The big plan launched by Western Railways to increase the speed of trains and modernize the network can change the travel experience of passengers in the coming years. With preparations to reduce travel time on the country's busiest rail routes like Mumbai-Delhi, Railways is now working rapidly on infrastructure upgrades. Railway officials believe that this step will prove to be very important in view of the increasing demand and need for better connectivity.
During a program organized at the Western Railway Headquarters at Churchgate, General Manager Ramashray Pandey said that preparations are underway to increase the maximum speed of trains from 100-110 kilometers per hour to 130 kilometers per hour on many routes. For this, tracks, signaling systems and other technical infrastructure are being upgraded. The main objective of this initiative is to save time of passengers and make rail operations more effective.
The biggest focus of Railways is on the Mumbai-Delhi main rail corridor. Work is being done in a phased manner to increase the speed of trains on this route to 160 kilometers per hour. If this project is completed on time, there can be a significant reduction in travel time between the two metros.
Western Railways believes that after the dedicated freight corridor (DFC) is fully activated, the pressure of freight trains on the main network will reduce. This will provide additional track capacity for passenger trains and will make it possible to operate more trains. According to experts, this change will play an important role in increasing the efficiency of the railway network.
To further improve long distance travel, Western Railways has also demanded 3 to 4 Vande Bharat sleeper trains. With the commencement of these trains, passengers will get the benefit of modern facilities along with fast speed. Railways hopes that the number of these trains may increase further in future.
Major changes are also planned at Bandra Terminus and Mumbai Central station to strengthen passenger amenities. 10 new stabling lines will be developed at Bandra Terminus, which will enable operation of additional trains. At the same time, after the expansion of the platform of Mumbai Central, longer trains with 24 coaches can be operated.
However, a new challenge is also emerging before the Railways. There has been a decline of 2 percent in the passenger traffic of Western Railway in the last two months. Officials believe that due to the expansion of the metro network, some passengers have started preferring the metro instead of rail services. Despite this, Railways is confident that through high-speed trains, modern stations and better facilities, the number of passengers will increase again in the future and the country's rail network will become more efficient and competitive.
