ke shape
778km Delhi - Ahmedabad route. Indian roads today carry 90% of the country’s passenger traffic and about two-thirds of its freight, but they are responsible for approximately 80% of greenhouse gas emissions. “The time has come to invest in high-speed rail which, being energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly, is the inevitable transport alternative of the future,” one official said.
Despite the flurry of activity and the clear need to expand the rail network, this could be as far as it goes for the moment. IR’s finances are decidedly shaky, with the operating ratio hovering at a high of around 95% during the past few years. Due to the lack of money, the number of projects put on the pending list has grown, and the current backlog of schemes is estimated at a whopping Rs 1470bn ($US 27.7bn). There is also a huge need to expand the rolling stock and motive power fleets during the next five years, with numbers estimated at 33,066 coaches, 105,659 wagons, and 4010 locomotives.
First project
Building the 650km Pune - Mumbai - Ahmedabad high-speed corridor, which has been identified as the first project, is estimated to cost Rs 700bn. This is three times the size of the annual budget of several Indian states, and for that money, India could meet its entire passenger coach needs for the next five years.
IR operates 19,000 trains, moving 2.65 million tonnes of freight and carrying 23 million passengers each day, so it is not surprising that some people believe it would be more prudent for IR to focus on its bread-and-butter job of providing safe, affordable and efficient travel. “Why go after fancy toys?” one official remarked. There is also strong resistance to change within the monolithic and monopolistic railway establishment. IR has taken two steps forward and four back regarding plans to open up the sector to private investment, largely on account of what is described as the compulsions of coalition politics. Initiatives aimed at reform and modernisation have largely been stymied. Last year, railways minister Mr Dinesh Trivedi lost his job for
IRJ January 2013 0 Bangalore Arabian Sea Coimbatore Ernakulam/Kochi Madurai HIGH-SPEED CORRIDORS Thiruvananthapuram
daring to recommend in his budget speech a passenger fare increase to help fund investment.
While money might be tight and many favour investment in the conventional network, a political head of steam is building up in favour of high-speed ahead of the 2014 general election. The ruling UPA government seems determined to push ahead with the big-ticket high-speed project now that Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal of the Congress party, the leading party in the
Identified corridors Proposed corridors
UPA coalition, has assumed charge of the railway portfolio. India’s 12th plan projections (2012-13 to 2016-17) encapsulate the goal of executing work on at least two high-speed rail corridors. “Tenders for the Pune - Mumbai - Ahmedabad corridor are being prepared,” revealed a senior official dealing with the high- speed project. “The railways minister is likely to make an announcement regarding this in his budget speech in February.” IRJ
37 Chennai
India Amritsar PAKISTAN CHINA Chandigarh IRJ
Delhi Jaipur Jodhpur Ajmer Agra Lucknow Kanpur Varanasi Ahmedabad Kolkata
Howrah Haldia
Patna
NEPAL
Mumbai Pune Dornakal Hyderabad Vijayawada Bay of Bengal N km 200 Vishakhapatnam
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