Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train: Dispute over starting point resolved
A dispute over the starting point for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train was finally resolved over the weekend, pushing forward the project. It has been decided that it will start at Mumbai's Bandra-Kurla Complex and emerge at Thane after travelling 21kms through an underwater tunnel. MMRDA wanted the spot for a financial services centre; now the station will be underground, and the centre above.
While presenting the railway budget, Railway Minister Sadanand Gowda announced that India's first bullet train would run in Gujarat. Gowda proposed a bullet train which would run from Ahmedabad to Mumbai. Modi had promised a high speed network in his Prime Ministerial campaign. Modi had announced a diamond quadrilateral of bullet trains to connect the four major cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai.
The Japanese call their high-speed train network Shinkansen; China's fastest train is known as Shanghai Maglev and the French call theirs TGV (Train Grande Vitesse).
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) submitted its final report on India's first bullet train corridor. JICA said that it would cost nearly Rs. 1 lakh crore to build it. According to the report, the train would start running in 2024 if the work began in 2017. The report estimated that the bullet train would run at a speed of over 300 km per hour.
Japan has offered to finance India's first bullet train at an interest of less than 1% which is estimated to cost almost $15 billion. They have proposed to meet 80% of the Mumbai- Ahmedabad bullet train project cost. The Japanese government has put forward one condition that India would buy 30% of equipment including the coaches and locomotives from Japanese firms.
Japan's 'Maglev' bullet train is the fastest in the world with a speed of 603 km per hour. The train carries 900 passengers at once and can cover 1 mile in 10 seconds.
After much speculation whether it would be China or Japan, Japan has successfully won the Rs. 98,000 crore (Rs.17,000-18,000 crore would be the cost of land) project of building India's first bullet train. The cabinet while clearing the deal said up to 70-80% of the components could be manufactured in India. The venture is presumed to be proclaimed during Japanese premier Shinzo Abe's visit.
A senior railway official said that the 508 km long Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail corridor will have a 21 km long tunnel under the sea. There will be a stretch after Thane creek towards Virar which will go under the sea as per the detailed project report by Japan International Cooperation Agency. It would make the project India's first underwater public transportation system.
At the 4th meeting on the Rs. 97,636-crore Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project, the Niti Aayog decided to expedite the work and obtain environmental clearances. Construction on the 508-km track is expected to start in 2018, and services operational from 2023. The ground breaking ceremony will be held during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's 2017 visit. Japan will fund 81% of the project.
