High-speed rail in India: Difference between revisions
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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.<ref name="FS_1987"/> |
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.<ref name="FS_1987"/> |
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Details: |
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*Track gauge: {{railgauge|1676}} [[Indian gauge]] |
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*Electrification: [[25kV AC]] [[overhead lines]] |
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*Loading gauge: based on Russian loading gauge |
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*Platform height: 200mm, 380mm and 550mm above rail |
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*Overhead lines height: 7.45m above rail |
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*Rolling stocks: based on Japanese Shinkansen (mainly) |
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*Maximum speed: up to 400km/h |
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Revision as of 06:41, 23 July 2012
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India has one of the largest rail networks in the world. India does not have any high-speed rail lines capable of supporting speeds of 200 km/h (124 mph) or more, however high-speed corridors have been proposed.
Currently, the fastest rail in India is the Bhopal Shatabdi, which has a top speed of 150 km/h (93 mph) [1]
Current effort to increase speed to 160-200 km/h
For the first time in the history of Indian Railways, point-to-point non-stop Duronto Express trains were announced in 2009 by the then Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee. The current effort to provide fast non-stop train services under the brand of Duronto continues in the decade of 2010-19. In addition, they aim to raise the speed of passenger trains to 200-250 km/h on dedicated conventional tracks.[2]
In the 2012 Rail Budget, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi said 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, Trivedi said in his speech.[3]
- Approach to high-speed
Indian Railways' approach to high-speed is incremental improvement on existing conventional lines for up to 200 km/h, with a forward vision of speed above 250 km/h on new tracks with state-of-the-art technology, such as Shinkansen/TGV/etc.[2] While they do not define high-speed, Indian Railways' approach matches the high-speed definitions of the Trans-European high-speed rail network, for upgraded lines and new lines built for high-speed.
- Dedicate tracks to passenger trains
Dedicate tracks on existing trunk lines to passenger trains, by building separate corridors for freight trains, and build separate tracks for busy suburban traffic in Mumbai and other cities where traffic is equally busy. Without slower freight and suburban traffic, fast-express trains can run at the speed limit of rolling stock, the track or railroad switch, whichever is lowest among those that apply.[2]
- Upgrade tracks for 160-200 km/h
Upgrade the dedicated passenger tracks with heavier rails, and build the tracks to a close tolerance geometry fit for 160-200 km/h. High-speed tracks to be maintained and inspected using automation to ensure required track geometry. Perform more frequent inspection to ensure high confidence of safety at high-speed.[2][5]
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
Improve coaches, which can support 200 km/h, with stainless steel bodies and crash-worthy designs, incorporating passenger and crew protection, and fire-retardant materials. Equip coaches with electro-pneumatic brake systems to enhance safe operations at 160-200 km/h.[2]
Develop locomotives with output of 9000 to 12000 hp for hauling of 24-26 coach long passenger trains to 160-200 km/h.[2]
Proposal to introduce 250-350 km/h trains
History
The move for formation of National High Speed Rail Authority or NHSRA has been announced in Parliament during 2012-13 Rail budget to constitute an autonomous body,the nine-member Authority will have a chairman and eight members, there will be four full-time members including Member Project, Member Finance, Member Engineering and Member Planning.[6] The Board will look after the first 7 planned routes for Bullet Train.[7]
The Indian Ministry of Railways' white-paper Vision 2020[2] submitted to Indian Parliament by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee 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-Allahabad-Patna. These high-speed rail corridors will be built as elevated corridors in keeping with the pattern of habitation and the constraint of land.
During Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Tokyo in December 2006, Japan assured cooperation with India in creating a high speed link between New Delhi and Mumbai.[9] In January 2009, the then Railway Minister Lalu Prasad expressed keen interest in introducing bullet-trains in India. "The day is not far off when the bullet train will run in the country" Prasad had said after getting a first-hand feel of the superfast trains travelling from Tokyo to Kyoto at a speed of about 300 km/h[10]. On a visit to India in December 2009, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama offered bullet-train technology to India. "Since its inception (in Japan), there has been no accidents. We will like to see this technology being used in India”, said Hatoyama. The proposal is under discussion, according to official sources.[11]
Not everyone in India is equally keen on introducing high-speed rail as the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or the former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad with some leaders expressing apprehension that regional biases might creep in in the absence of a comprehensive national policy vis-a-vis high speed railways.
