No rail tracks to run 200 kmph trains in India

Indian Railways is looking to go to the next level with its semi-high-speed train sets, touching 200 kmph speed, but existing rail tracks support a maximum speed of 130 kmph.

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Even Vande Bharat has not been able to attain its maximum 160 kmph speed since its operations in 2019.

Railway Board has asked Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF) to include the manufacturing of two trainsets with a design speed of 220 kmph and a max operating speed of 200 kmph in its Coach Production Programme for the year 2027-28. It said that two rakes were to be manufactured in the form of trainsets (Broad Gauge), consisting of 16 cars each.

There are 164 Vande Bharat train services (or 82 trains) operational across the country, which are indigenously designed and developed at ICF. The first one was launched in February 2019, and these trainsets have a maximum speed of 160kmph. Vande Bharat touches 130 kmph on certain sections and has not run at 160 kmph, except during trials.  

"Trials for the 180 kmph Vande Bharat were conducted 7 years ago, but since then, we have not been able to obtain rail tracks capable of this speed. Vande Bharat can run at a maximum speed of 160 kmph, but it has attained a maximum of 130 kmph on different sections," said Sudhanshu Mani, the brain behind the Vande Bharat Express train, who is a former Indian railway officer.

"It is good that railways are trying for a 200 kmph maximum speed and can go to that speed, but we don't have a test track for trials of 220 kmph. The railways are building a test track in Rajasthan, but going beyond needs expediting track upgradation," he added. 

Mani said Railways have taken efforts to increase speed on several sections from 100 to 110 kmph and 130 kmph. "However, a section of track between Delhi-Mathura, which was for 160 kmph, has been downgraded to 130 kmph. Modern trains afford good optics, but upgraded tracks do not. It’s time to synchronise development of upgraded tracks with modern trains, otherwise the 200/220 kmph train will remain an untested, untried product without any practical use," he added.

According to Indian Railways, the track length for the highest speed potential of 130 kmph and above has been increased more than 4-fold from 5,036 km in 2014 to 23,010 km in 2025, which forms 21.8% of the total track length.

Earlier, this high-speed section was only 6.3% of the total length. The track length for speeds of 110-130 kmph has been more than doubled from 26,409 km in 2014 to 59,800 km in 2025, which now constitutes 56.6% of the total track network.

In October 2024, the ICF awarded a Rs. 866.87 crore contract to BEML for the design and production of two high-speed trainsets capable of operating at 250 kmph for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed section. BEML has announced to deliver the train sets by the end of 2026.