The Hindu Business Line : BEML mandated to study high-speed train feasibility

RAIL travel could add a new dimension, TGV-like high speed, if a proposal made by Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML) to the Railway Ministry gets on the track.

BEML has undertaken concept-selling of high-speed trains that can take care of a growing mobility demand and also comfortably fill the slot between air and road traffic, according to the BEML CMD, Mr V.R.S. Natarajan.

A recent presentation got BEML the Railway Ministry's green signal to study the feasibility of starting the first such trains between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, and perhaps between Chennai and Bangalore too.

These are among the most dense rail routes in the country and the study would be taken up in the coming months, Mr Natarajan told Business Line.

The trains would run along uninterrupted dedicated corridors, without the hassles of signals or level crossing, with roads going over bridges.

The number of trains and coaches would depend on the density of the route.

BEML has based its proposal on the South Korean high-speed model and will undertake a detailed project report (DPR) for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route free of charge.

The trains would run at 100-150 kph or even more along dedicated, enclosed corridors.

Once the six-lane highways under the Golden Quadrilateral project open up road travel at 100-150 kph speeds, these would put behind trains that now travel at 80 kph. High-speed trains would become the order in the next decade, Mr Natarajan said.

Currently focusing on metro rail projects, BEML plans to extend its technology tie-up with Korean coach major, Rotem, for the high-speed rail project too.

The South Korean high-speed rail is fashioned after the French TGV and runs 14 trains between Seoul and the southern port city of Pusan, 412 km away, and covers Korea's densest route in 2-3 hours.

The US is studying the viability of a luxury high-speed rail link between Washington, DC and Charlotte in North Carolina.

Taiwan, too, is trying out a high-speed link between its congested capital, Taipei, and Kaohsiung to pack four hours of travel into barely 90 minutes.