I just happened to read of the proposals put forth by none other than the 'Metro Man of India', Dr E. Sreedharan, between Trivandrum and Kasargod (in North Kerala, which was earlier a part of Karnataka), though in his opinion, the service must be operational between the Southern-most capital in the Indian peninsula and Mangalore or Udupi in Karnataka. He has also opined that a high speed rail link is very essential between Bangalore and Mysore as well. This is indeed made a very exciting read. Also, it is not the first time that Indian cities are referred to in the context of high speed, high-end trains ; not too long ago, we have witnessed our railway ministers speaking of commissioning bullet trains in India between a few routes like : Delhi-Chandigarh, Delhi-Howrah, Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Bangalore-Chennai and Bangalore-Ernakulam via Coimbatore. It would certainly be great if we can have infrastructure of this quality for inter-city commuting. However, as far as my small mind can think, there are several hurdles that one needs to overcome in order to make sure that these projects see the light of the day.
As far as my knowledge is concerned, in order to operate a bullet train between any 2 regions, it is necessary to commission a separate railway line. This is so because the technology and the mechanism associated with the operation of a bullet train are much different than those of the trains that are presently being run in India. As per the estimates prepared in 2009, it would cost about 100 crores to lay a track of 1 Km length that satisfies the requirements of a bullet train. This cost excludes the land acquisition expenses. If one were to commission a railway line between, say Bangalore and Chennai, two of the prominent business centers in the South,which are nearly 360 Kms apart, the cost of laying the railway line would be 36000 crores!!!!!! As a matter of fact, Mumbai and Ahmedabad are nearly 500 Kms apart! It must be noted that these are the figures if one goes as per the costs in the year 2009 ; the rise of prices in steel and iron as also sand and cement needs to be taken into account while preparing the estimates of the project that would be relevant for today. Any delay in the execution would escalate the costs further. So given the facts and figures that are associated, one question that is constantly doing rounds in my mind is "Does India really need a bullet train?" The answer for it is a very certain "YES" as these trains would bring in speed in terms of commuting which does indeed matter a lot. But how do we pool-in the funds required for them? Also why exactly do we need a bullet train or a maglev (Magnetic Levitation) train? It is simply because of the speed that they bring in.
When it is not clear that whether or not India is in a position to invest such an obscene sum of money on a railway line, is it not sane to think of an alternative? (Perhaps we too could have invested ! If only scams like the ones related to Bofors or the sanction of 2G spectrum were averted ; the money involved with the latter was so huge that it was sufficient to link all the capitals in the South by a bullet train let alone the ordinary ones, if the 2009 estimates are anything to go by). Indian railways is looking at virtually intangible projects when there are several inexpensive alternatives that require only a fraction of the amount to implement as compared to these high-end ones.
It is indeed exciting to think of what a quadrupled or even a double railway line between Bangalore and Chennai could do. With the existing infrastructure ( I am not sure of what portion of the route has been doubled or tripled ), the fastest train, Shatabdi express takes 5 hours to cover a distance of 362 Kms without stopping anywhere. If only we have a dedicated line of the existing standard all along the 362 Km distance which does not call for even the slowing down of the train at major stations (where it does not stop), the distance could certainly be reduced by an hour. The laying of ballast-less tracks which I believe is the case with Konkan railway, allows the train to chug at a speed as high as 160 Km / hr. Also, at present, the fastest train in India, the Bhopal-New Delhi Shatabdi express, runs at a speed of 160 Km / hr. One needs to examine whether the maximum speed that a train can move with can exceed this because, given the tough terrain of the Konkan region, there have been restrictions on the speed for which the tracks are designed. Hence, the trains do not really clock a speed of 160 Km/hr in the Konkan region. In a route such as the one between Bangalore and Chennai, one need not worry about the terrain as it is not as menacing as the Konkan. There are no tunnels or ridges through the hills to fear landslides or derailments due to natural disasters caused by the terrains.
If a train that is meant to be non-stop (like Durontos) travels at a speed of 160 Kms per hour, a distance of 500 Kms is just 3 plus hours away. The nearly 2500 Km distance between Bangalore and Delhi would be a matter of one night as against the 2 nights and 1 day duration, presently. Mumbai would only 6 hours away from Bangalore at the same affordable price. Presently it takes 2 days and 2 nights to reach Guwahati from Bangalore by train. If a dedicated railway line along the Eastern coast of India is in place, this city would be hardly 16 hours away as one needs to cover 3500 plus kilometers by land.
