Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday (December 6) announced that the New Delhi-Mumbai and New Delhi-Howrah routes of the Golden Quadrilateral are undergoing improvements to enhance their speed potential under Mission Raftaar. The mission, introduced in the Railway Budget of 2016-17, aims to increase the average speed of freight and superfast mail/express trains.
“Mission Raftaar was announced in the Railway Budget of 2016-17 with the target of increasing the average speed of freight and superfast mail/express trains,” Vaishnaw said.
In response to questions in Parliament, Vaishnaw stated that the focus is on the New Delhi-Mumbai and New Delhi-Howrah routes as part of the Golden Quadrilateral. Various measures have been implemented to achieve the medium- and long-term goals of Mission Raftaar, including the construction of bypasses, rail flyovers, third/fourth line construction, right powering of trains, replacement of conventional loco-hauled trains by MEMUs, timetabling changes, and modification of the 1×25 KV traction system to the 2×25 KV traction system, among others.
Speeding up of trains
Vaishnaw highlighted that the speeding up of trains is an ongoing process dependent on the upgrade of tracks, signaling systems, overhead equipment (OHE), high-powered locomotives, modern coaches, and more. “Speeding up of trains is a constant endeavour and a continuous process which is dependent upon up gradation of tracks, signalling system, OHE (overhead equipment), high-powered locos, modern coaches, etc,” Vaishnaw said.
He highlighted the completion of 1,337 kilometers of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor and 1,149 kilometers of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor. “The Indian Railways has already commissioned 1,337 kilometres of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor and 1,149 kilometres of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor that has enabled freight trains to run at higher speeds,” Vaishnaw said.
Funds sanctioned
Regarding funds under Mission Raftaar, Vaishnaw clarified that it is a “mission” and not a “scheme/project(s),” making it challenging to quantify state-wise allocations or specific train identifications. The minister’s responses came in reply to questions from BJP MPs Keshari Devi Patel and Jaskaur Meena about the salient features of Mission Raftaar.