The Commissioner of Railway Safety has approved raising of maximum speeds on the 509 km Itarsi-Nagpur-Balharshah route to 130 kmph. This is the final section on the Delhi-Chennai Golden Diagonal awaiting the speed upgrade.
However, Central Railway may have to comply with some CRS directives before it is able to officially upgrade speeds on the route.
In a notification dated 12th January 2022, the CRS’s approval has come with several conditions.
- Construction of fencing along the route within 3 years. Sanction is conditional upon approval of construction work for the boundary wall within a year.
- All turnouts are to be replaced with Thick Web Switches
- Track, OHE and Signalling are to be compliant with various requirements laid down.
- Speed restrictions are to be imposed wherever infrastructure is not fit for 130 kmph.
- All necessary modifications are to be done as soon as possible, with compliance reports submitted to CRS.
As of now, the Balharshah-Nagpur-Itarsi section is fit for 110 kmph for mail/express trains. Rajdhanis, some Durontos and Garib Raths are allowed to operate at 120 kmph. Many more LHB rake trains will now be able to operate at 130 kmph. These trains could benefit from a time saving of at least 30 minutes between Itarsi and Balharshah.
Central Railway Behind The Curve On 130 kmph Upgrade
The upgrade also makes the full Delhi-Chennai route fit for 130 kmph operations. Chennai-Balharshah and Itarsi-Delhi sections were certified for 130 kmph operations months ago.
Central Railway stretches on the Mumbai Howrah route between Kalyan and Sewagram, and on the Mumbai-Chennai route between Kalyan and Wadi, are also lagging behind in raising maximum speeds to 130 kmph. South East Central Railway and South Eastern Railway have upgraded their stretches of the Mumbai-Howrah route in the financial year 2020-21.
Indian Railways had planned to raise speeds on the entire Golden Quadrilateral and the Golden Diagonal to 130 kmph by 2020-21 and 160 kmph by 2024. Both deadlines are likely to be missed.