Confirmatory Oscillograph Car Run trials are currently underway on South Central Railway in a step towards the upgrade of maximum speeds on the Golden Quadrilateral and Golden Diagonals to 130 kmph.
A statement by South Central Railway has confirmed that COCR trials are currently underway on the Kazipet-Vijayawada, Vijayawada-Gudur and Wadi-Gooty sections of the zone. The first two of these sections lie on the Delhi-Chennai Golden Diagonal trunk route. Trials are to be concluded today, 7th October.
Current maximum permissible speed between Balharshah – Kazipet – Vijayawada and Kazipet – Secunderabad is 120 kmph. Vijayawada – Gudur and Wadi – Gooty – Renigunta are cleared for 110 kmph operations. These sections are to be upgraded to 130 kmph as per Railway Board directives.
Track strengthening and infrastructure enhancement work is already in progress to comply with specified standards, SCR has stated.
Once the trials are completed, a detailed report will be submitted to the Commissioner for Railway Safety, Secunderabad Circle. If satisfied, the CRS will provide the requisite clearances to increase speed on the section.
Gajanan Mallya, General Manager, SCR, has said that these important sections of Golden Quadrilateral/Golden Diagonal routes will definitely boost the operation of passenger and freight trains. He also stated that the running time of the passenger services can be drastically reduced and this will pave the way for running more number of trains.
Southern Railway has already conducted speed tests on the Chennai-Gudur section earlier.
Indian Railways plans to upgrade all Golden Quadrilateral and Golden Diagonal routes to 130 kmph. The routes will be further upgraded to 160 kmph by 2024.
