Semi High Speed

Semi-high-speed rail Project

Semi-high-speed rail

A semi-high-speed rail network will be introduced for connecting important routes, including Delhi–Agra, Delhi–Kanpur, Chennai–Hyderabad, Nagpur–Secunderabad, Mumbai–Pune–Solapur–Hyderabad and Mumbai–Goa. Initially, the trains will operate at a maximum speed of 160 km/h, which will be increased to 200 km/h after the rails are strengthened and fenced off. The Gatimaan Express began services on April 5, 2016, after safety clearances were obtained on its first route. Currently, Vande Bharat Express is the fastest train running on 66 routes with highest trail speed of 183 km/h, with potential of reaching up to 200 km/h.

Mission Raftaar

Mission Raftaar was announced in the Railway Budget of 2016-17 with the target of increasing the average speed of freight and superfast mail/express trains. The railway is focusing on the New Delhi-Mumbai and New Delhi-Howrah routes as part of the Golden Quadrilateral. Mission Raftar compromises several measures have been taken to achieve the medium- and long-term goals of Mission Raftaar, including the construction of tracks, bridges, rail flyovers, bypasses, right-powering of trains, third- and fourth-line construction, replacement of conventional loco-hauled trains by MEMUs, changes in timetable, and modification of the 1×25 KV traction system to the 2×25 KV traction system, among others.

Vande Bharat expansion

The country has made target of having 4,500 Vande Bharat trains running across India by 2047. Indian Railways have planned to introduce Vande Bharat trains in inner parts of India such as Ranchi-Puri, Raipur-Ranchi, Indore-Pune, Raipur-Varanasi, Pune-Goa, Goa-Mysore, Gokarna-Bangalore, Agartala-Guwahati, Indore-Lucknow to increase connectivity and economic development. Indian Railways will soon start the upgradation of tracks with high strength rails (R-350).The railways has started the work to increase the design speed limit of the next-generation Vande Bharat sleeper trains to 220 kmph and work has also started to improve the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah lines to allow trains to run at 160 km/h.

Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC)

Dedicated freight corridors of 3,300 km length will also be completed thus freeing the dual use high demand trunk routes for running more high-speed passenger trains. The project will continue to figure on the high priority list of all the government agencies associated with it. DFCs will help India reduce its high logistics costs from some 13-15 per cent of the GDP and help it move towards the target of 8 per cent.

Till date in the commissioned sections, a total of 4000 trains have been run. Some of the trains in the section are achieving the average speed of 99.38 kmph in EDFC and the average speed is 89.50 kmph in WDFC. Passenger train such as Vande Bharat Express have already ran on DFC tracks during exigencies.

Semi-high-speed rail sections

A 174 km (108 mi) segment of track in the Tughlakabad–Agra Cantonment section supports semi-high speeds of up to 160 km/h (100 mph). As of 2023, the maximum operational speed of 160 km/h (100 mph) is achieved by Gatimaan Express and Vande Bharat Express on the above section.

Track upgrades (Broad gauge)

Broad gauge track upgrades

New tracks (RapidX)

RapidX system operates on 1,435 mm standard gauge tracks and is designed for speeds up to 180 km/h, with the Delhi–Meerut line partially opened in 2023.

New semi-high-speed tracks