After the successful operation of Gatimaan Express at 160 km per hour, Indian Railways is all set to convert two of the busiest routes- Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah- into semi-high speed corridors. The maximum speed of trains on these rail routes will increase by 30 km per hour that will cut short the travel time to Mumbai and Kolkata by up to 5 hours.
As per the plan, the top speed of Rajdhani Express on these routes will be increased from 130 kmph at present to 160 kmph. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has instructed railway officials to execute the two projects on priority basis. The idea is to make the journey from Delhi to Mumbai and Kolkata an overnight one.
This means the trains will depart late evening to reach the destination next morning. The Railway Ministry has appointed its engineering wing RITES as a consultant to execute the project in the next three years. The project is a part of 'Mission Raftar' envisaged by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu under which average speed of the trains will be increased by up to 25 km per hour.
Once upgraded, the two corridors will also benefit nearly 500 trains as their maximum speed will also go up to 130 km per hour from 100 km per hour at present. Railways had earlier conducted trials of Spanish Talgo trains between Delhi and Mumbai. The makers of the train had claimed that they could attain the top speed of 180 km per hour and thus, would take lesser time than Rajdhanis.
However, these trains cannot be procured anytime soon owing to technical hurdles. "We have begun work on upgrading the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah corridor. RITES has been assigned the work to increase the top speed of trains to 160 km per hour on these lines," said a senior Railway Ministry official. The entire signalling unit, tracks and overhead electric system will be upgraded to support the increased speed of trains. Sharp curves along the route will be removed so that the average speed of trains can be improved, officials said. At present, Mumbai Rajdhani Express covers the 1385 km distance between Delhi and Mumbai in 16 hours 25 minutes.
What to expect
The train runs at the average speed of 82 km per hour with the top speed being 130 kmph. Similarly, Kolkata Rajdhani Express covers a distance of 1454 km in 17 hrs 50 mins running at the same speed. But the upgraded speed of trains would reduce the travel time to Mumbai and Kolkata to 12 hours and 14 hours respectively.
"After a thorough study, tracks will have to be fenced off at certain places and the signaling system will be upgraded along the route to be taken by the semi high-speed trains," a railway board official said. Notably, Delhi - Mumbai and Delhi - Howrah are the busiest rail routes in India with more than 500 mail/express trains operating daily.
This is the second semi-high speed corridor being undertaken by the railway ministry after introducing India's fastest Gatimaan Express on Delhi - Agra routes in April this year. The train runs at the maximum speed of 160 km per hour and completes the 200 km journey between Hazrat Nizamuddin and Agra in 90 minutes.
As per the plan, the top speed of Rajdhani Express on these routes will be increased from 130 kmph at present to 160 kmph. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has instructed railway officials to execute the two projects on priority basis. The idea is to make the journey from Delhi to Mumbai and Kolkata an overnight one.
This means the trains will depart late evening to reach the destination next morning. The Railway Ministry has appointed its engineering wing RITES as a consultant to execute the project in the next three years. The project is a part of 'Mission Raftar' envisaged by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu under which average speed of the trains will be increased by up to 25 km per hour.
Once upgraded, the two corridors will also benefit nearly 500 trains as their maximum speed will also go up to 130 km per hour from 100 km per hour at present. Railways had earlier conducted trials of Spanish Talgo trains between Delhi and Mumbai. The makers of the train had claimed that they could attain the top speed of 180 km per hour and thus, would take lesser time than Rajdhanis.
However, these trains cannot be procured anytime soon owing to technical hurdles. "We have begun work on upgrading the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah corridor. RITES has been assigned the work to increase the top speed of trains to 160 km per hour on these lines," said a senior Railway Ministry official. The entire signalling unit, tracks and overhead electric system will be upgraded to support the increased speed of trains. Sharp curves along the route will be removed so that the average speed of trains can be improved, officials said. At present, Mumbai Rajdhani Express covers the 1385 km distance between Delhi and Mumbai in 16 hours 25 minutes.
What to expect
The train runs at the average speed of 82 km per hour with the top speed being 130 kmph. Similarly, Kolkata Rajdhani Express covers a distance of 1454 km in 17 hrs 50 mins running at the same speed. But the upgraded speed of trains would reduce the travel time to Mumbai and Kolkata to 12 hours and 14 hours respectively.
"After a thorough study, tracks will have to be fenced off at certain places and the signaling system will be upgraded along the route to be taken by the semi high-speed trains," a railway board official said. Notably, Delhi - Mumbai and Delhi - Howrah are the busiest rail routes in India with more than 500 mail/express trains operating daily.
This is the second semi-high speed corridor being undertaken by the railway ministry after introducing India's fastest Gatimaan Express on Delhi - Agra routes in April this year. The train runs at the maximum speed of 160 km per hour and completes the 200 km journey between Hazrat Nizamuddin and Agra in 90 minutes.