Western Railway (WR) is upgrading its Mumbai tracks by installing stronger, deeper cement sleepers on the fast corridor and 5th & 6th lines. The new sleepers, 230 mm deep and 25% heavier, are being laid by a specialized track-relaying train (TRT) imported from the USA. The TRT, which arrived in March...
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2023, is expected to work for two years to complete the project. This upgrade will allow trains like Rajdhani, Vande Bharat, and Shatabdi to travel at 160 kmph, reducing travel time between Mumbai and New Delhi by 30 to 45 minutes. WR plans to replace 3.92 lakh sleepers across 236 track miles between Churchgate and Virar, with the work currently underway between Andheri and Borivali. The project is being implemented at night, and WR has already replaced 95,000 sleepers covering 57 track km by the end of June. The change in electrification system from DC to AC allowed for the installation of deeper sleepers.