Mumbai-Delhi route being put on fast track: Western Railway

In a move aimed at reducing the travel time between Mumbai and New Delhi by up to three hours, the Western Railway (WR) has started groundwork on projects to increase speed of its outstation trains.

Rajdhani Express, which takes 15 hours, is the fastest train on the Mumbai-Delhi route. The travel time by Rajdhani Express is expected to reduce to 12 hours after increasing its speed to 160 kilometres per hour (kmph) from the current range of 110 -130 kmph, said WR officials.

For the purpose, WR is taking up a slew of infrastructure works at the cost of ₹11,188 crore. Expected to be completed by March 2024, the works include strengthening of railway tracks, laying of geogrids and geotextiles on the route, construction of compound walls along the tracks at several places to prevent trespassing and fitting the train with anti-collision system to avoid accidents.

Of the 1,474 kms between Mumbai and Delhi, WR will be working on increasing the speed between Mumbai Central and Nagda in Madhya Pradesh (693km), Vadodara and Ahmedabad (95km), Nagda and Mathura (545km). The North Central Railway will work to accelerate speed between Mathura and Palwal, Haryana (82km), while the Northern Railway will work on increasing the speed between Palwal and New Delhi (57km).

WR has started work to install a train anti-collision system on railway sections between Virar-Vadodara, Vadodara-Ratlam and up to Nagda stations on the Mumbai- New Delhi route. The anti-collision system provides infrared waves on the railway tracks that activates alarm signals and reduces the speed of a train, and also alerts the loco pilot of any incoming train on the same track that could lead to a train collision.

Along with providing a train anti-collision system, WR will be undertaking major strengthening and upgradation activities. Laying of geogrids and geotextiles with deep screening of railway tracks between Churchgate and Virar stations is being undertaken with the help of ballast-cleaning machines. Geogrids and geotextiles are thin fragments of mesh and soil that are put inside the tracks. They reinforce and stabilise the soil and prevent the tracks from damage. The work aims to strengthen and increase the stability of the tracks along with deep screening and cleaning of sleepers placed inside the tracks.

The railways has also undertaken the construction of boundary walls alongside the tracks wherein the speed of the outstation trains will be increased.

“It is the vision of railways to increase the speed of trains on the Mumbai and New Delhi route. We have started work on the project in full swing. Tendering processes for different works to increase the speed is ongoing,” said Sumit Thakur, chief public relations officer, WR.

“All the departments involved are working on issuing tenders and have started on ground work on different railway sections for increasing the speed of the trains. The construction of boundary walls has also started,” said a senior WR official.

Passengers’ associations have stated that the increase in speed would help in saving commuting time and the project should be implemented on other routes too. “The speed increase of outstation trains will provide better connectivity between the two cities. There are other routes which are easier to access by road than by rail as train travel takes a lot of time. Increasing speed on other routes should also be focused,” said Subhash Gupta, president, of Rail Yatri Parishad.