Speed of over 700 trains to be enhanced

Indian Railways is set to change the timings of over 700 trains soon by enhancing their speed and efficiency.

The railway ministry has already begun attempts to cut down the journey timing of a large number of trains.

As per the proposal, in the first phase, the speed of 700 trains will be increased and 48 mail and express trains will converted to superfasts, an official in the Ministry of Railways told DH.

During the auditing of train timings, it was found that there is ample scope to cut down the journey hour by one to two hours in many trains, said an official.

Though the government was planning to announce a new time-table for a large number of trains from December 1, it is likely to be released early next month, said the officials.

The Prime Minister’s Office has been pushing the railways to increase the average speed of existing trains to bring down journey time.

Several measures, such as reducing the engine-reversal timings, the cutting down of halting time in stations with less footfalls and installing automatic signaling system, will be taken up to decrease journey time, the official said.