NEW DELHI (Metro Rail News): The goal of “Mission Raftaar,” is to double the average speed of freight trains and raise it by 25 kmph for superfast, mail, and express trains. The Railway Minister asserted that the CAG report, which was presented during the 2022 budget session, reviewed the overall timeliness and travel time of Indian Railways’ operations. Mission Raftaar was one of the documents used as audit criteria for the report’s preparation.
“Mission Raftaar is not a standalone project, and the overall allocation and utilisation of funds under Mission Raftaar cannot be calculated,” Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated in a written response to a question in the Rajya Sabha.
On Indian Railways, increasing train speed is a continuous process that depends on constant optimization of the investments made in technology modernization, high-powered locos, contemporary coaches, and better tracks.
According to Vaishnaw, Indian Railways is changing passenger trains using conventional coaches into MEMU services (which have higher acceleration/deceleration owing to distrusted power) and issuing more Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches, which have a higher potential speed. As a part of “Mission Raftaar” and during the period 2015-16 and 2021-22, 414 passenger train services have been converted into MEMU services.
