Chennai: From April, 160kmph train to Bengaluru and Kovai

CHENNAI: Good news for rail passengers plying between Chennai and Bengaluru, the commuters may soon save their journey time by an hour from next April, if the Integral coach factory (ICF), successfully rolls out its first of its kind EMU module named Train-18. According to highly placed officials at ICF, the manufacturing unit has got the clearance from the railway board to make the advanced electrical multiple unit train (Train-18), with plying velocity of 160 km per hour. When compared to the conventional EMU trains, the new train equipped with a self-propellant engine will be slightly smaller in width. A pair of  Train-18 is planned and the composition would have 16 coaches each.

“The electric train now in usage takes minutes to gain full velocity or to stop. Trains should be slowed down well ahead of two kilometres before the stoppage. If a train has 10 stoppages, the total travel time will increase approximately by an hour. But EMU trains need a few seconds to stop and gain momentum” said ICF sources. A common electrical train takes nearly 7.30 to 8 hours to reach Coimbatore from Chennai and almost 7 hours to reach Bengaluru and this new train will reduce the journey time, sources added.

However, officials also expressed doubts whether the new trains will run from Chennai. To operate the Train-18, the tracks ought to be upgraded. At present, southern railway does not have tracks to accommodate trains running at a speed of 160km per hour. But the zonal railway management is working on upgrading tracks. “Southern Railway is on its feet to upgrade Chennai – Bengaluru and Chennai – Coimbatore routes. If the work is finished in time, the Train-18 will run in any one of these routes” opined an informed official.

Also, the officials expressed apprehensions that the Train-18 likely to go to Northern Railway. “The designing of the Train-18 is finished and procurement of spares is going on. We are trying to finish manufacturing by March 2018 and hope the train will be on tracks by April. The Northern railway has already upgraded Delhi- Agra route and a few trains are plying at a speed of 160 km per hour on that route. The railway board will have the final say on who will boast the new train,” another official said.

The ICF also on the verge of producing India’s first train made with lightweight aluminium. “Train-20 is also planned by ICF, which will be rolled out in 2020. The aluminium body will make the train lighter and faster,” said a source in ICF.