New Delhi: The railways will implement a Rs 18000-crore project to operate trains at a speed of 160 kmph on the busy Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata routes by upgrading infrastructure, Railway Board Chairman V K Yadav said on Tuesday.
Once the project begins, it will take at least four years to complete, he said after inaugurating the International Rail Conference-2019 and the 13th International Railway Equipment Exhibition.
The events have been organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with the Railways at Aerocity here.
The railways' target is to operate high-speed trains in two categories at 160 kmph on the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata routes, and up to 320 kmph under the ongoing bullet train project between Mumbai-Ahmedabad.
Currently, the average maximum speed of trains on various routes is 99 kmph and the recently introduced Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express touches an average speed of 104 kmph on the Delhi-Kanpur section.
The upgrade of infrastructure to operate trains at 160 kmph includes fencing, upgrade of track and signalling, and elimination of unmanned level-crossings, according to the Railway Ministry.
The railways is in a "transformation mode" and "is in the process of modernisation", Yadav said, adding that as part of this, the 68000-km broad-gauge track network will be electrified in the next three years.
He said at present, 28000 km is electrified and for next year a target of 7000 km has been set.
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