On Golden Quadrilateral, Railways is going to replace slow-moving trains with MEMUs

New Delhi: The Indian Railways is gearing up to add new high-speed trains by March 2020, replacing slow-moving passenger trains on the Golden Quadrilateral with faster, self-propelled MEMU train sets. The inter-city regional transit train sets will replace about 1,200 coaches on the congested railway network, which connects Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, Rajesh Agrawal, Member Rolling Stock, said. The Indian Railways uses MEMUs, or Mainline Electric Multiple Unit trains, mostly for short distances.

"We are planning to replace 1,200 coaches, which would be roughly 65 rakes or 200 train services with self-propelled MEMUs to decongest the Golden Quadrilateral," Agrawal said.

The new train sets need maintenance just once in every 10-15 days, helping the Indian Railways reduce the layover time of the trains and also cutting down on maintenance cost.

"The Golden Quadrilateral is congested and faster movement of trains is the need of the hour. The next-generation MEMU train sets that Indian Railways is manufacturing can speed up and slow down faster, reducing the overall time taken to travel," the Railway official said. Golden Quadrilateral is a network of highways connecting India's four top metropolitan cities, namely Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

Reaching speeds of 100 kmph, the new MEMU train sets will cover distances of 300 to 500 kilometres. The new train sets need maintenance just once in every 10-15 days, helping the Indian Railways reduce the layover time of the trains and also cutting down on maintenance cost.

In order to remove congestion from the route, the five-year plan comprises the manufacture of 6,000 new MEMU coaches.