High-speed rail in India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
India has one of the largest rail networks
in the world but does not have any high-speed rail lines capable of
supporting speeds of 200 km/h (124 mph) or more. High-speed corridors
have been proposed but not implemented.Currently, the fastest train in India is the Bhopal Shatabdi, which has a top speed of 150 km/h (93 mph) [1]
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Current effort to increase speed to 160-180 km/h
For the first time in the history of Indian Railways, it aims to raise the speed of passenger trains to 160–180 km/h on dedicated conventional tracks.[2]The railway minister said in 2012 that a combination of prudent investment decisions in the areas of track and bridges, signalling, doubling and train-sets is proposed to be adopted to enable train running at speed of 160 kmph and above. The proposal would significantly reduce travel time for passenger trains by 20-25%. Such infrastructure would also enable Railways to run Shatabdi trains on long distance trunk routes and between metros, he said in his speech.[3]
- Approach to high-speed
- Dedicate tracks to passenger trains
- Upgrade tracks for 250–300 km/h
Design, manufacture and deploy railroad switches, with thick web construction and movable crossings that permit 50 km/h to alleviate this bottleneck to speed.[2]
- Upgrade locomotives and coaches
Develop locomotives with output of 9000 to 12000 hp for hauling of 24-26 coach long passenger trains to 160–200 km/h.[2]
Indian railways has asked IIT Kharagpur to conduct research to obtain the technological knowhow to increase the maximum attainable speed to 200 km/h. The project, which will be conducted in the Railway Research Centre of IIT Kharagpur, has four main goals; improving speed, improving carrying capacity (heavy haul), use of advanced material, advanced signalling and maintenance for better safety. The research is expected to be completed by the end of 2015.[6]
Proposal to introduce 250-350 km/h trains
History
One of the first proposals to intorduce high-speed trains in India was mooted in the mid-1980s by then Railway Minister Madhavrao Scindia. A high speed rail line between Delhi and Kanpur via Agra was proposed. An internal study found the proposal unviable at that time due to the high cost of construction and inability of travelling passengers to bear much higher fares than what was for normal trains. The Railways instead introduced Shatabdi trains which ran at 130 km/h.[7]The Indian Ministry of Railways' white-paper Vision 2020[2] submitted to Indian Parliament on December 18, 2009[8] envisages the implementation of regional high-speed rail projects to provide services at 250–350 km/h, and planning for corridors connecting commercial, tourist and pilgrimage hubs. Six corridors have already been identified for technical studies on setting up of high-speed rail corridors: Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar, Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Hyderabad-Dornakal-Vijayawada-Chennai, Howrah-Haldia, Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore-Trivandrum, Delhi-Agra-Lucknow-Varanasi-Patna. These high-speed rail corridors will be built as elevated corridors in keeping with the pattern of habitation and the constraint of land.
Indian Railway set up a corporation called High Speed Rail Corporation of India Ltd (HSRC) on 25 July 2012, that will exclusively deal with the proposed ambitious high speed rail corridor projects. The corporation is a subsidiary of Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd. (RVNL).[9][10] It will handle tendering, pre-feasibility studies, awarding contracts and execution of the projects.[11] The corporation will comprise of four members, all of whom will be railway officials.[12] All high-speed rail lines will be implemented through PPP mode on n a Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis.[13]
Cost
In a feasibility study published in 1987, RDSO and JICA estimated the construction cost to be Rs 49 million per km, for a line dedicated to 250–300 km/h trains. In 2010, that 1987-estimated cost, inflated at 10% a year, would be Rs 439 million per km (US$ 9.5 million/km).[14] RITES is currently performing a feasibility study.[15] It is being estimated that dedicated high speed corridor will cost about
100 crore per km.According to news media, the costs for constructing such rail lines in India are estimated to be Rs 700-1000 million per km (US$ 15-22 million/km). Therefore the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route of 500 km, will cost Rs 370 billion (US$ 8.04 billion) to build and to make a profit, passengers will have to be charged Rs 5 per km (US$ 0.11/km). Delhi to Amritsar one-way, a distance of 450 km, will cost about Rs 2000 (US$ 43.48).[16] At US$ 15-22 million per km, cost estimates are in line with US$ 18 million per km of the recently completed Wu-Guang HSR line in China.
