Bansal to line up upgrade plan for railways

Inducting semi-high speed trains and starting a pilot project to enable diesel locomotives to run on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) are among some of the modernization proposals that railways minister Pawan Kumar Bansal is likely to spell out in his upcoming budget speech, Srinand Jha reports.

Inducting semi-high speed trains and starting a pilot project to enable diesel locomotives to run on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) are among some of the modernization proposals that railways minister Pawan Kumar Bansal is likely to spell out in his upcoming budget speech.

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First reported by the Hindustan Times, the railways have decided to procure six bullet trains that will run on the existing broad gauge tracks at speeds ranging 160-200 kilometers per hour.

The six train sets will initially be procured from Japanese or European vendors, but the Railways Minister will also announce plans for indigenous manufacture of these Electric Multiple Unit (EMU)-type train-sets.

“The railways minister is keen to present an all-India perspective on railway operations. His budget proposals are unlikely to send signals of any bias towards any region or state”, sources said.