 "India still years away from its own high speed rail record")
The setting of a new High Speed Rail (HSR) record earlier this week by Japan, a breath-taking 603 kilometres per hour under test conditions, has led many to ask how long before India starts setting similar records in train speeds? And it does not take a genius to fathom the correct answer – let alone records, India may still be many years away from kick-starting HSR operations.
While bullet trains have been talked about in India since the 1980s, the country has only just started with the planning process. Two feasibility studies are being undertaken for two separate stretches identified for initial HSR operations – Mumbai-Ahmedabad and Delhi-Chennai corridors. So while the “maglev” train operated by JR Central was clocking the 603 kmph speed at a track near Mount Fuji, breaking its own 2003 record of 590 KPH, India was waiting for the two study reports to be delivered.
It is worth remembering that Japan had already developed the world’s first system of bullet trains as early as 1960s. The train that has set the high speed record last Tuesday runs on high-end Magnetic Levitation – or ‘maglev’ for short – technology that employs use of electromagnets to propel train cars above the tracks. That means there is nothing but air in between the tracks and the wheels as the car hovers 10 centimetres above the rails. For comparison, in India, large stones often get stuck between the wheels and the rails, leading to derailments.
Nevertheless, India has made a humble beginning. It is seeking to secure technology tie-ups with multiple nations which have proven HSR expertise and working out a detailed funding plan for the capital intensive venture. The success of the plan will depend critically on several factors – the model of HSR development (fully dedicated HSR lines, increasing speed on existing rail lines or a mix of both), accurate projection of demand (low footfalls have led to failure of HSR lines globally), planning the correct alignments (HSR systems are known to be financially viable in linear alignments) and an independent tariff setting process that could ensure financial health (all but a few HSR systems globally survive on massive subsidy support from national governments).
In the Indian context, these challenges are facing our railways in a rather disappointing backdrop. A parliamentary panel led by former rail minister Dinesh Trivedi has just submitted its report lambasting Indian Railways’ managers on grounds that are not easy to brush aside. The panel has said, after two years of healthy operations, a severe financial crisis has gripped Indian Railways once again. Tearing into the government’s claim of a visible turnaround in operations, the panel has highlighted declining system productivity, rise in unit cost of operation and an unrealistic Operating Ratio (OR) target based on “textbook solutions”.
In this backdrop, India must act carefully but quickly to identify the right approach for its grand HSR plans that includes constructing a diamond quadrilateral of high speed lines connecting its four metro cities, selecting the right technology to develop the new-age signaling systems necessary for running HSR lines and, most importantly, finalizing an effective methodology for selection of a private sector partner on its much-awaited high speed journey.