The speed of trains could go up to 200 kmph and congestion on existing routes reduced to a great extent once dedicated freight corridors are commissioned, the Railways today said.
“With the commissioning of dedicated freight corridors, capacity would be released along the existing trunk routes and these would be upgraded to run passenger trains and EMUs at 200 kmph,” the Railway Board Member (Electrical), Mr Kul Bhushan, said.
Addressing a seminar on high-speed trains here, he said a study is being carried out by Japan for upgrading the speed of New Delhi-Mumbai route to 200 kmph.
At present, trains on the Indian railway network touch a peak speed of 120-130 kmph, while the Bhopal Shatabdi clocks a maximum of 150 kmph between Tughlakabad and Agra.
Talking about his ministry's proposed high speed corridor project which will handle trains at 250-300 kmph, the Minister of State for Railways, Mr K.H. Muniyappa, said they have already identified six corridors and have initiated action on pre-feasibility studies for the proposed corridors.
He said Railways proposes PPP mode for investment and execution of the project, and draw on frontier technologies incorporating the highest standards of safety and service quality.
“High speed executed rail corridor will become a catalyst for India's economic growth, a stimulus for the development of satellite towns and reduction of migration to metropolises,” he said.
A National High Speed Rail Authority has been proposed for planning, standard setting, implementing and monitoring of construction of the high speed corridor.
Mr Muniyappa felt that the days are not far off when Indian Railways could have high-speed trains such as the bullet train.
He said some 40,000 km of high-speed rail tracks are under construction across the world at present.
“High speed rail is environment friendly and will reduce the greenhouse gas effect. High-speed rail in the country will help achieve mobility with lesser pollution and will create manufacturing capability resulting in employment opportunity,” he said.
The infrastructure creation will create meaningful jobs both in construction as well as maintenance and operations, he added.