Whenever we travel by train, sometimes the speed is so slow that we get angry. Whenever we are getting late, we feel that we wish the driver would increase the speed of the train. But is this possible? Can the train driver increase or decrease the speed of the train at will? How is the speed of express trains decided? A person who was the Chief Engineer in Indian Railways has explained about this in detail. Believe me, after reading this you will never hold the driver responsible for the train being late.
Animesh Kumar Sinha, who calls himself the Chief Engineer of Indian Railways, explained this in detail on the social media platform Quora. He said, the loco pilot i.e. the driver of the train can use his discretion in increasing or decreasing the speed, but there is a limit to this also. Generally three speeds are fixed for the loco pilot. First booked speed (booked speed BS). Second, maximum prescribed speed (Maximum Permissible Speed MPS) and third, restricted speed (Restricted Speed SR).
Speed of mail or express train 110 kilometers per hour
Now understand this with an example. Generally, the maximum prescribed speed of mail or express train is 110 kilometers per hour. But the booked speed is kept at 100. That means the booked speed is 10 percent less than the maximum fixed speed. Therefore, most of the loco pilots will run the train at a speed of 100. If the train is late, they can use their discretion to take the train up to the speed of 110. Now it is at the discretion of the loco pilot at what speed the loco takes the train between the booked speed i.e. 100 kmph and the maximum speed 110 kmph. If he feels a shock somewhere, he can reduce the speed.
Freedom to use discretion here
Even if visibility is obstructed due to fog etc., the loco pilot still has the right to decide the speed. When there is work on the track, when passing through an old bridge and when there are large curves, the loco pilot cannot run the train at a speed of 100. He will have to run the train only at low i.e. restricted speed. It can take it at a speed of 45 kilometers. These places are called speed restriction areas. Even the drivers of Mail, Express and Rajdhani, Shatabdi trains follow this rule; If they want, they can take it at a lower speed than this, but they cannot maintain the speed higher than this.
Tags: Awesome Awesome, The news is coming, Weird news
FIRST PUBLISHED: May 4, 2024, 06:31 IST