Railways plans 5th, 6th lines on high-density corridors to boost capacity

NEW DELHI: For the next phase of network expansion, the railway ministry has started preparation for laying 5th and 6th lines on the High Density Network (HDN) corridors connecting the four major metro cities — Delhi, Howrah, Mumbai and Chennai — so that more passenger and freight trains can run on these corridors.

This is significant considering that the 11,051-km HDN forms the backbone of railways, accounting for 16% of the total network, but handling 41% of total rail traffic. Around 8,400-km of this, over 60% of the HDN network operate at 100-150% more than the line capacity.