Speed of 140 trains to be increased from July one

New Delhi, Jun 29 (UNI) Come July 1, as many as 140 trains, including New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani, Jhelum Express, Kerala Express and Himgiri Express, will be speeded up, reducing their journey time by one to over seven hours.

The time taken for the journey will be reduced by one hour for 85 trains, by 60-120 minutes for 31 trains, by 120-300 minutes for 16 trains and more than 300 minutes for eight trains, which have been given the status of superfast trains.

In addition, 34 mail and express trains have been speeded up by one and a half hours to seven hours and 15 minutes.

Launching the new rationalised Railway Timetable, Railway Board Chairman J P Batra today said this year the timetable will be published in two phases -- one from July one and the other from December one -- due to large-scale revision in train timings.

Mr Batra said the increase in the speed of 140 trains had been made possible because the vacuum brake system had been completely replaced by the air brake system since May.

''In effect, a total of 343 more coaches have been inducted into service. As many as 152 trains will have 23-24 coaches, for which while 290 additional coaches have been pressed into service. The remaining trains will be augmented during the current year when the lenghth of the platform is increased for these trains.'' Mr Batra said 550 stations had been identified for extension of platform length to 24 coaches and the work was in progress.

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