High-speed success

The bullet train project needs to buck many trends

At a cost of Rs 1.1 lakh crore and an ambitious completion date of five years, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, inaugurated with much fanfare by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last Thursday, will be India’s most challenging transport-related public project to date. The technology complexity is one dimension of the issue – India still does not have a train that can be classified as high speed by international standards. India’s well-established patchy record on project implementation also presents justifiable cause for doubt. The bullet train will run at speeds of over 300 kmph, which is no small leap of faith