While the railway budget aims to lay 1000 km of track per year, the Indian Railways has drawn the attention of a host of leading Belgian transport solutions companies too.

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Transurb Technirail, a company offering solutions to railway and urban mass transport systems, is seeking to tie up with Indian Railways for high-speed trains and help redevelop neighbourhood stations.

Transurb, along with top 13 Belgian transport infrastructure companies including Besix, Eurostation, ERTMS Solutions, Gantrex, FITA, Eld Partnerships, J K Structure, Tractabel Engineering and others will be visiting India as part of the Princely Economic Mission from Belgium to India this month between March 20-27.

Alexander Mourisse, in-charge, business development and legal affairs, Transurb Technirail, told DNA, “We are keen on working in India and possibly negotiating projects with RITES. We have top-notch technology for hi-speed railways, which we have successfully implemented in Belgium. We run a 350 kmph train between Brussels and the French border. We would be willing to offer special technology and train control systems to RITES.”

For the uninitiated, Transurb Technirail operates in 70 countries with more than 300 projects achieved in heavy railway and some 200 projects in 50 countries in mass urban transport.

Rated as one of the top transport engineering consulting firms, Transurb has worked on some prestigious projects such as Channel Tunnel between France and Great Britain, the light rail transit system of Manila, hi-speed train between Paris and Koln and a bus transport centre at Jamaica.

“We want to be recognised in India and establish direct relations. India is planning five hi-speed corridors and redevelopment of 25 stations, including those at Secunderabad, Mumbai, Howrah, Chennai and others. We can use technologies such as French TGV, German magnetic elevation or Japanese Shinkansen; the options will be many. Moreover, we want to conduct feasibility studies and also design and help build rolling stock,” Mourisse said.

In fact, the Belgian company is also planning to build a base in India and keen to work with companies from Bangladesh and African, if things go well.

“Organised freight transport is very crucial in India. The switch from rail to road and port is important for cargo movement. We have specialised multi nodal activation software and have in the past, helped locate and track cargo trucks and container. Also, on the urban transport side, we would like to offer services in signalling systems, centralised traffic control and regulations and transmission techniques for transport systems.

The Belgian economic mission is scheduled to hold a public transport and infrastructure summit in Delhi on March 22, which will be attended with the Indian Railway ministry.

The writer was in Brussels at the invitation of the Belgian consulate