Bullet trains on the anvil : Rathwa

Vadodara, Aug 26 (UNI) Minister of state for Railways Naran Rathwa today hoped the proposal to have four high-speed corridors for 'Bullet trains' would soon see the light of the day with the signing of an MOU between Japan and India to jointly execute the ambitious plan.

Talking to newspersons here, Mr Rathwa said high speed corridors were needed for a highly populated country like India, but the proposal had to be shelved earlier because of paucity of funds and economic viability.

He said with the signing of an MOU during the recent visit of Japanese Prime minister Shinzo Abe, his ministry was eager to start the work on the Rs 25,000 crore Ahmedabad-Mumbai Bullet train project on a top priority basis. Once commissioned, the high speed train would cover a distance of about 490 km between Mumbai and Ahmedabad in just two-and-a-half hours.

However, Mr Rathwa said work could start only after Japanese companies chalk out a detailed plan to raise funds for the project.

It had been suggested by some Japanese companies to have the tracks on pillars instead of going for the traditional landline in order to avoid accidents and problems with regard to land acquisition, he said, adding that all efforts would be made to drastically reduce the project cost and have a very competitive passenger fare.

The minister, who inaugurated a newly constructed passenger Information and facilitation centre at Vadodara station, said he would lay the foundation stone for the Rs 240 crore electric engine workshop at Dabhoi in Vadodara district on September 1. The project, which was scheduled to be completed in two phases, had already got a budgetary allocation of Rs 90 crore for its first phase.

UNI