'Incorrect to compare operational safety of regular trains

Union Minister of State for Railways, Manoj Sinha, today said it was incorrect to compare regular trains with the proposed bullet train on the aspect of operational safety, two days after derailment of a passenger train in Madhya Pradesh.

Sinha also asked the media to desist from "misleading" the common people on the issue of the bullet train, believed to be the dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose necessity has been questionned by many quarters in the country.

Sinha today arrived at Indore railway station en route to Bhopal.

Responding to a query of reporters on a spate of train derailment incidents in the country and the "tall claims" being made by the Centre on the bullet train project, Sinha said," The bullet train is one thing and the operation of normal trains is another thing. India needs high-speed trains and the country will not lag behind on this front".

The minister said there was no need to "mislead" anyone (on the bullet train issue). "I think that you (media) should stop this work," he told reporters.

However, before the minister could finish his reply, another question was posed to him, following which he stopped taking more queries.

He later left for Bhopal in a special train.

Five coaches of the Katni-Chaupan passenger train derailed on April 14 night between the Salhna and Piparia Kalan stations, leaving at least six people injured.

A high-speed bullet train project, worth around Rs 1,10,000 crore, is proposed on a 580-km stretch between Ahmedabad in Gujarat and Mumbai.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe had laid the foundation stone for the proposed Ahmedabad-Mumbai High Speed Rail Network, commonly known as the bullet train, in Ahmedabad in September last year.