Routes
In India, trains in the future with speed of 250–350 km/h, are envisaged to run on elevated corridors, to prevent trespassing by animals and people. This is an excellent way to isolate high-speed train tracks. The TGV tracks are completely fenced in and has no road crossing them at the same level. Wu-Guang’s 2-tracks line is laid, 468 km on bridges, 177 km in tunnels, and 323 km on embankments. The 336 km THSR tracks are 91% on bridges, flyover, or tunnels.
The current conventional lines between Amritsar-New Delhi, and Ahmedabad-Mumbai runs through suburban and rural areas, which are flat, therefore have no tunnel. Ahmedabad-Mumbai line runs near the coast therefore have more bridges, and parts of it are in backwaters or forest. The 1987 RDSO/JICA feasibility study found the Mumbai-Ahmedabad line as most promising.[14]
Maharashtra state government has proposed a link between Mumbai and Nagpur which will be good for development of the state railway. This project's cost is estimated
60,000 crore. The government also wants a corridor which will connect to Navi Mumbai International Airport.[17]Potential ridership
As of July 2010, there are currently 49 train services on the 968 km Wuhan-Guangzhou HSR line in China, with fares from US$ 70-115 (Rs 3220-5290), or US$ 0.07-0.12 per km (Rs 3.33-5.46/km). Amritsar-New Delhi line has 22 daily services, with fares range from Rs 552-1434 (US$ 12-31). Ahmedabad-Mumbai has 32 daily services with fares from Rs 514-1475 (US$ 11-32). On the 2 Indian lines travelling cost Rs 1.14-3.19 per km (US$ 0.025-0.069/km).Project execution
A separate entity, High Speed Rail Authority of India (HSRA), has been set up to operationalise bullet trains in the country as part of 12th Five Year Plan (2012–17).[20]To put the construction in perspective, in the period 2005-09 Indian Railways took on construction of 42 completely new conventional lines, a total of 4060 km at a cost of Rs 167 billion (US$ 3.63 billion),[21] or Rs 41 million per km (US$ 0.89 million/km).[2] A public-private-partnership mode of investment and execution is envisaged for such expensive 250–350 km/h high-speed rail project.[2]
Feasibility studies
The consultants for pre-feasibility study for four corridors are:[22]- Systra, Italferr and RITES Limited for Pune – Mumbai – Ahmedabad,
- British firm Mott MacDonald for Delhi-Agra-Lucknow-Varanasi-Patna
- INECO, PROINTEC, Ayesa for Howrah-Haldia
- Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and Oriental Consultancy along with Parsons Brinckerhoff India for Hyderabad-Dornakal-Vijaywada-Chennai
On 21 March 2011, the British firm Mott MacDonald was asked to conduct a pre-feasibility study on the 993 km long Delhi-Agra-Lucknow-Varanasi-Patna route. It cost the Railways
8.8 crore for the report.[24]The Indian Railways gave the go ahead for conducting a feasibility study on the Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore-Kochi route. There was a plan to either include Mysore in the main route or to create a branch line to that city. With the Railways’ move, the Karnataka State government decided not to commission a separate feasibility study on implementing a high-speed train between Bangalore and Mysore.[25] The pre-feasibility study will be tabled in Parliament and the final feasibility study will begin in April 2012.[26]
During the 2012 Rail Budget speech, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi announced that pre-feasibility studies on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai-Pune, Delhi-Agra-Lucknow-Varanasi-Patna, Howrah-Haldia, Hyderabad-Dornakal-Vijaywada-Chennai and the Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore-Kochi high-speed corridors have already been completed and study on Delhi-Jaipur-Ajmer-Jodhpur route will be taken up in 2012-13.[3]
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