The HSR that is being developed is married to Japanese trains, and we should have been prepared for difficult negotiations | Photo credit: Yongyuan
The High Speed Railroad (HSR) are networks that operate at higher speeds than conventional rail services, usually 250 kmph or more. HSR systems reduce travel time between cities, connect key economic centers, promote economic growth and support healthy urbanization in areas near the city conglomerates with great employment opportunities. It is one of the cleanest and most green modes of public transport, with examples worldwide where HSR has replaced air trips.
The reserve of developed countries such as Japan, France, Spain or Germany, China, today counts the world’s largest network at 46000 km, and even countries such as Morocco, Indonesia and Uzbekistan have them. It is also in process in other middle -income countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia and Iraq. The only remarkable exception is the US, where powerful road and air lobbies block the introduction of HSR.
We argue to the nausea if HSR is good for India since the 1990s, quite omatized to pay attention to the global experience that India could hardly be an exception. An adjustment case for comparison is China, with somewhat similar demography and distances; 10 billion people travel every year compared to about eight billion in India, and have the largest high -speed rail network in the world.
Abundance delays
Thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the entire procrastination began to rest, and in 2015, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad HSR project of 508 km was sanctioned at an estimated cost of approximately ₹ 98,000 million rupees, of which the International Cooperation Agency of Japan (JICA) would finance 80 percent, and the rest by the central and state governments.
Since then, he has a disappointing story. The completion, projected by 2022, has been pushed beyond 2030, with the total operations expected only by 2033, and the cost becomes around ₹ 2 Lakh Crore. The delay and the cost of costs are attributed by the National Speed Rail Corporation LTD (NHSRCL), the PSU or the Indian Railways (IR) confident for executing the project, to the poor acquisition of lands of the acquisition of land in the duration of Maharashtra to the duration of Prime Prime-19. Viaducts due to earth conditions, etc.
To this is added the information session of NHSRCL to the Permanent Parliamentary Committee in March, which was not possible to give a reliable estimate and a timeline and a cost: the almost percent of the civil infrastructure that is completed.
It is clear that the project suffers from drift. It is known that the acquisition of rolled actions could not be definitive due to exorbitant prices cited by Japanese companies. According to the reports, IR appointed an independent committee of consultants to review the appointment, which concluded that it was actually exorbitant, but the Japanese side did not move.
This should not have been a surprise, since a similar situation arose the duration of the acquisition of locomotives for the western DFC with Japanese foundation, and IR had decided not to get from Japan. This case, however, is more diffusion, since the HSR that is being developed is married to Japanese trains, and we should have prepared for difficult negotiations.
Beml effort
IR has decided to move forward with the development of their own trains by placing orders in Beml. A jump of the indigenous trains of 180 km AA 280 kmph is not the ideal way for the development that must be calibrated in step by step progress.
In any case, even if the project is successful, that we hope that trains will be executed at a suboptimal level or 250 km / h against the civil infrastructure designed by 320 kmph.
In the middle of this Imbroglio, one listens that Japan will provide two Shinkansen trains at no cost by 2026, which will be used to collect crucial data especially with respect to the environmental challenges of India, such as high temperatures and dust. This, however, simply adds confusion or offers any hope of resolution.
A similar obstacle is the problem of the high price of the signature system. NHSRCL decided to present a tender for an alternative system that will be used until the latest Japanese version or train arrived later. Alstom-l & T and Dra-Siemens Jvs are the two bidders, and it would be interesting to see how this contract is granted and executed.
Like the Mumbai-Ahmedabad project Languidece, the network extends from par with surveys without regret for multiple routes. It is time to be more decisive and immediately sanction two shorter sections, such as Chennai-bengaluru and Delhi-Amritar, and complete them in six to seven years.
One would think that negotiating a better deal with the Japanese is still the best option. HSR projects are crucial, and although operations can begin in some way by 2030, it is necessary to handle the problem in a more significant and committed way.
The writer is retired. GM/Indian Railways and leader of the Vande Bharat project
Posted on May 13, 2025
