India's first fastest train – the Tejas Express - which runs between Mumbai and Goa - is about to get terminated. The Indian Railways have decided to stop production of Tejas Express. The Railways plan to upgrade their technology with Distributed Power Rolling Stock (DPRS) which is apparently better than the current one. Sources said Tejas Express will be replaced by Train 19.
Sources said that this is being done so that they can replace it with much better technology used across the world. "We have asked all the production units to stop manufacturing of Tejas Express. We are migrating to DPRS," confirmed Rajesh Agrawal, Member (Rolling Stock), Railway Board.
The officials said that the technology used in Tejas Express will be replaced with DPRS which is being tried in Train 19. This is one step further to Train 18 - Vande Bharat Express - which will have sleeper coaches. "The DPRS will allow faster acceleration and deceleration. It will happen within 1-2 minutes. At present, it takes 12-15 minutes for the same. It will save time, fuel and power," Agrawal said.
There are only two Tejas Express trains in the country – the Mumbai-Goa and Chennai-Madurai. The production of the third one is on hold. Speed wise, Tejas Express, which uses LHB coaches, had touched 180-200 kmph during trial runs. This is the same as Train 18.
The tickets of Tejas Express is available during weekdays barring weekends. This semi high-speed train departs CSMT at 5 am and reaches Karmali at 1.30pm. On the Chennai-Madurai route too there have been complaints of clogged toilets, broken windows and LCD sets etc.
There have been cases in the past where the LCDs and entertainment units inside Tejas Express were damaged. The manufacture of Tejas Express coaches is 10-15% more than a normal LHB coach used for Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express.
The railways are also working on speeds of Rajdhani Express using DPRS, which will save journey time by two hours. Train 18 or Vande Bharat Express is a flagship train of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On Track
- There are only two Tejas Express trains in the country – the Mumbai-Goa and Chennai-Madurai.
- The technology used in Tejas Express will be replaced with DPRS
- The Rail ministry had said that nearly 130 Train 18/19s would be manufactured in the near future
