Guest Column: Superfast trains but tracks remain same

At the present running speed of trains, the travel time between Bengaluru and Mysuru was expected to fall below 90 minutes. But due to poor planning by the railways and several other constraints there has been no change in the journey time between the two cities. Sadly, despite the upgradation of a few trains on the route to superfast there has been little  improvement. The irony is that the superfast and express trains on the route  run at the same speed with the same number of halts despite the doubling and electrification of the lines. On the other hand,  the superfast trains between Delhi and Agra cover a distance of 187 kms  in  90 to 120 minutes with just one stop in between.

Unfortunately, the Indian Railways did not consider elimination of speed limits in  the Bengaluru-Mysuru section through reducing curvature, maintaining uniform gradient for the tracks,  automatic signalling, eliminating all level crossings, and improving the approaches to the terminals in both cities with additional platforms. This lack of foresight has been displayed despite the 10 years that it has taken to  execute the doubling of the tracks between the two cities at a cost of thousands of crores.  The state government too did not make its expectations clear about the reduction in travel time between the two cities.  The result is that passengers are forced to travel at express train speeds in so-called superfast trains, paying higher fares. 

Also, both the railways and the state government  need to work closely to acquire the Binny Mills property to reduce unnecessary delays in running of trains  between Kengeri and the City Railway Station in Bengaluru.