported from Sweden in order to bore
through the hard rock of the Sahayadris. The
biggest challenge, however, came from the nine
tunnels that had to be bored through soft soil. No
technology existed anywhere in the world for this
purpose and the work had to be carried out
through a painstakingly slow manual process.
Excavation was almost impossible due to the
clayey soil that was saturated with water owing
to a high water table in the region. Several times
tunnels collapsed immediately after they had
been dug, necessitating work to be redone.

As the youngest Railway transport system in

India, Konkan Railway Corporation Limited
(KRCL) had to scale quickly and required timely
information on all services from delivery to
planning. With a large debt burden, there was
pressure to run the newly formed railway
system in a cost-effective manner.
The need was for a leaner setup and the
specific business needs included:
To transport people and freight in trains, with
near 100 % punctuality, 24x7 time
Ensure satisfaction of both employees and
customers Quickly 'empower' new employees
(users) in railway operations

Build /acquire, maintain and replace fixed and

rolling assets
Operate with safety and speed
Co-ordinate and assume responsibility on
building projects like tunnels
Capitalize on the massive opportunity in timebased transport resources, maintaining work
schedules in an information-intensive and
time-bound environment
Ensure financial viability with low TCO
Collect payments in exchange of services as a
commercial entity within the government

THE
PLANNING

The entire project length of 760 Km. was

divided in seven sectors, each approximately
100 Km. long, headed by a Chief Engineer. The
sectors were Mahad, Ratnagiri (north), Ratnagiri
(south), Kudal, Panaji, Karwar and Udupi.

At the corporate office, there was a team of

senior officers specializing in civil engineering,

electrical engineering, signal and telecom
engineering, mechanical engineering, and
stores and finance, who provided the strategic
inputs of design, planning, tendering and
contracting of large works.
The authorised capital of Rs.800 crores was
pooled together by the railways and the states
of Kerala, Karnataka and Goa and Maharashtra.

At the peak of the construction period, there

were no more than 2,400 personnel, starting
from the CMD to the lowest rung.
The establishment of computer Wide Area
Networks (WANs) and Local Area Networks
(LANs) augmented their efforts, providing
instantaneous fax and voice communication
all along the route, which resulted in quick
decision-making and prevented stalling of
work.
760 kms of rails to be laid with little gradient.
2000 bridges to build
92 tunnels totaling 83kM to bore

42,000 landowners to deal with to acquire 4,850

hectares of land
4 state governments to interact with
Life-styles and environment to be least disturbed
A near flat track and a curvature of 1.25kM radius
was to be maintained if the trains were to reach
the target speeds of 160 km per hour.
Because the areas where Konkan Railway
operates are generally very remote, the
organization needed a reliable, easy-to-maintain
data-server to drive its Railway Application
Package.

THE
RESOURCE
ALLOCATIONS

 KRC

Ltd is a joint venture between the central

government and the state governments of
Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Goa. Though the
railway line does not enter Kerala, the local
government was convinced of the benefits that
Konkan Railway would have for its economy and the
people; so it decided to join as a shareholder.
The authorised share capital was raised in 1996-97
from Rs 600 crore to Rs 800 crore, with the
government of India taking a 51 per cent share,
while the rest went to Maharashtra (22 per cent),
Karnataka (15 per cent), Kerala (6 per cent) and Goa
(6 per cent). So far, however, the corporation has
only received Rs 746.40 crore by way of paid-up
capital.

SHAREHOLDING PATTERN

THE
SCHEDULING

On July 19, 1990, Konkan railway Corporation Limited

(KRCL) was incorporated as a public limited company
under the Companies Act, 1956
After the laying of the foundation stone at Roha by
Mr.Sharad Pawar on September 15, 1990, it had to
conquer the unrelenting terrain between Roha and
Mangalore, cross dozens of mountains and rivers,
and build a 760 Km. railway line.
In March 1993, the southernmost section of 47
kilometres (29mi) betweenThokurandUdupi
inKarnataka was inaugurated, followed by the
northernmost section of 47 kilometres (29mi)
between Roha and Veer inMaharashtrain June 1993.

The first passenger train on Konkanrailway

route was run between Mangalore and Udupi
on 20 March 1993.
The service was extended by 51 kilometres
(32mi) from Veer to Khed in March 1995, and
by a further 265 kilometres (165mi) from
Khed toSawantwadiRoad in December 1996.
Services on the southern end were extended
by 32 kilometres (20mi) from Udupi
toKundapurain January 1995, and by a
further 275 kilometres (171mi) till Pernem
inGoain August 1997

However, through services between Mumbai

and Mangalore continued to remain on hold
due to a problematic tunnel at Pernem,
which was facing repeated cave-ins and
flooding.
The tunnel was finally completed in January
1998, six years after its construction had
commenced.Through services on the line
commenced after a formal inauguration of
the entire stretch of 740 kilometres (460mi)
from Roha toThokur on January 26, 1998.
Trains carrying passengers started running
along the full route between Mumbai and
Mangalore from May 1998.

THE
INNOVATIONS

Paperless train operations, with full 180 view

for all train controllers & stations
Control through IT with gas detectors to take
control of long-tunnel's forced-ventilation
A Database-driven Intelligent platform lighting
system with photo-voltaic capabilities for
monsoons
Direct-to-database linked town booking
agencies (since 2002) and Internet booking
(since 2003)
Dynamic trains position on internet
A primary corporate database with HADR
Smooth monitoring and control of train
operations
All managers and 500+staff are always
connected to single KR-Network (LAN+WAN)

KONKAN
RAILWAY GETS
PATENT!

In a major development that will open new vistas

for the Konkan Railway, the Anti-Collision Device
(ACD) developed by Konkan Railway, has been
granted Patent by three major countries, namely
China, Russia and Singapore, thus giving
recognition to this wonder technology in these
countries and opening up possibilities of export of
the technology in future.
The Anti-Collision Device, indigenously designed by
Konkan Railway, is an intelligent, self-acting
microprocessor-based equipment that successfully
prevents collision kind of train accidents in midsections, station area and at level crossings,
thereby saving the precious lives of train
passengers as well as road users.

THE
CONCLUSION

Apart from setting a trend for other

infrastructure projects in the country, the Konkan
Railway provides concrete proof of the skills of
Indian engineers, their discipline, team spirit and
courage. But it is also a tribute to the
unconquerable human spirit. Beyond the
technical jargon, it was a leap of faith that made
the long cherished dream of the people of the
region possible.
The completion of the Konkan Railway was a
tryst with destiny for many people in the
Konkan region, redeemed in the 50th year of the
nations Independence. It is hence entirely fitting
that the first train on the completed track was
flagged off on January 26, 1998, Republic Day.