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“Another Corridor Should Have Been Chosen”

‘Metro man’ E. Sreedharan on the bullet train project

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“Another Corridor Should Have Been Chosen”
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‘Metro man’ E. Sreedharan, feels that India has done the right thing by making a start in bullet trains and that it will transform travel in the country. In 10 years, he says, the economy would improve and bullet trains would become affordable. However, the government might have erred in selecting the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor. Excer­pts from an interview with Arindam Mukherjee

Do you think it was a right decision to go for bullet trains when the railways need funds for development?

We have to make a start. India does not have high-speed trains when other countries have moved far ahead. High-speed trains are the solution to modern transportation and will be extremely relevant in the future.

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But is this coming at a very high cost?

The main advantage is we are making a start. Also, we are getting financial assistance from Japan with a long payback time. This ensures that the liability will not be high. There is no burden on the government as the investment is coming alm­ost entirely from Japan. We’ll get both  technology and funds.

Given the high cost of travel in bullet trains will it be successful?

The same argument came up when we were starting the Delhi Metro. It was called the white elephant. Look at how it is transforming travel in many cities. The same will happen with the bullet train. In 10 years traffic will pick up and no questions will be asked.

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But will it appeal to only the rich and affluent?

Even if we start today, the project will be ready in 8-10 years. In 10 years the economy will develop and all would be able to afford bullet trains.

But the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route is already well connected....

Yes, they have chosen a corridor which is well covered, which may not be the right thing. Some other corridor should have been picked up.

So was a longer route better?

No, a Delhi-Mumbai or a Delhi-Chennai route would be too long to be attractive. When tra­vel time goes to about 10 hours, it does not remain attractive or feasible cost-wise, as thi­ngs like slee­pers would have to be provided. Given the  eco­­n­o­­mics, only 500-600 km corridors are suitable for high-speed trains.

Would the railways gain anything from this?

Of course, there would be gains in new systems and technologies for signalling, tracks and rolling stock.

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