Railway’s six year old Austrian speed experiment a failure

Mumbai: Three trains that were to come nearly six years ago with Austrian technology enabling them hit 140 kmph will now arrive by January next year, that too with old speed capabilities of 100 kmph.

The trains had been sent to Integral Coach Factory  in Chennai to make them “new age”. The Railways had given the Austrians a contract worth Rs 25 crore to enable the trains touch 140 kmph with the promise that this would change the otherwise slow and always delayed Mumbai locals.

The trains were part of the 101 rakes bought under Mumbai Urban Transport Project I and were initiated in 2002. The project saw completion in 2011 but the railway retained in ICF the three rakes that were to be fitted with the technology.

A railway official on condition of anonymity said, “They will probably be used in sections between Kurla and CST on the slow corridor where currently, trains cannot run beyond 50 kmph due to various speed restrictions.”