High-speed bullet trains may run on short-distance routes

MUMBAI:As the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project kicks off and plans are being drawn for a second high-speed corridor between Mumbai and Pune, the Union government is considering shorter rail corridors to make the projects more feasible.

Authorities have arrived at the conclusion after studying high-speed rail networks in China, spread across nearly 27,000km, said officials involved in the process. The study revealed that typically, commuters prefer flights to long-distance train journeys.

The 12 stations on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train corridor include Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati.

Officials said short-distance corridors make the project more feasible financially.

“The fares of long-distance, high-speed trains would be nearly the same as flights, though the travelling time will be longer than an air journey. This makes long-distance corridors unfeasible, and that’s why long-distance bullet trains have failed in China too,” said a senior officer from National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), requesting anonymity. “So, we are not looking at long-distance corridors, we are considering short-distance routes that connect the entire country.”

Short-distance routes that see a lot of commuter traffic, for example, include the Delhi-Amritsar and Mumbai-Pune routes.

“Currently, a Mumbai-Pune intercity train takes around three hours. If that travel time can be cut to 60 to 90 minutes, passenger response will be tremendous,” the official said.

The Centre is planning an estimated 4,500km of high-speed rail network, and a Delhi-Amritsar corridor is being taken up.

If the high-speed train project is completed as planned, India will be the third country in the world to have the largest highspeed rail network, the first being China with a network of 39,000km , followed by Spain with 4,900km.