The Russian Railways is helping India modernize its railways by making them faster than ever before. As per sources, the speed of passenger trains in India is expected to increase from the existing 120 kmph to 200 kmph. The pilot project will be executed on the 575-km rail route between Nagpur and Secunderabad and a government to government agreement will be signed on the same. A preliminary report of the project has already been submitted.
A team of Indo-Russian rail engineers has already examined the existing infrastructure and prepared a report on the same. The data will be given to the experts of RZD International – a subsidiary of Russian Railways, in order to recommend technical and technological solutions to reach the desired speed limit. The solutions might include reconstruction of railway alignments or treatment of the earth bed where there is a speed constraint.
There are a number of large bridges with speed limits on this particular stretch, which is a major concern as of now. Also, as the existing Indian Railway coaches can’t move with a speed of 200 kmph, new type of passenger cars have to be introduced. It has also been pointed out that railroad switches on this stretch can’t bear a speed of 200 kmph, which is surely going to be a bottleneck for the project to take off smoothly. Replacing the existing radio communication with the digital technological communication network for the entire section is also proposed.
Railway agencies from Germany, Japan, Great Britain and France are already involved in the Indian Railways modernization drive. This is the first time Russia has entered India’s vast and heavily used rail network. Both sides wish the initial partnership to blossom into a meaningful collaboration.
