Soon, passengers making their way to the Delhi airport can hop on to Metro trains to experience faster, smoother travel. While at present Metro trains ply on existing tracks at a speed of around 80 kmph, after work on the new 45-km long Airport Metro Express Link is complete, the trains on the corridor can run with ease at 135 km per hour.

In addition, the coaches will be equipped to carry more load from passengers travelling to the airport with heavy baggage.

Both feats will be made possible using contemporary Metro rail technology. Called RHEDA 2000 Ballast-less Track System, these tracks have concrete instead of stones filling the space between the gauges, which will enable trains to run at a speed of upto 160 kmph

The announcement was made by Patil Rail Infrastructure Pvt Ltd that has recently bagged the project of designing, manufacturing, supplying and supervising the laying of tracks for the Express Link—between the New Delhi Railway station and the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

While the other existing Delhi Metro tracks are also ballast-less, the new technology will enable the trains to run faster by incorporating certain design changes, the officials claim.

“The ballast-less tracks will ensure nearly 100 per cent availability because it is practically maintenance-free. By availability, I mean trains can now run 24/7 as you don’t need to stop traffic for line maintenance,” L S Patil, executive chairman of the Patil Group told mediapersons at Pragati Maidan, where the Confederation of Indian Industry is holding a two-day International Railway Equipment Exhibition. The tracks will last for 40 years.

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