Mission Raftar: Power supply to trains on Virar-Surat route to be doubled

The power supply to trains will be doubled to 2x25000 volt on the Virar-Surat route under the ‘Mission Raftaar’ project. This is a crucial element for augmenting speeds of long-distance trains at 160 kmph on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad-Delhi corridor.

MUMBAI: The power supply to trains will be doubled to 2x25000 volt on the Virar-Surat route under the ‘Mission Raftaar’ project. This is a crucial element for augmenting speeds of long-distance trains at 160 kmph on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad-Delhi corridor. Incidentally, over the weekend, Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw is expected to visit some of the stations in Gujarat, to inspect works on the high-speed rail project.

Mumbai... 02 May 2012.... News... Trains on all the tracks are halted due to the technical problem between Churchgate and Marine Lines station causing half an hour delay for local trains on Western Railway in the evening on Wednesday... HT photo by Mahendra Parikh (Hindustan Times)

Sources in the Western Railway (WR) said tenders for installing higher-powered cables that would amplify the capacity have been called. The total cost of the work is expected to be around ₹60 crore. At present, the trains are powered with 25000 volt.

“We will augment the supply by 2x25000 volt power lines. We will also provide space on the sides of rail lines for constructing passages to erect poles and other paraphernalia required for the high-powered cables,” said a WR official.

The power supply upgrade will help in the smooth-running of Vande Bharat, Rajdhani and other premium trains at 160 kmph which otherwise puts a lot of strain on the existing infrastructure. The WR is already working on improving the tracks to cater to higher speeds.

Since last year, the WR has been conducting trials at 130 kmph on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor, which also included the Vande Bharat Sleeper train. Once the rail authorities achieve train operations at 160 kmph, then passengers can expect to save around 45-60 minutes on their journey on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route, which takes around five hours and 25 minutes.

This will be among the first routes from Mumbai where Vande Bharat will operate as semi high-speed trains. The WR has completed vital engineering works on this route that include strengthening of 120 plus bridge approaches, rehabilitation of 138 bridges, and straightening of 134 curvatures along the route. They have also installed safety barriers along 792 km to prevent people and cattle from trespassing. Indian Railways will also upgrade the system with ‘Kavach’ technology for safety.

The estimated cost for the project within WR’s jurisdiction is ₹3,959 crore, out of the total ₹10,000 crore all the way till Delhi. There are roughly 50 plus trains connecting Mumbai and Ahmedabad, including Vande Bharat, Tejas and Shatabdi. At present, long-distance trains can run at 100 kmph on the Mumbai Central-Borivali stretch and at 110 kmph on the Borivali-Virar route.

The 1,479 km Delhi-Mumbai and the 1,525 km Delhi-Howrah sections are key stretches where the railways are trying to expedite train journeys. Within the Mumbai-Delhi route, nearly 50% of the total 1,379 route km fall under Western Railway, from Mumbai Central to Nagda (694 RKM). The remaining route km is divided between West Central Railways and Northern Railway.