Dr E. Sreedharan has stated that Mysore would just be 30 minutes away from Bangalore once the high speed rail project is implemented. But with the existing railway line being doubled, a new expressway being developed besides the revamping of the existing state highway, it is beyond doubt that Mysore is already on its way to becoming a twin city of the state capital. As a matter of fact, if one were to traverse through the Central Business District (CBD), then Kengeri is 2 hours away from the airport, both of which are well within Bangalore!! This being the case, what is the point of being able to reach Mysore in a span of 30 minutes? Indian railways must conduct a holistic and a pragmatic survey of the projects that are truly necessary and affordable to the country.
As far as my knowledge is concerned, in order to operate a bullet train between any 2 regions, it is necessary to commission a separate railway line. This is so because the technology and the mechanism associated with the operation of a bullet train are much different than those of the trains that are presently being run in India. As per the estimates prepared in 2009, it would cost about 100 crores to lay a track of 1 Km length that satisfies the requirements of a bullet train. This cost excludes the land acquisition expenses. If one were to commission a railway line between, say Bangalore and Chennai, two of the prominent business centers in the South,which are nearly 360 Kms apart, the cost of laying the railway line would be 36000 crores!!!!!! As a matter of fact, Mumbai and Ahmedabad are nearly 500 Kms apart! It must be noted that these are the figures if one goes as per the costs in the year 2009 ; the rise of prices in steel and iron as also sand and cement needs to be taken into account while preparing the estimates of the project that would be relevant for today. Any delay in the execution would escalate the costs further. So given the facts and figures that are associated, one question that is constantly doing rounds in my mind is "Does India really need a bullet train?" The answer for it is a very certain "YES" as these trains would bring in speed in terms of commuting which does indeed matter a lot. But how do we pool-in the funds required for them? Also why exactly do we need a bullet train or a maglev (Magnetic Levitation) train? It is simply because of the speed that they bring in.
When it is not clear that whether or not India is in a position to invest such an obscene sum of money on a railway line, is it not sane to think of an alternative? (Perhaps we too could have invested ! If only scams like the ones related to Bofors or the sanction of 2G spectrum were averted ; the money involved with the latter was so huge that it was sufficient to link all the capitals in the South by a bullet train let alone the ordinary ones, if the 2009 estimates are anything to go by). Indian railways is looking at virtually intangible projects when there are several inexpensive alternatives that require only a fraction of the amount to implement as compared to these high-end ones.
It is indeed exciting to think of what a quadrupled or even a double railway line between Bangalore and Chennai could do. With the existing infrastructure ( I am not sure of what portion of the route has been doubled or tripled ), the fastest train, Shatabdi express takes 5 hours to cover a distance of 362 Kms without stopping anywhere. If only we have a dedicated line of the existing standard all along the 362 Km distance which does not call for even the slowing down of the train at major stations (where it does not stop), the distance could certainly be reduced by an hour. The laying of ballast-less tracks which I believe is the case with Konkan railway, allows the train to chug at a speed as high as 160 Km / hr. Also, at present, the fastest train in India, the Bhopal-New Delhi Shatabdi express, runs at a speed of 160 Km / hr. One needs to examine whether the maximum speed that a train can move with can exceed this because, given the tough terrain of the Konkan region, there have been restrictions on the speed for which the tracks are designed. Hence, the trains do not really clock a speed of 160 Km/hr in the Konkan region. In a route such as the one between Bangalore and Chennai, one need not worry about the terrain as it is not as menacing as the Konkan. There are no tunnels or ridges through the hills to fear landslides or derailments due to natural disasters caused by the terrains.
If a train that is meant to be non-stop (like Durontos) travels at a speed of 160 Kms per hour, a distance of 500 Kms is just 3 plus hours away. The nearly 2500 Km distance between Bangalore and Delhi would be a matter of one night as against the 2 nights and 1 day duration, presently. Mumbai would only 6 hours away from Bangalore at the same affordable price. Presently it takes 2 days and 2 nights to reach Guwahati from Bangalore by train. If a dedicated railway line along the Eastern coast of India is in place, this city would be hardly 16 hours away as one needs to cover 3500 plus kilometers by land.
Dr E. Sreedharan has stated that Mysore would just be 30 minutes away from Bangalore once the high speed rail project is implemented. But with the existing railway line being doubled, a new expressway being developed besides the revamping of the existing state highway, it is beyond doubt that Mysore is already on its way to becoming a twin city of the state capital. As a matter of fact, if one were to traverse through the Central Business District (CBD), then Kengeri is 2 hours away from the airport, both of which are well within Bangalore!! This being the case, what is the point of being able to reach Mysore in a span of 30 minutes? Indian railways must conduct a holistic and a pragmatic survey of the projects that are truly necessary and affordable to the country.
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