Prayagraj Division of Railway | 12 Jul 2022

Why in News?

• Recently, railway officials said that Prayagraj Division of North-Central Railway (NCR) has become the first division in the country, where the maximum speed of 272 of 338 mail-express trains operated has now reached 130 kmph. This figure is the highest among all 68 railway divisions of Indian Railways.

Key Points

• Railway officials claim that before the Kumbh Mela to be held in 2025, the speed of all trains running in Prayagraj division will be 160 kilometers per hour.
• It may be recalled that a few years ago, Prayagraj Division was infamous for the delay of trains due to the slow pace of operation of trains beyond the capacity and improvement of railway infrastructure.
• With the closure of passenger trains in the lockdown during the first wave of Covid, work was done to improve the infrastructure in the three divisions of the NCR. During this time, while on the one hand, the remodelling of Aligarh, Etawah, Khurja, Tundla, Juhi Kanpur Yard etc., on the other hand, automatic signaling work was also done at a fast pace.
• New tracks were laid in place of the old railway tracks. Meanwhile, many trains in the zone were also fitted with Link Hoffman Bush (LHB) coaches. In the financial year 2021-22, automatic signaling in seven sections of Prayagraj division alone and electronic interlocking at 14 stations were completed. It also improved the delay of trains.
• The maximum speed of 520 Mail-Express trains running in Prayagraj division as well as NCR zone has reached 130 kmph. In the first quarter of this financial year, the maximum speed of 14 more trains has increased to 130 kmph.
• 160 kms in Prayagraj division. A wall is also being built on both sides of the railway track from Ghaziabad to Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay station to run the train at an hourly speed, so that cattle etc. cannot come on the railway track, because of their being hit by the train. The route gets interrupted. This wall will also be completely ready by the year 2024.