Indian Railways zeroes in on 6 big-bang projects! Private trains, 160 kmph travel speed and more; details here

Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha has sent a letter to the Railway Board Chairman VK Yadav, asking to implement six potentially transformative ideas, as part of the ambitious 100-day agenda drawn up by the second term of Modi government.








Indian Railways introduce several passenger-friendly amenities in the coming days, including free WiFi facilities at more than 6,400 stations and higher speed for some trains! The national transporter is all set to launch these initiatives under its 100-day roadmap, up to 15 October 2019. According to an HT report, Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha has sent a letter to the Railway Board Chairman VK Yadav, asking to implement six potentially transformative ideas, as part of the ambitious 100-day agenda drawn up by the second term of Modi government. The six ideas are among 167 projects that a group of ministers has zeroed in on for the Modi government to execute.




Indian Railways big-bang 100 day plan!

According to a Railway Board official, the six tasks chosen for Indian Railways include WiFi facility for passengers, elimination of all manned level crossings on the Golden Quadrilateral, raising the speed of trains on New Delhi-Mumbai route and New Delhi-Howrah route to 160 kmph to bring down the travel time from approximately 14 hours to 12 hours, hiring of private passenger train operators, where selected trains will be operated by private players, corporatization of production units of rolling stock, installation of an advanced signalling system. The Railway Board will brief the cabinet secretary on the status of these railway projects every Friday, the report said. The 100-day plan will be implemented with effect from 5 July to 15 October 2019.





According to the national transporter, 6,441 out of 8,738 railway stations are to be provided with free WiFi service. So far, 832 railway stations have been equipped with the high-speed WiFi facility. Moreover, it is being expected that the Union cabinet will approve the conversion of the Delhi-Howrah and Delhi-Mumbai routes into corridors, allowing trains to run at a speed of 160 kmph. The move will also give a major boost to railways’ Mission Raftaar, which aims to enhance the maximum speed of both freight and passenger trains.