Initial study on to run 250 kms speed train: Mathur

Allahabad, June 20 (UNI) Railway Board Member (Traffic) V N Mathur said here today initial study was on to run 250 kms speed train.

Talking to newsmen here, Mr Mathur said many state governments including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnatake were in favour of running 250 kms speed train and were ready to extend their support to Indian Railways.

He said it was not possible for the railways to meet all expenses of this project, so there would be the need of financial assistance of the respective state governments. He also denied reports of the privatisation of railways.

''At present the maximum speed of the train running between Delhi and Agra was of 130 kms per hour.'' He said the next target was to run Shatabdi train between Delhi and Kanpur with a speed of 150 kms per hour.

Mr Mathur claimed there had been tremendous increase in freight and passenger trafic during the last few years and it was maintaining a rising trend.

The railways clocked loading of 60 million tonnes in the last financial year.

''This year too we are going to touch it,'' he added. He said there had also been 8-10 per cent growth in passenger traffic.

The main problem with the railways was of line and terminal capacity and if the traffic continued to increase at this ratio, increasing capacity would be imperative, he said adding the prestigious 'dedicated freight corridor' with an estimated cost of Rs 28,000 crore was expected to be completed in five years.

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