NEW DELHI: Decks have been cleared for the launch of the semi-high speed train on New Delhi-Agra route from November, with Railways successfully conducting the final trials on Thursday.
“The final trial run between the two stations on Thursday was successful and we hope to start the regular services from November as scheduled,” said a railway official.
And the proposed service, which will see the trains hitting top speeds of up to 160 kmph, will bring down the travel time to 90 minutes from the present 120 minutes.
The first trials were held in July following which Railways had upgraded about 16 speed restriction areas and straightened out the curves on the entire stretch to improve the speed at a cost of `15 crore. An area of 27 km along the track has been fenced off to prevent obstruction and ensure speed.
Besides Delhi-Agra, the other sectors on which the running speed of the trains are to be increased,include Delhi-Agra; Delhi-Chandigarh; Delhi-Kanpur; Nagpur-Bilaspur; Mysore-Bangalore-Chennai; Mumbai-Goa; Mumbai-Ahmedabad; Chennai- Hyderabad and Nagpur-Secunderabad.
A high-level meeting was convened by Railway Board last month to discuss the action plan for these nine corridors. The meeting was attended by 19 Divisional Railway Managers connected with these nine corridors.
Presently, New Delhi-Bhopal Shatabadi Express which runs at a speed of 150 kmph is the country’s fastest train. Railways is also planning to stage the trial run for the remaining sectors by this year-end.
The Railways has also conducted a feasibility study on Mumbai-Ahemdabad corridor to start bullet trains, which have a top speed of 300-350 kmph. It is part of Railway Ministry’s ambitious plan to set up a Diamond Quadrilateral network of High Speed Rail connecting major metros and growth centres of the country.