Trains' top speeds can be raised to reduce travel times on the busiest routes: Railways

  • Oct. 21, 2022, 12:39 p.m.

According to sources, Indian Railways will reduce travel time between New Delhi and Kolkata and New Delhi and Mumbai by increasing the top speed of trains to 160 kmph.The plan will be executed under the government's ambitious project "Mission Raftar," which aims to reduce travel time along busy stretches by running passenger trains at a speed of 160 kmph.

According to the ministry sources, raising the 'Sectional Speed' to 160 kmph is proposed on the New Delhi-Mumbai Route (including Vadodara-Ahmedabad) and the New Delhi-Howrah Route (including Kanpur-Lucknow) to reduce the travel time. These projects, along with other ongoing debottlenecking works such as bypasses, rail flyovers, 3rd or 4th lines and other initiatives like right powering of trains, replacement of conventional loco haul trains by MEMU, and installation of twin brake systems in freight stocks, will lead to a doubling of the average speed of freight trains and an increase in the average speed of coaching trains by about 60 per cent, as envisaged in the "Mission Raftaar" initiative.

It is expected that the move by the rail ministry will also reduce the travel time of both freight trains and passenger trains by at least two hours.

Currently, the Rajdhani Express is the fastest train between the proposed routes. It takes almost 15–18 hours to complete the journey. Through fencing, insertion of thick web switches, deep screening or lifting of the track, renewal of channel sleepers on bridges, realignment of curves, bridge rehabilitation, Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system, i.e. advanced and modern signalling systems like KAVACH, LTE, Mobile Train Radio Communication (MTRC), Automated and mechanised diagnostic systems, Provision of Aerial Earth Conductor (AEC) and Buried Earth Conduit (BEC).

The highest speed on the New Delhi-Howrah route was raised to 130 kmph in July 2020. Both the New Delhi-Mumbai and New Delhi-Howrah routes are among the busiest routes. The New Delhi-Mumbai route connects the national capital New Delhi with the capital of Maharashtra state, Mumbai, and several big cities en route, such as Mathura, Kota, Nagda, Ratlam, Vadodara, and Surat. The New Delhi-Howrah route connects the national capital New Delhi with the capital of West Bengal state, Kolkata, and several big cities en route such as Aligarh, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Deen Dayal Upadhayaya Jn, Dhanbad, and Asansol. There is heavy travel demand for all categories of trains across all service categories, including premium segments. These corridors are part of Indian Railways' (IR) Golden Quadrilateral and Diagonals (GQ-GD) -A network of six routes that account for 16% of the total rail network but carry 52% of total passenger traffic and 58% of total freight traffic carried by Indian Railways.

The travel time taken by Rajdhani between New Delhi and Mumbai will also be reduced by over an hour, officials said. At least 35 per cent of the work to achieve this goal has already been completed, they said. The mechanical wing of the railways will be setting up coach depots for maintenance work at Howrah, New Delhi, and Mumbai for the 160 kmph project, the officials said.

The project on the New Delhi-Mumbai Route (incl. Vadodara-Ahmedabad) costs Rs 6806.44 crore and the New Delhi-Howrah Route (incl. Kanpur-Lucknow) costs Rs 6684.81 crore, respectively.

"The scope of work is being executed by Zonal Railways. Currently, track improvement projects such as fencing, Overhead Equipment (OHE) modification, Automatic Train Protection (Kavach), and others are in various stages of completion. "An official confirmed" that work will be completed by 2024-25. 

Author : Rajdhani Delhi Representative

Rajdhani delhi representative

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