The travel time on five stretches falling under South Western Railway (SWR) will reduce significantly if the plan to upgrade train speeds to 130kmph is fast-tracked.
According to sources on the railway board, SWR has identified the following sections for upgradation: Bengaluru-Guntakal, Bengaluru-Ramanagara-Mandya-Mysuru, Bengaluru-Jolarpettai, Dharwad-Birur, and Shivamogga Town-Bengaluru. These are among the 53 routes that were earlier identified throughout India to allow trains to travel at a maximum speed of 130kmph.
Experts, however, are of the opinion that reaching a maximum speed of 130kmph will be possible in some of the stretches of these sections, but not all.
Rail expert Sanjeev Dyamannavar said it would benefit Vande Bharat Express and superfast mail and express trains that currently operate at a maximum speed of 110kmph. Travel time between Bengaluru and Dharwad, for instance, will come down from 8-9 hours to 5.5-six hours, he added. Experts said trains running from Mysuru towards Bengaluru reach Kengeri in 80 minutes, but thereafter take 45 minutes owing to the steep gradient up to Bengaluru.
KN Krishna Prasad, founder-member of the NGO Karnataka Railway Vedike, welcomed the speed upgradation plan and said that they expect it to be implemented by July-August.
“The tracks have to be strengthened, the old sleepers (bars along the tracks) need to replaced with new ones, curves will have to be avoided as sharp curves slow down trains. For instance, a 55-km stretch from Subramanya to Sakleshpur takes 2.5 hours because of the ghat section,” he said.
Given that this is almost the end of the financial year, Prasad said he expected work to start only by April. He said if the plan is implemented, trains like Vande Bharat Express, designed to run at a maximum speed of 160 kmph, will be able to run at 130 kmph.