Bullet train on track for debut in 2022
Japanese PM says partnership would help make India the ‘world’s factory’
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe promised to travel to Ahmedabad from Mumbai in 2022 in the bullet train, for which they laid the foundation stone on Thursday.
The event was hosted at the Sabarmati athletic grounds. Modi and Abe said the 508-kmlong Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR), to be built at a cost of ~1.08 lakh crore ($17 billion), would do for the Indian economy what the Shinkansen bullet train did for Japan after its launch in 1964.
“I loved the thrilling roadshow yesterday (Wednesday),” said Abe, who, along with wife Akie, had accompanied Modi, in an open car through the streets of Ahmedabad on an 8km trip.
He added, “A new Japan was born in 1964 after the Shinkansen’s launch. Modi plans to do the same for a new India, and we are determined to realise his plan.” Abe, who spoke in Japanese, said the strategic partnership between the two nations would help make India the “world’s factory”.
The two PMs also remotely launched a training institute for the high-speed rail staff in Vadodara, and reviewed a model of the Ahmedabad-Mumbai rail corridor. Greeted with chants of “Modi, Modi!” the PM thanked Abe for the quick development of the project. He added, “People seeking loans for two-wheelers also have to bargain hard. India has a good friend in Japan, who is gifting this to her, almost for free.”
Japan is offering a $12-billion loan, at an interest of 0.1 per cent, for 50 years. This will include a 10-year moratorium for the MAHSR. The bullet train will have 10 cars and accommodate 750 people. Of the 508-km stretch it will cover, 468 km will be elevated, 27 km through tunnels, and the remaining on the ground. It will pass through the longest tunnel (21 km) in the country, 7 km of which will be under the sea. The average speed of the train will be 320 km per hour, reaching a maximum of 350 km per hour.
Besides Mumbai (which will be underground) and Ahmedabad, the train will stop at 10 stations — Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, and Sabarmati. Tickets will be priced between ~3,000 and ~5,000. Soon after commissioning, it is likely to have 16 cars, accommodating 1,200 people. The Indian deal has come at a time for Japan when newer highspeed rail technologies around the world are gaining prominence. While Japan’s Shinkansen technology, which is as old as 1960s, may have bagged India, China has notched projects in Laos, Indonesia and Thailand for its more contemporary Gaotie high-speed trains.
European high-speed rail services such as TGV, Eurostar and Transrapid have seen better technologies, including magnetic levitation system providing higher operating speeds than Japanese Shinkansen.
However, what worked in favour of Japan was its history of zero accidents as against China, which witnessed a tragic crash of its two Gaotie high-speed trains colliding due to faulty signal in 2011.
On a day when a JammuDelhi Rajdhani coach derailed near New Delhi, the latest in a series of accidents that have plagued the Railways, Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said, “People had criticised the Rajdhani when it was launched, but now everyone wants to ride it. In the future, the bullet train tickets will also be competitive.”