(a) whether Railways are aware that Dehradun-Bandra-Dehradun Express train and Shahdara- Saharanpur route trains run at extremely slow speed; and
(b) if so, the reasons therefor, the steps taken by the Railways to reduce the travel time taken by these trains due to slow speed?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)
(a) & (b) 19019/19020 Bandra (T)-Dehradun Express presently runs with an average speed of 40.5 kmph/40.3 kmph. At present, the train undergoes traction change at Nizamuddin and shunting at Meerut/Haridwar for attachment/detachment of sectional coaches. Further, power reversal is involved at Saharanpur and Laksar. Besides, the maximum sectional speed of Shahdara-Shamli section is 75 Kmph only. As such, speeding up of 19019/19020 Bandra (T)-Dehradun Express and trains on Shahdara-Saharanpur section is not operationally feasible at present. However, speeding up of trains on Indian Railways is an on-going process which, inter-alia, depends on various factors which include sectional speed, traction used, coaching stock used and also on the improvement in technology relating thereto etc.