MARGAO: A member of Railway Board and ex-officio secretary to government of India, Sanjeev Mittal, has advised South Western Railway (SWR) to intensify use of track machines for maintenance and renewal of track.
At a review meeting held by him with senior officials of SWR, Mittal emphasized that all out efforts to meet targets of commissioning of track doubling and electrification be put in, a spokesperson of SWR said.
A presentation on overview of SWR was given at the meeting, highlighting performance of the zone in various key parameters of safety, punctuality, revenue, loading, etc. Mittal also reviewed the action plan for enhancing safety in the ghat section and later also inspected Castlerock-Kulem ghat section, the spokesperson said.
The Railway Board’s emphasis on review of the ghat section, sources familiar with railway affairs said, can be viewed in light of certain critical observations made by the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) in its report last year over the efficacy of the second track through the ghat section, in which it had termed the track doubling project as “inefficient”, “unjustified” and “potentially destructive.”
The CEC had raised doubts essentially about capacity enhancement of the double track when it is proposed to be built parallel to the existing “equally inefficient track again with a steep 1:37 gradient”.
“Since the proposed new line to be laid will be parallel to the existing line, it will be naturally following the same existing gradient (1:37, considered to be one of the toughest ghat sections in Indian Railways) and will also be subjected to similar existing severe restrictions as the first line on the movement of trains up and down the ghat. The second line therefore can increase the efficiency in the ghat section only to the extent of availability of an additional line and is not likely to add either to the turn-around time of each train or loco or to the speed of the train,” the read CEC report.
Presently five engines — three engines in the front and two at the rear – are required to propel each train up the ghat section.
Due to the existence of sharp curves and gradients in the section, trains run with severe constraints, including speed restrictions, thereby increasing the running time of the train by 6 to 10 times the normal course.
At a review meeting held by him with senior officials of SWR, Mittal emphasized that all out efforts to meet targets of commissioning of track doubling and electrification be put in, a spokesperson of SWR said.
A presentation on overview of SWR was given at the meeting, highlighting performance of the zone in various key parameters of safety, punctuality, revenue, loading, etc. Mittal also reviewed the action plan for enhancing safety in the ghat section and later also inspected Castlerock-Kulem ghat section, the spokesperson said.
The Railway Board’s emphasis on review of the ghat section, sources familiar with railway affairs said, can be viewed in light of certain critical observations made by the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) in its report last year over the efficacy of the second track through the ghat section, in which it had termed the track doubling project as “inefficient”, “unjustified” and “potentially destructive.”
The CEC had raised doubts essentially about capacity enhancement of the double track when it is proposed to be built parallel to the existing “equally inefficient track again with a steep 1:37 gradient”.
“Since the proposed new line to be laid will be parallel to the existing line, it will be naturally following the same existing gradient (1:37, considered to be one of the toughest ghat sections in Indian Railways) and will also be subjected to similar existing severe restrictions as the first line on the movement of trains up and down the ghat. The second line therefore can increase the efficiency in the ghat section only to the extent of availability of an additional line and is not likely to add either to the turn-around time of each train or loco or to the speed of the train,” the read CEC report.
Presently five engines — three engines in the front and two at the rear – are required to propel each train up the ghat section.
Due to the existence of sharp curves and gradients in the section, trains run with severe constraints, including speed restrictions, thereby increasing the running time of the train by 6 to 10 times the normal course.
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