Chennai: The Southern Railway (SR) zone has submitted a Detailed Project Report (DPR) to the Railway Board to increase the speed limit on the Chennai-Bengaluru route to 160 kmph. The SR move comes 20 days after the launch of Vande Bharat Express.
According to Mint, the Southern Railway zone has also submitted a DPR to the Railway Board to increase train speed to 160 kmph on the Chennai-Gudur, Chennai-Renigunta sections.
“The Chennai – Gudur section (134.3 km), which is categorized as Group A Golden Quadrilateral route, has been approved to run trains at a speed of 130 kmph. This makes the section the first section on the Southern Railway to accommodate trains at a speed of 130 kmph,” Southern Railways said in a statement, as reported by Mint.
Prior to the proposal, the Railways and RDSO had conducted a series of track runs to assess the suitability of the tracks and rolling stock.
SR is also considering increasing the speed of trains on key routes in Tamil Nadu to permissible limits.
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SR also plans to complete infrastructure improvements on the Chennai-Jolarpettai section to increase the train speed to 130 kmph by March.
Earlier, the railways received a flurry of passengers as the fifth Vande Bharat Express running on the Chennai-Mysuru section was the slowest among semi-fast trains across the country.
Meanwhile, share prices of Indian railway sector companies seem to be falling rapidly on the stock exchanges.
Major listed companies catering to the railway sector are Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC), Container Corporation of India Ltd, Indian Railway Finance Corporation, IRCON International Ltd, Texmaco Rail and Engineering Ltd, BEML Ltd, Bharat Electronics Ltd, Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd and RailTel Corporation of India Ltd.
According to analysts, share prices are on an upward trend, perhaps anticipating some announcement from the government in the 2023-24 budget or on asset monetization plans.
(With inputs from IANS)