New Delhi : The Central Government has announced grand plans for the mega high-speed rail connectivity but the Railway Ministry is yet to sanction over seven much-talked-about high-speed rail (HSR) corridors in the absence of a detailed project report (DPR). Presently, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) project is the only sanctioned high-speed rail project in the country which is under execution with the financial and technical assistance of the Government of Japan.
"Although the railway ministry has assigned the task of preparing DPR of seven high-speed rail corridors to National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), they are yet to submit the reports," a senior government official privy to the development told ETV Bharat on Friday. The NHSRCL has finalised the DPR of the Delhi-Varanasi high-speed train and submitted it to the railway ministry.
Being highly capital-intensive projects, according to the official, the decision to sanction any HSR corridor and projects depends on many factors such as the outcome of DPR, techno-economic feasibility, availability of resources and financing options. "The DPR of Delhi-Varanasi, Delhi-Ahmedabad, Delhi-Amritsar, Mumbai-Nagpur, Mumbai-Pune-Hyderabad, Chennai-Bengalore-Mysore and Varanasi-Howrah are in different stages of study," the official said.
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Launched in September 2017, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) funded Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed rail also known as the bullet train, was expected to be completed by 2023. "The deadline of the project has been extended to 2028. The delay happened due to delays in land acquisition in Maharashtra as well as Covid19 pandemic," the official said.
The DPR of other high-speed rail projects is in different stages of completion. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday will flag off the Delhi-Bhopal Vande Bharat train. Introduced on February 15, 2023, the first Vande Bharat train was flagged off between Delhi and Varanasi. At least 10 Vande Bharat express trains are presently running across the country.
Indian Railways has issued a production plan of 102 Vande Bharat rakes (35 in 2022-2023 and 67 in 2023-2024) as per Indian railways production units. As per government records, total of 75 Vande Bharat rakes are planned as chair car versions and the remaining planned as sleeper versions.
