Cabinet likely to soon decide on 2 ambitious semi-high speed train projects

The Union Cabinet is likely to soon take a call on two ambitious semi-high speed train projects, connecting New Delhi to Mumbai and Howrah, respectively. Together, the projects will need investment to the tune of about Rs 13,000 crore.

“The entire infrastructure — including signalling and tracks — will be revamped,” said a government official who did not want to be named. Semi-high speed trains are those travelling at a speed of 160-200 kmph. Bullet or high-speed trains travel at speeds above 300 kmph. 

The official also said Russian Railways will come out with a report on the speed upgrade of the Nagpur-Secunderabad section by September. India and Russia had signed a memorandum of understand for this in December 2015.

India has already embarked on a project to connect Mumbai to Ahmedabad, a distance of 508.17 km, with its first bullet train.

Last month, the National High-Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRCL) came out with a tender for the construction of stations, bridges, viaducts, maintenance depots, and tunnels across the bullet train network. 

These projects are part of a road map called Mission Raftaar of the Railways to double the average speed of freight trains and coaching trains by 25 kmph. At present, the average speed of freight trains in India is about 24 kmph and that of passenger trains is about 44 kmph.

Makeover for Surat

Indian Railways on Friday said in a statement that the station at Surat would be developed into a multi-modal transport hub (MMTH), incorporating bus terminals, metro, autorickshaw and private vehicles to provide seamless connectivity.

This will be part of the station redevelopment plan for 600 stations at an investment of about Rs 1 trillion.

The MMTH in Surat will be built over 340,131 square metre of land pooled from the Railways, the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) and Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC). 

This will be the first-of-its kind project bringing together the Centre, the state and the local municipal corporation. The redevelopment will be done through commercial development on leasehold rights for 90 years on the vacant railway land and air space.

This hub is expected to cater to approximately 400,000 passengers per day by 2033 and approximately 525,000 passengers per day by 2053. 

Currently, the built-up area of the station is about 36,950 sqm. After the redevelopment it will be approximately 101,750 sqm.