The
Ministry of Railways is all set to undertake its first trial of a semi-high-speed train on the Delhi-Agra route on Thursday (July 3). The trial run on the popular route will take place just five days before the Rail Budget is to be announced. The Railways plans to commercially launch the service in October-November.
The idea behind the project is to show that
Indian Railways can run semi-high-speed trains within the existing infrastructure with some alterations and minimum cost.
The commissioner of railway safety (CRS) will be present for the trial or the ‘confirmatory run’ along with the divisional railway managers of
Agra and Delhi.
“Arrangements have been made to achieve the top speed of 160 kmph. Now with this run, we need to see the behaviour of the rake in that speed. It is a mandatory process,” Anurah Sachan, divisional railway manager (Delhi), said.
The test train is expected to reduce travel time between Delhi and Agra from 126 minutes (presently by
Bhopal Shatabdi) to 90 minutes. It is made up of coaches used in the
Bhopal Shatabdi Express. The train will be pulled by an electric locomotive which can go up to 200 kmph. Parts of the track will be fenced in about three months.
To reach the high speeds, the train will have to be smaller, with 10 passenger coaches instead of 14. This raised concerns that since it will carry fewer passengers, the Railways may have to charge more, but the
Railway Board has not finalised anything. According to reports, talks have been held on pricing and the service could charge premium rates eventually.
(Image: The Economic Times)
