India’s 1st Dedicated Railway Test Track Is Being Constructed In Rajasthan

A dedicated railway test track is being constructed in Rajasthan to develop the facility for testing rolling stock. This track will be completed by December 2025. The country’s first train trial track in Rajasthan is almost ready. This 60 km long track is not completely straight but many curved points have been made. With this, a trial can be taken of how the train coming at speed will pass on the curved track without reducing the speed. In these curves, some curves are made for lower speed and some are made for high speed. After the completion of the first phase, bullet trains can also be tested at a speed of 230 kmph. The establishment of the country’s first dedicated test track will establish new dimensions in the testing of high-speed rolling stock items in the country and this test track will prove to be a milestone in the direction of the railways moving towards modernity.

Along with strengthening the infrastructure, special emphasis has also been given to protected rail operations by the Railways in the past. Apart from the railway track, rolling stock plays an important role in strengthening safety. Before using the rolling stock, it is necessary to test it extensively and intensively, only then it can meet the safety criteria.

The railways will be able to use the resources extensively and safety will increase significantly through the dedicated test track. For the comprehensive testing of high-speed rolling stock in the country, the Indian Railways is developing the country’s first RDSO dedicated test track of 60 km between Gudha-Thathana Mithdi in Nawa of Jodhpur Division, Deedwana district of Rajasthan. This railway track has been drawn from the middle of Sambhar Lake which is about 80 km from Jaipur. The work of the RDSO dedicated test track has been approved in two phases. Phase 1 work was approved in December 2018 and Phase 2 work in November 2021. The total estimated cost of this project is Rs 820 crore.

The construction of the dedicated test track includes seven big bridges, 129 small bridges and four stations (Gudha, Jabdinagar, Nawan and Mithadi). 27 km of work has been completed under this project and the target has been set to complete the entire work by December 2025. Comprehensive testing facilities of high-speed rolling stock and items including speed tests, stability, safety parameters, accident resistance, quality of rolling stock etc. are being developed under this project. This dedicated test track also includes testing of track material, bridges, TRD equipment, signalling gear and geotechnical studies. Different structures like bridges, under bridges, and over bridges have been built on the track.

RCC and steel bridges have been built on this track which are below and above the ground. New technology has been used to make these bridges vibration-resistant. The response of a train passing over it at high speed can be tested through these bridges. The bridge has been built using a turn-out system. That is, stainless steel has been used on top by installing heavy RCC boxes. Since the environment of Sambhar is alkaline, the steel will not rust. Also, the vibration of the high-speed train can be reduced. The speed will be tested by passing the bullet train through these structures. This will be the first dedicated track in the country where neighbouring countries will also be able to get their trains tested.

The railways did not have any dedicated line for the trials of coaches, engines and train racks made in India. There is a lot of traffic on all the lines. In such a situation, the schedules of many trains have to be changed for the trials. Railway officials said that not only bullet trains but also high-speed, semi-high-speed trains, and metro trains will be tested here in future. High-speed, semi-speed and metro trains can also be tested on this track. The team of RDSO i.e. Resource Design Standard Organization of the railway will monitor the trial. This same team the railway checks the fitness of the coach, bogie and engine. Before putting any coach or engine on the track, the railway checks every parameter to see if there will be vibration beyond the set speed. The response of the train on a bad track etc. will also be checked. The high-speed dedicated railway track is 60 km long, but the main line is 23 km long. It has a high-speed 13 km long loop in Gudha.

The loop is used in the railway to cross the crossing or to allow two trains coming from opposite directions to pass without any interruption. Apart from this, a quick testing loop of 3 km has been made at Nawa station and a curve testing loop of 20 km has been made in Meethadi. These loops have been made on curves of different degrees. On a bad track, the train starts to wobble and jerk. If the track gets damaged, what should be the speed and what will be its effects will be checked. For this, a 7 km long twisty track has been laid.