In a first for Indian Railway, the Ministry is laying a 20-km-long test track, equipped with a state-of-the-art laboratory, near Raipur for trial of high-speed and regular trains it plans to introduce. The 20-km test track, including a 5 km loop line, will be developed at an estimated cost of about Rs100 crore.
The facility will be used for technical acceptance tests and approvals of locomotives, rolling stock under operating condition and personnel training. Besides new locomotives and coaches, the test track will also be used for trial of high axle load wagons.
Currently, the trial of new trains are conducted on the existing rail network causing traffic delays. Test tracks are used for trial run of new trains in countries, including the US, Japan and South Korea.