The technology for upgrading the New Delhi Howrah Rajdhani route via grand chord has been identified according to Rajiv Chaudhry, General Manager, North Central Railway (NCR).[Chaudhry holds additional charge of GM Northern Railway].
Addressing a web-based press conference on Friday, Chaudhry said that they intend to complete the 160-kmph speed upgrade by June 2023.
| Zone | Route km | Total cost in Rs crore | Cost per Km in Rs crore |
| NR | 96.9 | 785 | 8.1 |
| NCR | 751.2 | 2437 | 3.2 |
| ECR | 417.2 | 2050 | 4.9 |
| ER | 260.2 | 1463 | 5.6 |
| Total | 1525.5 | 6735 | 4.4 |
NCR is the coordinating railway for speed increase of the Rajdhani route between New Delhi and Howrah.
Fifty three per cent of the route kilometers fall under its jurisdiction between Chipiyana Buzurg near Ghaziabad and New West Cabin (outer cabin of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Jn or DDU).
These works also include the speed increase between Kanpur and Lucknow.
Iradatganj flyover
On the proposed rail-over-rail flyover between Iradatganj (on the Manikpur – Prayagraj section) and Kunwadih halt (between Jhusi and Ramnathpur on North Eastern Railway’s Varanasi division, Chaudhury said it would take another three to four years to complete as the project was complicated.
The project has been awarded to Braithwaite a railway public sector undertaking a couple of weeks ago on a turn key basis, said Chaudhry.
This flyover will connect the grand chord line (both the down line towards DDU and UP line towards PRYJ) besides connecting NER’s line towards Banaras (Manduadih) after crossing the Ganga via a new railway bridge.
Old Yamuna bridge
On the re-girdering of the Old Yamuna Bridge between between Naini junction and Prayagraj Junction, Chaudhry said “the old bridge has been found fit to run trains. During our annual inspection and maintenance we found the bridge fully fit and hence there is no need to replace girders. It is our lifeline.”
“We might think of it once the new bridge is constructed. As of now there is no such plan,” he added.
Works done for higher average speeds
NCR implemented several works to ensure that goods trains are run at higher aberage speeds on its sytem. These included
- Electrification of Chunar- Chopan, Manikpur- Jhansi, Khairar- Bhimsen and
- Manikpur-Satna. Traction change of trains has been eliminated as a result.
- Sectional Speed of Ghaziabad- Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and Palwal-Lalitpur has been raised to 130 Kmph.
- For Lalitpur-Bina and Manikpur-Link Jn. Sections the speeds are120 Kmph and 110 Kmph respectively.
- Removal of Permanent Speed restriction of 15 kmph to 65 kmph in Up & Dn main line at Tundla.
- Removal of Permanent Speed Restriction between Somna-Danwar on 3rd line.
- Raising of Permanent Speed Restriction of 60 to 75 kmph in Naini- Prayagraj of PRYJ division.
- Yard remodeling of Kanpur to provide simultaneous movement on 3rd &4th line at
- Tundla end and north & south line at Lucknow end has been commissioned.
- Sectional Speed of Bhind-Etawah section has been increased from 80 Kmph to 100 Kmph.
In addition, the missing NCR is executing route electricfication to complete missing links between itself and its adjacent zones- The sections being electrified are – Bhandai to Etawah -126.66 kms ; Birla Nagar to Etawah-115.51 kms ;Mahoba to Udaipura via Khajuraho-386 kms; Shikohabad to Farrukhabad-106.29kms ;
Adjacent railway zones are also electrifying sections such as Bandikui to Jaipur (NWR)
Guna to Gwalior (WCR), Balamau-Unnao-Dalmau (NR) and Aunrihar to Bhatni (NER) to complete the loop.
The NCR GM observed that the zone was already clocking an average speed of over 50 kmph for freighters on its trunk routes (Ghaziabad –DDU) and Palwal–Bina).
Other initiatives such as commissioning of Ghasinagar station on the Agra Fort-Bandikui section, upgradation of loops across 464 kms in nine sections to 30 kmph for faster throughput besides surface crossings at nine locations (Prayagraj Jn., Prayagraj Chheoki, Kanpur, Govindpuri, Aligarh, Jhansi, Gwalior, Mathura Jn and Agra Cantt.)
Overall average speed of 50 kmph across the zone is expected by October’2020, said NCR GM Rajiv Chaudhry.
Recovery in freight loading and earnings
Despite being a zone which handles pass through freight more than originating freight, NCR bounced after a two- month lull due to Covid-19 lockdown, recouping most of its freight earnings during the five month period April-August versus the year ago period.
| Monthly loading in million tonnes | FY21 | FY20 | Variation % |
| April | 0.73 | 1.28 | (43.0) |
| May | 1.06 | 1.35 | (21.5) |
| June | 1.45 | 1.32 | 9.8 |
| July | 1.38 | 1.36 | 1.5 |
| August | 1.26 | 1.23 | 2.4 |
| Total | 5.89 | 6.54 | (9.9) |
Though freight loading was down 9.9 per cent during the April-August period, revenue generated went up 6.35 per cent translating into higher earnings per metric ton of freight handled.
| Monthly revenue in Rs crore | FY21 | FY20 | Variation % |
| April | 86.18 | 104.37 | (17.4) |
| May | 117.6 | 122.49 | (4.0) |
| June | 156.51 | 120.99 | 29.4 |
| July | 145.51 | 127.41 | 14.2 |
| August | 128.97 | 121.60 | 6.1 |
| Total | 634.77 | 596.86 | 6.4 |
This has been possible due to the efforts of business development units generating new revenue streams of over Rs 7 crore.
Initiatives such as concessional station-to-station rates for a total of dozen pairs are likely to be implemented by end-October (six pairs have already been done).
Finally, NCR has also called for an expression of interest (EOI) for development of 17 goods sheds through public –private partnership (PPP).Time-tabled parcel trains and Kisan rail have also contributed to NCR’s top line.