India's fastest train? Not really

Vijay Upadhyay
Agra. There is a difference between making a claim and achieving it - this applies to the Indian Railways as well.

Touted only a month ago as the fastest train of the country, the Bhopal Shatabdi Express, running at 150 kmph between Delhi and Agra, has turned into an ordinary super-fast train, coming down to the "trademark" speed of the Indian Railways.

Ever since it was flagged off by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, the train has been running late almost daily. Sometimes even by an hour, it brings down the average speed of the train, which almost never reaches 150 kmph.

In fact, the train, which is touted to complete the Delhi-Agra trip in 116 minutes, is not a record-breaker considering the same train would make the trip in just 115 minutes back in 1988, when it was launched.

According to sources in the railway, the Agra-Delhi railway track had undergone major changes in the past few years that included the strengthening and fencing of the tracks to create the groundwork for raising the speed of the train. However, a lot still remained to be done.

According to M Suresh, Agra Divisional Railway Manager of the North Central Railway, it was true that the Bhopal Shatabdi had been running not as per the stipulated time for the past few weeks.

He said there were many factors that governed the speed of a train, and the incompatible railway tracks were only a part of the problem. He said that he had already advised the railway board about the measures that could be taken to ensure that the train ran on time.

Notably, despite the hype created by the railways about the strengthening of the entire railway track, specifically to support the high-speed Shatabdi Express, the tracks at a number of places on the rail line was completely incompatible for running a train at speeds higher than 30-40 kmph and was susceptible to frequent fractures at higher speeds.

As a result, it made the reduction of speed mandatory on the weak stretches of the track, causing delays.

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