BENGALURU: A major action plan is being readied by the Bengaluru Railway Division to augment the speed along the Vande Bharat Express route. Work has begun on the 125-km stretch between Jolarpettai and Krishnarajapuram so that trains can run quicker and help reduce the overall time taken.
Divisional Railway Manager Shyam Singh told TNIE, “We are taking up works in phases. Trains run to a maximum speed of 110 kmph presently on the stretch between KR Puram and Jolarpettai. After we complete the works undertaken along the tracks here to augment the speed, trains can run up to a maximum of 130 kmph.”
The ongoing works are expected to be completed by June. “Easing of curves, fencing specific portions in areas which are densely populated and other track works are presently being done,” he explained. This will definitely reduce the time taken between Bengaluru and Chennai by the Vande Bharat Express, but no official was able to specify the exact savings in terms of minutes.
Though the train has excellent occupancy when the full route between Chennai and Mysuru is considered, the dismal occupancy on the 138-km stretch between the two twin cities in both directions, which has a journey time of 1 hour and 50 minutes, continues.
Occupancy figures
The 53% occupancy figures on the KSR to Mysuru (Train No 20607) in November 2022 has dipped to 51% in January 2023. During the corresponding period, the patronage from Mysuru to KSR (Train no 20608) has shot up from 36% in November to 43% in January.
Reiterating the problems of curves between Bengaluru and Mysuru slowing down the speed between the two cities, a senior railway official said, “Based on a study done by us, we are planning to flatten the curves along with other engineering works. At present, the maximum permissible speed limit on the Bengaluru-Mysuru route is 100 kmph and it can be increased to 110 kmph.”
There are many curves and gradients and also points and crosses along this section with many permanent speed restrictions too imposed due to safety precautions, the official said. “There are more than 38 curves in this section and some are around 2.5 meters wide. All the curves cannot be flattened due to safety and other reasons,”she added.