Spot your train on Google maps – Indian Railways

http://railradar.trainenquiry.com/

RailRadar

Trust me, the site is unusable. Reasons stated below

1. Why would a user want to know 1000+ Active train running currently? Why load all the data, making it slow
2. Like the search option, Ajaxified, Well after a click on the result the blue and red arrows don’t mean any thing to a user, Why confuse the user
3. Click on the train Icon, You get details about the train, Stops don’t mean any thing to an user on a Map and neither it is too interactive, just points out stops with station name
4. Finally Clicked on the hyper link 10 points size Check “here” for latest status, A new window opens up with relevant data. Which makes little sense.

Search for a station is currently useless. Just displays lots of arrows around, clicking on them reveals the train number etc.

How

RailRadar

Overall a nice effort with little bit of usability the site could help millions of travelers in India. I still don’t understand How google maps solves this problem.

Spot your train southern Railway – not smart phone friendly

I use this site often http://www.trainenquiry.com/indexNS.aspx on the desktop browser.  Recently I started using an iPhone 3GS IOS 5 for browsing on the move. Today morning I wanted to check on a train entered the train number and clicked on search.
Guess what?
2 browser window opened up, each of which was an online advertisement. All I was seeing is the Advertisement and I was searching for the “train number” and the station name.

The problem is that the smart phone display the last opened page. So I lost the main page.

Would be happy if the site works on all browsers and have the advertisement run inline and no new browser windows.

What if KingFisher, Indian Railways? – offer price cuts & haircuts

What if personal grooming become part of air travel?
It is just a wild thought, why should some one have to waste a minimum of 1/2 ~ 6 hrs of quality time?

If Airlines could think of premium services like facial massage, hair cut and what not. There could even think of providing a spa, I was just kidding on the spa. some thing interesting could be offered at a reasonable rate so that Air travel becomes more luxury.

Well I can think of a major competitor for the Airlines. It is none other than the Indian Railways. Imagine Shatapadi having a seperate coach as saloon with all the amenities.

I guess that would be interesting to see them in future.

Can TATA or BAJAJ make 1 Lakh rupee Truck?

Does TATA or BAJAJ really care for Indians?

Indian consumers bought about seven million two-wheelers and one million cars in 2006/07.
Source

The Solution:

according to Ratan Tata, the company’s 70-year old chairman: — “That’s what drove me — a man on a two-wheeler with a child standing in front, his wife sitting behind, add to that the wet roads – a family in potential danger,” Tata wrote on the company website.

I have heard the similar kind of statement twice. One from our Reliance Ambani and one from Henry Ford.
The Reliance one actually helped many, to lower the cost on Phone calls.

Well If TATA brings Buses for 1 Lakh rupee that makes lot of sense in helping Indians. I know this is an exaggeration.

What will be the impact, if the 1Lakh rupee car Tata Nano becomes a hit?
In 2006-2007, Indian consumers bought 70 Lakh two wheelers and 10 Lakh cars. Source The equation for the coming years could be 35 Lakh low cost cars which could hit the Indian roads. My questions are simple, Whether our roads are built to bear that kind of traffic explosion. What about the pollution and What about the parking space in the city malls for consumers.

Who are the actual beneficiaries?

I don’t blame any businessmen for that matter. Any businessmen who finds opportunity will exploit it. Why can’t people understand the TATA’s and BAJAJ new venture in to cars and how about few more foreign car makers (Adding fuel to the fire) who are trying to make a mark in to the Indian consumers market.Why are the Politicians keeping mum?
End of the day they actually know that the cars can kept in their garage there will issues and they will come up with a solution which will benefit them. Let us say the solution would be to invest in more infrastructure like roads, parking lots etc etc
The solutions are costly only for the middle class people not for the rich and not for the business class and certainly not for the politicians.

Do the Government will make more money?
YES, certainly. How?

