Underground, undersea tracks for bullet train

High speed journey between Ahmedabad and Mumbai may appear to be a  simple ride for most of the people. However, in reality, it turned out to be a highly complicated project which will have underground and undersea tracks. 

The project which is high on the agenda of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Japan visit has many twists and turns in terms of both finance and technology.  

“We have to take many aspects of the project. The tracks have to travel through different areas which differ vastly in their demography and topography. The economics will also play a role in selecting the route and stoppages,” Railway Board Chairman Arunendra Kumar told Deccan Herald.

“We have to take the train through such areas where we should get passengers. We have to pass through congested cities like Surat and Mumbai. In Surat, we cannot have a train which will be running on ground, so we may have to go for underground tracks.
Opposite will be the case when we will be passing through some areas of Mumbai where we may have to opt for underwater tracks,” he said.

“All these alignments will be decided on the revenue and traffic we are expecting to get,” he asserted.

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has already submitted its first interim report and second interim report would be coming in November.

“We will have the final report in June 2015. Only then, will we be able to decide the timeline for implementing the project,” Kumar said. “We have to see whether the conditions of investment is beneficial to us or not.”

The JICA is studying every aspect of the project including technology, alignment and finance. However, the French Rail Company has completed the study on financial aspect of the project.  “The report could come to us any time,” said Kumar.