Indian Railways Plans to Acquire EMU Train Sets

Indian Railways is planning to acquire electrical multiple unit (EMU) train sets that can operate at speeds of 130km/h – 150km/h for intercity journeys.

The trains will be used for running premier services such as Rajdhani and Shatabdi Expresses at the expected speed without any additional expenditure on existing track and signalling infrastructure.

Indian Railways said that the existing rail tracks on Rajdhani routes are suitable for running trains at up to 150km/h, but the average speed of Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains is less than 90km/h due to a large number of speed restrictions and the poor acceleration of existing loco-hauled trains. The new EMU trains could comprise of 21 coaches and are expected to increase passenger capacity by 25%-30% in addition to providing faster and safer movement.

According to Indian Railways, EMU trains would reduce the journey time between Howrah in West Bengal to the country’s capital New Delhi to three hours.

Equipped with three-phase modern IGBT technology, the new EMU trains are claimed to significantly reduce maintenance requirements. Each EMU train set is expected to cost INR2bn ($37.6m).