1. The CC of two wheelers at a maximum is only 300 CC on an average. Hence the registration cost is going to go up by 600 CC and Odd.
2. The road tax
3. Then the Insurance cost (education excess) etc.

Why are the BAJAJ’s in to the car scene any Ideas?
Potential threat from the TATA’s One man’s dream car.

1. Auto ricksaw could be easily replaced with a comfortable 4 seater by looking at the cost, not much of a difference. Well seems like their own Indicab could get in to trouble with in city limits.
2. A Bajaj two wheeler at an average cost 50,000 Rupees, What about the new 4 wheeler another 60-70K on finance could solve the middle class problem of 1 Man’s Dream.

If not now, it is never for the BAJAJ’s to be in the market.

Technorati Tags: concept, cars, tata motors, tata, air car,1lakhcar

Tech Tags: 1lakh 1lakhcar TATA BAJAJ “public transport system” public system train bus

Rare Photos – Chennai

The following photos are no where of technical nor they depicted beauty in nature. It is about pure timing of these photographs.
Last Saturday morning 30th June 2007 at 6:30 AM at Perambur railway station, I had been there to pick up my in laws, the train Aleppey Express was late by 60 mins. All trains inbound and outbound of chennai were going slow and I had plenty of time to wander around the platform of Perambur railway station, What I discovered was this.

One train behind the other waiting for signal to get cleared. Didn’t know what was the reason. I felt it would a good rare timed photo which I wanted to share with all of you.

Technorati Tags: chennai, India, railways, station, train, photography, timing, Indian railways

Why does RRB need the best of the best?

It might be late for me to make a post of RRB (Railway recruitment Board) Exams. I had already missed couple of bright Youngsters when I was doing my 10th Standard. My dad was a Government Employee working for I.C.F (Integral Coach Factory)  Chennai – 38 and he had little exposure to the outside world, showed me an option for a Ticket collector Job with Railways. Where I could the youngest guy making little money. 

Atleast for some years to come these young guys will the wealthiest among their peers.
Time will prove that their financial status and their personal habits go wrong.

I was fortunate among the few of my best friends who did not make it up at the final interview. And few bright kids who made it to the course at S.B.O.A school at Annanagar. End of the course my friends graduated to be ticket collectors at different parts of India.

I have been tracking few of my other friends who were doing ticket collecting jobs for the past 9 years
1997 – 4 close friends of mine joined as ticket collectors, they were all earning while we were all studying and they were the wealthiest among all our friends

1999 – one quit and went a head and did ICWA and other courses (his dad was smart kicked his ass ) finally now in the UK as a Project Manager

2002 – one more person did ICWA and other related courses and finally quit railways and now in Pune as software engineer

2004 – one person quit Now in Bangalore as software engineer, likely to get married, just made the first step in financial growth.

2006 – one person still will Railways, quite not settled, financial status is a big question. His elder brother now works as CTO for a UK based e-learning company.

Here are questions, for which I am looking for answers.

Why does RRB need good candidate for ticket collecting jobs?
A lazy duck like me could have been doing this ticket collecting job than the brighter ones who could have been brighter stars.

Apart from the training etc after some years most of them have left Railways and headed for a bright future.
RRB just wasted money on training on these bright kids and on top of that they just spoiled their careers. Atleast for some years.

What do you all have to say?
Rage or happiest times you experienced

Technorati Tags: India, chennai, railways, Indian railways , RRB, job, career

Spot your Train/ Find your Train – Indian Railways

How many times have you been to the railway station to pick up your relatives or friends and waited on the station for more than a hour.
The best part is you tend to go little early and the train comes too late and you find yourself aloof in the railway station
here is a link which runs a small service on Indian Railways website.

Do check out for the best features of the service
Find your Train - if you want to know on which station the train has just crossed, all you need to provide the source and the destination

Spot your train – this will tell you when the train started from the source station and what is the expected arrival time on the destination

Hope you would like to bookmark this link.

Technorati Tags: Indian Railways, train location, between station, train, spot, find, aloof, alone