New Delhi: The Indian Railways has decided to reduce the speed of premium trains including the much touted Vande Bharat and the Gatiman express to ensure safety of passengers, the Hindu has reported.
Their speeds will be reduced from 160 kmph to 130 kmph on select routes. The North Central Railway had written to the Railway Board to slow down Train No 12050/12049 Delhi-Jhansi-Delhi Gatiman Express, Train No 22470/22469 Delhi-Khajuraho-Delhi Vande Bharat Express, Train No 20172/20171 Delhi-Rani Kamalapati-Delhi Vande Bharat Express, and Train No 12002/12001 Delhi-Rani Kamalapati-Delhi Shatabdi Express trains, the paper reported, citing anonymous sources in the railway.
The speed of Shatabdi Express will be cut down from 150 kmph to 130 kmph. The reduced speeds are expected to increase the running time of these trains by 25-30 minutes and affect the timing of at least 10 other superfast trains running on these routes, the report said.
A senior railway official told the paper that the Train Protection & Warning System’s (TPWS) failure on the Delhi-Agra-Jhansi routes was the reason for the reduction in train speeds.
The order was issued a week after the Kanchanjunga Express accident that left 10 people dead and 40 others injured in West Bengal.
‘Repair or maintenance of TPWS not possible’
While a proposal sent by the Northern Railway, to either do away with the TPWS or reduce train speeds, was pending with the Railways board since November last year, the North Central Railway sent another proposal on June 25, 2024, to slow down the speed of the trains to 130 kmph.
According to a report of the Divisional Railway Manager, the repair or maintenance of TPWS was not possible. So the Railway Board was requested to downgrade the premium trains to be operated “at a much safer speed of 130 kmph”, the report said.
Since two zonal railways cited safety concerns in written statements as the reason to slow down the premium trains, the Railway Board has no other option but to approve the request.
When asked if the Vandhe Bharat trains elsewhere in the country will also be slowed down, another railway officer said that the semi-high-speed trains were running only at 130 kmph on almost all the routes except along a few stretches in the Delhi-Kanpur sector where the track was fit for 160 kmph, the paper reported.
‘Reducing train speeds will not serve any purpose’
Shubhranshu, former principal chief mechanical engineer at Integral Coach Factory where the Vandhe Bharat trains were designed and built, said that reduction in train speeds in lieu of a defunct TPWS will not serve any purpose.
He referred to the Kanchanjunga Express accident and said that the goods train that collided with the express train was moving only at 45 kmph. “I do not understand what safety purpose it would serve by slowing down these trains from 160 kmph to 130 kmph. It is unfortunate that a semi-high-speed train which was built with so many aspirations is being slowed down without getting into the root cause,” the Hindu quoted him as saying.
He said that the decision to slow down Vande Bharat, Gatiman and Shatabdi Express was only an ad hoc reaction, adding that TPWS has been defunct on the Delhi-Agra route for many years, but a decision to cut down the speed was only being taken now. He emphasised that reducing train speeds will not ensure safety.
The issue of safety of train operations has gained prominence in the last two years following a slew of accidents that claimed many lives.
Other trains slowed down to favour Vande Bharat
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has frequently spotlighted Vande Bharat Express and its alleged role in boosting tourism, reducing travel time and showcasing India’s technological advancement in railways. However, the semi-high-speed trains have been marred by technical glitches, high manufacturing costs and operational challenges. Some have also pointed out that the largely inaccessible trains are a distraction from the more pressing issues facing the Indian railways such as safety, punctuality, and affordability of train travel for the average Indian citizen.
In fact, it was reported that the running time of superfast trains like Pandiyan, Nellai and Kanniyakumari Express was increased by 10 to 15 minutes, en route from Madurai to Chennai, to accommodate the faster operation of other ‘premium trains’ like the Vande Bharat, as reported last year. “The centre has to understand that it is only the Vande Bharat fares that need to be reduced and not the speed of trains used by the common man,” Tamil Nadu sports minister Udhayanidhi Stalin had said at the time
