Upgradation and improvement of railway tracks on Indian Railways to increase the speed potential have been carried out in a big way during the last 10 years. The measures for track upgradation include use of 60 kg rails, wider base concrete sleepers, thick web switches, longer rail panels, H Beam sleepers, modern track renewal and maintenance machines etc.

As a result of the above measures, there has been significant increase in speed potential of the tracks. The details of speed potential of railway tracks during 2014 vis a vis 2025 are as under:

Sectional Speed              (kmph)	2014		2025
	Track Km	%	Track Km	%
<110	47,897	60.4	22,862	21.6
110-130	26,409	33.3	59,800	56.6
130 & above	5,036	6.3	23,010	21.8
Total	79,342	100	1,05,672	100

The Vande Bharat trains presently running over the Indian Railway network are Semi-High speed train services with design speed of 180 kmph and maximum operating speed of 160 kmph. The average speed of the train depends upon the geometry of the track, stoppages enroute, maintenance work in the section etc.

The first prototype of Vande Bharat Sleeper trainset has already been manufactured. Based on the extensive field trials and the experience gained therein, the first rake of Vande Bharat sleeper train is undergoing commissioning.

This information was provided by the Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting and Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

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Dharmendra Tewari/ Dr. Nayan Solanki/ Ritu Raj

(Release ID: 2148364)