Soon, high speed trains in India

What is it? The Indian Railways has floated a global tender for conducting a pre-feasibility study on building a high-speed rail corridor connecting Delhi and Amritsar via Chandigarh.

Are there any such trains in India? The fastest train in India currently is the Delhi-Bhopal Shatabdi, which runs at 150 kmph between Delhi and Agra and at 120 kmph from Agra to Bhopal. But internationally, only trains that run at speeds of more than 200 kmph are classified as “high speed trains”.

So, why are we writing about this? Because, the pre-feasibility study is the first step towards launching trains that run at 200-340 kmph.

What are the challenges? In India, high-speed corridors will have to be fenced or elevated; so costs will rise exponentially. The problems of land acquisitions are also well known.

— Kapil Bajaj