Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Howrah Rail Lines to Hit 160 kmph as Expansion Projects Advance

The Ministry of Railways has started a number of projects and surveys to improve speed and increase line capacity on the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah, two of India's busiest train lines.  In a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated that the work to increase sectional speed to 160 kmph on the 1,386-kilometer Delhi-Mumbai corridor has been approved and is in the advanced stage. According to the minister, there are currently four train lines along 196 km of this route, and work has begun on the third and fourth lines, which will span 64 km between Dahanu Road and Virar.

To continue this extension, an authorised survey for the third and fourth lines over the remaining 1,126 km has been permitted. The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) has also been put into service, with 1,404 km already completed and the final 102 km now under construction. The 508-kilometer Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project by the Railways is also under development.

Likewise, the 1,450-kilometer Delhi-Howrah line is being upgraded to 160 kmph.The corridor currently has a combination of double, triple, and quadruple tracks: 944 km are double-lined, 312 km are triple-lined, and 194 km are four-lined. The Delhi-Howrah route has a number of approved capacity augmentation projects underway.

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These include the 375-kilometer Son Nagar to Andal stretch being multi-tracked, the 18-kilometer Aligarh to Daud Khan third line, and the 150-kilometer Mughalsarai to Allahabad third line.  There are also plans to build a fourth line between Saktigarh and Chandanpur, which will span 43 km, and a fifth line between Kalipahari and Bakhtarnagar, which will span 18 km.  Additionally, a 9.42-kilometer extension is being made to the Nimcha up avoiding line.

Furthermore, the minister stated that surveys permitting the building of 480 km of third lines, 96 km of fourth lines, and 151 km of fifth lines have been approved.  The Eastern DFC is 1,337 kilometres long and has already been put into service.