'I think that kind of change is coming. We should stay prepared for that change, whichever industry or sector we are in, we must be prepared.'
Vaishnaw travelled in the engine of a Kavach-fitted train, which, while speeding at 130 kmph, stopped 50 metres before red signal on its own without any manual interference with the braking function by the loco pilot.
The Railway Board has reduced the speed of semi-high speed trains Gatimaan Express and Vande Bharat from 160 kmph to 130 kmph till the automatic train protection system gets operational.
Indian railways has developed its own automatic train protection system called Kavach for enhancing safety of running trains.
The Opposition party asked whether the prime minister will take responsibility for the 'deadliest rail tragedy' of this century.
'Kavach', which literally means armour, is being promoted by the railways as the world's cheapest automatic train collision protection system.
Aimed at 'decongesting' the traffic in populated cities, the project envisages the railway boogies running on elevated track set on a series of eight-metre-high pillars.
These coaches, officials said, will be "economical" and in between the current AC three-tier and non-AC sleeper class.
Indian Railways is taking the help of a US-based railroad research organisation to study the impact of higher freight traffic load on tracks.
Globally, London's Tube and French railway networks are already using this technology in their corrosion-prone areas.
A slew of draft documents -- for Request for Qualification (RFQ), Concession Agreement Guiding Principles, Project Information Memorandum (PIM) along with a presentation on the salient features of the project -- for discussion on private participation in passenger trains have been uploaded by Niti Ayog on its website which outline the railways' plans of running 150 trains on 100 routes by private operators, envisaging an investment of Rs 22,500 crore.
The Indian Railways is replacing its outdated signalling system with the latest automated train protection technologies - European Train Control System and Train Collision Avoidance System.
As the national transporter is planning to come out with semi-high speed routes where trains can clock an average speed of 160-200 kmph, dedicated testing becomes essential.
The minister outlined proposals on cleanliness.
One of the beneficiaries is Jindal Steel and Power, which had earlier been kept out of procurement for rails
He said that efforts were being made either to close or man such crossings in the next two years.
An inquiry by the safety commissioner has been ordered. Anusha Soni reports
According to the proposed agreement, Japan will provide financial assistance to the tune of 81 per cent of the project cost as soft loan.
There was a plan to increase the Railways' revenue by augmenting carrying capacity. This target has, however, become the source of a bitter battle between two ministries - the railways and steel - and provoked serious arguments over the "Make in India" programme.
As of now, the Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani Express runs at an average speed of 85 km per hour.
After the trial run on the Bareilly-Moradabad line, it will be tried on Rajdhani route between Mathura and Palwal for 40 days with speed up to 180 km per hour.
India is currently considering two corridors for high speed trains.
The train with nine lightweight coaches will start its journey at 7.55 PM from New Delhi station and is expected to reach Mumbai at about 8.31 AM in the morning
'Making the railways better is a different type of a challenge.'
'There is tension between the zones all the time.'
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