Tilting trains

According to one of the experts who worked with Paris-based consultancy Systra on the feasibility report for the Silverline Project, Kerala should investigate the possibility of introducing tilting trains on existing broad gauge rail tracks, which would allow the state to increase train speeds by about 20% -30%.

- Tilting trains, which have a mechanism enabling higher speed on regular broad-gauge tracks, tilt while negotiating a bend or curve on the track.
- Objects inside a train (or other vehicle) experience centrifugal force when it turns a curve at high speed.
  - Centrifugal force is the apparent outward force on a mass when it is rotated.
- Packages may slide about, sitting people may feel crushed by the outboard armrest, and standing passengers may lose their balance as a result of this. Tilting trains are designed to compensate for the g-force by tilting the carriages towards the inside of the curve. The train might be designed to tilt due to inertial forces (passive tilt), or it could feature a computer-controlled powered system (active tilt).

Tilting trains can be introduced after installing automatic signalling and strengthening the existing tracks.

The State can straighten the curves in the existing lines once the doubling works are over. This would allow the Railways to run trains reaching speeds in the range of 160-180 km/hr.
The State can explore the possibility of constructing a dedicated line on broad gauge for running high-speed or semi-high-speed trains. This would allow the State to integrate the new lines with existing ones.

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