Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: The fast just got faster. India’s premier long-distance train, the Rajdhani Express touched a new speed high at 145 kmph, thereby beginning a new era for Indian Railways.
Till now Rajdhani Express trains had an upper limit of 130 kmph. During the new trials conducted between Virar-Dahanu and Surat in the Mumbai-Vadodara section of Western Railway, Rajdhani Express trains made up of LHB coaches zoomed to near 150 kmph speed
The trials conducted by Research and Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO), the research arm of Indian Railways, have been in the making for a while. Importantly, railways had carried out ‘route straightening’ before conducting speed trials and tests.
As per a report, the tests were a resounding success especially on the important parameters like ‘oscillation’ and ‘swing’.
The speed came close to that clocked by the fastest train in India, the Bhopal Shatabdi — which clocks a maximum speed of 160 kmph with an average speed of 93kmph, excluding stops.
The Rajdhani feat has now been listed as one of the major “achievements” of the RDSO.
First Published: Wednesday, December 28, 2011, 15:48