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India's bullet train is yet to gather speed
Dec 2, 2018, 05:06 AM IST
After ten years, the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRL) completed its first land acquisition in Thane district a day ago. Coincidentally, on Friday itself, even in Gujarat, a NRI octogenarian from Germany handed over her ancestral land in Gujarat for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project.
Savita Ben, who runs an Indian restaurant in Germany, is originally from Chansad village and had shifted abroad 33 years ago after getting married.
But that is where the Bullet Train glory ends. It has been almost a decade since the decision to run bullets trains in India was first discussed. It was in December 2009, under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-2 government, that the Ministry of Railways had presented a white paper named 'Vision 2020' in the Parliament, which had around six routes (Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Kolkata (via Lucknow), Mumbai-Chennai, Delhi-Nagpur part of Delhi-Chennai route, Mumbai-Nagpur part of Mumbai-Kolkata route and Chennai-Bengaluru-Mysuru).
In 2015, talks for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route resurfaced on a serious note. After a feasibility study, talks began with Japan and it was concluded that the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) would fund about 80 per cent of the project that will come in form of an ODA (official development assistance).
Construction work at few locations, in form of preparing designs for stations and tendering them, started in December 2017 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted Bhoomipujan for the same in September 2017. The project was launched by PM Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in September last year.
The bullet train is supposed to have 12 stations across the 500-km stretch. The target, initially, was 1,400 hectares of land from Gujarat and Maharashtra, out of which 1,120 hectares is privately-owned.
Commencement of work on Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor has opened up the possibility of many such corridors as India tries to shed the image of its rickety railways that continues to remain substandard on most parameters. Nevertheless, till the time results come, the Railway ministry has started looking at other viable high-speed corridor options. One such option is Chennai-Bengaluru-Mysuru corridor, whose feasibility has already been completed and handed over to the Railways by a German team of engineers.
A key finding of the report claims that the 435-km corridor will be a success and will be advantageous by cutting down the travel time and requiring minimum land acquisition. Pegged at $16 billion or Rs 1.14 lakh crore, it is expected to reduce the travel time to just 2 hours and 25 minutes. To be funded majorly by the German Consortium, the corridor is expected to recover its cost in 25 years, mainly through the fare price.
The other high-speed corridors that can be considered are — New Delhi- Kolkata and Nagpur - Mumbai. However, railway officials say it is too early to say anything because of the cost factor involved and how receptive people are of the first corridor. A major lacuna that can put a question mark on high-speed corridors is that it remains a dedicated corridor and cannot be amalgamated with the existing Indian Railways network for interoperability. This stand-alone aspect makes it a very costly proposition that can force the Railways to have a rethink on it.
Dec 2, 2018, 05:06 AM IST
After ten years, the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRL) completed its first land acquisition in Thane district a day ago. Coincidentally, on Friday itself, even in Gujarat, a NRI octogenarian from Germany handed over her ancestral land in Gujarat for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project.
Savita Ben, who runs an Indian restaurant in Germany, is originally from Chansad village and had shifted abroad 33 years ago after getting married.
But that is where the Bullet Train glory ends. It has been almost a decade since the decision to run bullets trains in India was first discussed. It was in December 2009, under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-2 government, that the Ministry of Railways had presented a white paper named 'Vision 2020' in the Parliament, which had around six routes (Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Kolkata (via Lucknow), Mumbai-Chennai, Delhi-Nagpur part of Delhi-Chennai route, Mumbai-Nagpur part of Mumbai-Kolkata route and Chennai-Bengaluru-Mysuru).
In 2015, talks for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route resurfaced on a serious note. After a feasibility study, talks began with Japan and it was concluded that the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) would fund about 80 per cent of the project that will come in form of an ODA (official development assistance).
Construction work at few locations, in form of preparing designs for stations and tendering them, started in December 2017 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted Bhoomipujan for the same in September 2017. The project was launched by PM Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in September last year.
The bullet train is supposed to have 12 stations across the 500-km stretch. The target, initially, was 1,400 hectares of land from Gujarat and Maharashtra, out of which 1,120 hectares is privately-owned.
Commencement of work on Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor has opened up the possibility of many such corridors as India tries to shed the image of its rickety railways that continues to remain substandard on most parameters. Nevertheless, till the time results come, the Railway ministry has started looking at other viable high-speed corridor options. One such option is Chennai-Bengaluru-Mysuru corridor, whose feasibility has already been completed and handed over to the Railways by a German team of engineers.
A key finding of the report claims that the 435-km corridor will be a success and will be advantageous by cutting down the travel time and requiring minimum land acquisition. Pegged at $16 billion or Rs 1.14 lakh crore, it is expected to reduce the travel time to just 2 hours and 25 minutes. To be funded majorly by the German Consortium, the corridor is expected to recover its cost in 25 years, mainly through the fare price.
The other high-speed corridors that can be considered are — New Delhi- Kolkata and Nagpur - Mumbai. However, railway officials say it is too early to say anything because of the cost factor involved and how receptive people are of the first corridor. A major lacuna that can put a question mark on high-speed corridors is that it remains a dedicated corridor and cannot be amalgamated with the existing Indian Railways network for interoperability. This stand-alone aspect makes it a very costly proposition that can force the Railways to have a rethink on it.
- While there is no single international standard for high speed rail, new train lines having speeds in excess of 250 kilometers per hour (km/h), or 160 miles per hour (mph), and existing lines in excess of 200 km/h (120 mph) are generally considered to be high speed.
- The first high-speed rail system began operations in Japan in 1964, and is known as the Shinkansen, or “bullet train.” Today, Japan has a network of nine high speed rail lines serving 22 of its major cities, stretching across its three main islands, with three more lines in development.
- The next country to make high-speed rail available was France in 1981, with service at 200 km/h (124 mph) between Paris and Lyon. Today, the French high-speed rail network comprises over 2,800 km of Lignes à grande vitesse (LGV), which allows speeds of up to 320 km/h or 200 mph
- Chinese HSR service began operation in 2008, running at speeds from 250 km/h to 350 km/h and traveling from Beijing to Tianjin (117 km). China’s HSR network is expected to reach over 38,000 km by 2025, and 45,000 km in the longer term, far more rail lines than in the rest of the world combined
- In China, high-speed rail lines have proven their profitability. Throughout Europe and Asia, the lines are providing travel at a lower cost and for a shorter time. HSR is being touted as an alternative to air travel for many of the shorter routes. Advocates say HSR will be able to provide long-term economic and lifestyle benefits for all citizens.
- Analysts say that HSR is a mature technology, unlike other rail transport like Maglev and hyperloop systems, and so is a much lower risk investment for governments and urban planners.
- One more prospect which can be looked at is the reduction of cars on roads and highways due to this technology. This means big energy savings and a reduced demand for oil
