Indian Railways in cooperation with France, today reviewed the progress of the surveys, field visits and technical solutions for raising the speed to 200 km per hour on the existing Delhi-Chandigarh route.
A review of possible technical solutions were explored in a meeting between between French National Railways (SNF) and Indian Railways here, said a senior Railway Ministry official.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in his Rail Budget Speech of 2014-15 announced that New Delhi-Chandigarh Corridor will be upgraded for increasing the speed of passenger trains to 160/200 kmph. Railway Ministry had already signed an MoU with the French National Railways (SNCF) on February 14, 2013 on technical co-operation in various fields.
One of the areas of co-operation mentioned in the MoU is regarding exchange of experience, technologies & know-how for upgrading speed on existing infrastructure of Indian Railways.
To discuss the co-operation issues and specific projects, a high level delegation headed by CRB had visited the SNCF/France in May, 2014. During the discussion, it was decided to take up speed raising on Delhi-Chandigarh Corridor.
Later, during PM's visit to France in April last year, a protocol with SNCF on co-operation in Semi-High Speed rail on Delhi-Chandigarh Section was signed.
In December, 2015, an agreement was signed between Ministry of Railways and SNCF vide which the feasibility / implementation study of the Corridor for raising the speed of passenger trains to 200 kmph was awarded to SNCF on 50:50 per cent cost sharing basis.
The total cost of the study is Rs 19,69,02,721 and the total time duration for its completion is one year. The study commenced on January 19 this year.
The study has been divided into three phases. While the first phase envisages the technical Assessment involving field visits, surveys, review of possible technical solutions and development of three high level upgrading scenarios, the second phase involves the Operation/Economic impact involving assessment of scenarios, impact on transport and operations plan, economic/financial impact for IR and selection of a preferred scenario with Indian Railways.
The third phase involves execution plan and tenders involving reference design, bill of quantities, tender preparation and recommendations for a broader high speed solution, upgrading programme by Indian Railways on a selected scenario.
In today's meeting the project review was undertaken in the joint meting.
