Railways looks to hike long distance train speed by 25 kmph

Kolkata: Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain said on Monday that the Indian Railways is working on increasing the speed of all long distance passenger trains by 25 km per hour by 2022.

"The Railways Ministry has also asked the national carrier to double the average speed of freight trains by 2022," Gohain said while inaugurating the Santragachi-Chennai Central weekly Antyodaya Express train service.

The minister has asked all the zonal railway general managers to work on increasing the speed of long distance passenger trains by five km per hour every year, thus reaching the target of 25 km per hour increase in speed by 2022. The decision has been taken with the ministry aiming to reduce travel time for passengers.

The Santragachi-Chennai Central weekly Antyodaya Express will leave Santragachi every Monday at 19:00 hours and will reach Chennai Central at 22:45 hours the next day. On the return trip, it will leave Chennai Central at 08:10 hours every Wednesday, arriving at Santragachi the next day at 10:25 hours. The train will cover a distance of 1,655 km within 27 hours each way.

Responding to a poser on the lack of adequate number of fast trains between the North-East and Kolkata, Gohain said the ministry is considering a new AC express train between Guwahati and the metropolis.

Apart from Gohain, MP Prasun Banerjee, S N Agrawal, general manager, South Eastern Railway, Harindra Rao, general manager, Eastern Railway, A Vijayvargiya, general manager, Metro Railway and other distinguished guests also attended the programme.

It may be mentioned that this fully unreserved superfast train is equipped with modern facilities like LED lights, mobile charging points, bio-toilets, cushioned luggage racks, potable water dispenser etc.