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WR To Replace 3.92 lakh Concrete Sleepers Tracks for High Speeds Trains on Mumbai Route

Patchwork on the fast lines of the Churchgate-Virar route and the 5th and 6th lines is in progress. These lines will separate local and long-distance trains.

WR To Replace 3.92 lakh Concrete Sleepers Tracks for High Speeds Trains on Mumbai Route
SHARES

Western Railway (WR) is installing stronger, deeper, and heavier cement sleepers on tracks on Mumbai routes. This is being done on the fast corridor and the 5th and 6th rail lines. 

The current sleepers are 160 mm deep. The new sleepers are 230 mm deep and 25% heavier. A specialised track-relaying train (TRT) built in the USA is being used to change the sleepers. It fits the updated track with exact spacing and a smooth bed of stones called ballasts. 

The TRT machine arrived in March 2023. Each megablock created by the TRT machine equals the work of 300 laborers. The machine will continue to work in Mumbai for two more years to complete the project.

This will allow Rajdhani, Vande Bharat, and Shatabdi trains to run at speeds of 160 kmph. Currently, trains on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad-Delhi route travel at 130 kmph. With the improvements, travel time on this route will be cut by 30 to 45 minutes. The Rajdhani is the fastest train from Mumbai to New Delhi. It currently takes about 15 hours and 45 minutes to cover 1,386 km.

Patchwork on the fast lines of the Churchgate-Virar route and the 5th and 6th lines is in progress. These lines will separate local and long-distance trains. WR plans to replace 3.92 lakh concrete sleepers across about 236 track miles between Churchgate and Virar

The work is currently happening on the stretch from Andheri to Borivali. As per reports, WR has renewed 95,000 concrete sleepers covering 57 track km by the end of June. The work is being done at night. 

The existing sleepers were designed for a 1,500-volt direct current (DC) traction system used about ten years ago. With the shift to alternating current (AC), the overhead equipment (OHE) cables' height has changed. This allowed for deeper and stronger concrete sleepers.

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