Rail budget: Now, Delhi to Kolkata in 14 hours

While presenting the Railway Budget, Dinesh Trivedi emphasized that the current budget would not only focus on safety and improving infrastructure but also implementation of faster trains through modern technology.

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The minister has allocated a total investment of Rs 39,110 crore to modernise the signalling system and has allocatedRs 4410 crore to be allocate for capacity upgradation.

Stressing on the need for faster trains, Trivedi said 725 km of new lines will be completed in the current year. With the new systems in place, travelling time is going to shorten considerably. Setting the trains’ speed limit at 160 km/ hour , the Delhi to Kolkata journey via the Shatabdi will come down to 14 hours from the current 17 hours.

The minister also plans to modernise 19,000 km of railway tracks, which

cater to 80 percent of traffic.Moreover, 800 km of lines will be gauge converted at Rs 1,950 crore in 2012-13.

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Five hundred km lines will be electrified as part of the 12th Plan and new lines will also be developed in tribal areas and an attempt will be made to increase the speed to 160km per hour.

Trivedi also has a lot of Mumbai-centric plans and said that the city’s passengers can soon expect an elevated coridoor from Mumbai to Virar.