Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Howrah Rail Corridors Set For 160 Kmph Upgrade, Additional Lines Planned—All About It

To enhance operational efficiency on two of India’s busiest rail corridors—Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah—the Ministry of Railways has launched a series of works and surveys aimed at enhancing speed and expanding line capacity.

On the Delhi-Mumbai corridor, which stretches over 1,386 kilometres, the work for raising sectional speed to 160 kmph has been sanctioned and is in advance stage, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

At present, 196 km of this route have four rail lines, and construction of the third and fourth lines has been taken up between Dahanu Road and Virar, covering 64 km, the minister said.

To extend this expansion, a survey has been sanctioned for the third and fourth lines across the remaining 1,126 km.

Additionally, 1,404 km of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) have been commissioned, and work is underway for the final 102-km segment.

Further, the Railways is also developing the 508-km Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project.

Similarly, the Delhi-Howrah corridor, which spans 1,450 km, is undergoing a speed upgrade to 160 kmph.

The corridor currently includes a mix of double, triple, and quadruple tracks: 194 km are four-line sections, 312 km are triple-lined, and the remaining 944 km are double-lined.

Several capacity augmentation projects have been sanctioned on the Delhi-Howrah corridor and work taken up for them.

These include the multi-tracking of the Son Nagar to Andal section covering 375 km, the construction of a third line between Aligarh and Daud Khan spanning 18 km, and another third line between Mughalsarai and Allahabad extending 150 km.

Additionally, a fifth line is being built between Kalipahari and Bakhtarnagar for 18 km, while a fourth line is under construction between Saktigarh and Chandanpur covering 43 km.

The Nimcha up avoiding line is also being extended by 9.42 km.

In addition, surveys have been approved for the construction of 480 km of third lines, 96 km of fourth lines, and 151 km of fifth lines, the minister said.

The Eastern DFC, which spans 1,337 km, has already been commissioned.

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