Focus on track work to ensure trains at 130kmph

Focus on track work to ensure trains at 130kmph

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:07.02.2021

Southern Railway is planning to take up a number of repair and technological enhancements to run trains at 130kmph on the Chennai-Mangalore and Chennai-Madurai routes. The work will include track renewal and upgradation, and making level crossings automatic to avoid delays.

The work is being planned as the Union railway ministry, as proposed, will be allowing private trains on some of these routes in two to three years and has instructed all railway zones to ensure that tracks are ready for operation of trains at 130kmph.

The zone’s Chennai-Mumbai and Chennai-Howrah routes too will be upgraded this year. Funds for the work has been allotted in the budget. A deadline has not been fixed for completing the work on Chennai-Mangalore and Chennai-Madurai, said Southern Railway general manager John Thomas. Nevertheless, work on the zone’s stretch from Chennai to Gudur will be completed this year. “The line is also part of the golden quadrilateral so that the speed should be increased by upgrading the tracks,” he said.

This also means a need to improve safety. Railways will be introducing a centralised train control system in Chennai Central to Arakonam and Renigunta route at ₹351crore. In addition to this, a train collision avoidance system at ₹544crore and train management system for the entire Chennai division tracks at ₹36 crore will also be introduced based on the funds from Budget 2021.

A railway official said the projects, along with the money sanctioned for doubling the stretches on main routes, will ensure that trains can have a smooth run from Chennai to the south via Trichy and via Palghat or Shoranur without having to slow down. Running time on these popular routes will be reduced considerably because of the measures.”

In addition to this, railways will also remove and replace old tracks and will lay new ones to improve riding comfort at a cost of ₹679 crore, which is among the highest allocation.

To step up safety alongside, central train control systems, train collision avoiding systems will be introduced