PATNA: Railways is to increase the speed limit of long-distance mail and express passenger trains from 130km/hr to 160km/hr on the Howrah-New Delhi via Dhanbad–Gaya Junction–Sasaram–Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction Grand Chord (GC) route under ‘Mission Raftar’. The project will cost approximately Rs6,975 crore.
According to ECR chief public relations officer (CPRO) Rajesh Kumar, the entire 1462km route will be covered in hardly 12 hours after increase in the speed limit.
The Railway Board has sanctioned Rs408 crore in the current financial year to the ECR to carry out track renewal, signalling and earth filling work on a stretch of about 417km falling under its jurisdiction. Railways is likely to incur an expenditure of about Rs2050 crore while replacing old tracks, earth filling and ballast packing work between Dhanbad and Pt DDU Junction, he said.
The Howrah-New Delhi GC route passes through West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The CPRO said the track condition, particularly on each major and small rail bridge on the GC route, needs to be further improved from safety point of view.
Railways will have to improve yard remodelling at a few stations for the uninterrupted and smooth flow of traffic on the GC route. Besides, railways is to introduce ‘electronic interlocking’ and ‘European train control system’ on the entire GC route before increasing the speed limit of passenger trains, he said.
It will also help faster movement of the goods trains, particularly in the Dhanbad division of the ECR. The eastern dedicated freight corridor on this route is to be made operational next year for the goods trains, he said.
