India is looking to finally upgrade its ancient, yet extensive, rail network. CNN has this report on it, yet the two of the most important things that are completely lacking are, 1) how much will it cost and 2) how is it going to be paid for?
Here are some excerpts. The link to the article can be found below.
Low speeds, High ambitions
Made up of 126,510 kilometers (78,610 miles) of track in total, the Indian Railways (IR) network is the fourth largest in the world, operating 19,000 trains every day and serving almost 8,000 stations. More than 12,700 locomotives are available to haul 76,000 passenger coaches and almost three million freight wagons.
But when compared to European railways or those of China, Japan or Korea, average speeds remain disappointingly low. A few special express trains can run at 160 kph (100 mph) or slightly more, but the national average for long-distance express is just 50 kph (31.4 mph), while ordinary passenger and commuter trains barely scrape over the 32 kph (20 mph) mark.
Freight trains average around 24 kph (15 mph) and generally have a maximum speed of just 55-75 kph. Congestion is expected to increase over the next 30 years unless more capacity is provided.
The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHSRCL), set up to finance, construct and manage India's bullet train projects, has also gained approval for eight new lines linking New Delhi and Varanasi (958 kilometers), Lucknow-Ayodhya (123 kilometers), Mumbai-Nagpur (736 kilometers), New Delhi-Ahmedabad (886 kilometers), New Delhi-Amritsar (480 kilometers), Mumbai-Hyderabad (711 kilometers), Varanasi-Howrah (760 kilometers) and Chennai-Mysore (435 kilometers).
Four more corridors were proposed in early-2022, taking the total to more than 8,000 kilometers. If approved, lines would also be built between Hyderabad and Bangalore (618 kilometers), Nagpur-Varanasi (855 kilometers), Patna-Guwahati (850 kilometers) and Amritsar-Pathankot-Jammu (190 kilometers), creating the second longest high-speed rail network in the world.
However, unlike other high-speed trains such as the French TGV or Eurostar, India's bullet trains will not be able to run over existing tracks to reach their destination. From their inception, India's railways have used a broader than usual track gauge of 1,676 millimeters (5 feet 6 inch) whereas the Japanese-built line will employ the worldwide "standard gauge" of 1,435 millimeters.
"The trains on Indian Railways, with their social obligation, run a bouquet of services, catering to all classes from poorest of the poor to the affluent class but the high-speed railway is being built as an independent corridor with international standard gauge and a dedicated network, not mixing with national corridors," says Aklekar.
Captive 10-car trains derived from the Japanese E5 "bullet train" will operate at up 320 kph, slashing the end-to-end journey time from the current seven hours to just over two hours for the fastest services.
Each train will seat up to 1,300 passengers and include multi-purpose rooms for mothers plus compartments for heavy luggage. Fares will start at just 250 Indian rupees ($3.30), rising to around 3,000 Indian rupees ($40) for an end-to-end journey.
"This project is about technology," concludes Aklekar.
"India needs to make a start at some point and that time is now. It takes time to adapt and settle new technologies and lines. For example, Japan's Hokkaido Shinkansen took 42 years to become fully operational. If we do not start now, we will be left behind."
However, IR's precarious financial position continues to cloud this optimistic picture. Over the last six years the company's costs have been increasing more than twice as fast as its revenues as productivity continues to decline.
See the whole story here:
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