 "Railway workers clean a coach at a railway yard in the old quarters of Delhi")
A consortium of companies led by China's national train operator has been chosen to carry out a feasibility study for the 1,200-kilometre proposed high speed rail link between Delhi and Mumbai, according to a report by China's official news agency Xinhua.
The consortium will be led by the Third Railway Survey and Design Group with Indian firms as members. Xinhua said the contract for the feasibility study was awarded by High Speed Rail Corporation, a subsidiary of Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL).
The rail ministry had in December last year invited bids to study the feasibility of high-speed lines between Delhi-Mumbai, Mumbai-Chennai and Delhi-Kolkata. Twelve companies from the United States, Germany and France had expressed interest. Japan is currently preparing a feasibility study for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed corridor.
Chinese agencies are also working on a feasibility study for Delhi-Chennai high speed corridor. The study will be carried out by China National Railway Administration and China Railway Construction Corporation. China has so far won high speed rail contracts for projects in Saudi Arabia and Turkey and is looking at newer geographies to export its high speed technology.
While bullet trains have been talked about in India since the 1980s, the country has 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.
