Three passenger trains to be upgraded to Express
   Date :23-Oct-2020

passenger trains _1 
 
 
Staff Reporter :
 
Railway Board has come up with measures to tackle congestion on tracks and now focussed on slow moving passenger trains that would now be upgraded to Mail/Express. Among the 362 trains that were selected, three are in Nagpur Divisions, two in Central Railway and one in South East Central Railway (SECR). With change in nomenclature besides increase in speed of trains due to dropping the intermediate stoppages the fares would increase drastically. The change in numbering and speeding of these trains would be effective from December 1, 2020, when the new train time-table could be notified by Railway Ministry.
 
The three trains from the region that are being upgraded are Itwari-Tata Nagar-Itwari, Ajni-Kazipeth-Ajni and Wardha-Bhusawal-Wardha. About 36 passenger trains of Central Railway would be upgraded and maximum 47 selected by Board are of South Central Railway.
 
The average speed of passenger trains ranges between 45 to 55 km/hr and many a times their in no control on adhering to their time tabled run as they get pushed to sidelines so that fast moving trains get clear path on the tracks that are congested. Right now Railways is aggressively pushing for speed that would provide greater utilisation of its assets, reduce transit time and phase out slow moving passenger from the network. The norm for selecting the passenger trains were those whose run is around 200 kms. Along the route the slow moving trains are actually a burden in these times when Railways is keen to focus on ferrying addition freight trains. Similarly as there are plans to run private trains on 200 routes, the path needed to kept clear so that these fast services can get patronage.
 
The fast changes before starting regular time table would also have positive impact on bidding from the private parties who are keen to invest in nation's lifeline. Since long Railways was seeking some freedom to drop some non feasible stoppages, most of which were provided on political grounds, as they become a drag on system and slowed down long distance trains. COVID-19 outbreak provided the much needed room for railway bosses to undertake the much needed surgery to trim down the financial burden and improve timings. With the Railways set for mass induction of LHB coaches, the ICF bogies could be utilised for redesigned passenger trains to be run as Mail/Express trains. Before finalising the move, Board had called for inputs from 16 Zones to point out long distance passenger trains that can be upgraded to Mail/Express. Divisions focussed on those trains by studying their running pattern, stoppages that are non remunerative, detentions recorded in system etc.