As the Railway Board prepares for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai route dedicated to high-speed trains, the state insists on one such train for the Mumbai-Pune route.
Railways opposed project citing technical reasons
Even as the Railway Board prepares for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai route dedicated to high-speed bullet trains (250 kmph), the state insists on having one such train on the Mumbai-Pune route.
During a meeting between Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and chairman of the board JP Batra, it was agreed to set up a Special Purpose Vehicle to start running trains on both routes. Deshmukh met Batra in New Delhi, on Tuesday and discussed plans about the high speed trains connecting cities like Ahmedabad, Surat, Baroda and Mumbai.
“Railway officials were keen on starting high speed trains connecting Ahmedabad, Surat, Baroda and Mumbai, but Deshmukh wanted a route between Mumbai and Pune as well,” said a Railway official.
The Railway’s Integrated Railway Modernisation plan 2005-2010, envisages plying high speed trains running at 250 to 300 kmph. The Ahmedabad-Mumbai corridor has been specifically identified for the feasibility study and Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) — a subsidiary of Indian Railways — has submitted a feasibility report.
“RITES has also mentioned that such a train cannot be run between Mumbai and Pune, the reason being the height of Khandala Ghat. Even after adjoining two bankers to the trains, the speed hardly reaches 50 kmph, which means fetching it above 200 kmph will be impossible,” said the official. “Batra agreed to prepare the feasibility report of the project on Mumbai-Pune route upon Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh’s request,” a Mantralaya official said.
A report submitted by RITES to the Railways, states that the 500km Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor will help commuters ply between the two cities in less than two hours, against six hours by the existing fast train, the Shatabdi Express. The project will cost Rs8,000 crore and require dedicated tracks, free from any roadblock.
“The Railway has earlier shelved the project in 1987, as it was found to be very costly, at Rs4.9 crore per km. It was revived after 2001,” the Railway official said.
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