(1) If other zones are getting LHB, then JBP should also get. I am not happy to see the manner in which LHB coaches are being used by IR, and have different opinion on the deployment of LHB coaches/rakes
(2) LHB coaches have been procured after huge investment and have different construction than ICF coaches and require special maintenance facilities which entails further investment.
(3)Had I been RM, then instead of doing zone wise distribution of LHB rakes and wasting them, I would have made a plan to take maximum...
more... advantage of the investment done in procurement of LHB coaches and technology by running all of them at 130 kmph+speed.
(4) I would have deployed all the initial LHB coaches on the 130kmph route of NDLS-CNB/LKO-MSR/PNBE/GHY-DHN-HWH route. With installation of automatic signalling in the full route, all the initial LHB coaches would have been deployed along with with HOG WAP7 locos in about 15 trains like HWH/ SDAH/ BBS/ GUW/Dibrugarh/PNBE/ RNC Rajdhanis +Duronto/GR trains+ Sampark Kranti trains like WB/ Orissa/ NE/ Bihar/ Jharkhand etc. These 15 trains would have departed from different terminals of Delhi area and joined GZB at interval of 5-6 minutes. This group of trains following each other would have been accorded top priority and an avg speed of 90kmph was targeted on the trunk line run. SK then would be a premium train with base fare 20% higher like Duronto. So non ac travellers could also enjoy premium high speed travel in comfortable LHB coaches. more trains can be added to this corridor of high speed high priority trains.
(5) Next target would have been to have such group of HSTs on NDLS-RTM/JP/ADI-BRC-BCT route, then NDLS-NGP-KZJ/SC-GDR/SBC-MAS, then CSTM-R/PUI/VSKP-RKL/RNC-HWH, then HWH-VSKP-MAS , CSTM-JBP-ALD, CSTM-BPL-NDLS ..and so on.By the time existing 3 130 kmph ready routes got covered by LHB corridor of HS LHB trains, more in line would have been upgraded to 130 kmph and ready to take on the 130kmph corridor of trains. Such corridors would have been introduced in the short corridors also like NDLS-AST/CDG/JAT, MAS-Trichy-MDU,etc
(6) This way LHB coaches would have created large scale premium high speed travel for Indian rail travelers and IR too would have got additional revenue. This could have been one of the justification for the huge investment made by IR in procurement of LHB technology..
(7) In second round, the SF trains would have been provided LHB rakes and accorded premium operating speed of 130kmph and avg speed above 75kmph. and more and more routes would have been covered after up-gradation of track and signaling.
(8) Gradually more and more LHB maintenance facilities could have been easily extended as per requirement without much difficulty.
