NEW DELHI: Nearly 81 per cent of railway tracks are ready to allow trains to run at speeds exceeding 110 km/h, a two-fold increase from 2014, the government told Parliament in its last session. One-fifth of the existing track allows trains to run at speeds in excess of 130 km/h.This is significant because section speed increases are delivered across the entire rail network rather than limited corridor-based upgrades. According to government data, of the less than 110,000 km of the railway network, 84,888 km have been upgraded to support speeds of 110 km/h and above, of which 23,477 km are capable of running at speeds of 130 km/h and above.This system upgrade has allowed the Railways to introduce new-age Vande Bharat (including soft-seat coaches and sleeper trains) as well as faster Amrit Bharat trains.
Experts say the step-by-step speed upgrade is also important because unlike countries such as China, Japan and France, which have achieved higher speeds mainly by laying new passenger high-speed rail lines, India has followed a fundamentally different and more complex path.India’s approach focuses on upgrading existing tracks carrying mixed traffic (passenger and freight), which is more challenging than building segregated high-speed corridors as it requires strengthening track geometry, signaling, electrification and safety systems without disrupting daily operations.Railway Ministry officials said India’s strategy is to gradually upgrade the speed of large stretches of continuous track from 110 km/h to 130 km/h, and even further increase it to 160 km/h.“This creates a stepped speed ecosystem, rather than a sharp division between ‘slow’ conventional lines and isolated high-speed lines. This grading allows trains, crew training and signaling systems to develop organically, reducing transition risks,” an official said.Speed ​​capabilities are also available across all railway zones, including freight-intensive areas such as East Central Railway, South East Central Railway and South Central Railway. “This ensures uniformity across the country and avoids the creation of elitist, passenger-centric corridors that are disconnected from the rest of the network,” the official said.The railway operates some of the world’s longest freight trains, carrying more than 250 million passengers every day, operating with heavy axle loads of 22.9-25 tonnes and maintaining long welded rails, full electrification and increasingly automated signaling – all on the same track. They added that no other rail system has attempted speed upgrades on a comparable scale under such constraints.
