High speed


Indian high-speed plans ta I


After a slow start, high-speed rail in India began to make the headlines last year as firm proposals for the first lines started to form. While a political head of steam is building up, Raghav Thakur questions whether the money is available to fund high-speed rail projects.


NDIA’s high-speed plans are firming up. Last year, Indian Railways (IR) took the first tangible steps along the path to high-speed by announcing plans to acquire a batch of six high-speed trains from a Japanese or European supplier - global tenders for the contract are likely to be invited soon.


This was followed in October by the finalisation of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Spain’s national train operator Renfe and its infrastructure manager Adif for the development of high-speed trains, followed last month by a similar MoU with China. Pre-feasibility studies for one high-speed stretch have been completed and survey work on three other corridors is nearing completion. In addition to this flurry of activity during the last few months, an Indo- Japan working group has been formed to develop high-speed trains and a similar pact is proposed with France, the High Speed Rail Corporation (HSRC) has been set up to implement schemes, and IR has sought cabinet approval to constitute a High Speed Rail Authority (HSRA) to provide the administrative, legal and procedural framework.


On the face of it, India appears willing to bite the high-speed bullet and is exploring various options. One is true high-speed running at 300-325km/h on standard-gauge track rather than broad gauge, which is the norm in India.


Semi-high-speed


Another possibility is semi-high- speed operating at 160-200km/h. IR has drawn up a draft plan for operating semi-high-speed services along parts of the so-called Golden Rail Corridor linking some of India’s main cities. A number of companies, including Japanese and French, have offered to provide the technology. “Pre-feasibility studies for the semi-high-speed will begin in early 2013,” a senior IR official confirmed. A third option would involve


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increasing the speed of conventional mail and express trains on existing broad-gauge tracks. A Japanese consortium is sponsoring a study into the technical modifications required to signalling systems and structures such as bridges to enable faster trains to run on the Delhi - Mumbai main line. Constructing high-speed lines could be a way to relieve congestion on the conventional network which is becoming increasingly clogged. Only around 11,000km of new lines were built during the last 65 years, while 3000 new trains have been added to the timetable in the past three decades.


To make matters worse, the number of passengers is expected to increase from 8.9 billion in 2012-13 to 11.7 billion by 2016-17. The annual growth in passenger-km is expected to be around 10.8%, rising from 1195 billion in 2012- 13 to 1760.4 billion by 2016-17. Huge as India’s transport sector is, it has been unable to keep pace with rising demand. Based on estimates of aircraft seating capacity in 2009, a study conducted by the German DLR Institute of Vehicle Concepts indicates the potential for 35 high-speed lines in India, ranging from the proposed 289km Chennai - Bangalore line to the


High-speed corridors identified


Pune - Mumbai - Ahmedabad (650km): final pre-feasibility report by Systra, France, Italferr, Italy, and Rites, India, has been submitted to the Ministry of Railways


Delhi - Agra - Lucknow - Varanasi - Patna (991km): study in progress by Mott McDonald, Britain - inception report, interim reports I & II, and draft final report submitted to the Ministry of Railways Howrah - Haldia (135km): pre-feasibility studies are being conducted by Spanish companies Ineco, Prointec and Ayesa - inception report, interim reports I & II, and draft final report have been submitted, and Hyderabad - Dornakal - Vijayawada - Chennai (664km): consortium led by Brinkerhoff India and two Japanese firms are conducting a study.


Other high-speed corridors being studied


Delhi - Chandigarh - Amritsar (450km): technical evaluation of offers from consultants completed and financial bids being finalised by the Ministry of Railways


Chennai - Bangalore - Coimbatore - Ernakulam - Thiruvananthapuram (850km): pre-feasibility study underway by a consortium led by Jarts and Oriental Consultants, and


Delhi - Jaipur - Ajmer - Jodhpur (591km): tenders for engaging consultants will be invited shortly. (Source: Ministry of Railways)


Estimated traffic for proposed high-speed lines Route


Chennai - Bangalore Delhi - Kanpur


Lucknow - Varanasi Madurai - Kochi


Vishakhapatnam - Chennai Chennai - Hyderabad


(Source: German DLR Institute of Vehicle Concepts) IRJ January 2013


844,161 923,880 807,186 219,967 193,243


Passengers/year 1,461,304


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