The Hindu Business Line : Positive response from States to high-speed trains proposal

With countries like Japan, Korea, China, and Germany having this prestigious train, the Railways felt it was time India also entered this niche segment. – R. Velu

R.Y. Narayanan

Coimbatore, Jan. 2 The Ministry of Railways has received positive responses from a number of State governments for the introduction of high speed trains and a pre-feasibility survey will be made to determine their potential, according to the Union Minister of State for Railways Mr R. Velu.

The forthcoming railway budget also would be beneficial to the public, he said, without giving out any details.

Speaking to newspersons at Coimbatore on Wednesday, he said the concept of a bullet train was not high priority earlier. But with so many countries like Japan, Korea, China, and Germany having this prestigious train, the Indian Railways felt that it was time for India also to enter this niche segment.

He said currently the highest operating speed for trains was 150 kmph and the service was operated on the Agra-Delhi route at this speed. A few other routes were also identified for running train services at such a high speed. In the last budget, the Ministry had sought the willingness of State governments for the launch of high speed trains and the Governments of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab, and West Bengal had expressed their willingness.

Pre-feasibility study

He said the Ministry was dividing the country into four regions — South, East, North and West — for taking up a pre-feasibility study before conducting a full fledged feasibility study. He said the Tamil Nadu Government had wanted operation of high speed trains between Chennai and Coimbatore and Chennai and Madurai. The other States had also suggested probable routes for introducing the high speed trains. These would be studied in greater detail and the railways would have to invite participants for undertaking the study.

Mr Velu said the assistance offered by the Japanese government was for the dedicated freight corridor project — from Delhi to Mumbai and Ludhiana to Kolkata — which would help relieve the pressure on the mixed routes that cater to both passenger and freight traffic.

These could also help in the formation of industrial parks in the hinterlands of the high speed corridors. The work regarding the formation of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for this purpose was on.

Second-stage plans

In the second stage, the proposal for freight corridor envisages formation of such corridors on Chennai-Goa, Chennai-Kolkata, Chennai-Delhi, and Mumbai-Kolkata sectors.

The Minister said because of the absence of track electrification and double track between Wadi and Guntakkal, the trains operating on the Chennai-Mumbai route could not be operated as fast as in other high-density routes like Chennai to Delhi and Mumbai to Delhi.

He expected both track doubling and electrification to be completed in Wadi-Guntakkal section in about two years and this would substantially reduce the travelling time on the Chennai-Mumbai route.

Asked about the introduction of an additional train from Coimbatore to Chennai via Virudhachalam since the Salem-Virudhachalam section has been opened for traffic recently, he said that in the coming budget he proposed to have one overnight train between Chennai and Salem via Virudhachalam.