The move is expected to make it easier for business travelers as, say, a Rajdhani will leave Delhi around 7.30-8 pm and reach Mumbai early in the morning.
'Train sets' work on the same principle as the Delhi Metro or Mumbai suburban trains and use differentiated power, instead of an engine powering the entire 24 coaches, which helps in managing speed better. The transporter is looking at these trains as other alternatives such as bullet trains or running semi-high speed trains at 200 kmph by upgrading tracks require much higher investment.
These 'train sets' could be running in less than two years. Although fares are expected to go up marginally from current levels, they will still be much cheaper than air tickets and will help the railways win back some traffic. Initially, the plan is to import 'train sets', which cost Rs 8-9 crore per car and the overall cost of a full train with 21 cars will be around Rs 175 crore.
While Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata are near certainties, railway minister Suresh Prabhu said he was trying to speed up travel on nine routes but did not disclose the sectors.
Officials said lower travel time from Mumbai to Delhi would also help railways improve its earnings from the same train as it would be extended up to Jammu, given that 'train sets' require lower maintenance time.
According to an internal study, as reported by TOI on January 5, 2014, railways will be able to cut travel time by three hours and thirty-five minutes on the 1,440-km Delhi-Howrah route. The elite Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express can go up to 150 kmph, but the average speed continues to be 90 kmph as there are several speed restrictions. For instance, there are over 225 speed restrictions on the Delhi-Howrah route, where a train has to reduce its speed whenever it passes a station or an area where tracks are weak. Given that applying brakes and accelerating takes longer using locomotives, the 'train sets' will cut down on time.
These trains, which are already being used in the Metro services, will help save travel time by around 20% as they have higher acceleration and deceleration which will increase the average train speed. The reduction in journey time was calculated at a maximum permissible speed of 130 kmph and could come down further if the permissible limit is raised to 160 kmph.
"With a view to providing superior riding experience and about 20% saving in journey time, it is proposed to introduce a very modern train system called train sets. These are similar to bullet trains in design and can run on existing tracks without an engine to haul them," Prabhu said.
China also uses train sets for overnight services with sleeper coaches. These trains are energy-efficient, cost-effective and are equipped with modern technological solutions for increasing average train speeds. At present, a Rajdhani with 17 passenger coaches, two power cars and two pantry cars costs Rs 75 crore. An official said the extra money (around Rs 100 crore) spent on train sets can be recovered in under five years, even if entire train sets are imported.
He added, "For the railways, it will imply higher capacity and greater energy savings. We hope that the first set of these trains will be running on our system within the next two years."
The minister announced that train sets will be manufactured in India based on the experience.
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