Indigenous technologies will be used in the seven high-speed rail corridors newly announced in the latest Budget, and India will soon have its own bullet train, Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting, and Electronics & Information Technology said in an interview with The Indian Express.
While India’s first bullet train project — the Mumbai–Ahmedabad High Speed Rail is under construction — the government has announced Mumbai-Pune, Pune-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Chennai, Chennai-Bengaluru, Delhi-Varanasi and Varanasi-Siliguri high-speed rail corridors as “Growth-Connectors”.
He said that the Indian Railways has fully understood the complexities of high-speed rail systems and is ready to implement them independently. Vaishnaw also noted that land acquisition would be one of the main challenges for the project and said that all states should support it, as this is what “people deserve and desire”. Edited Excerpts:
What was the rationale behind choosing the seven corridors for the next phase of the Bullet train project?
High-speed rail is a major game changer. Among these seven corridors, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Bengaluru can be called the high-speed diamond (or triangle). All three are major economic centres. Connecting them will not only improve connectivity but also trigger new development all along these corridors.
Vaishnaw said the Indian Railways has fully understood the complexities of high-speed rail systems and is ready to implement them independently.. (Image generated using AI)
If we look at the Tokyo-Osaka high-speed rail in Japan, all the cities along the route — Tokyo, Nagoya, Kobe, Kyoto, and Osaka — have witnessed tremendous economic activity. In India, the first corridor connecting Mumbai, Thane, Vapi, Surat, Vadodara, Anand, and Ahmedabad will see the same kind of development.
Thus, the entire corridor will extend from Ahmedabad-Mumbai-Pune-Hyderabad-Chennai, along with the Hyderabad-Bengaluru corridor. In the North, the Delhi-Varanasi-Patna-Siliguri corridor will also be developed. Altogether, these new corridors will span about 4,000 km and involve an estimated investment of Rs 16 lakh crore.
How will these projects be financed?
That is in the process and the Detailed Project Reports (DPR) are being prepared. The work will be done in a focused manner.
Story continues below this ad
Will the new corridors be developed with foreign collaboration like Japan being a partner in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor?
That has not been decided yet. In the first project, we collaborated with Japan. But we have learnt a lot also. There is a steep learning curve. But now we have absorbed and understood the complexity of high-speed trains.
For these seven projects, indigenous technologies will be used. A lot of construction technologies such as track works, slab, viaduct, pillars, foundation have been developed in India. Along with this, overhead electrical, advanced stations, signalling systems, all of this will be designed and prepared in India. Even the Bullet trains, in future, will be manufactured in India.
How is the Bullet train different from other trains?
There are three important factors in these high-speed trains. The most important one is the interaction of wheel and track. When the wheel is spinning at such high speed, the interaction with the track is extremely complex. And its alignment must be proper even to the last millimetre of the stretch. Second one is the Pantograph. Because when the Pantograph collects the current at that speed, over 300 kmph, the design has to be extremely good. Third is the design of the train itself, because when the Bullet train runs at this speed, it creates a vacuum. This is why it should be a complete air tight design.
Story continues below this ad
Will the train being manufactured by BEML be replicated as India’s Bullet train?
That’s correct.
Which high-speed rail system — Chinese, Japanese, or South Korean — was considered for the seven corridors?
We have to work according to our country’s needs. We have a very unique geography. Our culture, the way our cities have developed, the way our states are organised, we have to keep all this in mind to design a high-speed corridor. On the technology part, we must have our own technology by learning the best from each part of the world. We should learn from wherever we get the best solutions and develop our own technology. We will be 100% atmanirbhar in the high-speed corridor.
The propulsion system — including the converter, inverter, and motors that run and control the train — is being manufactured in India and exported to Europe and the US.
Story continues below this ad
The first Bullet train project has been delayed. What will be an action plan to get the seven new corridors completed on time?
In the first project, the design was very complex. Initially, it was planned on an embankment, similar to Japan. However, this would have disconnected villages on either side of the track and raised environmental concerns, similar to those seen in Kerala’s SilverLine project (K-Rail).
Later, it was decided to construct the corridor on a viaduct, and a detailed design was prepared. However, two years were lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and another two years were lost because of the denial of Maharashtra government under (the then Chief minister) Uddhav Thackeray. Once the work began, it progressed at a rapid pace, with an average of 15 km being completed each month.
Wouldn’t land acquisition be a hurdle for these projects as well?
Story continues below this ad
Definitely, that is a factor. But I am confident that all the states will support this because this is something which people deserve and desire.
What about the earlier prepared DPRs for the seven projects? Have they been put on the back burner?
No. These projects are largely based on the earlier DPRs. The overall thinking was to ensure that at least one project comes up in each part of the country. This has been planned keeping major cities and strategic considerations in mind.
Who will bear the cost overrun of the first project escalated from Rs 1.08 lakh crore to Rs 1.98 lakh crore?
That is yet to be decided.
Story continues below this ad
What are the benefits of the new East-West dedicated freight corridor?
There are many industries in the hinterlands of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha, including steel plants, power plants, mines, and manufacturing units. The aim is to connect all of these to ports on both the East and West coasts. On the East Coast, several lines — Barbil, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur — lead to Paradip.
Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh will be connected to the West Coast. A junction near Surat will link the Western and East-West corridors. The Vadhvan Port, set to become one of the top ports in the world, will also be connected. The DPR of this project also is being prepared.
The Budget data shows that AC-3 tier passenger numbers are slipping. Is that a cause for concern since it generates Railways’ highest passenger revenue?
Story continues below this ad
A major focus is on increasing general coaches to ensure dignified travel for low-income passengers. The induction of 17,000 general and sleeper coaches is underway, and work on nearly 4,000 of them is already complete. As soon as more Vande Bharat Sleeper trains are rolled out, these numbers will also increase. A total of 200 Vande Bharat Sleeper trains are being manufactured.
How will you achieve diversification of freight? Will e-commerce see an increase?
We are doing commodity-wise reform. The first reform we did was in the cement sector. We introduced a specialised container and flat freight rate for cement. Similarly, the work on automobiles is ongoing. Along with this, there will be reforms for steel, containers, parcels that will be rolled out in the coming months. We will do 52 reforms this year. The nature of the train is that it is always hub-to-hub unlike road, which is door-to-door. A ship is always major hub to major hub, and the same goes with the airways. So, in the train, we focus on making it multi-modal and that is being done.
.