Select trains between New Delhi & Ludhiana to run at 130 kmph

Kuldip Bhatia 

Ludhiana, August 19

The stage is set for faster rail travel between Ludhiana and the National Capital as Northern Railways have almost finalised a plan to run 26 pairs of trains, including elite Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto and Humsafar, on this section at a speed of 130 km per hour (kmph). 

Presently, only Swarn Shatabdi runs at this speed while other trains like Duronto and Rajdhani run at a maximum speed of 110 kmph. With the select 26 pairs of trains running at a faster speed the travel time between Ludhiana and New Delhi is likely to be cut from 20 minutes to half-an-hour soon.

For the time being only a few trains with Link Hofmann Busch (LHB) rakes, originally designed in Germany and now being manufactured at the Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, and Modern Coach Factory, Rae Bareli, will make it to the list of trains scheduled to run at a higher speed. 

According to sources both the engineering wing and railway safety organisation of the Delhi Division of the Northern Railways has approved running of trains with LHB coaches at 130 kmph between New Delhi-Ludhiana and New Delhi-Ambala Cantt (for Kalka/Chandigarh bound trains). Similarly, trains upto Jammu Tawi and Katra will run at a higher speed up to Ludhiana only because the rail tracks on the remaining section are not technically compliant for high-speed running.

According to Railways the new generation LHB coaches were designed to run at a speed of up to 160 to 200 kmph and these had already been tested from safety aspect up to a maximum speed of 180 kmph.

The Delhi Division has already sent a list of 26 pairs of trains proposed to be run at a higher speed to the Northern Railways General Manager. The new time table of these trains will be released after the proposal gets a nod from the competent authority. 

Trains proposed to run at 130 kmph