Here’s Why Trains Run Faster At Night Than During The Day

Indian Railways is literally the backbone of our country. Every day at least lakhs of people travel from one place to another using the Indian Railways as the means of transport. We have all commuted by Indian Railways one way or the other. But have you ever traveled on trains at night? If yes, then the fact that trains run at a greater speed at night than during the day must not be unknown to you.

Ever wondered what could be the reason for this? Why exactly the speed of a train becomes faster at night? Let us unravel the mystery. The reasons will blow your mind.

Fewer humans and animals move during the night

During the day you must have seen people bustling in and out of the stations. Some even go to greater extents. Rather than using a subway, they settle for crossing the rail tracks to switch platforms which is very risky. In fact during the day animals also cross rail tracks and crowd up the space.

At night the movement of both humans and animals slows down which serves as an advantage to the train pilot. They have fewer worries about accidents taking place due to high-speed trains than during the day. This advantage allows them to pick up speed and cover the distance quickly at night.

No maintenance work goes on at night

If you have traveled on a train during the day you must have noticed that the trains stop abruptly sometimes because of maintenance work going on the rail tracks. The probability of this recurring reduces by a greater length at night.   During the night, there is almost very less to zero possibility of maintenance or construction work going on the tracks which makes it easier for the trains to speed up without worrying about casualties.

Signals are more visible during the night

Have you ever noticed that before entering a station the trains usually slow down and wait for the signals to know that the tracks are empty? This is done to ensure that there are no trains or people on the respective tracks. These signals become more visible at night obviously. The driver is also known as the “Lotto Pilot”. The signals become visible to them from a distance. Thus, the trains don’t have to slow down before entering a station and can actually gallop the station at a higher speed.

From the above-mentioned reasons we hope that now you understand why trains pick up more speed at night than during the day.