Context: Recently, Indian Railways enhanced the maximum speed to 130 kmph for 1,280 km length out of 1,612 Km in Golden Quadrilateral – Golden Diagonal (GQ-GD) route.

Key Points

• This covers the entire GQGD route over South Central Railway except for Vijayawada – Duvvada section where signalling up-gradation work is in progress.
• The enhanced speed limits could be achieved due to the systematic and planned strengthening of tracks & its infrastructure by removing bottlenecks in these sections at a fast pace.

What is the Golden Quadrilateral Project?

• It is a highway network which links Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai  thus connecting the major industrial, agricultural and cultural centres of India
• The project was started in 2001 by Atal Bihari Vajpayee under the NDA government and was completed in January 2012. 
• It was the Phase-1 of the bigger National Highway Development Project that was launched in 1998 by the same government.  
• It is managed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) under the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways.

Benefits of the project 

• It has brought opportunities for farmers, through improved transportation of produce from the agricultural hinterland to major cities and ports for export, through lesser wastage and spoils.
• It is driving economic growth directly, through construction as well as through indirect demand for cement, steel and other construction materials.