PRABHU SETS EYES ON TRAINS THAT RUN AT 430 KM PER HOUR

Indian Railways’ crumbling finances and a creaking infrastructure hasn’t deterred rail minister Suresh Prabhu from setting the bar high. In his plan to make the state-owned transporter to become “technology leaders” in ultra high speed rail technologies, the railways has floated Expression of Interest to develop the Maglev Levitation trains that runs at a speed of 430 kilometres per hour.

Even as plans to replicate the Gatimaan (India’s first semi-high speed train with a top speed of 160 kilometres per hour) has been lying in cold storage, the railways floated Expression of Interest to develop the Maglev trains that float over a guideway using magnets. “Swiss, Japanese and US firms have pitched in with bids that will open on September 6,” Railway Board member (rolling stock) Hemant Kumar said.

As part of the initiative, New Delhi will host the first international conference on ultra high speed rolling stock to be attended by transportation majors, including HyperLoop Transport Technology and Quadralev of the US, Japan’s RTRI, Siemens and Knorr Bremse of Germany and the Prose of Switzerland. Approximately 500 foreign and Indian delegates will attend the conference, officials said.

With funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), India has been pursuing plans to build its first high-speed rail corridor from Mumbai to Ahmedabad, which is targeted for completion in 2024.

Kumar, said exposure to such conferences would enable Indian rail engineers to broaden their horizons on emerging technologies worldwide. “The railway minister’s vision is to enable India to become a developer and designer for future rolling stock technologies.