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).[12] RITES is currently performing a feasibility study.[13] 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).[14] 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.[12]
Details:
- Track gauge: 1676 Indian gauge
- Electrification: 25kV AC overhead lines
- Loading gauge: based on Russian loading gauge
- Platform height: 200mm, 380mm and 550mm above rail
- Overhead lines height: 7.45m above rail
- Rolling stocks: based on Japanese Shinkansen (mainly)
- Maximum speed: up to 400km/h
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), will be set up to operationalise bullet trains in the country as part of 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17).[18]
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),[19] 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:[20]
- 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
The state governments are ready to meet 50% cost of the consultancy. While Japan has shown interest in India's high speed train, it is funding 80% of the cost of construction of the 1,499 km-long Western Dedicated Freight Corridor[21]
On 21 March 2011, the British firm Mott MacDonald was asked to conduct a pre-feasibility study on the 993km long Delhi-Agra-Lucknow-Varanasi-Patna route. It cost the Railways ₹8.8 crore for the report.[22]
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.[23] The pre-feasibility study will be tabled in Parliament and the final feasibility study will begin in April 2012.[24]
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, Pune-Mumbai-Hyderabad 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.[25]
References
- ^ http://www.rediff.com/news/2006/feb/15look1.htm
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Indian Railways 2020 Vision - Government of India Ministry of Railways (Railway Board) December, 2009
- ^ http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_delhi-gets-four-new-trains-under-the-new-proposed-rail-budget_1662488
- ^ a b Dedicated Freight Corridors & High Speed Rails, India's Ultra Low Carbon Mega Rail Projects - Anjali Goyal, Executive Director (Budget) Ministry of Railways, India
- ^ ACHIEVING HIGHER SPEED ON INDIAN RAILWAYS – ROLE OF CIVIL ENGINEERS - S.S.Narayanan, CE/Metro Railway
- ^ http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_railways-bill-on-high-speed-train-project-in-winter-session_1591838
- ^ http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_railways-bill-on-high-speed-train-project-in-winter-session_1591838
- ^ India getting ready for bullet trains - Central Chronicle
- ^ BBC NEWS | South Asia | India seeks nuclear help in Japan
- ^ Bullet trains to run in India : Lalu - news.oneindia.in
- ^ TopNews.in | Japanese PM spurs bullet train dreams in India
- ^ a b INTRODUCTION OF HIGH SPEED CORRIDORS ON I.R.: IMPACT AND CHALLENGES BEFORE CIVIL ENGINEERS - Parmod Kumar, EDCE(G)/Railway Board
- ^ Bullet train: Rlys studying feasibility report - Feb 22, 2010, THE TIMES OF INDIA
- ^ Runaway Train. High-speed trains could be the Indian Railways’ answer to low-cost airlines - Nov 5, 2009, Forbes India
- ^ http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/BUD-rail-budget-2012-high-speed-trains-may-be-introduced-2963840.html?HF-5=
- ^ Chennai-Ernakulam High Speed Rail Corridor to be extended
- ^ http://www.deccanherald.com/content/227798/hsrl-mysore-consideration.html
- ^ http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_cm-wants-a-magic-bullet-train-for-karnataka_1659438
- ^ White Paper on Indian Railways - December 2009, Government of India Ministry of Railways
- ^ http://www.punjabnewsline.com/~punjabne/content/india-holds-talks-japan-high-speed-train-corridors/35473
- ^ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Railways-puts-bullet-train-project-on-fast-track/articleshow/11285881.cms
- ^ [1]
- ^ http://www.deccanherald.com/content/230302/feasibility-study-high-speed-train.html
- ^ http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/bengaluru/city-chennai-bullet-train-inching-closer-559
- ^ http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_delhi-gets-four-new-trains-under-the-new-proposed-rail-budget_1662488
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