Budget 2022-23: Railways working on futuristic upgraded tech

Mumbai: Futuristic trains. This is what the Budget 2022 has focused for Indian Railways who were allotted funds for high speed trains. On February 1, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed that the Indian Railways has received capital investment of Rs 1.37 lakh crore which will boost implementation of several projects stuck due to lack of funds.

High speed trains

Primarily the focus will be on introducing Vande Bharat Express trains or Train18 that was launched back in 2019. The country will get 400 new-generation Vande Bharat trains which can run at speeds up to 180 kmph. The railway officials said that Mumbai will benefit from this fast moving trains as both Central Railway and Western Railway will get Vande Bharat trains that would run on different routes connecting it with various parts of the country.

At present two trains of Version-1 of Vande Bharat are operational connecting Delhi with northern part of the country. Now, the Indian Railways are working on new-lot of Vande Bharat Express trains called ‘Version-2’ that according to Vaishnaw, can be termed as ‘Pride of the Nation’.

“The design of Version-2 of Vande Bharat Express is complete and by April we will start its testing. By August-September we expect to start serial production as well at our manufacturing units. The Version-1 had already caused a flutter world over as India created a train that would run at 180 kmph. There are only 7-8 other countries in the world that operates such semi high speed trains,” said Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Railways.

The railways is also working out on futuristic upgraded technology as well in later versions of Vande Bharat Express trains. Vaishnaw added that these trains would focus on all aspects of passenger safety, comfort, experience, reduce noise levels and vibrations too while movement. The rail authorities claim that even trains like Vande Bharat, which stands on an upper segment than Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains running on LHB coaches; do have demand.

The current Vande Bharat trains are looking at 95 percent occupancy capacity on an average and that railway is an ‘ocean’ where each segment has its own demand. Apart from this, the Minister also stated that work on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Bullet Train route is going at a ‘good pace’.

“We have already completed laying pillars on 13 kms stretch. Each month, we are carrying out work on 5 kms stretch and our target is to touch 10 kms. Work on viaducts, bridges, river bridges are going at a good speed. We also completed work on 6 casting yards plus we have Asia’s largest geo-technical lab at Surat for this Bullet train,” added Vaishnaw.

However the minister didn’t mention anything about the delays in work on High Speed Rail in Maharashtra. According to latest figures, the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited has acquired 1207.59 Ha of land out of the total 1396 Ha. In Gujarat they have acquired 98.63% land which is 941.19 Ha out of total 954.28 Ha; while in Maharashtra 258.50 Ha have been acquired out of the total 433.82 Ha that is 59.59%. They have completed 100% land acquisition at Dadra and Nagar Haveli with 7.90 Ha.

Redevelopment of Station

The Indian Railways has created blueprint for the revamp and redevelopment of railway stations across the country. The estimated investment needed is around Rs 12000 crore that was already approved 3 months ago. Sources said that the whole idea is the revamp a railway station of a particular city which would relate to the local culture and heritage of that city.

This would enable passengers to experience the flavours of that city; its culture, food and overall experience. The basic concept of the revamp is already ready and guidelines have been prescribed. Union Minister Vaishnaw stated that there is no fixed deadline for the revamp of railway stations as they intend to carefully work in detail with the idea which would leave a lasting image for another 50 years at least.

Safety and comfort

The linen is still not being provided inside long distance trains. Just before the third wave of Omicron virus of Covid-19; the Indian Railways were planning to resume providing linen, pillow, blankets and napkins to passengers. However with the threat of Omicron, they have delayed this. Minister of State for Railways, Dashana Jardosh is said to be working on this and is also working a way out with Textile Ministry as well.

The railways has already removed the special trains and restarted old numbering of trains. The special fares too have been replaced with the old ones. Moreover the railways are working towards improving safety in train running and that they are maxing out the production of LHB coaches and eliminated the conventional coaches. Recently there have been cases of derailments, accidents and fire inside coaches on Indian Railways.

The Railways is also improving the reliability of train running by introducing ‘Kavach’, an upgraded version of signaling. The Indian Railways are hoping to make this system popular globally in other nations like North America, South America, South Africa and Australia where train running exists on long routes. As part of ‘Gati Shakti’ scheme, logistics will also undergo improvement which will help farmers, small scale industries and businesses across the country. The Railways aim to carry 1400 million tonnes loading in the near future which now stands at 1200 million tonnes or so loading per year.

Published on: Tuesday, February 01, 2022, 11:49 PM IST