High-speed local trains to be introduced by MahaMetro; 5 things to know about the project
Today, for the planning and execution of the project, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between Piyush Goyal-led Indian Railways, the state government of Maharashtra and MahaMetro. MahaMetro is a 50:50 jointly owned company of Indian government and state government of Maharashtra.
MahaMetro’s high-speed local trains: Soon, the ambitious project of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari of starting high-speed local train services between Nagpur and four nearby towns namely, Bhandara, Wardha, Katol and Ramtek will be implemented. Today, for the planning and execution of the project, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between Piyush Goyal-led Indian Railways, the state government of Maharashtra and MahaMetro. MahaMetro, which is short for Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited, is a 50:50 jointly owned company of Indian government and state government of Maharashtra. Here are 5 things that one should definitely know about the MahaMetro project:
1) The project by MahaMetro aims to run three-coach multiple units (EMUs) to the above-mentioned towns with four on each route.
2) For train operations, MahaMetro will use existing tracks, platforms, signalling etc. of Indian Railways.
3) At present, the average speed of Nagpur to Ramtek passenger train is 27 km per hour and the average speed of Gondia passenger train is 50 km per hour. However, under this project, the train services are likely to run at a speed of 120 km per hour.
4) Brijesh Dixit, MahaMetro Managing Director was recently quoted saying that the project is a first-of-its-kind in the country. He also informed that under this project, MahaMetro will operate high-speed fully air-conditioned coaches.
5) The project is likely to provide many benefits such as travel time will be reduced, pollution level will go down, congestion on road will reduce, comfortable and distraction-free movement etc.
An electrical shunting vehicle called ‘Buland’ was operated by MahaMetro, a few days ago, between Airport and Airport South stations, which is first of the elevated stretches where works have been already completed and which is all set for the trial run.
Meanwhile, around Delhi-NCR, high-speed rapid transit projects are also being planned. Soon, a Rapid Rail service will run between Panipat and Delhi. The Rapid Rail service between the two cities will cover a distance of 111 km in total, out of which 109 km will be elevated while the rest of it will be underground. Also, a high-speed Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor will soon connect the national capital with Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.