Mumbai to Delhi travel time to be reduced by 20 minutes

With the power shift from DC to AC, the Mumbai-Delhi rail travel will be cut short by 15 to 20 minutes as there is no need to change the electric locomotive. More time will be saved, once the train gets dedicated high-speed A-class engines for end-to-end journey.

“The change is not just for Rajdhani, but for all the trains that required a change of engine and all these trains will not ending up saving time,’’ a senior official said. The time saved for Rajdhani and other trains will soon reflect in the railway’s official timetable, giving space for more services.

The Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani Express takes about 16 hours to cover the 1,384 km journey. Giving details of the Rajdhani Express, he said that till today, the train required to change its engine to enter Mumbai as this was the last remaining DC section on WR. But now the time taken for the change of locomotive will be saved as there is no longer any need to change it.

The Rajdhani usually has just five halts, including the two destination points and halts at Mumbai Central, Surat, Vadodara junction, Ratlam junction and New Delhi.

“Since Mumbai Central had DC power, the Rajdhani till today departed with a WCAM-2P class locomotive that could run on both DC and AC power. It used to get a locomotive change at Vadodara where it swapped the WCAM 2P class engine for a WAP 7 that is capable of hauling trains at speeds ranging between 140 and 160kmph,’’ a senior official said.