Indian government has been reportedly planning to buy 18 bullet trains from Japan. The purchase would cost India Rs 7,000, according to an Economic Times report. The bullet train deal will also include transferring of technology for local production.
“We’ll be getting 18 Shinkansen train sets from Japan,” an official told the newspaper. He further added that each bullet train will have 10 coaches and would be able to cruise at the speed of 350 km per hour.
Japanese bullet trains are considered to be the safest in the world and those imported will have automatic protection systems to ensure safety, the official added. It has also been reported that Indian Railways will start working towards setting up a bullet train assembling facility in India on a public-private participation (PPP) basis.
“We’ll be inviting bids to set up an assembling plant here in India as well under the Make in India programme,” the official told the paper. He further said that Japanese train technology companies such as Kawasaki and Hitachi may set up facilities in the country.
Meanwhile, an argument ensued yet again between the Indian Railways and the Maharashtra government with regards to the country's first Bullet train project on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor.
During the high-level meeting between Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Rail & Coal Minister Piyush Goyal on August 23, the proposed multi-crore International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at BKC, and the rehabilitation of project affected people (PAPs) at Palghar were the two main issues of discussion. The issues have become the primary bone of contention plaguing the Rs 1.08 lakh crore Bullet train project.
According to sources, CM Fadnavis at the meeting was miffed with the Railways for not accommodating the state's views on increasing the height of the proposed IFSC to 96 meters from 61 meters.
"This will certainly result in issues as designs of the terminus coming up at BKC has been finalised. The Minister raised the point and cited that the project should not be delayed because of this," said a Railways official.
The MMRDA, on the other hand, claimed that the Railways did not approach them before finalising the designs for the Bullet train terminus that is coming on an area of 0.9 hectares.
Tag: World , India , Bullet Train , Japan