The journey time between Kolkata and Delhi is expected to be reduced considerably in the near future. Eastern Railway is now working extensively on increasing sectional speed and touching the 130 and 160 kmph mark in various stretches to improve punctuality and cut down journey time.

The ER achieved a significant increase in punctuality of trains in the ongoing fiscal. The zonal railway has witnessed an increase in the punctuality of mail/express, passenger and suburban trains. The punctuality of mail/express was higher by seven per cent from 77.6 per cent to 84.5 per cent while that of passenger trains is up by 13 per cent reaching 78.1 per cent against last year’s 65.7 per cent.

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To improve punctuality further, the Eastern Railway is now emphasising on increasing sectional speed and eliminating bottlenecks. According to the ER, the sectional speed has been increased from 110 kmph to 130 kmph in 139 km, from 60/100 kmph to 110 kmph for 107 km and from 30/40 kmph to 65 kmph in 46km. Under the ‘Mission Raftaar,’ which is a project aimed at reducing journey time between various metro cities, the zonal railway has undertaken extensive tasks to increase speeds. In Malda Division including stretches like the Sahibganj Loop, the ER is upgrading the signalling system to automatic for reaching the 130 kmph mark. Also, there were many sections where the speed was less than 110 and were upgraded to reach the benchmark of 110. On the other hand, some of the loop lines that had trains running at low speed of 15 kmph are being upgraded to 30 kmph.

However, the task of increasing sectional speed does not come easy. As underscored by the GM, increasing sectional speed from 110 to 130 is quite a task. “Running trains at 130 kmph has been a big challenge and requires approval from the commissioner of railway safety (CRS). After completion of all the works, from Sitarampur to the other end it took around six to seven months to satisfy the CRS,” said the GM. In the next step, the ER is now working on increasing sectional speed from 110 kmph to 130 kmph in two lines between Howrah to Pradhankhunta in six to seven months.

Elaborating on how the zonal railway is gearing up to run trains at 160 kmph, Mr Deouskar informed that for running trains at this speed, technological upgradation needs to be completed first. Considering the fact, the ER has put up boundary walls that are a prerequisite for trains running above 130 kmph. In addition, installation of Kavach is being carried out which is also a part of the efforts of enhancing speed. As a part of the preparations, the ER has completed works on overhead equipment, tracks and some fleet of the rolling stock including the Vande Bharat and LHB trains. The ER is now working on upgrading the signalling system for running trains at 160 kmph.